Glowering Moon

It is the night of despair, the quiet voices of desperation in your head whispering to let go, to give up, what are we fighting for anyway, isn’t it better to let go. We are worthless, we will be crushed, what reason is there to go on? The darkness embraces us like an asphyxiating blanket of despair. The quiet voices in our heads grow louder, urging us to give up, to let go of hope. We wonder what the point of it all is. Why do we keep fighting when defeat is inevitable? We are nothing, mere specks in the grand scheme of things. Our insignificance presses down on us, crushing us under its weight. The futility of it all is overwhelming. What reason is there to go on? The darkness beckons, offering a release from the endless cycle of grief and regret. It is tempting to let go and fall into oblivion, to find peace in the eternal void.
When the Glowering Moon is visible, the following effects apply to the world.

Creatures

The Glowering Moon is only visible to creatures with an Intelligence score of 16 or higher, or a character level or CR higher than 4.
The moon, like the consuming mother, passes judgment on those who are not her kindred. Creatures that can see the moon, other than aberrations and monstrosities, suffer the following effects:

- They have disadvantage on death saving throws.
- While in direct moonlight, they are under the effect of the bane spell.
- Their walking speed is halved.

It whispers, always. You’ll be facing your deepest insecurities, and you might not emerge victorious.

Travel

The world is bathed in the sickening glow of the moon, casting its judgment on those who dwell beneath it. The eldritch gaze is draining, sapping willpower and at times even the will to live. It is critical to fight on and not give up, or risk losing oneself.

All overland travel is made at half speed.

For each hour that passes, roll a d6. On a 1, the moon’s influence becomes too much for the party to bear. All characters in the party must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or fall unconscious until the moon sets. A character within 5 feet of an unconscious character can attempt to bring them back from the brink. To do so, they must take 1 minute to shake their friend from their torpor and must make a DC 13 Persuasion check, attempting to revive the fighting spirit left within their ally.

Madness

The madness section of each moon refers to a Madness DC, which is indicated in the following table.

Average Party Level

Madness DC

1-4

11

5-8

13

9-12

15

13-16

17

17-20

19

21+

21

Whenever a character fails an ability check, their searing pain of failure shuts down any rational reasoning. They must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against the Madness DC or gain one short-term madness.

Short-Term

Whenever a character gains a short-term madness under the Glowering Moon, they give up arms as despair overtakes them. The character drops all items they are holding and curls up into a ball, falling prone and becoming incapacitated until the madness ends. A character within 5 feet of an incapacitated character can use their action to shout into their comrades’ ear, shocking their system awake and ending this despair.

Long-Term

Whenever a character gains a long-term madness under the Glowering Moon, their will to live slowly erodes. They have disadvantage on all Wisdom saving throws until the madness ends.

Indefinite

A character that gains an indefinite madness under the Glowering Moon is faced with their mortal insignificance and retreats within themselves. Roll a d100; on a result of 33 or lower, the character refuses such a fate and becomes immune to the effects of the Glowering Moon until it sets; on a result of 34 or higher, the character falls unconscious and cannot be awoken until the moon or the madness ends.

Type

Metaphysical, Supernatural