History BrownNote / TabletopGames

** An article in ''Magazine/{{Dragon}} Magazine'', the late official magazine of the game, described a sage who delved into the study of the Lords of the Nine, the nine arch-devils who rule the Nine Hells of Baator. He went missing; all that turned up of him were a few spots of blood on his floor. It's speculated that either he [[SpeakOfTheDevil attracted the attention of the devils]], who spirited him away; or that that the sheer evil of the tomes he was reading caused him to spontaneously implode. This is also similar to the legend of Faust, who gave rise to the term "[[DealWithTheDevil Faustian bargain]]" and was ultimately found splattered all over the floor... and the walls... and the ceiling.

** There are a number of monsters that can harm with sound: Wolfweres (singing = sleep), androsphinx (roar = deafness), cloaker (moaning), tyrg (howling) and so on. And banshee.

** The Obyriths in 3.5 are a species of demons modeled universally on [[EldritchAbomination Lovecraftian concepts]]: to look on them is to invite madness and insane terror, even in those otherwise magically immune to such emotions. Dagon evokes terror of the sea, Ugudenk the Squirming King causes any viewer to realize he can burst from the ground at any time and thus to be terrified of the ''ground'', etc. The most powerful of the Obyriths was supposed to be Obox-Ob, the first of the species who has a shape that could be very roughly analogued to something like a titanic scorpion, but with the head and tails (yes, plural) switched around, and horrible tentacle-tongues and worse. But the deadliest of the Obyriths, insomuch as their ability to cause madness, is Pale Night. She takes the shape of a softly curvaceous humanoid female, wrapped in a billowing shroud. Attempting to pull the shroud aside and see her true form is difficult, but if you do manage it, you must immediately make a saving throw. Success means you ''failed'' to understand what you saw beyond the veil. Failure means you ''understand'' what you see: a shape so alien, horrifically indescribable and anathematic to all existence that you are instantly slain. What's more, if a victim of this effect is brought back to life or magic is used to communicate with his spirit, he is unable to describe what he saw. As it happens, the shroud is something ''reality itself'' imposes on her to cloak her true shape as a way of protecting ''the rest of existence''. Even the Far Realm, home to true Lovecraftian horrors in the D&D mythos, is not as innately lethal to witness (though entering it can do [[AndIMustScream worse than just kill you...]] )
** And the Devils have their own example, from second edition up to 3.5 in the form of Asmodeus and the tale of the Serpent's Coil. Supposedly, the Asmodeus all creatures understand to exist isn't the real thing, but rather a highly advanced illusion, or an avatar. The King of Hell's true form was hurled down into Hell from the Celestial Realms long ago. Asmodeus' impact into Baator is what split the plane into nine layers. Asmodeus' true body came to rest in a tunnel of rock hundreds of miles long created by his landing, called The Serpent's Coil. And it rests there still, slowly recovering its strength. Hearing this story didn't harm the listener at all, but anyone who told the tale of Asmodeus' "True Form" died within 24 hours. '''Anyone'''.

** Demon Lords qualify. The Fifth Edition core rulebooks include a set of optional Madness mechanics for horror themed campaigns. There are three stages of madness, that is, short term, long term, and indefinite. Then the ''Out of the Abyss'' campaign came out, and each Demon Lord listed can ignore those rules, sending you straight to Indefinite Madness if you so much as look directly at them. Demogorgon can cause a character to develop a second personality or solve all of their problems with murder, among other things. Yeenoghu, among other things, can give a character a taste for the flesh of intelligent beings. Orcus can make someone take pleasure in the suffering of the weak, want to become undead, or develop an unhealthy fascination with death. And all of this can happen just by looking at a demon lord.
** On the topic of Demon Lords, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes speaks of Demogorgon's symbol, which appears to be an unassuming Y shape. Simply gazing at a "true" copy of his symbol, crafted either by Demogorgon himself or one of his more powerful demons, will instantly bring a person under his sway, turning them into lone serial killers who spend their lives hiding in the shadows. The guidebook doesn't give any in-game stats for this effect, but the fact that Mordenkainen himself, an archmage who has traveled the multiverse and has even snuck into and out of the 8th layer of Hell, had to be rescued from the effects of the symbol, suggest that you wouldn't even get a saving throw. It's worth noting that Mordenkainen never even looked at the ''actual'' symbol -- he was studying its ''reflection'', and that ''still'' nearly destroyed him.

** In other Deathlord wonkiness, there's the Monstrance of Celestial Portion, the cages used by the Deathlords to put Solar Exaltations through the spin cycle of evil so they come out as Abyssal shards. Solars can't even look at the Monstrances without feeling violently ill.

*** The Daughters of Cacophony are a vampire bloodline that specializes in madness inducing sounds. They select good singers, but the vampiric magic makes it dangerous.
** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'': The sight of any shifter by a normal human causes what is known as Delirium, a primal fear inherited from the times when werewolves exercised tyrannical rule over all humankind. The effects depend on what kind of shifter and the witness's willpower (usually in an adjustment in what is the witness's effective willpower score). While not lethal, it can induce fainting or severe panic attacks and usual amnesia as people just don't want to remember what they have seen, though high willpower witnesses can remember or straight up shrug it off. Naturally, other shifters, kinfolk, vampires, mages... ANY supernatural is more or less immune to it, as they are either more than or not at all human.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': In the tabletop RPG, Eredun, the language of demons, is said to be inherently evil and has a will of its own; it slowly rots the brain of any nondemon who speaks it, driving them mad and corrupting them towards evil. It's one of the reasons that warlock magic is considered so taboo, as it's required for the casting of spells.

* ''TabletopGame/Cyberpunk2020'' has an option for cyberarms that can cause disorientation and seizures.

** ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'': Screamer pistols, weapons used by Task Force: VALKYRIE against mages, produce blasts of low-frequency sounds intended to interfere with the inner ear. At range, they induce dizziness and poor balance; close-up, they induce hallucinations and can resonate with the large intestine to cause sudden bowel movements.

* 'Franchise/{{Warhammer}}'':

* In ''TabletopGame/SeventhSea'', there is a red jewel known as "Legion's Spike". While not everyone has been affected by it, some unfortunate cases who have stared into its depths have suffered from catatonia, madness and homicidal rampages. And there's apparently more than one such gem.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Arduin}}'' RPG, ''The Complete Arduin Book 2: Resources''

* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'':
** It's quite possible for Malkavians with high Dementation and Auspex to booby-trap books, paintings or songs with their discipline's powers. It's even possible to modify your aura in that way, to punish curious Auspex users.
** The Daughters of Cacophony are a vampire bloodline that specializes in madness inducing sounds. They select good singers, but the vampiric magic makes it dangerous.
* 'TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':

** In addition the Imperium have their own Brown Note in the form of the Culexus Assassin. These rare mutants are like psychic black holes, whose bizarre ''non''-presence seriously puts the wind up anyone (including their own allies) within a few feet. And that's on regular humans; psykers cannot get anywhere close to a Culexus-tier blank without suffering horribly and possibly dying from the strain. And daemons just straight up cannot perceive them in any way.
** There's a good example of this in the Literature/CiaphasCain novel Traitor's Hand, in which Cain witnesses an Imperial Guard trooper bleed from the eyes after staring at the symbols on the walls of a shrine to Slaanesh.
** And the worshippers of Slaanesh in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' have a word that, when whispered into your ear, ''can kill you''.
** Speaking of Slaanesh, any mortal who looks directly at his true form will ''instantly lose their soul'' and [[MoreThanMindControl willingly become his slave for all eternity]].
** Anything involving Slaanesh would result in this. His champion, Lucius, has a set of armor that [[ForcedTransformation turns you INTO him]] if you kill him and feel even the slightest sense of accomplishment. Then there's also the ability to [[{{Glamour}} make yourself so irresistable]] that the enemy will lose the will to shoot at you.
** The Jabberslythe unit for ''Warhammer'' Beastmen is apparently so hideous it drives enemy units insane. Understandably, it's the only unit without a picture in its entry.
* The sight of any shifter from TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse by a "normal" human causes what is known as Delirium, a primal fear inherited from the times when werewolves exercised tyrannical rule over all humankind. The effects depend on what kind of shifter and the witness's willpower (usually in an adjustment in what is the witness's effective willpower score). While not lethal, it can induce fainting or severe panic attacks and usual amnesia as people just don't want to remember what they have seen, though high willpower witnesses can remember or straight up shrug it off. Naturally, other shifters, kinfolk, vampires, mages... ANY supernatural is more or less immune to it, as they are either more than or not at all human.
* In the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' tabletop RPG, Eredun, the language of demons, is said to be inherently evil and has a will of its own; it slowly rots the brain of any nondemon who speaks it, driving them mad and corrupting them towards evil. It's one of the reasons that warlock magic is considered so taboo, as it's required for the casting of spells.
* The ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' card Des Croaking requires 3 Des Frog on the field to destroy your opponent's entire field. The card art depicts the effect as [[https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Des_Croaking literal brown notes.]]

** Anything involving Slaanesh would result in this. His champion, Lucius, has a set of armor that [[InvoluntaryTransformation turns you INTO him]] if you kill him and feel even the slightest sense of accomplishment. Then there's also the ability to [[{{Glamour}} make yourself so irresistable]] that the enemy will lose the will to shoot at you.

* =''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'':

** ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}: Ultra-Tech'' has a more literal brown note. Sonic nauseators make people void their bowels as side effect of knocking them out. Just don't mix one up with a Sonic Screamer, which produces a sound that ''melts'' the target.
** ''TabletopGame/TheMadnessDossier'',
** The monstrous, mind-controlling "Anunnakku" actually made or remade humanity to be their slaves, and can command obedience simply by displaying special "glyphs" or in other ways. Having to obey the Anunnakku is rarely a good thing for a human being.

** Many magical musical instruments can affect targets as well, such as a satyr's pipes.
** There are a plethora of spells which create harmful sounds as well.
** Also colours: Colour Spray, Prismatic Wall, etc.

** Demon Lords qualify. The Fifth Edition core rulebooks include a set of optional Madness mechanics for horror themed campaigns. There are three stages of madness, that is, short term, long term, and indefinite. Then the ''Out Of The Abyss'' campaign came out, and each Demon Lord listed can ignore those rules, sending you straight to Indefinite Madness if you so much as look directly at them. Demogorgon can cause a character to develop a second personality or solve all of their problems with murder, among other things. Yeenoghu, among other things, can give a character a taste for the flesh of intelligent beings. Orcus can make someone take pleasure in the suffering of the weak, want to become undead, or develop an unhealthy fascination with death. And all of this can happen just by looking at a demon lord.
** On the topic of Demon Lords, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes speaks of Demogorgon's symbol, which appears to be an unassuming Y shape. Simply gazing at a "true" copy of his symbol, crafted either by Demogorgon himself or one of his more powerful demons, will instantly bring a person under his sway, turning them into lone serial killers who spend their lives hiding in the shadows. The guidebook doesn't give any in-game stats for this effect, but the fact that Mordenkainen himself, an archmage who has traveled the multiverse and has even snuck into and out of the 8th layer of Hell, had to be rescued from the effects of the symbol, suggest that you wouldn't even get a saving throw. It's worth noting that Mordenkainen never even looked at the ''actual'' symbol - he was studying its ''reflection'', and that ''still'' nearly destroyed him.

* ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu''. Reading Cthulhu Mythos books or seeing Mythos monsters can cause a loss of sanity and eventual insanity.

*** [[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick "I prepared Explosive Runes this morning."]]

*** Waaaaay back in the 1E era, there was a Dragon Magazine article about a high-level bard ability called the "Last Jest". Properly delivered, this joke could make villains laugh themselves to death.

** Anyone who sees the true face of Pale Night, the Obyrith precursor of Tanar'ri (Elaborated upon below)
*** The Obyriths in 3.5 are a species of demons modeled universally on [[EldritchAbomination Lovecraftian concepts]]: to look on them is to invite madness and insane terror, even in those otherwise magically immune to such emotions. Dagon evokes terror of the sea, Ugudenk the Squirming King causes any viewer to realize he can burst from the ground at any time and thus to be terrified of the ''ground'', etc. The most powerful of the Obyriths was supposed to be Obox-Ob, the first of the species who has a shape that could be very roughly analogued to something like a titanic scorpion, but with the head and tails (yes, plural) switched around, and horrible tentacle-tongues and worse. But the deadliest of the Obyriths, insomuch as their ability to cause madness, is Pale Night. She takes the shape of a softly curvaceous humanoid female, wrapped in a billowing shroud. Attempting to pull the shroud aside and see her true form is difficult, but if you do manage it, you must immediately make a saving throw. Success means you ''failed'' to understand what you saw beyond the veil. Failure means you ''understand'' what you see: a shape so alien, horrifically indescribable and anathematic to all existence that you are instantly slain. What's more, if a victim of this effect is brought back to life or magic is used to communicate with his spirit, he is unable to describe what he saw. As it happens, the shroud is something ''reality itself'' imposes on her to cloak her true shape as a way of protecting ''the rest of existence''. Even the Far Realm, home to true Lovecraftian horrors in the D&D mythos, is not as innately lethal to witness (though entering it can do [[AndIMustScream worse than just kill you...]] )
*** And the Devils have their own example, from second edition up to 3.5 in the form of Asmodeus and the tale of the Serpent's Coil. Supposedly, the Asmodeus all creatures understand to exist isn't the real thing, but rather a highly advanced illusion, or an avatar. The King of Hell's true form was hurled down into Hell from the Celestial Realms long ago. Asmodeus' impact into Baator is what split the plane into nine layers. Asmodeus' true body came to rest in a tunnel of rock hundreds of miles long created by his landing, called The Serpent's Coil. And it rests there still, slowly recovering its strength. Hearing this story didn't harm the listener at all, but anyone who told the tale of Asmodeus' "True Form" died within 24 hours. '''Anyone'''.

*** On the topic of Demon Lords, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes speaks of Demogorgon's symbol, which appears to be an unassuming Y shape. Simply gazing at a "true" copy of his symbol, crafted either by Demogorgon himself or one of his more powerful demons, will instantly bring a person under his sway, turning them into lone serial killers who spend their lives hiding in the shadows. The guidebook doesn't give any in-game stats for this effect, but the fact that Mordenkainen himself, an archmage who has traveled the multiverse and has even snuck into and out of the 8th layer of Hell, had to be rescued from the effects of the symbol, suggest that you wouldn't even get a saving throw. It's worth noting that Mordenkainen never even looked at the ''actual'' symbol - he was studying its ''reflection'', and that ''still'' nearly destroyed him.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' features a spell called Rune of Singular Hate. It's described as a single word full of such vile and complete hatred that, when uttered at someone, curses them to debility at best, and outright death at worst. It's such a powerful word that it even affects the caster in a similar way, and can only be cast once in a lifetime.

*** And when it comes to [[TomeOfEldritchLore damnable books]] in Creation, there's none better than ''The Broken-Winged Crane'', which often instills madness in those who read it and compels them to try demon summoning and Yozi worship for fun and profit.

* Witnessing mad science in ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression'' can turn a normal person into [[TheIgor a Beholden]] or a full-fledged [[MadScientist Genius]]. One of the reasons for TheMasquerade is because, well, [[PerpetualPoverty otherwise that's just more labs to feed]].

* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' the Terror advantage (caused by whatever aspect of yourself you wish) can terrify victims beyond all reason. At its worst Terror can cause permanent insanity and actually make someone so horrified by the effect that he becomes stupider. Of course, normal human characters can't acquire this advantage.

** in the setting of ''TabletopGame/TheMadnessDossier'', the monstrous, mind-controlling "Anunnakku" actually made or remade humanity to be their slaves, and can command obedience simply by displaying special "glyphs" or in other ways. Having to obey the Anunnakku is rarely a good thing for a human being.

* ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' deals with vastly alien concepts that can confuse and bewilder mortal minds, but that's just from trying to grasp extraordinarily complex ideas. ''Intruders: Encounters with the Abyss'' suggests that [[EldritchAbomination Abyssal intrusions]] can take forms such as a poem or work of art. Banishing such intrusions is extremely difficult when merely perceiving them is deleterious.

* Second and Third Edition ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}'' both have flavour text describing a book on the true nature of beauty. Because the book is a sacrosant object not meant for mortals, it kills the first to read any word within. The vignette wraps up with "It is a statement on the nature of beauty, and the nature of scholars, that [...] over half of its text had been read, understood, and transcribed."

** ''TabletopGame/Cyberpunk2020'' has an option for cyberarms that can cause disorientation and seizures.

* It's quite possible for Malkavians with high Dementation and Auspex in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' to booby-trap books, paintings or songs with their discipline's powers. It's even possible to modify your aura in that way, to punish curious Auspex users.
** And the Daughters of Cacophony have many ways to screw you over with their singing.
*** More specifically, the Daughters of Cacophony are a vampire bloodline that specializes in madness inducing sounds. They select good singers, but the vampiric magic makes it dangerous.
* Symbols of Chaos in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' are capable of making men nauseous at best to insane at worst, and that's saying nothing of actually gazing upon daemons.

*** In addition the Imperium have their own Brown Note in the form of the Culexus Assassin. These rare mutants are like psychic black holes, whose bizarre ''non''-presence seriously puts the wind up anyone (including their own allies) within a few feet. And that's on regular humans; psykers cannot get anywhere close to a Culexus-tier blank without suffering horribly and possibly dying from the strain. And daemons just straight up cannot perceive them in any way.

** Anything involving Slaanesh would result in this. His champion, Lucius, has a set of armor that [[InvoluntaryTransformation turns you]] [[BodySnatcher INTO him]] if you kill him and feel even the slightest sense of accomplishment. Then there's also the ability to [[{{Glamour}} make yourself so irresistable]] that the enemy will lose the will to shoot at you.

*** On the topic of Demon Lords, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes speaks of Demogorgon's symbol, which appears to be an unassuming Y shape. Simply gazing at a "true" copy of his symbol, crafted either by Demogorgon himself or one of his more powerful demons, will instantly bring a person under his sway, turning them into lone serial killers who spend their lives hiding in the shadows. The guidebook doesn't give any in-game stats for this effect, but the fact that Mordenkainen himself, an archmage who has traveled the multiverse and has even snuck into and out of the 8th layer of Hell, had to be rescued from the effects of the symbol, suggest that you wouldn't even get a saving throw.

* In ''TabletopGame/SeventhSea'', there is a red jewel known as "Legion's Spike". While not everyone has been affected by it, some unfortunate cases who have stared into its depths have suffered from catatonia, madness and homicidal rampages. And there's apparently more than one such gem.

*** On the topic of Demon Lords, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes speaks of Demogorgon's symbol, which appears to be an unassuming Y shape. Simply gazing at a "true" copy of his symbol, crafted either by Demogorgon himself or one of his more powerful demons, will instantly bring a person under his sway, turning them into lone serial killers who spend their lives hiding in the shadows. The guidebook doesn't give any ingame stats for this effect, but the fact that Mordenkainen himself, an archmage who has travelled the multiverse and has even snuck into and out of the 8th layer of Hell, had to be rescued from the effects of the symbol, suggest that you wouldn't even get a saving throw.
* Symbols of Chaos in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' are capable of making men nauseous at best to insane at worst, and that's saying nothing of actually gazing upon daemons.
** This a rather favorite tactic of Chaos. There was an old story about the forces of Chaos capturing a Janitor or somesuch, and then returning him back home... after telling him a word. Cue the inquisition purging the planet continuously for ''a thousand years,'' before finally resorting to Exterminatus.
*** In addition the Imperium have their own Brown Note in the form of the Culexus Assassin. These rare mutants are like psychic black holes, whose bizarre ''non''-presence seriously puts the wind up anyone (including their own allies) within a few feet. And that's on regular humans; psykers cannot get anywhere close to a Culexus-tier blank without suffering horribly and possibly dying from the strain. And daemons just straight up cannot perceive them in any way.
** There's a good example of this in the Literature/CiaphasCain novel Traitor's Hand, in which Cain witnesses an Imperial Guard trooper bleed from the eyes after staring at the symbols on the walls of a shrine to Slaanesh.
** And the worshippers of Slaanesh in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' have a word that, when whispered into your ear, ''can kill you''.
** Speaking of Slaanesh, any mortal who looks directly at his true form will ''instantly lose their soul'' and [[MoreThanMindControl willingly become his slave for all eternity]].
** Anything involving Slaanesh would result in this. His champion, Lucius, has a set of armor that [[InvoluntaryTransformation turns you]] [[BodySnatcher INTO him]] if you kill him and feel even the slightest sense of accomplishment. Then there's also the ability to [[{{Glamour}} make yourself so irresistable]] that the enemy will lose the will to shoot at you.
** The Jabberslythe unit for ''Warhammer'' Beastmen is apparently so hideous it drives enemy units insane. Understandably, it's the only unit without a picture in its entry.

* ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu''. Reading Cthulhu Mythos books or seeing Mythos monsters can cause a loss of sanity and eventual insanity.
** In ''TabletopGame/DeltaGreen'', a certain document contains a "formula" that, to an average person, appears to be nothing more than a random sequence of numbers. However, a character whose skill in math is good enough will instantly recognize it as a "formula" that proves that there are higher dimensions of existence... and will then ''immediately'' AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence by ''just thinking about it''.
* It's quite possible for Malkavians with high Dementation and Auspex in TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade to booby-trap books, paintings or songs with their discipline's powers. It's even possible to modify your aura in that way, to punish curious Auspex users.
** And the Daughters of Cacophony have many ways to screw you over with their singing.
*** More specifically, the Daughters of Cacophony are a vampire bloodline that specializes in madness inducing sounds. They select good singers, but the vampiric magic makes it dangerous.
* The sight of any shifter from TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse by a "normal" human causes what is known as Delirium, a primal fear inherited from the times when werewolves exercised tyrannical rule over all humankind. The effects depend on what kind of shifter and the witness's willpower (usually in an adjustment in what is the witness's effective willpower score). While not lethal, it can induce fainting or severe panic attacks and usual amnesia as people just don't want to remember what they have seen, though high willpower witnesses can remember or straight up shrug it off. Naturally, other shifters, kinfolk, vampires, mages... ANY supernatural is more or less immune to it, as they are either more than or not at all human.
* In ''TabletopGame/SeventhSea'', there is a red jewel known as "Legion's Spike". While not everyone has been affected by it, some unfortunate cases who have stared into its depths have suffered from catatonia, madness and homicidal rampages. And there's apparently more than one such gem.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'':
** The Flash Pak is a device that fires light bulbs in a random stroboscopic sequence that caused disorientation in anyone who viewed it.
** Piricurus are Awakened thrushes capable of producing cries pitched at 30 kilohertz. This is above the range of human hearing, but large flocks can cause significant auditory pain when all calling at once. Piricuru calls are also painful and disruptive to people with cybernetically-enhanced nervous systems, as well as to animals capable of hearing them, and disrupt both natural and artificial sonar -- bats and other sonar-dependent animals become disoriented and blind when piricurus sound off.
** ''TabletopGame/Cyberpunk2020'' has an option for cyberarms that can cause disorientation and seizures.
* Witnessing mad science in ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression'' can turn a normal person into [[TheIgor a Beholden]] or a full-fledged [[MadScientist Genius]]. One of the reasons for TheMasquerade is because, well, [[PerpetualPoverty otherwise that's just more labs to feed]].
** And, naturally, there's rules for building Brown Notes ranging from "blinding flash of light" to "self-aware infectious meme".

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' features a spell called Rune of Singular Hate. It's described as a single word full of such vile and complete hatred that, when uttered at someone, curses them to debility at best, and outright death at worst. It's such a powerful word that it even affects the caster in a similar way, and can only be cast once in a lifetime.
** Similarly, the Deathlord known as the Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible is working on a mammoth collection of books about the theology of death. Some are used as holy books for ancestor cults, some are gibberish he keeps in his own personal library... and some describe Oblivion so seductively the reader goes insane.
*** And when it comes to [[TomeOfEldritchLore damnable books]] in Creation, there's none better than ''The Broken-Winged Crane'', which often instills madness in those who read it and compels them to try demon summoning and Yozi worship for fun and profit.
** In other Deathlord wonkiness, there's the Monstrance of Celestial Portion, the cages used by the Deathlords to put Solar Exaltations through the spin cycle of evil so they come out as Abyssal shards. Solars can't even look at the Monstrances without feeling violently ill.
** There is also the Yozi called She Who Lives In Her Name - her true name traps lesser beings into endlessly repeating it should they ever hear more than a few words of it.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' has the Whateley family [[strike:tree]] [[TangledFamilyTree shrub]]. ''Looking'' at it is more than enough to drive someone insane, thanks to its terribly tangled composition and some definitely non-euclidean branches being portrayed. Then there's what the Whateleys are actually doing...
* ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'':
** There is a weaponized brown note, in the form of "basilisk hacks", combinations of sensory input which essentially crash the human brain. Also, [[spoiler:low exposures only cause seizures, but longer doses can cause [[TheCorruption Exurgent infection]].]]
** Pandora gates are noted to be odd enough that they hurt your head and cause some [[PsychicPowers asyncs]] to wig out. Most of the solar system bases that contain gates keep them covered at all times... just to be on the safe side.
* In the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' tabletop RPG, Eredun, the language of demons, is said to be inherently evil and has a will of its own; it slowly rots the brain of any nondemon who speaks it, driving them mad and corrupting them towards evil. It's one of the reasons that warlock magic is considered so taboo, as it's required for the casting of spells.

* ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' deals with vastly alien concepts that can confuse and bewilder mortal minds, but that's just from trying to grasp extraordinarily complex ideas. ''Intruders: Encounters with the Abyss'' suggests that [[EldritchAbomination Abyssal intrusions]] can take forms such as a poem or work of art. Banishing such intrusions is extremely difficult when merely perceiving them is deleterious.
** A specific example from ''Intruders'' is Dark Angel Aphasia. At first it manifests as a strange obsession with the works of others with the condition. Then the sufferer begins to lose the ability to communicate in either speech or writing, but continues to obsess over whatever concept has caught their fancy. Eventually they become completely incapable of using language, and not long after that they either go comatose, instantly recover with no memory of what they were talking about, or ''disappear''. And how does this condition spread? By reading something a sufferer wrote or talking to them before they lose the ability to communicate.
* In ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'', any attack can be made into one of these by adding the Sense-Dependent flaw.
* ''Varanae'' generic RPG supplement ''Monstrum 1''
** The Garmen is an undead dog-spirit whose howls cause fear in all unintelligent animals, possibly causing them to flee.
** The Sandmyrk is a small dog/rat hybrid. A pack of them can surround victims and begin a horrible howling that causes chilling fear in their targets, The terror is so great that animals will flee in panic and intelligent creatures have a good chance of doing the same. Even if a victim manages to resist the effect they are still severely penalized while fighting the Sandmyrks.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Arduin}}'' RPG, ''The Compleat Arduin Book 2: Resources''
** The Hell Cat's bone-rattling caterwauling causes intense fear in all creatures within 60 feet.
** The Sun Demon's movement causes a squealing and groaning like tortured metal that inflicts a -5 penalty of the combat abilities of all creatures within 30 feet.
* The ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' card Des Croaking requires 3 Des Frog on the field to destroy your opponent's entire field. The card art depicts the effect as [[https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Des_Croaking literal brown notes.]]

* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' the Terror advantage (caused by whatever aspect of yourself you wish) can terrify victims beyond all reason. At its worst Terror can cause permanent insanity and actually make someone so horrified by the effect that he becomes stupider.

* ''Arduin'' RPG, ''The Compleat Arduin Book 2: Resources''

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' had the Flash Pak, a device that fired light bulbs in a random stroboscopic sequence that caused disorientation in anyone who viewed it. Similarly ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk2020}}'' has a ''funny'' option for cyberarms that can cause the same effect plus seizures.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' has the Whateley family [[strike:tree]] shrub. ''Looking'' at it is more than enough to drive someone insane. Then there's what the Whateleys are actually doing...

* The ''YuGiOh'' card Des Croaking requires 3 Des Frog on the field to destroy your opponent's entire field. The card art depicts the effect as [[https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Des_Croaking literal brown notes.]]

** The Sun Demon's movement causes a squealing and groaning like tortured metal that inflicts a -5 penalty of the combat abilities of all creatures within 30 feet.

*** In addition the Imperium have their own Brown Note in the form of the Culexus Assassin. These rare mutants are like psychic black holes, whose bizarre ''non''-presence seriously puts the wind up anyone (including their own allies) within a few feet.