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About this mod
Adds a fear-based death penalty system. Each death increases the player’s mental fear stage unless they meditate or take special medication. XP loss on death scales with fear level. Manual item use required. Immersive and punishing, but fully player-controlled.
⚠️ IMPORTANT: READ THE “HOW TO USE THIS MOD” SECTION BELOW! ⚠️
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
- Donations
Do you feel too confident after quicksaving? Charging into missions you know are too hard, just because you can always reload? This mod is here to put a stop to that — punishing every death in a brutal but immersive way.
⚠️ IMPORTANT: READ THE “HOW TO USE THIS MOD” SECTION BELOW! ⚠️
This mod works semi-automatically — that means you have to manually apply the death penalty effect after reloading. I tried automating it, but tracking player death and detecting it after loading a save turned out to be too complex. If anyone knows how to implement that mechanic via script or plugin, feel free to create a patch. I'd love to see it.
⚠️ REALLY — READ THE “HOW TO USE THIS MOD” SECTION! ⚠️
This mod works best in Survival mode, where saving is only possible in a bed — making each death and load feel like waking up from a nightmare.
Then suddenly wakes up, realizing it was all just a dream.
A terrifyingly vivid dream — more like a premonition.
But the nightmare leaves a mark.
Shaking hands. Racing heartbeat. A deep, lingering anxiety.
This mod introduces 3 escalating mental states that apply after each player death and reload:
APPREHENSION (Stage 1 Fear):
That means if your XP drops below 0% progress on your current level after applying a fear effect, you should save your game and reload it. Doing so will reset your XP bar to exactly 0% on your current level.
Think of it as a small mercy — once you level up, the XP threshold resets, and you can never fall below that new floor.
Requires Papyrus Common Library for XP loss functionality to work.
This mod doesn't overwrite any vanilla records and should be compatible with everything.
⚠️ IMPORTANT: READ THE “HOW TO USE THIS MOD” SECTION BELOW! ⚠️
This mod works semi-automatically — that means you have to manually apply the death penalty effect after reloading. I tried automating it, but tracking player death and detecting it after loading a save turned out to be too complex. If anyone knows how to implement that mechanic via script or plugin, feel free to create a patch. I'd love to see it.
⚠️ REALLY — READ THE “HOW TO USE THIS MOD” SECTION! ⚠️
This mod works best in Survival mode, where saving is only possible in a bed — making each death and load feel like waking up from a nightmare.
WHAT THIS MOD DOES
Your character dies on a mission...Then suddenly wakes up, realizing it was all just a dream.
A terrifyingly vivid dream — more like a premonition.
But the nightmare leaves a mark.
Shaking hands. Racing heartbeat. A deep, lingering anxiety.
This mod introduces 3 escalating mental states that apply after each player death and reload:
APPREHENSION (Stage 1 Fear):
- -1 Strength
- -1 Agility
- -0.02 Aim Stability (slight weapon sway when using sniper rifle)
- +10 Carry Weight (to compensate for Strength loss)
- XP Loss: 10 × your current level
- -2 Strength
- -2 Agility
- -1 Luck
- -1 Perception
- -0.13 Aim Stability (weapon sway when using sniper rifle)
- -1.3 AP Regen Rate
- +20 Carry Weight (to compensate for Strength loss)
- XP Loss: 10 × your level
- -3 Strength
- -3 Agility
- -2 Luck
- -3 Perception
- -0.3 Aim Stability (strong weapon sway when using sniper rifle)
- -4 AP Regen Rate
- +30 Carry Weight (to compensate for Strength loss)
- XP Loss: 10 × your level
- Meditate on the Meditation Pillow (craftable at Workshop → Furniture → Chairs)
- Take Calmex Plus (craftable at Chemistry Station)
- Take Mentants Sedative (craftable at Chemistry Station)
⚠️⚠️⚠️ HOW TO USE THIS MOD ⚠️⚠️⚠️ <--- READ THIS!
How to start using the mod:
1. Open the console and use the following command to find item IDs:
HELP "apprehension" 4 ALCH
HELP "fear" 4 ALCH
HELP "terror" 4 ALCH
Editor ID's of those items:
Apprehension → NF_ApprehensionTonic
Fear → NF_FearTonic
Terror → NF_TerrorTonic
2. Add these three items to your inventory (99 or more of each) using console command::
player.additem ID 99
(All are in the Aid category and weigh 0.)
3. (Optional but recommended) Assign the three items to hotkeys.
4. If you want to enable the Mental State display in your Pip-Boy, use the console to find and add:
HELP "mental state" 4 ALCH
player.additem ID 1
Then use it from your Aid tab.
5. Death System Rules:
- If you die with no effect active → use Apprehension to apply Fear Stage 1 and XP loss.
- If you die with Apprehension active → use Fear to apply Fear Stage 2 and XP loss.
- If you die with Fear active → use Terror to apply Fear Stage 3 and XP loss.
- If you die with Terror active → use Terror again to apply XP loss only.
6. How to remove Fear effects:
- Sit on a Meditation Pillow (build in Workshop → Furniture → Chairs),
or
- Use Calmex Plus or Mentats Sedative (craftable at the Chemistry Workbench)
⚠️⚠️ IMPORTANT: Fallout 4 does not support level-down mechanics. ⚠️⚠️How to start using the mod:
1. Open the console and use the following command to find item IDs:
HELP "apprehension" 4 ALCH
HELP "fear" 4 ALCH
HELP "terror" 4 ALCH
Editor ID's of those items:
Apprehension → NF_ApprehensionTonic
Fear → NF_FearTonic
Terror → NF_TerrorTonic
2. Add these three items to your inventory (99 or more of each) using console command::
player.additem ID 99
(All are in the Aid category and weigh 0.)
3. (Optional but recommended) Assign the three items to hotkeys.
4. If you want to enable the Mental State display in your Pip-Boy, use the console to find and add:
HELP "mental state" 4 ALCH
player.additem ID 1
Then use it from your Aid tab.
5. Death System Rules:
- If you die with no effect active → use Apprehension to apply Fear Stage 1 and XP loss.
- If you die with Apprehension active → use Fear to apply Fear Stage 2 and XP loss.
- If you die with Fear active → use Terror to apply Fear Stage 3 and XP loss.
- If you die with Terror active → use Terror again to apply XP loss only.
6. How to remove Fear effects:
- Sit on a Meditation Pillow (build in Workshop → Furniture → Chairs),
or
- Use Calmex Plus or Mentats Sedative (craftable at the Chemistry Workbench)
That means if your XP drops below 0% progress on your current level after applying a fear effect, you should save your game and reload it. Doing so will reset your XP bar to exactly 0% on your current level.
Think of it as a small mercy — once you level up, the XP threshold resets, and you can never fall below that new floor.
INSTALLATION
Install like any standard mod.Requires Papyrus Common Library for XP loss functionality to work.
COMPATIBILITY
This mod doesn't overwrite any vanilla records and should be compatible with everything.