I'm very confused by the Delirium Trellises (they must be working) in Shadows of Madness, the adventure in the GM's kit. Here's what I (think I) know from the adventure.

The Delirium Trellises blanket the planet, and most of them have been detonated, causing the Delirium.

The Delirium requires you to make a Willpower Test, which, if failed, confers 1d5 insanity points (mortals treat it like a failed Fear Test, checking for Shock at a +20)

The intact Delirium Trellises do not generate the Delirium, and in fact, are known as areas of spiritual calm.

The Delirium Trellis which is described is a vast arch rising above the ground.

However, they are still dangerous. If anyone stands directly on the site of a Delirium Trellis for more than 10 minutes, they have to make a Delirium Test with a 10 bonus.

OK, that's all from the adventure. Now my questions?

How often are you supposed to test against the Delirium in an area affected normally by it?

How often are you supposed to test against the Delirium when standing "directly on the site" of a Delirium Trellis?

What is the difference between the "area of spiritual calm" surrounding a Delirium Trellis and the area "directly on the site" of the Trellis?

If you are checking every 10 minutes when you are directly on the site, then even with a +10 bonus, people are going to be going crazy incredibly fast. Presumably you would not be checking more often when you are on the site of an unactivated Trellis than when you are in an area that is actively blanketed by the Delirium, so are you checking every ten minutes for everyone on the rest of the planet? These Guardsmen wouldn't last a few days, much less a few months of deployment

If the site of the Trellis is just the area where the Trellis touches the ground, then that seems OK (even if you test every 10 minutes). If the site of the Trellis is something else (and we don't know, since "site" isn't clearly explained here), then what is it? If you still have to make Delirium tests in a significant area of the "undetonated" Trellis, then how does it become known as an area of spiritual calm?

There's nothing in the adventure to answer these questions. I can obviously decide them on my own as GM, but I'm curious as to what the writer intended, if Andrea Gausman would care to chime in (or the editior, Ben Lurie).

I'm wondering if once per day is too often. Statistically, it seems Guardsmen would go insane pretty quickly even at that frequency, given their Willpower. However, at once per week, is it going to be enough? I mean, the Space Marines will be out of there in a week or less, I'd suspect, so they would only experience one episode of Delirium. You can't really have them experiencing the Delirium occasionally over the week due to one failed check, as the Guardsmen have specific "episodes" that result in Fear Test effects, which aren't really representative of lingering unease.

I have no clue to your questions, which are very similar to the ones I had while reading the adventure (I was also suspicious about the aspect of the Trellises, which is very little depicted).

May be you could post them to the DW staff, and if you get an answer, post it right here?

I'd go with once for entry into each destroyed area as well as once for each time you decide to hang out on the site of an intact one. I figure once you've succumbed or resisted the one where you are, your body sort of adapts to that particular influence. Some good questions though, and I see how this is confusing.

For simplicity I'd go with once.

E