Fear

[Sir Mathodius Black]

How, in ROS, would one handle fear of characters and NPC's?  There are no rules stating what can scare characters, and it isnt like there arent any things that cant scare them anyway, so how would you handle this?

[Brian Leybourne]

If I suddenly found I needed a fear mechanic on the fly, I would probably just call for a WP roll, TN determined by how scary the thing was.

Generally, though, I just let the players roleplay out their characters fear. I don't often find I need a mechannic for it.

Brian.

[Mike Holmes]

I'd go with the WP roll for something appropriately scary. It's really little different from a roll to lift something. There's a force, and you have so much ability to counter it. I'd only allow players to dictate their character's reactions in the face of fear if I was playing a more "superheroic" sort of game.

The big factor would be SAs, however, of course. Just for emphasis, have some NPCs with a known WP of 6 go around a corner and face an undead Hef or something really nasty with a Fear TN of 13. Then after they come running around the corner fleeing for their lives (60% chance or so) have the PCs go at it. They will, of course, be adding their "Passion: Girlfriend" for the captured GF and such SAs to the die pool so that they can make it (only a 40% chance of failure with a total pool of 10 dice), putting their issues out in stark relief once again.

Mike

[Brian Leybourne]

An undead Hef? Jeez... remind me never to play in one of your games... :-)

Brian.

[AnyaTheBlue]

I dunno, guys.

My first taste of combat with TRoS scared me plenty!   =)

[Salamander]

I had a situation between two PC last game... The stage is set with a larcenous Florentine mapmaker named Draco who happens to be gifted and tormented by voices. He is accompanied by a group of PCs including a Mercenary from Lower Saxony (used to live near Braunschweig) whose name is Wilfren. Well, the party rides past a pack of peasants and Draco looks at this scrawny peasant boy who is probably poaching his meal. At just that moment the voices all whisper in his head a single word, "power". He immediately jumps off his horse and chases the peasant boy down. Wilfren hops off his horse too and follows Draco. Draco comes up short and Wilfren asks him what the problem was. To paraphrase Draco "that boy is a witch". Wilfren gets all nervous and his hand goes to his arming sword as he takes a step back. Long and short, now Wilfren "sleeps" with a dagger within immediate reach and watches Draco with a degree of fear and suspiscion. This is just at the HINT of a possible supernatural situation, not one that actually occurred.

So in short, I would agree with Brian on the whole roleplaying fear. As was so astutely observed by AnyaTheBlue, combat can be scary. Now make it something you know nothing about and see what the PCs would really do...