Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs
With ghouls, then, reactions are either 13-16, suggesting that they're going to work hard and may be prepared to take serious risks rather than risk displeasing her; or 9-12, suggesting totally average reactions. With nixies, they're either average in reactions (9-12) or seriously reluctant (5-8), taking the job only because they feel they have to.
So I think the basic question is, when does each of these apply?
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There are a lot of complex layers here. I might fall back on what I know about the initial attitude of an NPC before I decided whether the effect would be +3 or -1. (And if I didn't know, I might just roll it randomly before the reaction check.) The text lends support for this because it describes people reacting differently to intimidation depending on their outlook (false cheer, bootlicking, or respect).
This also passes the sniff test when you think about fictional (or real) examples of feared individuals. Jabba the Hutt clearly is able to hire people to work for him. Some of them are even somewhat capable and appear to be quite loyal. But they all seem inclined to happily work with scumbags. He must physically restrain Leia despite his positive reaction bonus.
In your example, I don't see any reason why other ghouls would have a reaction penalty with Nergul. Necromancy is a part of their culture. They are still frightened by a necromancer, but they don't have any deeper problems with it. So, for them, I would go with the standard +3. For non-ghouls, it's more complicated. Someone whose religion frowns on such things would be more likely to react negatively, so -1 for them. Someone in a multicultural town where ghouls are tolerated might be in the middle or likely to react positively. Call it a sliding scale from -1 to +3.
I don't know if that helps. It sounds like you are far more systematic about reaction rolls than I am. I usually roll, apply whatever official modifiers I am aware of, apply some situational modifiers for roleplaying or other contextual details and then consider the whole 3-18 range as a smooth scale. (I couldn't tell you where the cutoffs are between attitudes, but I know that high is good and low is bad.) If it all feels plausible to the participants in the story, I'm good to go. I rarely have to make so many rolls for a particular character in a particular context that I feel the need to formally work out all the parameters.