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Old 05-06-2017, 11:27 AM   #1
Phantasm
 
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Default Ad/Disad Combo: Brave Face to cover Fright?

I'm pretty sure this was covered several years ago but my search-fu is weak.

Basically what I'm looking for is a combination of traits to cover someone putting on a brave front to cover the fact that you're scared and out of your depth. You're not a coward - or are trying to prove to yourself and/or others you're not, especially if you're from a culture where cowardice is very dishonorable - but your circumstances are such that you're unprepared for it.

I've considered a few options, but none of them seem to really fit. On the Edge keeps popping up in my head, but I'm not entirely sure such a suicidal disad is fully relevant.

Thoughts?
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Old 05-06-2017, 11:39 AM   #2
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Default Re: Ad/Disad Combo: Brave Face to cover Fright?

Sounds more like Acting. A Perk can give a +2 bonus to a roll in a limited circumstance - I would allow a perk to give +2 to rolls to act confident.
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Old 05-06-2017, 11:54 AM   #3
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Default Re: Ad/Disad Combo: Brave Face to cover Fright?

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Originally Posted by Anders View Post
Sounds more like Acting. A Perk can give a +2 bonus to a roll in a limited circumstance - I would allow a perk to give +2 to rolls to act confident.
I'm thinking of the classic case of clearly overcompensating for it. A bit more than Acting, where it's clear the character is afraid and trying too hard to appear otherwise. (A bit cliché, but we've all seen folks like this in fiction.)
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Old 05-06-2017, 12:06 PM   #4
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Default Re: Ad/Disad Combo: Brave Face to cover Fright?

That just sounds like someone who's bad at Acting, then. A Quirk, if they insist on doing it all the time, and potentially an Incompetence quirk if they're bad at all the Acting, all the time.
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Old 05-06-2017, 12:38 PM   #5
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Default Re: Ad/Disad Combo: Brave Face to cover Fright?

I think you're talking about more than a brave face here, but about a character who takes foolish risks in service to performative bravery?

I'm not sure how there's any Advantage involved in this. At best, it might result in the character being given the approbation that's socially prescribed for the things they actually did. The commitment to doing those things could be modeled as a Vow, or perhaps as Overconfidence. (The fact that the character is not actually overconfident but has a compulsion to behave as if they are is a distinction without a practical difference as far as I can see.)
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Old 05-06-2017, 01:08 PM   #6
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Default Re: Ad/Disad Combo: Brave Face to cover Fright?

I can think of a few quirks that fit.

Risk-Taking Behaviour is probably a factor, mixed in with the other disadvantages.

Perhaps Disadvantage Embellishment, to go with whichever disadvantage (Overconfidence, On the Edge) which might include -1 to self-control rolls in order

Extremely Limited Disadvantage could be when they try to prove themselves brave (via Overconfidence or On The Edge) when nobody is looking.

Another possibility is the Compulsive Behaviour disadvantage. I'd probably rate it at about -10 or even possibly -15, for the guy who refuses to back away from a fight because they don't want to be seen as "a coward." I'd lean more towards -10 just to show it's less crippling than On The Edge.
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Old 05-06-2017, 03:00 PM   #7
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Default Re: Ad/Disad Combo: Brave Face to cover Fright?

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Originally Posted by Railstar View Post
Another possibility is the Compulsive Behaviour disadvantage. I'd probably rate it at about -10 or even possibly -15, for the guy who refuses to back away from a fight because they don't want to be seen as "a coward." I'd lean more towards -10 just to show it's less crippling than On The Edge.
I think it's more a Vow or Code of Honor. Compulsive Behaviors have to be indulged daily - that would be going out and picking a fight.
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Old 05-06-2017, 07:08 PM   #8
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Default Re: Ad/Disad Combo: Brave Face to cover Fright?

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I think it's more a Vow or Code of Honor. Compulsive Behaviors have to be indulged daily - that would be going out and picking a fight.
I think Bruno has it. Most posters have concentrated on Brave Face applied to combat, but it could apply equally to non-combat situations, e.g. being pinned, possibly crippled, under a tree.

It seems that what you are looking for in your Brave Face is something rather close to the eighth law of Boy Scouts/Girl Guides: "A Scout smiles and whistles under difficulties./A Guide smiles and sings under difficulties." Some versions have it as "is brave and whistles/sings under difficulties." The whistling/singing actually does help psychologically in "bucking up." Given the nature of the law, I'd be more inclined to call it Code of Honor, rather than Vow, but I think it's what you're looking for.
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Old 05-06-2017, 10:33 PM   #9
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Default Re: Ad/Disad Combo: Brave Face to cover Fright?

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Originally Posted by Bruno View Post
I think it's more a Vow or Code of Honor. Compulsive Behaviors have to be indulged daily - that would be going out and picking a fight.
That could work. I think Pirate's Code of Honor include characteristics of that nature, and a few others (Roman? Northmen?).
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