Fight or Flight Mechanics

[WraithDrof]

I recently had become curious as to why there aren't any fright check results that make the victim run away. I came across this thread:

http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=71976

That satisfied my thirst for why there didn't exist such a thing on the fright table, as it represents mental damage more than that basic instinct.

But I'm still quite confused why there isn't any mechanics at all! This might end up being a preference thing, but hear me out here.

A player can be put in the situation where their character has to choose between a dependent and a larger group of people. For whatever reason, the player wants to push the character to save the group of people. -This- invokes a self control roll, but the moment-to-moment panic of combat only differentiates between purely non-points related roleplay?

Lets say a character is sitting in a room when a monster that obviously wants to kill him bursts through the door. Does that not say something about that character's composure as to whether he immediately makes the best tactical decision, given by a player who has the luxury of time, or whether he runs or even instinctively grabs for his gun instead of the silver sword he needs?

Even if you look beyond the basic debate on whether this goes Roleplay vs Gameplay (something which all RPGs grapple on a fundamental level) I'd argue it would be more -fun- to deal with an unexpected reaction rather than the one most logical to follow. Its the reason we roll dice at all in an RPG; you don't just say "My character hits because he'd never miss a shot at this range," because when he critically fails and shoots the president's daughter accidentally, nobody would have seen it coming before the dice hit the table. It plays on that drive of unpredictability that I find to be so integral to combat in particular.

Anyways, I'm curious as to everyone's thoughts on this matter.

I would have posted this on the old thread but I don't want to perform thread necromancy and this is really a different point anyways.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by WraithDrof

\A player can be put in the situation where their character has to choose between a dependent and a larger group of people. For whatever reason, the player wants to push the character to save the group of people. -This- invokes a self control roll,

It does not. Dependent isn't a self-control disad.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

It does not. Dependent isn't a self-control disad.

But such a decision will have negative repercussions for said character. Even if the character believes it was the right decision, it won't feel right, and will suffer for it.

[WraithDrof]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

It does not. Dependent isn't a self-control disad.

Oh, sorry, I thought it did. But the situation can still be applied to phobias and other character-behavior disadvantages with self-control rolls.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by WraithDrof

I recently had become curious as to why there aren't any fright check results that make the victim run away.

Check out Flight or Frenzy in the Not Just Stunned box on GURPS Horror p 141. This gives the option of fleeing instead of being stunned for more than one second.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Check out Flight or Frenzy in the Not Just Stunned box on GURPS Horror p 141. This gives the option of fleeing instead of being stunned for more than one second.

When phobic, I often go into a weird slow motion. In combat that would be just as useless as stunned. Severe system lag is how I sometimes think of it.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

When phobic, I often go into a weird slow motion. In combat that would be just as useless as stunned. Severe system lag is how I sometimes think of it.

Check out Stun is Fun in the same box.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Check out Stun is Fun in the same box.

I meant as a go-to useless behavior when out of it. But since I've been "lucky" to only have bene in panic situations from my anxiety, I can't really say if facing a rotting zombie would make me act the same. I have an odd feeling I might laugh hysterically. I once did that at age 12, when my 16 year old half brother tried to beat me up. His "punches" were so whisper light, I literally couldn't stand up from the laughing.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I meant as a go-to useless behavior when out of it.

How does Stun is Fun not cover slow motion flailing?

[WraithDrof]

I think those mechanics work alright.

They're still attached to the Fright Check table though, which is reserved for mental damage; your brain breaking. That's probably all you need for a horror campaign, but with a high-adventure campaign, I think when it comes to courage there are some more nuances.

This is definitely going down the road of being a house rule, but to test to see if you run away, dive for cover or any other panic actions, let's say you'd roll:

Will - (how big the apparent gap in power is) x (the stakes for failure).

I sort of just want mechanics to test courage, because I've got a player that wants to be the warrior who charges into odds stacked against him without a second thought (basically Link from Zelda), but its difficult to make him feel like that if everyone else joins in the fight right after they've spent a turn urinating. If you see a collossus crest the hill you could abandon reason to run away, or you could gape in horror before you come to your senses and attack.