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Old 08-05-2010, 02:08 PM   #21
Zed
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Default Re: No fleeing in the Fright Check Table?

Too many fear (not fright) checks can be annoying and sometimes inappropriate. You should be careful when you use them.

Best example I can think of: Returning fire.
Green replacement compared to 4th combat tour veteran.

While some kind of fear check maybe appropriate for the replacement in his first real combat to see if he pops up and returns fire or hides behind full cover, I don't think it would be appropriate for the veteran (baring other factors).

On the other hand the reverse situation might not work in terms of needing fear checks. If the green recruit is dumb and itching for real combat. He might not think twice about fear... not imagining that the enemy is firing actually really real bullets that really hurt. The vet might sense a bad situation and not return fire, remaining in cover... but this not based on fear, but on knowledge when to keep his head down against overwhelming fire power.

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Old 08-05-2010, 02:36 PM   #22
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Default Re: No fleeing in the Fright Check Table?

How does one customize Affliction: Heart Attack so that it only affects the target if they fail a Fright Check?
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Old 08-05-2010, 02:45 PM   #23
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Default Re: No fleeing in the Fright Check Table?

You can make a Fright Check, and now utterly aware that there is something REALLY Scary and Dangerous around where you are, RUN!!!!! (well unless you're saddled with Disads that keep you from running away, but Frankly Scarlet, that's your character's problem, not the rules.

That perfectly sane response tends to be denied to your character if you fail the check. In essencse the scary thing just succeeded in htting you with a mental attack and you lose actions.
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Old 08-05-2010, 02:46 PM   #24
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Default Re: No fleeing in the Fright Check Table?

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Originally Posted by The Resistance View Post
How does one customize Affliction: Heart Attack so that it only affects the target if they fail a Fright Check?
Wouldn't that simply an Affliction resisted by Will (+Fearlessness, which might be worth a few points off)?

Or do you mean an Affliction that doesn't take effect until the victim next fails a Fright Check?
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Old 08-05-2010, 02:50 PM   #25
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Default Re: No fleeing in the Fright Check Table?

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Originally Posted by The Resistance View Post
How does one customize Affliction: Heart Attack so that it only affects the target if they fail a Fright Check?
Accessibility Limitation: Target must fail a Fright Check (-40%*) 0% Feature: Uses Fright Check as a Second Resistance roll. (Basically the second Roll, a positive cancels out the negative of being afflicted with a Fright Check). If the Fright Check were used in place of the standard Resistance roll to avoid being affected, the victim would die every time the attack succeeds anyway and just a 0% feature.

*my guesstimate on it's value.
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Old 08-05-2010, 03:43 PM   #26
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Default Re: No fleeing in the Fright Check Table?

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Originally Posted by The Resistance View Post
How does one customize Affliction: Heart Attack so that it only affects the target if they fail a Fright Check?
Don't use Affliction, and instead use Terror (Active) with a Side-Effect? (IDHMBWM, so I don't know if this would actually work.)
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Old 08-05-2010, 03:45 PM   #27
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Default Re: No fleeing in the Fright Check Table?

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Don't use Affliction, and instead use Terror (Active) with a Side-Effect? (IDHMBWM, so I don't know if this would actually work.)
That's one hell of a side effect!
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Old 08-05-2010, 03:57 PM   #28
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Default Re: No fleeing in the Fright Check Table?

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Originally Posted by Athanbeli View Post
In fact, I've seen players send their characters to their certain deaths instead of having them retreat from a situation they felt hopeless and frustrating.
Often, when the players do something like this, it's because they don't have the same understanding of the situation you think they do, or perhaps don't realize retreat is an option. Instead of forcing a fright check mechanic on them, you might simply try telling them. Or make a Tactics roll, and then tell them. A bit of advice like "You know, there is virtually no way you could survive this fight. Are you sure you wouldn't like to retreat and try something else?" can sometimes go a long way. If anybody took Common Sense you've even got rules support for that.

It's also important that the first couple times the players do retreat that you make sure it *works*, even if logic is against it. If they flee and you have the enemy charge and cut them down from behind, negating most of their defenses, they're never going to try it again. Much the same applies to surrendering, which players also sometimes need to be coaxed into recognizing is a valid option.
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Old 08-05-2010, 04:19 PM   #29
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Default Re: No fleeing in the Fright Check Table?

Echoed. One of the best recent action scenes in my modern-day spy campaign involved the PCs fleeing a fight in all kinds of creative ways . . . and it working, and nobody getting captured or hurt. Actually, several recent scenes have gone that way. If fleeing what's obviously a serious threat is (1) possible, (2) encouraged by the GM, and (3) supported by less pain than not fleeing would cause, players will opt to have the PCs run away. Not that being forced into action by duty or a locked door shouldn't happen, but that shouldn't be the norm. In said campaign, I'd estimate that about 40% of conflicts can be avoided by running away, 40% can be tackled by ambushes by the PCs, which tend to blow out in the heroes' favor, and 20% are unavoidable attacks.
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Old 08-06-2010, 10:01 AM   #30
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Default Re: No fleeing in the Fright Check Table?

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Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
The lesser kind of fright that you have in mind is best represented using Intimidate checks. When The Chainsaw Maniac is approaching and uses his modified Intimidate 20 on you, even if you are normally a combat capable character running might be a good idea because the penalties to your attack are likely to be fierce.
Now that you make me think about that, I used this myself to some extent (the other way around: the brutish character trying to intimidate NPCs) a couple of times, imposing some minor combat penalty on the intimidated.
So, you're turning the margin resulting from the quick contest directly into penalties to combat abilities? Is this expanded anywhere?
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