[DF] Terror and Unholiness

Joe · 05-13-2014, 03:20 PM

Another quick question for friendly forumites. I'm making an Unholy Warrior for Dungeon Fantasy. He has Terror and Unholiness 2.

My question: Do people affected by his Terror get a -2 to their fright checks because of his Unholiness 2? Or not?

The answer to this is probably obvious, but for some reason it escapes me. On the one hand, a power talent adds to any roll made to use powers that fall under the talent - so the answer seems to be "yes, the unholiness provides a penalty to the fright check" - but on the other hand, in the case of Terror, it's not the empowered character rolling; rather, it's those on whom the power is used - so the answer seems to be "no, the unholiness is irrelevant, no penalties". Thus my question.

Thanks in advance!

Gold & Appel Inc · 05-14-2014, 07:29 AM

Is the Terror Active +0%? If so, the Talent adds to the roll to use it; in either case, it doesn't add to the victim's penalty, though, which must be bought as discounted additional levels of Terror.

Kromm · 05-14-2014, 10:40 AM

As has been stated, Talent gives a direct bonus only when Terror has Active. In that case, it adds to the user's Will. This makes it easier to overcome the target's own Will.

However, per Powers, p. 84: "When using Terror to bolster Intimidation skill, Talent adds to skill rolls, on top of the +1 to +4 for supernatural powers." That ruling is probably overkill (and largely irrelevant) for a DF campaign, but nothing will break if you use it.

Joe · 05-14-2014, 10:59 AM

I'm always amazed by the helpfulness of those who frequent this forum. Thanks!

So if the Unholy Warrior wants to buy Terror in its vanilla form, which forces everyone around to make fright checks, the power talent doesn't help him with it at all - but it does help him with Intimidation checks.

But if the Unholy Warrior wants to buy his Terror with active, which restricts it to just one subject and makes it a will vs will contest, then the power talent helps in the contest, as well as in Intimidation checks.

Thanks for clarifying that - much appreciated.

(Incidentally, I think this means Terror isn't going to be quite as effective as I'd hoped for 27 pts, so I might have to design the character another way. Never mind! Thanks for the help!)

05-13-2014, 03:20 PM	#1
Joe Join Date: Aug 2004	[DF] Terror and Unholiness Another quick question for friendly forumites. I'm making an Unholy Warrior for Dungeon Fantasy. He has Terror and Unholiness 2. My question: Do people affected by his Terror get a -2 to their fright checks because of his Unholiness 2? Or not? The answer to this is probably obvious, but for some reason it escapes me. On the one hand, a power talent adds to any roll made to use powers that fall under the talent - so the answer seems to be "yes, the unholiness provides a penalty to the fright check" - but on the other hand, in the case of Terror, it's not the empowered character rolling; rather, it's those on whom the power is used - so the answer seems to be "no, the unholiness is irrelevant, no penalties". Thus my question. Thanks in advance! Last edited by Joe; 05-13-2014 at 09:33 PM.

05-14-2014, 07:29 AM	#2
Gold & Appel Inc Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: One Mile Up	Re: [DF] Terror and Unholiness Is the Terror Active +0%? If so, the Talent adds to the roll to use it; in either case, it doesn't add to the victim's penalty, though, which must be bought as discounted additional levels of Terror.

05-14-2014, 10:40 AM	#3
Kromm *GURPS* Line Editor Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Montréal, Québec	Re: [DF] Terror and Unholiness As has been stated, Talent gives a direct bonus only when Terror has Active. In that case, it adds to the user's Will. This makes it easier to overcome the target's own Will. However, per *Powers, p. 84: "When using Terror to bolster Intimidation skill, Talent adds to skill rolls, on top of the +1 to +4 for supernatural powers." That ruling is probably overkill (and largely irrelevant) for a DF campaign, but nothing will break if you use it. __________________ Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS* Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just *GURPS* News]

05-14-2014, 10:59 AM	#4
Joe Join Date: Aug 2004	Re: [DF] Terror and Unholiness I'm always amazed by the helpfulness of those who frequent this forum. Thanks! So if the Unholy Warrior wants to buy Terror in its vanilla form, which forces everyone around to make fright checks, the power talent doesn't help him with it at all - but it does help him with Intimidation checks. But if the Unholy Warrior wants to buy his Terror with active, which restricts it to just one subject and makes it a will vs will contest, then the power talent helps in the contest, as well as in Intimidation checks. Thanks for clarifying that - much appreciated. (Incidentally, I think this means Terror isn't going to be quite as effective as I'd hoped for 27 pts, so I might have to design the character another way. Never mind! Thanks for the help!)