Thread: On being Feared
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Old 09-19-2018, 10:03 AM   #47
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: On being Feared

In theory, there should be those who resent* a class that has Social Regard (Feared), but there should also be those who want to ingratiate themselves with such. The bonus for Social Regard (Feared) could be treated as an average, with a roll to determine where a given individual actually stood (to a minimum of reversing the sign, and a maximum of doubling the value). Honestly, it might be appropriate to treat all cases of Social Regard - or even Social Stigma - this way, although I suspect Feared would be more “swingy” than most.

As for using the rules for slaves and the like, I’d only bring that in in a case where the bonus from Feared makes a difference in whether a potential hireling turns down or accepts the job - if the character being Feared is what made them decide to get the job, it’s possible they feel they were forced into it. Some of those results should be rewritten, however - notably, the bit about getting higher Loyalty by treating them better than previous masters would be more along the lines of high Loyalty by treating them much better than they expected.

Following that, the effect of Feared is going to be more of how the hireling acts, although it could have effects on the hireling’s actions. For example, Feared is going to make a less-loyal hireling less likely to screw the character over in a manner that leaves the character able to exact retribution. So, a low-Loyalty character is less likely to steal something from a Feared character, but would still take advantage of an opportunity to literally stab the character in the back.

*Or simply distrust, or similar. I know someone who once had an opportunity for a rather profitable arrangement, but it would have involved being functionally employed by what he rather suspected was the mob. He declined, as he didn’t want to run the risk of getting killed if he screwed up.
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