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Old 12-10-2021, 08:54 AM   #1
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Alternative Fright Check Rules idea

So, I've recently been thinking about Fright Checks, and how I... rather dislike their mechanics. Yet, at the same time, characters being affected by fear certainly has a place, even in action-oriented campaigns.

So, I decided to just... make my own Fright Check rules. Get rid of all the baggage - no more Rule of 14! - and start fresh. It was surprisingly easy, once I decided to stop fixing and start making. Note the following gives the player a lot of agency in terms of how their character reacts. So, here it is:

Fright Checks are made as usual, but without the Rule of 14 in play - but adjust anything higher than 16 down to 16, as usual for GURPS. On a Success or Critical Success, the character is unaffected (but not necessarily unafraid - courage isn't lacking fear, it's being able to act normally even when afraid). On a Failure or Critical Failure*, the character suffers one of the effects - chosen by the player - below for the duration of the fright (see Shake it Off, later). If Margin of Failure (MoF) is 4 or more, however, one or more of these effects may be unavailable - divide MoF by 3 (round up) and subtract 1; the result is how many dice to roll. Don't add up the result - instead, each die removes the effect that corresponds to its number (don't reroll if the same number comes up more than once, just ignore the duplicates). The player may choose from any remaining effects. If all effects are somehow removed, roll one more die to determine which effect is in play (alternatively, never roll enough dice that all results could be removed in one go, then stop rolling once only one result remains).

*Optionally, add 2 to the MoF on a roll of 17, and add 4 to the MoF on a roll of 18. This insures a roll of 17 is always worse than a roll of 16, and a roll of 18 is always worse than a roll of 17.

1: Stun is Fun: You are mentally stunned, and must Do Nothing.

2: Stun is Fun: As above.

3: Stun is Fun: As above. Note this means you must roll 1, 2, and 3 for Stun is Fun to no longer be an option.

4: Bravely Run Away: You can do nothing but take Move maneuvers to try and get away from whatever triggered the Fright Check. You must move at least half of your (current) Move each round. If you cannot move away from the threat (say, because you got backed into a corner, or are surrounded), you may choose to either cower (functionally identical in effect to Stun is Fun, above) or take whichever route will let you get to where you can continue to run (even if this means getting closer to - or even having to charge through - whatever triggered the Fright Check). Unless cowering, treat the character as though he/she took a Move and Attack Maneuver for purposes of Active Defenses. A grappled character may attempt to break free, but uses Move and Attack for this.

5: When in Trouble, When in Doubt - Run in Circles, Scream and Shout!: This is similar to Bravely Run Away, in that you must move at least half of your (current) Move each round and are treated as though you took Move and Attack for purposes of Active Defenses. However, instead of running away from your source of fear, you simply run in a random direction each round. Roll 1d each round - treat a 1 as your middle front hex, then count clockwise to determine direction.

6: Don'tWantToDieDon'tWantToDieDon'tWantTo...: You completely lose the plot, with your fight or flight response stuck on the former option. You lash out at anything nearby, being largely unable to distinguish friend from foe. Treat the character as under the effects of Berserk.


Snap Out of It: At the end of your first turn after failing a Fright Check, make a roll against 10, with a penalty equal to the MoF on the Fright Check. Success or Critical Success means you shake it off and can act normally next round. Failure means you have to roll again at the start of your next turn, at a cumulative +1; Critical Failure means you don't get the benefit of the +1 for this round. On subsequent rounds, Success means you shake it off, and can act normally next round. Critical Success means you shake it off immediately, and can act normally this round. Failure and Critical Failure are as for the above (cumulative +1/+0 to next roll).

Slap Out of It: Optionally, an ally can try to get you back to your senses by slapping you in the face (treat as a punch, but with no damage; assume the penalty for targeting the Face is offset by a bonus from not putting enough power behind it to cause harm) or grabbing your shoulders and shaking you (treat as a torso grapple). In either case, this gives you a +3 on your next roll to recover. If your ally opted for the grapple, he/she can try to hold you in place if you don't immediately snap out of it, and can shake you as a free action each turn, to continue to give you a +3 each round.

Shout, Shout, Let it All Out: You can opt to make noise to make it easier to shake off your fear, granting a bonus to the check each round to recover from fright. Muttering to yourself (treat as a Quiet Conversation) grants a +1, talking loudly to yourself (treat as a Normal Conversation) grants a +2, and screaming or shouting grants a +3. Optionally, if your recovery target number is less than 6 (that is, if you failed the Fright Check with MoF 5 or worse), you must make at least enough noise to get up to 6; if this is impossible, you must scream/shout for +3. Making noise makes it more obvious that you're under the effects of fear (and are thus generally an easier target), making you more likely to be targeted (or noticed, if you were hidden when the Elder Thing showed up).
(EDIT: My original draft had the roll to recover be based on Will - indeed, it was essentially just a reroll of the Fright Check - and I failed to correct the language here. It's accurate now, if a bit... wordy - I need a better term for the modified roll against 10 than "recovery target number.")


Note this is largely intended for cinematic action campaigns. A Horror campaign may be better served using the normal rules (plus those from GURPS Horror). That said, I think the above would work decently well for such a campaign if incorporating the Stress and Derangement rules.

As always, thoughts and critique are welcome. In particular, if anybody can think of additional effects to choose from, I've got two open slots (while I like the idea that you almost always have the option of essentially freezing in place, I'd be willing to give that up for some additional options).
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Last edited by Varyon; 12-14-2021 at 01:14 PM.
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