Minor rant on Fear spells...

[RigaMortus2]

Are Fear spells really any good? I think they can hurt the party more than help it, especially in a dungeon environment. If the party fears some enemies, there is a good chance they will flee, grabbing the attention of other enemies. If players get feared, the same thing can happen. The players will often run into other enemies, and they will probably be alone when they do so, as most fear spells only affect 1 person at a time. I can see Fear being used against the party quite well. But I can't see many situations where the spell would help the party if they used it against enemies...

 

[KarinsDad]

It depends on how well the DM understands group psychology and can keep DM knowledge separate from NPC knowledge.

If a bunch of NPCs in group one run past a bunch of NPCs in group two, most of the NPCs in group two should run in the same direction to see what is going on, they should not run towards the PCs unless some of them are extremely intellgent and can figure out that a Fear spell has been cast.

At most it should alert the NPCs in group two that something is up. But, it might also clear enemies out of defensible position as well: a good thing for the PCs.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Well, if a feared enemy ran past a room that had some of his friends in it, and they noticed, I can see them running after the guy to find out what's up. All it would take is a couple rounds for them to ask the feared ally what's going on and where are the PCs at. IIRC, Fear doesn't prevent people from talking, thinking or answering questions. It just makes them run in the opposite (and even that might be disputable) direction as the person that feared them.

 

[KarinsDad]

Well, if a feared enemy ran past a room that had some of his friends in it, and they noticed, I can see them running after the guy to find out what's up. All it would take is a couple rounds for them to ask the feared ally what's going on and where are the PCs at. IIRC, Fear doesn't prevent people from talking, thinking or answering questions. It just makes them run in the opposite (and even that might be disputable) direction as the person that feared them.

Well, not quite.

Panicked: A panicked creature must drop anything it holds and flee at top speed from the source of its fear, as well as any other dangers it encounters, along a random path. It can’t take any other actions.

 

[Patlin]

Your essential assumption seem to be that npc opponents always (or at least usually) have friends nearby and PCs never (or rarely) have friends nearby. I think that's true of some dungeons, but not all. The Ogre who runs into the giant spider room is likely to have a problem, not to mention the assassin who is part of a team trying to take out your patron the king in the royal palace. Random encounters in the wilderness may not have anyone nearby to get involved on either side, and a panicked person could easilly trigger a trap even if he knows about it.

Also, I've been in battles where the alarms have sounded and the whole darn fortress was on its way to attack me anyway... some of their number screaming in panic and trying to get down the hallway in the opposite direction could hardly hurt at that point.

 

[CronoDekar]

Well, the Fear spell is a 30' cone. And then of course there's Symbol of Fear.

If cast on an overwhelming group, fear effects can let you divide up the encounter so you don't have to fight all the enemies at once -- or possibly at all. It's main usage would be when you don't have to worry about them alerting other enemies for one reason or another (only enemies around, or they can't effectively get to other enemies). Plus a panicked creature being blocked from fleeing is cowered, which makes them a lot easier to poke pointy objects into.

 

[Sejs]

And who says there's nothing to be learned from online gaming?


Very Important Lesson: Never cast a fear spell on something that has friends. They will take exception and come a' calling.


*nod*

 

[IanB]

It depends on how well the DM understands group psychology and can keep DM knowledge separate from NPC knowledge.

If a bunch of NPCs in group one run past a bunch of NPCs in group two, most of the NPCs in group two should run in the same direction to see what is going on, they should not run towards the PCs unless some of them are extremely intellgent and can figure out that a Fear spell has been cast.

At most it should alert the NPCs in group two that something is up. But, it might also clear enemies out of defensible position as well: a good thing for the PCs.

Hm, I think it is a stretch to say that they would need to be extremely intelligent and have to realize a spell has been cast; surely if most people see someone screaming in fear (or even having a panicked expression on their face) and running, it is not a huge leap of logic to realize they're running away from something.

 

[KarinsDad]

Hm, I think it is a stretch to say that they would need to be extremely intelligent and have to realize a spell has been cast; surely if most people see someone screaming in fear (or even having a panicked expression on their face) and running, it is not a huge leap of logic to realize they're running away from something.

So, it's also a huge leap of logic that if other NPCs figure out that one or more NPCs are running away from something, that the non-running NPCs can handle it? No problem. The Ogre ran away, but us Orcs can take on whatever it is.

 

[Sejs]

So, it's also a huge leap of logic that if other NPCs figure out that one or more NPCs are running away from something, that the non-running NPCs can handle it? No problem. The Ogre ran away, but us Orcs can take on whatever it is.

Heh, I think the train of thought runs more along the lines of: the ogre ran away... that means we've got a problem, best to raise the alarm because we know that something's up and it ain't good.