Henry
Autoexreginated
I can't see the posts you refer to as that poster has me blocked, but I would say a couple of things about the above. What the player gains in the latter case is the ability to make DM calls, at least in this case, which isn't desirable to someone like me who prefers players and DMs stay in their prescribed roles. As well, I don't see why the mechanic necessarily makes for a more engaging story. It seems reasonable that an engaging story can be achieved without the mechanical penalty. To add to that, I would say it could make for less engaging stories over time as player seek to avoid penalties for portraying their characters in certain ways. An incentive like Inspiration is in my experience a much more assured way to get players to act according to established characteristics - because there's a payoff for making choices that might not be the most optimal, but that are in line with said personal characteristics.
I think it makes it pretty engaging that a character, despite the tremor in their hands and the feeling of falling in their gut, faced by their most fearsome foe, still manages to prevail — or is utterly beaten and needs to come to terms with their failure. To me that’s more engaging than just “running away” or “failing to attack due to said fear.” I’m still not seeing how voluntary disadvantage leads to “players seeking to avoid penalties for portraying their characters in certain ways.” It’s not DM usurpation, it’s DM collaboration, it’s basically an extension of the “saying yes” technique.
I won’t argue against inspiration, carrots always tend to work better than sticks - but if you have players already so engaged they’re playing their flaws consistently, the carrots aren’t as useful. Might as well just start everyone out with inspiration each session if they’re that good. Sadly, we aren’t all as skillful as the CR cast at making awesome characters.