Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Roleplaying Fear Traps in Battle
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Charles Dunwoody" data-source="post: 8041722" data-attributes="member: 17927"><p>In most RPGs, battles start by rolling initiative. In the real world, battles start with fear. The attacker feels the adrenaline and sweat and the inner voice listing everything that could go wrong. For the defender, the attack kicks the heartbeat into overdrive and panic tries to lodge deep. How do you roleplay the effects of this fear for extra verisimilitude in your RPG of choice?</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]123967[/ATTACH]</p> <p style="text-align: center"><a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/scifi-war-future-futuristic-robot-3617337/" target="_blank">image courtesy of Pixabay</a></p><p></p><p>Combat does strange things to the mind, as your psyche also wages war in trying to protect you mentally from the stark terror surrounding you. Sometimes, plunging into conflict calms the mind and a warrior sees time seem to slow down as they fall back on training and experience to fight to win.</p><p></p><p>Other times, there are four dangerous places the thoughts of a warrior might wander to called fear traps. Keeping these mental journeys in mind can flavor combat and enrich your understanding of your character. Roleplaying how your character shakes off these dangerous mind tangents and gets back to attack and defense will also enhance your roleplaying enjoyment.</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Broken record:</strong> You think that your plan is a good one. You focus exclusively on one thing, even if it isn’t a good idea. Your character may experience this if hit by an opportunity attack you should have seen coming or stumbles into a trap he should have expected. Maybe you try to reload a ranged weapon even if an enemy is in close and you take a hit. You may simply say, “Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea after all better try something else” and switch tactics.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Dreamer: </strong>You feel an almost out of body experience and detached from what is going on around you. You believe that somehow everything will just work out. Time seems to slow down and you feel like you stand apart almost like one already dead. You might demonstrate this state after a hard hit from an enemy gets through your character’s defenses. You might say that as the attack comes toward you, your character admires the flash of light off the incoming blade or appreciates a gleam of dust motes in sunlight as a bullet strikes home.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Panic: </strong>combat starts and you can’t think clearly, you can’t process your thoughts, you make terrible decisions, and everything is mixed up and backwards. With panic, you find it easy to die and you have become a liability. This trap is easiest to roleplay when your PC has succumbed to a fear effect. That loss of control and not getting to pick actions for your character covers the panic trap completely. You can describe your character’s confusion, his head whipping back and forth without focus, seemingly unable to raise his weapon to defend or attack, and finally turning and running the wrong way.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Retirement:</strong> When you should be planning your next move instead your mind wanders to the future. Eager to leave the real danger you are in, your thoughts go somewhere else entirely putting you in even greater danger due to distraction. You may imagine yourself as a tavern owner, warm and well fed, or living quietly in a cottage somewhere with your feet up. Maybe you remember your favorite food and beer from back home. Roleplaying distracting thoughts is easy if you roll really poorly to attack. You may simply state that you miss and say your character looks unfocused, as if her thoughts are on places or times far away. She shakes her head to clear her mind.</li> </ul><p>These responses to fear can be used to add roleplaying to a negative event that affects your character. Instead of simply taking a bad hit or failing a save you can quickly roleplay your character’s reaction to this set back. You can even go back over, in character, what happened in the fight later when the party sits around a campfire or in a tavern, assuming your character survives.</p><p></p><p>The inspiration for this article came from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSn_ALlQoNw" target="_blank">Warrior Poet Society</a> on YouTube.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Charles Dunwoody, post: 8041722, member: 17927"] In most RPGs, battles start by rolling initiative. In the real world, battles start with fear. The attacker feels the adrenaline and sweat and the inner voice listing everything that could go wrong. For the defender, the attack kicks the heartbeat into overdrive and panic tries to lodge deep. How do you roleplay the effects of this fear for extra verisimilitude in your RPG of choice? [CENTER][ATTACH type="full"]123967[/ATTACH] [URL='https://pixabay.com/illustrations/scifi-war-future-futuristic-robot-3617337/']image courtesy of Pixabay[/URL][/CENTER] Combat does strange things to the mind, as your psyche also wages war in trying to protect you mentally from the stark terror surrounding you. Sometimes, plunging into conflict calms the mind and a warrior sees time seem to slow down as they fall back on training and experience to fight to win. Other times, there are four dangerous places the thoughts of a warrior might wander to called fear traps. Keeping these mental journeys in mind can flavor combat and enrich your understanding of your character. Roleplaying how your character shakes off these dangerous mind tangents and gets back to attack and defense will also enhance your roleplaying enjoyment. [LIST] [*][B]Broken record:[/B] You think that your plan is a good one. You focus exclusively on one thing, even if it isn’t a good idea. Your character may experience this if hit by an opportunity attack you should have seen coming or stumbles into a trap he should have expected. Maybe you try to reload a ranged weapon even if an enemy is in close and you take a hit. You may simply say, “Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea after all better try something else” and switch tactics. [*][B]Dreamer: [/B]You feel an almost out of body experience and detached from what is going on around you. You believe that somehow everything will just work out. Time seems to slow down and you feel like you stand apart almost like one already dead. You might demonstrate this state after a hard hit from an enemy gets through your character’s defenses. You might say that as the attack comes toward you, your character admires the flash of light off the incoming blade or appreciates a gleam of dust motes in sunlight as a bullet strikes home. [*][B]Panic: [/B]combat starts and you can’t think clearly, you can’t process your thoughts, you make terrible decisions, and everything is mixed up and backwards. With panic, you find it easy to die and you have become a liability. This trap is easiest to roleplay when your PC has succumbed to a fear effect. That loss of control and not getting to pick actions for your character covers the panic trap completely. You can describe your character’s confusion, his head whipping back and forth without focus, seemingly unable to raise his weapon to defend or attack, and finally turning and running the wrong way. [*][B]Retirement:[/B] When you should be planning your next move instead your mind wanders to the future. Eager to leave the real danger you are in, your thoughts go somewhere else entirely putting you in even greater danger due to distraction. You may imagine yourself as a tavern owner, warm and well fed, or living quietly in a cottage somewhere with your feet up. Maybe you remember your favorite food and beer from back home. Roleplaying distracting thoughts is easy if you roll really poorly to attack. You may simply state that you miss and say your character looks unfocused, as if her thoughts are on places or times far away. She shakes her head to clear her mind. [/LIST] These responses to fear can be used to add roleplaying to a negative event that affects your character. Instead of simply taking a bad hit or failing a save you can quickly roleplay your character’s reaction to this set back. You can even go back over, in character, what happened in the fight later when the party sits around a campfire or in a tavern, assuming your character survives. The inspiration for this article came from the [URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSn_ALlQoNw']Warrior Poet Society[/URL] on YouTube. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Roleplaying Fear Traps in Battle
Top