[I use the word coward a few times in this post; it is not derrogatory: simply one who has not had the opportunity to measure their bravery, or for one who chooses flight (perhaps wisely) instead of fight for preference.]
But to someone who experiences fear, breaks and flees, how does he view the man who stands his ground when something fearful is coming down on him? He must be fearless, the adjective you dislike; "How could he stand his ground if he were subject to the same fear that made me run for my life?", the coward asks. "He must not feel fear at all."
So while I'm bang along side encouraging players to role-play fear, I can understand why players would say, "My character feels no fear": because that's the coward's view of what brave men think and feel like. We all want to be the guy who endures for one moment longer. Perhaps this is an instance of the character feeling something that the player doesn't.
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Seriously: if there isn't something fundamentally wrong with the body that the mortician's expertise tips him off to (after 3 hours the corpse's eyes have yet to cloud over, the flesh is still warm, the body is still bleeding and the blood pool growing though the heart stopped beating long ago, the corpse gives off a scent of nutmeg that the mortician associates with his wife, etc...) then something so mundane shouldn't phase him. And if your DM insists that a perfectly normal corpse makes a tenured med-school cadaver-using biology professor flip his wig then the DM isn't being very clever.
Just because you have a host of characters who have ended up afraid of trout doesn't mean the mechanic is a bad one: it simply may not have been employed well around you.
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As for fear mechanics, with the exception of magical fear effects I don't think PCs should be subject to them. They're great for NPC enemies and allies, but it should be left to the player to decide how his character reacts. I love when 1st level wizards cower behind stuff instead of shooting crossbow bolts when they've expended their Magic Missile; it makes the same 9th level wizard taking on an Ogre Mage and his minions that much more meaningful. Character development, what what?
That and it's fun to screw with the PC paladin when the Evil baby-souflee eating goblins surrender out of fear and the rest of the party and the NPC warriors are out for blood.[/DM sadism]
PIM68 said:
I think you'll appreciate this adage: "Bravery isn't the absence of fear, it's action in spite of it." Or also: "Bravery is endurance for one moment longer."Jack7 said:
But to someone who experiences fear, breaks and flees, how does he view the man who stands his ground when something fearful is coming down on him? He must be fearless, the adjective you dislike; "How could he stand his ground if he were subject to the same fear that made me run for my life?", the coward asks. "He must not feel fear at all."
So while I'm bang along side encouraging players to role-play fear, I can understand why players would say, "My character feels no fear": because that's the coward's view of what brave men think and feel like. We all want to be the guy who endures for one moment longer. Perhaps this is an instance of the character feeling something that the player doesn't.
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Your games tend towards this? To use a witty prhase: that sounds like a personal problem.Saeviomagy said:
Seriously: if there isn't something fundamentally wrong with the body that the mortician's expertise tips him off to (after 3 hours the corpse's eyes have yet to cloud over, the flesh is still warm, the body is still bleeding and the blood pool growing though the heart stopped beating long ago, the corpse gives off a scent of nutmeg that the mortician associates with his wife, etc...) then something so mundane shouldn't phase him. And if your DM insists that a perfectly normal corpse makes a tenured med-school cadaver-using biology professor flip his wig then the DM isn't being very clever.
Just because you have a host of characters who have ended up afraid of trout doesn't mean the mechanic is a bad one: it simply may not have been employed well around you.
---
As for fear mechanics, with the exception of magical fear effects I don't think PCs should be subject to them. They're great for NPC enemies and allies, but it should be left to the player to decide how his character reacts. I love when 1st level wizards cower behind stuff instead of shooting crossbow bolts when they've expended their Magic Missile; it makes the same 9th level wizard taking on an Ogre Mage and his minions that much more meaningful. Character development, what what?
That and it's fun to screw with the PC paladin when the Evil baby-souflee eating goblins surrender out of fear and the rest of the party and the NPC warriors are out for blood.[/DM sadism]
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