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Fear Checks
by James Wedig (krysallokard @ hotmail.com)

The horror genre is perhaps one of the hardest for a GM. Players often allow their characters to react to horrific situations in ways that may not be natural. Since the players know that they are in no immediate danger, they don't feel that their character is in any danger either. Keeping the players on the edge of their seat can add a level realism to their character. This, however, is no easy task. The following system has been designed to give a GM a tool that allows them to influence a character's reaction as well as keep the players on edge. The first part of this article covers the "fear check," which is related to the character. The later section of the article covers some tips for GMs to keep their players tense so the fear checks become more meaningful.

The Fear Check

The "Fear Check" system has been designed for horror genre games. It is designed for the game where it is almost inevitable that the characters will stumble across something that has the potential to frighten them. This is where the "Fear Check" comes into play. Any time a character gets into a situation that would scare them (finding a corpse in a closet, seeing a ghost, being attacked by giant spiders, finding something man was not meant to know, etc.) the player will roll a Fear Check for their character. A Fear Check is rolled using the character's Willpower attribute (or other appropriate trait). The difficulty of the roll is determined by the situation. A fairly minor situation will have a reasonably low difficulty while a truly horrific experience will have a very high difficulty. The following chart shows some examples of some sample difficulties.

DifficultyExample Cause
PoorHearing noises, object falls off a table
MediocreSeeing a wall covered with insects, crawling through a small tunnel
FairFinding an intact Corpse
GoodSeeing someone get killed, seeing a ghost or zombie, getting hit with a bucket of blood
GreatSeeing a friend killed, being attacked in complete darkness
SuperbHaving a corpse fall out of no where into your lap, being eaten alive by rats
Legendary*Watching your entire family horribly killed in front of you, things man was not meant to know
* This is not the limit of this chart. Things can get truly horrific even for the most hardened individuals. It is quite possible to have a horror that goes off the chart.

Fear Check Modifiers

There are also other modifiers that can apply to the difficulty of a Fear Check. The following list gives some example of factors that can influence a Fear Check.

ModifierExample Cause
-2Seeing a corpse that has been prepared for a funeral
-1Seeing a corpse in a mortuary
-1Finding skeletal remains only
-1Finding animal remains
+1Seeing a corpse that is heavily decomposed or mutilated
+1Finding the corpse of a friend or loved one
+1Finding the corpse of a young child
+1Darkness or low light conditions
+1, +2The situation involves one of the character's phobias
-1The situation is routine for the character
-1The character is prepared for the encounter
-1The encounter is routine or commonplace
-1Seeing a horror at long distance
+1Seeing a horror right in front of your face
+1The character failed their last Fear Check*
* this modifier is not cumulative

Failing a Fear Check

If a character succeeds with their Fear Check the character may act normally. They manage to compose themselves and continue along. It is when a character fails a Fear Check that things start to get interesting. Compare the results of the failed Fear Check to the following chart to determine the outcome.

RollDegree of FailureEffect
-1Minor FailureThe character is startled and will be at -1 for their next action. The character then recovers normally.
-2, -3Major FailureThe character has a minor breakdown. The character is -1 to a number of actions equal to the degree the roll was missed by. The character will acquire a minor phobia or psychological disadvantage related to the situation that lasts the remainder of the playing session.
-4, -5Severe FailureThe character snaps. The character may freeze up and not move at all. The character may flee in a random direction that could get them into more trouble. The character may fly into a rage and unceasingly attack the object of their fear (+1 offense, -1 defense). These effects last a number of minutes equal to the degree the roll was missed by. The character will acquire a phobia or psychological disadvantage related to the situation. This phobia can only be overcome with counseling, medications, and time.
-6Critical FailureThe character completely snaps. They may slump to the ground sobbing. They may just wander aimlessly in a random direction or the character might completely freeze up. The character might faint altogether. The character will become completely useless for anything. This effect will last for several hours after the roll. The character will also acquire a phobia or psychological disadvantage that is somehow related to situation that caused the breakdown. This phobia is permanent.
-7 or worseCatastrophic Failure

The character is so stricken with fear that they will immediately faint and slip into a severe coma. The character rolls Endurance (or appropriate trait) vs. a Good difficulty at the end of each week in the coma. On a success the character recovers from the coma, but is -1 to all actions for a time equal to the duration of the coma.

The character will also acquire a severe phobia and/or psychological disadvantage related to the situation that placed them into the coma although they will have absolutely no recollection of the event. This phobia is permanent.

Acquiring Phobias

The GM should be creative when determining just what exactly happens to a character when they fail a Fear Check. Sometimes the player will come up with a reasonable response for their character on their own or perhaps another player will give a good idea. It is the GM's final say as to the results of the failed check.

Characters who miserably fail Fear Checks can suffer severe psychological damage. This results in either a phobia or other psychological disadvantage. A phobia is a fear that the character acquires as a result of a traumatic experience. It is not always directly related to the object of their fear. For example, a character is attacked in the night by a swarm of giant spiders and fails their Fear Check badly. It would be too easy just to say the character acquires a fear of spiders. Rather the GM decides that in the character's mind they relate spiders to filth and dirtiness. Therefore the character is afraid of very dirty places. The character will do everything in their power to keep things neat and clean and avoid dirty and messy places altogether.

The second option is to give the character a psychological disadvantage. A psychological disadvantage could be anything ranging from being obsessive compulsive to schizophrenia or even severe depression. Take the above example with the spiders: Rather than giving the character a phobia, the GM decides to apply some other psychological damage. The GM decides that the character again associates spiders with dirt and filth. The character's mind then says that to keep away the spiders the character must remain as clean as possible. The character from then on constantly washes his hands, bathes, and is always cautious about 'dirty' things.

Phobias and Psychological Disadvantages as Faults

Some players may suggest that the above rolls for Fear Checks are far too severe. After a few severely failed Fear Checks the character becomes a quivering ball of nothing. This may be true, but players should keep in mind that the really severe penalties only come with a severely bad roll so it is not likely anything too bad will happen to a character very often.

The second thing a player should keep in mind is that the phobias and psychological disadvantages their characters acquire are not as permanent as normal faults. They are easier to remove later in the campaign than regular faults in the sense that they do not cost experience points to remove. Some of these faults only last for the remainder of the playing session at which point the character fully recovers. In other cases where therapy or medications are suggested the player may declare that the character is going to therapy and using medications in their off time. (This assumes they have the money and time to do so.) So after a GM-determined amount of time (usually a few weeks or more game time depending on severity) the fault is removed with no additional cost to the character. (A player may decide that the new fault is now a part of the character and elect to not remove the fault for roleplaying reasons.)

The only exception to this rule is if the character suffers a critical failure or worse. These phobias and psychological disadvantages are permanent and can only be removed with experience. They are considered faults for all intents and purposes but the character receives no free levels for the fault as they would during character creation.

Keeping the Players on Edge

While the above system is no replacement for a good descriptive GM, it does allow a GM to have a bit more influence on the character's reactions to horrific events. The tips given here allow a GM to set to proper mood for the players that will hopefully get them in the right mind set for the game.

Gaming Atmosphere

The hardest part about running a horror style of campaign is scaring the players, not the characters. It is difficult to keep players on edge since horrific things are not actually happening to them. Therefore the setting of a gaming session should do everything to help add to the tension.

One easy thing a GM can do is limit the amount of light in the playing area. It is more likely players are going to be edgy if a room lit with candles and dim lamps then a room brightly lit with bright bulbs and lots of extra light.

A GM could also play with the temperature in the room where the gaming session occurs. If the temperature is a little warmer or cooler the players will be a bit more uncomfortable and it will add tension to the whole atmosphere of the game.

Props can also be very useful. It is much more interesting to actually hand the players a piece of parchment with writing on it then to simply read them what it says. While the creation of props can be very difficult and time consuming but the potential reward (the reaction from the players) can be entertaining.

Keep the Players Guessing

Players should never know exactly what is going on. They should constantly be guessing as to what might happen next. Any time the character get close to almost figuring out what is happening to them there should be something else thrown their way that disrupts their previous notions. The dark underworld is a mysterious place with many levels of intricacy. A character may never know just how far their adversaries' reach may be.

Another good way to keep the character guessing is to never let the characters fully trust any of their allies. The characters may come to trust a certain individual over a few adventures, only to have that individual do something suspicious or even turn out to be an enemy spy. This will make the characters wary of everyone they meet. Characters will be constantly watching their backs anticipating the next double-cross. This is the type of tension that anyone in a horror-style game faces constantly. No one knows who their true friends, or enemies, really are.

Truly evil GMs will arrange events so that characters will start casting doubts on each other. This adds an even greater level of tension in the players that can provide for some very interesting role-playing.

Timing

Timing can be very essential in maintaining a level of tension for the players. As a character progresses into a situation the tone of the game should be very slow and cautious. Then almost instantly throw in a Fear Check as a corpse falls out of the closet. Don't give the players much time to relax and think about how their characters react. The longer a player thinks about their character's actions in a Fear Check situation the less likely the result will be realistic.

The same can be said of combat. Combat moves very quickly, so player should have to think on their toes and give their actions in a few seconds. Players shouldn't take several minutes to discuss strategy or the best course of action, especially when being attacked by an unknown horror.

Using the advice and mechanics provided above, your horror games should become a little more threatening to the characters, and ultimately, more enjoyable to the players.


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