How to simulate FEAR

[ArchLight]

I have read the book and Fear is not well covered it looks like there aer two main ways of ding it.
1) With Mind control but to get a stand and tremble in fear would take +30 it looks like.
2) Adjust their Presense to -30 or their -Pre rating.

I am thinking supernatural fear here while not Cthulian horror/Sanity I am taking a glimpse of the nether world real spooky stuff. Something a Demon or undead horror might be able to do.

I am also looking to simulate a few COH fear powers for you COH players. But i am looking for what this crowd feels would be the best way to do fear like this.


My own attempts have been to have a Drain PRE but its like 2D6 AOE 2"r. And 2D6 is not going to get anyone down to -30. It would take about 3 rounds (with the way I roll) to get even a base 10 Pre to -10. Any power defense and this is not even close to working unless I bought cumulitive.

[MilkmanDan]

+60 PRE, only for Presence attacks, costs END to use.

[ArchLight]

I thought of huge PRE but each use reduces its effectiveness.

If i went this way i would take it only to simulate fear.

[CrosshairCollie]

Well, you wouldn't ALWAYS need a +30; Mind Control is very dependent on the target's psych lims. If he's afraid of fire, and something near him is on fire, amplifying the fear into a catatonic collapse is really pretty easy. :)

Typically, in established HERO characters, 'making someone fearful' is usually accomplished via a Presence Drain (though i would link an Ego drain to it, were it me). Once the target gets to negative Presence, he has to make a PRE roll to do anything aggressive, and that's a 9- at best. IIRC, if his presence reaches the negative of its usual value (aka you drain someone with a 13 PRE down to -13), they also become functionally useless, but someone else will have to verify this one for me. I gotta head out for work soon. :)

Oh, and there's always the basic 'Transform: Target into same Target with Psych Lim: Abject Cowardice' approach, too.

[ArchLight]

Yeah once you reach your -Pre or -30 which ever comes first that rule works. Your right you might want to drain EGO too. Double whammy there.

Just wanted to make sure there was not a more established way to do this I had been missing.

[Netzilla]

Don't forget that once someone goes negative they have to make a PRE roll each phase in order to "...remain in the face of anything even remotely threatening" (HSR 5er pg 38). That's in addition to needing to roll in order to act offensively. If the roll is failed (for either situation), they have to run away.

Our Champs group was nailed with this off of a Drain PRE 3d6 AE Radius a while back. We all had PRE scores in the 15-20 range, but little power defense. As a result, several of us were fleeing the combat after only a couple of hits from this power.

So, you don't need to get all the way down to -30 or -PRE in order to make someone flee in terror. You only have to get them below 0, do something scary (like attack) and if they fail the 9- roll, they run. The only difference taking them down to -30/-PRE makes is that it doesn't allow a PRE roll to control your fear.

[ArchLight]

Thanks I think I have a good starting point for supernatural fear.

[jkwleisemann]

I don't know what the CoH powers are, but here's my personal build for "scary as all Hell":

40: Fear Incarnate (60 point Multipower; Requires PRE roll, -1/20 Active Points, typically -1/2)
4u: Fight... +6 DCV Skill Levels, 10 rPD/10rED Force Field, 0 END (+1/2)
(FX: Attacks on the character are rushed, panicked, and less effective)
3u: ...or flight 12d6 Mind Control, Set Effect ("Run Away", -1/2)
4u: Nervous Fear Change Environment, Multiple Combat Effects, -3 OCV, -4 Ego rolls, -3 Sight PER rolls, -3 Hearing PER rolls, 4" Radius
3u: Frozen in Terror 2d6 Entangle, BoECV, Takes No Damage from Phys. Attacks (+1/4), Based on Ego, not STR (+1/4)
4u: Something Stupid 9d6 Mind Control, Telepathic, Limited Power: Only to do things against their best interests (-0; power is typically used to cause them to accidentally attack teammates, throw the pin instead of the grenade, other things that might be done in a blind panic that have Very Bad Consequences)
4u: All Consuming Horror 2d6-1 Major Transform Human into Human with "Catatonic" Psych Lim, BoECV (+1), Works on Ego, not Body (+1/4)

[Sketchpad]

Don't forget that once someone goes negative they have to make a PRE roll each phase in order to "...remain in the face of anything even remotely threatening" (HSR 5er pg 38). That's in addition to needing to roll in order to act offensively. If the roll is failed (for either situation), they have to run away.

Our Champs group was nailed with this off of a Drain PRE 3d6 AE Radius a while back. We all had PRE scores in the 15-20 range, but little power defense. As a result, several of us were fleeing the combat after only a couple of hits from this power.

So, you don't need to get all the way down to -30 or -PRE in order to make someone flee in terror. You only have to get them below 0, do something scary (like attack) and if they fail the 9- roll, they run. The only difference taking them down to -30/-PRE makes is that it doesn't allow a PRE roll to control your fear.
I use something akin to this mechanic in my Horror Hero games. I use the PRE Characteristic roll as my base and subtract the horror's PRE/5 from the roll when faced with something fearful.

As an alternative, I also have toyed with using a new stat called Willpower (PRE+EGO) that costs 1pt/+1. When a hero confronts something scary, they are attacked by the fear (aka a Presence Damage roll) that subtracts directly from the Willpower. When they reach 0 Willpower, they are so afraid that they can't act. It's akin to the SAN rules rom CoC, but not so much about sanity, as about having tangible numbers to track how scared your hero is ;)