Using Presence in your game

[Tech]

How do you use PRESENCE in your game? It is merely a statistic that allows you to a presence attack to slow down opponents, or does is it more of a roleplaying thing in your games? Do your game characters just take a 1/2 phase out due to a high presence attack, or do they back away from a vicious/mega/crazy/etc. villain shows up? Trying to get a player to act their hero as being impressed (or dismayed) can be difficult at times so I'd like to know how you handle this?

[JohnnyAppleseed098]

I use it to role play a lot. My PCs with high PRE usually rule the battlefield. 

[Christopher R Taylor]

Role playing whenever possible, although not everyone is up to it.  If someone has a character with 40 presence but is lousy at coming up with soliloquies or being impressive themselves, I give them the benefit of the doubt.  After all, I can't fly or juggle cars, but if my character can, why should the GM penalize him for my inability?

[death tribble]

Remember also that while the players may try to wriggle out of an effect from Presence, NPCs cannot. There was an example published in a magazine were the bad guy was a 'little old lady'. And when the heroes tried to catch up with her on a city street she used her presence attack on the bystanders saying she was being molested by the heroes. Cue bystanders intervening and providing the villain with a useful get away. The heroes could not attack civilians.

We also had a villainess called Nightmare who could drain presence. Useful to bear in mind.

[st barbara]

I often forget to use "Saint Barbara's" presence (in our modified campaign it is called "impact", but seems to be similar) in combat. Guess i'm worried that , if it doesn't work, she's made herself a target.

[TheDarkness]

While role play mostly, for me, might be a bonus, but not expected(because not all players are actors/actresses AND screenplay writers, circumstance is of major influence.

 

A character in my game who is a bit like a Spiderman character, but who is not infamous or famous, tried a presence attack on some thugs. He is not large, not well known, and had not shown great powers to them yet. And they were at range, and two had guns. Big penalty to his role, and one of them, their leader, used his presence, paired with shooting into the air, to mobilize his people.

 

Presence attacks should make sense, imo.