Cold dread seizes the heroine as she enters the lost tomb. A dragon emerges from the cave, belching smoke and fire at the adventurers who threaten its hoard. An investigator stumbles upon a scene of grisly, ritualistic carnage.
These rules reflect the horror of these terrible situations upon your heroes’ psyches.
When to Use These Rules: When a creature has the Fear Special Ability, or the Game Master decides a situation is particularly disturbing.
The Basics: Characters make a Spirit roll when confronted by creatures or situations that cause Fear.
The heroes make a Fear check (a Spirit roll as a free action) when they first spot a creature with the Fear ability.
Success means a character manages to overcome the situation and carry on. A failed Fear check means the unfortunate soul faces the consequences below, depending on whether the source of fear was grotesque or terrifying in nature:
Nausea: If the scene was grotesque or horrific, such as a grisly discovery or learning a secret “Man Was Not Meant to Know,” the character is Shaken and Fatigued from the mental strain. Critical Failure means the victim must roll on the Fear Table as well.
Terror: A terrifying trigger, such as a monstrous creature or unknowable evil, is much more intense. Extras are typically Panicked. Wild Cards must roll on the Fear Table (at +2 with a Critical Failure on the Fear check). Roll a d20 and add the monster’s Fear penalty, if any, to the roll (a -2 adds +2 to the roll, for example).
After encountering a particular type of creature, the character doesn’t have to make Fear checks every time he sees another in that particular scenario. If the party clears out an asylum full of spectral inmates, for example, they should only have to roll the first time they encounter them—not in every room. The Game Master might require a roll if the heroes encounter such horrors in a particularly different or frightening situation, however.
D20* Effect
1-3 Adrenaline Surge: The hero’s “fight” response takes over. He acts as if he had a Joker this action!
4-6 Distracted: The hero is Distracted until the end of his next turn.
7-9 Vulnerable: The target is Vulnerable until the end of his next turn.
10-12 Shaken: The character is Shaken.
13 The Mark of Fear: The hero is Stunned and suffers some cosmetic physical alteration - a white streak forms in his hair, his eyes twitch constantly, or some other minor physical alteration manifests.
14-15 Frightened: The character gains the Hesitant Hindrance for the remainder of the encounter. If he already has it, he’s Panicked instead.
16-17 Panicked: The character immediately moves his full Pace plus running die away from the danger and is Shaken.
18-19 Phobia (Minor): The character gains a Phobia (Minor) Hindrance somewhere associated with the trauma.
20-21 Phobia (Major): The character gains the Phobia (Major) Hindrance.
22+ Heart Attack: The hero is so overwhelmed with fear that his heart stutters. He must make an immediate Vigor roll at -2. If successful, he’s Stunned. If he fails, he’s Incapacitated and dies in 2d6 rounds. In the latter case, a Healing roll at -4 saves his life, but he remains Incapacitated. He may be treated normally thereafter.
*Add the creature’s Fear penalty as a positive number to this roll.