[ED4] Terror

[Baravakar]

[Mataxes]

[etherial]

[Razan_GM]

For the first time because mostly they wouldnt know there is penalty for failed test, also they wouldnt know what is the Difficulty (I never say how much they have to roll, unless someone is really familiar with the task). Also:
Lion Heart !!!
Heartening Laugh
Inspire Others

No more reasons I can see. But anything can happen in game.

[Mataxes]

I think a character with appropriate experience and ability to resist or shake off fear effects will have a better than 5% chance of success. Especially if they use Karma.

Willpower Step 6 + Lion Heart Rank 7 = Step 13

Step 13 vs DN 16: about a 29% chance of success.

Karma pushes those odds up even higher (closer to about 50%). And that's without factoring in possible bonuses from magic items, group threads, or other talent/ability synergies.

[Baravakar]

[etherial]

[Baravakar]

[Tattered Rags]

[Utsukushi]

I don't know, Rags -- if "Actions" were capitalized, I'd agree, but the book also frequently uses the word action in the non-capitalized, general `something you do' sense, and this reads to me more like that.

I think the difference is "common sense". If you declare an Attack hoping you'll be able to attack, and then find that you can't because the rules of Terror require you to flee -- then you flee. Or otherwise try to get away from the Horror, as apparently we need to emphasize that every time. (Though, to note my bias, I do play on-line, and in Play-By-Post, that "Declare Actions" phase is one of the first things to go. It's a neat idea for modeling the ever-changing landscape of a real battle, and the difficulties of responding to it, but it's always felt unnecessarily cluttery to me.)

But, Mataxes, I have two questions I don't see addressed;

1) How do Willpower tests like this fit with the abolition of Attribute-Only Tests? Is Willpower the only Attribute that still has them?

2) Can you clarify if the penalty does apply to that Willpower Test? The consensus I see here seems to be yes, these penalties apply to all tests... but that still seems to me to be contradictory with the rule about this being the only test you can make if the penalty exceeds your Willpower Step, since that is the very Step you use to make this test. Does someone with Step 4 Willpower and a -5 Penalty roll Step -1, or Step 4? (OK, fine, Step 1 or Step 4 -- I do believe these penalties always stop at Step 1.)

I admit, and DO think it's an important point, that this penalty actually being up to the -5 range is going to be a rare event, but... it'll happen, and it does seem to get confusing when it does.



More philosophically... what is the problem with people rolling every round on a low chance of succeeding? Why did you guys feel you should put a stop to that? Earthdawn is totally a game where one big roll on the bad guys' side can kill a character in one shot, but it is ALSO a game where the heroes succeed awesomely in unexpected circumstances. Speaking as a GM, I would *want* my players to have maybe a one in twenty shot at shaking off the effect. You know, at least until the Wormskull invokes it again the next turn. 'Course, I always bear in mind that "Hope" was the last thing out of a box full of evil... I never thought that was meant to be inspiring.

Speaking as a player, of course, I would totally want that. <grin>