What do you guys think of this?
I thought long about what you folks said about removing Fear as an instinct. It’s still something I am not entirely sure about, but I think I like the way I handled it.
I see Fear as something that, being so integral to a character in Star Wars, should be written on a character sheet, and should be interacted with according to the standard style of play. A Fear is something that a force-user might not even be aware of. If they are, it seems like good practice and good play to write a belief that is counter to that fear, about overcoming it. This is where I see amazing drama, bursting at the seams. This is why I left it as an instinct.
Guess I will see what you guys think…
Fear is the first step on the path to the Dark side
Choose a category from below and write a 4th, special instinct. Your character may fear all three categories, but try to determine what reallyterrifies them; something subconscious that paralyzes them with fear. Determine the true cause of it.
Each category is given three examples.
Loss
[ul]
[li]“I fear the loss of my brother”[/li][li]“I fear the loss of my home”[/li][li]“I fear the loss of my power”[/li][/ul]
Failure
[ul]
[li]“I fear failure in the eyes of the Council”[/li][li]“I fear failing to become a Jedi Knight”[/li][li]“I fear failing my friends”[/li][/ul]
Annihilation (Don’t know if I love this word for it)
[ul]
[li]“I fear death.”[/li][li]“I fear the extinction of my race”[/li][li]“I fear the dark side”[/li][/ul]
As with all instincts, this may be rewritten in play, likely after some event has fundamentally changed the character…
Fear Leads to Anger
A single Persona point may be spent to tap a character’s Anger. It can be spent on any test where the majority of the group deems the character is acting out of Fear, hatred, or goes directly against the Jedi Code.
Doing so allows the player to add any amount of dice from his Anger exponent to an ability test. For the purposes of advancement for the augmented ability, the dice act like a Persona point spent on the test.
Anger Leads to Hate
Fear can make a force-user lash out using their Anger. When something triggers a character’s Fear—Threatening their loved ones, their ego, their life, etc.—, and the player wishes to act counter to his Fear instinct, the GM (or player themselves) can call for a Steel test. If the Anger exponent is higher than the character’s hesitation, use that as the obstacle for the Steel test instead of the character’s hesitation. If the test is passed, the character remains balanced with the force, and restrains their feelings.
The test may be voluntarily failed. In this case, the character hesitates for a number of actions equal to his Anger exponent.
If the Anger Leads to Hate test is failed, Anger advances immediately. The player chooses one of two reactions: Either Fall Prone and Beg for Mercy (“No. That’s not true! That’s Impossible!”) or spend a deeds point to invoke the Hate Leads to Suffering rule (“Never!”).
Hate Leads to Suffering: Rage
This new reaction requires a deeds point to be spent in order to invoke it. The force user flies in to a bloody rage. They must attempt to destroy everything that is causing them their pain. Strike them down with all of your hatred! They must choose the most violent and destructive of options available to them. During this time, and until the scene is over (or they are killed), the force user must add their full Anger dice to every physical test—Including Lightsaber—that they make. This does not cost them extra artha, however they may use artha as per usual.
Additional successes from attacking with a weapon must be spent to increase the damage as much as possible before any successes may be spent elsewhere, such as aiming, or otherwise.
He may not make any test that would require concentration, and he may not test any social skill, even intimidation. His goal is only to kill his enemies. Any social skill used against him at this time is at an additional obstacle equal to his Anger exponent.
In either case, whether the character Falls Prone or flies into a Rage, the cause of the failed test becomes the focus of their attention—always lingering somewhere in the back of their mind.
Beliefs and Anger
Beliefs can mitigate Fear. If a character has a Belief that directly contradicts a situation in which the character’s fear is realized, and the Anger Leads to Hate test is called for, Hesitation is reduced by one.