Fright Check

A Fright Check is a Will roll made to resist fear. Fright Checks can occur as often or as rarely as the GM wishes. In a horror campaign where ordinary people meet shockingly gruesome Things, Fright Checks might be very common! With only minor adaptation, the GM can use these rules for awe, confusion, etc. as well as fear.

As a general rule, "ordinary" frightening things do not require Fright Checks. Fright Checks are for events so unusual and terrifying that they might stun or even permanently scar someone.

What counts as "ordinary" depends on the characters and the setting. This is one place where a character story can be helpful! An ordinary, 21st-century American might have to make Fright Checks for encounters with monsters, dead bodies, and the supernatural. A battle-hardened commando in the same game might not have to roll for dead bodies. And in a fantasy campaign, all these things may be quite normal...threatening, but normal. On the other hand, a fantasy character might have to make a Fright Check if transported to the 21st century and given a ride down the interstate...

Fright Check Modifiers

The following modifiers are cumulative.

Advantages and Disadvantages: Any Fearlessness bonus or Fearfulness penalty; +2 for Combat Reflexes, or -2 for Combat Paralysis. Other modifiers are conditional: -1 to -4 for Cowardice when your physical safety is at risk; +1 for Daredevil when charging into a scary situation; +1 for Higher Purpose when confronting threats you are sworn to oppose; +1 to +4 for Xenophilia when confronting monsters. Unfazeable characters don't make Fright Checks!

Bodies: +6 for a peaceful-looking body, prepared for burial; +2 for a dead body with no signs of violence; no modifier for most victims of violence; and from -1 to -3 for grisly mutilations. Apply another -6 if the victim was your Dependent!

Heat of Battle: +5 if you are in combat when the terrifying thing happens or you first notice it.

Monsters: A given monster might give a basic -1 to -10 to Fright Checks. For hordes of monsters, roll at -1 for 5 monsters, -2 for 10, -3 for 20, -4 for 50, and -5 for 100 or more.

Physical Circumstances: -1 if the body, monster, etc. touches you; +1 if you witness it at a great distance (at least 100 yards); or +3 if you view it remotely (using Clairsentience, closed-circuit TV, etc.). Apply -1 if the area is physically isolated, -1 at night or in the dark (or in daylight, if you're a night-dweller!), and -2 if you are (or think you are) alone.

Preparation: +1 if you have previous personal experience with this kind of threat; +1 per exposure to this particular threat in 24 hours; +1 to +3 (depending on the quality of the report) if you learned the details of this particular situation before you witnessed it.

The Rule of 14

If final, modified Will exceeds 13, reduce it to 13 for the purpose of the Fright Check. This means that a roll of 14 or more is automatically a failure. This rule does not apply to other Will rolls (resistance rolls, rolls to avoid distraction, etc.) – only to Fright Checks.

Fright Check Table

When you fail a Fright Check, roll 3d, add your margin of failure on the Fright Check, and consult the table below. This sometimes gives implausible results. The GM should either reroll these or change them to something more appropriate – especially for Fright Checks stemming from awe (e.g., divine beauty) or mind-warping complexity (e.g., otherworldly geometry or radical philosophical concepts) instead of fear.

Many of these results give a new mental quirk or disadvantage. The GM assigns this trait, which must be related to the frightening event. If possible, it should also be related to the victim's existing mental traits! Traits acquired this way reduce the victim's point value.

Fright Check Table

4, 5 – Stunned for one second, then recover automatically.

6, 7 – Stunned for one second. Every second after that, roll vs. unmodified Will to snap out of it.

8, 9 – Stunned for one second. Every second after that, roll vs. Will, plus whatever bonuses or penalties you had on your original roll, to snap out of it.

10 – Stunned for 1d seconds. Every second after that, roll vs. modified Will, as above, to snap out of it.

11 – Stunned for 2d seconds. Every second after that, roll vs. modified Will, as above, to snap out of it.

12 – Lose your lunch. Treat this as retching for (25 - HT) seconds, and then roll vs. HT each second to recover; see Incapacitating Conditions. Depending on the circumstances, this may be merely inconvenient, or humiliating.

13 – Acquire a new mental quirk (see Quirks). This is the only way to acquire more than five quirks.

14, 15 – Lose 1d FP, and take 1d seconds of stunning as per 10.

16 – Stunned for 1d seconds, as per 10, and acquire a new quirk, as per 13.

17 – Faint for 1d minutes, then roll vs. HT each minute to recover.

18 – Faint as above, and roll vs. HT immediately. On a failed roll, take 1 HP of injury as you collapse.

19 – Severe faint, lasting for 2d minutes. Roll vs. HT each minute to recover. Take 1 HP of injury.

20 – Faint bordering on shock, lasting for 4d minutes. Also, lose 1d FP.

21 – Panic. You run around screaming, sit down and cry, or do something else equally pointless for 1d minutes. At the end of that time, roll vs. unmodified Will once per minute to snap out of it.

22 – Acquire a -10-point Delusion.

23 – Acquire a -10-point Phobia or other -10-point mental disadvantage.

24 – Major physical effect, set by GM: hair turns white, age five years overnight, go partially deaf, etc. In game terms, acquire -15 points worth of physical disadvantages (for this purpose, each year of age counts as -3 points).

25 – If you already have a Phobia or other mental disadvantage that is logically related to the frightening incident, your self-control number becomes one step worse. If not, or if your self-control number is already 6, add a new -10-point Phobia or other -10-point mental disadvantage.

26 – Faint for 1d minutes, as per 18, and acquire a new -10-point Delusion, as per 22.

27 – Faint for 1d minutes, as per 18, and acquire a new -10-point mental disadvantage, as per 23.

28 – Light coma. You fall unconscious, rolling vs. HT every 30 minutes to recover. For 6 hours after you come to, all skill rolls and attribute checks are at -2.

29 – Coma. As above, but you are unconscious for 1d hours. Then roll vs. HT. If the roll fails, remain in a coma for another 1d hours, and so on.

30 – Catatonia. Stare into space for 1d days. Then roll vs. HT. On a failed roll, remain catatonic for another 1d days, and so on. If you have no medical care, lose 1 HP the first day, 2 the second, and so on. If you survive and awaken, all skill rolls and attribute checks are at -2 for as many days as the catatonia lasted.

31 – Seizure. You lose control of your body and fall to the ground in a fit lasting 1d minutes and costing 1d FP. Also, roll vs. HT. On a failure, take 1d of injury. On a critical failure, you also lose 1 HT permanently.

32 – Stricken. You fall to the ground, taking 2d of injury in the form of a mild heart attack or stroke.

33 – Total panic. You are out of control; you might do anything (the GM rolls 3d: the higher the roll, the more useless your reaction). For instance, you might jump off a cliff to avoid the monster. If you survive your first reaction, roll vs. Will to come out of the panic. If you fail, the GM rolls for another panic reaction, and so on!

34 – Acquire a -15-point Delusion.

35 – Acquire a -15-point Phobia or other mental disadvantage worth -15 points.

36 – Severe physical effect, as per 24, but equivalent to -20 points of physical disadvantages.

37 – Severe physical effect, as per 24, but equivalent to -30 points of physical disadvantages.

38 – Coma, as per 29, and a -15-point Delusion, as per 34.

39 – Coma, as per 29, and a -15-point Phobia or other -15-point mental disadvantage, as per 35.

40+ – As 39, above, but victim also loses 1 point of IQ permanently. This automatically reduces all IQ-based skills, including magic spells, by 1.