Discussion on imposed Fear
-
The two different mechanically imposed fear on PCs and monsters in game has often troubled me in how I should roleplay it.
When a wizard casts the spell of fear, the character will, for the duration of the fear spell, be frightened by the effects of a spell. I understand this as a magically imposed effect that is unnatural.
How do folks interpret an aura of fear that is in effect on some monsters, like dragons and mummies. I have always considered that this is not a magical effect but an inherent frightening nature of the monster and not some magical effect. In the same way, when wolves or other beasts howl, that this is, again, the natural fear that chills the blood based on stories told by bards in dark, mysterious inns or personal history, or just straight awe, in the case of dragons.
Do other people see a difference between the aura and the spell? The reason I am asking is that, for me, with a magically induced fear, when the magic is shaken off or otherwise discharged, the character can roleplay a sense of indignation at the effects of a spell or otherwise dismiss the effects as "done to him" rather than lack of courage. Whereas, with what I regard as a natural aura of terror, I see the character shaking off the disability of the fear, but remaining with the underlying terror that has been overcome by courage. Perhaps laughing in the face of terror or overcoming the childhood Arachnophobia and gutting it out to stand with your friends. Effectively, you face your fears.
In this, I am not considering the Roleplay during the fear effects but afterwards. For me, magically induced fear or natural fear produce the same results for that character, dodging and ducking, screaming, gibbering wreck, what ever is appropriate for your character. I am looking at the Roleplay after the effect has worn off.
-
Auras are also magical in nature. It's no different than the fear spell.
Notice only greater mummies, dragons, troll chieftains (who cast magic, again) for example, have such auras.
A natural fear, however, is not something that can be shrugged off by magic. You can gulp down a potion of clarity at level one, but this does not mean you won't wet yourself at the sight of a fifty foot tall dragon bearing down on you. They're two very different things, comparable to say, high charisma (good social skills and likeable pesonality) and using say, the charm person spell (as per PnP, to increase favorable sensations towards the caster).
Whereas, with what I regard as a natural aura of terror, I see the character shaking off the disability of the fear, but remaining with the underlying terror that has been overcome by courage.
This would be an example of natural courage. A paladin's immunity to fear does not mean he's fearless, simply that supernatural fears don't affect him. A lot of tyro paladins, after all, might be in constant fear of inadvertently breaking their vows, or something of that sort.
-
@wikia:
Description: Some creatures have the inherent ability to generate an aura of fear which completely surrounds them. Any enemy entering this aura and failing its saving throw (DC is 10 + a third the caster's hit dice) will become frightened for a number of rounds equal to the caster's hit dice.
Now, I can see that for some monsters, this "inherent" aura could be magical, but what of the wolf howl? Surely some monsters are inherently more frightening that others, and take a greater courage (mechanically represented by Will) to face them?
Dragons are big and scary, what need of additional magic to impose fear? Mummies are scary, greater mummies are scarier! Troll chieftains are massive drooling monsters with armour and vicious weapons, great strength and prowess as a warrior. What need do all these have for magic to impose fear on a character?
-
It's not a question of "need". They just have it.
Notice, shifters taking dragon form don't get the aura of fear? That's because they are not real dragons. Therefore, the aura is a physical, tangible force; i.e. magical, and not psychological purely.
Auras are a magical effect. The DM of a particular session (any session, be in PnP or Nwn) can decide to play it as psychological, but the base rules state it as purely magical. Note, even 8 cha paladins (clearly no leadership or beacon of hope material) will give out an aura of courage. That's clearly not due to the natural charisma of the paladin.
From your OP, I assume you're asking how exactly people roleplay the difference. For me, I treat them differently. My characters exhibit no shame at running from a fear aura, but that's definitely not the case when they back down from some powerful monster out of fear of death. Because in the first case, he would be compelled by forces beyond his control; The second would be his own choice.
In other words, anything that makes me roll a will save against fear = magical. (e.g. auras, spells) Just shrug it off ICly, forgetting the incident.
Anything that generates fear otherwise = natural. (e.g. being told that the fate of a thousand lives hangs on my next actions). Lasting impact and possible emotional scars, something that might stick with you forever.
-
Mechanically it might be all magic, but it's totally based on how the person RP's their character. For example, this one guy by the name of Sandy emoted running around and screaming during our fight with Ithylibhor, even though he was nowhere near the dragon or it's aura.
As how to RP it..yes, the actual spell fear could cause someone to run away, just to shake it off later and blame the spell for the person's fearfulness. As for Aura's, in a certain perspective, it could simply be someone's second guess on who they're fighting. Perhaps they run up to attack the beast, but decide not to and concentrate on self preservation since it looks so deadly. A sudden drop in natural moral in other words like how swordsmen would feel up against a calvary charge.
-
The fear spell ive always treated as instilled terror when affected but when it ends being just abit embarrased over all the screaming the same for howls that don't create an aura.
Dragons and other monsters that have fear auras well until the aura is active i treat them as i would any big scary monster and keep abit of distance respecting there strength as they inspire fear,when they attack ie activate the aura then they are acting hostile roaring smashing the ground with a huge club or somthing like that,at that point if my character fails the save then they are not affected by fear but by terror and run screaming for the hills or stands in mute horror as the get there legs pulled off etc…
Thats how i see it this way a paladin can be afraid but because he is selfless does not give in to the terror and can stand his ground.Note, even 8 cha paladins (clearly no leadership or beacon of hope material) will give out an aura of courage. That's clearly not due to the natural charisma of the paladin.
Paladins used to have to have 17 charisma so that they were beacons of hope that inspired others the fact the requirement was removed just means the class is easyer to play.
-
@Amy:
Paladins used to have to have 17 charisma so that they were beacons of hope that inspired others the fact the requirement was removed just means the class is easyer to play.
Yeah. Old-school paladins were much more badass. Several ability restrictions, like a charisma of minimum 17, a wisdom of min. 13. I think there even was a minimum strength requirement. That way they'd have to be competent, wise and strong of heart. How they should be. Fearless inspiring leaders, not powerbuild str-paladins with no charisma like now. Off topic anywho.
I see auras as "natural fear" and spells as "magical fear". Even the strongest of heart have moments of weakness (bad rolls) and vice versa. An aura creature is naturally scary and imposing. You'll need some guts or take something in order to man up for the task (ie. clarity potions that I see as a sort of drug for focusing your mind like caffeine or heavier things). Spells have the same effect. Vs. spells I see it more like a mental shield, but also have some of the same effect as the potions.
What would be interesting is if people RPd not only their feelings of fear, but also the effects of potions on them. Especially those mind-affecting. Taking a potion of clarity makes you exceptionally focused, lose interest in conversation and get a sort of "tunnel-vision" towards your target for example.
Also, once you're inside the aura, you know you can stand it since you're already there, thus explaining why you won't suddenly run away from a scary foe like a dragon out of fear. However, it might be discouraging to charge after the beast if you've been given a short respite and some moments to reflect on what you're doing. "Do I really want to charge in at that thing again..?"This is how I see it anyway.
-
In regards to dragons, in dnd, i remember something from the dragonlance books about dragons having an actual natural ability, good and evil, to make people fear them. A real, magical, tangible force of fear. Commoners, when seeing dragons flying, would be frightened an almost unnatural long time after seeing them. And dragon riders had to overcome this natural feeling of awe fear, in order to fly them.
-
It's a world where magic is very much a "natural" component of things. As I see it, a fear aura is just a magical manifestation of an ability that creature has - like a manticore can hurl spikes, a gorgon can turn people to stone with its breath… approaching a hostile dragon takes great willpower, or warding magic; goblin chieftains as a monster type have the ability to cause anyone hostile to them who gets too close to be struck by electricity, like a troll chieftain as a monster type has the ability to cause fear in anyone who gets too close without any apparant spellcasting.
It's a monstrous, magical ability from my perspective, though it's not something as unpredictable as the Fear spell (which is usually RP'd as a character facing the illusion of being overcome by some phobia) and more often is a kind of terror directly related to the monster in question.
-
It's a /magical/ aura. Why would a Troll Chieftain be more frightening than a Beholder or a Fire Giant or a Giant Troll?
-
It's a /magical/ aura. Why would a Troll Chieftain be more frightening than a Beholder or a Fire Giant or a Giant Troll?
Did you ever see a troll up close? Beholders look like beauties compared to them.
On a serious note though, and to add a few cents. I never understood these "Fear Auras" from an adventurer perspective. There are adventurers out there I am sure who faced powerful dragons, demons, or in other words "Seen it all", yet, if some lesser creature with a fear aura walks up to them and "Scares them" it is very hard to justify, at least I can't justify it to myself.
On the other hand, a powerful magical creature, or wizard could have a magical aura of fear, which would be like a permanent fear spell about it/him/her. A troll chieftain alone is not a challenge to a party, yet it can scare all of its warriors by just looking in their direction. Furthermore, the Troll Chieftain are neither that "big" or powerful when compared to let's say Troll Berserkers.
Back when I was playing my Knight all I could think of was "Cursed Magic". Of course, I mentioned earlier about characters who have "Seen it all". Technicaly, a character who has faced numerous dangers during his life and survived would be a mildly high level, with a will save that reflects this, that's how I think it would be from the point of view of mechanics. However, due to the way the server rules are made you might have had people go through hell, only to lose the experience from some incident, thus making them lose this "experience"… I hope ye get me drift.
-
It may be that the aura's just represent how naturally scary or intimidating the creature looks/acts regardless of how dangerous it really is. A level 1 pc with 5 ranks in intimidation will be more well…intimidating then a level 20 pc with no ranks in intimidation.
Just think about it this way...fear auras are how monsters who trained in the intimidation skill get to roll and use it against PC's without a DM needing to say "Okay, roll a will save ... okay, you're scared now." :D
-
It has to be magic or it makes no sense to both fear the specific selection of monsters who cause this and for an adventurer to cower for so long (especially with the mechanics of it where you can't even flee, you just stay there waiting to die).
Intimidation is a skill. Standing around being very ugly or very big is not a skill.
-
It's pretty obvious the monsters are not "naturally scary". All monsters have frightening appearances, and adventurers have already dealt with the initial fright of fighting them in their early adventures. Your Will is not a measurement of your character's bravery, it is a measure of how strong his mind power is to resist magical effects and spells.
-
A wizard did it.
Yeah, it's all magical. Otherwise those potions wouldn't work against it and…stuff.
Also, it would be much more challenging for me to roleplay my 'banite' being afraid of things other than 'him' so, yes, it is all magic.
-
Also, it would be much more challenging for me to roleplay my 'banite' being afraid of things other than 'him' so, yes, it is all magic.
Why?
Banites are afraid of everything bane is the most feared of all but you should fear the dreadmasters that are above you and your commanders in the army,worshiping bane does not make a character immune to fear.
The only class that is immune to fear is the selfless paladins and they get scared but they stand there ground for the good of others as they are selfless.Fearless Banite…kind of like Honest Thief ...or Goodhearted murderer.
-
@Amy:
Also, it would be much more challenging for me to roleplay my 'banite' being afraid of things other than 'him' so, yes, it is all magic.
Why?
Banites are afraid of everything bane is the most feared of all but you should fear the dreadmasters that are above you and your commanders in the army,worshiping bane does not make a character immune to fear.
The only class that is immune to fear is the selfless paladins and they get scared but they stand there ground for the good of others as they are selfless.Fearless Banite…kind of like Honest Thief ...or Goodhearted murderer.
I am all three of those…. But I believe Aura's are more "Natural Magic" Like it's that essence that you can sense the powerful magic... Howls and what not I believe are natural as well... Just my 2 cents
-
It is important to note that Dragon Fear is diffrent then normal fear, and is a magical effect, it is a natural aura the dragon generates.
-
@Amy:
Also, it would be much more challenging for me to roleplay my 'banite' being afraid of things other than 'him' so, yes, it is all magic.
Why?
Banites are afraid of everything bane is the most feared of all but you should fear the dreadmasters that are above you and your commanders in the army,worshiping bane does not make a character immune to fear.
The only class that is immune to fear is the selfless paladins and they get scared but they stand there ground for the good of others as they are selfless.Fearless Banite…kind of like Honest Thief ...or Goodhearted murderer.
I was really just joking about having my character say 'Fear only him!' then running away from a guy in robes who cast scare on him, or a lump of rotting flesh covered in rags.