Fear
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This has always been admittedly one of my vexations. Fear. Sometimes I feel like playing a scary character, but the problem I have run into is that unless people are oocly afraid of you, they will not show it icly. And to be ooc afraid of you, you must be 1) High level. 2) Fd a lot of people. I can bring Damien Locke as an example. He was a creepy guy, and powerful mechanically. But if their target didn't know he could FD each of them in a moment, I believe nobody would have been half afraid of him. Fallow is another example. Great villain. People shitted their pants in his presence. But, and maybe I am biased, not because he was a great rper, that he was, but because he was a lvl 12 wizard that could FD anyone with a single lightning bolt. If he had been lvl 5, or 6, nobody would have been half afraid of him.
My real problem is that no matter how you roleplay, or the ic power you have (political, NPCs support), unless people know you can FD them in an istant, they will never roleplay proper fear, or respect of a character. Maybe I am biased, or I am looking at this from the wrong point of view.
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I wasn't affraid of Loche, IC or OOC. Fallow is the same thing. What I was affraid of were moments. Moments where I wondered whether I would make it out of the encounter alive.
Also I'd like to point out, when dealing with adventurers doesn't it make more sense that they'd show less fear? Being a fearful adventurer doesn't tend to work out so well.
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Actually, i beg the differ.
I had a lvl 7 pansy ass bard/fighter in the Bhaliiran Faction back in the day. People -were- freaking scared of her. Not because what -she- might do, but what she -could- do.
My trick was to be a bit creepy, and to have hired goons. Trust me, while your pansy ass wizard might not be dangerous on his own… If you have a team of damage dealers around you, who -WILL- kill someone if they piss you off, things will change.
Its either that, or have enough IC power and dm friends willing to enforce it.
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There were certain characters i truely feared IC and even a bit OOC not bescause they were powerful in a build sense but how they were played i can name a few examples.
Tobin Sett- That guy just appears out of nowhere delivered his message of doom and hell would break loose and be slip away in the chaos
Minister Undon- This guy how devouted how threatening he and his general mannerism makes me want to make away slowly and not cross this bugger.
Envoy Bel-Maybe it just the size or his composer but yeah.. he just one of those guys where if he said (get out of my way) the whole street would clear for him)
Micheal-This guy just knows that thin line between warning and threatening and if your in bad standing with his he crosses it often i not want to be caught with this guy in a back alley alone.
i could go on but that's good enough examples for now.
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What do you want to be scared of, the single person or the "group" he represents?
If it's the first without a credible direct threat I would shrug him off. I.e. Mr. Wizard lvl 2 won't scare me.
Mr. Wizard lvl 11 wouldn't scare me as well, unless I saw him fry some orcs with one single spell or transmute a giant into a block of stone.About the second, well I would not care if it's a lvl 2 or 11 or 34, if he has a group working at his orders or if he represents that group and the group can bring credible threat to your char.
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@O'louth:
Actually, i beg the differ.
You are not saying anything different than me.
@O'louth:
-WILL- kill someone if they piss you off
This is the core of my problem. Unless people know OOCLY that you can/could/will kill them, they never rp fear. It is the "know oocly" part that bothers me. It bothers me that despite your ic accomplishments (you have killed a dragon, you have become the herald of a powerful dark power) unless you are ready to FD them on the spot, people will not be afraid of you.
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You're looking back on things and saying Fallow was feared, when in actuality he inspired the same mix of fear and "mighty meek" reactions that everyone does from what I saw. Then again, I was playing very much a "contempary" character to him - I imagine if i'd come out of the blue and seen him even at level 6, more established than me, I might afford him respect on default.
Fear tends to stem from power - in whatever form it takes - intimidating the other character succesfully. Actually being able to frighten others takes a lot of effort. Think of the guy from Stardust, Captain Shakespeare and his quote: "Ah, don't mention it. Seriously, don't mention it…you know reputations, lifetimes to build, seconds to destroy."
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Level up to 10, FD three or four guys –> Everyone will think twice before crossing your path, because nobody wants to lose his character.
Do awesome stuff, obtain the support of all the NPCs and be lvl 5 --> People really will not care who you are.
That is probably the core of the problem as I see it. But again, my view may be biased, and others may not feel as I do, that is why I am asking.
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I understand the idea that you should be feared on roleplay alone, but the truth of the matter is fear is caused by people thinking ICly that you can do bad things to them and if you can't or have never shown that you can, you won't be feared. Whether it's fear of repercussions (I can beat you up / kill you now but your faction / friends will destroy me like an ant) or fear of them personally, you cannot fear someone if they do not have an IC portfolio of reasons to be feared. Further, fear can entirely be respective: a petty crook could fear a Stark Wyvern because the crook knows the Wyvern would win if he caught him, but both would fear the Shadovar Captain because they both know he would win.
The simple fact is, people won't fear other people without IC motivation, and IC motivation is what you call "OOC". Your character would not fear someone unless they know for definite that they 1) could and 2) would cause harm to them in any way and you cannot know that for definite unless they have caused harm to other people!
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Also I'd like to point out, when dealing with adventurers doesn't it make more sense that they'd show less fear? Being a fearful adventurer doesn't tend to work out so well.
Less fear. Not No fear.
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Just because someone acts scary doesnt mean you should be scard of them.
I'm not afraid of street guys talking shit.
nor afraid of skinny ass bulked up kids in the gym
Nor was i afraid of most people at the dojo.Put the first together with one of the other 2, and then it turns one cautious.
Without some evidence of effectiveness, the reaction might be disdain, not fear. And before fear would come regard or caution.
Any dork can be "scary". Doesn't mean they can actually do anything.
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I'd like to add that, alternatively, I played a high level character that very FEW people were actually scared of.
Mostly because I did a poor job roleplaying him, at least to the level he should've been roleplayed. Also, I was quite shy out of character for a very long time.
I guess I'll get to the point here- You should definitely strive to fulfill that which your character is supposed to be (IE- scary, creepy, etc) but to actually do that, you have to be ready to back up whatever dialogue it is that you're dishing out IC'ly.
Confidence comes to mind as well- don't be discourteous to someone, but also don't be afraid to take action when it's deserved/needed.
(Subdual works wonders, btw! If you're playing that kind of brutish, tough-guy type. :D )
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Years back when I had more time to play, people feared my level 6 wizard. I hit level 7 once, they got really scared of him.
Its how you play the character, not your level. I once watched a level 12 cleric who thought he was terrifying mouth off to a level 3 half-orc barbarian. That half-orc tore him apart in two rounds. Suddenly the entire server was afraid of him and his scythe crits.
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And an addendum to this, its not mechanical power. It just takes knowing how to play scary and that when you threaten someone, they need to know you carry through with it.
Lots of people on CoA plot and threaten, few carry through. Very few carry through with a vengeance.
Its the knowledge that if you cross this guy, he'll make sure you or allies of yours wind up dead.
My wizard had a rivalry with a local Purple Dragon. I couldn't touch him for a number of reasons. So I had hit men take out his allies instead.
People started to realize quickly that it was dangerous to hang out with that PD and that he had a big enemy.
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This is all true and good, but let's also keep in mind that alot of players want to play a cool character, being afraid isn't cool.
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Scoobie Doo was shit scared all the time, he was cool.
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Yeah Scoobie Doo was cooler than Chand Ashweed
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I do not agree either. Flawless heroes are dull. I prefer "real" people.
Honestly, we all hated Sturm Brightblade.
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On a more serious note, that is probably part of the problem (if ever it can be considered a "problem"). Because if people do not want to represent fear because of ic reason since it is not cool, one finds himself forced to have them represent that fear for ooc reason aka, the fear of being FDed and losing one's character.
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Wizard, in this area, Dms can and perhaps to a greater extend -should- be helpful.
Robbes Mallarme, and Christopher Alistair from recent memory, were actually quite scary. Both were mechanical weaklings to the point of it almost being amusing, but both had alot of IC power, and even more importantly knew how to use it properly.
Katelyn Obarstal beat up Alistair in confrontations five or six times. Mechanically he could not beat her. Yet he had enough IC power to virtually ruin her life, and did so.
What i mean is, you need to carry through and show power in SOME form for you to become scary.
Back in the harper duo of Rebecca Kelten and Cordova, people actually began to fear them. Not because they were -that- powerful, but because they were fearless well beyond the point of stupidity, and would carry out their threats.
You can use your power, whether it is mechanical or IC influence effectively, and become feared through such. But you have to SHOW what you can do in some form before you can become scary.
