Phobias (1, 2, or 3 points)

 

Characters who select the Phobias disadvantage are intensely afraid of a specific kind of thing or condition: enclosed places, cats, heights, and so on. Characters can be afraid of anything, though objects or conditions which never come up in play should not be allowed. You can select as many pho­bias as you want.

 

Basic phobias cost 2 points, but a fear of some­thing rare or unusual is only worth 1 point. For example, the fear of cats is a 2-point disadvantage; the fear of black cats is worth only 1; the fear of your neighbor’s cat (and no others) wouldn’t be worth any points at all.

 

You can add a point to the worth of a basic, 2-point phobia by saying it’s a very severe one. (One-point phobias can’t be increased this way.) For example, a basic 2-point fear of heights would come into play when a character has to follow a fleeing agent up a mountain, or onto a window ledge fifty stories up. However, if this character was so afraid of heights he or she couldn’t stand on a chair to change a light bulb, the phobia would he worth 3 points!

 

A player whose character is confronted with the object of a phobia must roll a WIL check or the character will refuse to face the object. The player can choose whether the character freezes or leaves the area immediately. A character who freezes can make a new WIL check every round (no modifiers) to try to overcome fear. A character who leaves the area returns to normal as soon as he or she is out of sight of the feared object or condition.