Psychological Effects are most often a direct result or side effect of physical
Injuries or trauma, leading to temporary or long term phobias or irrational responses to the source of damage. An example would be a character nearly mauled to death by wolves, developing a fear of wolves that induces certain psychological effects whenever he faces wolves in the future. Likewise severe burning injuries could cause a fear of fire.
Minor
Injuries would not generally cause psychological effects, however Serious and Critical injuries would be more likely to leave a lasting psychological impact. Often times these effects are permanent even when the physical injury is not.
Psychological effects may also apply due to past trauma found in a characters back story, or from a non-combat related situation (i.e. a character that is tied up and forced to watch an Ogre gruesomely murder a family may develop a Hatred for all Ogres). GMs should assign a degree of severity to the Psychological Effect, ranging from mild to
uncontrollable
Depending on the severity of the Psychological Effect, it may be possible to resist it by passing a Resolve Test
| Degree of Psychological Impact |
Resolve Test Modifier |
| Mild |
Standard Resolve (no modifier) |
| Moderate |
-3 Resolve |
| Severe |
-6 Resolve |
| Extreme |
-9 Resolve |
| Uncontrollable |
No Resolve test allowed |
Types of Psychological Effects
Phobia
A deep
rooted fear of whatever caused the physical injury or trauma, resulting in a fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response.
At the outset of facing targets or situations related to a characters particular phobia roll 1d4 and apply the effects listed in the chart below for the duration of the encounter (or until passing Resolve test matched to the degree of Psychological impact in subsequent rounds)
| Roll 1d4 |
| 1 |
Fight |
Must fight the target with singular focus, effectively treated as permanently taunted until the target is defeated or the encounter is otherwise resolved |
| 2 |
Flight |
Must always attempt to move directly away from the target at max speed |
| 3 |
Freeze |
Become immobilized for the duration of the effect (cannot move, or use instants/actions that require movement); upon taking any damage from the target this effect transitions to either Fight or Flight |
| 4 |
Fawn |
Will beg, plead, or attempt to appease the target in some way, offering just about anything to avoid conflict with it |
Hatred
An intense and illogical feeling towards whatever caused the physical injury, often leading to rash or violent behavior
- +10% damage against hated targets but also take +10% from them as well
- if effected by hatred, must ALWAYS move to attack hated targets regardless of the situation
