That's an interesting one. I guess to some extent it will have to depend upon intelligence - a stupid creature is usually braver than a smart one - and a comparison of the threat. Basically, when the player sees the threat, do they think "I can take it" or "oh heck, run!".
The worry here is that it could inhibit player agency - a player should decide whether they are scared or not, based on their interpretation of the character they are playing. Perhaps a better option is to make each player have something that they are afraid of. They can either tell the DM at the start (secretly) and the DM will use that to twist the story, or they can let the DM decide what they are afraid of.
I would largely put it down to Wisdom, as this is the statistic which seems to be used for most instinctual mind effects. Alternatively, you would have to take it case-by-case depending on how the scary thing works - a barbarian might take courage from their strength, and use that to not run from a dragon, but if they face ghost and they can't hurt it, their one defence is lost and they would be more prone to being scared.
It could even be suitable to allow the players to pick one statistic - the one that they would rely on for bravery - and then decide whether they get to add this depending on the monster.
For example; a sorcerer might rely on their intelligence, a bard on their charisma, and a barbarian on their strength. They find themselves facing a grey ooze - the sorcerer and barbarian add their modifiers - they are confident their smarts and strength can save them. The Bard is more concerned - their charisma means nothing to an ooze.
I actually like this last idea - it allows a character to play to their strengths. A fighter with constitution and a bard with charisma face a dragon - the bard is probably the braver of the two. If they are perfectly matched for it (EG a barbarian who relies on strength sees an ogre) then let them add their proficiency.
Combining this with an actual fear (EG the bard is scared of petrification) to impose disadvantage on courage tests for certain situations would make it a fun sort of mechanic. What effect do you expect fear to have - "afraid" is a powerful one, and would suck for any PC who wants to hit things.
I wonder if your best bet is to try and get the players on board with this in session 0 as a roleplaying thing, and then have them decide what their characters are afraid of and why. Then you just have to remind them during the game ("A giant spider drops slowly from the ceiling. Dimitri, you vividly recall the day in your youth when you got your head stuck in a spider nest in the hollow of a tree."). Then let them roleplay their approach - it makes it much more fun for the players than "you are afraid of the spider, so cannot move toward it". Dimitri might be overcome with the memories of the kids in his village laughing as a guard finally got him free of the nest, his throat hoarse from screaming, and feel a surge of anger at the embarrassment of the event, and fly into a rage, beating the spider to death with his bassoon. The DM can choose to reward this roleplay with inspiration on his attacks and damage, or even offer him an extra attack to represent the frenzy with which he beats the spider to death.
First off, should I use one? Pros and cons?
Secondly how would I go about determining it? I am thinking of a d20 and adding strength, intelligence, and constitution modifiers.
Thoughts?
Personally I would go with strength or wisdom for the modifier.
That's an interesting one. I guess to some extent it will have to depend upon intelligence - a stupid creature is usually braver than a smart one - and a comparison of the threat. Basically, when the player sees the threat, do they think "I can take it" or "oh heck, run!".
The worry here is that it could inhibit player agency - a player should decide whether they are scared or not, based on their interpretation of the character they are playing. Perhaps a better option is to make each player have something that they are afraid of. They can either tell the DM at the start (secretly) and the DM will use that to twist the story, or they can let the DM decide what they are afraid of.
I would largely put it down to Wisdom, as this is the statistic which seems to be used for most instinctual mind effects. Alternatively, you would have to take it case-by-case depending on how the scary thing works - a barbarian might take courage from their strength, and use that to not run from a dragon, but if they face ghost and they can't hurt it, their one defence is lost and they would be more prone to being scared.
It could even be suitable to allow the players to pick one statistic - the one that they would rely on for bravery - and then decide whether they get to add this depending on the monster.
For example; a sorcerer might rely on their intelligence, a bard on their charisma, and a barbarian on their strength. They find themselves facing a grey ooze - the sorcerer and barbarian add their modifiers - they are confident their smarts and strength can save them. The Bard is more concerned - their charisma means nothing to an ooze.
I actually like this last idea - it allows a character to play to their strengths. A fighter with constitution and a bard with charisma face a dragon - the bard is probably the braver of the two. If they are perfectly matched for it (EG a barbarian who relies on strength sees an ogre) then let them add their proficiency.
Combining this with an actual fear (EG the bard is scared of petrification) to impose disadvantage on courage tests for certain situations would make it a fun sort of mechanic. What effect do you expect fear to have - "afraid" is a powerful one, and would suck for any PC who wants to hit things.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
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Well, most of the effects to resist the Frightened Condition use Wisdom saves. I'm not really sure what you'd use beyond that.
What would you use Courage for, anyways? Is it like Sanity, or Honor stat, from the DMG?
I wonder if your best bet is to try and get the players on board with this in session 0 as a roleplaying thing, and then have them decide what their characters are afraid of and why. Then you just have to remind them during the game ("A giant spider drops slowly from the ceiling. Dimitri, you vividly recall the day in your youth when you got your head stuck in a spider nest in the hollow of a tree."). Then let them roleplay their approach - it makes it much more fun for the players than "you are afraid of the spider, so cannot move toward it". Dimitri might be overcome with the memories of the kids in his village laughing as a guard finally got him free of the nest, his throat hoarse from screaming, and feel a surge of anger at the embarrassment of the event, and fly into a rage, beating the spider to death with his bassoon. The DM can choose to reward this roleplay with inspiration on his attacks and damage, or even offer him an extra attack to represent the frenzy with which he beats the spider to death.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!