Passions: Disheartened condition

[RexHiemis]

I'm using 5.2 edition, on page 92 it says that "the disheartened player suffers a –5 modifier on all further rolls made during the situation that brought on his state." Does this also include further passion and trait rolls?

[Morien]

I would say yes.

Trait rolls can be a bit tricky, though, since they are actually two-sided. Passions, Attributes and Skills are easier to modify. So with Traits, I would probably modify EACH side by -5, when it is rolled, making it less likely to succeed in either side of the trait-pair. The alternative would be to modify both traits towards 10, i.e. -5 to whichever trait is higher. But it is a bit of a mess, so I might just ignore it for Traits.

But I would apply it to new Passion rolls, yes. If you are already depressed, it is harder to get fired up again.

Edited March 18, 2021 by Morien

[Voord 99]

I’d exclude Traits under most circumstances — the main exception might be a Valorous roll to engage.   Many Trait rolls are not very naturally connected to the idea of being disheartened, and it seems to me that the purpose of the rule is to discourage frivolous rolls for Inspiration, and it’s relatively rare that modifying a Trait is going to be a deterrent there.  (I mean, if you took the rule very literally, you’d ask how it applied to the roll on the Stats Lost table following a Major Wound. 🙂 )

 I must admit that I don’t let players roll again on a different Passion anyway if they fail with the first one, so it doesn’t come up.  You get one shot at Inspiration, and if it fails, that’s what the character is obsessing about right then.  If the situation changed significantly, I might allow a Famous Passion that was now relevant in a new way to override a failure on a non-Famous Passion.

Edited March 19, 2021 by Voord 99

[Darius West]

On 3/19/2021 at 2:39 AM, RexHiemis said:

I'm using 5.2 edition, on page 92 it says that "the disheartened player suffers a –5 modifier on all further rolls made during the situation that brought on his state." Does this also include further passion and trait rolls?

Yes, -5 on everything applies.  They are now grumpy and awkward and everything is going wrong.  They cannot harness their emotions to fuel their actions and words, but are over-run by their feelings and become clumsy, inarticulate, and frustrated.  Their best option is likely to STFU and let other characters do the work.  When the scene is over they will begin to get back their self control.