For a long while the fact that fearless stops means the character stops having to take fear checks hasn't made sense to me in a way, I have no problem with the character being old and grizzled enough to be able to stare down a lesser daemon without having bowel wrenching episodes since they're really experienced at fighting the horrors of the universe however the fact that no insanity points are gained seems a little silly in some respects, yeah they are hardened fighters but seeing yet another vile thing spew forth from the darkness really should have a chance to add to the degeneration of their mental wellbeing. Also it means anyone who invested in resistance fear in the longterm waisted experience points.

So here is what I am thinking:

Characters with the Fearless talent or under the effects of Into the Jaws of hell get a +30 bonus for fear checks (which will stack with resistance fear/insanity) however regardless of the result of the fear checks will not run away etc however may still suffer the effects of creeping insanity gain (and corruption from warp shock) from facing yet more horrors.

What do people think? I understand some people may not like this idea but it's one I've been mulling over. Obviously with a good willpower of about 40 and both fearless and resistance fear then character has an 80% chance of not having to roll on the shock table and possibly gain insanity points and for higher willpower characters they may not need to roll at all for insanity gain against fear 1 enemies.

In my opinion there are two kinds of games:

- Those in which the fact that characters become insane is a feature and part of the fun (like Call of Chtulu)
- Those in which the danger of accumulating is just a nuisance that destroys characters (like DH)

Don't ask me why this is the case. But from the feel of it insanity in DH has nothing cool and isn't about "oh yea, another bad roll, another step closer to trashing a cool character. Because of that I do what I can to keep my Chars from gaining Insanity or corruption Points.

So for Players like me you'd just make the game less fun to play.

In my opinion the other side of the coin would be better.
Let the char with fearless cover in fear for a round but don't destroy him with insanity points.

Or just split the fearless talent in two, each of which does one part of the trick.

Hmm, tricky topic. I've just gave the section of the book another read, and I have to admit, Insanity does have a certain appeal. Albeit a forced form of character progression, I can see a lot of potential here, as long as the player of the character has a chance to "steer" it a bit (such as talking with the GM when selecting Mental Disorders) in order to make it fit the character's concept.

Yet I also think that some characters do not "deserve" to be subjected to the rather embarassing act of running away or having a breakdown and begin crying just because of a horribly botched roll against a fairly "average" source of terror (depending on what the character in question should be used to), so I am thankful that there are talents who can address this issue.

We should also not forget that Insanity points can be reduced - though I tend to believe that the game needs some more refined options for doing so.

In short, splitting the talent in two is the option that appeals to me the most.

I also think it would be nice if the Fearless talent would only cover a certain range of Fear Ratings, basically allowing you to cancel out the chance that your veteran character freaks out because of something minor, but still being vulnerable to exceptional horror. In fact, how about decreasing the cost of the talent but allowing people to buy it multiple times, like Sound Constitution? Just as something that just occurred to me - I realize it's a bit off-topic.

Umbranus said:

I think this depends on player expectations and game style. DH can certainly be run as a CoC-style game (as I do it), but if players expect a game that is more like, I dunno, an adaptation of the Eisenhorn novels (which are pulp action), they're going to be disappointed.

Lynata said:

This ability does appeal to me a bit more though I might leave being immune to insanity point gain from Fear 4 creatures... which is the category Greater Daemons are in though obviously you'll probably only face a greater daemon as an end of campaign ascension boss unless your GM is particularily cruel and sadistic.

As previous stated, this is a doozy. That said, Fearless is gained in the final steps of character progression (Rank 8: Storm Trooper in the case of Guardsmen), which really says it all. You've fought hard, slashed, burned, and bled your way through so many daemons and heretics that you deserve Fearless, and in fact I would waive the Willpower test in light of the fact that any such character would also know when retreat was necessary. If the talent were available at Rank 2, it would be a problem, but I don't see why you need to mess with one of the last advances a character can buy.

That talent should more appropiately be called. Insanely fearless.

Remember that a character has to pass a will power check to back down or disengage. As I see it, that will often lead to loss of fate points.