Is there a range listed for fear? I don't see it anywhere.

Citizen Philip said:

Fear is not a "power" with an area of effect, it works as long as someone has the creature within his line of sight (the Fear sensation is in the mind of the looking character, not in the creature).

I would say reasonable line of siight.
At the point you can clearly see it, so within 100 meters (300ft) for normal sized critters, perhaps a longer range for larger creatures (Great Unclean One, Bloodthirster, Trygon).
I could imagen a Hierophant being clearly visible from miles away...

I was at a loss, I wasn't sure if it was something accidentally omitted (like photon flash) or a general rule for line of sight. The Ebon Geist (pg 378, core) for example has a 'fear-like' aura with a specific range (which coincidentally makes willpower tests to resist fear lower) - and I couldn't find a specific reference. Curious, how the fear aura applies in the dark.. since if I can't see it - because its dark - do I feel better about it? Tough call!

The Ebon Gheist doesn't have a "fear-like aura". All daemons have Daemonic Presence imposing -10 penalty on all Willpower Tests made near them (which is applicable not only to Fear tests, but to Psychic Powers, Pinning Tests and anything related to Willpower).

Citizen Philip said:

I'd rather see it then HEAR it and not be able to see it.

Maese Mateo said:

The Ebon Geist, the only creature from beyond in the corebook with a fear rating and daemonic presence - and a range listing for it: for lack of any range specific details for the game mechanic of fear (and the reason for my post), I said 'fear-like aura' intentionally: since the book was unclear.

The flavour text for daemonic presence is definitely fearful, particuarlly if you compare it to the favour text for fear ratings. We have established that the mechanic is not clear, but a rule of thumb is line of sight - which is perfectly acceptable.

Rift said:

A 5 meter tall rotting blob monster would be very terrifying if you were very close - but how scary would it seem from 200 meters away: clearly its big and scary - but its also not going to eat you in the next 6 seconds. Would a preysight scope help you to ignore the fear aura - because its apperance is relatively obscured? Bad light? No light?

My personal concerns are directed towards that giant blob of death being within 6 meters. In a pitch black room.

Fear test? I'd say so.

In general, I have the players take the test at Ratingx10m, or Ratingx15m in the case of entities with Daemonic. Caveats apply, and I'm always careful not to let the players know the specifics of the ranges, so they don't try and dance out of the fear range plinking away with their bolters and what have you.

Citizen Philip said:

40K draws al lot from the Cthulhu mythos. If you haven't read any H. P. Lovecraft, I highly recommend a swing by a used book store to find a small collection of short stories to read. These are a great primer for 40K fear and insanity.

Creatures can be "wrong" in an unmistakeable you-know-to-the-core-of-your-being-without-proof way that they should not, could not, and cannot exist, but there it is in front of you. This can even be felt just being near them, without being able to see them. This, to me, is why the mechanics of the game are vague. It allows the GM to adjust things to their taste and needs.

If you need a solid mechanic, Errant's suggestion is as good as any I have seen. Another option would be to use the weakest willed individual in the party as a base, lowest WP bonus x 10, in meters for effective range.

ItsUncertainWho said:

I'd definately go with the Mythos style of Fear causing critters being badwrong nastiness. In one CoC game, we were flying over a bunch of ghouls a quarter mile away and had to take San tests; the pilot went catatonic, the co-pilot went suicidal. Single fatality short of TPK in one move, fun.

Use a 'scope to take a pic of the Fear critter from 200m, show it to a friend a few days later to try and ID it; Fear test. Needless to say however, while a Fear causing beastie should always cause some level of reaction, it would be reasonable to lower the fear rating under less urgent circumstances.

I think the few posts hit the issue directly: The horrible-wrongness of HP Lovecraft (being aware it exsists - and seeing the manifesttion, is enough to destroy your mind - how close or far, doesn't matter) or horror-movie scary (it's very scary, because of the fright and horror).

I tend to agree with the former, and not the latter. In some cases, I thing the range of fear is also reasonable. Horrible wrongness, that is just so, utterly wrong it fractures your ability to understand reality: Sounds just about perfect for 40k.