Hi,

I was wondering what is the interaction between the fearless talent and the cohesion dmg test imposed by some enemies. Is there any way that the fearless talent can negate the test? Can you indicate what of the following scenarios you think is appropriate?

1. Squad Leader has the fearless talent -> no cohesion dmg test is required

2. All the kill-team has the fearless talent -> no cohesion dmg test is required

3. None of the above: fearless and cohesion dmg test don't affect each other.

I am asking because I could not find any specific reference in the rulebooks.

Thanks

If you mean fear causing enemies I would have to say the leader automatically passes his fear check. His team is inspired by and look to him, he doesn't flinch in the face of frightening foes, so the team feels good about fighting them. If any member is not in squad mode then they DO NOT benefit at all from his fearlessness and suffer as normal.

If you mean damage from certain attacks then it would be your number 3. The reaction to these attacks are not necessarily fear, you get hit by a sniper or a devestating weapon and it disrupts your team. Your guys are looking for cover and reacting to the attack based on their training and methods, you have to reign them back in or the team is going to suffer.

Hey thanks for your answer. I was referring to the scenario you describe in the first part of your answer, where everybody is in squad mode. I would add that if the whole team is fearless, no wilpower test should be required to prevent cohesion loss. I will see how my GM feels about it.

1. A test is required. The leader may be fearless but the rest of the killteam are not. He must lead as well as be fearless himself.

2. No test required. No-one in the killteam can suffer from fear.

3. A test is required. Being sniped and blasted into the air are disruptive events.

Decessor said:

I have issue with this for two reasons.

First: The rule states when a kill-team is confronted with a fear causing enemy, the team leader (not the team as a whole) makes a Fear Test wtih all the normal modifiers. If the leader is Fearless then he automatically passes the Fear Test. The team benefits as a matter of course.

Second (and I am reticent for using a TT reference): Fearless characters pass their fearlessness onto non-fearless characters in the TT. I don't like using TT references, as they aren't exactly fitting in most cases, but this one reinforces the rule in the DW book (instead of creating rules based off of TT stuff which do not exist in the DW:Core).

The leader is the depositary of the cohesion point in a squad so as long he is fearless the cohesion damage is prevent, because he won't be distracted from his leading duty.

If the leader isn't fearless then the squad might lose cohesion as an effect of ill leading becauise of the fear impacting the leader.

For other source of damage roll and pray the emperor.

herichimo said:

My reasoning is that while the leader may be fearless, it is the entire killteam that is under strain. And I am very wary of adopting rules from the wargame, especially since even rules with the same name can have very different effects (true grit anyone?).

I understand your reasoning. And I am also rarely, if ever, interested in porting TT references (reticent means reluctant).

But the point is the rule, and the rule states the leader takes a fear test. It doesn't say the leader takes a fear test as representative for the group, just 'the leader takes a fear test'. A fearless character is not affected by fear. So the character has to take a fear test, but he is immune to fear, so he effectively automatically passes it and all is good.

A leader of a kill-team is more than just the guy leading prayers before a mission. He is the person the rest of the team center themselves upon. The team's strategy and tactics feed and are based upon the leader. A fearless leader isn't going to be concerned by fear causing enemies, and because the marines around him act and react off of the leader his fearlessness influences them. Instead of focusing upon their enemies disturbingness, they follow their leaders commands and instructions without pause. Essentially they focus on the leader, who acts as nothing is wrong so the others can ignore the fear in squad mode.