Cowardly Lot (Shrouded Sentinel Archetype)

Cowardly Lot

◊Descriptors – fear, talent

◊Effect – Affliction 8 • 7 points

Cowardly Lot (selective, perception area, subtle Affliction 8 limited to chasing away, limited degrees, check required)

◊Modifiers – area: +1/rank, check required: -1 flat point, limited: -1/rank, limited degree: -1/rank, quirk: -1 flat point, selective: +1/rank, subtle: 1 flat point

◊Action – Standard

◊Requirement – Intimidation check; you must be wearing your costume or other suitably imposing garb

◊Area – visual perception

◊Duration – Instant

◊Results – targets compelled (two degrees), or controlled (three or more degrees)

◊Resist – Dodge and Will

◊Overcome – Will

Description

Your mere presence can set your enemies into panicked flight. To use this ability, you make an Intimidation check (DC 11) as a standard action. Your check result determines the difficulty of resistance checks to resist and overcome the effect (up to DC 18). Your enemies may attempt a Dodge resistance check to evade the fear effect. Those that fail make a Will resistance check and on a result of 8 to 12 they carefully withdraw from you, moving as far away as possible in a single action (they are compelled). Characters affected this way make a new Will resistance check each round until they recover but don’t stop fleeing otherwise (unless you end the effect or it is countered) and can’t take any other type of action unless it would help them to get further away.

On a Will resistance check result of 7 or less, the affected character flees at top speed using every means at their disposal to escape you until they find a place to hide. Typical criminals huddle there in the hopes that you don’t find them and seriously reconsider their lives. Villains of greater mettle may instead think up or discuss elaborate scenarios to neutralize you once they reach their lair, but generally these plans are delusional at best. Sane villains will scrap them after reconsideration while less stable ones may decide that the only way to stop you is with giant balloon versions of your allies or something equally nonsensical.

You can only use this ability while in costume or when otherwise clothed in a way that allows you to be recognized as your crimefighting persona and which is suitably imposing.

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