Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Wonderbringer Feb 19, 2015 8:25:29	I am looking for some feedback on how others view this Personal Characteristic of the Sailor background.  Mainly, how others would interpret its meaning and application.  A few examples would be nice.   Flaw:    Once someone questions my courage, I never back down no matter how dangerous the situation.
#2 iserith Feb 19, 2015 8:32:25	It's an invitation to manipulate the character. When the sailor is unsure of whether to delve into the perilous dungeon, another adventurer might say, "What're you? Scared?" The sailor character then might act incensed and jump right into danger. If he does, the DM may reward the character with Inspiration. As well, a villain might taunt the character into doing something dangerous during a conflict such as chase the villain down through damaging terrain. This is also a good opportunity to award Inspiration if the sailor character falls for the taunt.
#3 Wonderbringer Feb 20, 2015 16:34:52	That's precicely how I interpreted it but my player seems to think it means he resorts to violence when his courage is challenged.  I went round and round with him and simply told him that if that's how he percieves it then he would have to reword it so something like "Always resorts to violence when my courage is questioned."  One of my examples to him was the exact same as yours, "What, you afraid to enter the dark cave?"  Another good one more catered to a sailor is when on a ship that's thrashing in a storm and there is some rigging up high that needs tended, "No one has the stones to climb up there in this weather!"  My other arguement is that sailors would have thick skin and if one was to resort to violence at every insult he would recieve aboard a ship then that character would end up at the bottom on Davy Jones' locker quickly.
#4 iserith Feb 19, 2015 9:10:54	Rewording it seems like a fine solution. The player shouldn't object to this because it will help him earn Inspiration easier without changing how he plays.
#5 AaronOfBarbaria Feb 19, 2015 10:45:51	To frame that flaw via pop culture:   Griff Tannen: "What's wrong, McFly, chicken?" Marty McFly: [immediately goes back on having just confidently told Griff "No," because when his courage is questioned he won't back down from the challenge no matter how dangerous it is - like how at this point he knows going along with Griff is likely to land him in jail.]
#6 Wonderbringer Feb 20, 2015 11:07:39	That was also another example I told the player except I made the referance to the scene in the second movie where Marty's kid is pressured by "Needles" (Flea) to stick his card in the reader.
#7 BRJN Feb 20, 2015 19:23:30	More pop culture: That Sailor does not HAVE to resort to violence - he may do something dangerous / foolish / not-safe just to prove that it can be done, and that he is able to do it.  Remember the scene in Forrest Gump where the fishing boat is caught in Hurricane Camille and the Major is up the mast yelling at God for wrecking his life, "...and God answered..."?  Your Sailor might well climb up the mainmast in a storm - just to show how brave he is / how much braver than everybody else he is.   For fun, he might belittle other tough guys by sizing them up and then saying something like "You aren't enough of a challenge for me.  It would be like trying to fight a little kid in diapers."  Let THEM throw the first punch, and he'll be totally justified in defending himself.   He might have a personal code (unwritten) of Tough Guy-ness that includes "no Real Man ever strikes an older woman" and "Real Men know how much strong drink is Enough".