fear itself

By: Unknown on 04:13

Is anyone else bothered by "save or flee in terror" type effects?  We don't subject PCs to morale checks, so why is this sort of thing okay just because the effect originates from a spell or some sort of horrible, slobbering undead?  It undermines player agency, which is a cornerstone of traditional RPGs.

I think maybe all fear-or-flee attacks targeted at PCs should include a choice to made by the player.  "If you fail you must either flee immediately or roll 1d4.  The result on the d4 is your penalty to-hit and damage as well as your chance in 20 of spell fumble for the duration of the fear effect."  Something like that.

Being paralyzed with fear doesn't bug me as much.