What’s the worst question a hero could ever ask while in the act of being heroic? “Am I doing the right thing?”  Self-trust is the essence of heroism. It is the state of the soul at war, and its ultimate objects are the last defiance of falsehood and wrong, and the power to bear all that can be inflicted by evil agents. It speaks the truth, and it is just, generous, hospitable, temperate, scornful of petty calculations, and scornful of being scorned. It persists; it is of an undaunted boldness, and of a fortitude not to be wearied out. Clearly,
Emerson believes that there is no room for uncertainty in the heart of a
hero, and that gives us one of the World Player’s most powerful weapons
in World vs. Hero – DOUBT. If the Game Master, Referee, or World Player can ever lead heroes to allow doubt to their souls, the result would be potentially more crippling than any physical injury ever could be. In fact, even a physically incapacitated hero could offer morale-boosting support to his fellow heroes, but a hero crippled by doubt offers no such support and may even be a drain on the spirits of his or her comrades. In the text of World vs. Hero, the sample first round of “Madness of the Moon Wraiths” presented an example of implied doubt. When Sir Charles was faced with hard evidence that his goddess might be responsible for nefarious deeds, it was very difficult at first for the Hero Player to counter the implication of doubt. This plot turn had not been planned by the World Player; the Conflict List included the evidence as a means to discredit the Church of Luna, nothing more. Cleverly, the World Player was able to improvise the narrative moment, and the implied doubt raised questions in the mind of the usually stalwart Sir Charles. That
is what is important for GMs, Referees, and World Players to remember: the thing called
“doubt” is not always a planned eventuality. It is an opportunity, one that presents itself when circumstances are just
right. Doubt creates inaction, fosters second-guessing, and stymies
resolve by wedging its victims' motivations between incongruous
realities. But truly soul-shaking doubt does not
occur with rapidity. It is a process. A chivalrous individual will never
succumb to spontaneous uncertainty; his confidence will only begin to
buckle under the cumulative weight of question after question,
concern after concern. Thus, doubt is often a reaction to perceived
contradictions to one’s perspective of the world and his or her place in
it when considered over a long period of time. Still, it is a viable
weapon. It forces the hero to ask that question:
“Am I doing the right thing?” During the course of a game, doubt may be implied by:
Certainly, this list could go on.
For now, it is enough to make players aware of this weapon,
should circumstances make doubt a possibility. Though some might consider personal reflection a healthy mental endeavor, it is far less healthy when one lives the life of a hero of genre fiction whose decisiveness and righteousness are often the only things keeping the hero – and maybe even the entire universe – alive and well! To stop and think is often a good thing to do. However, for a hero, stopping and thinking might very well be fatal. - JF |