Aura of Courage Question (Role Playing)


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Aura of Courage makes a Paladin immune to fear effects. Does that extend to an immunity from stage fright? For example, a perfectionist paladin being self-conscious about a perceived lack of singing talent.


mechanically I'd say yes
RP Wise, it's up to you


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I'd say that your Paladin could still be self-conscious and anxious about things. They are only mortal, after all.

What the Aura of Courage does is prevent that anxiety from paralyzing them with self-doubt. They'll get up on that stage every time, even while doubting whether the crowd will like them at all, instead of running off to hide in a dressing room.


Yes, the immune to fear paladin will walk right up and ask the girl who is out of his league to dance, and then accept it in a gracious LG manner when turned down.


The way I run it is that the paladin still feels the fear but is protected by his deity (or whatever the source of his power is) from the effects of fear. I still have them make any saves vs fear but if they fail their deity protects them from the effect of the fear. Depending on the nature of the deity it can manifest differently. For example a paladin of Sarenrae would feel the warmth of her power enveloping and taking away the fear.

To me it seems more heroic to allow the paladin a chance to overcome the fear themselves instead of just relying on a class feature. It also serves to keep the paladin somewhat humble. They know that the reason that it was the power of their deity that is keeping them from fleeing in terror. Also keep in mind that the aura of courage is a magical ability and does not always function. If a paladin never feels fear it would seem that when he did it would be worse because he never feels it. This also does not seem to fit what a paladin should be.


Although, mechanically, a bravery spec'd Fighter is better at inspiring others (improved bravery, inspired bravery, armed bravery) than a Paladin, and confronted by an Aura of Cowardice loses less.

But thank you all for the responses. The way I'm planning on working it is she really doesn't like doing so, but it's not out of fear per-se, but more out of a "I'm not good at this, so no"

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