Notes on appearance, sex appeal and combat mechanics

The most persuasive argument is often the resort to ****, but even on the field of war or the deadliest of feuds, the power of lust can shape a battlefield as much as any other consideration.

Firstly, a character with "lecherousness" or a similar disadvantage who fails their self-control roll will suffer the penalties associated with such a disadvantage on attack rolls once a fight begins. It can be assumed that about 25% of average men and 5% of average women have this disadvantage; it is a common vice. When combined with the "**** to kill" disadvantage, this means that when their horny natures get the best of them, such people will have such a high penalty that making damaging attacks is almost impossible. Note that "**** to kill" is extremely common, even among guards and soldiers - about 75% of men and 95% of women will have it, most of the exceptions being seasoned fighters who lost the disadvantage after their first kill.

Even for those who don't, beauty itself exerts an undeniable ****, and cries out against being harmed with blows, and most will subconsciously soften them. If a character is not 'frigid' towards another due to sexuality, then a high degree of sex appeal may **** them to soften their blows (note; unlike most of those being used here, this is an original 'house rule'). Compare the target's effective sex appeal skill (counting modifiers for clothing etc.) to the attacker's inhibition + Will attribute; if the sex appeal is equal to this amount or greater, then the attacker may only make attacks at half their normal strength (for magic spells and other attacks that don't depend on Strength, the attacker will never take actions to increase the damage beyond its minimum, e.g. by pumping more FP into a damage-dealing spell). This strength reduction only counts for damage purposes; grapples, shoves, and other non-damage-dealing attacks are unaffected. This effect is calculated based on current inhibition, not maximum, so successful maneuvers which cause points of stimulation to a target can cause the half-strength rule to come into effect even if it was below the threshold at the start of a fight.

For example, a typical male thug with a Health attribute of 12 (which determines inhibition: 20 - 12 = 8) and a will attribute of 10 will be affected by an effective sex appeal skill of 18 or higher. A fit (Health attribute of 13) beautiful woman in a notably sexy outfit (enough to provide a +2 bonus) and a single character point of skill in sex appeal (for a skill of 12) has an effective skill of 18, and will make him unable to strike her with full **** - even if she is earnestly trying to kill him! Because they have a higher pool of inhibition by default, women are less likely to be affected by this rule, but certainly not immune.

Another new rule: ostentatious displays of lust can be... particularly worrisome to those they are targeted at, and lead to flight... or submission. If a character fails a test of will for their 'lecherous' disadvantage, whoever caused them to fail it must roll a fear check - and if the lecherous one has an appearance of "unattractive" or worse (or other factors that would give a penalty on their sex appeal or seduction skills), then that penalty is applied to the target's fear check, making it more likely they will fail! If a character has failed such a fear check, and the lecherous 'aggressor' then makes a successful sex appeal OR intimidate skill check targeting them, they will submit to what the aggressor has in mind... within reason.