Gotham Nights: Playing With Fear

 

Let's talk about the Phobia power in The Batman Role-Playing Game. 

On paper, it’s simple: make an Action Check, convince the target to see their worst fear, watch them freeze or flee. But when you sit with it longer, it starts feeling like one of the most interesting things in the whole system. 

(p64) “Phobia… automatically manifests an illusion of whatever is most feared by the opponent, and can only be seen by the specific target.”

It’s not just about rolling dice to stun a thug. It’s about the tone it sets at the table. One hero with Phobia can turn an alley fight into a panic spiral. You start imagining what each mook actually fears. Heights? Fire? The Batman himself? Players end up asking questions about people they’d otherwise treat like nameless obstacles. It makes encounters feel more human because fear is personal. 

The rules give it teeth. The target’s INT/MIND is the defense. RAPs equal the terror phase length. If the RAPs meet or beat the MIND, that’s full lockup... can’t act, can’t move. It’s clean, but it lingers in your head because it’s a power that forces the GM to think about emotions instead of stats. 

Was thinking... Picture this:

It's 2am, the villain is planning a heist of the museum, and there is a lone security guard doing his rounds. Our villain, using Phobia on the guard, and what's his fear? Snakes.. so he starts seeing snakes slithering out from beneath the tiles of the floor. He freaks out, drops his flashlight and runs right out the door while guard number two is standing there with his mouth wide open because he saw giant rats heading right towards him. The dice tell me how long it lasts, but the description part... that’s where it fire. It's basically anything my warped mind can come up with!

Then you start looking at it from the hero side. Imagine Batman with a gadgetized version... some gas refined by Scarecrow, but controlled, portable. A tool to create hesitation without leaving a mark. It’s very Batman, in a way. Makes you weigh the line between theatrical intimidation and actual psychological harm.  

Phobia work so well because it forces everyone to slow the hell down. Combat in the game can get very crunchy with APs, OVs, RVs, and shifts. 

Fear slices right through all that like Michael Myers with a good old knife. It becomes a scene. You see the guard’s eyes flicker, you describe the hallucination, and suddenly the table is leaning in. It’s mechanic as mood.  

If you’re running any edition of DC Heroes, try giving Phobia to a second-tier villain first. Someone street-level. Let the players watch NPCs break before it ever touches them. They’ll feel it. And if it does hit a hero, let the illusion land hard. It’s not just a roll. It’s a moment where Gotham reminds them why it never sleeps easy.