So what happens when “Lost” or “Frenzy” is used on a PC?
We had this going on with Lost last session.
I said the Player that his character just had this amazing idea to visit smith. This would really help right now. If he doesn’t want to go there right away he has to act under fire. 7-9 would be that he can do 1 more thing before going there. 6- is, hey: you don’T even know how you got here.
This is cool and easy, but what about Frenzy?
Honestly, personally for Lost I wouldn’t give them an act under fire roll, but rather a roll to interfere. If the Lost roll succeeds anyway, I’d go “So, okay, you’re walking into Smith’s room. Do you remember how you got here?” Give the player a bit of agency: was it their character’s “choice”, were they obviously brain-controlled, did they just appear without any explanation?
Likewise, for Frenzy: “So, hey, are you a part of this mob, going along with what they’re doing, or are you going to stand out by going against the crowd?” Odds are pretty good if the Hocus is using Frenzy that’s not going to be an easy choice even if you don’t make them “roll” to resist.
Ben Wray’s way seems fair to me.
Ben Wray has a perfect response for Lost, the whole “Do you remember how you got here?” puts the onus on the player and it conforms to the rules (Ask questions like crazy.)
As for Frenzy, is the PC really part of the mob? That doesn’t really fit unless the player says they join in, and then if they do that let the consequences of Frenzy fall upon them since they voluntarily joined the mob. As a default, remember the rules (Be a fan of the players’ characters.) and put the player ahead of the mob. “King, it looks like Jacksin is really revving up this crowd, they are starting to go ballistic. What do you do?”
That’s all I got.
I’ve used both against other PCs when I played a Hocus. Lost worked as-written, doesn’t really need any additional rules. And yeah, I don’t think PCs can count as part of a mob, unless they willingly set themselves up and give in to the mob mentality — in which case, they have nothing to complain about if you Frenzy them.