Many folks may have questions about how exactly gahad works. If you haven't read it, make sure to read about gahad
in the "On the Ways of Orks" section.
Gahad is the physical impulse that drives orks to follow their emotions. It's important to remember that these can
be any strong feelings—anger springs to mind, but hunger, lust, joy, sadness, or any other emotion or sensation can
trigger gahad.
In addition, how your character reacts to gahad may vary as well. A character who is ravenously hungry may respond
by eating a huge meal—but he also might lash out at others whom he blames for his hunger, or attack some inanimate object,
or fall to the ground in a fit. Responses to gahad will be logical (that is, they will usually have something to do
with the triggering condition), but creativity is encouraged. The response will be an emotional and physical one, and an ork
in the grip of gahad is unlikely to carefully consider consequences.
It's useful to remember that your response to your gahad should be reasonably equal to the triggering condition. If
somone slaps you, you don't have to immediately unsling your battle axe and cut him to ribbons. A verbal insult might be met
with a return jibe; a punch might be matched with a return blow. You are free to escalate, but not every bout of gahad
ought to end up with bodies on the floor cooling in pools of blood.
Your character sheet outlined two triggering conditions that always set of your gahad; when these occur, you should
roleplay appropriately. Likewise, each of you has listed two conditions that never trigger your gahad, so you don't
have to react to those (though, of course, even if being insulted doesn't set of your gahad, you can still be angry).
Don't forget, though, that any other emotion could set off gahad. Certainly, if you let every feeling tear you apart,
your character is going to be unbearable and short-lived. But feel free to take the opportunity to overreact whenever it seems
dramatically appropriate.
If you wish to resist your gahad (either to one of your triggering conditions, or just something you decide really
sets your character off), let me know in an OOG* message. I'll make a check and let you know if you succeeded. If you
do, you can suppress your reaction (quite wise in some situations...), but you'll have the "gahad hangover" consequences
later. Like your reaction, the penalties for suppressing gahad tend to match the trigger. If your gahad is triggered
by the human tavern girl ignoring you because she's distracted, supressing your reaction might take the form of indigestion
and a feverish feeling later that night. If she deliberately snubs you by turning her back to you and ignoring your requests,
complaining loudly to her other customers about the "ork filth" at the next table and you manage to keep your cool, you might
well be doubled over with cramps, suffer a splitting headache, or even have vivid hallucinations of the offending barmaid
mocking you. You suppress your gahad, you takes your chances. No fun, but if your gahad is urging you to give
a wallop to the dragon that just insulted you, it might be wiser to swallow your emotions; recovering from an upset stomach
is easier than recovering from being eviscerated...
* OOG indicates "Out of Game"; it's a tag you can put at the beginning of any message in which you communicate only
with the Ref or with other players in an out-of-game context (i.e.: "OOG: I'm going to be gone this week, everyone.
Have fun!").
