Paralysis Sucks

In case there's anyone out there that hasn't figured this out yet: Paralysis sucks!

The Scion game system is packed with powers that paralyze, delay, or limit actions. Serpent's Gaze, Overt Order, Charmer or Center of Attention can be taken by any PC for approximately 1 session's worth of experience. They're just as acccessible to the NPC badguys, but be careful. Here's a precautionary tale of powers gone bad...

In an early session of my Scion Campaign, my PCs fought a Medusa. In Scion, Medusas don't turn you to stone when you look at them, but they do cause supernatural fear that can paralyze you or make you flee. I didn't think it'd be a problem, 'cause the fight was planned to be staged in a multi-room suite, and making someone flee to the next room or stay transfixed till the Medusan left the room would be no big deal. But instead, the players didn't really understand the power being used against them, so they slammed the doors between the rooms closed and barricaded them. Which left a paralyzed PC in the same room as the monster. He was effectively out of the game for over half and hour because of the other player's tactical decisions, but for the most part he took it very well.

"I'll never let that happen again," I said loudly at the start of the next session. "If I ever use a paralysis -based power again, I'll make sure there's an easy way out, like spending a willpower to cancel it." (Such a provision is written into the default rules of Scion, by the way, but it's specifically overruled in the write-up for Medusas - you can only spend the Willpower if you beat the Medusa's roll). I gave him an XP bonus for taking it so well that night.

Several sessions later, the PCs were up against Chupacabra, and thier boss the Luchacabra.
I gave the Chups the Serpent's Gaze power, which captivates and effectively paralyzes a PC while the Chupacabra is looking at them. However, a PC can spend a Willpower point to break out of it after missing a single action. (That rule is NOT overwritten in the creature I made). PCs usually start with around 8 WillPower, and have a few ways to get WP back in middle of combat, so it shouldn't have been a problem.
There were two chupacabra encounters set up: one against a lone chupacabra, and one against a group of them. The first was a test - if it went poorly I'd trim the second encounter back significantly.

Chupacabra pops up, zaps a PC. Before that one action has gone by, the other 2 PCs throw everything they have into killing the Chupacabra. It dies in 3 ticks, without the "affected" PC every actually missing an action, but of course I'd narrated that he'd looked hypnotized for a moment. In fact, since initiating the Serpent's Gaze had cost the chupacabra an action, it really was the same effect as if the PC had stunned the chupacabra and not the other way around.

Later, the 2nd Encounter happens. 10 chupacabra vs 4 PCs and 6NPCs. The PCs were sure to break free easily (and breaking free makes you immune vs that chupacabra), and since it took an average of 2 attack rolls (not 2 hits, 2 attacks) to kill a chupacabra, it should have been fast and painless. The idea was that the Chups would look really scary for about 5 ticks (ie: 1 action or 1 round of combat) and then as soon as I prompted a PC that they could spend a willpower to be immune, the tension would go out of the scene.

Paralyzing for 1 action cost the chupacabra an action and 1/4 their Legend resource. Mathematically, the only way the PCs could be out of the fight was if 8 out of 10 chupacabras managed to make eye contact with them in succession and the PC never did anything to gain Willpower, and that wasn't going to happen since 5 out 10 chups were busy holding the NPC followers hypnotically hostage.

No real danger. A slaughter, but in a good way: The PCs couldn't lose that fight.
It was going to be fun.

Instead, I had a rebellion on my hands. Players actually said "we should just quit for the night and go home" and that wasn't a strategic statement of what their characters should do. Fear of the unknown just jumped in. No matter what I said, they seemed to assume the scenario was rigged to kill them.

What blows my mind, is this wasn't a random convention game. These were people who've played my campaigns for years. I rarely kill characters, less than one a year on average, and when it happens it's due to major plot points not random mooks. I've never "scored a TPK". And we were playing a game that's mostly about making the PCs look hot. They should have trusted me. Worst case scenario, if the dice had hated them, would have been waking up later in a cage the chupacabra had built and having to figure out how to escape.

I just don't know what happened. Suddenly, I was paralyzed. It got so out of hand I actually shouted "I need to take a 5 minute break right now or I'm going to start killing characters!" I don't say things like that, not in the last 10 years anyway. I felt like I'd fallen through a rift to 1987 and was gaming with my fellow 13-year-olds from across the street. There's some serious soul-searching ahead of me, I suspect.

To my friends: I'm sorry I over-reacted. Sometimes I get too invested. This was one of those times. But sheesh, next time, please try to lighten up too. I'm not out to kill your characters, I'm out to make them look good. It is Scion, after all.