"What if no one finds out"

[phasmaphobic]

How are Honor Debts handled when the shameful act that sends the character over their honor is witnessed by no one? I can see the Honor Debt still definitely applying, being more of an internalized self-torturing thing, but how would the Lord factor into the picture?

Meaning, do all honor debts have to come from a lord, or can they come from the character tearing themselves apart as they deal with their own secret shame?

[luke]

For example?

[phasmaphobic]

For example?

Hypothetically speaking here, let's take something like, say, rape. Okay, quickly looking at the situational tests, Raping someone is an obstacle 6 test for Shame advancement. A character does it while completely blitzed on sake, he earns the test, it advances his shame, but his Lord never finds out. It tears him up inside, though. He starts to think about the awful thing he did night and day, but tells no one. The woman could tell, but she doesn't, or maybe she goes somewhere and kills herself. Regardless, the lord does not find out, but the test was earned and the shameful emotions still overtake the character.

So, the GM makes the character take an honor debt, changing a Belief to represent the guilt tearing them up from the inside.

[stormsweeper]

Not confessing the crime would be a Shame test unto itself, I think. Ob 7 for Negligence?

[phasmaphobic]

Not confessing the crime would be a Shame test unto itself, I think. Ob 7 for Negligence?

And that only makes it worse =)