For an upcoming adventure, Ulik and his band of Rock Trolls are likely to come through a dimensional portal to wreak havoc, unless the characters can stop them. I noted that Rock Trolls have a tendency to flee from tough opposition unless they have strong leadership. I'm going to assume Ulik counts as strong leadership.

So...do the Rock Trolls make a FEAT roll against Intuition or Psyche to avoid being routed by strong opposition (or superior numbers)? The rule book lists reasonable evidence for it being either one. If they do get routed by the characters, does Ulik make a FEAT roll against Intuition or Psyche to stop them? Or Reason (assuming that the Leadership Talent complements this)? Your thoughts?

I'm thinking it's a Popularity Feat for Ulik to stop the rout (since he'll have higher Popularity with his crew), modified by Leadership and its Karma bonus. If Ulik decides to dramatically smite a would-be deserter, I've give him a bonus to keep the others in line. Rock Trolls seem like the type to respect (and fear) strength.

To resist the rout, the Trolls are fighting against their fear and that takes willpower, putting it in the Psyche Feat category.

Thanks - I hadn't considered using the Popularity stat. That one somehow always seems to get sidelined.

I wouldn't use Popularity this way. Popularity is how well you're known and perceived to the public.

Think Spider-Man or the X-Men: would you use Spidey's or Cyclop's popularity for them to influence friends and teammates? I don't think so.

You could say their popularity is higher when concerning their friends, but how high (or low, for Ulik) do you go? Tony Stark knows who Spiderman is, is Spidey's Popularity 100 as far as Tony is concerned? Can he know influence him on the Unearthly column?

I'd use Psyche vs Intuition or Psyche, with column shifts for "intimidation".

No, a Popularity FEAT is on target with the spirit of the rules.

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Advanced Player's Book, page 17
A Popularity FEAT is used whenever you want to get something from someone else. This may be borrowing a car from a friend, getting a hot tip from a police sergeant, finagling a favor from a newspaper columnist, or prying information from a stoolie, as well as getting special equipment from the government or persuading a terrorist to surrender. Popularity is a measure of personal charm, charisma, and good looks, combined with the hero's reputation for honesty and fair play

First off, comparing someone leading an army to a hero trying to influence a teammate is way off base. In leading the trolls, Ulik is relying as much on his strength to lead by example as he is on his reputation as a warrior to rally his followers against a force that may be beyond their abilities. As the villain, I don't think he charm and good looks comes into play here, but his reputation and charisma definitely do.

Then, let's look at the first example of a Popularity FEAT given:

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Advanced Player's Book, page 18
Captain America, with a Popularity of Unearthly (100) is present when a fire breaks out in a theater. He changes into costume and shouts for the panicky people to head in an orderly fashion for the fire doors. The crowd is Neutral, but benefits from the action (they survive). The roll is Unearthly + 2CS, or Shift Y. A yellow FEAT is needed. failure would indicate that part of the crowd listened, but a few weren't paying attention, and would rush this way and that, looking for a quick way out.

The Popularity FEAT is used to gain cooperation from a panicked crowd in a hectic situation. If it succeeds the crowd listens, if it fails people will do what they will do (meaning some will do exactly as Cap was asking because they would have done that anyhow, but there are those who would panic and freak out as they try to escape).

While a Psyche FEAT may be a good indicator in a one-on-one situation in trying to determine if a foe will fight or flee from an adversary, the successful Popularity FEAT from a leader takes the place of the individual decision. They're accepting that the individual who is leading them knows what's best and will go along with it... until the situation looks bad enough that they can't trust that leader's competence anymore (because he failed his check and his reputation didn't hold sway when needed).