PSYCHIC ATTACKS AND POSSESSION

Ancient wizards, devious mystics, and some monsters (ghosts, spirits, and the like) can wreak havoc through targeted mind assaults, perhaps even possessing others for periods of time. Keepers are advised to reserve psychic attacks and possession for monsters and villains only. Allowing pulp heroes to use these rules may unbalance the game; however, for those Keepers eager to allow their players to take advantage of psychic attacks, some guidance notes are provided.

Psychic attacks consist of a POW vs. POW opposed roll:

• If the attacker overcomes the target’s POW: the target loses 1D10 magic points.
• If the target overcomes the attacker’s POW: the attacker loses 1D10 magic points.

Psychic attacks may only take place when the attacker has line of sight upon the target or is in close proximity (within 10 feet). The psychic combat continues each round until the target is unconscious, possessed, or either side has fled. A spirit will flee before it reaches zero magic points, and a wizard will probably give up well before their magic point reserve is depleted. If the target runs out of magic points they immediately fall unconscious or become possessed (if that is the will of the attacker).

Onlookers might notice the target of the attack looking confused or pained but, otherwise, they will be oblivious to the mental assault taking place.

Those possessed may be controlled for a period of time, acting in accordance with the will of the possessor. Usually, this may take the form of performing a certain action, harming another person, or perhaps harming oneself. Possession usually lasts for 1D10 hours but may be longer at the Keeper’s discretion. Those possessed for longer periods may attempt a new POW vs. POW roll every 8 hours in order to throw out the possessing spirit.

It is believed that certain ghosts who lose spirit combat are obliged to provide the victor a boon, which could be answering a single question, giving a direction, or some other piece of information, before departing.

A possessing spirit may be identified by casting the Identify Spirit spell, dislodged by magical attacks (using spells such as Cast Out The Devil or Dismiss), or if they are targeted by psychic attack and are reduced to zero magic points, at which point they immediately vacate the possessed body to return from whence they came.

Allowing Heroes to use Psychic Attacks

Only the Mystic archetype and the Occultist and Yogi occupations allow for the option of taking psychic skills at the Keeper’s discretion. Such heroes must take the Psychic talent during character creation to access psychic skills. If the Keeper wishes for the hero to utilize psychic attacks the hero writes “Psychic Attack” in the talent box on their sheet —the hero cannot now take any other pulp talents during hero creation. If the hero chooses to use a psychic attack on another person or monster, the following conditions are applied:

Monsters: psychic attacks are only useful against ghosts, spirits, and the like. Use the psychic attacks rules as described in the previous section. Psychic heroes may repel the monster, causing it to flee for the time being. It is at the Keeper’s discretion whether such a hero could possess a weak-willed creature, like a zombie.

Mythos monsters: psychic attacks do not work on Mythos monsters. The minds of Mythos monsters are so alien that to connect with them is to risk losing one’s own mind! A human attempting to psychically attack a Mythos monster must immediately make a Sanity roll; taking the standard Sanity loss as described in the monster’s profile. This may mean that the hero must make two Sanity rolls for the same monster: one when first encountering the creature and a second when they attempt to psychically attack it. The connection is severed and the psychic immediately realizes they cannot connect with the monster in question.

Humans: the psychic may attempt a psychic attack if the target is in line of sight. If the initial opposed POW roll is failed, the psychic hero may attempt another opposed POW roll on their turn in the following round (Keepers may choose to allow the psychic to act on their POW rather DEX in determining their order in a larger combat situation). This second attempt effectively works like a pushed roll. If the second attempt fails, the target of the attack can never be targeted again by the same psychic. In addition, like a pushed roll, something suitably bad happens—possible consequences might include: bleeding from the ears and eyes, Sanity loss, an instant delusion, incapacitation by shaking and spasms, etc. Otherwise, if the psychic hero wins the initial or second opposed roll, then psychic combat is initiated and follows the same procedure as outlined in the previous section. Usually, psychic heroes may use a psychic attack to force the target to become unconscious (through the loss of magic points) and possession is not an option.