Ebb Psychomorphology

aka The Flux Mind

Although ebb skills have tried in the past to tamper with people's perception, they have always been limited in their function to the "outside", or peripheral zones of thought. So, ebons have been able to send messages through the "communication" skill, but real telepathy and tele-empathy has always eluded them. Intruder has now authorised Meny to educate suitable candidates (I+I, Business or Media) with this new ability.

Flux Mind
RANK: NAME DESCRIPTION DURATION COST RANGE
0: Pre-empt The user can guess what someone is about to say a split second before they say it, so they can "reply" before anything's been said. Talk about freaking people out. N/A 0 flux N/A
1: Psychopathology 1 - Pyschological Diagnosis the user can have an educated guess at what hang-ups and problems the target has, if they are willing. Ebons without any training in psychology will "see" images that relect the target's mental health, and can use these to help a trained psychologist, giving him +1 on all rolls. Ebons with some degree of psychological training will be able to interpret the images themselves and give the target therapy if appropriate, with +2 on all related rolls ebon and target must engage in a conversation (even small talk) for about an hour 1 flux touch
2: Tele-empathy 1 - Counselling ability to pick up on emotions of being within CONC metres, in very basic terms: happy/sad, nervous/confident. If the target has a higher COOL than the ebon, he may be able to mask his feelings. The GM should play this according to the target's motives continuous while the ebon leaves it "switched on" 1 flux per minute CONC metres
3: Deathvision 1 - Karmography gives the ebon a map of his surroundings in terms of Karma, flux and deathwake. Users or recipients of any of the three will show up as such. 1 turn 1 flux line of sight
4: Mirage 1 - Multiples creates the illusion in the target's mind that there are more of something than there really is: people, cameras, lights, guns, whatever is necessary. The target will not question the illusion unless he is made suspicious somehow... "How did they get twenty Low-Waves in here?". Of course, the llusion works better with things which are normally fairly identical, like Shiver outfits. Individual faces don't work very well unless the target is expecting clones! The actual amount of multiples is up to the player, bearing in mind the limitations just mentioned. as long as the ebon wants 1 flux per turn target of illusion must be within line of sight
5: Marionette 1 - JuJu If someone has been knocked unconscious, an ebon with this ability can "marionette" his body to do simple actions: walk, sit, run and so on. The ebon must be in physical contact, for example holding an arm, and the target must prepare himself beforehand. For example, all the operatives in a squad may agree that their ebon can JuJu them if they fall during a fight. If the target would not be willing, he cannot be JuJued. As long as the ebon wants 1 flux per phase touch
6: Psychopathlogy 2 - Paranoia The user can tap into the subject's subconscious fears and worries and make him feel generally unsettled and nervous. The effect will wear off within a few hours, but until then he will be at -2 in all interactions. ? 4 flux line of sight
7: Tele-empathy 2 - Tilt The user can accentuate an emotion the subject is already feeling. The subject must be engaged in conversation, and both parties must make a COOL roll. If the subject gets a higher total, nothing happens. If the user gets a higher total, the amount by which he won is used as a guide to how much the subject is affected (1=slightly stronger to 10=utter fear/loathing/hysteria/euphoria/love etc.). up to an hour after the end of the conversation 6 flux line of sight and engaged in conversation
8: Deathvision 2 CLASSIFIED This new skill has been developed to combat the appearance of Flux Machines, ebb wielding "zombies" that do not show up in the senses of normal ebons. Although they have only been seen on War Worlds so far, The Department of Ebb affairs has decided to take action before they reach Mort. Deathvision 2 allows the user to sense Flux Machines as they approach. N/A N/A N/A
9: Mirage 2 - Blur he user can disguise himself by blurring his image in other's perception. People looking at him will not notice anything strange until they try and remember details, at which point they will find their minds utterly blank. They will remember that he existed, and potentially how tall he was, but as for facial features or anything else, they will be at a loss. N/A <5 flux per minute/TD> anyone looking directly at the user (that is, it doesn't work through video cameras)
10: Marionette 2 - The Evil Whisper The ability to momentarily cause someone to take an inappropriate action, such as standing up, dropping what they're holding, making a noise and so on. Only subjects with a lower COOL than the ebon can be affected. N/A 10 flux line of sight within CONC metres
11: Psychopathlogy 3 - Psychopuncture By selectively stimulating various parts of the subject's brain, an ebon can attempt to lessen the effects of psychological trauma. The ebon makes a DIA roll with the level of the subject's mental disadvantage as a negative modifier. If he succeeds, the effect of the disadvantage is reduced by 1. Further attempts can be made with double, then triple the penalty. takes about an hour per rank of trauma 5 flux per rank of trauma touch
12: Tele-empathy 3 - Level The opposite of tilt, this skill allows an ebon to calm someone in the grip of strong emotion. If the cause of the emotion is still present, the effect is temporary and will only last a long as the ebon is talking to the subject. If the emotion is residual, as the result of a recent experience, the ebon will be able to calm them down properly. N/A costs 3 flux per minute the conversation is maintained. N/A
13: Deathvision 3 - The Hourglass This ability scares away many prospective Psychomorphologists. Once learnt, it can never be forgotten: it gives the user the terrifying ability to see people's dreams. Although the information the ebon gathers is often hazy and ambiguous, the images themselves are razor-sharp and horribly graphic. Use of this ability is best mediated by the GM. N/A N/A N/A
14: Mirage 3 - Oasis Summons an image of something truly desired by the target: perhaps an immediate goal, like food or a drug, or something more deep-rooted such as a long-lost lover or family member. The illusion will remain intact until the subject attempts to interact with it, from which point on it may give itself away. It will behave according to how the subject thinks of it, which in the case of the lost lover may be anachronistic. Drinks/drugs etc will make the subject feel better temporarily, but won't last long, and also will not have any bearing on physics. For example, the subject may feel a glas of water in his hand, but if he throws it at a window the window won't break. N/A costs 10 flux N/A
15: Marionette 3 - Psychosuggestion it has been a long observed fact that hypnosis can be used to induce unreasonable actions, and that the subject of such hypnosis will often use all sorts of twisted logic to justify his action: this is based on the now accepted theory that we only think about actions in the higher centres of our brains *after* acting. This skill relies on that fact, by implanting a simple set of instructions into the target which will be played out after recieving some trigger- a spoken word, the sight of a particular image or such. The target can be programmed any time he is in physical contact with the ebon, and will remember nothing of the programming, not even a blank spot in his memory. Remember that the mind is very good at disguising unusual occurences from itself. N/A costs 15 flux. N/A
16: Psychopathlogy 4 - Inner Sight The ebon can put a willing subject into a trance in which they see the inside of their mind like a landscape, with dream-like images representing everything they think about, their hang-ups, paranoias and daydreams alike. From here they can attempt to combat their problems by playing out the destruction of these metaphors. The player and the GM should role-play the story as much as possible, and remember that the mind is a complex machine, so ill-considered action may cause more harm than good. The ebon can watch the subject roaming about inside their thoughts, but their input is limited to brief words of warning or encouragement. N/A Costs 18 flux N/A
17: Tele-empathy 4 - Veracitology Lie detection. The ebon can watch the subject talking, and after a few words, determine if he is telling the truth or not. The subject can mask his lies if he makes a COOL roll at -5. N/A 20 flux within few feet
18: Deathvision 4 The user can drop into a trance and tune his mind to a meta-dream state, where it processes information far more accurately than normal. In this state, tiny little clues and hints which would normaly be overlooked will all be pieced together, and with any luck the ebon will have a lucid picture of his current situation in his head when he wakes. The GM should role-play this to give the player clues and help, perhaps revealing a key factor in the current story but not the surrounding truth. trance lasts for six hours 15 flux N/A
19: Mirage 4 - Demon The user taps into the subject's deepest phobias and conjures up an image of horrifying grotesqueness. The subject is immediately faced with a rank 10 fear roll, and may have to make other checks at the GM's discretion. minutes, hours or days depending on how badly the fear roll goes 25 flux line of sight
20: Marionette 4 - Life Channel this skill touches on the Karmic ability that Senti used to give life to stormers. Life Channel works by replacing the now-defunct neural pathways of a dead brain with flux pathways which mimic the originals. This is complex, long winded, and inefficient: you're effectively turning their brain into a marionette powered by the ebb. Any dead body (note: not a vat-grown body) can be re-animated. It will behave like a very stupid version of itself in life, having little imagination or reasoning ability, but it will retain most of its memories. It will not require food, but instead needs flux at the rate of 1 point per hour. The ebon responsible for reanimating it can charge the body with flux to give it some sort of lifespan, but decomposition will occur as normal, and the body will be beyond life channelling after about a week unless it's kept cold. takes about an hour to reanimate a body per day it has been dead