Psychic Vampirism
Most psychic talents are tools. They can be used for the benefit of others or to harm, depending on the moral character of the psychic. Psychic vampirism is the exception to the rule. Whether the talent shapes the psychic or the psychic shapes the talent is the subject of many a late-night discussion among the gifted, but psychic vampirism tends to bring out the worst in people. In addition to the debilitating effects it has on the target, it produces a euphoria in the psychic, a mental rush that nothing else compares to. The psychic literally drains away emotion his victims, or in some cases, actual living energies, converting them into energy for himself. The psychic vampire often becomes addicted to the sensation - feeling a rush from the draw and desiring the extra energy, vibrance and emotion granted.
Roll: Manipulation + Empathy
- ● Rush -- The psychic vampire feeds off strong emotion. The emotions can be positive (joy, happiness, love) or negative (fear, hatred, greed), though the vampire tends to find it easier to generate negative emotions. The vampire rolls Manipulation + Empathy (difficulty 6) to "feed" off the emotions. This provides no concrete benefit to the vampire, though it provides a rush of power. Depending on the Nature of the character, this may allow him to recover lost Willpower, though it is recommended that the player score at least 3 successes on the roll for that to occur. The psychic must be close to the target (within 10 yards) and able to sense her to feed. The target may be unsettled by the process, as the effect tends to mute her emotions. However, it does not remove the emotion itself and could not be used for instance, to calm down an angry person. The vampire can use this ability to monitor the emotions of the subject, though he doesn't have an accurate gauge of the subject's emotions until he starts to drain.
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- ●● Sapping the Will -- The drain effect sharpens here. The vampire's leeching of life energy saps the will of the target while invigorating his own will. The psychic rolls Manipulation + Empathy (difficulty of the target's current willpower), and the target rolls a reflexive willpower roll (difficulty 6). If the psychic vampire succeeds, he drains one point of temporary willpower from the target and adds it to his own store of temporary willpower. The extra willpower can exceed the psychic's normal maximum Willpower (up to 10 total temporary Willpower). While the character has more than normal Willpower, he feels invigorated, akin to a drug high. The excess Willpower fades at one point per hour. This talent can be used at a range of up to 10 yards.
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- ●●● Energy Transference -- The vampire's ability to leech life energy now allows him to invigorate himself and to heal minor injuries with stolen life force. This requires the vampire to touch the subject for a turn. The psychic's player then rolls Manipulation + Empathy (difficulty 7). Each success causes a level of bashing damage to the target and heals a level of bashing damage that the psychic has taken. If the psychic is fully healed when this occurs, each bashing level absorbed restores 2 points of Willpower. The subject does get a soak roll, and soaked levels of damage do not benefit the psychic.
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- ●●●● Life Leech -- This dangerous talent allows the psychic vampire to leech away vital life energies from the target, healing any damage the psychic may have taken and giving an emotional high without compare. The psychic must maintain physical contact with the target for one turn per damage level absorbed and then rolls Manipulation + Empathy (diff. 8). Each success does one level of lethal damage to the subject. This will heal one level of damage (bashing or lethal) or turn one level of aggravated damage into lethal damage. If the character is fully healed when he leeches life energy, each damage level absorbed provides the character with 3 points of Willpower.
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- ●●●●● Emotional Vortex -- The psychic vampire's ability to absorb energy has progressed to the point where he can affect multiple targets at once. The psychic must have used one of the lesser powers (or a form of Empathy or Telepathy) on the target once to make the link to the target's emotional template. After that, the psychic can use Level 1 or Level 2 powers on the target at will. The range at which the psychic can drain the target depends on the number of successes the player scores on the power roll:
Successes Range 1 Line of Sight 2 1 block Radius 3 Immediate Neighborhood 4 Anywhere in City 5 Anywhere in Country
VAMPIRES VS. VAMPIRES
Psychic vampires find actual vampires (the bloodsucking creatures of the night) tasty treats. The strong emotions and hungers of the vampires provide a sharp, almost hallucinatory experience. The difficulty to use any Psychic Vampirism effect on an actual vampire is reduced by two. However, vampires are a dangerous form of prey, and only the most powerful (or foolish) of psychic vampires hunt the blood-drinkers. Many vampires have a supernatural awareness of their own and won't hesitate to feed very literally on someone who assaults them psychically.
