WtHQM:Empathy
Part of Welcome to Holy Question Mark, a game of the Amber Diceless RPG run by Rook Seidhr.
Empathy, as a power, incorporates mental communication, sensing and (at advanced levels) precognition, mind control and psychic healing. The rules for it are based on the power of the same name from the game Lords of Gossamer and Shadow.
Cost
Basic Empathy costs 30 points for complete mastery, or can be broken into partial powers as usual.
Advanced Empathy costs 50 points, or 20 points for characters who already have Basic Empathy. It can be broken into partial powers as usual, but full Basic Empathy is a prerequisite for any powers of Advanced Empathy.
Attribute Tips
Psyche is most important. Endurance is sometimes useful for healing others and/or insulating oneself from others' pain or madness, as well as for long-term use of Empathy.
Drawbacks and Synergies
- Activating Empathy makes the user open and receptive to the flow of psychic (and magical) energies in the immediate area, which can leave them vulnerable to attack or contamination.
- An active Empathic link is an excellent channel for the powers of Sorcery and Invocation—in both directions. To open an Empathic link with a hostile magician, without first establishing some sort of defense other than Empathy, is foolhardy.
- Empathic links also make Trump more powerful (and Trump can be used to make an Empathic link over almost any distance and across Shadow). The Trump Defense ability can be used against Empathy.
- An Empath who is also an Invoker can use a subject's True Name to gain a considerable advantage in contests of Psyche.
Basic Abilities
Empathic Link
An Empath can create a psychic link between two or more characters by touch (which need not be skin-to-skin, though thick clothing or armor will require effort to penetrate). A link can also be made by eye contact with slightly more difficulty, or through a Trump, a Scrying connection or other means of psychic spying that operates in real-time (images of the past or future are ineffective). Some Empaths are able to push an Empathic link through a live video feed, but this requires a great deal of Psyche and is very draining.
An open link can be used for communication, psychic combat, spell use, or further abilities of Empathy. It is a sufficient replacement for the Mind Touch micro-spell of Sorcery.
Opening an Empathic link is a receptive act, not an assault. The Empath "tunes in" to the "frequency" of the desired target, sensitizing themselves to the target's thoughts until they become clear. As such, it is difficult for the target to resist without some sort of defensive power, and it does not usually provoke an immediate Psyche battle.
Sense Psyche
Instead of "tuning in" to a particular target, the Empath may open their brain to every "broadcast" in the immediate area, detecting living beings and sentient artifacts. Higher Psyches are easier to spot, as are closer targets.
Aura Sense
Empaths can recognize beings and items of power by their psychic auras, even if they are disguised, invisible or otherwise unseen. The Empath must have encountered the subject previously and paid enough attention to them to get a psychic "feel." The Empath must also be in a receptive state—this power is not automatic—and the being or item to be sensed must be in line of sight or observed via Scrying or other magical means. Well-known auras "jump out" at the Empath immediately, while less-familiar ones may take a moment or two to sort out.
Inspecting the aura of a character, artifact or creature gives an impression of any Psychic Qualities they may possess ("this person has a very strong Psyche" or "this table lamp is intelligent and psychically sensitive," for example). Some Powers may also be detectable, though if the Empath has never encountered a particular Power, they may not understand what they are sensing.
An Empath who is also a Trump Artist can get a psychic impression by handling someone's Trump for a few minutes that will suffice to identify their aura later. Likewise, an Invoker-Empath who knows someone's True Name will also recognize their aura.
Item Reading
Empaths can sometimes read psychic traces from inanimate objects. Clothing worn frequently over the course of years would have a strong psychic imprint, while a drinking glass used once at dinner might not hold any trace at all. Items used during powerful emotional events hold a stronger trace.
Danger Sense
An Empath who is actively scanning their surroundings gains a degree of foresight into both environmental dangers (a bridge that will collapse if they walk across it) and personal threats (a dagger about to be thrust into their back). This sense does not activate automatically, and covers only the immediate area in space and the immediate future in time. Someone with a significant Psyche advantage can disguise their intentions, and magical or psychic defense powers will also block Danger Sense.
Sensing Thoughts
Once an Empathic link is established, it is easy for the Empath to get an impression of someone's surface thoughts, including their general physical and emotional state. This is a passive, receptive action in which the Empath "quiets" their own mind to listen to the target's, so only beings with a Psyche advantage over the Empath are likely to notice that they are being eavesdropped on.
Mind Probe
Instead of passively sensing, an Empath can actively dig into the target of an Empathic link, searching their emotions and thought processes in detail. This is a one-way ability—unless the target is an Empath as well, bidirectional communication is not possible. If the target has a Psyche of Chaos rank (0 points) or higher, they will automatically detect the intrusion, and may choose to resist, initiating a Psyche battle.
Mind Reading
After connecting to a target with a Mind Probe (either willingly or with a successful Psyche battle), an Empath can read the subject's memories, thoughts, emotions and subconscious desires, potentially including things the subject does not consciously remember. It is extremely difficult to do this without physically touching the target, and it is always detectable regardless of the target's Psyche rank. The subject may consciously choose to bar access to certain thoughts or memories, but this is as obvious as a "KEEP OUT" sign, and the Empath can initiate a Psyche battle to intrude into the locked-off areas.
Psychic Neutral
An Empath may reverse the process of sensitizing themselves to their surroundings, blending in and becoming psychically camouflaged. The less psychic and magical energy there is in the Empath's surroundings, the more effective this camouflage is, as they can simply become "blank" instead of matching themselves to their environment.
Empaths using Psychic Neutral are defended against Trump contact and other forms of psychic intrusion. They cannot attempt any abilities requiring an Empathic link, use Power Words, Sorcery or Conjuration, bring Pattern or Logrus to mind, or make psychic contact with any creatures or artifacts; any attempt to do so immediately uncloaks the Empath.
Sending
After establishing an Empathic link with a target, the Empath can send simple messages (a few words), visual images or emotional impressions. If the link is undetected and the target is not familiar with psychic abilities, they may believe the message to be part of their normal thoughts.
Emotional Manipulation
An Empath can manipulate the emotions of the target of an Empathic link, either directly (which is potentially detectable to the same degree as a Mind Probe) or by evoking an existing memory in the target that has the desired emotional context (detectable only if the target has a Psyche advantage, but the Empath must already know the "location" of the memory in the target's mind). Either form of manipulation can be opposed with a Psyche battle if the target is aware and unwilling.
Advanced Abilities
Empathic Trance
Partial Cost: 5 points
The Empath is able to place their mind and body into a restorative trance, a process that speeds emotional and psychological recovery, allows the Empath the chance to explore complex thoughts and consideration over an issue over a relatively short duration, and can even refresh the physical body, aiding in self-recovery.
To be effective, an empathic trance must be at least ten minutes long, and in that time the Empath spends the equivalent of an hour in self-time. For a rule of thumb, the gamemaster and player should consider time spent in an empathic trance to be 1 to 6 in the outside world. This ability is self-timed: the Empath simply decides how long the empathic trance will last and under what conditions the Empath will awake. This could be a time limit, the duration of a single mental task, or even a trigger word given to a trusted associate. If the expected/desired duration of the empathic trance is reached and a waking condition is not achieved, the Empath can choose to continue in the trance or wake from it regardless.
An Empath could conceivably use this time to figure out something complex like hanging a spell, cutting the preparation time for that spell by the relevant factor, though the lynchpin casting times remain the same.
Any meaningful disturbance, such as physical manipulation or psychic contact with the Empath during an empathic trance will disrupt any activities the Empath was attempting, and the Empath must begin anew if any tasks were not complete.
Prescience
Partial Cost: 0 points, included with Empathic Trance
One of the more amazing Empathy abilities is prescience, where the Empath enters an empathic trance (described prior) opening the mind to psychic emanations, becoming attuned to the machinations of destiny, and even the patterns laid forth by Order and Chaos upon the material universe.
The immediate effect is akin to the Sensitivity to Danger quality for Artifacts & Creatures (described on page 69 of the core rulebook). This grants the Empath a vague sense of events in the immediate future, or a hunch about the outcomes for actions about to be taken. This basic danger sense takes only a short while, around ten minutes of time spent in an empathic trance, and gives results that will occur within an hour of emerging from the trance.
A dedicated Empath may go into a longer trance, keeping the same ratio of 1 to 6 parts time spent in the trance versus the game world. Spending an hour, thus, can yield hazy information of what may naturally occur within six hours of emerging from the trance, and a full day can provide a glimpse into the next six days, etc.
These visions are tentative and are inevitably a "most likely" outcome barring the influence of the Great Powers, which means that any event of significance where the Pattern and Logrus come into play is likely to become highly difficult to predict, due to the way those powers can manipulate and reshape reality. As more powers become involved in activities of import, prescience becomes of lesser use, adding complexity to events that might normally play out in a straightforward fashion. A prescient character may see events moving forwards and backwards, mistakenly identifying critical junctures or crisis points where there are none.
The effect of this ability is entirely at the GM's discretion, and can be a two-edged sword. Empaths who abuse or rely overmuch on prescience may find every single action they take fraught with unnatural significance. Which action will become the proverbial butterfly wing that causes the earthquake? An Empath who ignores warning signs of this ability's abuse may be prompted into GM-encouraged paranoia. The GM may feed the character strange portents, moments of intense déjà vu, unanticipated consequences from otherwise mundane actions, and an occasional stream of disinformation.
Healing
Partial Cost: 5 points
The Empath understands the relation between soul and body to an incredible degree, and can use that knowledge to manipulate a body's natural healing processes by influencing the "astral body" of the wounded or sick character, bringing the flesh into line. Essentially, this speeds the subject's healing rate to that of a higher-Ranked Endurance. If the subject's Endurance is merely average, healing is achieved as if it were Chaos rank. Chaos-ranked subjects heal at a rate equivalent to roughly 10 points of Endurance, and Ranked characters as if they were higher up the Attribute ladder.
This healing occurs at this rate only for as long as the subject is in the care of the Empath. When the treatment stops, healing resumes at the subject's normal healing rate.
Transferring Energy
Partial Cost: 5 points
Empaths can access the psychic fields generated by living beings and draw energy from those fields, or lend energy to a subject. Whether given or taken, this energy can be used to refresh an exhausted character, give aid at times when concentration and energy are needed, to fuel powers, spells, or Power Words, or to aid healing.
The Empath can grant or drain a tiny bit of energy (equivalent to the Lifeforce Power Word on page 59 of the core rulebook, or the Burst of Magic or Burst of Psyche Words on page 60) without requiring an empathic link: just a willing subject. Any further or more significant transfer of energy requires an empathic link with the desired subject, willing or otherwise. An Empath can transfer energy to or from a subject until either are rendered unconsciousness. Borrowed or loaned energy returns at the normal rate, and excess energy dissipates if it is not used relatively quickly, akin to a body metabolizing a burst of adrenaline.
Empaths can also use this ability passively against the environment itself, soaking up residual energy from the environment, or to bleed energy into the surroundings, if so desired. The amount of energy available will depend on the nature of the place: its inhabitants, the relative level and vigor of any living beings, and the guarded or unguarded state of any physical or psychic energy. The gains from draining flora and fauna are nowhere as rich as that from conscious, vibrant life forms, however. An Empath may choose to flood an area with energy, creating a charged, vibrant space conducive for others to perform magic or psychic abilities, or even to create a temporary space conducive to healing or creative work.
Mind Control
Partial Cost: 5 points
An Empath winning a psychic conflict with a subject may attempt to take control of the subject's mind, briefly controlling the subject to behave according the Empath's wishes. This is a quick, temporary ability: the subject can only be compelled for a single quick action, such as surrendering an item, giving up information, or performing some immediate physical activity. It cannot be sustained over any length of time. This requires a decisive superiority in Psyche or a willing subject: anything less will be a constant psychic struggle between the Empath and the subject of the attempted mind control.
Even if the psychic conflict is successful, the subject can only be controlled to do something they might conceivably do on their own or if coerced. If the Empath tries to force the subject to reveal some secret, or forces them into a course of action which might threaten their life or would be morally repugnant, then mind control will not succeed and the subject can attempt to break the empathic link.
Furthermore, this ability is a risky one, as the Empath does not necessarily know if the subject is actually under control. A subject that has successfully resisted the psychic conflict can choose to behave as if mind-controlled, lulling the Empath into a false sense of security. Empaths are generally not very gullible, but a subject with a greater Psyche or a rushed/sloppy attempt at mind control could be disastrous.
Exalted Empathy?
Are there still more powerful uses of Empathy yet to be discovered? Perhaps…
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