Mind Reading

You can read another character’s thoughts. If successfully overcome the target's Will resistance, you can read the target’s surface thoughts (meaning whatever the target is presently thinking). Mind Reading transcends language; you comprehend the target’s thoughts whether or not you share a common language. The target gets a Will check (DC 10 + Mind Reading rank) for each interval that passes on the Time and Value Progression Table, with a cumulative +1 per previous attempt.
If you fail your attempt, you cannot read the target’s thoughts. You can try again the following round, but the renewed attempt grants the target a Cumulative +1 on his or her Will resistance per attempt in that encounter.
==Persuasion and Mind Reading==
If you can interact with your subject, a successful Persuasion check against the target’s Perception check result causes the subject to think about a particular piece of information you’re looking for, such as a password or name, allowing you to pluck it from the subject’s surface thoughts.
==Mind Probe==
You can also mentally probe a target’s mind for information. Take two actions and roll your Mind Reading against the target's Will resistance. If you win, you can essentially ask any one question and receive the answer from the target’s mind. If the target doesn’t know the answer, then you know that. Especially personal or guarded information grants the target 1 or 2 bonuses on the Will resistance, while information the subject doesn’t consciously know (subconscious or forgotten due to amnesia, for example) grants 2 or 3 bonuses on the Will reistance and the target can’t choose to forego the resistance.
You can continue to ask questions, one per round, for as long as you maintain your mind probe, requiring two actions each round. The target gets an additional opposed Will check to break free for each interval that passes on the Time and Value Progression Table, with a cumulative +1 per previous attempt.
If you fail to overcome the target's Will resistance, you cannot probe the target’s mind. You can try again the following round, but even the failed attempt counts towards the cumulative +1 for a previous attempt.
==Extras==
* Area: With this extra, you can read the surface thoughts of anyone within the affected area; make a single Mind Reading FX check and compare the result to the Will resistances of all potential subjects in the area. Retries and further opposed FX checks are the same as for reading a single subject. You can only use the mind probe aspect of Mind Reading on a single subject at a time; the Area modifier does not apply to it.
* Reduced Action: Applying this extra to Mind Reading lowers the action required for both reading surface thoughts and mental probes, so a +1 Action extra moves those actions down to free and one, respectively.
* Sensory Link (+1/rank): You can “tap into” the senses of your subjects, perceiving what they perceive while reading their minds like an ESP FX. Your own senses are inactive while you are using your sensory link and you can only perceive through the senses of one subject at a time.
* Subtle: As a mental sensory effect, Mind Reading has a degree of subtlety, only noticeable to the subject or to characters with an appropriate enhanced sense, such as Mental Awareness. Subtle Mind Reading is less detectable, requiring a DC 20 Perception check for either type of character to sense it, while two ranks of the Subtle extra makes Mind Reading completely undetectable.
==Flaws==
* Feedback: You suffer Feedback if a subject you are reading is harmed, using your Mind Reading rank as the resistance modifier against the non-lethal damage. Additionally, you may suffer Feedback at the GM’s discretion from reading or experiencing particularly traumatic or emotionally-charged thoughts of memories from the subject (a kind of Side Effect flaw).
* Limited by Language (-1/rank): You can only understand the subject’s thoughts or memories if you share a common language.
* Limited to Emotions (-1/rank): You can only read or probe for emotions and emotional associations, not coherent surface thoughts or memories.
* Limited to Mind Probe (-1/rank): You can only perform mind probes (taking the usual two actions) and cannot read surface thoughts.
* Limited to Sensory Link (-1/rank): If you have the Sensory Link extra and this flaw, you can only tap into a subject’s senses, you cannot read their thoughts or probe their memories.
* Limited to Surface Thoughts (-1/rank): You can only read surface thoughts and cannot probe for information.
* Reduced Range: Ranged Mind Reading FX require a ranged attack roll in addition to the effect’s normal saving throw. Mind Reading limited to touch range requires a melee attack roll against an unwilling target and physical contact throughout the FX’s duration; breaking contact ends the FX.
* Sense-Dependent: Your Mind Reading is dependent on a sense other than just having to accurately sense the target, such as needing to see his expressions (Sight-Dependent), hear him speak (Hearing-Dependent), smell his changes in biochemistry (Scent-Dependent), and so forth. Alternately, it may be dependent on being in Mental Communication with the target (see Communication).
Category:Rulebook
Category:Characters
Category:FX
Category:Sensory FX