Soul Jacking

testing

> Soul jacking is the harsh new term for what was once
>
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> simply known as *mind control*.  Though highly illegal,
> soul jacking is a lucrative endeavor that can yield a lot of juicy
> details about someone or, in some cases, give you complete control
> over them.  This is the sort of thing that gave rise to tinfoil
> hats, but as we’ve seen over the last 30 years or so, those don’t
> work.  To truly shield yourself from being soul jacked, you need
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> either a strong Mind or an expensive piece of antipsi tech.
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>

> *Mind* *control* is a sub-school of the
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> *telepathy* psionic power.  In most circles it is viewed as
> a dangerous ability and those who possess it are often stigmatized.
> On the other hand, those very folks who have the gift argue (rightly
> so) that it isn’t their fault they have it, so why should they be
> blamed?  It’s a tricky situation to be sure, but the fact
> remains that probing someone’s mind without their permission is
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> definitely not socially acceptable.
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>

> The *mind control* rules outlined in the
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>  chapter discuss the basic functions and
> capabilities of the power.  For those interested in a more
> cinematic experience though, consider the rules for soul jacking,
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> outlined below.
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> In order to attempt to steal someone’s thoughts or
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> actions, you first need to have the appropriate power to do so.
> This means you need to either possess the *mind control* power
> or a magic device capable of emulating it.  Because this is such
> an illegal action, magic devices are hard to find; Magicorp makes
> them, but is only allowed to sell them to military and police
> personnel.  You will need a Rank score with a level equal
> to the power rating of the device in order to find and use one
> legally.  Naturally though, you may be able to find one on the
>
>
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> black market.
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>

> If you do possess the ability, you need to pick your
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> target.  This can be literally any living creature that
> possesses a brain, but works best on members of your own species.
> Attempting to soul jack a creature of a different species imposes a
> -1 penalty – other creatures’ brains process data differently and
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> it is harder to make sense of the information you acquire.
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>

> Making the check is as simple as using the psionic power;
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> roll against the appropriate key attribute and compare your result to
> the target’s opposed Mind check.  Instead of *mind*
> control *being an all-or-nothing success (or failure) though, soul*
> jacking may require some additional effort.  Succeeding at your
>
>
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> first check simply gets you in the door, so to speak.
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>

> After making a successful check, you gain access to the
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> target’s “surface thoughts”.  Surface thoughts represent
> what the target is thinking *right now*.  For animals,
> surface thoughts are just simple, instinctual concepts, such as
> “food”, “potty”, “play”, and so forth.  More complex
> creatures, especially humans, may have an infinite range of possible
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> thoughts.
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> Once you’re in someone’s head, you can choose to try
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> to probe their memories or try to take control of them.  Decide
> what you’re trying to do, then make the appropriate check using
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> your power’s key attribute.
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>

# ==

Probe Memories ====

> When trying to probe someone’s
>
>
> deeper memories, make a *mental communication* or *mind*
> control *check after you’ve succeeded at getting into their*
> head.  The higher your degree of success, the further you can
> probe the target’s memories.  The chart below illustrates the
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> results.
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>  \*Assumes creature has
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> had multiple lives through reincarnation, a concept popular among
> psychics.  Including multiple lives in your campaign may lead to
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> some interesting stories.
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>

>
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> Most animals have life spans too short to be represented
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> by higher ladder results, but that makes it all the easier to get a
> life’s worth of memories from an animal.  Most animal memories
> remain instinctual, and depending on the creature they may have
> little useful information.  Some animals, like dogs, remember a
> scent better than a face, for example, while others have memories
> approaching those of humans.  Use your best judgment (and some
> creativity) to determine just how much information you can gather
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> from an animal’s mind.
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> When reading the mind of a human (or other
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> similarly-intelligent being) you can gather nearly any piece of
> information you want.  Even the deeper, subconscious memories
> might be accessible if you can probe far enough back in the
> character’s lifetime.  You can even get the earliest memories
> of a person’s childhood dating back to before anything that person
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> might actually be able to remember on their own.
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> Probing a target’s thoughts can be jarring for the
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> target.  They remember everything that you are detecting as you
> read it, which can have unforeseen consequences.  For this
> reason, attempting to read the thoughts of an unaware person can
> cause them serious confusion and, depending on the memories you are
> looking for, quite a bit of discomfort.  Any character who
> becomes distressed from the mind reading may get a second Mind roll
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> to attempt to force you out of their head.
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> If you have the *alter memory* gift, in addition to
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> the *mind control* power, you may alter or erase the target’s
> memory.  See the *mind control* entry in the  chapter for an idea of what sorts of
> changes you can make based on your degree of success.  To alter
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> a target’s memory, you need to make a separate check.
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> Finally, if you possess the *mind reading* gift from
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> the *mental communication* power, you may use it to read a
> character’s thoughts just as if you had the *mind control*
> gift, though it is limited to reading mind sonly; you must possess
> the *mind control* power to use *alter memory* or to take
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> control of a character’s actions.
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>

# ==

Taking Control ====

> Once you’ve defeated a
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> target’s mental resistance and gained access to their surface
> thoughts, you can use *mind control* to gain total dominance
> over them.  Make an opposed *mind control* check versus the
> target’s Mind check.  If successful, you can influence
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> the target’s thoughts and actions as follows.
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> You implant a thought in the target’s mind that causes them to
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> react in some minor way.  For example, you can tell the target
> to “come here” or convince them that “these are not what you’re
> looking for.”  The target will interpret this suggestion in
> the best possible light, though he will not do anything that is
> completely against his nature.  “Jump off of that bridge”
> and “shoot your commanding officer” are examples of suggestions
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> that a character will *not* carry out.
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> The target perceives you as a friend.  He considers your words
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> and interprets them in the most favorable manner, but he is still
> unwilling to do anything that goes against his nature.  You must
> maintain control of a target’s mind and cannot activate any other
> psionic powers or become distracted to a point that you would not be
> able to focus on maintaining control (such as in combat or other
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> stressful situations).
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> With a Great result you may continue to activate psionic
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> powers while maintaining control.  During stressful situations
> you must make a Great Focus roll to avoid losing control of the
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> target’s mind.
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> You exhibit complete mental dominance over another character.
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> They obey your orders to the best of their ability despite their own
> nature and perceive you in the best possible light.  You must
> maintain control of a target’s mind and cannot activate any other
> psionic powers or become distracted to a point that you would not be
> able to focus on maintaining dominance (such as in combat or other
>
>
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> stressful situations).
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> With a Wonderful result you may continue to activate
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> psionic powers while dominating a target’s mind.  During
> stressful situations you must make a Great Focus roll to avoid
> losing control of the target’s mind.  With a Phenomenal
> result, maintaining control requires a Focus roll of only Mediocre or
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> better.
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> Note that when controlling the minds of animals and other
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> beings of lesser intelligence, they may be limited by their
> intelligence when attempting to follow your orders.  Choose
> appropriate commands and suggestions based on the capabilities of
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> your target, or your attempt may be in vain.
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