Using mundane psychological techniques (as opposed to Mind-based magicks), you can place someone in a trance and then rummage around a bit inside his head. Though it’s not nearly as effective as people seem to believe it is, such mesmerism is quite potent under the proper circumstances.

Mesmerism typically demands a setting that encourages a subject to surrender himself to the hypnotist’s control; traditionally hypnotic settings, tools, and techniques include religious rituals, quiet clinics, repetitious music, dramatic contrasts of light and darkness, and – believe it or not – television screens. Drawing the subject into a receptive state of mind, the hypnotist gets him to lower his defenses and let her in. If the subject resists, the hypnotist will probably need to resort to Mind magicks rather than simple mesmerism.

System-wise, the player makes a resisted roll that pits her Charisma + Hypnotism against her subject’s Intelligence (for a willing subject) or Intelligence + Willpower (for an unwilling subject). The number of successes reflects the depth of the trance, with one to three successes indicating a mild trance and four or more successes revealing a fairly deep one. For each success rolled, the hypnotist adds one additional die to her second roll; three successes, for example, would add three more dice to that second roll’s dice pool.

Next, the hypnotist player rolls a second time against a difficulty of the subject’s Willpower; for each success, she manages to uncover one piece of information; instill one “trigger phrase”; inspire one idea, behavior or memory that the subject will think is his own; “command” one simple activity; or reduce the difficulty a related Mind-based spell by -1. This process, in turn, takes roughly one minute of in-game time per task involved. (It would, for instance, take four minutes to instill four triggers or memories.) Contrary to popular perception, short sessions of hypnotic influence cannot drive a person to commit things he wouldn’t do otherwise. Extended influence, on the other hand, can be surprisingly efficacious.

Hypnotism is a psychological art, not an exact science. Its effects are unpredictable – not even “experts” can fully control another person’s mind without hardcore Mind-magick. Ultimately, the Storyteller decides how much influence our mesmerist exerts upon her subject. That said, a skilled hypnotist can do some pretty impressive things with a willing subject… especially if she’s adept with the Mind Sphere as well.

• Novice: You can do some basic parlor tricks.

•• Practiced: You’ve studied professional mesmerism techniques.

••• Skillful: A devotee of the art, you can uncover or inspire surprising results.

•••• Expert: It’s scary just how much you can do when you set someone else’s mind to it.

••••• Master: Dr. Caligari was a fraud. You are not.

Possessed by

Psychologists, Therapists, Past-Life Regressionists, Stage Magicians, Interrogators, PsychOps, Nephandic Tempters and Corrupters

Specialties

Uncovering Secrets, Unlocking Inhibitions, Discovering Past Lives, Behavior Modification, False Memories, Post-Hypnotic Suggestion

Ratings