Though rare in The Unseen War (the first Dark Conspiracy 'era'), supernatural empathic powers are starting to appear in the world. On a mechanical level, these function in a similar manner to psionics in Traveller but, as we started development on them for Dark Conspiracy, we found they did not quite 'fit' with the atmosphere of the game or the 'feel' we were trying to reach for The Unseen War.
Operatives capable of using empathic powers have the Empathy (EMP) characteristic, which is functionally similar to PSI in Traveller. However, the vast majority of such Operatives will have a very low score in EMP, typically rolling it only on 1D or 1D+2. Test Subjects get to roll the normal 2D for it, but they will come out of Operative Creation with a lot of baggage that will make them less than... completely stable...
The actual use of empathic talents is governed by the Empathy Use skill, which has each talent in the game as a speciality - so, empaths are capable of attempting them all, but will really only meet sustained success in one or two areas. As with psionics, EMP is used as a DM and is drained with each attempt. Given that Operatives will generally have low EMP scores to begin with, they may only get one or two successful uses of empathy each day, and a truly stressful attempt may drain them completely. The flip side of this is that they are literally doing the supernatural in a way almost no one else can, so can provide an 'out' for the party at critical points.
Note: Keep in mind that this is just the start of empathy appearing ion the world, and no one really knows what it is or how it works, so everything is quite low key ion The Unseen War. As the 'eras' of Dark Conspiracy progress, the understanding of empathy will grow a lot broader, technology will be applied to it, and it will become a lot more important...
The specialities of Empathy Use (and thus the talents available) are:
Computers: Sense the flow of data within computer systems and networks.
Drain: Reduce the defences of a hostile being, leaving them vulnerable to attack.
Foreboding: Gain glimpses of the future, to varying degrees of effectiveness.
Healing: Focussing emphatic energies to repair biological damage.
Foreboding: Gain glimpses of the future, to varying degrees of effectiveness.
Project Mind: Impose emotions and thoughts into a living creature.
Sense Mind: Detect and understand the presence and emotions of living creatures.
It should also be noted that Dark Minions have access to all of these talents and a lot more - they get their own Dark Empathy chapter in the book.
We briefly previewed the Empathy rules on a super-secret Facebook page (only accessible to those with a true understanding of the conspiracies in our world), and they suggested that with Operatives being relatively weak, a 'fail-forward' mechanic be introduced. Seeing the potential for endless fun in this, we are currently trying out the Empathic Paroxysms rule:
Empathic Paroxysms
Despite the best efforts of the foremost human minds, the use of empathy is still more art than science, with talented individuals often doing what ‘feels’ right to manifest abilities rather than following set procedures. The actual nature of empathy is not really understood at all, and unexpected results are common in its use. This is called an Empathic Paroxysm, though some Operatives use the term Empathic Blowback.
When an Empathy Use check is failed, consult the Empathic Paroxysm table to gauge any additional effects.
Empathic Paroxysm
Empaths should be aware that while the consequences of failure can be catastrophic enough, in certain regions of the world where Dark Minions hold greater sway, they can be so much worse. The effects of failure in these places will be covered in future books.
Operatives capable of using empathic powers have the Empathy (EMP) characteristic, which is functionally similar to PSI in Traveller. However, the vast majority of such Operatives will have a very low score in EMP, typically rolling it only on 1D or 1D+2. Test Subjects get to roll the normal 2D for it, but they will come out of Operative Creation with a lot of baggage that will make them less than... completely stable...
The actual use of empathic talents is governed by the Empathy Use skill, which has each talent in the game as a speciality - so, empaths are capable of attempting them all, but will really only meet sustained success in one or two areas. As with psionics, EMP is used as a DM and is drained with each attempt. Given that Operatives will generally have low EMP scores to begin with, they may only get one or two successful uses of empathy each day, and a truly stressful attempt may drain them completely. The flip side of this is that they are literally doing the supernatural in a way almost no one else can, so can provide an 'out' for the party at critical points.
Note: Keep in mind that this is just the start of empathy appearing ion the world, and no one really knows what it is or how it works, so everything is quite low key ion The Unseen War. As the 'eras' of Dark Conspiracy progress, the understanding of empathy will grow a lot broader, technology will be applied to it, and it will become a lot more important...
The specialities of Empathy Use (and thus the talents available) are:
Computers: Sense the flow of data within computer systems and networks.
Drain: Reduce the defences of a hostile being, leaving them vulnerable to attack.
Foreboding: Gain glimpses of the future, to varying degrees of effectiveness.
Healing: Focussing emphatic energies to repair biological damage.
Foreboding: Gain glimpses of the future, to varying degrees of effectiveness.
Project Mind: Impose emotions and thoughts into a living creature.
Sense Mind: Detect and understand the presence and emotions of living creatures.
It should also be noted that Dark Minions have access to all of these talents and a lot more - they get their own Dark Empathy chapter in the book.
We briefly previewed the Empathy rules on a super-secret Facebook page (only accessible to those with a true understanding of the conspiracies in our world), and they suggested that with Operatives being relatively weak, a 'fail-forward' mechanic be introduced. Seeing the potential for endless fun in this, we are currently trying out the Empathic Paroxysms rule:
Empathic Paroxysms
Despite the best efforts of the foremost human minds, the use of empathy is still more art than science, with talented individuals often doing what ‘feels’ right to manifest abilities rather than following set procedures. The actual nature of empathy is not really understood at all, and unexpected results are common in its use. This is called an Empathic Paroxysm, though some Operatives use the term Empathic Blowback.
When an Empathy Use check is failed, consult the Empathic Paroxysm table to gauge any additional effects.
Empathic Paroxysm
| Failed Effect | Result |
| +0 | Supernatural Phenomena: The talent works as normal, but unnerving phenomena accompanies it; ice forms on flat surfaces, shadows grow noticeably, people nearby suffer from splitting headaches, spectral whispers in unknown languages can be heard. |
| -1 | Empathic Blast: The talent works as normal, but a violent pulse of invisible empathic energy explodes from the empath. The empath suffers 1D damage and everyone within 6 metres must make an Average (8+) END check or lose their next Major Action. |
| -2 | Malicious Reflection: The talent works as normal but the empath becomes the target. If the Referee judges the talent to be beneficial to the empath, it also inflicts 2D damage |
| -3 | Mind Scouring: The empath and others nearby feel as though their souls are sucked from their bodies as a dread entity laughs inside their heads. The Empath loses 1D EMP and everyone within 6 metres must make an Average (8+) END check or lose 2D EMP. |
| -4 | Dimension Walk: The empath’s mind descends to a Dark Dimension where they are subjected to the cruel attentions of Dark Minions in a hellish landscape. The empath immediately falls unconscious and must make a Difficult (10+) CHA or EMP check every minute to return their consciousness to the real world. Another empath may aid them in this via a task chain. |
| -5 | Empathic Storm: Dimensions briefly bleed into one another, creating a violent empathic storm of crackling energies and dark, soul-sucking winds. This is treated as a Blast 4D weapon, dealing 2D damage to everyone within its area. The roiling energies also inflict DM-2 to any checks performed within the storm. Roll 1D every round after the storm manifests – on the roll of 6+, it subsides and the dimensions instantly snap back to normality. |
| -6 or worse | Dark Intrusion: A Dark Minion of the Referee’s choosing takes advantage of the empath’s fumbling attempts to break through into the real world with hostile intent – this may or may not be aimed at the Operatives. |
Empaths should be aware that while the consequences of failure can be catastrophic enough, in certain regions of the world where Dark Minions hold greater sway, they can be so much worse. The effects of failure in these places will be covered in future books.
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