Leech

Leech

25 points for level 1 + 4 points/additional level

Giant leeches, striges, vampires, and many other traditional and B-movie monsters suck the life from their victims. "Psychic vampires" and evil spirits usually dispense with the traditional bite. Creepy supers sometimes even have ranged life-stealing abilities.

To use Leech, you must maintain ongoing contact with your victim; a brief touch isn't enough. In combat, you must grapple or pin him – which is trivial if he's unconscious or otherwise helpless. Out of combat, options include a long handshake, hug, or more intimate embrace.

While you maintain contact, each level of Leech lets you drain 1 HP per second from your victim. You heal 1 HP per full 3 HP you steal. You can't raise your HP above normal, but you can continue the drain without healing yourself. The drain ends instantly if you release your victim, or if he breaks free or dies. If he survives, the stolen HP heal like any other injury.

Leech 1 costs 25 points; successive levels cost 4 points apiece. For example, to drain 10 HP per second requires Leech 10, which costs 25 + 9 × 4 = 61 points. At the GM's option, points of drain convert to dice as described under Modifying Dice + Adds; e.g., 4 HP become 1d, 7 HP become 2d, and 10 HP become 2d+3.

Leech only affects living beings. It can't steal HP from machines or inanimate objects. However, the GM may allow a variant ability – Leech (Mechanical) – that only affects machines. The point cost is identical. With Steal HT, this could represent the ability of "gremlins" to cause machines to fail and break down. Steal FP is off limits.

Special Enhancements

To work at a distance, Leech requires Malediction 1 or 2 (+100% or +150%) on top of Ranged (+40%). Roll the Quick Contest of Will for Malediction every second (once per turn, in combat). Each victory lets you drain 1 HP per level. You can only affect one victim at a time. A few special enhancements are common:

Accelerated Healing: You heal 1 HP per HP stolen. Your attack doesn't harm your victim any faster than usual, but it heals you more quickly. +25%.

Addictive Bite: Your drain is addictive for the victim! If you steal more than 1/3 of his HP with an unbroken series of attacks, he gains the Addiction disadvantage until he can break it by withdrawal. +200%, or +400% if your victim also acquires Uncontrollable Appetite (12).

Doleovore: You can drain bonus HP from people in pain. From a given subject, you may steal additional HP per second equal to half his current pain penalty – that is, an extra 1 HP/second for Moderate Pain, 2 HP/second for Severe Pain, or 3 HP/second for Terrible Pain – or an extra 4 HP/second from someone in Agony. Victims with Low Pain Threshold double your feeding potential; those with High Pain Threshold halve it. +20%.

Hazard: You can combine Steal FP with one of the modifiers under Hazard to steal dreams (Missed Sleep), warmth (Freezing), and so on. Treat the stolen FP as if they were lost to that hazard. Any FP or HP you gain can heal your losses to the same hazard.

Heals FP: Every 3 HP you drain restores 1 HP or 1 FP. You can't raise FP above normal. +60% if you can choose whether to heal HP or FP; +30% if you only heal FP when healed to full HP.

Metuovore: You can take extra HP from frightened people. From a given victim, you may drain additional HP per second equal to his margin of failure on a Fright Check rolled in your presence. To drain more, find another coward or scare your victim again! +20%.

Steal (Other Score): You steal ST, DX, IQ, HT, or FP instead of HP. ST theft reduces BL and damage. IQ drain lowers Will and Per. ST and HT losses don't lower HP and FP, though. Attribute losses affect skills based on those scores. Drain occurs at the rate of 1 point per level of Leech. It ceases if the victim's score reaches 0. Regardless of what you steal, you heal 1 HP (1 FP, with Heals FP or Only Heals FP) per 3 points drained. Your victim regains lost scores at the rate he recovers FP. Cost depends on what you drain: -25% for FP (or +50%, if you drain HP when your victim has 0 FP), +100% for ST or HT, or +300% for DX or IQ. If you can steal more than one of these, buy Leech several times with different enhancements. To use these simultaneously, add Link.

Steal Youth: You permanently age your victim instead of stealing HP. Each second of draining ages him by months equal to your level. See Age and Aging for long-term effects, and note that Unaging subjects are immune. You don't heal, but may grow a month younger per two months stolen, if desired. This is incompatible with other special modifiers. +300% if victims regain their youth when you die; +450% if truly permanent.

Special Limitations

Leeches who must touch their victim's skin have the Contact Agent limitation (-30%). The traditional vampire has Blood Agent (-40%), and must bite his victim; Sharp Teeth are indispensable. These options and the Ranged option discussed above are mutually exclusive. An additional limitation is specific to Leech:

Obligate Doleovore: You can only feed on pain. Your total (not bonus) HP drain is equal to half your victim's pain penalty, as described for Doleovore. (You can take both modifiers, meaning that you can only feed on those in pain, but get "extra" HP from them.) -50%.

Obligate Metuovore: You can only feed on fear. Your total (not bonus) HP drain is equal to your victim’s margin of failure on a Fright Check, as described for Metuovore. (You can take both modifiers, meaning that you can only feed on frightened victims, but get "extra" HP from them.) -50%.

Only Heals FP: You can't heal HP. You can only use the HP you drain to restore missing FP, as described for Heals FP. This is incompatible with Heals FP. -20%.

Alternatives

If the goal is just to reduce the victim's HP, FP, or attributes, consider Innate Attack with Malediction, or Affliction with Attribute Penalty. If healing is what's important, take Regeneration, or Healing with Affects Self.

If draining others' HP increases your powers, buy Leech plus a set of abilities with Trigger, Leeched HP. Victims are "Common" and using Leech is illegal in most worlds, so this is a -30% limitation. Alternatively, buy an Energy Reserve with Special Recharge, fill it up using Leech, and use it with the power-boosting stunts. To gain powers by stealing them from others, take Neutralize with Power Theft.

Powering Up

Leech fits many supernatural powers. It's the definitive ability of so-called "psychic vampires," who might have their own Vampirism power. It's also suitable for sinister divine and moral powers, and for spirit powers that command "astral vampires." With appropriate limitations, it could instead belong to a macabre biological power that lets the user derive sustenance from blood...like the classic vampire of Gothic horror. Talent adds to all rolls to affect the target – including attack rolls to touch victims and Will rolls to use Leech with Malediction.