Affliction

10 points/level

You have an attack that causes a baneful, nondamaging effect: blindness, paralysis, weakness, etc. This might be an ultra-tech beam weapon, a chemical spray, a supernatural gaze attack, or almost anything else. Specify the details when you buy the advantage.

By default, Affliction is a ranged attack with 1/2D 10, Max 100, Acc 3, RoF 1, Shots N/A, and Recoil 1, although you can apply modifiers to change these statistics.

If you hit, your victim gets a HT+1 roll to resist. Apply a penalty equal to the level of the Affliction (so Affliction 1 gives an unmodified HT roll). The victim gets a bonus equal to his DR unless the Affliction has one of the following modifiers: Blood Agent, Contact Agent, Cosmic, Follow-Up, Malediction, Respiratory Agent or Sense-Based. To reduce the effects of DR, add the Armor Divisor enhancement. The victim gets a further +3 if he is beyond 1/2D range.

If the victim makes his HT roll, he is unaffected. If he fails, he suffers the effects of the Affliction. By default, he is stunned. He may roll vs. HT+1 once per second to recover, but once again at a penalty equal to the level of the Affliction (DR has no effect on this roll).

If your Affliction causes an effect other than stunning, this is a special enhancement (see below). You can inflict more than one effect by giving your Affliction multiple special enhancements. These effects occur simultaneously, except where noted.

Successive Afflictions that produce the same effects are not normally cumulative. Use the single worst effect.

Use the special enhancements below to create specific Afflictions. Many Attack Enhancements and Limitations are also logical. For instance, a blinding flash is Sense-Based; most drugs have Follow-Up, Blood Agent, or Contact Agent; supernatural attacks like the "evil eye" use Malediction; and touch attacks call for Melee Attack.

If an Affliction produces two or more effects due to the special enhancements below, some of these effects may be secondary. Secondary effects occur only if the victim fails his HT roll by 5 or more or rolls a critical failure. A secondary effect is worth 1/5 as much; e.g., Secondary Heart Attack is +60% rather than +300%.

Once you have chosen all the modifiers on your Affliction, describe the nature of the attack as detailed for Innate Attack.

Special Enhancements

Advantage

The victim immediately experiences the effects of a specific physical or mental advantage. Advantages with instantaneous effects affect the target once, as soon as he is hit, if he fails his HT roll; e.g., Warp immediately teleports the subject. Advantages that can be switched on and off (such as Insubstantiality) are automatically "on" for one minute per point by which the victim fails his HT roll, and are not under the subject's control. This is worth +10% per point the advantage is worth; e.g., Insubstantiality would be +800%! If the advantage comes in levels, specify the level.

Attribute Penalty

The victim suffers temporary attribute loss. This is +5% per -1 to ST or HT, or +10% per -1 to DX or IQ. For instance, an attack that caused DX-3 and IQ-2 would be +50%. Lower all skills based on reduced attributes by a like amount. ST penalties also reduce BL and damage, while IQ reductions also apply to Will and Perception. Secondary characteristics are not otherwise affected; for instance, HT reduction does not affect Basic Speed or FP. Penalties last for one minute per point by which the victim fails his HT roll.

Coma

The victim collapses, profoundly unconscious, and will likely die in days unless treated; see Mortal Conditions. +250%.

Cumulative

Repeated attacks are cumulative! You must take this in conjunction with Attribute Penalty, or with an Advantage, Disadvantage, or Negated Advantage Enhancement that inflicts a "leveled" trait. +400%.

Disadvantage

The victim temporarily gains one or more specific physical or mental disadvantages (but not self-imposed mental disadvantages). This is worth +1% per point the temporary disadvantages are worth; e.g., Paranoia [-10] is worth +10%. If a disadvantage comes in levels, specify the level. The disadvantages last for one minute per point by which the victim fails his HT roll.

Heart Attack

The victim suffers an incapacitating heart attack, and will die in minutes unless treated; see Mortal Conditions. +300%.

Incapacitation

The victim is incapacitated for a number of minutes equal to the margin of failure on his HT roll. After that, he is stunned until he can make a HT roll (roll once per second). If you combine Incapacitation with other effects (such as Irritant), those effects occur after the Incapacitation wears off; they replace the stunning and last for the same length of time the Incapacitation did. Incapacitation can take the form of any of the following: Daze, +50%; Hallucinating, +50%; Retching, +50%; Agony, +100%; Choking, +100%; Ecstasy, +100%; Seizure, +100%; Paralysis, +150%; Sleep, +150%; or Unconsciousness, +200%. See Incapacitating Conditions for the game effects.

Irritant

The victim suffers an impairing but non-incapacitating condition instead of being stunned. It lasts for a number of minutes equal to the margin of failure on his HT roll. The possibilities are Tipsy +10%; Coughing, +20%; Drunk, +20%; Moderate Pain, +20%; Euphoria, +30%; Nauseated, +30%; Severe Pain,+40%; or Terrible Pain, +60%. For definitions, see Irritating Conditions.

Negated Advantage

The victim loses a specific advantage for one minute per point by which he failed his HT roll. There is no effect if the victim lacks that advantage! This enhancement is worth +1% per point the advantage is worth. If the advantage comes in levels, you must specify the level negated.

Stunning

May only accompany Advantage, Attribute Penalty, Disadvantage, or Negated Advantage. If the victim fails to resist, he is stunned (per an unmodified Affliction) in addition to the effects of the other enhancement(s). +10%.

Powers Book

Affliction covers any attack that causes an effect other than injury (see Innate Attack) or physical restraint (see Binding). General forms of Affliction often seen in fiction include:

Beam: A ranged attack that affects one target; e.g., a paralysis beam or a shrinking ray. This is the most basic form of Affliction. It's especially suitable for supers, gods, and ultra-tech beam weapons. Roll against Innate Attack (Beam) to hit.

Curse: Fantasy and horror Afflictions are more often "spells" than "bolts of power," with the attacker calling upon supernatural forces to weaken or incapacitate his foe. The only requirement is Malediction 1 (+100%). To simulate spells, add suitable levels of Costs Fatigue (-5%/level) and Takes Extra Time (-10%/level). Most mental effects are Based on Will (+20%). There's never any roll to hit; Maledictions use a Will roll instead.

Field: The user constantly emits a baneful effect; e.g., a demon might cause those who approach too closely to suffer Agony (+100%). If he affects everyone around him once, when they first come within range, take Area Effect (+50%/level) and Emanation (-20%). If he automatically attacks anyone he touches or who touches him each time he makes contact, use Aura (+80%) and Melee Attack (-30%) instead. In either case, add Always On. This is a -10% limitation, as Afflictions are socially inconvenient but not physically troublesome for the user. No roll to hit is required, but those with Aura can actively try to affect a victim by making a melee attack.

Gas: Sleeping gas, paralysis gas, and the like. Such Afflictions have Area Effect (+50%/level) and one of Respiratory Agent (+50%), Blood Agent (+100%), or Contact Agent (+150%). For a mobile gas cloud, add Drifting (+20%) and Persistent (+40%). A gas that surrounds the attacker has Emanation (-20%) instead. Insidious gases have No Signature (+20%) and possibly Onset (variable). There's no roll to hit; gas has a chance of affecting everyone exposed to it.

Gaze: A gaze is a common vehicle for supernatural Afflictions. For instance, a hypnotic gaze might cause the target to sleep. If the gaze works on any target the attacker can see, it has the Vision-Based enhancement (+150%). Roll against Innate Attack (Gaze) to hit. Gaze attacks by fantasy monsters tend to be short-ranged and curse-like; apply Malediction 1 (+100%) and the Vision-Based limitation (-20%) instead. To affect the target, make the usual Will roll for Malediction.

Mental Blast: Direct mind-to-mind attacks that stun or daze are common psi abilities. Such Afflictions have Malediction 2 (+150%) and Based on Will (+20%). If the attack is totally undetectable, add No Signature (+20%). As with all Maledictions, the only roll required is a Will roll.

Sensory Attack: Some Afflictions affect everyone nearby though their senses. Such attacks have Area Effect (+50%/level) and Emanation (-20%). Bright flashes are Vision-Based (+150%), with a Disadvantage enhancement that inflicts Blindness (+50%); howls, thunderclaps, etc., are Hearing-Based (+150%), and cause Deafness (+20%). As with gas, no roll to hit is necessary – everyone in the area is exposed.

Touch: Monsters, wizards, and supers often have to touch those they wish to afflict. The simplest form of this is Melee Attack (-30%). Attacks that must touch bare skin or an open wound have Contact Agent (-30%) or Blood Agent (-40%), respectively, while supernatural attacks that bypass DR get Malediction 1 (+100%). Make an unarmed melee attack to hit. For Malediction, roll the Quick Contest to see if the Affliction works only after scoring a hit.

Venom: Toxins often cause weakness, paralysis, unconsciousness, coma, or heart attack. Those borne on fangs, claws, etc. have Follow-Up (+0%), while poisonous spray or spit has Contact Agent (-30%) or Blood Agent (-40%). Many poisons take time to work; if so, add Onset (variable). Make a melee attack to hit with a natural weapon. Roll against Innate Attack (Breath) to hit with spray or spit.

Afflictions that do more than stun have special enhancements, too. Effects might be inconvenient (Irritant, Negated Advantage, or modest levels of Attribute Penalty or Disadvantage), crippling (Incapacitation, or extreme levels of Attribute Penalty or Disadvantage), or lethal (Coma or Heart Attack). Note that Choking isn't usually lethal – it responds to mundane treatment that takes two seconds and a First Aid roll (artificial respiration, oxygen mask, Heimlich maneuver, etc., depending on "special effects").

The Advantage enhancement is a special case. It's useful for specialized attacks; for instance, it might shrink the target (Shrinking, +50%/level) or turn him into a specter (Insubstantiality, +800%). However, it's also a key element of many beneficial abilities, which use special rules; see Beneficial Afflictions.

Remember that an Affliction can have multiple effects. If an effect applies only if the victim fails his HT roll by 5+ or rolls a critical failure, it's "secondary" and worth 1/5 as much. If the GM wishes, effects that require a critical success on the user's roll (attack roll, Will roll for Malediction, etc.) can also be secondary.

Finally, note that it's often more cost-effective to add the Malediction enhancement than to buy high levels of Affliction. Against a high-HT target, a Quick Contest of Will vs. HT is more likely to succeed than an unopposed HT roll (even at a penalty) is to fail.

Alternatives

An Innate Attack with the Side Effect or Symptoms enhancement can have Affliction-like effects in addition to damage. Side Effect is better than Affliction for simulating "reduced lethality" weapons. Symptoms are generally superior for poisons and diseases that incapacitate with only moderate injury. Healers should note that the Healing advantage costs far less than Affliction with Advantage, Regeneration.

New Special Enhancement

Negated Disadvantage: The victim loses a specific disadvantage for one minute per point by which he fails his HT roll. If he lacks that disadvantage, there's no effect. This is worth +10% per point the disadvantage is worth. If the disadvantage comes in levels, specify the level negated.

Powering Up

Most powers can justify some kind of Affliction. Even wholly beneficial powers – Psychic Healing, the divine power of the God of Medicine, etc. – are likely to include Afflictions enhanced with Advantage or Negated Disadvantage, or with Ecstasy, Sleep, or Unconsciousness for use as an anesthetic. Talent gives a bonus to rolls to hit with Afflictions, and benefits Will rolls in the case of Malediction.

Optional Rules for Afflictions

Afflictions don’t have to do bad things to living targets. These rules address two common exceptions.

Beneficial Afflictions

If an Affliction's effects are so unquestionably positive that no one would ever object to them, the GM may reverse the sign of the HT modifier; e.g., Affliction 3 gives a HT+2 roll instead of a HT-2 roll. Duration becomes minutes equal to the subject's margin of success, not his margin of failure.

If such an Affliction has Malediction, the subject can waive his right to resist. The ability works if the user can make an unopposed Will roll (at the usual range penalties). In this case, duration in minutes equals the user's margin of success.

Afflictions and Inanimate Targets

An Affliction can affect anything with a HT score...if the target is susceptible to its effects. Most inanimate objects – including all machines – have Immunity to Metabolic Hazards. This stops most Afflictions, with two exceptions.

Afflictions restricted to inanimate targets via Accessibility modifiers (such as "Only on Electrical") affect those objects instead of living beings. This is only acceptable in conjunction with effects that make sense for the intended targets. You could render a machine "unconscious" by cutting its power, but you couldn't inflict nausea. Afflictions that cause Invisibility, Shrinking, and other transformations through the Advantage modifier affect everything. To prevent those with low levels from zapping planets, the GM should let unliving, homogenous, and diffuse targets add their SM to their resistance roll (an Earth-sized planet is SM +43). If modified HT comes to 21+ after applying SM and the Affliction's HT modifier, resistance is automatic – nothing happens.

Horror: Affliction

Most Things that drive men mad can be modeled with Terror, but for some, Affliction is a better fit. For example, monsters that always cause the same sort of insanity – Gray aliens inducing "screen memory" Delusions, incubi triggering Lecherousness, or a "rage virus" turning its victims Berserk – have Affliction with the Disadvantage enhancement. Likewise, if whatever personal madness the creature invokes always manifests with the same incapacitating symptom – Daze, Hallucinating, Paralysis, Seizure, or fainting Unconscious – then this is Affliction enhanced with Incapacitation. In most such cases, this advantage also carries the Based On Will (or IQ) enhancement, although a fungoid monster might give off clouds of hallucinatory spores resistible with HT, like normal Afflictions.

Some Sample Afflictions

Curse (+365%):

Affliction 1 (Based on Will, +20%; Disadvantage, Cursed, +75%; Extended Duration, Permanent, +150%; Malediction 1, +100%; No Signature, +20%) [47].

Notes: Roll Will vs. subject's Will. Victory curses the victim until he achieves a notable success...at which time his success and the curse both evaporate. 47 points.

Gaudivore (+191%/+175%):

Affliction 1 (Based on Will, +20%; Disadvantage: Killjoy, +15%; Extended Duration, 10×, +40%; Link, +10%; Malediction 1, +100%; Secondary Disadvantage, Chronic Depression (6), +6%) [30] + Leech 1 (Accelerated Healing, +25%; Link, +10%; Malediction 1, +100%; Only Joy, -50%; Ranged, +40%; Steal FP, +50%) [69].

Notes: This attack drains the target's joy, transferring it to the attacker as FP. Roll Will vs. subject's Will; the attacker has -1 per yard of distance to his target. Victory means the victim loses the ability to experience pleasure for 10 minutes times the attacker's margin of victory; victory by 5+ means the target is depressed to the point of total apathy for the same period. In addition to these effects, the attacker can steal total FP (or HP, if the victim is at 0 FP) equal to his margin of victory, at the rate of 1 FP per second after the attack, without needing to roll again. These heal his FP. This is the only way he can use the included Leech advantage. 99 points.

Horrifying Window (+140%/+320%):

Affliction 1 (Always On, -20%; Based on Will, +20%; Hallucinating, +50%; Link, +10%; Malediction 1, +100%; No Signature, +20%; Trigger, Psionic Contact, -40%) [24] + Affliction 1 (Always On, -20%; Based on Will, +20%; Extended Duration, 10×, +40%; Link, +10%; Malediction 1, +100%; No Signature, +20%; Onset, -10%; Trigger, Nightmarish Vision, -40%; Unconsciousness, +200%) [42].

Notes: Excellent for Things Man Was Not Meant To Know, tormented ghosts or demons, and other outsiders! When someone makes telepathic contact with the Thing, he must roll Will vs. its Will. If he loses, he receives a nightmarish vision of the Thing's reality that lasts for minutes equal to his margin of loss. When this ends, reroll the Quick Contest; loss here means he faints away for 10 minutes times his margin of loss. 66 points.

Leprous Touch (+135%):

Affliction 1 (Contact Agent, -30%; Disadvantage, Terminally Ill, Up to two years, +50%; Extended Duration, Permanent, +150%; Melee Attack, Reach C, Cannot Parry, -35%) [24].

Notes: The attacker must touch his target's bare skin. The victim gets a HT roll to resist. Failure means he contracts leprosy. The touch leaves a dead, white mark. 24 points.

Memory Wipe (+280%):

Affliction 1 (Based on Will, +20%; Disadvantage, Delusion, Significant Memory, +10%; Extended Duration, Permanent, +150%; Malediction 1, +100%; No Signature, +20%; Psionic, -10%; Selective Effect, +20%; Takes Extra Time 3, -30%) [38].

Notes: The attacker must concentrate on his target for 8 seconds and then roll Will vs. subject's Will. Victory lets him edit the victim's memories, replacing them with False Memories. Selective Effect enables specific edits. To undo this effect, use shock therapy, hypnotism, Mind Control with Conditioning...or another Memory Wipe. 38 points.

Minor Curse (+200%):

Affliction 1 (Based on Will, +20%; Costs Fatigue, 2 FP, -10%; Disadvantage, Unluckiness, +10%; Extended Duration, 30×, +60%; Malediction 1, +100%; No Signature, +20%) [30].

Notes: Pay 2 FP and roll Will vs. subject's Will. The victim suffers from bad luck for 30 minutes times his margin of loss. 30 points.

Nightmare (+80%):

Affliction 1 (Accessibility, Only on sleeping subjects, -20%; Based on IQ, +20%; Contact Agent, -30%; Disadvantage, Nightmares (6), +10%; Malediction 1, +100%) [18].

Notes: The attacker must touch his sleeping target's bare skin and roll Will vs. subject's IQ. A victim who knows Dreaming may resist with that skill instead. If the sleeper loses, he suffers nightmares and must attempt a self-control roll. On a 7+, he loses 1 FP the next morning and may suffer worse effects; see Nightmares. 18 points.

Paralyzing Touch (+155%):

Affliction 1 (Extended Duration, 3×, +20%; Melee Attack, Reach C, Cannot Parry, -35%; Paralysis, +150%; Selective Effect, +20%) [26].

Notes: The victim must roll against HT if touched; DR gives its usual bonus. Failure means he suffers paralysis for three minutes times his margin of failure. Selective Effect lets the attacker touch specific hit locations in order to paralyze them. 26 points.

Sleep (+370%):

Affliction 1 (Based on Will, +20%; Contact Agent, -30%; Extended Duration, 100×, +80%; Malediction 1, +100%; Unconsciousness, +200%) [47].

Notes: The attacker must touch his target's bare skin and roll Will vs. subject's Will. The victim falls into a deep slumber and cannot be awakened for 100 minutes times the attacker's margin of victory (e.g., five hours, if the attacker wins by 3). 47 points.

Higher Level Afflictions

Afflictions can come in higher levels, giving -1 to resist per level past the first. Don't simply multiply cost by level, though! Apply the parenthetical modifiers above to the 10 points/level for Affliction. For example:

• Leprous Touch 2 [47] (not [48]) makes the resistance roll HT-1.
• Memory Wipe 3 [114] means the victim resists with Will-2.
• Nightmare 3 [54] means the victim resists with IQ-2 or Dreaming-2.
• Paralyzing Touch 2 [51] (not [52]) makes the resistance roll HT-1.

Additional Variations

Additional variations are possible. Consider these two for Horrifying Window or Memory Wipe:

Blasphemously Horrifying Window:

Affliction 1 (Horrifying Window, +140%) [24] + Affliction 3 (Horrifying Window, +320%) [126].

Notes: This befits a normally psionic Thing from a particularly horrifying dimension, or a demon with more imagination than power. The victim's initial resistance roll is at full Will, but he resists fainting at Will-2. 150 points.

Horrifying Wide Window:

Affliction 3 (Horrifying Window, +140%) [72] + Affliction 1 (Horrifying Window, +320%) [42].

Notes: By contrast, this models a Thing with a greater psionic strength than even its (usually) enormous Will indicates, but from a "normal" hell-dimension. The victim's initial resistance roll is at Will-2, but he resists fainting at full Will. 114 points.

Memory Wipe Gizmo (+225%):

Affliction 3 (Based on Will, +20%; Breakable, DR 6, Machine, SM -9, -15%; Can Be Stolen, Quick Contest of ST, -30%; Disadvantage, Delusion, Significant Memory, +10%; Extended Duration, Permanent, +150%; Malediction 1, +100%; No Signature, +20%; Selective Effect, +20%; Takes Extra Time 3, -30%; Vision-Based, -20%) [98].

Notes: The attacker must shine this tiny wand's light into the victim's eyes for 8 seconds and roll Will vs. subject's Will-2. 98 points.

Memory Wipe Mantra (+250%):

Affliction 2 (Based on Will, +20%; Disadvantage, Delusion, Significant Memory, +10%; Extended Duration, Permanent, +150%; Hearing-Based, -20%; Malediction 1, +100%; No Signature, +20%; Selective Effect, +20%; Takes Extra Time 3, -30%; Vision-Based, -20%) [70].

Notes: The attacker must make eye contact and program the memetic "screen memory" in a specific intonation for 8 seconds, and then roll Will vs. subject's Will-1. 70 points.