The psychic must deliver his instructions verbally unless he is capable of projecting his thoughts. One of the most insidious manifestations of psychic power, Mind Control permits a telepath to project his mind to overcome a subject’s will and render the subject open to suggestion. Unless the character also has Thought Projection or some similar advantage, he must verbally tell his subject what he wants her to do, effectively making this power a form of paranormal hypnosis. Combined with Thought Projection, the psychic can make anyone a puppet, silently seizing a victim’s will from across a room and making her his slave. If he has both Thought Projection and Clairvoyance, he can command the mind of someone from across a city like a modern-day Svengali.

Commands that force a subject to violate deeply held beliefs, to act against Virtues, or to harm loved ones impose a penalty to the roll made for the psychic. Mind Control is effective only against ordinary people and other psychics. A Mind Control attempt automatically fails against anyone who is the subject of a supernatural template (such as mages, vampires and werewolves). However, ghouls, wolf-blooded and similar beings may be affected, although they may gain bonus dice to resist in some circumstances (such as when a ghoul is mentally controlled to betray his undead master).

The benefits of the Striking Looks Merit apply to Mind Control attempts, and psychics with the Hypnotic Voice Merit gain a +2 bonus on all uses of this power. The psychic must concentrate fully on his subject while conveying his instructions, suffering all the normal penalties for concentration. How long this effort takes depends on the complexity of the instructions, and may last for several turns. Once the command is issued, the psychic does not need to continue concentrating. The telepath’s command must be something that can be completed within the scene or the attempt fails, unless the telepath achieves an exceptional success.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion versus subject’s Resolve (resistance is reflexive)
Action: Contested; requires concentration while instructions are conveyed

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character triggers psychic feedback in the target, making him instinctively withdraw or distrust her. The target is also rendered immune to further Mind Control attempts by the psychic for the next day.

Failure:
The target ignores the character’s command.

Success:
The target obeys the character’s command, provided that the order can be fulfilled within one scene.

Exceptional Success:
The player gets five or more successes and they exceed those of the target. There is no time limit on how long the command can take to be executed.

Dice Modifiers