Mind Reading is the essential telepathic power; the ability to read the thoughts of others.
The three-dot version permits a telepath to read the surface thoughts of an ordinary person, although the telepath cannot yet perceive information that a subject does not currently think about.
The four-dot version permits the telepath to probe the mind of an ordinary person for buried information or even subconscious thoughts, or to perceive the surface thoughts of beings who are the subject of a supernatural template, such as mages, vampires or werewolves.
The five-dot version permits the telepath to probe the buried thoughts of even supernatural beings. This last version also allows a telepath to perform “light scans” of multiple minds at once to discover who among several thinks something in particular (such as identifying which of several murder suspects thinks, I killed her.)
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Empathy versus the subject’s Composure + Supernatural Advantage (resistance is reflexive)
Action: Contested
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character triggers psychic feedback in his target, making her instinctively withdraw or distrust him. The target can also automatically resist any use of Telepathic Merits by the psychic for the next day.
Failure:
The character fails to read the target’s mind.
Success:
The character can perceive the target’s thoughts, and the player is allowed to ask one question about them per success. Surface scans are limited to what a subject currently thinks about, although a telepath can attempt to manipulate a subject into thinking about something in particular with a successful Manipulation + Subterfuge roll (contested by Wits + Subterfuge if the subject is aware of the telepath’s capabilities). If the psychic is capable of deep scans, the player can ask questions about any topic, including questions about a subject’s buried memories or even subconscious thoughts of which the subject is not even aware.
Exceptional Success:
Extra successes are their own reward. Also, the Storyteller may rule that the telepath discovers some useful tidbit of information in the subject’s mind for which he wasn’t even searching.
Dice Modifiers
| Modifier | Situation |
|---|---|
| +1 | The psychic has successfully used Mind Reading on the subject within the last week. |
| +1 | The psychic touches the subject. |
| +1 | The subject willingly consents to a telepathic probe. |
| +2 | The subject willingly consents to a telepathic probe and also has this Merit, or, at the Storyteller’s discretion, has some other supernatural or psychic power that conveys telepathic abilities. |
| -1 | The subject actively resists the telepathic probe and also has this Merit, or at the Storyteller’s discretion has some other supernatural or psychic power that conveys telepathic abilities. |