Psi-Wars Diseases Part II: Psychic Diseases

 The prime impetus behind my exploration of medicine wasn't just to determine how technological medicine worked, but how it balanced with esoteric medicine in Psi-Wars.  If medicine could cure you of all ills in a day, what benefit could there be of going to a Keleni temple, or seeing a Ranathim Navare healer? Just check in at your local hospital.

Obviously Esoteric Medicine in Psi-Wars is vastly more capable than it is in the real world.  Psychic Healers can wipe away illness with a wave of their hands.  But that only really helps the Keleni. What about other healing traditions, such as that of the Ranathim, which don't have access to miraculous psychic cures? Well, the obvious niche for Esoteric Medicine (and exorcism) is in dealing with psychic diseases.  We've already established this as a thing in Psi-Wars. If ghosts and Broken Communion can afflict you with infectious diseases that only Esoteric Medicine can cure, then surely we have a niche for Esoteric Medicine!  But if that's going to work, we need to establish our psychic diseases in as much detail as we do our physical diseases.

This turned out easier said than done.  I was surprised by the level of detail one can get into when delving into psychic diseases, from diseases that doctor's claim are normal medical conditions that are simply hard to cure, but that quakes claim are easy, to forms of possession and forms of madness. I cobbled them together here in a decent list.

One of the other things that popped out was Corruption itself.  See, Psi-Wars uses the Corruption mechanic of GURPS Horror with Broken Communion.  The idea is that you can slowly ruin yourself as you ruin the world, and the cost of Broken Communion is this Corruption.  But I find in practice players run screaming from even a single point of corruption because maybe it'll reduce their point costs.  That's an acceptable loss in a horror game, but not an action game.  It's also painfully slow.  To lose even a single point would take an average of 6-8 Minor Blessings from Broken Communion, never mind the means people have to cleanse them.  Which makes Corruption a trait to track, often for many, many sessions, and will likely have no dramatic payoff.  What if, instead, we allowed Psychic Diseases to stand-in for Corruption?  You cast some miracles of Broken Communion, go nuts for a session, and then it's done.  You get some cool drama and a consequence, but it's non-permanent.

This also forced me to look, again, at mutations.  I'm surprised how often mutation and transformation comes up in Psi-Wars.  It doesn't seem to be a thing you see as much in Star Wars as, say, 40k.  But then again, I suppose the dark side does "warp people" in Star Wars, just not as freakishly as it does in 40k.  Even so, I had to wrestle with Devouring Taint, whose whole mechanic is faster corruption.  I went with Uncontrollable Transformations into subtle(-ish) mutant racial templates.  Hopefully this seems plausible and fitting.

Without further ado:

 

Psychic Diseases

Psychic diseases are not the result of a physical infection, such as a virus or bacteria, or a physical ailment, such as cancer, but a confluence of negative psionic energies. These can come from a variety of sources, and have a variety of results. Psychic Diseases are generally resisted with Will, rather than HT. They generally arise from interactions with sites of Twisted Psionic Energy, the malicious intent of “ghosts” and “dead Gods,” from psychological trauma, or a highly unusual series of events and coincidences that somehow “tangle up” a character’s psychic energies.

The Madness of Genetic Engineering: In the Psi-Wars galaxy, genetically engineering psychic powers, or other forms of “unnatural tampering” is taboo. The stated, in-universe reason is the prevalence for madness, and such characters only have access to Broken Communion. At the GM’s discretion, the Taboo (Broken Communion Only) feature can be upgraded to a full -5 point disadvantage: such characters are at -5 Will and HT to resist psychic diseases! This makes them dangerous carriers of psychic diseases and prone to madness.

Types

Psychic Diseases come in a dizzying variety, some of which can be treated only with certain approaches and techniques. Some can be resisted with normal Resist Diseases, while others cannot be.

Curse: A confluence of negative psychic energies afflict the character in some manner. There is no obvious physical cause, and it is not the result of the characters’ behavior. These almost exclusively arise from interacting with Twisted Psionic Energy, or “ghosts.” They can only be treated with Esoteric Medicine or Exorcised, though Curses could be a superstitious form of temporary madness; if the GM decides this is true, then psychological therapy works too. Characters with Resist Psionics can apply their bonus to resist a Curse.

Pseudo-Medical Disease: The disease seems to present physical symptoms but is, in fact, psychic, confounding the doctors attempting to treat it. These generally arise from infection from others, or from visiting “bad places.” This can be resisted with the best of HT or Will, and technological medicine can provide some limited assistance against it. It can be exorcised or treated with Esoteric Medicine. Characters with Resist Disease may apply their bonus against it.

Psychic Distortion: The character is psychic and has somehow disrupted their own psychic abilities, similar to crippling. These are generally acquired when the character is “wounded psychically” or critically fails a psychic roll, or an extra-effort psychic roll. The can generally be treated like any other psychic disease except that characters with Expert Skill (Psionics) can also treat the character, as can psychologists.

Temporary Madness: The character is afflicted with a fit of madness. These generally arise from psychological trauma or intense emotional unbalances. This can be treated with Psychological therapy to assist the recovery process (+1 to the Will rolls), or Esoteric Medicine.

Treatments

Psychic Diseases require different treatment than physical disease. They also require different resistances.

Esoteric Medicine: Esoteric Medicine may always be used to treat all Psychic Diseases. It always adds a +1 to recover from a Psychic Disease. A character being treated by an esoteric medic in sacred space (High Sanctity) add an additional +1 to their HT or Will roll (for a +2); characters being treated in a very sacred space (Very High Sanctity) add +3, for a total of +4. This takes an hour per day.

Characters who regularly visit an Esoteric Medic and follow their advice gain a +1 to resist psychic disease! This is not cumulative with Ritual and Superstition below.

Exorcism: some traditions hold that psychic illness is the result of actions by malicious entities and these entities can be cast out. This results in a somewhat forceful removal of the negative psychic energies, but it can be very effective. Use the standard exorcism rules (but ignore the rules about adding the target’s ST or Will; instead, allow them to roll ST or Will as a Complementary Roll); Trivial Psychic Diseases have a -4 penalty; Minor psychic diseases have a -8 penalty; Major psychic diseases have a -12 penalty; Greater psychic diseases have a -16 penalty. (In reality, the malicious spirit should resist with its Willpower, but this abstracts that to a simple penalty).

Psychic Healing: Psychic Healers may heal psychic diseases the same way that they can heal normal diseases. Trivial Diseases have a -0 penalty and cost 1 fatigue to heal; Minor Diseases have a -4 penalty and cost 8 fatigue to heal; Major Diseases have a -8 penalty and cost 16 fatigue to heal; Greater Diseases have a -12 penalty and cost 24 fatigue to heal.

Ritual and Superstition: Superstitious characters perform regular rituals and carefully avoid things that would inflict “bad luck” or other forms of psychic diseases. At the GM’s discretion, characters with Delusion (Superstitious), the Superstitious quirk, or any Discipline of Faith gains a +1 to resist psychic diseases. This is not cumulative with Esoteric Medicine.

Technological Medicine: Technological medicine generally provides no assistance to people afflicted with a psychic disease. Some psychic diseases, such as pseudo-medical diseases, seem to present physical symptoms that a doctor can treat, but their treatments only provide a +1 to HT rolls from palliative care. Highly experimental treatments might offer a +3 to rolls to recover from pseudo-medical diseases, but those who take such treatments must make an additional roll or suffer side-effects; treat them as though they had Unusual Biochemistry for the purposes of this particular drug. This takes the usual hour per day.

Psychological Therapy: Some psychic diseases take the form of a contagious madness. Therapy can help with such issues. Each day the character has access to a psychological counselor, they gain +1 to their Will rolls to recover. This takes an hour per day.

Sidebar: the Alternative to Corruption

Psi-Wars uses Corruption rules with Broken Communion, as use of Broken Communion slowly erodes the character. However, some players might resist anything that could possibly result in a loss of character points, no matter how minor, and GMs might not want to track corruption. Psychic diseases can make a good alternative: they present a penalty for using the dangerous forces of Broken Communion, but are fleeting rather than permanent.

The Simple Alternative: characters may accept a psychic disease to rid themselves of Corruption, provided they have accrued a particular minimum. They cannot roll to resist the psychic disease and must endure its effects at least one day (during play; not during downtime! It has to matter and affect them in a meaningful way), but may roll to recover normally after. As a stricter houserule, rather than allow the players to choose a disease, the GM can instead choose to expend a player’s corruption on a disease.

• A trivial disease removes 1d corruption;

• a minor diseases requires a minimum of 10 Corruption and removes 3d corruption;

• a major disease requires a minimum of 30 corruption and removes 3dx3 corruption.

• A greater disease requires a minimum of 90 corruption, and removes all corruption the character has.

The Complex Alternative: The GM might dispense with the Corruption system entirely and replace it completely with Psychic Diseases. In this variation, whenever a character would get corruption, they instead roll to resist a psychic disease of the GM’s choice.

• Characters who invoke a Minor Blessing of Broken Communion, spend less than an hour in a place of High Broken Commune Sanctity, or would gain less than 4 points of Corruption must roll to resist a Trivial psychic disease.

• Characters who invoke a Major Blessing of Broken Communion, spend less than a day in a place of High Broken Commune Sanctity or an hour in a place of Very High Broken Communion Sanctity, or would gain less than 10 points of Corruption must roll to resist a Minor psychic disease.

• Characters who invoke the Miraculous Power of Broken Communion, spend less than a week in a place of High Broken Commune Sanctity or a day in a place of Very High Broken Communion Sanctity, or would gain less than 30 points of Corruption must roll to resist a Minor psychic disease.

• Characters who invoke a World-Shaking Miracle (or better) of Broken Communion, spends more than a week in a place of High Broken Commune Sanctity or more than a day in a place of Very High Broken Communion Sanctity, or would gain less than 90 points of Corruption must roll to resist a Greater psychic disease.

Trivial Psychic Disease

Trivial psychic diseases are annoyances, the petty problems and misfortunes that the average person complains about. They apply a +0 to Psychic Healing rolls, and cost 1 fatigue to remove; Exorcism attempts are a -4. Nobody ever dies from a trivial Psychic disease, and they tend to go away on their own within a week.

Haunted Slumber

Curse

Vector: Mildly infectious; characters who engage in prolonged psychic contact or sleep in the same bed as the character must roll Will+1 to avoid getting it. This also often arises from interactions with ghosts or regions of twisted psionic energy, or an intense emotional experience. In all cases, roll Will+1 to avoid getting it.

Treatment: Daily Will+0 roll to recover; Therapy via Psychology or Esoteric Healing provides a +1 to the roll; Exorcism-4 can remove the curse.

Penalties: None.

Dramatic Penalty: Nightmares

Bad dreams can happen to anyone, but when bad dreams begin to dog a character’s nightly sleep, exhausting them, it can be a sign of psychic ill health.

This disease should manifest as persistent, unaviodable nightly nightmares, often depriving the character from needed fatigue.

This disease generally arises from an interaction with a ghost or an intense emotional experience. Characters can attempt to interpret their dreams with Fortune Telling (Dreaming) or a Philosophy or Theology that accepts the efficacy of dreams (the Akashic Mysteries, Divine Masks or True Communion). Success means the character gets a sense of what the dreams are trying to tell them; such as a suppressed fear, or a desire from a ghost. If this problem is dealt with, the disease automatically subsides. Otherwise, the disease subsides if the character succeeds at their Will+0 roll, or a week passes.

These dreams can be infectious, and usually tell the same story. Resolving whatever crisis created the nightmares will cure all sufferers. Sometimes, a particularly virulent nightmare persists throughout a population long after the problem could be resolved: Ranathim still dream of the tragic, unrequited love of one Adivastan princess from the fall of the last Tyranny!

Infectious Misfortune

Curse

Vector: Will+1; Mildly infectious; those who engage in a game of chance or experience a moment of luck while in the presence of the character must roll Will+1 to avoid catching it. Characters who critically succeed or critically fail at a game of chance might also acquire it.

Treatment: Daily Will+0 roll to recover; Therapy with Esoteric Healing provides a +1 to the roll; Exorcism-4 can remove the curse. If at least three other characters catch Infectious Misfortune from the character, the character is automatically cured. Characters with the Probability Manipulation Technique “Remove Curse” may also use it to remove Infectious Misfortune.

Penalties: None.

Dramatic Penalty: Convert one success to a failure, or a failure to a critical failure once per session.

Some more superstitious cultures, especially the Asrathi and the Ranathim, believe that “bad luck” can be infectious and is the result of malicious energies. If this is true, then characters can get this psychic disease from any number of ways, but the most common is “too much” luck or a really bad streak of bad luck that “sticks.” The results of the disease are similar to a contagious version of unluckiness, which can sometimes have hilarious results. Worse, because it’s infectious, a spectacularly bad luck streak can rip a swathe through society.

Some psychologists believe this is a result not of bad luck, but a sudden case of self-doubt; if this is true, use the Yips instead!

Psychic Twitch

Psychic Distortion

Vector: Will+1; Intense emotional experience, Corruption or Psychic Critical Failure; not contagious.

Treatment: Daily Will+0 roll to recover; Therapy via Psychology, Esoteric Healing or Expert Skill (Psionics) provides a +1 to the roll.

Penalties: None

Dramatic Penalty: A single ability becomes Uncontrollable for a scene.

Sometimes, when a character taxes themselves too hard, after an emotionally intense moment, or they’re exposed to Twisted Psionic Energy, one of their psychic powers becomes uncontrollable. Once per session, a single ability goes out of control. This can be subtle, such as inappropriately reading thoughts, or dramatic, such as telekineticly flinging things around. The psion can roll Will to attempt to regain control, but a roll of 14+ always fails.

Psychic twitches tend to subside on their own within a week. They tend to afflict untrained psionic characters more than anyone else, and the Empire sometimes seeks to stress a population and then investigates any strange occurrences to see if they can flush out any unregistered psychics.

Characters who have a Communion trait never get a Psychic Twitch; their connection to Communion stabilizes their psychic power.

The Yips

Temporary Madness

Vector: Mildly Contagious; characters who engage in prolonged social contact or spend a scene assisting the character must roll Will+1 to avoid catching the psychic disease.

Treatment: Daily Will+0 roll to recover; Daily Will+0 roll to recover; Therapy via Psychology, Esoteric Healing provides a +1 to the roll (Expert Skill (Psionics) can also help, but only if the afflicted skill is psionic!). A critical success at a vital moment may also automatically sure the disease.

Penalties: None

Dramatic Penalty: one scene of Low Self Image.

Sometimes, after an intense emotional event, the character will begin to doubt themselves. Once per session, when the pressure is on, the character suffers a -3 to all rolls; the GM might limit this to a particular selection of skills that the character highly values (A fighter ace might have a -3 to all their piloting and gunnery skills, but not to their Savoir-Faire). The Yips tend to resolve themselves naturally after a week, though they do sometimes become permanent (the character would need to shuffle disadvantage points around to take Low Self Image). A critical success at a dramatic moment might restore the character’s confidence, and resolve the disease. Self-doubt can also be infectious: spending an evening with a character moping over the Yips can sometimes cause others to gain the Yips as well!

The Yips seems far more common among humanity than other races; this might be a psychological quirk of humanity, or it might be that other alien races describe their misfortunes in diffent terms (see Infectious Misfortune).

Minor Psychic Diseases

Minor psychic diseases are real problems; they can last for weeks, seriously inconvenience someone and, in extreme cases, even cause death. At this stage, the medical community begins to notice the symptoms too, but is often powerless to help. They apply a -4 to Psychic Healing rolls, and cost 8 fatigue to remove; Exorcism attempts are a -8. Especially bad cases can cause the death of an NPC, but otherwise the cause will resolve itself within a couple of weeks.

Blackened Aura

Curse

Vector: Characters who go into a region of High or Very High Broken Communion Sanctity may roll Will-2 to avoid gaining a Blackened Aura; the GM may also declare that an untreated case of Haunted Slumber has mestatasized into a Blackened Aura. Mildly contagious; after prolonged psychic contact or social contact (especially talking about the “haunting presence”), the exposed character must roll Will-2 to avoid getting git.

Treatment: Daily Will-2 roll to recover; Therapy via Esoteric Healing provides a +1 to the roll; Exorcism-4 can remove the curse.

Penalties: Twisted Energy Generator; Delusion (“I”m being followed”)

Dramatic Penalty: one instance of Nightmares or Weirdness Magnet or a -2 to all skill rolls from distractions.

Psychic healers describe characters with this condition as having a “blackened aura.” It arises from exposure to Broken Communion; the character “brings a piace of it back with them.” The character becomes a Twisted Energy Generator: any psychic powers they use or are used on them suffer a -2 and all failures count as critical failures. They also describe a presence that pursues them: they will tend to see this shadowy presence out of the corner of their eyes or hear their name whispered while alone. Once per session, this intensifies either into a bout of Nightmares (depriving them of fatigue), a dangerous freak accident, or the presence will overwhelm them with whispers and shadowy images that distracts them and inflicts a -2 to all skill rolls (as though for Mild Flashbacks).

Blackened Auras and Haunted Slumber are similar and related. One can lead to the other, and if the character seeks to interact with the presence, it’s possible they can resolve it. This usually involves the same rules and rolls as within Haunted Slumber, and usually, the presence is best interacted with in a dream, or by returning to the site where the “haunting” began. Otherwise, the disease will resolve itself within a couple of weeks; minor NPCs might die of it, typically due to freak accidents.

The Arkhaian Chills

Pseudo-medical Psychic Disease

Vector: Will-2 or HT-2. Mildly Contagious; characters who engage in prolonged psychic contact or spend considerable time near the character must roll Will-2 or HT-2 to avoid catching the disease.

Treatment: Daily Will-2 or HT-2 roll to recover; Esoteric Medicine provides a +1; a physician can also provide a +1 “placebo effect;” Exorcism-4 can remove the curse.

Penalties: -1d fatigue; Twisted Energy Generator; Supernatural Feature (No Body Heat)

Dramatic Penalty: -2 to all actions from shivering.

This psychic disease often presents like the Centauri Sniffles or frostbite, but technological medicine provides little relief. Characters generally pick up this disease from exploring a particularly cold environment steeped in twisted psionic energy (such as the frozen wastes of Sepulcher) or after an intense emotional experience, especially a depressing one. They become twisted energy generators, apply a -2 to any psychic power they use or is used on them, have their maximum fatigue reduced by 1d, and have no body heat (a fact that grants a +1 to esoteric medicine for the purposes of diagnosis). Once per session, the GM can inflict an intense bout of shivering, which reduces their DX by 2.

The disease tends to resolve itself within a couple of weeks; minor NPCs can even die from it. At the GM’s discretion, emotional warmth and companionship can also help the character recover, granting a +1 to all rolls to recover.

Labyrinthine Blight

Pseudo-medical Psychic Disease

Vector: Mildly Contagious; roll Will-2 or HT-2 after extensive contact with the infected, psychic contact with the infected, or after gazing too long upon Skairosian Imagery.

Treatment: Daily Will-2 or HT-2 roll to recover; Esoteric Medicine provides a +1; a physician can also provide a +1 “placebo effect;” Exorcism-4 can remove the curse. Cybernetic Eyes can resolve the problem.

Penalties: Blindness

Dramatic Penalty: either Hallucinating for 1d minutes or Neurological Disorder for one scene.

Medical science is stumped on the source of labyrinthine blight believing it to be either a virus or a fungal infection. It affects whole body, but other than some temporary shivering, the worst oeffect is on the eyes. They fill with a darkened fluid, which sometimes leaks out as “black tears” or “blood tears.” This blocks all sight until the character recovers. Once per session, the character begins to “see” things, despite being blind, shadows of events and people that never were, or they suffer a trembling fit for a scene, applying a -2 to their DX for the scene. This was once an especially common disease on Persephone.

For PCs, this disease clears up within a couple of weeks. For NPCs, this can result in permanent blindness if not cured.

Psychic Seizure

Psychic Distortion

Vector: Will-2; Intense emotional experience, corruption or Psychic Critical Failure; not contagious.

Treatment: Daily Will-2 roll to recover; Therapy via Psychology, Esoteric Healing or Expert Skill (Psionics) provides a +1 to the roll.

Penalties: -2 to all Psychic powers; failure counts as a critical failure.

Dramatic Penalty: All the character’s psychic abilities becomes Uncontrollable for a scene.

A worse version of the Psychic Twitch, the character begins to experience symptoms similar to being within a twisted energy field: all of their psychic powers become difficult to control and prone to doing things they never intended, with what they often describe as a “mounting pressure in their mind” that bursts in a storm of uncontrolled psychic activity. Once per session, for a whole scene, all of the character’s psychic abilities become Uncontrolled and “act out” unless the character can roll Will to keep them suppressed; a roll of 14+ always fails!

Characters with a psychic seizure generally need to seek professional help; those who do not will see it either resolve itself within a month, or have their psychic powers burn out and become lost. In a few rare cases, characters who “come out the other end” describe a transcendant experience of newfound power; if the GM decides this is true, the character gains Broken Communion 4 (but they must pay the point cost out of their own pool of points or go into “point debt” or acquire new disadvantages, of course).

Characters who have a Communion trait never get a Psychic Seizure; their connection to Communion stabilizes their psychic power.

Star-Struck

Temporary Madness

Vector: Mildly Contagious; characters who engage in prolonged social contact or spend a scene assisting the character must roll Will-2 to avoid catching the psychic disease.

Treatment: Daily Will-2 roll to recover; Therapy via Psychology or Esoteric Healing provides a +1 to the roll.

Penalties: Euphoria

Dramatic Penalty: Dazed for 1d minutes.

This disease generally arrives from being in a “beautiful” area saturated with twisted psionic energy, or after experiencing an intensely happy or victorious emotional moment. The world’s breauty becomes more intense, and they become lost in it, staring out at horizons, watching the stars, and unable to stop smiling. Their happiness can be even be literally infectious.

Being Star-Struck generally resolves itself within a couple of weeks. Few people ever die of being Star Struck, though they sometimes they wander into incoming traffic. While many esoteric healers don’t see it as much of a risk, some do (“Do not gaze upon the crystalline cliffs of Kronos!”), because left unchecked, it sometimes worsens into Devouring Taint.

Sylvan Fever

Pseudo-medical Disease

Vector: Highly contagious; roll Will-2 or HT-2 after being bitten by an infected individual or animal.

Treatment: Daily Will-2 roll to recover; Therapy via Psychology or Esoteric Healing provides a +1 to the roll.

Penalties: -1d fatigue; -2 HT;

Dramatic Penalty: Stress Atavism (Moderate)

Sometimes called Feral Zirata Syndrome this disease is poorly understood by humanity or those outside of the Sylvan Spiral. It seems mostly to come from the bites of wild, feral beasts who have been infected with it. Scientists can see the clear signs of a disease, but their medicine is unable to cure it. The Nehudese know better, however, and extract the psychic poison before the infection can worsen into a Devouring Taint.

Victims of the disease become manic and restless, and frequently exhaust themselves and find themselves unable to sleep. The wilderness calls to them and they begin to “devolve” in behavior, to resemble the feral beasts that bit them. Once per session, the GM may inflict such an attack on them, during which they struggle to understand speech or to use tools, and revert to base “fight or flight” instinct.

The disease tends to burn itself out in a week if not cured. NPCs who get it can die within a week, but many simply recover. Those who do not are as likely to worsen the infection into a Devouring Taint! See below.

Twisted Devotion

Temporary Madness

Vector: Exposure to twisted psionic energy; Mildly contagious: roll Will-2 to avoid getting it after being exposed to someone discussing their obsession, or interacting with the fruits of their labors.

Treatment: Daily Will-2 or HT-2 roll to recover; Esoteric Medicine provides a +1; a physician can also provide a +1 “placebo effect;” Exorcism-4 can remove the curse. Cybernetic Eyes can resolve the problem.

Penalties: Obsession; Delusion (“My obsession will advance my goals”); Higher Purpose (Further Obsession)

Dramatic Penalty: -4 to all rolls unless they further your obsession.

Sometimes, when someone gazes upon a broken Eldothic Deep Engine, or upon the strange writings within the Labyrinth, or beholds the passage of a Dark God, they become fixated upon it. Some ghosts or dead gods can even inflict this disease intentionally! It overwhelms their mind, and they suddenly believe, beyond a doubt, that this thing, whatever it is, is the solution to all of their problems. They become obsessed with understanding the phenomenon, and with mastering it, and will stop at nothing to do so. They begin to fill their datapads, scraps of paper and walls with their writings, and tell anyone who will listen about their obsession. This tendency is unfortunate, as it can spread the Devotion. Esoteric Healers often recommend destroying all products of the Devoted’s labor.

This tends to resolve itself within a couple of weeks. Those who aren’t cured may become permanently obsessed. Even if they don’t, their routine incursions into areas of twisted psionic energy virtually assures they’ll get more and worse diseases.

Major Psychic Diseases

Major psychic diseases are dangerous; they inflict profound madness on those who have them and can easily kill the victim. They tend to be dramatic too, and verge into the plainly supernatural. They apply a -8 to Psychic Healing rolls, and cost 16 fatigue to remove; Exorcism attempts are a -12. Untreated cases usually cause the death, or permanent transformation, of the victim.

Devouring Taint

Pseudo-medical Psychic Disease

Vector: Mildly Contagious; characters who engage in prolonged psionic contact with the character, or who spend too much time in an area “steeped” in the appropriate “malicious energies” or spend a scene assisting the character must roll Will-4 to avoid catching the psychic disease.

Treatment: Daily Will-4 or HT-4 roll to recover; Esoteric Medicine provides a +1; a physician can also provide a +1 “placebo effect;” Exorcism-8 can remove the curse.

Penalties: -1d fatigue; Nauseated.

Dramatic Penalty: Special; see below.

Devouring Taint is perhaps the most feared disease to come out of regions of Twisted Psionic energy. The energies “seep in” and “get under the character’s skin” and begin to slowly change them. For the duration of the illness, the character becomes weaker, often getting a fever, and finding it difficult to keep anything in their stomach. They may also begin to see signs of their body changing, such as skin flaking away, or rapid hair loss, or discoloration of their eyes or their fingertips or toetips, though this isn’t certain.

The real drama begins when the other symptoms kick in. Once per session, the GM can inflict one of the following on the character for a scene: Itching (GURPS Power-Ups 4 page 21), Severe Pain, Retching for 1d minutes, or Uncontrollable Transformation. This transformation disables the character for 1d seconds, after which they manifest one “mutation” template for the rest of the scene, after words, they are disabled for 1d seconds and return to normal. The specifics of the mutation template can be anything the GM wants, but see suggestions and guidelines below.

Realistically, the Devouring Taint will not kill the target, but will permanently transform them. The GM might allow a player character to purchase any elements of their mutation template with their own points; NPCs generally begin to acquire those traits permanently until they permanently acquire the full template. If the disease is not healed naturally, PCs recover in a month, while NPCs become permanently transformed in a month. If the Devouring Taint is healed, the character might heal any permanent changes; treat this as healing a crippled limb.

This is a mild form of the Devouring Taint. A worse form could be a Greater disease.

The Hunger

Temporary Madness

Vector: Intense psychological trauma or exposure to a Twisted Psionic Energy site steeped in “raging” or “hungry” energies; roll Will-4 to avoid getting it. Also Mildly Contagious; roll Will-4 to avoid catching it after prolonged psychic contact, or spending a day with the person.

Treatment: Daily Will-4 roll to recover; increase this to -8 if the character submitted to their unnatural hunger.

Penalties: Uncontrollable Appetite (The flesh of a sapient species; 9 or less); Therapy via Psychology or Esoteric Healing provides a +1 to the roll.

Dramatic Penalty: -5 to all actions for a scene unless the character indulged their Unnatural Appetite.

The Hunger is an unusual psychic illness that seems to be a response to starvation or the murder of a loved one. The infected begins to hunger for the flesh of sapient beings. The character absolutely must not indulge in their appetites, however, as this reduces the chance of recovery. Once a session, the hunger pangs drive the character to distraction and they suffer a -5 to all rolls for the scene except for rolls that directly assist them in cannibalism, unless they engage in cannibalism (even just one bite) at which point the penalties disappear for that scene.

Characters who consume three times as much food as they normally need can improve the Uncontrollable Appetite self-control roll from 9 to 15.

PCs will automatically recover from this illness in a month. NPCs who do not recover from this within a month will become permanent cannibals and may further acquire the Devouring Taint, especially if the indulged themselves.

Rictus Fever

Pseudo-medical Psychic Disease

Vector: Exposure to the Umbral Rim ghost “Nadum Tunavar,” the Laughing Shadow; roll Will-4 to resist; Highly Contagious: roll Will-4 to avoid getting it after any psychic contact or extended physical interactions.

Treatment: Daily Will-4 or HT-4 roll to recover; Esoteric Medicine provides a +1; a physician can also provide a +1 “placebo effect;” Exorcism-8 can remove the curse.

Penalties: -1 Reaction (inappropriate giggling and smiling); -1d fatigue; Nightmares (9 or less)

Dramatic Penalty: Hallucinating for 1d minutes or Compulsive Laughter (treat as Coughing/Sneezing)

According to Lithian lore, Rictus Fever comes from the ghost, Nadum Tunavar, the Laughing Shadow. Those who meet him, or anger him, may become infected. Characters infected with Rictus Fever show many of the same signs of an actual physical disease but medical science is almost helpless against it. The infected gain a blackened aura, and begin to hear hear snatches of phantasmal laughter. The disease begins with a fever and muscle tension, and then as the disease gets worse, the character becomes restless and finds the ghost haunting him in his dreams and then, eventually, begins seeing horrific imagery while awake. Once per session, the GM can either inflict a bout of compulsive laughter on the victim, or give them a “waking nightmare” for 1d minutes.

Rictus Fever tends to be resolved within a week. Most victims of it die and leave a corpse in rigor mortis with the lips peeled away from the mouth in a terrified “grin.” Exposure to the corpse is also infectious. It’s possible to cure the disease by destroying Nadum Tuvanar, but none have yet, and the ghost is at least centuries old.

Rictus Fever, unsurprisingly, is most common in the Umbral Rim. It tends to come in a sudden, highly contagious rush, kill hundreds, and then abate after quarantine efforts, only to begin again on some other world.

The White Sorrow

Temporary Madness

Vector: Intense psychological trauma or exposure to a Twisted Psionic Energy site steeped in “tragic” energies; roll Will-4 to avoid getting it. Also Mildly Contagious; roll Will-4 to avoid catching it after prolonged psychic contact, or spending a day with the person.

Treatment: Daily Will-4 roll to recover; Therapy via Psychology or Esoteric Healing provides a +1 to the roll.

Penalties: Choose one of Chronic Depression (9 or less) or On the Edge (9 or less)

Dramatic Penalty: Dazed (1d minutes) or -5 to all actions for a scene.

Characters suffering from the White Sorrow have pale, washed out auras with a ghostly edge to them, as though they were already almost dead. Characters with the White Sorrow become suicidally depressed and act as though they had Chronic Depression (9 or less) or On the Edge (12 or less); once per session, he may inflict Dazed (as they withdraw into themselves and just stare into the void) or suffer a -5 to all actions that don’t involve self-harm or self-destructive behavior.

The White Sorrow resolves itself in a month. NPCs who haven’t been cured in this time will die, simply wasting away having lost the will to live.

Greater Psychic Diseases

The Jotani Contagion

Pseudo-medical Psychic Disease

Vector: Highly Contagious; characters who engage in any psionic contact with the character, or who spend too much time in an area of Very High Broken Communion Sanctity in the appropriate “malicious energies” or have close physical contact with the character must roll Will-8 to avoid catching the psychic disease.

Treatment: Daily Will-8 or HT-8 roll to recover; Esoteric Medicine provides a +1; a physician can also provide a +1 “placebo effect;” Exorcism-12 can remove the curse.

Penalties: -2 Reaction; Nauseated.

Dramatic Penalty: Special; see below.

This is “just” Devouring Taint but far more infectious and far harder to remove. NPCs who catch this disease transform in a matter of days, and always fully transform within a week; the GM might hit characters with the Dramatic Penalties several times per session! An imperial expedition to Jotan caught this form of Devouring Taint and all but one devolved into monsters within a few days, thus earning its name. The Empire, erroneously believing it to be a physical malady similar to the Scourge, have been researching it further, and trying to find both a vaccine, and a way to weaponize those so transformed.

Psychic Scar

Psychic Distortion

Vector: A Critical Failure with Dark or Broken Communion or exposure to areas of Very High Broken Communion Sanctity. Not Contagious (but see below)

Treatment: Daily Will-8 roll to recover; Therapy via Psychology, Esoteric Healing or Expert Skill (Psionics) provides a +1 to the roll.

Penalties: Twisted Psionic Energy Generator (out to 10 yards);

Dramatic Penalty: All psionic abilities become Uncontrollable for a Scene

The character becomes an open wound on the psychic landscape. They become twisted energy generators, applying a -2 to their own psychic powers and any psychic powers used within 10 yards of themselves; furthermore, any failure with a psychic power by them or anyone within 10 yards of them counts as a critical failure. Furthermore, once per session, for an entire scenes, all of their psychic powers become uncontrollable. Finally, psychic characters who spend time near the Psychic Scar gain corruption as though in an area of Very High Broken Communion Sanctity; the details for this are left up to the GM. Thus, while it is not contagious, Psychic Scars tend to spread other psychic diseases and problems around themselves.

Psychic scarring resolves itself within a month. NPCs who get it sometimes “dissolve into nothing” in that time, while others become permanently scarred and gain a dependence on twisted psionic energy.

Acheronian Depression

Temporary Madness

Vector: Witness the dead god of Acheron; roll Will-8 to avoid getting it. Also Mildly Contagious; roll Will-8 to avoid catching it after prolonged psychic contact, or spending a day with the person.

Treatment: Daily Will-8 roll to recover; Therapy via Psychology or Esoteric Healing provides a +1 to the roll.

Penalties: Gregarious; Chronic Depression (9); -5 Easy to Kill.

Dramatic Penalty: Dazed for 1d minutes or On the Edge (6).

When the Eldoth committed a planetary-cleansing genocide on Acheron, they left something behind in those mass graves, and that thing got out. Those who see it become critically suicidal: they see, suddenly, the pointless of existence, and it becomes an unbearable weight upon them. They gain a -2 to all rolls unless near others, and while near others, they risk spreading the depression. They become depressed themselves, lethargic and unable to do anything. Furthermore, they make all rolls to see if they live at -5. Finally, once per session they either become Dazed as they stare into the void of their own lives, or they become dangerously self-destructive with On the Edge (6).

Most NPCs who get the Acheronian Depression commit suicide within a week, often within mere hours of contracting it. Some carriers hold on much longer, spreading the disease before ending it themselves. PCs will find that it resolves within a week, if they can just hold out until then!

Devouring Taint Mutations

Devouring Taint is meant to capture the slow process of corruption that changes the racial template of a character, and turn it into something faster and more provocative, allowing PCs to experience the change in a controlled way, and then reverting once the disease is cured, while still allowing the GM to have NPCs go into full monsters, if he wishes.

The core of the Devouring Taint disease is its Uncontrollable Transformation. One scene per session, the PC changes into something else. In an effort to avoid breaking the suspension of disbelief, this change should be subtle. The character becomes stronger and tougher, as befits someone “possessed” and their personality changes. They tend to become “Obsessed” with something. While so transformed, they will seek to accomplish tasks that fulfills their mad goal. Some of these obsessions are worth more than the listed -5, and may include Odious Personal Habits or other elements; reduce the point total as appropraite. They also gain Supernatural Features, which may help others diagnose the nature of their illness. If this happens, they lose their secret and gain a temporary Social Stigma (Monster) as others seek to destroy them or lock them down to cure them of their disease before they complete their transformation.

Beyond that, the specifics are up to the GM. The templates below include a list of mutations of varying point values. The GM may give one, none, or many of these to the PC during their transformation, as they see fit, and how they see it fitting the flow of a story. Generally, the longer the character remains infected, the more of the mutations they gain.. A PC should also be allowed to purchase some of them with their own points, or move around disadvantages to introduce them, making them permanent parts of his character, if he wishes. NPCs, of course, can and should permanently gain these mutations as the disease progresses!

The Cadaverous

30 points

The Cadaverous tend to be the result of Devouring Taint acquired in an area of “Deathly” energies, such as at the hands of a Dead God, aboard a derelict spaceship, or in a forgotten tomb. Those afflicted with the deathly Devouring Taint become uncaring of the plights of others, strong, quick and very difficult to kill.

Obsessions:

• Release a Dead God from its confines

• Find a way to resurrect a dead loved one

• Infect others with the Devouring Taint

Alternatively, replace the Delusion and Obsession with:

• Compulsive Murderer (12) [-15]

• Compulsive Behavior (Ghostly Repetition) [-15]

Attribute Modifiers: ST +5 [25];

Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15]; Hard to Kill +5 [10]; Hard to Subdue +5 [10]; High Pain Threshold [10]

Disadvantages: Bloodlust (12) [-10]; Callous [-5]; Delusion (My psychic disease is a good thing) [-10]; Obsession (See notes) [-5]; Secret (Corrupted by Psychic Illness; Utter Rejection) [-10];

Additional Mutations

Chilly [5]: Supernatural Feature (No Body Heat) [-5]; Feature: -20 degree comfort zone [0]; Temperature Tolerance 10 (Cold) [10]

Darkened Eyes [10]: Dark Vision [25]; Photosensitivity 10 [-10]; Supernatural Feature (Black Eyes) [-5];

Draining Touch [12]: Innate Attack 1d fatigue (Cosmic, ignores DR +300%; Melee, C, No parry -35%; No Signature +20%; Unconscious -20%; Uncontrollable -30%) [12]

Hysterical Strength [-3]: Berserk (12 or less) [-15]; Striking ST +15 (Only when Berserk -20%) [12];

Pallor [15]: Injury Tolerance (Unliving, No Blood) [25]; Supernatural Feature (Pallor) [-10].

Scavenger [3]: Bad Smell [-10]; Odious Personal Habit (Eats trash) [-5]; Reduced Consumption (Cast Iron Stomach) 3 [3]; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards +8 [15];

Razor Claws [-1]: Natural Weapons (Cutting; Armor Divisor 3 +100; Cannot Parry -40%; +1 damage +30%) [5]; Ham Fisted [-5]; Unnatural Feature (Claws) [-1]

The Aberrant

30 points

The Aberrant tend to be the result of Devouring Taint acquired in an area of “Otherworldly” or “Alien” energies, such as in the chitin-jungles of Jotan, in the dread temples of the Ithin Kor, or when bitten by a strange monstrosity in the bowels of the Labyrinth. . Those afflicted with this otherworldly, alien Devouring Taint become swift, simple, and animalistic.

Obsessions:

• Control my territory

• Spawn more aberrations

• Infecting others with the Devouring Taint

Alternatively, replace the Delusion and Obsession with:

• Unnatural Appetite (the flesh of sapients) (12) [-15]

Attribute Modifiers: ST +5 [25]; DX+3 [60]; IQ-2 [-40]

Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15]; Hard to Kill +5 [10]; Hard to Subdue +5 [10];

Disadvantages: Bloodlust (12) [-10]; Delusion (My psychic disease is a good thing) [-10]; Stress Atavism (Moderate; 12) [-15]; Obsession (See notes) [-5]; Secret (Corrupted by Psychic Illness; Utter Rejection) [-10];

Additional Mutations

Acidic Blood [-2]: Corrosion Attack 1d (Blood Agent, Reversed -40%; Cyclic 1d 1-second cycles +200%, Melee Attack Reach C, Cannot Parry -35%) [8]; Supernatural Feature (Discolored Veins) [-5]; Unusual Biochemistry [-5];

Hysterical Strength [-3]: Berserk (12 or less) [-15]; Striking ST +15 (Only when Berserk -20%) [12];

Predator’s Eyes [-5]: Infravision [0]; Supernatural Feature (Red Eyes or Reptilian Gold Eyes) [-5];

Predator’s Tongue [5]: Discriminatory Taste [10]; Supernatural Feature (Long Tongue) [-5];

Quadrupedal Speed [29]: Enhanced Move (Ground) [20]; Extra Legs (Four Legs; Temporary Disadvantage, No Fine Manipulators -30%) [4]; Semi-Upright [-5]; Super-Jump 1 [10]

Razor Claws [-1]: Natural Weapons (Cutting; Armor Divisor 3 +100; Cannot Parry -40%; +1 damage +30%) [5]; Ham Fisted [-5]; Unnatural Feature (Claws) [-1]

Rugose [-1]: DR 15 (Tough Skin -40%) [9]; Supernatural Feature (Rugose Skin) [-10].

Tentacles [47]: Extra Arms 2 (Extra Flexible +50%: Long +100%; Weak, ½ ST -25%; Unconscious -20%; Uncontrollable -30%); Extra Attack (Unconscious -20%; Uncontrollable -30%) [13]; Unnatural Feature (Tentacles) [-1]

The Ethereal

30 points

The Etherials tend to be the result of Devouring Taint acquired in an area of “Transcendental” or “Sublime” energies, such as in the vicinity of major, astronomical phenomenon, when exposed to hyperspace without the protection of a spaceship, or when reading through forbidden formulas that prove the existence of some higher form of physics. Those afflicted with this transcendant Devouring Taint become aloof, hyper-intellectual and fixated, while losing touch with their emotions and fundamental humanity.

Obsessions:

• Complete this science experiment

• “Merge” myself and my spaceship (and all aboard) with a major celestial object (such as a star).

• Infecting others with the Devouring Taint

Alternatively, replace the Delusion and Obsession with:

• Megalomania (12) [-15]

Attribute Modifiers: ST +5 [25]; IQ+1 [20]

Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15]; Hard to Kill +5 [10]; Hard to Subdue +5 [10]; Single-Minded [5]

Disadvantages: Bloodlust (12) [-10]; Delusion (My psychic disease is a good thing) [-10]; Low Empathy [-20]; Obsession (See notes) [-5]; Secret (Corrupted by Psychic Illness; Utter Rejection) [-10];

Additional Mutations

Dimensional Fracture [14]: Natural Weapon (Cutting; Cosmic, ignores DR +300%; Destructive Parry +40%; Extra Reach, 1 +20%; Hidden +20%; Increased Damage +1d +90%; Resilient, unbreakable +40%; Single -20%)

Flicker [76]: Insubstantial (Reflexive +40%; Takes Recharge, 1d seconds after 1 second; -20%; Unconscious -20%; Uncontrollable -10%) [72]; Invisibility (Only when Insubstantial -10%) [36]; Mute (Insubstantial Only -10%) [-22]; Supernatural Feature (Flickering) [-10]

Mirror Eyes [20]: Confused (12) [-10]; Penetrating Vision 2 [20]; See Invisible [15]; Supernatural Feature (Shimmering Mirror Eyes) [-5];

Prismatic Skin [22]: Chameleon 5 ( Always on -10%) [23]; Unnatural Feature (Prismatic Skin) [-1]

Ghostly Movement [40]: Silent 2 [10]; Warp (Ghostly Movement) [30]