Effect: Therapy is typically used as an action targeting a willing or unconscious target, opposed by the doom pool and the target's Ego Stress or Ego Trauma. If the roll fails the target character's Stress or Trauma die is stepped up; if the Stress or Trauma die was already a d12, in the case of Stress the target's Stress is cleared but they suffer d6 Trauma and in the case of Trauma the target character is either rendered insane or severely disturbed and becomes no longer playable. If the roll succeeds but the effect die is less than the target character's Stress or Trauma die nothing happens, and the target character's condition remains stable. If the roll succeeds and the effect die is equal to or greater than the target character's Stress or Trauma die the die is stepped down. A stepped down d6 Stress or Trauma is discarded.
Therapy can also be used to step down or remove Complications that represent mental conditions. The normal rules for stepping down or removing a Complication apply.
When a Therapy action is initiated it must be declared whether the attempt is being made to affect Stress or to affect Trauma or to affect a specific Complication.
Therapy can only be used on other characters, and can only be used on the same character once per Scene.
More passively, Therapy can also be added to another character's Recovery roll dice pool if the character with Therapy is assisting them in their attempt to recover.
Common SFX: The Comprehensive SFX can be applied to allow a character to attempt to affect both Stress and Trauma and any and all relevant Complications suffered by the same target simultaneously with a single Therapy roll. If this option is used, both the target character's Ego Stress and Ego Trauma dice and any relevant Complication dice are included in the opposing dice pool and an extra die is retained for the reaction total. The character's effect die is compared independently against the target's Ego Stress die and Ego Trauma die and each Complication die to determine each outcome.
The Spam SFX can be applied to allow a character to use their Therapy trait on the same character multiple times in a Scene. This can trivialize damage if abused, but can be appropriate for certain subgenres and play styles; GM discretion applies.
The Safe SFX can be applied to prevent the target character's Stress or Trauma die from stepping up in the case of a failed Therapy attempt. This removes all risk from attempting to use Therapy, but can be appropriate for certain subgenres and play styles; GM discretion applies.
The Affect Self SFX can be applied to allow a character to use their Therapy trait on themselves.
The Area of Effect SFX can be applied to allow a character to use their Therapy trait on multiple targets.
The Standard Range SFX can be applied, allowing a character to use their Therapy trait at Standard Range.
Common Limits: The Sympathetic Limit can be applied, which alters the outcome of a successful use of Therapy. If the roll succeeds but the effect die is less than the target character's [Stress, Trauma, or Complication] die the character using Therapy takes d6 [Stress, Trauma, or matching Complication] and the target character's [Stress, Trauma, or Complication] die steps down once. If the roll succeeds and the effect die is equal to or greater than the target character's [Stress, Trauma, or Complication] die, the die is stepped down and moved to the character using Therapy
The Time Consuming Limit can be applied to remove the ability to use Therapy during an Action Scene or a short Transition Scene.
The No Range Limit can be applied to require the user to be in physical contact with the target.
The Stress Only Limit can be applied to remove the ability to affect Trauma.
The Trauma Only Limit can be applied to remove the ability to affect Stress.