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Jimmy Hunt is an example Suppressor.
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Some Psychics, called Suppressors, are in denial regarding the existence of the
Supernatural and their own Psionic potential, and their own powers have become bent
towards subconsciously suppressing all evidence of the Supernatural within their
view.
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Suppressors cannot believe in the Supernatural, and in fact will either entirely
block or rationally reconstruct any memories of witnessed Supernatural events to
edit out any actual Supernatural activity in favor of plausible explanations and
retcons.
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Because they don't and can't actually believe in Monsters, it can be difficult to
justify a Monster Hunting Suppressor. As part of the process of gaining GM approval
to play a Suppressor, a player must work out a clever concept that explains away
how their character gets involved in Monster Hunting despite their peculiar psychological
refusal to believe in such things.
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Suppressors and their ability to suppress the Supernatural receives special treatment
in the Here There Be Monsters setting.
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RESTRICTIONS
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- A Suppressor must have an unlocked Psychic Special Resource Pool.
- A Suppressor cannot have any other sort of Psychic, Mystical, Believer, or Innati
ability other than Supernatural Suppression.
- A Suppressor cannot have the Supernatural Awareness Talent (for what should be obvious
reasons).
- A Suppressor must take the Suppressor Template provided below as given.
- A Suppressor can buy additional levels of Supernatural Suppression.
- If a Suppressor ever buys off the Complications of the Suppressor Template, they
wake up to to the reality that the Supernatural exists, and the repressive defense
mechanism that causes them to Suppress the Supernatural is gone. Such a character
loses access to the Supernatural Suppression ability, and recoups any points spent
on it; such points can be spent on Psychic abilities other than Supernatural Suppression
if desired.
- GM's permission is required to play a Suppressor.
- Suppressors can be very disruptive in a group with one or more player characters
of a Supernatural nature.
- Suppressors can slow down game play by imposing a lot of extra resolution rolls
on characters that normally lack them.
- A Suppressor can also improve the game play experience of a campaign
- by introducing a complex added dimension (the Suppressors determined disbelief)
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creating opportunities for dramatic cognitive dissonance (a Suppressor's player
must find clever alternate explanations and motivations for doing things).
- by allowing opportunities for other player characters to "spin" things for consumption
by the Suppressor so as to engage them effectively.
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Suppressor Template
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15
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Supernatural Suppression: 1
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Complications
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-20
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Psychological Complication: Cannot Accept The Supernatural; Must Rationalize Everything
Away; Will Become Agitated If Forced On The Issue (Common; Total)
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-10
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Physical Complication: Revisionist Memory: Cannot Retain Memory Of Any Witnessed
Supernatural Events; Memories Are Subconsciously Modified To A More Rational Explanation
Or Are Forgotten Entirely (Infrequently; Slightly Impairing)
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Optional
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15 per
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Supernatural Suppression: +1 level
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CUSTOM POWER: SUPERNATURAL SUPPRESSION
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A character with this Special Power subconsciously suppresses and diminishes all
Supernatural abilities within Line of Sight whenever they are conscious. The more
obvious and "unbelievable" a Supernatural ability or attribute is, the more it diverges
from the Suppressor's expectations of mundane reality, the more strongly Supernatural
Suppression effects it.
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Supernatural Suppression always affects abilities that are clearly and obviously
Supernatural in nature, such as fireball spells and the abilities of freakish Monsters
that according to mundane expectations shouldn't even exist in the first place.
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Less obvious powers are only affected by Supernatural Suppression when and if they
are used in such a fashion as to be clearly Supernatural. For instance, a character
with Supernatural Strength wouldn't be affected when using their Strength in ways
that appeared to be reasonably plausible and possible, but would become affected
when attempting a feat of Supernatural Strength such as trowing a dump truck or
punching a hole through a metal plate barehanded.
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Invisible Powers that have passive and unobservable effects, such as many purely
internal abilities like Life Support and most enhanced senses, as well as powers
bought fully Invisible using the Invisible Power Effects Advantage, are entirely
unaffected by Supernatural Suppression.
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Effects
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Supernatural Suppression is a complex ability with several aspects.
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Required Roll Penalty
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The primary effect of Supernatural Suppression is to render Supernatural abilities
affected by it unreliable; this is measured as a -1 penalty per level of Supernatural
Suppression applied to all obvious Supernatural abilities within Line of Sight of
the Suppressor. This penalty is applied to any affected Supernatural ability that
already requires a roll, whether it be a Skill, Characteristic, or Activation Roll;
thus a Hermetic Wizard with KS: Hermetic Lore 13- would suffer a -4 penalty to their
roll if attempting to cast an overtly Supernatural spell within view of a Suppressor
with Supernatural Suppression: 4.
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Abilities that do not already require a roll have such a roll imposed upon them
when affected by Supernatural Suppression, with an assumed base of 18-. Thus an
Innati with the innate ability to jump 20 meters would incur a Required Roll of
14- if attempting to leap such a prodigious distance within view of a Suppressor
with Supernatural Suppression: 4.
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Supernatural abilities with the Unified Limitation applied to them are even more
affected by Supernatural Suppression, incurring an extra -2 penalty. Thus if the
Innati from our previous example with the innate ability to jump 20 meters had defined
their extra leaping as being "Unified: Innati Abilities" (or equivalent wording),
the Required Roll would be 12- rather than 14-.
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Disruption of Pre-existing Effects
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As a secondary effect, Supernatural Suppression can Dispel pre-existing Supernatural
artifacts or effects that entered play prior to a Suppressor becoming aware of them.
Supernatural Suppression Dispels 15 Active Points of pre-existing effect per level
of Supernatural Suppression. Thus if a Suppressor with Supernatural Suppression:
4 were to round a corner and come upon a glowing mystic rune of power, the rune
would be immediately subjected to a Dispel capable of dispelling 60 Active Points
of effect.
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However, it is important to note that this only works againts things that are clearly
Supernatural; pre-existing effects that are inobvious, invisible, or cloaked in
a semblance of mundanity are not affected.
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Supernatural Suffocation
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As a tertiary effect, at level 4 and higher Supernatural Suppression is also disruptive
and uncomfortable to Supernatural creatures and people, and though it is unusal
for a Supernatural to be subjected to Supernatural Suppression long enough for it
to cause significant harm, prolonged exposure can actually kill them. A Supernatural
Creature is unable to Recover (including Post-Segment 12 Recoveries) while affected
by Supernatural Suppression: 4+; they lose 1 Endurance per Turn of exposure and
will eventually lose STUN and then BODY.
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Those who have survived the experience describe an enervating sensation that numbs
the mind and body until a terminal stupor sets in.
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Mechanics
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Supernatural Suppression does not cost END to use, is Contant, and affects all overt
Supernatural abilities and Supernatural persons within Line of Sight simultaneously.
Supernatural Suppression is only visible to Supernatural Awareness, as something
equivalent to a black hole; a void from which no Supernatural energies emerge.
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Supernatural Suppression works automatically, similar to a Constant Area of Effect.
There is no defense for Supernatural Suppression other than using abilities in ways
that are not obviously Supernatural.
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Supernatural Suppression never suppresses or affects other characters using Supernatural
Suppression; instead the effects of multiple Supernatural Suppressions are cumulative.
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A Suppressor has no control over their own ability, or awarenes of it. A Suppressor
cannot turn Supernatural Suppression on or off at will. Supernatural Suppression
disrupts both malign and beneficial effects. Supernatural Suppression only works
on abilities a Suppressor can observe, and only while they can observe it; if a
Suppressor is blinded, is looking in a different direction, have their view blocked
by intervening objects, or are unconscious Supernatural Suppression has no effect.
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Supernatural Suppression costs 15 points per level. No Modifiers may be applied
to it, and it may not be taken in a Framework.
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