Orichalcum Universe: The Matrix and the Flux 2...

This continues the first thread about the power of the Matrix/Flux in
my universe:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.frp.gurps/browse_thread/threa...b6d6e8d

All right, as mentioned in that thread, the Flux is not particularly
useful for duplicating Telepathy. The Matrix could use the Flux for
telepathic contact, certainly, just as a mortal psion can use his/her
psionic field for that purpose. A mortal fluxon tapping the Flux for
his/her use, though, is wielding a 'blunt instrument', and telepathy
requires delicacy.

The use of the Flux to directly duplicate psionic Powers, as described
in the first thread, will not work with Telepathy. Attempts to do so
simply fail, for lack of the necessary delicacy.

The Flux _can_ be used to gain information from another's mind, but it
requires a different approach. A Controlled Manifestation can be
invoked by a skilled fluxon to 'break' another mortal's mind, and if
it works the effect is to tear the mind and will apart, leaving the
mentality and its contents open for inspection. Unfortunately, this
tends to have bad side effects, such as leaving the victim suffering
from major mental damage.

Likewise, the Flux can be used to create a Controlled Manifestation
that 'pressures' a mortal subject to do something, such as answer
questions truthfully. This is less damaging, but still a tremendous
strain on the target of the effect.

Game Mechanics:

If a fluxon wishes to try and 'break' the mind of another, s/he must
use Flux Awareness and Flux Mastery as usual to find and make contact
with the Flux. Having done so, s/he must then attempt a Controlled
Manifestation targeted at a given victim/subject. The usual process
of resolving a Controlled Manifestation, as described in the previous
thread, applies. However, an additional step is involved.

Assuming the fluxon succeeds in invoking the desired Manifestation,
the effect is that the Matrix/Flux applies a tremendous wave of
psychic pressure to the mind of the target. The target can resist
this, and will do so instinctively even if s/he has no idea what is
happening. The Flux will 'attack' with a given force, the baseline
default being 14, and this is resisted by the target with Will (and
Mind Shield skill, and other relevant defenses).

The strength of the Flux attack will be determined by how much effort
the attacking fluxon put intho his/her work, and how well it
succeeded. Again, the GM must make a judgement call about the steps
of this. Modifiers will apply depending on various factors.

EXAMPLE: The vile Ylarines has captured Tamara's husband Phillip, and
wants to know what the good guys are up to, and has decided to use the
Flux to prise the information out of his brain. He has Phillip
trapped in his hidden lair in a cave in the Alps, and is ready to
rock.

First Ylarines uses his Flux skills to find and make contact with the
Flux. His lair has a local Flux Rating of +4, and he succeeds well in
his rolls, making solid contact (see first thread). Now he invokes a
mind-breaker manifestation, and since he hasn't used the Flux much
lately, and spends some Flux Points, he gets a Good reaction from the
Matrix and succeeds in communicating his intentions.

The Flux now assaults Phillip's mind with a wave of psychic energy,
which attempts to smash through all defenses and 'break' his mind.
There's no subtlety, it's a pure brute-force assault. How strong is
it? Well, the default, unmodified strength is 14+(local Flux Rating *
Flux Point boost)+(1*success of reaction roll-12)+(GM Modifier).

So...the attack as a default strength of 14, that is, Phillip
experiences the equivalent of a brute-force Telepathic assault of
Power 14, modified as follows for this specific case:

The local Flux Rating is 4, so that increases the strength to power
18. The fluxon can also choose to spend 5 Flux Points to add the
local Flux Rating _again_, and another 5 Flux Points to do it yet
again, and so on. Ylarines spends 10 points, which means that the
local FR of 4 gets added _again_ to the attack, twice. This adds 8
levels and brings the attack strength up to 26.


The Matrix reaction roll (as done by the GM) was a 17, a 'very
good' (recall that good or higher is necessary to make a Controlled
Manifestation in the first place). So, 17-12 (12 represents the best
'neutral' reaction) is 5, so the attack gets another +5, increasing
the intensity to Power 31!

The 'GM modified' represents the GM's estimation of whatever local,
condition specific benefits and problems might effect the effort, and
thus is a pure judgement call on the part of the GM. In this case,
the GM decides that Ylarines is in his lair, has easy access to his
special gear and tools and other Flux paraphernalia, plenty of time
and privacy to prepare, and so forth, all adding up to a +4 bonus,
adding up to a total of 35.

So now poor Phillip finds himself subjected to the equivalent of a
brute-force Telepathic attack of Power 35!!

An ordinary person in this situation would have little chance, but
Phillip is not ordinary. Though neither a psion nor a fluxon, he has
a very strong Will (IQ 14 and three levels of Strong Will), for a
total Will of 17. Also, in his slightly younger days he was a member
of the Special Forces, and later he worked for the CIA doing some
really exotic things, and they taught him some very abstruse skills.

Phillip's personal, natural mind shield has a strength of 25, which in
this Power vs. Power contest means that the attack is reduced to an
effective strength of 10. There's no 'skill' as such to the attack,
instead the remaining power of the attack must be resisted by Will.
If Phillip makes his Will roll (against a Will of 17), there is no
damage _in that turn_, but if he blows his Will then he takes 1 points
of damage to his ego for every two levels by which the attack exceeds
his shield (in this case t0 levels, so he takes 5 points of damage).
On a critical failure of the will roll, he takes double damage, on a
critical success, he gains a +1 bonus on all Will rolls until the
attack ends, as his mind gradually triumphs over the attack. A few
critical successes can be of vital importance in such situations!

Thus if he blows his Will roll, his total Will is reduced by 5 points,
to 12. _The attack is not over._

The attack will continue, unabated, for a period determined by the
formula:

(1 turn) * (local Flux Rating * Flux Point boost) * (amount of Flux
reaction roll success) Every 5 Flux Points spent here adds a
multiplier to the Flux Rating.

Ylarines spent 15 Flux Points to add to the length of the attack (this
is separate from the Points he spent on intensity), and the local Flux
Rating is 4, so that boosts that to 12 [4 * 15/5] * 5 [for the Matrix
reaction roll] so the attack will last for one minute, or _60 turns_
(!!!)

It doesn't look good for Phillip. Though his odds of making his Will
roll on any given roll are excellent, he has only barely a shot of
making 60 Will rolls in a row without at least one failure, and even
one failure reduces his odds by a huge margin. If his Will reaches
zero the attack will end, because he is broken, he will answer any
question put to him truthfully (if unimaginatively), and if Ylarines
has psionic Telepathy, he can read anything in Phillip's broken
mind.

Luckily, Phillip has a few aces up his sleeve. Realizing the near-
certainty of breaking, Phillip exercises another skill the CIA's
teachers taught him, placing himself into a deep, deep trance state,
so deeply unconscious that his mind is basically shut down, and the
attack can't damage what it can't find. But that's a topic for
another time, since it isn't a Flux subject.