Pushers

Pushers

"Hold it cabby. Police!"

The cab driver turned his head toward the voice and Andy pushed -- very gently. A dagger of pain was planted squarely in the center of Andy's forehead and then quickly withdrawn, leaving a vague locus of pain, like a morning headache -- the kind you get from sleeping on your neck.

"They're after that black guy in the checkered cap, I think," he said to the cabby." "Right," the driver said, and pulled serenely away from the curb. They moved down East Seventieth.

Andy looked back. The two men were standing alone at the curb. The rest of the pedestrians wanted nothing to do with them. One of the men took a walkie-talkie from his belt and began to speak into it. Then they were gone.

"That black guy," the driver said, "whadde do? Rob a liquor store or somethin', you think?"

"I don't know," Andy said, trying to think of how to get on with this, how to get the most out of this cab driver for the least push. Had they got the cab's plate number? He would have to assume they had. But they wouldn't want to go the city or state cops, and they would be surprised and scrambling, for a while at least.

"They're all a bunch of junkies, the blacks in this city," the driver said. "Don't tell me, I'll tell you."...

I’ve changed my mind" Andy said, "Take us to Albany please"

"Where?" the driver stared at him in the rearview mirror. "Man, I can't take a fare to Albany, you out of your mind?"

      Andy pulled his wallet, which contained a single dollar bill. He thanked God that this was not one of those cabs with a bulletproof partition and now way to contact the driver except through a money slot. Open contact always made it easier to push. He had been unable to figure out if that was a psychological thing or not, and right now it was immaterial.

"I'm going to give you a five-hundred dollar bill," Andy said quietly, "to take me and my daughter to Albany. Okay?"

"Jee-sus, mister..."

Andy stuck the bill into the cabby's hand, and as the cabby looked down at it, Andy pushed...and pushed hard. For a terrible second he was afraid it wasn't going to work, that there was simply nothing left, that he had scraped the bottom of the barrel when he had made the driver see the nonexistent black man in the checkered cap.

       Then the feeling came -- as always accompanied by that steel dagger of pain....

"Gee, mister, I don't know --"

Which meant he thought it was the law trouble.

"They deal only goes as long as you don't mention it to my little girl" Andy said. "The last two weeks she's been with me. Has to be back with her mother tomorrow morning."

"Visitation rights," the cabby said. “I know all about it."

"You see, I was supposed to fly her up."

"To Albany? Probably Ozark, am I right?"

"Right. Now, the thing is, I'm scared to death of flying. I know how crazy that sounds, but it's true. Usually, I drive her back up, but this time my ex-wife started in on me, and...I don't know." In truth, Andy didn't. He had made up the story on the spur of the moment and now it seemed to be headed straight down a blind alley. Most of it was pure exhaustion.

"So I drop you at old Albany airport, and as far as Mom knows, you flew, right?"

"Sure." His head was thudding.

"Also, so far as Moms knows, you're no plucka-plucka-plucka, am I four-oh?"

"Yes." Plucka-plucka-plucka? What's that supposed to mean? The pain was getting bad.

"Five hundred bucks to skip a plane ride," the driver mused.

"It's worth it to me," Andy said, and gave one last little shove. In a very quiet voice, speaking almost into the cabby's ear, he added, "And it ought to be worth it to you."

"Listen," the driver said in a dreamy voice. "I ain't turning down no five hundred dollars. Don't tell me, I'll tell you."

"Okay," Andy said, and settled back. The cab driver was satisfied. He wasn't wondering about Andy's half-baked story. He wasn't wondering what a seven-year-old girl was doing visiting her father for two weeks in October with school in. He wasn't wondering about the fact that neither of them had so much as an overnight bag. He wasn't worried about anything. He had been pushed.

- From Stephen King's, "Firestarter"

 

      Welcome to Pushers. This RPG is a variant of The World of Darkness. It uses all the same game mechanics and introduces a new one: the act of 'pushing.' The game is based on Stephen King's novel Firestarter, specifically the character Andy and his ability to "push" people, such as the taxi driver in the above excerpt. It is a slightly more complex combination of Second Sight’s “Mind Control” and “Psychic Illusions.”

      Pushing is essentially mind-control, also known as mental-domination. You can “push” an idea into a person's consciousness without them ever being aware, forcing them do things they would never think of doing and making them see things that aren’t there. What makes a so-called "pusher" so powerful is that, unlike most powers in The World of Darkness, a push cannot be resisted in any way.

This guide will teach you how to incorporate the pushing mechanic into your own adventure. This new mechanic is catered to highly imaginative players and GMs who enjoy role-playing. The first section attempts to illustrate the range of possibilities for pushing. The second part delves into the mechanics of pushing for the player and the NPC involved.

 

The Plot

 

Government Scientists at an obscure CIA offshoot called “The Shop” are experimenting with a new substance called Lot Six. They hope to use it as a way to increase the combat effectiveness of soldiers, perhaps creating the long-awaited “super soldier.” But the effects are inconsistent. The first trials undertaken in the 1970's nearly brought The Shop down all together. But after 40 years of laying low. The Shop is back in business, conducting Lot Six trials nationwide.

       Each Shop experiment brings together people of different backgrounds. Unbeknownst to the staff, a small percentage of the larger test group (our cast of characters, or "batch") develop the mental-domination ability. While no two people react the same way to their newfound power, the prospect of being a lab rat appeals to almost no one, leading most batches to flee The Shop. Those who flee must play a lifelong game of cat-and-mouse with the pursuing Shop agents.

 

Types of Pushes

 

       "I mean, I've done my best, Dr. Pynchot. I've tried."

       "Yes, yes. Of course you have. And we think -- that is, I think -- that you deserve a rest. Now the Shop has a small compound on Maui, in the Hawaii chain Andy. And I have a six-month report to write very soon. How would you like it" Pynchot's grin broadened into a game-show host's leer and his voice took on the tones of a man about to offer a child an incredible treat -- "how would you like it if I recommended that you be sent there for the immediate future?"...

       "One more series of tests might be wise" Andy said, and pushed out lightly at Pynchot. "Just for safety's sake"

       Pynchot's eyes suddenly fluttered in a strange way. His grin faltered, became puzzled, and then faded altogether...

       "When you write your report suggest one more series of tests" Andy repeated.

       Pynchot's eyes cleared. His grin came splendidly back. "Of course, this Hawaii thing is just between us for the time being." he said. "When I write my report, I will be suggesting one more series of tests. I think it might be wise. Just for safety's sake, you know."

       "But after that I might go to Hawaii?"

       "Yes," Pynchot said. "After that."

       - From Stephen King's "Firestarter"

 

          The fundamental mechanic of the game is pushing. A push happens when someone with mind control (the pusher) exercises power over another person (the victim).

           There are four levels of pushing a player can attempt: predictable, unlikely, unrealistic, and impossible. These names refer to the likehood of having actually thought or seen the push. Each level "pushes" the victim's mind further and further from its true self. The harder you push, the more you can make your victim do or see. The tradeoff is that the harder you push the more likely it is the victim goes insane as a result and the more likely you hurt yourself in the process.

          Players can either push commands to their victim or push illusions, making for eight possible types of pushes. Commands are a more direct version of mind control where you tell the victim exactly what to do, whereas illusions force the victim to sense something but doesn’t force upon them any particular course of action. For example, in the previous excerpt Andy pushes a command; for Pynchot to recommend another round of tests. In the introductory excerpt, Andy pushes two illusions; the false $500 bill and the imaginary black man. Notice how Andy had to talk the cabbie into accepting the bill, whereas Pynchot conceded the point about additional tests immediately. Commands are executed by the victim exactly as the pusher tells them to whereas a victim's reaction to seeing an illusion is less predictable.

           As mentioned above, victims are never aware of being pushed. They believe their actions stem from their own free will and that the illusions they see are real. Pushing someone can permanently change them. Small pushes don't change victims’ lives much. Big pushes can potentially cause victims to rethink their whole life and cause them to become completely different people. Push too hard and the victim goes insane.

          The section below details the possibilities of each level of pushing both for commands and illusions and how victims subjectively experience each type of push. The effects on the victim's lifestyle listed below represent the maximum possible change for each level of pushing, but it is ultimately up to the GM whether a push, even a hard push, changes the victim's life forever or is just shrugged off as a weird and temporary episode.

 

Predictable: Predictable commands involve the victim doing things familiar to them in everyday life. Victims think the commands are their own choices and are perfectly inline with their normal behavior; they are being polite, kind, spontaneous, or simply using alternate procedures. Predictable illusions are also things that are familiar to the victim and are rooted in the victim’s own worldview. Predictable pushes can at most cause a minimal and temporary effect on the victim’s lifestyle. Small chance of insanity (See “Echoes” below).

 

- Examples of predictable commands: "Give me a ride across town” "Comp this meal" "Tell me everywhere you went yesterday (victims think they are being helpful, as if they were giving directions to a passerby)”, “Order another round of tests”

- Examples of predictable illusions: "The cops aren't after me, they're after that black guy across the street (for someone who is racist)”, “There’s a hot guy/girl across the street”, "This is a $20 bill (it's a $1 bill or a piece of paper; only small or expected denomination)”

 

Unlikely: Unlikely commands involve victims doing things that they would not normally do, but that aren't so unusual as to be disturbing. Victims might think the commands are their own perfectly natural life choices, even if the behavior is out of the ordinary for them, or perhaps they perceive themselves to be ‘shaking things up a bit’. Unlikely illusions are outside of the victim’s comfort zone, but not outside the realm of realistic possibility. At most, unlikely pushes can cause victims to change their lifestyle enough that their family and friends notice and become concerned for their mental health. Moderate chance of insanity.

 

- Examples of unlikely commands: "Give me the cash in your wallet" "Spend the day running my errands" "Tell me everything about this case file (as if they were reporting to a superior)”, “Ignore your regular duties for the day”

- Examples of unlikely illusions: "This is a $500 bill (It's a $1 bill or a piece of paper; any desired denomination)”, "There is a man screaming at you" , "I have a gun" (actually a finger gun, but only for situation where you might expect to see a gun, like inside a bank or in a dark alley. Otherwise this would be unrealistic).”

 

Unrealistic: Unrealistic pushes involve victims doing things they have never even considered doing before and that go against their sense of morality, including mild violence. The victim might interpret the command from the pusher as a seminal life moment. Unrealistic illusions are outside the realm of logical possibility, but not outside the realm of physics. Unrealistic pushes can potentially disrupt the lives of victims to the point where they cannot hold down a job or maintain healthy relations with family and friends. Even chance of insanity.

 

- Examples of unrealistic commands: "Punch that guy (only once)”, "Give me the keys to your house and go live somewhere else” ,"Tell me your darkest secrets"

- Examples of unrealistic illusions: "Your gun is too hot to hold", "Everyone in this room wants to beat you up", “There is a shark in the pool”

 

Impossible: Impossible commands involve the victims doing disturbing and often violent acts of depravity. Unlike the previous three pushes, there is no possibility that an impossible push has a temporary effect. The victim now obeys all commands and no longer cares about anything except the pusher. Impossible illusions are outside the realm of physical possibility. High chance insanity.

 

- Examples of impossible commands: "Kill them All", "Throw yourself into the fire" ,“Never speak to anyone ever again”

- Examples of impossible illusions: "Your gun is a snake", "You're blind", “You’re a six year old girl”

 

It is ultimately up to the GM to determine the level of a proposed push. However, to illustrate these differences further, here is a chart of some likely pushing scenarios, and the levels needed to achieve a result. In this chart, C represents commands and I illusions.

 

 

	Taxi Driver	Bank Teller	Armed Guard
Predictable	C:Take me less than 20 min outside of usual radius, use shortcuts you normally avoid I:You see the police are after a black guy across street, you see the streetlight turning red (it's still green)	C:Please escort me to the safe, show me how the security system works (like a tour guide) I:You hear the fire alarm going off, you see an error message on your computer screen	C: Give me information about what you are guarding, give me your commander's phone number. I: You see this blank paper as my I.D., you see a man breaking the rules
Unlikely	C: Take me less than two hours outside of usual radius, don't charge me for this ride I: You see this blank paper as a $500 bill, You see a truck about to run a red light	C: Turn off the alarm system, unlock door that is supposed to stay locked I: You see this 'finger gun' as a real gun, you see a disgruntled customer making a scene outside	C: Wave me past checkpoint without ID, leave your post I: You hear the intercom issuing altered orders, your commander is behind you waving me in
Unrealistic	C: Give me ownership of this cab, bump into the car in front of you. I:You see a swarm of bees in the cab, you hear a gunfight across the street	C: Go and take money out of the safe and hand it to me, accuse your boss of embezzlement I: You smell that the bank is on fire, you see a mob of rioters trying to break in	C: Escorts me to top secret area, Wave me past checkpoint during alarm I:You feel your gun is too hot to hold, you see the base coming under attack
Impossible	C: Drive off a cliff, escape the police behind us I:You see the cab sinking into the street like quicksand	C: Burn the bank down, beat up the guards I: You see the  money flying away like butterflies	C: Fire on the other guards, wave me past checkpoint on manhunt for me I: You feel your gun become a snake

 

A quick note on illusions. Yes, it is possible to disguise yourself with an illusion,such as “I am a police officer" to make the victim see you in uniform. But the problem is the victim must hear you before he sees you. Otherwise, you instantaneously transform from your regular clothes into a uniform, which is incredibly shocking (more on shattered illusions below). If you manage to go up behind someone and say it, when the victim turns around, he’ll see you as he expected to see you, and then you’re fine.   

 

Here’s a short list with examples of other pushing capabilities:

 

Memory Erasing:

 

Predictable: “You misheard that just now (pusher can insert short bit of misinformation, only available within 30 seconds of conversation),” “You don’t remember recent conversation,” “That building exploding wasn't at all remarkable (good for eye witnesses of big pushes, victim remembers event in detail but won’t bother talking about it)”  “It was just some movie or something (taps into innate human desire for everything to be alright, victim must purley be a witness to event),” “You don't remember me after meeting me a few times casually”

 

Unlikely: “You don't remember me punching you,” “You don’t remember seeing that building explode,” “You don’t remember last couple hours,” “You've never seen that movie” “You don't remember me after being acquaintances for less than a month”

 

Unrealistic: "You don't remember major event" (big vacation, emergency room trip), "You don’t remember ever working on an assignment that took six months" (must be personally unimportant to victim, like a boring semester-long class), "You don't remember me after being close for a year or less"

 

Impossible: “You never studied your field,” “You've never had sex/serious relationship,” “You don't remember best/worst experience of your life,” “You don't remember me after having had a year or longer relationship," total amnesia

 

Memory changes are always commands, as you are basically ordering the victim to forget something.

 

Bodily Functions

 

Predictable: “You’re tired,” “You have a headache,” “You need to go to the bathroom" (victim still has control)

 

Unlikely: “You need to throw up,” “You’re light-headed and need to sit down" (victim can ‘fight through it,’ but receives -2 modifier to action rolls)”

 

Unrealistic: “You’re in excruciating pain,” “Both of your legs are asleep,” “Shit yourself,” “Throw-up" (-5 modifier to combat rolls)

 

Impossible: “You’re blind,” “Fall asleep" (instantaneous)

 

Bodily functions are also always commands.

 

Pushing Specific Conditions

       

      Pushing a command is distinct from the line of reasoning victims take in in justifying their actions. A pusher can either let victims fill in the blanks themselves, or push them to understand commands a certain way. In the excerpt above, Andy convinces Pynchot that the extra round of tests were "just to be safe." Many other reasons for ordering another round of tests are possible. When pushing a command, a player can simultaneously roll manipulation to try and talk the player into his chain of logic. If the roll succeeds, the victim takes the pusher's line of reasoning. If the roll fails, victims either reject the pusher's logic or simply ignores it.   

        If its important for the push to be understood in a certain way (needs to be kept secret from others, needs to be sympathetic to third parties, etc.), a player may push each condition separately.  For example, if you tell a bank teller to load up your station wagon with money (unrealistic) and your attempt to persuade the teller into secrecy through a manipulation roll fails, you would have to push the teller to not let anyone see them do it and another push for them not record it in the bank's records. Conditions are considered predictable pushes but cannot be used to force a push into less realistic territory (GMs discretion).

 

Game Mechanics

 

“Pushers” uses the same mechanics as World of Darkness. To these, we add the mechanics of pushing.

 The science of pushing is poorly understood, but the requirements are clear. A push must be heard by the victim. Only one victim can be pushed at a time. The pusher must have a line of sight to the victim, if only a partial one, and a push cannot be transmitted via any medium, such as a phone. Two pushers cannot push each other. Pushing is risky for both the pusher and the victim. It can cause the victim to go insane and can cause the pusher both emotional distress and brain damage. Pushing is an instant action. It has a maximum range of 50 yards and costs 1 Willpower.

     Pushers are naturally drawn to each other, usually staying with their original test groups, or “batch.” Separating from your batch causes severe emotional distress.

 

Effect of Pushing on the Pusher

 

The human brain was not designed for pushing. The act is both emotionally and physically taxing. When a person pushes someone, his or her own brain must actively resist hurting itself. When the pusher is out of energy and unable to protect himself, further pushing begins to cause minor strokes. Push too hard for too long and you will die from a massive stroke.

Each Push costs one Willpower. Players with with no willpower can still push, but they are giving themselves a stroke, and suffer one point of aggravated damage.

Pushes cause a dice penalty on the pushers next action. The severity of the pain corresponds to the level of the push. See the chart below.

 

Predictable: -1

Unlikely: -2

Unrealistic: -3

Impossible: -4

 

Pushing and Morality

 

   The act of pushing is inherently sinful because it robs victims of their free will. Even if the push is harmless, you are still forcing victims either to do things they wouldn’t do or see things that they wouldn’t see. A harmless push is equivalent to petty theft (morality 7). But more importantly, whatever your victim does is your sin. If you command someone to kill, you roll morality 3.

     If you cause your victim to go insane, roll morality 4. The storyteller can delay this roll for dramatic effect or to assist the players, but it cannot be avoided indefinitely (more details in the next section).

 

“Batch” Effect

       

        As mentioned above, a group of pushers is called a “batch.” This usually refers to the original group of people who were administered a batch of Lot Six by the Shop. However, batches can also form when pushers from different experimental groups happen to run into one another.

        The mental domination ability imparted by Lot Six is a “push” in that it radiates out from the pusher’s mind and overrides the inferior willpower of the victim. When two pushers come into contact with one another, the resulting compatibility between their fields of influence creates a “pull” effect, drawing them toward each other. The pushers can literally feel the presence of the other pusher and it feels good. This is what leads pushers to stay with their Batch. Should pushers wish to permanently abandon their batch, they must pass a Resolve + Composure check for each week they are alone. If they fail, they must rejoin the batch or spend one willpower each day onwards to resist.

       

 

Effect of Pushing on Victims

 

What it came down to was that Charlie had dug in her heels. It had come sooner than they had expected, that was all. Maybe -- no probably -- even sooner than Rainbird had expected. Well, they would let it lie for a few days and then...then...

[Cap's] train of thought broke up. His eyes took on a faraway, slightly puzzled cast. In his mind he saw a golf club, a five iron, whistling down and connecting solidly with a Spaulding ball. He could hear that low, whistling whoooop sound. Then the ball was gone, high and white against the blue sky. But it was slicing...slicing...

His brow cleared. What had he been thinking of? It wasn't like him to wander off the subject like that. Charlie had dug in her heels; that was what he had been thinking. Well, that was all right...

In his mind he heard the soft swinging sound of a golf club again; it seemed to reverberate in the office. But now it was not a whhoooop sound. It was a quiet ssssssssss, almost the sound of a...a snake. That was unpleasant. He had always found snakes unpleasant, ever since earliest childhood.

…..

Cap was at home in Longmont Hills...Across the room, leaning below a pair van Gogh prints, was his old and scuffed golf bag. He had fetched it from the basement, where a rickrack of sports equipment had built up over the twelve years he had lived here with Georgia, while not on assignment somewhere else in the world. He had brought the golf bag into the living room because he couldn't seem to get golf off his mind lately. Golf, or snakes.

He had brought the golf bag up meaning to take out each of the irons and his two putters and look them over, touch them, see if that wouldn't ease his mind. And then one of the irons had seemed to...well, it was funny (ridiculous, in fact), but one of the irons had seemed to move. As if it wasn't a golf club at all but a snake, a poison snake that had crawled in there--

Cap dropped the bag against the wall and scuttered away. Half a glass of brandy had stopped the minute shakes in his hands. By the time he finished the glass, he might be able to tell himself they had never trembled at all. He started the glass on its way to his mouth and then halted. There it was again! Movement...or just a trick of his eyes?

Trick of the eyes, most definitely. There were no snakes in his damned golf bag. Just clubs he hadn't been using enough lately. Too busy. And he was a pretty good golfer, too. No Nicklaus or Tom Watson, hell no, but he could keep it on the course. Not always slicing, like Puck. Cap didn't like to slice the ball, because then you were in the rough, the tall grass, and sometimes there were--

GET HOLD OF YOURSELF. JUST GET HOLD OF YOURSELF. IS YOU STILL THE CAPTAIN OR IS YOU AIN'T?

The trembling was back in his fingers again. What had done this? What in God's name had done this?

...

      It had been in the hay that his brother had been bitten by a snake when Cap himself was only three....big, tough, nine year old Leon Hollister was screaming "Go get daddy!"...

      Eventually his eyes fixed upon the partially fused green plastic hose by the burst water pipe. It hung in coils on its peg, still partially obscured by the last of the drifting steam.

Terror flashed up in him suddenly, as explosive as flames in an old blowdown. For a moment the terror was so great that he could not even breathe, let alone cry a warning. His muscles were frozen, locked.

      Then they let go. Cap drew in a great lungful of breath in a convulsive, heaving lurch and let out an ear-splitting sudden scream "Snake! Snake! SNAAAAAYYKE!"

       He did not run away. Even reduced as he was, it wasn't in Cap Hollister to run. He lurched forward like a rusty automaton and seized a rake that was leaning against the wall. It was a snake and he would beat it and brake it and crush it. He would...would...

       He would save Lenny!

       - From Stephen King's "Firestarter"

 

        Victims fare far worse than pushers. It is impossible for them to resist a push and they are not even aware of being pushed. But the strongest consequence of a push is an Echo. An Echo is the result of tension between the victim’s old identity and the new commands and illusions that the victim's mind is forced to accept. This tension brings up dark memories from the victims unconscious. These memories "echo" over and over in the victims mind, ricocheting back and forth and, either slowly or quickly, come to dominate every thought, inevitably leading to complete and total insanity. As we see in the above excerpt, Cap is slowly driven to insanity by the echoing memory of his older brother being bitten by a snake.

        Pushing establishes a brief psychic link between pusher and victim. The Pusher can physically feel the push working. When an Echo is started, the Pusher can physically feel the dominoes begin to fall in the victims mind. When pushing strangers, the effect is pronounced (usually roll morality 4 immediately). When pushing an acquaintance or a friend, you may not remember the shudder you felt during the push until after you've seen what you've done. However, the universe has a dark way of reminding you of your sins (storyteller may delay morality roll for dramatic effect or to help players, but cannot delay the roll indefinitely).

        The mechanics of starting an echo are different for commands and illusions.

 

Command Echos

 

When a victim is pushed with a command, the player rolls an Echo check corresponding to the chart below. A roll with no successes results in an echo. The harder the push, the higher the chance an echo is started.

 

Predictable Command: 9d10, 4% chance of an echo

Unlikely Command: 6d10, 12% chance of an echo

Unrealistic Command: 3d10, 35% chance of an echo

Impossible Command: 1d10, 70% chance of an echo

 

 The time it takes for an Echo to blossom into full blown madness corresponds to the level of push. An Echo takes one month to develop from a predictable command, one week to develop from an unlikely command, one day to develop from an unrealistic command, and one hour in an impossible command.

 

Illusion Echos

 

Illusions are far less stable than commands and their effects far less predictable. Illusions can theoretically last forever or are walked away from without being shattered, in which case victims never question their sanity. But if victims attempt to interact with an illusion or if someone who doesn't see the illusion becomes involved in the situation, the illusion is shattered. The GM determines how shocking a shattered illusion is and the player rolls the corresponding Echo check. If the roll fails, the victim begins to go insane. The section below details how shocking or not-shocking a shattered illusion can be.

 

Predictable (9d10, 4% chance of insanity): Something disappears that people often lose sight of or noises that often stop suddenly, or something transforms into an object that could easily be confused for one another.

 

Examples: - The pusher creates an illusion of a fly on a table, the victim swats it, shattering the illusion. When the fly disappears, the victim could assume he missed and the fly got away.

               - The pusher creates an illusion that a phone is ringing. A bystander points out to the victim that he doesn’t hear anything. The victim could assume he either misheard the ring or that the caller hung-up.

 

Unlikely (6d10, 12% chance of insanity): Something disappears or changes in a disturbing way, but where an explanation is immediately possible.

 

Examples - The pusher tries to pass off a $1 bill as a $500 dollar bill and a bystander calls him out. When the victim see’s the $500 bill transform back into a $1, the victim could believe the feat to be some kind of con-artist scam.

             - The pusher creates an illusion of the sound of thunder outside. When the victim opens the door, there is no storm and the illusion of thunderclaps stops. The victim could believe that his ears were playing tricks on him.

 

Unrealistic (3d10, 35% chance of insanity): Something disappears or changes in a disturbing way and no rational explanation, outside the possibility of severe hallucination or an elaborate magic trick, is possible. The illusions are often frightening and confusing to even look at, but not enough to drive a person insane.

 

Examples - The pusher creates an illusion of a hot woman across the street. When the victim talks to her, she vanishes.

              - The pusher creates an illusion of a painfully loud ringing noise coming from nowhere in particular. When a bystander shatters the illusion by saying he doesn’t hear it, it is deeply disturbing experience.

 

Impossible (1d10, 70% chance of insanity): Something appears that is outside the realm of existence. Impossible illusions are an exception to the rule in that the player rolls the echo check when they are beheld instead of when they are shattered. If a success is rolled, the victim is in a waking nightmare until the illusion is shattered. If the roll fails, the nightmare becomes permanent and the victim goes insane immediately.

 

Examples - The victim believes his arms have turned into snakes.

              - The victim hears demonic voices in her head.         

 

 

Insanity and Pushing

 

Once a player is insane, he can no longer be pushed. For impossible illusions, the victim cannot be pushed until the illusion is shattered (assuming they are not permanent).

 

The Shop

 

The Shop looks for escaped test subjects by tracking reports of mental health episodes through national databases. When unusual patterns occur, they dispatch agents to investigate. The Shop bypasses regular judicial system procedures and its investigators are are extremely fast and effective. The more echoes you start in a given region, the closer The Shop gets to discovering your identity.

 

Echo Incident Count

 

       The key mechanic of The Shop is the Echo Incident count. An Echo Incident involves two or more people going insane at the same place around the same time. For example, if two tellers at the same bank are admitted to a mental health facility within one week of each other it would be considered an Echo Incident. The Echo Incident count increases with each of these events but then decreases over time. Higher Echo Incident counts causes The Shop to increase its investigations.

 

One Echo Incident: Two shop agents are dispatched to area for one week. Batch members may be briefly questioned if their involvement can be traced ("Mr. Smith, you used your credit card at the diner the night the waitresses went crazy. We're questioning everyone who was there. Can you tell us what happened?"). If no more Echo Incidents occur during this week, the Shop team leaves and the alert is cancelled. Echo incident count is zero.

 

Two Echo incidents; A team of 20 agents is sent in to stay for one month. 911 call centers for that area are monitored. Suspicious calls bring agents to area in 20 minutes. If no more Echo Incidents occur during that month, the shop leaves but the region is flagged (echo incident count is one). The area is unflagged after one year (echo incident count is zero).

 

Three Echo Incidents: 20 additional agents arrive, response time is reduced to ten minutes for 911 calls. One month countdown restarts.

 

Four Echo Incidents: 20 additional agents arrive, response time is reduced to five minutes. One month countdown restarts.

 

Five Echo Incidents:  The investigators put the pieces together and learn your identity. You must flee area and change name to avoid detection.

 

 

Step-by-Step Example

 

The following is an example of using the push in an adventure scenario.

        You are attempting to sneak out of the Shop facility. You jimmy the lock to a service entrance door and are making your way across the grounds to a fence when you are spotted by a patrol of two guards. They draw their weapons and move up to apprehend you. You decide to push the first guard and try to physically subdue the second.

        You tell the GM you are going to command the first guard into walking home immediately. The GM rules that since he is in the middle of a tense situation with his weapon pulled this will be an unrealistic push. You say, "Go home and have yourself a beer." You lose one willpower. The player rolls an Echo check (3d10 for an unrealistic command) for the guard and gets 8, 5, 1. The presence of a success means that there is no echo. The guard will not go insane and the GM decides that he will later chalk up this episode to some sort of momentary lapse of judgement (as opposed to it being a seminal life moment, which is also possible for an unrealistic push).

        The guard’s eyes flutter, and a broad grin comes across his face. He holsters his weapon and dreamily, says "Thank God, we haven't been sent home early for months!" and begins to head for the exit. The GM says the second guard turns to the first guard and says, "Dave, where the hell do you think you're going!?!?!" and rules that this is enough of a distraction for the second guard that he loses his defense for the turn.

        You decide to punch the guard as he is distracted.  You have 2 strength and 3 brawling, but you suffer a -3 penalty from the pain of the unrealistic push and roll 5,4 so the punch misses. The guard fires and does three lethal damage.

        You decide to push the guard before he can do any more damage. Pissed that you have to push twice, you tell the GM you are going to push the guard into going into the staff lounge and eating his boss's sandwich out of the fridge. You lose one willpower. The GM rules this to also be an unrealistic push. The player rolls 7, 6. Since there are no successes an Echo is started. The guard quickly makes his way towards the staff lounge. You now roll a morality 7 check for pushing the two guards into harmless behavior and pass. The GM decides to delay the morality roll for starting the Echo for dramatic effect.

        An unrealistic Echo takes only one day to fully manifest itself into insanity. The GM says the guard will go into the lounge and eat his boss's sandwich. A few hours later, he will break into his boss’s home and eat everything in his boss's fridge at once, making himself incredibly sick. He will be arrested, and later the next day, when he is confronted by his boss in his cell, he lunges up and bites off his boss's ear. He is raving about eating his boss for the rest of his life. The GM decides you will later hear about this story from some of your fellow inmates and will then roll morality 4 for accidentally making the second guard go insane.