Mind Powers (FiD)

Starfox's Blades in the Dark fan page

Mind delves into sentience and intelligence. It is the power most associated with normal folk such as humans and alternate humans such as elves, orcs, social aliens, and other sentient creatures and even intelligent objects like control devices all the way up to sentient AI.

Anthropomorphic man is the epitome of mind, a civilized being, part of a society, sapient and cultured if not necessarily human. It represents the end product of evolution and, by extension, ultimate intellect. It can exist independently of life, in machines and undead.

Mind attacks are mental bolts and blades that can only hurt sentient creatures.

Mind Power Effects

Action	Basic No minimum 3 Stress	Advanced Minimum 2 Dice 5 Stress	Master Minimum 4 Dice 7 Stress	Apex Minimum 6 Dice 13 Stress
Attune	Mind Monitor Detect sentience and use of Mind powers.	Mindforge Dispel Mind. Summon a spirit instructor.	Summon Hero Summon heroes from alternate realities.	Parallel Plane A portal to an alternate reality.
Command	Mental Mandate Comprehensible command to sentients.	Telepathy Communicate with intelligence at range.	Mental Monarchy Command sentient creatures as a superior.	Thought Thrall Permanently bind intelligent creatures.
Consort	Pretend Persona Assume and project a role.	Assume Aspect Assume the form of a humanoid.	Gift of Guise Assume Aspect a willing creature.	Gift of Gab Give intelligence to creatures.
Finesse	Psychic Saddle Ride any intelligent mount or vehicle.	Neural Needle Fine and potent melee psychic attack.	Neural Nudge Short precise suggestions.	Astral Avatar Physically emerge out of astral space.
Hunt	Trace Thought Focus on and track a specific thought.	Mental Marksman Fine and potent ranged metal attack.	Cloud Consciousness Remove sense of location and purpose.	Cognitive Cascade Fine and potent psychic grenade.
Prowl	Crowd Camouflage Hide in crowds.	Astral Ascent Detach astral body to scout.	Astral Adventure Crew Crowd Camouflage and Astral Ascent.	Astral Gateway Send crew's astral bodies anywhere.
Skirmish	Mindfulness Block Harm from Mind.	Mind Melee Fine and potent mental melee attack.	Mind Mantle Negate scale in melee.	Mind Mastery Mind melee against all.
Study	Identify Intellect Identify intelligence and Mind powers.	Analyze Intellect Analyze intelligence and Mind powers.	Mind Meld Crew can enter astral space within a mind.	Universal Understanding Wide area Analyze Intellect.
Survey	Thought Trace Sense manifestations of the mind power.	Astral Assembly Send astral body to an ally.	Astral Audience Send astral body to a creature or location.	Psychic Panorama Perceive from many intelligences at once.
Sway	Intellectual Intuition Understand intelligent creatures.	Intelligent Interpreter Crew can communicate with intelligence.	Eloquent Enchantment Suggestions to intelligent creatures.	Cognitive Conversion Permanently change intelligence.
Tinker	Automation Create simple automaton.	Create Cognition Imbue intelligence in an object.	Install Intellect Imbue sentience in an object.	Mass Mind Mass Create Cognition.
Wreck	Disrupt Device Mess with intelligence in items.	Sabotage System Disable networked things.	Silent Sabotage Silent Sabotage System.	Terminate Tech Area Sabotage System.

Expanded Mind Powers

An important distinction for Mind powers is the difference between between reactive, intelligent, and sapient creatures.

Reactive creatures operate mostly on basic survival instincts, such as insects or simple herbivores. They react automatically to environmental stimuli but don’t demonstrate learning or complex problem-solving. Simple automatons ant automatic functions, including simple machines, are reactive. These lack the complexity to be affected by Mind powers.

Intellect creatures can solve problems, adapt to complex stimuli, and learn from experience, but lack an ability to fully participate in society. Exceptional intelligent creatures can speak, but most cannot, or use limited communication only with creatures of their own kind. While intelligent creatures can follow instructions and make decisions, they need a more socially capable guide to avoid bewilderment a complex social environment. Wolves and other intelligent animals fit into this category, along with elementals and many monsters. Wolves are intelligent enough to function within their homogenous packs, but not in a complex society with a mix of different creatures. Most monsters are intelligent. A dragon is highly intelligent and capable of complex problem-solving, but is bewildered by the range of cultures and opinions among sapient creatures.

Sapience is the mark of civilized beings like humans. Sapient beings can engage with creatures from different species and cultures, applying abstract thought and empathy. A sentient creature can interact with creatures different from itself by species and culture. Many Mind powers have trouble affecting sentient creatures, who have a more advanced sense of self.

Attune

Connect with the mental realm and harness psychic energies for powerful manifestations.

Mind Monitor Detect sentience and the use of Mind powers.

Mindforge Dispel Mind powers. Summon a spirit instructor.

Summon Hero Summon heroes from alternate realities.

Parallel Plane Create a portal to an alternate reality.

Command

Impose your will upon the minds of sentient creatures.

Mental Mandate Issue comprehensible commands to sentient creatures.

Telepathy Communicate with intelligent beings over distance.

Mental Monarchy Command sentient creatures as their superior.

Thought Thrall Permanently bind intelligent creatures to your will.

Consort

Adopt new forms and roles, or bestow them upon others.

Pretend Persona Assume and project a role or personality.

Assume Aspect Take on the form of a humanoid.

Gift of Guise Grant the ability to Assume Aspect to a willing creature.

Gift of Gab Impart intelligence to creatures.

Finesse

Utilize refined psychic control and mobility in both the physical and astral planes.

Psychic Saddle Ride any intelligent mount or vehicle.

Neural Needle Deliver a precise and potent psychic melee attack.

Neural Nudge Implant short, precise suggestions.

Astral Avatar Physically manifest yourself from the astral plane.

Hunt

Track and attack targets using focused mental energy.

Trace Thought Focus on and track a specific thought.

Mental Marksman Deliver a fine and potent ranged mental attack.

Cloud Consciousness Obscure a target's sense of location and purpose.

Cognitive Cascade Release a fine and potent psychic grenade.

Prowl

Use your psychic abilities to hide, scout, and transport yourself and others.

Crowd Camouflage Blend in with large crowds.

Astral Ascent Detach your astral body to scout ahead.

Astral Adventure Enable your crew to use Crowd Camouflage and Astral Ascent.

Astral Gateway Send your crew’s astral bodies anywhere.

Skirmish

Engage in psychic combat, protecting and attacking with mental force.

Mindfulness Block Harm from Mind powers.

Mind Melee Deliver a precise and potent mental melee attack.

Mind Mantle Negate scale in melee combat.

Mind Mastery Engage in mental melee against all enemies.

Study

Delve into the nature of intelligence and Mind powers to uncover deeper knowledge.

Identify Intellect Identify the nature of intelligence and Mind powers.

Analyze Intellect Gain a deeper understanding of intelligence and Mind powers.

Mind Meld Allow your crew to enter the astral space within a mind.

Universal Understanding Analyze the intellect of a wide area.

Survey

Explore the astral and mental realms, perceiving distant thoughts and manifestations.

Thought Trace Sense manifestations of Mind power.

Astral Assembly Send your astral body to an ally.

Astral Audience Send your astral body to a creature or location.

Psychic Panorama Perceive from many intelligences at once.

Sway

Influence intelligent creatures with your psychic suggestions and manipulations.

Intellectual Intuition Understand the nature of intelligent creatures.

Intelligent Interpreter Allow your crew to communicate with intelligent creatures.

Eloquent Enchantment Suggest actions to intelligent creatures.

Cognitive Conversion Permanently alter the intelligence of a creature.

Tinker

Infuse intelligence into objects, creating autonomous machines and constructs.

Automation Create a simple automaton.

Create Cognition Imbue intelligence into an object.

Install Intellect Grant sentience to an object.

Mass Mind Mass Create Cognition across many objects.

Wreck

Sabotage and disrupt intelligent systems and technology with mental force.

Disrupt Device Interfere with the intelligence in objects.

Sabotage System Disable networked systems.

Silent Sabotage Perform a silent Sabotage System.

Terminate Tech Area-effect Sabotage System.

Old Expanded Mind Powers

Mind can detect, influence, communicate with, and even create intelligence.

The position usually starts controlled, with the usual consequence that you cannot try again. If the setting is chaotic or violet, your position worsens.

Attune

Mind Monitor You can detect sentient creatures and use of mind powers.

This can detect thinking creatures that you cannot see and disguised or bestial intelligent creatures, but is also useful to detect the use and effects of Mind powers.

Limited effect suffices against a creature you can clearly see. You need greater effect against against a creature that is hidden (standard effect) or behind a wall (great effect).

Mindforge You can end the operation of a mind ability. You can summon a spirit skilled in a particular action. These are not creatures, their advice gives +1d on their chosen action.

Dispelling is often used as a setup action to help another character in a situation when the opposition is using mind powers. Opposed success effect creates an opening that makes the supported action potent. Full effect improves the position of the supported action. Critical success improves both position and effect.

When used directly, the effect is usually standard, which causes an ongoing effect to crash. Against an opponent that uses power to fly or even breathe you can have a better effect. Poor targeting increases the needed effect.

The spirits summoned here don't themselves act, they inspire others to act more intelligently, which provides an extra die for one roll, in addition to normal assistance. You cannot both use this and assistance on the same roll.

Summon Hero You can summon folk from other planes, which is usually alternate realities. This is used to summon heroes in times of crisis. Learning who to summon may require study or be a score in itself.

A common trope in the tradition of the Narnia books, this summons people form another world to help you. Highly unpredictable, and rarely useful to player characters as such a summon would compete for the limelight. It does well as the backstory of a character that otherwise wouldn't fit the setting.

Parallel Plane You can create a portal that allows travel to and from another reality for a limited time.

Command

Mental Mandate You can command intelligent creatures even if normally couldn't, but you cannot understand them.

This allows you to issue telepathic commands to intelligent creatures, allowing use of the action across language and cultural barriers.

Telepathy You can communicate with intelligent creatures at range.

Telepathy allows communication over vast distances as long as you know the target, and a line-of-sight even if you do not. You can communicate with the commander of a vehicle or installation as long as you can see the exterior. The communication is simple and direct, suitable for the Command skill.

Mental Monarchy You can give commands to intelligent creatures as if you were their superior. This does not remove existing loyalties, which can lead to conflicts.

Much like Telepathy, and your projected thoughts carry extra weight, as if issued by an authority targets respect

Thought Thrall You can permanently bind intelligent creatures to service. Unless affected by other powers, they will stay in one location and act according to your instructions, like very loyal and literal-minded goons.

They will stay in one location and act according to your instructions, like very loyal and literal-minded goons, unless affected by other powers. This won’t work unless you are already in a position of power. The effect is similar to Mental Monarchy but potentially permanent. A creature under your enemies' care may break free over time. Strong emotions can also break your control, but otherwise, it lasts until dispelled.

Consort

Pretend Persona You can assume an identity and reflect it in your actions, such as a healer, noble, merchant, etc. This changes the impression you give, without changing your appearance.

This makes Consort actions potent and can explain away a lack of a disguise—you are acting the role so naturally that people will just assume you are on leave rather than an imposter.

Assume Aspect You assume the form of a normal humanoid, such as humans and variant humans. Add 1d to one action and subtract 1d from all actions covered by an attribute except if you just raised one of them.

You take the form of an intelligent social creature, such as a human and whatever else can be emancipated in your world. This is an actual physical transformation, but it can also change your thought patters, giving you abilities you do not normally have, which explains how your action values change.

With limited effect you can transform into yourself like you would have been, had you grown up as an the people whose form you assume. Those familiar with you will recognize you. Standard effect can make you a generic creature, very hard to recognize as yourself. Great effect allows you to assume the shape and some of the personality of a specific creature you have studied.

Gift of Guise You can shapechange a willing or helpless creature into any humanoid. This can be a curse; it can be broken, but it is not easy. You can easily break the effect.

This is Assume Aspect used on another. The effect needed depends on their similarity to the new form.

Gift of Gab You can give sentience and intelligence to non-sentient creatures, giving them roughly human intellect.

This creates intelligence and the ability to communicate in a creature or object that lacks it. Creating permanent intelligence is a long term project, but even short term intelligence can allow you to discuss and learn from the temporarily awakened, who will retain simple memories from before their awakening.

Finesse

Psychic Saddle If there is an intelligent (but not sentient) mount or vehicle, you can ride it as if it was domesticated and you had the keys.

This works on a creature of animal intelligence and gives it the training required to act as a mount. It might work on smart vehicles depending on how the setting regards machine intelligence.

Neural Needle You focus your mental power into a fine and potent close-range attack, similar in effect to a fine potent psychic dueling sword or pistol.

In a fight, using this does not take any more time, activating your attack power is equivalent to drawing a weapon, no more, no less. Inflicts psychic damage, which is fine against intelligent creatures but weak against animals and automatons.

Neural Nudge You can do fine manipulation of the power, allowing you to send small and exact suggestions to intelligent creatures. This allows you to make others open doors and perform other minor manipulations.

You send a very short and precise order, often only affecting a small part of the target's body. Can make an intelligent target push a button or trigger, open or close a door, lose Ballance of themselves or a vehicle they drive and similar small and immediate actions. Great effect can make the target change what it is doing, limited effect makes them do small and inconsequential things.

Astral Avatar Physically emerge out of astral space.

You and your crew can physically manifest your astral bodies. You must first manifest your astral body (using Prowl: Astral Ascent or Astral Adventure) and then travel to the desired location. You then step back into the physical world and create a temporary body to use, made out of ethereal materials. This body functions like your normal body and carries clothes and a light load. It is visually distinctive by being monochrome and a little lighter than your physical body. Any harm this body takes also applies to your physical body. If you project another astral body, this temporal body and all gear fades away.

Hunt

Trace Thought You can focus on a particular thought and vaguely sense and track creatures that share this thought.

This works best (needs limited effect) of creatures that are very focused on a difficult task, such as someone driving in an unfamiliar location or a tracker in pursuit of a quarry. A target that is whimsical, asleep, or in a varied social setting requires great effect. The age of the tracks and the number of other minds that left similar traces acts as a higher tier, reducing your effect.

Mental Marksman You can use your power to attack, similar in effect to a fine and potent rifle doing mental damage.

Using an attack power is much the same as shooting a weapon, no more, no less. Inflicts psychic damage, which is fine against intelligent creatures but weak against animals and automatons.

Cloud Consciousness Targets lose their focus and sense of location, as if just waking up.

If what to do is obvious, they will quickly do it. But if things are calm, they need some time to orient themselves, which creates an opening for you to act.

Limited effect suffices for a single target. Great effect can affect more than a dozen people all at once.

Cognitive Cascade You can use your power to attack similar to a fine and potent grenade. This allows you to fight many creatures in the same area very effectively, but there is a risk of collateral damage.

Mental Marksman with scale.

Prowl

Crowd Camouflage You can hide in crowds.

You can hide in a crowd even if you look or act different by mentally matching the people around you.

Astral Ascent You can detach your astral body to scout.

You can both see, hear, and speak through your astral projection. Your astral body is immaterial, transparent, and can hover at walking speed. Moving your astral body far is like recalling memories, it can be instant or slow depending on your memory of the location. An astral body is hard to see, but glows slightly in darkness and appears as a greyish outline in bright light. Any attack scatters it and sends your consciousness back to your body. While you project your astral body, your physical body is like an automaton; it can be led but takes no actions

Astral Adventure You and allies can use Crowd Camouflage and Astral Ascent.

You can include allies when using the basic Prowl Mind powers. Each ally uses their own Prowl action.

Astral Gateway You send your and allies' astral bodies to other planes, into someone's dream, and other mystic locations not of this world.

Entering others' dreams or psyche can affect them in subtle way, planting ideas, reinforcing fears, or helping to heal mental issues. It is also possible to find consensual dreamlands, places that manifest the hopes, fears, and desires of groups of people. In such a place you can change the mood of an entire group. These are usually long-term projects.

Unlike Attune Mind: Parallel Plane, this delves into worlds of thought rather than matter. An expedition into such an astral realm can be a score in its own right.

Skirmish

Mindfulness Block harm from Mind.

Roll Skirmish when subject to Harm from Mind or Illusion powers and similar mental attacks. This is your inherent resistance, it does not require any activity on your part. Reduce the level of harm inflicted based on the level of success. 1-3: Nothing. 4-5: Reduce level of harm by one. 6: Reduce level of harm by two. Crit: Negate all harm and recover 1 stress.

Mind Melee Fine and potent mental melee attack

You can use the power as a close-range mental attack, similar in effect to a fine and potent melee weapon or pistol.

All Mind attacks do psychic damage, which is fine against intelligent creatures but weak against animals and automatons.

Mind Mantle Negate scale in melee

Your power creates distractions that prevents an intelligent enemy from benefiting from numbers and otherwise works as a fine potent weapon. This overcomes scale but attacks only a single opponent.

Mind Mastery Mind melee against all.

Your power strikes out in all directions, attacking all enemies in a wide area. This overcomes and attacks multiple opponents.

Study

Study digs into the details of intelligence and Mind powers. Limited effects usually suffices against something you touch which does not resist you. Standard effect works against someone you could reach, but which resists you. Great effect can reach out a long way, as long as you have some way to zero in on your target. This is usually vision, but can be other things depending on your playbook and the theme of the game. Alien minds new to you are harder to analyze.

Identify Intellect You can identify intelligent objects and creatures.

This basic ability lets you see if something houses an intelligence, and a simple evaluation, is this an automaton, sapient, or even sentient? If you are familiar with its type, such as "human", you can identify it as such.

Analyze Intellect You learn the powers and abilities of a mind or Mind powers.

A more thorough analysis, including what Mind powers are present and what an intelligent creature is good or bad at and its basic motivations, like hunger, hatred, love, or curiosity and what these motivations is directed at.

Mind Meld You enter the mind of a creature to read its thoughts and memories.

This allows you to read thoughts, memories, and motivations, giving a picture of the target's personality. You read memories based on association, which makes the information you find somewhat random. You can probe to learn the target's relations and objectives towards something specific. Finding more obscure memories and attitudes is random and time consuming.

Universal Understanding Analyze every Mind in a wide area. You can then use Past Perception on some of these targets.

Godlike perception giving you an insight on every person in the vicinity and the ability to dive into some of them, using Mind Meld at range.

Survey

The effect required depends on the targets concealment. Limited effect suffices for targets in clear line of sight. Standard effect can penetrate concealment, sense those hiding behind corners, or far to points you can only barely see. Great effect can look around behind walls and into hard cover.

Thought Trace You can sense manifestations of the minds or Mind powers at a distance.

You can recognize minds you are familiar with and sense if something is familiar or alien, but that is about it.

Astral Assembly Choose an intelligent creature you are familiar with; you can send your astral body to their location. See prowl: Astral Ascent.

As an astral body is easily destroyed, gaining more than a glimpse of the location may depend on a Prowl action.

Astral Audience Choose a location or creature. You send your astral body to that location.

Astral Assembly, but with an open destination, you need very little information on a place or creature to go there.

Psychic Panorama You perceive from all intelligent creatures at once over a wide area.

You Thought Trace all points you have line-of-sight to, and then from there what your effect allows to see into concealment and cover.

Sway

Sway Mind is subtle and useful for persuading people and other intelligences. Sway powers use soft, persuasive arguments rather than the dictates of the command action.

Limited effect works if it follows the target's existing impulses. Standard effect can convince a target with no particular stake in the matter. Great effect will convince a reluctant target, but not a passionate one. Effect in excess of what's needed allows you top affect ten or so targets, as long as they are in a group.

Intellectual Intuition You can understand intelligent creatures even if normally couldn't, and gauge their motivations.

This does not allow you to be understood by those whose intentions you read. Used together with the basic Command power, this allows full communication.

Intelligent Interpreter You and allies can communicate with intelligent creatures.

This allows the full range of the Sway action, overcoming barriers of culture and language.

Eloquent Enchantment You implant suggestions in the minds of intelligent creatures, which will be triggered under conditions you set. This power is subtle until it triggers.

Essentially this is an attempt to Sway with two advantages. The target will not remember that you swayed them, and if you succeed, you can give them instructions that will activate later, in a situation you specify. Common suggestions include stealing something, attacking someone, or ignoring an event. Besides the normal challenges of Sway powers, suggestions fade depending on your effect. Limited effect lasts in the immediate situation. Normal effect lasts for the duration of the score, and great effect can last past the end of the score, as makes sense in the story.

Cognitive Conversion You change the personality and motivations an intelligent creature. This power is permanent, but blatant. The target remembers their past but regards it as unimportant compared to their new motivations.

This changes the target on a deep level, changing their loyalties and priorities. ' Exceptional creatures and exceptional circumstances can break this change, depending more on plot and role-playing than die rolls.

Tinker

Mind tinkering is about automation and intelligence in objects. This benefits greatly when combined with other powers to make devices for this intelligence to control.

The effect determines the effectiveness of your construction, but also how long it will last. Devices that are more powerful are harder to contain, and thus wont last as long. Most tinkering will only be good for a single scene, but if your effect surpasses that required for the effect you want, you can stretch the effect until the end of the score. Long lasting or permanent effects are long-time downtime projects. The position depends on how quiet your workplace is and how much time you have to work with.

Automation You imbue mind into objects. Create simple triggers, like a push button, to rigger one or more devices

This allows machines to do a sequence of actions with the push of a single button or single trigger. Any precision must be supplied from the outside or be set when the device is made. This is often used for traps, but also for simple things like vending machines and penny arcades. This allows clockwork complexity in devices without the skill and time that mundane clockwork requires.

Create Cognition You can imbue limited intelligence in an object, allowing it to sense and react a situation nearby.

You can do much more complex traps and machines that interpret and react to events. It cannot distinguish individuals, but can identify species, gender, uniforms, and the like and react to such information. It can also act if it is idle for a set time. This is about the same intelligence that a desktop computer with some sensors attached. In addition to controlling whatever mechanism it is attached to, it can send a mental alarm to person(s) attuned to the machine.

Install Intellect You can imbue limited intelligence able to hold simple conversations. Combined with Attune Mind: Mindforge you can make sentient items.

This has the intelligence of an intelligent animal and can hold simple conversations and run complex devices such as a gun or vehicle. It is not able to improvise and figure out new things without instruction.

Mass Mind This is similar to create, above, but you mass produce intelligent objects, even a set of different objects.

This allows the simultaneous creation of a small army of intelligent machines.

Wreck

Wreck Mind works differently from most other wrecking powers. The effect needed depends on the complexity of the device to be wrecked, with more complex devices being easier to break. A cutting-edge device or one with with the latest addons require only limited effect. A simple device like a bow or winch requires great effect. A device with no moving parts, like a sword or hammer, cannot be jinxed. A very busy and dangerous setting adds to your effect, while a still and polished setting reduces effect.

The position depends on the situation. A quiet workspace is controlled, the general hustle of adventure risky, dealing with a fight, massive crowds, or dangerous construction is desperate

Disrupt Device You mess with intelligence in items, that is their ability to react to the environment. Noisy and leaves the damaged object in place.

This destroys control functions, leaving the item whole but malfunctioning. Guns are duds, triggers make the shot miss, traps misfire or refuse to activate, alarms ring randomly. Simple devices can be repaired, but are usually out for the score.

Sabotage System Similar to Disrupt Device. Can also mess with control surfaces like buttons or steering.

Introduce new and interesting flaws in larger systems, like ships and buildings.

Silent Sabotage Similar to Sabotage System, but destroyed are disabled silently and respond maliciously to repairs.

Its like the system intelligently resists repairs and introduces new flaws when old ones have been corrected. Can function properly until a moment of stress. This is a constant battle between Tinker and Wreck!

Terminate Tech Similar to Sabotage System, but over a large area.

This can negate control devices over a city block or entire port or fort, forcing everyone to rely on manual handling of objects.