Example Powers 5: Energy Drain

This is another example of a power and how it can be adapted to represent different things. This power is called Energy Drain and it inflict Strain damage. Strain is a more generalized form of damage that covers things like drowning, thirst, exposure, exhaustion, and other environmental penalties. If you're engaged in a sword fight in a sauna, your opponent's sword will deal normal damage to your Health, but the sauna will inflict Strain on you. I enjoy a nice sauna, but it's not a comfortable place for strenuous physical activity and I wouldn't want to live in one.

Energy Drain: This power causes every susceptible target within an Area to make a resistance roll each round the power is active or suffer a point of Strain. The roll is usually an attribute roll, but some variations of this power may specify a skill or other trait. Advantage on the casting roll can be spent to increase the difficulty of the resistance roll. (N.B. If the resistance roll is not an Attribute, there is a chance that some characters will be unable to resist if they lack the skill or other required trait.)

• Among the Necromancers of Taj Neroth, only those who worship Lopcilthoth or Chuchilbara know this power. The worshipers of Lopcilthoth call it the “Yellow Slumber”: a Scene power that summons a cloud of yellow haze which causes drowsiness and saps the energy of those who fail a Will roll for each round they are in the effected Area. The worshipers of Chuchilbara call it the “Incubi's Embrace”: an Instant power that summons a crowd of lanky headless humanoids apparently made of thick red smoke that strangle and smother everyone in the affected Area who fails to make a difficulty 3 Might roll to shake them off (difficulty to cast is 3: Instant 1 +2 extra resistance difficulty).
• Among the Elemental Mages, this power is most popular among the Air and Fire elementalists. Typical variations include “Asphyxiation” (Focus, resisted by Might), an Air spell that reduces the breathable air pressure in an Area to dangerous levels; “Ash Cloud” (Scene, resisted by Might), a Fire spell that fills the Area with hot choking ash; and “Breath Filchers” (Instant, resisted by Finesse), an Air spell that summons a flock of short-lived sylphs who flit about the Area and attempt to snatch vital breath from the mouths and noses of anyone who fails to duck or twist aside at the right moment.
• Aetheric Engineers use this power for stun grenades (Instant devices which only affect living creatures) or ion cannons (Instant vehicle-scale devices which only affect robots and vehicles), both of which are resisted by Might. Hermetic Dynamicists use this power to create static grenades (Instant devices which affect robots and machinery who fail a Will roll) and “thermal suppression fields” (a Focus device which inflicts heat stroke-like symptoms on living creatures in the Area who fail a Might roll). Cryobionicists use this power to create desiccation mites, which are like crystalline fleas that absorb moisture and cause severe dehydration in organic creatures that fail a Might roll. Desiccation mites can be deployed by grenades (Instant), sprayer guns (Focus), or factory mines that continuously generate more mites when activated (Scene).
• This power is not normally available to Source users, although some templars have been known to make use of a telepathic stun attack that confuses the mind. When used through the Astral Source, this confusion is just a simple muddling of the thoughts (resisted by Cunning, Strain is limited to “Dazed”). When used with the Cthonic Source, it is a telepathic scream that kindles primal fears and causes panic (resisted by Will).
• The Tyrian Brotherhood rarely use this power. It is known only to the Hospitaler Brothers among them, who call it “Gentle Slumber”. Hospitalers are sworn to respect and protect the lives of those who rest under their care and they extend that vow to those who are affected by this power. As a result, a Hospitaler won't allow a target of this power to be harmed while defenseless or weakened: they normally only use it to defend against those they don't wish to harm. The power can only be used on the knight's Area or an adjacent Area. It summons a soft golden glow that suffuses the Area and causes sleepiness in everyone who fails a Will roll. The power is used by murmuring a droning prayer and continues to have an affect for as long as the knight prays (Focus power).