George Arcana

Psychic Shield

Talent: Any Time: Free Action
Tn: none Test: Willpower (Psychic)
Resistance: none Fatigue: none

You can shield your mind from arcane influences. When you are the target of any arcana granting a Willpower resistance test, you can make an opposed Psychic Shield test first. The attacker makes an arcane test using the attacking arcanum. If you win the opposed test, the attack fails. If the attacker wins, the psychic arcanum affects you normally, but you still get a normal resistance test. Your shield doesn’t block arcana requiring psychic contact, so long as the other adept remains in psychic contact with you (“inside” your shield). Your Psychic Shield is useful for blocking the initial unwanted Psychic Contact.

You may choose to voluntarily lower your Psychic Shield as a free action, and can raise it again as a free action. Otherwise, your shield is always active, even if you are unconscious or sleeping.

SHIELDS AND MAINTAINED ARCANA

Once an arcanum has overcome your Psychic Shield, it continues to affect you as long as the other adept maintains it. You are still entitled to your normal resistance tests—if any—but your shield no longer protects you from that arcanum. Once the attacker needs to make a new arcane test, your shield comes into play again and must be overcome again with an opposed test.

OVERCOMING PSYCHIC SHIELDS

An attacker can choose to suffer a level of fatigue to automatically overcome your Psychic Shield. This is in addition to any fatigue caused by the arcanum used against you. If you also choose to suffer a level of fatigue, the attacker must still roll a normal opposed test to overcome your shield. This process takes no actual time; it happens as part of the test to overcome the Psychic Shield. An attacker trying to avoid notice (see Psychic Contact) cannot use this option, since it makes it immediately apparent that you are under psychic attack.