Phobomancy - An Unknown Armies Magick School

Phobomancy

aka

Boogeymen, Scarecrows, Fear-Junkies

Fear is in many ways the primary motivator of not only humanity, but perhaps all life. Fear of dying, fear of hunger, fear of loneliness and of abandonment. These are emotions so powerful that even the most base of beasts seems to understand them clearly, so potent are they that once they reach a certain point, they can literally overpower the most secure of minds and make them flee, freeze or even simply just die. Unique to humans perhaps is the nature of fear as a force of attraction; from ghost stories, slasher flicks and serial killer admirers, to those who chase terror by jumping off of buildings, out of near-orbital aircraft or diving into underwater cave systems, fear can easily become a drug, a rush unto itself. While Panic can be a killing thing, a force of unequaled destruction amongst humanity, it can also be a liberating force, a reaction to true desperation that finally frees men and women from the shackles of their circumstances.

Many people understand that fear is something that is meant to be listened to, the little, insistent voice that must be acknowledged so that we don't destroy ourselves, but for Phobomancers their fears and anxieties become the fertile ground upon which they cultivate their terrifying skills. Whether the heady experience of pulse-pounding Dread, the subtle pleasures of Paranoia or the perky taste of Shame and Anxiety, the Fear-Junkies want to inflict the whole range of Enyo, Eris and Deimos' delight upon any that they can. This isn't necessarily out of spite or malice (though their victims may disagree with that, as would some of the Boogeymen) but rather that many Scarecrows see themselves as harsh teachers and guides in life, showing through magick if that any fear can be defeated, but none ever conquered.

The central paradox of Phobomancy is simple, Fear is an atavistic emotion, one that is strong enough that it can affect nearly any undertaking that someone may turn their mind to; Boogeymen must master a thing that can never be tamed, laughing in the face of the force that they claim to respect and edify. Phobomancers may feel fear, but they can never show it.

Stats

Generate a Minor Charge: Intentionally cause someone (including yourself) to suffer a stress check in any gauge. It doesn't matter whether or not a Hardened or Failed notch is gained, they simply have to suffer the check itself. The Charge is given upon the test itself, rather than the result.

Generate a Significant Charge: Make someone do something they don't want to (this can include yourself, luckily, you just have to hit your own Self gauge and probably mutter some rather unkind words for motivation) do through a tangible, hostile method like threats, intimidation or just plain creep-factor. The Charge is given upon the target engaging in the action.

Generate a Major Charge: Drive someone insane, meaning that they have enough notches in game terms to have developed some permanent form of madness. It doesn't matter whether or not the Phobomancer is responsible for the failed notches that came before the final one, only that they're responsible for pushing them the rest of the way over the edge.

Taboo: Phobomancers break Taboo if they fail to accept a direct challenge that questions their courage. Most Boogeymen strike others as unshakable or unperturbed by even the worst sights imaginable, but often this is simply callousness through hardened notches that they've intentionally exposed themselves through charge gathering.

Random Magick Domain: Phobomancy deals with the things that terrify, unease or otherwise make people feel out of sorts, conversely it also can bolster, embolden or make them near-immune to those same things. Phobomancy has almost no directly physical uses, but the mental effects that it can impart can range from subtle to gross.

Phobomancy Minor Formula Spells

Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?

Cost: 1-10 Minor Charges

Effect: For the next ten minutes (or round, if your target is in combat) the target of this spell suffers chills, paranoia and a sense of deep unease about their situation, no matter what it currently is. In game terms they take a -5% shift on initiative, rolls to notice fine details and to resist intimidation, this penalty can be increased by another 5% or by another ten minutes (or round) for each additional minor charge that the Scarecrow spends, to a maximum of -25% and fifty minutes (or five rounds).

I'm In Your House

Cost: 2 Minor Charges

Effect: After casting this spell, for the next hour anyone who tries to actively search for you if you're making an attempt to hide takes a -10% shift on their rolls. In addition, if you stick to places traditionally associated with nightmares or monsters, such as Closets, Basements, Dark Woods, etc, you become invisible to everyone but pre-adolescents or dogs.

I Wouldn't Do That If I Were You

Cost: 2 Minor Charges

Effect: Choose a target and a particular course of action (this must be clearly delineated,
"running away from me" isn't specific enough, but "flee using my 1999 LeSabre" would be) the next time that the target attempts that action they must make a Rank-5 Self check due to the extreme fear of carrying out that idea. If they still manage to perform that action, it suffers a -10% shift due to their anxiety.

We Know
Cost: 3 Minor Charges
Effect: Study someone for at least ten minutes time, this can be as simple as staring at them from across a room, reading their mail, or even Internet-stalking them. After your observation make a Mind roll, if it is successful, you discover a secret that your target would rather keep hidden. This can be something general such as, "I hope my boyfriend Tad doesn't discover my infidelity," to something more complex such as, "Beatrice from Accounting can never find out that I've been stealing from the Pension Fund." Unfortunately the Scarecrow can't specifically name which secret they'd like to find out, but it's generally a more vital secret the better the Mind roll. We Know cannot be cast on the same target more than once per week.

Fears Laid Bare
Cost: 3 Minor Charges
Effect: When you live your metaphysical life at the mercy of other's fears, you'll quickly gain the ability to simply sniff them out like a hound. After casting this spell, the Phobomancer chooses a target within view and makes a Soul roll versus the target's Soul. If successful, the Fear-Junkie gains knowledge of their target's Fear Stimulus. The Adept gains the knowledge in the form of a small sensory input, such as the sound of circus music for Clowns, or the smell of burning wood for Fire, it's up to them to interpret it.

Fear Is The Mind-Killer

Cost: 4 Minor Charges

Effect: The Fear-Junkie can steel themselves or others against a specific type of fear for a time, it's not that they forget or rationalize their actions, it's just that they don't make the connection necessary to damage one's sanity. Choose a stress gauge (excluding Unnatural) and roll 2d10. The number that shows on the Tens die is the level of stress check that the target becomes immune to, the singles die is the number of minutes that the target becomes immune to that stress gauge, For example, if Frankie the Phobomancer rolls a 78 to amp his buddy Jimmy up to attack some loser Mak Attaxers, Jimmy would become immune to any Violence checks of 7 and under, and the spell would last for 8 minutes, making his attempt to shoot up a busy restaurant rather easy on the ol' Violence gauge. At the end of the spell's duration, the target must make a stress check on the Unnatural gauge equal to the level of stress that they became immune to during the spell's effect.

Gives Me The Creeps
Cost: 4 Minor Charges

Effect: You may make someone (including yourself) or something into a source of fear for others for an hour's time. By focusing on the target for a moment, it begins to take on a subtly threatening aspect that makes any one in their presence feel uneasy until they leave. Concentrating, or otherwise performing complex tasks is difficult while in the presence of a Creepy thing or person, giving -5% shift to most Mind skills and any Speed or Body skills requiring deliberate thought ( "Assemble Ikea Furniture" would be affected, whilst "Break Yer' Face" would not) which increases by another -5% for every five minutes spent still in the Creepy thing's proximity, to a maximum of -20% if an object, or -10% if it is a person or animal. The GM is encouraged to give positive shifts for People, Animals or Things that are already legitimately Creepy. It's easy to amp up what's already there after all...

Up All Night

Cost: 5 Minor Charges

Effect: Touch the target of this spell. The next time that they sleep they will suffer horrific nightmares, persisting in their mind even after they wake and they'll almost certainly be exhausted the next day. This causes a -10% shift to all rolls involving Speed and Mind for the next sixteen hours, until the target gets some rest or uses a great deal of stimulants.

Phobomancy Significant Formula Spells

Who's Behind You?
Cost: 1 Significant Charge

Effect: With this spell you can convince someone for a short time (fifteen minutes) that someone with malevolent intent is following them closely, just out of their view. This is intensely unsettling and can trigger Violence, Helplessness or Unnatural checks depending on the subject's circumstance and state of mind. If used on a target in combat, Who's Behind You entitles the Boogeyman to a free Sucker Attack without having to use an action first.

Let's Split-Up Gang!

Cost: 2 Significant Charges

Effect: There is strength and safety in numbers and that's something that simply will not do for most Phobomancers, especially if they need to deal with some meddlesome kids. After casting the spell, the Fear-Junkie can target a group of people, no larger than the tens place on their Phobomancy skill. Make a Soul roll, and if successful the Adept inflicts the crowd with the desire to be alone; this is a compulsion that can be resisted only by suffering a rank-10 Self Check, and even if resisted that does not mean that their fellows will be at all happy to see them coming back their way, perhaps necessitating Isolation checks in the searcher, and Self checks to the person hiding.

Scare You To Death
Cost: 2 Significant Charges

Effect: This is the Phobomancy Blast, it does psychic damage that harms the target in their own mind by projecting terrifying images and hallucinations, triggering a massive sympathetic physiological reaction through fear response. The damage is passing in nature however, and the Target need only to get a full night's rest to heal completely. Normally this spell only deals Minor Blast damage, unless you know their Fear Stimulus, in which case it deals Significant Blast damage. Regardless of the amount of damage dealt, the target is paralyzed for next the round as their body is rocked by the horror that is being beamed directly into their skull.

Witch House
Cost: 4 Significant Charges

Effect: This spell is Gives Me The Creeps scarier homebody of a big brother. You cast this spell by walking around a location, it can be as large as a multi-storied house, a duplex would be fine, but an entire apartment complex, school, or large mansion would be out of the question; it doesn't have to be the entire location in a straight line, but you must travel over the majority of the perimiter. After making your way around the location it becomes a conduit for the Unnatural for the next night (or current if it is already night). In game terms the Adept gains access to a pool of Unnatural Phenomenon, 3 Significant and 6 Minor that they're allowed to spend over the course of the night in the Bewitched location at their discretion. In addition to the pool, any being within the locale besides the Adept who cast the spell take a -10% shift to any skills requiring deliberative thought or fine manipulation, as the Bewitched location causes unease on a primal level. Animals will refuse to go near a Witch House and will attack or flee if forced inside. A Witch house only lasts a single night and in addtion, if the Location being Bewitched has a reputation or strong rumor of being haunted (say, enough for a Cliomancer to gather a charge from a murder having been committed there...or if a someone had convinced enough people that it was such a site) the cost of the spell drops to only 2 Charges.

Don't Fear The Reaper
Cost: 5 Significant Charges
Effect: Horror, no matter the type, is a thing that can impress itself upon people so deeply that it can define their lives from that point on. Fear-Junkies can destroy these deep-seated fears and anxieties, stripping the trauma associated with the event away from the subject's mind, like plucking a worm out of an apple. The target (including the adept, if they cast it on themselves) of this spell still remembers the event(s) in question, it just ceases to have any deleterious effect; in game terms the subject may erase a hardened or failed notch in the gauge of their choice.

Phobomancy Major Effects: Create a permanently haunted location, Make someone's fear manifest in reality, Cause a city-wide panic lasting weeks. Cause yourself or another to become permanently immune to fear.