Psyche Talents

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Psyche talents are optional rules that can be found in Harker's Guide to Vampire Hunting. You can find the Fear and Sanity rules on the Fear and Sanity Page.

Psyche Talents

Psyche talents are talents that you may be forced to take in order to reduce your Fear. These do not count towards talent points from leveling.

When you start a Psyche track, you cannot willingly take Psyche talents from another track until you have reached the headstone of that track. Some character options, talents, and even specific Psyche talents may contradict this. Always defer to the most specific ruling.

Some traps, monster abilities, and story moments may automatically impose specific Psyche talents.

When do I take Psyche Talents?

You may voluntarily take a Psyche talent whenever you are Recouping or attempting to Take a Rest and you have Fear in excess of your Fear Threshold. You may take any number of Psyche talents provided that your Fear is in excess of your Fear Threshold. Your Fear can never be reduced below 0.

Soul Scars

Some Psyche talents have the soul scar tag. These are punishing effects that cannot be healed, magically or otherwise.

Psyche Talent List

Provided is a list of Psyche talents, divided into individual talents, Tripartite talents, and Pentacle talents. Tripartite talents are a set of three sequential talents, and Pentacle talents are similarly a set of five sequential talents.

Isolated Talents

These are individual talents that you can take at any point to help mitigate the effects of Fear.

Psyche Talent PreReqs Description Tags
Abandon Hope Your Fear Threshold increases by +2. Whenever you Take a Rest and would gain Fear, make a SAN check. You gain an effect on the Gothic Horror Insanity Table based on your roll instead.

Each time you do this, your most recent roll replaces any ongoing effects from previous rolls.

Psyche, Isolated, -4 Fear
Gothic Horror Insanity Table
DC Effect Duration
Crit Fail You always go last in Initiative and are Staggered.

You contemplate the futility of life. All your actions will amount to nothing in the end, so why bother?

1 week
7 or less You are Demoralized. Enemy creatures attempting to Charm or Enthrall you can roll 2d20, using the higher.

Without doubt, you will not be able to keep your dark secret hidden forever. Your friends will find out eventually, and then they will leave you.

1 week
8-10 Whenever one of your allies becomes Bloodied or reaches 0 HP within 30 ft of you, you take 1d4 psychic damage.

With resounding clarity, you know that you will live until you are old and gray, but all of your cherished friends will die in your arms, one after the other.

1 week
11-13 You contemplate the futility of life. All your actions will amount to nothing in the end, so why bother? 1 day
14-16 Without doubt, you will not be able to keep your dark secret hidden forever. Your friends will find out eventually, and then they will leave you. 1 day
17-20 With resounding clarity, you know that you will live until you are old and gray, but all of your cherished friends will die in your arms, one after the other. 1 day
21+ No effect -
Psyche Talent PreReqs Description Tags
Abusive When you deal damage with any ability that involves verbal requirements or natural weapons, deal +1d4 damage. When you use any ability that involves verbal requirements that would give a bonus to an ally, the ally is also Demoralized until the end of their next turn. Psyche, Isolated, -1 Fear
The Bell Tolls Lineage that eats, drinks, and sleeps

Incompatibilities: Vampire Class

You violently die as your skeleton bursts from your meatsack. You become undead. Although you retain your memories, they do not feel like your own.

You lose all lineage features that you had, instead gaining undead lineage features as appropriate based on your current character level.

You remove all other Psyche talents. Your statistics are otherwise unchanged.

You can no longer gain Psyche talents, but instead suffer 1 TD for every Fear you have over your Fear Threshold.

Psyche, Isolated, Soul Scar, -ALL Fear
Blight-Touched You cause plant matter that is Medium or smaller to wither and wilt when you touch it. This has no mechanical effect on plant creatures with stats, but does affect their aesthetic appearance. You suffer a -2 to any skill check with the performance tag. Psyche, Isolated, -2 Fear
Fight Incompatibilities: Flight, Freeze Psyche Talents Gain Vulnerable Frightened +1.

When a creature causes you to become Frightened, gain +1 TA and deal +1d4 damage against that enemy for the duration of the condition.

Psyche, Isolated, -2 Fear
Flagellant On your turn, you may spend all of your AP and take 1d8 sharp damage to remove all of your conditions of your choice (such as Broken, Frightened, Charmed, Enthralled etc.), with the exception of the Petrified and Phobic conditions. Psyche, Isolated, -2 Fear
Flight Incompatibilities: Fight, Freeze Psyche Talents Gain Vulnerable Frightened +1.

When a creature causes you to become Frightened, your AR and physical defenses increase by +2 and you gain +5 ft walking speed for the duration of the condition.

Psyche, Isolated, -2 Fear
Freeze Incompatibilities: Fight and Flight Psyche Talents Gain Vulnerable Frightened +1.

When a creature causes you to become Frightened, all your defenses increase by +4 for the duration of the condition. However, you are also Chilled for the duration of the condition.

Psyche, Isolated, -2 Fear
Haunted Incompatibilities: One Eye Open You no longer gain Fear from sleeping outside of a Haven, but sleeping in a Haven no longer removes Fear. Psyche, Isolated, -2 Fear
Hellforged Heart Gain +3 SAN, which can exceed your attribute cap.

Your Fear Threshold increases by +3, but you can no longer be resurrected. Also, you gain +1 permanent Death Point that can never be removed.

Psyche, Isolated, Soul Scar, -3 Fear
Hemophobic You suffer 1 TD when within 30 ft of any number of Bloodied creatures or creatures with the Bleeding condition. Whenever you restore HP to a creature with one of these conditions, they gain +2 additional HP. Psyche, Isolated, -2 Fear
Hopeless You cannot benefit from any ally’s ability that involves verbal requirements. Gain Resist Charmed +3 and Resist Enthralled +3. Psyche, Isolated, -4 Fear
Intrusive Thoughts At the start of each of your turns in combat, if you have not had an Intrusive Thought, roll 1d20. On a roll of 1 or 20, you have an Intrusive Thought. Roll on the Intrusive Thoughts table to determine the outcome. Psyche, Isolated, -4 Fear
Intrusive Thoughts Table
d6 Intrusive Thought
1 “Jump!” Spend 1 AP moving towards the nearest notable decrease in elevation and throwing yourself off the edge if possible. Then take the rest of your turn.
2 “Looks like that hurts.” If you have the ability to restore HP, use that ability on the nearest hostile creature. Then take the rest of your turn.
3 “Stop hitting yourself.” Make a melee attack against yourself with your primary weapon. Then take the rest of your turn.
4 “How’s it feel?” Make a melee attack against an adjacent ally with your primary weapon. Then take the rest of your turn.
5 “Dirt... yum.” Fall Prone and spend your entire turn eating the ground.
6 “Resist the voices.” You are Dazed until the start of your next turn, but may otherwise take your turn normally.
Psyche Talent PreReqs Description Tags
Lash Out Your Fear Threshold increases by +2. Whenever you crit fail on an attack roll and an ally is within 5 ft of your intended target, you hit your ally instead. Psyche, Isolated, -4 Fear
Obsequious Attacking humanoids with higher CHA than you costs +1 more AP. The first time on each of your turns that you attack a humanoid with lower CHA than you, you have +1 TA. Psyche, Isolated, -2 Fear
One Eye Open Incompatibilities: Haunted You no longer gain Fear from sleeping outside of a Haven. When you Take a Rest outside of a Haven roll 1d%. On a roll of 1-25, you gain the Paranoid talent. If you already have the Paranoid talent, you take the next talent in the track. If you have completed the Paranoid track, this result has no effect. If you roll 26 or higher, remove one of your Paranoid talents. Psyche, Isolated, -2 Fear
Resolute The number of Death Points it takes to kill you increases by +2. However, you no longer remove 1 Death Point from a Recoup. Psyche, Isolated, Soul Scar, -2 Fear
Slow and Steady Your speed is reduced by 5 ft, but whenever a creature or effect would knock you Prone, you may contest their roll with a STR or END roll. If you beat their roll, you are not knocked Prone (but suffer any other effects as normal). Psyche, Isolated, -2 Fear
Timid Gain +1 to your AR and physical defenses, but suffer -1 to your mental defenses. When willingly moving towards a hostile creature that is larger than you, your speed is reduced by 5 ft. Psyche, Isolated, -3 Fear

Tripartite Talents

Each of these talents are presented in groups of three. You cannot voluntarily start a new Tripartite or Pentacle talent track until you have reached the headstone talent in your current track.

Psyche Talent PreReqs Description Tags
Cautious You suffer 1 TD on all your attacks, but have +1 to all your defenses. Psyche, Cautious, -1 Fear
Cautious II Cautious You cannot benefit from Focused or Rallied. Gain Resist Charmed +3 and Resist Enthralled +3. Psyche, Cautious, -2 Fear
Cautious III Cautious II Your crit range decreases by 1. If your crit range was previously only 20, you can no longer crit. You gain +1 to all your defenses. Psyche, Cautious, Soul Scar, -2 Fear, Headstone
Claustrophobic Gain +2 to Dungeoneering and Sheltering.

Gain the Claustrophobic ability.

Claustrophobic. Whenever you are within 5 ft of more than one wall or obstruction that could give you complete Cover, suffer 1 TD.

Psyche, Claustrophobic, -1 Fear
Claustrophobic II Claustrophobic When you gain TD from Claustrophobic, you are also Demoralized. When you do not have TD from Claustrophobic, gain +1 ANT and LOG. Psyche, Claustrophobic, -2 Fear
Claustrophobic III Claustrophobic II Claustrophobic becomes: Whenever you are within 10 ft of more than one wall or obstruction that could give you complete Cover, suffer 1 TD.

When you do not have TD from Claustrophobic, gain an additional +1 ANT and LOG.

Psyche, Claustrophobic, -2 Fear, Headstone
Driven by Instinct Fight, Flight, or Freeze Psyche Talents Gain a Psyche talent of your choice: Fight, Flight, or Freeze. Ignore its incompatibilities.

When you would become Frightened, you may activate Fight, Flight, and/or Freeze.

Psyche, Instinct, -1 Fear
Driven by Instinct II Driven By Instinct Choose Fight, Flight, or Freeze. Gain that Psyche talent, ignoring any incompatibilities.

When you would become Frightened, you may activate Fight, Flight, and/or Freeze.

Psyche, Instinct, -1 Fear
Driven by Instinct III Driven By Instinct II Gain the Instinctive Response ability.

Instinctive Response (1/Rest). When a creature attempts to give you the Frightened condition and fails, you may activate one Psyche talent of your choice out of Fight, Flight, or Freeze, as though you were Frightened for 1 minute.

Psyche, Instinct, -1 Fear, Headstone
Lunacy You become psychologically linked with one of Ancerra’s five moons. While it is waxing, you gain Resist Charmed +3 and Resist Frightened +3. When it is waning, you gain Vulnerable Charmed +1 and Vulnerable Frightened +1.

Pick which moon you are linked with. Their waxing and waning cycles are listed below. It takes the same number of days for a moon to wax as it does for that moon to wane.

A moon’s “Proximity” is its ranking in relation to Ancerra, 1 being the closest and 5 being the farthest.

Psyche, Lunacy, -3 Fear
Lunacy II Lunacy Gain Resist +3 to a type of damage or condition while your moon is waxing, and Vulnerable +1 to a different type of damage or condition while the moon is waning. See the following Lunacy tables. Psyche, Lunacy, -2 Fear
Lunacy III Lunacy II While your moon is waxing, you have +5 ft speed and +4 on Initiative rolls. During a full moon, your crit range increases by +1.

While your moon is waning, you are Demoralized. During a New Moon, you have Vulnerable Damage +1.

Psyche, Lunacy, Soul Scar, -2 Fear, Headstone
Lunacy Duration Table
Moon Proximity 1/2 Cycle
Diminus 5 40 Days
Garvor 4 32 Days
Primor 1 10 Days
Scarlan 3 22 Days
Sylvin 2 14 Days
Lunacy II Resist and Vulnerable Table
Moon Waxing Waning
Diminus Cold Fire
Garvor Prone Dazed
Primor Fire Cold
Scarlan Toxic Radiant
Sylvin Enthralled Enthralled
Psyche Talent PreReqs Description Tags
Nyctophobic While in darkness, your Darkvision is halved. If you do not have Darkvision, you are Blinded.

While in bright light, gain +2 to your AR and physical defenses.

Psyche, Nyctophobia, -2 Fear
Nyctophobic II Nyctophobia While in dim light or darkness, suffer -1 to all your defenses.

While in bright light, gain +2 to your mental defenses.

Psyche, Nyctophobia, -2 Fear
Nyctophobic III Nyctophobia II While in dim light or darkness, your Darkvision is halved.

When in bright light, your crit range increases by +1.

Psyche, Nyctophobia, -4 Fear, Headstone
Reckless Gain +1 TA on all attacks, but you suffer a -1 penalty to all your defenses. Psyche, Reckless, -2 Fear
Reckless II Reckless You may spend 1 AP to become Rallied until the end of your next turn. When not Rallied, you are Vulnerable Charmed +2 and Vulnerable Enthralled +2. Psyche, Reckless, -2 Fear
Reckless III Reckless II Your crit range increases by +1, but you suffer another -1 to all your defenses. Psyche, Reckless, -1 Fear, Headstone
Sadistic Whenever you give or receive HP, reduce the amount healed by 2 (min 1). Deal +2 damage whenever you hit a Bloodied creature. Psyche, Sadism, -3 Fear
Sadistic II Sadistic Whenever you give HP to another creature, the creature is Demoralized until the end of your next turn. Whenever you hit a Bloodied creature, it is Demoralized until the end of your next turn. Psyche, Sadism, -2 Fear
Sadistic III Sadistic II Sadistic’s healing reduction becomes 5 (min 1). Whenever you hit a Bloodied creature, they gain Bleeding 2. Psyche, Sadism, -1 Fear, Headstone
Voices When you roll Initiative, the voices in your head may distract you or come to your aid. If your unmodified Initiative die roll was 11 or higher, you suffer 1 TD for the duration of the combat. If it was a 10 or lower, you gain +1 to your mental defenses for the same duration. Psyche, Voices, -2 Fear
Voices II Voices If rolling Initiative causes you to suffer TD, you are also Demoralized for the duration of combat. Otherwise, you gain +1 to your AR and physical defenses for the duration.

When rolling Initiative, roll 2d20 and keep the lower.

Psyche, Voices, -2 Fear
Voices III Voices II If rolling Initiative causes you to suffer TD, your speed also decreases by 5 ft for the duration of the combat. Otherwise, gain +1 Luck Point, and an additional +1 to all of your defenses for the duration. This Luck Point expires at the end of combat. Psyche, Voices, -2 Fear, Headstone

Pentacle Talents

Each of these talents are presented in groups of five. You cannot voluntarily start a new Tripartite or Pentacle talent track until you have reached the headstone talent in your current track.

Psyche Talent PreReqs Description Tags
Anthropophobic When you gain this talent, choose a modifying tag or a magic tag.

Modifying tags: abominable, constructed, giant, undead

Magic Tags: arcane, divine, occult, primal, psionic

These are your “anthropophobia creatures.”

You are Phobic of creatures with this tag unless they are explicitly allied with you, but you have +5 ft speed when moving away from such a creature.

Psyche, Anthropophobic, -2 Fear
Anthropophobic II Anthropophobic You are Demoralized when you can see your anthropophobia creature, but you have +1 TA when attacking them. Psyche, Anthropophobic, -1 Fear
Anthropophobic III Anthropophobic II You are Shaken when you see your anthropophobia creature, but add +2 to your damage against them. Psyche, Anthropophobic, -2 Fear
Anthropophobic IV Anthropophobic III When you take damage from an anthropophobia creature, you are Broken until the end of your next turn. While conscious, you cannot be Partially or Completely Surprised by these creatures. Psyche, Anthropophobic, -4 Fear
Anthropophobic V Anthropophobic IV When you take damage from an anthropophobia creature, you suffer +1d6 psychic damage. When you kill an anthropophobia creature of ML 0.5 or higher, remove 1 Fear. Psyche, Anthropophobic, -1 Fear, Headstone
Insomniac At the end of Taking a Rest, you must make a DC 13 attribute check. You may use END, INT, or SAN. If you fail this Insomnia check, you gain Fatigue, and the Rest you completed does not remove Death Points or Fatigued. You can gain up to 4 Death Points from Fatigue in this way. Psyche, Insomnia, -2 Fear
Insomniac II Insomniac Taking a Rest requires 10 hours for you instead of 8. You may remain awake for 6 of these hours. Psyche, Insomnia, -1 Fear
Insomniac III Insomniac II The DC for your attribute check to Take a Rest increases to 16. You gain +1 ANT and can never be Completely Surprised while conscious. Psyche, Insomnia, -1 Fear
Insomniac IV Insomniac III The DC for your attribute check to Take a Rest increases to 20. The number of Death Points you can gain from this talent increases to 7. Psyche, Insomnia, -4 Fear
Insomniac V Insomniac IV You gain +1 AWR and your AWR can now exceed your attribute cap by 1. If you fail your Insomnia check, only regain 1⁄2 your max HP from your Rest. Psyche, Insomnia, -1 Fear, Headstone
Paranoid One Eye Open or Voices II Gain +1 ANT and suffer -2 LOG. Psyche, Paranoia, -2 Fear
Paranoid II Paranoid Gain +2 Investigating and Perceiving, but suffer -4 Intuiting. Psyche, Paranoia, -2 Fear
Paranoid III Paranoid II Gain +1 ANT. Suffer -1 LOG and -1 WILL. Psyche, Paranoia, -3 Fear
Paranoid IV Paranoid III Gain +2 ANT. Suffer -1 LOG. Your AWR attribute cap increases by +1. Psyche, Paranoia, Soul Scar, -1 Fear
Paranoid V Paranoid IV Gain +2 AWR. Suffer -2 INT. Your INT attribute cap decreases by 1. Psyche, Paranoia, Soul Scar, -3 Fear, Headstone
Photophobic Suffer 1 TD when in bright light, and gain +1 TA when in darkness. Psyche, Photophobia, -2 Fear
Photophobic II Photophobic You are Demoralized when in bright or dim light. When in darkness, gain +4 to Initiative and to DEX/Sneaking. Psyche, Photophobia, -2 Fear
Photophobic III Photophobic II When you move from darkness into dim light, or from dim light into bright light, you become Blinded until the end of your next turn. Gain +30 ft Darkvision. Psyche, Photophobia, -4 Fear
Photophobic IV Photophobic III Your crit range decreases by 1 while in bright light. If your crit range was previously only 20, you can no longer crit.

Your crit range increases by +1 while in darkness.

Psyche, Photophobia, -2 Fear
Photophobic V Photophobic IV Creatures that attack you in bright light increase their crit range by +1. Creatures that attack you in darkness decrease their crit range by 1. Psyche, Photophobia, -2 Fear, Headstone
Rapturous Deal +2 damage whenever you deal physical damage. You also take +2 damage whenever you take any damage. Psyche, Rapturous, -2 Fear
Rapturous II Rapturous

Incompatibilities: Undaunted II

You are considered Bloodied at 3⁄4 your max HP. Gain the Rapturous ability.

Rapturous (1/Catch Breath). When you first become Bloodied, gain the Rallied condition until the end of your next turn. Then gain Vulnerable Charmed +1 and Vulnerable Frightened +1 for the next 30 seconds.

Psyche, Rapturous, Soul Scar, -1 Fear
Rapturous III Rapturous II Deal +2 damage whenever you deal elemental and energy damage. Whenever a creature crits against you, gain Bleeding 2. Psyche, Rapturous, -2 Fear
Rapturous IV Rapturous III Deal +1 damage whenever you deal any damage. You also take +2 damage whenever you take any damage. Psyche, Rapturous, -2 Fear
Rapturous V Rapturous IV Your crit range increases by +1 and you gain Vulnerable Damage +1. Psyche, Rapturous, -4 Fear, Headstone
Undaunted You deal 1 fewer damage (min 0). You have DR 1. Psyche, Undaunted, -2 Fear
Undaunted II Undaunted

Incompatibilities: Rapturous II

You are considered Bloodied at 1⁄4 your max HP. While you are not Bloodied, your FORT and WILL each increase by +1.

When you are Bloodied, your REF and LOG decrease by 1.

Psyche, Undaunted, Soul Scar, -1 Fear
Undaunted III Undaunted II When you are not Bloodied, gain Resist Frightened +3 and Resist Broken +3.

When you are Bloodied, you are Demoralized.

Psyche, Undaunted, -2 Fear
Undaunted IV Undaunted III While you are Demoralized, creatures get +1 TA on attacks against you. You gain Immune Broken and Immune Frightened while Demoralized. Psyche, Undaunted, -1 Fear
Undaunted V Undaunted IV While you are not Bloodied, your DR increases by +1. When you are Bloodied, you deal 2 fewer damage on your attacks. Psyche, Undaunted, -2 Fear, Headstone
Zoophobic When you gain this talent, choose a type of creature. Choose based on what narratively led you to take this talent. Some options are listed, but feel free to work with your MC to come up with another option. Categories should be broad enough that they are likely to be triggered; for example, “Arachnophobia” includes insects for the purposes of these game mechanics.

These are your “zoophobia creatures.”

You are Shaken when you can see your zoophobia creatures, but add +2 to damage against these creatures.

Psyche, Zoophobic, -2 Fear
Zoophobic II Zoophobic You are Phobic of your zoophobia creatures, but gain +5 ft speed when moving away from such creatures. Psyche, Zoophobic, -2 Fear
Zoophobic III Zoophobic II When you take damage from a zoophobia creature, you are Demoralized until the end of your next turn. While conscious, when you would be Completely Surprised by your zoophobia creatures, you are Partially Surprised instead. Psyche, Zoophobic, -1 Fear
Zoophobic IV Zoophobic III When you take damage from a zoophobia creature, you are Broken until the end of your next turn. While Broken in this way, gain +2 to your AR, REF, and ANT. Psyche, Zoophobic, -4 Fear
Zoophobic V Zoophobic IV When you take damage from a zoophobia creature, you suffer 1d6 psychic damage. When you kill a zoophobia creature of ML 0.5 or higher, remove 1 Fear. Psyche, Zoophobic, -1 Fear, Headstone
Zoophobia Examples
Type Examples
Arachnids Spiders, scorpions, insects
Birds Birds
Canines Domesticated dogs, wolves
Cephalopods Octopi, squid
Equines Horses, deer, elk, moose
Felines Housecats, lions, bobcats
Fish Fish
Lizards Lizards, crocodiles, skinks
Rodents Bats, rats, squirrels
Snakes Snakes