Greetings Fellow Scoundrels

Greetings Fellow Scoundrels,

I’ve ran into a bit of an issue in the game I’m running and looking for some feedback.

tl;dr: Non-ritual use of Attune and Electroplasm for mind-control. Thoughts and Ideas?

Background:

The game I’m currently running splits further away from blades proper than usual. Its heavily inspired by Dark Souls to the point of it begin the mainstay of the plot and background. As such, new systems are being introduced such as Sorceries, and woven into the blades world.

Unfortunately, one of my players is completely unfamiliar with the Dark Souls lore or world, which is fine on its own and adds another point of view on everything, however we’ve ran into a bit of a problem. While the other whisper-focused character has diverted and invested into Sorceries as soon as it was introduced, this player has shied away from them for want of maintaining diversity.

Issue:

Of course I want to accommodate this player as well, though they seem uninterested in any of the other emerging systems (Miracles and Pyromancy). After a bit of talking they decided that they want to focus more on electroplasm and expand the standard “Blades” Attune.

With the new systems (and power creep that comes with them), The basic Attune falls a bit behind, lacking Sorceries “Stress cost for immediate abilities” save for tempest.

While I’m happy to work on this, I’ve ran into a bit of a snag, as the player has expressed interest in a Electroplasm based Mind Control effect that does not come from Rituals. While a ritual Mind control would be a pretty quick thing to throw together, a non-ritual one is a bit more of a process, and Ideas for this would be very helpful.

Current Mind Control Ideas:

Attune as a setup action that can increase either Effect or Position against a target during social interactions? (Confusing the spirit or creating a dis-junction between body an ghost?)

Allow more suspect behavior within their presence without affecting Position (Acts as a subtle distraction that won’t draw the same attention conversation would)

Current Balancing Ideas:

A: Perhaps I’m not thinking wide enough with attune and limiting its potential too much? Keep Attune with very wide use while Sorceries are High-cost/High-Effect.

B: Match Sorceries by adding “Spells” that can be researched much like Sorceries, but making them more area/interaction oriented rather than Sorceries more direct Person-to-Person application (So far they have only discovered attack/Buff spells)

Let me know what you think down below, and thank you for your time.