PSYCHIC CORRUPTION
Sometimes an enemy will use an ongoing relentless form of attack on a hero's Psyche. The end result of such an attack is to wear down both the hero's Psyche and their Karma, to the point where a final more open assault or triggering event will turn the hero off the path of goodness and on to an irreversible course of damnation (or equivalent).
Psychic Corruption is a "permanently on" power which billows or radiates out from a specific person, item or geographical location. It is also possible for a source of Psychic Corruption to have "receivers" or "boosters" in the form of other people or items. When the boosters are within a Range of the main Psychic Corruption the effect of the Psychic Corruption increases in potency. And at the same time the person or item aiding the Psychic Corruption can take their own actions to enhance the evil effect.
Psychic Corruption has a Rank for each of Intensity (of effect), Range and finally Resistance to Banishment. Unlike most other Powers it does not use the same Rank for both taking effect AND resisting other Powers. This is because Psychic Corruption is very variable, based on what originates it. Psychic Corruption embodying all the spite, evil and godlike power of a Cosmic level demigod may nevertheless have almost no Resistance to being defeated, relying instead on stealth and being overlooked rather than direct Psyche to Psyche conflict.
Psychic Corruption centered on a geographical location cannot be smaller in "Range" than the borders of that location. For example if a haunted house emanates Psychic Corruption the Range is at minimum the interior of the building structure. For an evil land, the Range cannot be smaller than the official borders of that land. For an item or a person the Range can be utterly random.
Because Psychic Corruption is permanently in effect and being broadcast into the aether it does not need to attempt Power Stunts. It can, but it need not.
Psychic Corruption rolls on its Power Rank each time a new hero comes within Range of the power. This roll if successful indicates that the hero has been initially affected by Psychic Corruption and has the slightest immediate feeling of something odd, a feeling of unease or a feeling of foreboding unable to be explained even by magical means.
After the initial roll for each Hero, the Judge should wait for whenever there is a situation requiring heroism. In such situations it would be normal for a conscientious character to earn some Karma, even if it is a small amount. Due to the presence of Psychic Corruption however, the Judge should roll on the Psychic Corruption's Power Rank once more, if it is in Range. If the roll is successful, something will occur to prevent the earning of the Karma. Usually, what prevents the Karma award will be very trivial at first - arguing with someone, bullying someone in a mild way, being deceitful, being arrogant or unpleasant - and above else, being SELFISH.
The potential loss of a Karma award can be roleplayed to insure a character still earns Karma. However even the fact that this has to be done begins to cast a Shadow over proceedings. Something is wrong...
The trigger for the next step of Psychic Corruption is the next time the character affected is called upon to spend Karma in a good cause. At the point where the Karma would be spent or pooled, the character must be offered the chance NOT to do so, but on the basis that no other characters would ever be able to tell that they had not in fact spent their Karma. If the player of the character accepts this offer, this counts as an evil act with appropriate Karma loss. HOWEVER, THIS KARMA LOSS IS NOT IMMEDIATELY APPLIED. It would seem then to the character that they have "got away" with something. This subversion will now trigger each time Karma is to be spent selflessly. BUT EACH TIME THE PLAYER OPTS TO FAKE THE KARMA SPEND, THE CHARACTER LOSES MORE KARMA!
When the Judge, tracking the character's "real" Karma, ascertains that the character's Karma has fallen to zero or below, full scale psychic warfare begins between the source of the Psychic Corruption and the hero, with visions, hallucinations of sights and sounds and even temporary physical changes afflicting the character as he or she struggles against the spiritual darkness! At this point anyone near them will see that it is quite obvious an enormous mental struggle is occurring. During this struggle the affected character suffers a -3RS penalty on any rolls and is also vulnerable to Magic, with all Magical effects directed at them gaining a bonus of +2RS!
The affected character must roll on their Psyche. At the same time, the Psychic Corruption rolls on its Resistance Rank.
If the character succeeds and the Psychic Corruption fails, the character has "Passed The Test" and can never again be affected in any way by this specific source of Psychic Corruption. They are also now considered an arch-enemy of the source of the Psychic Corruption.
If the character fails on their roll and the Psychic Corruption succeeds, the character is considered Tainted. Tainted characters can no longer earn Karma until they either cease to be Tainted, they die, or the Tainted state is removed through purification rituals, magic, or Self Sacrifice. Self Sacrifice means an act of suicidal bravery or extreme goodness that puts the character at almost certain risk of death or permanent injury. In other circumstances such an act might even be considered foolhardy but if the act achieves a positive result for at least two other characters - saving their lives, avoiding a terrible fate for them and so on - then the Tainted state passes for the Tainted character. Once the Tainted status passes, the afflicted character can earn Karma as normal once more but no lost Karma is immediately restored. The character is also still susceptible to the effects of the Psychic Corruption.
If the Psychic Corruption fails on its roll and the player character also fails its roll on Psyche then although the character suffers the nightmarish temporary affliction and shock, it passes within 1d10 minutes and they are apparently normal once more. No detection or magical spell will reveal more about what happened than that a great darkness overwhelmed their spirit for a short time but the Shadow has now gone. Apparently gone, anyway. Such a situation would surely awaken the suspicions of most other characters who witness it.
If a Tainted character does NOT have the effect removed, they begin an irrerversible physical change into a repulsive corpse-like parody of their original physical form. They lose any ability to earn Karma as a hero and are considered from that point on to be a villain, even if they do not commit any evil acts. The change to the undead seeming appearance occurs week by week. Each week the character is 10% more hideous, wizened and withered and after two weeks their eyes become milky white. After four weeks their eyes reflect light in the dark like an animal's but also emit faint white light in total darkness. After 10 weeks, the character has effectively become a Zombie although they are still a living being and retain their original Reason and Psyche. Their other statistics change potentially radically as agreed between the player of the character and the Judge. At that point the character has become a true monster and must be played as such. The character will have violent impulses and its physical touch will cause Average cold damage to anyone susceptible.