The Doctor has been known to use a bit of hypnotism to calm a savage beast and to help people to remember things, putting them in a calm and relaxed state. Hypnosis as a Minor Good Trait means the character can put people into a mild hypnotic state. We’re not talking mind control here, just some basic hypnotic techniques – a tone of voice, a calm way of talking – that can calm people down and possibly influence them to do what you want. The Major Good Trait verges on mind control, and not the sort of thing a companion would do. The Special version of this trait allows complete possession, and is best left to the Master and other Villains.

As a Minor Trait, Hypnosis adds a +2 bonus to any social interaction where you’re trying to either calm someone down or to get them to do what you’d like. It’s dependent upon the situation of course; the Gamemaster may not allow in the middle of a battlefield, for instance. Usually, there should be few distractions, and the target and the hypnotist should be able to hear and see each other, unless there is some advanced or alien technology involved. The target can resist using Ingenuity + Resolve (see ‘Being Possessed’).

The Major Trait works the same way, but if the character succeeds in hypnotising the subject (using Presence + Convince), they can make them do anything not intrinsically against their nature (such as harm a friend or themselves) – in this case, the target can make another roll to resist (with a +3 bonus) to snap out of their hypnotic state, waking to wonder what they were doing. No matter what, they cannot be hypnotised into killing themselves – their survival instinct is too strong.

The Special version of this trait costs 3 points and effectively allows the character to possess another person. This can be full-on mind control, or actually leaving their body to inhabit someone else’s. This level is reserved for alien or special characters, not for normal player characters.