Voices

A game for 3-5 people, including one GM.

The Sitch

●	You’re a team. You’ve worked together time and again and you’re good at what you do. You’ve had your problems in the past, but you’ve always overcome them to get the job done.
●	But this time, something has gone wrong. Your minds were separated from your bodies and trapped in someone else’s head. The others can hear your thoughts and feel your emotions.
●	Can you escape this trap? Will you complete your mission? Will you still be able to look each other in the eye afterwards?

Setup

Discuss as a group (or, alternatively, agree beforehand):
●	What is the nature of the team? Are you an elite military unit? A league of superheroes? A band of cyber-criminals? Make sure you pick a concept with plenty of scope for specialised individual roles, as you’ll each pick one of those later.
●	What is your mission, and who is your enemy? Trying to rescue a prisoner of war from an enemy commander? Stop Doctor Dread from blowing up the world? Hacking into the Pentagon? Make sure it’s something you’re all committed to. The mission should not be controversial. There are no traitors in your midst.
●	How did you get into this situation? Were you zapped by a top secret weapon? Did your enemy use their powers on you? Were you hit by a weird-ass type of IC?
●	Whose head are you stuck in? A helpless bystander? An enemy agent?

Stat your character

Divide 10 points between these two stats, with a maximum rating of 8 going to either:
-	Persuasion. You can use this to persuade your host to play ball. However, it is hard to make them go against their own interests.
-	Force. You can use this to force your host (or your team-mates) to do as you wish. However, doing so is very draining.

In addition, the following stat is rated the same as the lower of the other two.
-	Subtlety. You can use this to conceal the implications of a suggested course of action; to conceal your influence wielded through force; and to conceal your thoughts and feelings from the host and your team-mates.

Finally, choose a skill that your character is the best at. Maybe others in the team can do it, but they are nothing like as good. You get a rating of 8 in that skill.

Anything else you try to do has a default rating of 5.

The GM also stats the host. They have a skill that they are good at. They get a rating of 6 in that skill. Anything else they try to do has a default rating of 4. (They do not have Persuasion, Force or Subtlety ratings.)

Relationships

Each of you agree your relationship with every other team-member, going round the table doing one relationship at a time, until you’ve done them all. Example relationships:
-	They’re a married couple, deeply in love.
-	They’re a married couple, going through a difficult divorce.
-	They’re best friends.
-	They’re rivals.
-	They tolerate each other for the sake of the team.
-	He is her wing-man.
-	She is his boss.

Now each decide on some difficulties in their relationship. You should create two or three for your character, which can relate to one other character or several. Example difficulties:
-	He’s secretly sleeping with someone else.
-	She desperately wants them to get back together.
-	He thinks he could do a better job leading the team.
-	She’s planning to leave the team after this mission.
-	He fucked up a recent mission really badly.
-	She blames herself for a recent failed mission.

Coherence

In addition, each voice has a coherence value that rates how clearly the host can hear you and how well they can distinguish you from their own thoughts. Exerting direct influence over the host exposes you to their psyche and drains yours, costing you coherence.

As your coherence decreases, you get better at directly influencing the host, since they struggle to tell the difference between your thoughts and theirs. Add your current coherence modifier to Force checks and any associated Subtlety checks. However, you find it increasingly hard to sustain a train of thought, or to prevent your thoughts wandering. Subtract your current coherence modifier to all other rolls.

Your coherence starts at 10, and may not go above this level.
While your coherence is 7-10, all is well and your mind remains intact. Coherence modifier 0.
While your coherence is 4-6, you are a little less sharp, as thought somewhat fatigued. Coherence modifier 1.
While your coherence is 2-3, your mind wanders and your memories seem fuzzy. The host’s thoughts are distracting and intrusive. Coherence modifier 2, and when speaking in character or speaking their thoughts, you may not raise your voice above conversational level.
While your coherence is 1, you are disoriented and struggle to pick your thoughts out from the host’s. Coherence modifier 3, and when speaking in character or speaking their thoughts, you may not raise your voice above a whisper.
Should your coherence reach 0, you are lost. You become completely absorbed into the host. There is no return from this state, which is indistinguishable from death. Should this happen, you may make one last command to the host, which will automatically succeed as though rolling 4 successes (as will any associated Subtlety check).

You gain a point of coherence if you can go an hour (real time, not game time) without losing any.

In play

When the spotlight is on you, say what your character is saying and doing, and speak out loud their thoughts and feelings. When the spotlight isn’t on you, you can still interject if it’s appropriate, and you should definitely voice any important thoughts and feelings as well.

Only say out loud significant thoughts and feelings. In theory everyone would hear everything, but since that would be dull, imagine they’re getting the edited highlights. If you think someone around the table will be interested by a thought or feeling, don’t hesitate to say it.

Note: thoughts and feelings voiced by a player are sensed by the other characters. Thoughts spoken in this way are clearly distinguishable from that character talking, but also clearly identifiable as coming from that character.

Be honest about this stuff. You could refuse to admit that your character is thinking or feeling something, or lie about it, and nobody would be any the wiser. But the game is much less fun if you omit this part of it.

Rolling the dice

The rating of the relevant stat determines the number of dice that you roll to perform actions linked with that stat. If you roll a 5 or 6 on a die that counts as a hit. You normally need 2 hits for a basic success, 4 hits to succeed extra well. The number of dice you roll may be affected by outside factors that increase or decrease the difficulty of what they’re trying to get the individual to do.

Persuasion

When you attempt to persuade the host of a course of action, say what you’re doing to persuade them, and roll Persuasion. The GM will tell you if that course is:
-	Something the host would probably be amenable to anyway. +2 dice.
-	Something the host would prefer not to do. -2 dice.
-	Something the host is violently opposed to. -4 dice.
If you roll at least 2 successes, the host goes along with your suggestion.
If you roll at least 4 successes, they are enthusiastically committed to your suggestion.

When you want to persuade the host of something, but not realise the implications of what they’re doing, say how you’re distracting their attention or evading the issue, and roll Subtlety. No modifiers, but the GM will tell you if what you’re trying to hide is obvious. If it is, you can’t roll.
If you roll at least 2 successes, it works, but they’ll realise soon enough.
If you roll at least 4 successes, they’re taken in.

Direct influence

When you attempt to directly influence the mind of the host or another player, say what you want them to do and roll Force. You modify your dice pool if:
-	The command is something that can be carried out instantly, such as dropping something or squeezing the trigger on a gun. +2 dice.
-	The command is something that only requires a minor deviation from what the host was doing anyway, like if you change their route to work, or get them to send an email to the wrong address. +2 dice.
-	The command requires them to do something against their deepest instincts. -2 dice.
If you roll at least 2 successes, they do it, but it costs you 1 coherence.
If you roll at least 4 successes, they do it and it costs you nothing.

When you want to conceal your direct influence, say what you’re concealing and roll Subtlety. No modifiers.
If you roll at least 2 successes, they don’t realise they were influenced, but (where appropriate) they are horrified by what they’ve done and act accordingly.
If you roll at least 4 successes, they believe they did it on purpose, and post-rationalise accordingly.

When you take over the host’s body to perform a task directly, they’re either willing or unwilling. If they’re willing, you do it, no problem. If they’re unwilling, roll Force. No modifiers.
If you roll at least 2 successes, you take over for long enough to perform the task at hand. It costs you 2 coherence.
If you roll at least 4 successes, choose: you take over for longer, or it costs you 1 coherence.

If you’ve taken over the host’s body and you try to do something that would be against their deepest instincts, roll Force, -1 die.
If you roll less than 2 successes, they re-take control, and it costs you 1 coherence.
If you roll at least 2 successes, they don’t kick you out, but it costs you 1 coherence.
If you roll at least 4 successes, they don’t kick you out and it costs you nothing.

Thought-hearing

At any time, you can ask another player a direct question about their character’s thoughts and feelings that is relevant to the ongoing situation. (You can always make it relevant, by asking them in character instead.) That player then speaks out loud the truthful answer to the question, unless they opt to conceal (see below).

Ask questions when you (the player or the character, either is good) are curious what the character is thinking or feeling, whether your character actively wants to know the answer or not. This represents the fact that your characters can hear each other thoughts all the time, whether you’re actively listening or not.

Good questions include:
-	How does your character feel about X?
-	What are you hiding from us?
-	Why did you do that?
-	Are you telling the truth?

When your character is having a strong feeling or an important thought, or another player has asked you a question about it, and you want to conceal it instead of saying it out loud, say what you’re doing to avoid projecting and roll Subtlety. No modifiers. 
If you roll at least 2 successes, you stay in control and keep your thoughts under wraps.
If you roll at least 4 successes, you may project a different emotion or thought in its place.

Doing stuff with the host’s body

When you persuade the host to do something, they do it and roll with their own stats.
When you directly influence the host, or take control, roll with your stats.

Persuading an NPC works exactly like persuading the host (see above) - but of course, since it’s the host’s face they’re seeing and the host’s voice they’re hearing, their resistance is based on that. So there are additional modifiers:
-	If this is something that seems bizarrely out of character for the host to ask, -2 dice.
-	If the host has authority or influence over the NPC, +2 dice.

Any other task, say what you’re trying to do and how, and roll either your skill or default stat.
The GM can add in modifiers, which must be based on the fiction as described up until this point (no making up stuff just to make it harder!):
-	Conditions are especially hostile to what you’re trying to do (e.g. climbing an icy wall): -2 dice.
-	Conditions are especially amenable to what you’re trying to do (e.g. sneaking past someone who is asleep): +2 dice.
-	Someone else, who is reasonably competent, is helping you: +2 dice.
-	Someone else, who is reasonably competent, is hindering you: -2 dice.
If you get less than 2 successes, you fail, and whatever could go wrong off the back of that, does. You attract hostile attention, you get the host hurt, you lose something, etc.
If you roll at least 2 successes, you do it, just.
If you roll at least 4 successes, you do it with style. If there’s a little something extra you can get through this action, the GM will let you have it.