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Occult Rules / Running an Occult Game / Occult Locations / Mindscapes

Binary Mindscapes

Source Occult Adventures pg. 235
A binary mindscape is typically only a minimalist backdrop for a psychic battle—a ghostly image, like a stark memory, lacking detail and verisimilitude. It might manifest as a flat surface surrounded by fog or a featureless plain of grass on a cloudy day. Sometimes, a binary mindscape mimics a real-world locale the creator knows well, but even then, the details at the edges of vision are usually fuzzy and indistinct, and features that invoke lesser senses, such as smell and taste, are lacking. A binary mindscape has no effect on the psychic battle; it’s merely a mental construct used to assist the participants in visualizing their actions.

Creation and Control

Source Occult Adventures pg. 235
As explained in the Psychic Duels section, a binary mindscape is created when two psychic creatures enter a mental confrontation. Only creatures able to cast the instigate psychic duel spell can begin a psychic duel. Once a connection is established, the binary mindscape is created. Once within the mindscape, a creature can expend psychic energy to create mental hazards called manifestations to damage the other combatant or to reshape the mental landscape. Because the mindscape becomes a shared mental space after its creation, neither participant in the battle truly controls it, and they both have an equal ability to alter the environment once their minds are connected.

A binary mindscape is overt, finite, and harmful (see Mindscape Traits). Its other traits (such as gravity, time, and magic) are normal, with the exception of the special actions and limitations on spellcasting described in the Psychic Duels section.