Superhuman Psychosis

Source book: Chrome Flesh

Bonus: 2 Karma

When you can run faster than a car, punch through concrete, throw fireballs with your mind, and shrug off assault cannon rounds, you might start feeling that you’re more human than human. And if you’re more human than human, what are they? Does a person that steps on ants feel bad? If not, then why should you feel anything toward these lesser beings of the old human race? So slow, so weak, so dim.

Characters with superhuman strengths, such as those granted by augmentations, or Awakened powers, can start to feel detached from the human race. They start seeing everyone else kind of like cattle. Like playing a game on the easy mode, the challenges of life seem dim and uninteresting. Characters suffering from Superhuman Psychosis seek out others like them, to belong but also to test themselves, to see how far they can go, how far they can push themselves.

Superhuman Psychosis causes a few effects. The character has absolutely no moral qualms about killing people, seeing it as his right. They won’t go out of their way to kill people, but also won’t hesitate to kill anyone, even going up to mass murder—they just don’t value the lives of lesser beings.

In addition, the character’s general lack of concern for others (and their bullets) makes them pretty formidable in combat. This quality grants an automatic +1 die bonus in melee combat. The character is also less perturbed about puny mortals flinging lead at him, and so suffers only half the penalty from incoming Suppressive Fire.

This is balanced by the fact that they have difficulty disguising their contempt for others, leading to a –2 penalty on all Etiquette and Leadership tests.

When facing opponents equivalent to Professional Rating 5 or above, however, the character gets interested. This is a true test of their skills, and they won’t want to back down. The character must make a Composure (3) Test to withdraw from a fight with such opponents, regardless of the situation. If they fail the test, they must continue the combat.

Characters with Superhuman Psychosis cannot take any Code of Honor quality, as there is nobody they won’t kill.