Erosion
Also called: Erosion Track, Soul Erosion
Definition: A character's tracked damage to their soul from touching the Current. Capacity equals ECHO + 5. Does not recover from rest. When full, the character must burn a Memory and reset to 0.
Erosion is the long-term cost of Psionic power: the permanent damage that accumulates with every Rank 3–4 Talent cast, every Backlash that lands two 1s, every hour spent in a Thin Place without protection. Unlike Strain, Erosion does not heal from rest.
| ECHO | Erosion Capacity |
|---|---|
| 1 | 6 |
| 2 | 7 |
| 3 | 8 |
| 4 | 9 |
| 5 | 10 |
The Erosion track produces Veil Bleed: physical and psychological symptoms that worsen as Erosion accumulates (see the Veil Bleed keyword). At the four stages, Erosion imposes increasing penalties to Awareness and social checks.
When the Erosion track fills completely, the character experiences a Break: they must immediately burn one of their five Core Memories (see the Memory Burn keyword), reset their Erosion to 0, and continue with one fewer Pillar in their Memory Palace.
Recovery methods (all during Downtime):
| Method | Erosion Cleared |
|---|---|
| Spend 2 XP | 1 |
| Vice (drinking, gambling, drugs) | 1 |
| Anchoring (meaningful scene with Anchor) | 2 |
| Erosion Sink (item; shatters after 3 total) | 1/session |
| Circle Sanctuary | 3 (rare access) |
Non-Psionic characters can still accumulate Erosion from Backlash, Thin Place exposure, or witnessing supernatural horror; they don’t channel, but the Current can still reach them.