Mutants and Masterminds 2nd edition. Unnoticeable damage and Fascinate

[Maryring]

I have a character made for Mutants and Masterminds and looking over him, I've come to a bit of a conundrum as to how two different skills of his should interact, namely there Feat "Fascinate" and his damaging ability.

(The character is here for those curious.)

Now, the short of it is that the feat Fascinate allows you to hold someone's attention with an interaction skill. You roll your skill, they roll to resist, and if they fail they can do nothing but listen to a long story about fascinating adventures exploring egyptian tombs or Mayan ruins. And if there's a fight, then obviously they're not gonna be standing around and listening to some far flung tale, no matter how awesomely epic it is. And if the story teller suddenly pulls a gun on you, then you're obviously gonna try to get out of the way, and not just stand there and listen slack-jawed.

But... what if the attack is non-obvious? In this instance, the character in question has the ability to drain life energy from his listeners with a simple touch, or just from being near him, and this process is entirely unnoticeable.

The character's method of attack has the "subtle" power feat, and the subtle power feat means that you don't notice a power is used, and won't notice its effect unless it is bleedingly obvious. Usually, damage would be obvious, but the ability has the "Extra" of Sleep. Which means that rather than feeling pain from failing your saves, you're just going to get sleepier and sleepier. Since there is no way for you to notice that your soul's slowly being drawn out of your body, it's instead going to seem like you're just getting bored with the story.

So, to make the question clear. Should the soul sucking attacks break Fascinate or not? What would you rule in this instance, and why?

Not gonna share my own conclusion yet to avoid colouring the discussion.

[Quellian-dyrae]

I'd rule that a Subtle attack does not break Fascinate until it actually causes a negative effect. Once it does, even if that effect is sleep, the Fascinate would break. If the Subtle attack also possesses Insidious (err...if Insidious exists in 2e) and the target can't make the check/doesn't have the necessary super-sense to detect it, then even the effects wouldn't break Fascinate.

[Kid Jake]

I'd second Quellian-dyrae's ruling, it seems like that's exactly what Insidious was intended for.

[Malfunctioned]

I agree with the others, if you want an unnoticeable attack with an unnoticeable effect, you're going to want both Insidious and Subtle. They're very similar but Subtle disguises the use of the power whilst Insidious disguises the effect of it.

[Maryring]

Hrm. Seems you're all in agreement with how I'd rule it. That's good. Means I read the rules correctly. I honestly hadn't even considered Insidious, but the more I think about it, the more I feel it fits the attack type in question.

Thanks.