Loosing POW?

[Agentmax7]

Hi! 

I have a question, some magic have the effect of making players loosing POW. What happens when the investigator is loosing POW, what is the effect? 

Dread Curse of Azathoth for example, the investigator meets a cultist who is casting the spell, player rolls dice and looses 18 points of POW, should something more happen here? 

or is the investigator just continuing doing it's round like nothing happened. I told the player to make a CON/SAN roll to make sure he is still standing or? Loosing POW must feel like hell. 

I'm just curious how you people are game mastering this?

 

[andyl]

Well I would certainly narrate how the target feels drained as he loses 18 POW unexpectedly in an instant. Does it have a physical effect?  Maybe it does? I wouldn't argue against narrating how the target starts sinking to their knees before catching themselves.  Or then again maybe it doesn't - using Elder Sign costs 10 POW, I wouldn't expect that to cause physical effects to the caster.  Of course as the target gets closer to 0 POW you can narrate them being affected even more adversely.

[Grimmshade]

I would definitely narrate it as a feeling of losing something unknown but vital, or some such. I wouldn't make the player make any other rolls or punishment though, as losing the POW is already the punishment.

[Psullie]

I would describe a deep sense of loss of oneself, perhaps becoming less empathic or caring even apathy, for extreme losses I'd even go toward border-line psychopathy 

[Agentmax7]

Many thanks for all the answers and suggestions. I'll really bring this to the game table.
Good idea to connect it more to the actual role-playing, which I like and also my players. My thought was first more like that what happens if the player just ignores the effect? You lose 18p of POW whatever.

Overall, I find it exciting to use characteristics more in games (skills tend to take over most scrolls) and how they actually affect the role-playing of a character and the experience of the world in the game, also how NPCs experience the player.

thanks again!