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Mind interference is a general name for the effects of a group of skills that affect the decision making process of the target. Whether positive (like calm, fear resistance, motivation) or more famously negative (charm, fear, enrage). Those effects are notoriously difficult to resist using outside means, as any potion or item that disables the negative effects, necessarily also blocks the positive and neutral ones.

Why is that a problem you ask? Imagine fighting a dragon, and it uses a confusion spell on you. You might think the best solution would be a mind clearing potion (remember, potions are controlled substances in many countries, contact your lawyer before transporting them between borders) and so, thinking yourself a well prepared adventurer you drink “Soul of crystal” to remove all mind interference skills, and become purely rational being.

And now, in the middle of a life and death battle where, to increase your chances of survival you should only concentrate on fighting, you suddenly realise 

1. You were an idiot under effect of some kind of self delusion that decided to challenge a dragon 
2. You are fighting a dragon, and so have 99.9% chance of death 
3. Dragons torture their enemies after catching them if they are very displeased in painful ways

Ergo: It’s better to kill yourself in a quick and painless manner

In the past, a group of guild masters believed that exactly because of those cases, we should force all adventurers to drink “Soul of crystal” before taking up any quests at the guild, to make sure takers are aware of all the risks and make rational decisions. After it ended up with all adventurers under the effect just stopping being the adventurers instead, selling their equipment, and joining another, safer guild instead (this is exactly how the city of Sagerde rose to become the Holy city of scribbles and accountants)

As if that wasn’t enough, sometimes items, or even skills can cause their own type of interference on them. When a sword gets used by a legendary warrior over many years, and soaks their soul in, or a new branch of magic is created by a wizard with very strong feelings towards something, their will might somehow survive in the world, interfering with anyone who dares to use them. 

This effect is especially common with magic, where over time other powerful users of the art, first inheriting slight dislike or passion towards something, grow strong enough to infect the world with their will, amplify the originally slight effect with their own feelings toward the matter, creating a feedback loop. It’s widely believed that this is the cause of the famous hatred of fire magicians towards insects, a cause of many historical city-wide fires, after someone over eagerly disposes of a catroach.

The advice of this humble scribe is simple:

1. Train specific resistance skills
2. Don’t buy shady items from unknown sources, or if an offer is just too good, have your least likely party member try them out first. You never know what kind of mind interference might be there.