@Alratan @IronFist
To clarify my standpoint on Mindhole: It will never make someone forget what they're
currently doing. It might make them forget why, who for/against etc. but not what. This is a minor distinction much of the time, but makes it a lot less useful in combat situations.
However it's not useless in combat situations, as forgetting that their opponent is "Mathilde, the grey magister who is known for the following list of magical effects..." leaves them with "I'm fighting a greatsword wielding woman" at which point their medium-term actions are likely to be more poorly thought out.
It will
sometimes cause them to forget things that they have done in the past. Whether or not it does so depends on numerous factors that ultimately line up to "QM prerogative", but as a quick guideline they'll tend to remember anything that makes sense without knowledge of your involvement. For instance had you mindholed Pepescu he would have remembered being hit by some sort of exploding shot and then fleeing, but not seeing the person who shot him.
It will
never cause them to lose skills. Even skills that they only know because they were taught by Mathilde - although for that specific edge-case they might forget that they know the skills. It cannot hit procedural memory at all.
To clarify Mindgulp: Firstly: It'll never cause you to erase more than Mindhole would have.
Secondly: People's memories are generally not particularly precise. If a vampire remembers casting Magic Dart at you, it'll take the form of one of the following: "I attacked her", "I cast a spell at her" or "I cast Magic Dart at her". It will never include the techniques used, because the technique of how to cast Magic Dart is stored separately.
Thirdly: Context is a bonus, not a guarantee, and will almost never go beyond one degree. If they remember "I heard about that mage Mathilde" but don't remember who from that's all you'll get, while if they remember "I heard about Mathilde through Bob" then
that's what you'll get.
But you're unlikely to get "I heard about Mathilde through Bob, Tony's mate" - that'll only happen if their internal name for Bob is "Bob, Tony's Mate" - and you'll never get "I heard about Mathilde through Bob, Tony's mate from that Band Camp they went to" because "-from that Band Camp they went to" is stored in a separate 'chunk' of memory.
