Clairsentience

Clairsentience

50 points

You can displace all of your ranged senses (for humans: sight, hearing, and smell) to a point outside your body. This "viewpoint" must be a specific location within 10 yards. You can modify this range with Increased Range or Reduced Range. You can double your range temporarily by spending 2 FP per minute.

To initiate Clairsentience, pick the desired viewpoint (which can be inside something) and its facing, concentrate for one minute, and then make an IQ roll. If the viewpoint is out of sight, you must specify distance and direction, and the roll is at -5.

On a success, you can use your ranged senses as if you were physically present at the viewpoint (this means you cannot sense the environment around your body!). Your vision ignores darkness penalties completely. You cannot see through solid objects, but if your viewpoint were inside (for example) a closed chest, you would see what was inside despite the lack of light. If you are using or subjected to range-dependent abilities (e.g., spells), calculate all ranges from your body, not your viewpoint. You can maintain Clairsentience for as long as you like.

On failure by 1, your senses go to some other viewpoint of the GM's choosing. On any greater failure, nothing happens at all. Critical failure cripples your ability for 1d hours.

To return your displaced senses, move them elsewhere, or change their facing (usually only important for vision), you must concentrate for one second and make another IQ roll. However, a viewpoint inside a moving object (e.g., a car) will move with that object with no special concentration on your part. You can only have one viewpoint at a time – you cannot put hearing in one location, vision in another, etc.

Special Limitations

Clairaudience: Only your sense of hearing is displaced. -30%.

Clairosmia: Only your sense of smell is displaced. -60%.

Clairvoyance: Only your sense of sight is displaced. -10%.

ESP: Your ability is part of the ESP psi power. -10%.

Visible: Your senses have a visible manifestation – for instance, a floating face. -10%.

Powers Book

With suitable modifiers, Clairsentience can emulate almost any kind of remote viewing. In a "realistic" setting, most psychics should have Clairaudience (-30%) or Clairvoyance (-10%), as few claim to have full Clairsentience. On the other hand, high levels of Increased Range are appropriate – global range (Increased Range 19, +190%) appears to be commonplace among remote viewers.

Supers, gods, and other high-powered types know no such limits. They're likely to have one or more of the powerful special enhancements below.

Alternatives

Use Detect for abilities that let the user know "something is there" but little else. Penetrating Vision is a better choice for the hero who can see through distant objects. Scanning Sense – notably Para-Radar – is more suitable for extrasensory abilities with pseudo-scientific explanations.

New Special Enhancements

Aware: You can sense the environment around your body while using your ability. You can still only pay attention to one set of senses. At the start of each turn in combat, state whether you're giving priority to your natural senses or your remote ones. Concentrating to move or change the facing of your displaced senses automatically gives them priority, unless you also have Second Nature (below). All tasks that depend on the senses you aren't prioritizing – including attack rolls, defense rolls, and Sense rolls – are at -4. +50%.

Projection: You don't merely send your senses out of body...you send out your consciousness. Your body falls unconscious unless you also have Aware. Your projected self is only vulnerable to spells, mental abilities, Maledictions, etc. See Projection for other rules. +0% if you can only affect the insubstantial world (a new capability that balances leaving your body unconscious, not just insensible); +140% if you can use spells, mental abilities, and Maledictions on the material world from your viewpoint, too. If others can see your projection, take Visible as well.

Second Nature: Your ability is reflexive. You can initiate it as a free action and change viewpoints as quickly as you can shift your gaze. You still need to concentrate for a minute and make an IQ-5 roll if your desired viewpoint is out of sight, with the usual bad effects on a failure. This enhancement is cheaper than Reduced Time, but only applies to Clairsentience. +70%.

Powering Up

This advantage (often limited with Clairaudience, Clairosmia, or Clairvoyance) is one of the definitive abilities of ESP. With the Projection enhancement, it's also a perfect fit for Astral Projection. Modifiers can adapt it to many other supernatural powers – notably spirit powers. Talent adds to IQ rolls to activate the ability and shift viewpoints, and to all Sense rolls to spot things while using this ability.