ESP

ESP

Key Attribute: Focus or Spirit

ESP represents the ability to sense things outside ones normal range of perception. This includes the ability to see through objects, hear noises above or below the normal human range of sound, locate objects or people (also known as “scrying”) and so forth.

Using ESP actively allows a character to do the following:

• Abysmal (-3): Your attempt fails and you lose your ESP ability for 1 hour.
• Poor (-2): The attempt simply fails.
• Mediocre (-1): The character may see, hear, or locate at a range of up to 10 feet.
• Fair (0): The character may see, hear, or locate at a range of 100 feet.
• Good (+1): The character may see, hear, or locate at a range of up to 1,000 feet.
• Great (+2): The character may see, hear, or locate at a range of 1 mile.
• Superb (+3): The character may see, hear, or locate at a range of up to 10 miles.
• Wonderful (+4): The character may see, hear, or locate at a range of up to 100 miles.
• Phenomenal (+5): The character may see, hear, or locate at a range of up to 1,000 miles.
• Extraordinary (+6): The character may see, hear, or locate at a range of up to 10,000 miles.
• Astonishing (+7): The character can see, hear, or locate at any distance and even across planes of existence (Material to Astral or ‘Net, for example).

ESP results are always real-time. Characters can choose to either see, hear, or both see and hear what is happening at the target location. Characters who do not wish to be located by someone using ESP may make an opposed Mind check to avoid being located. The scryer (the person using ESP) may not necessarily know that his attempts are being blocked.

Certain materials and devices may block ESP. Lead is notorious for its ability to block scrying attempts; 1 inch of lead within 5 feet of the scrying target or location imposes a -3 penalty on all attempts to use ESP in that area. Certain antipsi devices may impose similar penalties with varying degrees of effectiveness. One example might be a magic device designed to dampen scrying or other mental powers, which may impose penalties or negate attempts entirely.

Example Fault: Seer; the character may only use ESP to see things at a distance, not hear them. She may be able to watch two people talking on the other side of a closed door, but she would not be able to hear their conversation. A similar fault would be Listener, which would allow a character to hear, but not see, what is happening at a distance.

Premonition

Key Attribute: Spirit

Premonition is a sub-school of ESP that works only passively, meaning that the character does not choose when to activate it. Instead, the GM makes a secret check against the character’s Spirit attribute. If the check succeeds, the character gains some piece of information that he otherwise would not have perceived, such as an incoming attack from a shadowed thug, a warning about a nearby danger, or a vision about a terrible upcoming event. The GM should use his best discretion when determining how much of the story or information he wants to give to the character and use his degree of success as a yardstick for how much the character can truly perceive.

If the GM rolls secretly for the character and fails, he may opt to give the character false information. When doing so, it is advised that the GM spend one of his own Glitches to trigger the failed ability, since the false information may adversely affect the game.

Example Gift: Combat Sense; the character is especially aware of incoming attacks. Opponents in combat never gain a bonus against him for catching him unaware.