Auspex

A predator's senses must be fearfully acute, so many vampires hone sensory talents that start merely as expanded physical senses, but grow until consciousness itself becomes fleeting and sublime. Such a heightened awareness encompasses subtle textures and emotional states, transcending the physical limitations of the body while developing sharpness of the mind.

The powers of Auspex grant the ability to see through supernatural deception. With such focused attention, Auspex can even pierce the veils of Chimerstry and Obfuscate. Whenever Auspex is active, a user of Auspex automatically sees through all lower levels of Obfuscate and Chimerstry, but cannot see through higher levels of Obfuscate or Chimerstry. If an Auspex user is tied in level of power with his challenger, a Mental Challenge is used to pierce the illusion.

The Auspex Discipline is most evidenced by the Tremere, Tzimisce and Malkavian clans, who use it for supernatural insights, and by the Toreador, who use their superb senses in conjunction with their artistic work.

Passive: Each level of Auspex grants the kindred an additional Mental trait.

Powers (Mental - Investigation)

⚫ Heightened Senses (Dismissable)

Challenge: N/A Cost: None Duration: Activated

One of the vampire's senses becomes preternaturally sharp. Gain a +2 Mental Trait bonus to any perception or detection-related challenges. Any overwhelming sensory information that occurs while this power is active (i.e. bright flashes with heightened sight, loud noises with heightened hearing, angry skunk with heightened smell) cause the user to be Stunned (unable to declare actions) for a full round unless they spend a Willpower. This power also allows the user to move their senses 5 steps in any direction provided they have a line of effect to their destination.

Blindness has three penalties associated with it. -1 trait, Blindness retest, -1 trait.

Heightened senses, Eyes of the beast, Oblivion sight and Blindfighting remove them in order the order listed above. Having one removes the one trait penalty. Having two removes one trait penalty and the retest. Having all three removes both trait penalties and the retest.

⚫⚫ Aura Perception

Challenge: N/A Cost: N/A Duration: Instant

By watching a person or object, you can detect the swirling miasma of psychic influences and energies that swirl around everything. Focusing this sight on a particular person or object allows you to gain significant information about it. You must be able to see your target to use Aura Perception. After spending a turn and making a Static Mental Challenge with a difficulty of 10 traits for creatures and 15 traits for objects, you may ask a question.

If targeting a person, you may ask the target's current emotional/mental state, whether he is under the effect of any type of magic, whether he has committed diablerie, or what manner of creature (Vampire, Garou, Mortal, etc.) he is.

If targeting an object, you may ask a Narrator who last touched the object, whether it was used in an emotionally charged act (a murder, romance, maniacal rage), or what strong emotions drove an individual using the object.

Additionally, Aura Perception allows the user to sense ghosts and astral forms. Ghosts' auras appear as pale and flickering, which is insufficient to identify a ghost or distinguish between them.

⚫⚫⚫ Telepathic Communication (Dismissable)

Challenge: N/A Cost: N/A Duration: Concentration

Telepathic Communication allows you to establish a single direction of telepathic contact with a target whom you know the exact location of, allowing you to speak in their mind. Images cannot be transmitted, as the link is not strong enough to convey anything other than words. Communication occurs at the speed of speech, and does not break through language barriers. You must have a language in common with your target, and must use a language they understand in order to convey your thoughts to them.

⚫⚫⚫⚫ Mind Probe

Challenge: Mentals (Investigate) vs. Mentals (None) Cost: N/A Duration: Instant

By piercing the mind of a target who you can see, you gain the ability to sift through their memories and consciousness and pluck out information from their very mind. Engage in a Mental Challenge with your target and spend a Willpower Trait if she is supernatural. If you succeed, you establish a brief link that allows you to scan their thoughts. While plucking thoughts from a victim, you may ask a single question and have it answered truthfully to the best of their knowledge. In addition to the list of questions available with Aura Perception, you could ask about the appearance of a person, place or thing that the subject has mentioned, what that person, place or thing's name is, what details the target has omitted from a previously answered question, if any, what the true answer is to something the target has lied about, what memories the target has of a particular conversation or anything of the sort. If you are probing an unwilling target, you must make a separate Mental Challenge for each question you ask.

With effort, you can delve deeper into the mind to uncover hidden secrets, motives or buried memories. Doing so allows you to ask more detailed questions than with a surface scan. You may ask about flaws or Derangements. At Storyteller discretion, you may detect clumsy uses of Dominate, but with a great deal of effort. You may only target one subject at a time.

You do not get pictures but descriptions with Mind Probe

Having this power also upgrades Aura perception. For the cost of an investigation retest you may also ask if the last thing a target said was true or not.

⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫ Astral Projection (Dismissable)

Challenge: N/A Cost: 1 Willpower (Temp) Duration: Until Sunrise

You may project your consciousness from your body. This costs a willpower. Your body can remain conscious through this however you cannot perform actions simultaneously with your astral form and your physical form. you continue to perceive your environment around your physical form, you may not move both forms at once. An astral form moves at roughly 100kph. You can not under any circumstances affect the physical world where your astral projection forms. You can spend a willpower to be seen and heard by entities that have mental traits in a single room for an hour. This manifestation is visible for an hour. Leaving the room breaks the visibility effect to become yet again visible takes another point of willpower. Only Auspex powers may be used while in Astral Form. This power can be ended at will. While in astral projection you only have access to the senses of sight and sound.

An ethereal silver cord connects the wearer to his body, however, should this cord be severed (Which is super hard to do) the kindred may be forever lost, unable to return to his body, Trapped in the astral realm. You can not travel further than 2 miles outside the city you inhabit or 10-mile radius if you are in the wilderness

Some things that can affect astral cords.

Gates to other planes, Rank 5 Garou Gift, Auspex and Mytheceria 9, Demons.

Auspex

⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫ Expanded horizons

Challenge: None

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

This power upgrades both Telepathy and Aura percept. For aura percept it allows the kindred to see the aura - and creature type of every being in a room with a single simple check. (10 traits no retests.) ( Please don't interrupt elysium with a bunch of applications of this power if it's not important.) For telepathy it allows you to have up to 5 people in a single telepathic conversation.

⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫ The Gist of It

Challenge: None

Cost: 1 investigation, or Willpower.

Duration: Action

Touch a hard-drive, book, journal, or other devices that stores information. You may ask staff one question about its contents per investigation spent. This can’t give you information that doesn't exist in the object, and only gives you broad strokes. This sees around language barriers.. You can spend willpower in addition to the investigation to ask a specific pointed question about the object. If the information does not exist within the object then you get your willpower back. This sees around language barriers.

Power was created in the 1000’s to aid with translation, it's seeing a resurgence in the birth of the digital age.

⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫ Sight of Sights

Challenge: None

Cost: None

Duration: Passive

The Kindred can see immaterial beings. This does not allow them to communicate clearly unless the being knows sign language. Using Empathy (Dif 2), the vampire can attempt to puzzle out general emotional impressions. The user can spend an empathy retest to evoke a single word through the use of body language and intent. They can also obviously discern pointing and ask yes-no questions... If the immaterial being is capable of understanding English. (Weaker spirits do not speak English typically, hence the existence of spirit speech) This power also allows you to see Immaterial Wraiths, Astral Forms, and anything just hanging out in the Lower or Middle umbra. ( remember to remind the ST of a scene you have this power if you want to be using it)

As a final benefit, this power removes the need to make a challenge to use Aura sight, you still have to designate the target and which version you're using.