Auspex

Heightened Senses is always active. A character's heightened vision allows her to see clearly, even in total darkness, and to understand sounds too quiet for normal people to hear. When a character with Heightened Senses comes within two steps of an individual hidden by supernatural concealment, such as Obfuscate, the character with Heightened Senses automatically realizes that someone is nearby, although she does not know who or precisely where to find that someone. Heightened Senses provides only a vague warning that something is out of place. When something blinds you, your hearing can provide adequate compensation for the loss of vision. Normally, characters who cannot see while in combat must use the Fighting Blind combat maneuver. So long as your character's hearing is unimpaired, you may fight without needing the Fighting Blind combat maneuver. If you spend 1 point of Blood and take a standard action, your character sharpens her senses even further. If you do so, you will automatically notice any mundanely hidden objects within line of sight, and you may make an opposed challenge using the Auspex test pool to discern the details of any person or object hidden with supernatural powers, as well as illusionary objects, or objects or people disguised by supernatural powers. If you pierce a supernatural power in this way, you ignore uses of the same power generated by the same user for the next five minutes. If you possess more dots of Auspex than the target possesses of the power she's using to generate the concealment (or illusion), the effects of piercing a power persist for an hour instead of five minutes.

Spend 1 point of Blood and expend a standard action to make an opposed challenge against your target. If you succeed, your character can read the details of a target's aura. Typically, this scrutiny is visual, but any appropriate physical sense may be used. If you are successful, you can discern your target's creature type (vampire, ghoul, vampire possessing a mortal, and so forth), general mood, any immediate violent tendencies, and whether or not the target has diablerized within the past year. This power does not allow the user to read minds or to discern the truth. If you fail the opposed challenge, your target's aura is too murky to make out clearly. Details are vague, and no particular color or pattern seems dominant. The Blood cost to activate Aura Perception is waived if the target relents to the challenge.

Spend 1 point of Blood and use your standard action to touch an object. You can then ask the Storyteller one of the following questions, plus an additional question for every five minutes your character concentrates on the object or location: - Show me the last person who handled the object. Your character receives a vision of the last person to use the object. The vision generally shows the last significant individual, not simply the most recent person who touched the item. - How did the individual die? This question may only be asked when Spirit's Touch is used on a dead body (or part of a dead body). Your character receives a vision of the last few moments of the target's life. - When (or how) was the object last used? Your character gains an image of the item's most recent use and target (a knife stabbing, with the victim's appearance; binoculars looking down, seeing the Prince's car; etc.). If the object was recently involved in an emotional event, such as a murder or a robbery, your character gets a brief glimpse of the emotion, and how it relates to the item. - Are there any strong emotions attached to this object? If someone loves or hates the object, or if any deep emotions are relevant to the object's use, your character will receive such information. This information may be quite old, depending on the object's nature and associations. Some objects or locations have particularly strong emotional connections. Your Storyteller may elect to provide one or more answers for free when a character uses Spirit's Touch on such an emotionally charged target. Characters using any level of Obfuscate who handle an object or visit a location do not leave psychic impressions. For the purposes of this power, corpses (including the corpses of supernatural creatures and the ashes of vampires) count as objects and may be targeted by Spirit's Touch. Vampires who have not met Final Death do not count as corpses.

To activate Telepathy upon a willing target, simply spend 1 point of Blood. No challenge is required, and the target can be located anywhere within the same city (or 50-mile radius of your character's location). This application of Telepathy specifically does not require line of sight. Telepathy allows the character and her target to send and receive mental messages and simple images. If you attempt to use Telepathy on an unwilling target, spend 1 point of Blood and make an opposed challenge against the target, who must be in line of sight. If you succeed, your character can send one image or a brief message (something you could say in less than 10 seconds) to the target. Alternately, your character may pull one image or specific piece of information out of the mind of an unwilling target. The information you gain in this way must answer one of the following questions (your choice): - What are you currently thinking about? - What does that person or thing you just described look like? - Where is the person or object you were just talking about located? - Do you like or dislike the person you're currently talking to? - What are you planning to do in the next few minutes? - Is there another entity or consciousness within this body? If a willing character becomes unwilling during a telepathic session, the character using Telepathy must immediately spend 1 point of Blood and succeed in an opposed challenge or be ejected from the now-unwilling character's mind. When communicating with a willing target, a single use of Telepathy lasts for an hour, but you can only mentally communicate with one person at a time. If you activate Telepathy on a second target, the first contact immediately ends. An individual cannot utilize other powers (such as the Dominate powers of Command, Mesmerism, or Forgetful Mind) in conjunction with Telepathy. The telepath has the option to make herself known when communicating. Otherwise, the target can determine the identity of the telepath by succeeding in an opposed Awareness challenge.

To activate Psychic Projection, you must spend 1 point of Blood and expend a standard action meditating. This expenditure allows the character to project her awareness outside of her physical form. While a character is in Psychic Projection, her body lies in a torpor-like state. If her body is damaged, the Psychic Projection automatically ends, and the individual's consciousness returns instantly to her physical form. A character's Psychic Projection is an idealized version of her normal appearance. While this image may be clothed in golden robes, shine with a halo of silver light, or have shaggy fur, it's always recognizable as your character. A psychic form travels at roughly 50 miles per hour and can pass through solid objects, but cannot interact with the physical world in any way. The only powers you can use while in Psychic Projection are the first 4 dots of Auspex; you cannot use other disciplines, elder powers of Auspex, or techniques (even those based on Auspex) while in this state. A psychic form is invisible to those without Heightened Senses or similar supernatural abilities. You can spend 1 Blood to manifest (your torporous body expends this Blood), making your psychic form visible, as though materially present for one turn. While the character is still intangible and cannot physically interact, a manifested psychic form can be seen and heard normally and can be targeted by Mental and Social powers by those in the material world. Individuals with Heightened Senses or similar supernatural abilities can see the vague outline of an individual in Psychic Projection even when that individual has not manifested, but the observer cannot make out details, see gestures, or hear the projected character's voice unless she manifests. Two individuals who are both in Psychic Projection can interact with one another normally, and may even engage in combat through punching or other unarmed Physical attacks. A successful blow from another psychic individual doesn't inflict damage; it instead costs the victim 1 Willpower. If the victim runs out of Willpower, her Psychic Projection immediately ends and cannot be reactivated for 10 minutes. Remember that only the first 4 dots of Auspex can be used in Psychic Projection; a character cannot use other powers (even against other projecting individuals) and possesses no equipment other than simple clothing while in this state.

To activate Clairvoyance, spend 1 Blood and expend a standard action. Your perceptions split, allowing you to focus on a familiar person, place, or object without losing the ability to perceive your current surroundings. If you use Clairvoyance on a supernatural creature, or on an object in the possession of a supernatural creature, you must make an opposed challenge against your target, or the individual controlling the object, using the Auspex test pool. If successful, you can see, hear, and otherwise sense the area around your target as though you are in its presence. If you observe a location with which you are familiar, no challenge is required, and your Clairvoyance automatically succeeds. Your Clairvoyance lasts for five minutes for each dot you possess of the Investigation skill. If you use Clairvoyance to spy on a character who is in multiple places at the same time, or a character whose physical form has been split into more than one piece, you must choose which location you would like to perceive when you activate Clairvoyance. Thereafter, if you choose to perceive the alternate location, you must activate Clairvoyance again. For example, if you use Clairvoyance to spy on a target using Possession or Psychic Projection, you may choose to spy on the target's native body or on the location of her sentience. Similarly, if you choose to spy on a character whose heart has been removed, you may choose to perceive the body's surroundings or the area where the target's heart is located. You can only utilize other Auspex powers, not elder powers or techniques, through Clairvoyance, so long as you can fulfill the other requirements of those powers. A character can use Heightened Senses to smell a candle through Clairvoyance, but cannot touch the wax to activate Spirit's Touch. Because you are not physically present, your Heightened Senses cannot forewarn you about the proximity of Obfuscated individuals or illusions. You can still spend 1 Blood to sharpen your senses, in the hope of detecting such effects. If your target is hidden by a power that grants invisibility, such as Unseen Presence, you must overcome the target's Obfuscate in order to use Clairvoyance on that individual. Make a challenge using your Mental attribute + Investigation versus the target's Mental attribute + Willpower, or Mental attribute + Stealth (the target's choice). A character cannot have multiple applications of Clairvoyance active at the same time.

Spend 1 Blood and expend a standard action to attack your opponent's mind with Psychic Assault. Make an opposed challenge against your opponent, using the Auspex test pool. If you succeed, your victim takes 4 points of normal damage. The damage dealt by Psychic Assault cannot be reduced or negated by armor or supernatural resistances, such as Fortitude. A character attacked by a Psychic Assault immediately knows where the attack originated and from which individual in that location (if more than one person is in the area). You can repeatedly activate Psychic Assault against the same target; this is an exception to the rule that prohibits a character from using a power on the same target immediately after failing. If you fail a Psychic Assault against an opponent, you can try again against that same opponent (or someone else) on the next turn.

Spend Blood and a simple action to activate this power. Fog of War lasts for 10 minutes per point of Blood spent to fuel this power. By activating the power, you gain a hazy top-down view of a battlefield at which you are present. The area perceived will appear superimposed over your normal vision. The area can vary in size, covering the entire space involved in the current combat scenario, whether that is a small room with only a couple of combatants or an area that is miles across and populated by opposing armies. You can only activate this power when you have already detected enemies nearby and a battle must be imminent or have already begun. This power does not work across the Shroud or other mystical realms, even if the battlefield extends to those areas. While this power is active, you automatically know the numbers and locations of enemy forces, even seeing through intervening barriers such as walls or ceilings. This power does not extend your field of vision for the purpose of activating other disciplines or powers. Enemies perceived through the use of this power appear distorted and shrouded in symbolism although you can identify those with whom you have familiarity. You also know exactly when and where new foes enter the battle or if current ones leave. If any enemies are obscured by supernatural concealment, you still know their total number, but this power does not reveal their locations. If you choose, you may share the tactical information gleaned through your battlefield perspective, either verbally or through powers such as Telepathy; however, you must actively communicate such knowledge and other parties cannot passively share your vision, even telepathically. In addition, if this power is used to observe any challenge within your normal line of sight, you are able to recognize the nature of the challenge, including any powers used, as long as you possess the appropriate knowledge or Lore skill specialization. You also understand the nature of the outcome, including damage dealt. When observing a challenge, once per turn you may choose to offer a participant of your choice the opportunity to spend your Willpower instead of her own to perform a retest. This retest is handled like any other Willpower retest, except you pay the cost instead of the selected participant. In addition, this retest successfully works in tandem with any other defensive powers your recipient may possess, such as Dancer's Grace, and any effects that apply to your spending of Willpower in challenges, such as Supreme Resolve or Duty of Kings. This power does not override effects that forbid the target from making a Willpower retest or increase its cost.

Spend 1 point of Blood and a standard action to attack your opponent's mind. Make an opposed challenge against your target using the Auspex test pool. If you succeed, your victim loses 2 points of Willpower; however, her Willpower cannot be reduced below zero. For the remainder of the turn, you may spend the points of Willpower you removed from your opponent as if they were your own, though they do not count toward your defensive pools. If you do not use these Willpower points before the turn expires, you lose them at the end of the turn. A character attacked by a Psychic Drain immediately knows where the attack originated from and who the attacker was if there is more than one individual in that location. You can use Psychic Drain on subsequent actions against the same target even if you lose the opposed challenge; this is an exception to the rule that prohibits a character from using a power on the same target immediately after failing.

Once purchased this power is always active. So long as your target is within your line of sight, you no longer need your target's Gaze and Focus to use other powers on them. This power cannot be used with elder powers or luminary powers. In addition, other characters are not immediately aware when you fail a Mental or Social challenge, nor can they attempt to notice the successful use of your powers with the Awareness skill. Further, you may elect to use your Subterfuge skill to make it seem as though another character of your choosing within three steps of you used the power you activated so long as the Social or Mental power is not obvious, such as Dread Gaze. You may use the Subterfuge skill benefit granted by this power any number of times per night. This is an exception to the rule governing maximum uses of the Subterfuge skill.

You may activate this power at any time, even outside your initiative order. Spend 3 points of Blood and designate a number of targets that are within your line of sight up to your dots in the Awareness skill. For the duration of the combat — including rounds that you do not have an action — whenever you engage in an opposed Physical challenge against the designated targets and you spend one or more points of Willpower to retest, you immediately regain a single point of Willpower. Once Mirror Reflexes is activated, you do not need to maintain line of sight against your designated targets to benefit from this power.