Sensory Powers

The twenty-six sensory powers are special abilities which allow their possessor to perceive that which normal humans most often cannot. These abilities range from simple enhancements of existing sensory apparatus to all-new senses that normal humans can barely imagine. While not inherently offensive like most other ascendant abilities, sensory powers allow their wielders to do more simply because they know more.

A B C E F I L M N O P R S T U

A

Atomic Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: danger sense, environmental sense, microscopic vision, object sympathy, super senses, transparent vision.

Atomic sense is an ability which allows its wielder to 'sweep' a given area for atoms. It works within a space as described on the Middle range table, giving the character with this sensory ability a very wide radius with which to find what he or she is looking for. For example, a hero with Excellent (20) ranked atomic sense can scan anywhere within 20 areas of his or her person for all kinds of matter.

Finding pure, uncombined elements simply requires a green atomic sense ACTION roll, while locating a specific kind of molecular compound takes a yellow ACTION. Red ACTION rolls are usually only necessary when trying to uncover matter of a non-standard sort, such as campaign-specific super-materials, or those which behave differently due to being saturated by magical, psionic, or deionic energies.

Related Powers: danger sense, environmental sense, microscopic vision, object sympathy, super senses, transparent vision.

B

Biological Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal control, animal sympathy, danger sense, environmental sense, macro sense, microscopic vision, origin sense, plant sympathy.

This sensory ability allows its possessor an awareness of other life forms in his or her vicinity. Unless entities are cloaked somehow, this sense will automatically pinpoint every living thing within its range, as determined on the Middle range table. This use of the biological sense does not discriminate at all, and while it requires no roll it also provides no specific information about the huge amount of life forms so noted.

Attempting an ACTION allows the wielder of this power to fine tune what they're perceiving, however.

A green biological sense ACTION indicates the types of biological forms present, such as plants, animals, and fungi, and allows the character to 'screen out' unwanted forms of life. A yellow ACTION roll allows the inspection of individual life forms, determining particular and specific data about each one and how it functions. A red biological sense ACTION even allows the character to pick out a specific entity amongst similar life forms.

C

Circular Vision
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: light control (depending on the type), super senses, unusual sensitivity.

This curious sensory ability allows its wielder to see in a full 360 degrees. Whether this is an arc in the horizontal, vertical, or both depends on the physiology of the character in question. It can be achieved in a number of fashions, from the obvious physical placement of optical sense organs to more subtle means, up to and including the actual bending of ambient light waves.

Circular vision that is the result of passive abilities (inherent to one's anatomy) cannot be negated, being a function of one's physiology. It can be provided by either curiously placed optical sense organs, the presence of light-sensitive pits on one's skin, or other, more specialized methods. If the method of attaining circular vision alters one's appearance, compared to the norm, the character suffers a -1 CS to their Popularity.

Or, alternately, should adopt the Abnormal Attribute quirk, instead.

As an active ability, circular vision can come in a variety of forms, from a specialized trick of light control to a sort of psionic sense which lets you see in a bird's eye view, as if watching oneself from the vantage point of a video game. While these provide the advantage of hiding one's circular vision from obvious detection, they can be negated by various means, depending on their nature.

The 'game' advantage of circular vision, aside from being surprised less, is a general increase in one's Fighting score (+1 CS). Of course, if one loses their circular vision for some reason (power negation, etc.), this bonus will transform into a -1 CS penalty to one's Fighting rank for the duration of the negation.

E

Energy Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: environmental sense, infravision, macro sense, magic sense, microscopic vision, origin sense, object sympathy, psi sense, radar sense, radivision, theonic sense, ultravision, various energy control and generation powers.

This super-human sensory capacity allows its wielder an inherent awareness of the energies that permeate his or her environment. With a range as is determined on the Middle range table, characters with this ability can see all active energy sources within a generally considerable distance of their person. The thing to keep in mind is that this sense can detect energy in use, but not potential energy.

In other words, energy sense will be able to detect things such as the electricity in a wire beneath the ground or the radio signals floating above - but not the potential energy stored in, say, a gallon of gasoline. Once that fuel is burned to perform work its energy will be apparent, but while dormant it, and other such things, will be 'invisible' to this sense.

F

Flaw Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: macro sense, nonapparent vision, transparent vision.

The flaw sense is an uncanny knack for finding the inherent weakness(es) of a person, place, or thing. A green ACTION roll will determine a physical weakness or stress point, a yellow ACTION can showcase mental shortcomings or problems, and a red flaw sense ACTION roll will reveal weak points of almost any nature - whether physical, mental, or metaphysical (and how to exploit them).

Having this knowledge doesn't necessarily mean you can take advantage of it. But if you can, the benefit is that if you can strike with a yellow result in whatever manner will best affect a given target's flaw, you can inflict considerably more damage. Upon achieving this, one's damage will be increased up to an amount equal to their flaw sense's rank, representing a devastating blow (minimum +1 CS damage).

Furthermore, the target must pass a red Endurance (res) ACTION roll to avoid being Stunned for 1d10 turns.

I

Infravision
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: cold generation, energy sense, fire generation, fire control, heat generation, radivision, screened senses, super tracking, telescopic vision, temperature control, ultravision.

An enhanced form of standard vision, infravision expands one's ordinary sight to include information from the infrared spectrum. This grants a character a number of useful abilities, such as being able to see in otherwise dark conditions, and perceiving relative temperature levels in the environment. The latter is especially useful when tracking a target, as one can estimate not only where they have gone, but how long ago.

The only downside of infravision is that it makes one vulnerable to blinding attacks that won't affect others with normal vision. Powerful heat sources may blind the infravisual individual even while his or her allies are completely oblivious to what ails them, and the character is at -1 CS to resist such effects. The only way to avoid this is with the addition of the screened senses ability - which reduces this one by -1 CS.

L

Locational Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: dimensional transit, finding, super digging, teleportation, time travel.

The inverse of telelocation, locational sense is an ability which allows its wielder to know their precise, seven-dimensional coordinates relative to a chosen point of reference. Such a reference point can be anything the possessor of this sense chooses, such as one's place of birth, one's time of birth, their current home, or even something less personal, like last Thursday, or mile marker 329 on Nebraska's stretch of I-80.

Pinpointing one's relative position in standard dimensions merely requires a green ACTION roll (latitude and/or longitude, distances, et cetera). A yellow ACTION adds time to the equation (3.5 hours since I woke up, or some such). A red ACTION roll includes other planes of existence in the mix (am I in the right timeline, how many planes am I from Asgard, and so on).

While seemingly simple in scope, locational sense ensures one will never be lost. Even if they're not quite sure how to make it back home.

M

Macro Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: biological sense, danger sense, energy sense, environmental sense, flaw sense, nativity sense, nonapparent vision, origin sense, self control, super senses.

This potent ability allows a character to tap into a vast external source of information. His or her mind may be privy to the nature of reality itself, or it might instead subconsciously link up with the knowledge of all other sentient beings. Either way, they can use this link to study a person, place, or thing of interest exhaustively, learning about the entire existence of the subject of their inquiry.

The amount of information that this power can cull from... wherever... is typically overwhelming, no matter how specific a query may at first seem to be. Finding general or simple information about a subject requires a green ACTION, while more complex and intimate details may take a yellow ACTION roll. A red ACTION might even be required for particularly obscure, arcane, or secret and forbidden lore.

One thing a character with macro sense can do without an ACTION roll is track extremely powerful entities in his or her area. They will automatically sense sources of Class 1000 or greater power within their vicinity, as determined by the Far range table.

Macro sense is a very potent ability, and often allows a character to know things that 'man was not meant to know'. While incredibly handy, this access to unbelievable amounts of data can have a chilling effect on one's mind. In addition to causing tendencies of omniscience (and why not, really), macro sense can actually prove a threat to one's sanity if it is used too much in a short period of time.

The 'safe' amount of use for macro sense is once a day, plus one for every rank of Reason a character has over Feeble (2). A hero with Remarkable (30) ranked Reason, then, can use this ability six times in one day without causing themselves undue harm. If this amount is exceeded, the Judge may make a secret Reason ACTION roll for the character. If it fails, the character might slip into temporary insanity.

Driven mad after being inundated with too much data, the character may drift into catatonic withdrawal - or just ceaselessly gibber at anyone they see. Typically, this madness will only last until the character falls unconscious, allowing their mind to process everything it has been exposed to (or at least some of it). But repeated abuse of the power can cause the generation of deleterious mental Quirks - or worse!

Magic Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, nativity sense, origin sense, spectral sense, theonic sense.

A magic sense is the ability to perceive sorcerous energies in one's vicinity. This sense functions on the Near range table, allowing its user to detect the presence and/or usage of anomalous probabilities within a considerable radius of their person. Accomplishing this requires a simple green ACTION roll, unless its user is taking active steps to mask its use. If so, spotting it takes an ACTION of an intensity equal to the masking power.

Other than detecting magic in one's proximity, a magic sense also has additional uses. A yellow ACTION roll allows the possessor of magic sense to determine whether or not magic in play is a result of normal environmental activity (this can be the case on other planes) or what school of magic was used to produce it. A red ACTION can be used to pinpoint exactly which spell is being used on a person, place, or thing.

Microscopic Vision
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: atomic sense, biological sense, energy sense, super senses, super tracking, telescopic vision, transparent vision.

A character with this ability may see small objects, often impossibly so, as if they were of a perfectly normal size. The amount of detail a character can perceive with microscopic vision depends on its rank, and when magnified enough, this ability can actually transcend mere visual data. After all, once you've zoomed in enough that you can discern individual photons, other methods of perception must hold sway.

Generally, a Feeble (2) rank in microscopic vision will allow one to read microfiche, while an Excellent (20) rank lets one view single cells. An Amazing (50) rank allows one to visualize molecules, while Unearthly (100) ranked microscopic vision may perceive individual atoms. The 'Shift' ranks allow one to spy ever-smaller subatomic particles, while the 'Class' ranks can reach even further, down into subatomic worlds!

While microscopic vision can be used to see very small things, they need to be relatively close to be focused in on. The sense itself functions with a range as is determined on the Very Near range table, which is highly limited - but appropriate, considering the physics involved.

N

Nativity Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: dimensional transit, macro sense, magic sense, origin sense, psi sense.

Characters with this sensory capability have the means of detecting when someone or something in their vicinity is not in their proper, seven-dimensional coordinates. Nativity sense will perceive the presence of items out of time as well as those out of space, and can even spot astral forms and other 'snoopy' entities in nearby planes that interface with our own.

This ability works with a range as is determined by the Middle range table. A green ACTION roll is usually all that is necessary to see such things, unless some agency acts to mask their alien nature. To spot these cloaked persons or items, a character with a nativity sense must pass an ACTION roll against the intensity of whatever extraplanar stealth screen is working against them.

Nonapparent Vision
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: flaw sense, macro sense, spectral sense.

Wielding this facility, a character may peel back the layers of deception and intrigue that may hide any person, place, or thing, and see them as they truly are. This works by passing a nonapparent vision ACTION against the rank of something's disguise. If this ACTION is successful, nonapparent vision will allow the character using it to see the object of his or her study in its true form.

It doesn't matter if their target is physically shape changed, masked by illusions, psionically trying to convince you they are not what they appear, or anything else - nonapparent vision can 'see' through all of these efforts if it can beat the intensity of said disguise.

O

Origin Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: biological sense, energy sense, macro sense, magic sense, nativity sense, psi sense, theonic sense.

The wielder of an origin sense has the ability to look at a being, and to determine a) if they possess super-human abilities of any type, or b) what form those abilities take. The first of these is simple; unless a target is cloaking its nature somehow, origin sense will determine whether or not they have powers on a green ACTION. This is somewhat binary in nature, though, as you either have powers or you don't.

An origin sense is more useful when its wielder can determine what kind of powers their target possesses, however. A yellow ACTION can showcase things like the origin of one's powers (hence the name), determining things like aberrant genes, sorcerous training, deific imbuement, etc. Red ACTIONs are required when trying to guess what specific power(s) a body has access to - can they fly or shoot beams from their eyes?

This power often comes in a much more limited form. Some people only have the ability to detect mutants, or psis, or whatever. Such 'handicapped' versions of origin sense are considered extremely limited, and thus function at a +4 CS (or alternately cost four points less).

Origin sense itself only functions within a relatively close range, as is determined by the Near table.

P

Psi Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, magic sense, nativity sense, origin sense, spectral sense, theonic sense.

A psi sense is the ability to perceive psionic activity in one's vicinity.

This sense functions on the Near range table, allowing its user to detect the presence of and/or use of psi or antipsi particles within a considerable radius of his or her person. Typically, merely sensing the presence of psi requires but a simple green ACTION roll, unless its user is taking active steps to mask its use. If so, detecting the psi requires an ACTION against an intensity equal to the masking power's.

Other than detecting the use of psionic power in one's proximity, a psi sense also has additional uses. A yellow psi sense ACTION allows the possessor of this ability to determine if the psionic in play was either natural or trained in nature and, if the latter, what discipline of power is in use. A red ACTION roll can be used to pinpoint exactly which psionic is being wielded (or was used recently) on a person, place, or thing.

R

Radar Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, radio wave control, radio wave generation, resistance (radio waves).

The principle of RAdio Detection And Ranging, radar is a means of using electromagnetic waves to produce a three-dimensional representation of one's surroundings. The character with a radar sense can continuously emit radio waves and, by parsing the changes in the waves that are reflected back to them, create an image of an area without actually seeing it - detailing both the shape and relative position of nearby objects.

This power functions on the Middle range table, allowing its wielder to perceive a wide area around their person - though in a heavily cluttered or urban area, this may be reduced to the Near range table - or even Very Near! Furthermore, this sense, while active, assumes a greater receptivity for radio and microwave radiation, causing its wielder to suffer a -1 CS resistance to such (+1 CS to damage if no resistance is available).

Radivision
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, infravision, radiation control, radiation generation, radio wave generation, screened senses, telescopic vision, transparent vision, ultravision.

Radivision is the ability to perceive the extreme ends of the electromagnetic spectrum. While infravision covers infrared waves, and ultravision will grant access to ultraviolet radiation, radivision moves further along the spectrum - in both directions. In other words, it allows one to perceive ambient radio, micro, and terahertz waves on the low end of the EM band, and x-rays, gamma radiation, and cosmic rays on the high end.

Characters with radivision can see by the 'light' of these odd portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, meaning that they will hardly ever be subject to true 'dark' conditions - particularly on the surface of the earth! The downside of this is that a character with radivision is subject to blinding caused by exceptionally powerful sources of these forms of radiation (-1 CS to resist such effects).

Avoiding this penalty requires the use of the screened senses ability, though it inflicts a -1 CS on this sensory rank in exchange.

S

Sonar Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: screened senses, sound control, sound generation, super senses, vocal control.

The principle of SOund Navigation And Ranging, also known as sonar, involves the use of sound waves to produce a three-dimensional representation of one's surroundings. By parsing the sound waves striking his or her body, characters with a sonar sense can mentally construct an image of their environment, noting both the shape and relative position of nearby objects. Sonar can be used in an active or passive fashion.

Active sonar involves the character emitting sounds themselves, and then interpreting the reflected 'noise'. Passive sonar, meanwhile, makes use of existing noise to do the same. Active sonar is generally considered more effective, but the problem is that its wielder must reveal themselves by making noise for it to work (and thus, can be easily tracked by other sonar users).

Passive sonar, on the other hand, is generally considered less effective. However, the advantage to its use is that since it utilizes existing sounds to function, passive sonar does not require its user to 'reveal' themselves acoustically. The negative side is that if something isn't giving off any sound, the character wielding passive sonar might not perceive them with this sense at all.

The plus side of all this is that a character may wield passive or active sonar as they see fit, depending on their situation. Mind you, they can easily limit themselves to just one form of this ability, if desired. This is considered a strong limitation, offering a +2 CS to the final sonar rank, or alternately, a 2 point reduction in the cost of sonar. Sonar operates on the Near range table - and is useless in a vacuum.

Finally, it should be noted that wielders of sonar (in either flavor) are more susceptible to deafening attacks. Assaults intended to do harm by inflicting hearing damage (temporary or permanent) will inflict +1 CS damage, unless the character also possesses screened senses where their hearing is concerned. The only downside to that is that with screened senses, sonar will function at a -1 CS effectiveness.

Spectral Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: astral projection, energy sense, magic sense, nonapparent vision, psi sense, spectral flame control, spectral flame generation, spectral freedom, theonic sense.

A spectral sense is one which allows its wielder to perceive intelligences Near oneself that are only present in adjacent, higher dimensions. This primarily consists of astral forms and alien entities which might be around the equivalent mindspace, but can also showcase beings in other coterminous realms, or even local disembodied spirits. Unless hidden somehow, these intelligences will be revealed on a green ACTION roll.

Once a spectral entity is revealed, the wielder of this sensory ability can not only see and hear it, but can communicate back! While a restligeist cannot really communicate, being a non-sentient 'echo' of one's presence, a poltergeist readily can - and usually will. Astral forms and the like may or may not communicate depending on their desires, though usually one in the area is there for purposes of espionage or other subterfuge.

Spectral sense is a powerful tool for investigators of the paranormal, and many seeming charlatans make use of this ability to earn a quiet living for themselves. It is an essential ability for true mediums, as well as anyone else who works with the formerly living.

Super Senses
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: atomic sense, circular vision, macro sense, microscopic vision, screened senses, sonar sense, super tracking, telescopic vision.

Super senses are just what they sound like - a human's ordinary sensory ability heightened to a super-human degree.

How this works is that Intuition ACTIONs based on sensory input will be made at either a +1 CS or super senses rank, whichever is higher. Furthermore, the effective sensory range of a character with super senses is improved by one area; in other words, they wait one more area before applying negative Column Shifts.

Of course, that's not all. Each super sense provides additional abilities above and beyond their heightened range.

These extra abilities function at the super senses' rank. The only real downside to super senses is that they make their bearer more subject to sensory assault. Blinding attacks, piercing sounds, and even noxious odors can easily flatten a character with super senses, as they suffer a -2 CS to resist such assaults. This can be overcome with the screened senses ability, but it inflicts a -1 CS on all enhanced senses.

One thing to keep in mind is that one need not have all of their senses function at a super-human level. Each 'super' sense one removes from this power counts as one step of limitation, either adding a +1 CS to its operating rank or reducing its cost by two points. For example, a character who only wanted super vision would subtract eight points from the cost of this power, or would add a +4 CS to its effective rank.

Super Tracking
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: clairalience, infravision, microscopic vision, psychometry, super senses.

While tracking a target can be a skill in and of itself, this ability infers a super-human degree of prowess in such. Super tracking allows its wielder to pick up on the tell-tale signs of the passage of another, and then follow them back to their source. These can be obvious physical indications of passage, or more obscure signs such as lingering scents, thermal variance near things they've touched, or even psychic residue!

The specific nature of one's tracking ability should be determined when a character is first generated - i.e., how one finds their quarry. A super tracker need not be limited to one of the methods listed above - or others not listed here, for that matter - but doing so is considered a strong limitation. This means the 'handicapped' tracker may either increase this power rank by +2 CS, or reduce its final cost by 2.

T

Technological Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: device sympathy, object sympathy, technical intuition, transception.

A technological sense is the ability to detect the result of living beings altering their environment, whether intentionally or otherwise. This is most often done by sentient beings, or perhaps even their creations, but can occasionally occur when merely 'clever' animals develop primitive technologies. Generally, this ability works within Near distance of its wielder, functioning on anything inside that radius.

A technology's nature determines how difficult spotting it can be. Active systems, whether as simple as a battery or as complex as an atomaton, can be detected on a green ACTION. Inactive manufactured items, ranging from an old highway to a machete, can be found with a yellow power ACTION. Red ACTION rolls are typically necessary only when looking for obscure items, such as a narrow path worn by animals over time.

Telescopic Vision
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: infravision, microscopic vision, radivision, super senses, transparent vision, ultravision.

A character with this ability may see distant objects, often vastly so, as if they were within the same room. His or her eyes function as an incredible pair of binoculars, being able to effectively focus on objects within their line-of-sight with ease. The upper range of this power is indicated on the Very Far range table, meaning telescopic vision can easily be used to perceive objects on other planets!

Of course, such events wouldn't necessarily be live, unless said planets were very close. The thing to keep in mind with telescopic vision is, though it has a truly astounding range, this ability is bound by the laws of relativity - especially the speed of light. While a high enough rank of telescopic vision can perceive events in neighboring star systems, the light it picks up will be several years old as seen from earth.

On the other hand, telescopic vision can be readily coupled with other vision-based powers, to extend their useful range considerably as well - even microscopic vision!

Theonic Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, magic sense, origin sense, psi sense, spectral sense.

This sensory ability allows its possessor an awareness of all deionic forces present within his or her immediate area, as defined by the Near range table. Such forces can come in the form of mortal characters wielding theonic energies (deionicists, clericists), artifacts forged by gods possibly long since lost to modern knowledge, or perhaps even honest to goodness immortal beings.

Generally, only a green power ACTION roll is required to sense deionic objects, energies, or entities in one's vicinity; they tend to stand out, after all. However, certain abilities act to mask a theonic presence, such as mortal guise. One must pass a power ACTION roll against the intensity of such deific abilities to detect that their wielder is present - at least, with this sensory power.

Transparent Vision
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: atomic sense, flaw sense, microscopic vision, radiation control, radiation generation, radio wave control, radio wave generation, radivision, telescopic vision.

Transparent vision is the ability to see through solid objects - as well as obscuring liquids and gases - as if they were perfectly, well, transparent. This sensory ability works on the Very Near range table, allowing its wielder to peer into otherwise opaque matter up to a number of yards equal to transparent vision's rank number. For example, a character with Amazing (50) transparent vision can see up to 50 yards into the earth.

The method by which this ability works is left nebulous; does it involve some unconscious awareness of nearby matter, or does it wield high-energy radiation to physically penetrate it? This is entirely up to the character who chooses this ability, who may take various related powers depending on its nature (atomic sense or abilities involving radiation, for instance).

One nifty side effect of transparent vision is that it dovetails with both microscopic and telescopic vision. These powers can act to increase the range of transparent vision to a staggering degree - both into the world of the incredibly small and the realm of the insanely distant. With these other visual abilities, a character can see impurities within their own body or objects hiding behind the moon - or both!

U

Ultravision
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, infravision, radiation control, radiation generation, radivision, screened senses, telescopic vision.

An enhanced form of standard vision, ultravision expands one's ordinary sight to include information from the ultraviolet spectrum. This grants a character a number of useful abilities, primarily the knack for seeing in otherwise dark conditions. The sun and numerous electrical devices emit ultraviolet light, and being able to perceive UV light makes one both aware of dangers not readily apparent, and able to see when others can't.

The only real downside of ultravision is that it makes one vulnerable to blinding attacks that may not remotely affect others with normal vision. Powerful sources of ultraviolet light (such as some radioactive materials) may blind the ultravisual individual even while their allies are completely oblivious to what ails them, and the character is at -1 CS to resist such effects without the benefit of screened senses.

That ability will protect from this penalty, but it inflicts a -1 CS on ultravision's power rank itself.

Unusual Sensitivity
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: circular vision, screened senses.

This ability describes a sense of sight or hearing (or both) that functions differently than that of a normal human. The sensory apparatus process input in the same way as a regular human's, but the operating range is different. For instance, a character with unusual sensitivity to their hearing may only hear extremely low (less than 20 Hz) or extremely high (greater than 20,000 Hz) frequencies of sound.

Similarly, a character with unusual sensitivity in their vision may not perceive visible light, instead being aware of only infrared or ultraviolet wavelengths. They can see and hear, just not as 'normals' do. This could prove to be both a handicap and a boon to the character, depending on the situation. The exact nature of the unusual sensitivity, and which sense (or senses) are affected is the player's choice.

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