Auspex

Depending on who you ask Auspex is anything from the power of second sight made manifest through the kindred condition, to simply your intuition given voice through the beast.
Stereotypically each clan that practices Auspex as a clan discipline view it slightly differently, and use it in different manners. The Tremere and the Tzimisce have a very hard occult bent on how they view the power, seeing it almost as a certain type of magic in and of itself. Clan Toreador views Auspex as merely a tool and a weapon for social combat. While clan Malkavian sees Auspex as yet another way the blood can peel back the lid of your third eye and let you see the world as it really is; they say the other clans only just grasp the mundanities of its use.
Ultimately, this is the Discipline of gleaning information, wether that data comes from cryptic imagery, auras, patterns of energy or directly from the mind of another creature. In addition, Auspex can be used to pierce the veil of powers that cloud, dissemble and deceive. Indeed, precious little can be kept secret from a true master of Auspex.
==Beast's Hackles •==
Cost: None for the first use in a scene, but maintaining the required focus taxes the vampire, meaning that subsequent uses within that scene cost 1 Vitae each.
Dice Pool: Wits + Empathy + Auspex
Action: Instant
Duration: Instantaneous
Also known as "Read the Room", or "Pierce the Curtain" depending on who you ask. The first dot of Auspex allows a Kindred to drink in the room with her senses feel sources of dangers and weakness. For every success on the initial roll, a player may ask one question. Some examples of questions asked are:
*Who here is most likely to give me what I want?
*Who/what here is most likely to lapse into violence
*Who here is most afraid?
*Who/what here is most likely to hurt me?
*Who here is closest to Frenzy?
*Is there a vampire here using Twilight Projection?
Answers are never simple. No voice in the vampires head tells her who has the lowest generation, answers are always in imagery, sounds, tastes, and tactile sensations. Tremere and Toreador take these "answers" at face value usually, but Malkavian practitioners persist that there is often hidden meaning inside the delivery of this gleaned information.
===Clash of Wills===
The first dot of Auspex also allows a kindred to remove the curtain of Obfuscate. If at any time a Kindred with Auspex feels that there is something hidden in his vicinity we may attempt to use Auspex to reveal it.
Generally this refers to Obfuscate, but other abilities to shield a creature from conventional sight certainly exsist.
Cost: None
Dice Pool: Wits + Investigation + Auspex vs. Supernatural Power activation roll to avoid detection
Action: Instant
Duration: Instantaneous
If searching for an already invisible creature, the Auspex user must gain more success then the defender. However if the Auspex user is attempting to see someone who has just vanished before their eyes, then they need only to tie, as they are the defender.
==Uncanny Perception ••==
Cost: None for the first attempt against a particular victim; 1 Vitae for each subsequent attempt against that victim in that scene.
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Empathy + Auspex – victim’s Resolve + Composure
Action: Instant
Duration: Instantaneous
The Kindred may study a subject and gain tremendous insight into their psyche, learning about their feelings, secrets, and desires. For every success on the initial roll, a player may ask one question. Some examples of questions asked are:
*What is this person's mood?
*What is this person afraid of this instant? (Not a detailed answer; "Being found" rather then "Cops")
*What is this person's Vice?
*What is one of this person's derangements?
*Is this person a diablerist?
*Is this person acting under someone else's control?
*Is this person a supernatural creature?
*Who here does this person want to hurt most?
Like the first dot, answers gained from Uncanny Perception are never straight forward, answers are always in imagery, sounds, tastes, and tactile sensations.
==The Spirit's Touch •••==
Cost: None
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult + Auspex
Action: Instant
Duration: Instantaneous
This power allows a vampire to "lift" psychic impressions from an object or place. Imagery, thoughts, sounds, emotions, tastes, and tactile sensations flood the Kindred's mind, and she must force herself to sift through it to find relevant information.
The process can be overwhelming, especially if the object or place is associated with an emotionally traumatic event. In such instances, Kindred rarely walk away mentally unscathed.
For every success on the initial roll a player may ask one question. Some examples of questions asked are:
*Who last touched/owned this?
*What is the strongest emotion associated with this object?
*What was this being used for at he moment of most intense emotion?
Questions from the first two dots may also be used at the storytellers discretion, if they are applicable. Like the first and second dot, answers gained from The Spirit's Touch are never straightforward, coming instead as sensory impressions or dream imagery. The Spirit's Touch may not be used on the same object more then once in the same scene.
==Lay Open the Mind ••••==
Cost: None for a mortal or willing supernatural creature; 2 Vitae for a resisting supernatural creature
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Socialize + Auspex - victim's Resolve + Composure (if resisting)
Action: Instant
Duration: Instantaneous
This potent ability allows a Kindred to force her way into the thoughts of another, where she may sift through them or even insert her own. For each success, she may project a thought or image into the victim’s mind, or draw a single thought or image out of the victim’s mind.
Thoughts or images placed within a mind do not force the target to act on them, especially if such thoughts are drastically against a person's nature; they merely act as a "suggestion."
Thoughts or images can be more difficult to access depending upon how deep they lie within the victim's mind. Current surface thoughts are relatively easy, for example, whereas trying to find out where a Kindred's haven is might be significantly more difficult.
==Twilight Projection •••••==
Cost: 2 Vitae
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Auspex
Action: Instant
Duration: One scene
The Kindred may separate her mental self from her physical self and project an astral body. This body can travel at an effective speed equal to the character's base speed * (Auspex + generations under 14th) and travel anywhere within the lunar sphere.
Astral bodies formed using this Discipline are invisible by default. However, other Kindred can attempt to detect her using Auspex (see Beast's Hackles above).
The projected form remains connected to the Kindred via a spiritual tendril. If somehow cut, this would stand the Kindred outside of her body.
Category:Rules and Houserules
Category:Disciplines