WDMA Abilities Arsenal Update

Super Senses

Persons with this ability set have heightened physical senses. This suite of powers exists primarily to justify a character’s high PERC (perception) rating. Characters possessing a PERC rated at Mutant or higher are assumed to either have one of the following listed abilities or a mental power which somehow broadens their perspective beyond the norm. To qualify for Super Senses, the character must be endowed with a PERC rating of Mutant or higher. All Super Senses are rated at the character’s PERC level.

Mechanics: If the character has a mental ability, such as ESP or any number of Psychic powers, he/she may not need an actual listed super sense power in order to justify their high PERC rating. Having allocated development points for both the mental power and the high level PERC, it is assumed that the character is using their mental ability as a  super sense. Such characters should be treated as if they were endowed with a named super sense ability, even though the ability being used is the mental power. If, on the other hand, the character simply has a high PERC score, the character is awarded one named super sense at no cost. The super senses themselves have been modeled after those found in the literature. There is some overlap in the abilities.

In the basic set up, all super senses have a range of the PERC SAVE in meters. This may be extended by the SAVE in meters for 10 points. Range may be extended by the ACT in miles for 25 points. Range may be further extended by the SAVE in miles for 25 points plus the SAVE.

All super senses are essentially mechanically the same. They all extend the character’s environmental sensitivity. They all help defeat attempts to conceal targets from the character’s awareness. (A ‘target’ as defined in this listing is anything in the environment—a person, event or thing.) It’s the answer to CLOAK and ILLUSION and other concealment abilities. This is not to say that super senses automatically defeat extranormal attempts at deception, but rather that they provide the opportunity to do so. Characters not endowed with super senses have no ability to see through such concealments. Super Senses explain and define a character’s high PERC rating. In general, the character is not entitled to anything more than a single perception check per action, no matter how many super senses a character has. That said, the character is entitled to a plus one Conditional Advantage on perception checks per each additional super sense he/she may possess.  What does vary from ability to ability is the type of information that the sense conveys.

Characters with a PERC of Mutant or above get one of the following Super Senses at no cost. (Unless their high PERC is attributed to a mental power, in which case no free power is awarded. The range for using the mental power for perception is assigned as the PERC SAVE in meters and can be extended as per the rules in this section. Some mental or extra-sensory powers might be defined as having the same perception range as the original ability.) Additional super senses cost 10 points each and are awarded a range of SAVE in meters. The defined super senses are:

360 PERCEPTION: Character has the same level of awareness in all directions. User is without blind spots and seems to have eyes in the back of their head.

ANOMALOUS COGNITION (VIBES): Similar to HEIGHTENED SENSES, but the user is not aware of what sense is being used. The character reacts to sensory material drawn from the environment subconsciously, enabling the user to gain “a vibe” or simply make accurate conclusions and react spontaneously. At the least, the user has unusually rapid cognitive ability when it comes to processing sensory information. At the extreme end, user has a limited form of 6^th SENSE.

 

BIO SENSOR (LIFE SENSOR): Character has the innate ability to detect and sort matter by general type: animal, vegetable or mineral. The user can determine exactly what type of matter anything in his/her proximity is classified as.

BIOTEL (BIO TELEMETRY, BIO FEEDBACK): User can pick up the sensations of beings within range as if such were his/her own. May not function on targets protected by certain extranormal defensive abilities.

BLOODHOUND (DOG POWER): Character can hear noises above the normal range and has an acute sense of smell.

CAT POWER: Character can see well at night and tracks moving objects with a special ease. For an additional 5 points, character has a better than normal sense of balance.

CLEAR SEEING: User specifically can see through illusions, forgeries, disguise, camouflage, intentional attempts to conceal--and the effects of time, such as natural growth, rust, encrustation and erosion.

EAGLE POWER: Character can pick out single details from a scene as well as see clearly at great distances. Range is 100 times normal.

EMOTION SENSE: User can sense the emotions of nearby beings.

FULL SUITE: Indicates that the character is endowed with TELESCOPIC VISION, ULTRA HEARING, SUPER SMELL, HEIGHTENED SENSES, 360 PERCEPTION, MICRO VISION and TELEVISION or X-RAY VISION. Full Suite costs 70 points and assumes all of the powers have a range of ACT in miles. For 100 points all powers have a range of SAVE in miles. Deduct 10 points if this is the “only” super sense a character has.

FULL SUITE ROTARY/MULTI SUPER SENSE ROTARY: Character is endowed with more than one super sense, but can only use one at a time. Costs 35 points for the traditional FULL SUITE defined above. Cost 5 points per additional sense taken otherwise. Does not convey any Conditional Advantage to PERC stunts.  

HEAT VISION (NIGHT SIGHT, THERMAL IMAGING, INFRA VISION, DARK VISION): Character picks up the heat signatures of various targets in the environment.

HEIGHTENED SENSES: Character’s sense of taste and touch are particularly acute. Has enhanced nerve sensitivity throughout his/her body, including in areas not normally present, such as hair and nails. All of the character’s other senses are perfect. Character is specifically good at tracking motion through the air.

KEYING VISION: User can pick out unusual or dangerous items, beings, actions and events from the immediate environment. Power draws the user’s attention to telling details.  

MICRO VISION (TELEPHOTO VISION) User can see microscopic targets. User can also see targets in super near focus from a distance.

MIND SENSOR (ALPHA WAVE DETECTOR): Character is able to determine the degree of consciousness targets within the area are endowed with. Does not constitute mind reading, but rather an ability to determine the level of sentience, sensory capacity and autonomy that targets within the immediate environment may be endowed with.

MIRROR VISION (PERISCOPE): Character is capable of seeing around objects or into areas in a manner similar to that of a medical fiber optic camera or some distending and malleable periscope. Requires that the target not be entirely sealed. The higher the level in this power, the smaller the entry point it can be extended into.

MOTION DETECTOR: Character can detect and measure the motions of targets in his/her environment. User can tell the degree in which something is moving or vibrating.

OWL POWER: Character sees perfectly in darkness, can pick out objects to the degree they are moving and has acute short range hearing.

PRO TACT (PROTRACTED TACTILE SENSATIONS): User is capable of projecting his/her sense of touch at range. Alternatively, the user can feel the area as if it were a part of their skin. Does not convey any ability to manipulate targets sensed and is not literally nor actually physically touching any target. Application of this ablity is no more detectable by others than any other sense. 

RADAR (SONAR, MASS DETECTOR, BAT SENSE) Character sends out conventionally undetectable waves or beams which define objects in the environment. Beyond determining the position of these targets, the sense will pick up their degree of hardness, material configuration, state of matter and if such are hollow. Or the user can have a biological version of Radar, Sonar or a Mass Detector as they conventionally function. (The effects are essentially the same.)

REMOTE SENSORY PERCEPTION (RSP): Allows the user to project a single sense at distance. The sense will function as if the user were immediately present at the location. This is a minor version of the power REMOTE and requires a direct line of sight to the target location. In the base set up, the character is only able to project one designated sense. For 25 points, the character may project any of his/her senses, but only one at a time.

SENSORY PROACTIVE: Character has situational access to some repository of all human experience (race memory) while navigating potentially dangerous environments. The user’s body reacts as if it has “been there before” on the basis of certain environmental cues. 

SENSITIVE TASTE: Character has a particularly acute sense of taste and can determine the chemical composition of materials in his/her immediate environment. User is particularly adept at identifying ingredients and the nature of substances.

SENSITVE TOUCH; Character has additional nerves in his/her skin. Beyond enhancing the user’s touch, it also conveys the ability to sense changes in the environment.

SNAKE SENSE: User has the ability to taste the air and note changes in temperature and movement within the immediate environment.

SPEED VISION: User has the ability to perceive objects which are moving so fast that they would not normally be visible. This ability is restricted to characters endowed with SUPER SPEED or are otherwise capable of traveling at speeds of above Mach One. (See SUPER SPEED.)

SUPER SMELL: Character has a sense of smell which does not lessen in intensity. Enables the user to differentiate between different scents. User’s sensitivity and range of smell is also greater than normal.  

TECHNOSENSORY: User can sense areas remotely through electronic devices circumstantially present in the target area. Also enables the user to sense the environment through emanations created by machinery. The user does not control the machinery, but can rather use a device’s sensory abilities or sense through it. This power works specifically on devices which are in some way powered.

TELESCOPIC VISION: Allows the user to view objects which are far away, like a telescope. Range is twenty times base.

TRACKER SENSE: This power enables the user to detect hidden targets. It also enables the user to track the movements of targets over a wide area, an extended distance or an extended period of travel time. The  user is somehow picking up clues to the target’s passing. The tracking portion of this power works on one target at a time. User must deliberately acquire a specific target in order to track it. Requires the user to pass through the target’s path. Tracking may not be done at range. User must retrace the target’s path of travel as the target took it. User will move from one clue to the next. This generally assumes that the user is in some way familiar with the target. (Other powers can certainly be used for tracking. This ability is simply specific to the task.)

ULTRA HEARING: User can hear with great sensitivity and over extended distances.

VIBRATION SENSE: User distinguishes between targets in the environment by measuring their micro-movements. Living beings are always in motion to some extent.

X-RAY VISION (TELEVISION, UTLRA VISION): The ability to see through solid objects at range. X-RAYs are basically line of sight. Television in this context is the power demonstrated by certain movie serial bad guys, which allowed the user to see images remotely. Both powers can be blocked by certain elemental factors.

Note: These are all of the abilities that we were able to glean from the literature. If the player’s concept does not incorporate one of the listed powers, feel free to define a new sense using the above examples as a guideline.