Author Topic: Broad Supernatural Sense  (Read 2721 times)

Offline rpmarsh

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Broad Supernatural Sense
« on: April 22, 2011, 06:20:57 PM »
I gave a cursed artifact that granted broad supernatural senses in return for a demonic co-pilot that is slowly taking over a players body. I am looking for a variety of senses to flash through and would appreciate a list of helpful and weird supernatural senses. So far I have: 

Synaesthesia: You can see sounds. (It's like you are in a comic book)
Dark Vision: You can see in total darkness.
Magical Sight: You can see where magic has been preformed.
X-Ray Vision: Perfect for dentists and doctors
Death Sight: You can tell who is dead, dying, or undead.
Forensic Sight: Call me mister microscope!

Offline Wolfwood2

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Re: Broad Supernatural Sense
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2011, 06:35:31 PM »
Liar's Ear - Whenever someone is deliberately lying, you can hear a difference in their voice.  (Technical truths intended to mislead are still truths, though,)

The Smell of Fear - Whenever someone has an emotionally-related Aspect (not just fear) active, you can smell it and understand what emotion they are feeling, if not necessarily the source.

The Taste of Danger - Whenever your physical safety is under imemdaite threat, it tastes like your mouth just filled with blood.

A Touching Sentiment - You can share someone else's sense of touch, feeling what they feel.

Offline Haru

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Re: Broad Supernatural Sense
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2011, 06:52:29 PM »
Synaesthesia: You can see sounds. (It's like you are in a comic book)

Synaesthesia is not only seeing sounds, it is the combination of 2 senses. It is most commonly seeing sounds, that much is true, but it could (at least theoretically) be any combination:
smelling colors
hearing taste

Pratchett described "seeing odors" as the way werewolfs experience the world, because through smell, they can not only determine who and what is in a place, but who and what has been in a place, and that it presents to them like there are different layers of colors placed on the scene that matches the different smells.
etc.

Then there is infra red vision as well as ultra violet.

One idea I really liked from Alera was the way watercrafters could shift their perception into water, that might be something.

Seeing footsteps could also be quite useful (from the TV series).

Echolocation

Might think of some more, but that is it for the moment.
“Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?”
― Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

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Re: Broad Supernatural Sense
« Reply #3 on: April 22, 2011, 09:27:05 PM »
Pratchett described "seeing odors" as the way werewolfs experience the world

Haru is right. Synesthesia is it's own conversation but it's not a real kind of 'sense.' I think the best way to do this is to split the possibilities into three types of real senses and pick the flavor that suited the plot. (Just to make sure it's more of a rational idea your player can work with instead of a word game.)

One where you sense more of what you already could, like an extra color representing ultraviolet light or infrared. It would probably be uncomfortable and confusing because it takes us years of our best brain development time to discern objects in our basic senses.
Expanded vision spectrum.
Detailed smells and tastes.
Long range or ultra fine hearing.

The cartoony ones like footprints highlighting for you would be a better understanding of what you could already see. That would have to be the Demon actively working to show it to you. They could even describe their assessments of a person like Sherlock Holmes, claiming to know their life story or whether they're lying.
Detective Vision from the Batman Arkham Asylum game.
Sherlock Holmes observations and deductions whispered in your ear.
Organizing many voices talking over each other (like a bar) into clarity (like a chat room.)

The last would be the more ESP, like a halfway between the previous two. Detecting when someone is near death with a black shroud around them (I think that's from Stephen King.) Or getting thoughts broadcast at you from other people by electromagnetic waves. You know how part of a song gets stuck in your head? Imagine an entire busload of people with that and you can hear it!
Emotion Sense from people you touch
Strong Thoughts heard as if over a bad radio
Shining (Like you're a battery powering and seeing events and shades of what happened before.)

Ugh, I wrote an essay. Sorry!

Offline Becq

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Re: Broad Supernatural Sense
« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2011, 09:35:52 PM »
In the Wheel of Time series, one of the characters, Min, is able to see glimpses of people's destiny, often in the form of (at the time) cryptic symbols surrounding them.  A sense along those lines (which is similar to Cassandra's Tears) might be interesting.  Psychometry (from the power list) is another.

Another sense might cause the person to other people as they will be tomorrow (or next week, or next year).  So, for example, a person who will be killed later on might look like a walking corpse.  (They'd still be doing the things they are actually doing now; only their appearance would change.)  Since this is a cursed item, perhaps once the item is taken up, this is the only way they can view people...

Offline citadel97501

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Re: Broad Supernatural Sense
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2011, 01:23:23 AM »
I think Min would have Soul Gaze, and Casandra's Tears with both probably being tied to sight and not requiring looking someone in the eyes.  Frankly I thought she would end up mad as a hatter shortly after this developed. 

Or an artist, painting the images she sees so she doesn't go bonkers and giving her a bit of a mental shield from it.  That sounds like a really cool npc, or even a character for a low power game. 

Offline Sanctaphrax

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Re: Broad Supernatural Sense
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2011, 03:37:05 AM »
From me on another thread:

Quote
As for Supernatural Senses, I suggest:

Detect emotions
Sensing how others see you
6.28 vision
See around corners
Ignore complete darkness
Determine someone's worst fear/greatest hope
Sense True Faith
Sense morality
Detect disease
Detect poison
Detect areas where reality is thin
Sense magic
Sense electromagnetic fields
Echolocate
See the weak points in objects
Ignore blindfolds, earplugs, etc
Be a living compass
Detect borders and boundaries
Determine someone's age
Sense fate
Hear things that people thought about saying, but didn't
Sense someone's age by looking at them
Sense blood type
Determine approximate vitality
Detect whether someone is a capable combatant
Detect agents of (supernatural entity)
Sense explosives

Offline Tedronai

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Re: Broad Supernatural Sense
« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2011, 04:30:53 AM »
I'd point out from that list that allowing someone to sense True Faith, or any other True state/emotion, is dangerous, and that you implement this only at your own (game's) risk.
Even Chaotic Neutral individuals have to apologize sometimes. But at least we don't have to mean it.
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Offline Sanctaphrax

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Re: Broad Supernatural Sense
« Reply #8 on: April 23, 2011, 04:32:25 AM »
Really? How so?

Offline Tedronai

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Re: Broad Supernatural Sense
« Reply #9 on: April 23, 2011, 04:39:19 AM »
Mostly by virtue of interaction with various Catches, WCV Catches in particular, whose worths are changed if they can be sought out.
Even Chaotic Neutral individuals have to apologize sometimes. But at least we don't have to mean it.
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Offline Sanctaphrax

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Re: Broad Supernatural Sense
« Reply #10 on: April 23, 2011, 04:49:18 AM »
Good point.

I'd argue the value of the WCV catch, but I really have no desire to open that can of worms again.

Besides, it would derail the thread.

Offline BumblingBear

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Re: Broad Supernatural Sense
« Reply #11 on: April 23, 2011, 05:09:37 AM »
Good point.

I'd argue the value of the WCV catch, but I really have no desire to open that can of worms again.

Besides, it would derail the thread.

Myself: If I were in her(Murphy's) position, I would have studied my ass off on the supernatural and rigged up special weapons to deal with them.  Murphy on the other hand just plans to overpower bad guys with the angst of her short woman's syndrome and blame all resulting failures on Harry.