Author Topic: Human form vs Human Guise  (Read 1563 times)

Offline pensivetoast

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Human form vs Human Guise
« on: October 25, 2011, 06:46:45 PM »
OK folks, here's a question that has come up in a game I'm in.
 
According to YS176, Human Guise can be detected by 'supernatural senses', while there is no mention of Human Form being detectable.

So if my character has Human Form, can she be detected as supernatural through the use of 'supernatural senses' (short of The Sight or a Soul Gaze).

If so, would such a detection attempt happen every time my character meets a supernatural or wizard, no matter how many times they meet?

My own opinion is that Human Form is undetectable unless the investigator has reason to disbelieve it. And if they do try a roll, they only get one unless something else happens to make them suspect the character isn't human again.

The other character (a wizard) is of the opinion that she would get a check every time the characters meet, as senses (supernatural or not) are always active.

I can certainly see the validity of her position, so I'll turn it over to the rule experts here while I wait for my own GM to hand down a decision. (It's an online game.)

Offline EdgeOfDreams

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Re: Human form vs Human Guise
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2011, 08:02:49 PM »
Generally, I'd give one passive roll and one investigative roll unless circumstances demand more.  It also depends on what types of senses we're talking about.  For example, the "shake your hand and roll lore" trick Harry does so often in the books is something that's likely to only come up once anyway (unless you shake hands every time you see someone?).  On the other hand, some senses like The Sight would be guaranteed to show you something but the roll is to see if the character can figure out what that something means.  They should only get that roll once unless new evidence comes into play.

The best analogy I can come up with is an investigator walking into a murder scene. They get the initial Alertness roll, and then their Investigation roll.  Walking out of the room and back in doesn't give them new rolls, but talking to a witness who says he saw the killer hide his weapon might provide justification for a new investigation roll.

Offline sinker

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Re: Human form vs Human Guise
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2011, 09:33:33 PM »
Personally it seems to me that she would be totally justified in rolling her lore to see if she gets a weird vibe around you. That's kinda what the mystic perception trapping of lore is all about. However the fact that you're weird is all of the information I would give, if she's just using her mystic perception. Other than the tingle at the back of her neck or whatever, there's no way for her to get any more information about you unless she spends some time researching and has some clues to go on, or unless she full out uses her Sight.

Offline wyvern

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Re: Human form vs Human Guise
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2011, 10:55:30 PM »
Honestly, I'd say it depends.

An alpha style werewolf?  No roll; you're human (or a wolf), and there's nothing wonky there to detect; at most they'd get (with the Sight) a lore roll on first skin contact to discover that you've got minor talent level potential magical ability.
A fire elemental that has the ability to appear human, but only gets full access to powers when she's a clearly inhuman living blaze?  Lore roll on initial encounter to get weird vibes, potential second lore roll (with the Sight) for lore-as-investigation if they spend a while around you trying to pick out details.

Both of those are characters that have Human Form, but they're very different conceptually.