AUSPEX

World of Darkness -- Medieval

Introduction

The most discerning vampires see in the dark, hear whispers on the wind and the crash of rats’ feet stomping a hundred yards away. They feel the tendrils of fog and know how close warm bodies are. Supernatural levels of sensitivity and awareness blossom further as the vampire develops his gifts. Eventually, he can see the colors of the souls around him, read minds, and pierce the illusions made by other monsters.

For more on using Auspex to pierce Obfuscate and other mental illusions, see the sidebar See the Unseen.

Sensory details are of the utmost importance when using Auspex. Storytellers should always add additional and useful sensory details with increasingly successful rolls.

SUDDEN REVELATIONS

Characters with even one level of Auspex may occasionally get a sense of an impending threat against them. While they are otherwise using any level of Auspex, the Storyteller may choose to roll for a sudden revelation. In secret, she rolls the character’s Auspex score. The difficulty varies as Storyteller discretion, though a robber behind an inn door would probably be a difficulty 4, while a plot by the Prince’s childe to destroy the character that could take decades to unravel would be a difficulty 9. Difficulty can also reflect how important it is to the story that the character has a glimpse of what’s coming.

Keep in mind though, it is only a brief precognitive glimpse that may or may not make sense before the event unfurls. Divination is not a science; express the revelation in small sensory details or simple gut feelings. “You smell fire with no source coming from the farm house” or “he can’t be trusted alone” are excellent examples.

SEE THE UNSEEN

Anyone gifted with Auspex can see things that are hidden from normal sight supernaturally and pierce supernatural illusions. This might mean Obfuscate, Chimerstry, ghosts, and even the magical tricks of the fae.

• Obfuscate: The Obfuscated target and the Auspex user compare total levels of their respective disciplines. If the Obfuscate user has higher levels in Obfuscate than the Auspex user has levels in Auspex, he remains. If the Auspex user’s levels in Auspex exceed the Obfuscate user’s levels in Obfuscate, or they are evenly matched, the Auspex user rolls Perception + Awareness. Her difficulty is 8. Lower this difficulty by one for every dot of Auspex she has in excess of her opponent’s Obfuscate.

• Chimerstry: First, the character must believe there is something wrong or false in what she is seeing, and the Storyteller agrees that the character senses this wrongness. Then, the player asserts that she is actively trying to see through any falsehood. At that point, the Auspex and Chimerstry users compare levels as with Obfuscate. If a roll is necessary, it follows the rules outlined for seeing through Obfuscate as above.

• Other Powers: It is difficult to prede- termine what sorts of monsters will come into conflict with the vampire. With this in mind, brevity is ideal. Make a contested roll, with the Auspex user rolling Perception + Awareness against the other creature’s Manipulation + Subterfuge should suffice. The Attribute and Skill used by the adversary can be changed at Story- teller discretion. When in doubt, the Storyteller should favor mystery and ambiguity.

OVER-STIMULATION

The pleasure of the experience and the extensive sensory input is sometimes all-consuming. At Storytelling discretion, a character using Auspex nearby or directed toward evocative images may need to resist being con- sumed by desire to experience the stimulus more. Images of great beauty as well as macabre tableau might pull the character in. A visceral crime scene or reading the mind of a content and creative child can call to the Auspex user with equal appeal. Likewise, sudden or extreme stimuli may shock the vampire’s senses. In either of these cases, the player rolls the character’s Willpower to keep him focused. The difficulty starts as 4, but should increase by the intensity of the stimulus. Should the roll fail, the character becomes overstimulated, and loses two dice on all actions outside of experiencing the stimulus for 10 minus the character’s Willpower in turns (minimum 1). This quirk of the Discipline is rarely perceived as a hindrance by its practitioners, and often grants them special insight through the stimulus that has drawn them in.

●HEIGHTENED SENSES

The vampire’s senses are now exceptional by mortal standards. The range and clarity at which she can see, hear and smell are doubled. Likewise, her sense of touch and taste become superhuman, allowing her to detect the life her victim leads in the way a connoisseur could tell what kind of grass a cow is fed and what direction its pen faces by the taste of the beef. The vampire can feel a draft that no one else notices, leading her to a door that wasn’t closed all the way and putting her back on the trail of her quarry. She may utilize the power whenever and for however long as she likes. Of course, having Auspex active leaves her vulnerable to overstimulation, as described above.

Rarely, a vampire utilizing Heightened Senses will get precognitive glimpses of what could be or what might come to pass. There is no real way to control these intuitions, but in time, a vampire can learn to interpret them after they have happened.

System: This power costs nothing, is reflexive, and requires no rolls to use. When activated, any roll related to the sense’s use is decreased in difficulty by the character’s Auspex dots. A character may utilize one sense at a time, or all of them in any combination she likes.

This power does not allow the character to see in perfect darkness as with Eyes of the Beast.

●●READ THE SOUL

The true color of the soul is laid bare to the vampire with this level of sight. What she sees is outside of language. She sees strong emotions, lost thoughts, or dark memories that have tinted a person’s nature. The practitioner’s mind translates the impressions she gets from another’s soul as colors, temperatures, or even scents. The impressions and feelings from others soul can be interpreted, but never translated in a repeatable, universal fashion.

Reading another’s soul can provide great insight to their emotional state. A well-timed question and a sense that the person is being deceptive can be incredibly useful.

A spark of arousal at the sight of an enemy may indicate a conflict is not what it appears.

The seer can also observe from the soul if the person in question is other than human. A Cainite’s soul will register as pale or waning compared to that of a human.

A lupine’s soul might be vibrant and sharp, jagged at the edges and feeling like moonlight.

System: The soul-gazer must actively and attentively observe her subject, allowing the sense of the soul to wash over her. At the moment she chooses to interpret the state of the soul, the character’s player rolls Perception + Empathy (difficulty 8), with each success granting the character more pieces of information about their subject. Consider the chart below for ideas as to what information the Storyteller might communicate.

A failure indicates that the character was unable to interpret the current state of the soul. A botch indicates misinformation or a wrong interpretation. Soul-gazing is not a science.

The chart on the right consists of colors and their suggested interpretations. Interpretations through other senses are also possible. Players and Storytellers should be encouraged to create charts for their characters, unique in its sensory details.

Successes	Result
1 success	Can distinguish only the shade (pale or bright).
2 successes	Can distinguish the main color.
3 successes	Can recognize the color patterns.
4 successes	Can detect subtle shifts.
5 successes	Can identify mixtures of color and pattern.

The ability to Read the Soul does not act as a lie-detector, and absolute truths cannot be determined. It just reveals moments of dishonesty, or flooded feelings of guilt. An exceptional liar may be free of guilt, and a penitent but innocent person may always appear on the edge of suspicion. A talented Auspex user knows this, and will keep it in mind when interpreting what she perceives.

An Auspex user may use Read the Soul to search a crowd or scan an area. She starts out by declaring what she is looking for, such as “a soul stained with Amaranth” or “the most nervous person in the room.” Her player then rolls as normal. The information is general, and any more intimate study of a target’s soul requires a new roll.

SOUL COLORS AND THEIR INTERPRETATION

Successes	Result
Orange	Afraid
Purple	Aggressive
Red	Angry
Brown	Bitter
Light Blue	Calm
Pink	Compassionate
Lavender	Conservative
Gray	Depressed
Deep Red	Desirous or Lustful
Light Green	Distrustful
Dark Green	Envious
Violet	Excited
Rose	Generous
Vermilion	Happy
Black	Hateful
Yellow	Idealistic
White	Clear of Conscience
Blue	Love Struck
Green	Obsessed
Silver	Sad
Gold	Taken by Ecstacies
Dark Blue	Suspicious
Mottled, Shifting Colors	Confused
Black Veins in the Soul	Diablerist
Rapidly Rippling Colors	Frezied
Soul is Pale	Vampire
Pale Blotches in the Aura	Ghoul
Myriad Sparkles in Aura	Witch
Bright, Vibrant Aura	Werebeast
Weak Intermittent Aura	Ghost
Rainbow Highlights in Aura	Fae

●●●THE SPIRIT'S TOUCH

Any man or beast that has a soul leaves a trace behind where they have gone and what they have touched. The longer a soul has contact with an object, the stronger the trace that remains. Strong swells of emotional energy or certain pivotal moments in a life (or in the lives of many) can make this trace even stronger.

At this level of proficiency with Auspex, a vampire can read or otherwise experience the traces attached to a given object when she puts her hands on said object. Anything inert may carry these traces; a dead body would invariably have such traces on it, while a living cat’s own soul would make such a reading impossible.

The traces leave only impressions, brief sketches of moments in time rather than fully woven tapestries. These sketches should be memorable, but brief and as unclear as the soul that left the trace behind would be.

System: A player rolls Perception + Empathy. Difficulty varies by age and strength of impression. A stake found in a pile of ash just an hour old may be difficulty 4, a stake that had been in a vampire killed five days ago might be a difficulty 6, and a stake that only carried intent but was never used may yield useful impressions only at a difficulty 9.

Difficulty should only be considered when a challenge and possible failure would add to the story. Sometimes, a Storyteller might choose to forgo a roll entirely when a character attempts to touch an object that is vital to the continuing story or a piece of strong setting importance. If the Storyteller needs characters to know they have a fang pulled from a Methuselah’s mouth, or the sword that decapitated the Sheriff, she should forgo the roll and bring on the terrifying visions.

Successes	Information
Failure	No information of value.
1 success	Very basic information: the last owner’s gender and hair color, for instance.
2 successes	A second piece of basic information.
3 successes	More useful information about the last owner, such as age and state of mind the last time he used the item.
4 successes	The person’s name.
5 successes	A wealth of information is available; nearly anything you want to know about the person’s relationship with that object.

●●●●INVADE THE MIND

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●●●●●SOUL'S FLIGHT

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●●●●●● FAR SENSE

The character no longer needs to take to Soul’s Flight to observe distant but familiar places and people. She can project her senses to a place in order to stalk any person she is familiar with. She observes her victim while remaining aware of her own surroundings.

System: The player rolls the character’s Perception + Empathy, difficulty 6, and describes the person she is trying to spy on. If successful, she may observe her victim and his surrounding area for one turn per success. She may use other levels of Auspex where she is spying. She remains aware of her own situation. While this use of Auspex splits her senses, it does not hamper them.

●●●●●●THE HEART'S DESIRE

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●●●●●●SOUL BOND

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●●●●●●●ANTICIPATE VICTORY

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●●●●●●●BRUTAL ECSTACY

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●●●●●●●A GATHERING OF SOULS

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●●●●●●●●OMNISCIENCE

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●●●●●●●●●FALSE SLUMBER

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