"Object Past Life" psionic power

[Lord Kilsco]

Hi,

I try to create a psionic power (for a Star Hero - Terran Empire campaign). Let me explain what kind of power I want : when the character touches an object without gloves, he may have a "flash" in which he can see a past scene of the "life" of the object. Extreme example : if he touches a weapon, he can see a crime committed with this weapon. One important thing is that this power is not under control by the character : the "flash" don't come each time he touches an object, it appears randomly.

I began the power like that :

Object Past : Retrocognitive Clairsentience (Sight Group) (40 Active Points); No Conscious Control (Randomly when touching an object without gloves; -2), Retrocognition Only (-1), Concentration (0 DCV; Character is totally unaware of nearby events; -3/4), Blackout (-1/2). Real cost : 8 Points.

Some explanations :
- No Conscious Control : as explained above
- Retrocognition Only : only past events can be seen
- Concentration and Blackout : during the "flash", the character is totally unaware of what happens around him.

I'm a Hero System beginner and I need your help and advice about this power. Shouldn't I add a limitation to clarify the fact that the power is actived by touching an object or is No Conscious Controle sufficient ?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Lord Kilsco.

[Kolava]

You might want to buy "No Range -1/2"

[devlin1]

*shrug* Looks fine to me, more or less.

Is Retrocognition normally No Range by default? If not, there's another -1/2 right there.

On the NCC, does it happen everytime he touches an object, or just whenever the GM wants? I'm guessing the latter, because the former would be debilitating, but I thought I'd make sure.

[Mark Taylor]

I'm not sure No Range is appropriate, because with the Retrocognition Only Limitation a character can't use the power at a distance anyway, implying that No Range is already included in the cost. To my mind, a more appropriate limitation would be OIF Expendable (Objects being examined; -1/2). In this case the Expendable part signifies that the object in question can probably only be used with the power once, not that the object is actually destroyed.

[Lord Kilsco]

On the NCC, does it happen everytime he touches an object, or just whenever the GM wants? I'm guessing the latter, because the former would be debilitating, but I thought I'd make sure.
You're guessing right. It's a "random" psionic power (i.e. whenever the GM wants).

[Mark Taylor]

B.T.W. in case you are interested psychometry is the techical term for the type of power you want to build.


From dictionary.com:

psy·chom·e·try ( P ) Pronunciation Key (s-km-tr)
n.

1. See psychometrics.
2. The ability or art of divining information about people or events associated with an object solely by touching or being near to it.

[Lord Kilsco]

B.T.W. in case you are interested psychometry is the techical term for the type of power you want to build.
Thanks ! It sounds better that "Object Past".

[Mark Taylor]

After rereading the Focus limitation, espeically the "opjects of opportunity" part (5E p. 188, near the top of second column) I'm even more convinced my approach is correct!

[McCoy]

Hi,

I try to create a psionic power (for a Star Hero - Terran Empire campaign). Let me explain what kind of power I want : when the character touches an object without gloves, he may have a "flash" in which he can see a past scene of the "life" of the object. Extreme example : if he touches a weapon, he can see a crime committed with this weapon. One important thing is that this power is not under control by the character : the "flash" don't come each time he touches an object, it appears randomly.

I began the power like that :

Object Past : Retrocognitive Clairsentience (Sight Group) (40 Active Points); No Conscious Control (Randomly when touching an object without gloves; -2), Retrocognition Only (-1), Concentration (0 DCV; Character is totally unaware of nearby events; -3/4), Blackout (-1/2). Real cost : 8 Points.

Some explanations :
- No Conscious Control : as explained above
- Retrocognition Only : only past events can be seen
- Concentration and Blackout : during the "flash", the character is totally unaware of what happens around him.

I'm a Hero System beginner and I need your help and advice about this power. Shouldn't I add a limitation to clarify the fact that the power is actived by touching an object or is No Conscious Controle sufficient ?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Lord Kilsco.
The Blackout seems redundant. Charcter is already out of touch with the here-and-now through the Concentration limitation. Other than that, and the focus limit already discussed, looks good.

[Dust Raven]

The Blackout seems redundant. Charcter is already out of touch with the here-and-now through the Concentration limitation. Other than that, and the focus limit already discussed, looks good.
Actually, the two easily work together. Concentration (in this example) only applies during the Power's activation, while Blackout, by its nature, only applies once the Power is active.

Still, I would probably drop the Concentration. This would allow him to get an uncontrolled glimse of something even when he's not prepared.

Lord Kilsco, if you can get a copy of it, the UNTIL Superpowers Database has several examples of Psychometry and Retrocognition. If not, what you have could easily work.

[Lord Kilsco]

Lord Kilsco, if you can get a copy of it, the UNTIL Superpowers Database has several examples of Psychometry and Retrocognition. If not, what you have could easily work.
Arghh, another book to buy ! :lol:

More seriously, thanks for all your answers ! It's pleasant to see a forum so active and with so much "experts".

[Mark Taylor]

Arghh, another book to buy ! :lol:

USPD is great but not exactly necessary. Before I had a copy I imagined I'd use it all the time and build powers mostly based on the examples there, but now that I have it I find that I actually tend to build the powers I want myself, then look at the USPD, and often as not if there is a difference I prefer my original build to the way USPD does it anyway. The point is that there is usually no "one true way" or "only correct way" to build something in HERO System. I've found that different ways of building the same thing usually come out to be around the same point cost... a testement the fact that HERO System really is pretty well balanced!