A strange Detect

[Trained Chicken]

I'm thinking of a power whereby a character can detect what sentient mind (if any) controls a specific machine, surveillance device, robot, etc., and then lock onto that mind for the purposes of mental powers and specific location. Anyone like to take a stab at this?

[Bloodstone]

Are you looking for somethign to make a Mind Scan easier or are you simply looking for a limited form of Mind Scan?

[Trained Chicken]

I don't really know; it's got elements of Detect, Mind Scan, and Clairvoyance. It seems like it would be pretty expensive to build relative to its utility.

[csyphrett]

Have you thought of a clairvoyance only to see the owner of a machine and a linked mind scan with the clairvoyance. Maybe needs to touch machine on top of that.
CES

[transmetahuman]

I don't think Clairsentience can enter into it at all without some serious houseruling. You need to know a location to target CS.

Mind Scan would need some augmentation to get around the fact that you don't know the mind you're scanning for, and to "detect" the association between that mind and the machine you're targetting - but it's also limited in that you can only use it on a very small and variable group of minds: "People who are operating a machine I can see".

Detect would need a bunch of adders and wonkiness, I think I'd go with Mind Scan.

I'd just combine all the positives and negatives, compare the overall utility to straight MS, and come up with one ballpark modifier - probably a limitation. Depends on what relationship he has to have with the machine in order to use the power, that needs to be defined.

[McCoy]

Mind scan.

[csyphrett]

There is also NRay vision. I don't how that would work out, but you could use it to establish line of sight, I suppose.
CES

[Dr. Anomaly]

I'm thinking of a power whereby a character can detect what sentient mind (if any) controls a specific machine, surveillance device, robot, etc., and then lock onto that mind for the purposes of mental powers and specific location. Anyone like to take a stab at this?
Wellllll...it's a bit of a stretch, and would be expensive, but...what about this?

Dectect Mind Controlling Specific Device (possibly as a Sense)
Add the Tracking adder.

Use Clairsentience, Mobile Viewpoint, with the Detect.

Starting at the device in question, the Tracking part of the Detect should allow you to follow the "lines of control" (be they mental, radio, whatever) back to the controller, and the Clairsentience would let you move your perception point along that line, as you track it, without having to physically move yourself in an attempt to follow it. As long as the controller's location isn't outside the range of your Clairsentience, you should be able to find them. Eventually. ;)

From there, once you've found the controller, you can use the usual means of targeting his mind for mental powers.

[Trained Chicken]

Wellllll...it's a bit of a stretch, and would be expensive, but...what about this?

Dectect Mind Controlling Specific Device (possibly as a Sense)
Add the Tracking adder.

Use Clairsentience, Mobile Viewpoint, with the Detect.

Starting at the device in question, the Tracking part of the Detect should allow you to follow the "lines of control" (be they mental, radio, whatever) back to the controller, and the Clairsentience would let you move your perception point along that line, as you track it, without having to physically move yourself in an attempt to follow it. As long as the controller's location isn't outside the range of your Clairsentience, you should be able to find them. Eventually. ;)

From there, once you've found the controller, you can use the usual means of targeting his mind for mental powers.


Winner! Winner! Chicken dinner! That's exactly what I'm looking for. It is expensive, but it's OK since I'm not all that much into min/maxing my dudes out. It's even visually evocotive, imagining the character's point of view screaming along invisible lines of force to the source of the control. Cinematic, even.

Thank you everyone for your help!

[Dr. Anomaly]

Happy to have been of help. :)