Reading You Like A College Pamphlet

[Black Rose]

Sam narrowed her eyes. "Maybe you're a banana smuggler," she said. "You haven't asked me what I do yet.”
"I figure you're at school.”
"UW Madison.”
"Where you are undoubtedly studying art history, women's studies, and probably casting your own bronzes. And you probably work in a coffeehouse to help cover the rent.”
She put down her fork, nostrils flaring, eyes wide. "How the f*** did you do that?”
"What? Now you say, no, actually I'm studying Romance languages and ornithology.”
"So you're saying that was a lucky guess or something?”
"What was?”

-- Shadow and Sam, American Gods, Neil Gaiman

I'm in the process of reading American Gods (if you haven't, do so as soon as you can) and I just ran across this particular passage. What I'm wondering is, how would you go about reproducing this in Hero? I know Telepathy, but where do you go from there? You don't want to know what they're thinking, exactly, but more like little details about them, the stuff that they know. Bartleby does this in Dogma as well, and it drove me nuts then, too.

Any help out there for a poor helpless gamer?

[Zaratustra]

Detect Person's Life with Discriminatory and Analysis? :)

[Vondy]

2 Ways:

Use the Analyze skill independently, with various KS as complimentary skill rolls (culural knowledge, people knowledge, etc). I.e. Analyze: People 20-

Or

Xd6 Telepathy
0 End (+1/2)
Requires Analyze: People Skill Roll (-1/2)
Extra Time: 5 Minutes (-2)
Must Observe Subject Closely During 5 Minutes (-1/2)
Concentrate (-1/4)
Only Surface Thoughts Or Reasonable Deductions (-1/2)

[McCoy]

Originally posted by D-Man
2 Ways:

Make that three.

Clairsentence, normal sight (20 pts) & hearing (+5 pts), retrocognition (+20 pts), 45 base points. 0 END (+1/2), 67 active points. Retrocognition only (-1), only what subject saw/heard (-1/2), must have LOS on subject (-1/2), extra time, full phase (-1/2), concentrate, 0 DCV (-1/2), 17 real points.

GM may require more time or perception roll to get anything other than banalaties. Let's you know what the subject saw, heard, did, and said, but not what they thought. On the other hand it bypasses Ego Defense.

For Bartleby I would leave off the extra time and concentrate, and put always on. He is a Watcher after all.

[Vondy]

Originally posted by McCoy
Make that three.



The more the merrier. :D

[Nevenall]

How about a really high Conversation and/or Deduction skill?

[Killer Shrike]

Custom enhanced sense-- Detect Details about Person, Discrim, Analyze, Affected as Sight Group, Requires a Deduction Roll (AP penalty -1 /20 AP; resisted by Disguise or Conversation {complimentary roll allowed for those who have both}).

[TheEmerged]

I just use PS: Hot Reading (INT) myself, to distinguish it from the con-artist technique PS: Cold Reading (PRE). Neither is hard enough to do for a power construct to be warranted, IMO. In a campaing where this skill could be very important, Analyze: "Hot Reading" might be more appropriate.

For those unfamiliar with Cold Reading, watch John Edwards. He's not especially good at it but that's what he's doing...

[Kristopher]

This really sounds a lot more like Telepathy with lots of modifers, than a skill. I don't think the cost or nature of a skill really reflects what the ability does.

[Nevenall]

I think the effect is too minor to warrant a power construction of it's own, and it fits in perfectly with what Conversation does. Get information from people without them realizing it. Followed, perhaps by a Deduction roll to put it together. In fact, with a 20- Conversation skill (17 points, assuming Pre 20) your special effect could be reading peoples’ minds.
On the other hand, I think this would also be a perfect trick for someone with an full fledged Telepathy power to do with just a Power skill roll.
The simulations which I would favor, which may not find their own favor, which all right because Hero is big enough for everyone. : )