Psychometry

[Allandrel]

I'm looking at building psychometry - the ability to touch an object and sense its history.

 

Obviously, this is Retrocognitive Clairsentience, but I'm a bit uncertain as to which Advantages and Limitations to use.

 

OAF makes some sense for the object required, perhaps with Fixed Perception Point (the Focus in question). This both properly restricts what can be examined with psychometry, as well as the need for a focus relevant to what you need to learn.

 

Retrocognition Only, Time Modifier, Vague and Unclear, Concentration, Extra Time and the like all make sense.

 

What else should I include? Does the Fixed Perception point take care of any range issues, since it defines where the perception point can be located, or should I buy up the range substantially? Any other suggestions?

 

Patrick J McGraw

[Lord Liaden]

Most of what you describe sounds reasonable, but I don't think I'd go with "Fixed Perception Point" in this case. From the book example (a video monitor) that seems to imply a point in space which can't be moved, and the Psychometry you describe is definitely mobile, albeit fixed to the object's location in the past.

 

When the old HERO System Almanac I described how Psychometry could be used for pulp-era campaigns, it gave the power a -2 Limitation: Only To See Person Associated With Object. This presupposes that the "essence" of the person who owned the object is what Psychometry is reading, rather than the essence of the object itself. You should be able to redefine the Limitation as "Only To See Events Associated With Object," if that's how you want Psychometry to work in this case.

 

Other Limitations would depend on how reliably usable you want the Power to be. No Conscious Control (at either the -1 or -2 level) or Requires A Skill Roll would allow for Psychometry to sometimes fail, or not work the way the character wants. Depending on how you interpret them they could even supercede "Vague And Unclear."

[Steve Long]

I'll chime in with my usual response: you can find that in The UNTIL Superpowers Database, on page 168. Though you might need to add Mobile Perception Point or the like to create exactly what you want.

[Snarf]

If you're going to include a focus limitation, it should probably be OIF instead of OAF. OIF is normally used when a type of object is required instead of one specific item, such as "weapon of opportunity" or, in this case, the object with the psychic residue.

[Allandrel]

I consider it to require a specific item, since you're looking for an item related to specific events, not just any item with psychic residue.

 

Patrick J McGraw

[Snarf]

Hmm could you get the same information from a similar object if the one you were using was lost or taken somehow? Like, if the murder knife is stolen, are the murderer's shoes good enough? I guess OIF isn't what you're looking for.

[Dust Raven]

Originally posted by Allandrel

I consider it to require a specific item, since you're looking for an item related to specific events, not just any item with psychic residue.

 

Patrick J McGraw

 

I will still call it OIF, and say the "Only To See Events Associated With Object" (or similar) Limitation covers what the psychomitrist can/can't perceive.