Is this worth a Limitation?

[Christopher]

I recently thought up a character and thought I could need an additional targettign sense. Now I know the usual stuff like Hearing or Spartial Awareness. But I came to a unusual selection:

Range + Targetting for Normal Touch.

Normal Touch already has Sense, limited Discriminatory and 360° Arc of Perception. The special effect is that she is a highly advanced robot (so advanced, she lacks any special Lifes Supports) and her entire skin is a sort of "Sensor Array".

 

What it can detect:

Temperature and Humidity of Air or Materials (inlcuding bodies). With other minor things she can check basic Vitals, within normal touch precision (heartbeat, still warm, breathing).

Identification of Materials (just as touch can. She always has the normal touch memory and earlier sensor data to compare it too).

Indentification of persons by thier proportions (same way a blind person does it with his hands).

 

What she can't do:

She can't feel beyond the slightest barrier. Even just hairs or clothing in the way blocks it. That includes any clothing she wears, as well as any clothing the target wears. It also excludes any sort of forcefields but her own (it's designed to not block her scans).

If you wear a shirt, she can't determine what is behind it. All she feels is the shirt, it's temeratures, etc. This will most often be the same as the person in it, but not always.

She also can't see any form of Desolidification (it's the main defense against Touch).

Rain will be a big hassle, as might wind (propably using the more severe penalties for smelling here).

 

Interaction with Sense Affectign Powers:

Shape Shift: Normally affected

Darkness or Flash (any form of gas in area special effect): Working when she is in the area. Otherwise not. The reason is that the special efffect is "has to actually hit the targets skin". It won't work agaisnt people in airthight power armors (or others who don't have thier touch exposed).

Darkness or Flash (any "go into thier mind to shut down the sense" special effect): The same. This time the body doesn't needs to be there to hit. Her mind needs to be. If she used Clairsentience her mind would not be exposed either.

Darkness, Flash, Invisibility to touch (any Magic or Supertech SFX): Works. Somehow. Don't know why, it just does. When I don't see a reason why hard to define special effects should not interact, they just do. Maybe it is just a side effect of the powers energy "being in the way", maybe the designer considered or encountered a similar sensor and prepared for it.

 

Now after the power is defined, let's get to the real questions:

Range, Targetting for Normal Touch, 15 Base; Restrainable (any form of barrier, forcefield, clothing; -1/4).

 

Would you think the Restrainable is right? Or would that just fall under the natural weakpoint every sense has? (as Sight is not working without a light lightsource, ranged touch can't work without a path).

[gojira]

Re: Is this worth a Limitation?

 

I'm voting for "no points." That you can't feel what's beyond something is normal for touch, so I don't really see how it could be worth points to take a limitation for it.

 

If you had a sense that normally did see through things, I could go for it. If you have x-ray vision that is stopped by a large number of materials (let's say anything with a Def of more than 3, so basically you can only see through clothing, light armor, very light building construction, light plastic, etc.) then sure that's worth a Limitation and some extra points.

[Ockham's Spoon]

Re: Is this worth a Limitation?

 

Yeah, I wouldn't give any limitation for this either; that is just the way touch works. I have had characters with this exact ability (mentalists with a telekinetic feedback type of thing) and the real trick is for the player and the GM to remember during the course of gameplay what kind of information touch grants that sight doesn't and vice versa. It can add a lot of flavor, but don't be surprised if the GM has to retract some descriptions because he forgot which sense he was addressing.

[Istaran]

Re: Is this worth a Limitation?

 

I had a draconic character that used that for his "blind sense" (stealing the concept from D&D 3.5 dragons). In concept, his scales were sensative enough to feel the disturbances in the air including airflow, so in a vacuum or perfectly still air it wouldn't work (but he could always move his wings a little to stir up the air to suit).

I agree with others that Restrainable isn't really fitting here. It's basically like trying to take points for "Can't see through opaque objects".

[Christopher]

Re: Is this worth a Limitation?

 

Okay, almost thought so myself.

 

Thanks for the help.