Auspex

Auspex

This Discipline bestows uncanny sensory abilities upon the vampire.While Auspex initially heightens all of the Kindred's senses significantly,that is merely the begining.As she grows in power,the vampire can perceive the psychic auras that flow around her and even project her mind into another being's thoughts. Furthermore,Auspex can pierce the disquises that Obfuscate creates.
    Such sensory command gives the vampire a distinct advantage over mortals and even many supernaturals.Whether these talents let her view a distant haven,sence the prince's mood or pluck secrets from a rival Kindred's ghoul,Auspex is a powerful tool.
    Still,the vampire must be careful lest this heightened sensitivity cause her to be distracted by beautiful things,startled by loud noises or overwhelmed by foul smells.Sudden or dynamic events can disorient an Auspex-using vampire unless she uses her willpower to block them out.The more potent the source of distraction,the more difficult it is to block.Failure overwhelms the vampire's senses,making her oblivious to her surroundings for a moment or two.
    Malkavians and Toreador are most susceptible to such distractions.Kindred from Tremere and Tzimisce clans seem better able to regulate thier sensory input,but they are not immune to the occasional distraction.

Levels Of Power

Level 1: Heightened Senses-This power sharpens all of the vampire's sense,effectively doubling the clarity and range of site,hearing and smell.While her senses of taste and touch extend no further then normal,they likewise become far more acute;the vampire could taste the hint of liquor in a victim's blood,or feel the give of the board concealing a hollow space in the floor.The Kindred may magnify her senses at will,sustaining this heightened focus for as long as she desires.This may make hunting easier.
Occasionally,this talent provides extrasensory or even precognitive insights.These brief,unfocused glimpses may be odd premonitions,flashes of empathy or eerie feelings of foreboding.The vampire has no control over these perceptions,but with practice,can learn to interupt them with a fair degree of accuracy.Expanded senses come at a price,however.Bright lights,loud noises and strong smells present hazard while the vampire uses this power.In addition to the possibility for distraction mentioned above,an
especially sudden stimulus---like the glare of a spotlight or the clap of thunder---can blind or deafen the Kindred for an hour or more.

Level 2: Aura Perception-Using this power,the vampire can perseive the psychic "auras" that radiate from mortals and supernatural beings alike.These halos comprise a shifting series of colors that take practice to discern with clarity.Even the simplest individual has many shifting hues within his aura;strong emotions predominate,while momentary impressions or deep secrets flash through in streaks and swirls.The colors change in sympathy with the subject's emotional state,blending into new tones in a constantly dancing pattern.The stronger the emotions involved,the more intense the hues become.A skilled vampire can learn much from her subject by reading the nuances of color and brilliance in the aura's flow.Aside from perceiving emotional states,vampires use Aura Perception to detect supernatural beings.The colors in Kindred auras,while intense,are quite pale;mage auras often flare and crackle with suppressed power;werebeasts have stickingly bright,almost frantic,halos;ghosts have aweak auras that flicker fitfully like a dying flame;a faerie creature's radiance is shot through with rainbow hues. *NOTE* see Aura Perception Chart for details of colors and conditions.

Level 3:The Spirits Touch-When someone handles an object for any length of time,he leaves a psychic impression on the item.A vampire with this level of Auspex can "read" these sensations,learning who handled the object,when he last held it and what was done with it recently.These visions are seldom clear and detailed,registering more like a kind of "psychic snapshot." Still,the Kindred can learn much even from such a glimpse.Although most visions concern the last person to handle the item,a long-time owner leaves a stronger impression than someone who held the object breifly.Gleaning information from the spiritual residue requires the vampire to hold the object and enter a shallow trance.She is only marginally aware of her surroundings while using The Spirit's Touch,but a loud noise or jarring physical sensation breaks the trance instantly.

Level 4:Telepathy-The vampire projects a portion of her conciousness into a nearby mortal's mind,creating a mental link through which she can communicate wordlessly or even read the target's deepest thoughts.The Kindred "hears" in her own mind the thoughts plucked from a subject as if they were spoken to her.This is one of the most potent vampiric abilities,since,given time,a Kindred can learn virtually anything from a subject without him ever knowing.The Tremere and Tzimisce in particular find this power especially useful in gleaning secrets from others.or for directing their mortal followers with silent precision.

Level 5: Psychic Projection-The Kindred with this awesome ability projects her senses out of her physical shell,stepping from her body as an entity of pure thought.The vampire's astral form is immune to physical damage or fatigue,and can "fly" with blinding speed anwhere across the earth---or even underground---so long as she remains below the moon's orbit.The Kindred's material for lies in a torpid state while her astral self is active,and the vampire isn't aware of anything that befalls her body until she returns to it.An ephemeral silver cord connects the Kindred's psyhce to her body.If this cord is severed,her conciousness becomes stranded in the astral plane,the realm of ghosts,spirits and shades.Attempting to return to the vampire's physical shell is a long terrifying ordeal,especially since there is no guarentee that she will accomplish the journey successfully.This significant danger keeps many Kindred from leaving their bodies for long,but those who dare can learn much.