This discipline gives supernatural perception, what might be thought of as psychic powers.
The powers of Auspex are believed to be roughly as follows (probably less accurately on the higher powers):
- The power of heightened awareness of the physical world
- The power to see "auras."
- The power to read psychic impressions from objects
- The power to read minds, both mortal and vampire
- The power to send the mind into the spirit world
Reading Default Auras
Aura Reading allows you to see another person's default Aura by means of the following command:
| Command | Usage |
| +aura <target> | Reads <target>'s aura (E.g. +aura hans). The Target's proximity must be nearby for this to work. This power never fails, but some powers allow manipulation of aurae, demeanor, etc. In general you may learn the following information: Demeanor, Aura description, Special nuances (e.g. pale aura, implying undead). You may get clues if a vampire is frenzying, and can also see peculiar things. These things are footnoted hinting at how well you would understand them (e.g. If you have Vampire Lore 3, etc.). The coded note will guide you. Note people can put most anything in their aurae, and auras are not meant to be anything but symbolic. |
Setting Default Auras
Of course in order for Aura Readers to see Auras, all characters must set their default aura by means of the following command:
| Command | Usage |
| +aura/set <descriptive text> (or simply &aura me=<text>) | Sets your aura to <text>. E.g. +aura/set Open and vulnerable or &aura me=Dark and depressed. |
| &_aura-special *<name>=<text> | Wizard only command to set custom, permanent auras. |
Auras here do not correspond to the colors of the rulebooks, rather they tie to emotions and perhaps symbols. Setting an aura is mandatory and encouraged to be kept to one 80 character line. You are also encouraged to keep your aura updated to mood when possible. Auras are a doorstep to RP, not a weakness. Asking someone for their aura is not as effective as someone seeming to read your nuances.
Some aspects of an aura will be automatically added for the reader (from frenzy, diablerie, magic use, etc.) It includes information on whether they have an idea of what they are looking at means.
Aura Poses
In addition Aura Readers may see fluctuations in the Auras of the characters surrounding them. In order for this to work, all characters "pose" fluctuations in their aura with the command:
| Command | Usage |
| +aura/pose <descriptive text> | The <text> will be presented to all (with auspex-2) in the same location as the character, and will even appropriately be shown to Obfuscators with the ability to see auras. (E.g. +aura/pose A churning of anger builds) |
E.g. Frederico does this:
+aura/pose Anxious and apprehensive.
and Auspex Annie sees:
Auspex on Frederico notes:
«Anxious and apprehensive»
Aura Pose Reminders
Should players forget to Aura-pose, this command will remind players in your room that they should consider use of +aura/pose to enhance RP: +aura/request
Aura FAQ
Q: Can I "cross-reference" auras with other aura-viewers to learn what traits in an Aura mean?
A: This is not that easy because each viewer sees things slightly differently so if you see "dark veins" it might look like "creepy crawly insects all over" to another.
Q: Can I recognize characters by their Aura Description?
A: No. Auras fluctuate too much for them to be used as a means to identify.
Aura Lore
In Year-5 and coinciding with an earthquake that struck Los Angeles, it was noted world-wide that the characterizations of supernatural auras shifted to be inconsistent with past experience. Some speculate this has happened before in history, but few personally can recall such an event or its cause. Another speculation is this had something to do with the emergence of the Nephilim blood line.
Mind Reading FAQ
Q: My character has a power that allows them to discern someone's surface thoughts. Assuming the power isn't resisted successfully, how does this work?
A: Any power use always relies ultimately on cooperation and trust among the players. A power that allows you to read a character's "surface thoughts" is no different; the first person who gets to judge what a character's surface thoughts are is the target character. Generally, a target character should communicate to the power user all thoughts that would be actively passing through their head: discerning surface thoughts does not allow a deep probe of memories or knowledge.
When used with direct questioning, successful mind-reading will always yield an answer that is "correct", though limited by the target's own knowledge and beliefs. All thoughts should be communicated, even if the answer is "I don't know."
The level of detail will ultimately depend on the target player's judgment. If the target is asked where they live, the answer could be an address ("16761 Viewpoint Lane"), a picture ("a little white house"), or something else ("Orange County"). If the power user feels that the target is being unfair in his or her roleplay, see arbitration.
Note that while it would be possible to avoid thinking about something, even while under the influence of mind-reading, for the purposes of this MUSH such activity is considered to be included in any resistance roll made against such a power.
Q: When would my character be aware that his or her thoughts were being read?
A: Your character would be aware of his or her thoughts being read if any of the following has occurred:
- The power user or someone else explicitly informs you that you will be the subject of mind-reading in that particular scene.
- You possess the same mind-reading power as the power user, are aware that he or she possesses it as well, and have reason to believe it is being used.
- You possess Vampire Lore 4 and are ICly aware that the power user is a known mind-reader
- Other exceptional IC reasons (this should be exceedingly rare — suspicions don't count).
