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TheTome /
SensationESPandECSPYou are on the archive wiki. The new wiki is here. ESP and ECSPWhat are ESP and ECSP in relation to the Sensation RPG? Well, let's just get the acronym definitions down, so there's no confusion as to what I'm taking about E.S.P. - Enhanced Sensory Perception E.C.S.P - Enhanced Cross-Sensory Perception As has been made abundantly clear, Sensation is all about approaching and solving problems through the application of one's Senses. However, if the game only involved people with relatively normal Senses, such as yours and mine, things might get a little bit boring. Also, despite the powers our own Senses present us, they are nevertheless only able to provide us with a relatively dim perception of the world around us. In Sensation, however, characters are capable of developing Senses that are so highly honed, so incredibly finely tuned, as to be described as inhuman by some. The exact game mechanics of this will be further described below... In Sensation character's Senses are rated from 0 to 6. As the section on character Sensory Stats states, Senses rated at levels 5 and 6 are so powerful as to beyond anything normal people ever exhibit. Such levels of Sensory power are exhibited only by heroes and villains in literature and cinema. However, for a character with a Sense rated at level 5 or 6 the question must be asked: How is this Sense otherwordly, or amazingly powerful? After all, not every character with a Sight rating of 5 is necessarily endowed with sight rivaling that of an eagle. Thus, in order to represent the various kinds of Sensory benefits and specialisations a character with a Sense rated at 5 or higher might have, Sensation uses a system of ESP and ECSP benefits. This benefits sytem is used to better describe the scope and capabilities of superhuman Senses. ESP and ECSP, however, each apply in differing situations. Certainly, ESP benefits are far more common and easier to understand. ESCP abilities, on the other hand, are more difficult to obtain and can often be highly confusing in nature. ESCP is not, however, inherently more powerful than ESP, it's just rarer... ESP When a character's rating in a Sensory stat reaches 5 or 6 he or she is able to define a specific ESP focus for that Sense. An ESP focus is basically a Sensory ability, or group of related Sensory abilities, that the character develops as his or her Sense becomes sharper and more powerful. Development of an ESP focus may also be the result of a character simply realising he or she is able to use in a new manner. An ESP focus can only be chosen if the character's Sensory stat has reached a permanent level of 5 or 6. Temporary bonuses to a character's Sensory stat that boost it 5 or 6 do not allow for an ESP focus to be defined. As was stated above, a character's development of an ESP focus may be the result of physical or mental change. In either case the GM may decide on some approporiate course of action required to unlock the ESP focus. This may be similar to the manner in which Skills are increased using Experience, or it may only occur during a period of great physical or mental strain. Of course the GM may just decide that a character spontaneously develops the ESP focus when his or her rating in a Sense reaches 5 or 6. Such things are entirely up to the GM's choice. However, making the unlocking of an ESP focus somwhat more complex that just matter of honing one's Senses can make for interesting roleplaying or plotting. Exactly what ESP focus the character gains and what abilities it provides are decided by the Player and the GM in most cases. This ensures that whatever ability or abilities the Character gains are neither too powerful, nor to weak. The GM may have to rework a Player's idea in order to make it playable and balanced. However, the GM should try not to completely alter the Player's original idea. If too much alteration and tweaking were to be required, the GM should rather veto the choice and ask the player to come up with another one. It should be remembered that as Sensation is intended as a Dice-light system ESP focus abilities should not contain any reference to the game system. Or rather, an ability such as "Eagle Eye: The character has incredibly fine vision at range, enabling him to pick out fine details from kilometres awaye...etc...etc" is acceptable, while "Eagle Eye: The character always adds 2 dice to any Sight roll pools" is not. Exactly what bonus an ESP focus will provide in a situation is almost always decided by the GM based on information he has at hand. Some examples of very basic ESP focus abilities are: On a final note, two things. Firstly, a character's ESP focus should be well described and possibly tailored for that specific character. The examples given above are very quick, simple one. You may, however, be able to come up with something far more interesting and complex with some thought. Such complex ESP focus abilities should always be well described to prevent arguments later on about the exact scope of an ability. ECSP ECSP is very similar to ESP, but covers abilities that lie somewhere between the realms of two Senses, as opposed to specifically in the realm of one of the five Senses. A character may only gain ECSP focus, with a series of related abilities, when a Sense reaches a rating of 5 or 6 and is linked to another Sense that has also reached a rating of 5 or 6. These Senses may reach the required ratings simultaneously, or one may reach a rating of 5 or more before the other. No matter the case, an ECSP focus may only be gained if two linked Senses are rated at 5 or 6. Many of the same rules for ESP focus creation and selection apply to ECSP foci. A similar recommendation is given the the GM not simply allow the focus to spontaneously manifest itself, but rather require some roleplaying and hard work to unlock its abilities. The creation of an ECSP focus is also very similar. However, whereas an ESP focus is generally a kind of specialised, heightened form of a single Sense, an ECSP focus represents the blending of two Senses into a kind of pseudo-Sense. This can present very interesting options for roleplaying, as such a pseudo-Sense can be very confusing intially. As with ESP foci, ECSP focus creation and design is a joint process between the Player and the GM. The same basic rules apply. However, due to the extremely odd nature of the abilities ECSP foci can provide, it is recommended that the GM be even more wary of overpowered abilities. He or she may even end up having to be slightly less lenient in terms of What Go's And What Doesn't. The GM should also require very thorough ability descriptions for an ECSP focus, in order to ensure extremely confusing situations do not arise. Some examples of a few possible ECSP focus abilities are: Sight->Smell: Scent Vision - Odours have a visual appearance and colour to the character The above are only a few examples of possible ECSP abilities. Any many ways ECSP is the more interesting of the two Extra Sensory abilities. The GM may, if he or she wants, alter this rules section for a specific campaign that requires Characters with a variety of ECSP abilities who are not necessarily incredibly well-endowed, as far as Senses go. A final note for this section is as regards the gaining of ECSP foci. A maximum of two ECSP foci may be gained by a character per two Sense combination. For example, a maximum of two Sight->Sound ECSP foci, and another two Sight->Taste ECSP foci. Furthermore, the second focus for any single Sense combination may only be gained when both Senses attain a rating of 6, as described in the initial paragraph. The GM may decide to stick with this rule and alter it slightly by allowing for one of the Sense to be rated at 5 and the other rated at 6. In this case it might be interesting to force the Player to design an ECSP focus that is specifically biased towards one of the two Senses it builds on. |