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SensationStatChanneling

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Channeling

Channeling is a feature of player characters and various important non-player characters share in Sensation. This ability allows these individuals, who are generally highly talented and could possibly even be described as Special, to temporarily shift their Sensory stat ratings. This is done by channeling points from one or more Sensory stats into one or more other Sensory stats.

A character may attempt to Channel at any time, unless the GM decides that he or she is unable to do some for some reason. Reasons can vary wildly and could range from purely to natural to being somewhat more sinster in nature. Generally, other than special circustances, a character may not be allowed to Channel if he or she is unable to focus and concentrate, if he or she is unconscious, or otherwise inactive, or if the character has Channeled very recently. The restrictions resulting from the lattermost category are rather more flexible than those resulting from the first two categories. If a character has recently Channeled a great deal of Sensory stat points, he or she will probably be unable to Channel again for a fair amount of time, possibly a number of hours. However, if only a small number of Sensory stat points were Channeled it is still possible for the character to attempt to Channel again almost immediately. In some cases the GM may decide that a character is able to Channel, but must make a Check roll in order to successfuly do so.

During Channeling a number of character features become important:

• The Link Order of the Sensory stats
• The Primary Sense

Channeling can only occur in a sequence that conforms to the Link Order for the character's Sensory stats. As Sensory stats are linked in a uni-directional manner this means that Channeling is only able to funnel stat points in a single direction. Any single Sensory stat can be chosen as a source for a Channeling attempt. The only restriction is on stats that are rated at 0 when the Channeling attempt is made.

The Primary Sense's rating determines the number of Sensory stat points that a character can Channel without there being any question of failure. This value can be temporarily adjusted in the character recently Channeled Sensory stat points and the effect has yet to wear off. In this case the Primary Sense's rating can be temporarily considered to be lower. This temporary lowering does not actually affect the rating of the Sense defined as the Primary Sense, and thus this Sense can still be Channeled to and from and used as normal. The temporary adjustment of the Primary Sense's rating is simply done in order to keep track of how close a character is to reaching his or her safe Channeling limit. Temporary increases in the Sensory stat defined as the Primary Sense also do not affect it's rating for purposes of determining the safe Channeling limit.

When a character attempts to Channel more Sensory stat points than he or she is able to safely do so the character must make a separate check for point over the limit being Channeled. This Check has a target number equivalent to the Primary Sense's rating. For each point over the limit a cumulative -1 penalty is applied to the target number of the check. Thus, a character channeling 2 points more than his or her Primary Sense allows would have to make a check and then make another check with a -1 penalty to the target number. Once a Check roll is failed the Channeling attempt immediately ceases at whatever point it has reached, leaving the player with the possiblity of a partailly successful Channeling attempt. Such failed attempts to exceed one's limits may well have a detrimental effect on the character, something which is entirely up to the GM's decision. The more points that were successfuly Channeled, the less detrimental the effects of a failed roll. A minor failure would result in a headache, while a major one might result in unconsciousness, brain damage or even death.

Of final note is the issue of duration. Generally the rule is that a Channeling that shifts many points around does not last as long as one that shifts only a small number of points. Exactly how long a Channeling can last is up to the GM. However, in most cases the Channeling of 1 Sensory stat point lasts for 30 minutes. There is a farily exponential length, with the Channeling of 6 or more points lasting barely long enough to perform one very simple, fast action. However, this action can be the really important one, such as hittting a target at incredible range while moving. The GM can, at his or her discretion, alter this concept of durationt to fit his or her module of campaign.

Channeling is a complex process and thus there are a number of examples presented below to aid in your understanding of the system. In the examples given below the ratings for the various Sensory stats are shown in brackets next to the name of that Sense:

A Character with the following Sensory arrangement Sight(2)->Hearing(2)->Touch(3)->Taste(3)->Smell(4) and with Smell designated as his or her Primary Sense decides to Channel.

First he or she decides to shift a point from Sight(2) to Hearing(2). This is a simple process and without much ado the character is sporting Sight(1) and Hearing(3)

Next the character decides to shift a point from Hearing(3) to Taste(3). This is a slightly more complex process as it actually involves the shifting of two points. First a point is shifted from Hearing(3) to Touch(3), resulting in Hearing(2) and Touch(4). Next a point is shifted from Touch(4) to Taste(3), resulting in the final desired effect of Hearing(2), Touch(3) and Taste(4).

One again the character decides to shift a point from Sight(1) to Hearing(3). This proceeds, but the character has now reached his or her Primary Sense limit.

Finally, the character decides to move 2 points from Smell(4) to Sight(0) and then move 1 point from Sight(0) to Hearing(3). This involves the movement of 3 points in total. However, the character is already at his or her Primary Sense limit, so Check rolls must be made for this Channeling to succeed. The first roll is made with a target number of 3(4-1), the second with a target of 2(4-2) and the final roll with a target number of 1(4-3). While there is a moderate chance the character will succeed in the first roll(1,2 or 3 succeeds) the odds on the other rolls are less certain. If the character failed the second roll then the Channel would immediately cease and the Character would be left with Smell(3), Sight(1) and Hearing(3). If the third roll was failed the situation would be Smell(2), Sight(2) and Hearing(3). If all three rolls succeeded then the Channeling would have been completely successful, with Smell(2), Sight(1) and Hearing(4).

All this Channeling would have taken a great toll on the character, however, and it is unlikely that he or she would be able to channel again for a number of hours. Also, the duration of his or her various Channelings would quite short, as he or she has Channeled numerous points over a very short period of time.