Designation: Orange

[ Designations | Common Abilities | Developed Abilities ]

D8-ranges were dubbed 'tracers' because their prime abilities were sensitive in nature. This was one of the main goals of the government-employed project overseers, to create abilities in a human that would allow him to hunt down particular individuals. Those same officials were pleased discover that some volunteers developed senses related to combat and physical surroundings. They saw possibilities in making lethal assassins and heightening the physical combat skills of soldiers. Other researchers noted that these individuals were able to catch more accurate glimpses of the future than other psychics, and felt the advice of these persons was very sound and should be listened to. These volunteers all displayed a frightening similarity - they all had occasional visions and dreams regarding a time in the future when a war would somehow cause the rebirth of the world through chaos, death, and destruction. This led some researchers and overseers to push for the creation of a facility that could survive a nuclear exchange.

D8-Orange Common Abilites:

Special Bonuses: The player gains a +3 bonus to Perception (if used), a extra +2 vs Horror Factor (again, if used), and a +1 to parry, dodge, and roll with punch/fall. In a Rifts® environment all the D8-orange's sensitive powers (except Astral Vision) are doubled in range.
Psionic Powers: The player can choose ten abilities from the sensitive category, and a total of four abilities from the other two minor categories. All sensitive abilities get a skill bonus of +20%.

D8-Orange Developed Abilites:
Choose two level one, plus one more at levels three, six, and ten.

Astral Vision: Constant and automatic, and can be turned on and off at will. This is a derivative of the see aura psionic power, with elements of see the invisible and presence sense. The range of this ability is equal to the line of sight of the character. The character can see all astral travellers, invisible creatures, entities, ghosts, and all other kinds of energy patterns (including magic energy) in addition to any areas where the astral realm intersects with the physical. The psychic can determine the general nature of the percieved life forms (human, entity, vampire, mutant, psychic, etc.), their general alignment (good, evil, or selfish), and their true form (useful against shapeshifters). The use of psionics and magic creates a surge in the user's aura just before use and is easily percieved by the psychic. This grants the person using astral vision an extra +2 to save vs psionic and magic attacks and a +4 bonus to dodge and parry the psychic attack if it is physical in nature, allowing a person a better chance to escape a physical assault like telekinesis, fire ball, mind bolt, magic net, etc.
Psychic Tracking: This power has a range of 360ft +40ft per level of experience and can be performed without I.S.P.^tm cost. It allows the psychic to follow a psychic 'scent' at a skill level of 35% +5% per level, roll once every 1000ft of tracking. Three failed rolls means the scent is lost and cannot be picked up again. Having a focus, such as a bit of blood or skin or a piece of recently worn clothing (4 hours), gives the tracker an additional +10% bonus. Psychics, mages, and supernatural beings can be tracked at an additional +10% bonus. The D8-orange also recognizes scents he has tracked before at a skill roll of 10% +4% per level of experience. Being within one mile of a ley line causes a -10% penalty and reduces the range by half. If within a mile of a nexus the magic energy will destroy the scent and make further tracking impossible. However, this also means that ley lines and nexuses are automatically sensed with a range of five miles plus one mile per level of experience.
Presence Sense: An improved version of the sensitive ability found in many Palladium series books. This has a range of 240ft +40ft per level of the psychic, who automatically senses the presence of other psychics, magicians, supernatural beings, astral travellers, entities, etc... To get a relatively exact sensation of what and where the sensed entity is, the D8-orange expends 5 I.S.P.^tm. This more accurate sensing power lasts for 3 minutes per level of experience. A psychic can then determine its direction, approximate distance, general type, and the number of beings (one, a couple, a few, several, many, lots, an army, etc...) If the psychic is familiar with the subject, he can also attempt to determine exactly what/who the sensed being is at a skill level of 20% +5% per level of experience. Normal life forms are also be sensed but at half the range, and unless the individual is emotionally close to the sensitive psychic he has a -20% penalty to determine exactly who the sensed presence is.
Amplified Senses: The character's natural senses can be psionically amplified. This costs 6 I.S.P.^tm and lasts for ten minutes per level of experience. He gains another +3 to Perception, gains +10% on skills that require the use of delicate senses (electronics, demolitions, prowl, pick locks, pick pockets, concealment, etc.), vision becomes 20/20, can recognize common smells/tastes at 60% +4% per level and uncommon ones at 20% +4% per level, and can hear normal conversations as far away as 300ft. These abilities last only as long as the psionic power is used. For a cost of 15 I.S.P.^tm permanently subtracted from the initial I.S.P.^tm base, this can be constant and automatic (no I.S.P.^tm cost).
Sixth Sense: This ability is automatic, constant, and costs 1 I.S.P.^tm when activated. It is the same as the psionic ability found in most Palladium RPG books, but has a range of 120ft +20ft per level. The psychic will also automatically sense when a loved one, friend, or teammate is in danger within the next 3d4 minutes but requires an automatic expenditure of 6 I.S.P.^tm. Lastly, at the cost of 10 I.S.P.^tm, the character can sweep a circle of radius 3ft per level and sense any traps, ambushes, and other dangers. If sensed, the character has a 40% +5% per level base chance to determine exactly what the danger is and how to avoid it. To do this, the character must meditate for one melee.
Combat Sense: At the cost of 2 I.S.P.^tm per melee the character posess an uncanny sense of immediate danger, like a split-second sixth sense. While used this grants the character the following bonuses and abilities: an additional attack per melee, +4 on initiative, +1 to strike, +3 to parry and dodge, +6 to roll with punch, and +2 to any other combat skills used in the heat of battle (break fall, disarm, maintain balance, etc...). The player has the option to parry or dodge any incoming attack (even sneak attacks and attacks from behind), can strike opponents behind him/out of view with half penalty (say a -3 for this character), and has an automatic dodge. When rolling up the character, the player could opt for this power to be automatic (no I.S.P.^tm cost) by deducting 30 points from the starting I.S.P.^tm base.
Environment Sense: This ability is a 'psychic radar' that lets the character sense physical objects in the nearby environment. It costs 10 I.S.P.^tm to activate and lasts for five minutes per level of experience. When creating the character the player could opt for this power to be automatic (no I.S.P.^tm cost) by deducting 25 points from the starting I.S.P.^tm base. When this ability is in use, the character suffers no penalties when blinded or in the dark (but has no bonuses either), and sneak attacks are impossible against the psychic. This has a range of 600ft +100ft per level of the psychic, who gets a bonus of +2 to initiative, strike, parry, and dodge. He gains a +10% bonus to Acrobatics, Gymnastics, and Prowl. He can also sense the following properties of objects as follows:
- Estimate distance at 60% +5% per level.
- Estimate direction of travel at 70% +5% per level.
- Estimate speed & acceleration at 40% +5% per level.
- Estimate exact location at 40% +5% per level.
- Interpret shapes at 50% +5% per level.
This power does not let the character see colors or feel weights. It is merely physical, not qualitative. Since this ability is psychic in nature it is not blocked by fog, walls, rain, or sandstorms like the Radar minor super ability. However, being within a mile of a ley line causes a -15% penalty, the loss of all bonuses from this ability, and it's range is reduced by half. Within a mile of a nexus causes this ability's effectiveness to be completely destroyed.
Location Sense: The character has an unnatural sense of direction. He gains a bonus of +25% to all navigation skills, a +15% bonus to the skills of Surveillance (when tailing only), Prowl, Track Animals, Tracking, and +10% to Psychic Trackng (described above). This character can also sense up, down, North, and the other directions in relation to the planet/craft he is on. He also has a 50% +5% per level chance of using that ability to correctly guess his general location on a planet. On Earth, this means he can guess the relative longitude and latitude and thus the country he is in. If the roll fails, the character has made an error of 100 miles times the percentile difference.