Transmission

Transmission (Major) by Senator Cybus

A quasi-psionic ability that allows the hero to broadcast his aura, transmitting his image over great distances to deliver messages and proclamations.

1. Whisper. A means of subtle communication, Whisper allows the super being to transmit his voice to a specific location or person, as well as hear what is happening there through a kind of clairaudience. The character can choose to make his voice audible to either a single individual or everyone in the vicinity.
At every third level of experience (three, six, nine, etc) the hero learns to transmit the Whisper to one more location or person simultaneously; at level three, he can transmit to two targets at once, three targets at level six and so on. Note that the hero can still only transmit to areas within his maximum range (see below).

Chances for a successful transmission: There is a chance that the character may accidentally direct the power to an unwanted destination, depending on his familiarity with the target.

When transmitting to a familiar location/person or a target that is clearly visible from the hero’s position, there is no chance of missing.

When transmitting to a place/person that he has seen/met only a few times: 88%

When transmitting to a place/person seen/met only once: 60% + 1% per level of experience

When transmitting to a place/person never seen/met, but described in detail: 40%

When transmitting to a totally unfamiliar place/person: 15%

If the super being does send his broadcast to the wrong destination, he will instinctively realize this and may try again, but there is a cumulative penalty of -10% for every additional attempt, e.g. a second attempt suffers a penalty of -10%, a third attempt means a penalty of -20% and so on. Multiple failed attempts may make further tries impossible, indicating that the super being is simply not familiar enough with the target to reach it and must visit/meet it again before further transmissions can be attempted.

Range: 5 miles (3.2 km) + 5 miles (3.2 km) per level of experience.

Duration: Indefinite - as long as the hero concentrates.

Attacks Per Melee: Activating the ability uses up one attack/action. Maintaining it requires total concentration, preventing the use of any other attacks or actions for as long as the power is in use.

Limitations:

This power cannot be used in conjunction with a Mind Block or the power of Alter Aura; the character must drop his psychic defences and open his mind fully in order to transmit his aura.

Beings with the ability to see auras will be able to perceive the character’s presence even if they were not the intended target of the transmission and can read the hero’s aura as if he was physically present.

2. Proclamation. A step-up from Whisper, the character can project a image of himself to a given location or person and interact with those present as easily as if he was in the room; through his projection, the super being can see and hear as he normally would. Unlike the Whisper sub-ability, everyone present will be able to perceive the hero’s image.
The super being can choose to make his projection semi-transparent/colorless (i.e. obviously a projection) or completely convincing, potentially fooling people into believing he is genuinely there.
At every third level of experience (three, six, nine, etc) the hero learns to broadcast to one more location or person simultaneously; at level three, he can transmit to two targets at once, three targets at level six and so on. Note that the hero can still only transmit to areas within his maximum range (see below).

Chances for a successful transmission: The same as for the Whisper sub-ability, detailed above.

Range: 5 miles (3.2 km) + 5 miles (3.2 km) per level of experience.

Duration: Indefinite - as long as the hero concentrates.

Attacks Per Melee: Activating the ability uses up one attack/action. Maintaining it requires total concentration, preventing the use of any other attacks or actions for as long as the power is in use.

Limitations:

This ability cannot be used in conjunction with a Mind Block or the power of Alter Aura; the character must drop his psychic defences and open his mind fully in order to transmit his aura.

Beings with the ability to see auras will be able to read the hero’s aura as if he was physically present, and therefore can not be fooled into thinking a projection is the real super being.

3. Broadcast. This aspect of the ability allows the super being to project a giant-sized version of his image into the open air, to address and intimidate mass audiences. The image can be between 20 feet (6 m) to 100 feet high (30.5 m) and can display the hero’s entire body or just his head, whichever the character chooses. It can be made to appear anywhere between 50 feet (15 m) to 500 feet (152 m) above the ground.
As with the sub-ability of Proclamation, the hero can see and hear through his projection, but the range of his sight and hearing is doubled. When the super being speaks through the Broadcast, his voice is automatically amplified, up to about 90 decibels - not quite deafening, but certainly loud enough to guarantee the attention of the masses.
Additionally, the super being gradually learns how to add special effects to his Broadcast. At experience levels three, six, nine and twelve, the hero may select one of the effects from the following list:

• Alter Appearance: Normally, the character’s broadcasted image exactly resembles him, but this effect allows the super being to alter the look and sound of his Broadcast in any way he wishes: he can make simple cosmetic changes to his own appearance, or appear as an angel, a demon, an alien or any specific item or individual he can recall or imagine. To appear as another, existing person, the hero must make successfully roll against his Disguise skill (if the character lacks that skill, his chance of success is 15% +3% per level of experience); failure indicates that the image is not quite convincing.
• Awe/Horror Factor: By channeling psychic energy through his Broadcast, the hero can bring his force of will to bear against an audience. His Broadcast has an Awe/Horror Factor (player’s choice) of 10 +1 per every other level of experience. When used on a mass audience of ordinary humans, this effect is likely to cause widespread panic and disruption, and will certainly add weight to anything the super being has to say.
• Focus: When the super being’s image appears, observers cannot look away! Through sheer strength of will, the character can force an audience to pay attention to his every word. To resist this effect, an observer must successfully save vs. psionics (16 or higher, M.E. bonuses applicable) or be transfixed. If an observer is under attack or would otherwise be put in harm’s way by focusing on the Broadcast, they gain a bonus of +6 to the saving throw.
• Polyglot: All observers will hear the super being speak in their own language, regardless of whatever words the character is actually using. This effect does not grant any actual knowledge of foreign languages, rather it is a psychic trick that alters the perception of an audience to bypass linguistic barriers.

At every third level of experience (three, six, nine, etc) the hero learns to transmit the Broadcast to one more location simultaneously; at level three, he can broadcast to two places at once, three locations at level six and so on. Note that the hero can still only transmit to areas within his maximum range (see below).

Chances for a successful transmission: The same as for the Whisper sub-ability, detailed above.

Range: 5 miles (3.2 km) + 5 miles (3.2 km) per level of experience.

Duration: Indefinite - as long as the hero concentrates.

Attacks Per Melee: Activating the ability uses up one attack/action. Maintaining it requires total concentration, preventing the use of any other attacks or actions for as long as the power is in use.

Limitations:

This ability cannot be used in conjunction with a Mind Block or the power of Alter Aura; the character must drop his psychic defences and open his mind fully in order to transmit his aura.

Beings with the ability to see auras will be able to read the hero’s aura as if he was physically present, and therefore can not be fooled by the Alter Appearance effect.

When the super being uses this aspect of the ability, the sheer expenditure of exotic energy makes him incredibly easy to spot or track, for individuals with the ability to perceive such things. Beings with Scan Powers can determine the hero’s abilities with just a glance, instead of the usual 1D6+1 minutes of study, can do so from three times their normal range, and, even if the hero is psychic, can not be prevented from doing this - no saving throw allowed. Beings with Abnormal Energy Sense can detect use of this ability from three times their normal range and can track the character effortlessly (no chance of failure) - such a being could actually find the hero by following the trail of energy all the way back from his projection, if it was sustained for long enough.