Sighted Seeker

Fugitives and marks alike run from their would be captors. The wisest of these hunters do not rely on mundane ways of tracking alone, instead combining those abilities with the information readily available through the powers of the mind. By blending clairsentient talents with the techniques of an inquisitive and a warrior, these sighted seekers become the worst nightmare of any criminal – or anyone they’re hired to find.

Role: Sighted seekers are excellent at finding specific individuals using not only active tracking abilities, but of reading the latent knowledge of nearby creatures to seek out their quarry.

Alignment: Any

Hit Die: d8

Requirements

To qualify to become a sighted seeker, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:

Base Attack Bonus: +4

Feats: Skill Focus (Survival)*

Skills: Diplomacy 2 ranks, Perception 5 ranks, Survival 2 ranks

Special: Power point reserve.

* A character with the Track class feature does not need to have the Skill Focus (Survival) feat to become a sighted seeker.

Class Skills

The sighted seeker’s class skills are Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), Perception (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Stealth (Dex), and Survival (Wis).

Skill Points at each Level: 6 + Int modifier

Table: Sighted Seeker
Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Manifesting Points/Day Powers Known Level Known
1st +0 +0 +1 +1 Favored prey, Urban Tracking 2 2 1st
2nd +1 +1 +1 +1 Passive seeking +1 level existing class 5 3 1st
3rd +2 +1 +2 +2 Mark prey +1 level existing class 9 4 1st
4th +3 +1 +2 +2 Prescient tactics +1 level existing class 14 5 2nd
5th +3 +2 +3 +3 Seekers analysis 22 6 2nd
6th +4 +2 +3 +3
+1 level existing class 30 7 2nd
7th +5 +2 +4 +4 Sighted analysis +1 level existing class 42 8 3rd
8th +6 +3 +4 +4 Hypercognition +1 level existing class 54 10 3rd
9th +6 +3 +5 +5 The Sight 70 11 3rd
10th +7 +3 +5 +5 Metafaculty +1 level existing class 86 12 4th

Class Features

The following are class features of the sighted seeker.

Weapons and Armor Proficiency: Sighted seekers are proficient with all simple weapons, plus the longsword, rapier, sap, short sword, shortbow and whip. Sighted seekers are proficient with light armor and shields (except tower shields).

Manifesting

A sighted seeker gains manifesting ability if she did not already have it. Her power points per day, powers known, and maximum power level known are given on Table: Sighted Seeker. She chooses her powers from the sighted seeker power list. To learn or manifest a power, she must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the power’s level, the save DCs for her powers are Wisdom-based, and she uses her Wisdom score to determine bonus power points.

Alternatively, if the sighted seeker was capable of manifesting psionic powers before becoming a sighted seeker, she may choose to forgo this training, instead opting to progress her existing manifesting class as described on Table: Sighted Seeker. At each indicated level, she gains power points, access to new powers, and an improved manifester level as if she had gained a level in whatever manifesting class she belonged to earlier. If she belonged to more than one manifesting class before becoming a sighted seeker, she must choose which class to add the level of sighted seeker to for the purposes of power points, access to new powers, and manifester level.

Once the sighted seeker has chosen her manifesting path, it can never be changed – not even with effects such as psychic reformation.

Favored Prey (Ex)

Starting at 1st level, a sighted seeker may add her favored enemy bonus (if any) to the save DCs when manifesting powers (such as remote viewing) against her favored enemies. Favored prey only applies to powers the sighted seeker manifests from her own mind (it does not apply to those from a psionic item or to psi-like abilities), and if such a power would affect multiple targets, only favored enemies or marks (see below) face the increased DC.

Urban Tracking

A sighted seeker gains Urban Tracking as a bonus feat at 1st level.

Passive Seeking (Su)

What makes the sighted seekers so efficient at their job is their ability to distill information from the passive thoughts and interactions around them, without arousing suspicion by asking any questions. Starting at 2nd level, while maintaining psionic focus and having a particular goal in mind, the sighted seeker may make a free Diplomacy check to gather information relating to this goal every 10 minutes she’s in a crowd as she detects scraps of information from those around her. If her goal is to locate a mark (see mark prey, below), she gains a bonus on this check equal to her class level.

Mark Prey (Ex)

A 3rd-level sighted seeker can invest her own psionic power into actively seeking a specific individual target, known as a mark. This investment is a standard action that requires spending power points equal to 3 per specific target selected. While a sighted seeker does not need to know a mark’s specific name or appearance, she must be able to unquestionably identify the specific individual in some way – for instance, “the one who made these tracks” or “the Queen’s killer” would be sufficient, while simply looking for “the elf” would not. This cost must be paid immediately upon recovering power points on each subsequent day that mark is being actively hunted by the sighted seeker. A target remains a mark until the seeker ceases investing power points each day to hunt them. A sighted seeker may only have a number of marks active equal to half his class level (rounded down).

The sighted seeker may treat a mark as a favored enemy, as if she had the ranger class ability, with a +1 bonus. If that foe is already a favored enemy by virtue of race or organization, the favored enemy bonus instead improves by +2. Many of a sighted seeker’s class features function in an improved fashion if she uses them against a mark; see the individual abilities for details.

Prescient Tactics (Ex)

When a sighted seeker of 4th level or higher manifests the defensive precognition, offensive precognition, or offensive prescience power, she adds the following augment to the power.

Augment: If you spend 2 additional power points, the duration increases to 1 hr./level, but you only gain the insight bonuses against your favored enemies. In addition, you also add the insight bonus to Survival checks made to follow tracks, and to Diplomacy checks made to use the Urban Tracking feat.

Seekers Analysis (Ex)

A 5th level sighted seeker has mastered the mundane aspects of the hunt, such that they become almost second nature to her. Add the following abilities to the Perception skill:

Action Time DC
Find Evidence Normal 10-20
Analysis 1 Minute 15

Evidence is a physical clue which would provide information about her current task, such as the location or past deeds of a mark or the solution to a mystery. The DC to find a clue is based on how much the scene was disturbed from the act that left the evidence (with 10 being a perfectly undisturbed scene). However, it still must be interpreted to determine any useful information.

Analyzing evidence to determine useful information requires a DC 15 Perception check, +2 per day past the event. Failure of analysis provides incomplete and potentially misleading information, while dramatic success may reveal more information than the clue may initially suggest to a casual observer. Regardless of the success of analysis, though, it takes more dramatic means (such as object reading or related powers) to determine the authenticity of evidence (that fleck of kobold scales could have been planted at the scene, for instance).

A sighted seeker can take 10 to find or analyze evidence, but cannot take 20 and cannot retry failed checks. 5 or more ranks in a relevant Knowledge skill provide a +2 bonus on Perception checks made when analyzing evidence.

Additionally, add the following abilities to the Knowledge skill:

Action Time DC
Research Subject At least 1d4 hours 10
Browse Records At least 1d4 Hours 10-30

Researching a subject involves perusing libraries or related sources for information about a particular subject, such as the nations which export the type of weapon found at a scene or what a particular symbol stands for. Difficult subjects require more time to research (up to the GM), but do not alter the DC – instead, you are limited by the amount of information present in the source you are browsing. Particularly good sources (such as royal archives or related specialists’ libraries) may provide a bonus of up to +6 on this check. A successful check results in a general understanding of the subject, while higher checks result in better information (to the limit of the source).

Browsing records involves going over files or ledgers looking for a particular piece of information – trends in immigration, taxation patterns, the goals of documented experiments and the like. The complexity of the filing system sets the DC; more difficult systems also take longer to peruse (at the GM’s option). If a sighted seeker sets out with a specific goal in mind – such as the exact date a particular individual checked in at the inn – the DC may increase by +5 – +15 (at the GM’s option), or may decrease dramatically if the filing system is particularly good.

A sighted seeker may take 10, take 20, and retry these Knowledge checks as often as time allows, though she is still limited by the information present in the source.

Sighted Analysis (Su)

Beginning at 7th level, a sighted seeker learns to augment her deductive skills with her psionic powers. She may spend 3 power points to automatically determine if a source is authentic during analysis, or to gain a +2 insight bonus to a single Perception or Knowledge check (whether using seeker’s analysis or not). If she increases her Knowledge check this way while browsing records or researching a subject, she is able to make such great leaps of insight that she is no longer bound by the limits of her source of information.

Unlike most supernatural abilities, sighted analysis can be augmented by spending more power points. Each additional power point spent increases the insight bonus on Perception or Knowledge checks by 2. Alternatively, by spending 2 additional power points, the sighted seeker gains the trapfinding feature (as a rogue) for the duration of her Perception check, or she may treat any single Knowledge check as a trained check. The sighted seeker may not spend more power points on a single use of sighted analysis than her class level.

Hypercognition (Ps)

At 8th level, the sighted seeker gains the ability to use hypercognition once per week as a psi-like ability, with a manifester level equal to twice her class level. Additionally, she adds hypercognition to list of powers known as a 7th level power. If she is unable to manifest 7th level powers, she cannot manifest it until she is able to manifest 7th level powers.

The Sight (Su)

Experienced sighted seekers develop the technique from which their name derives: the Sight. At 9th level, a sighted seeker learns the remote viewing power automatically (without having to select it). If she already knows remote viewing, she may learn any other clairsentience power from her class list of 4th level or lower.

Additionally, when she manifests remote viewing on a mark, she treats her connection to the mark as if it were one step better (from a likeness or picture to a possession or garment, for instance), reduces the manifesting time from 1 hour to 1 minute, and increases the duration from 1 minute/level to 10 minutes/level. Remote viewing doesn’t end if the sighted seeker attempts to manifest a power on her mark from her quasi-real viewpoint, although all other restrictions on such manifestations apply.

Metafaculty (Ps)

At 10th level, the sighted seeker gains the ability to use metafaculty once per week as a psi-like ability, with a manifester level equal to twice her class level. Additionally, she adds metafaculty to her list of powers known as an 8th level power. If she is unable to manifest 8th level powers, she cannot manifest it until she is able to.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Psionics Expanded: Advanced Psionics Guide. Copyright 2011, Dreamscarred Press; Authors: Jeremy Smith and Andreas Rönnqvist.

scroll to top