Sensorum

by **Sensorum** July 21st 2015, 7:35 pm

Sensorum
"If we could feel each other's pain, cruelty would surely end."

Basic Biography

Real Name: Sanjay Madani
Hero: Sensorum
Title: Doctor
Alignment: Neutral to Chaotic Good (could use advice)
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Race: Indian American (India)
Hair: Dark
Eyes: Dark Brown
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 180 pounds
Blood type: O-

The Looks

Doctor Madani is a tall, thin, handsome young Indian man with an athletic build. In costume, he wears a white suit with blue accents that sports the symbol of the 'All Seeing Eye' of the type found in depictions of Horus, U.S. money, and masonic imagery.

The Legacy

Personality:
Doctor Madani is a young, energetic man with a sense of social responsibility. His desire to do good exceeds his desire to follow the rules. He can make moral compromises to achieve the greater good, and will work with criminals if necessary to facilitate his heroic profession. He feels a genuine empathy for people experiencing difficulty. He is a vibrant soul, full of joy for life. At times, when confronted with contemporaries who have more skill and power than he does, he feels insecure. He is most at home when confronted with a challenge or puzzle to solve, as this is a way to assert his utility to the world. He was something of a libertine before he got his powers, and now he is even more prone to distraction by the pleasures of life. He was born into a Shakti Hindu family. He honors the idea of the Divine Mother, but does little in the way of formal practice and will ignore religious precepts without much guilt.

History:
Before becoming Sensorum, Doctor Sanjay Madani worked as an Emergency Surgeon at Central Hospital. When a nearby research facility became the victim of arson, an explosion caused experimental retroviruses to escape into the surrounding neighborhood. Central Hospital soon became quarantined when the viruses began to spread and patients came in. Some Doctors evacuated before the quarantine. Sanjay elected to remain and help the infected and injured.

One of those infected patients was Joana Bellada, daughter of ProTek CEO David Bellada. Like other infected, she had a high fever. In Joana's case, the fever was so severe as to be resistant to the usual remedies. Sanjay knew of an experimental treatment that might counter the fever by taking blood out of the body and cooling it before returning it to normal circulation.

However, the procedure was not sanctioned for human trials. Performing the procedure would be illegal medicine that would almost certainly cost him his medical license, and would certainly make him unemployable in any medical capacity for the rest of his life.

David begged Sanjay to use any means necessary to save his daughter. He implored, "Don't worry about your damn license! I will make any necessary compensation, even if it means paying you a handsome retirement for the rest of your life! Just save my daughter!"

Sanjay relented, and performed the procedure, saving Joana's life. Soon after, he himself succumbed to the virus. His own fever was severe, but not lethal. When he woke, his career was over... but his life had just taken an interesting turn.

The quarantine lasted for a month while the effects of the virus were analyzed. It turned out that the retrovirus being developed at the nearby research facility was intended for genetic experimentation. It was meant to activate 'junk DNA' in chimpanzees so that the purpose of this DNA could be studied. Not a very bigoted virus, it sought to perform this same function in humans. All victims became ill. Most recovered without permanent effects. Some had debilitating gene-related illnesses. Others had previously dormant meta abilities activated. Sanjay was one of these lucky few.

Over time, he learned that he could perceive the senses of other living creatures, even modifying their sensory perceptions when he was in contact with them. He also found that he could modify his own sensory experiences, making them more or less intense. This was overwhelming at first, but he gradually learned to control it.

By the time the quarantine ended, and the subsequent hearings regarding his medical license were over, he had gotten a fair grasp on his abilities. David Bellada made good on his promise, first by providing an attorney for the medical board hearings. Later, when all appeals failed, he provided a substantial monthly stipend from a hefty annuity set up in Sanjay's name.

Now all that was left for Sanjay was to find something to do with his life. A rise in superhuman crime followed the virus outbreak. Sanjay frequently found himself in the presence of the victims of such crimes. He didn't just empathize with them. He could literally feel their pain. He began to think he'd been given his abilities for a reason.

Once he'd made up his mind, he approached David Bellada with his idea of becoming a costumed hero. He'd half-expected David to laugh, but the man took him seriously. Not only did he support the venture, but his company ProTek was in the process of developing various technologies that were in need of field testing. By supplying Sanjay with what he needed for his vigilante enterprise, he could also get valuable field data on the effectiveness of gear under development. As such, Sanjay became a kind of unofficial corporate-sponsored hero, and the relationship between the men became less a patronage and more of a symbiosis.

But there was more to being a hero than gear and superpowers. The boxing and wrestling Sanjay had done in High School and college would be insufficient to the dangers of the street. While being able to 'feel' the movements of his opponents would surely give him an edge, and perceiving a scene from multiple perspectives was very useful, these things were not enough by themselves to keep him alive in a world of superhuman violence. He needed training.

David made sure that Sanjay had that much needed training available to him. His personal bodyguard taught Sanjay some practical self-defense basics, and a young parkour sports celebrity was hired to teach him how to move around the city effectively. Finally, a driving course with a professional motorcycle racer improved his driving skills. After six months of training under these tutors, Sanjay finally went into the field, styling himself as 'Sensorum.' (A syllabic shortening of the medical term Sensorium.)

Sensorum is still a new superhero, and his powers place him at the low-end of official power rankings. Still, his ability is versatile enough so that it allows him to overcome more combat-capable opponents when used creatively. He also tries not to bite off more than he can chew, focusing on lower-end street villains rather than world-conquering supermen.

The Powers and Weaknesses

(All characters can be as powerful as they want, as long as they are balanced with proper weaknesses.)
Powers

Powers: Sensorum's powers are generically described as 'sensory reception and manipulation.' However, this description seems rather too broad to be useful. Below I outline very specific uses of the power. The power is not telepathy. It does not allow the taking or transmitting of thoughts, memories, or emotions. It is the ability to read and modify the signals of the sensory nervous system.

1) Perceive: Can sense living creatures and access the senses of living creatures within 100 meters, including feeling their movements from their own perspective, sight, hearing, touch, etc. This is selective. Senses can be pulled from one person, multiple people, or from nobody. Multiple senses can be accessed from each target, or one sense, or no senses. Sensorum's brain has sense-processing ability able to perceive thousands of senses simultaneously without confusion. The power can be turned on or shut off in an instant.

Disadvantage/Weakness: The danger of using this ability is that if any of the living creatures being monitored experiences an extreme sensory experience, that experience may be transferred to Sensorum before he can turn off the power. This can be momentarily stunning or debilitating. Sensorum will at times use this perception power on his foes, and this can sometimes necessitate complicated switching on and off of this power in order to avoid feeling the blows he lands. Sometimes this is done imperfectly, and he feels the damage he is causing to his enemies.

2) Transmit: Can send information to the senses of one or more consenting individuals within 100 meters. He can transmit real or manufactured images, sounds, or physical sensations. Further, if he is within 1 meter of an individual, he can tie in his attenuation power to deaden or disrupt the sensory perceptions of willing targets. (This is useful for suppressing the pain of an injured ally.) This power can be used to network willing allies, with Sensorum gathering and transmitting sensory information to a team on demand (such as vocalizations or observations), creating a communication hub that is difficult to intercept.

Disadvantage/Weakness: The target of this power must be entirely willing to have their senses interfered with. A person can assert their own sensory experience at any time and dismiss the attempt to transmit sensations, or refuse to experience them to begin with. This weakness does not count against the disadvantage total, and merely exists for flavor.

3) Attenuate: Can reduce the effectiveness of his own senses, such as suppressing pain so that injuries are less debilitating, suppressing hunger so that he can stay on his diet, suppressing the sensation of heat so he can be more comfortable in his suit, suppressing loud noises so that they don't make him cringe, or suppressing the light sensitivity of his eyes so he can endure bright environments.

Disadvantage/Weakness: This can be a double-edged sword. Suppressing pain may be momentarily convenient. However, pain exists for a reason. Ignoring injuries is not healthy in the long term. Suppressing pain can inspire Sensorum to undergo overly strenuous activity which may exacerbate injuries or prevent them from healing. Suppressing the uncomfortable sensation of heat is all well and good until you faint from heatstroke. Suppressing the burn of overworked muscles seems like a good idea until they tear and utterly fail you. Suppressing hunger seems like a good idea until you miss so many meals that you collapse from low blood sugar.

4) Amplify: Can increase the effectiveness of his own senses, increasing their sensitivity to their utmost limits. In this way he can hear soft noises at the lower limit of human perception, feel subtle textures on an object, smell subtle aromas, taste the smallest nuances of a consumed substance, or make his eyesight more keen or sensitive to light.

Disadvantage/Weakness: The danger of doing this is that he may experience a loud, bright, or otherwise offensive sensation which may stun him for a moment before he can turn off this power (and perhaps apply attenuation instead.) There is also danger in amplifying pleasurable sensations, as you can become lost in the 'high' and allow important things to slide.

5) Discern: Sensorum's brain is highly advanced in the area of sensory processing. This causes illusions to seem dull and less real, as even the tiniest flaws are picked apart by his brain's powerful sensory processing center.

Disadvantage/Weakness: The minor disadvantage to this power is that desirable illusions like fun holograms or IMAX 3D screens seem less real to him than to other people, somewhat limiting enjoyment and interfering with suspension of disbelief. This weakness does not count against the disadvantage total, and is here for flavor.

Non-Power related Disadvantage 1 - Psychological: Sensorum knows he is not among the more powerful heroes, and has a sense of inadequacy that stems from this knowledge. He can be goaded into doing something rash in an effort to prove himself either a worthy opponent or a worthy ally.

Non-Power related Disadvantage 2 - Psychological: Sensorum can not stand to see people endure preventable suffering. He could be manipulated into a disadvantageous position or trap by causing pain to a friend or loved one. His penchant for intellectual problem solving will tend to fail him in noticing a trap when he is trying to save an agonized ally.

Items/Equipment: Sensorum's equipment is provided by ProTek, a technology company that develops armor and other wearables for police and military organizations worldwide. All of his equipment is state-of-the-art, but they are otherwise unremarkable devices within the grasp of non-superpowered security, police, or military forces.

Wearables: Sensorum wears a full-body suit with cowl, gloves, goggles, facemask, belt, and boots.

Suit: The suit is lined with BallisTek fiber, a lightweight kevlar competitor capable of stopping small arms and some blade attacks. Metal inserts and pads on the chest, sides, knees, and back provide additional protection to vital organs. The suit also has a layer of multichromatic dye, allowing it to change color and pattern to one pre-programmed alternative. The dye layer allows the suit to swap between the costume colors and the rough appearance of an ordinary business suit. The illusion is sufficient to fool observers who are at least three feet away. This is how Sanjay preserves the appearance of an ordinary citizen when leaving and returning to his home, protecting his secret identity.

Cowl: The cowl has a bluetooth transceiver that connects to his smartphone.

Gloves: The gloves of the suit have titanium knuckles sewn in to protect his hands when punching, allowing him to punch very hard objects.

Goggles: The goggles are made of clear BallisTek plastic, protecting his eyes from impacts. They also have a HUD display that links to his smart phone.

Facemask: The facemask contains air filters, allowing him to breathe safely in toxic environments (though it is seldom used for anything more offensive than tear gas.)

Belt: Sensorum's belt has a pouch containing an emergency field medical kit. He also carries ziploc bags for collecting evidence and plastic zip-ties suitable for securing the hands and feet of non-super-strength criminals. There is also a holster for his smartphone.

Boots: Sensorum's boots contain GekoTek (tm) soles, enhancing parkour abilities by allowing him to run along walls and other unlikely surfaces without slipping and falling.

Smartphone: Sensorum's smartphone is just a state-of-the-art smartphone with caller-ID blocking features so that he can place calls without identifying himself. It has pretty good security, and can be remotely bricked.

Vehicle: Sensorum drives an electric motorcycle with multi-chromatic electronic paint. (It can change color, like his suit.) This does not provide camoflage value, but it does allow it to appear that Sensorum and Doctor Madani drive different color vehicles. The vehicle has a GPS system and audio system that links to his smartphone and Cowl.

Home: Doctor Madani owns a large and comfortable home complete with a medical lab that he uses to analyze evidence. The lab is stocked with enough equipment so that he can provide emergency medical treatment to trusted allies. His electric motorcycle is kept in the house's spacious three car garage. The house also has a nice computer system and an excellent internet connection.

Skills: Doctor Madani has a PHD in Emergency Medicine. He has basic hand-to-hand combat training, parkour training, and has completed offensive and defensive driving courses. The many lab classes he was required to take in medical school make him pretty good at analyzing evidence from crime scenes.

RP Mechanics

RP Mechanic(s):

Physical Priority
(You are to put these physical attributes in order from 1 to 4. 1 is the highest priority, 4 is the lowest.)
Reaction 1
Agility 2
Endurance 3
Strength 4

by **Sensorum** July 21st 2015, 8:26 pm

Hello,

I think I've finished with this save for the picture. I can't seem to manage any alignment of the text but center, however. My apologies.

by **Forceaus** July 21st 2015, 8:47 pm

Hello

Cannot allow controlling other characters' senses. At least not without player permission.

by **Sensorum** July 21st 2015, 10:43 pm

Hello,

I have changed the power in question so that it only has effect on willing targets. This changes it from an attack-capable power to one that is purely utilitarian.

Cheers! :-)

by **Forceaus** July 21st 2015, 11:12 pm

A power requiring permission doesn't count as a weakness, and your 5th weakness isn't going to work. You're going to need to add at least 2 more weaknesses.

by **Sensorum** July 21st 2015, 11:47 pm

Hello,

Do weaknesses need to be directly related to a power, or can they be personal failings unrelated to them?

Cheers!

by **Forceaus** July 22nd 2015, 12:26 am

Weaknesses can be anything exploitable. They don't have to be tied to a power

by **Sensorum** July 22nd 2015, 1:10 am

Hello,

Thanks for the assist. I have added two psychological disadvantages and marked the unapproved disadvantages as being 'flavor only.' Please review and advise at your leisure.

Cheers!

by **Forceaus** July 22nd 2015, 1:18 am

Approved until stated otherwise

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