I'm wondering, does use of an auspex require the Tech-Use skill for normal use? I've used THE POWER OF GOOGLE to search around a bit, but I've seen a lot of conflicting thoughts on the matter - thus I come here, to a source that might have something resembling an 'official' response to offer.

To make it easy on you, here is the auspex scanner description from the core book:

These devices are used to detect energy emissions, motion
and biological life signs. A character using an auspex gains
a +20 bonus to Awareness Tests and may make a Tech-Use
Test to use an auspex to spot things not normally detectable
to human senses alone, such as invisible gases, nearby biosigns
or ambient radiation.

Already, I'm uncertain. Does the bonus apply only if the Tech-Use check is made, or is that a static bonus while in use, and does this 'simple' use require the Tech-Use skill?

I would have leaned towards Tech-Use being required for general use, with a check being made for more detailed information, but then if I take a look at the Tech-Use description...

A character may use Tech-Use to repair
mechanical items and to work out how
unusual technical artefacts work. When
using a basic, simple piece of mechanical
equipment under normal circumstances,
such as a vox or auspex, no Test is
required. A Tech-Use Test is needed if
the item is unusual, malfunctioning or
conditions are especially troublesome,
such as attempting to use an auspex
during an electrical storm, or trying to
get an ancient warp engine to start up
after a thousand years’ disuse.

Now, that pretty obviously says you don't need to make a check, but doesn't really say if the skill is required for use. If you don't need the Tech-Use skill for 'simple' use, how would a Feral-worlder (-20 to Tech-Use) fare in this simplistic use?

No, it just takes a tech-use test to make full use of an auspex. If you don't make the test, you still get the basic benefits.

Thanks for the input.

What sort of things would an auspex pick up, out of curiousity, without the Tech-Use application?

Movement, life signs, heat signatures from human up, and obviously vehicles and things of that nature. ofc vehicles that aren't active are harder for an auspex to spot.

You can also have a simplified auspex that only picks up on a certain type of signature, like a specific type of xenos, or one designed to detect minerals and things of that nature.

DJSunhammer said:

But that doesn't seem to make much sense...

Wouldn't life signs and heat signatures fall under both biosigns and/or ambient radiation (thus requiring a Tech-Use check)?

Good point, that doesn't make much sense. I don't remember what I was thinking when I wrote that.

It's kind of a weird conundrum really...

For all intents and purposes, it doesn't appear as though (by the rules as written) you need the Tech-Use skill to gain the Awareness benefit of an auspex - I would personally think its implied that Tech-Use (poorly named though it is) is less for literal 'use of tech' and more for 'use of tech that is unfamiliar/use under duress'.

HOWEVER, to use the auspex to detect things outside the human sense-range you DO need the Tech-Use skill. And, since there's no mention of what an auspex could be detecting inside the human sense-range, and it's implied that most things one would assume an auspex could detect would fall outside the human sense-range, one has to wonder: just wtf could these things tell you to boost your Awareness without a Tech-Use test each time they're used?

Personally, I'm kind of surprised this didn't make it into an errata at some point, as - just from fluff-based perspective of understanding how the universe functions, not to mention in terms of tabletop rules - the auspex description is rather poorly worded, and the degree to which the Tech-Use skill is required in the use of basic technology within the setting remains somewhat unclear (yeah, can be house ruled easily enough, but I tend to think the less confusion I have in terms of basic game rules, they better the system <.<).

My guess is that an Auspex is like a hand held radar. It shows you living or mechanical things that are above a certain size. Basically, it shows you potential enemies. This is standard, but the auspex can also detect a lot of other things that a player only gains access to with a tech use test, like lethal gasses or the composition of a rock. Is that a better explanation?

DJSunhammer said:

Indeed, that's a clearer explanation than the book provides. The whole 'things not normally detectable to human senses alone' bit seriously limits the utility of the item, as there doesn't seem to be much the item could detect that doesn't fall into that category - even simple radar/motion detection would fall into that category.

While my group has likely already passed judgement on the use of these items (that you need Tech-Use to use them at all), it definitely seems like an area that could use clarification.

Example:

The cell goes into a known irradiated zone with full protection to "assist the survey team" (read: scrub evidence, recover materials, and have "accidents" occur when certain persons have seen too much). They know the whole place is flooded with RADs and that their suits give them leeway in walking around mild to moderate irradiated zones without fear of corruption and that the heavily irradiated zones are not involved in the survey parameters (the suits can't stand up to that level of radiation anyway). They decide that the multitude of radioactivity detection alerts on their auspex scanners (free of malfunctions) in the mild zone is getting annoying after the first 30 minutes in as they're taking up a lot of the screen space (in width and depth) to see anything useful that they don't already notice with their own eyes (effectively imposing a -20 to counter the auspex's natural +20 and useful range reduced to 5m).

Somebody needs to adjust the settings on the auspex scanners to disregard thresholds below what the suits are capable of blocking (to strip away the useless clutter) but to still detect radiation to give a visual warning before accidently stumbling into areas beyond the suit's shielding parameters. The tech-priest in the group takes a look at his auspex scanner, recites the "Intonation of Optical Clarity (62nd Verse)" while navigating the runes on the panel in synch with the recitation (Difficult Tech-Use Check so -10 as the machine spirit doesn't enjoy being tweaked beyond standard detection parameters). (Success) The overlay menu screen fades same as the binary drone from the recitations does with a measured grace leaving the auspex screen free of the cloying alerts that left it useless a minute ago. He repeats the ritual upon each of the cell's auspex scanners (not going to bother having the player roll as the steps are fresh on his memory coils from recalling them from their depths) and now they can use them without impediment.

Note that also the auspex grants the +20 without the Tech-Use test but you need to use it to locate items that, without the auspex revealing them in a "True Seeing" sort of sense, would not be visible under unaugmented human sight and/or through 50m of unshielded material.

One thing to note - there's a difference between "no test required" and "anyone can do this". Consider speaking a foreign language - a character cannot speak a language he doesn't know, but if he does know it then he's unlikely to need to test it unless in unusual circumstances. In such situations, "no test required" is essentially synonymous with "you automatically pass the test so long as you're capable of at least attempting it".

Tech-Use (and all skills, really) should be regarded the same - while operating an Auspex doesn't require a Tech-Use Test, a character lacking Tech-Use arguably shouldn't be allowed to operate one, as he lacks the understanding needed to effectively operate it.

Sigismund said:

That was a good example, and the bit I've quoted is true enough - however, I would have suggested an errata entry stating 'a character using an auspex may make a Tech-Use Test to use an auspex to gain a +20 bonus to Awareness Tests to spot things not normally detectable to human senses', as opposed to the more convoluted as-written entry, since as stated an auspex effectively offers no benefit unless detecting things not normally detectable within the human range by their very nature.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Those are fair points and I would support them, taking into account my above comment about clarification of the entry; though, I might also suggest the inclusion of a small entry detailing exactly what you've just said regarding lack of a need to test vs common usage, as not all of the skills are quite as clear-cut as, say, Speak Language or Literacy, in terms of that relationship. Heck, even a simple addition to the Tech-Use or Armory sections stating that 'any device that requires a Tech-Use test for use in any regard requires the Tech-Use skill for general usage' would be a slight improvement. Again, vague implications < clarity.

drxn said:

The point of the Tech-Use test is to locate bio/motion/energy environmental details beyond the ken of unaugmented human visual range though the scanner's indirect sensory suite as that would take it outside the realm of Awareness. The +20 to Awareness is for when an object that's subject to the sensors suite comes into range of your regular visuals as well (as it's a synergy bonus centered on Awareness).

On the other quote, that's what an Advanced Skill means. You can't attempt an advanced skill, even if it's guaranteed success, without the skill in question. So one has to at least KNOW how to manage an auspex (even if it's only treated as a basic skill) to get the baseline bonus from it.