Can a Navigator use Foreshadowing out of combat?
(giving him 10+ on any skilltest as long as there is no timepressure)

I'd say yes, but not on Extended Tests, due to the fluff stating that it's the near future and "next turn" and so forth.

I would also say no to things like Lore checks, because knowing the future doesn't really have anything to do with that.

HOnestly, the power should be better written. Even if someone argued "only in combat" you could just skirmish your buddy and on your turn make a Lore check citing the "any Test" wording.

I would like some more insight in this, our GM does not allow the use of this right now and according to me this should be allowed but we cant argue against the GM right now since we dont have any official statement!

exeetor said:

I believe that in any game the GM's decision - even if it contracdicts an errata - is the rule you have to play with. However unless they have a really amazing reason for this or they have built their plot around this interpretation they should be open to persuasion. Since there is no official ruling on this, it gets tricky to argue. These are just my interpretations.

Going by Rules As Written, it is strictly the next "Test" that the Navigator makes that is improved. I could even see this as applying to Lore Tests, as perhaps he feels in the Warp that the words he is about to say are not correct, and he should say something else instead. There are other powers, such as Tracks in the Stars or Void Watcher that don't specify if they are used in/out of combat.

I agree with Flail-Bot regarding ship combat. Since you deal in Strategic Turns, not Rounds, and this is not an Extended Action so you shouldn't use it then. The time for this is very clearly given in Rounds, and the time between Strategic Turns is half an hour so it doesn't make a lot of sense.

Ofc the GM is always the decider but this time its the reason he is giving.
"You cant use it out of combat since it says TURN in the rules"

In my eyes turn means in 5-6 seconds after you have used the power.
I just would like to know what you guys think.
And up til now it seems to be "can be used for skills anytime but only in skill-checks that are used instantly"

Our question was that if the Navigator could use this to for example "find the astronomicon" during a warp journey.

I'd disallow it to help find the astronomican. Finding the astronomican should require prayer, preparations and meditation and take substantially longer than a few seconds.

ah true, but as long as the skill is a "few seconds" skill then it should be alright, such as a remembering something in a lore-check or opening a door with a tech-use?

exeetor said:

That's what I would feel. There are Skill Use descriptions in the Skill Descriptions in the Core Rulebook that give the average time needed for skill tests with those skill. Lores are given as a Free Action, so I think as long as you justify it somehow (like what I did!) then it should be within the time limit for being affected by Foreshadowing.

I would say it depends on what the GM interprets as "Near Future". This could be anywhere from seconds to minutes to hours and on. When the future is, for all intents and purposes infinite, it can mean pretty much any amount of time in that context.

So let's break it down. What is the actual strength of this power? Would it make sense for the power and Navigator to be strong enough to pilfer secrets that coud follow the strands of fate to their fruition years, months, or even weeks later? I don't really think so. I think that would be of a different scope and thus a different Navigator Power altogether.

Next, what is the context of the usage? Combat is obvious because the outcomes almost always are played out in the observable near-immediate future. So what are things similar to that? If it's an event outside of combat, but still has an observable and near-immediate effect, I think it would have to be applicable. Examples of this could be Tech-Use (trying to open a bulkhead, purge a data-daemon, quickly reprogramming a servitor, etc), Medicae (first aid, identifyign toxins or poisons), and more. I would think things like Climb and Piloting would be obvious as well. I would think Social Interactions would work also, youd be able to know how they respond to certain tactics ahead of time, and so adjust your interaction accordingly.

Completely internal things that are not acted upon or do not have any observable effect would not be relevant to this power; the Navigator is not being told what is right or wrong, but shown a slight amount of the consequence of a path of actions. Things that do have observable effects, but are many minutes or even hours in the future, are more of a gray area and are up to the GM and what he thinks is appropriate. Maybe he would allow it, but would require all three secrets to be used, for only half the bonus, to represent piecing together so many future-secrets to accurately interpret something that much further ahead… or require the Navigator to have it at Master level to use it for near-future events longer than a few minutes, or hours.

exeetor said:

See, the dumb thing about "It says turn," like I said earlier, is that combat is only a meta-construct. Nothing in-universe changes when people enter combat, the rules shouldn't either.

The only reasoning should be fluff oriented. If you think 6 seconds is enough time to affect something, then Foreshadowing sohuld be allowed. If you don't, then not.

To return to my first point, you can enter "combat" at any time by saying I duel my friend, we're now in combat, I use the ability. Which is obviously stupid.

I honestly can't see Foreshadowing helping with, say, a Lore check. I can't imagine it'd really help locate the Astronomican, either, but I could at least see an argument for it. For quick checks that have an immediate penalty for failure, though - say a Tech-Use Test to pick an electronic lock, where two or more DoF will set off a howler, yeah, let him see "well if I do it THAT way, the Howler goes off…" and claim that bonus. If you're performing Actions, then you're using Turns, even if you're not closely tracking them. If it pleases you, roll initiative THEN use Foreshadowing, if it matters who moves first when it's only your party around. Maybe the Arch-Militant will shoot the lock before you get around to picking it…