False sensory input

False sensory input was a psionic power of the telepathy discipline that manipulated the senses of a subject.

Effects
The manifester altered one of the subject's senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch—replacing the specific information received and causing them to sense something different from the reality. For example, they could make a shut door appear open, a bird look like a book, a scream sound like wind howling, a slamming door sound like thunder or a cough, a bad smell seem fragrant, stale food taste fresh, oil taste like garlic; or a gentle touch feel like a painful blow. Furthermore, it could create disguises, such as making a person appear to be a specific different person or a different sex or race.

Only one sense could be so altered at a time, but this could be changed every several seconds. The apparent size, volume, or other "intensity" of something couldn't be changed by more than 50%: a castle could look like another castle or a hill of about the same height, but not like a peasant's shack; a human could not be mistaken for a bird; a scream could not be heard as a whisper; a slamming door not sound like rustling paper; oil could not taste like water, and so on. False sensory input couldn't invent a sensation where there was nothing, and it couldn't make a target oblivious to one where there was.

As false sensory input altered the subject's senses directly, it could even alter what they perceived from a true seeing spell and other psionic or magical means of acquiring information based on senses. However, the manifester needed to be aware of such a tactic ahead of time in order to deceive it.

A subject could resist with an act of will or other means of resisting psionic powers. Steadfast perception could give a subject a second chance to resist, but they needed to suspect a false sensory input to consider using it.

A false sensory input could distract opponent spellcasters and manifesters.

Only one subject at a time could be affected, but if an experienced manifester spent more psionic energy, they could affect additional subjects within of one another. The false sensory input lasted as long as the manifester could maintain concentration on it, on the order of minutes. It operated at long range.

Prerequisite Powers
In early versions, manifesting the power required an initial contact and mindlink.

Displays
Manifesting false sensory input produced only a mental display.

Users
In psionics terms, a false sensory input could be created by aboleths, ki-rin, and yuan-ti.

Notable Users

 * Vhondryl, a psionicist in Skullport and head of the Hall of Mental Splendor