Psychometry is a subset of clairvoyance that deals with perceiving the history of physical objects. Also known as “object reading,” psychometry permits a psychic to handle an object for several seconds and then undergo a brief vision of important moments in the object’s history. Exactly what the most important moments are is a matter for Storyteller discretion, but, as a general rule, the stronger the emotions connected with the item, the more clearly the psychometrist can see events connected to those feelings. Negative emotions tend to resonate more than positive ones, so the fact that a little girl loved her teddy bear will usually be overshadowed by fact that she was holding it as she watched her mother’s murder.

Psychometry is generally tied to objects, not places, and an object must generally be small enough to fit in both hands. For every point of Size an object has over three, the psychic suffers a –1 penalty in addition to the penalties listed below. With the four-dot version of this Merit, location and size limitations do not apply. The psychometrist can perceive the history of any object he can touch, or he can simply walk into a location and “see” the most emotionally charged moments in the recent history of the place.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Composure
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic gets a “mixed message” or a very believable but entirely false impression. The Storyteller should always make chance-die rolls on behalf of players whose characters use this power.

Failure:
Failure indicates that no impressions come through.

Success:
Success yields a sense of the most emotionally charged event or person connected with the object read, as well as a reliable vision or sense of the memory in question. Only one successful reading of an object is allowed every 24 hours in order to see more events.

Exceptional Success:
An exceptional success provides a comprehensive or extended chronological understanding of an object and its past, such as an entire slideshow of images.

Suggested Modifiers