Is Penetrating Vision a bit OP?

[Dustin]

Range is a problem for sure with certain Supers builds. I was going to take Penetrating Vision for a character who permeated and 'flew' through earthy materials, but it just wasn't possible to buy enough Penetrating Vision for him to see where he was going. The GM and I settled for Detect (non-Earthy materials) with Reflexive for him to be able to avoid slamming into a pipe or water reservoir while 'earth-flying'.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Eh, not sure how that's a problem. Still doesn't mean you can actually see anything useful. Suggestion:
Penetrating Vision (40)
You can see through solid materials; at base cost, 2 yards (+0 on the range/speed chart). You may adjust this by taking Increased Range or Reduced Range (the GM may permit you to take more than 3 levels of Reduced Range). You still suffer all other normal effects of range.

I like the idea but would price it at 20 points so its more comparable to Clair sentience (Vision only).
Clairsentience lets you get a better look at things, change perspective and see inside things.
Penetrating Vision would need Darkvision to see inside something, though that could be an enhancement as well. It also avoids the IQ roll Clairsentience needs to target it.
However I think Penetrating Vision is less useful overall, especially with the base six inches.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

I can see stars that are >10,000 light-years distant, for all the good that does in my knowing what goes on there.

You can see an object with an ‘angular diameter’ as small as 0.0024 arcseconds if it's sufficiently bright (the star Deneb, for example). That's a bit under 6 inches at 8000 miles - but it has to be SUPER bright (like a star...)

Under excellent conditions the human eye can distinguish between two non-stellar objects 0.01 degrees apart, which is 7372 feet apart at 8000 miles - if you know where to look. You can hypothetically spot individual objects about twice that length - it's like spotting something round that's only the diameter of a babies head hair.

Functionally speaking, on the other side of the Earth you can see city blocks, not aircraft carriers, unless you're Superman with Supervision. That's just "as many levels of Telescopic Vision as the plot demands".