"That guard's shadow doesn't match the light source. Holoskin projector, cheap model. Two seconds behind his real movements."
In the Starfall Galaxy, holograms are everywhere—advertising displays that track your gaze, identity projectors worn by infiltrators, tactical decoys deployed in firefights, and entire false storefronts designed to lure marks into traps. Most citizens navigate this landscape of light and lies by assuming everything is real until proven otherwise. Hologram skeptics know better.
Years of exposure to digital environments—whether through competitive vidgaming, technical diagnostics, or simple paranoia—train certain individuals to spot the telltale signs of holographic fakery. A flicker when someone moves too fast. Shadow angles that don't match the ambient lighting. Reflections that lag a fraction of a second behind the source. Transparency gradients at the edges of projected surfaces.
Guild security specialists, corporate counter-espionage agents, Rift salvagers (who must distinguish real hazards from sensor ghosts), and vidgame champions all develop this skill. In high-stakes environments where a missed hologram can mean walking into an ambush or trusting a fake identity, Hologram Skeptic is more than a parlor trick—it's a lifeline.
Hologram Skeptic is a level 1 general skill feat that enables Computers-trained characters to spot flaws in holographic projections and technology-based illusions automatically. In the Starfall Galaxy, where holographic displays, disguise projectors, and illusory advertisements saturate every settled space, the ability to distinguish real from fake is a survival skill.
This feat grants you automatic disbelief checks against holograms and tech-based illusions even when you aren't actively searching, making it invaluable for detecting hidden enemies, identifying disguised threats, and navigating environments thick with deceptive visual tech. Characters with the Vidgamer background gain Hologram Skeptic automatically, reflecting years of training their eye to spot rendering artifacts and visual glitches.
Hologram Skeptic Feat 1
Source Player Core pg. 222
Prerequisites: trained in Computers
You easily spot the tiny glitches and imperfections in holograms. Even if you aren't Searching, you always attempt a check to disbelieve holograms and effects with the illusion and tech traits that normally require you to Search or Interact with them.
Applications
Hologram Skeptic enables a wide range of tactical, investigative, and social advantages:
Combat Situations:
Spotting Decoys: Automatically attempt to disbelieve holographic duplicates or false targets deployed by enemies.
Detecting Ambushes: Identify holographic walls or barriers hiding enemies before walking into kill zones.
Countering Holoskin: See through holographic disguises worn by infiltrators or shapeshifters using holoskin projectors.
Investigation Scenarios:
Corporate Espionage: Spot fake holographic credentials, false ID projections, or doctored security footage.
Crime Scene Analysis: Distinguish between real evidence and holographic forgeries planted to mislead investigators.
Rift Anomaly Detection: Differentiate between real Rift phenomena and tech-generated sensor illusions in salvage zones.
Social Encounters:
Vidgame Tournaments: Identify glitches, exploits, or cheating attempts in competitive digital environments.
High Society: Detect when public figures are using holographic body doubles or remote projection for appearances.
Guild Negotiations: Confirm whether the person you're speaking to is physically present or a holographic proxy.
Mechanics Deep Dive
Automatic Disbelief Checks:
Hologram Skeptic grants you a Perception check (or other appropriate check, at the GM's discretion) to disbelieve holograms even when you aren't actively Searching. This means:
You passively notice holographic inconsistencies as you move through an environment.
You don't need to spend actions to Seek or Investigate holograms specifically.
The GM rolls your disbelief check secretly when you encounter tech-based illusions.
What Counts as a "Hologram":
The feat applies to illusions created by technology sources, including:
Holographic projectors (personal, starship-mounted, or environmental)
Holoskin disguise devices
Holographic image spells cast by technomancers
Tech-based environmental illusions (fake walls, floors, ceilings)
Vidgame displays and virtual reality environments
What It Doesn't Cover:
Hologram Skeptic does NOT work against
Purely magical illusions (cast by mystics, witchwarpers, or other non-tech spellcasters)
Physical disguises or costumes
Shapeshifting abilities (unless augmented by holographic tech)
Adventure Hooks
The Phantom Witness: A key witness in a guild trial appears via holographic projection, but the party's skeptic notices telltale glitches. Is the witness being coerced, or is this an impostor?
Rift Salvage Deception: A supposedly abandoned station is filled with holographic hazards designed to scare off scavengers. The party must distinguish real threats from fakes to reach the valuable cargo.
Corporate Infiltration: The party must navigate a high-security facility where holographic walls, floors, and guards create a constantly shifting maze. Only the skeptic can tell real from fake.
Vidgame Championship Scandal: A rising vidgame star is accused of using illegal holographic overlays to cheat. The party investigates the tournament footage to find proof.
Identity Crisis: A faction leader's holographic double is assassinated in public. The party must determine whether the real leader is alive, dead, or never existed at all.
GM Guidance
Running Hologram Skeptic in Play:
Grant automatic disbelief checks whenever PCs encounter tech-based illusions, even if they don't announce they're Searching.
Consider the quality and level of holographic tech. Higher-level holoskin or military-grade projectors should have higher DCs to disbelieve.
Remember that disbelieving an illusion doesn't make it vanish entirely—it becomes hazy and translucent, but still provides some concealment.
Use holograms as environmental storytelling: advertising, propaganda, memorial projections, or entertainment can all be "background noise" that skeptics notice as fake.
Balancing Hologram Prevalence:
In urban Starfall settings (Inner Sphere megacities, space stations, Commission worlds), holograms should be common enough that Hologram Skeptic triggers frequently. In Frontier outposts or low-tech environments, the feat may see less use—but when holograms do appear, they're often high-stakes deceptions worth spotting.
Combining with True Seeing and Magic:
At higher levels, true seeing and similar magical detection methods can overlap with Hologram Skeptic's niche. Consider whether tech-based illusions are "mundane" (and thus immune to true seeing) or whether they count as magical effects in your Starfall Galaxy. This is a table-variation decision that affects the balance between magic and technology.
Non-Combat Applications
Vidgame Competitions:
Hologram Skeptic lets characters spot exploits, rendering glitches, or illegal overlay tech in competitive gaming environments, making them valuable referees or anti-cheat investigators.
Forensics and Investigation:
Security footage, crime scene holograms, and witness testimony projections can all be faked. A skeptic can determine authenticity without specialized equipment.
Social Engineering Defense:
Identify when you're speaking to a holographic proxy instead of a real person, protecting against social manipulation or false negotiations.
Rift Exploration:
Distinguish between real Rift phenomena (which may involve visual distortions) and tech-generated sensor illusions created by malfunctioning equipment or deliberate sabotage.
Hologram Skeptic is an essential feat for tech-savvy characters navigating the illusion-saturated environments of the Starfall Galaxy. It transforms passive observation into active defense, letting Computers-trained PCs see through deceptions that would fool less perceptive allies. Whether you're a vidgame champion, corporate investigator, or Rift scavenger, the ability to read the pixels can mean the difference between safety and disaster.
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