Tapetum Optic
Low-light engineered eyes: a reflective tapetum that gathers starlight and deck-glow baseline eyes waste.
Eyes rebuilt around a reflective tapetum behind the retina, the same trick that lights a cat's eyes in the dark. The bearer reads a dimmed freighter deck or a starlit hull as comfortably as a lit room, and their infravision runs hotter and clearer than baseline. The eyes catch light noticeably in return -- a faint reflective flash that marks them in a dark corridor as surely as a lamp.
Rules Reference
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Category | sensory-neural |
| Conflicts | GENE-LIGHT-AVERSE |
| Engineering Lineage | Confederation under-deck and dark-hab biotechs (spacer-stock line) |
| Point Cost | 2 |
| Point Direction | cost |
Notes
Effect Text: See at triple normal distance in dim light and starlight with no attack or check penalty; infravision 60 ft (stacks with other sources).
Lore Note: A Confederation standard for crews raised in the unlit lower decks of the Great Ships, where power budget for lighting was always the first cut. Helix refined it into a popular cosmetic-and-functional upgrade for scouts and night-watch. The reflective tapetum is the tell -- the under-deck stock are known by the flash of their eyes, and more than one stowaway has been caught by it.
Trait Id: Tapetum Optic
Mechanical Effects
condition: always
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
condition | always |
modifier | x3 |
target | dim-light/starlight sight range |
condition: always
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
condition | always |
modifier | none |
target | attack and check penalty in dim light |
condition: stacks with other sources
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
condition | stacks with other sources |
modifier | 60 ft |
target | infravision |