Insight

Read intent, sense motive, catch lies.

Insight is the read behind the words -- the cop's flat stare, the fixer's habit of watching hands instead of faces, the chaplain's sense that a confession is rehearsed. It governs catching a lie, gauging whether a deal is a setup, judging if a stranger will hold under pressure, and the prickle that says the smiling man across the table is wrong somehow: Fold-touched, augment-masked, or simply about to draw. Insight does not read minds -- that is the Fold's work -- it reads behaviour, and behaviour can be trained to lie. Most Insight checks are opposed by the target's Deception. In the verse, a Face who cannot read a room dies in one.

Rules Reference

Field	Value
Armor Check Penalty	false
Key Ability	WIS
Opposed Skills	Deception
Trained Only	false
Untrained Use	Full use untrained at listed DCs and in opposed checks; ranks add on top.
Key Ability	WIS

Notes

Special: Reads behaviour, not minds. Opposed by Deception; mind-masking augments or powers impose disadvantage or shift the check to the masker's DC.

Special: Insight cannot read a mind, only behaviour; it is opposed by Deception and defeated by mind-masking augments or Fold powers. Against a target using such masking, the Insight check is made at disadvantage or vs the masker's power DC, GM's call.

Untrained: Anyone can take a read on a person. Untrained Insight works at the listed DCs and in opposed checks, just without ranks. It is a core social sense, not a specialist trade -- but a trained liar will still beat a gut feeling.

Descriptors

dc: 12

Field	Value
dc	12
task	Gauge mood and disposition

dc: 18

Field	Value
dc	18
task	Sense a hidden agenda

dc: 20

Field	Value
dc	20
task	Judge trustworthiness

dc: 25

Field	Value
dc	25
task	Catch a deliberate lie

dc: 28

Field	Value
dc	28
task	Sense psionic or synthetic wrongness

Synergy

bonus: 2

Field	Value
bonus	2
from	Perception
threshold	5

bonus: 2

Field	Value
bonus	2
from	Streetwise
threshold	5

Synergies

bonus: 2

Field	Value
bonus	2
ranks	5
skill	Perception

bonus: 2

Field	Value
bonus	2
ranks	5
skill	Streetwise

bonus: advantage on Insight checks to read living minds

Field	Value
bonus	advantage on Insight checks to read living minds
trait	Empath

Uses

application: Gauge a person's current mood and disposition

Field	Value
application	Gauge a person's current mood and disposition
dc	12
failure	You misjudge; act on a wrong assumption at the GM's call.
success	You read their state and likely attitude toward you.

application: Sense that someone has a hidden agenda

Field	Value
application	Sense that someone has a hidden agenda
dc	18
failure	Nothing seems off.
success	You sense the angle even if not its detail.

application: Judge whether someone can be trusted

Field	Value
application	Judge whether someone can be trusted
dc	20
failure	Misplaced trust or wrongful suspicion.
success	Sound read on their reliability under pressure.

application: Catch a deliberate lie (or opposed vs Deception)

Field	Value
application	Catch a deliberate lie (or opposed vs Deception)
dc	25
failure	The lie lands; failure by 5+ means you believe the opposite.
success	You catch the tell.

application: Sense psionic or synthetic wrongness in someone

Field	Value
application	Sense psionic or synthetic wrongness in someone
dc	28
failure	They read as ordinary.
success	You feel the wrongness -- Fold-touched, masked, or not what they seem.