You receive one kind of sensory input when a different sense is stimulated. In particular, you can either feel light or feel sound. You can shift your stimulated sense between these two options once per round as a swift action. Your senses continue to work normally as well, unless they are impaired for some reason. Your face must be uncovered to use this power, because it is the skin of your face that acts as the sensory receiver.

If you are feeling light by absorbing ambient light onto your skin, you have your normal visual abilities (except for darkvision), even if your eyes are closed or you are blinded. If your eyes are working normally, you gain a +4 circumstance bonus on all visual Perception checks. While feeling light, you are immune to gaze attacks.

If you are feeling sound by absorbing sound onto your skin and your ears are working normally, the expanded auditory input provides you with a +4 circumstance bonus on Perception checks to listen.

Psionic or magical displacement effects, invisibility effects, illusions, and other similar effects confuse your synesthete senses just as they would your normal senses.

You can also use this power to see sound if you are deafened, or hear light if you are blinded, thus removing all penalties associated with either condition (though you gain no bonuses for using the power in this way if you are not deafened or blinded).

Augment

If you spend 4 additional power points, you can feel light or sound with any exposed skin on your body.

If you are feeling light, this augmentation has the effect of granting you metaphorical “eyes in the back of your head,” and on the sides and top as well, granting you benefits in specific situations. In effect, you have a 360-degree sphere of sight, allowing you a perfect view of creatures that might otherwise flank you. Thus, flanking opponents gain no bonus on their attack rolls, and rogues are denied their sneak attack ability while flanking you (but they may still sneak attack you if you are caught flat-footed).

If you use this augmentation, the circumstance bonus to Perception checks granted by this power increase to +8. Concurrently, you take a −4 penalty on saves against all gaze attacks or other attack forms that work via vision (if you are feeling light) or against sonic attacks (if you are feeling sound).

The effects of this augmentation may be nullified if your skin is mostly or entirely covered (e.g., if you are wearing a full suit of armor, with gauntlets, etc.).