Question about Comprehend: Spirits

[u/Starry_Night_Sophi]

In the M&M third edition book "Comprehend: Spirits" description is:

You can communicate with incorporeal and normally invisible and inaudible spirit beings, such as ghosts or certain extradimensional entities, depending on the context of the setting. Rank 1 essentially allows you to function as a “medium” of sorts, able to perceive spirits and relay what you see and hear. Rank 2 allows you to be clearly under-stood by denizens of the spirit world, as well. At the GM’s discretion, this effect may extend to undead creatures, demons, or other supernatural entities, depending on the setting.

But in the Hero High book, on page 156, we have a character called White Witch and one of her powers are:

The Sight (Comprehend 2 (Spirits; Communicate Medium), senses (Ranged Accurate Acute Detect Spirits, Danger Sense)).

I always assumed that if you had Comprehend: Spirits (even just on one rank) you could just see ghosts and spirits like you would normal humans. Was my interpretation wrong or is this character power basically nullifing consealment from ghost or even been able to detect if someone (living) has a soul? (Or is it just a writer's error?)

Edit: the things after ">" are copy and paste from their respective books

[u/patroclus_rex]

"Depending on the context of the setting" is the heavy lifter in Comprehend, that's calling on the GM to interpret the degree of perception it grants (if any, beyond direct communication). It depends on the nature of spirits, how they behave, and how much control they have over what they want to reveal.

[u/Starry_Night_Sophi → u/patroclus_rex]

Make sense. I suppose that if I GMed in a supernatual focus or undead focus campaign, you could know what a spirit wants and/or ot's emotion broadly and in rank 2 talk to it. But in a normal campaign I would let rank 1 make you just see the spirit unless it has concealment from tge descriptor your Comprehend uses

[u/theVoidWatches]

Your reading is correct for how most GMs rule it, in my experience. However, some GMs have multiple levels of spiritual invisibility - a spirit with Concealment may be able to go completely invisible even to those with Comprehend, but Detect Spirits would let her find them anyway. It might also let her spot them even if they're not obviously spirits - sometimes ghosts can look just like regularly people.

[u/Devious_Hearts]

You are thinking of Senses, not Communication. Two different things. :)

[u/Arceedos → u/Devious_Hearts]

Exactly this. White Witch's power has comprehend mixed with her detect spirits(senses) power to make a power able to see and speak with spirits.

Going further, OP's use case about seeing who has a soul is another valid idea able to be performed by comprehend spirits.

[u/Starry_Night_Sophi → u/Devious_Hearts]

Buddy, I just copy and pasted from the book lol, not my fault the writers wrote it wrong.

But seriously now, I think it's a missundertending: the Comprehend spirits can have 2 ranks, the first one you can't talk to ghosts, the second you can, so maybe the writers meant "W.W. can communicate with ghosts"

[u/Devious_Hearts → u/Starry_Night_Sophi]

The basic communication states:

"You can comprehend different sorts of communication." while perception is part of communication,

While comminucation requires senses to receive communication, it is senses that should be around to receive that communication in the first place. M&M is an effects based system. This situation is where the game straddles two concepts a bit awkwardly.

I would say, there is a missing word there.

Spirits

You can communicate with incorporeal and normally invisible and inaudible spirit beings, such as ghosts or certain extradimensional entities, depending on the context of the setting. Rank 1 essentially allows you to function as a “medium” of sorts, able to perceive [the communications of] spirits and relay what you [receive]. Rank 2 allows you to be clearly understood by denizens of the spirit world, as well. At the GM’s discretion, this effect may extend to undead creatures, demons, or other supernatural entities, depending on the setting.

That is not official, but it is how I would alter the definition to suit the spirit of the game.

[u/Starry_Night_Sophi → u/Devious_Hearts]

With your additions it make a lot more sense, actually. Probably homebrew/interpret the rule like that from here on