Overview
Soul sense, life sense, nethersight, etc. are terms used to describe a variety of similar abilities. It is the ability to detect or see a spirit, life force, aura, energy radiation, halo, etc. It is usually passive, with a set 'zone' around the character using it. Some characters can also actively scan an area, zone, or entire universe for the presence of a particular soul, life-force, magical energy, or emotion.
Souls
A character who can detect souls finds it far easier to detect, innately, when someone has been possessed by another being, switched bodies, is trying to disguise themself, is a doppelganger, or any other sort of trickery that relies on the assumption that the person intended to be tricked can rely only on physical senses. If one can detect a soul they can also usually sense certain incorporeal undead, or an invisible foe, or even tell when someone is anywhere in the area (even if that person is underground, in another room, floating in the sky, hiding in a tree, etc.) A soul independent of a body (for example, when trapped inside an item like a soul jar) can also be detected in this way.
Auras
Aura detection is mildly different, because usually the aura is physically seen by the character as opposed to them having an innate knowledge that it is just 'there'. Seeing auras usually has the player asking others what color their characters' souls are. Some characters can only 'see' auras in shades of good vs. evil. It can be handy for offsetting blindness. Sometimes it can also detect generic life-LIKE magic without a soul, eg. in an animated object or zombie. Sometimes it cannot. The character Ivy Walker in the movie 'The Village' allegedly had aura sight.
Life
Life-detection differs from soul-detection in that a life-senser can tell whether someone is alive, not alive, or undead (and other possible minute different states of half-/semi-/un-life), even if the being detected has no soul (for example, the difference between a tree, and a block of wood, even if the tree in question is said to be soulless in either state). Gloria has this sense as well.
Truesight
This term is lifted from D&D, referring very specifically to the ability to see through illusions, including invisibility, and seeing a shapeshifter's true form. Theksarsi demons have truesight in their third eyes only, as inspired by the demons of the webcomic 'Zebra Girl'.
Empathy
Some characters may be able to feel the emotions of others, either with specific effort, or passively through presence or interaction. The character Deanna Troi of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' was a famous fictional empath, as was her entire race (Betazoid). In her first life, Gloria was able to feel others' emotions, but in her latest reincarnation this ability has changed into soul-detection instead.
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