Quote:
Originally Posted by jacobmuller
Hard to Read: is there an "antonym" for the Easy to Read Disadvantage? ie an Advantage that makes it harder to guess your intent... (I guess there is but my brain ain't connecting) It's for a race with blunt beaks/ limited facial expression.
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A modified form of Obscure, perhaps?
I don't really think it's realistic for any species to be Hard To Read, in objective terms, though. Any social species needs subtle non-verbal means of communication. Even if individuals live solitary lives, they will encounter other specimens from time to time, and need to "negotiate" non-violence.
So, basically, any species has some kind of signals that its individuals sends out, and which can be percieved by other members of the same species. It doesn't have to be anything that can be perceived with human senses, or even setting-conventional senses, as long as it is a sense that is common among the species ni question (to the point where not having it is a disad - at least a Quirk).
Think pheromones, colour change (like some squid/octopi), hyper-subtle body language, ultrasound or infrasound.
AFAIK there's some infrared in the sunlight that reaches the Earth's surface. A somewhat science fictional communications method would be to change the amount of infrared reflected or absorbed by one's skin.
A species could have a number of inflatable bladders or erectable surface tissues, and normally keep all of them inflated or erect, or not, i.e. in synch, but doing so out of synch conveys subtle information about the inner state of the individual, and it requires serious familiarity with the species (i.e. an alien would not have this, without either CF or a relevant Psychology or Anthropology skill - or perhaps both) to understand what each of the many combinations possible means.
But... I don't believe that Hard To Read is
possible, in evolutionary terms. One reason we communicate is because the only alternative very often is murder. And that's not specific to our species.
The only sensible place for it seems to be designed species, as in GURPS Bio-Tech, and robotic "species".