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Old 02-01-2015, 11:49 AM   #1
ArchonShiva
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
Default [Skill] Human Echolocation

A podcast about human echolocation gave me the idea to give the Thief character in my upcoming campaign the ability, so I needed to come up with a reasonable skill for it. It's meant to at the edge of realism, much less cinematic than Blind Fighting. Note that heavy penalties mean that a lot of the things listed as possible will seldom work without lots of training, but you can avoid bumping into walls and falling into pits.

The simplified modifiers for combat use are meant to mirror both normal melee and ranged combat rules, Visibility (p. 394) and Blind-Fighting (p. 180).

So basically, how does it look?

Echolocation Per/Very Hard
Default: Per-10
Prerequisite: Blindness (or Unusual Training)


You have learned to navigate by using sound and reflected sound. An Echolocation skill roll lets you get a general feeling for the shape and texture of your surroundings.
Combat use: Only use modifiers for size, range and non-battle background noise. You may use Echolocation skill instead of Hearing-2 to discover a foe's location. When fighting an unseen foe whose location is known, you may use the lower of Echolocation or your weapon skill at no vision penalty, and may target specific hit locations at an extra -2. A successful Echolocation roll makes you aware of an attack you cannot see and lets you defend at -2. This lets you defend against an attack from the back at -6!

Modifiers: Appropriate modifiers from the Size and Speed/Range Table. Background noise adds a penalty: -1 for rain, -2 for heavy rain or a storm, -3 for a crowded, noisy area or heavy machinery, -4 for a full football stadium, or -5 in the middle of an artillery barrage. When detecting a silent target through reflected sound, -3 if you don't have a distinct, familiar sound to work from, such as the tapping of your cane or the snapping of your fingers. If the target emits sound, +1 per step on the Hearing Distance Table (p. 358). Add your level of Acute Hearing to the roll.
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Old 02-01-2015, 04:30 PM   #2
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Default Re: [Skill] Human Echolocation

How does this overlap with the Blind Fighting skill?
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Old 02-01-2015, 04:32 PM   #3
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Default Re: [Skill] Human Echolocation

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbrock1031 View Post
How does this overlap with the Blind Fighting skill?
It's a real-world technique that allows some blind people to do such things as ride a bike. In other words, it's for things besides making your murder stick connect with your opponent.
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Old 02-01-2015, 04:45 PM   #4
johndallman
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Default Re: [Skill] Human Echolocation

Underground Adventures has a note on doing this with Blind-Fighting.
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Old 02-01-2015, 05:07 PM   #5
ericthered
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Default Re: [Skill] Human Echolocation

I'm kind of reminded of vibration sense. Have you looked at that?
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Old 02-01-2015, 05:43 PM   #6
ArchonShiva
 
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Default Re: [Skill] Human Echolocation

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbrock1031 View Post
How does this overlap with the Blind Fighting skill?
If you have access to Blind Fighting (which is a cinematic skill requiring an expensive advantage), use that for all attacks and defenses- it's meant to be much better. Use Echolocation for avoiding pits and walls, maybe.

Blind Fighting doesn't say anything about range, but is written as if everything was within reach. Depending on your GM's interpretation, you could use Echolocation to spot enemies at some distance.

Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
Underground Adventures has a note on doing this with Blind-Fighting.
See, I knew this had to be somewhere, but I did not think of UA! It's on my buy list anyway, so I might check that out. Thanks! We need an online searchable index of GURPS, seriously.

However, the combat applications of Blind Fighting are way too great for a mundane blind person skill - and to waive Trained by a Master. I guess "Unusual Training: Blind Fight except in combat" would be legal, but the name just boggles the mind.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
I'm kind of reminded of vibration sense. Have you looked at that?
I did, as well as scanning sense (since Echolocation is basically sonar), and I think they're both really meant to be exotic advantages, not something an ordinary person could learn from training - although I did consult these entries in writing up the skill, and the mechanics are quite similar to Scanning Sense.
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Old 02-01-2015, 06:10 PM   #7
Flyndaran
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Default Re: [Skill] Human Echolocation

I define human echolocation as Scanning Sense: Sonar with hefty limitations.

One thing is that the higher the frequency of emitted sound the better the resolution. So anything detectable by human hearing will have to result in very poor quality but wider "image" arc.

Realistically, I doubt humans could get any even vague sonar like qualities past a dozen feet or so. As well as the obvious "strobe" effect from from slow signal and echo compared to real bat clicking.
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Old 02-01-2015, 07:15 PM   #8
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Default Re: [Skill] Human Echolocation

Knowing a good friend that uses this, it will not keep you out of holes or off of single steps, (the sounds don't do 'down' well at all- you can find 'tall' (over waist high) 'reflective' things like buildings, cars, poles... stuff outside in a city, (but fire hydrants not so much) also where a stairwell is inside or outside (echo is different according to her) She has retrolental fibroplasia from being a premature twin.

Also Hearing people and IDing them based on (a small set of people - like whoever's in the house) how they walk when she's stationary.

SHe loves roll-playing so I bet she'd answer questions if a list was made
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Old 02-01-2015, 07:22 PM   #9
Flyndaran
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Default Re: [Skill] Human Echolocation

It's a skill and talent that most blind people don't have yet some sighted people do.
My best friend is legally blind. We let her believe she has better than average hearing.
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Old 02-01-2015, 07:31 PM   #10
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Default Re: [Skill] Human Echolocation

My first thought is to use the Unusual Training Perk for Blind Fighting (Only to navigate around obstacles.)
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