[Skill] Human Echolocation

[Eukie]

I'd suggest that this skill have no default. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing that you could even weakly attempt without extensive training. (I may, of course, be wrong - my only experience is that I sure can't echolocate.)

[ArchonShiva]

I put in the default at the last minute, to allow untrained use to differentiate a large cavern from a small room. Also, this is mostly self-trained and -10 lines up with the complete darkness penalty. The default for blind people could be -6, as well.

I'm still on the edge regarding a default, though. FireTigeris?

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Eukie

I'd suggest that this skill have no default. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing that you could even weakly attempt without extensive training. (I may, of course, be wrong - my only experience is that I sure can't echolocate.)

It might be a training to a sudden threshold point.
Like the experiment with color blind monkeys given gene therapy for the third color receptor females of the species normally have. It really was a one day can't interpret the color at all, and the next full color vision.

[Not]

Do we need a separate thread for RadioLab-inspired content?

[ArchonShiva]

Originally Posted by Not

Do we need a separate thread for RadioLab-inspired content?

You must mean either a separate forum or separate tag, as this is a separate thread.

That said, no more than we need one for stuff sparked by YouTube videos or adapting mechanics from other game systems.

Edit: This was NPR, but not RadioLab.

[BraselC5048]

So as you wrote it, it's pretty much just as good as Blind Fighting? Also, since I've got some characters that would use this, and would all have Per 15, and usually Acute Hearing, is it possible to vocalize a sound at a higher frequency than the normal range of human hearing, but just under the upper limit for somebody with unusually good ears? (Wasn't it something in the 24,000-26,000 KhTz range?) That would allow using it while being stealthy, unless somebody else has good ears too.

(Note that kids tend to be able to hear higher frequencies than adults - I don't hear a whine from store ventilation systems like when I was 12 anymore, for example. An additional factor to take into consideration).

If not, perhaps a small clicker you could use?

And I suppose that if you rely on hearing alone, it would be the same -7 as being unable to hear at all from the Blind Fighting skill description.

In other words, combat-wise, Blind Fighting that relies on echolocation, and penalties to hearing work the same, but with echolocation normally being no penalty, and not clicking being the same as unable to hear. I like it! This is what I was looking for. Nice job!

[Flyndaran]

Human normal hearing goes from 20 hertz to 20 kilohertz. But that's not to say clarity follows a clean normal curve. It's very precise around average human vocal range.
My hearing is the one sense that hasn't crapped out in my old diabetic age. I can still hear some electronics, and cameras when kids can't.

[ArchonShiva]

Originally Posted by BraselC5048

So as you wrote it, it's pretty much just as good as Blind Fighting?

Blind Fighting only requires you to make a roll to attack at full skill - this one caps your skill outright, so reaching Karate-20 will require Echolocation-20 as well, and heavy rain will drop your skill right back to 18. You might as well buy Trained by a Master by then.

Yes, it synergizes well with Mimicry and Ultrahearing, but without this I don't think there is a sound that Per-15 hears at no penalty that Per-12 won't hear at all. Using Mimicry to emit audible but unremarkable sounds is intended.

Note that clicking is for finding silent, inanimate objects. You wouldn't need it in combat.

Being unable to hear isn't at -7, it's at use some other skill.

Blind Fighting is a cinematic skill written to allow blind masters who fight better with a blindfold on. If you want that using hearing, maybe just write it on your sheet. But feel free to lift and reword mine to fine-tune the effect you want.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

It might be a training to a sudden threshold point.
Like the experiment with color blind monkeys given gene therapy for the third color receptor females of the species normally have. It really was a one day can't interpret the color at all, and the next full color vision.

Shiny, Shiny! I knew about the color-blind male monkeys but not that they were doing this. Do you have a link for me to feast my eyes upon?

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Shiny, Shiny! I knew about the color-blind male monkeys but not that they were doing this. Do you have a link for me to feast my eyes upon?

Sorry, I can't remember where I read it last. I know that it popped up more than once when I researched color vision in primates.
It is fascinating in proving a couple of things. For example, adults can adapt to new types of visual input if not truly novel to the species.