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Old 12-24-2015, 11:02 AM   #1
lvalero
 
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Default Disciplines of Faith (Musician)

You are a proud member of the Bard class! You are a virtuoso, a master, a superb performer (Or, at least, you think you are!) Others may think you are a sort of "diva" (-N to reaction rolls)

You have to practice music each day at least 1d hours with your instrument and partitures. This time has to be removed from sleeping, eating, or doing other activities.

You have to keep your instrument in perfect condition! This costs you $NN (?) per month.

You hate using an instrument different than your own. If you loose your instrument or partitures you have a -1 to Bard Abilities and to Musical Instrument.

...
My question. Would this disadvantage qualify as "Disciplines of faith"? How many points do you think it should? [-10] ??

I also don't know how many -N is for reaction rolls and how many $NN should cost keeping your instrument in perfect condition.

Any help, please? :)
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Old 12-24-2015, 11:23 AM   #2
johndallman
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Default Re: Disciplines of Faith (Musician)

"partitures" is an unfamiliar word. Poking Google Translate suggests that it might mean written music. Is that what you mean? The usual English is "sheet music" or "score".

This doesn't look like a Discipline of Faith to me, certainly not a -10 one. It doesn't have as much impact on your life as Ritualism, which is -5.

As it is, it looks more like Odious Personal Habit (Diva) -1, [-5], Compulsive Behaviour (Music Practice) [-5], and Equipment Bond (Instrument) [1].
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Old 12-24-2015, 11:33 AM   #3
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Default Re: Disciplines of Faith (Musician)

Yes. It wanted to say "score", thanks.

Quote:
As it is, it looks more like Odious Personal Habit (Diva) -1, [-5], Compulsive Behaviour (Music Practice) [-5], and Equipment Bond (Instrument) [1].
I like your build. I think it is what I am looking for. Thanks!

Luis
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Old 12-24-2015, 11:44 AM   #4
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Default Re: Disciplines of Faith (Musician)

1d hours sounds really high. I think even most professional musicians do not practice that much. For a lot of types it might even be detrimental.

If you practice that much, you will not need the sheet music quite quickly and know the pieces by heart. Unless you keep learning new music at a high rate.

Example benchmark:
Practising 30-60 minutes 3-4x a week, I can learn about 2 hours of music in 3-4 months. Complex music, like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Rhapsody in Blue*, etc. I am not considered a very good musician, playing 4th horn in an amateur orchestra.

A professional musician practising several hours a day, can learn a complete new piece of music in a few days. I think most film music is recorded in a couple of weeks at most.

With that level of exercise, you should be proficient with several instruments at a high level and have a huge and varying repertoire.

Now, if you're also writing your own music, then things get a lot harder unless you're absolutely Mozart, John Williams or Paul McCartney level brilliant.

8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xomvD5DR004

Last edited by RogerWilco; 12-24-2015 at 11:54 AM.
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Old 12-24-2015, 04:40 PM   #5
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Default Re: Disciplines of Faith (Musician)

A four hour daily practice session is ehat the University of Miami School of Music's jazz program teaches. You spend one hour on scales, arpeggios, and technical exercises, an hour working on music pieces, an hour on improv, and an hour noodling and generally being creative.

So, 1d hours averaging 3.5 hours, doesn't sound the least bit unusual. It's worth noting that there is a huge difference between knowing notes and playing them well. A lot of work done to learn a song is about phrasing and giving depth to the music.

Another thing is that a really good musician must practice a lot to maintain his chops or theres a sharp decline in skill. So again, 4 hours a day doesnt sound unreasonable.

Lastly, one nit to pick: the only "complex" musical piece mentioned in the above post was Rhapsody in Blue.
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Old 12-24-2015, 06:25 PM   #6
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Default Re: Disciplines of Faith (Musician)

Quote:
Originally Posted by lvalero View Post
You are a proud member of the Bard class! You are a virtuoso, a master, a superb performer (Or, at least, you think you are!) Others may think you are a sort of "diva" (-N to reaction rolls)

You have to practice music each day at least 1d hours with your instrument and partitures. This time has to be removed from sleeping, eating, or doing other activities.

You have to keep your instrument in perfect condition! This costs you $NN (?) per month.

You hate using an instrument different than your own. If you loose your instrument or partitures you have a -1 to Bard Abilities and to Musical Instrument.

...
My question. Would this disadvantage qualify as "Disciplines of faith"? How many points do you think it should? [-10] ??

I also don't know how many -N is for reaction rolls and how many $NN should cost keeping your instrument in perfect condition.

Any help, please? :)
I'd say it only qualifies as such if it has some religious implication. If you specialize in religious music or vice-versa call on religion to sacralize your bardic guild. I should think some professional codes are intense enough to qualify as disciplines of faith but especially if they are associated with religion. As there was no clear separation between the secular and the sacred in a pre-modern society, a bardic guild probably would have some religious component. The question is how much and how much it effects the given bard.

In any case it has to be as intense as the very most demanding professional codes at least-something as demanding as Omerta, or an elite military unit's code or something like that. One can very easily picture bards sacralizing their profession and some did; in fact I would encourage you to work that out for your 'verse, it would go fine.

Is this 'verse perhaps, something like Japan where mysticism is put, not just around craftsmanship and warfare but even things like tea parties? That would make it credible.
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Old 12-25-2015, 01:16 PM   #7
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Default Re: Disciplines of Faith (Musician)

I'd call it a Code of Honor rather than a Discipline of Faith.
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Old 12-25-2015, 04:47 PM   #8
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Default Re: Disciplines of Faith (Musician)

It's surely a discipline. And Music activates the same brain region as religious ecstasy.*

Doc Savage spends 2 hours each day doing calisthenics and math problems. I could call it Ritualism [-5], since there's no practical difference to Yoga and mantras.


*b.s.
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Old 12-25-2015, 05:47 PM   #9
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Default Re: Disciplines of Faith (Musician)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Not View Post
It's surely a discipline. And Music activates the same brain region as religious ecstasy.*

Doc Savage spends 2 hours each day doing calisthenics and math problems. I could call it Ritualism [-5], since there's no practical difference to Yoga and mantras.


*b.s.
Disciplines of Faith usually pertains directly to religion or to some form of mysticism, and so doesn't fit a secular musician at all.

What can be used for all sorts of thing is some sort of Power Modifier, which could indeed include the requirement to devote X hours (e.g. 2 or 1d6) per day to train. A good place to look, for inspiration, is the Chi PM in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy volume 1, although GURPS Powers ought to have all the building blocks, just might not be quite as obvious how to assemble them, compared to the working example in DF1.
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Old 12-25-2015, 07:58 PM   #10
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Default Re: Disciplines of Faith (Musician)

Considering how most musicians treat their craft as a religion, and Music as their god, I'd say it is more appropriate than most of said musicians would be comfortable admitting.
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