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Old 06-15-2018, 10:41 AM   #1
johndallman
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Default [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Disturbing Voice and Stuttering

Disturbing Voice [-10] and Stuttering [-10] are both mundane physical disadvantages. They have the same game effect, but for different reasons. With Disturbing Voice, you sound bad or unnatural: this is the reverse of the Voice advantage, and you can’t have both. With Stuttering, you stammer, or have another speech impediment. You could have Voice and Stuttering, I suppose, but the effects cancel out. Stuttering dates back to GURPS 1e, and Disturbing Voice appeared somewhere during 3e, probably for robot voices.

With either disadvantage, you have -2 on any reaction roll where you speak, and -2 to Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Performance, Public Speaking, Sex Appeal, and Singing. Professions where talking is key, such as newsreader or singer, won’t be available to you. Having both disadvantages, if you were determined, is presumably allowable for double penalties, but being Mute might be a better choice.

These disadvantages are fairly rare options on published templates, and are used more often in racial templates. The Discworld RPG has a couple of specialised versions, in the Igor’s lisp, and the Witch’s cackle. Bio-Tech has upgraded people who talk too fast, lots of upgraded animals, and therapy for voice problems. Several DF races have Disturbing Voice, and it works as a prerequisite for Shouts of Range in Denizens: Barbarians. Many creatures from Fantasy have Disturbing Voice, as do things from Horror, Madness Dossier and Infinite Worlds. Metro of Madness has a different version, “Always speaks in metaphor,” which will get really creepy if the GM can keep it up. Detailed injuries from Martial Arts can cause either disadvantage, and both have perk- or quirk-level versions in Power-Ups books. Social Engineering adds detail for both disadvantages, and provides some partial workarounds, and Back to School adds more. Underground Adventures adds “Can Only Whisper,” and Zombies may well have Disturbing Voice as its special guest disadvantage, given how often it occurs.

I’ve never played a character with either of these disadvantages, as best I remember. I considered Stuttering once, but went for Colorblindness. Nor do I remember playing alongside any characters who had them; I’ve encountered a few upgraded animals in Transhuman Space, but that’s about all. Have these disadvantages been significant in your games?
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Old 06-15-2018, 11:15 AM   #2
Not
 
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Disturbing Voice and Stuttering

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Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
Disturbing Voice [-10] and Stuttering [-10] are both mundane physical disadvantages. They have the same game effect, but for different reasons. With Disturbing Voice, you sound bad or unnatural: this is the reverse of the Voice advantage, and you can’t have both. With Stuttering, you stammer, or have another speech impediment. You could have Voice and Stuttering, I suppose, but the effects cancel out. Stuttering dates back to GURPS 1e, and Disturbing Voice appeared somewhere during 3e, probably for robot voices.

With either disadvantage, you have -2 on any reaction roll where you speak, and -2 to Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Performance, Public Speaking, Sex Appeal, and Singing. Professions where talking is key, such as newsreader or singer, won’t be available to you. Having both disadvantages, if you were determined, is presumably allowable for double penalties, but being Mute might be a better choice.

These disadvantages are fairly rare options on published templates, and are used more often in racial templates. The Discworld RPG has a couple of specialised versions, in the Igor’s lisp, and the Witch’s cackle. Bio-Tech has upgraded people who talk too fast, lots of upgraded animals, and therapy for voice problems. Several DF races have Disturbing Voice, and it works as a prerequisite for Shouts of Range in Denizens: Barbarians. Many creatures from Fantasy have Disturbing Voice, as do things from Horror, Madness Dossier and Infinite Worlds. Metro of Madness has a different version, “Always speaks in metaphor,” which will get really creepy if the GM can keep it up. Detailed injuries from Martial Arts can cause either disadvantage, and both have perk- or quirk-level versions in Power-Ups books. Social Engineering adds detail for both disadvantages, and provides some partial workarounds, and Back to School adds more. Underground Adventures adds “Can Only Whisper,” and Zombies may well have Disturbing Voice as its special guest disadvantage, given how often it occurs.

I’ve never played a character with either of these disadvantages, as best I remember. I considered Stuttering once, but went for Colorblindness. Nor do I remember playing alongside any characters who had them; I’ve encountered a few upgraded animals in Transhuman Space, but that’s about all. Have these disadvantages been significant in your games?
I might demand the player role play this one at the table.

I wouldn't allow both Stuttering and Disturbing Voice on the same sheet.

This works for Aliens speaking Human languages imperfectly, excepting Pierson's Puppeteers.
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Old 06-15-2018, 01:00 PM   #3
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Disturbing Voice and Stuttering

Martial Arts has mouthpieces give +1 to HT vs. stun or knockdown checks on a blow to the Face or Skull in exchange for Disturbing Voice.

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Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
Having both disadvantages, if you were determined, is presumably allowable for double penalties, but being Mute might be a better choice.
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Originally Posted by Not View Post
I wouldn't allow both Stuttering and Disturbing Voice on the same sheet.
There *are* some classic fictional examples, chiefly malfunctioning robots/AIs like Max Headroom or SHODAN.

Last edited by Toptomcat; 06-15-2018 at 01:05 PM.
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Old 06-15-2018, 01:44 PM   #4
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Disturbing Voice and Stuttering

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I wouldn't allow both Stuttering and Disturbing Voice on the same sheet.
There's a fair bit of overlap, but Stuttering can stand for any sort of speech problem which slows down your communication and/or makes it harder to understand. Additionally, it might make certain tasks, or use of certain types of skills, impossible.

For example, you might need to take a few extra seconds to give commands, your stuttering might interfere with your Leadership skill to give those orders, and listeners might need to make a Perception roll to understand what you just said.

Disturbing Voice covers the psychological or social effects your voice has on listeners, like someone whose voice is right at the same pitch as nails raked over slate.

Combine the two and you get an entity whose speech is slow, difficult to understand, and sets everyone's teeth on edge.

For example, a robot whose voice sounds like announcements spoken over a badly-maintained system. Intervals of high-pitched feedback slow its speech and make anything with ears wince. Any words its speaks are "muddied" by its vocal system so that everyone has to make Hearing rolls to figure out what it just said.

But, for the combination of the two disadvantages, I'd cap reaction penalties at -2 in most cases, unless the task is entirely voice-dependent, like giving a speech.
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Old 06-15-2018, 10:40 PM   #5
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Disturbing Voice and Stuttering

Kim Philby was a stutterer. If I were to play that disadvantage I would reread Declare by Tim Powers. There could be some fun roleplaying with that. Philby was a formidable character.
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Old 06-16-2018, 07:11 AM   #6
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Disturbing Voice and Stuttering

To my knowledge, which may not be complete, Disturbing Voice entered 3e in GURPS Werewolf: the Apocalypse for the bestial forms, representing snarling animal speech. The book has some major problems with costs on new traits, and it's led me to eye Disturbing Voice suspiciously.

Disturbing Voice costs as much as an always on -2 reaction penalty, but only imposes -2 when talking and doesn't mechanically have other effects. Stuttering had the conditional reaction penalty and slows speech.

Disturbing Voice needs to be nerfed down to [-6] or so, or needs to treat you as having accented spoken fluency, or something, in my opinion.
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Old 06-26-2018, 01:20 AM   #7
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Disturbing Voice and Stuttering

I have made at least one character who is a stutterer. As a GM, I would also rule that talking is not a free action for a character with this disadvantage in combat, except (maybe!) for short outbursts (e.g. "watch out!"). But I'd more likely treat any utterance as an All-Out Ready maneuver (no such thing, I know) or something like that.
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Old 06-28-2018, 02:38 AM   #8
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Disturbing Voice and Stuttering

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Originally Posted by Bruno View Post
To my knowledge, which may not be complete, Disturbing Voice entered 3e in GURPS Werewolf: the Apocalypse for the bestial forms, representing snarling animal speech. The book has some major problems with costs on new traits, and it's led me to eye Disturbing Voice suspiciously.

Disturbing Voice costs as much as an always on -2 reaction penalty, but only imposes -2 when talking and doesn't mechanically have other effects. Stuttering had the conditional reaction penalty and slows speech.

Disturbing Voice needs to be nerfed down to [-6] or so, or needs to treat you as having accented spoken fluency, or something, in my opinion.
I see the "other side" of Disturbing Voice as a form of Supernatural Feature. Exactly how the voice is disturbing can tell people something valuable about the character. It could tell them you're an animalistic monster, or a robotic monster, or a sign of an undead monster.

It can trigger Intolerances, or alert people to your possible weaknesses. Or it becomes a distinctive voice.

I'd say Disturbing Voice from other sources might slow down speech as well. For instance, one character had throat damage, which made her voice horribly gravelly, but it also hurt to talk. So it made her sparing with words.
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Old 06-28-2018, 03:04 AM   #9
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Disturbing Voice and Stuttering

Max Headroom's glitching shouldn't be worth -5 points, it's a -1 Quirk at worst. He's not difficult to understand nor is it off-putting. A stutter should be at least as bad as Derek Jacobi's in I, Claudius to be worth 5 points.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toptomcat;2183250
There *are* some classic fictional examples, chiefly malfunctioning robots/AIs like [URL="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cYdpOjletnc"
Max Headroom[/URL] or SHODAN.
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Old 06-29-2018, 01:22 AM   #10
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Disturbing Voice and Stuttering

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Originally Posted by Bruno View Post
Disturbing Voice needs to be nerfed down to [-6] or so, or needs to treat you as having accented spoken fluency, or something, in my opinion.
That makes sense. Either that or the cost of Stuttering needs to go up, or the reaction penalty for Stuttering needs to be nerfed. The latter is appropriate if you have a voice which is slow and hard to understand but isn't unpleasant to listen to.

Additionally, each +/-1 generic Reaction modifier from Appearance, Charisma, Reputation, etc. was worth 5 points until GURPS 4E.

GURPS 4E altered appearance so it was just worth -4 points per level unless you had the Universal Modifier. The same modifier could apply to traits like Stuttering or Disturbing Voice which aren't "Always On" or which don't necessarily affect everyone. For example, if you've got DV a sapient AI or a Martian probably won't care what your voice sounds like.
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