01-07-2018, 04:14 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Jul 2013
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Absolute Pitch = Costs how much
I have a player that wants to take Absolute pitch (also known as Perfect Pitch), and I'm having to create it. Given what it does I'm having a bit of a problem balancing the cost in relation to Relative Pitch which does much the same thing, but requires a reference tone.
By the wiki entry: Absolute pitch implies some or all of the following abilities, achieved without a reference tone: • Identify by name individual pitches (e.g. F♯, A, G, C) played on various instruments. • Name the key of a given piece of tonal music. • Reproduce a piece of tonal music in the correct key days after hearing it. • Identify and name all the tones of a given chord or other tonal mass. • Accurately sing a named pitch. • Name the pitches of common everyday sounds such as car horns, phone keys and alarms. • Detect subtle changes in vocal tones. |
01-07-2018, 04:21 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Re: Absolute Pitch = Costs how much
Buy it as a Talent for Musical skills? The stuff about identifying pieces of music and tonal changes is a Perk IMO.
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01-07-2018, 04:48 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Absolute Pitch = Costs how much
It's in GURPS Powers: Enhanced Senses, on p. 31. It's a 1-point perk.
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01-07-2018, 04:54 PM | #4 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: Absolute Pitch = Costs how much
I know someone who has it. He is a musician, as a hobby. It isn't all that useful.
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01-07-2018, 06:19 PM | #5 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Absolute Pitch = Costs how much
Also The Madness Dossier, where I think it was the first appearance.
Last edited by sir_pudding; 01-10-2018 at 12:57 AM. |
01-10-2018, 12:42 AM | #6 | |
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Århus, Denmark
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Re: Absolute Pitch = Costs how much
Quote:
Also: No, it propably isn't too useful. Same goes for the reverse: Tone deafness and awful singing abilities shouldn't yield high disadvantage values. Unless combined with Delusion (I am a great singer) once talent shows for nation tv is a thing ;)
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Playing GURPS since '90, is now fluent in 4th ed as well. |
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01-10-2018, 12:46 AM | #7 |
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Luxembourg
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Re: Absolute Pitch = Costs how much
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01-10-2018, 06:26 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Re: Absolute Pitch = Costs how much
Quote:
I'd agree that perfect pitch is a Perk, outside of those particular games where music is a vital core interest. Might also throw it in for free with any level of Musical Ability (Talent). Relative Pitch might belong to anyone with Singing or a Musical Instrument at 12+. Most musicians can and do train it. Feel free to demand skill rolls to identify particular chords or intervals when that comes up :) (For that matter, there's an ongoing argument about whether you can train perfect pitch or not. IMO, it's just a memory quirk, being really good at remembering pitches, the way some people at really good at remembering exact shades of color, or smells or tastes, or faces instead of names or vice-versa. With enough training, even a poorer natural memory can do the same job, while there are lucky folks that don't have to work at it. But regardless of whether it's trainable, in GURPS terms it'd still be a 1-point Perk, either because it's not as demanding as a full skill, or it's a 1-point Perk because it's a tiny Advantage.) |
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01-10-2018, 08:20 AM | #9 |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: Absolute Pitch = Costs how much
Now, if it IS worth a whole bunch in a specific campaign because of magic or something, that's an unusual background.
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01-10-2018, 01:17 PM | #10 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Absolute Pitch = Costs how much
Quote:
My oscilloscope has "perfect pitch" in that it's got a quite adequate (if sometimes a bit hard to use) frequency readout function on it. It doesn't have any demonstrable musical ability.
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-- MA Lloyd Last edited by malloyd; 01-10-2018 at 01:20 PM. |
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