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Old 03-12-2018, 11:49 PM   #1
VonKatzen
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Default Eidetic Memory

For improved realism I am trying to developing required limitations for Eidetic Memory. So far my idea is is that it requires either the Aspected limitation from Powers, with the limitation being based on the same criteria that a Talent is designed. The other possibility (for more abstract or non-performative memory skills) would be an Accessibility limitation with at least a -20% limitation on usage.
Finally people can learn the Eidetic Memory talent provided that it follows one of the above limitations and has the further limitation that it Requires Preparation (for memory organizational/reminder techniques).
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Old 03-13-2018, 12:08 AM   #2
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Default Re: Eidetic Memory

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Originally Posted by VonKatzen View Post
Finally people can learn the Eidetic Memory talent provided that it follows one of the above limitations and has the further limitation that it Requires Preparation (for memory organizational/reminder techniques).
Something along these lines can be found in GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School.
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Old 03-13-2018, 12:22 AM   #3
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Default Re: Eidetic Memory

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Originally Posted by VonKatzen View Post
For improved realism I am trying to developing required limitations for Eidetic Memory. So far my idea is is that it requires either the Aspected limitation from Powers, with the limitation being based on the same criteria that a Talent is designed. The other possibility (for more abstract or non-performative memory skills) would be an Accessibility limitation with at least a -20% limitation on usage.
Finally people can learn the Eidetic Memory talent provided that it follows one of the above limitations and has the further limitation that it Requires Preparation (for memory organizational/reminder techniques).
Eidetic Memory has 2 levels.

I would simply leave Eidetic memory at level 1, this should be more than enough for your setting. The value of this advantage is basically an IQ bonus to learn new stuff and the chance of having your friends or the GM help you remembering things IF you did not take notes.

"Requires preparation" seems OK at first glance, but using Eidetic memory already requires the PC to concentrate...

And "learning" Eidetic memory" IMO, would be (for example) an equivalent to taking lessons in Mnemonics. The Fact here is that you took lessons or learned how to recall memories more efficiently either by experience or by scientific methods and now you have the advantage of a good memory.

It is different than "let me study this matter today, so I can easily remember it later", "let me check my mnemonics book, so I can remember this other stuff later"... If you need preparations to learn or recall something, that sounds like devoting "extra time" to a subject you are studying, and by this "extra time" the GM assesses bonuses to IQ rolls to either learn or recall stuff, which IMO fits more as the game mechanic itself "extra time", and not the limited advantage of Eidetic Memory.

How about it?
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Old 03-13-2018, 01:02 AM   #4
VonKatzen
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Default Re: Eidetic Memory

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Eidetic Memory has 2 levels.

I would simply leave Eidetic memory at level 1, this should be more than enough for your setting. The value of this advantage is basically an IQ bonus to learn new stuff and the chance of having your friends or the GM help you remembering things IF you did not take notes.

"Requires preparation" seems OK at first glance, but using Eidetic memory already requires the PC to concentrate...

And "learning" Eidetic memory" IMO, would be (for example) an equivalent to taking lessons in Mnemonics. The Fact here is that you took lessons or learned how to recall memories more efficiently either by experience or by scientific methods and now you have the advantage of a good memory.

It is different than "let me study this matter today, so I can easily remember it later", "let me check my mnemonics book, so I can remember this other stuff later"... If you need preparations to learn or recall something, that sounds like devoting "extra time" to a subject you are studying, and by this "extra time" the GM assesses bonuses to IQ rolls to either learn or recall stuff, which IMO fits more as the game mechanic itself "extra time", and not the limited advantage of Eidetic Memory.

How about it?
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The thing is that I don't think Eidetic Memory itself is particularly realistic. It's too broad. Some people have very good memories but these are related to very specific fields. People whose minds just work better for association and recall should have a higher IQ.

Other than a subject-limited or mnemonics based Eidetic Memory I'd be more inclined to just disallow it as a trait.
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Old 03-13-2018, 09:25 AM   #5
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Default Re: Eidetic Memory

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Originally Posted by VonKatzen View Post
The thing is that I don't think Eidetic Memory itself is particularly realistic. It's too broad. Some people have very good memories but these are related to very specific fields. People whose minds just work better for association and recall should have a higher IQ.

Other than a subject-limited or mnemonics based Eidetic Memory I'd be more inclined to just disallow it as a trait.
I can say that Eidetic Memory is real. I know a person who literally can and does remember anything and everything.

His memory is not limited to single field, he can equally well remember what he read in a book 30 years ago as what he had for lunch 2 weeks ago.
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Old 03-13-2018, 10:02 AM   #6
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Default Re: Eidetic Memory

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Originally Posted by VonKatzen View Post
The thing is that I don't think Eidetic Memory itself is particularly realistic. It's too broad. Some people have very good memories but these are related to very specific fields. People whose minds just work better for association and recall should have a higher IQ.

Other than a subject-limited or mnemonics based Eidetic Memory I'd be more inclined to just disallow it as a trait.
Seconding what Weby said about memory I would also mention that you should take into account that having very good memory does not make you a smart person. Specially in GURPS, Eidetic Memory helps you learning skills, but it does not improve the base of IQ based skills.

It may come in handy when they ask you “write down the steps to perform a surgery” but it does not help you as your IQ may help you when you perform the surgery itself (after you just learned it).

This is in GURPS mechanics at least. Because you roll the skill (or its default) to achieve a feat, Not your memory.

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Old 03-13-2018, 10:50 AM   #7
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Default Re: Eidetic Memory

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I can say that Eidetic Memory is real. I know a person who literally can and does remember anything and everything.

His memory is not limited to single field, he can equally well remember what he read in a book 30 years ago as what he had for lunch 2 weeks ago.
That would be the second level, technically called Photographic Memory. It's fantastically rare but not unknown.

The first level is somewhat more common but still not necessarily aspected. If we were to meet in person I could go on a _long_ time give you details about TV, movies, comic books, rpgs, SF, fantasy and mystery novels, guns, other weapons and armor. airplanes and spacecraft, astronomy and history....If you're seeing an aspect in there I could go on for a while longer about other areas of interest that I remember encyclopedic details about.
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Old 03-13-2018, 02:26 PM   #8
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Default Re: Eidetic Memory

Yes, and it is not even necessarily indicative of a good memory, it can just that an individual has accumulated so much knowledge over their life that they remember something that is useful (even if they do not remember the exact thing that you need). You occasionally get that with people in their 80s who have kept their mind active, they have read some much over their lives that they can give a decent answer to any question posed to them. Of course, Photographic Memory is a completely different story, as it is a rare neurological quirk that allows for more effective information storage.
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Old 03-13-2018, 05:46 PM   #9
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Default Re: Eidetic Memory

I certainly can see designing aspected forms of Eidetic Memory around ideas seen in talents, but I've met enough people that seem to have the first level of the GURPS trait that I have to consider it realistic, and not even super rare.
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Old 03-13-2018, 06:01 PM   #10
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Default Re: Eidetic Memory

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Some people have very good memories but these are related to very specific fields.
No, it exists as written, both levels, in the real world.

You could put a limitation on it for a specific character... a historian might better remember history or whatever... but it exists as written for many people.

Quote:
People whose minds just work better for association and recall should have a higher IQ
Nope. There are people with photographic memory who are effectively mentally retarded.

Being able to visualize the exact page from a book doesn't help you understand what the page says.

Last edited by tanksoldier; 03-13-2018 at 06:05 PM.
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