[Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Disturbing Voice and Stuttering

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Railstar

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.

But that's not "default" Disturbing voice, which as you point out can represent vocal chord damage (or an annoying-sounding voder, or bad speech synthesis for an AI, or whatever). For Garou from W:tA, it was on the gigantic anthro-wolf battle form - and Supernatural Feature is not used when you're clearly the $thing.

You can certainly have a supernatural feature related to the voice, but that's not baseline Disturbing Voice - that's Disturbing Voice (arguably [-6]) with added problems (which is basically a separate disadvantage, and you combine the two in a meta-trait), or a completely different disadvantage if it doesn't have the game mechanical effects of disturbing voice.

Originally Posted by Railstar

Or it becomes a distinctive voice.

Having a distinctive voice is no more than a quirk level disadvantage.

Originally Posted by Railstar

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.

Except that's not the game mechanics of Disturbing Voice - and if we add that to Disturbing voice, then there's no difference between it and Stuttering.

[Railstar]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Except that's not the game mechanics of Disturbing Voice - and if we add that to Disturbing voice, then there's no difference between it and Stuttering.

So I made a mistake - there is no difference between Disturbing Voice and Stuttering. Just checked Disturbing Voice, and it says "The game effects in all cases are identical to those of Stuttering (p. 157), although you do not necessarily stutter." So all the alternate ways to make Disturbing Voice have its own problems to make up for the perceived difference between the two was unnecessary, because there is no actual difference.

So if Stuttering means you take longer to speak, Disturbing Voice does too... which actually I'm okay with. For the assassin-lady with the damaged throat, having to take more pauses when speaking can explain it. For growly werewolf voice, it can be needing to enunciate more clearly and carefully to be understood. Monotone voice might speak at the same pace regardless of the urgency, so can't "talk fast". And so on.

[quarkstomper]

Just recently, I was looking at some old NPCs of mine that I posted on another site, and came across one, the adolescent squire to a paladin, to whom I gave the quirk: Voice Is Changing. The character also had a skill in Singing, and although I noted that his skill level probably needed a penalty due to his voice sometimes cracking, I never got around to making that adjustment.

Considering it further, I think a -1 to his Singing skill is probably sufficient. What do you folk say?

[artichoke]

I think Stuttering should have two levels of intensity. One would be a -5.

Some people don't stutter in a way that makes it particularly hard to communicate with them but they still stutter often.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by artichoke

I think Stuttering should have two levels of intensity. One would be a -5.

There are three game effects mixed in Stuttering/Disturbing Voice:

"Slow Talker"
"Difficult to understand"
"Annoying to listen to"

To create a "leveled" version of those traits, let's assume a base cost per level of -6.

10% (1 point/level) = Slow speech. Each level doubles the time required for you to communicate a particular concept via spoken communication. You may take up to 14 levels of this trait, after that you must buy Cannot Speak.

60% (3 points/level) = Difficult to understand. Listeners must roll vs. IQ or Hearing, at -2 per level of the disadvantage to properly hear and understand your speech. You have a -2 penalty per level to perform any task which requires you to speak clearly and/or quickly. You may take up to 4 levels of this trait, after that you must buy Cannot Speak.

At the GM's option, penalties are multiplied when dealing with non-native speakers of your language, or when speaking in a language in which you aren't fully fluent. Each level of spoken language fluency below "Native" doubles penalties (-4 per level for Accented, -8 per level for Broken).

30% (2 points/level) = Annoying speech. Anyone who listens to your speech for any length of time reacts badly towards you. People who know about your problem will try to avoid you, force you to keep your speech to a minimum, or refuse to listen to you. You might suffer bullying or prejudice as a result of your speech problem, giving effects similar to those of a Social Stigma. This gives you a -2 penalty per level to perform any task which requires you to favorably influence people using the spoken word and gives a -1 reaction penalty per level from those who know about your problem.

At the GM's option, emotionless or very alien creatures, and/or people who suffer from the same speech problems as you do, don't react badly to your speech.

In some cases, the penalties for difficult to understand speech and annoying speech are cumulative, such as when you are trying to impress people by giving a speech.

Iny case, you can take a maximum of 3 levels of any of these traits. After that, you must take some form of Cannot Speak.

Based on these assumptions:

Special Limitations
Comprehensible (-40%): Your speech is as easy to understand as anyone else's. You don't suffer penalties to speak clearly.
Innocuous Voice (-40%): Your speech isn't any more unpleasant to listen to than
Normal Speaking Speed (-20%): Your speech isn't slowed.
Annoying Speech Only (-60%): You speak at normal speeds and your voice is easily understood, but it is annoying for others to listen to.
Incomprehensible Speech Only (-60%): You speak at normal speeds and your voice isn't particularly unpleasant, but your speech is hard to understand.
Slow Speech Only (-80%): Your voice is normal, but you speak more slowly than normal.

Reworked RAW advantages

Disturbing Voice (-2 points/level): Your voice is unpleasant to listen to. It might be shrill, growling, monotonal, or obviously artificial. While people can understand your speech well enough, anyone who hears your voice reacts at -1 per level. You have a -1 penalty per level per level when attempting to perform any task which requires you to use your voice in an attractive fashion (e.g., Singing) or to put listeners at ease (e.g., Sex Appeal). You suffer no penalties when attempting to use your voice when you are attempting to deliberately evoke emotions your unpleasant voice would naturally inspire, such as fear or boredom. At the GM's option, you might get a +1 bonus per level when performing certain tasks, such as using Intimidation skill if your voice is naturally harsh or growling. You can take a maximum of 2 levels of this trait.

Stuttering (-6 points per level): You have a severe stutter, or similar speech impediment, which slows your speech, makes it harder to understand, and makes it annoying to listen to for any length of time. In certain campaigns, Stuttering can represent supernatural or non-physiological speech problems which impose the same difficulties, such as constantly speaking in metaphors.

Moderate Stuttering (-6 points): It takes you twice as long to verbally communicate any concept. People listening to you must roll vs. Hearing or IQ at -2 to understand you (doubled if either you or the speaker only speaks the language at Accented level, tripled if you or the listener only speaks the language at Broken level). People who know about your problem react to you at -1. You have a -2 penalty to use any skill which requires you to speak in a clear, quick fashion, or a -3 penalty if you are attempting to use a skill which requires you to also speak in a pleasant or entertaining fashion.
You may take up to two levels of this disadvantage, after that buy Cannot Speak.

Severe Stuttering (-12 points): It takes you four times as long to verbally communicate any concept, and listeners must roll at -4 to understand you. People react to you at -2. You have a -4 penalty to skill use, or -6 if you must speak in a pleasant or entertaining fashion.

New Disadvantages
Lisp (-3 points/level): You have a cleft palate, severe lisp, tongue damage, or some similar problem which makes it hard for others to understand your speech. You can speak at the normal rate of speed, and your voice isn't particularly unpleasant, however. In some campaigns, this problem can represent any supernatural or non-physiological problem which makes it harder to understand your speech, such as speaking in an obscure dialect, using strange syntax, etc. You have a -2 penalty per level to speak clearly, and anyone listening to you must make an IQ or Hearing roll at -2 per level to understand your speech (doubled if either you or the speaker only speaks the language at Accented level, tripled if you or the listener only speaks the language at Broken level). You may take a maximum of four levels of this disadvantage, after that buy Cannot Speak.

Edit: Slightly altered point costs.

Cannot Speak (-15 points) is difficult to reconcile against Hard to Understand. It should work out to, effectively, a -10 penalty to understand your speech, but with no reaction penalties or slowness in communication. Boosting the cost of each level of Hard to Understand to -3 points and giving a -2 penalty to Hearing rolls and skills is the only way to make that trait fit. That boosts the costs of Stuttering and Lisp.

[artichoke]

Thanks. That's very helpful.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by johndallman

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?

A character in my long-running campaign had one or the other (I forget which), but altered to be the effect of "Always Speaks in a Total Monotone". It was later bought off by spending lots of money (plus the points) on elocution lessons. If I recall, at about that time the character also had some cosmetic work done to improve his appearance - straightened and whitened teeth, cleaned up nose, a bit of work on their jawline - the sort of thing someone wanting to be an effective speaker and leader would want.

[Ultraviolet]

Originally Posted by quarkstomper

Just recently, I was looking at some old NPCs of mine that I posted on another site, and came across one, the adolescent squire to a paladin, to whom I gave the quirk: Voice Is Changing. The character also had a skill in Singing, and although I noted that his skill level probably needed a penalty due to his voice sometimes cracking, I never got around to making that adjustment.

Considering it further, I think a -1 to his Singing skill is probably sufficient. What do you folk say?

So he was basically Squeaky Voiced Teen from the Simpsons? :)

It's hard to quantify, because the voice may not actually break that often. But when entertaining the Duke, hoping his master gets a good reaction it will be an important failure if his voice cracks.
I'd perhaps go for a more harsh penalty, to underline how things can go bad, perhaps -3. And then be generous with the +4 modifier for routine skill use in more casual circumstances, where a cracking voice is more likely to result in laughter from the audience.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

New Disadvantages
Lisp (-3 points/level): You have a cleft palate, severe lisp, tongue damage, or some similar problem which makes it hard for others to understand your speech. You can speak at the normal rate of speed, and your voice isn't particularly unpleasant, however. In some campaigns, this problem can represent any supernatural or non-physiological problem which makes it harder to understand your speech, such as speaking in an obscure dialect, using strange syntax, etc.

I had a character who was omnilingual based on a psychic power, but had the problem that regardless of the language, he ended up speaking a dialect associated with lower socioeconomic classes and criminal elements. He naturally sounded like a goon, even if he was talking about genetic engineering. This (or one of your other sub-units) would have been a good choice for him.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Bruno

He naturally sounded like a goon, even if he was talking about genetic engineering. This (or one of your other sub-units) would have been a good choice for him.

Social Stigma would also be a good way to handle it. Even if he's not actually a member of the stigmatized group, the fact that his listeners believe him to be a member is all that counts.

Either that or a Quirk (Talks like a thug/ignorant hick), which sets him up for occasional prejudice. But, conversely, can give him an advantage when he wants snobbish people to underestimate his abilities.

It all depends on the severity of the problem.