08-02-2014, 02:52 PM | #21 |
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South Dakota, USA
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Acute Senses
Just because seeing the last few posts reminded me: Basic p.258 explains comprehension rolls, which are against IQ and not Perception and rolled to check against the significance of something you've noticed; you see the rabbit running from the bushes you're investigating, but you need the Comprehension Roll to realize that even though its summer said rabbit has a white winter coat, suggesting it isn't just a wild one.
Perception for a human can be bought up to 20 or lowered down to 4 according to Basic p.16. The bonus from Acute Vision I take it is just representing better-than-normal eyes... but what about people that are just good at Perception with a specific sense? It might be excessive detail, but what about levels of Perception with a "One Sense Only" Limitation (-60%). Yes, priced that way so that its 2 points per level like an Acute Sense; the difference is that it just makes a decent stepping stone for buying up Perception. Probably not needed, but does that look like it would cause problems somehow?
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My GURPS Fourth Edition library consists of Basic Set: Characters, Basic Set: Campaigns, Martial Arts, Powers, Powers: Enhanced Senses, Power-Ups 1: Imbuements, Power-Ups 2: Perks, Power-Ups 3: Talents, Power-Ups 4: Enhancements, Power-Ups 6: Quirks, Power-Ups 8: Limitations, Powers, Social Engineering, Supers, Template Toolkit 1: Characters, Template Toolkit 2: Races, one issue of Pyramid (3/83) a.k.a. Alternate GURPS IV, GURPS Classic Rogues, and GURPS Classic Warriors. Most of which was provided through the generosity of others. Thanks! :) |
08-02-2014, 02:55 PM | #22 |
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: OK
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Acute Senses
So how do you represent the difference, and how do you make sure people can't sense things outside what is physically possible? How do we mechanically represent the resolution limits of human sight, hearing, smell, proprioception, etc.? Can someone with Perception 15 and Acute Vision 2 see things the human eye can't physically see? What's going on there?
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"For the rays, to speak properly, are not colored. In them there is nothing else than a certain power and disposition to stir up a sensation of this or that color." —Isaac Newton, Optics My blog. |
08-02-2014, 03:31 PM | #23 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Acute Senses
Quote:
You really can't do much to boost visual acuity overall past human limits; the human fovea has single neurons as close together as is physically workable for light of visible wavelengths—reduce the diameter and the efficiency falls off catastrophically. Birds of prey do some tricks with ocular geometry, but a lot of what they have is just several levels of Telescopic Vision, which is a change in the physical optics of the lens. Similarly, Night Vision is going to represent changes in the efficiency with which the eye gathers photons, whether because of bigger eyes, wider aperture, or enhanced pooling of retinal responses (or reflective back layers like those in a cat's eyes). Or you could add pigments for UV or near IR or the ability to discriminate which way light is polarized. This shows up better for the other senses, where for example having more densely innervated tactile receptors is Sensitive Touch, but keener tactile perception is Acute Touch. Bill Stoddard |
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08-02-2014, 03:39 PM | #24 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Acute Senses
Quote:
Bill Stoddard |
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08-02-2014, 11:37 PM | #25 |
Join Date: Apr 2006
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Acute Senses
Your vision score reflects your ability to get visual data into your head in such a way that you consciously notice the interesting things, not just the quality of your optics. Someone who notices Sir_Pudding's machinegunner in a bush may have more physically perfect eyes, but more likely he's just more observant: the data analysis software in his head works better.
(Aside: he may also have noticed the machinegunner because he knew to look for it... which could be represented by successful complementary rolls against Tactics or Soldier adding bonuses to vision... which would give players damn good incentive to make sure their characters have those skills! But I leave this, and its variants and implications, as an exercise for the reader.) Why can you have a guy with IQ 12 and Acute Vision 2, but not a guy with IQ 10 and Acute Vision 4? IMO, you probably could; I would totally buy a fictional character who's not particularly bright but has (metaphorical) eyes like a hawk and spots things that others might not. The limit is more (IMO) to give GMs a guideline as to what's "realistic" for humans so that they're not going "hmm, how much acute vision should my upgraded human template have? 2? 5? I have no idea!" (That it's in Biotech especially makes me think this.) That, and when the guy whose PC already has IQ 15 wants to buy Acute Vision 8, the GM won't feel so arbitrary saying no. |
08-03-2014, 12:03 AM | #26 |
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South Dakota, USA
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Acute Senses
Glad someone posted the Bio-Tech rule; as I've mentioned I am not actually able to play right now (very slowly getting ready to run a beginner adventure where I am the GM; pity those players) but since I have to do it online and other stuff keeps coming up... like I said, very slowly. So when I've been practicing and building guys, at least for PCs I am used to my old S.O.P. procedure from 3e: unless you absolutely need to squeeze out the points for something else, you just take Acute [Sense]+5 for 10 points for whatever compliments the character most.
So now I'll dial it back, but I still am wondering what Acute Vision is supposed to represent. I assumed it was mostly physiological, hence being required at Character Creation; this is the trait that represents superior eyesight (literally "superior sense" in RAW). Having the cognition/training/etc. to notice things better is Perception, which can be bought after character creation. Oh well, most of my characters seem to favor high PER scores anyway, so I can probably just put the points towards that.
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My GURPS Fourth Edition library consists of Basic Set: Characters, Basic Set: Campaigns, Martial Arts, Powers, Powers: Enhanced Senses, Power-Ups 1: Imbuements, Power-Ups 2: Perks, Power-Ups 3: Talents, Power-Ups 4: Enhancements, Power-Ups 6: Quirks, Power-Ups 8: Limitations, Powers, Social Engineering, Supers, Template Toolkit 1: Characters, Template Toolkit 2: Races, one issue of Pyramid (3/83) a.k.a. Alternate GURPS IV, GURPS Classic Rogues, and GURPS Classic Warriors. Most of which was provided through the generosity of others. Thanks! :) |
08-03-2014, 03:35 AM | #27 |
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: New Zealand.
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Acute Senses
An example of that is Robert Evans an amateur astronomer who found something like 50 supernovae. I can't quiet remember the quote from his mention in Bill Bryson's "a short history of nearly everything" but it was along the lines of "scatter salt over 100 tables, now add one grain and Mr Evans could spot it"
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08-03-2014, 06:03 AM | #28 | |
Join Date: Dec 2013
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Acute Senses
Quote:
To tell which direction something is pointing in, you need 1.4 times the resolution. To tell what something is in general terms ("that's a person","that's a truck", "that's a tank", etc.), you need 4 times the resolution. To identify it fully ("that's a soldier holding a machine gun", "that's an Ural-4320", "that's a T-72", etc.) you need 6.4 times the resolution. Using the Speed/Range table, determining orientation is -0, recognizing what kind of thing it is is -2, and identifying it is -3. |
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08-03-2014, 11:24 PM | #29 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Acute Senses
There is a skill to perceiving with limited sensory information.
As my visual acuity gets worse, I have adapted to maintain my official corrected vision test results. General poor vision, not just near sightedness.
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08-04-2014, 03:07 AM | #30 |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Europe
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Acute Senses
Yes, that's what makes Sherlock Holme stand out. His ears aren't orders of magnitude keener than the ears of the average person. Nor his eyes, or his nose. But he is almost always aware of everything his senses attempt to convey to his brain, whereas you, and I, and most other people, filter most of that away.
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Tags |
acute senses, advantage, advantage of the week, aotw, basic, discriminatory senses, week |
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