Would Mimicry: Sound Effects be a valid specialization?

[Flyndaran]

I"m thinking of beat boxing as well as full on Michael Winslow, the guy from Police Academy.
It doesn't seem to fit any other skill. Anyone have ideas, suggestions, or links to similar threads? I'm a little surprised to have found none.

[Anders]

Definitively.

[ericthered]

that's a slick solution. Go for it.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I"m thinking of beat boxing as well as full on Michael Winslow, the guy from Police Academy.
It doesn't seem to fit any other skill. Anyone have ideas, suggestions, or links to similar threads? I'm a little surprised to have found none.

I would actually think that B220 Singing could cover things like humming or beatboxing or whistling.

I don't see anything there saying that it NEEDS to be verbal (though it clearly helps)

There's a -2 penalty if the audience doesn't understand the language...

B24 language modifiers also apply, which is "-6 for artistic skills that rely on the beauty of the language" for Singing if you merely have Broken...

If "Comprehension: None" means a complete inability (infinite penalty) to Singing then it makes me wonder how we represent stuff like birds who can clearly make beautiful noises.

B23 bans non-sapients (IQ below 6) from learning new languages or starting with one...

B125 "Cannot Speak" mentions "You may still have the Mimicry or Voice advantage, or the Disturbing Voice disadvantage (but not Stuttering)."

No idea why they ban stuttering (B157) since B132 mentions DV has the same effects. Maybe if DV was physical and Stutering were mental, but they're both assigned as physical disadvantages.

The Voice/DV traits being applicable here presumably means that the bonus or penalty to these skills means something even when you can't use a language...

So how exactly does someone with Language: None utilize Voice (grunts etc) to gain a bonus to a skill like Singing which has Language Modifiers?

Maybe solely for this purpose we could treat non-sapient animals as actually having a "broken language" which they use to communicate with each other? Birds do after all make "calls" to indicate things like predators and mating, I think?

We could probably treat Beatboxing as a sort of language too, similarly limited to "broken". It could them be considered to have an inherent beauty to it to allow singing in it.

- - -

interesting to note B97 adds bonuses to TWO extra things beyond what B157 penalizes

Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Mimicry, Performance, Politics, Public Speaking, Sex Appeal, and Singing

Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Performance, Public Speaking, Sex Appeal, and Singing

Unlike "Disturbing Voice" there doesn't seem to be a prohibition on taking Stuttering w/ Voice and you have a massive net benefit to doing so (basically a free +2 to 2 skills which would be worth 4 points as a racial template) since the cost/refund balance to 0.

For that reason I wonder if maybe Stuttering should (like Disturbing Voice) perhaps be prevented from coexisting. It also sounds like they should both be worth fewer points, or else Voice be worth more points.

+2 to 8 skills would be worth 16 points alone as a racial advantage, even without a reaction bonus. Though maybe "Accessibility: only while speaking to people who can hear my voice" would discount that (you can use all those skills without speaking to people, like through writing them letters or chatting on the internet)

[Alden Loveshade]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I"m thinking of beat boxing as well as full on Michael Winslow, the guy from Police Academy.
It doesn't seem to fit any other skill. Anyone have ideas, suggestions, or links to similar threads? I'm a little surprised to have found none.

Off the top of my head, that sounds workable.

Originally Posted by Plane

B24 language modifiers also apply, which is "-6 for artistic skills that rely on the beauty of the language" for Singing if you merely have Broken...

If "Comprehension: None" means a complete inability (infinite penalty) to Singing then it makes me wonder how we represent stuff like birds who can clearly make beautiful noises.

I may well be missing something, but my understanding is that Comprehension there is talking about communication and not beauty of the sounds. The minus for Broken I think applies when someone is singing in a language they don't know how to pronounce, so I don't think that would apply to birds' chirping.

Originally Posted by Plane

Maybe solely for this purpose we could treat non-sapient animals as actually having a "broken language" which they use to communicate with each other? Birds do after all make "calls" to indicate things like predators and mating, I think?

I (ahem) briefly touch on this in my awaiting-playtest GURPS book....

[Alden Loveshade]

Somewhat related (especially if we consider cat sounds to be sound effects): an app that can reportedly translate cat meows.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...ws/ar-BB1aTWZn

[Anders]

My cat usually tells me that I will be sorry when he's starved to death. And it will all be my fault.

[Anthony]

"Sound Effects" is a bit too broad to be a specialty, as it covers basically everything, but particular classes of sound effect certainly.

[Flyndaran]

How would you divide sound effects? Any opinions on how many categories should/could exist?

[DangerousThing]

Originally Posted by Anthony

"Sound Effects" is a bit too broad to be a specialty, as it covers basically everything, but particular classes of sound effect certainly.

How would you create the actor, Jim Carrey? I like mimic(Sound Effects).