Number Intuition

[Schilcote]

I'm building a character who has the ability to make supernaturally accurate guesses about the numerical properties of things; i.e, if he came across a chasm, he could just 'guess' how far the gap was down to the inch.

How would this be implemented advantage-wise? Intuition doesn't really seem to fit as a base.

[ericthered]

What does it enable him to do besides that?

If its just flavor or allows measurement to be made I'd go with a perk

If it allows him to piolot rockets by knowing where it will end up and adjusting, thats something different.

[Schilcote]

He's a mathematician and a physicist, so he can make pretty good use of the numbers he gets. He probably could eyeball the trajectory of a rocket if he had a piece of paper to do calculations on.

It's also his "one supernatural trait" (the setting dictates that we're normal people who have one odd thing about them that crops up sometimes), so it probably ought to be a full advantage.

[roguebfl]

Have you looked at Lightning Calculator B66 especial the "Intuitive Mathematician" version?

[Agemegos]

If he sees a hot redhead, can he guess his or her 'phone number? Bank balance? SAT score? SSN?

[Sunrunners_Fire]

Originally Posted by Schilcote

He's a mathematician and a physicist, so he can make pretty good use of the numbers he gets. He probably could eyeball the trajectory of a rocket if he had a piece of paper to do calculations on.

It's also his "one supernatural trait" (the setting dictates that we're normal people who have one odd thing about them that crops up sometimes), so it probably ought to be a full advantage.

Intuitive Mathematician [5] (GURPS Basic, pg 66)

[Schilcote]

Intuitive Mathematician is about the calculations themselves- his ability is getting the numbers in the first place.

EDIT:

Brett: No, just physical properties. Height, weight, blood alcohol content, that sort of thing he could do.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by Schilcote

Intuitive Mathematician is about the calculations themselves- his ability is getting the numbers in the first place.

EDIT:

Brett: No, just physical properties. Height, weight, blood alcohol content, that sort of thing he could do.

you can get the distances, they know their own height and make the calculation of the measurements based on that for what they can see. they take "sight measurements"

of you want to it when you can't see, then you want Scanning Sense

[Sunrunners_Fire]

Originally Posted by Schilcote

Intuitive Mathematician is about the calculations themselves- his ability is getting the numbers in the first place.

... Right.

Okay. You want to know the dimensions of the thing you are looking at. How does a normal person acquire those numbers? Comparison to an object of known dimensions at a known distance and some math. Normal people use their body parts for such comparison all the time; they simply do so unconsciously and without pinpoint precision due to it being an unthinking calculation rather than an intentional thing. (We call this "binocular vision" or "depth perception".)

This character does so instantly, with pinpoint precision, because it does the math faster than most computers can without even thinking about it. So it has the numbers. It knows the precise distance and dimensions of anything it looks at, it can look at a complex formula and just answer it, it can do engineering design and orbital transfer calculations in its' head.

Alternatively, you could just design it as:

Detect ("Numerical Properties Of Things", Very Common) (Analyzing, +100%; Cosmic (Because I say so!), +50%; Precise, +100%; Reflexive, +40%) [117]

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Schilcote

Brett: No, just physical properties. Height, weight, blood alcohol content, that sort of thing he could do.

Blood alcohol content? Really? Can he do a full blood count and liver panel?