question on terror

[opposedToGravity]

i want to model the ability of a fearsome battle cry, which strikes fear into the hearts of the enemy.

the logical advantage would be terror with the selective area enhancement. it says in the description that everyone who hears this cry should make a fear check. from page 358 i think that a battle cry is as loud as normal traffic, which would mean that everyone within a 16y radius could be affected. is this correct? and should you roll hearing checks to see if the targets actually hear the cry?

[David Johnston2]

Sense-based for the hearing issue.

[Bruno]

There's some problems with the Hearing section in the Basic Set.

I wouldn't make someone roll vs hearing to overhear a normal conversation happening 1 yard away - that's nearly the definition of automatic detection absent other factors (earplugs, loud headphones, whatever). If I (Per 10 at best) had to roll a Hearing check for every sentence at 1 yard, I'd miss half the conversation :P

Vision gives a +10 for things "in plain sight" - buildings sitting around minding their own business are a great example of something "In plain sight". I suspect Hearing should get a similar +5 to +10 for the audio equivalent of "In plain sight" - no intervening baffles or barriers, no weird accoustics, no competing background sounds, etc.

EDIT: On the other hand, I'm not sure "Normal Traffic" is the right comparison for a single natural voice at all. If a noisy office (Which is multiple people and some machinery) is less than Normal Traffic, I don't see how you can compete with multiple internal combustion engines. A Loud Conversation is multiple noisy people - I think that's really your best baseline.

That said, pick up the Penetrating Voice perk to effectively shift yourself up one band on the table to Noisy Office ;)

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Sense-based for the hearing issue.

No, Terror doesn't require Sense-Based, it is Sense-Based already - don't charge him twice.

[Bruno]

A bit of googling says that yelling is about +20 dB over the conversational volume, which is two lines... and puts it at Loud conversation. :)

[opposedToGravity]

thanks for the replies. i think i say it is everyone within 4 yards then, those at up to 8 yards get a hearing roll to see if they are affected. it is 30 points after all.

[Mailanka]

"Fear" is a very broad term, but a fright check is very specific. Fright checks involve the sort of fear that result in someone passing out or curling up into a ball and wetting themselves. Intimidation results in "fear" too: People will retreat, they will do as you say, they will refuse to fight you, but it doesn't result in a fright check.

If you want that fright check, if you want this magical shout that freezes men's souls, then carry on. But if you just want to intimidate people, then take Penetrating Voice [1] and some levels of intimidation and call it a day.

[opposedToGravity]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

"Fear" is a very broad term, but a fright check is very specific. Fright checks involve the sort of fear that result in someone passing out or curling up into a ball and wetting themselves. Intimidation results in "fear" too: People will retreat, they will do as you say, they will refuse to fight you, but it doesn't result in a fright check.

If you want that fright check, if you want this magical shout that freezes men's souls, then carry on. But if you just want to intimidate people, then take Penetrating Voice [1] and some levels of intimidation and call it a day.

yes, i want that magical shout, which is effective in combat. not just intimidation.

[Nereidalbel]

Then your options are Terror or Instill Fear. Either one could work, depending on just how much pants-wetting (and perhaps browning) you want to cause.

[Diomedes]

Have you looked at the Kiai skill? Win a quick contest, mentally stun an opponent.