04-19-2022, 06:44 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Scotland
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Aphantasia
So I recently realized I have Aphantasia, this being the inability to form mental images. I was wondering, would this be a quirk? Or would it be a full blown disadvantage?
As someone who's had it my whole life and done OK I do wonder if there's things I could do *better* if I had it. I'm guessing art is a lot easier if you're just translating an image you can effectively see into something real. So yeah... thoughts on Aphantasia as a disadvantage anyone?
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"If it's not broke... hit it again." "There's only so much Munchkin a man can demo." MIB #0366. Scotland. |
04-19-2022, 06:52 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Aphantasia
It's going to depend on how you see it influencing the character. First and foremost, in settings where it's otherwise available, such a character would probably have the Feature - Taboo Trait: Visualization (depending on the setting, there may be other Taboo Traits - Magery would be off-limits in some settings, as might Jumper, Warp that isn't Line-of-Sight Only, Snatcher, etc). It may also serve as an Incompetence Quirk - or even an Anti-Talent - for several artistic skills.
I'd probably just set it as a Quirk, then just make certain I didn't give the character any skills/traits that I wouldn't think made sense for someone with the Quirk.
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GURPS Overhaul |
04-19-2022, 06:58 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
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Re: Aphantasia
Quirk. It could lead to the occasional IQ roll to recognize a face that hasn't been seen for a while or to remember details from a scene that weren't consciously noted at the time, but it won't come up all that often.
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04-19-2022, 07:02 AM | #4 |
Aluminated
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: East of the moon, west of the stars, close to buses and shopping
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Re: Aphantasia
This is one of those "how does it effect the character specifically" things. For example, while it's plausible that it might prevent you from being a professional painter or something like that, I used to follow a YouTube content creator whose aphantasia didn't prevent her from coming up with costumes, theatrical makeup, set dressing, and so on. That is, the condition doesn't necessarily limit your ability to create images; it might just change how you approach the process. As it stands, maybe just call it a quirk.
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04-19-2022, 07:12 AM | #5 |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: The Great White North
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Re: Aphantasia
If so, why would it even be a quirk? Even a quirk must effect game play or it's just a variation of thinking.
I have the opposite, hyperphantasia. Altho it helped in math and science classes, as an adult I did not find it make much difference.
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04-19-2022, 07:52 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Aphantasia
Might even protect you from some psychic/magical/memetic attacks.
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04-19-2022, 07:55 AM | #7 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Aphantasia
I have almost no mental imagery, but I can navigate fairly well; I think of directions and maps kinesthetically, in relation to my own body. C and I have had difficulty in communication at times because I almost always know which way is north and she almost never does. There are other ways to retain spatial relations than visually.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
04-19-2022, 07:59 AM | #8 |
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Denver, CO
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Re: Aphantasia
You have to remember that the core questions are about how this affects a person's performance. Since you just discovered it, that's probably not much. I'd probably go quirk because it can hamper some specific tasks & make people treat you weirdly.
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04-19-2022, 09:07 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Scotland
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Re: Aphantasia
Quote:
And yeah the scene thing 100%.
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"If it's not broke... hit it again." "There's only so much Munchkin a man can demo." MIB #0366. Scotland. |
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04-19-2022, 10:01 AM | #10 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Aphantasia
Quote:
People have known about them forever, but never bothered to categorize them and give them names. A good example that we can say with absolute confidence about because it has an actual physical difference we can measure is odor receptors. There are hundreds of them that people may or may not have, which has to alter the way they perceive scents or flavors, because some of them can't detect some chemicals at all. You'd think this would be a big deal for universal skills like, say, cooking. And yet all it amounts to before recently is the observation "tastes differ".
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