Parabolic Hearing vs. Acute Hearing

[Dragondog]

Why take Parabolic Hearing (4 points per level) when you can take Acute Hearing (2 points per level)?

The way I read the Hearing roll (B358), both advantages effectively make sure that you can hear something with an unmodified Hearing roll one step further away (see Hearing Distance Table B358) per level.

[thulben]

I take Parabolic Hearing as the ability to discern a particular sound in a field of other sounds. Like one voice in a loud bar at distance. Acute Hearing is the ability to hear sounds that would normally be too soft to hear unaided. Like a mouse running on carpet at distance in a not-noisy-but-not-unnoisy situation.

[Dragondog]

On rereading, I agree with that thulben.

Would you, or any of you, say that having Parabolic Hearing 1 and Acute Hearing X vs. Parabolic Hearing 1+X would mean that pure Parabolic Hearing would be able to find a specific sound hidden among other sounds faster than the PH/AH mix, but that the mix would be able to find the sound too. Or wouldn't the mix be able to find the sound at all beyond its PH range?

[blacksmith]

I always see it as being like telescopic vision vs acute vision.

[Nymdok]

Originally Posted by blacksmith

I always see it as being like telescopic vision vs acute vision.

This!

Being able to hear far away and being able to resolve the qualities of sounds is different. Being able to hear footsteps far away I would think would be Parabolic. Being able to hera footsteps at normal range but being able to tell what kind of shoes they're wearing would qualify as acute senses.

Nymdok

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Nymdok

This!

Being able to hear far away and being able to resolve the qualities of sounds is different. Being able to hear footsteps far away I would think would be Parabolic. Being able to hera footsteps at normal range but being able to tell what kind of shoes they're wearing would qualify as acute senses.

Nymdok

Except there's nothing at all to make it work like that. Telescopic vision is distinguished by the 'zoom in' mechanic and by functioning as a weapon scope. If you took both of those out, there'd be nothing to differentiate it.

Also, Discriminatory Hearing might be a possibility. Vision can't be Discriminatory because that's already covered by the human norm, but maybe Discriminatory Hearing would be appropriate for someone who can listen to an orchestra and pick out details about each individual instrument.

[vitruvian]

Originally Posted by Nymdok

This!

Being able to hear far away and being able to resolve the qualities of sounds is different. Being able to hear footsteps far away I would think would be Parabolic. Being able to hera footsteps at normal range but being able to tell what kind of shoes they're wearing would qualify as acute senses.

Nymdok

Except that distinction is not really supported by the rules. If you try to make your Hearing roll to the hear the same volume sound at a greater distance, it's a simple penalty from the Speed/Range table, and Acute Hearing will counteract that penalty just fine. Ergo, with Acute Hearing +6, you can indeed hear a pin drop from 10x as far away.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Nymdok

This!

Being able to hear far away and being able to resolve the qualities of sounds is different. Being able to hear footsteps far away I would think would be Parabolic. Being able to hera footsteps at normal range but being able to tell what kind of shoes they're wearing would qualify as acute senses.

Nymdok

Compare: two shotguns are described as 'accurate':

One has pellets grouped closer (perhaps due to choke peculiarities), the other makes it easier to direct the pellet group in the direction of the target. The two are not easily distinguished (since a bonus to hit is a bonus to hit, while Rcl is 1).

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Compare: two shotguns are described as 'accurate':

One has pellets grouped closer (perhaps due to choke peculiarities), the other makes it easier to direct the pellet group in the direction of the target. The two are not easily distinguished (since a bonus to hit is a bonus to hit, while Rcl is 1).

Perhaps not the best example considering that rules for just such a situation can be found on page 24 of Pulp Guns volume 1.

[seasong]

Translating the GURPS rules into real-world terms:

1. 60 dBA (a normal conversation) gives an unmodified Hearing roll.
2. Each +6 dBA gives +1; each -6 dBA gives -1.

Note that sound drops off by 6 dBA per doubling of distance. So a loud rock concert (which can be estimated at 108 dBA) reaches 60 dBA at 256 yards.

GURPS also suggests giving a penalty for ambient noise, but then provides no guidelines!

Realistically, ambient noise equal to the specific sound you are trying to hear should give a mild penalty. And ambient noise +30 dBA louder should make it effectively impossible to hear (this is the equivalent of trying to hear the quiet hush of the library while participating in a normal-volume conversation).

An adequate rule is that ambient noise equal to the sound's noise gives a -2 to hear the sound; and each +6 dBA louder (one step up on the chart on p. B358) gives an additional -2.

Acute Hearing would provide its usual bonus.

Each level of Parabolic Hearing would eliminate one step of range and one step of ambient noise... but only for a specific sound or location, which the user gets to choose.

Admittedly, this is a house rule, since GURPS says you should have the penalty, but doesn't tell you what the penalty should be, but it's a house rule which matches pretty close to the rest of the hearing rules and reality.