Deafness!

[Rihesesassixiz]

Implement it I say!

Just make it curable of course for those who want to have it cured.

[Rihesesassixiz]

Bump.

[Birile]

Perhaps if you, oh, say, gave some rationale there would be something to talk about? Not to mention the fact that you don't even detail what "deafness" would entail, ie. how it would affect the affected person, what benefits/detriments go along with it, etc. Until then, there's nothing to talk about, big guy! :)

[Ashiwi]

Would this automatically make one immune to all bard spam?

[Birile]

Bah!

[Sesexe]

Would this automatically make one immune to all bard spam?

Please implement.

[Birile]

Hmm. So my threats of "No gheal for j00!" may not be idle anymore...

Birile says, "No gheal for j00!"

Birile begins to cast a spell...

Birile completes his spell.
Ashiwi is deaf!

:lol:

[Ashiwi]

I'm sorry... what did you say?
I wasn't listening.

[Rihesesassixiz]

Rationale: More realism. There are plenty of spells and other things that create loud noises. An example would be a banshee scream.

Effects: The affected mob/player can't hear things, obviously. They couldn't hear what people say. The say message would be replaced with something like:

<Name> says something.

Or something like that. A deaf person would still be able to "hear" Illithids since they project directly into the mind.

Advantages/Disadvantages: The mob/player is not affected by strictly verbal spells. Bard spells pretty much fall into this category, and perhaps power word spells. If cast on an aggro mob, they are less likely to notice anyone entering the room that they could attack.

Things to make it interesting for roleplay:

Lip Reading: Players could have a chance to read lips based on an intelligence/wisdom check. The say string of other players/mobs would be randomized based on the check.

Sign language: Players could learn a sign language invented for communication with the deaf. Deaf people would be able to perfectly understand this once they learned it. Their skill in this would go up by 2 instead of 1 when it notches (either from general practice or from training).

Create a character with deafness: If a character is created with deafness, it cannot be cured permanently. Any cure deafness spell cast on them would only be temporary. But they have a higher chance to read lips and start out with a perfect sign language skill since they have grown up with the disability their whole lives.

---

Those are the ideas I have. Discuss away.

[Birile]

A deaf person would still be able to "hear" Illithids since they project directly into the mind.

Of course, it's a Psionicist suggesting the command. :roll:

Advantages/Disadvantages: The mob/player is not affected by strictly verbal spells. Bard spells pretty much fall into this category, and perhaps power word spells.

And as a Bard, I would, of course, object. :wink:

[Rihesesassixiz]

I play a psionicist and ogre warrior. It makes sense whether you like it or not. Psionicists can already talk in places like inn rooms where you cannot talk normally. Not like this will unbalance the game...

[Birile]

I play a psionicist and ogre warrior.

I play a halfling bard and a grey elf elementalist, nice to meet you. :)

It makes sense whether you like it or not.

I'll have to take your word on this one. :) And by the way, I will try to refrain from using the term "whether you like it or not" in my response to you because it's highly demeaning. Cheers!

Psionicists can already talk in places like inn rooms where you cannot talk normally. Not like this will unbalance the game...

Um, who cares if Psi's can talk in inns and what exactly does that have to do with deafness? You're right, Psi's talking in inns does not, in fact, unbalance the game. However, the benefits that deafness may bring to the game far outweigh the negatives--and not only because it would make bards/battlechanters completely ineffective in certain circumstances that wouldn't effect any other class. Let's talk about your idea to "RP" deafness, being able to choose it as an option at start-up. How exactly is that deaf person going to communicate over groupsay? Are we going to give them groupsignlanguage and only those who have mastered sign language can understand what the heck they're saying? There are a lot of aspects about the real world that should not be implemented into a game simply because it makes the mechanics of the game difficult. Why do you think there isn't any language code in the game AT ALL? Because a human learning gnomish or trollspeak (or whatever their language is), etc. is just too finite a detail to really worry about and detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.

[Mitharx]

I consider it to be more interesting as a detriment to group skills but an increase to personal skills. Deaf peopel are usually said to be more aware of their surroundings and more capable with their other senses. The deaf person could be aninteresting twist to the mud. Further, being "deafed" in a fight could be fun in that you would have to tell group you're deafed without annoying them with the spam. For RP and groups it's fun, but I dunno if it's worth implementing over other major class changes for the time being.

[Gurns]

Deafness could be interesting, even useful. If there were actually any bard mobs in the game. There are a few that look like bards, but as far as I know, none of them actually sing. So a potentially useful part of deafness (deafness is to bard mobs as mind blank is to psi mobs) isn't relevant.

And of course, not being affected by un/holy or power words would have some use, but would really screw up the balance of some fights. All those logs of folks dying to words -- those are now much easier fights.

Presumably deafness because of loud noises would wear off, or be curable, in which case it'd be a minor hassle. In an experienced zone group, deafness wouldn't be significant at all. You start the fight, and everyone knows what to do. Heck, even if it lasted 10 or 15 minutes, uncureable, an experienced group doesn't need to communicate much. Leader gsays 'This social means spell up, this social means mem, and if I poke mt, charge', and you're all set.

All in all, I see deafness as not doing much, one way or the other.

Why do you think there isn't any language code in the game AT ALL? Because a human learning gnomish or trollspeak (or whatever their language is), etc. is just too finite a detail to really worry about and detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.

There used to be language code in the game. (Heh, it's probably still in the code, just not active.) I enjoyed it, as a concept. But you're right, as implemented, it didn't add much to the game, and was a hassle for newbies.

[Selias]

Hmm... deafness could be useful. IIRC deafness is a spell in AD&D that allows for a 50% chance of spell casting failure. Maybe make it a targetable spell that will scale the % chance of spell failure based on caster level? It could replace the targetted silence.