Help with a magic drum

[Sociotard]

I wanted a few build suggestions for a kind of magic drum: It creates a sound that carries about as far as a horn, say around a kilometer. The sound is not heard so much as felt (the perception roll is done with the touch sense group, not the hearing sense group) Anyone can feel the sound/vibration from the drum (characters don't need to pay points to add Ranged to their touch group to percieve the sound) The drum has no other special abilities. It's just a drum that you can hear from a long way away, and you don't use your ears to hear it.

[Nolgroth]

Images to Touch (add your bonus here), No Range, AOE 1 HEX, Megascaled 1 HEX = 1km. Season to Flavor.

[Sociotard]

Yeah, I guess that would work.

[Lucius]

Transmit, Touch Group, Telescopic.

Lucius Alexander

The palindromedary says that if it can be used to cast a summoning spell, perhaps you can play djinn drummie

[Comic]

How's it to be used?

If it has no game effects, it's a special effect and free.

If it's a signaling device, its signal is too simple for Images, IMO, and might be better modeled as Change Environment, Megascale +1/4, Fragile OAF.

If it's a disadvantage or limitation of some sort, like a side effect that gives away one's position and presence when another power is used, it's worth points.

[Blue Jogger]

Is anyone else getting George of the Jungle flashbacks?

I like nolgroth's version, I might give it a -1/4 for Limited Effect: Vibrational and possible -1/2 Noisy if it is relatively easy to track back to the main source.

[Sociotard]

How's it to be used?

If it has no game effects, it's a special effect and free. It exists as signal, long range communication (like in western africa), and to provide a beat to dance to.

I'm peopling a fantasy world. One of the peoples is completely deaf from birth. The feeldrum seemed like a good way to do all of the above. It's just a drum with a different sense group. Listeners can distinguish "pitch", direction and range, though the natives are better at it than outsiders. Transmit, Touch Group, Telescopic. wouldn't that require people to buy ranged for their touch? I'll have to look that up.

[Lucius]

wouldn't that require people to buy ranged for their touch? I'll have to look that up.

Hm, maybe ranged for the drum itself, so it can transmit at range. I didn't think of that.

LA
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[Comic]

How much do hearing villagers pay for their normal signal drums?

If it's in effect radio transmit and receive, just with touch sense instead of radio, why not model it on that?

Presumably the people with the skill at interpreting and using the drums get substantial information from their signal (like with a radio receiver) while the untrained get little to no information and may even be disoriented if they try to use these skills untrained to find the drums. This may be similar to something like the Systems Operation skill.

[Sociotard]

hmm, well I was going to treat understanding the drums as a form of literacy, which is how Mr. Long did morse code, among other things. Maybe Systems operation would be better, although I always thought that was for very complicated systems. If the drums had to be tuned every time they were used, or if a skilled drummer could mask his location while drumming, I think that Sys Op would be more appropriate. As is, I think that literacy is better.

As for radios, I'm pretty sure you need a radio built with ranged to percieve radio transmissions.

[CourtFool]

It exists as signal, long range communication (like in western africa), and to provide a beat to dance to.

Mind Link and PS (Dancing) +2

[Lord Mhoram]

a beat to dance to.


Okay Dick, I'll give it an 84.