Power Build: Speak with Animals?

[Dr Archeville]

Perhaps this is already covered in 5th Ed. Revised; all I have is 5th Ed. How would someone build a "Speak with Animals" power? Mind Link to animal class of minds?

[Lord Kilsco]

In the Fantasy Hero Grimoire, there is such a spell who allows to speak to animals.
It's based on Telepathy (animal class of minds).

[Fox1]

Telepathy- Animal Class of minds.

Mind Link really wouldn't work unless there are a limited and defined number of Animals you can 'talk' with.

[Black Lotus]

Telepathy -- Animal Class, yep.

[Dr Archeville]

I see. Thanks, all!

[NuSoardGraphite]

Just to throw a wrench in the works:

It can also be done with an Enhanced Sense.

Detect Animal Communication [5]
Discriminatory [5] Analyze [5] 360^ arc [5] Ranged [5] Sense [2] Transmit [2]
Total cost: 29pts.

Detect Animal Communication allows your character to sense when animals are communicating with one another. (this is a "special" sense, since animals use various other senses to communicate from sound, to body language to smells) Discriminatory and Analyze gives your character the ability to know exactly what it is the animal is trying to say. Range and Sense of course allow it to be used instantly at range and Transmit allows your character to communicate with the animal properly.

There you go!

[Hugh Neilson]

Just to throw a wrench in the works:

It can also be done with an Enhanced Sense.

Detect Animal Communication [5]
Discriminatory [5] Analyze [5] 360^ arc [5] Ranged [5] Sense [2] Transmit [2]
Total cost: 29pts.

Detect Animal Communication allows your character to sense when animals are communicating with one another. (this is a "special" sense, since animals use various other senses to communicate from sound, to body language to smells) Discriminatory and Analyze gives your character the ability to know exactly what it is the animal is trying to say. Range and Sense of course allow it to be used instantly at range and Transmit allows your character to communicate with the animal properly.

Actually, I like this better than Telepathy. Why? Because talking to the animals should logically not:

(a) require attack rolls
(b) be targeted to one animal at a time
(c) be subject to breakout rolls
(d) cost END
(e) work via Mind Scan
(f) permit digging beyond "surface/communicated thoughts"

You could simulate all this with modifiers to telepathy, of cours,e but the above seems a much cleaner buiild.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Actually, I like this better than Telepathy. Why? Because talking to the animals should logically not:

(a) require attack rolls
(b) be targeted to one animal at a time
(c) be subject to breakout rolls
(d) cost END
(e) work via Mind Scan
(f) permit digging beyond "surface/communicated thoughts"

You could simulate all this with modifiers to telepathy, of cours,e but the above seems a much cleaner buiild.

Well, if you are going with a concept similar to the movie Beastmaster, then it probably should be Telepathy. However for simple communication that is not Telepathic in origin, either the Enhanced Sense or Mind Link works better than Telepathy.

[Fox1]

Just to throw a wrench in the works:

It can also be done with an Enhanced Sense.

Only if you want to go around making animal noises with your character.

[Black Lotus]

Well, if you are going with a concept similar to the movie Beastmaster, then it probably should be Telepathy. However for simple communication that is not Telepathic in origin, either the Enhanced Sense or Mind Link works better than Telepathy.

But it can be Telepathy, yet have SFX that indicates that, despite the name of the Power, it's not really Telepathy per se. If the SFX is just "Uncanny empathy with animals" or some such, you don't have to recognize that it's basically a psionic Power.

Same principle applies to "Summoning" missiles, which I believe is covered in Star HERO. Its Power is Summoning... but its SFX indicate that it's not really Summoning per se.

[Hugh Neilson]

Well, if you are going with a concept similar to the movie Beastmaster, then it probably should be Telepathy. However for simple communication that is not Telepathic in origin, either the Enhanced Sense or Mind Link works better than Telepathy.

I don't like mind link due to the requirement the target be a willing participant, but that comes down to how you want the power to work. A generic "Talk to the Animals" should reasonably be able to understand hostile animals, which likely don't want to Mind Link. [Even if we get over the hurdle of whether the animal's understanding is adequaet to allow it to decide it will permit such a link.]

[pinecone]

I've always gone with Telepathy...but couldn't you also use lonely old Universal translator? Buy it OBO and they understand you just fine too....You can even take a lim: Only animals or only Land animals or Only avians...etc;...

[ghost-angel]

Only if you want to go around making animal noises with your character.

That would require an ability to talk back.. NuSoardGraphite's enhanced sense let's you understand what they are saying but provides no means of two way communication (you can't talk back).

That would, IMO, require the appropriate language skill. Or something similar.

The Enahcned Sense, from my POV, translates from Animal to Your Language but gives no means of translating back.
....

And all the above would be true right until I noticed the "Transmit" function ... maybe it does Translate back from Your Language to Theirs.

[Dr Archeville]

Only if you want to go around making animal noises with your character.

Unless you get the Invisible Power Affect for the Transmit portion Then you can understand what critters say, and talk back to them in their own language, but to an outside observer, it'd look like you're speaking to the critter in English (or whatever).

[Fox1]

Unless you get the Invisible Power Affect for the Transmit portion Then you can understand what critters say, and talk back to them in their own language, but to an outside observer, it'd look like you're speaking to the critter in English (or whatever).

Actually the simplest method is for the GM to say there is a 'animal language' and just charge 3 points for it.

That's how it seems to work in some source material. Oddly all the animals in that same material seem to already understand english...