Some crazy talents

[BobGreenwade]

I was reading this book last week, and came across some interesting abilities that have been demonstrated by various people. I thought they'd make for some interesting Talents in a game. Most if not all can be easily enough modeled with existing Talents; the point here is that they could appear in a "realistic" game, since they've all happened in reality (believe it or not!).

 

• A young girl comes home from school and points out to her parents that the gas line is leaking, and the concentration is reaching toxic levels. After the family (at her insistence) calls the repair man despite being able to smell anything, he confirms her diagnosis -- there was a loose joint, just enough for the natural gas to escape but not the substance that gives it its characteristic odor.
• A young man working at a grocery store keeps the weight of each bag as close to exactly 10 pounds as he can, because he can tell by lifting them their exact weight to within 1/10 of a pound. Accurately. As confirmed by use of a scale.
• Another young man, having earned a trip to Paris, learns to speak conversational French using a book and companion CD... the night before the plane leaves, and on the trip over. He becomes the group's "official" translator, and few French he meets realize that he's only recently learned the language.

The first two would probably be built as forms of Detect and the last as a form of Cramming (though I don't know whether he retained the language later; he probably did, meaning in game terms that he probably spent Experience Points on it). But like I say, these things have happened in the real world, so why not in a game?

[Kenn]

Re: Some crazy talents

 

Natural gas gives me headaches on those occasions when I've been in the presence of a leak - before the smell kicks in. I can believe the first one.

[bigbywolfe]

Re: Some crazy talents

 

You should consider believing all three. Have you ever read anything about Asperger's Syndrome? Rote memorization at ridiculous levels is possible, though many with the syndrome have a better time with numbers than language. In one famous case a high functioning man with Asperger’s recited pi to 1,000 decimal places in front of an audience for a charity event.

 

The book Born on a Blue Day is another great book; though it’s focus is only on one case it is autobiographical.

[Klaus Mogensen]

Re: Some crazy talents

 

In one famous case a high functioning man with Asperger’s recited pi to 1' date='000 decimal places in front of an audience for a charity event.[/quote']

"I know pi to a thousand places." (Weird Al Yankovic, White and Nerdy)

 

Back when I was a student, I worked part time in a supermarket. This was before bar codes, so prices were punched in manually. There was a woman at a cash register who added the numbers in her head while punching them in, in order to see if she punched correctly. And she punched very fast...

 

Another friend (who might have been borderline Asperger's) could multiply two-digit numbers in his head as quickly as snapping his fingers.

 

Lightning Calculator, I guess, in both cases.

 

The protagonist in Fritz Leiber's "Gonna Roll the Bones" could toss small objects very precisely, to the point of determining which side of dice would come up. This could be bought as a limited, weak Telekinesis with Fine Manipulation (though it would be a lot simpler to build if Telekinesis started at STR -30 or some such).

 

- Klaus

[Sean Waters]

Re: Some crazy talents

 

Someone with Aspergers is likely to have a few disadvantages as a result. It might be an idea to take the disadvantages but not assign any character points - then, when an opportunity for an unusual ability/talent of this sort arises in game, take an appropriate skill or talent then.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Some crazy talents

 

Someone with Aspergers is likely to have a few disadvantages as a result. It might be an idea to take the disadvantages but not assign any character points - then' date=' when an opportunity for an unusual ability/talent of this sort arises in game, take an appropriate skill or talent then.[/quote']There definitely are disadvantages to having Asperger's. Sometimes it's limited to matters of social perception (which could be as little as a 5-point Physical Limitation, or even just a role-playing matter), but there are also sensory issues (which can be represented with Susceptibility and/or Vulnerability) and occasional behavioral features like the expressionless face and voice (a Distinctive Feature) that many more severe cases have.

 

But of course it's a trade-off, because one also gets some pretty interesting cognitive and sensory abilities as well.

[StGrimblefig]

Re: Some crazy talents

 

I was reading this book last week, and came across some interesting abilities that have been demonstrated by various people. I thought they'd make for some interesting Talents in a game. Most if not all can be easily enough modeled with existing Talents; the point here is that they could appear in a "realistic" game, since they've all happened in reality (believe it or not!).

 

• A young girl comes home from school and points out to her parents that the gas line is leaking, and the concentration is reaching toxic levels. After the family (at her insistence) calls the repair man despite being able to smell anything, he confirms her diagnosis -- there was a loose joint, just enough for the natural gas to escape but not the substance that gives it its characteristic odor.
• A young man working at a grocery store keeps the weight of each bag as close to exactly 10 pounds as he can, because he can tell by lifting them their exact weight to within 1/10 of a pound. Accurately. As confirmed by use of a scale.
• Another young man, having earned a trip to Paris, learns to speak conversational French using a book and companion CD... the night before the plane leaves, and on the trip over. He becomes the group's "official" translator, and few French he meets realize that he's only recently learned the language.

The first two would probably be built as forms of Detect and the last as a form of Cramming (though I don't know whether he retained the language later; he probably did, meaning in game terms that he probably spent Experience Points on it). But like I say, these things have happened in the real world, so why not in a game?

Those could almost be "Knacks" (Talents/Perks/Skills/Powers built to cost only 1 CP -- as defined in DH #23). Maybe you could combine a few knacks with disadvantages to create an Asperger's Syndrome Package. Perhaps the Package would just be a set of disadvantages with a number of points of perception-oriented Talent(s) or Knacks that the player can define as fits the character concept.