Forgotten Kingdoms Forums

Thought of this during Valence's trial. When you 'tell' a person without using your amulet, there is no echo to anyone else. I think there should be an echo suggesting that you are whispering to the person you're whispering to.

For example:

"Torand whispers something to Briek."

Should have a listen check associated so that you could find out what the person is saying to the other.

I completly agree with that

Should some skill modify the chance of seeing this echo?

Listen ?

Listen?

Maybe. Would being better at something allow some PCs to have a lower chance of being detected? Maybe Sneak?

Nah.

Doesn't occur in D&D either. Listen is just the chance to overhear something like footsteps around a corner, some monster behind a door, or someone whispering something you don't want to hear.

There's just no need for an opposing check. If you make your roll, you hear. If you don't, you're SOL.

I'd say sense motive is the most likely skill to use in that case

Briek wrote:I'd say sense motive is the most likely skill to use in that case

Sense motive wouldn't mesh at all to see how well you whisper. No skill would. In fact, I think it'd be really silly TO use a skill to see how well you whisper. You either pass the check to listen or you don't.

Yeah, yeah. It's not quite so cut and dry as that, though.

The way that listen works is that the 'difficulty check' you have to make increases depending on the situation you find yourself in. Ie. listening to someone in the same room talking at a normal volume might be just a check against 10, whereas listening to someone through a stone wall, 100 feet away, might require a skill check against 25 or so.

Since we don't have anyone sitting around to make the call on a case-by-case basis I don't think that using an opposed skill is too outlandish of an idea.

I think such things could be simulated through sector types, though. Listening to someone in an inside sector is one difficulty, a city street another. Could also have it go versus time + sector type, since more people would be asleep the later it got.

BTW, could this be moved to suggestions? I just realized I sent this to the wrong place.

This might be overkill, but I worry that without it PCs will use their amulets when they want to be sure they are not overheard. ICly, perhaps that should be subject to the same check (or is it supposed to be purely mental communication, no movement of the lips?).

One could perhaps set how loudly they whisper - the louder, the less likely you are overheard, but the more likely the target of your whisper doesn't hear you correctly (a language check with a higher difficulty).

I'd make the check on overhearing tied to the language spoken, as well. Perhaps both the language and the listen skill, added together, or listen modifies the difficulty down while a lower volume raises it up.