Ithorian sonic concussive bellow

[Dustflier]

According to lore, Ithorians can expell a powerful burst of air and sound from their four throats, as a last-ditch attack in a dire situation. It has the ability to stun others, and presumably do direct damage to species with sensitive hearing.

However, this special ability doesn't appear in the rules, as far as I can see. Why? Does anyone have a house rule for it?
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Also known as Kiss My Wookiee on Discord and Reddit.

[CRMcNeill]

Source?

Welcome back, BTW.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[shootingwomprats]

[Dustflier]

[Dustflier]

[Whill]

Ithorians are one of my favorite alien species in Star Wars.

I've since gotten the CW series (and given it to my son), but I first heard about this Ithorian power from an 8 or 9 year-old boy in the gift shop of my local science museum when they had the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit in 2006 (I got to fly the Falcon in a full-scale authentic replica of the cockpit there!). The kid and I were both looking at action figures, they had the hammerhead guy and I guess he just felt like explaining it me. My internal reaction was 'that's stupid' but I just smiled and humored the boy. I figured that was a comic book or cartoon power and looked it up when I got home. I just said "nope" and didn't think about it until watching CW with my son a couple months back.

After reading this thread and womprat's write-up (good work like usual), I realized I've softened to the general concept and maybe I can canonize some version of it for my SWU. I still don't like a voice having destructive powers like breaking stuff or wounding characters (no matter how many throats you have), but what if it is ultrasonic and can only do stun damage? That would better suit the peaceful nature of the species. It would still be a powerful ability to have, but what if it's limited to only once per day, and maybe doing it additional times causes damage to the Ithorian? I think I could live with that. And this could further differentiate Ithorians from Ottegans who appear to only have one mouth.
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[shootingwomprats]

I am with you Whill. I have not seen this appear anywhere else in any source except when augmented by the Force. I do not know where the information on Wookieepedia came from and treat it with healthy skepticism until another source can be cited other than the one I am familiar with, which as I said earlier, was Force augmented.

As for the number of times used? Keep in mind they are pacifists and the whole species pretty much look at it as humans may a vestigial tail or the appendix. Something we are aware of but our bodies really don't use. But if you wanted to place a limit on it, perhaps require a Moderate stamina roll, failure you're unable to perform the bellow properly, on a critical failure its up to the GM, but could cause an injury requiring medical attention. More than what can be supplied by a medpac. You could also have a tree similar to that of using a medpac where the more times you use it, the difficulty gets higher and higher:

Special Abilities:
-- Sonic Bellow: during their early development Ithorians used this adaptation to stun small prey and to signal danger. Due to the peaceful ideology of the Ithorian culture most do not practice this ability nor choose to use it, wanting to distance themselves from their less peaceful origins. Whenever the Ithorian wishes to bellow roll Moderate stamina for the first attempt. Increase the difficulty for each additional use in a standard day. Failure means the bellow was not properly performed but still counts towards the total number when figuring difficulty. Treat as a sonic attack with a range of 1/2/3 meters, STR+1D damage. On a result of wounded or higher treat the target as surprised for 1D rounds (unable to move or defend, temporarily deafened, unless wearing appropriate protective gear). If used to signal the bellow may be heard for several kilometers depending on weather and environment.
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[garhkal]

With all the lore out there on Ithorians, why did the clone war cartoon want to add this to them? It doesn't seem to me to fit their culture.
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[Whill]

[CRMcNeill]

I could see even peaceful Ithorians using this for self defense purposes. If this can stun an attacker, it can give the Ithorians time to put some distance between them with no lasting harm done, which fits just fine with Ithorian respect for living things.

With the ability to inflict physical damage, it sounds like kiai-jutsu, in that there are apocryphal tales of a martial artist's shouts having a strong psychological or physical effect. If this exists (assumedly) outside of Star Wars, and is something humans can learn to do, I see no reason why a Star Wars alien with multiple mouths and throats couldn't have this talent. In fact, having this as a non-violent method of defense would likely reenforce their pacifist nature.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[garhkal]

[shootingwomprats]

[Cap'nCodskale]

[CRMcNeill]

I think we all have our moments of nerd rage when we encounter something that upsets our own personal view of the SWU. This one just happens to be garhkal's.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Whill]