Notice (Search, Expanded)

[CRMcNeill]

So, based on my earlier post, I decided to compile the full thing into an expanded re-write of the Search skill. By the time I was done, the skill had gone far beyond the original scope of the Search skill, so I decided a name with a broader scope was appropriate.

Notice

(Perception)

Time Taken: One Round or longer
Specializations: Tracking, Investigation

This skill is used when the character is trying to see, hear, smell or generally detect things that might normally escape their attention. If the subject is being purposely obscured or concealed, the skill is rolled against the subject's Hide or Sneak skill (depending on the method being used). Otherwise, the skill is rolled against the appropriate Difficulty. This skill is also used to detect potential ambushes.

Here are some example Notice Difficulties, depending on the particular sense being utilized:

Sight:
Very Easy - Character knows object's exact location.
Easy - Character knows the approximate location of a hidden object.
Moderate - Character has only vague information, or has only a general idea regarding what he is looking for.
Difficult - Character is conducting a general search, but doesn't know what he is looking for (for example, looking for clues at a crime scene). Looking for objects that are very small, like coins.
Very Difficult - Character doesn't know what he is looking for, or is searching for a very obscure or extremely small object.
Heroic - Object is almost microscopic in size.

Sound:
Very Easy - A normal conversation.
Easy - Normal movement, such as a person walking, but not speaking.
Moderate - Quiet movement (a blaster or knife being drawn, a door lock being picked).
Difficult - A person breathing normally.
Heroic - A human heartbeat.

Scent:
Very Easy - Strong or well-known odor
Easy - Noticeable or familiar odor
Difficult - Faint or non-specific odor
Heroic - Odor is almost nonexistent or personally unknown to the character.
Note: In an open environment, scent fades over time. The base difficulty of a scent increases by +D6 for every hour that has passed since the scent was left. Scents in a sealed environment, such as a closed room, degrade more slowly (+1 for every hour passed). On a successful roll, the character can estimate the age of the scent. Tracking by scent is beyond the capacity of normal human senses. Other species with scent-specific senses may have the ability to track someone by scent, but that will have to be decided on a case by case basis with your GM.

Modifiers:

Distance: (Double for Sound & Scent)
+0 - Close range (in the same room or immediate area)
+10 - Moderately far away (Down the block or across the parking lot, within 100 meters)
+20 - Very far away (Can barely be seen with normal human senses, several hundred meters away, up to a full kilometer
+30 - Extreme distances (several kilometers)

Interference:
+0 - Minimal (Open field / quiet room / unused area with few scents)
+5 - Noticeable (Walking in a light crowd / coffee shop, cafe or other moderately populated place)
+10 - Dominant (Large crowd or a dimly lit room / crowded club, etc.)
+20 - Overpowering (Rock concert mosh pit, in the middle of a blaster fight, trying to pick out a specific scent in a garbage dump, etc.)

This is intended as expansion of the Difficulty chart for the Search skill, which is primarily geared toward sight-based detection.[/list]
_________________
"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

[pakman]

As always CRM, well thought out and detailed from you sir.



A few Questions;

A) Would you use this in most places where a generic perception check may also occur?

B) Or in other terms, would you this as a passive (i.e. noticing an ambush, or item on the ceiling etc.) or only for actively trying to detect something?

C) I notice you have investigation as a specialization - does this mean it is rolled into it?
_________________
SW Fan, Gamer, Comic, Corporate nerd.
Working on massive House Rules document - pretty much a new book. Will post soon....

[CRMcNeill]

[CRMcNeill]

Another option that just occurred to me is to remove all mention of size from the Visual Difficulties chart and use Scale Modifiers instead...
_________________
"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]

[CRMcNeill]

[Naaman]

Regarding active versus passive:

I've been thinking that "passive" detection of a thing (ambush, clues, etc.) has more to do with what a person knows about that thing than his "ability" to detect things that he isn't looking for.

Ambushes, for example, may be detected by a lucky glance in the right direction at the right moment (wild die explosion on a basic perception roll), or the enemy adjusting his posture and breaking a twig or whatever (wild die mishap on a sneak roll). But knowing how to set up an ambush, where and when one would be effective, etc, would allow a character to recognize (without actively searching/thinking about it) when he is approaching a "good" ambush site and then start filtering his information intake for signs of an enemy in waiting (which would be an opposed roll; and with the idea in the OP, a character who knows ambushes should probably get some kind of advantage).

Same with clues: knowing what information you need in order to solve a puzzle will allow you to filter out the stimuli/information that is not pertinent and set it in a lower priority in your information gathering process.

If we use Sherlock Holmes as an example, when meeting someone new, he probably has a routine that he goes through with regard to details he consumes in a particular order in the first two or three seconds to get a sense of who he is dealing with.

All that being said, it seems to me that knowing what you're doing (being familiar with the kind of things that you're dealing with, whether its sub-light engines, garden vegetables, high end fashion, ambush tactics, or high priced art), being able to "notice clues" on the fly would be more dependent on knowing the subject matter than just being amazingly perceptive.

That is to say, someone with a superfluous amount of "passive information gathering ability" but no specific knowledge set, might notice every single detail in his environment, but may have no idea which details are significant or relevant, and so would just ignore them, ultimately.

Just some food for thought.
_________________
.
SpecForce Combat Elements
All About Lightsabers: Designing, Building, and Fighting

[Naaman]

[Whill]

[CRMcNeill]

[Naaman]

I kinda keyed in on the "never switches off" character concept. For people just noticing stuff incidentally (without regard to the relevance of such details), a passive awareness skill could be a thing.

Search, by RAW, seems to cover this aready, and adding a passive version of the skill along with modifiers and guidelines (rather than an active/passive catch all), like you've proposed, works for me.

I don't see a problem with the OP.
_________________
.
SpecForce Combat Elements
All About Lightsabers: Designing, Building, and Fighting

[CRMcNeill]

Strongly considering changing the name of this skill to Notice.
_________________
"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

[CRMcNeill]

Bumping this on account of a few thoughts:

1) Went ahead with the above proposed change from Awareness to Notice.

2) I had intended to use Awareness as the title for an Advanced Skill used to enhance passive detection, but ultimately couldn't figure out how to make it work. W/r/t the earlier discussion about passive vs active detection, it's ultimately simpler and easier to use Notice for active detection, and either Perception or 1/2 Notice for passive detection.

3) One concept that did occur to me is an Advanced Skill I've termed Palate. While the official definition is "sense of taste", my thinking is to have it extend to all the sense, recognizing specific flavors, scents, textures, etc, with the ability to verbally describe them. An example would be Silence of the Lambs, where Hannibal Lecter picks out the specifics of Clarise Starling's scent ("You use Evian skin cream, and sometimes you wear L'Air du Temps, but not today."). This is normally an indication of a character's sophistication, but also has practical uses for recognizing other scents (explosives, poisons, and other chemicals).
_________________
"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

[Totally Not An ISB Agent]

[CRMcNeill]