I myself would not allow that work around. Something far beyond mortal power made them deaf, something maybe the gods do not understand and something not even the gods control. So no I do not think it would work
Doesn't the homunculus "convey" what it perceives to it's master? You could just rule that it acts as a translator, effectively. So the other party members don't spend ten minutes miming and speaking slowly. I guess it depends on how you want it to feel.
The drawback applied to the Oracle is supposed to be a permanent fixture for which they receive different benefits.
Because of that, I would likely either rule that the oracle couldn't hear through it at all or that they had to spend a standard action to do so for each round they wanted to listen through the homonculus.
This way, Rp wise they could still "talk" with their friends, discuss battle plans and whatnot- through the creature- but it would still be a major hindrance in battle and such.
(also adds a neat Rp to it. "talk to the little ugly thing. No, really..)
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I think that's a genius idea! I however would rule that the Oracle would need to take a Move action to listen to it's homonculi's translation as per the Perception skill. But that would need to be for a conversation or other complex situation... the general din of battle should be as easy as two PC's calling out to each other, i.e. a free action.
Besides gaining the Craft Construct feat is fairly feat intensive. I'm more inclined to see the upcoming Alchmist use Homonculi more.
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