Deaf & Feral Half-Orc Oracle

[lair-master]

I have an idea for a half-orc oracle with the deaf curse and the feral alternate racial. He would be based on Count Zaroff's manservant Ivan from "The Most Dangerous Game".

In short, this character is going to be both deaf and dumb. How can my character communicate with other player characters? Can a feral half-orc understand common, but not speak it? Is this a stupid idea?

[Atarlost]

lair-master wrote:

Is this a stupid idea?

Yes. Things that impair your PC's ability to communicate in a game designed for cooperative groups are, without exception, always stupid ideas.

You cannot strategize, hear warnings, offer warnings yourself, engage in roleplaying scenarios, or do anything else an animal companion can't do. That sucks. Leave deaf and Feral for NPCs.

[MrSin]

You can grab dual cursed and give him wolf-scarred for extra effect. The two curses negate eachother somewhat.

You can put a single point in linguistics to understand what other players say and speak it yourself. Its not always the best idea to play someone who has trouble communicating or acting in social scenarios though, so be sure everyone at the table is cool with the idea.

[Master of the Dark Triad]

Atarlost wrote:

lair-master wrote:

Is this a stupid idea?

Yes. Things that impair your PC's ability to communicate in a game designed for cooperative groups are, without exception, always stupid ideas.

You cannot strategize, hear warnings, offer warnings yourself, engage in roleplaying scenarios, or do anything else an animal companion can't do. That sucks. Leave deaf and Feral for NPCs.

Have you ever heard of "flavor" before?

[Master of the Dark Triad]

I read that story recently, and I like the idea. However, why is Ivn an oracle? In my mind, he wouldn't have that charisma.

You can always just say that your barbarian is deaf. That would fit thematically better, in my opinion.

Just my two cp.

[lemeres]

Master of the Dark Triad wrote:

Atarlost wrote:

lair-master wrote:

Is this a stupid idea?

Yes. Things that impair your PC's ability to communicate in a game designed for cooperative groups are, without exception, always stupid ideas.

You cannot strategize, hear warnings, offer warnings yourself, engage in roleplaying scenarios, or do anything else an animal companion can't do. That sucks. Leave deaf and Feral for NPCs.

Have you ever heard of "flavor" before?

Part of me wants to say that this flavor is a nonflavor, or such an alien flavor that I am unsure anyone could pull it off well.

But another part of me remember that this a challenge all GMs face since they are the ones that control NPCs, and if they are expected to pull off an unconventional entity well within a story, then why can't the players?

Sure, there is the fact that most NPCs tend to be humans, and many GMs are afraid to touch the so called "petting zoo people"... but if we never allow people to try out these kinds of concepts, how will the community ever improve with this problem?

Anyway, why not try having a huge sense motive check? With other party members using bluff, you can possibly use the "send a secret message" thing to get basic commands in battle. With that and the 'hunch' that sense motive provides, you might be able to keep things in check (you will keep your pants on....usually. I kind of want to see you roll a natural 1 just to see you think it is the sexy times while a team of assassins burst in). Maybe you could also use some excuses about simply understanding battle tactics that have been practiced in previous fights or during routine training. Vague explanations like that are enough to justify putting skill ranks into fly, so it should be good enough for you.