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So, the CRB says that Shirren only speak outloud in Formal situations. Their telepathy is limited to 30ft.
This would be severely limiting in combat, as any ally more than 30ft would the be outside the range of a Shirrens ability to communicate.
I can't find anything saying wether or not Shirren are capable of physically speaking languages other than their own. Has anyone else caught anything that suggests this. Would it be completely unlike a Shirren to shout audibly in combat?
I'll probably assume they can speak all languages out loud until otherwise mentioned, but I'm still unsure as to whether or not they would.
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I thought it was somewhere in the preview of the race that they prefer to speak telepathically, because they recognize that many other species find their physical voices disturbing. Not sure if I'm remembering or imagining that.
In any case, that's what I'm thinking. They don't like 'shouting', which is what they need to do to speak to someone more than 30' away, so they come off a little quiet and introverted, in general (which also helps explain a lower average Charisma).
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I just checked the blog post that revealed the Shirren, and the one with the Shirren Iconic Mystic and neither presents the telepathy that way.
It's a realistic reason however, and one I might default to, but I'm going to wait a little bit, hoping some more info comes out.
I only realized it because I'm in a combat with my Shirren Mystic at the moment, and he's more than 30ft away from any ally, so I started considering whether he would use his voice and realized I have no definitive answer 1 way or the other.
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When my shirren needs to use the comms; it actually types instructions into his computer which has it's artificial personality speak into the connected comm unit.
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When my shirren needs to use the comms; it actually types instructions into his computer which has it's artificial personality speak into the connected comm unit.
My party's Shirren paid for a voice modulator-like Implant that basically does that, only faster.
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My party's Shirren paid for a voice modulator-like Implant that basically does that, only faster.
It was vocal mod or gills, and Jchk chose gills (even though he lived his whole life in the space-australia of Verces).
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I went back and reread it and I realized I was mentally smooshing together "speaking audibly with their mandibles only on formal occasions" and "speech-names can be harsh and awkward for other races" into one memory.
On the other hand, I think my idea does make sense. It's just too implausible that Shirren simply cannot call out to a friend across a room, or call for their pet in the front yard, or tell someone to look out for the bus that's about to hit them, because it's not a 'formal occasion'.
Even if people don't speak your same language (which would prevent you from using telepathy with them), you may need to draw their attention by making noise, or you may need to make noise to scare off an animal, or raise an alarm.
I just think that expecting all Shirren to get computers/voice implants/whistles/kazoos is kind of ungainly and implausible. I can understand cultural taboos and cultural norms, but I can't imagine a race that lives in basically human/normal environments that doesn't have routine circumstances that require communication beyond 30 feet.
I just thought of another good reason for Shirren to think of speaking vocally as 'shouting'. They have Vibration sense, so they can physically detect subtle air disturbances, just from things moving around. If they can sense the air moving when someone walks by, they must really FEEL the air moving when people talk out loud! No wonder they prefer to use telepathy!
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Haven't gone through the equipment yet, but could you get something where you could mentally control it to type out a text message? A bit like a character in Shadowrun sending a text message via a commlink plugged into their brain via datajack.
Yep via just having a datajack, computer and a comm unit.
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And that'd still be a free action?
There is no action listed for such a thing, so ask your GM. As my groups GM I would say it would use the banter action (which is a free action that you can take in other peoples turns).
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Seems pretty obvious to me that they can speak just fine, it's just not the preferred form of communication.
"Not preferred" and "Social Taboo" are not the same thing. If it's just minor preference, then who cares, if Shirren consider it appalling, they may avoid it in situations that might require some sort of vocalization.
All published material so far has them speaking exclusively through telepathy.
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The only entry about it I can find is the following "Shirrens rely primarily on telepathy for communication, speaking audibly with their mandibles only in formal situations."
That doesnt read to me like taboo, it reads to me more like preference or habit. If there is something else that provides more context, I would love to see it.
We're ruling it that any out-loud communication is akin to shouting.
Actual shouting is also acceptable in emergencies.
As a result of these things, we have an envoy pop star-turned-diplomat who is very well liked among Lashunta and Half-Elves (recurring themes of "finding yourself" and "being yourself" and so on)... and Shirren.
The Shirren interest, however, is pretty firmly on her more gentle, softer, and down-beat songs. These Shirren, of course, with their love of soft and gentle songs, are among the equivalent to metal-heads in their culture.
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The only entry about it I can find is the following "Shirrens rely primarily on telepathy for communication, speaking audibly with their mandibles only in formal situations."
That doesnt read to me like taboo, it reads to me more like preference or habit. If there is something else that provides more context, I would love to see it.
I don't necessarily disagree but I think it's a bit too vague. Additional context is the whole reason I opened this thread.
Unfortunately there hasn't been much more context yet given the small number of printed materials.
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Well, one interesting aspect of the game is that different Shirren communities could be treating it differently. Maybe some communities it's just rude, maybe some it's just uncommon.
Moreover, given the Shirren attitude to conformity, it'd be almost more strange if they all had the same opinion rather than taking their own views on it.