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Ithorian sonic concussive bellow
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Dustflier
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 4:54 pm    Post subject: Ithorian sonic concussive bellow Reply with quote

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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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 4:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Source?

Welcome back, BTW.
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shootingwomprats
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 5:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dustflier wrote:
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?


Per the wookieepedia entry for Ithorians, "... the Ithorians' four throats also had the ability to violently expel air, resulting in a deafening and potentially concussive scream. Although even common Ithorians possessed this strange talent, those with Force training (such as Jedi Master Roron Corobb) could push enough power into their sonic bellow to shatter iron and shred plasteel. Despite this fact, most Ithorians went their entire lives without ever resorting to violence, and so the ability remained relatively ambiguous."

To me this seems more logical to apply to small creatures and such. I thinking birds, ground squirrels and so on, essentially small game. I believe that Jedi Master Roron Corobb was an extreme example of augmenting something natural to his species with the Force. As for why it is not part of the the current write-up for the species? The WEG information came out long before the Clone Wars and did not take into account additional information created.

Special Skills:
-- Dexterity Skills:
-- Bellow: skill used when trying to coordinate their four throats so as to funnel a sometimes deafening concussive scream at a target.

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. 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). If used to signal the bellow may be heard for several kilometers depending on weather and environmental conditions.

crmcneill wrote:
Source?


Star Wars: Clone Wars the animated shorts series, somewhere in chapters 23-25.
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Dustflier
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 8:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

crmcneill wrote:
Welcome back, BTW.


Thank you. I still lurk often, when I'm running a Star Wars campaign. I just haven't had too much reason to post, until I had this question. Smile
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Dustflier
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 8:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

shootingwomprats wrote:
As for why it is not part of the the current write-up for the species? The WEG information came out long before the Clone Wars and did not take into account additional information created.


Interesting. I could have sworn that the bellow was in older materials. Maybe not WEG old, but earlier than the Clone Wars-era.

Otherwise, this looks perfect. It's not exactly what I was thinking, but I like the simplicity of this much better (which is why I was asking, in the first place). Thank you, shootingwomprats.
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Whill
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 11:03 pm    Post subject: Ithorian sonic ability Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 11:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 12:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
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.

It was a Ithorian Jedi warrior fighting in the Clone Wars who did it. Your question seems to presume that the cartoon's purpose was to add something to the species' lore. I don't think they gave a d@mn about the species, its lore, or trying to fit with their culture. Since TV is a visual medium, I'm sure they just chose the species to be a Jedi because they are visually interesting. Then they read up on them and thought, 'Two mouths, huh? Hmmm...' and they came up with something they thought would be fun and original for the medium.

You'll notice I said 'power' a couple times in my previous post instead of 'ability'. That's because the Jedi are portrayed as superheroes in this show. My 6 year-old loves the cartoon, but even he said, "Daddy, the live-action Jedi can't do all the stuff the the cartoons can." The show is pretty ridiculous - It's like watching the Superfriends. Mace Windu is like Neo in the Matrix. He singlehandedly destroyed an entire army of super battle droids with only his lightsaber, superhuman strength and the Force. I think it's pretty clear they didn't care about being consistent with the films or even the rest of the EU for that matter.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 5:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 5:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Whill wrote:
garhkal wrote:
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.

It was a Ithorian Jedi warrior fighting in the Clone Wars who did it. Your question seems to presume that the cartoon's purpose was to add something to the species' lore. I don't think they gave a d@mn about the species, its lore, or trying to fit with their culture. Since TV is a visual medium, I'm sure they just chose the species to be a Jedi because they are visually interesting. Then they read up on them and thought, 'Two mouths, huh? Hmmm...' and they came up with something they thought would be fun and original for the medium.
.


Exactly. The cartoon did it, just for the heck of it, cause it would look visually great.. So why then would that justify a racial rewrite, to incorporate it into game?
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shootingwomprats
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 5:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
Exactly. The cartoon did it, just for the heck of it, cause it would look visually great.. So why then would that justify a racial rewrite, to incorporate it into game?


Ya know what, just because you don't like it, if it appears in canon, as it did in this case, then why are you so against it? If he wants a mechanic for it in his game, he can darn well add one or ask others to help him with it. He does not need nor does he deserve to be brow beat over it or be asked for justification.

In his defense and I have also cited this, on the wookieepedia page it does state that all Ithorian can perform this bellow. I find this suspect as I have not seen it anywhere else but used and augmented with the Force. If this is the only source he is using and why not, a lot of people do it too, then his question is not only reasonable but the idea, the unmitigated hubris, that someone would demand a justification? GRRRRRR.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 6:21 pm    Post subject: Disregard for consistency = hallmark of quality? Reply with quote

Whill wrote:
I think it's pretty clear they didn't care about being consistent with the films or even the rest of the EU for that matter.

Ha, I suspect that statement equally applies to most of my favorite STAR WARS material outside the films, including Tartakovsky's cartoons.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 8:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

crmcneill wrote:
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.

lol, right. If you don't like the racial rewrite, then don't include it in your game. I ignored this racial ability for years. And even now, I'm still opposed to it doing normal damage, so I thank womprat for his inspiration but I'll be making my own version that suits me.

Cap'nCodskale wrote:
Whill wrote:
I think it's pretty clear they didn't care about being consistent with the films or even the rest of the EU for that matter.

Ha, I suspect that statement equally applies to most of my favorite STAR WARS material outside the films, including Tartakovsky's cartoons.

You ain't lyin'. The EU is rife with inconsistencies.
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