How does a character with super high perception not go insane?

[SangoProduction]

In PF, you can hear the details of a conversation on a DC 0. in 3.5, it's on a DC 10 (though only DC 0 to hear that there is a conversation going on).

And then you take a -1 to listen checks per 10 feet of distance. So, on average, an average untrained person can hear a regular conversation in PF from 100 feet away (wow...ok...), or 0 ft away in 3.5 (a tad sillier)...so, we'll go with Pathfinder.

I've got a character with +36 to perception checks. He can hear conversations, without even trying, from 360 ft away. Add in an additional +100 ft if there's the least bit of effort.

Ignore the fact that there's no such thing as privacy in a town in Pathfinder, and how your non-whispered conversations are signal radios to everyone in a 100 ft radius. How does someone get barraged by sounds from a circle the diameter of 920 ft and not go completely bat ship crazy? [Even having a "Roaring Dragon" between you and that conversation only reduces the range you can hear it by 50 feet.]

I am extremely sensitive to sound, and I have problems even when I can just hear people in the next room over.

[Venger]

I mean, just think about what you're saying for a second.

Let's say your guy had +36 to jump.

He's walking to a new nightspot and sees a puddle in the street while he's crossing it.

Does he have to leap 40 in order to clear it?

Of course not. He can modulate his ability to jump based on the situation.

Like in real life, if someone's trained as a sniper and they go to bennigan's, it doesn't mean they're sensorily overloaded from all the license plates and photographs on the wall, they just choose not to pay attention to it and concentrate on their date, beer, or jalapeno poppers. So that's what your guy can do.

[SangoProduction]

I mean, just think about what you're saying for a second.

Let's say your guy had +36 to jump.

He's walking to a new nightspot and sees a puddle in the street while he's crossing it.

Does he have to leap 40 in order to clear it?

Of course not. He can modulate his ability to jump based on the situation.

Like in real life, if someone's trained as a sniper and they go to bennigan's, it doesn't mean they're sensorily overloaded from all the license plates and photographs on the wall, they just choose not to pay attention to it and concentrate on their date, beer, or jalapeno poppers. So that's what your guy can do.

hmm. That makes enough sense. I guess my issue when I was thinking about it was that hearing is a mostly passive thing that just happens. But I guess someone skilled enough can filter out the garbage.

[Nupo]

But I guess someone skilled enough can filter out the garbage.
My wife would say I'm very skilled at this. :wink:

[Pleh]

hmm. That makes enough sense. I guess my issue when I was thinking about it was that hearing is a mostly passive thing that just happens. But I guess someone skilled enough can filter out the garbage.

Indeed. It maybe more accurate to say that true skill in listening has more to do with filtering out garbage than literal range.

When you're out in an open field in the dead of winter, you can hear quite a lot from a good distance, because nothing is competing for your attention. Instead, you fight against the snow absorbing the sound.

Sure, you can hear all conversations within 100ft easily. You probably only hear them all at once as a collective jumble of noise. If you work at it, you can single out a single conversation, even across the room. That's why the DM is expected to set the DC according to the circumstances and use the DCs in the book as a starting point.

It would be a pretty high check to try to listen to all conversations in a crowded, noisy tavern, and catch them all in detail at the same time. More likely a PC would take their time and listen to each conversation and find the one with the plot hook.

But another interesting point is that this does drive some characters crazy. You look at Robert Downey Jr's Sherlock Holmes character and you can see the case of brilliance plagued with being unable to stop.

That could be a fun Trait/Flaw. You get a huge bonus to Listen, but you must make a listen check every round that you aren't performing an action that otherwise requires your concentration.

[Gruftzwerg]

your conscious mind chooses on what you focus on.
your subconscious mind filters the rest for anything that might be important (to you).

do you hear the clock ticking always when you are in a room with one?
most times: not, cause there are other things you focus on and the ticking is nothing of importance.

but if you wanna sleep and you have nothing to focus on, you might go insane due to the sound of the ticking clock.

[Segev]

do you hear the clock ticking always when you are in a room with one?
most times: not, cause there are other things you focus on and the ticking is nothing of importance.

The clock on the mantle is broken.

What is making that ticking sound?

[Ruslan]

In PF, you can hear the details of a conversation on a DC 0. in 3.5, it's on a DC 10 (though only DC 0 to hear that there is a conversation going on).

And then you take a -1 to listen checks per 10 feet of distance. So, on average, an average untrained person can hear a regular conversation in PF from 100 feet away (wow...ok...), or 0 ft away in 3.5 (a tad sillier)...so, we'll go with Pathfinder.

I've got a character with +36 to perception checks. He can hear conversations, without even trying, from 360 ft away. Add in an additional +100 ft if there's the least bit of effort.

Ignore the fact that there's no such thing as privacy in a town in Pathfinder, and how your non-whispered conversations are signal radios to everyone in a 100 ft radius. How does someone get barraged by sounds from a circle the diameter of 920 ft and not go completely bat ship crazy? [Even having a "Roaring Dragon" between you and that conversation only reduces the range you can hear it by 50 feet.]

In 3.5, it may also be impossible to sleep if your Listen skill is too high.


A sleeping character may make Listen checks at a -10 penalty. A successful check awakens the sleeper.

[Bakkan]

The clock on the mantle is broken.

What is making that ticking sound?

She is not ready yet.

[SangoProduction]

In 3.5, it may also be impossible to sleep if your Listen skill is too high.

roflmao. That's amusing....wait...I will simply just never bring it up.

[Calthropstu]

My wife would say I'm very skilled at this. :wink:

I believe maariage grants a -10 circumstance penalty on listen "unimportant stuff" checks.

[Ettina]

It's not so much about how acute your senses are, but how well you can filter them. My dog has a much better sense of hearing than I do (for example hearing higher pitches and softer sounds), but I get more overwhelmed by noise than she does. Her brain is better suited to making sense of that stuff than mine (mostly because I'm autistic).

Also, I personally think perception skills aren't about actual acuity, but ability to interpret what you perceive. For example, a good Spot check doesn't mean your eyes are sharper, it means you know what the place should look like so you notice that something looks off. It would explain why they're linked to Wisdom.

[Manyasone]

I believe maariage grants a -10 circumstance penalty on listen "unimportant stuff" checks.

Try to explain that one to spouses. Or daughters...

[Necroticplague]

roflmao. That's amusing....wait...I will simply just never bring it up.

Note that it says "may", not "has to". So a sleeping person can just elect to not make the listen checks.

[Strigon]

Note that it says "may", not "has to". So a sleeping person can just elect to not make the listen checks.

Which is arguably even funnier, as any person in the multiverse can sleep just fine with a marching band practicing nearby.

[Dracul3S]

It's a game. Being good at skills should not cause problems. Just remember when the following talking about PCs: Their way of life is kind of insane any way...

[Science Paladin]

It makes a lot of sense that it's just the maximum range they can choose to focus on a conversation from.. but I'm a fan of making the PCs go insane. Crowded market and huge listen check? Roll a concentration check or be overwhelmed by noise. It would be harsh, but DM's discretion could allow penalties such as that.

[Clistenes]

How do people living or working in a city not go insane despite the constant barrage of stimuli?

How do school teachers not go insane?

The brain is good at filtering what stuff it wants to perceive....

[Pleh]

Which is arguably even funnier, as any person in the multiverse can sleep just fine with a marching band practicing nearby.

Aw, sheesh.

People never get over how silly RAW can be, even when we all know the DM adjucates for exactly this reason.

[Telonius]

From personal experience - I have a pretty horrible case of tinnitus, to the point where I've got about a 40% hearing loss in both ears because of the high-pitched tone. The sound is always there; it never stops. I've learned to ignore it, mostly, though I'm aware of it if I take a second to think about it. I'd imagine that somebody with +36 to Listen would have something similar going on. They're capable of hearing a fly move its wings, but if they're not actively trying to it's just going to fall in the "white noise" filter.

[ATHATH]

@OP: You murder everything nearby you so that you can get some peace and quiet.

[PhoenixPhyre]

?
How do school teachers not go insane?


That's actually a moot point. We're all insane anyway. It's a job requirement. <Suppresses mad cackle>

[SangoProduction]

This is getting amusing.