Playing a mute character

[diaglo]

i think you miss the point about JoeBlank's character. he has a CHA 6. and is trying to avoid too much social interaction.

actually he will be a barb/ rog half-orc. our muscle man.

i'm playing the bard. when Joe said he was gonna have his character's tongue cut out, i suggested he brush up on his sign. i think it makes for excellent roleplay.

i also suggested French as an alternative, but neither of us is that fluent anymore.

 

[Telgian]

i think you miss the point about JoeBlank's character. he has a CHA 6. and is trying to avoid too much social interaction.

Not beyond the scope of possibility, but it was mentioned that the character has a high intelligence.

Regardless, hope that you have fun with it.
Telgian.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

The telepathic suggestion reminds me of a odd bit in a david eddings book. There was a character traveling with the 'perty' for quite a while who was mute, and he communicated with one of the main characters with a very simple sign language that somehow managed to convey a great deal of information. Eventually they realized that there was no way he was really conveying information that well with a few handwaves, and it was revealed that he was actually using a very subtle telepathy to convey his ideas while using the handwaves as a distraction...

this ends the random side note...

Kahuna burger

 

[Privateer]

While it's of no help for your character concept, two ways that a mute character can work is if a/ the sign language 'interpreter' is the PC's cohort, or b/ the PC has a talking familiar (raven, parrot, etc).

That way, the PC is mute... but everything doesn't need to be relayed through another player at the table. The PC's player can take the part of the cohort or familiar relaying the information.

There's still potential for it to be a handicap in situations where the cohort or familiar are somehow unavailable, which lets the player occasionally experiment with working around the limitation... but since it's only occasionally, it doesn't get to the point of annoying people.

Jack : You, sailor!

Gibbs : Cotton, sir.

Jack : Mr. Cotton … do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death? Mr. Cotton ! Answer, man!

Gibbs : He's a mute, sir. Poor devil had his tongue cut out, so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one’s yet figured how.

Jack : Mr. Cotton 's... parrot. Same question.

Parrot: Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!

Gibbs : Mostly, we figure, that means “yes.'”

Jack : O’course it does.

 

[Hypersmurf]

No one’s yet figured how.

God, that line was brilliant

Damn it, the DVD isn't out in NZ yet

-Hyp.

 

[John Crichton]

Any suggestions for handling this situation? Or suggestions that I don't do it at all.

I would keep a small notepad handy. Whenever you need to "sign" something to diaglo's character, just jot it on the paper and hand it to him. I would sit right next to him at the table and just use lots of pointing and grunting.

If the character had a higher Charisma I would play him with lots of facial expressions, pointing miming and the like. But I like to ham it up anyway. I had an NPC who was mute who traveled with her twin brother who could basically understand what she was trying to communicate, simply by body language. She was also a magic-user who could speak telepathically using gems under moonlight, but that's another story. She also emoted alot. That was a fun NPC.

If done correctly and in a way that doesn't slow the game down (see above suggestion) I think it could be very cool. As long as you develop a rhythm with it there should be no problems.

 

[Ron]

The very first time I've played GURPS I runned a Wersten game. One of the players, excited with the number of options availabe, created a mute gunfighter. From the moment we started the game to the very end of the session, he didn't pronounced a single word. Even so, I could easily understand what he was trying to acomplish following his gests.

It was an amazing roleplaying performance, still it shows that it can be done.

 

[Steverooo]

Back in the original Gamma World, I played Vorn the Unspeakable, a PC who, due to traumatic experiences in his past, no longer spoke. I still did, but I always described his actions. Instead of writing stuff, I just told the rest of the party what he wrote (it's much faster).

While you may have to wite what you sign to the one PC, it is easier just to whisper (and faster, too)! Anyway, it is doable, and without slowing down the game.

The bad part for me was the inability to ask questions!

 

[Shadowdancer]

In one of my campaigns, the party was joined by an NPC Kenku named Gabby who couldn't talk. Gabby would communicate with lots of body language and noises. The players loved it, and I had a lot of fun with it. Just watch any old Marx Brothers movie to see how much information a character can convey without talking.

 

[diaglo]

and i guess i should also mention tho many of you already know this...

besides, it is a rogue campaign...so the other PCs i'm sure will have high innuendo/sense motive i know i do.