Stun penalty for too much listening?

[gfair]

Recently there were issues expressed about Listen being quite powerful and for people with good skill at it it can be.

Then I thought - what about a stun penalty to listen? Listen requires great concentration and sorting out sounds, wouldn't that be, over lengthy periods of time, quite taxing, mentally? Sort of like modern day information-overload.

Just a thought as to how to curtail too much listening. We could interpret each entry of "listen on" as being the mental strain of trying to trying to listen, so if it was used repeatedly over a short period of time, stun would start to come off.

This would stack with the Way if people were listening and trying to communicate at the same time, making bar-room activities much more strenuous.

[Forty Winks]

Listening is a perception, like scan, and doesn't require physically or mentally working as much as the use of the Way would require.

And, I don't see what's wrong with the current listen skill. It's perfectly fine as it is, IMO.

[Xygax]

I agree that the skill can be quite powerful, but successful use of it really requires some savvy on the part of the player possessing it.  I think that balances nicely against the potential power provided by the skill and encourages a style of play which -should- be the game's bread and butter.  I don't believe it would benefit the game to make a skill with as much potential for roleplay as this one has less useful or less widely used.

At any rate, not everyone has listen, so clearly other skills are perceived as being more valuable.

-- X

PS - I'm deleting the other thread on this, since I believe it is an accidental mispost.

[SpyGuy]

Since the listen skill involves concentration and at least in part a good deal of lip reading...how about its set you cannot listen and watch at the same time?  Want to overhear what Lord Templar Amos is saying to that Byn Sergeant?  Well then you'll have to take your eyes off that elf in the corner who has been eyeing you the whole evening.

But overall I wouldn't say listen is too powerful, it's just too much of an all or nothing skill for me.  I might like it better if it limited the use of other skills as the above idea suggests or was more variable (ie. someone with a low listen may only hear one talk from another table out of 3 rather than either hearing none or hearing them all).  Not broke but could use some tweaking.

[Hymwen]

I would personally like to see listen have three uses:

'listen table' (or bench, bar, couch etc.) - allows you to listen to conversation between those seated there.

'listen person' - allows you to overhear whispers to and from one person (should require high skill), as well as anything that person says at the table they're sitting at.

'listen direction' - lets you listen into another room.

I don't particularly like the way it is now, with the on/off listen where you hear everything that goes on in the room and even outside the room. Also, if listening outdoors, I think it should be very hard or impossible to succesfully listen in a sandstorm/strong wind. Maybe even make listening harder in crowded rooms (taverns and such. There's already a crowd code in place for stealing which could probably be used in a similar way).

[John]

I agree Hywmen. I do limit the uses of my listen skill. If I'm overhearing someone, I'll not hear the conversation at my table or any other one (although I might hear a stray word that will cause me to refocus my attention).

[Hymwen]

Also, I'd like to see the delay on 'listen status' removed. Don't see the point.

[John]

Also, I'd like to see the delay on 'listen status' removed. Don't see the point.

Again, agreed. Now status with scan would be very useful. As with scan I'm trying to actively search for things. It isn't an "on off" it's a continual attempt for time X.

[spawnloser]

It takes some work for Listen to be useful, really.  Most people. when they mind if they're overheard, go somewhere where there are no people to overhear.  What good does listen do then?

I just count on my own and the other players' discretion.  Obviously you can't hear everything.