Suprised foes and noise

[azato]

If an enemy rounds the corner and is suprised (and killed) does he make a noise to alert others? How do you handle this?

[Erkenfresh]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

If he's got any STUN left and the attack doesn't damage his vocal cords, then I see no reason why he couldn't yell out. Similarly, he may just have to push a trigger on a comm device as an alert so damaging the vocal cords wouldn't always be certain.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

Eh... well, this sort of falls directly into the realm of "dramatic call." BUT.

 

If I were the player. And I made my Stealth Roll vs. Jo-Jo the Body Guard's perception roll, and he didn't hear me, and he stopped to pull out a cigarette, and I haymaker a Pistol Whip, actively holding until just after his phase passes, so there's no way he'll move prior to getting Haymakered, and the cigarette gets to his lips and I hit him in the head (surprised foe, no sense of danger, -4 Head Shot at that point, with all my CSLs for accuracy) and my Haymaker is a 4d6 Normal Attack, +4d6 for Haymaker (I think), +3d6 for my STR, that's 11d6 Normal Damage.

 

Good. Night. Nurse.

 

Does he get to cry out as a Free Action? Not if he's unconcious, surprised, and never saw it coming. Now if he turns around and sees you hurtling towards him, then I can see him getting a "YIKE!" out before getting pummeled. But generally, I would give this one to the PCs. That's the whole point of the swift take-down, really. To give him a chance to scream/cry out seems cheap to me.

[Kenn]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

What Thia said.

[Asperion]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

Maybe I am too hard on the PCs but I would allow the attacker to make the attack with appropiate mods. Then the attacked char would be given a modified DEX Roll to determine if he could in some manner call for assistance.

[pinecone]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

I would certainly have the mook crying out as an option....dramatic sense is one consideration, How you "suprise' him is annother....bursting through a door will certainly suprise him, but crying out is almost an involuntary response.

 

And what about Luck or Unluck? If you're Lucky I'd just give it to ya, it's part of your "thang", if your Unlucky I'd expect that you would know it's going to be harder than expected as a matter of course.

 

If all else fails I'd likely just give the mook a Con roll to give a scream before expiring. Of course the heros actions would modify things too. "Gutting" someone will make for more screams than cutting a throat......

[Dreadnought]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

There is more than one way to alert your allies that you've been attacked. If the attacker isn't close enough (say they used a silent ranged weapon), the sound of the body hitting the floor could alert nearby guards. Use dramatic sense and genre conventions to determine what happens.

[azato]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

Does anybody use random chance?

[Dreadnought]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

Random chance has no place in Hero

[Sean Waters]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

He could make a squishing noise or, as Dreadnought mentioned, a falling over noise.

 

Generally I would say that a strike that was not instantly fatal and was not designed to stop someone crying out (like a throat attack) would allow the character to cry out. Instantly fatal hits are relatively rare, even for surprised opponents.

 

You could run with this - and incorporate your random element too:

 

Suprised character takes enough damage to instantly knock him unconscious (and/or instantly kill him) i.e. reduce him to at least -1 stun or -BODY, then the only noise is the sound of the attack and him falling over: allow his mates a PER roll at -2 to -4 depending on circumstances (what he falls on, what weapon is being used to attack, if he is weaping metal armour etc etc). For some attacks no PER roll is allowed - eg you behead him and your companion catches the falling bits and lowers them gently to the ground. Yeuch.

 

Surprised character (SC) takes enough damage to stun him: as above but he gets to make a gurgling noise and the PER roll penalty is -0 to -2 depending on circumstances.

 

SC takes enough damage to kill him (i.e. more than BODy but less than BODYx2) but not stun or KO him then he can cry out once as a free action and the PER roll is at +0 to +2. If he makes an EGO roll at a penalty reflecting the damage taken he can scream out to his mates and the PER roll is at +4.

 

SC takes damage but not enough to kill, stun or KO - can act normally (although you may want an EGO roll to take offensive actions) and any warning cry is perceived at +4.

 

Don't forget if you are allowing PER rolls that you should account for range modifiers too.

 

That is completely ad hoc but it sounds about right if you don't want to just judgement call it.

 

Of course if his mates are watching all this happen, the point is moot

[Markdoc]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

My take is relatively straightforward:

 

if the target is KO'ed without a chance to see it coming, he goes out quietly. There may be falling/clattering noises unless someone catches the body/stuff he was carrying.

 

If the target is stunned, but not KO'ed, he will make some sort of noise, but nothing articulate or particularly loud. How any listeners react depends on their state of preparedness. If Nate goes round a corner and goes "Urk!" a SWAT team entering a potentially hostile building is likely going to react differently to two guys doing routine maintenance on a sewer pipe.

 

If the target sees his attacker before he gets hit he gets a chance to say something (soliloquies take no time ) - but I'd probably make him DEX-off against the attacker to do so.

 

If the target gets an action at all, he can raise all kinds of noise.

 

cheers, Mark

[Dust Raven]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

Haymaker is a 4d6 Normal Attack, +4d6 for Haymaker (I think), +3d6 for my STR, that's 11d6 Normal Damage.

 

Good. Night. Nurse.

 

Um... you added the Haymaker damage twice? A character with a STR 15 who performs a Haymaker will do 6d6 damage. 3d6 for the STR, +4d6 (reduced to 3 because you can't more than double the STR damage).

[Dust Raven]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

Unless the PCs are deliberately attempting to take out the guard/enemy quietly, I assume noise of some kind is made. Any other guards/whoever in the area get a PER roll to hear the noise, or if appropriate, see the disturbance (shadows, flashes of light, or whatever). If the PCs didsn't say they were trying to keep the guard quiet and attacked in a way that keeps his hand or voice free, I may allow him to make a no time action of screaming or pushing an alarm button as he dies or falls unconscious.

[David Johnston]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

If an enemy rounds the corner and is suprised (and killed) does he make a noise to alert others? How do you handle this?

 

If you instantly did enough Body to him to take him all the way to dead, then he won't scream. If you do enough stun to take him all the way to below 0 stun, then he won't scream. If you fail to do either of those things, he's still alive and conscious for at least a phase, so he may call out if you don't take a precaution like grabbing him by the throat as you stab him.. His body of course may make noise even if he's dead, particularly if you did enough Body to instantly kill him. Knockback, you know.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

Um... you added the Haymaker damage twice? A character with a STR 15 who performs a Haymaker will do 6d6 damage. 3d6 for the STR' date=' +4d6 (reduced to 3 because you can't more than double the STR damage).[/quote']

 

I think we might be claiming 4d6 damage for a club, with everything adding to that. I did a doubletake myself....

 

T'other thing: a haymaker takes some time to perform so I would definitely allow a target in motion a PER bonus to spot the attack coming.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

Ah. In a heroic game, a a 4d6 club plus 15 STR will max at 8d6 for a Haymaker (I believe the Haymaker adds to the total, rather than to the base, I could be wrong though). In a superheroic campaign, it all adds up to 11d6, which could get nasty.

 

And of course, I seriously doubt that any Haymaker will land softly. There will be the rather loud noise of a heavy blunt object squishing sound into an unsuspecting victim. Not quite as wtf as asking if you shoot someone who isn't paying attention will anyone hear them scream if they die, but close. It doesn't really matter of the target makes any noise of the attacker is making plenty on his own.

[pinecone]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

I always figure screaming "Diiiiiiie!!!!" covers up any sound the other guy makes...

[Debra Winger]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

what about guard dogs?

[Questar]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

If an enemy rounds the corner and is suprised (and killed) does he make a noise to alert others? How do you handle this?

 

 

Thia described sneaking up on a foe without being noticed. You're describing a guy stumbling onto a hero or heroes. From all the different answers you've received, it seems clear that this is strictly a GM call based on the specifics of the situation and the actions of the PC's. That's why the GM is there.

 

If you have a very fast character in the group who is not surprised himself by the appearance of the mook, and the speedster declares he's going to try to take the guy out before he makes a noise, I'd let him try.

[Debra Winger]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

Thia described sneaking up on a foe without being noticed. You're describing a guy stumbling onto a hero or heroes. From all the different answers you've received, it seems clear that this is strictly a GM call based on the specifics of the situation and the actions of the PC's. That's why the GM is there.

 

If you have a very fast character in the group who is not surprised himself by the appearance of the mook, and the speedster declares he's going to try to take the guy out before he makes a noise, I'd let him try.

 

PRE is your friend. You can never have too much of it.

[azato]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

He could make a squishing noise or, as Dreadnought mentioned, a falling over noise.

 

Generally I would say that a strike that was not instantly fatal and was not designed to stop someone crying out (like a throat attack) would allow the character to cry out. Instantly fatal hits are relatively rare, even for surprised opponents.

 

You could run with this - and incorporate your random element too:

 

Suprised character takes enough damage to instantly knock him unconscious (and/or instantly kill him) i.e. reduce him to at least -1 stun or -BODY, then the only noise is the sound of the attack and him falling over: allow his mates a PER roll at -2 to -4 depending on circumstances (what he falls on, what weapon is being used to attack, if he is weaping metal armour etc etc). For some attacks no PER roll is allowed - eg you behead him and your companion catches the falling bits and lowers them gently to the ground. Yeuch.

 

Surprised character (SC) takes enough damage to stun him: as above but he gets to make a gurgling noise and the PER roll penalty is -0 to -2 depending on circumstances.

 

SC takes enough damage to kill him (i.e. more than BODy but less than BODYx2) but not stun or KO him then he can cry out once as a free action and the PER roll is at +0 to +2. If he makes an EGO roll at a penalty reflecting the damage taken he can scream out to his mates and the PER roll is at +4.

 

SC takes damage but not enough to kill, stun or KO - can act normally (although you may want an EGO roll to take offensive actions) and any warning cry is perceived at +4.

 

Don't forget if you are allowing PER rolls that you should account for range modifiers too.

 

That is completely ad hoc but it sounds about right if you don't want to just judgement call it.

 

Of course if his mates are watching all this happen, the point is moot

 

 

Thanks mister.

[azato]

Re: Suprised foes and noise

 

it seems clear that this is strictly a GM call based on the specifics of the situation and the actions of the PC's. That's why the GM is there.

 

Well, yeah - but I am also am playing a character. It is only my son and I playing so I am looking to some impartial rules for handling such a situation. I think a slightly modified version of Sean's will work nicely.

 

Also, so much of the game is handled by random chance rather than GM sensiblities - why not this as well?