Visible power effects, concealment, and attacking

[Paragon]

A player asked me this, and I realized that for all the years I've GMed Hero, I never had a clear idea how this works, and a rereading of what seemed to be the relevant parts of the rules and search through the FAQ didn't seem to help, so I'm bringing this to you.

 

There are situations where an attacker is concealed himself (from Invisibility, use of Conceal, use of Stealth or whatever) and wishes to attack out of it, but his _attacks_ do not have Invisible Power Effects. What does this mean in terms of the potential for surprise (in combat or out)? Does it make any difference if the attack is ranged or not?

 

(To give context this came up in regard to someone wanting to fire a bow from Stealth as a fairly common operating procedure; since bows don't default to IPE, I couldn't really figure out from the rules if this was treated as being at all effective within them, though the similar procedure seems at least somewhat useful in fiction).

[Steve Long]

Re: Visible power effects, concealment, and attacking

 

I think this is more a matter for common sense than the rules. There are several factors to consider.

 

First, just because a character's attacks are perceivable doesn't prevent him from hiding, then using them to "ambush" someone. Until he actually activates them they're not necessarily going to give away his position.

 

Second, in the case of weapons like guns and bows, the perceivable special effect often is "I have this weapon here that shoots things at you at high speeds to hurt you." It's often possible to see the missile (or its effects) after it's struck the target, but not necessarily right before it's fired if the character firing it is in hiding. The Obvious in OAF doesn't necessarily mean "instantly broadcasts my position to everyone in sensory range the second I display it."

 

I hope that helps! If not, feel free to post a follow-up, or take the topic to the Discussion boards to see what other folx think.