Sneaking in Fallout (FOPNP)

[Matt Helm]

The issue dogging me right now is Sneak skill and what controlled NPCs being able to notice or not notice the sneaking individual. There is no Perception skill of any kind and adding new skills has problems as the amount of skill points for advancement are fixed. Using the PE stat means that a character can never improve their perception ability, something I am not really happy with.

I'm already adding one skill, Athletics, for use with situations involving climbing, jumping, running, etc. The FO games didn't have to worry about this as there was no way to do any of that within the game engine.

 

[xdarkyrex]

Why don't you just simply base it on perception and level?

perception + level/2 + sneak/20 = look/spot skillcheck?

It can also be the same modifier used to find other things, such as something hidden mostly under rubble.


Or perhaps outdoorsman + sneak?

 

[El_Smacko]

Outdoorsman skill modifier if sneaking through the outdoors (bushes, terrain etc..). Also modifiers for camoflauge and lighting. No matter how good you sneak skill, you can't logically sneak past two guards in a decently lit hallway.

 

[chang]

The Fallout 2 Manual says: "When you are Sneaking, you don’t actually know if the skill is working properly. When you first start Sneaking, and every minute after, the computer rolls against your Sneak skill. If successful, all critters will have their Perception halved when trying to notice you."

Going by this, I'd do it by requiring a check of the sneaking character's sneak skill, followed immediately by a Perception roll on the NPC/PC being snuck upon. If the sneak roll was succesful, the guy being stalked checks at half his Perception. In this case, you could succeed on your sneak skill but still be noticed (the other character was extremely perceptive) or fail at it and still remain unnoticed (the other guy is oblivious.)

Unfortunately the only way to improve the PE stat is thru perks. (Gain PE or Death Sense; bonus against sneaking characters.)

The problem I have with this was the "check every minute" part of sneaking, how do you determine how long it takes to sneak up on someone? How much time does it take to move 1 meter (measurement of one hex in Fallout) when sneaking?

Two ways of dealing with it. One, either create a movement rate for the sneaking character (based on Race and AG?) and check every minute of game time. Or two, create some kind of personal space around the character being snuck upon (based on PE?) where as soon as someone enters into such space, the two checks mentioned above are made, and perhaps every two, three hexes into it (doubled if the sneaking character can sneak run.) Anyway that was how I was going to do it in when I tried to make my own Fallout PnP (which I never finished. meh.)