Taking Out The Sentry

[JDJarvis]

Popular fiction is full of scenes where combatants stealthily sneak up on a sentry and quickly disable them with a blow to the head, choke them or slit their throats so as to eliminate the sentry and slip past without alerting those beyond. That can sure be a trick in Mutant Future where an average man can have 30 or so hp and a club does but 1-4 points of damage.


Sneaking up on the sentry:

First one must actually sneak up on the sentry to take them out. MF has no explicit stealth rules but it does provide us with the ground work a couple alternatives for the task at hand.

Option 1. Use the surprise check: Use the standard rules for surprise with a slight modification on results as follows.

Attacker and Sentry Both Surprised: The sneaking attacker stumbles or kicks something alerting the sentry at about halfway in their approach to the sentry. They sentry may not certainly spot the attacker and they may be able to dive for cover and remain unnoticed (depending greatly on the situation at hand). The sentry will not raise an alarm unless the following situation warrants it.

Attacker Surprised: The sneaking attacker fouls up and is spotted by the sentry who may attack and will raise an alarm unless extremely unusual conditions still keep the PC from being spotted (illusions, invisibility, camouflage skin).

Sentry Surprised: The attacker is allowed to make the attack with no resistance from the sentry, see following guidelines for the types of attack

Neither surprised: The sentry will spot the character at an optimal distance. Roll for initiative whomever wins gets to act first. The attacker will be no more then 1/2 a move towards the sentry and no closer then 30'.

Option 2. Check vs AC. Wiht this method one succeeds at a stealthy task by rolling dice vs their current AC score and getting that number or less. For characters with dexterity Modifiers to AC don't factor that into the AC score for this task but do apply that modifier to the die roll used.

Dice to be used in a stealthy approach of a sentry depend upon the discretion of the GM, the situation on hand and the players actions. As a rough guideline I recommend 1d12 for common tasks, up to 1d100 for extremely unlikely tasks.


Knocking out a sentry-
On a surprised target the attacker makes his attack roll at +2 to hit. On a successful hit damage is rolled. The target must make a save vs stun or be stunned for 1-4 rounds and possibly knocked-out. Modifiers for target defenses and relative force of the blow may be applied.

If the save fails the target is stunned and has a % chance equal amount of damage suffered compared to current hp of being rendered unconscious. Take the damage roll and divide it by the targets remainign HP to find the chance of knockinf the target out should they fail a save vs stun. A target that takes has 50 hp but suffers 5 HP of damage has (5/45) - 11% chance of being knocked out. A sentry is knocked out for 2d10 rounds if the check to knockout is made.


Taking out the sentry by Choking-

On a surprised target the attacker makes his attack roll at -2 to hit. On a successful hit damage the target must make a save vs paralysis for each of three rounds. If a save is successful the target is unharmed and breaks free. If 3 successive save fail the target is chocked out and rendered unconscious for 1d6 turns. A 4th save is required with a penalty equal to the number of turns the target would remain unconscious or they die from asphyxiation. Targets that don't breath normally, can't be incapacitated by chocking.


Taking a sentry out by slicing their throat

A surprised sentry may be dispatched by a careful and well executed blow which opens the arteries in their neck and kills them. An attack is made at -4 to hit and if the blow is successful the target is allowed a save vs stun or they suffer triple the normal damage roll and will continue to automatically suffer normal damage each round until death and are stunned for 1-3 rounds. Targets that save just suffer normal damage and are free to act. Modifers to the save for armor, anatomy and size of the target may be applied.

Those nearby may notice the thrashing and activity while someone bleeds to death and flails about. If one survives the attack and bleeding during the stunned rounds they will be able to act (but will likely flee as they are bleeding to death). Mutations and advanced medical devices may keep a target from bleeding to death. Creatures immune to stun checks generally can't have their throats sliced adequately enough to incapacitate.

None of these options are meant to be used in standard surprise situations they are intended for situations where the attacker has awareness of a relatively stationary target on guard. Each attack type should be carefully considered before they are allowed in a campaign.

A version of this appears as a post on my blog here: http://aeonsnaugauries.blogspot.com/201 ... ml-mf.html