Sleep And Waking Up

[JanMikal]

This should be a quick and easy one to answer. Where can I find rules (or what are they) for how to check if someone is woken up by something? I wouldn't think a straight Per roll would work, would it? I would think that would be for someone on guard and aware, at least minimally.

My game has someone sneaking into a guardhouse to steal the key to the jail cell, but, natch, the guard is asleep. I know it's a contested Stealth roll for the PC, but what is the sleeping guard rolling against to be woken up? Or is is automatic that, without Light Sleeper, he just stays asleep unless a roll is failed on something that might wake him (like stealth or pickpocketing). Some people sleep heavier than others. How can I resolve this?

Thanks in advance!

[Taneli]

I believe waking up is done with an IQ roll, and Combat Reflexes provides +6 to this. I would probably rule (and Light Sleeper seems to indicate) that usually this would actually be a Sense -roll.

Whether to run it as a Quick Contest of sneaky character's sneaky skill (or DX) vs. the sleepy character's related Sense roll, or simply allow the sleepy character to roll their Sense when the sneaky character fails their sneaky skill roll is up to the GM on how to interpret each situation.

[Edges]

There's this, this, and this thread that might help.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by JanMikal

Where can I find rules (or what are they) for how to check if someone is woken up by something? I wouldn't think a straight Per roll would work, would it?

This is how it works for a Light Sleeper (B142) such as Dai Blackthorn. They are implied to be easier to rouse than others, so I would assume some kind of penalty to your sense rolls to get woken up if not LS. This is a diadv

Originally Posted by JanMikal

I would think that would be for someone on guard and aware, at least minimally.

I imagine you could try something like "Controllable Disadvantage: Light Sleeper" perk, but that would only last Will minutes which may not be as useful for being alert all night...

Instead perhaps take LS then take "Not Light Sleeper" w/ Switchable so it could stay on indefinitely... maybe "Reflexive" if you only want it to happen when there's something worth waking you up, rather than a horse farting.

You could probably even take "Maximum Duration" to further save on cost.

Originally Posted by Taneli

I believe waking up is done with an IQ roll, and Combat Reflexes provides +6 to this. I would probably rule (and Light Sleeper seems to indicate) that usually this would actually be a Sense -roll.

B43 does indeed mention an IQ roll...

You know what this might be? TWO rolls.

B358 first mentions a sense roll, and then a COMPREHENSION roll...

So an "IQ roll to wake up" could be seen as that 2nd one: you're comprehending that what you are sensing is danger and that you should awake, rather than just being background noise that you can subconsciously ignore and try to get back to a deeper sleep.

That could be the true downside to Light Sleeper: they don't get to ignore harmless sounds via the IQ/comprehension check: a burp they hear will wake them up, while a burp that a non-LS hears, if they pass their IQ check to comprehend it, then they will just know "oh, that is my pet guard dog burping" and not be forced into an alert state by it.

In terms of TS33 Threat Recognition, sleep is clearly lowest (white/unaware stage) and I think passing a sense check forces a LS into alert/yellow regardless of what their IQ check result is... whereas a non-LS can stay in white (not be forced into yellow) if their IQ check results in them thinking there is no danger from the sound they hear?

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by JanMikal

My game has someone sneaking into a guardhouse to steal the key to the jail cell, but, natch, the guard is asleep. I know it's a contested Stealth roll for the PC, but what is the sleeping guard rolling against to be woken up?

See the Deep Sleeper perk, on p. B101. That perk might be better named "Skilled Sleeper" or something like that.

Against someone asleep, you just need to succeed at Stealth. If you fail Stealth, there's an IQ roll to notice and wake up, which is automatic for Light Sleepers. When someone wakes up, they're mentally stunned and need to make an IQ roll to get organised. If they have Combat Reflexes, they are not stunned and can act on their next turn. If they have Deep Sleeper and Combat Reflexes, they wake up automatically and are not stunned.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by JanMikal

This should be a quick and easy one to answer. Where can I find rules (or what are they) for how to check if someone is woken up by something? I wouldn't think a straight Per roll would work, would it? I would think that would be for someone on guard and aware, at least minimally.

My game has someone sneaking into a guardhouse to steal the key to the jail cell, but, natch, the guard is asleep. I know it's a contested Stealth roll for the PC,

No it isn't. A sleeping guard isn't listening so it's a straight Stealth roll. If the PC fails the Stealth roll then the margin of failure is a bonus to the guard's IQ or hearing roll (whichever is lower) to wake up. Critical failure guarantees that the guard will wake up.

[Rolando]

In my games I always treat awakening similar to a surprise. The character awake stunned, combat reflexes, light sleep, etc give a bonus to shake that off or awake with a clear mind (not stunned).

Instead of real surprise, I use HT as the governing attribute to wake up, instead of IQ, still combat reflexes give a bonus.

I can still make a suddenly awoken character roll HT and IQ (to awake and not be surprised), so you wake clear but there is some chaos around you that you have to think clearly to understand and act freely (not be stunned). You can end physically and mentally stunned too, no game effect.