Assassination a la Sam Fisher

[kenclary]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I hope it also makes it official that in many cases All-Out Grapple and Strikes doesn't require you to grapple the same target you strike, merely one with a hit location penalty is that equal or worse and which would logically lead to you being able to strike more accurately and effectively while maintaining the grapple.

Otherwise, most real-world sentry removal techniques don't work. Neither does pulling someone down by the top of the head to knee him in the face, for that matter, because Skull and Face are different hit locations.

(Just to add variety.)

There is something very similar to that in Pyramid #3/34. :) Not an official rule, of course.

[Kromm]

People have covered this topic well. The one thing I'd like to emphasize, though it has been said, is that Combat Reflexes gives immunity to total surprise – the state of being stunned and unable to try to recover for 1d seconds – but has no effect on lack of awareness. Someone who's the victim of total surprise may defend against an attack he can see, just at -4 for being stunned. Someone who doesn't see an attack coming gets no defense at all even if he's utterly immune to surprise. The two aren't the same thing . . . in fact, the only connection between the two is that an attack of which the victim is unaware can leave the victim surprised if he survives.

To summarize, "surprised" and "unaware" are two mostly unrelated game concepts.

And to illustrate:

Unaware, Surprised: A sniper's bullet comes out of nowhere on a city street. The target is unaware, and gets no defense. If he miraculously survives, he'll be totally surprised (1d seconds of stun, followed by IQ rolls to recover) if he lacks Combat Reflexes, or partially surprised (making IQ+6 rolls to shake stun) if he has that advantage.

Unaware, Not Surprised: A sniper's bullet strikes someone during a raging gun battle. The target is unaware, and gets no defense. If he miraculously survives, he'll be able to act as well as his injuries allow – being shot in a gunfight isn't surprising.

Aware, Surprised: A random man in the street walks right up from in front and stabs someone. The target is aware but stunned, and defends at -4. If he miraculously survives, he'll be totally surprised (1d seconds of stun, followed by IQ rolls to recover) if he lacks Combat Reflexes, or partially surprised (making IQ+6 rolls to shake stun) if he has that advantage.

Aware, Not Surprised: A gang member tries to stab a rival gang member in a rumble on a city street. The target is aware and not especially surprised to have an enemy attack him in a knife fight, and defends normally. If he survives, he'll be able to act to within the limit of any injuries.

Your counter against being caught unaware is superior senses, starting with high Per and encompassing traits such as Acute Senses, Danger Sense, and super-powered senses. Your counter against being surprised is Combat Reflexes, though the GM may allow something like Empathy to work if the aggressor is visible to you.