[MA] Eye Gouge from behind

[Mcoorlim]

Is it possible to come up behind someone and perform the eye-gouge technique? If so, what penalties are there to it?

If not, is it otherwise possible to attack the eyes from behind? Perhaps with a face-rake? Maybe with a custom technique to attack the eyes from behind?

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by Kurlumbenus

Is it possible to come up behind someone and perform the eye-gouge technique? If so, what penalties are there to it?

If not, is it otherwise possible to attack the eyes from behind? Perhaps with a face-rake? Maybe with a custom technique to attack the eyes from behind?

I don't see a problem with Eye Gouge worth a penalty, really. You grab them, the eyes are covered so they can't see like normal, and then instead of digging your thumbs into the eyes you gouge with your middle or middle two fingers for low-but-potentially-horrible damage. Sure you can't see exactly where the eyes are from behind, but you have a pretty good idea if the basics of your victim's anatomy are known, and I tend to assume that moves with a full round of set-up include a fraction of a second of grip adjustment before you've got it just right anyway.

[Humabout]

Man, when I read that title, I had this crazy mental image of Jackie Chan punching someone's eyes out through the back of their head.

Awesomeness aside, what you suggest sounds perfectly doable. At most, I'd probalby assign an extra -1 of penalty for not seeing the target, but as Gold & Appel Inc already said, as long as it's humanoid, you probably know where the eyes are and can adjust well enough.

For that matter, are there any RAW penalties for attempting an attack to someone's front from behind them? I know there are penalties for attacking soimeone behind you. I'm guessing the opposite isn't particularly difficult.

[bcd]

P. MA137 says: "When attacking from behind, the face is at -7 to hit, not -5."

[thulben]

It's not a great idea to go in for a fast strike to the eyes with your fingers anyways. There's a lot of hard stuff for you to break your fingers on around the eyes. Better to "feel" your way in. Once you find something soft & squishy, dig in. From behind, this has typically involved (for me) taking them off center (i.e. leaning backwards) and raking the face until I find the eye sockets. Not that I practice the actual plucking...

[Humabout]

Originally Posted by bcd

P. MA137 says: "When attacking from behind, the face is at -7 to hit, not -5."

New it was somewhere. So essentially Eye Gouge would get an extra -2.