1.) TYPY ZAKRÁDANIA
The
RP doesn't restrict itself to just one particular type of stealth,
instead offering each character several possible routes of how to
deal with the challenge of blending in, avoiding detection and
handling concealment well. However, the practicality and
effectiveness of these variations on stealth can vary accordingly on
the context of the exact situation and location they occur in.
a.) Zakrádanie svetla a tieňov
When anyone usually talks about stealth, the first thing to come to one's mind is the idea of remaining unseen when you do not wish to be seen by others. Out of sight, out of mind, preferrably to its logical extreme - becoming nearly ghost-like in your sneaking around. Unsurprisingly, light-and-shadows stealth has two major facets: 1. It is best conducted during night time or during weather with lowered visibility. 2. One must learn to navigate the often delicate and ambiguous line between shadows and sources of light, as there are hardly any clean-cut borders, just various degrees of transition.
Význačné hráčské profesie: Učiteľ svetelného zakrádania,
Zakrádač, Dobrodruh
b.) Zvukové zakrádanie
Being unseen doesn't guarantee you complete discretion. Concealing the sounds you make with every single of your louder movements is just as important. And often, it can be even more difficult than simply hiding in the shadows or behind cover. Particularly if you want to pull it off in a satisfying way. Nevertheless, sneaking around quietly and not causing much ruckus is one thing you should certainly never underestimate during your training and experience gaining. While hard to master, the reward for finding a succesful pattern for silent-enough movement will reward you many times over, even in situations where you might least expect it. Much like with Light-and-Shadows Stealth, Aural Stealth can be seen as a small science unto itself, if not outright a complicated artform. It's not just about learning different patterns of loudness while walking, crawling or climbing, or about the choice of clothing you make when you set off for your latest thievy endeavour. The thoroughly studied knowledge about the loudness of various types of surfaces is what you should really start off with, as it will always be your essential “ABC of Stealth” (along with your knowledge on sources of light and their mutual differences). No surface is ever the same as the other, even if they consist of the exact same material. Wooden floors, doors and windows tend to be safe but might creak, carpets and padded surfaces mostly conceal you steps and movements, stone and tiled floors can easily give you away if you don't develop enough skill to work around their potential treachery… You are a thief. You are not a supernatural being, but for the sake of being unheard and thus unspotted, you might as well become one (at face value, to the commoners).
Význačné hráčské profesie: Učiteľ zvukového zakrádania,
Zakrádač, Dobrodruh
c.) Zakrádanie pomocou prestrojení
This approach opts for the risky, but otherwise straightforward “hidden in plain sight” method of concealing one's own presence. Instead of creating a convincing illussion of non-existence, the focus is on creating as convincing an illussion of the genuineness of one's false identity. This stealth option is effectively available to everyone and can prove effective even for a dilligent enough amateur in the field. But it is most popular among those that dabble in the Master of Disguise specialisation (popular among freelancers and guildsmen alike). Disguising yourself is not merely an act of putting on the appropriate clothes, footwear, headgear and wig or fake moustache. Its complexities also involve learning how to modulate one's own behaviour and personal tics into an altogether different kind of behaviour and habits. Coaching and taming one's aural and verbal expressions is not to be underestimated either - sometimes, an otherwise brilliant disguise can fail purely on the basis of a few misplaced words and phrases, insufficient knowledge of the local situation and premises, or an unconvincing accent. Disguise Stealth is as much reliant on one's language and social skills as it is reliant on outward ruses.
Význačné hráčské profesie: Majster prestrojenia, Zlodej-džentlmen, Tieňorap
2.) Zakrádanie bez použitia výstroja
Before you can start thinking avidly about using any gadgetry and tools for your sneaky exploits, you need to learn the basics. Your five senses and one additional - common sense ;-) - are always your best and most important starting gear of all. So… Shall we begin ?
Príklady hrania
Here are rough examples of player-referee interactions during a typical session. The player provides the narration for his character's actions (in addition to the character's monologues and dialogues), while the referee provides the narration and descriptions for the surroundings and for all NPC events.
In these opening examples, the gameplay focuses on sneaking around without the use of any tools or gadgetry for manipulating the surrounding environment to one's advantage. The examples will only include the basics of individual stealth.
a.) Štandardná situácia
For simplicity's sake, we're assuming in this example that the player is a single individual (e.g. a burglar-freelancer).
“Rozprávačova
odozva:
Hráčova
odozva:
Rozprávačova
odozva:
Hráčova
odozva: “
Variácie v štýloch rozprávačstva
Based on what the players of a session agree upon, a player can use a “My character did this” or “I did this” style of narration in their posts. Or even some other style that seems fitting. Naturally, this player character narration is all in-character, much like dialogue between the player character and the characters of other players. If one wants to adress a referee directly, he needs to use the OOC (“Out of Character”) notice first.
All of this can pertain to the referee as well: He can describe and narrate either in a somewhat adressing manner (”You push the creaky door and carefully enter the chamber… You notice a stack of coins on an old musty desk.”) or in a more detached, impersonal manner (“The creaky door moves aside and slowly reveals the interior of the chamber… A stack of copper coins lies on an old musty desk.”).
b.) Komplikácie
“Rozprávačova
odozva:
Hráčova
odozva:
Rozprávačova
odozva:
Hráčova
odozva: “
c.) Tímová práca
TBA.
d.) Prostredie ako nástroj
Even without modifying your surroundings in any way, it's perfectly possible to use the local context of any environment to your own advantage. This of course varies, but the observant and thoughtful player will usually be able to find at least a single way to gain a favourable outcome or advantage.
For instance, aural stealth doesn't exist within a bubble divorced from the rest of reality. As an example, imagine you've snuck into two different environments: One a medium-sized walled-in courtyard in front of a mansion, on a quiet night with crickets chirping, the other a machine room with some loudly whirring and buzzing generators and engines. Both of these environments have a patrolling guard passing by. As you sneak (either to avoid the guard or to find a safe position from which you can knock him out), the limits to how much you can risk spreading sounds varies according to the different conditions of the two environments. You need to be rather mindful of making loud sounds, even just louder footstepts, while in the courtyard at dark. It's a fairly quiet time of day, even the background sounds of nature are subdued compared to broad daylight. In contrast, while in the machine room, the loud background noises present throughout that space can make it easier to hide the sounds you make (especially the unintentional ones). Obviously, this doesn't mean the running machine sounds will completely drown out what you're doing; you still need to remain careful. Nevertheless, you can take a greater sound-related risk while traversing this room.
3.) Zakrádanie sa s použitím výstroja
While sneaking around is perfectly possible without pretty much any equipment outside of your senses (and the clothing you're wearing, unless you're naked), most thieves have been well aware for a long time that making things a little easier for yourself is no great sin.
Príklady hrania
Here are rough examples of player-referee interactions during a typical session. The player provides the narration for his character's actions (in addition to the character's monologues and dialogues), while the referee provides the narration and descriptions for the surroundings and for all NPC events.
Unlike the previous examples, the gameplay now includes the use of specialised thieving tools that can help ease one's sneaking, or manipulate the environment in a way that makes sneaking slightly easier.
a.) Štandardná situácia
For simplicity's sake, we're assuming in this example that the player is a single individual (e.g. a burglar-freelancer).
”Rozprávačova
odozva:
You find yourself in a slightly wider hallway with two closed,
stained glass windows to the right. The hallway has doors at both of
its ends, and there's also a door to the left, lying roughly in the
middle of the hallway. Adjacent to the door in the middle is a tall
candlestick, with three larger, brightly lit candles. There is also a
small oil lamp burning near the door at the other end of the
hallway.
Hráčova
odozva:
After giving it some thought, I've decided it's too risky to traverse
the hallway right away. I need to put out at least some of the light
sources. I check if I have any dousing arrows (or bolts, etc.)
left.
Rozprávačova
odozva:
At last count, you had 2 left. You check your quiver, and there they
are.
Hráčova odozva: I ready my bow (or crossbow, etc.), take aim and fire a dousing arrow at the tall candlestick around the middle of the hallway.“
Variácie v štýloch rozprávačstva
Based on what the players of a session agree upon, a player can use a “My character did this” or “I did this” style of narration in their posts. Or even some other style that seems fitting. Naturally, this player character narration is all in-character, much like dialogue between the player character and the characters of other players. If one wants to adress a referee directly, he needs to use the OOC (“Out of Character”) notice first.
All of this can pertain to the referee as well: He can describe and narrate either in a somewhat adressing manner (”You push the creaky door and carefully enter the chamber… You notice a stack of coins on an old musty desk.”) or in a more detached, impersonal manner (“The creaky door moves aside and slowly reveals the interior of the chamber… A stack of copper coins lies on an old musty desk.”).
b.) Komplikácie
Of course, one can run into the occassional fumble or an unexpected occurence outside his control that complicates things. Sometimes, things just don't go the way one would prefer them to. Life isn't always fair and from time to time, either the environment or your own performance hand you the shorter end of the stick.
We continue with the example scenario laid out in the previous section.
“Rozprávačova
odozva:
Unfortunately, possibly because of forgetting to account for height
in aim, the arrow impacts the candlestick, but doesn't manage to hit
the burning candles. Their flames tremble for a split moment, but
continue to burn.
Hráčova
odozva:
After briefly cursing under my breath, I decide to try again. I tell
myself to remember that it's more probable I'll put out the burning
candles by having the arrow impact the wall above them. This will
almost guarantee that the water will bounce off the wall and at least
some of it will splash onto the candles. I take aim again and fire my
last dousing arrow…
Rozprávačova
odozva:
Though the last arrow has just been spent, fortune seems to have
favoured the second shot better. The arrowhead smashes and a spurt of
liquid comes splashing down on the candles, putting them out. The
middle section of the hallway is now less brightly lit, and offers
enough of a shadow for sneaking to the door on the left side of the
hallway.
Hráčova odozva: I put away my bow, take a deep breath and carefully keep creeping closer to the new patch of shadow.“
c.) Tímová práca
TBA.
d.) Zneškodnenie hrozieb
Many thieves pride themselves in leaving as few evidence of their sneaking around as possible. Naturally, if you decide to knock out a guard or some other potential adversary, you're already leaving some unintentional minor evidence behind. Even if you hide the knocked-out foe in question, after he wakes up, he'll certainly find it suspicious that he was knocked out in the first place.
Nevertheless, when the need sometimes arises, even a thief who takes great pride in the art of sneaking undetected has to cave in and pacify a threat or obstacle that is hard to evade. While there isn't a particularly big arsenal of tools to deal with threats and obstacles, the few that exist are more than sufficient for this goal, provided they are used creatively.
Zrakové (viditeľné) zakrádanie
Uvedomovanie
si vlastnej viditeľnosti: The skill at keeping aware about
one's own body movements while sneaking or hiding. Even in
environments well suited to easy and effortless sneaking, there is no
guarantee that the thief (or thieves) in question can't make the
occassional mistake. Willingly or inadvertently… Before one can
truly ponder skillfully skulking past well-lit areas, tricky patrols
and hard to ascertain safety measures, he/she needs to know his/her
own physical limitations and capabilities. This includes learning
about one's own recurring mistakes and oversights while sneaking,
such as inadequate speed or posture, inattention to the casting of
your shadow, etc.
Priestorová všímavosť a
orientácia: A skill focused on observing and understanding
one's surroundings while sneaking, at any given moment. Exterior
spaces, but particularly interior spaces of different sizes, heights,
distances, and surfaces, all require different approaches to
traversing them. There is also the issue of horizontal movement
versus vertical movement. A thief, particularly a burglar, will often
be forced to contemplate and attempt a vertical ascent or descent in
order to get to his desired location or target. Being able to assess
what places are safe or effective to tread, climb or crawl through
might seem like a minor thing, but during sneaking, hiding and even
escaping, this skill can turn into a matter of life and
death.
Inštinkt pre svetlo a tieň: A
skill that is not easy to explain, and is even less easy to master.
This is simply an individual's personal intuition (for lack of a
better term) at assessing the transition from light to dark and from
dark to light. Well, not always complete dark - rather, very dark
shadows - but the aforementioned basis is fully in place. Shadows and
darkness are the best friends of a stealthy thief. Having a knack for
telling which shadows are visually safe enough, and which are only
so-so or not safe at all, can sometimes be the tipping point point in
whether one gets revealed and caught or not. The importance of this
skill is quite high and it is improved only after several months or
years of sneaking experience.
Krčenie sa v tieňoch: Skill at hiding in shadows and shadowy spaces without drawing the
attention of adversaries to oneself. This isn't necessarily a static
matter, as it often involves a person moving around in the shadows,
in order to decrease the probability of eventually getting caught.
Shadow-skulking is a very essential skill for all thieves who
specialise on classic, visual-aural stealth.
Skrývanie
sa: Skill at hiding both in shadowy spaces and well-lit
spaces. Most commonly used when it's not safe or available to
hide/skulk in the shadows, and a person needs to quickly find a space
to hide in from potential adversaries. The skill reflects one's knack
for finding an improvised hiding place even under extreme pressure
and unfavourable odds. Even something as simple as temporarily hiding
in a shipping crate (and hoping no one sees you) counts as an
utilisation of hiding from plain sight.
Nakláňanie sa:
Skill at leaning carefully around the corner, in order to get a sneak
peek of what might be going on beyond it. Emphasis on carefully.
Leaning is a skill that appears easy, but it is actually rather hard
to master. It's also a risk course of action, even for the
best-trained of thieves, as there's always a potential margin of
error involved in virtually any lean from behind a corner. Even the
most careful ones. As great a skill as leaning is for stealthily
observing one's nearest surroundings obscured by obstacles, far too
many rookie thieves tend to underestimate its effectiveness and
value. Don't be one of them…
Rovnováha pri zakrádaní:More often that not, the art of sneaking around requires at least a
degree of crouching. This is rather necessary in order to minimise
one's height-related conspicuousness and the loudness and speed of
one's leg movements. Unfortunately, the need for crouched or very
slow walking is not exactly a natural style of gait for any humanoid,
and can pose some problems. One of the most immediate is one's
balance while walking, even on a perfectly safe, secure and wide
enough surface. Especially after some long, tiresome or difficult bit
of sneaking, there is always the off-chance of stumbling or otherwise
erring when you'd least want to. Practing your balance and learning
when to not push it too far during sneaking can prove very
helpful.
Chôdza v podrepe: The stealthy
movement skill for situations where lowering your physical height for
better concealment in shadows is crucial, and walking speed doesn't
need to be fast. Walking upright while sneaking around, even in
poorly lit locations, can still give away a thief's presence very
easily if he/she is not careful. Crouched walking is a simple tactic
offering a reasonable compromise between swiftness of walking
movement and the probability of being seen more easily by potential
adversaries.
Šinutie sa: The stealthy movement
skill for situations where you can afford to walk upright or just
slightly hunched down, but still need to walk slowly and carefully to
avoid making much noise. Creeping's main advantage is in greater ease
of moving fluidly from slower to faster walking speed or even to
running, something that's not available for the crouched walking
method. Creeping has its uses, but is generally used more sparringly
than crouched walking.
Plazenie sa: The
stealthy movement skill for situations where you're forced to use the
local environment to greatly lower your risk of being seen by
adversaries (e.g. crawling in tall grass in a relatively well-lit
area, with few shadows to hide in), or for overcoming obstacles where
walking upright isn't a possible solution (e.g. crawling through a
tight space with a very low ceiling, etc.).
Odevné
prestrojenie: In a pinch, a skill useful to just about all
thieves, but it is particularly useful for larcenous individuals
specialising in spying and intelligence gathering. As the name
implies, this skill focuses on how well one has (or can) disguise
himself by wearing clothing that helps him blend in with other
people, avoiding or lessening suspicion. Effective use of clothing as
a disguise is dependent on good knowledge of the local social
context, on a carefully thought out approach (pre-planned being the
safest) and even a little bit of luck and intuition (once a thief is
in the lion's den, with the disguise maybe his only shoddy protection
from capture or other reprisals).
Prestrojenie tváre:
In a pinch, a skill useful to just about all thieves, but it is
particularly useful for larcenous individuals specialising in spying
and intelligence gathering. As the name implies, this skill focuses
on how well one has (or can) disguise his face in order to blend in
with a crowd when it's occassionally really needed. Beware though.
Unlike with other forms of disguises, this one can be something of a
double-edged sword. Disguising your face too much or too
conspicuously (e.g. wearing a scarf below the eyes in broad daylight)
is bound to actually draw attention to you, including that of law
enforcement units. Sometimes, a suitably subtle way of hiding one's
facial features can be preferable.
Skrývanie predmetov:
In a pinch, a skill useful to just about all thieves, but it is
particularly useful for larcenous individuals specialising in spying
and intelligence gathering. For professional thieves, space for
carrying useful gear is always limited. The gear usually has to be
worn on the outside, commonly on the person's belt, or more rarely on
the back or over the shoulder. A useful way to get around that is
training to conceal small objects in one's clothing (e.g. tiny loot
in small amounts, smaller and stealthier tools or weapons). All
without making it apparent to any bystanders - admittedly, the
hardest part of such an endeavour…
Zvukové zakrádanie
Všímanie
si vlastných zvukov: The skill at keeping aware about the
sounds made by one's own body movements while sneaking or hiding.
Even in environments well suited to easy and effortless sneaking,
there is no guarantee that the thief (or thieves) in question can't
make the occassional mistake. Willingly or inadvertently… Before
one can truly ponder skillfully skulking past areas with loud
surfaces, tricky patrols and hard to ascertain safety measures,
he/she needs to know his/her own physical limitations and
capabilities. This includes learning about one's own recurring
mistakes and oversights while sneaking, such as overly heavy
footsteps, overly fast walking or creeping speed, ignoring subtle
differences between surface types, ignoring the sound impact of the
amount and nature of gear and loot you're carrying, etc.
Všímanie
si šírenia zvuku: An important and helpful skill for
sound-based stealth. One's awareness of how sound spreads in a
particular, specific environment, based on the shape of its spaces,
and on the current outside or interior conditions affecting the
environment.
Všímanie si smerovania zvuku:
An important and helpful skill for sound-based stealth. It's simply
one's awareness of the direction from which a particular sound is
emanating from, or which direction it's approaching you from. Easier
said than done, though… Often, you have to wait a short while until
you can truly make out the exact direction of the sound, and
the some sound is coming from. How sound spreads is not based only on
the shape of the surrounding environment, but also on the distance of
the sound's point of origin from you, and even on something as
uncontrollable as weather conditions. Oh yes, under certain
atmospheric conditions, your hunch about the direction a sound is
coming from can get outright muddled or misinterpreted until you
properly figure it out.
Znalosť povrchov: A
crucial skill for successful use of sound-based stealth. The world
isn't a place that accomodates thieves easily. True, some urban or
natural landscapes can be surprisingly helpful playgrounds when one
wants to travel or sneak around in unpredictable ways, but beyond
that, it's not exactly rosy. One of the biggest omnipresent
annoyances to a sneaky professional thief are the different volume
levels and sound qualities of different types of surfaces. Mention
marble-tiled floors, iron grating or gravel surfaces to a thief, and
he/she will near-memetically frown with annoyance. But mention soft
low-growing grass or a dry dirt floor, and he/she might raise his/her
eyebrows and nod in appreciation. Know your surface, for every
surface is different from the other, and there's a multitude of even
basic surface types. It might decide about your sneaking more than
you think, more than anything else. You can stand around in bright
light if no one's around to see you, but start making an inadvertent
ruckus and people will hear you even if they don't exactly see you.
Mäkký krok: The skill at timing one's gait
and putting down one's sole onto a surface in as silent and careful a
manner as possible. It's generally best used in conjunction with the
“Aural self-awareness” and “Knowledge of surfaces” skills.
The latter two help guide the player into knowing the current state
of his personal limits when it comes to moving around silently. In
turn, the “Soft-foot” skill takes care of carrying out the input
from those two skills into careful, sound-conscious walking
actions.
Tichá pätoprstosť: Similar to the
Soft-foot skill in its focus on the amount of sound the player
creates with his limbs. In this case, the skill focuses on how
carefully the player's character can pick up, move, put back down,
and otherwise manipulate various items or small bits of furniture.
This also counts for loot the items one is stealing, of course.
Avoiding the loud chinking of coins, the creaking of chests or the
slamming of a jewellery box's lid can sometimes make quite a
difference (especially in interiors where one can't shut a door and
isolate a particular room from the rest of the building at least for
a short while).
- | - | - | - | -
Pozri tiež (súvisiace témy)
- Hranie: Odomykanie zámiek
- Hranie: Poznávacie, pátracie a vlamačské zručnosti
- Hranie: Zakrádacie profesieti
- Nástroje a výstroj: Odomykacie nástroje a výstroj
- Nástroje a výstroj: Trikové šípy a iné projektily
- Nástroje a výstroj: Trikové bomby a trikové míny
- Nástroje a výstroj: Prieskumné, cestovné a pracovné nástroje a výstroj
- Nástroje a výstroj: Odev a obuv
- Nástroje a výstroj: Zbrane pre boj zblízka
- Nástroje a výstroj: Zbrane pre boj na diaľku
- Nástroje a výstroj: Brnenia a ochranné odevy
Pozri tiež (ďalšie zručnosti)
- Hranie: Dialóg, diplomatické a sociálne zručnosti
- Hranie: Bojové zručnosti a sebaobrana
- Hranie: Správcovské zručnosti
- Hranie: Remeselné zručnosti
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Copyright
(C) 2017 - 2024 P. Molnár
(C) 2017 - 2024 Knight-Errant Studios
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