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Concealability

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RickDeckard

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« on: <03-15-19/0806:19> »
Spotting concealed weapons is either a perception test or an opposed test, both using a modifier according to the items concealability. Modifiers range from -6 to +10 according to the table on SR5 p. 420. Certain weapon mods add to the modifiers and some armors and holster reduce the modifier (which is positive).

So if I’m carrying a pair of brass Knucks in a concealed quick draw holster under an overcoat, what would the modifier be since knucks aren’t listed on p. 420?

I’d personally compare them to a hold out pistol so -4, and another -1 from the holster and -1 for the coat for a total of -6. Does that sound about right?
« Last Edit: <03-15-19/0817:38> by RickDeckard »

Stainless Steel Devil Rat

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« Reply #1 on: <03-15-19/1055:18> »
I don't know that I'd call chucks being most comparable in concealability to hold-out pistols...

But other than quibbling over the starting point I'd say yes you're on the right track.

Edit: of course on rereading I notice I misread "Knucks" for "chucks".  Hold-out size is probably just right.
« Last Edit: <03-15-19/1057:26> by Stainless Steel Devil Rat »
RPG mechanics exist to give structure and consistency to the game world, true, but at the end of the day, you’re fighting dragons with algebra and random number generators.

RickDeckard

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« Reply #2 on: <03-15-19/1230:16> »
Hah, I don't have the nuts to wield nun-chucks! =)

Overbyte

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« Reply #3 on: <03-15-19/1434:25> »
I'll semi-hijaak your thread and say that the Conceal rules are broken.

SR5 p419
Have the observing character make a Perception + Intuition [Mental] Test with a dice pool modified by the item’s Concealability to determine whether they notice the item. This test should be penalized normally by distractions, distance, and visibility modifiers (p. 175). If the observing character generates at least one success, they notice the item concealed on someone else’s person.

Using RAW it is almost impossible to get away with concealing a gun ever. Consider that you are in a room with 6 gangers that have a measly 6 perception.
Even if you have a Long Coat on (-2 perception) and a Concelead holster (-2) it's about a 90% chance one of them will notice you are packing.

My suggestion is that the thresholds need to be upped from a mere 1 to at least 2 and perhaps modified instead of pools.
Nothing is foolproof. Fools are so ingenious.

JudgeMonroe

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« Reply #4 on: <03-15-19/1455:09> »
I'll semi-hijaak your thread and say that the Conceal rules are broken.

SR5 p419
Have the observing character make a Perception + Intuition [Mental] Test with a dice pool modified by the item’s Concealability to determine whether they notice the item. This test should be penalized normally by distractions, distance, and visibility modifiers (p. 175). If the observing character generates at least one success, they notice the item concealed on someone else’s person.

Using RAW it is almost impossible to get away with concealing a gun ever. Consider that you are in a room with 6 gangers that have a measly 6 perception.
Even if you have a Long Coat on (-2 perception) and a Concelead holster (-2) it's about a 90% chance one of them will notice you are packing.

My suggestion is that the thresholds need to be upped from a mere 1 to at least 2 and perhaps modified instead of pools.

You use "gangers" with a "measly 6 perception" as though having 6 in *any* skill is ordinary. On the contrary, using the progression of NPCs in the core rulebook, you're dealing with PR3 lieutenants before you start seeing Perception skill values above 3, and most of your street-level grunts don't have it trained at all, so you typically don't need to overcome more than a 3-5 dice pool with Concealability modifiers.

Your point that a threshold of 1 hit is remarkably generous for passive Perception is still a good one, but I don't think the RAW chances of success are as bad as you make it out to be, though it comes down to how NPCs are built.

edit: Concealment is a mini-game where the goal is to take away all the other guy's dice. If he has any left, he's probably going to spot your stuff.
« Last Edit: <03-15-19/1501:09> by JudgeMonroe »

Overbyte

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« Reply #5 on: <03-15-19/1457:21> »
You use "gangers" with a "measly 6 perception" as though having 6 in *any* skill is ordinary. On the contrary, using the progression of NPCs in the core rulebook, you're dealing with PR3 lieutenants before you start seeing Perception skill values above 3, and most of your street-level grunts don't have it trained at all, so you typically don't need to overcome more than a 3-5 dice pool with Concealability modifiers.

Your point that a threshold of 1 hit is remarkably generous for passive Perception is still a good one, but I don't think the RAW chances of success are as bad as you make it out to be, though it comes down to how NPCs are built.

I should have said with 6 Perception POOL. That's a 3 perception with 3 intuition. Not very much at all, and 6 "mooks" have a 90% chance of 1 of them spotting.
That's an insanely good chance that you can't get away with concealing a gun under even the best of circumstances.

I think just changing the Threshold number instead of dice (perhaps 2 dice --> 1 threshold) would make it work.
« Last Edit: <03-15-19/1459:51> by Overbyte »
Nothing is foolproof. Fools are so ingenious.

Michael Chandra

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« Reply #6 on: <03-15-19/1457:45> »
I'll semi-hijaak your thread and say that the Conceal rules are broken.

SR5 p419
Have the observing character make a Perception + Intuition [Mental] Test with a dice pool modified by the item’s Concealability to determine whether they notice the item. This test should be penalized normally by distractions, distance, and visibility modifiers (p. 175). If the observing character generates at least one success, they notice the item concealed on someone else’s person.

Using RAW it is almost impossible to get away with concealing a gun ever. Consider that you are in a room with 6 gangers that have a measly 6 perception.
Even if you have a Long Coat on (-2 perception) and a Concelead holster (-2) it's about a 90% chance one of them will notice you are packing.

My suggestion is that the thresholds need to be upped from a mere 1 to at least 2 and perhaps modified instead of pools.
Normally you'd roll Palming to set the threshold for what they must roll to notice, and then the modifier comes into play. See p419:

Quote from: SR5 Core p419: ACTIVELY HIDING GEAR
If you’re intentionally trying to hide something on your
person that somebody else is looking for, and you’ve
taken a little time to hide it (like a Complex Action or so),
make an Opposed Palming + Agility [Physical] v. Perception
+ Intuition [Mental] Test. The observing character’s
dice pool is modified by the item’s Concealability, and
he can use Palming in place of Perception if he wants.
If you’re being physically patted down, the searcher
can use Agility and his Physical limit instead of Intuition
and the Mental limit. Additionally, any negative Concealability
modifier is cut in half, and any positive Concealability
modifier is doubled.
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Overbyte

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« Reply #7 on: <03-15-19/1546:16> »
Normally you'd roll Palming to set the threshold for what they must roll to notice, and then the modifier comes into play. See p419:

Quote from: SR5 Core p419: ACTIVELY HIDING GEAR
If you’re intentionally trying to hide something on your
person that somebody else is looking for, and you’ve
taken a little time to hide it (like a Complex Action or so),
make an Opposed Palming + Agility [Physical] v. Perception
+ Intuition [Mental] Test. The observing character’s
dice pool is modified by the item’s Concealability, and
he can use Palming in place of Perception if he wants.
If you’re being physically patted down, the searcher
can use Agility and his Physical limit instead of Intuition
and the Mental limit. Additionally, any negative Concealability
modifier is cut in half, and any positive Concealability
modifier is doubled.

I never took that to mean "hiding a gun in a holster". To me that doesn't make much sense.
I assume this was meant for something like hiding a credstick on your person.
Does everyone with a gun need Palming skill so that it's not obvious (to visual tests) they are carrying a firearm in a concealed holster under a longcoat?
Nothing is foolproof. Fools are so ingenious.

Michael Chandra

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« Reply #8 on: <03-15-19/1555:14> »
Palming can't be defaulted on, so yes, if you want to hide something better than just a Concealment test, you need to know how.

And yes, if a bunch of people start studying you, the normal gun in a holster under the coat may be spotted by some. If on the other hand you're a bit away and they're merely giving you a glance, or just looking at your face, they get an extra -5 (-2 distance, -3 not paying attention to the right details), making it near-impossible to spot. If you're a guard quickly checking the crowd for faces that are up to no good, you won't notice the concealed gun. If you're a bodyguard facing the one menacing guy walking towards you, it's a lot easier to spot a hidden weapon, unless they took effort to hide it.

So if you're walking the streets, only cops may notice you're carrying, and only if something else draws their attention. The rest won't know.
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JudgeMonroe

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« Reply #9 on: <03-15-19/1627:55> »
So if you're walking the streets, only cops may notice you're carrying, and only if something else draws their attention. The rest won't know.

It's almost trivial to neutralize a passive perception pool of 6 dice, which includes most everyone up to a Professional Rating 3 patrol cop. That's light pistol + concealed quick-draw holster + lined coat. Some of the overcoats in R&G do you better than that. Past that point anyone paying that much attention to you isn't going to be fooled by much.

At some point the question isn't so much "Why is it hard to conceal stuff" but "Why should it be easy to conceal stuff?"

Michael Chandra

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« Reply #10 on: <03-15-19/1636:58> »
Incidentally: If 6 people with 6 dice face a -4 and 10 dice, their chances are 20% to have at least 1 person tie or beat the Palming test. (Thanks AnyDice!) So 1 Palming and 9 Agility already is quite nice. =D
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Overbyte

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« Reply #11 on: <03-15-19/1649:26> »
Incidentally: If 6 people with 6 dice face a -4 and 10 dice, their chances are 20% to have at least 1 person tie or beat the Palming test. (Thanks AnyDice!) So 1 Palming and 9 Agility already is quite nice. =D

9 Agility is great for a lot of things. LOL  :D
But not everyone that carries a gun has 9 agility.
Outside of that, I think I just differ in my opinion. If the base threshold was 2 it would solve a lot of (my) issues I think.
Nothing is foolproof. Fools are so ingenious.

JudgeMonroe

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« Reply #12 on: <03-15-19/1657:23> »
Incidentally: If 6 people with 6 dice face a -4 and 10 dice, their chances are 20% to have at least 1 person tie or beat the Palming test. (Thanks AnyDice!) So 1 Palming and 9 Agility already is quite nice. =D

9 Agility is great for a lot of things. LOL  :D
But not everyone that carries a gun has 9 agility.
Outside of that, I think I just differ in my opinion. If the base threshold was 2 it would solve a lot of (my) issues I think.

If you consult the "Perception Threshold" chart on page 136, spotting "Normal" things has a threshold of 2, so I mean, you're not wrong.

For the "room full of mooks" question, I wonder how the results differ if you treat them as a group using the Teamwork rules, but I don't wonder it strongly enough to run the numbers.

Overbyte

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« Reply #13 on: <03-15-19/1803:53> »
Incidentally: If 6 people with 6 dice face a -4 and 10 dice, their chances are 20% to have at least 1 person tie or beat the Palming test. (Thanks AnyDice!) So 1 Palming and 9 Agility already is quite nice. =D

9 Agility is great for a lot of things. LOL  :D
But not everyone that carries a gun has 9 agility.
Outside of that, I think I just differ in my opinion. If the base threshold was 2 it would solve a lot of (my) issues I think.

If you consult the "Perception Threshold" chart on page 136, spotting "Normal" things has a threshold of 2, so I mean, you're not wrong.

For the "room full of mooks" question, I wonder how the results differ if you treat them as a group using the Teamwork rules, but I don't wonder it strongly enough to run the numbers.

Yes. And if you notice on that table, its not the number of dice that are modified for "obvious", "normal", "obscured", hidden" which to me lends credence to the idea that the threshold should be modified by concealment, not dice. But that would require some significant modifications (which I may do someday since I like that sort of thing). Simply switching to a threshold of 2 kinda "solves the problem" mostly for me.
Nothing is foolproof. Fools are so ingenious.

Marcus

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« Reply #14 on: <03-15-19/1921:37> »
No one is gonna spot a set nucks, in concealed in holster under a coat. It's ridiculous to even roll.
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