Yeah sneaking in plain sight without something to hide behind/ in is a bit much imho.
That is true if your running or not.
+ don't forget our eyes (and most animals + one would suppose cybereyes as well) are designed/ evolved to notice fast moving objects better than slow-moving/ still ones.
correction to that adzling, We are designed to draw to movement, that does doesn't mean we notice them or are more aware of what they are. Also a fast moving object moving through a shadow will draw less attention than a highly visible object in the open and light of day. The cybereye's should have listed bonuses to account for there acuity and remember half of noticing something stealthing about is mental just because you see something doesn't mean you recognize and respond to it appropriately. We filter out a lot of what we see all the time. 5 fast moving cars drive by on the road, I may not notice color, people inside, or the bike coming at high speed in the shadow on the side walk. They don't mean to scare the crap out of me some times but that's why they ring the bell all the time near people. No people around? Trees and plastic bags blowing in the wind also catch attention. If your GM gives a bonus to spot check its for clear views, still nights, and ample light on the target to see them and distinguish them without your mind filtering it out as daily sensory noise. Perception is not the ability to perceive all things but the ability to pick out significant details over the noise of life.
++ our footfalls generate more noise then someone moving slowly/ creeping.
Not always true, I have met people who made a ton of noise trying to be quiet and I have meet people who make almost no noise even running. Which will make you jump when then come running past. As a former Marine, I can tell from experience that people can run at ..almost.. full speed noiselessly if the know how. If they crouch stop, they can even make a silent stop and pop up right beside you in the dead quiet of night while you are actively looking for them. Had a scout sniper instructor that used to terrorize us on watch in the dead middle of night... in and open field.... running up and crouching... with out noise... then breathing on our necks... Almost made me have a heart attack in my 20s then I had to report my post while he was laughing. Part of the problem is while your searching for someone you also make noise. So if its a quiet night, he doesn't have to be silent, he just has to be more quiet than the noise you make yourself. If you don't know he is coming then yes your more quiet, but then he needs to be more quiet but he can more easily approach from an angle behind where movement is less likely to draw your eyes so to make up the extra effort and slowing down for speed he can run I more direct path through the open. If you want to say they need to take "stealth running" as a stealth specialization, ok. But some people are just more naturally stealthier than others as well.
So I'd also impose a bonus to the observer's dice pool or penalty to the sneaker's for trying to sneak while running for both visual and auditory.
Again, if the is behind the target moving quietly (yes running) this does not always make any since. Are they talking? Cars? wind? There a group and they are all walking? are they all trying to walk in stealth, because if not they are making a lot more noise then he is. If there talking are the paying attention to the conversation or are they actively looking out for this or some other person. If they don't know he is coming and don't have reason to notice, any penalty both by game rules and based in reality should come from the environment. Other wise your making the assumption that some who is skilled as stealth (yep the put time and training into that skill, even if indirectly through experience) is inherently un-stealthy. You don't reduce gunnery for it being dark, but you do apply a limited light penalty. The big difference is that a player can compensate for environmental and situational penalties but for you stealing skills they paid for. If you shooting in low light you can have low light on your scope. If your worried the number of people around a target makes it hard to get close due to noise and the number of eyes looking around, wait until they move. Then they will make a lot of walking noise to cover yours and generally people look the way they are walking so few if any eye's would see them run up. Particularly just as a group starts moving. Everyone will take a second to orient their direction. Then after they have been walking for a while their visual checks often became routine and predictable, at least enough to get way closer than they would like. So unless you have a trained security group, walking slow in a circle, faceing out, in the middle of the day, in an open field,.... oh wait those are all eviromental condition modifiers again... jk. You get the idea right?
If a GM wasnt's to prevent a players from doing something he doesn't get to say, no you have less of that skill now.... because I don't like it. He can put as many environmental modifiers as he can find though.
