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PlainDre wrote: When fighting in the dark (dusk, starlit sky, pitchblack, etc), and one does not have Nightvision, what would be the penalties for melee and/or shooting attacks?

As stated in GMG pg 27:

No combat bonuses.
-10 strake/parry/dodge, etc.
Speed reduced 30-50%.
Loose initiative and 1 melee action.

PlainDre wrote:If the person attacking has extraordinary vision (better than normal), is there less of a penalty?

If is in total darkness not. Reduce penalties as vision increase.

PlainDre wrote:What about range? Is the penalty greater as the opponent is further away (possibly moving around)?

No. Darkness isn't modified for distance. You could do Perception rolls (modified by PC audio capabilities) in order to momentarily reduce penalties.

for chars w/o nightvision, unless you have the Blind Fighting skill then the penlites are the same as for blindness.

I like mobuttos penalties. I might allow for a 10% SPD bonus though, so a +10 total would then be a +1 to allow for SOME skill

PlainDre wrote:Hi Mobuttu,

Which Game Master Guide are you looking at? I only have the "Heroes Unlimited" 2nd ed. guide. I did not find the reference you described...

But thank you for the info..

He's probably using the Rifts one then.

I always try to lessen the penalties for characters/races that have other senses better than humans. Such as maybe dog boys or such which can smell their opponents only having a -5 instead of -10. Same with better hearing if the opponent is breathing hard, etc.

ZorValachan wrote:I always try to lessen the penalties for characters/races that have other senses better than humans. Such as maybe dog boys or such which can smell their opponents only having a -5 instead of -10. Same with better hearing if the opponent is breathing hard, etc.

Smelling should not give such a bonus as it is an are of effect kind of ability, so I might lower it from -10 to -9 or -8.

Hearing would be much better providing a -8 to -6. However this I can simplify this by using a percentage based perception and say that it is -50% to detect where they are, bettered by advanced senses. Even in this case advanced touch would help greatly being able to detect vibrations in the air or ground. Hearing could detect the pulses in the body. Smell would be able to pinpoint a source for odor.

Remember that dark is a spectrum so there should be some difference between how you treat low-light and no-light situations. I would certainly take into consideration different biologies and sensory systems.

I would not take away combat bonuses because trained shooters don't become novices when the lights go out. The -10 penalty seems rather harsh, so I would make be flexible to define lighting conditions between -1 for dim to -10 for total darkness.

I would not decrease SPD. Everyone is welcome to run as fast as they like down the dark alley...just good luck with not smacking into everything. Without sight, the safe SPD becomes close to zero as you fumble through the darkness.

As for losing initiative, I would just make the -X darkness penalty pertain to people's initiative scores as well. I don't see why they would lose an action just because the lights go out. The deep negatives to dice rolls and the difficulty in any kind of movement are enough penalties.

sure they don't become novices but if you take away a computer's keyboard you can't type anymore. Doesn't you have forgotten but you just can't do it. If you can't see what you are trying to hit, parry or dodge, then as the -10 suggests you have a 50/50 shot. And technically they P and D should be negated because they are always surprise attacks.

PlainDre wrote:Which Game Master Guide are you looking at? I only have the "Heroes Unlimited" 2nd ed. guide. I did not find the reference you described...

Indeed they are from Rifts GMG.