Prowl or Hunt?
Another rules question!
Duck, the PC Leech, is hanging off some scaffolding outside the window of an old watch tower. The Red Sashes people inside don’t know he’s there. Mylera Klev walks in front of the window. Duck shoots her in the back.
Should this be a Prowl or a Hunt roll?
If Duck was stabbing her with a sword, it would be Prowl (attack from ambush). If Duck had a rifle on a rooftop on the other side of the alley, it would be Hunt. This is kind of in between.
I allowed the player to choose, but would appreciate people’s collective wisdom.
Prowl is defined as an “ambush with close violence”. Since Mylera is done distance away, and behind a window (not quite backstabbing material), I’d go with Hunt.
I’d likely lean towards Hunt because of the distance involved. However, I wouldn’t see Prowl as a terrible stretch, considering the physicality of hanging in the scaffolding and making a snap shot.
I think the overlap between actions is fine, and I’d lean towards what the player wanted in that case.
Out of Hunt, Prowl and Skirmish I think I’d eliminate Prowl and offer either Skirmish or Hunt with a slight preference for Skirmish.
I would certainly allow Skirmish if that’s how the player wanted to go. Assaulting a position, indeed! Normally I think of skirmish as back and forth, but I could see it for this too.
(I’m pretty flexible.)
I generally let players roll what they want to roll, and adjust the position accordingly. In this case, Prowl and Hunt seem ideal, probably Dominant for either of those. Skirmish would involve a fight, so maybe you just start blasting the window and when it shatters you jump on Mylera and crack her skull with the butt of the pistol. Sounds Risky!
This is an interesting situation. I actually think Prowl seems like the more Dominant action. To me, Hunt-ing implies a measure of care- the ‘precision shooting’ part of the description. In such a precarious position, hanging off scaffolding outside of a window, would Duck really be able to carefully watch Mylera’s movements and line up a shot? That sounds pretty Risky. It also seems like his main concern would be remaining undetected while hanging outside this window, which falls under Prowl-ing.
(This isn’t what he’s doing, but hanging outside of that window also presents a good opportunity for the ‘Breach defenses with force’ aspect of Wreck.)
Yeah, Jason, that makes sense, too. There’s no single official ruling here. Your thought process above is what you’d do at the table when you establish position.
Thanks all for the comments. The consensus seems to be follow the fiction and don’t get too bogged down in the details. Sounds good to me.
Btw, I liked this example, so I added it to the book. 🙂