GURPS Rules: Perception, Observation and Stealth

[Greg 1]

Under "Perception", on page 16 of Characters, the rules state "The GM makes a "Sense roll" against your Per to determine whether you notice something"

Under "Observation, on page 211 of Characters, the rules state "To spot deliberately hidden details - e.g., someone trying to sneak up on you... - you must win a Quick Contest of Observation skill vs. the Stealth...skill...of the other party".

Under "Stealth", on page 222 of Characters, the rules state "If someone is specifically on the alert for intruders, the GM will roll a Quick Contest between your Stealth and the sentinel's Perception"

This seems contradictory. Frankly, I'm not even sure of the relationship between Perception and Observation at all. Observation defaults to Perception at a whopping -5, so it is clearly supposed to be something significinatly different.

Just to really make things tricky, on page 358 of Campaigns, the rules state that when rolling a quick contest against a concealment skill (such as Stealth) the GM "may allow - or require - a skill such as Observation or Search to replace Perception for the roll". But it doesn't state under what conditions such a substitution should be demanded!

 

[SpikeThe Bummer]

Doesn't seem that contradictory to me. I can't say for sure regarding the book, since mine is far from handy, but for the most part it seems to be an opposed check of a skill vs a skill, or failing that a skill vs. an attribute (perception is a secondary attribute as far as I recall).

-5 as a default doesn't sound overly hefty to me, it seems most defaults fall into that range.

As for using stealth to oppose stealth... that follows if you are assuming that, in learning to be sneaky, you've developed a keen idea of what being sneaky entails, arming you with the skills necessary to oppose sneakiness.... I wouldn't buy it for that particular skill, but I can see how some people might.


So, to sum up: You can either roll the perception attribute (IQ based), the Observation skill or default the observation skill, as you prefer. It sounds like for players to spot something the perception attribute is rolled, for players to sneak past an NPC (or another PC), then an opposed roll is made. I don't really recall seeing an observation skill, but then I'm not in a position to look either...

 

[Greg 1]

Doesn't seem that contradictory to me.

Well, under Observation, it seems that when someone is trying to stealth past someone on the look out for stealthy persons, the Quick contest is Stealth vs Observation (or Perception -5)

On the other hand, under Stealth, it seems that in that when someone is trying to stealth past someone on the look out for stealthy persons, the Quick contest is Stealth vs Perception.

 

[fat buddha]

Observation "is the talent of observing . . . situations without letting others know that you are watching," according to Basic Set p. 211. Empasis mine. Observation isn't just about noticing things, it's about doing so on the down-low.