Moving silently when you're standing still

[Nareau]

Tonight, my group tucked themselves around the corner in order to ambush a couple of scouts that had come looking for them. I figured that the "Move Silently vs. Listen" mechanic would be the best to determine whether or not they could remain quiet.

Unfortunately, the group consists of mostly dwarves, one of which was in plate mail. Even if I let them 10 or 20, he's going to be a clanking mess.

How would you handle this? Make them roll, and suck it up? Let them take 10? Let them take 20? Give them some kind of circumstance bonus?

Ultimately, I let them take 10, and gave them a +5 bonus for standing perfectly still. This wasn't good enough, and they were quickly discovered.

Thanks for the input,
Spider

 

[Darklone]

I would have done it as you did. Did you take the distance modifiers into account?

 

[fba827]

I think your choice was sound

 

[Arthur Tealeaf]

Maybe we need a new "stand still & shut up" skill?

 

[Vaxalon]

I would give a bonus for remaining motionless. If you're not walking around, there's not much beyond fidgeting that will make noise.

+10 ought to be about right.

 

[Skinwalker]

+10 sounds a little over the top to me. After all, that is the same as the Silent Moves armor enchantment. Spider's +5 is closer to what I would consider the mark.

 

[DiFier]

Put on full plate and then grab a large axe. now stand perfectly still. . . . wait no don't shift your weight, clank, oh oh oh an itch clank. breathing. clink. I think that +5 is fine.

 

[Pielorinho]

Well, the normal move silently skill represents moving at half speed; moving at full speed is at a -5 penalty. Running is at a -20 penalty.

The question is this, as far as I can tell: is the noise difference between walking 10'/round and walking 20'/round the same as the noise difference between standing sitll and walking 10'/round?

I've never worn plate mail, so I'm not sure, but I'd guess not: I'd probably give a +10 or +20 bonus for standing still and trying not to move. Probably +10: the difference between tiptoeing (+0) and running (-20) is probably greater than the difference between standing still (+??) and tiptoeing (+0).

I have, after all, been around Morris dancers, covered in bells. When they're standing still, the bells don't jingle. I'd expect that armor would be the same way.

However, it's not a big deal one way or the other.

Daniel

 

[mikebr99]

I will also agree that it seems like you did the right thing...

YMMV


Mike

 

[HeavyG]

Personally, I would have just assumed that immobile ambushing adventurers wouldn't make a sound and just gone with spot checks instead. *shrug*

Or possibly a listen check vs a high static DC.

The move silently skill should be only used when moving, IMO.

Also, some DMs make it way too hard for PCs to ambush monsters. The reverse is often true too.