Total Surprise

When the defenders are taken com-
pletely by surprise, they “freeze.” The
GM rolls 1d. This is the number of sec-
onds that pass before the defenders
can react at all. Until that time is up,
they are mentally stunned and must
take the Do Nothing maneuver.
Exception:
Those
with
Combat
Reflexes never freeze, and treat total
surprise as partial surprise.
Adventurers, guards, etc. rarely suf-
fer total surprise unless they are actu-
ally asleep. But total surprise would be
appropriate if a group of werewolves
came charging through the door of the
local library. (In fact, such an extreme
case might justify a Fright Check – at
least for the librarian.)
After the initial “freeze” ends, each
defender must roll against his basic IQ
at the start of his turn until he recov-
ers. On a success, he must take Do
Nothing that turn, but can act nor-
mally for the rest of the combat. On a
failure, he is still mentally stunned; he
may roll again at the start of his next
turn. A low-IQ character, taken totally
by surprise, could miss the whole
combat!