Enhancing reaction, what happens? Options

[Lividicus]

Just curioues as to any rules or house rules people use in reference to enhancing a characters reaction.

in theory if a person uses some sort of Reaction enhancement they react faster than they can observe.

ie- a kid with a black squirt gun comes running up to a shadwrunner with enhanced reaction. Does he shoot the kid first then observe that it was a squirt gun or does he roll perception with a higher threshold?

basically i was thinking that if reaction is higher than intuition they need to roll a higher threshold and lower if it is equal to or less than.

[Eryk the Red]

There's a fundamental assumption that that's built in with Reaction. Otherwise it just complicates things. Obviously, Reaction wouldn't help you with stuff that you decide needs a perception roll to figure out. But there's no particular disadvantage to having Reaction lower than Intuition. And well there shouldn't be.

[Lividicus]

so characters do not just react they react and observe in the same roll? The surprise roll contradicts that doesn't it? I mean reaction is the natural reaction of a character isn't it it isn't always a thought through and calculated action that follows is it?

[Eryk the Red]

If it's a surprise situation, you would indeed use the surprise rules. That's what they're for.

[Lividicus]

so a perception check is needed and if failed he reacts without knowing its a squirt gun?

[Backgammon]

There are no rules, nor even a mention of this, in 4th ed.

Previously, all I recall is a line saying character with enhanced reation tended indeed to jump the gun, and the GM cold enforce some sort of rule where if the chracter became nervous or was surprised, he might act before thinking - i.e. blow the kid's head off. But there were never any hard rules IIRC.

I also think that in 4th ed all wired reflexes come with a shutoff switch, making the point mostly moot.

[Crusher Bob]

I come done on the other side of this argument. Enhanced reactions can't just soley be about muscle movements, which the human body can do plenty fast already, but about 'perception'. The enhanced reactions must also give you more time to think about what you want to do, so the guy with wired reflexes is just as likely to shoot the kid with the squirtgun as any other person who shoots people right in the face for money.

One thing though, is that a sam dealing with normal guys will have to quite often give up some of his speed. Is that guy reaching into his jacket getting his wallet or pulling a gun on you? Sure you could darw and shoot him in the face before his hand comes out of the jacket, but do you want to? Of course, someone with enhanced reflexes has a much better chance if they want to wait the guy out to see what comes out of the jacket. A slow poke will just get shot if the guy comes out of the jacket with a weapon, as they have no hope of drawing and shooting that fast.

If you are in combat already, then you probably know who you want to shoot in the face already. In a social situation, your reflex edge is reduced somewaht, unless you want to preempt all the slowpokes with a shot in the face.