They seem to be having fun with light element punches over in the Things I'm no longer allowed to do in Shadowrun thread.

EDIT: Also, if you're worried about the noise of a sound element punch you could always double up and learn electric element as well. Not as good as sound for ignoring armor, but still stun nonetheless and similar side effects.

Unless the GM decides that it makes BZZZRT! noises. It all depends.

Patrolling security guard, maybe not. I'm thinking extraction targets.

As for "Last Person Seen", I think I did mention the magical mask. Make sure it's a physical one, so that the trid cams see the same thing as the bar patrons.

It's also hilarious if you're extracting a straight, high-ranking Humanis, and your Pornomancer is a male Troll disguised as a rather comely human women. Make sure you drop the illusion just as he's getting into bed.

Sitting in a car (or a chair) is likely to give away the charade well before bedtime...

*grin* How can you make a bastet bark? Elemental Strike (Fire).
Corny classics converted!

I was about to make a joke about the Humanis having a Siamese twin fetish but thought better of it.

The thing about elemental strike is that it's not always on. In fact, it takes a simple action to activate, so there are certain advantages to not using it in general. Taking out a guard quietly? Well I'd hope a 10+DV punch would be enough to do the deed. If they're tougher than that, either sneak by or it'll be noisy one way or the other. At that point, sonic blasts will be the least of your worries.

Sound Blast is mainly useful when trying to drop a Cyberlimb Tank. Since drones ignore Stun and all that.

I see what you did there.

I think Mardax's post raises an important question. Can someone be deafened by exposure to loud noise outside of human hearing range?

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the mook concept too much. I do give them group karma, which on occasion has killed a PC or two.

Depends.
If the noise is too high to register, does it still affect the physical parts of the ear?
Does it still pop the drum? Or however that is called in engrish? <.<

If your ear drum pops, you're going to be deaf for longer than 10 minutes.

Michael Cheritto: "Hey, Slick, you see that s*** coming outta their ears? They can't f***ing hear you. Now cool it!" - Heat

Speaking from personal experience, it's pressure that pops the ear drum, not the frequency of sound per say. And that much pressure is going to be felt for quite a ways away if it's external and pops the ear drum. Internal pressure that pops the ear drum... Not so much. That's usually from liquid that's just going to dribble out in a disgusting ooze anyhow.

My group has had good success with chemical grenades when working against non-elite forces. They use Neuro-Stun if they want prisoners. They use CS gas if they want a diversion or simply wish to incapacitate large numbers of hostiles/bystanders. Obviously none of this works against professionals with gas masks or armor with chemseal. Against anyone not so protected it works like a charm. The street sam has a custom grenade pistol with the revolver and smart ammo selection mods and she mostly puts the grenades precisely where she intends.