- Until an actual fight against fit opposition breaks out, don’t use the combat system.
- Instead, if you’re doing violence to someone, just make an appropriate attack roll against the appropriate defense, modified per circumstances as appropriate.
- On a hit, things go your way.
- On a miss, things get out of control. Like this:
- You accidentally hurt/kill someone (e.g., I only meant to knock him out!)
- They get away
- They sound the alarm
- They hit the deck/dig in/dive for cover
- They attack you
RAW 4e (and #e as well) is pretty much not going to let you do the “knock the guard out” thing. Unless all your guards are minions. That’s a possibility.
Because, lookit: if this were a movie, or any kind of media really, it would be possible to one shot snipe that big huge hobgoblin across the way. But, RAW, it’s not possible. (Unless maybe, maybe, you critted on two dailies, but why would you be doing that against a sentry?)
So above is how you fix it.