No Quarter

[Glorelendil]

Alternatively, just fight smarter against No Quarter Foes.

This assumes you know who they are.

[Majestic]

Yeah, I don't think it's fair to assume the PCs are just going to magically know the special abilities of their foes.

I'm kind of surprised - after reading through all seven pages of this thread - that no official answer was ever given. I don't think there is actually any difference between being knocked out and being unconscious, is there?

[Falenthal]

I don't think there is actually any difference between being knocked out and being unconscious, is there?

Well, up to some point, there is.

A character gets knocked out when he receives two Wounds (one if a Loremaster Character or Adversary).
As a direct consequence, said character gets Unconscious.

A character gets exhausted when his Endurance reaches 0.
As a direct consequence, said character gets Unconscious.

So Unconscious is a state that can be reached by several ways: every knocked out character is also Unconscious, but not every Unconscious character has been knocked out (he could also be exhausted).

What right now isn't important, but could be in the future, are the effects knock out and exhausted.
The fact is that the rules say an Unconscious character recovers conscience once he gets 1 Endurance point back.
A knock out character might, in fact, be at full Endurance (for example after two failed Hazards tests that Wound him). I think the RAW has a dark spot here, but I guess he could recover conscience once his Wound has been treated.
An exhausted character could even rest in the road or take his 30 minutes after combat, and recover some Endurance. That would be enough for him to recover conscience.

Both states, knock out and exhausted haven't been used AFAIK in the rules as different from Unconscious.
But maybe in the future we could see some effects that drive to them:
For example, examining a Palantir could leave the character exhausted (at 0 Endurance) if a Corruption test is failed. [see the effect of gazing into the orb for Pippin]. The character should need some time to rest before waking up, and then some more before he stops being Weary and gets to full Endurance.
And a friend rescued after he's been tortured might be found knocked out (with two Wounds) in the depth of a cell. The rescuing party should probably try to Heal the character as soon as possible. Once healed, though, the character could even be at full Endurance (and not Weary) for the rest of the rescue.

Remember that only those with one Wound AND 0 Endurance are Dying. An Unconscious character doesn't die if left alone for some time.

[Angelalex242]

As far as no quarter goes, I'd say it works on anyone whose eyes are shut and lying on the ground, whether they got there by 0 end, 2 wounds, or just plain sleeping.

[Rich H]

As far as no quarter goes, I'd say it works on anyone whose eyes are shut and lying on the ground, whether they got there by 0 end, 2 wounds, or just plain sleeping.

Not strictly; No Quarter is about delivering a killing blow made after a successful primary attack by the same creature to the same opponent on the same turn. It's a quite specific set of conditions so someone sleeping on a battlefield wouldn't need a creature to have No Quarter in order to be killed by them - they could have their throat slit by any opponent really. The existence of NQ within the rules is to allow for creatures to incapacitate opponents with one attack and follow it up immediately with a killing blow.

[Angelalex242]

Fair enough.

Still, it could be triggered by both 0 end AND 2 wounds. It's not an either or thing.

[Majestic]

Thanks for the excellent explanation, Falenthal. It will be interesting to see if they ever use mechanics that work with one and not the other.

[Falenthal]

Thanks for the excellent explanation, Falenthal. It will be interesting to see if they ever use mechanics that work with one and not the other.

Your're welcome, Majestic!

Yes, it seems Francesco did a jewelry work trying to differentiate between some states that, afterwards, he did not use. But at least he worked on a solid ground in case he needs this difference in the future.