Vehicle combat Options

[Eryk the Red]

I'll bet I'm missing something that's in the book, but I'm trying to figure out what gets rolled for defense when a vehicle gets shot at in combat. The way I've been running it has been the driver's Reaction + the vehicle's Handling (+ the vehicle skill if on full defense). And the vehicle skill gets added to the roll if the attack is melee. (Which I imagine mostly matters if the cybered-up troll decides he wants to punch a sedan.) Anyway, is this how other people are running this? It hasn't come up too much in our game, but I'd like to be able to solidify this rule.

[DireRadiant]

p. 161

"When a vehicle is attacked in ranged combat, the driver rolls
his Reaction +/– Handling as the defense part of the Opposed
Test. Drones roll their Pilot +/– Handling."

the full dodge\full defense equivalent is also described immediately afterward.

"Evasive Driving
Vehicles that are under attack can take a Complex Action
and undertake evasive driving—the vehicle equivalent of full defense.
Th is means the driver of the vehicle can add his Vehicle skill
dice to the defense dice pool to dodge ranged attacks (drones add
their Defense autosoft rating, see p. 239). Evasive driving cannot
be used against ramming attacks."

So it looks like what you are doing seems correct.

[Eryk the Red]

Odd. I'm not sure I understand why evasive driving doesn't help against ramming. It seems like exactly the sort of thing that would help when someone tries to hit you with their car.

[Mistwalker]

Probably because evading gunfire is different than trying to evade a ramming attack. Two different driving methodes. One, you are jinking back and forth, the other, you are trying to move as fast as possible to one side to avoid the big nasty vehicle trying to hit you.

[Eryk the Red]

It makes sense that the maneuvers are different, it just doesn't make much sense to me that there is no such thing as evasive maneuvers against ramming.

[Demerzel]

It probably has something to do with the ramming mechanics being significantly different from the ranged mechanics? That's just a guess though, since I haven't got a book handy.