Oh God! It's a New GM with a Question! Options

[CorvusVlos]

So, I've been interested in Shadowrun since I was a young child in the mid nineties (Around 7 or 8 ), and loved reading, and RPG's. I recently purchased the 3rd edition, and learned it front to back, by heart...
And then I got enough money to buy fourth edition. So... I plan on running the starting adventure "Food Fight 4.0", that is on the website, as my introduction to GMing shadowrun, and my player's introduction to the game in general. However, I have a small question regarding something that I saw in a character generator.

I saw the skill "Dodge" with the specialization "Ranged"... Now, the quickstart rules mention that there is no skill for dodging ranged attacks, but there's also no Defaulting Penalty... What is the official ruling on this? Can you dodge bullets, or is "Dodge(Ranged)" a skill related to say, Arrows/Bolts, Etc...?

This post has been edited by CorvusVlos: Jun 1 2010, 02:19 AM

[Yerameyahu]

The normal 'dodge' against bullets is just [Reaction], but you can 'abort' your action to a Full Dodge, in which case you take no other action, but you roll [Reaction + Dodge (+ Specialization)].

[CorvusVlos]

The normal 'dodge' against bullets is just [Reaction], but you can 'abort' your action to a Full Dodge, in which case you take no other action, but you roll [Reaction + Dodge (+ Specialization)].

Ah, okay. It doesn't mention aborting actions in the quickstart guide, I don't think.

Well thanks!

[Tanegar]

He's referring to Full Defense. Basically, you spend that initiative pass doing nothing but dodging.

[Yerameyahu]

Yes, Full Dodge is one of the 3 Full Defense options: Dodge, Parry, Gymnastic Dodge. Anyway, good luck. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Oh, you can still move and take other free actions; any Full Defense is just a Complex Action.

[Method]

The word "dodge" conjures some silly notions about how gun battles work. If you don't want your game to resemble the Matrix movies, you should explain to your players that the Reaction (+/- Dodge) roll more accurately represents tactical movement, use of intervening terrain, ducking for cover (in an abstract sense), etc.

[CorvusVlos]

The word "dodge" conjures some silly notions about how gun battles work. If you don't want your game to resemble the Matrix movies, you should explain to your players that the Reaction (+/- Dodge) roll more accurately represents tactical movement, use of intervening terrain, ducking for cover (in an abstract sense), etc.

A good point. I think I might ban the Ranged specialization for just this reason.

[Tanegar]

A good point. I think I might ban the Ranged specialization for just this reason.

Lolwut? Why can't you specialize your skill at avoiding attacks in tactical movement, use of intervening terrain, and ducking for cover instead of ducking a fist/sword/club/whatever?

[Saint Sithney]

The general use for Dodge in ranged combat is to maneuver yourself into a better position and burn enemy IPs. If you've got 3 IP and the target has 1, you go full defense for the first pass, then on the 2nd and third, you plug the guy. Imagine the character making a running slide toward cover, ducking under a an SMG burst, and tagging the combatant square in the chest. Or, for Gymnastic Dodge in a hallway, the Runner makes a dash towards the side wall, only to spring off that wall and do a flying leap back across the corridor and fire a couple of times during the jump.

Ranged Dodge can be totally cinematic and awesome. Don't forget that augmented characters are superhuman.

[Tanegar]

Don't forget that augmented characters are superhuman.

That graphic ranks very high on the list of the most awesome things to come out of Dumpshock, IMO. As always, kudos to knasser.