Wow, people overreacting...
I said that's how we play it...
I also said that RAW is different...
Chill out dudes...
No one in our group parries monowhips either...
Don't like it?
Don't use it...
But don't start preaching...

Hi there, and welcome to the internet. Today's big news bulletin: if you say something someone disagrees with, they'll let you know. That wraps up our headlines for the day, and no back to Bob, with sports...

I'm afraid that's the nature of the forum. You can't just throw an idea out there without expecting people who dislike it to attack it. We don't like your house rule, so we're going to tell you about it. Don't want to hear it? Don't post.

There's a difference between disliking the house rule and saying that we're raping RAW...
You go on a tirade about how it's an unfair ruling and players will hate the GM for it...
Ergo, needlessly overreacting...
Had you just stated your case, like whipstitch did, I would have no problem with it...
But your preaching? No, I don't agree that was a good reaction.

I simply stated the reasons why I think the house rule is bad. I'm not pretending to predict how your players will react. But I think most players would hate that rule. Unfairness and portential player hate are valid criticisms of a house rule. It's good that your players like it, and it's fine if you want to use it. But I'm not going to apologize for setting out my opinion in frank terms. Call it preaching if you want, I couldn't give two yen what you call it, or whether you appreciate it.

Really?

And on another note, I am one of those players, I'm currently not GMing SR, I'm GMing SLA Industries...

You seem to be taking this as a personal attack. Please don't. It was an attack on your idea, not you, your players, or your game. I just don't pull any punches in an argument. We should be able to speak our minds without worrying about someone else's sore feelings on here. We're all adults, so let's participate in discussions without letting it get into a personal fued.

It's feud, you drooling, inbred, moron! God! I'm never listening to anything you say anywhere on the internet ever again. You're an idiot! What kind of school did you go to? And how did you get passing grades? I bet your mom had to...blah blah blah, insult insult insult, rant rant rant, etc, etc, etc.

Strangely enough, I don't see the RAW here as a guarantee that the GM can't make a judgment call that prohibits one of the three possibilities. For the record, there are times when I judge that a player can't dodge, but *MUST* block the attack.

*ALSO* I am being the appropriate amount of literal in this situation. Melee skill allows you to manipulate the attack through *CONTACT* of some sort. It does not allow you to dodge the attack. I don't allow players to dodge using a melee skill, just like I don't allow them to fire shotguns with pistols skill or to fire machine guns with the assault weapons skill.

The RAW take on melee combat is a generic overview. It covers no situations that might be unusual. I have yet to meet a GM who is gung ho 'must follow RAW no matter what!'. It usually ends up as being detrimental to story or 'Shadowrun realism'. The GM will always get final say. So when you demand that the GM allow you your RAW 'guaranteed' melee block against that great dragon attack, don't be surprised when the GM tells you no.

The RAW also doesn't state that the GM can't add modifiers to a combat situation to reflect the difficulty of the situation. There will be some folks out there facing house ruled situations that aren't covered by RAW. So, I would recommend to everyone that you find out where your GM stands on the whole dodge issue beforehand. It will save you some headaches.

There is, however, one situation that is covered by the RAW: Superior Position.

The very last situation for a superior position is a 'restricted position'. Now, that doesn't just mean a situation where you're boxed in. It also means a position where you're actions are restricted. Such as you're fighting with your hands tied behind your back ... or if the nature of the attack severly limits the methods in which you can defend yourself. After all, you're trying to stop/alter the attack so it doesn't hit. When you add in that the attack is by something like a monowhip, that's definately a superior position for the guy with the monowhip.

So monowhips just automatically apply combat modifiers in the attacker's favor, on top of having a damage code not based on strength and their reach mods? Wow. You'd think with something that major, it'd be mentioned somewhere in their write-up.

Tunnel Rat, meet toturi.

I would think that this kind of thing is covered by the Reach rules.

SR4 has an abstract combat system, and it doesn't really stand up to having little bits of realism tacked on here and there.