Parry and Dodge March 1, 2007
Posted by skycast in House Rules.trackback
Per the rules, Parry is equal to 2 plus half your character’s Fighting (2 if you don’t have Fighting). This is the target number that must be attained in order to hit you in melee combat.Why is it that it’s a static target number (4) with range modifiers to hit you when being attacked with a ranged weapon?
Doesn’t make all kinds of sense to me, so I’m going to propose a new derived statistic called Dodge. Dodge is equal to 2 plus half your character’s Agility, this is the target number that must be attained in order to hit you with a ranged attack; normal range modifiers apply.
Is this unbalanced or over-powered? Is it even necssary? I don’t know, but on paper it looks fine to me.
An interesting concept to say the least. I assume you would have (Improved) Dodge add to this Dodge trait in the same fashion that (Improved) Block adds to Parry. It will definitely make scoring a hit in ranged combat more difficult than in the basic system. Unlike with Parry, everyone has the trait on which Dodge is based. I suggest posting this idea over on the Pinnacle Forum to increase the likelyhood that persons more in tune with The Savage Way than myself will see this and offer their thoughts.
I will post it over there, thanks for the feedback.
Another option if it seems to make hitting too difficult is to either make Dodge 1 + half Agility or just half Agility.
It’s different (to me at least) because with ranged combat you might not know who’s shooting at you. If you don’t, why should some who is quicker be able to dodge someone shooting at them from behind or further away.
That being said, it is too easy to hit someone with a ranged weapon. Maybe you should have to aim one round to get the normal TN=4, otherwise it’s -2 (or TN=6).
Don’t forget cover and dropping prone. There’s a reason why they emphasize that in the base rules! An easy way to really cut back on the likelihood of success.
Oh and twilight/night as well. Not everyone in combat is standing in an open field in the middle of the day!
As to the fighting comment, I agree, which is why I pretty much won’t let an adventurer out of the starting block without Fighting d4. It’s by far the most important skill point you’ll ever spend.