3.1.3: Dodging

While many RPGs? use a skill called dodge, and SWRPG:0.5.x did for a while, the skill has been removed for one simple reason: You can't dodge bullets or blaster fire. You can make yourself hard to hit through high-speeds, erratic motion, and cover, but you can't actually dodge a shot. Therefore, dodge has been removed as a skill. Instead, comprehensive cover rules presented above are further complemented with information on how to use the running skill to increase your chances of not being hit. Dodging is now simply based on how fast you can move. For every full 10 meters/round you can move, you get +1D to hit. This is on top of any cover modifiers, but they must be applicable while you are moving. Otherwise the attacker may have a chance to choose when to shoot you. For example, a rebel with a move of 10 sprints all-out 40 meters and gets a +4D to the difficulty to hit him. If he does this behind a low wall at medium range, the 1/2 cover and running combine for +8D...

You may be thinking "What about erratic movement and leading the target?" Well, we're considering that you're only going to be moving for a little bit here. On top of that, your dodge checks cannot be increased due to character points here, since it's a straight bonus. Now you can spend to increase your running to get that extra die, maybe, but that's not the same as dropping five CP to dodge taking a 4D dodge and turning it into 9D with six exploding dice. Also, you don't have to move the full distance that your move says you can, you could sprint at a move of 40 just to move 10m across a small street. But you get a higher dodge bonus because you're moving faster and not loitering. Basically all this is doing is saying that you should look for cover first because that will help you a lot more than running. Even the best characters should only be able to get maybe +5D to their to-hit checks here, so if you are going up against unskilled troops, then that should be enough, but if you're going up against trained soldiers, then it won't help as much. They're more likely to be able to quickly and accurately lead a target. And finally, there's only so much moving erratically can do. You still have to go from point A to point B, and it may be obvious where you're trying to go to your opponent who can aim for a place that you will go through. Finally, this system is extendable towards vehicles, as a vehicle moving at 160m/rnd will get +16D due to speed, but also will suffer a penalty based on how large it is. So speeder bikes are really hard to hit since they're fast and small, while landspeeders and walkers are easier targets. Vehicle to vehicle would use a base distance other than 10m, but the idea would still be the same. 3-D combat (such as space combat) has a few more options and so will retain dodging for the moment.

Now, this system doesn't really work if you're running at or away from who's shooting at you, because you're not moving in a way that makes it any harder to hit. There are two ways to handle this. Technically it's the tangential movement that makes you harder to hit, so therefore you can use trigonometry to figure this one out. I'm not going to describe it because if you want to use this, you shouldn't need instructions. A simpler way is that if you're moving more away from the target than towards (45 degrees or more from target), then you get the full benefits of the bonus. If you're moving 30 degrees to 45 degrees from the target (from 1 to 2 o'clock if the target is at 12 o'clock), you get half your bonus. If you're moving less than 30 degrees, you don't get any bonus, although you may make an intimidation check if the GM allows, which may have similar effects. Finally, movement may allow you to change range bands to get within the range of some weapons before they can be fired or get to a farther range band before the attacker can use them. Timing of actions is of critical importance in these cases. Be sure to carefully roll initiative.

Other skills may be used instead of running. Acrobatics may be used at half the movement rate and adds an additional +1D if the movement check succeeds by more than ten. Powersuit operations should be used if in power armor. Zero-g ops is used in microgravity environments. The appropriate movement rate should always be used, however.

Example: Dabai Kingston, a Jedi Knight, is attempting to run to cover while being attacked by a trio of battle droids with light repeaters. Each battle droid covers two one-meter areas in succession and he has to move through all six zones to reach cover. Luckily, he has burst of speed up, so his normal move of 11 is increased to 33 because he had a 25 on the Control check. So he's moving at all out, and he makes a 25 on his running check. The terrain difficulty was only a five because he's on flat artificial terrain (a docking bay), so he gets a 20% increase to his move. That makes his total movement this round 158 meters. That gets him a +16D to any to-hit numbers against him. The droids, on the other hand, are putting 20 rounds in each one square meter zone, (each droid has 2 repeaters firing 20 rounds spread over two 1m^2 zone, but they're layered on top of each other so it's 20 rounds per m^2, and we're assuming they can hit the zone) meaning that Dabai will have to roll that 16D six times and get better than a 20 each time or else he may just be in for a world of hurt. However, that doesn't look too bad for odds...