03-21-2016, 10:11 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Dodgin' Bullets
I've been reading up on mechanics for handling gunfights and noticed that (unless I missed something important) defenders get basically the same roll for dodging a bullet that they would from a slower projectile or a melee weapon. The book does differentiate here by establishing the defender as not actively dodging the bullet as much as preemptively dodging the shooter, and, arguably, the defender cannot parry or block gunfire, but the straight-up dodge roll appears to be unchanged: success vs. dodge.
In a comparative lineup, one can reflexively dodge a swing from a baseball bat or a thrust from a knife; one can even conceivably duck or twist to avoid a well-aimed arrow (although I, having shot my share of bows, would consider that a degree more difficult; arrow velocity is not negligible); but most firearms launch a projectile at several hundred feet per second in general. And yet they all get the same success roll vs. dodge. My question is this: Did I miss something in my basic study of combat mechanics, or do the basic rules really operate this way? Are there supplements that deal with this topic? Again, maybe it's the fact that I'm missing certain supplements, but I just find it odd that you can have a crack shot ace his shots with impunity, only to have his target dodge the round with the same frequency as any other attack. The more I think about it, the more I feel I really must be missing some rules somewhere, because the mitigating anti-whiff factors for melee attacks come in the form of feints and ruses and the like, but I'm not seeing anything a gunner can do to impact his target's dodge roll. Insight? Last edited by FF_Ninja; 03-21-2016 at 10:13 AM. Reason: Clarifications. |
03-21-2016, 10:19 AM | #2 | |
Doctor of GURPS Ballistics
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lakeville, MN
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Re: Dodgin' Bullets
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03-21-2016, 10:22 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Austin, TX
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Re: Dodgin' Bullets
The Basic rules are that you can Dodge an unlimited number of shots from firearm shooters that you can see, so you're correct in that aspect.
Martial Arts adds Prediction Shots (MA 121) to allow shooters make Deceptive Attacks that only penalize the target's Dodge. Some people house-rule that high speed attacks (bullets, laser beams) include a certain amount of automatic Prediction in them. Tactical Shooting adds an optional rule for Restricted Dodge Against Firearms (TS 17) where you can only Dodge against one attacker with a firearm at a time. Edit: ninja'd by Doug: And there's a couple of optional rules floating around in Pyramid but I don't recall the issues.
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03-21-2016, 10:25 AM | #4 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Dodgin' Bullets
Martial Arts, Tactical Shooting, and the "Dodge This" Pyramid article (#3/57) all address this in various ways. Your reading is accurate - you get the same Dodge roll against a baseball bat as against a rifle. Well, almost - against that bat, you can Retreat for +3, but against the rifle to get a +3 you have to Dodge and Drop, which puts you in a bad position to avoid later shots. Martial Arts and Tactical Shooting also have rules for making ranged Feints and Deceptive Attacks (called Predictive Shooting for the latter), and there are also rules for being harsher in terms of the character being aware of a rifle pointed at them, requiring the characters be moving evasively to even get a Dodge, and so forth.
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03-21-2016, 10:33 AM | #5 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Dodgin' Bullets
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03-21-2016, 10:44 AM | #6 | |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Dodgin' Bullets
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This does make me wonder if there are suppression rules, though... I should look that up. It would add an extra element to high-volume fire! |
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03-21-2016, 11:13 AM | #7 | |
Doctor of GURPS Ballistics
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lakeville, MN
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Re: Dodgin' Bullets
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With a step? Yeah. People miss in gunfights all the time. And consider the consequences - in most cases, one or two bullets is The End for the PCs. If not "dead or crippled," then at least "out of the fight and reading a book in the background" which is, given RPGing is a social thing, the metagame equivalent of 'yer ded. sorry.'
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03-21-2016, 11:16 AM | #8 | |
Doctor of GURPS Ballistics
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lakeville, MN
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Re: Dodgin' Bullets
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03-21-2016, 11:21 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Dodgin' Bullets
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Is the military experience really making you imagine that rounds in magazine to people shot is going to be anywhere near 1:1? Do also note that people participating in a gunfight often dodge at a penalty or not at all. Being prone penalizes attackers, but it also penalizes active defenses. Engaging in any sort of aimed or sighted shooting precludes dodging as well, though the rules do allow you to dodge after an Aim maneuver at the cost of ruining your Aim benefit. In Tactical Shooting.
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03-21-2016, 11:23 AM | #10 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Dodgin' Bullets
I wonder to what degree hit probability, over history, varies per shot vs per reload. There is some incentive to say "I have an 18 round magazine, so I might as well take 5% shots", whereas if you had a 6 round magazine you might pass on those same shots.
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Tags |
guns, tactical shooting |
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