Fighting against Large creatures..

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Dunadin777

(or maybe with the SM penalty reversed).

Isn't that already the case with Grapples (or am I confusing it with Pins)?

I also agree that it doesn't seem right that a Smaug-sized drake can dodge much of anything while on the ground.

If Ships-of-the-Line and Aircraft Carriers get a dodge then so should ginormous dragons. On the other hand, it's a lot easier to get to a hex that the dragon can't see you.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

If Ships-of-the-Line and Aircraft Carriers get a dodge then so should ginormous dragons. On the other hand, it's a lot easier to get to a hex that the dragon can't see you.

Yes, but why should ships of the line and aircraft carriers get to dodge attacks made in melee?

How exactly does it work?

I can see them trying to dodge (at very low odds) torpedoes that take a very long time to hit, but how do they get out of the way of anything that has a time-of-flight of under a second?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Yes, but why should ships of the line and aircraft carriers get to dodge attacks made in melee?

Because Kromm says so?

How exactly does it work?

No idea. It's one of the few areas of GURPS that I simply don't grasp.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Because Kromm says so?
No idea. It's one of the few areas of GURPS that I simply don't grasp.

You and me both.

I deal with it using Rule Zero. If I can see no plausible method in the real world to achieve the results of a mechanical rule, I don't allow a roll against said rule.

So, if someone has no way of moving fast enough to shift his body away from a certain attack in time, he gets no Dodge.

A flying dragon dodging an arrow aimed at his eye from a 100 yards out? Fine, he's moving fast and anything that shift his eye slightly is going to mean a miss at that eye*. A dragon dodging a crossbow bolt fired at his center mass from 5 yds? No way for him to get out of the way in time.

*Even though the arrow may still hit him somewhere else, I'd probably use the rules for hitting another target downrange.

[Dunadin777]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Isn't that already the case with Grapples (or am I confusing it with Pins)? If Ships-of-the-Line and Aircraft Carriers get a dodge then so should ginormous dragons. On the other hand, it's a lot easier to get to a hex that the dragon can't see you.

It looks like when pinning, there's a +3 per SM to pin the smaller guy, so it seems natural to me that there ought to be a reduced benefit for Grapples. That's according to B370, btw.

I'd say that in most cases the dragon will have enough ST to absorb you as extra encumbrance, even though you're technically taking grappling maneuvers up his body(presumably to mount his head for a Dragon Age-style coup de grace). Actually, I've been wanting to have encounters like this later on in my current campaign, so I will be probably looking at these rules a bit harder in the future.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Yes, but why should ships of the line and aircraft carriers get to dodge attacks made in melee?

How exactly does it work?

I can see them trying to dodge (at very low odds) torpedoes that take a very long time to hit, but how do they get out of the way of anything that has a time-of-flight of under a second?

Yeah, I don't care what the GURPS-gods say on that one. If I have a broadsword and I'm on a carrier deck, I'm hitting every time.

[Gigermann]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

What GURPS does lack that would be very useful to me (since it seems to come up a lot) are rules for what happens when a smaller character is climbing on a much larger foe.

This, and for larger foes grabbing and tossing/rending smaller ones. One of the best "big monster" fights I've seen in a movie is the first one in the (3d) Beowulf, with Grendel—ever considered gaming that out? It's tough to make that work in systems that feature normal human vs normal human as their baseline—a failing not just of GURPS, but any system I can think of.

[Ulzgoroth]

Shooting at a dragon or aircraft carrier at short range, you can account for some by using predictive shot to negate any possibility of an effective dodge.

Originally Posted by Dunadin777

Yeah, I don't care what the GURPS-gods say on that one. If I have a broadsword and I'm on a carrier deck, I'm hitting every time.

Well, it's unlikely that the carrier is even trying to dodge in that case. But that also falls under the already-noted case of climbing on something while you're fighting it, which surely should have effects but doesn't under RAW.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Dunadin777

Yeah, I don't care what the GURPS-gods say on that one. If I have a broadsword and I'm on a carrier deck, I'm hitting every time.

I think they're with you. Under Defending (B326, and again, B374): active defenses do not apply for those who "are unconscious, immobilized, or otherwise unable to act". We can probably assume that the large platform you are standing on would fall into one of those categories. Common sense suggests this as well, and should still be applied, regardless of whether you knew the quoted rule text, or thought it was talking about something else. JMO, as usual.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

I think they're with you. Under Defending (B326, and again, B374): active defenses do not apply for those who "are unconscious, immobilized, or otherwise unable to act". We can probably assume that the large platform you are standing on would fall into one of those categories.

Normally though if you are grappling someone they can defend against your attacks (and you can defend against theirs using your grappling skill to parry, or by dodging), at what point do they lose the ability to defend and at what point do you lose the ability to parry by grappling?

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Normally though if you are grappling someone they can defend against your attacks (and you can defend against theirs using your grappling skill to parry, or by dodging), at what point do they lose the ability to defend and at what point do you lose the ability to parry by grappling?

I'd suggest that you shouldn't be able to grapple-parry attacks from someone who can treat you as clinging encumbrance rather than a grappler.

Don't know when to say 'this opponent is attached to you such that you can't dodge with respect to them'.