Dodging ranged attack while in cover?

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

You guys aren't following me. I'm not saying you measure these modifiers multiplicatively; I'm saying you can't say "half a face is -2 in the hit location system, so half a whole body is -2 without a hit location system." You're not meant to extrapolate an entire targeting subsystem from a single special case.

Actually, because of the way the range/speed/size table works, you can, and it works.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

You guys aren't following me. I'm not saying you measure these modifiers multiplicatively; I'm saying you can't say "half a face is -2 in the hit location system, so half a whole body is -2 without a hit location system." You're not meant to extrapolate an entire targeting subsystem from a single special case.

The rule isn't "half a face is -2 in the hit location system". It's "half of any hit location is -2 in the hit locations system".

Numerically speaking, going from whole body (-0) to half-covered body (-2) is the same as going from whole torso (-0) to half-covered torso (-2), and the latter is the rule as written.

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by Rupert

Actually, because of the way the range/speed/size table works, you can, and it works.

Well, I can't disagree with that. I withdraw my objection.

Of course, if you're using the Size and Speed/Range Table to determine the penalties to hit exposed parts of the body, all you're doing is recreating the hit location system from scratch, which is what the original poster wanted to avoid. *shrug*

[Dustin]

As a houserule, I've been playing that targets near cover (so a 1 yard Retreat would put them behind it) can take the +3 Retreat bonus from a Dodge And Drop without going prone.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

Of course, if you're using the Size and Speed/Range Table to determine the penalties to hit exposed parts of the body, all you're doing is recreating the hit location system from scratch

Mostly true, though the hit locations notably don't always strictly match the SSR sizes. They've got some extra fudging here and there, rationalized as instinctive reactions to protect certain body parts or their high degree of relative motion in combat, as opposed to just shooting different sizes of circle on a paper target.

My point wasn't to painstakingly measure every body part and make a table of locations with precalculated modifiers. (That's the hit location table, as you say, if that's what a GM wants.) It was to point out that the TDM examples are consistent with the SSR, and that the SSR has an easy-to-remember rule for the GM for estimating a modifier on the fly (halve the size, subtract 2, so if you can mentally picture the amount of the body that's covered, you're gong to be close). The rules are pleasantly consistent in this regard.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

The rule isn't "half a face is -2 in the hit location system". It's "half of any hit location is -2 in the hit locations system".

Yeah that pretty much lines up with B19's -2 to hit a 1-yard (3ft) tall target vs -0 to hit a 2 yard (6ft) target. Or -4 to hit an 18 inch (half of 3ft or 36 inches).

It just gets weird in the higher SMs as SM+2 is 15 ft (3 yards) rather than 12ft (2 yards).

We do see the doubling later though, like SM+10 is 100 yards vs SM+8 which is 50 yards.

+2/+4/+6 consistently goes 5y/10y/20y too.

It's just the 6>8 jump is 20y>50y so it's not a pure doubling system but some kind of "round to a multiple of five for pretty" thing going on I guess?

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Plane

some kind of "round to a multiple of five for pretty" thing going on I guess?

Exactly. It's intent is just a straight log table, but as the sizes/distances get larger, it periodically just gets arbitrarily adjusted to a prettier number.

Nobody really wants a mathematically pure doubling so they have to deal with 512 yards instead of 500 or 2048 yards instead of 1 mile, nor is that really a huge error given the granularity and approximation already in the game. Annoying for spreadsheet developers and game aid programmers because they just can't write a 1-line formula that duplicates the text, better for human beings that are actually trying to relate to the in-game events.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Exactly. It's intent is just a straight log table, but as the sizes/distances get larger, it periodically just gets arbitrarily adjusted to a prettier number.

Nobody really wants a mathematically pure doubling so they have to deal with 512 yards instead of 500 or 2048 yards instead of 1 mile, nor is that really a huge error given the granularity and approximation already in the game. Annoying for spreadsheet developers and game aid programmers because they just can't write a 1-line formula that duplicates the text, better for human beings that are actually trying to relate to the in-game events.

As I recall, Hero used a -2 per doubling past a certain point-blank range.

GURPS' system follows a consistent 1-1.5-2-3-5-7-10 sequence for size, range, and speed, for -6 per x10. Once you've memorised that and that the zero point is '2' (and probably some common numbers, like '100 is +-10') it's really simple.

[Black Leviathan]

I'd say, short of Enhanced Time Sense or other advantage, your dodge is simply understanding an attack is coming towards your body and throwing yourself out of the way. There are active defense penalties for posture so if you're laying down, kneeling, crouching behind cover you have those dodge rolls. However, you likely don't have a sense of weather or not that attack is going to hit you or cover, you could guess based on how much of you is protected but it's always going to be a guess.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Acala

Simple question. During ranged combat, if one combatant is in cover, his attacker is forced to target the hit locations that are outside of cover. Okay.

But if his attacker hits anyway, does the combatant get a chance to dodge? Like getting his whole body behind the cover at the right time? Or dodging ranged attacks is only available if you are moving around?

Sure. As long as you know that a (potential) attack is incoming and you're not completely immobilized you should get your normal Active Defense.

It's the GURPS equivalent of "whack a mole" - the target ducks his head/arm/whatever out of the way or back under cover before the missile hits. It happens all the time to snipers making long-ranged shots or in firefights where opponents are using "Opportunity Fire" and react just a fraction of a second too late to a "Pop Up" attack (both described on p. B390).