New Skill: Defense

[Naaman]

Oh, so this is meant to be a separate skill in addition to agility (which is more about being a "hard target" than actually dodging, if I'm reading you right), while defense would be an actual dodge?
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SpecForce Combat Elements
All About Lightsabers: Designing, Building, and Fighting

[CRMcNeill]

[Naaman]

I see.

If it's realism you're after, have you considered analyzing boxing matches or MMA fights?

Most "dodges" are actually pre-planned unless fighting against someone who telegraphs.

When attacking, you create an exploitable opening. The best attackers tend to use positioning and movement to deny the opportunity to counter attack (or to foil the anticipated counter attack). So the dodge is preemptive sometimes.

If an attacker telegraphs, then the senses can perceive and react. If the attacker does not telegraph, the senses are irrelevant.

I'll see if I can dig up a video explaining what I mean.


Here we are:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wdPP0TmqKiU

And one of these vids describes how to punch so that you are not vulnerable to counter attack (getting hit instead of hitting; or being blocked/evaded and hit). I forget which one. If I have time later I'll narrow it down.
https://m.youtube.com/results?search_query=michael+jai+white+punching+technique
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SpecForce Combat Elements
All About Lightsabers: Designing, Building, and Fighting

[CRMcNeill]

I'm not really interested in doing detailed fight choreography; I much prefer the Dueling Blades system, where a couple of opposed rolls represents an entire round worth of combat. I'm still working on the details, but at the moment, I'm thinking each side gets to roll their Brawling or Melee Combat (depending on whether or not they're armed) against the opponent's Defense, and vice versa. Since both skills are being use concurrently, making both an Attack and Defense roll in a single round counts for both MAP and CAP purposes, with either side having the option of going full attack or full defense.

So, with regard to your suggestion, Defense isn't a single action, but rather an entire round's worth of defensive action against whatever attack an opponent is trying to make. It also includes parries and any other kind of action the defending character might make in order to avoid or mitigate an attack.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Naaman]

Cool, man.

Makes sense to me.
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SpecForce Combat Elements
All About Lightsabers: Designing, Building, and Fighting

[CRMcNeill]

[Naaman]

It's a tough one to simulate (for me) as a dexterity skill. If anything, in reality it would fall under the tactics skill.

But being quick is certainly helpful.

In case any of this helps:

To minimize the chance of being hit a person must be able to quickly read the battlefield and take advantage of what it offers, both for cover/concealment and for field of view/line of sight.

Knowing your surroundings is a big part of it. Being able to maneuver quickly to a position of dominance also matters, but I'd think somewhat less so than the situational and spacial awareness component.

Lastly, take advantage of the opponent's perceptions, assumptions, and limitations. When risking exposure to take a shot, minimize exposure as much as possible, and when peeking around your cover, do so from unexpected places. If you are tall, kneel down and peer out below your opponent's eye level, etc.
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SpecForce Combat Elements
All About Lightsabers: Designing, Building, and Fighting

[Argentsaber]

[CRMcNeill]

Giving this a bump because I stumbled across a pertinent mention in another topic. Short version, rather than going with the +5/+10 modifiers mentioned in the original write-up, it might be more appropriate (especially in a system using opposed skill rolls, ala Dueling Blades) to use dice modifiers. I had originally suggested +2D/+3D in the other topic, but the number ranges match better using +1D/+2D.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[CRMcNeill]

Also, while this is somewhat off-topic, it is the result of what I mentioned here and here, so I figure it's apropos.

While Static Defense Values certainly have their advantages, I'm leaning more and more in the direction of using opposed rolls (ala Dueling Blades) for resolving several forms of combat, and using SDVs doesn't work as well here. However, there are still some scenarios where SDVs work well, particularly the limited form of Dodge-during-movement I discussed above.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Mamatried]

Actively defending in melee (and rawling) IS actually using a skill.
so I am even inclined to some form of opposed rolls even at times, not only a static defense.

Though this would make 3 skills basically sharing much of the same role, brawling parry, melee parry and "defense"

[CRMcNeill]

...

I’ve been pretty clear from the first post that Defense is a combination of Melee Parry and Brawling Parry, not an additional skill. Perhaps you need a refresher?
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[CRMcNeill]

A thought...

Should defense be usable against ranged weapons at Point Blank Range? If the combat is occurring at a range of 3 meters or so, that would be close enough for the defender to actually get hands-on the blaster/firearm itself.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[MrNexx]

[CRMcNeill]

That’s going to be something of a grey area, as actually grappling someone to tie up the gun would fall more under Brawling. I’m formulating a close combat system based on an expansion of Dueling Blades that covers Brawling, and I have a preliminary concept for purely defensive martial forms to be able to “power block”: defend in a way that causes damage, so a weapon lock / bind option would be a logical step.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index