EASY WAY TO USE DODGE IN YOUR GAME

Sometimes new GMs to 1E Star Wars struggle with Dodge--when to roll it. It can get a bit unwieldy if, as the game book says, that Dodge must be rolled before an attack, but the attack roll is also used for initiative. Dodges don't have to be declared. They are reaction rolls, used in reaction to an attack, and Dodges are not penalized if they are rolled before any other actions during the segment.

So, here's my advice: Run your combat as if no character had Dodge. Don't worry about Dodge. Figure it when you check to see what the difficulty number of the shot will be.

The rules say to roll the Dodge before the attack, but this is only because the Dodging character has to decide whether to use his Dodge skill BEFORE he knows whether the attacker will hit at unmodified range.

The easy way I've found to play this is to assume a character will Dodge every time he is attacked. Even if the attack roll is made against the Dodging character before the Dodge is figured, the Dodger is committed. If the attacker fails to hit just by standard range, the Dodge must still be thrown.

A player may decide, though, that the default for his character is not to Dodge.

In either case, no matter if the default is to Dodge or not Dodge, the player must tell the GM that he intends to change his default (to not Dodge when the character's default is to Dodge) before an attacker makes an attack. Dicing the Dodge can come later, though.

A SIMPLE DODGE EXAMPLE.

We will assume that Sneaky Beet will Dodge (or Melee Parry) every time that he is attacked.

To make this very simple, Beet sees a Stormtrooper at Medium Range. Both Beet and the trooper have their blasters out and readied. Beet will take two shots, and the trooper will only take one.

We're not going to worry at all about Dodge. The default for both PC and NPC is that they will Dodge.

I like rolling real dice when I write these examples, so I will do that here. I don't know how this will play out.

INITIATIVE.

This is an initiative situation. We roll both shots at each other. The higher total is taken as the first shot. See how easy that is?

Sneaky Beet rolls Blaster 5D+1, but he's committed to two shots this round. That's -1D. Roll 4D+1 = 14.

Stormtrooper has Blaster 4D, reduced to 3D for armor. He'll roll 3D = 15.

YES! I rolled it!

SEGMENT 1.

This means that the trooper will act first, and Beet is committed to Dodge.

The trooper's attack is 15.

Beet rolls Dodge, now. Since Beet has technically already fired his blaster (he rolled for initiative), we've got to count that as a skill use. Otherwise, rolling Dodge will get wonky (the initiative roll will not match his attack roll, and that makes for uneasy figuring).

So, the Dodge is made at -1D. His full Dodge is 3D+1. So, he rolls 2D +1. Roll = 7. It takes a 22 to hit Beet.

The trooper's attack goes wide.

Now, it's Beet's turn to fire

He declared two actions, so that's -1D. And, he just used his Dodge, so that's another -1D. So, the second attack is made at -2D, which would be 3D+1.

The trooper is committed to Dodge.

Sneaky Beet rolls 3D+1 = 12.

We don't need to roll the trooper's Dodge because there are no more attacks against the trooper this segment. But, the use of Dodge is considered to have happened and counts as an action for Segment 2. Sometimes, we get to skip rolls this way--which makes the game go faster.

Segment 2.

The only thing that is happening this segment is the Beet is firing at the trooper, and the trooper is committed to Dodge.

Sneaky Beet rolls his second shot. He's at -2D (-1D for two actions, and -1D for using his Dodge last segment). He rolls 3D +1 = 7.

Again, we don't have to roll the Dodge for the trooper. Had Beet hit for regular range, then the trooper would roll it. Still, the trooper was committed either way.

End of combat round.

SUMMARY.

1. Don't worry about Dodge when you are rolling initiative.

2. Consider characters to be committed to Dodging (or default to not Dodging, if the player chooses), regardless of whether the actual Blaster attack would score a hit at range. This forces the target character to decide on the use of his Dodge before he knows whether the foe can hit him at just the range difficulty.

3. When rolling Dodge, penalize it for any skill rolls that were rolled before the Dodge (and the skill rolls used for initiative count), but don't penalize Dodge for any actions declared for later segments.

As in the above example , Beet's Dodge is 4D +1. When he first uses his Dodge, only the initiative throw is made, which is a skill use, which counts as an action for these purposes. Dodge is reduced by -1D. If Beet needed to use is Dodge in segment 1, then Dodge would be penalized further.

4. Note how the combat system allows you to speed up the game by bypassing some rolls, sometimes. Consider when a Rebel has initiative, fires, and stuns a troopers. Any actions that the trooper was going to perform are no longer rolled because the trooper is lying on the ground, in pain from the stun. He loses all actions for the round.

Edited September 5, 2018 by player3412539

Once a character is committed to Dodge, he can actually use Dodge as a type of skill throw.

If the range number to hit the character is 15, and the attacker rolled 23 on his attack. Then the Dodging character (who previously committed to the Dodge) must roll a task roll for Dodge looking to get 9+ (that's the difference of 23 - 15 + 1, because an attack is successful if scores are equal).

Make sense?

MORE CLARITY

Let me re-state all of this stuff about Dodge. What I'm saying is that figuring a character's Dodge can get messy when initiative must be rolled.

The book says that characters who Dodge must roll the Dodge before they see the attack roll against them. What I'm saying is that committing to Dodge has the same effect--the character will roll his Dodge regardless if the attacker hits at range.

1. Have a standing commitment from players that their characters will always Dodge when attacked. Or, the reverse standing commitment, that characters will never Dodge when attacked. This status can be changed if the player tells the GM before any attack against him (which is before the initiative roll).

2. Roll initiative without concern for Dodge.

3. Using commitment, a character can roll his Dodge in response to an attack roll (roll after the Blaster attack is known), which makes it easier to use in a combat round.

GM (Setting the Scene): "You swing around the corner, and a trooper sees you. You hear his mechanical voice call out to his squad-mates, 'There's one!'"

"Blast him!"

Player (Declaration): "I'll fire at him! Two shots! Pow! Pow! And, my character is ALWAYS committed to Dodge!"

Range is Short, requiring a 10+ to hit at range.

Initiative.

GM rolls Blaster 3D attack = 9

Roark rolls Blaster 5D+1, reduced to 4D +1 because he declared two shots = 16.

Roarks wins initiative, so his shot is considered first. His shot is 16.

The GM has stated previously that Stormtroopers are always committed to Dodge.

The trooper must roll Dodge at 17+ in order to not get hit.

Trooper's normal Dodge is 3D (4D reduced to 3D because of armor). But, we do consider his initiative as a skill roll, so he's throwing 2D to Dodge.

Roll 2D +10 = 14.

Roark's shot is good. The trooper goes down.