The Horror!

The Horror!

I know Dark Heresy has not the best rules set all around (still a great game though) but the unarmed and grapple rules are an absolute nightmare!

First of all, unarmed strikes my not be parried or dodged. See below. So if I am armed with a power sword, and someone punches me all I can do is roll agility to get out of the way…

According to the core rules (pg. 197 and pg.190) a grapple may be initiated with an unarmed attack or a charge. And now the carnival begins!

The defender may not dodge. The defender can spend a reaction and roll Agility to avoid the attack but not use the dodge skill.

A grappled character may only take the grapple action. That means, either opposed strength checks, or a contortionist skill check to escape the grapple. No attacks with small weapons like knifes, no reload, No psychic tricks . A player even thought of unpinning a grenade and let it fall at his feet but NO.

So, any thoughts on how we can fix this mess ?

Erm… The bit about testing Agiliuty only applies to a grapple. You can dodge or parry an unarmed strike as normal, at least as far as I can tell. Also, it doesn't say you cannot parry or dodge, just that you can test Agility. I would need to reread the dodge and parry rules but I think you might still be able to use those, it just means that those who are not trained in Dodge and don't have crap WS are severely punished.

Also, remember that any unarmed attacks (including grapples) against an armed opponent is at -20.