quote:
Reactions
A Traveller who is about to be attacked can react, either
dodging a shot or parrying a blow.
This is called a Reaction, and a Traveller can perform
an unlimited amount of Reactions in every combat
round. However, every time a Traveller performs a
Reaction, he will suffer DM-1 on his next set of actions.
Dodging
A Traveller who is dodging will inflict a penalty equal to his
DEX DM or Athletics (dexterity), whichever is higher, to his
attacker’s attack roll. Every attack must be dodged separately,
so if a Traveller is shot at by two enemies in the same round,
he can dodge both but will suffer DM-2 on his next actions.
Both ranged and melee attacks may be dodged.
So, you can certainly Dodge, but if you rely solely on Dodging, you'll eventually be incapable of attacking back. But that does depend on the size of the fight we wind up getting into, if we even get into a fight. And assuming you can get into melee you can also Parry much to the same effect, albeit with your Melee skill instead.
As for melee vs ranged, you can add your Str DM to melee damage, but at most that's +3 with 15 Str. So assuming a Cutlas 3D+3, you could do a single attack worth 14 average damage.
While with a Sub Machinegun 3D Auto 3 you could choose to make a single attack at 11 average damage, a burst at 14, or full auto which is three attacks at 11 each.
So, assuming you have Cloth TL10 that gives you 8 Protection, which reduces the SMG Burst or Cutlas to 6 damage, you'd then apply that to End before Str or Dex. While with Full auto, would be reduced to 3 each or 9 collectively.
Additionally, Movement is typically limited to 6m a turn, so assuming a starting range of 25m, that'd be 4 turns to even get into melee. While the Submachinegun I mentioned has a range of 25m, meaning up to 12 attacks to dodge before you could attack in melee.
In short, dodging has its limits and tradeoffs, movement is relatively slow, while combat is fairly lethal and results in relatively quick death spirals. So, every little bit helps.
So, if you are only good in melee, the more armor you have, the better the chance you have to actually get to use your melee weapon. So if I were you I'd try to get my hands on a Boarding Shield and TL12 Cloth armor as quickly as possible, as those two sources of Pro can stack with your worn armor, increasing it by +12 collectively (+8 and +4 respectively).
This message was last edited by the player at 20:02, Sun 13 Feb 2022.
