Dodge and Drop

When under fire, hit the dirt! You
may drop to the ground while dodg-
ing, earning a +3 bonus to Dodge. This
is a “dodge and drop.” It is similar to a
retreat, but only effective against
ranged attacks. It also has a drawback:
it leaves you prone on the ground.
protective magic spells, etc. – he sub-
tracts this from your damage roll. If
your attack has an armor divisor (see
pp. 102, 110), this modifies your tar-
get’s DR.
If your damage roll is less than or
equal to your target’s effective DR,
your attack failed to penetrate – it
bounced off or was absorbed. A cut-
ting, crushing, impaling, or piercing
attack can sometimes cause damage
without penetrating, however; see
Flexible Armor and Blunt Trauma
(p. 379).
Like a retreat, a dodge and drop
applies to all of your defenses against
one foe for one turn. Any cover you
drop behind does not count against
the initial attack that inspired the
dodge and drop, but is effective
against subsequent attacks directed at
you.
Sacrificial Dodge and Drop: You can
use dodge and drop in conjunction
with sacrificial dodge (p. 375) to pro-
tect a friend who is no more than a
step away from you. If you succeed,
you both fall prone and you take the
hit . . . unless you succeed by 3 or
more, in which case neither of you is
hit! You can also use a sacrificial
dodge and drop to throw yourself on
an explosive (e.g., a hand grenade). If
you succeed, treat the blast as a con-
tact explosion (see p. 415).
Diving for Cover: You may also
attempt a dodge and drop if you are
within the area of effect of an explo-
sion, cone, or area-effect attack and
there is cover (such as a trench) only a
step away. Success means you reach it
in time; failure means you don’t. Even
if there is no cover handy, an extra
yard or two of distance from a blast
can still help, since explosive damage
declines with distance. If you succeed,
you are a step farther away; if you fail,
you suffer the effect before you make
your step.
Flying or Swimming: Dodge and
drop is possible only if a step would
take you below concealing terrain
(e.g., a flyer dropping below a hill-
crest). You don’t end up prone. You
can still dive for cover to increase your
distance from an explosion, etc.
If your damage roll exceeds your
target’s DR, the excess is the penetrat-
ing damage. If your foe has no DR,
the entire damage roll is penetrating
damage.
Once you know the penetrating
damage of your attack, apply the
wounding modifier for damage type
(this matters only for cutting, impal-
ing, and certain types of piercing dam-
age; see p. 379). This gives the injury
the foe suffers, which is subtracted
from his Hit Points.
Example: Your “basic damage”
with your sword is 2d+1 cutting. You
roll 2 dice, add 1, and do 8 points of
basic damage. Your foe has DR 3, so
your penetrating damage is 5 points.
You then apply the ¥1.5 wounding
modifier for cutting attacks, resulting
in 7 points of injury (always round
down). Your foe loses 7 HP.