seventeenth issue - RPG Review

now a new proviso that for every subsequent dodge after the first, there is now a cumulative –1 penalty.
Parry is now considered to be the same as attacking the opponent’s weapon. It is now equal to the weapon skill –
penalties to hit are (for the opponent’s weapon that you are parrying) –5 for small weapons (knife etc), ­3 for pole­arms
and great­swords, and –4 for all others (B110 Sidebar). This differs from the old half of weapon skill.
Also note that those weapon skills that had listed as a 2/3 rd parry are now no different from any other weapon. This
includes Short Staff and Tonfa, as well as Karate and Judo. Also note that Judo no longer gets a bonus for parrying
an armed opponent (B110).
Block is effectively a parry with a shield – it now works of Shield skill with the appropriate modifiers as above for the
opponent’s weapon, rather than half skill, however Shield skill is increased by the Passive Defense value of the shield,
from 1 to 4, as shown on B76.
For Reference: ­
Type PD Cost Weight DR Notes
Buckler 1 24d 2 5/20
Small Shield 2 36d 8 5/30
Round Shield 2 42d 9 5/30
Heater Shield 3 60d 15 7/40
Kite Shield 4 72d 20 7/50
Tower Shield 4 96d 25 9/60
Large Round­Shield 4 50d 12 5/40
Note: - The second value for DR is the actual Hit Points of the shield itself. Damage to the shield over
the DR causes actual damage – once all shield hit points are used, the shield falls apart. This
will generally not be bothered with in normal play, as it is way too much bookkeeping.
Dodge uses Basic Speed x 2, i.e., (DX + HT)/2. Round down. It also has the same penalties as above added on – e.g.,
dodging a knife is (DX + HT)/2 –5, and dodging a spear is at (DX + HT)/2 –3 (its easier to dodge a spear than a knife).
Defensive penalties are now doubled, defensive bonuses remain as they are. The exception to this is that All­Out
Defence now adds a +4 to Active Defence.
Also note that as a result of this, successful feints now subtract double the difference from the AD. It also means that
parrying thrown weapons, and parrying with knives is now at –2 (B99)
Retreat Bonus is only added to the Dodge defense, not to Block or Parry. Also note that if you use a Dodge defence,
you cannot also step forwards in the same round – dodging implies putting distance between yourself and your attacker.
Passive Defense
Is no more. Do not add PD to Active Defense. Do not roll against PD. Say goodbye to PD.
Shields: One exception to the above, as noted previously: Do add a shield's current PD value (+1 to +4) to Block. This
does not aid other defenses. It's a bonus that Block gains for the large size of the defending object, just as Parry takes a
penalty when attempted with a small knife.
Damage Resistance & Edge Protection
BASIC GURPS introduces a rule for flexible armors like Kevlar and mail: A bullet that did not penetrate these armors
20 RPG REVIEW ISSUE SEVENTEEN September 2012