Melee Combat FAQ

[NMI]

#1: Melee Combat FAQ Author: Guest, Posted: 18 Feb 2005 13:19
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Question: Looking here at Wormwood at the Shade RCC(page 133) and it says that has stun on an unmodified 19-20(in addition to the usual critical strike on 18 to 20). I haven't found the exact reference to this rule(yeah, I'm probably blind). Could anyone tell me how they play this or perhaps point me in the right direction? I own most of the books in the Rifts game and a few of the PFRPG as well.
Answer: Knockout/Stun Pg. 35 Rifts main book and the Boxing skill Pg. 29.

Question: Here's a question that has been bothering me for a while. Is there a ruling in the books about being able to use some of your regular dodge bonus for your Auto-Dodge bonus?
Ex.: Rifts Campaign, with a Talus Super Hero rifted in. So his Martial Arts gives him Auto-Dodge. Some of the powers he has is Extraordinary Speed, Sonic Flight, Manipulate Kinetic Energy. Now he does get a bonus to Auto-Dodge from one of them, but since he moves so fast, would the dodge bonuses he gets from H2H, or his powers be used for both his Auto-Dodge and regular dodge? Or even some of it? His Natural Speed is also pretty high, I thought I remember TMNT books giving a bonus to Dodge depending on the Spd Attrib. Would that be allowed to use for both Auto-Dodge and Regular Dodge?
Answer: As per page 33 of the RGMG and page 67 of HU2, bonuses to Dodge and Automatic Dodge are kept separate.
Automatic Dodge receives a bonus only from a high P.P. score and from any specific listed Automatic Dodge bonus (such as that provided by Hand to Hand: Commando or the Extraordinary Speed super power).
Dodge bonuses based on Spd. attribute are no longer used in Palladium games, and their inclusion would be entirely up to the GM.

Question: Can a character parry multiple attackers with one roll or must there be a roll for each attack?
Answer: You have to make a separate roll to parry each attack. Furthermore, you can only parry attacks from one opponent at any given moment, unless using paired weapons or the Circular Parry maneuver from Ninjas & Superspies.
Answer (RUE addendum): You can only parry attacks from up to three attackers (two if using Paired Weapons) for BTS2, Splicers, and Rifts.

Question: When a character is being attacked by multiple attackers and they opt to dodge all the attackers' advances do they roll one time and attempt to beat all of their strike rolls or must there be a dodge roll for each attacker?
Answer: In Ninjas & Superspies (see page 129 of the revised edition), all attacks against a given target at a given moment can be dodged with one roll. No other book even addresses this question, so it may be the same or it may be that each must be dodged individually.

Question: If you have an enemy vs. 3 players, all of whom are quicker then the enemy, will his dodge vs. the fastest player then apply to the two other players as well?
Answer: Only if all three attacks come at the same moment in the initiative sequence, i.e. during the same melee attack/action.
Technically this would seem to be impossible given that all ties in initiative are rerolled, but the example given on the page above describes just such an occurrence, which just makes it all the more confusing...

Question: Let me see if I got this right... A character can only parry one attacker at a time. If there are multiple attackers then the character can parry only one attacker and gets hit by the other attackers?
Answer: Yes.
One must again note however that the initiative rules seem to nullify this possiblity, as no two combatants can ever attack at the exact same moment, except when one foregoes defense and declares a simultaneous attack. Thus, you can attempt to parry any and all attacks within your visual range, unless using the rules in Chaos Earth, in which case you may only parry attacks from a maximum of three opponents each melee round.
Answer (RUE addendum): You can only parry attacks from up to three attackers (two if using Paired Weapons) for BTS2, Splicers, and Rifts.

Question: Let me see if I have this correct also. If there are multiple attackers then I'm right in saying that one roll will dodge all the attack for that melee action round assuming they have an attack to dodge with?
Answer: In Ninjas & Superspies, yes. In other games this is unknown, but I personally go with the N&S method.
Note also that in Rifts you can still dodge even if you run out of attacks. In this situation, each dodge roll still counts as one attack but is deducted from your available attacks in the next melee round.

Question: One other question... If you opt to dodge and there are no other APM left are you able to dodge the oncoming assault with each new attack action (i.e. Defender has 4 attacks and Attacker has 9 but the Defender wants to dodge all the rest of the on comming bullets/laser blasts/flying fists etc.)?
Answer: In Rifts yes, as above. In other games, your only defense in this situation is automatic parry, so if this maneuver is unavailable or not applicable, you're completely defenseless.
Answer (RUE addendum): Yay! RUE removed the nonsense about using attacks from your next melee round to dodge.

Question: Then this leads to another question. Parry can be used against one attacker where as auto-parry can be used against all of the attackers in that one attack action?
Answer: No, both are restricted in the same way (parry one attack at a given moment). The only advantage an Automatic Parry has over a standard Parry is that it doesn't actually cost any attacks to use, and thus can be used an unlimited number of times each melee round (except as noted above).
What you really want in a Multiple Attackers situation is the Circular Parry from Ninjas & Superspies, which allows you to parry an infinite number of attacks from all opponents and from all directions (even the rear) as long as you know the attacker is there, but also restricts you to making only one attack in the melee that it is used.
Note to GMs wishing to prevent characters (either his own or the players') from ganging up on a single opponent: Another rule found in N&S is that a person can only be subject to a maximum of four melee attackers at once (no limit is placed on ranged combatants). Any more and the attackers will just get in each other's way.
Answer (RUE addendum): You can only parry attacks from up to three attackers (two if using Paired Weapons) for BTS2, Splicers, and Rifts.

Question: Up until recently, I thought that a person having Automatic Parry from his HTH skill could parry an unlimited number of attacks, from any number of attackers in a given round.
However, when you compare that to the paired weapons rules that say that any dual action (including strike and parry, or, more significantly a double parry)... it makes you start to wonder...
So, at least for Rifts, what are the rules pertaining to parrying attacks from multiple attackers?
Answer: Yes, with automatic parry you can parry an unlimited number of attacks per round.
Paired weapons is a special case. You can attack with just one weapon per melee and keep your automatic parry, or you can parry two separate attacks each melee at the cost of one doubled action each. You can also declare a simultaneous attack and strike the opponent with one weapon and parry with the other, with each costing one doubled action, or forego parrying entirely to strike with both weapons.
Both of these rules are the same in all Palladium games, though in PF2 and AtB2, parrying a weapon with one's bare hands is done without the character's normal parry bonuses.
[accepted answer edited for clarity, spelling, and consistency with the published rules]

Question: I've just switched from D&D to Palladium Fantasy, and I can't figure out how the attacks and bonuses add up...
Perhaps, a simple example:
The character is a 1st level Warrior Monk (thus, having two attacks with spear & staff from the start). Related skills for combat are
W.P. Staff (+1 to strike),
W.P. Blunt (+1 to strike & parry),
Martial Arts (starts with 2 melee attacks per round),
Gymnastics (kick attack at first level),
Boxing (+2 to parry, one additional attack per melee round).
So, how do these skills add up in combat? Coming from D&D, i would say the monk has to choose the fighting style he is going to use (decide for either staff-fighting, martial arts, or boxing, and stick with the bonuses associated with the used skill).
Another option would be that he can combine his skills (to have like 6 attacks per melee round) - but that seems unlikely to me (a person is only that fast, and nobody in the world is going to deliver 5 attacks per seconds just because he knows 34 different fighting techniques).
Answer: Bonuses from the physical skills are cumulative, while the weapon proficiency bonuses apply only when using those weapons.
Thus, the character in your example has a total of five attacks per melee which can be made with a melee weapon or unarmed, plus one extra attack any time he uses a spear or staff. Any time he is involved in melee or unarmed combat he has a +2 bonus to parry, or +3 when using a blunt weapon. If using a spear, staff, or blunt weapon he also gets +1 to strike. He can also use kick attacks and automatically knock out opponents on a natural 20, whether unarmed or not.

Question: Simultaneous attacks. Ah, sweet little dear that answered the paired weapons question.
Now:
1. Does it apply to ranged attacks? And if it does (god help us!), are there any restrictions at all?
2. Are there any restrictions on it that off set it's negative side.
3. Can a simo attack negate an autododge?
4. Is it listed in a book somewhere that each simo attack uses up one of that guys attacks, or has this just been agreed to by group consensus? Not arguing, just asking.
5. Does it say anywhere you can't simo a sneak attack? Or is it group net consensus again.
Answer: 1. This is something that has been much debated, but never adequately resolved. Many people assume that Simo-attacks are for melee combat only, but I have no idea where they got that assumption. As far as I know none of the books have said or implied that simo-attacks are not to be used with ranged weapons. My group has always (since 1991) played with ranged simo-attacks and have noticed no real downside to it.
2. As for restrictions, some GMs only allow it if the character has the initiative, but the only really restrictions are, you have to have attacks left in that melee round to use it, and you'll take damage (mostly) without a chance to defend.
3. Yes. The defender and the attack both lose the ability to defend, unless they've got special circumstances like paired weapons (or several of the N&S moves, but we really don't need to cover that).
4. Not per se, however Simultaneous Attack isn't listed as an automatic move, so by default it costs an attack.
5. Again, not specifically, but a Simultaneous Attack can only be used in place of a dodge, parry, entangle, etc. and since you can't do those against a Sneak Attack (without special abilities at least), you wouldn't be able to perform a Simultaneous Attack.

Question: Can I do a Critical Hit with a Death Blow???
And is all that damage cumulative?
Answer: No. Death Blow is already a Critical Strike.

Last edited by Guest on 30 Sep 2005 19:29; edited 1 time in total
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#2: Author: Guest, Posted: 24 Feb 2005 11:18
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Question: need a question answered. In the event of the auto-dodge.
a) if your character, say a juicer, has the auto dodge are the bonuses for regular physical skills added to that or are the only added if they say 'auto-dodge' bonus.
b) if your character has auto-dodge and the bonuses are added for 'auto-dodge' only, do they still get a regular dodge that costs them a melee attack?
Answer: A) You only get bonuses for P.P. and those specifically labeled "Automatic Dodge".
B) Yes they can perform a regular dodge in place of an Automatic Dodge.

Question: What do you do for bonuses for things such as disarm? Do you add P.P. bonuses to it? I always thought of it of something as a modified strike in which you unarm the opponent, but i'm not sure how you'd calculate the bonuses.
Answer: Like the Back Flip, this move can be done as an attack or defense. In N&S this move could only be performed as a strike during a hold, joint lock or during any one-handed grappling maneuver (which has some problems of its own as holds and two handed joint locks prevented the attacker from attacking in N&S). In later books, this was changed to be a strike, hold, or grappling maneuver that forced the opponent to lose grip of their weapon (eliminating the need to be grappling the opponent, but not eliminating the problem of contradicting the hold description). As a defense, this move is changed even more. Later books change the ability to do Disarm as a defense to the result of a Natural 19 or 20 instead of just a normal defensive move [This is one change that was definitely not for the better as it defeats the purpose of having the higher roll winning and ties going to the defender, also it is especially vague on how the Natural roll is applied in terms of what level advancement this takes place at (if at all) and who can perform the Disarm as a defensive move. Another problem (although this stems more from the rules for Holds and two-handed Joint Locks) is the attacker being unable to employ this move under the conditions in which it is supposed to occur. Redefining the ability to attack and/or defend while employing Holds and Joint Locks is something that needs to be considered.]
As you can see, applying Disarm bonuses depends vastly on how exactly, in each game the move is applied. In most cases you will add the bonus to any Disarm attempt, in others it won't apply.
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#3: Author: Guest, Posted: 1 Mar 2005 11:26
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Question: With Acrobatics u get an automatic 1D8 kick attk.With Gymnastics u get an automatic 2D4 kick attk. With H2H Martial Arts uget 1D8 at 3rd lvl. If a Character at 3rd lvl has both Acrobatics & Gymnastics what is the dmg for kick attk? Do u take the better of the 2 or change die types to maybe 2D6 as per advancement (i.e. 1D4-1D6-1D8-2D4-1D10-1d12-2D6-3D4-2D8-3D6-etc.)
Answer: In the Palladium system it's unfortunate that 1D8 and 2D4 are considered "interchangeable" (likewise for 1D10 and 2D4+2). The GM decides which one they want to use in their games.

Question: The RIFTs core book lists stats that a person would get from HtH:MA. Does this stack with stats gained from N&SS MA Forms?
Answer: No.
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#4: Author: Guest, Posted: 29 Mar 2005 05:43
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Question:1, Can a character wearing MDC body armour, Parry in close combat if he has no weapon to parry with? (in this example , a character in coalition plate armour Vs monster with supernatural strength 2D4 damage)
2, Can you fire pistols in hand-to-hand combat? (this seems a little unbalanced)
Answer: 1) Yes, depending on the attack.
2) Yes

Question: 1. if a some one with supernatural damage was to punch or kick a mummy or zombie , would it hurt it, where the mummy and zombie is only a sdc creature.
2. what about a magical sword (enchanted)
3. under zombie it says silver weapons do full damage, but on of my players has a magical mdc sliver sword that does 2d6 md so would it do 2d6 sd damage to the zombie or 2d6md =(2d6*100 sd).
Answer: 1) Yes
2) Yes
3) 2D6 MD.

Question: I am getting conflicting info regarding the damage a char with the ability to do an MD punch can do with an MD weapon. i saw a thing in the old rules stating that on a "supernatural creature" gets the PS bonus on top of the weapon damage(or their punch damage, whichever is greater). But, the Splicers book mentions getting the punch damage PLUS the weapon damage PLUS the PS bonus. Can you help me out, anyone? Thanks.
Answer: For SN str in splicers, you get whichever is better of punch or weapon with NO damage bonus for PS (p172/3). It's been argued that weapon + punch makes more sense but by the book, it's weapon *or* punch, not both.

Question: While looking up something for a reply on the Rifts board I had a thought regarding the new combat system introduced in Beyond the Supernatural 2nd Ed., the new Splicers, and detailed in the new 4th Printing of the RGMG.
One of the things the new system says is that in ranged combat you need to roll an 8 (eight) or higher to hit vs any target within the range limits of the weapon being used. But what about melee combat? Nothing is mentioned about whether the old base To Hit of "5 or better" being changed for using a sword, kick, stick, or any melee attack of the like. Do you still need 5's or better to hit in Melee Combat, is the new "8's or better" only applicable to Ranged Combat, or is the "8's or better" a blanked-coverage to hit number for all elements of combat, be it ranged or melee?
Answer: BTS2, page 158, Splicers page 207, and RUE, page 361.. You still need a 5 or better in hand to hand combat.

Question: Can Neural Maces affect MDC creatures?
Some people are of the opinion that they can't, some people think that they can.
The books never seem to say either way, which indicates to me that they can... otherwise the limitation would be mentioned.
Typically, people on the "can't affect MDC" side of things seem to be unwilling to accept adult dragons being taken down by neural maces. I can see that, but dragons have a heck of a good save.
Also, it seems unlikely more for the sheer size and power of the dragons than the simple fact that they're MDC creatures.
Personally, I'd hate to think that a Flooper, Shaper, Pixie, or 1' tall dinosaur would be immune to the effects of a neural mace.
That just seems wrong.
Answer: If you want non-MDC weapons' non-damaging effects to affect MDC creatures where it isn't specifically prohibited, then yes. If you believe the weapon should do MDC for it's non-damaging effects to work, then no.

Question: okay here's the thing, let's say for example , your party is being attacked by a giant scorpion. its tail attack does 2D6 MD damage plus 6D6 MD poison damage. if the character is wearing MDC body armour wouldn't all of the MDC have to be reduced to zero for the poison to make contact? in which case the 2D6 damage from the tail would shred the character anyway.
Answer: Simple answer: yes.
More complex answer: Penetration. If the attack from the scorpion would reasonably penetrate the armor (without necessarily destroying it), then you could hit the person inside the armor, and get them with the poison.

Question: This recently crossed my mind. What are the strike penalties for someone with one eye? How about blurry vision? What about things like plunged into darkness before one realizes it, or sudden brightness?
Answer: See the Spell Blinding Flash, Snow Blindness, and the penalties for being Blind (most likely at 1/2 the effects.)

Last edited by Guest on 30 Sep 2005 19:30; edited 1 time in total
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#5: Author: Guest, Posted: 1 May 2005 08:23
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Question:1. How do Simultaneous Attacks work?
2. Can a Great Horned Hatchling Dragon have Simultaneous Attacks?
3. If so, what would the player need to do/choose when making the hatchling in order to have Simultaneous Attacks?
Answer: 1. The "defender" can choose to Simultaneous Attack in place of a Dodge, Parry, etc. It costs an attack to do so.
2. Yes. Anyone can do it.
3. Nothing.
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#6: Author: Guest, Posted: 31 May 2005 19:10
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Question: what are the dodge/parry rules for the normal character with no special bonuses (character class bonuses)???
Answer: Depends on the game.

Question: Person A has 3 apm, and person B has 4 apm.
Person A is out of attacks, and person B strikes A:
Person A: Has a hand-to-hand so he has a auto-parry. Doesn't have an auto dodge. So is the only thing that Person A can do against B's attack is parry?
The reason i ask this question is because of Teng-jutsu. Under the Tengu Automatic Leap Dodge: "each leaping dodge uses up one melee attack, but can be done indefinitely to avoid attack and damage as if it were a parry."
So from this information i have just answered my question, if someone is out of attacks, all they can do is take it or use an "auto" something.
Answer: In older games, like N&S, PF2, HU2, AtB2, Nightbane, etc., once you are out of attacks, all you can do is automatic moves.
In newer games like Rifts (with the RGMG update), Splicers, and BTS2, you can dodge, but it uses up attacks from your next melee round.
The Tengu "Automatic" Leap Dodge works like the old N&S Automatic Dodge, you spend one attack (pretty much your first of the melee round), and can THEN automatically dodge the remaining attacks that melee round without using an attack.

Question: Ok, I've got a character that picked up capoeira as his HTH. They get all sorts of nifty takedown attacks. The problem is, he doesn't have supernatural strength and can't do unarmed MD. I was wondering if it would still be possible to be successful in taking down a humanoid MDC opponent.
1) The way I see it, there wouldn't really be any damage, but the takedown shouldn't be a problem as that's just a matter of leverage (depending on the tactic of course).
2) This brings up another question. Say I take a sledgehammer that only does SD, but is made out of MDC metal so it won't break easily. If I hit a 5'10 200 lb MDC humanoid with that sledgehammer, is it going to knock them back?
3) Are there any sort of rules for these types of things? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Answer: 1) Yes.
2) No.
3) There are optional rules for knockdown due to damage, but it deals with mega-damage.

Question: Sense of Balance. This skill isn't described in any of the books that it's listed in. What exactly does it cover? How would it be applied? In combat, what's the difference in it and Maintain Balance?
Answer: Sense of Balance is a percentile skill, Maintain Balance is a combat move. However, in some games, Sense of Balance can be used in combat.
In N&S, Maintain Balance is an Escape Move used to keep the character on his feet, and as such is given a D20 combat bonus in some martial art styles. The RGMG and AtB2 introduce the concept of using one's Sense of Balance skill to try and maintain balance, and allows characters with no special balancing abilities an 20% chance of maintaining their balance (This popped up earlier in the Rifts Conversion Book, I believe, but only for characters with no special balancing skills).
The Heroes Unlimited GMs Guide also introduces a method of applying Acrobatics or Gymnastics skills with Maintain Balance, however, unlike AtB2, it is done in a somewhat more simplified manner. It states that the roll is automatic, like a parry and does not use an attack (useful when compared to the uselessness of combat moves like Roll with Punch/Fall/Impact which takes an attack to use in certain systems, in an attempt to reduce damage ). In this system, Acrobatics and Gymnastics add a +2 to Maintain Balance with an additional bonus of + 1 at levels 4, 8, 12, and 15. This note also adds bonuses to the hand to hand combat styles, with Hand to Hand: Basic and Expert receiving a + 1 and Martial Arts receiving a +2, with an additional bonus of + 1 at levels 6 and 12. The note also states that, "Most people would receive no bonus for the roll beyond any P.P. bonuses," which seems to indicate that the bonus for Strike, Dodge, and Parry provided by high P .P. scores also applies to Maintain Balance. There is also a note about failing a roll adding a penalty of -2 to all rolls until the character spends an action getting to their feet. I find this an interesting idea overall, though the lack of mention of Hand to Hand: Assassin and the use of P.P. bonuses makes it somewhat unreliable.
Answer (RUE addendum): RUE makes use of an even more bizarre method which is described fully on page 344, under Body Block/Tackle.

Question: 1) Does PS bonus from Supernatural strength(dealing MDC damage) get added to damage from MDC Ancient weapons?
2) Also, If you use MDC armour as a club, does it do MDC damage?
Answer: 1) No, you use the higher value of damage (PS OR weapon) in cases of supernatural strength using MD weapons (probably still with aforementioned exceptions).
2) No (again, with the exception of xiticix weapons and possibly other MDC materials as weapons).

Question: I understand that the skill/ability "Paired Weapons" implies the user needs weapons, but would it be possible to take advantage of this ability when fighting bare handed, if one selected the skill specifically for that? What about when the character receives it automatically from HTH combat (at higher levels, receiving it from HTH gives the character the ability for all weapons)?
Answer: No. Paired Weapons is limited to melee weapons only. Certain martial art styles however, do provide certain attacks and moves that work for unarmed combat as paired weapons.

Question: H2H: Commando: At level 3 it says +1 to automatic body throw/flip, yet that ability isn't gained until level 14. Why give bonuses to an ability that won't come for another 11 levels? I'm thinking this is an error. But can the H2H commando allow someone to flip/throw at the cost of an action? If so, wouldn't it be sensible to give that +1 to that basic flip/throw?
Answer: Later versions of the skill completely replace it with increased "Karate Punch" damage.

Last edited by Guest on 9 Sep 2006 08:11; edited 2 times in total
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#7: Author: Guest, Posted: 1 Jul 2005 11:40
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Question: Necromancers ( If they are smart), Monster Brodkill, Rahu Men etc.. all have multiple arms giving them more attacks. If you have four arms and four swords AND the skill WP Paired Weapons: Sword, in one attack action could you attack four times?
Answer: Based on several of the creatures with multiple limbs (Rahu-Men, Xiticix, and Jeridu especially), yes it is possible that you could attack with all limbs for one attack/action. For creatures modified to have multiple limbs (borgs, gene-spliced mutants, etc), I probably wouldn't allow it since they weren't born with the ability of controlling more than their natural number of limbs. However, you could allow characters who gain multiple limbs to learn the Paired Weapons skill for those multiple limbs after the modification has been made, it would be just like learning any other new skill (i.e. the character would have to have a Secondary or Other skill available).

Question: Can a creature with only supernatural strength deal damage to a vampire in HTH combat, with ONLY his natural weapons (i.e. Fist, Feet, Teeth, Horn, ect.)?
Answer: No. Only creatures of magic.

Question: If I had cut his legs off, would the energy field that makes a Vibro-blade a Mega-damage weapon have acted as a cauterizing agent, or was I going to then have to tie at least one tourniquet while riding on a hovercyle?
Answer: No, vibro-blades don't cauterize the wound. So you're doing the tourniquet thing.

Question: on p. 41 of RWB 4: Africa it says under BONUSES for Anubis:
...triple damage from behind ( back stabbing)...
exactly how should this be excecuted in game time combat?
One of Anubis' powers is teleport at will...could I use a teleport - strike combo in place of a power attack ( using 2 attacks)?
if not how should this manuver be handled?
Answer: As a critical strike from behind doing x3 damage. It costs one attack. Yes, you could teleport behind your opponent (1 attack) and then backstab him (1 attack).
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#8: Author: Guest, Posted: 31 Jul 2005 18:52
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Question: I seem to remember there being rules about punching a hole through M.D.C. armor, but I can't rember what book it is in, could someone please tell me where to find this rule, or at least tell me if I am crazy and that such a thing has never been printed?
Answer: There is no such rule.

Question: in heroes unlimited galaxy guide it says blue lasers work under water, so if i used the same principle theory on an energy sword/knife it should work as well correct?
Answer: Yes.

Question: In the books, there are damage listings for Supernatural Strength, Robot Strength and Augmented Strength. But there are no lisings for normal strength. Is there any type of listing for normal strength that resembles those of the other types of strength?
Answer: Check the Hand to Hand tables, and the entrys in the key combat terms definitions.

Question: Hey all. I need help finding either the FAQ thread or the canon reference that discusses whether or not PP bonus is added to THROWN weapons. I believe I read somewhere that it was PP added to WP bonuses. Any help would be great.
Answer: RGMG, page 32, under "Are Hand to Hand bonuses combined with Weapon Proficiencies?"

Question: According to the new F.A.Q., Paired Weapons cannot be applied to bare fists. It states that there are equivalent Ninja's and Superspies moves that are similar. Can anyone direct me to the specific moves and in what forms they are that it referrs to? Also, can anyone tell me how I should apply them to a character with HTH: Martial Arts in a pure Rifts setting?
Answer: Double Fist Punch, available to Tae Kwon Do (as Duo-Fist Strike), T'ang-Su (as Duo-Fist Strike), and Te (as Duo-Fist Strike).
Duo Claw Strike, available to Fu-Chiao Pai.
Two-Palm Push, available to Hsien Hsia Kung Fu.
Sticky Hands, available to Mien Ch'uan.
Of course, that doesn't count various holds and some joint locks that requre two hands, two handed-chokes, neck hold/choke, combination grab/kick (either version), Butjapgo Chagi, Cobination Grab/Head Bash, Combination Hand Hold/Strike and some other moves that could be argued to require two or more limbs to be involved in the attack.
As for application to Rifts, you pretty much don't, unless you're bringing in N&S styles or manage to find one of the HTH conversions that actually uses one of the various moves.

Question: Wilks Laser Sword and kinfe. I am fairly sure they cannot but I figured that I would ask the forum. Do you allow wilks Laser melee weapons to parry or be parried? I mean they are in effect a beam of light.
Answer: You cannot parry with them.

Question: I know this has probably already been addressed on the boards somewhere but I can't seem to find it.
Can a staff be considered a Paired weapon when it comes to block and strike
I thought I saw a post on here a while back but have been unable to find it.
I have always like the staff but paired weapon with swords is usually just too much of an advantage when fighting those that have it which in my GM's campaign is nearly everyone.
Answer: See W.P. Reverse Stroke in Splicers, page 205. Also see W.P. Pole Arm in ATB2, page 59.
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#9: Author: Guest, Posted: 1 Sep 2005 20:05
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Question: A comment in another topic made me wonder if this has been covered before. If I had autoparry as part of my melee combat skill set, could I choose not to use it, or is it like immunity and you can't choose when you want to use it and when you don't? I can't remember this ever being an issue in one of my games. Is there an official answer?
Answer: Yes, you can choose not to use your automatic parry.

Question: Is a character's bonus to Strike added on to bonuses for offensive maneuvers, such as Disarm, Pull Punch, or a Hold?
So if a character has a bonus of +6 to Strike and +2 to Pull Punch, and attempts a Pull Punch, what would the total bonus be
Answer: Each combat move is considered a seperate category and only uses those bonuses applicable.

Question: How does one defend against a death roll. A pc used death blow against a npc. I'm not quite sure how to see if the npc. Dies, goes into a coma or just passes out.Thx
Answer: Dodge, parry, or use another defensive move. They can also attempt to roll with punch/fall/impact. If they're still hit, they can attempt to make a saving throw vs coma/death.

Question: How do you treat being swallowed whole by a dragon in terms of damage and effects? (What if you want to pull K's MIB Gun Gut check?)
Answer: See the Blow Worm for being swallowed alive.

Last edited by Guest on 1 Oct 2006 09:02; edited 1 time in total
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#10: Author: Guest, Posted: 30 Sep 2005 19:33
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Question: 1) I've noticed that Automatic Joint Locks in Aikido martial art take the place of the parry as a defense and that it doesn't take an action just like a parry, but there are no level advancement bonuses to go towards Automatic finger, wrist and elbow, or in general, joint locks, at all. The only way to get a bonus towards that would be a high P.P. bonus, but everything else gets level advancement bonuses on top of any P.P. bonuses, if any. Even Automatic Body Flip/Throw gets bonuses by using the ones assigned to body flip/throw.
2) Should I use the parry bonuses to go with automatic joint locks? After all, it does take the place of a parry, and acts as a defense just like a parry taking no action to do it.
3) Or should I just say, "All well, the writer forgot to list seperate level advancement bonuses for it, and since I don't have anything else to add to it from anywhere else, I guess I'll use it with no bonuses and flat D20 rolles and have a completely useless "special defense".
4) Note: "Automatic" only means, takes no action/attack. Not "automatically happens with out the need to roll despite how good the opponent rolled their to strike".
Answer: 1) Actually, Automatic Body Flip/Throw is what is used in place of an automatic parry for Aikido.
2) No.
3) Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. There was a suggested list of level advancement bonuses for holds/locks a while back, but I don't remember where it was.
4) Exactly.

Question: Maybe the questions below were asked before (more than once, perhaps), but i'd been unable to find the answers:
THE PARRY:
1) If i try to parry a weapon barehanded, which penalties are applied to the parry roll?
2) What if a barehanded supernatural creature/demon tries to parry a normal SDC weapon from an SDC beign?
3) Is there a "limit" of "damage points" that a weapon can parry? (For example, parrying a 2-hander with a knife, or a SN PS demon claw)
THE ENTANGLE:
4) To maintain a weapon entangled in subsequent melee rounds, an action must be spent and the entangle roll is rerolled. Which attack is lost if i decide to do that? The last of my melee attacks? The first? Is this reroll done before rolling init so i munt decide before obtaining the order of combat???
5) What about entangling a guy with EX, SH or SN PS with a NO PS one, can it be done? If the answer is "Yes", the stronger character is needed a dodge roll to get his weapon free o can be done simply with raw strength?
THE DISARM:
6) Is there a limitation for the disarm? For example, can I disarm a 2H sword form a SN PS character with a NO PS char using a main-gauche?
7) I just entangled succesfully an opponent's weapon and i want to disarm the entangled weapon, how its done?
8) I just hold succesfully an opponent's arm/body and i want to disarm his weapon, how its done?
Answer: 1) No bonuses to parry and any other applicable penalties.
2) If the supernatural creature is M.D.C., it doesn't take any damage if it fails to parry.
3) No.
4) First attack of the melee round.
5) Technically yes, and the stronger character needs a dodge roll to break free of the entangle.
6) There are no limitations, so yes.
7) Drop the Entangle and perform a Disarm.
8) Drop the Entangle and perform a Disarm.

Question: Fencing in RUE: Does the +1d6 damage with swords and knives apply to just sdc weapons or both sdc and mdc(ie vibro weapons and psi-swords)?
Answer: According to RUE, page 326, it applies to both SDC and MDC.

Last edited by Guest on 20 Apr 2006 20:11; edited 1 time in total
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#11: Author: Guest, Posted: 2 Nov 2005 11:52
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Question: In certain instanses it takes two attacks to do something like a power punch, or a aimed shot. So heres my question.
Do you have to wait a melee attack(meaning every one else get a shot first) to actualy attack, or dose it come off your over all attacks per round? I hope I asked this question clearly enough. Let me know thanks.
Answer: It varies from GM to GM, however, unless otherwise stated, you just do the action and it comes off your overall attacks per round.


Question: Ok. Now I don't know if this is in the books or not, but here goes.
If a PC is moving around 100 mph, and hits a target with a mdc vibro axe that dose 3/6 mdc. How much damage should the impacted target take?
What exactly would you call this type of attack.
Should the PC charater take damage too? THX
Answer: Given that super powered characters with Sonic Flight or Sonic Speed need to do about 400mph to do a measely 2D6/4D6, there would be no damage added for moving around 100mph. However, with the Charge attack described under Horsemanship mentions adding +1D6 to MD, if the weapon is MD, so there is the possibility that 1D6 damage would be added.

Question: I have a really interesting question that I haven't been able to get an answer to yet.
Can a supernatural creature with or without MDC get KO'ed with a natural 20 KO punch from a SDC creature with a skill like boxing and if not why?
Example: Can a CS Special Forces Trooper with boxing KO a dragon hatchling on a natural 20?
Answer: No.
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#12: Author: Guest, Posted: 2 Dec 2005 12:23
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Question: While looking through the new Rifts: Ultimate Edition, I came across the rules under "Knockdown" on page 346. According to the new book, for every 20 feet a character is knocked back he takes 1D6 SDC to his person straight through his mega-damage body armor.
So, say a Hatchling Dragon clocks a guy in a suit of EBA with a power punch and does 50 MDC. How far is the guy knocked back?
Answer: While there's no official answer, this is the closest usable ruling:
I don't know if supernaturally strong punches and kicks should necessarily knock back an opponent, but a ramming attack certainly should. The Power Slam/Body Block maneuver described in the HUGMG throws an opponent back by 1 foot for every point of PS the attacker possesses. I suppose from this one could argue for 6" per point of PS from super punches and kicks.

Question: 1) Where can I find penalties for movement and hand to hand? in R:ue the cyber-knight games the ability to move and fight with no penalties at a certain level, but I was unaware of the penalties altogether.
2) And a second question, speaking of movement, how far can a person move each action? Is it feet in speed, or some strange math formula?
Answer: 1) For the penalties of movement and hand to hand combat, see Juicer Uprising, page 27.
2) Spdx5/#APM gives you how many yards/meters a character moves each attack. Naturally there are other formulas for determining distance covered (such as for feet, inches, etc).

Question: So, I've been playing Palladium games since the start. TMNT was my first RPG. I have a first printing of most of the Rifts books. Heck, I own the Revised Recon.
But, upon running my first Rifts game in YEARS the other night, I was faced with a 15-minute, game-stopping dilemma:
Character A has 20 Spd. and 4 attacks
Character B has 20 Spd. and 8 attacks
Both are charging a small group of Coalition soldiers 250ft away, with TW swords blazing and shielding spells up.
20 Spd. * 20 yards/minute (I believe the value from the book) = 400 yards/minute, or 300ft a melee. Since attacks in Palladium are turned based, this means that B, being quicker, gets 4 'extra' attacks over A. However, I have NO idea how to determine how speed works. For all intents and purposes, Character A shouldn't get to the soldiers until attack 3 or 4. Character B shouldn't get to the soldiers until attack 7 or 8. So... A gets to attack first? Eh?
I have NO idea why this hasn't ever come up in the past. Guys... how do you handle speed in games? Granted, in this situation I could just forego the melee system temporarily, and have each character make a couple of attacks after a CDS (Cinematic Dodging Scene... long story). However, I've had the same problem with someone being 50ft away and the same two characters rushing to the baddie in the middle of combat, along with 3 other players who were busying shooting/enspelling/psionic..ing... whatever.
Any advice on how this should be handled? Is this in the rules someplace and I've just missed it over the years? Mayhap the sexy RUE mentions something, and I've been too busy hugging the book to see?
Answer: Yes, it seems like you just tried to mix up melee actions with distance covered in a melee.
Using your example say that each character can cover the ground to the enemy in 1/2 melee. That means A has 2 attacks and B has 4. Not hard at all. If they get there with a fraction of a melee, multiply their attacks by that fraction and round down. Again, simple. They both obviously arrive at the same time, it's just figuring what number of attacks are left to each.
Also, check out Murderthon in Juicer Uprisings for alternate ways of handling moving and attacking.
For people not flat out running, see Ninjas & Superspies for Combat Range.

Question: 1) This might have been asked before, but I have not found it.
In N&S, they list modifiers to attack such as Deathblow and KO, and so forth. However, some of them you actually receive at a later level (especially deathblow). To further confuse the issue, some are listed in both the modifier section and the first level. SO which of these options holds true:
A. If it is listed in the modifier section, the character receives it a first level (assume a nat 20).
B. The character doesn't receive any mods until they are listed in their level.
C. A and B depending on the modifier (1st for KO, level for Deathblow).
2) Second, there are certain moves like Auto-throws and Auto-locks, is it safe to assume that the character can also perform these moves as a standard action? (It could be a misprint that some are left out, but I like to be organized).
3) Third, certain Martial Arts (such as Drunken style) list the move Roll, just to be precise what exactly does the move do?
Answer: 1) C would be the closest, however, the example you listed doesn't work. EVERYONE gets a Critical Strike on a Natural 20. Every other combat move that requires a natural number, as well as modifiers from behind need to have the ability listed in the Level Advancement Bonuses.
2) Automatic Moves are those which do not cost an action to use.
*With the exceptions of the notoriously pointless "Automatic Kick Attack" listed in later versions of Acrobatics and Gymnastics as well as N&S's "Automatic Dodge".
3) One can Roll out of combat range as an escape move or Roll into combat as an Attack move, depending on where the move is listed in the style.
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#13: Author: Guest, Posted: 1 Jan 2006 12:22
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Question: A few questions
a) Do all characters automatically start out with auto parry (a parry which uses no attacks) or is this gained through specific HTH skills?
b) If you do have auto parry, do you add your normal parry bonuses to it, or only ones specifically for your auto parry (and pp bonuses, similar to autododge.)
c) In rifts japan it states that if a simultaneous strike is used a character loses his auto parry. BUT, rather than reverting to a normal parry, it states that no parry can be used, only a dodge. Does this mean that auto parry is the only type of parry, or that simply one cannot parry after the use of a simultaneous strike?
d) It also states that a strike and parry can be used simultaneously with two weapons. Does this mean that after I parry an attack with one weapon, I can strike using the other in the SAME ATTACK/ACTION? (and if so, does it use up another attack?)
Answer: 1) No, it's gained through specific HTH skills.
2) You add normal parry bonuses.
3) You can't parry after a simultaneous strike.
4) Yes and it only uses one attack.

Question: Do auto-dodge bonuses from your OCC (such as Crazies or Juicers) add in when dodging gunfire? It seems to me if they do that your auto-dodge bonus would be better than your normal dodge, which it usually isn't when hand-to-hand is concerned.
Answer: autododge bonuses are applied to ANYTIME you use autodoge.

Question: Can say a Titan Juicer who has super natural strength KO a adult or even a hatchling dragon with a natrual 20 KO roll?
Answer: Yes.

Question: Would you allow a person to use cestus or brass knuckles with the W.P. Blunt?
Answer: Short answer, no.

Question: I just got the RUE and while reading it, I couldn't find an actual description of what parrying did. It sounded like the same thing as dodging, exept SDC creatures can't parry MDC. Is that the only difference?
Answer: A parry blocks the attack (RUE, page 340, second sentence of the second paragraph (the one that starts out with "Parrying" in bold) under Step 3: Defender May Parry, Dodge or Entangle). Dodging is physically moving out of the way of the attack (RUE, pages 340-341, the sentence which runs on to page 341).
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#14: Author: Guest, Posted: 4 Feb 2006 19:22
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Question: I´ve got a few questions regarding RUE:
1. The Cyber Knight gets no penalty to strike when moving. But where are the penalties to strike listed in the book.
2. How does a called shot during HTH combat (not ranged combat) work . Can´t find it.
3. What do i hit when not doing a called shot. Always the main body ? If not how do i determine what body part has been hit. Can´t find a table for that too ?
4. When dodging an energy bolt with a robot, do i get the robots bonus to dodge or just the O.C.C and P.P bonus
Answer: 1) they aren't. they're listed in Juicer Uprising
2) Works the same.
3) ALWAYS the main body is the rule unless called shot.
4) you get all dodge bonuses from all applicable sources, in this case, P.P. bonuses, O.C.C. bonuses, and robot combat bonuses.

Question: Do actions that count as one of the character's attack (i.e. dodging an attack), take up their next attack or they just substract one from the available attacks for that round?
For example, if you teleport into melee, attack, and teleport out (this player has a weird Nigthcrawler fixation), using 3 of your attacks, can it be done immediately negating your opponent's chance to retliate or is it done in subsequent attack orders?
Answer: It uses your next attack, generally.

Question: 1) in that game there was x amount of distance you could move a turn, then attack, and x amount of distance between attacks
Rifts has this action point system. So with this, how does it go?
2) Does it take an action point to move certain distances?
3) the back flip escape makes it sound like there's no other way of getting out of a melee, or is there normally a penalty with trying to get out of melee?
Answer: 1) Rifts doesn't have such a system.
2) You move a certain distance within a melee round which can be divided among your attacks per melee to determine how far you move each melee action/attack.
3) That's a cut and paste hold over from Ninjas & Superspies, see that book for more information.

Question: In RUE, Does a character with both the Auto Parry ability and WP Paired Weapons still get to Auto Parry no matter the combinations used as per the Paired Weapons skills on p. 327?
Answer: No.
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#15: Author: Guest, Posted: 4 Mar 2006 16:18
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Question: 1) Auto-dodge
2) Automatic Kick Attack at level X
What are the meanings of these, canon-wise, for the Palladium system? I've played with four different groups now, and all of them have interpretted this differently.
Answer: 1) Automatic Dodge varies by game, and each book in which it appears usually has an explanation of how it works either with the Automatic Dodge itself, or in a separate glossary/rule section. Usually, it is as others have said, a dodge that costs no attacks, though whether standard dodge bonuses apply also varies by game.
2) Ignore it, it's been rendered irrelevant.
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#16: Author: Guest, Posted: 1 Apr 2006 12:26
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Question: Ok, some huge Mech reaches down and picks up a PC. And in his hand he holds the player and the starts to squeeze. Now the PC is wearing MDC armor of some sort. Should the PC bite the bullet on this one or should I have his MDC armor take damage first? I kinda think he would be crushed and his armor would not help him at all? Same idea, when it comes to being stomped on as well?
I am sure it can be the GMs call, but i would like to hear what some of you would say.
Any ideas?
Answer: Soft armors I would agree with, if you get Stomped, then you should be dead.. Hard armors should offer more protection, thats cool. ANd if being squeezed, I would kind of do the 50-70% rule. Perhaps I would have it so every 1 point of MDC damage done to the armor, 1 SDC crush point of damage would go directly to HP/SDC perhaps. so 10 MDC damage will do 10 HPs damage, and when the armor went below a certan level, then the "squishy" would go "PoP"
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#17: Author: Guest, Posted: 1 May 2006 21:59
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Question: OK, the Psi-Ghosts intangibility power and the floopers FLOOPING power are both done at "the speed of thought" Does that take an action to use, or can it be done in place of a dodge or parry?
Answer: I'd say both.
It takes an action to use, but you can use it in place of a dodge if you want to.

Question: Is a NATURAL roll of 1, 2, 3, or 4 always a miss ?
Or only a roll of 1 - 4 if Strike bonuses plus the roll still add up to less than 4 total ?
The books seem to indicate that bonuses are added to the roll, and only a roll (after including all Strike bonuses) of 1 - 4 is a miss....That just seems like you almost never miss to me. Am I off ?
Answer: Only newer books such as BTS2 and RUE have you missing on a natural 1, the rest of them only have you missing if your RESULT, after bonuses, is 4 or lower.
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#18: Author: Guest, Posted: 1 Jun 2006 19:50
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Question: Here's something that a friend of mine and I were wondering for future possibilities in hand to hand combat. His and my characters both recently came into posession of some heavy CS Officer and CS Dogboy armor respectivly which both have fully retractable vibro sabres in the forearms. I don't remember the exact models and can't referance because our GM has the character sheets so they all stay in one place from week to week. Our question is this, if someone is holding a Wilks Laser Knife, which can't be used to parry, and has their vibro sabre extended from the vambrace on the same arm can they attack with the knife, which has superior damage, and then parry with the vibro sabres because they don't have to hold them?
Answer: With the energy knife sticking up maybe six inches and the vibro sabers protruding forward about ten inches, (I assume you're talking about the retractable blades on the CS CA-7 Special Forcers armor and not the CA-5 with its even larger tri-claws), unless you're making a downward stab with the handheld knife, the retractable blade would be getting in the way all the time, and even then a stab could be spoiled by the extra protrusion. It's a spiffy idea, but I can't see how it would even semi-realistically work.
I say it can't be done. You'd have to use either one weapon or the other, not both. However, being held in that manner, I would say can switch between the two, back and forth, in a single melee action.

Question: In RUE, dragon claw attacks do their normal punch damage +2d6. So if the dragon does a power punch, is it:
1. (normal punch x 2) + 2d6
or
2. (normal punch + 2d6) x 2
Answer: According to RUE, page 341, you add the damage bonus to the roll before doubling or tripling damage.

Question: Where can I find the rules for using a garrote and/or strangulation?
Answer: Merc Ops, page 108.
Choking Rules are covered in revised N&S, pages 127-128 and ATB2, page 144.
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#19: Author: Guest, Posted: 3 Jul 2006 13:48
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Question: Hello, about the backhand strike:
* PFRP says p45: damage 1d6, but not mentionned in any HtH
* not mentionned in Robotech
* ATB2E says p145: damage 1d4, but not mentionned in any HtH
* not mentionned in Rifts
* Chaos Earth says p144: damage 1d6, but not mentionned in ant HtH
* RUE says p 345:
** average backhand strike does 1d4 damage, for HtH: Expert level 7
** martial art backhand strike does 1d6 damage, for HtH: Assassin level 6 (edit) and HtH: Martial art level 2 ("may perform any hand strike/punch")
not very clear...
What is exactly a "backhand strike"? Sorry, we don't learn the fight vocabulary at schoo
Answer: Palladium defines a backhand as an hand strike done on a person behind you that can be done without turning around.

Question: What does damage to mega damage player characters. Setting Australia! By the way looking for info on Australia two book.
Answer: 1. Anything that inflicts Mega-damage.
2. Anything that inflicts 100 or more points of SDC damage in one attack will cause the target to lose 1 MDC per 100 points of SDC damage.
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#20: Author: Guest, Posted: 31 Jul 2006 11:40
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Question: We're having a heavy debate on this topic.
1) If a MDC creature or vehicle crashes into the ground, does it take damage?
2) Does hitting the ground inflict any MDC damage?
3) If you have MDC strength and you toss someone or thing into the air, do they take damage?
Answer: 1) Maybe. It depends on how far it falls.
2) If you fall far enough.
This is hidden on p. 16 of the Xiticix Invasion book, where it discusses the possibility of falling off of a bridge in a xiticix hive.
Damage is listed as 3d6 SDC per story, or 1 MD per every three stories for MDC creatures, plus loss of initiative and -2 melee attacks.
Of course, the 3d6 SDC damage is more than the normal falling damage, so we have to do some guesswork.
One story of a building is about 10', and normally a fall inflicts 1d6 SDC per 10' of fall. So we can assume that the falling damage in the Xiticix book includes the assumption that the person will fall onto some of the ever-popular spiky parts that the xiticix like to build into things.
Since the SDC damage is 3x normal, it is likely that the MD falling damage is also 3x normal. Which means that instead of 1 MD per 30', the normal damage is more likely 1 MD per 90' or so.
Personally, I round that up to 1 MD per 100'.
3) That would depend on how hard you throw them, and how hard they fall.
Typically, you won't be able to toss an MDC creature the 100 or so feet necessary to inflict falling damage.
Of course, if you hurl an MDC creature at a wall or other solid target, and you have supernatural PS, then they should take damage from the impact. I'd use the normal throwing damage, and apply it to both the target and the person being thrown.

Question: The typical custom on Palladium is that an unmodified roll of 1 is automatically a miss or in some cases a fumble (critical miss).
However, looking through my books (Old Rifts, Palladium Fantasy, Ninjas and Superspies) there seems to be no indication of a critical 1. What I read is
Step 2: Attacker Rolls Strike
The next step is for the attacker to roll a 20 sided die. If the result is four or less (counting bonuses) the attacker misses. Any roll above a 4 will hit the opponent, unless the defender can parry or dodge the attack.
Pg 43 Palladium Fantasy Second Edition
Pg 35 Rifts (also see page 40 for modern weapons)
Pg 125 Ninjas and Superspies Revised.
My feeling is that the Critical 1 rule is a holdover from D&D or some other role playing system, sort of like perception rolls (not including Nightbane), and doesn't really count in Palladium's official rules. I guess they felt if a PC had a strike bonus of at least 4 he would NEVER automatically miss even if he rolled a 1.
Is this where the Critical 1 idea originated or is it actually a Palladium Rule that I missed somewhere?
Answer: The Miss on a Natural 1 rule was introduced in Beyond the Supernatural Second Edition and can also be found in RUE. There are NO official rules for a critical failure due to this.
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#21: Author: Guest, Posted: 1 Sep 2006 06:22
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Question: Hey, I just got into a game with guys who are pretty new themselves(Been playing for about month). We're doing a Coalition game. The rest of the players in the game are your average "Spec ops, mechanic etc etc". I rolled a CS Juicer. My question is at P.S 37. Do my attacks count as M.D.C or S.D.C?
Answer: actually, it's a bit of both.
a NORMAL punch will do the normal SDC damage. a POWER punch, will do 2d4 MD.
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#22: Author: Guest, Posted: 1 Oct 2006 09:03
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Question: 1) Can somebody please explain to me why supernatural strength damage and weapon damage aren't added?
2) Why under cosmo Knight does it say "weapon damage is D4x10 plus the knights normal hand to hand damage"?
3) Why would it seem plausible to anyone that a human can do 2D6 MD with a magic sword, and a creature with a 22 supernatural PS (2D6 MD on full strength punch) would do the exact same damage?
Answer: 1) The game designer wanted it that way.
2) The weapon is special.
3) It doesn't seem plausible, but that doesn't change the rules.

Question: Yo all. I need to make sure I have this right... Say my character has Supernatural Strength - punch damage is 5D6 MDC. If he wielded a Juicer Chainsaw (also 5D6 MDC), he rolls either damage pool right? There's no damage bonus at all? I'm curious because I believe I'll never benefit from a melee weapon in that case (unless it does more than 5D6 - rare). Thanks.
Answer: Yes, that's correct.

Question: Let's say you have a character with supernatural strength and you want to rip the arms off a robot opponent. You beat him hands down in strength - so what do you have to do? Make a grapple check? Called shot to the arms? Thanks.
Answer: Use a tear or pry attack, which generally does half the damage of a full strength punch.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Question: 1) Along the same line as the ripping objects apart post, what about damage rules for breaking bones. Example: you have a character in a head lock, their body is facing you and you have their head under your right arm. If i were to hook his right arm with my left and pull it up to the point of breaking; what kind of damage is done? In that same situation what kind of damage would be done if I torqued on his neck in an attemt to break it?
2) Or how would I determine it got broke at all?
Answer: 1) Broken Arm, Broken Leg, and Broken Rib or Pelvis ; PF2 page 20, HU2 page 19, ATB2 page 30, revised N&S page 15, RMB page 11, NB page 39, BTS1 page 12.
Broken Finger: revised N&S, page 130 under Finger Lock.
Broken Wrist: revised N&S, page 130 under Wrist Lock.
Broken Neck: LOD2: Chaos Lands, pages 135-136.
2) There are specific attacks which generally indicate whether or not a bone gets broken.

Question: 1) if a character has Autmatic dodge and automatic parry can he/she use both on the same attack?
2) Does he have to choose one or the other?
Answer: 1) No
2) You have to choose one or the other.

Question: 1) To hit someone you need to roll a 5 or higher, 8 or higher for ranged combat, and 12 or higher for a called shot. Is this a natural roll or does it include bonuses.
2) For example, if I roll a 4 on my d20, but I have a +4 to strike, that would be 8. Does that hit? (Let's not worry about AR, Parrying, or Dodging for the moment.)
3) Also in ranged combat, the only bonus you get to hit with guns and such are from WP's correct?
Answer: 1) That's after bonuses, with the exception that natural 1s in BTS2 and Rifts miss regardless of bonuses.
2) Yes.
3) In Rifts, that's generally correct, although special O.C.C. bonus may also be applicable.

Question: If memory serves, there are damage bonuses that you can get for HtH Martial Arts and Assassin - would these bonuses apply using MD melee weapons as an additional MD?
The rationale as to why it might work that way could be seen that since the individual with the given HtH style has gained some skill into where they should be hitting, thus causing more damage with whatever melee weapon they are using (because they are hitting more effectively).
I don't know if this has been spelled out in RUE (becaue I don't have it).
Answer: No, unless they specifically say they do Mega-Damage, the damage bonus is S.D.C.

Question: 1) Let's say you have a melee fighter striking to disarm (i.e. making an offensive move) someone with a weapon. R:UE says roll to strike as normal, but what about bonuses to strike? Obviously, specific bonuses to disarm are included. But what about bonuses from
a) Weapon Proficiencies
b) Physical Prowess
c) Other bonuses to strike in general
I figure WP bonuses would also get added, as R:UE say they apply every time a weapon is used, but I'm honestly not sure about the other two. What about other special combat moves, i.e. Entangle, Body Flip, etc.
2) While I'm on the subject, would the answer be the same for ranged combat?
Answer: 1) Each combat move is considered a seperate category, and only gets its specific bonuses.
2) Ranged Combat generally only gets bonuses from weapon proficiencies.
Question: 1) We have a character that can throw @3/4 of a ton 37 feet (supernatural strength). The damage works out to 6D6x10 + 43D6. Is that SDC damage? 2) What if the object had a 'Flame Aura' or some other way of inflicting Mega-Damage?
Answer: 1) Yes, that's SDC damage.
2) If the object inflicts other mega-damage due to a mega-damage effect, it would do that mega-damage.

Question: What rules are used for making called shots in HtH?
Answer: There are none. Called Shot is specific to ranged combat.

Question: Hey. Say your character has a charge attack for a set amount of damage (he hits his target head-first). Say he put on a jetpack that increased his speed by a fair amount - would that increase the damage?
Answer: Yes, they use the normal collision rules as outlined in the Hand to Hand Combat Terms. M.D.C. creatures do not inflict additional M.D.

Question: Okay so Dog boys and many other canine type d-bees and races and such can bite and thier bites have a listed damage code,also I have found a rules tidbit that states no P.S. damage bonus applies (I can look for a book reference if requested) thats all well and good but how do i bite?
Here's what I'm wondering:
#1 theoretically bonuses from P.P. apply I havent found anywhere that says as much and regardless what other bonuses or penalties apply if any?
#2 Can I make all my normal attacks and still bite?
#3 Also how many times per round can i bite, or can it be done every attack. I note that some other "special" attacks can only be performed once per melee round
#4 Can I bite someone who is pinned or held by me as per the H2H rules?
Answer: 1) Any strike bonuses/penalties that apply in hand to hand combat can be used for a bite attack, except for those which specify attacks with a particular body part (i.e. kicks, punches, etc.) or weapon. P.S. Damage bonus is NOT added to bite attacks.
2) No.
3) The bite is simply another method of attack. It costs one attack per melee, and is used just like a punch, kick, sword slash, etc.
4) Oddly enough, no. By the rules, when a hold, crush/squeeze, or pin/incapacitate attack is successful, neither the attacker (the holder) nor the defender (the holdee) can make any attacks, not even close-range attacks like bites and snap kicks.

Question: How much damage can you cause by trying to crush something with your grip?
SpNPS or any other PS for that matter.
Answer: Well, if you're choking the person, you use choke damage. Otherwise the only way to crush someone is to use Crush/Squeeze, either two-handed (the standard wrestling version) or one handed (see ATB2). Additional damage modifiers for size can be found on page 317 of RUE. If you're trying to do something else, you're out of luck.

Question: 1) I can't recall if PS bonuses get added BEFORE or after doubling damage for a Critical Strike. Quite possibly, it's been printed/stated both ways over the years (been playing 18+, but most PCs haven't had PS bonuses worth worrying about)
2) And what if you have a weapon that already does addl damage (like x3 vs Demon/Devil) and you get a Crit with it. What is the multiplier then?
Answer: 1) Originally (and still in some older games), it was Attack Damage x2 + P.S. Bonus. This has been changed in newer games to (Attack Damage + P.S. Bonus) x2.
2) If the weapon does a special multiplier damage by itself, the Critical Strike doubles that multiplier (combined Critical Strikes would triple, quadruple, what have you the effect).

Question: 1) Any attack from behind count as a "attack from behind" even if the defender know it?
2) attack from behind is the same thant sneak atack?
Example..
A-Guy: enter in a room a see a guy with a weapon aiming him (he es gona shoot!)
A-Guy: continue walking trought the room
B-Guy: shot in the back of A-guy
3) Question This counts as an attack From Behind?
Answer: 1) Yes.
2) No.
3) Yes.

Question: What would be the best method for determining how a being with SNPS could rend MDC armor or PA's?
Answer: Rip/tear attack inflicts 1/2 normal punch damage.

Question: okay this has been bugging me for a few days now, but i can't find it in any of the books. do the bonuses to parry, dodge, strike, etc stack with both hand to hand combat training and weapon proficiencies? i have looked in looked in many core rulebooks for the answer but have not come up with anything. can anyone shed some light?
Answer: Unless otherwise stated (and it often is, for instance, the general application of P.P. bonuses not applying to modern weapons (there are exceptions), hand to hand bonuses not applying to modern weapons, weapon kata being required for N&S/MC martial art styles, etc.), then all applicable bonuses apply.

Question: I can't find anything any rules on what kind of damage a heavy thrown object would do. The book has rules that allow a person to lif the object and thow it a good distance but I can't find a way to make it hurt.
I'm I just blind and missing a chart? or is the information in a source book. I can't justify half a ton being thrown at someone not doing any damage so I'm currently fakeing it it with something like every 50lbs is 1d6.
If anyone know a offical chart/table/ratio please let me know.
Answer: See HUGMG page 55, ATB2 page 145, RUE page 345, N&S page 129, BTS2 page 162, and several other places.

Question: 1) If i have a character that is using two weapons(two daggers/knifes/ ect) does it take one action for each attack unless i have the paired weapons WP? or am i misunderstanding something,
2) also can any class "dual wield" if they take the WP in paired weapons?
3) also is there a bonus for sneaking up on an enemy?
Answer: 1) Yes, it takes one action for each attack unless you have paired weapons.
2) Any class that can select W.P. Paired Weapons can use it.
3) Not a bonus per se, but you can often effect a sneak attack, which is covered in the hand to hand combat terms.

Question: my friend is making a monk and asked me a very good question, if i have a staff as a weapon and that counts as a stave do i get bonuses from wp blunt and staff or just blunt?
Answer: Unfortunately, yes, all applicable bonuses can be used. However, it's generally given that the listing of staves in W.P. Blunt is a copy and paste holdover from Mechanoids which didn't have a seperate W.P. for staves, so the note that W.P. Blunt covers staves should generally be ignored, which means you SHOULDN'T get the bonus.

Question: maybe I'm stupid, But I cant find how this works:
Power Punch 1d4 x2 +bonus strength?
or
Power Punch (1d4+bonus strength)2 (ie add it all up and then multiply)
Answer: Originally (and still in some older games), it was Attack Damage x2 + P.S. Bonus. This has been changed in newer games to (Attack Damage + P.S. Bonus) x2.

Question: do you add punch dam to hitting with a sword/staff/claws/etc.?
Answer: Punch damage from the punch attack itself, no. Bonuses from a high P.S. to S.D.C weapons, yes.

Question: You know I was just reading through the rules and I noticed that there are no real rules describing how shields work.
A shield adds to your parry and it also has SDC depending on the size of it. Thats all fine and dandy. But how do you use it? (other then what is stated in the WP section)
Here is how i think it works, let me know if I am wrong or off base.
I have a sword and a shield, I have a total of +3 parry from my PP bonus and my WPs and I also get a +1 for using my shield. If i am attacked I can parry using +3 (PP,WP) or I can also use my shield to get the extra +1. So, lets say I decide to also use my sheild and try and parry an attack I roll a 10 +3 (pp,wp) and +1 (shield) and parried the attack. But becuase I used my shield to get that extra +1 my shield would have to take the damage? (seeing you are using it to block the attack)
whats the point of having the SDC of the shields? Because the only real differences in the different shields are the amount of SDC it can take. And the above example is the only way i can figure you could account for differences of shield types.
Is what I am saying making any sense?
Answer: Shields are used to parry attacks, often those which could otherwise be unparried (such as missile weapons, specifically bullets/energy blasts, explosions, etc.), additionally allowing you to effectively have the equivalent of Paired Weapons, with one of those 'weapons' being the shield. When used to parry bullets, energy blasts, explosions or deliberately targetted they generally take damage. Optionally, a shield can take 10% damage from any attack it is used to block.

Question: what skills give the ability of automatic dodge or parry ... I seem to have forgotten
Answer: Automatic Parry is generally learned when one learns a hand to hand skill. Automatic Dodge can be learned with some hand to hand skills (such as Hand to Hand Commando), OCC abilities, or racial abilities.

Question: 1) I have a dragon that likes to preform diving tackels on things from the air. Does anyone have a good rule system for damage that takes into account his speed and weight? So far we've been useing power punch and an adjustable bonus based on altitude, but that doesn't feel right to me...
2) Also, is there a chart to convert Spd attribute to swimming speed?
Answer: 1) See the Miscellaneous Damage listings in the Combat Terms section for determining damage by weight/speed of object dropped.
2) Spd doesn't technically convert to swimming speed, as the attribute measures running speed. To determine swimming speed cross-reference the appropriate swimming skill or ability and it's modifier on the P.S. attribute

Question: I am trying to figure out the damage for Supernatural Strength attacks.
A Supernatural Strength of 51
I know the punches but am trying to learn what a restrained kick a regular kick a power kick and a flying kick damage would be.
Also body block ram and tackles.
Answer: Rifter #3 has optional damage tables for this sort of thing (screwed-up though they may be).

Question: At what size levels do require a greater to hit roll? say the target is 4" tall....
And the locations of the rules covering the this.
Answer: There are no rules for hitting size levels requiring a greater to hit roll. The only thing remotely applicable is the penalties for shooting smaller targets with a called shot, and can be found in the Called Shot rules, particularly in ATB2, RUE, Triax & the NGR, and the Compendium of Contemporary Weapons.

Question: A player wants to know if a neural mace can be thrown and still do its thing.
Answer: You can throw it and have it still do its thing.

Question: Super-high Autododgeman is fighting against Powerhouseman. Powerhouseman has only about 30% more points than Super-high Autododgeman, and figures he'll lose if he tries to fight it out normally. Powerhouseman decides to use all of his attacks for simultaneous attacks when Super-high Autododgeman attacks. Can Super-high Autododgeman still dodge?
Answer: No.

Question: I just recently got back into playing RIFTS and have several questions.
1) It says that the Coalition Juicer gets automatic dodge and parry on every attack - does that mean he gets an automatic dodge and parry on every attack without having to give up his attack per melee?
2) Can Glitter Boy pilots wear body armor inside the Glitter Boy?
3) What are the rules on firing on a moving target?
Answer: 1) No, it means they can automatically dodge OR automatically parry without having to give up a melee attack.
2) No
3) -1 to strike, -1 additional per 50 mph (80kph) beyond 20mph (32kph), and -1 for evasive action.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Question: I have a player who's rolled a natural 20 to punch another player. Now, the person being attacked has a +13 to dodge, and rolled a natural 19. That gives him a total of 32. Here's my question. I'd been taught that the only way to parry/dodge a natural 20 was with a natural 20 of your own. Where can I find a official rules clarification on this? I can't find it in my 2nd edition books. I'm sure I saw something in a palladium book before though.
Answer: RUE, page 346, top of right-hand paragraph.

Question: OK here is the deal. I have a player; Level 1 crazy with HtH Commando (w.p. paired at lvl 1) she is weilding 2 Vibro blades and does a double strike against an opponent, thus giving up her automatic parry (due to both weapons being engaged in combat) but does she still get her automatic dodge?
Answer: Yes.

Question: Where can I find out how much damage say an APC will cause hitting you at 60mph? Or a flying charge from a Sammas at 200mph?
Answer: For the APC (or other ground vehicles), see HU2, pp. 84-85; Revised N&S, pp. 136-137; or Road Hogs, p. 20.

For power armor and robot vehicles, use the "Full Speed Running Ram" damage appropriate for the particular machine, as found in RUE, pp. 352-353. Alternatively, you can use the rules for superspeed combat from HU2, p. 72, but these may require modification for use in Rifts.

Question: I remember Hit Location Charts (%'s I think) for either Robotech or Rifts to determine where your attack hit. Are these still available and in what book are they in?
Answer: Rifts Conversion Book 1 and (if you can find a copy) the RDF Manual.

Question: I have some rules questions about Death Blow:
1) If a character has Death Blow, does he have to declare that he is making a Death Blow attack before rolling to use the Death Blow?

2) When using Death Blow, does the character have to roll the required number naturally or does he add modifiers to the roll to figure the result?

3) If a character does have to declare a Death Blow attack, and he fails to roll the required number but he rolls above a 5 total (assume parry would fail), does his attack miss or does it inflict normal damage instead of a Death Blow?

Answer: 1) Yes.
2) It depends on which version you have. If you have "Death Blow on natural 20" or the like, then yes, it's an unmodified roll. If you have "Death Blow!" or a similar unlimited variation, then you get your usual strike bonuses.
3) An unsuccessful Death Blow inflicts a measly 1D6 damage, according to N&S Revised, p. 129.

Question: I've finally gotten a chance to read my Rifts book, but I have a question: what do I roll to parry? I spent the last two days poring over the rules section, I know how to find the roll for dodge and entangle, but I can't find out exactly how to parry. I know how it works but I can't seem to find what it is I'm actually supposed to roll. Can someone tell me what I roll and what page I can find it on in the ultimate edition book?
Answer: 1D20, per RUE, p. 339.

Question: Does the Fencing skill add a 1D6 damage to Mega-Damage rolls as well? If it does I would assume that would also cover Psi-swords, right?
Answer: Yes and yes. While the RUE version of Fencing leaves some room for debate, the Splicers version specifically states that the damage bonus is either S.D.C. or M.D.C., depending on the weapon. A Psi-Sword benefits from combat bonuses just like any other sword.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Question: I have a few questions about movement.

1) When a character moves in combat do they still get a chance to make melee attacks after they move?
2) If a character dodges, how far do they move?
3) When a character moves in combat do they divide their speed by their number of actions in a round? This seems odd as it means that a character with seven actions moves smaller distances per action than a character with six actions if they both have the same speed score...
4) Are there any rules on using hexes or squares for combat movement? If so where can I find these rules?

Answer: 1) Yes, as long as the distance between the character and the target is less than the distance the character can move in one attack. Otherwise, the movement itself consumes the character's attack for that turn, allowing other combatants to take their actions.
2) Unspecified. As dodging can involve anything from ducking to sidestepping to throwing oneself to the ground, the distance will vary. Generally, the bigger the attack, the farther the character will have to move to evade it, but I am unaware of a specific rule on this.
3) That is correct.
4) None that I know of.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Question: 1) Are energy shields/force fields subject to critical strikes on a natural 20 roll? 2) What about death blows?

Answer: 1) Yes. 2) Death blows don't work through armor or shields of any kind.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Question: I am looking for some clarification on how to resolve combat of, say, 1 player that 2 NPCs are attacking at the same time. Say the player walks into a room and 2 NPCs are there, and both decide to attack the player at the same time. If anyone could run through a short sweet example of this situation it would be greatly appreciated.

Answer: Under normal circumstances, the player and each NPC get an initiative roll, and each character acts in order from highest roll to lowest (ties are always rerolled). If the NPCs made a sneak attack, then they automatically have the initiative, and can act in whichever order you prefer.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Question: Let's say you have a group of four, and they attack one person. The group has different amount of attacks: one has 4, another 6, another 8, and the last one has 12 attacks. The person they are attacking has 7 attacks. So my question is what happens when one person runs out of attacks and everybody else has 2-6 actions left?

Answer: The person who is out of attacks is pretty much screwed. He can use automatic defenses (e.g. automatic parry or automatic dodge), or he can make a normal dodge that uses up one attack, but since he's out of attacks it comes off his next round's total attacks. That's it.

Question: My other question is if someone does something that uses more than one attack (like a power punch or casting a spell) do you wind up one turn and then punch the next/start casting and then when your actions have been done you cast? Some questions that I have had and done some house rules so just wanted to see what other people thought.

Answer: Spells execute on the last attack that it takes to cast them. If a spell takes 2 attacks to cast, then the first attack is spent chanting and waving your hands, and the spell goes off on your next attack.

Power punches and such are open to interpretation. I believe that the most common way to deal with it is to have the power punch happen all at once, and just take the extra attack off the total.

Question: If a juicer is attacking a dead boy with his sword, couldn't the dead boy just shoot him with his energy rifle and the poor juicer have the close range dodge penalty? or would say the juicer be able to parry his gun since they are in so close? any thoughts

Answer: The Dead Boy could indeed shoot the Juicer. In fact, if the Juicer is the attacker (i.e. is striking on his own turn in the initiative order), the rifle blast would be a Simultaneous Attack, which can't be dodged or parried. If the Juicer has a shield, he can parry the gun *shot* with the usual penalties, but again, this won't be possible if the Dead Boy uses a Simultaneous Attack. The gun itself can only be parried (that is, have its strike deflected) if the gun is being used as a melee weapon (e.g. a pistol-whip or bayonet strike), although it can be grabbed, entangled, disarmed, or struck in melee combat.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Question: Hi there folks, got a little something I was hoping to get some help with. How much damage does a garrotte actually do?

Answer: According to Rifts Merc Ops, p. 108, a garrotte does 4d6 S.D.C. damage, and that damage goes straight to hit points if the victim is caught unawares (successful prowl).

[Tinker Dragoon]

Question: I've found in the FAQ that Critical Strike is already factored into a Death Blow so they don't stack, but what about knockout/stun? I assume that if I'm 12th level w/ HtH Assassin and I roll a 19 to strike, I deal double damage (or Death Blow damage) and then they suffer the knockout/stun effect.

I've also read that Death Blow doesn't affect targets in armor. Is this true of knockout/stun also?

Answer: You usually have to declare a knockout/stun attempt, and therefore cannot also declare a death blow with the same attack.

A possible exception arises when a character has the boxing skill. The boxing skill gives you an automatic (i.e. undeclared) knockout on a natural 20, so it may theoretically be possible to score a knockout while performing a death blow attack. On the other hand, it could be argued that a death blow attack by its very nature cannot be modified by other special combat abilities.

In any event, there's nothing that says that knockout/stun does not work through armor, so one can assume that it does.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Question: How do Called Shots work in hand-to-hand combat? In the ranged combat rules, you can aim for an opponent's least armored/most vulnerable areas, at the cost of having a higher number to beat with your strike roll. This makes sense when you're trying to hit a one-inch target at 50 yards, but not when you're face-to-face and sword-to-sword with the enemy.

Answer: There is an example of melee "called shots" on page 33 of Rifts Vampire Kingdoms: on the subject of staking a vampire in the heart in melee combat, it says "The only condition is that the combatant must state that he is 'trying to pierce the heart' before he strikes." It then goes on to distinguish that in order to do the same thing with a ranged weapon you need to make a Called Shot as usual, clearly showing that it's not the same thing.

So essentially, in melee combat, all you have to do is designate where you intend to strike and roll as normal; no penalties, no different numbers to hit, no extra attacks needed, just call it and hit it.

Additionally, there are specific combat maneuvers and powers (primarily found in Ninjas & Superspies) which automatically target specific body parts, with varying effects.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Question: The 13th-level advancement bonus for Hand to Hand: Expert reads, "Critical strike or Knock out from behind (triple damage)."

Does this just mean that if you are behind a person while attacking and roll a crit, you now do 3x the damage? I would assume so.

But the whole KO thing got me kinda confused, did it mean you couldnt knock out someone before if you were behind them before? The whole KO aspect seems to be kinda useless. Unless it is meant that if you roll a crit from behind, you can either choose to do X3 damage or KO a person.. based on the roll.. that makes some sense.

Answer: It means that all attacks from behind do either triple damage or are a KO, you pick.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Question: From reading the description, you call a Death Blow and if you roll a certain number on the attack roll you succeed. Does it actually cause instant death as the ability implies? The description states the Death Blow deals double damage, but you deal double damage on a roll of a 20 to hit anyway correct? So I see several possibilities here. 1) Death Blow 20 is actually a worthless ability. 2) Deathblow 20 kills an opponent on a to hit roll of 20. 3) Deathblow 20 deals quadruple (double a critical hit) damage. Which is it, or is it something else entirely?

Answer: Under the current rules, a Death Blow does not automatically kill in one hit. However, it does inflict double damage directly to Hit Points, so it can potentially kill a weak character in one blow.

Question: Once you've attempted an automatic dodge and failed, can you attempt to parry, dodge or roll with impact instead?

Answer: You can attempt only one "cancellation"-type defense against any attack, be it dodge, parry, automatic parry, automatic dodge, automatic body flip/throw, automatic hold, automatic lock, disarm, or what have you. However, you can still attempt to roll with punch/fall/impact if your first defense fails.