well, then, that finally answers my real question. I'm glad they're doing better on that too.
For the record, my observations were accurate. Here is every word I can find in the entire PFRPG book about dodge, the problem extends to parry as well:
STEP 3: Defender may Parry, Dodge or Entangle
Any time an attacker rolls a successful hit, the defender can choose to parry, dodge, or entangle.
Parrying can be done automatically by anyone trained in any form of hand to hand combat. A parry blocks the attacker's strike, preventing damage from being inflicted. For example, a punch can be blocked by the character's hands or arms. A weapon attack (sword, axe, mace, etc.) can be parried/blocked by a shield, sword, or other weapon or object held in the defender's hand. A weapon should only be parried with another object. Trying to parry a weapon with one's hand or arm is likely to result in a failed parry and the usual amount of damage being inflicted by the weapon. Parrying a weapon barehanded is dangerous and all such attempts are without benefit of the character's parry bonuses.
A parry can be performed without wasting a melee attack/action. Characters with no hand to hand combat training will lose their melee attack every time they parry.
Energy attacks such as magic fire balls, dragon's breath, eye beams and so on, cannot be parried, but can be dodged.
Defending by dodgeing or entangling means automatically giving up the next melee attack. Entangle means the character actually pins or snares an opponent's weapon(s) or arm.
A dodge means the character physically moves out of the path of the attack. Each dodge uses up one of the character's attacks per mele round. So constantly dodging means the defender has no opportunity to attack.
Note: The defender can only defend against attacks within his line of vision. Attacks from the rear cannot be parried, dodged or entangled. The defender always wins ties when parrying, entangling, or dodging.
(page 43)
The only other time I see the word "parry" in the combat chapter is in the sentence where a roll lower than the A.R. of the target "would strike, unless parried..." (same page)
No where are there any rules for determining whether a parry or a dodge successfully avoided the blow. In the list of "Combat Terms & Moves" Entangle appears, and is described, but neither dodge nor parry have an entry here (though there are rules for grappling, they just call it "body block/tackle").
so yeah, missing rule.
Incidentally, I was wrong in fact about TMNT but the charge still sticks. There's no table about education levels in TMNT. There's only this cryptic statement: "The
Educational Level reflects the character's years and intensity of study. This directly translated to the education al bonus and the number of skill programs a character can select. The one time bonus is applied to All
scholastic skills. Do
not add this bonus to secondary skill," and this sentence: "select as many skill programs as allowed by your character's Educational Level; usually 2 or 3 programs. Remember to add the educational skill bonus to each of these
Scholastic Skills." (both sentences are found on page 17).
so uh... yeah... how do you determine your character's educational level or what the actual bonus is? You'll have to buy a different book, because it's not in TMNT.
that's my point. I've bought two Palladium books, I've found major omissions from both in terms of rules. Rules that are part of the core system of play -- not necessarily making the game entirely unplayable, but certainly making it difficult to be enthusiastic about it. That is what's made me grumpy about Palladium, and that's why I'm glad to hear that Ultimate Rifts if fixing it.
by the way, all the worst grammar mistakes and strange formatting decisions in my quotes represent exact copies from the books. Kevin siembieda has always needed a half-decent copy editor, but his refusal to ever use one is another issue that makes me grumpy
