Gymnastics doesn't quite do the same thing as Dodge.

Here's how.

Gymnastics only allows you to dodge either Melee OR Ranged.

Dodge allows you to dodge both.

I know, I know, small distinction, one in which my character Zoe is blissfully abusing.  However, I also took ambidexterity and a monowhip to compensate for those times when I'm being attacked by both melees and ranged people.  Dodge the ranged, parry the melee.  And good is golden.

So, keep that in mind.  If you DO NOT take dodge and want to rely only on Gymnastics make sure you aren't fighting melees+ranged people, else ya deads as deads come be moo-joo-joo Joe.

What's cool about the gymnastics character is that you can afford to run and jump and climb and swim and do all the things that are a waste of points for lots of runners, since you only need a few points of skill for your big bonuses to kick in and make you good.

Actually, the Reflex Recorder does distinguish between skills. It explicitly affects only Combat and Physical skills. It's part of why I truly believe the developers wanted to bone combat skills (and EA by extension) for some reason.

And yeah, I like taking ambidexterity, gymnastics and monowhips/unarmed (sadly, monowhips and unarmed are about the only melee skills I take ) too. Even if you never fight a melee guy and a gunman at the same time, ambidexterity is still good for letting you actually be pretty vicious with say, dual streetline specials loaded with stick and shock. Melee skills and the 2nd most easily concealed guns in the game aren't something I'd build a character around or anything, but considering how easy they are to blend into an already decent build, I can't say I pass up on them often either.

Perhaps, but I do not doubt that there will be many GMs that don't see such a distinction, and will let you use it for both. But even if the GM only allows one or the other, the rules say nothing about not being allowed to defend yourself from melee with dodge or a melee skill while using the gymnastic full defense.

In fact, it's a safe bet that people who take dodge will take it as dodge(Ranged), and use a melee skill to block attacks.


I was refering to essence and even money costs.  There is an obvious distinction between skills linked to physical attributes and those linked to mental attributes.  Which was my entire point.  There is no logical reason why EA doesn't help with combat skills because they, with the exception of certain ones like missile launcher, are just as physical as any physical active skill.  Well, no logical reason except your theory that the developers wanted to bone combat skills.

Yeah, that's the entire point of why combining Gymnastics with a melee skill is effective. Dodge's only true advantage is that it's the only skill that is a complete defensive package unto itself whereas Gymnastics gives no passive benefits against melee; you either take Full Gymnastic Dodge action or your left to rolling naught but Reaction. And as NES mentioned, if you're getting shot at while someone's trying to stab you, odds are you're taking it on the chin from one of your attackers if all you have is Gymnastics to rely on. Once you have a passive form of defense like Unarmed, however, the Gymnastics skill and the flexibility it provides is hands down the better buy; at that point Dodge only has Specialization to offer. Anyway though, I don't worry about "GMs who may interpret it differently", mostly because they're wrong. Oh, they can put in whatever houserule they like, but at that point we're not talking about the RAW anyway and therefore it kind of goes beyond this discussion, since GMs could houserule that Trolls have an uncapped charisma stat if they really wanted to.

We need another FAQ.

It's very clear that it only works for one or the other when used as part of gymnastic dodge.  That is to say, it works for either one, but only one at a time.  So if someone shoots at you and you full defense with gymnastics, you cannot use your gymnastics against melee combat while you're still full defensing against ranged.  There really isn't room for interpretation, the language is very plain, though fairly subtle.

Damn you all!  You got to correct someone before I had chance to access the internet again and respond.  I hate you all.  Well, you see!?  Corrected, and I didn't get to say it.  This Gymnastics things was so plain to me that I didn't even think someone could interpret it otherwise.  But, that's the thing, its not really an interpretation if the language is clear to prevent any incorrect understandings.  That's what's weird about language these days, people confuse attempting to figure out what something in the book is SAYING, with what the book has written.  They look at the intent of the language instead of the actuality of the language... and because of that they just start going willy nilly on everything.

Well, boo.  I wanted to correct the incorrect people and you guys didn't let me.  Boo hoo me poo poo.

I don't know if it's so much looking at the intent as it is subtle wording.  The operative word is 'or,' and it's pretty easy to miss its significance when giving a cursory reading.  There's no room to interpret 'or,' but it doesn't exactly have a neon sign pointing to it.