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Hello all, a player I know was asking me about auto-dodges, but does not like the Juicer or Crazy. I am trying to think up all the ways that a character can gain an auto-dodge in Rifts and would appreciate some help compiling the list. I remember there are several power armors but can't remember which at the moment. Please mention which book what you are talking about comes from and thank you in advance for your time.

EDIT:
Attempting to include only Rifts-originated sources

Complete List:
Juicer OCC + Juicer variants
Crazy OCC + select Crazy variants (like Wired Gunslinger)
Cyber-Knight OCC (situational upon reaching level 4)
Hand to Hand Commando (upon reaching level 5)
Hand to Hand Aikido (upon reaching level 3) from WB Japan
Sportsman from WB Australia
Kittani Serpent Power Armor from WB Atlantis
Cyborg Pilot OCC from WB Triax
Mantis PA from NG2
Prophet PA from NG2
Lemurian Bio Armors NO REFERENCE
Metamorphosis: Insect in RMB p182
HTH: Teng-jutsu (Rifts Japan)
Kittani Raptor PA (Rifts SA1)
K-Universal PA (WB2) Only applicable while "leap traveling," not once combat has been joined.
Kittani Warfish PA (Rifts Underseas)
Kittani War Pods (Splyn Market)
Oni Ninja from Soucebook Phase World
Zembahk RCC from WB2
combat magic level 5 spell, Superhuman Agility NO REFERENCE
Reaver Assassin OCC from WB17 Warlords of Russia
Race: Quick-Flex from WB CS War Campaign
Temporal Warrior OCC NO REFERENCE
Monk OCC from DB Wormwood (included because I <3 Wormwood and there are permanent portals to Rifts Earth on no fewer than 3 continents)
Grey Seer... OCC? NO REFERENCE
Talus... RCC? NO REFERENCE

NGR cyborg pilot gives it while flying, IIRC.

Mantis PA from NG2
Prophet PA from NG2
a number of lemurian bio armors I don't have my book handy and I don't recall which ones off the top of my head but two or three of them do have it.

There are non-human races that can auto-dodge in some cases.
Also, there are HU super powers (iirc) that grant it, and N&S martial arts that grant it (although not necessarily the same type that they have in Rifts).

Metamorphosis: Insect in RMBp182, has a sweet bonus specifically to auto-dodge as well.

A shifter could start with this level 9 spell at first level if they linked to the supernatural and would probably have enough base PPE to cast it. Suddenly: a PoM better than a Juicer. Well except for the whole being able to carry a gun or use armor or get extra attacks stuff.

Although it says you can't cast spells in this form, that is only due to being unable to speak, so if you incorportate the Underseas rules for being able to cast without speaking, you could assault people with Call Lightning while being an auto-dodging insect. They retain IQ/memory/knowledge so there's not anything stopping them.

Your vision is pretty horrible as an insect, but that could be fixed by casting Second Sight.

For those "damage harms MD" folks out there, if they pick an insect species with (non-lethal) poison, that damage is worded like that, as opposed to the non-poisonous which specifies "hit point or SDC point".

Be an uber-prowler by picking a smaller insect (not really any upside to being a large one) and you effectively get a free camouflage to boot. Not sure what would happen if you stacked the Chameleon spell with this, I guess they would roll against both. If unmoving that'd only be a 1% chance of you being detected (10% times 10%).

Per RMB you could probably cast a protection spell like AoI or Energy Field prior to metamorphing, per Underseas you could also active/renew that during. Downside being you're too small to move around lugging armor and would have to rely on your magics.

HTH: Teng-jutsu (Rifts Japan) essentially with Leap Dodge (Auto-Dodge by another name), I don't recall off hand if the non-human creators have LD or not

Kittani Raptor PA (Rifts SA1)
K-Universal PA (WB2)
Kittani Warfish PA (Rifts Underseas)
Kittani War Pods (Splyn Market)

Importing from Robotech you have (RT means you'll have to have a source of PC or SLMH):
Robotech 1E Cyclone Series PA (Invid Invasion or Sentinels)
Robotech 1E Zentreadi PA Specialist (RT Strike Force, I may be wrong but other Zent Spec. classes here might also)
Robotech 2E Cyclones (TSC main book) and a lot of the other mecha get auto-dodge to situationally (TSC, Masters & Macros SBs)
Macross2 (not technically RT) has some mecha with Auto-Dodge

does it have to be specifically automatic dodge, or can it be any source of defense which does not require an action? if the latter is acceptable, then various spells provide an automatic parry attempt which is usable against ranged attacks (light blade and maybe frost blade, as well as spinning blades, for example).

there is also the spell "beat insurmountable odds" which provides an actual automatic dodge attempt, but as the spell costs two (maybe three) actions to cast and is iirc only good for one use, that is most likely not going to cover your needs.

The Oni from Phase World get it (maybe only the Oni Ninja?)
The Zembahk from WB2 gets it

Shark_Force wrote:various spells provide an automatic parry attempt which is usable against ranged attacks
(light blade and maybe frost blade, as well as spinning blades, for example)

Frost/Light don't give you an automatic parry but are great to have on hand if you do have it.

Spinning-blades is amazing if you want to do simultaneous attacks or twin strike attacks

Particularly if you multi-cast it, because then you have multiple chances to overcome a natural 20.

Shark_Force wrote:there is also the spell "beat insurmountable odds" which provides an actual automatic dodge attempt, but as the spell costs two (maybe three) actions to cast and is iirc only good for one use, that is most likely not going to cover your needs.

That's why we make permanence wards.

Mercenary Adventures, combat magic level 5 spell, Superhuman Agility provides a +5 to auto-dodge.

Rifts World Book 17. The Reaver Assassin O.C.C. has auto dodge. it says "Automatic dodge, can dodge without losing a melee action, but still needs to roll a 1d20 (plus the usual bonuses) to be successful."

What the hell the "usual bonuses" are I have no idea. I always thought regular dodge bonuses are calculated differently than automatic dodge stat bonuses. I may be wrong but IMO the dodge stat bonus should be higher than the auto-dodge bonus.( The risk/reward game play thing I got going on in my head). You could opt for a regular dodge with a higher bonus for success, but that would use a action. If you think you could avoid the attack with a lower bonus and auto-doge without losing an action, you could do so.

Auto-dodge is very hard ability to come by.....so is the clarification on how to calculate the full bonus for the action (that doesn't use an action).

So to clarify...The Reaver Assassin has Automatic dodge as a O.C.C. feature...How you calculate the bonus for the game mechanic to use it properly is lost on me.

Help my Brain,

Morik

Regular dodge bonuses do not contribute to an auto dodge bonus.

Quick-Flex in Coalition war campaign also get it.

Auto-dodge is way easier to get in Heroes Unlimited than in rifts.

Temporal Warrior after 14 years of service gets it. Makes it so much more B.A.

Also grey seer and wormwood monk, talus via talitsu

Tor wrote:

Shark_Force wrote:various spells provide an automatic parry attempt which is usable against ranged attacks
(light blade and maybe frost blade, as well as spinning blades, for example)

Frost/Light don't give you an automatic parry but are great to have on hand if you do have it.

Spinning-blades is amazing if you want to do simultaneous attacks or twin strike attacks

Particularly if you multi-cast it, because then you have multiple chances to overcome a natural 20.

all parry's are automatic in the same sense as automatic dodge/autododge.. parry's don't use an attack. which is what makes them so useful.

Well, with few exceptions parries only apply in melee, require knowledge of the existence of the opponent, and can only be used on a maximum of three opponents at a time according to RUE. So while awesome and comparatively common compared to the rare-ish auto dodge hardly as useful/powerful.

I will be adding to the original post as new sources are mentioned. If you all need/want stricter guidelines please let me know. So far it looks like the "easiest" way to get an auto-dodge is to pilot a light PA from certain manufacturers. What about other books I have never read? Naruni 2 and such? I have a feeling we are missing a half dozen other light or hoppy PAs at least.

glitterboy2098 wrote:all parry's are automatic in the same sense as automatic dodge/autododge.. parry's don't use an attack. which is what makes them so useful.

not quite. automatic parry comes with all HtH skills. people with no HtH skill whatsoever do not have automatic parry, and must spend an action to make the attempt.

glitterboy2098 wrote:

Tor wrote:

Shark_Force wrote:various spells provide an automatic parry attempt which is usable against ranged attacks
(light blade and maybe frost blade, as well as spinning blades, for example)

Frost/Light don't give you an automatic parry but are great to have on hand if you do have it.

Spinning-blades is amazing if you want to do simultaneous attacks or twin strike attacks

Particularly if you multi-cast it, because then you have multiple chances to overcome a natural 20.

all parry's are automatic in the same sense as automatic dodge/autododge.. parry's don't use an attack. which is what makes them so useful.

Not true. There are two hand to hand styles that do not provide automatic parry, just a regular parry that takes one attack. almost all parries are free...but not quite.

Also remember, you can't automatic parry more than three opponents seperate per round.

Morik wrote:What the hell the "usual bonuses" are I have no idea.

They were normal dodge bonuses. The idea that only auto-dodge bonuses contributed to auto-dodge came later if I recall. Prior to that, bonuses specifically to auto-dodge would stack with normal dodge bonuses.

Morik wrote:The Reaver Assassin has Automatic dodge as a O.C.C. feature...How you calculate the bonus for the game mechanic to use it properly is lost on me.

Just use the classic rules and ignore that "needs to specify auto" RUE nonsense, easiest fix.

Or you could shell out money to buy each new generation of reprints of Warlords in hopes that they will add in some specific auto bonuses like they did for Juicers in RUE.

Or you could just go by raw PP bonuses and assume they get nothing else, which would be the amended way to treat it.

Nekira Sudacne wrote:There are two hand to hand styles that do not provide automatic parry, just a regular parry that takes one attack.

I am frustrated that I can't think of what these are.

Nekira Sudacne wrote:you can't automatic parry more than three opponents seperate per round.

I think there are exceptions to this although I'm not sure what the extensive list ,would be interesting to compile.

I want to say the Oni Ninja's "Fast Hands" power because... if not this, I can't even understand what it does.

Nekira Sudacne wrote:

glitterboy2098 wrote:

Tor wrote:

Shark_Force wrote:various spells provide an automatic parry attempt which is usable against ranged attacks
(light blade and maybe frost blade, as well as spinning blades, for example)

Frost/Light don't give you an automatic parry but are great to have on hand if you do have it.

Spinning-blades is amazing if you want to do simultaneous attacks or twin strike attacks

Particularly if you multi-cast it, because then you have multiple chances to overcome a natural 20.

all parry's are automatic in the same sense as automatic dodge/autododge.. parry's don't use an attack. which is what makes them so useful.

Not true. There are two hand to hand styles that do not provide automatic parry, just a regular parry that takes one attack. almost all parries are free...but not quite.

Also remember, you can't automatic parry more than three opponents seperate per round.

actually there is only one, in any of the games, to my knowledge. it's known as "no hand to hand skill"

parries are automatic and free as long as you have any kind of hand to hand training.

glitterboy2098 wrote:

Nekira Sudacne wrote:

glitterboy2098 wrote:

Tor wrote:

Shark_Force wrote:various spells provide an automatic parry attempt which is usable against ranged attacks
(light blade and maybe frost blade, as well as spinning blades, for example)

Frost/Light don't give you an automatic parry but are great to have on hand if you do have it.

Spinning-blades is amazing if you want to do simultaneous attacks or twin strike attacks

Particularly if you multi-cast it, because then you have multiple chances to overcome a natural 20.

all parry's are automatic in the same sense as automatic dodge/autododge.. parry's don't use an attack. which is what makes them so useful.

Not true. There are two hand to hand styles that do not provide automatic parry, just a regular parry that takes one attack. almost all parries are free...but not quite.

Also remember, you can't automatic parry more than three opponents seperate per round.

actually there is only one, in any of the games, to my knowledge. it's known as "no hand to hand skill"

parries are automatic and free as long as you have any kind of hand to hand training.

Mystic China page 192. Pao Chih.

The second one, even I can't remember where. I think it was in a palladium fantasy book, however.

The Aviane race in RIFTS WB 30 gets +2 to automatic dodge in flight. They don't get the combat maneuver unless they are flying.

combat magic level 5 spell, Superhuman Agility NO REFERENCE (RIFTS Mercenary Adventures Combat Mage Spell list)

Temporal Warrior OCC NO REFERENCE ( RIFTS WB3 England, option on OCC T-Warrior creation.)

Grey Seer... OCC? NO REFERENCE (RIFTS WB16 Revised Federation of Magic OCC class bonus)

Talus... RCC? NO REFERENCE ( RIFTS DB4 Skraypers. The Talus race all know a special martial arts called Talitsu that give such abilities as automatic body flip and automatic Dodge.)

Vernulian (WB30 p 210) the military ones get auto-dodge at +3

ok sleep now


hope this helps..I'll try to think of more later.

There's also a bit of a grey area regarding a few power armor suits:

WB2/Atlantis page 139 the K-Universal
WB5/TriaxNGR page 41 the T-21 Terrain Hopper (or T-C20 combat version, same)

In all 3 cases under "Sensor Bonuses" following a "+X to parry and dodge" is a separate phrase saying "automatically +X to dodge while travelling by means of power jumps"

It could have just said "+X to dodge while travelling by means of power jumps".

The prefixed "automatically" sounds a heck of a lot like an auto-dodge. It's conspicuous, like that automatic kick attack acrobatics gives.

What HU powers include Auto-Dodge?

implementor wrote:What HU powers include Auto-Dodge?

Off the top of my head:
Extraordinary PP
Extraordinary Speed
Karmic Power
Natural Combat Ability
Slow Motion Control
Sonic Speed
Surprisingly - not Spin at Extraordinary Speed


That is just from the main HU book. I know there are more powers that provide Automatic Dodge in Powers Unlimited 1 and Powers Unlimited 2. There might be a power or two in Armageddon Unlimited that provided Automatic Dodge.

NMI wrote:

implementor wrote:What HU powers include Auto-Dodge?

Off the top of my head:
Extraordinary PP
Extraordinary Speed
Karmic Power
Natural Combat Ability
Slow Motion Control
Sonic Speed
Surprisingly - not Spin at Extraordinary Speed


That is just from the main HU book. I know there are more powers that provide Automatic Dodge in Powers Unlimited 1 and Powers Unlimited 2. There might be a power or two in Armageddon Unlimited that provided Automatic Dodge.

Lightning Reflexes (PU1)
Mechanical Awareness (PU1, Limited, only aginst technological opponents--same limitations as a cyber knights zen combat)
Supervision: Circular Vision (PU1)
Sidestep (PU2)
Defensive Will (PU3)

Nekira Sudacne wrote:

NMI wrote:

implementor wrote:What HU powers include Auto-Dodge?

Off the top of my head:
Extraordinary PP
Extraordinary Speed
Karmic Power
Natural Combat Ability
Slow Motion Control
Sonic Speed
Surprisingly - not Spin at Extraordinary Speed


That is just from the main HU book. I know there are more powers that provide Automatic Dodge in Powers Unlimited 1 and Powers Unlimited 2. There might be a power or two in Armageddon Unlimited that provided Automatic Dodge.

Lightning Reflexes (PU1)
Mechanical Awareness (PU1, Limited, only aginst technological opponents--same limitations as a cyber knights zen combat)
Supervision: Circular Vision (PU1)
Sidestep (PU2)
Defensive Will (PU3)

And in Heroes of the Megaverse

-Creature of the Water (when underwater or wet)
-Demon Slayer (when fighting demons)
-Fly, Space (when flying in space)
-Super Speed
-Super Pilot (When piloting)

Might have missed a few.