Metamorphosis Alpha Dexterity and Intiative

 

It’s time to delve into Dexterity and how it is used specifically in Metamorphosis Alpha as well as taking a look at the other games being produced by TSR.

From Metamorphosis Alpha:

“C. DEXTERITY:

This ability indicates the speed at which a player is able to function, and the player’s reaction time to various situations. A being with a dexterity of 16 will act before a being with a dexterity of 10. For example, two humans see each other at same time and neither is surprised and both have bows. Player A has a dexterity of 18 and player B has a dexterity of 9. Player A gets her shot off twice as fast as player B, hits player B and kills him with her poisoned arrow (player failed to make his poison saving throw). Unfortunately for A, player B’s big brother, C, who has a dexterity of 18 comes along, both A and C spot each other, both have bows, and neither one is surprised. Since both have 18’s the referee rolls a die to determine who shoots first and C gets his arrow off first, (lucky him), hits and kills her, (she did not make her poison saving throw).

When a being is surprised and has a dexterity 4 numbers greater than the they attack simultaneously as the better dexterity negates the surprise.”

From this we learn initiative is determined by the raw Dexterity score as long as no one is surprised in addition it has a nice mechanic that allows an extremely dexterous being to act simultaneously and negate Surprise.

From the original Gamma World:

Gamma World maintains Dexterity determined action order but adds a target bonus or penalty to hit a target in combat. However it seems to have lost the rule that negates Surprise. It does however add a +1 to the initiative roll off between the sides for PCs with 17 or 18 in Dexterity. Surprise in both games is determined exactly the same and will be covered in another post.

Next I took a peak at OD&D:

From Men & Magic for D&D:

“Dexterity applies to both manual speed and conjuration. It will indicate the character's missile ability and speed with actions such as firing first, getting off a spell, etc.”

From Greyhawk Supplement for D&D:

“Dexterity affects both the ability of characters to act/react and fire missiles. It is also

the prime requisite for thieves. Fighters with a dexterity of greater than 14 can use their unusual manual dexterity to attempt to dodge or parry opponents' attacks. For every point over 14 they are able to reduce their opponents' chances of hitting them by 1 (5%).

Thieves use dexterity in the pursuit of their chosen profession. They may use 2 points of intelligence and 1 point of wisdom to increase their raw dexterity score so long as they do not thereby bring the intelligence and wisdom scores below average.”

It’s interesting how Dexterity became tied to ranged weapons to hit in older D&D, while in Gamma World it is tied to melee combat. The next look at original Metamorphosis Alpha will be the Strength attribute and what Gamma World persevered or changed. 

Keep on cruising the galaxy with your Fantasy Scifi Pulp Fiction bubblegum loving hearts and imaginations, rock your games folks!