It's pretty clear in the rulebook for Classic Traveller that all combat is simultaneous (unless surprise happens
but what if a situation happens where a PC is unarmed and the NPC is armed and the PC chooses to disarm the NPC? Do you go by the higher DEX score or some other method?
Some CT Refs will point you to the Draw rule. Although anything goes in a CT game, and what the Ref declares works is what works, that's not a strict interpretation of the rules.
When in doubt about the order of CT combat situations, always refer to the
Combat Procedure table.
On that three step table, the first thing a Ref considers is the facts of the encounter: Does either the NPC gunman or the unarmed PC have Surprise? How close are the two combatants?
To answer your question, we don't have enough information about the situation.
STANDING BESIDE EACH OTHER
Let's say that the NPC guard holds a rifle on the unarmed PC, and the two are walking along the trail that leads to the NPC camp. The PC initiates combat by moving to disarm the NPC.
We use the Combat Procedure table.
STEP 1. Range? The two characters are at Short Range.
Surprise? Not possible in this encounter because, in order to have Surprise, the character with Surprise has to have the option of escaping or avoiding the encounter, and that's not possible for the PC with a gun pointed at him.
STEP 2. Combat begins. Each character can move and attack in the round. It doesn't matter what order in which this is done as the action is considered simultaneous. I would start with the unarmed PC since he is driving the action. Damage is not applied until both the PC and the NPC have completed their actions this round. Remember, the round is about 15 seconds long.
When conducting combat in CT, it's helpful to use the
Typical Actions table. Once you understand what a player wants his character to do, you simply pick two actions from that table to represent what the character will do. In this case, the PC is going to turn and try to disarm the NPC. Using the Typical Actions table,
the PC will Stand and Swing (considering the disarm attempt a special form of Swing).
In combat, movement is generally handled first (see the paragraph under the heading
The Combat Round), and that's why I listed the movement action first. For the NPC, his action will be to react to the disarm attempt by firing at the PC. So, using the Typical Actions table,
the NPC will Stand and Shoot.
We play this out:
-- The PC turns around and grabs the weapon. There are no rules for this type of action, so it falls to the Ref to adjudicate the situation (per the rule under the
Typical Actions heading).
I'd run it like this:
The STR of the NPC is the PC's target number to disarm the rifle, snatching it from the NPC's hands. If the NPC is STR 6, then the PC must roll 2D for 6+.
Modifiers: +1 if PC STR higher than NPC STR. -1 if PC STR less than NPC STR. +1 if PC STR is twice NPC STR. -1 if PC STR is half NPC STR.
For example, if the PC is STR C, then the roll is 2D +2 for 6+.
-- Regardless of whether the rifle is snatched from the NPC's hands, the NPC still gets to perform his action. When the PC turns to grab the rifle, the NPC shoots at the PC. This is a normal attack at Short range. Resolve this normally using the CT combat rules.
-- At the end of the round, wounds are applied. If the NPC hit the PC with the rifle shot, then the damage is applied to the PC now. Remember that the First Wound rule applies, if this is the first wound (see
Wounding and Death under the
Combat Resolution section) that the PC has taken.
The next round will start using the outcome of this round. The PC may be incapacitated or wounded from the rifle shot. Or, if the NPC missed, the PC may be undamaged. And, depending on how the PC's grab for the weapon went, the PC may start the next round with the rifle in his hands--or, he may be looking down the barrel of the weapon held by a very pissed off guard.
