[Bradd]

"The synthacardium adds its rating as a dice pool modifier on all Athletics Tests. This bonus may be combined with bonuses from other sources." (SR4A p. 346). Does this include Gymnastics Dodge? That's an Athletics skill, but I can't decide whether it's an "Athletics Test."

[Walks Through Walls]

I would say yes you can.

[Bradd]

That's what our other GM said too, but it feels kinda cheesy to me.

[FastJack]

Since the Athletics Skill Group includes Climbing, Gymnastics, Running and Swimming, I'd agree with Walks Through Walls that it applies to all of these tests.

[Glyph]

I concur.  You could argue that gymnastics dodge is not technically an "athletics test", but that seems like meaningless hair-splitting to me.  If it adds dice to tumbling, jumping, climbing, swimming, and sprinting, then I don't see why it wouldn't add dice to cartwheeling out of the way of an attack.

[Bradd]

Cool, thanks everyone! Now I just need to talk my GM into going back to his original ruling!

[Walks Through Walls]

I'm sure if you talked to a gymnast they would tell you it takes endurance to do a floor tumbling routine or even a vault, and a gymnastic dodge is essentially the same type of thing

[The_Gun_Nut]

It's not like it's adding a dozen extra dice to the test for only 5k nuyen or 2 karma.  It looks ok to me, but remember that you may not always have room to flip, tuck, and tumble out of the way.

[Dead Monky]

What do you mean?  Surely you can flip, tuck, and tumble when locked in a closet.   

[Mach]

actually I think you might get further with crowding, setting up, and stabbing/gouging in that situation.

[The_Gun_Nut]

Yeah, push the other guy in front of the bullets.  That's always a hoot.

[Mach]

and they could function as (estimated minimum of metahuman body) 3 points of extra armor. sorry bout the guess, book didn't cover metahumans as barriers.

[FastJack]

and they could function as (estimated minimum of metahuman body) 3 points of extra armor. sorry bout the guess, book didn't cover metahumans as barriers.

It'd probably be their body rating. Which is why hiding behind the Troll is the best option.

[System]

It's not like it's adding a dozen extra dice to the test for only 5k nuyen or 2 karma.  It looks ok to me, but remember that you may not always have room to flip, tuck, and tumble out of the way.

Anywhere you'd have room to Dodge you should have room to Gymnastics Dodge.  I mean, one is an "Oh crap!" dive and the other is a "Look at me an I fairy princess in the Nutcracker!" tuble.  Either way, same effect.

[Kontact]

Consider for a moment, Dodging inside of a car only results in a -2 modifier.  That's while buckled into a seat.

There is nothing in the rules restricting you from using your gymnastic training for any dodge attempt.  Besides, functionally, things like ducking, jumping, pressing yourself tightly against a wall, or any of the other many things you might think of as dodging when someone is shooting at you in a confined space are all things you'd instead call gymnastics when you're trying to move along a building's ledge.

You do still need a Dodge skill for controlling vehicles though.  That's got no substitute.