[Magnaric]

So my group is playing 2nd Edition, we just finished Dreamchipper last night, and it went really well but I have a couple questions I wanted to look up. Hoping  some people more familiar with the older rules can help me out(though I'm still looking through the books, so I'll post if I find the answers myself).

1. I've seen reference to a Dodge Pool, and while I know that was a thing from 1E, 2E looks like it just uses dice from your Combat Pool that you allocate to defence at the beginning of a turn. Is there an actual Dodge Pool somewhere I missed and if so how is it calculated, or is this just an anachronism from 1st Edition?

2. So, combat is quick and dangerous, obviously. But it seems that having good armour is essential to not getting pasted instantly. In the Street Samurai Catalogue, there's listed Form Fitting Body Armour, which goes underneath other clothes. However, it says it is "Not usable with any other form of Body Arnour". But it doesn't specify what "Body Arnour" is. Does it mean all types of armour, full body armour suits like Security Armour, or just armour in general? We ask because obviously we're trying to to find ways of not dying from lead poisoning.

Any and all help you guys can provide is much appreciated!

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

I have many warm feels from my days playing 2E.  That's the rules system I've GMed the most Shadowrun games, by far.  That being said, I haven't actually used 2E for about 20 years now   So take my answers with a grain of salt; I may not be remembering everything I should...

1) in 2E you had a Combat Pool.  I can't speak to the instances of Dodge Pool you've been seeing, but per pg 84 of SR2 you do indeed allocate defense from your Combat Pool.  (perhaps you've been seeing references to Dodge Tests? That's a thing in 5E, which is the current edition)

2) That's up to the GM. Personally, I always read it to mean it doesn't stack with armor that is described as being "heavy". I let it stack with armored clothing, armor jackets, etc.  But not the heavy armors and security armors etc.  As an aside, it hasn't gotten any better in 5E with regards to being clear about what stacks with what

[Magnaric]

Lol yeah, it seems a truism of any tabletop system that there'll come a point where the phrasing of rules begins a 20 minute debate.

Other sources have replied to me that it does in fact seem that Dodge Pool was just a 1E thing, and I had it right about 2E just using the Combat Pool(or Threat Rating for NPCs). And it looks like RAW armour doesn't stack unless it specifically says it dies. However, apparently there's rules in Fields Of Fire that cover stacking armour at the expense of your Combat Pool, so I'll check that next.

[PiXeL01]

1 - Dodge Pool is a relic from 1e. 2e only had Combat Pool which could augment both combat rolls and dodging. You had to choose I believe.

2 - Layering armor is introduced with the Fields of Fire book. Until then only one armor counted, usually the highest.

(Sorry, I haven’t touched that edition for about 20 years either)

[Ajax]

As with Señor Devil Rat, it’s been a long time since I played SR2, but Inhave some hazy recollection that there might have been cyberware or magic that added dice to your Combat Pool that could only be allocated to the dice you set aside for defense. I might be wrong on this...

And yeah, they were never quite clear on what armor worked with what. My friends and I pretty much did the same as Devil Rat: “soft” armor like jackets, lined coats, and business suits would work the under-armor; “hard” armor like full-body suits were out.

[PiXeL01]

Enhanced Articulation gave you a task pool for physical skills while other implant gave you task pools for other actions. I do not remember anything related to dodging other than the Combt Sense spell which gave you more dice to your combat pool.

[Magnaric]

Groovy. Between here, Dumpshock, and Reddit I think I found the answers I need. Thanks again. :-)