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Failed attack


Sunwolfe

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I'm curious how you all handle this situation--it tends to be a squishy one in our group.

 

Whether at the top of the round or the bottom, the aggressor attacks, but fails (no fumble--just failure) and the defender then...what? How do you handle it when the attacker fails and the defender, who would normally parry, is left with 'nothing' to parry? 

 

Do you rule that your defenders must still parry? What happens if they succeed? What happens if they crit? Can your defenders turn the tables and take advantage of the situation to attack instead of parry? Does the GM use exposition to describe what happens? Do both parties simply blink and politely go on or finish the round as if the situation never occurred? How does it go in your games?

 

Cheers!

 

Edited for minor punctuation errors

Present home-port: home-brew BRP/OQ SRD variant; past ports-of-call: SB '81, RQIII '84, BGB '08, RQIV(Mythras) '12,  MW '15, and OQ '17

BGB BRP: 0 edition: 20/420; .pdf edition: 06/11/08; 1st edition: 06/13/08

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It would be entirely situational. Remember that combat isn't just "I swing you parry". The Melee round includes all the jockeying for position and ranging strikes that you normally see in HtH combat. 

 

On a simple failure, I would end things and move on. On a Fumble I might be convinced to allow a "Riposte". And I would probably be more inclined to do this in a dual as opposed to general combat. 

 

SDLeary

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Normally, the defender does not bother with a roll, just to speed things up.

 

However, a defender with a Swordbreaker can do damage on a successful parry, so it is worth making the roll. Also, someone trying to wrench the weapon out of the attacker's hands might want to attempt the roll.

 

In Legend, the defender might want to try for a CM, so it is worth rolling in that situation.

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

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Once per round, a critically successful parry allows a character fighting with two weapons or a weapon and a shield to make a riposte. Perhaps one might be entitled to a riposte by a normal success if fighting with two weapons or a weapon and a shield, and by a critical if differently armed? 

 

Else/also, as an additional houserule the defender who successfully performs a a defensive action against a failed attack might be exempted from the -30% modifier to their next defensive action in the same turn?

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I think you're on to something MatteoN. I read that rule and thought along similar lines. While it has yet to be tried or even contemplated adequately, I've come up with the following. I haven't kicked the tires yet, but I want to add this or something similar to the Attack Defense Matrix.

 

Attack  -  Parry

Failure - Critical: Defender ripostes with non-parrying weapon; parrying weapon lowers attacking weapon's HP by 2; dodger may disengage without penalty

Failure - Special: Defender’s parrying weapon lowers attacking weapons HP by 1

Failure - Success: Defender rolls normal parrying weapon damage against attacking weapon’s HP

Failure - Failure: No damage; no effect on either side: swish

Failure - Fumble: No damage; no effect. Defender rolls on appropriate fumble table.

 

Edited for format and minor errors

Present home-port: home-brew BRP/OQ SRD variant; past ports-of-call: SB '81, RQIII '84, BGB '08, RQIV(Mythras) '12,  MW '15, and OQ '17

BGB BRP: 0 edition: 20/420; .pdf edition: 06/11/08; 1st edition: 06/13/08

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I wrote about the concept of a 'minor riposte' when successfully parrying a failed attack in this thread:

 

However in practice I found it added a little too much overhead. I never had NPCs and monsters use it and players would forget too.

 

Here's the simplified version:

 

A critical parry allows a riposte from the defender

If vs. a successful attack, riposte must be with the shield, off-hand weapon (or brawl if you are super-keen).

If vs. a failed attack, riposte can be with either weapon.

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