Parry/Dodge Declaration

[Narl]

I may have missed it in the rules, but when do you have to declare what defensive action you are taking, whether it be parry, dodge, or nothing? Do you declare you are parrying at the time you are attacked? Or after you know the result (fail, success, special, etc.)?

This could of course make a big difference in combat. Say an adventurer is being attacked by three trollkin. Rather than having to declare a parry against the first trollkin attack (and then being at -20% on the next parry, and -40% on the third) she could wait and see what the result is, and on a fail, or maybe even a regular success (relying on armor), opt not to parry.

So when do you decide to parry/dodge? Before the attack results are revealed, or after?

Edited August 30, 2018 by Narl

[Yelm's Light]

I seem to recall Jeff answering this specifically (or maybe it was Jason), but not where, that declaration comes before any rolls.  Makes sense, too.

[DreadDomain]

1 hour ago, Yelm's Light said:

I seem to recall Jeff answering this specifically (or maybe it was Jason), but not where, that declaration comes before any rolls.  Makes sense, too.

It makes sense. When you realize someone is attacking you you need to commit to your defense (or take your chances) before you know it's successful or not. It also means that against several opponents, you might decide to focus your defense on some opponents and ignore others.

Also, the bottom part of the Attack and Parry Results on page 199 would not be as relevant if you could wait the result of the attack before commiting.

[creativehum]

I read a trick somewhere that the players for both the attacker and the defender make their respective skill rolls at the same time.

Not only does this speed up play a little bit, it creates the sense immediate conflict as one rolls to attack the other defend. 

Since how the defender rolls directly impacts the results of that attack roll it makes sense to roll the Defense at the same time. You really don't know what happened with an attack if someone is defending until the parry/dodge roll is made. 

Which is all to say, "Yeah, you have to commit to the defense before the attack is made."

[DreadDomain]

6 hours ago, creativehum said:

I read a trick somewhere that the players for both the attacker and the defender make their respective skill rolls at the same time.

Not only does this speed up play a little bit, it creates the sense immediate conflict as one rolls to attack the other defend. 

Since how the defender rolls directly impacts the results of that attack roll it makes sense to roll the Defense at the same time. You really don't know what happened with an attack if someone is defending until the parry/dodge roll is made. 

Which is all to say, "Yeah, you have to commit to the defense before the attack is made."

I did not think of that but this is actually quite true. I've seen player vs player fights where they would lock eyes and shout and taunt one another while shaking their dice, daring each other to roll them.

[creativehum]

6 hours ago, DreadDomain said:

I did not think of that but this is actually quite true. I've seen player vs player fights where they would lock eyes and shout and taunt one another while shaking their dice, daring each other to roll them.

Well, I did not think of that... But I hope it happens tomorrow when I run the QuickStart.