What represents parrying in core D&D?

[Celtavian]

re

Nothing seems to simulate parrying well in abstract D&D combat. You can just assume you are parrying at times when using Combat Expertise or Fight Defensively/Total Defense option.

We implemented a Parry maneuver in our campaign because we wanted fights between two skilled combatants to last a while. If you want parrying in your game, I suggest you do the same. Real combatants actually do learn how to defend themselves other than the minor bonus you receive from Dexterity which doesn't help much considering Strength is the stat used to land a blow. A fast guy can basically be crushed by a strong guy, seems kind of counterintuitive IMO.

 

[Li Shenron]

The reason why we were not very satisfied by assuming you are parrying all the time is that an unarmed character doesn't have any lesser AC than an armed one...

 

[Shin Okada]

The reason why we were not very satisfied by assuming you are parrying all the time is that an unarmed character doesn't have any lesser AC than an armed one...

Oh, I see. You are thinking that it is much easier to parry enemy weapons with your sword, than to parry it with your bare arm (or just dodge), right?

IMHO, that way of thinking is partially right, but partially wrong.

If all the melee attacks are something you can reasonably parry with your weapon and strength, the difference between armed defender and unarmed defender may be in considerable level. So, in games which mainly handles melee between human sized combatants, we see such rules to clearly represent "weapon parry".

But this is D&D, and the combat rule is covering a bite from tiny kitten to a tail slap of 70 foot Tarrasque. So, it is not so "realistic" to assume that a man with a sword can parry melee attacks and a man without can't. So, in D&D, all the combatants are just assumed to be parrying, dodging, or otherwise trying to defend himself actively all the time.

Also, this is a very fictional, heroic, fantasy game. So monks or unarmed heros may actually parry a tail slap of 70 foot Tarrasque

 

[Thanee]

The reason why we were not very satisfied by assuming you are parrying all the time is that an unarmed character doesn't have any lesser AC than an armed one...

That is, because it is abstract. You are not only parrying, but defending yourself, which can be parrying as much as dodging.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Obviously things like Expertise, Hit Points and the Dex bonus reflect it in D&D where the combat is still a bit abstract though not so much though as earlier incarnations when it was assumed that each round was a minute and you took several swings at your target within that minute but still only made the one attack roll. Skull & Bones by Green Ronin has some good rules for dueling and parrying as well as some great PrCs built around being duelists (better than the DMG PrC anyway).

 

[reanjr]

Combat Expertise can be cinematically described as parrying, but don't get caught in the trap of assuming it's always parrying.

Oh, no, I didn't mean to imply that. Just that parrying, in game, is represented by Comabt Expertise (for instance if a character wants to have his character parry for a round, that's what he would do is use Combat Expertise)

 

[Hypersmurf]

Obviously things like Expertise, Hit Points and the Dex bonus reflect it in D&D where the combat is still a bit abstract though not so much though as earlier incarnations when it was assumed that each round was a minute and you took several swings at your target within that minute but still only made the one attack roll.

That's still the case even with six second rounds.

"An attack roll represents your attemtps to strike your opponent. It does not represent a single swing of the sword, for example. Rather, it indicates whether, over several attempts in the round, you managed to connect solidly."

-Hyp.

 

[Li Shenron]

That's still the case even with six second rounds.

"An attack roll represents your attemtps to strike your opponent. It does not represent a single swing of the sword, for example. Rather, it indicates whether, over several attempts in the round, you managed to connect solidly."

Although I have actually enforced these lines before I thought they were a leftover from previous AD&D when a round was 1 minute IIRC... in any case the explanation works with melee attacks but not ranged :\ .

 

[Li Shenron]

Also, I'd rule hit points out of the question, since they can be cured

 

[Brother MacLaren]

Would it work to introduce an "active parry" - an opposed roll similar to the Disarm check (so it would be modified for size)? When an attack would hit you, you make an opposed attack roll and use your modified roll as your AC. Would this be a readied action, a free action (as a high-level feat), or some other type of action?