Combat Clarifications Please

[tagnetti]

Hello all, You have proven to be a great resource for
me thusfar and I apologize if my questions are old
news as I am new to the RPG, but love it and want to
run the game well. I am trying to get a grasp on
combat in this game as the options seem much more open
then in D&D and am a bit unsure of who can do what
just from a melee sense to start off with.

For example The different types of attacks Melee and
Finesse. You must have a finesse weapon to perform a
finesse attack, correct? How about the other way
around or I guess someone with a finesse weapon would
never attack normally.

Then Parry and Dodge confuse me a bit, If someone
swings at you with a sword and you are armed, you
always parry ,correct? And if it is ranged or you are
unarmed you dodge? Not sure if that is right since
their DV's are usually different.

Then I have questions on special combat maneuvres. If
it has something as a prerequisite do you need to be
performing that action for it to take place? i.e. If
you have power attack, do you need to be taking one
for "To The Hilt" to occur. Also the other actions do
you need to declare them in advance?

Also On a character sheet I downloaded from the forum,which is very well done there are entries for -5,-10 and -15 for subsequent attacks past the first, Is that correct? I read through combat again and again and do not see anything related to that in combat or multiple attack scenarios



Thanks for your help and I hope that made sense.

Tom

 

[fulk]

Then Parry and Dodge confuse me a bit, If someone
swings at you with a sword and you are armed, you
always parry ,correct?

Incorrect. If you are armed, you can choose to parry or dodge. If you are unarmed, presumably you can only dodge.

NT

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, Thanks so If you dodge vs parry really it doesn't matter it's just whatever stat is best for you? Both are a free action? So it's just a roleplaying scenario at that point. Is that correct. Basically I just need to declare which I'm doing before the attacker rolls.

Does that all sound right? As I am trying to see the benefit to doing one over the other if say your DV for each is the same.

 

[InsomNY]

It's more than just roleplay and stats. Some magical attacks (Kothic demon-fire, for example) cannot be parried. I believe that there are circumstance penalties for trying to dodge in cramped quarters, also.

The rules also state that missile weapons can't be parried, but the descriptive text indicates parrying – putting up your shield to block an arrow is not dodging, sez me.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks I'll have to look more into that particularly, the dodgeing in cramped quarters, I do remember reading that ranged attacks could not be parried

 

[Elfman]

For example The different types of attacks Melee and Finesse. You must have a finesse weapon to perform a finesse attack, correct? How about the other way around or I guess someone with a finesse weapon would never attack normally.

You can attack normally with any weapon. A finesse weapon merely gives you the option to do a finesse attack.

Then Parry and Dodge confuse me a bit, If someone swings at you with a sword and you are armed, you always parry ,correct? And if it is ranged or you are unarmed you dodge? Not sure if that is right since their DV's are usually different.

What was said earlier.

You can choose to parry or dodge any attack, provided you meet the requirements (such as you can't parry a ranged attack). You can choose which DV to use for each attack separately.

Then I have questions on special combat maneuvres. If it has something as a prerequisite do you need to be performing that action for it to take place? i.e. If you have power attack, do you need to be taking one for "To The Hilt" to occur. Also the other actions do you need to declare them in advance?

No. You just need to have that feat or BAB or whatever, you don't need to actually use it at the time.

Also On a character sheet I downloaded from the forum,which is very well done there are entries for -5,-10 and -15 for subsequent attacks past the first, Is that correct? I read through combat again and again and do not see anything related to that in combat or multiple attack scenarios

The sheet is correct, sort of.

If you look at the charts for each character class, you will see that when they get extra iterative attacks listed in the BAB column (seen as +6/+1 in the table, for example) the extra attacks are always 5 less than the previous attack. +1 is 5 less than +6. So, what some people have done is put the calculations into the character sheets to figure out those values for you, assuming you know that you're not supposed to use them if your BAB is too low to allow that number attacks.

If the above doesn't make sense, re-read it slowly while you look at one of the charts in the character class section of the book.

Thanks for your help and I hope that made sense.

Tom

You're welcome. 8)

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks alot, excellent clarification.

 

[Johannixx]

I believe shields add to both parry and dodge bonuses, as they prevent the attack from hitting you either way. At the very least, I'd allow them to provide their parry bonus as a bonus to dodging non-spell projectiles.

 

[fulk]

I believe shields add to both parry and dodge bonuses, as they prevent the attack from hitting you either way. At the very least, I'd allow them to provide their parry bonus as a bonus to dodging non-spell projectiles.

I think the book says the shield adds only to dodge bonuses vs ranged attacks, but I could easily be wrong. However, I DO think it would make sense to add the shield bonus to dodge...NT

 

[Conan]

The Dodge rules (p.160)also state the character needs to have an adjacent unoccupied or friendy square or he is at -2 to dodge. Parry has no such limitation.

In addition, common sense also dictates that Parry would be inappropriate in some circumstances. Examples include 500lb boulders being hurled at characters or having a Rhino try and run over and trample a character. Getting ones shield in between you and a charging Rhino isn't going to help much is it?