Those exaplanation cover it, but to make it very clear, there is no opposed roll.
In D&D, the AC bonus of armor makes it harder to be hit. In Conan, characters have built-in bonus that increases by experience level in the form of Dodge and Parry. As stated, Dodge is based on DEX mod and Parry is based on STR mod, and a defender may choose which he wants to use when in a combat. Both of these enhance the character Defense Value (DV), as do other factors.
There's no catching arrows, or even deflecting them, in Conan, and so only Dodge can be used against ranged attacks. You can use your Dodge as long as you have an empty or friendly square adjacent to your fig on the battle grid, but you don't have to actually move. This just simulates the bobbing and weaving involved in Dodging strikes.
Parry is pretty straight forward. You use a weapon to block incoming strikes. You have to actually have appropriate weapons in order to block (like, you can't Parry a sword with your hand) but that's about the only restriction.
Classes are better at certain mode. Fighter types are typically better at Parry, while stealthy classes tend to be better at Dodging.
Armore works totally differently to D&D. It functions like damage reduction (DR) and takes off points that would be damaging to your character's Hit Points. Weapons have what is called an Armor Piercing (AP) value, and if that AP is equal to or greater than the DR of the armor, the DR is value is considered halved for calulating that damage. You jsut need to know if it's equal or higer, and that enemy's DR4 armor counts as DR2 instead.
There's another kind of attack: Finesse. Normal combat attacks use STR mod, jsut like in D&D, but lighter weapons can be used to defeat armor entirely. Finesse attack use DEX mod instead (there's more restrictions, but I won't go into great detail here) and if the attack roll to hit exceeds the target's DV plus the DR value of any armor he may be wearing, it is assumed that the strike has bypassed the wearers armor altogether, and you don't count the DR at all! If you needed a 22 to hit a combatant wearing DR3 armor, and you actually get an attack roll of 26 or more, that DR3 is totally ignored. This simulates striking between plates of armor or in weak spots.
That's pretty much the whole of combat in a nut shell. There's plent of other neat nuances, like Combat Manuevers, Left for Dead and Mighty Blow that make things even more interesting, but you'll just have to pick up a copy of the rule book and read it. I've given away too much already!! (lol)
:wink:
