Untitled RPG

Defensive Skills
How does a player defend their character in Untitled?

Combat Defense
The Combat Defense skill represents your character’s basic ability to defend themselves by trying to dodge, deflect or otherwise avoid an incoming attack. Players must spend at-least one skill point in Combat Defense, otherwise they will roll for defense untrained. Untrained defense may put your character at a significant disadvantage, so choose how you spend your points carefully.

In combat the attacker will roll the dice associated with their skill level in a Weapon of their choice, while the defender rolls their Combat Defense. In both cases, the skill level may also be added as a bonus to the dice roll. Shield and Parry skills may also add to your defense, while Armor may be used to mitigate or reduce incoming damage upon a successful hit.

Parry
Not everyone wants to wield a shield and while bucklers may be an option for some, it is not always practical or aesthetically pleasing to what a player had in mind for their character. Some players want their character to duel-wield weapons or need an arm free for other things during combat. They should not be punished for this decision, which is where the ability to Parry comes in.

To Parry is to utilize your weapon with finesse in such a way as to deflect an incoming attack, usually by knocking away or redirecting the opponent’s weapon.

Parry is a separate skill that can be developed alongside of your Weapon and Combat Form skills. It cannot be combined with a shield’s defense bonus, nor may it be used by those choosing to use two-handed weapons, making this skill ideal for characters with two weapons, characters with a ranged weapon as their primary weapon, or those wielding a single weapon without a shield. It may not be utilized by the unarmed, though your Storyteller may make an exception should you be able to justify why your character’s soft fleshy hands can deter weapons made of stone, wood or steel.

Parry functions much the same as a light shield, with the result of a dice roll being added to your defense.

As Parry makes use of a character’s weapon or weapons in order to aid their defense, the skill level in Parry can never exceed that of the equipped weapon nor be higher than the character’s Agility score. Parry may not be used in conjunction with a shield and may not add skill level to the result of the roll. Parry may not be used in conjunction with Combat, Two-Handed as the weapon must be agile.