(TFT) Parrying, Shields and Active Defence

["Chris Nicole" <chris_nicole@operamail.com>]

RE Parrying, Shields and Active Defense
I take the approach that the most important skill in combat is avoiding/negating the other fellow's attack. 

This is off the top of my head as I haven't actually played or run TFT for a few years now, but this is approximately how I used to do it and it worked pretty well for the games I wanted to run...

Basically it involves running two rounds back to back so each character gets opportunity to attack and defend.

Example.
Round 1: 
Albert (adjDx 11, Broadsword 2D,leather armour -2hits )
Boris. (adjDx 10, Cutlas 2D-2, Medium Shield -2)

Albert attacks Boris.
If Albert rolls a miss, then Boris rolls to hit Albert as per standard Melee rules (and Albert goes on the defensive).

If Albert rolls a hit and rolls for damage then, 
1) Boris can sacrifice his attack to parry/feint with his weapon, or
2) Boris can try to block with his shield and still attack with his weapon, or
3) Boris can try to dodge out of the way losing his attack and defense, or
3) Boris can take the hit.

Parrying: 
Boris rolls against his AdjDx.
If he fails the roll, Boris takes the hit.
If he makes the roll, Boris rolls for damage and subtracts his damage from Alberts. Any left over e.g. Albert rolls 2d for 8 hits, Boris rolls 2d-2 for 6 hits = Boris takes two hits on his shield.

If the defender's (Boris) parry roll is better (lower) than Attackers (Albert) roll to hit then Defender gets initiative (attacks first) on the following round.

Shield Blocking:
Assuming Boris has the shield talent (if not Dx-4).
Boris rolls against his AdjDx.
If he fails the attack gets through (but still takes off two hits for the shields 'passive defence').
If he makes his Shield roll. His Shield stops 1D6 hits for each hit stopped + the 'passive defence'. i.e. a Medium Shield stops 2d6+2 from each attack successfully blocked.

Boris can then roll to attack with his weapon and Albert gets to defend.

Dodging:
If he has free space behind and /or to either side Boris can try to dodge Albert's attack. This is an attempt to disengage. Boris rolls against his AdjDx. If he makes it move him to an adjacent hex. He can't attack until he re-engages. If he fails, he takes the hit.

Note 1. critical hits and fumbles count for parrying and sheild blocks too. On a good roll you might double or triple your defence. On a bad roll you can lose your weapon or shield.

Note 2. A shield always gets it's passive defence even if a block fails or the shield is broken in the attack.

I haven't found this to slow the game down too much, as it keeps all the players/characters actively involved in the game. It also tends to reduce the severity of most wounds to the point where they can be quickly patched up / healed by a competant Physicker. I also let physickers heal each wound rather than just 2 hits from each character...

Regards

Chris Nicole
www.loran.karoo.net/tft/  TFT Codex 2000

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: ErolB1@aol.com
> To: tft@brainiac.com
> Subject: Re: (TFT) On the Subject of Armor...
> Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 09:17:59 EDT
> 
> 
> In a message dated 9/25/2006 4:29:37 PM Central Daylight Time,
> lifeisfun@aol.com writes:
> 
> 
> > My other peev is the ineffectiveness of a block or parry.  I 
> > think it would make battles a whole lot more interesting if 
> > creatures and players alike could roll to parry instead of 
> > hitting for damage in a given round.  
snipped...




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