Defensive Reactions

Reactions happen after a successful attack has occurred, but before its effects are applied.

There are two types of reaction, Dodge and Parry.

Parries can be made against Close Combat attacks using Close Combat skill or Unarmed Combat skill.

Shields can also parry missile attacks, as outlined in ‘Using Shields Against Ranged Attacks’.

Dodges can be made against close combat attacks and thrown missile weapons, providing the target is aware of the attack. Dodge can also be used as a reaction, if still available, to avoid the damage of spells, such as Lightning Strike, projected at the Defender. See the appropriate spell descriptions in the Magic chapter for more detail.

Dodge

When an attacker successfully hits, the defender may choose to Dodge as their reaction, to avoid damage.

Procedure.

The defender rolls against their Dodge skill.
If the defender succeeds, then they have successfully avoided the attack.
If they fail, they take damage as normal.
If they fumble, they take maximum damage from the attack.
If dodging against a critical hit, then if the defender rolls a critical on their Dodge, they reduce the attacker’s critical to a normal success. If the defender fails their Dodge against a critical hit, the attacker does maximum damage and ignores defender’s armour.

Parry

When an attacker successfully hits, the defender may choose to parry with a weapon or shield as their reaction to avoid damage.

Procedure.

The defender rolls against their Close Combat skill.
If the defender succeeds, then they block all rolled damage
A critical parry against a normal success deflects all the damage and causes the attacker to suffer a fumble. If when parrying against a critical hit, the defender rolls a critical on their Close Combat skill roll, then they reduce the attacker’s critical success to a normal success.

Multiple Defences in a Single Combat Round

You can defend as many times as you want, but you get a cumulative -20% modifier for every defence after the first.