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You can attempt to parry your opponent in place of a melee attack. If you do not have the Improved Parry feat, or a similar ability, attempting to parry provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of your maneuver. Attempting to parry a foe while unarmed imposes a –4 penalty on the attack.
If your attack is successful your foe suffers a -2 penalty to hit on the next melee attack it makes before the beginning of your next turn, as long as you are still threatening it.
You may make more than one Parry per round, the penalty does not stack but instead each additional successful parry counts toward one additional attack the creature would make on its turn.
Improved Parry (Combat)
You are skilled at knocking your foes weapon strikes aside.
Prerequisite: Int 13, Combat Expertise.
Benefit: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a parry combat maneuver. You receive a +2 bonus on checks made to parry a foe. You also receive a +2 bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense whenever an opponent attempts to parry your attacks. In addition, if the foe misses the attack you parried, it suffers a -2 penalty to AC until the start of its next turn for being knocked off balance.
Normal: You provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a parry combat maneuver.
Greater Parry (Combat)
You are adept at deflecting your opponents attacks and opening up their defenses.
Prerequisite: Combat Expertise, Improved Parry, base attack bonus +6, Int 13.
Benefit: You receive a +2 bonus on checks made to parry a foe. This bonus stacks with the bonus granted by Improved Parry. Whenever you successfully parry an opponent, their penalty to hit increases to -4. In addition, whenever an opponent misses on an attack that you successfully parried, they provoke an attack of opportunity from all creatures threatening it.
This is something that 3.0 has been missing, a way to PROPERLY parry an opponents attack. This came to me as a eureka while I was taking a shower this evening and I feel that it needs to be shared. I know how silly and optimistic this sounds but I would very much like to see this (Or something like it) work its way into Ultimate Combat.
Please review it, let me know what you think, and offer your opinions, they are more than welcome.
Cheers!
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This is something that 3.0 has been missing, a way to PROPERLY parry an opponents attack...
I agree. But I don't think this is it. Fighting Defensively is strictly better: no feats, +2 to AC, and your attack can still do damage.
Why not just have it be a function usable with unspent attacks from a previous round with AoO triggers or borrowing an attack from a future round via an immediate action? Make it a simple opposed attack roll?
Why would blocking provoke an AoO?
*scratches head* Blocking is more dangerous than just letting the baddie swing?
Also, the Duelist has the Parry Ability. This would devalue a prestige class. Have you considered that?
GNOME
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The problem with Parry is simple: it's ALWAYS better to kill somebody quicker instead of making him kill you slower. Therefore, it's far better just to attack or make an offensive CM (Trip/Disarm/Grapple) than it is to fiddle around with any defensive shenanigans.
Unless they work as an immediate action and don't impair your ability to hurt things on your turn, that is.
Parrying is assumed in d20. That's one of the reasons unarmed attacks provoke AOO. Fighting defensively, full defense, shield of swings, and defensive flurry are all ways to simulate an emphasis on parrying without having to roll more dice.
You can attempt to parry your opponent in place of a melee attack. If you do not have the Improved Parry feat, or a similar ability, attempting to parry provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of your maneuver.
Reading that made my head hurt.
Please review it, let me know what you think,
I think you forgot to actually include the rules for parrying.
If it's not a melee attack, what is it? What is it against? What do you add to it? What are you doing?!
okay, I'm just thinking outloud, but I like this example. TWF with modifiers of +9,+9,+4 for his attacks this round. ( how you got to these bonuses not a big deal just needed Values)
Okay so I'm worried this Mob is going to hit hard. So I could use my +4 attack to go for the parry, and my other attacks for DPS. Since CMD is pretty easy to hit in most cases (not all), that Parry with your lowest attack would have a +4(+4)= +8 with greater parry. Using this on a 2 handed Fighter would really hurt (having fewer attacks around). If you successfully parried his next attack by using your attack that probably wont hit normally, the net result would be -4 for him to attack on his first attack which should have his best bonus to hit, if he misses, he loses -2 ac and then provokes AoO.
I know I was rambling, but I was trying to imagine a solid example how best this would work. Also another way to assist someone in combat. (since aiding another got a bit nerfed in PF). Feel free to rip this example apart, its early and havent drank my coffee yet. My buddy would like something like this. He's a meleer type player.
In my current campaign, for an Action Point, a PC can parry to gain DR.
Parry: If a character is engaged in melee, he may spend one Action Point as an immediate action to parry his opponent’s melee attack. On the opponent’s turn, before the opponent makes his attack roll, the character announces his intention to parry. Against that single attack, the character gains DR against that attack equal to 1/2 his BAB (minimum DR 1/-). If his is parrying with a buckler or shield, add the shield’s AC bonus (including any enhancement bonus) to the amount of DR. If he has DR from another source, the DR from parry stacks with his highest applicable DR.
First impression: Not good enough.
Maneuvers are very tough to pull off unless you build for them outright. While I don't think it needs to be easier, I do think you need more benefit for taking that risk and succeeding. The payoff needs to be better. It especially hurts this maneuver that it isn't a "sure thing" — the enemy can just withdraw and negate your maneuver.
Make it more rewarding and make it a sure thing somehow.
I think a way to differentiate this maneuver from strictly fighting defensively is to consider it a parry/riposte combo. So what you are really doing is attempting to parry so as to create an opening. This could be useful, because outside of aiding another, charging, and feinting, there are very few ways in combat to lower an opponent's AC/gain a to-bonus. Perhaps it could grant a +4 to hit on the next attack or somesuch.
+4 is probably too much now that i think about it. If Aid Another is using a standard action to add a +2, then that should probably be what a Parry maneuver does.
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My Parry set-up, which has worked very well in my group:
Parry
Parry is a combat maneuver you can use if you are fighting defensively or using the total defense action. You must be wielding a melee weapon to parry an attack. Whenever someone strikes you in melee but before damage is rolled, you can choose to make an attack of opportunity using your CMB, and if the result is higher than the attack roll that hit you, negate the attack. Using parry does not allow you to make more than one attack of opportunity in a round, and you can parry as long as you have available attacks of opportunity to use.
Feats
Improved Parry (Combat)
Prerequisites: Combat Reflexes, Parry, Dex 13
Benefit: You gain a +2 when parrying and against parrying. You may now make one parry attempt for each attack of opportunity you have available. Each parry consumes one of your attacks of opportunity for the round, and each subsequent parry receives a cumulative -5 to your roll.
Riposte (Combat)
Prerequisites: Combat Reflexes, Combat Expertise, Parry, Dex 15
Benefit: After successfully parrying an attack, you may make an immediate attack of opportunity against your foe. This consumes one of your attacks of opportunity for the round. This can only be used once per round, regardless of how many attacks of opportunity you are entitled to. This attack may not be parried.
Deflect Projectile (Combat)
Prerequisites: Combat Reflexes, Improved Parry, Dex 15
Benefit: You may now parry ranged attacks. They must be direct attack, you may not parry splash weapons or any ranged attack that is magical (such as rays), or area attacks.
Redirect Projectile (Combat)
Prerequisites: Combat Reflexes, Combat Expertise, Deflect Arrows, Dex 17
Benefit: After successfully deflecting a ranged attack, you may redirect the attack against an adjacent foe. You use the same attack roll as the one you deflected against the target’s AC. The damage is equal to the damage the attack would have done to you. This consumes one of your attacks of opportunity for the round. This can only be used once per round, regardless of how many attacks of opportunity you are entitled to. This attack may not be parried.
Well, The Duelist PrC already has mechanics in it for parrying/riposte.
Use those.
Senevri,
I get that it is both more diffivult and more dangerous to block than to dodge, but does the attacker get to swing twice because a character offers him a blade to strike? Without the AoO, throwing away your attack to *maybe* block the incoming attack is a big enough 'drawback' :)
otherwise...
Duelists get parry; leave it to the pros. If you open Parry up to everyone, does the Duelist get something to replace it, as one of their class abilities has become a 'core mechanic'? Kind of like offering Greater Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization to everyone... it's one of the few things that make fighters unique, why give it away? Or, should everyone get Trapfinding, after all, anyone that has ten ranks in Perception and Disable Device istrained in trapfinding. See where I am going with this? Or, we could all play GURPS and all have the same access to the same skills/powers :)
On a constructive note:
If you want to fight defensively, PF offers options: +2 to AC for -4 to hit; +4 to AC for no attacks; Combat Expertise.
GNOME