blocking with your hands?


Advice


can you block attacks with your hands if you're able to? such as blocking unarmed strikes or bludgeoning weapons.


Dragzner wrote:
can you block attacks with your hands if you're able to? such as blocking unarmed strikes or bludgeoning weapons.

"Can you [do X] if you're able to?"


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Sure, the flowing Monk and anyone with Parry/Riposte can attempt to 'block' with their hands if that is what you want to call it. You could also skin fighting defensively/Total Defense as blocking with your hands. There is probably an archetype somewhere that gives you +1 AC for having a hand free but I sure as heck can't remember.

Basically, the answer is no but you can skin a ton of different actions into being blocking with your hands if that is what you want your character to do.


Yes. It's called Armour Class.

High AC means you do what ever necessary in order to avoid getting hit. Trusting your armour to soak up strikes, moving out of the way and using your arms and arms to redirect incoming attacks.


Normally you cannot explicitly block in pathfinder. There are a few abilities that let you do so and some of them can be done unarmed. Crane style is probably the closest thing to what you are looking for. As Blymurrkla stated you can consider a high AC to include blocking especially if you have a high DEX.

If you are looking for a game system with a more detailed combat system then Pathfinder is probably the wrong one. Pathfinder abstracts a lot of thing including combat. Hero System has a very detailed combat system including allowing for things like blocking, dodging and other actions in combat.


Dragzner wrote:
can you block attacks with your hands if you're able to? such as blocking unarmed strikes or bludgeoning weapons.

Since you're able to, then sure. I do wonder how you're able to do it in the first place, though.

If you're asking: 'Can anybody attempt to "block" unarmed strikes and bludgeoning attacks'. The answer is no.
If you're asking: 'Is there anything within the rules (such as spells, feats, etc.) that would allow you to 'block' unarmed strikes and bludgeoning attacks'. The answer is yes, there are a few options.


Blymurkla wrote:

Yes. It's called Armour Class.

High AC means you do what ever necessary in order to avoid getting hit. Trusting your armour to soak up strikes, moving out of the way and using your arms and arms to redirect incoming attacks.

This. You "block" attacks by not getting hit, just as you "dodge" attacks by not getting hit. That's part of the Pathfinder combat system abstraction, just like there's no such thing as hit location, so I can't try to punch someone in the solar plexus or do a snap kick to the knee.

What's the game mechanical effect you're trying to achieve with a block?


I'm trying to build a stubborn unarmed character who would be able to block attacks like these given enough strength.


I understand that I won't be able to block all attacks using this method but it would be nice if I could block attacks that if blocked with hands wouldn't harm me too much. such as given enough strength i could block an ogre's punch.


but I believe that if you have higher strength than the opposing enemy shouldn't you be able to block such attacks.


the attacks would have to be obvious though like if a club the size of yourself is going to crush you instead of having to go through saves or AC that you should just make a strength check to see if you can block it.


given you would need a minimum strength in order to do this,


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Dragzner wrote:
but I believe that if you have higher strength than the opposing enemy shouldn't you be able to block such attacks.

I've spent quite a bit of time in my day studying a variety of martial arts - blocking and deflecting attacks has much more to do with your speed and technique than your raw strength. For instance, watch boxers fight and you'll see that most of their defense is their footwork and quick movement.


If you want to block using strength particularly then yeah, the Opportune Parry/Riposte deed is the best model to work from. To do it unarmed you need the deed, which basically means dipping a level in swashbuckler, and to make your unarmed strikes do piercing damage (any of several styles, or the Hamatulatsu feat will work).


Dragzner wrote:
the attacks would have to be obvious though like if a club the size of yourself is going to crush you instead of having to go through saves or AC that you should just make a strength check to see if you can block it.

There is no mechanic in the game for allowing strength checks for defense.

A single level of Swashbuckler will give you Opportune Parry and Riposte which will allow you to block attacks by spending an attack of opportunity and a panache point. That's probably your best mechanic for this.


There is nothing in the game that lets you block attacks depending on your Strength. There are other ways of blocking attacks, however. AC, the Swshbuckler's 'Opportune Parry and Riposte' Deed and the feat Crane Wing are some of the mentioned.

The Crane Style feat and Crane Wing is probably closest to what you have in mind.


avr wrote:
If you want to block using strength particularly then yeah, the Opportune Parry/Riposte deed is the best model to work from. To do it unarmed you need the deed, which basically means dipping a level in swashbuckler, and to make your unarmed strikes do piercing damage (any of several styles, or the Hamatulatsu feat will work).

I'm not seeing the requirement that you need a piercing weapon in-hand to use Opportune Parry and Riposte. Can you link to that, please?


MeanMutton wrote:
avr wrote:
If you want to block using strength particularly then yeah, the Opportune Parry/Riposte deed is the best model to work from. To do it unarmed you need the deed, which basically means dipping a level in swashbuckler, and to make your unarmed strikes do piercing damage (any of several styles, or the Hamatulatsu feat will work).
I'm not seeing the requirement that you need a piercing weapon in-hand to use Opportune Parry and Riposte. Can you link to that, please?

You don't. You need a light or one-handed piercing weapon so that you can regain the panache you spent to parry so that you can do it more than a couple of times a day.


I'm not talking about small attacks like fists or club. I'm talking the big ones that would be hard not to see coming. like if an ogre uses his club on me, the club is so big it's not like its sneaking up on me and I find it hard to believe the only option to block such an attack would be to just dodge so wouldn't I be able to just hold it at bay. I mean what if i have to hold it at bay or risk my party dying.


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Yes, OP&R works against big weapons too. Anything short of the monster just charging through and trampling you.


Total defense and fighting defensively raise your AC. You can disarm with just your hands. Bodyguard lets you protect your allies. What you might be looking for is aid another to boost an ally's AC, using Improved Unarmed Strike to make the aid another attack with your hands.


Dragzner wrote:
I'm not talking about small attacks like fists or club. I'm talking the big ones that would be hard not to see coming. like if an ogre uses his club on me, the club is so big it's not like its sneaking up on me and I find it hard to believe the only option to block such an attack would be to just dodge so wouldn't I be able to just hold it at bay. I mean what if i have to hold it at bay or risk my party dying.

I don't know what circumstance you're talking about - you don't have to move to dodge or block. If you want to make sure an ogre can't bullrush past you, there are a variety of ways to do that. I don't see how physically blocking a physical attack on you does that.


avr wrote:
MeanMutton wrote:
avr wrote:
If you want to block using strength particularly then yeah, the Opportune Parry/Riposte deed is the best model to work from. To do it unarmed you need the deed, which basically means dipping a level in swashbuckler, and to make your unarmed strikes do piercing damage (any of several styles, or the Hamatulatsu feat will work).
I'm not seeing the requirement that you need a piercing weapon in-hand to use Opportune Parry and Riposte. Can you link to that, please?
You don't. You need a light or one-handed piercing weapon so that you can regain the panache you spent to parry so that you can do it more than a couple of times a day.

Good point!


Dragzner wrote:
I'm not talking about small attacks like fists or club. I'm talking the big ones that would be hard not to see coming. like if an ogre uses his club on me, the club is so big it's not like its sneaking up on me and I find it hard to believe the only option to block such an attack would be to just dodge so wouldn't I be able to just hold it at bay. I mean what if i have to hold it at bay or risk my party dying.

????? There is no this attack missed me causing my party to be hit instead. I'm not entirely sure you know what your asking for....or at least your not explaining it very well. AC means a lot of things and yet nothing at the same time. A full plated knight might catch a sword blow on a piece of armor or his shield, a rogue is probably going to avoid getting hit at all, a monk might subtly deflect a blow away from his body, a fencing character will probably deflect blows with his sword or a parrying dagger, etc.


Really, this is just flavour. If an appropriate attack misses describe it as you blocking it with your hands.


I'm asking can i stop the blow with full force?


using my str instead of dex in this instance


cuz it's not like I'm zooming around the room i'm physically stopping it with my strength


No, but you may do something similar.


because I believe you cannot use str in your AC but given the circumstances wouldn't this call for str?


what would this similar thing be?


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It would be Opportune Parry and Riposte. You make an attack roll, which includes strength, to turn their attack into a miss. Read it here, 3rd entry down.


Sundering the attacker's weapon is another way to use strength, though a bit more active.


thx I get it now, not exactly what I wished for but hey gotta compromise


If you ready an action (by taking a standard action on your turn to prepare for a given circumstance to happen, in the case the ogre swinging his club) you could either physically break the weapon by striking it (a sunder combat maneuver) or you Gould grab onto the ogre, preventing him from bringing a two handed weapon to bear on you (a grapple combat maneuver, when a creature becomes grappled they may not use a two handed weapon such as a great club)

Without an investment in the feat improved sunder or improved grapple you are going to leave an opening which the ogre can use to try and strike past your defenses and make it nearly impossible to succeed at the check because you then take a penalty equal to the damage dealt to you.

So no, you can't block the ogre with your hands, but you can do something similar using a feat of strength, and you can be able to do so by taking the 'ready an action' action.


Dragzer - one bit of off-topic advice: When you're posting, you're better off trying to consolidate an entire thought into a single post. In some of these, you seem to be using several posts to try to communicate a single idea and it can be difficult to follow sometimes.

Sovereign Court

Frankly - it sounds like you're looking for an opposed roll system (which Parry/Riposte sort of emulates) rather than a passive defense system like Pathfinder.

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