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I'm surprised I couldn't find an official ruling on this. Every forum I see goes with the idea of specific trumps the general rule (Meaning the Swashbuckler can parry a natural 20 by the attacker). However the GM at the table said I needed to provide a FAQ that says a Swashbuckler can parry a natural 20.
Does someone know if this has been clarified for society play?
Kind of
This FAQ doesn't come out and SAY swashbucklers can parry a natural 20, but the more i read it the less i see it any other way
Natural 20 and Natural 1: On attack rolls and saving throws, a natural 20 is an automatic success and a natural 1 is an automatic failure. But should I treat them differently than other results when deciding if a roll succeeded or failed by 5 or more, when comparing two opposed attack rolls to see which is a higher result, or other similar situations?
No, unless a specific rule tells you otherwise, treat a natural 20 or natural 1 result on an attack roll or saving throw the same as any other result when comparing the total result to other numbers. For example, if a fighter rolls a natural 1 for a total of 31 against the wizard’s AC of 33, the attack misses by 5 or less and destroys one of the wizard’s mirror images.
emphasis mine
Swashbuckler: If her result is greater than the attacking creature’s result, the creature’s attack automatically misses.
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Does someone know if this has been clarified for society play?
It's not handled any different in Society.
If the Swashbuckler successfully parries, the attack misses.
Same for Snake Style, Deflect Arrows, and other similar abilities.
If your GM is saying that you cannot parry a Natural 20, the burden of proof would be on them.
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This Faq...
Thank you for the link BigNorseWolf! I agree it definitely supports that a swashbuckler can parry.
If your GM is saying that you cannot parry a Natural 20, the burden of proof would be on them.
Usually in PFS if a GM has conflict / misunderstanding of the rules I either present my reasons why it works, like I did in this case, or look it up and then present my case. All the GMs I've been with will either accept that or dispute the case and sometimes I agree with their dispute.
I've never had a GM just flat out say show me a FAQ that says otherwise or that's how I'm ruling it. I said in every forum they explain how it works and he said no I want an official ruling on it.
Normally rules conflicts aren't that big of a deal and the game can go on. But something like parrying a critical hit can mean the difference between life and death. I was wondering if the GM is allowed to say something like that under PFS rules (show me a FAQ or that's how I'm ruling it)?
sans faq it might care. its really a deeper rules dive than you expect on the spot.