Parry with Sabers

[Jatrell]

Hey all,

I was wondering why you cannot add your melee parry to your lightsaber skill when it comes to parrying attacks. If Count Dooku, for example, force points and attacks you, there is no way in hell you wouldn't take the hit. Any ideas? What about adding your sense skill into the defense roll just like you do "To hit" when attacking? If they enemy would force point, you would atleast have a shot of surviving the the strike. I appreciate any comments.

Jatrell
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Experience is the excuse everyone gives for their mistakes

[jmanski]

With LSC you add Sense to your Lightsaber skill to attack or parry.
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Blasted rules. Why can't they just be perfect?

[garhkal]

Jmanski is correct.. When using LS Combat, your sense IS added (minus MAPS for keeping it up etc) into your LS Skill to attack OR parry. Melee is not added in as it is a different skill.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[atgxtg]

Just to clarify When using LS Combat, your sense IS added (minus MAPS for keeping it up etc) into BOTH your LS Skill to attack AND parry. The lighsaber skill covers both attack and parry, unlike melee and brawling, which are broken down into separate attack and parry skills.

For example, lets say a Jedi PC has Lightsaber 7D, and Sense 5D. With Lightsaber Combat up, the character would add thier Sense to thier Lightsaber skill, rasing it to 12D. If the character kept the power up and did one attack and one parry (4 actions) he would take off 3D for MAPS, and roll 9D for both his attack and parry.

If you added melee parry in then it would become very difficult to hit somebody, since the parry roll would be rolling more dice than the attack. Although that would certainly lengthen the duels.

[CRMcNeill]

I've already cut Melee Parry completely and started using Melee Combat for both attack and defense. I'm on the verge of folding Lightsaber into Melee Combat as well, as I just can't see how a lightsaber is so technically different from a sword as to require a completely separate skill. I'm sure WEG only separated it out in the name of balance, so that a Jedi could be $hit-hot with a saber and a bumbling idiot with anything else.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Henrik.Balslev]

[Fallon Kell]

[Henrik.Balslev]

[CRMcNeill]

My main point being that Melee Combat covers everything from knives and swords to whips, chains, poleaxes and even more exotic stuff, so long as the intention is that you hold it in your hand and try to smack someone else with it. Which is exactly the same thing you do with a lightsaber. Regardless of the mechanical and physical differences between a lightsaber and a sword, you are still essentially wielding a sword. You use the same slashing and stabbing and parrying maneuvers; the only differences are the allowances you have to make to account for the physical properties of the weapon itself.

Think about what a broad spectrum Melee Combat covers, as far as weaponry. Think about how much different a knife is from a polearm or spear, or how much different a sword or a club is from a whip or a chain weapon, and yet it is all covered under the same skill. High technology aside, there is nothing about a lightsaber that is so distinct that it needs its own skill.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Henrik.Balslev]

[garhkal]

[CRMcNeill]

[garhkal]

By that logic then, why not do away with all ranged weapon (character scale) skills and have just the 1 skill..
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[CRMcNeill]

[Bren]

It seems clear to me that lightsaber is a different skill than melee, not so much because from a simulation perspective it requires a separate skill but for other reasons.

1) Drama - In the films it is a special weapon for Jedi only - analogous to a two swords or a Samurai in Japan or a Knight's sword in Europe - but with additional mystic properties. Ashigaru might carry a spear or other weapon but would not carry the two swords of a samurai and similarly in some places, times, settings, and or myths only a Knight would carry a Knight's sword. So a lightsaber gets it's own skill as a mark of its specialness.

2) Setting - In ANH it seems to be a rare weapon in this less civilized age.