Parrying Variant

Parrying and the Shield

For those of us that were introduced to D&D and RPGs in general with the original D&D basic set we had a game option that allowed for a little variety in fights and more importantly the chance to decrease the chance of getting your character hurt in a fight: The parry rule.

In review the parry rule in the original D&D basic rules allowed one to decrease a foes chance of striking them by 2 points by surrendering the chance to attack. In addition if the hit roll was exactly the now modified chance to hit the defenders weapon was broken instead of harming the defender.

Now let me remind my gentle readers that that volume of the rules didn't have a dexterity modifier to armor class.

I've always been a little annoyed by the always on AC bonus provided by Dexterity. It's boring, you get the bonus from the initial ability score generation and that's it.
Wouldn't it be nice if modifiers reflected good dice scores and player choice?
How about if it reflected character experience as well?

The method fort this variant is to add Strength and Dexterity (factoring in ability scores), Fighting prowess (as reflected by class and level) and a little boost if using a shield (I had to slip them in).


Defense Score= DEX+STR+Fighting Prowess+Shield Bonus

Fighting Prowess:
0-level…………….......0
Fighter Level 1-2….+1
Fighter level 3-5….+2
Fighter leve 6-8…..+3
Fighter level 9-11….+4
Fighter level 12-14…+5
Fighter level 15+…….+6

(Clerics and Assassins are considered 2 levels lower, Thieves 4 levels lower, Monks 2 levels higher, others receive no adjustments for level)

Shields:
Buckler…………..+1
Small Shield……..+2
Large Shield……+3
Great Shield……..+4

Defense Score….Parry Bonus
8 or less.............. 0
9-13.................... +1
14-27.................. +2
28-36................. +3
37-41 ................. +4
42 or more......... +5

The Parry Bonus to AC is only applied when the player decides to have their character Parry. They sacrifice their attacks for a round to get the parry bonus to their AC.

Now what happens when the exact score to hit is rolled… The defender must make a save for their weapon or it's broken (the auto-break is just not enough drama for this otherwise random situation).
If one has a shield the defender can check to see if the shield it ruined instead of the weapon.

The typical DEX bonus to AC is dropped with this variant.
Some might want to keep some AC adjustment for DEX I recommend the range for these modifiers be shifted to more extreme scores or only provide half their usual adjustment.

Extra Variant: whenever an attacker misses with a score equal to or less then a fighters level when a fighter is parrying, that fighter may make a counter attack against that foe.