While I still consider myself quite new to the Dragonbane RPG from Free League Publishing, my first experience with it was quite positive and I’m still building up my comfort level with the rules. On my first read-thru, I was a little confused on the Parry and Dodge mechanics, so this post is my thinking on the two mechanics – similarities, differences, and when to use each.

Combat Actions

Before we get to those particular mechanics, a refresher on the Dragonbane action economy: in combat, a PC gets a single Action in a combat round. That’s it. Just one.

This Action can be used to attack or cast a spell, as one would expect. It can also be used for defense: parrying or dodging. This gives the players an opportunity to think strategically.

The order of actions in Dragonbane is determined by Initiative, which changes from round to round. When a player’s turn arises, they may choose to act or they may choose to swap their initiative¹ with someone (friend or foe) that has an action remaining. Also, if an enemy attacks a player before that player has used their Action, they have an opportunity to spend their Action on defense or hold it for their own turn.

This is where strategy comes into play: should a player spend that precious action on defense, hoping to avoid significant damage or even death, or should they weather the storm, relying on armor and luck, to be able to strike their own blow? Should they wait, letting another party member act (or react) to burn down the enemy actions allowing a powerful assault later in the round?

Well, let’s look at those defensive maneuvers to understand them better.

Parry versus Dodge

At first blush, both of these mechanics seem similar. They both take an action², they both require a skill roll, and they both eliminate damage from an attack. But there are important and flavorful differences.

When your character parries, they use a weapon or shield to block the attack. That means you do need to be equipped with a drawn weapon or shield. For certain characters, this may not always be the case (thinking of unarmed mages). The skill roll is made using your weapon skill (any STR-based weapon skill if using a shield). Weapons and shields also have durability ratings and a particularly powerful blow may damage the item you use to parry, though this does not apply to piercing damage. Also, you cannot parry a monster attack. Finally, there is an optional rule that allows you, with a successful parry, to move both yourself and your opponent one square in any direction, which can be helpful in setting up your comrades for attack or protecting them from attack.

Dodging, on the other hand, uses a skill check against your Evade skill. At first blush, it seems like a much better option. You can use it against any attack – monster attack or not. There’s also no threat to your equipment – if you succeed, you take no damage. Period. You can also (optional rule) move yourself one square as part of the Dodge, without drawing free attacks.

Of course, the way skills are ranked, your character may well be highly skilled in a STR-based weapon (allowing you to parry) but they may not be, having been built for more dexterous capabilities, meaning a potentially better Evade for Dodging. The optional movement choices on success are also potential decision points, in how they may help the rest of your party overcome the enemy.

Bringing it all together

So, as you think about your combat strategy, you’ll first want to know what’s your strength – weapon skills for parrying or evade skills for dodging. Now, if you face a monster attack, your only defensive choice is Dodge, but for standard attacks, your chance of success should weigh heavily on your choice. And, of course, you need a drawn weapon or shield to attempt a Parry, so that’s something to think about before wading into the fray.

If you’re still undecided – you have equal chances of success with either option and you are equipped to be able to Parry – look at the movement rules that accompany a successful check – would you rather gain a square of separation from your enemies without drawing a free attack or would you prefer to reposition the enemy one square to setup your party members?

I really like to Dragonbane combat system. The opportunities to use tactics to force the enemy to burn their own limited Actions to then enable your team to smash them or, alternatively, to strike fast and hard before they can respond, makes for a fast and fun encounter.

Let me know if you’ve found additional uses for these tactics that aren’t obvious to me.

Footnotes

1. Swapping initiative, known as Waiting in the official rules, is an optional rule, but one I think is excellent and should be included. ↩︎
2. There are some Heroic Abilities (HA) that allow you to use these once without burning an Action but, unless your character has one of those HAs, you have just the one Action. ↩︎