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Old 09-06-2020, 03:47 PM   #1
phiwum
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Boston area
Default Questions about fencing and two-weapons skills

I'm a bit puzzled about some aspects of the fencing skill, especially when using a main-gauche.

From the section on left-handed weapons, we see:
Left-Hand Weapons
The left-hand dagger, or main-gauche, acts as a shield to
parry 1 hit per attack, from non-missile, one-handed weapons
only, from your front hexes. If you take an attack option,
you can also make a separate dagger attack against the same
enemy. It is rolled at -4 DX.
A figure with the Two Weapons talent can fight effectively
So, a character (any character) with a main-gauche can decrease hits by one and attack with the main-gauche in the same turn. This doesn't require fencing or two-weapons skill.

In the Fencing skill we learn that Fencers get an extra die if they choose Defend (so that the attacker will roll five dice rather than four). Also, the Fencer has two-weapons skill when it comes to fencing weapons.

So, my first question is: suppose I parry with the main-gauche as a Fencer, while attacking with my rapier (say). Do I stop three hits (one for using a main-gauche and two for the two-weapons skill)? I tend to think so.

Edited to change my second question, which I see was off.

In the Two-Weapons skill, you can choose to parry with both weapons, adding one die to the to-hit roll and stopping four hits. So, just to check and see if I understand, the Fencer has two purely defensive options:

(1) He can defend and the attacker must roll five dice to hit. This choice stops none of the hits unless the Fencer is using main-gauche (in which case it stops one hit as usual).

(2) He can parry with both weapons. The attacker rolls four dice to hit and four hits are prevented (five if one of the weapons is a main-gauche).

Does that sound right?

Last edited by phiwum; 09-06-2020 at 10:41 PM. Reason: Reread the text and see where I was off.
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