[Maz]

[edit]All of the following assume you use the rules from Martial Arts. It just occurred to me you might not. In which case I understand why you have trouble and would recommend getting the book![/edit]

As others have pointed out, the NPC is not following the correct rules for multiple attacks.

But even following the rules - with Extra attack 2, he can still make 4 deceptive attacks. And without the -4/-2 cap, he can still give a high penalty and still stack it with Feint.


The Evaluate maneuver
The best counter to a feint/deceptive attack is in my opinion, and if you character is almost as skilled as he is, to use EVALUATE. This simple maneuver is both offensive and defensive.
It will both counter one defense penalty from Deceptive attack and give you a +1 skill bonus to counter Feint.
On top of that, once you then attack, you have +1 more skill allowing you to Feint or Deceptive attack better against him.
Use it for 3 rounds to stack the effect.


Ways to increase your defense
Retreating: Remember that making a Retreating dodge/parry give you the retreat bonus against all of his attacks for that turn.
TBaM: Remember that Trained By a Master/Weapon master halves your consecutive parry penalties.
Acrobatic dodge: If you have high DX, maybe get Acrobatics to skill 16 to be able to get attempt to get the +2 dodge bonus on one dodge per turn.
Feverish Defense: If you use Extra Effort in combat-rules this is a quick +2 to a defense. Get as much bonus FP as possible.
Defensive grip: Gives +1 to parry at little to no penalty in a simple 1vs1 duel, if you use thrust-attacks at least.
Cross parry: A cross parry gives a one-time +2 to a parry if you have two single weapons. (For a two-handed weapon see the Two-handed parry rules in p.123 in Martial Arts).
Alternating parries: If you alternate between parrying with right and left hand, your parry-penalty is counted for each hand separately. If you have ambidex this effectively halves you parry penalty.
Fencing parry: fencing weapons have half consecutive parry-penalty. (combine it with an off-hand weapon and weapon master for greater effect)


Ways to hit high-defense targets.
Counter attack: Consider getting the Counterattack Technique. It will cost you 6 points to give the target -2 defense, but that 2 pts cheaper than putting it into pure skill. and will get around any arbitrary cap on Deceptive Attack.
Riposte: Martial arts p.125. Is an "opposite feint". It allows you to take a parry-penalty in order to give the attack a penalty to his parry. Combine it wit han AoD:parry, Evaluate, feverish parry and so on, to stack your own parry, in order to give him a bigger penalty, then follow up with a Deceptive attack to stack the defense penalty.
Attack the side: You retreating defense: Slip. to dodge forward. Allowing you to step and attack his side, giving him a -2 defense.
Get into CC:Use Retreating dodge: Slip, to dodge forward into Close Combat. This means you start your turn in CC and so the target will get CC penalties on his parries (-2 for normal Reach 1 weapons), even if he retreat out. If you successfully Grab him, he can't get out of CC.
Critical hit: You can't defend against a critical hit. So making as many attacks as possible might be the way to go. With skill 16+ you crit on a 6 or less. That is a 9% chance for a crit. If you have skill 22 you can take a -6 penalty for Rapid Strike, and still be at skill 16. If you have Weapon master and can use Flurry of Blow you can make FOUR attacks per turn at skill 16!