Unarmed Parry Is Unarmed Block?

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Otaku

So again... I am wondering if the rules could be refined to allow for more options or condensed to streamline the game. Varyon's statements really underscore how interconnected it is, I just don't have the knowledge base (as has been stated before, I am still learning the combat system for 4e because of past complications) to really articulate what I'd like to suggest or try out for myself. Something with tweaking the bonus for parrying and the DB.

A more simplistic version of my system would be to just tweak Parry as meaning "makes the attack glance off or redirects it," meaning no damage to the interposing object, and Block as meaning "interposing a solid chunk of matter," meaning the "shield" takes the damage. Parry would be Skill/2+3 (unarmed Parries against Swing attacks would just be Skill/2 unless the character has DR 4+ or so on the hand/arm), Block would be Skill/2+4. This basically works out to "You can get a +1 to your defense, but success means your weapon gets hit instead of you."


Incidentally, I've started up that solitaire DF campaign (thus far our heroes have had 2 battles - a fight in a clearing against 5 gladiator apes, then a fight at their camp against a sixth ape, a dozen zombies, and their necromancer master). The characters have only used normal Parries/Blocks thus far, and the only damage any of their equipment has taken has been to the knight's shield. On the enemy side, only the zombies have attempted defense (apes were berserk, necromancer was shot in the vitals from behind while ranting about the invincible* army he's raised).

*As a humorous aside, nearly half of his "army" was destroyed in a single action, when the martial artist got freaked out by having so many zombies surrounding and trying to grab her. She used Whirlwind Attack with the scythe-like blade on her tail (doing sw cut or imp, her choice, which works out to 4d+2 for her), which has Reach 2. Tech! has proven rather useful for her - only one zombie managed to Parry (and probably should have lost a hand for his trouble, but I forgot to assess that) and the other 5 all dropped.