Blocking with Weapons and Parrying with Shields

AlexanderHowl · 12-15-2017, 08:55 PM

In GURPS, you block with shields and parry with weapons, but it is should be possible to block with weapons and parry with shields because there are martial arts styles that teach those defensive techniques. I have made up some rules to reflect those defensive options, and I was wanting feedback from the community.

In the case of parrying with shields, I would allow a shield to parry normally on any turn that it is not used for an attack (suffering the normal penalties if you Parry after a previous Block or Parry). You would receive a Parry Bonus equal to the normal Defense Bonus, but you would lose the Defense Bonus for the remainder of the turn. The advantage of parrying with shields rather than blocking with shields is that the shield does not normally suffer any damage on a successful parry.

In the case of blocking with weapons, I would allow a weapon to block any attack that it could normally parry (suffering the normal penalties if you Block after a previous Block or Parry). You automatically deal normal weapon damage with a weapon block, but you suffer damage to your weapon from the blocked attack. The advantage of blocking with weapons rather than parrying with weapons is that you get to deal damage on a successful block (shields do not deal damage on a block because of the nature of their design). Parry bonuses increase or reduce Block and you cannot use fencing weapons to block.

12-15-2017, 08:55 PM	#1
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Blocking with Weapons and Parrying with Shields In GURPS, you block with shields and parry with weapons, but it is should be possible to block with weapons and parry with shields because there are martial arts styles that teach those defensive techniques. I have made up some rules to reflect those defensive options, and I was wanting feedback from the community. In the case of parrying with shields, I would allow a shield to parry normally on any turn that it is not used for an attack (suffering the normal penalties if you Parry after a previous Block or Parry). You would receive a Parry Bonus equal to the normal Defense Bonus, but you would lose the Defense Bonus for the remainder of the turn. The advantage of parrying with shields rather than blocking with shields is that the shield does not normally suffer any damage on a successful parry. In the case of blocking with weapons, I would allow a weapon to block any attack that it could normally parry (suffering the normal penalties if you Block after a previous Block or Parry). You automatically deal normal weapon damage with a weapon block, but you suffer damage to your weapon from the blocked attack. The advantage of blocking with weapons rather than parrying with weapons is that you get to deal damage on a successful block (shields do not deal damage on a block because of the nature of their design). Parry bonuses increase or reduce Block and you cannot use fencing weapons to block.