Parry Mastery

(Originally posted on OrdoMagica.com)

Reading back some old threads on the official Järnringen/Symbaroum forum on the Swedish site www.rollspel.nu, I found a classic topic with many pages discussing one of the inherent "issues" with Symbaroum's ruleset - namely how Accurate has a tendency to become a dump stat for any reasonably optimized character. It is the one attribute that probably has the least uses outside of combat, and it's not really one that the system places challenges against. Most "proper" characters will abandon Accurate and adopt a different attribute for their attacking tests, and many abilities will even allow for certain attributes to become both offensive and defensive attributes.

As the system currently stands, the only real reason to maintain a high Accurate is if you expect to be switching between melee and ranged attacks often. I've pondered a number of different ways to help Accurate a bit, but as a believer in iterative game design and making the smallest possible tweak to see what the effect will be... I just propose the following ability. If you try it, let me know how it performs.

Parry Mastery

Novice. Passive. The character can precisely hit and deflect incoming attacks in close combat. The character may use Accurate as their basis for Defense in melee, as long as they are holding a melee weapon or have the Natural Warrior ability.

Adept. Reaction. The character follows their parry with a twisting move designed to liberate their opponent of their weapon. After a successful Defense in melee, the character can roll [Accurate<-Strong] to disarm their opponent (no effect on unarmed enemies).

Master. Passive. The character displays an almost preternatural ability to ward off danger with their weapon. The character may use Accurate for Defense even against ranged attacks, as long as they are holding a melee weapon. If the character also has the Natural Warrior ability, a successful Defense means that they catch the projectile in the air.