Parry?

[BishFish]

I play 3.5 dnd and i recently heard of a parry rule. Is this an actual rule that I just haven't found, is it the two weapon defence feat, or is it from a different version of dnd?

[Magnor Criol]

Where did you hear it from? I've never heard of a parry rule in normal DnD 3.5, though I think there might be a Parry feat. However, Neverwinter Nights (a DnD-based computer game, if you haven't heard of it) has a Parry skill. Could this be what you heard of?

[arguskos]

I play 3.5 dnd and i recently heard of a parry rule. Is this an actual rule that I just haven't found, is it the two weapon defence feat, or is it from a different version of dnd?

I believe there are a few obscure Parrying rules somewhere, but I personally suggest using this fine piece of homebrew from our very own Rizban: Parry.

[Saph]

D&D typically uses passive defence rather than active. Your parry ability is represented by your AC.

However, there are a few exceptions that specifically allow you to make an opposed roll against an enemy attack, usually as an immediate action. The Iron Heart maneuver Wall of Blades is one example.

[Thalnawr]

I'm AFB, but I believe there are combat defense rules that include block, dodge, and parry in the Advanced Player's Guide, a Swords and Sorcery supplement.

[Darrin]

In Sword & Fist and Masters of the Wild, there was a feat called Off-Hand Parry. It would still be legal in a 3.5 game, but mechanically it's a bit of a stinker.

In Dragon #301, there were a series of Parry-based feats, but again mechanically they weren't all that easy to use, and you needed to take a bunch of them before they really did anything useful. You can find the details in the 3.0 section of Crystalkeep.

In one of the Cityscape web enhancements, there's a Scout ACF called Riposte that might be less annoying than dealing with Skirmish damage.

[Greenish]

The Iron Heart maneuver Wall of Blades is one example.

Iron Heart also has a stance named "Supreme Blade Parry", but it's mechanical effect is DR 5/-.

DnD combat mechanic is mostly too abstracted to feature details such as parry.

[Edit]: Or rather, parrying and other such stuff is part of Fighting Defensively or Total Defense.

[arguskos]

DnD combat mechanic is mostly too abstracted to feature details such as parry.

Yet, it deals with overruns, charges, and trips. I personally think that the argument of "it's too abstract" is a little lame on the part of the game designers. I'd think they avoided it simply because they already had a large number of combat tricks and whatnot, and didn't want to make the combat chapter even longer than it had to be.

I for one would welcome some good blade-on-blade rules, since they make combat a great deal more interesting.

[AslanCross]

The only two active parry methods I know of are Wall of Blades, as Saph has mentioned above, and the Melee Evasion feat (although it's just dodging by fluff, it is an opposed attack roll).

A defending weapon gives you an untyped bonus AC, so it pretty much works as if you were parrying. Same thing with the Weapon Supremacy feat, which gives you a bonus to AC when wielding the chosen weapon.

Finally, the Two-Weapon Defense and Two Weapon Style feats also give you a bonus to AC.

[Nero24200]

To my knowledge only a few aspects incorporate some "Parry" mechanics, such as some TOB manuevers. Though might you be thinking of the Pathfinder Duelist? The class grants an ability to block attacks with your own attack roll.

[AslanCross]

There's also the Duelist's Elaborate Parry, which is just a bonus to AC. However, Duelist is rather lame.

[mcl01]

I always thought this was covered fairly nicely with fighting defensively and combat expertise. It may not have 'parry' in the name, but it's not hard to imagine fluffing the mechanics into evading blows through parrying.

Also, the mechanics of Melee Evasion make it seem very parry-related.

[oxybe]

unearthed arcana has a rule for it: remove the base 10 from your AC & roll opposed checks.

[Rixx]

I do know that Duelists in Pathfinder gain a Parry ability at 2nd level: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/pres...lasses/duelist

[Shpadoinkle]

Fighting defensively, total defense, and Expertise cover the parry mechanics, plus the ToB stuff mentioned above.

[Matthew]

Also there is a shield feat that blocks one incoming missile attack per round (Block Arrow, Heroes of Battle). There have been, many, many homebrew versions following a relatively similar pattern, so that I have lost count, but here are the ones I have links to:

Active Parry Rules and Feats

Z-Axis’s Combat Action and Feat
Skjaldbakka's Parrying System
Talanic & Erk's Interception System
Tough Tonka's D20 Parrying System
Elliott20's Parrying System
Magic8Ball's Parrying Feats
Munchy's Parrying Fighter Feats
Senir's Parry Skill
Matthew's Active Defence
Tower’s Parrying System

[Asgardian]

I play 3.5 dnd and i recently heard of a parry rule. Is this an actual rule that I just haven't found, is it the two weapon defence feat, or is it from a different version of dnd?

Well theres this Improved Parry

[Splendor]

As stated before Dragon Magazine 301 but these were 3.0 feats.

Parry
DEX 13+, INT 13+, Expertise
Once per round, if a melee attack would hit you, you may attempt to parry before damage is rolled. To do so, make an attack roll that exceeds your opponent’s attack roll. If you do, no damage is dealt to you. Regardless, your opponent gets a free disarm attempt on your parrying weapon that does not provoke an attack of opportunity and does not give you a chance to disarm if they fail. You get +4 on your parry attack roll if the weapon you hold is light. You cannot parry a weapon that is more than 2 sizes larger than your parrying weapon. Natural weapons are considered 2 sizes smaller than the creature. You cannot parry when unarmed, when denied your DEX bonus to AC, or when wearing medium or heavy armor.

Improved Parry
DEX 13+, INT 13+, Expertise, Parry, Combat Reflexes
You can parry more than once per round. Each parry attempt past the first uses an attack of opportunity granted by Combat Reflexes.
You cannot parry the same opponent more than once each round.

Expert Parry
DEX 13+, INT 13+, Expertise, Parry, Combat Reflexes, Improved Parry
You can parry the same opponent more than once per round.

Incredible Parry
DEX 13+, INT 13+, Expertise, Parry, +6 Base Attack
This feat may be taken multiple times, each time adding 1 size to the limit.
You can parry an attack from a weapon up to 3 sizes larger than your parry weapon.

Protective Parry
DEX 13+, INT 13+, Expertise, Parry
When a creature you threaten is attacked, you may use a parry attempt to parry an attack on that creature. You cannot protect the same creature more than once (unless you have Expert Parry).

[Lin Bayaseda]

Here's our homebrew:

Parry
Once per round, when you're hit in melee, you may give up your next Standard action to negate the hit by an opposed attack roll (Combat Expertise, BAB +6)

Improved Parry
As Parry, but only give up a Move action (Parry, BAB +9)

Riposte
Upon successful Parry attempt, can make an attack of opportunity (Greater Parry, BAB +12)

[Harperfan7]

Parry
Pre: Dex 13+, Combat Reflexes
Benefit: Whenever you are targeted by anything that requires an attack roll that isn't a ranged touch or a ray, you can expend an attack of opportunity to try to parry the attack. This functions as an opposed attack roll. You must declare that you are parrying before you know the result of their attack roll. If your attack roll is higher than theirs, you parry the attack. You cannot make more parries in any one round than you have attacks in a full attack action. Your first parry in a round uses your full attack bonus, the second uses your first iterative attack, and so on.

If you are fighting with two weapons, you may parry with either at your discretion and may make as many parries as you have attacks with both weapons up to your max number of AoO‘s per round. If you are hasted or are using a weapon with the speed enchantment, you gain an extra parry each round (up to your max number of AoO's).

For each size category larger than yours a weapon is, you suffer a -2 penalty to your parry roll (if you are parrying with a shield, this penalty is halved). If your opponent is using power attack, you take a penalty to your parry roll equal to the bonus damage the opponent receives from power attack (if you are parrying with a shield, this penalty is halved). If you use combat expertise while parrying, you also gain the ac bonus to your parry roll.

If you are two weapon fighting with a shield via improved shield bash and you use your shield to make a parry, you gain its shield bonus to armor class to your parry roll (but not its enhancement bonus if it’s enchanted as a weapon) and reduce the two weapon fighting penalty by 2. You cannot use a currently animated animating shield to parry.

You can only make one parry attempt for each enemy attack roll. Every attack you use to parry with, you lose during the following round (they reset at the end of your turn). You have to be aware of an attack to parry it, though you can parry flat-footed because of combat reflexes.

Improved Parry
Pre: Dex 13+, Combat Reflexes, Parry
Benefit: Any size penalty your weapon/shield receives when parrying a larger weapon is lessened by 2.

Riposte
Pre: Dex 13+, Combat Reflexes, Parry
Benefit: Whenever you parry an attack, you may immediately expend another AoO to counterattack your opponent as a free action during their turn at the same attack bonus as the parry. This does not use an additional attack from the following round. If you are fighting with two weapons, you riposte with the weapon you did not parry with (at the base attack bonus as the parry).