Calculating Missile & Melee BAtCh

The BAtCh number is an acronym for Base Attack Chance.  From this point on, "BAtCh" will refer to a character's basic attack capabilities.  The BAtCh number divided into three categories: Melee BAtCh, Missile BAtCh, and Parry BAtCh.  Melee is modified by Strength, while Missile is modified by Dexterity.  Parry Batch relates to the character's ability to block an incoming melee or missile attack; in parrying a melee attack, the parry BAtCh is based on the melee BAtCh; parrying a missile attack requires a parry BAtCh based on missile BAtCh.  For the Melee combat section, all references to Batch refer to Melee BAtCh.

The BAtCh number is the basic chance of successfully hitting a character who is armored to the teeth (i.e. Armour Class 0 (AC(0)), which is full steel plate mail and large shield). Opponents with lesser armors, such as leather or chain mail, or no shield, have positive armor classes (AC(1) and higher) while fully armored opponents with supernatural enhanced armor or special protection might actually have a negative armor class (maximum is AC(-10)).

The combat attack roll is performed using a twenty-sided die (1d20).  High rolls indicate a fiercer attack, while low rolls usually indicate a miss.  For a successful attack, all characters must roll equal to their BAtCh number, modified for strength and for their opponents’ armor class.

At level one, most characters start with a BAtCh of 20.  As their levels increase, their BAtCh number decreases, making it easier to hit a fully armored opponent.  Thus a fourth level Cavalier of strength 16 striking a thief shod in studded leather armor would have the following Batch determination:

In missile combat, attackers generally throw things or shoot projectiles as a means of harming their targets.  The advantage of using missiles, such as bow and arrow, is that one can attack a target from a safe distance, as opposed to risking one's life directly in melee combat.  Character classes with poor hit points and/or poor BAtCh scores (such as Wishsingers and Mathematicians), often opt for this type of combat.  Certain spiritual powers are also considered missile attacks (such as the Wishsinger's Song of Reproach.)

Unlike melee combat (which is modified by Strength) the BAtCh tables for missile combat are modified instead by the character's Dexterity.  A high Dexterity allows for faster, more accurate shooting, while low Dexterity tends to foul the character's shots. 

With missile combat, range is important, thus each ranged weapon has a range increment – any attack less than this distance is not penalized for range, and for each multiple of the range increment that the target is beyond, the attack roll gets a cumulative –2 penalty. A ranged weapon may be fired up to 10 range increments away before it is assumed to miss its target. The range increment measurements are listed in feet in the appropriate table. Note that if used at point-blank (melee) range, a missile weapon is at +1 to hit because of the extreme difficulty in dodging a fast-moving projectile at point-blank range.

Most people try to duck when a weapon or a fist is swung in their face.  In gaming terms, this is called parrying. A character's ability to parry is equal to his or her basic Batch rating.  To parry a blow, a character attempting to parry must do so by rolling a parry number deflects an equal or lower armour class than the attacking blow hits.

For example or parrying, suppose an 8th level Changeling Wishsinger wearing chain mail (AC(5)) is defending himself from a 6th level Warrior's blow.  The Wishsinger's Batch is 17, while the Warrior's combat value is 14.  If the Warrior rolls a 12, he has hit AC(2), thus overwhelming the Wishsinger's armour.  The Wishsinger, to successfully defend, must roll a 15 or better to parry (Batch 17 minus AC(2)).  In other words, the defender has to parry better than the attacker hit.

A successful parry will negate some of the damage the attacking blow would have inflicted depending upon what the player used to parry the attack.  A critical success on a parry is required to negate a critical success on an attack.

A character cannot parry more blows than the allowed quantity for his class and level.  Thus a Protector may attempt to block more blows each round than an Investigator could.  In a situation in which an attacker has more assaults than the defender can counter, the defender can consciously choose which blows will be parried and which blows will be absorbed.  In the absence of a parry, the attacker must still overcome the target's armour class. If two attackers strike each other on the same segment, neither one can parry each other's blow.

Damage absorbed by Weapon Parries: Parries are best done with shields, but even a shield may not stop all damage. However, if one chooses to parry with a weapon, the item can only parry as much damage as it can inflict at its maximum.  Thus, a dagger is much less effective than a two-handed sword in parrying a blow.  Any extra damage that is not parried is transferred to the character that is being attacked. 

Damage Absorbed by Shield Parries: Shields are far more effective in deflecting damage than weapons. Generally, small shields (AC 1) can parry twelve points of damage, while large shields (AC 2) can parry twenty. Again, extra damage is transferred to the character that is being attacked.

Damage Absorbed by Bare-handed Parries: In the event of a barehanded parry, a successful parry will block the first four points of damage, with the remainder transferred to the defender. 

Dodging - Another form of Parrying: A character may also choose to dodge the blow completely and not use any parrying device.  However, if the latter option is chosen, there is a -4 penalty to the Parry Batch, as it is harder to duck a blow than it is to block it.  However, a successful dodge indicates that the character sustains no damage

Optional Rule - Overloading Parrying Devices: When a weapon sustains more damage in parry than its maximum damage, it is considered overloaded. Thus, a short sword used to block an 11-point attack would be overloaded.

If a weapon is overloaded during a parrying attempt, the weapon must make an item save versus crushing blow. A failure indicates the weapon absorbed the brunt of the strike and is damaged, while success indicates that weapon was merely knocked out of the grip of the one wielding it. The extra damage that is not blocked is transferred to the wielder and the dropped weapon takes 1 round to recover. Each time a weapon is damaged, it gains a “-1” modifier to damage or to-hit values (determined randomly). Theoretically, a weapon can continue to degrade indefinitely, although eventually the wielder will be forced to abandon the weapon due to its inefficiency - a sword with -5 to-hit and -8 to damage can barely be considered a weapon.

A similar idea applies to shields. With shield parrying, the shield is only damaged if its parrying value is overwhelmed and it fails an item save versus crushing blow. On a successful save, the shield is undamaged, but any residual damage not blocked by the shield is transferred to the wielder. When a shield is damaged, it gains a -1 penalty to parrying attempts. Again, one could theoretically keep a shield with a -5 penalty to parries, but such a battered chunk of broken metal would hardly be useful for much of anything.

Drawbacks to using the Overloading rule: While this rule makes combat more realistic by damaging items, there are drawbacks to using it. First, it slows down combat considerably since weapons will need to make Saving Throws often. Second, it offers a huge reward to characters with massive Strength scores since now they can damage their opponent’s weapons and shield as well as being able to deal many points of damage per hit. Third, it will eat up the party’s resources over time and risks angering players if their magical items start suffering damage through use of this rule.

Penalties for poor choices in parrying devices: Technically, a gun that deals 1d12 damage can ward off the same amount of damage as an axe that deals 1d12 damage. However, a gun is not as well designed for the brutal strains of melee combat as an axe. A GM may choose to assign a penalty for attempting to parry with a poor choice for a parrying device - this is usually a -2 penalty to the roll. This represents the fact that if the only thing between you and an incoming metal axe is a wooden bow, you’re better off using the Dodge ability than risking the bow and your neck!