When an attacker makes an attack against a target, the attacker rolls their attack roll as specified by the weapon used or the ability employed.
If the target does not wish to or cannot perform a dodge or parry, the result of the attack roll is then compared to their physical defense (Def PHY) for a melee or ranged physical attack, or to their magical defense (Def MAG) in the case of a magical attack.
If the result of the attack roll is equal to or greater than their Def PHY or Def MAG, depending on the context, then the attack succeeds and the target suffers the damage indicated by the weapon or ability.
Defensive Posture
Defensive posture is a strategy that allows players and creatures to improve their resilience against physical and magical attacks by temporarily sacrificing their offensive capability.
Sacrifice of the Attack (A)
At the start of its turn, the player or creature can choose to forego their attack action to adopt a defensive posture. By doing so, they gain an immediate bonus of +1 to Physical Defense (Def PHY) and +1 to Magical Defense (Def MAG) until their next turn.
Simple defensive posture = Def PHY +1 and Def MAG +1
Sacrifice of the Attack (A) and Movement (M)
For enhanced protection, the player or creature can also choose to sacrifice both their attack action and their movement action. By opting for this enhanced defensive posture, they receive an increased bonus of +2 to Physical Defense (Def PHY) and +2 to Magical Defense (Def MAG), thus offering better ability to withstand enemy assaults until their next turn.
Double defensive posture = Def PHY +2 and Def MAG +2
Restrictions
It is not possible to adopt a defensive posture by sacrificing only the movement action (M). Establishing a defensive posture requires the sacrifice of the attack action as an initial condition, with the option to extend this protection by additionally sacrificing the movement action.
Dodge and Parry
Before a creature or character suffers a targeted attack (as opposed to area attacks), they may attempt a dodge or a parry. To do so, they must announce their attempt to dodge or parry before the attacker makes their attack roll. Then, they roll 1d20 and add to this result their level and DEX for dodging, or their STR for parry, while the attacker performs their attack roll normally.
Note that neither dodging nor parring are possible against magical attacks and area attacks.
For dodging:
Dodge Test = 1d20 + Level + DEX
For parring:
Parry Test = 1d20 + Level + STR
If the result obtained is equal to or greater than the attacker's attack roll, the dodge or parry is successful and the target suffers no damage. Otherwise, the dodge or parry fails and the target suffers the damage from the attack.
Suppose Elara, a nimble warrior, is attacked by an orc wielding an axe. The orc rolls an attack total of 15. Elara decides to parry and rolls her parry test: she scores a 17 with her die (1d20) plus her level (2) and her STR (4), giving her a total of 23. Since her result is higher than the orc's attack, she successfully parries and avoids the damage.
In the event of a failure, if you are using the advanced rule Progressive Damage Bonus or if the opponent's attack roll is a critical success against your parry or your dodge, the damage bonus is always calculated based on your Physical Defense (Def PHY).
Suppose Alice tries to parry an attack from a goblin. The goblin achieves a critical hit, with an attack total of 23. Alice, whose Def PHY is 18, fails in her attempt to parry. According to the rule of additional damage for critical hits, the bonus damage inflicted on Alice equals the difference between the goblin's attack total and her own defense. Here, the difference is 23 - 18 = 5. Alice will therefore suffer the normal damage of the attack plus a bonus of 5 additional damage points.
Conversely, if the opposing attack roll is successful but lower than the defense (Def MAG or Def PHY depending on the context), no damage bonus is granted.
Imagine a situation where Kael, a thief, attacks an armored knight. Kael succeeds on his attack roll with a critical result and gets a total of 23, all bonuses included. The knight then attempts to parry but fails, only obtaining a total of 17. However, the knight's Def PHY is 24. Although Kael's attack is successful and allows him to inflict normal damage, it is not powerful enough to overcome all of the knight's defense and inflict the additional damage bonus granted by his critical success.
Critical Success and Failure
In the event of a critical success of a dodge or a parry, the target can perform a counter-attack with their equipped weapon if they are in contact with the attacker.
In the event of a critical failure, the target loses their ability to dodge or parry on the next turn.