Official ICE Forums
Systems & Settings => Rolemaster => RMC/RM2 => Topic started by: Malim on September 05, 2021, 05:21:49 AM
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RM2 Stunned Maneuvering from RoCo II.
Question: Does that work against must parry?
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I don't recall anywhere where it said it did. This was a long-going debate at our table. There are good arguments on both sides: is the 'must parry' like a minor stun, or is it more because the opponent is overbearing or has the defender at a tactical disadvantage? I could go either way.
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Must parry is often worse then stun sadly. So its hard stun :)
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Must parry is often worse then stun sadly. So its hard stun :)
Yes, that was the problem: a 'stun must parry' was in some ways worse than a 'stun no parry'.
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Stunned Maneuver is just an attempt to shake off the "stars clouding the vision." It can be attempted to alleviate accumulated rounds of stun. However, even if the PC alleviates all rounds of stun, he must still parry as per the critical. The stun may be lifted, but the PC is still off-balance, or reeling from the blow, or even trying to regain his footing, or <insert thrilling/colorful description here>, and he's not quite ready to make a concerted attack this round and finds himself having to do a full parry. We've seen it in plenty of action movies where the hero or the foe is walloped by a powerful blow and he is just staggered/stumbling and can only block for dear life until he regains his footing.
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The way I’ve played it is that Stun Man cancels any type of stun. You can act 100% if you succeed.
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In the case of the four. Must Parry, Stun, Stun Must Parry, and Stun Unable to Parry, Must Parry is the better of the four.
Must parry # rounds—(e.g. “must parry 2 rounds”)
For this number (#) of rounds, the target may not attack; they may only parry with half of their OB, and the only other actions allowed are movement and maneuvers, both modified by -25.
Stunned # rounds—(e.g. “stunned 4 rounds”)
For this number (#) of rounds, the target may not attack, they may only parry with half of their Offensive Bonus (Normal DB due to Quickness, shield, etc. is not affected), and the only other actions allowed are movement and maneuvers, both modified by -50.
Stunned and unable to parry # rounds (Stunned-No Parry)—(e.g. “stunned no parry 3 rounds”)
For this number (#) of rounds, the target may not attack, they may not parry (Normal DB due to Quickness, shield, etc. is not affected), and the only other actions allowed are movement and maneuvers, both modified by -75.
In the case of the others, being Stunned removes actions you can take and reduces the amount of and type of actions you are allowed. Though you can take a Stunned Maneuver check, even if untrained at -25, a failure still leaves you Stunned.
Must Parry only affects the attack round. All other options are still open to you, all be it at a -25. Movement and Maneuvers cover a lot of ground.
Maneuver: An action performed by a character that requires unusual concentration, concentration under pressure, or a risk (e.g. climbing a rope,
balancing on a ledge, picking a lock, etc.). Maneuvers requiring movement are “Moving Maneuvers” (MM), and other maneuvers are called “Static
Maneuvers” (SM).
Static Action (Static Maneuver): An action performed by a character that requires unusual concentration, or thought under pressure, and does not involve pronounced physical movement.
In the case of Static Actions, it has been argued to me successfully, that casting or activating magic items count as Static Actions. Still on the rope on that one, but the arguments given were compelling. So I let it go, provided I can apply it to the enemy as well.
Now I am not saying that a character who is also a caster that receives a Must Parry result, could just cast a spell at -25. But there is a lot of room for other things that don't involve attacking.
Also understand, that Must Parry takes zero amount of your action (not counting the -25). It is an automatic function of your DB. The fact that you are being allowed to apply any part of your OB to defense is not a penalty. The only thing you are being denied is the Full Parry function.
Granted if all your character does is "Swing the Axe" then stand around until they can "Swing the Axe" again. Then maybe it's more an issue of other skills they are lacking.
Take the time to move, look around, take an herb or potion to heal, change weapons, reload a weapon, prep a spell, activate an item, etc.
Must Parry is a function. Not necessarily blocking their attack with your own weapon. Among other things, it's dodging, ducking, dipping, diving, and dodging. This is especially true if hit from range or as a result of a personal fumble while not in CC.
So the answer is, yes it sucks to be hit with Must Parry. Stun Relief will not counter it.
Unless it's a "Stun Must Parry" effect. Then relieve one relieves all.
But it could be much worse.
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Also understand, that Must Parry takes zero amount of your action (not counting the -25). It is an automatic function of your DB. The fact that you are being allowed to apply any part of your OB to defense is not a penalty. The only thing you are being denied is the Full Parry function.
You have to take an attack action in order to parry. An attack action is a minimum 50% activity, meaning you are at -50 to do anything else in the round, and therefore some actions (i.e. those that take 51% of activity or more) are forbidden.
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Simply not , even the immune stun creatures suck the must parry condition.