Hi all,

I notice that during opening volleys, characters with shields who are defending themselves double the parry bonus against ranged weapons.

Does this doubled parry bonus continue throughout a combat (for instance if some characters stay in rearward stances and shoot opponents)? I can see arguments for yes and no here so just wondered if this is clarified elsewhere in the rules or has been clarified on this forum (search wasn't working for me).

Thanks in advance!

James

Hi Bluejay!

My hunch is that it's doubled only during the opening volley: my rationale is that, given the greater range, the defender can see missile directed at him and has the time to react.
Conversely, I think that during the melee a fighter is too distracted to focus on far away enemies with so many menaces at hand. You make a good argument for heroes in rearward stance, tough.

The forum search doesn't function. Look at this page, where it's explained how to use google to the same effect.

Forum search

This page can be found in the "TOR Resources" thread, at the top of the forum.

Doubled bonus only during the volley is my understanding as well. Basically if a warrior with a shield can see the attack coming, they can more effectively "turtle up" and hide behind their shield.

Yes, agree. In fact I just found an example where they explain how to calculate TN for a ranged attack and the target has a shield but the bonus isn't doubled.

So would you double the bonus for a Barding Tower Shield against a volley?

Oh and thank you Corvo and Garn for your helpful replies. Appreciate it!

I would think so, effectively they are similar to pavises that archers used to hide behind. Those pesky Hobbits with Bows of the North Downs will be your hated foe!