I was wondering: Is it possible to "block" (unarmed combat) any kind of melee weapon?

Me and a friend has discussed this and never reached a consensus, so I thought I'll bring it up here and hear what you guys say.

Yes. Most probably by blocking the person's arm, rather than the weapon. Or it could be that you pick up a trash can lid, chair, etc and use it to block. The beauty of an abstract combat system.

See also: forearm guards, plates in your armor, hardliner gloves, etc. All good for blocking.

Or you could be all whipass ninja and catch the enemy's sword between your hands, temporarily stunning them with your massive badassitude.

-paws

Yes, it's a defense mechanic, which you can describe in results how you wish.

Emphasis mine.

See: MythBusters, NinjaTech. BUSTED.

ROFL

Let me know when they do any episode on Pornomancers, Mr. Lucky, and the Matrix... if you take my meaning.



-paws

Many unarmed blocks I'm aware of involve stepping into the opponent and blocking his arm, not the weapon itself. If this is a melee combat, then you are usually in range to step into the opponent and catch his arm(s) to stop the motion of his weapon.

Even when you're not dealing with armed opponents, blocking - at least unarmed - usually focuses on trying to deflect the incoming blow, rather than stop it, as meeting the attack head-on simply means you're getting punched or kicked in the arm rather than the head (better than nothing, but not as good as not getting hit at all). This same technique should work against clubs, and even - assuming you do it well enough - against blades (monowhips, I'd have a harder time explaining away). And as others have said, melee combat especially is highly abstracted within the system.

Monowhip: You catch the weight flailing about on the end. Instead of stepping in, you step out to catch it. Becuase you're a ninja.

They actually teach you in many kinds of Martial Arts (Real Life) how to defend against armed opponents. Short bladed weapon? Attack their hands or Arms. Longer, broad blade? If you're accurate, it's possible (but not advised) to simply side smack the flat of the blade. Blunt weapon like a club/staff? You can actually grab those, so long as you play the momentum right for it to not break your OWN arm.

And of course...like mentioned before: You could always pick up a trash can lid or smoething and use it as a makeshift shield.

And the system reflects the difficulty of using unarmed combat to block armed combat with the Reach statistic. If you're blocking a sword barehanded, your opponent is getting +1 dp for reach.

Ooh! I didn't think of that one... very perceptive.

Hmm. Here's a question:

Is the only difference between Block and Parry being unarmed or armed? I always thought a Parry was sorta knocking the enemy's weapon away and leaving them open for a counter-attack. You could in theory do either with a weapon; holding up your axe so the weapon bounces off the handle would be more considered a block...I think.

Game mechanic wise, is there a real difference here?

I don't think there's a difference game-wise, just that one is with a weapon and the other is with unarmed. As for real-life, I always though of Parry like that, but I'm not 100% on the actual action required for a parry, other than to stop the other guy from hitting you...

I know several swordfighting schools that teach you a blade slap, that is slapping the flat of the blade unarmed to knock it aside. The trick is don't try and grab the blade.

Blade grasps are fight winners, but most people who try them end up very dead.

That can also be very handy for disarming. Twisting the blade out of their hand can be done pretty easily if you only touch the flat of the blade. Just twist it bacwards over their hand, if they aren't expecting it, BAM! No sword for you.

A Parry is knocking the attack to the side. Hitting an incoming fist with your wrist is an example of this.

A block, on the other hand is stopping a blow head on. Covering your face with your arms while the bully is pounding on you is an example of this.

Both, IRL, can be done with a weapon or while unarmed. Most styles either focus on one or the other, i believe, though there are probably some that do both that I can't think of.

A Parry is often the prelude to a repost, as in Fencing. Knock the blade to the side and move in for a quick strike.
Blocking with a sword (Which is not really done in Fencing, for example) is what you see in most movies the one guy holds his sword horizontal while the other comes in with a big swing from over his head. the swords clash together and they both push at each other for 5 minutes... or whatever.

Edit: Oh right, I forgot to mention what you can't really do an Unarmed block against a bladed weapon, as well... it'll still sut your arms off

As far as I'm aware, there is no difference, other than that one involves a weapon. I have no idea why they decided to use different terms for the two situations, and it further confuses matters when you take into consideration that Full Parry can be used unarmed.