Lightsabers vs. Melee Weapons

[CRMcNeill]

atgxtg and I have been holding an e-mail discussion about writing up rules for the various lightsaber combat forms, and he made a very interesting point today. Per the RAW, melee weapons can actually parry lightsabers. It seemed so outlandish that I refused to believe it without evidence, and he directed me to the description of the melee parry skill. Sure enough, the description states that melee parry is the skill one uses if the character has a melee weapon and is attacked by someone with melee combat, brawling or lightsaber.

atgxtg made the point that the skill could also cover the evasive maneuvers that do not necessarily involve a direct sword-to-lightsaber parry, which makes sense, since Dodge is limited strictly to ranged attacks, and there is no skill for dodging in melee or brawling (even though it does happen). Personally, I've done away with Brawling Parry and Melee Parry altogether by folding them into Brawling and Melee Combat, respectively. But I digress.

Anyway, the two of us traded suggestions without ever coming to a consensus, but some interesting ideas were posited:

1). When someone armed with a sword is facing someone armed with a lightsaber, they are at an automatic disadvantage, much like an unarmed combatant when facing someone armed with a melee weapon. My suggestion was that the melee weapon in a sword vs. lightsaber battle should face similar penalties (+5 to defend, +10 to attack).

2). atgxtg's suggestion was that weapons should be treated as Protection (as per the rules on pg. 94 2R&E).

So, here is my theory (atgxtg's suggestion has been credited, but this concept as written was pretty much put together by me. atgxtg, feel free to jump in at any time):

OPTIONAL RULE:
Unless specifically indicated to be lightsaber-proof or lightsaber resistant, all melee are especially vulnerable to the cutting abilities of lightsabers. A melee combatant can take his chances when facing a lightsaber armed opponent, but he is at a definite disadvantage (his difficulty on attack is increased by +5, and his difficulty on defense by +10), as he must avoid direct contact with the saber blade, either by his weapon or his person.

In the event that the lightsaber strikes a melee weapon, the meleeist's only real hope is that the weapon will absorb enough of the saber's damage to prevent a lethal blow from hitting home. The RAW states that weapons have a default Body Strength of 2D to resist damage, but I would be willing to bet that melee weapons are designed to be more durable, and can take more of a pounding than something like a blaster pistol (so perhaps a Body Strength of 3D-4D may be more appropriate).

Once the weapon's Body Strength is decided, roll for damage on the chart on page 94 (2R&E), then check the table on the next column for the damage inflicted to the meleeist on the destruction of his weapon. If the weapon is damaged but not destroyed, it is still subject to the damaged weapon rules on page 95 (2R&E).

Thoughts?
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Bren]

We have seen quite a few lightsaber vs. melee combats in our campaign. I believe we used the same penalty for attack and defense, but otherwise what you wrote is pretty close to the way we have always played it.

[CRMcNeill]

[Bren]

Be afraid, be very afraid. BWAHAHAHAHA!

[atgxtg]

[Fallon Kell]

It's also possible to parry a lightsaber swing by parrying the arms or hands of the user or the hilt. I've also always liked the idea of attacking Jedi with axes and maces because if they block the haft with a saber, they'll cut it. Then the head of the weapon will continue forward into the Jedi, unless acted upon.

I'd keep a penalty to parry (probably +5 difficulty) but I'd allow a melee combatant to forgo the penalty to attack if he doesn't care if his weapon is damaged.
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[Bren]

[Fallon Kell]

[CRMcNeill]

[Bren]

[atgxtg]

Sounds like a "mishap" on the Jedi parry to me. Or maybe a mishap on the attacker's successful hit?

[CRMcNeill]

I've learned the hard way that making a rule that's too realistic very quickly gets overly complicated for game play. Taken to its extreme, you end up calculating every single piece of shrapnel from a grenade explosion to calculate probability that someone might fail a dodge and still not get hit. I prefer to play it as though lightsabers are a step above all the weapon used by mere mortals, and that is is silly to calculate the physics of a severed axe head when we can't even apply real physics to in-universe space travel.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Bren]

[garhkal]

Since parrying an attack successfully does NOT just mean blocking the weapons blade (or head), then i see no need to give another bonus rule to reward lightsabers over other things. How i run it, is if your parry roll has a 1 on the wild dice, but the roll if left as is, is still sufficient to parry the attack, then your weapon got interposed and struck the LS blade...
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[Esoomian]

As a semi aside I've often wondered what happens if a lightsaber parries something but fails to cut throught the object.

Lets say for instance the sword being parried is heat resistant but not specifically lightsaber proof so in this instance if gets a body strength of 4D.

The jedi only rolls 10 on his damage but the sword wielder rolls a 16 on his soak.

Does his sword now pass through the lightsaber blade unimpeeded or does the lightsaber blade itself have some sort of mass which prevents this movement or at the very least deflects it?

And if the lightsaber blade does have mass does that mean mass effecting devices like repulsorlifts can make weilding a lightsaber a tricky proposition?
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