Parry Melee

Strength
Agility
Quickness

Short Description

Intercept and deflect a melee strike with your weapon or shield instead of your main attack.

Success Criteria

Make an opposed roll: 1d100 + Parry Melee skill vs. opponent's total melee Attack Bonus (AB).

Effects

If you are successful, the attack misses.

If you fail, your failure rate will be added to the attack roll of the attacker when determining the damage.

Modifiers and Restrictions

As this counts as an attack, attack modifiers to extra attacks counts. If you have already attacked in this round before using this skill, you will this have a +50 to DR (base) and if you attack after using this skill, you will have a -50 on the attack roll (base). This penalty is halved if you are using a shield

Standard attack modifiers.

Action Examples

You raise your longsword to redirect an overhead heavy axe blow, meeting strength with technique.

Long Description

Parry Melee allows a trained combatant to interrupt an incoming strike at the last moment, converting momentum into deflection. This requires keen awareness, timing, and physical control. It's especially powerful in duels or against predictable enemies and offers a solid alternative to passive defense like armor or stances.

Unlike some other defensive skills, Parry Melee doesn’t add to your DB—it instead attempts to outright cancel the attack. It requires sacrificing your main attack, making it a deliberate and strategic choice. Used effectively, it can shift the tide of melee encounters by turning defense into control of tempo.

Sequencing

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Potential Counters

Versatile strike to change your stance to either try to overpower the Parry Melee, or to go into a defensive duel.

Blitz attack - Parry melee only defends against 1 attack, so you extra attacks can be quite effective.

How to use this page

All the information above is intended as a guide to help you navigate the many situations that can arise during your game. Since it's both impossible—and frankly uninspiring—to plan for every possible outcome, players are encouraged to think creatively when using their skills. Game Masters, in turn, are encouraged to embrace and support that creativity.

Whenever possible, aim to resolve situations through narrative choices, logical thinking and role playing. If that’s not feasible, agree on a Difficulty Rating (DR) using the provided Success Criteria and Modifiers. These are not rigid rules, but suggestions - starting points to help you find the right level of challenge. The player describes their intended action, and the Game Master proposes a DR. This should be open to brief discussion at the table, ideally resulting in consensus. If not, the Game Master has the final say.

It’s important to emphasize that all suggested effects, modifiers, and action examples are exactly that: suggestions. If you’re unsure how to resolve something, they offer a reliable fallback—but wherever possible, we encourage you to push boundaries. That’s where some of the most memorable and exciting moments in play are born.

Sequencing and Potential Counters are far from exhaustive. With hundreds of skills, spells, and tech modules in the game, the possibilities are too vast to list. You’re encouraged to explore combinations that make sense in your story and setting and in the situations that arise in your game. Sequencing and countering are core to Cosmic Odyssey - they’re where strategic depth meets dramatic flair, and where legendary moments often take shape. Even if no sequencing and counters are mentioned, some certainly exists and can be smartly utilized.

So explore boldly, improvise wisely, and enjoy the game as it unfolds around your choices.