Defensive talents and shield block against ranged?
-
SerBeavington
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2025 10:59 pm
[Edit because I made some mistakes]
In short: Rules as Written: Yes. Rules as Intended: No, see edit at the end of the post.
Long version:
Opposing a ranged attack with a shield is a special case since it is not an Opposed Melee/Melee test but an Opposed Melee/Ranged test and I think they sometimes didn't account for this. Both Reversal and Drilled give you a bonus on "Melee tests" (in the talent-specific circumstances) and neither of them specify that this only works on Melee/Melee tests, so it should work for all appropriate Melee tests.
There are some talents that specifically mention to only work on Opposed Melee/Melee tests (e.g. Disarm), so it seems that when something only works in melee/melee combat, it is mentioned. Therefore it would be fair to assume that Drilled and Reversal work on any Opposed Melee/Whatever tests, including Melee/Ranged.
But at least for Reversal there is reason to doubt that this is Rules as Intended at least and hints that they just forgot the possibility to oppose ranged with shields. The talent says: "If you win an Opposed Melee Test, instead of gaining +1 Advantage, you may take all your opponent’s Current Advantage." So you would get advantage by defending against a ranged attack, which is not possible according to the basic rule book page 159, which rather fundamentally says: "Your opponent doesn’t gain Advantage in ranged combat." ("opponent" is in this case the person who is shot at.)
So it is generally not intended to get advantage when you are shot at, so it would be weird to suddenly get advantage because you can "reverse" stuff. To be honest I cannot really imagine how "Reversal" is supposed to look in a fight, is it like using the momentum of the enemy's strike? Cannot really imagine to do that with a shield and an arrow.
So overall: For Drilled I see no real problem to give the bonus, but for Reversal it doesn't make much sense, even if the Rules as Written would imply so.
Another edit:
The unofficial FAQ says that "opposed melee test" means only "opposed melee/melee" tests. So, defending with a shield against ranged is not intended to benefit from any talents that give a bonus on "opposed melee tests"
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v37 ... it?tab=t.0
Page 69
Question: "Is the definition of Opposed Melee that you test Melee vs Melee only?"
Answer: "Yes"
In short: Rules as Written: Yes. Rules as Intended: No, see edit at the end of the post.
Long version:
Opposing a ranged attack with a shield is a special case since it is not an Opposed Melee/Melee test but an Opposed Melee/Ranged test and I think they sometimes didn't account for this. Both Reversal and Drilled give you a bonus on "Melee tests" (in the talent-specific circumstances) and neither of them specify that this only works on Melee/Melee tests, so it should work for all appropriate Melee tests.
There are some talents that specifically mention to only work on Opposed Melee/Melee tests (e.g. Disarm), so it seems that when something only works in melee/melee combat, it is mentioned. Therefore it would be fair to assume that Drilled and Reversal work on any Opposed Melee/Whatever tests, including Melee/Ranged.
But at least for Reversal there is reason to doubt that this is Rules as Intended at least and hints that they just forgot the possibility to oppose ranged with shields. The talent says: "If you win an Opposed Melee Test, instead of gaining +1 Advantage, you may take all your opponent’s Current Advantage." So you would get advantage by defending against a ranged attack, which is not possible according to the basic rule book page 159, which rather fundamentally says: "Your opponent doesn’t gain Advantage in ranged combat." ("opponent" is in this case the person who is shot at.)
So it is generally not intended to get advantage when you are shot at, so it would be weird to suddenly get advantage because you can "reverse" stuff. To be honest I cannot really imagine how "Reversal" is supposed to look in a fight, is it like using the momentum of the enemy's strike? Cannot really imagine to do that with a shield and an arrow.
So overall: For Drilled I see no real problem to give the bonus, but for Reversal it doesn't make much sense, even if the Rules as Written would imply so.
Another edit:
The unofficial FAQ says that "opposed melee test" means only "opposed melee/melee" tests. So, defending with a shield against ranged is not intended to benefit from any talents that give a bonus on "opposed melee tests"
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v37 ... it?tab=t.0
Page 69
Question: "Is the definition of Opposed Melee that you test Melee vs Melee only?"
Answer: "Yes"