Active Defense

When battle begins, apt adventurers don't wait to be hit by the enemy—they take defense into their own hands by dodging, blocking, and parrying.

This chapter introduces defense rolls and saving attacks, putting defense back into player control.

Defense Rolls

Whenever the GM would normally make an attack roll against a player character, that player may instead make a defense roll to see if they can avoid the attack—dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge your way to success.

Roll a d20 and add your AC—this your defense roll. The opposing DC is 22 plus the attacker's attack bonus.

Defense Rolls

Defense Roll: d20 + your AC

DC: 22 + attacker's attack bonus

If your defense roll equals or beats the DC, you avoid the attack. If you fail, however, the attack hits you.

Advantage: If your attacker would have advantage on their attack, apply disadvantage to your defense roll—and vice versa if your attacker would have disadvantage.

Critical Hits & Misses

If your defense roll comes up as a natural 1, it's a critical fail—you are critically hit by the attack. If you roll a natural 20, it's a critical success—you defend with style.

Critical Ranges: If your attacker would normally score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20, then their attack is a critical hit on a 1 or 2, and so forth.

Example of Play

Here we see Valiant, Sarien, and Clanda being attacked by three orcs. Where the GM would normally be rolling attack rolls for the monster, the players instead make defense rolls to avoid the incoming attacks.

• GM:The three orcs rush forward, rage in their eyes. Two of them swing wildly at you with their greataxes, Valiant, while the third stabs at Sarien with a javelin.
• Valiant:I'll raise my shield to block. What's the DC?
• GM:The DC is 27 (22 + orc attack bonus [+5]).
• Valiant:Here goes... (rolls 30 [13 + AC 17]) ...Ok I bash the first attack aside with my shield, and... (rolls 22) ...damn, I get caught by the second.
• GM:The second axe catches your arm painfully—take 9 points of damage.
• Valiant:That hurts—a bad cut.
• Sarien:I've got your back, Valiant. Let me just dodge this javelin first... (rolls a natural 1) ...oh that's bad.
• GM:You stumble unceremoniously into the path of the javelin, Sarien, and it stabs you right in the shoulder. Take 12 points of damage.
• Valiant:Great job, Sarien, brilliant dodging there.
• Sarien:...Ok on my next turn, I'll be throttling Valiant.

Divination: Portent

If you are a divination wizard, it's easy to use your Portent ability with Active Defense.

When you give a portent result to someone making a defense roll, they may use either the normal value or the d20-inverse value (calculated as 21 - portent value).

Emwyn, a divination wizard, has a portent result of 3 remaining. When attacked, Emwyn must make a defense roll. He chooses to use his portent instead of rolling, and takes the inverse value of 18 (21 − 3)—Emwyn's defense result is 18 + his AC.

Saving Attacks

Whenever the GM would normally make a saving throw, the player instead rolls a saving attack to see if they can beat the target's defenses.

When you make a saving attack, roll a d20 and add your normal spell save DC. The opposing DC is 22 plus the target's saving throw bonus. If the spell would affect multiple targets, make a separate attack roll for each—but roll the damage only once for all targets.

Saving Attacks

Saving Attack Roll: d20 + your spell save DC

DC: 22 + target's saving throw bonus

If your saving attack roll equals or beats the DC, you successfully land your attack.

Advantage: If your target would have advantage on their saving throw, apply disadvantage to your saving attack—and vice versa if your target would have disadvantage.

Critical Hits & Misses

By default, saving attack spells can't critically hit or miss.

Variant: Massive Damage

To add the potential for massive damage spikes to your game, allow saving attack spells to deal critical damage.

On a critical hit, roll all of the attack's damage dice twice. On a critical fail, however, the spell has no effect at all—even if it would normally cause an effect on a miss.

Both Sides: When using Massive Damage, apply the rule to both players and monsters for fairness—if players can crit more often, so too can the monsters.

• Clanda:Ok myconid, let's see how you like this fireball.
• GM:Ok Clanda, roll your saving attack.
• Clanda:Piece of cake... (rolls a natural 20) ...oh you poor myconid—critically hit with a 3rd-level fireball? That'll be 16d6, please. I love my job.

Example of Play

At the end of the GM's turn, it's Clanda's time to shine. Where the GM would normally make saving throws to avoid her Acid Splash, Clanda instead makes a saving attack against each orc.

She rolls her spell damage only once, no matter the number of targets, unless she lands a critical hit as per the Massive Damage variant rule—in which case Clanda rolls extra damage for the affected target.

• GM:Ok Clanda, it's your turn next. Valiant's under attack from the orcs and Sarien's stumbling about with a shoulder wound—what do you do?
• Clanda:Ugh, I hate orcs. It's time to even the odds. I cast Acid Splash at the two orcs attacking Valiant.
• Valiant:You're throwing acid at me?
• Clanda:Not at you, Valiant, just around you—a big difference. Now hush, I need focus. What's the DC?
• GM:The DC is 23 (22 + orc's DEX saving throw [+1]).
• Clanda:Ok, I hurl this orb of acid... (rolls 23 [10 + SDC 13]) ...and it barely hits the first orc. It scorches her for... (rolls 2) ...hmm, 2 points of acid. Not much.
• GM:The orc snarls with irritation as a few drops of acid catch on her thick leather armor.
• Clanda:The second... (rolls a natural 20) ...is a critical hit! Excellent. Acid splashes on the orc's face, dealing... (rolls 6 extra critical damage) ...8 total points of sizzling acid damage!
• GM:That's lethal damage. The orc roars in pain and falls to the ground, clutching at his face as the flesh bubbles and melts away.
• Valiant:Ew, gross.
• Clanda:Do I hear a thank you? Manners, Valiant...

Variant: Small Defense

If you want to use smaller modifiers while playing with Active Defense, try this Small Defense variant.

Defense Rolls: When you make a defense roll, roll a d20 and add your AC minus 10. The opposing DC is 12 plus the attacker's normal attack bonus.

Saving Attacks: When you make a saving attack, roll a d20 and add your normal spell save DC minus 8. The opposing DC is 14 plus the target's saving throw bonus.

Small Defense Rolls

Defense Roll: d20 + (your AC − 10)

DC: 12 + attacker's attack bonus

Small Saving Attacks

Saving Attack Roll: d20 + (your spell save DC − 8)

DC: 14 + target's saving throw bonus