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So the lovely DM gave out a magic sword, which my character has gobbled up. Let's say the weapon is +1/+1, meaning I get +1 to Fighting and +1 to Damage. Since Fighting is intrinsically tied to Parry, does that mean my Parry also improves, i.e. I would get +1 to Parry also. If not why not?

Also, related to that, what about weapons that specifically increase Parry? From a roleplaying POV I can see that they could, i.e. the weapon gets in the way of opponents attacks better, but from a game balance POV perhaps not. BTW, the DM says not:)

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Good question ;) \$\endgroup\$ – David Allan Finch Apr 26 '12 at 7:19
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I'm going to split your question into two parts:

- Does a weapon that gives +1 to hit and +1 to damage increase Parry?

I'm afraid your DM is correct, and Parry is not increased. Parry is calculated directly from the character's Fighting Trait, and the only weapon modifiers that can increase it are those that specifically state that they increase Parry.

The reason for this can be explained pretty easily. Just because a weapon can hit something more easily, doesn't necessarily mean it is any better at stopping other people hitting you.

- Can you have weapons that directly give +1 to Parry?

Theoretically, yes you can. Practically though it depends on whether your DM wants to include them in your campaign or not. There are a number of reasons why they may not want to, one of the main ones being that there are already normal weapons that increase Parry, e.g. spears, and introducing magical weapons that do the same would make spears less unique and useful.

Summary

For a weapon's bonus to increase Parry, the wording of the bonus must explicitly state that Parry is increased.

See here for an official take on the subject.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Yep, I meant parry. As for +x parry weapons, there is at least one in the default fantasy companion (a rapier) so I know they can exist. But good answer, thanks! \$\endgroup\$ – Pete Apr 25 '12 at 16:39
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If you ask what a +1 weapon is, the answer will be : it's a weapon, which is well balanced and maybe lighter. This means : easier to handle. So why shouldn't it give a bonus to Parry either ?

Mathematically, Parry is Fighting/2 (rounded down). So if you have a +1 weapon, it's rounded down to 0.

What if you have a +2 weapon ? Mathematically, it should give you a +1 to Parry.

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    \$\begingroup\$ -1 From the official answer above, additions or subtractions from the fighting trait do not affect parry. Unless you have conflicting and/or updated references, your answer is wrong. \$\endgroup\$ – Chuck Dee Oct 27 '14 at 14:50

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