ignoring or acting against a block

[UmbraLux]

I was with you until this:

However The defensive measures do not stack you always use the higher defense, while the lower has no effect at all.

Check out YS210 (bottom paragraph of left column) "One advantage of a block is that it allows two players to 'stack' rolls to prevent something from happening." and the example in the right column where damage against Molly is reduced by both her dodge and Harry's block.

[Tsunami]

I was with you until this:Check out YS210 (bottom paragraph of left column) "One advantage of a block is that it allows two players to 'stack' rolls to prevent something from happening." and the example in the right column where damage against Molly is reduced by both her dodge and Harry's block.

Actually, it's not reduced by both.

Harry's block is at +6
Molly's defense is at +3
The attack is at +7
Molly takes a three-stress  hit  (1 shift for beating the block, plus 2 more for the damage value of the gun).

If the Defenses were added onto one another, Molly would have avoided this attack completely.

Stacking of defenses in the DFRPG means stacking of Chances to Defend not adding defenses together. I'm pretty sure it's explained in the Books, i'll go and look for it.

Addendum:

You already quoted the passage i meant, you just stopped short of what i was looking for :-)

The quote continues:

If your character is protecting someone  from  attacks,  that  person  technically gets two chances to resist an attack—their own
automatic  defense  roll  and  the  block  strength. If  either  one  manages  to  beat  the  attack,  that person suffers no stress. If neither roll beats the attack, the higher of the two totals may mitigate the effects somewhat.
(emphasis mine)

[Rubycon]

O.K. now i got it (or, at least, i have the illusion of having understood... )

[UmbraLux]

You already quoted the passage i meant, you just stopped short of what i was looking for :-)

The quote continues:

If your character is protecting someone  from  attacks,  that  person  technically gets two chances to resist an attack—their own
automatic  defense  roll  and  the  block  strength. If  either  one  manages  to  beat  the  attack,  that person suffers no stress. If neither roll beats the attack, the higher of the two totals may mitigate the effects somewhat.
(emphasis mine)

Doh!  Thanks for pointing that out...

[Taran]

I don't think the block goes away when it's surpassed.  I think that only applies to Spell Blocks.

YS 210:

Typically, a block action lasts until the player
who initiated the block takes his next turn. At
that point, he must choose whether he wants to
take another action or if he wants to maintain
the block. There are no special rules for maintaining
blocks. Just roll the action again and take
the new result as the block strength for the next
exchange.

YS 252:

1 shift of power adds 1 to the block strength
of the block action. Three shifts of power create
a block strength of Good (+3). Any attack that
bypasses the block cancels it out.

It only specifically says this under the different examples of Spellcasting blocks


I'd like to add that a block prevents ANY skill that might be used to overcome the block.  You have to determine the TYPE of action you're trying to block: movement, attacks, maneuvers.

YS: 210

When you create
a block, the block has to be specific and clear in
two ways: who it’s intended to affect, and what
types of action (attack, block, maneuver, move)
it’s trying to prevent.

So, if you're trying to use your body to Block a doorway to prevent people from getting through (block movement), the attacker might use Athletics to tumble past; use Might to Bullrush you through the door; or even Intimidate to "brush Off" and walk past...all these skills must be equal to or greater than the block.  You still get to defend against those attacks normally and take the greater value...as Tsunami mentionned above.

[stitchy1503]

Just wanted to pop in and thank you guys for all the info here! I had a question as well. Since you can stack defenses, say the attack is a +5, the block set up is a +3, so the player decides to try and roll an athletics instead to avoid the attack. The player gets a +4 to defend so still takes 1+weapon in stress. But since the block total was overcome does the block still go away even if they used a different defense?

[noclue]

That Block is now busted!

[Richard_Chilton]

There's a simple way of ignoring a block - don't take the blocked action.

Someone is blocking you from attacking him? Do a maneuver with the environment to set up an attack for the next exchange.  Keep it up until there are enough things to tag to blast through the block.
Someone is blocking you from crossing to the next doorway? Attack him - maybe shooting at him - because if he goes down the block doesn't matter.

In a way this is metagaming (knowing that X won't work so you do Y), but in another way it's reading the situation and the PC realising that X won't work (but Y will).

Richard
 

[Taran]

Where does it say the block is broken if it is overcome?  I'm just curious.

If The Super Gollum of Amazing is blocking a passageway and its only instruction is to prevent anyone from going through,  I don't think it means that just because the Character with High Athletics and Mythic Speed  successfully tumbles through that everyone else in that exchange can just walk past unhindered.  Everyone, in that exchange, has to try to get past the Gollum and therefore get past the block.

The Block lasts until the Gollums turn in the next exchange - this is its action for the whole round.

This is how I'm reading the rules.  Can someone clarify for me?  Give me a quote or page number other than in the spellcasting section because I think spell blocks are an exception to regular block rules.

[TheMouse]

There's a simple way of ignoring a block - don't take the blocked action.

There's this thing that chess taught me: It can be worthwhile to not take a piece if that means you get to force an opponent to spend their efforts doing something you don't care about rather than something that contributes to your defeat.

In Fate terms, it can be worthwhile to Block someone from taking an action in order to lock them down while your buddies do something that makes you win. That something can be saving the girl (or the boy!) from the sacrificial pyre, hacking the computer, burning the magical book, or beating the crap out of the person who is being Blocked. Whatever the particulars, it's a turn they don't contribute toward their victory condition.

Unless the action you take to get around the Block contributes to your victory at least as much as the Blocked action, going around the Block is only a way to limit your failure.

[Silverblaze]

Blocks are funny things...in my opinion they can backfire.

If someone trips you or grabs your legs to stop you from running away; could a player potentially suicidally or invulnerable enough pull the pin on a grenade?  Thus ensuring the opponent would either let go of hte block or forego a defense roll to the grenade exploding?  Perhaps a less suicidal answer could be simply to urinate hoping to gross out the blocker?  Non conventional way of solving problems but, "desperate times call for desperate measures"...  Can a block not be ended through coercion rather than a roll to "break" the block?

Suppose you could just kill the blocker or have a party member hurt the blocker so they have to stop. (hard to dodge bullets while concentrating on stopping someone from doing something.

I would say so (alternatives to breaking blocks work), so long as the blocker lets the blockee go or suffer previously unforseen consequences.

[noclue]

Where does it say the block is broken if it is overcome?  I'm just curious.

You're right. An attack that bypasses the block only cancels it out if the block was created with evocation.