Dueling

Dueling, be it with lightsabers or blasters, is an iconic experience in the Star Wars narrative. When you want to engage in a more narrative form of dueling, rather than traditional combat, consider the following rules.

Opponents

Most often, dueling is an event suited only to two people. It might be a fight to the death, a fight for honor, or simply a fight to see who is better. Alternatively, it might simply be a sparring session. These rules are intended to potentially encompass all of these possibilities, but only for a traditional one versus one encounter.

Actions

There are three major actions a dueling character can take: Attack, Defend, or Feint. During each round of dueling, each involved party must decide which of these three actions they will take.

Attack

The most common action, a character can choose to attack. When a character chooses to attack, they have advantage on the attack roll during resolution if the opponent takes the Feint action, and disadvantage on the roll if the character takes the Defend action.

Defend

The second action a character can take is is to defend. When a character chooses to defend, they have advantage on the attack roll during resolution if the opponent takes the Attack action, and disadvantage on the roll if the character takes the Feint action.

Feint

The third action a character can take is to feint. When a character chooses to feint, they have advantage on the attack roll during resolution if the opponent takes the Defend action, and disadvantage if the character takes the Attack action.

Extra Attack

If one party has the Extra Attack feature, and the other party doesn't, consider allowing them to roll with an additional instance of advantage.

Resolution

Once each party has chosen their action, they should each make an attack roll, with advantage or disadvantage as appropriate. The winner of the contest strikes a blow or scores a point, as appropriate.

Ties

Generally, ties should either award a point to both parties—or no points to either party—at the discretion of the GM.

Strikes

How many strikes a character can take varies based on the lethality of the contest. You might grant each party a potential three strikes if sparring, or you might give them each strikes equal to their Constitution modifier in a lethal contest, or even strikes equal to their proficiency bonus in a fight for honor.