[Shaira]

I'm a bit confused by the Attack and Parry Matrix on p193, specifically the use of the word "OR" on the results "Critical vs Special", "Critical vs Success", "Critical vs Failure", "Critical vs Fumble".

To be concrete, take "Critical vs. Success". The Attacker criticals, the Defender succeeds in parrying. The stated result is:

"Attack does full damage plus normal damage bonus, has special result by weapon type, or parrying weapon or shield takes 2 points of damage.*"

The asterisk takes you to the footnote explaining what happens if attacking or parrying weapons get destroyed by this damage.

Now, I don't actually understand the stated result. On the surface, it looks like I'm being offered three results. Either:

i.) The attack does full damage plus normal damage bonus (and DOESN'T ignore armour any more, whereas Critical vs Failure does)
OR
ii.) The attack has a special result by weapon type (impale, etc)
OR
iii.) The parrying weapon or shield takes 2 points of damage.

It doesn't sound right. How do I decide which to use? The SB5 equivalent reads "Attack slips by enough to do ordinary damage and ignores armour".

I got a couple of hints from the SB5 "Special vs Success" result:

"Attack hits hard enough to do ordinary damage, armour defends normally. If parrying with a weapon and not a shield, lower weapon hit points by 4."

SO... would I be correct in interpreting the BRP Critical vs Success result something like this?

i.) The Attack does full damage plus normal damage bonus, armour protects.
ii.) If the weapon type has a special result (such as bleeding), it does that AS WELL (I couldn't work out if this is AS WELL or INSTEAD!)
iii.) In any case, the parrying weapon or shield takes 2 points of damage.

I'm not sure whether I'm just being a bit dumb , but these results may need a bit of clarification.