Maneuvers in Melee Combat

 

  1. Strike – A basic attack with any weapon (Dexterity + Melee, difficulty of your weapon)
  2. Multiple Strikes – you may make as many strikes per round as your Rating in Dexterity.  Many weapons however have an upper limit on the attacks they can make in a round.
  3. Parry – To deflect an opponent’s attack with your weapon (Dexterity + Melee, difficulty of your weapon)
  4. Dodge – An attempt to physically move yourself from the path of an attack (Dexterity + Dodge, difficulty 6, though often modified)
  5. Called Shot – A strike at a particular target, usually an opponent’s weapon or a specific part of his body (Dexterity + Melee, difficulty is that of the weapon + 2)
  6. Thrust – A particular form of a strike that follows a straight path from beginning to end (Dexterity + Melee, difficulty is that of your weapon, unless your weapon is a sword, in which case difficulty is that of your weapon –1, A thrust further inflicts an extra die of damage)
  7. Sweep – A strike at the legs of the target intended to knock him off his feet.  (Dexterity + Melee, difficulty of your weapon + 2, resisted by Dexterity + Athletics difficulty 7.  The Dexterity + Athletics roll is only used to see if the target keeps his feet and is independent of evading the attack itself)
  8. Bind – Before a parry is executed, either combatant may declare his intention to force a bind.  If the parry is successfully executed, resisted Strength + Melee are rolled with the difficulty being 6 for the combatant parrying and 7 for the combatant attacking.  The winner determines whether to bind the weapons, or let them slide from each other.  If the bind is held, Strength + Melee are rolled each round, with the loser of the previous round receiving a + 1 difficulty.  The winner of the continuing contests determines whether or not to continue the bind.
  9. Disarm – This is a called shot with the intention of knocking your opponent’s weapon from his hands.  It is classified as an attack.  Dexterity + Melee is rolled, difficulty is that of your weapon + 2.  Opponent resists with Strength + Melee, difficulty of his weapon.  Aggressor needs three net successes to disarm his opponent.
  10. Feint – A ruse intended to trick your opponent into committing dice to parry an attack that isn’t coming (Manipulation + Melee, difficulty 6; resisted by Perception + Melee, difficulty 6).  If Aggressor wins the feint tricks opponent.  If the opponent wins, he sees through the feint.

 

The Shots of Archery

 

    1. Shot – The release of a single arrow at an opponent (Dexterity + Archery, difficulty 6 + modifiers).
    2. Multiple Shots – The release of two or more arrows, one at a time, over the course of a round (Dexterity + Archery, difficulty 6, +1 for each additional arrow, + modifiers).
    3. Called Shot – To release an arrow at a small target, such as a particular part of an opponent’s body, a bulls-eye, or an apple atop someone’s head (Dexterity + Archery, difficulty 8, + modifiers).
    4. Two Arrow Shot – The release of two arrows simultaneously, each intended to hit two different targets (Dexterity + Archery, difficulty 8, + modifiers).
    5. Stapling Shot – An attempt to pin an opponent to a large object with an arrow (Dexterity + Archery, difficulty 8, + modifiers.  Opponent must score a number of extended successes on a Strength roll equal to the number of successes the Archer rolled for damage to pull free).

 

Brawling Maneuvers

 

1.      Punch – A barehanded strike (Dexterity + Brawl, difficulty 6, Strength   damage).

2.      Kick – A strike with the foot (Dexterity + Brawl, difficulty 7, Strength + 1 damage).

3.      Slam – A strike with your entire body, throwing yourself against your opponent (Dexterity + Brawl, difficulty 7, Strength damage, with an extra damage die for every to hit success above three).

4.      Grapple – Wrestling with your opponent in an attempt to immobilize them (Dexterity +Brawl, difficulty 6, extended resisted action, three net successes required to pin).

5.      Block – To use a part of your body to block a flow.  This is mainly for use against other barehanded combatants.  Blocking a melee weapon still inflicts damage, even if the block is successful (Dexterity + Brawl, difficulty 6).

 

Kaensada Martial Arts Maneuvers 

            In addition to being able to perform the maneuvers below, Kaensada Martial Arts Practioners may perform any of the above Brawl Maneuvers at –1 difficulty using their Kaensada dice pool.

 

1.      Chokehold – A lunge at your opponent, aimed at locking your arms around their neck (Dexterity + Kaensada, difficulty 7, if your to hit successes are greater than your opponent’s Strength, the chokehold is successful.  Strength damage is inflicted for a number of rounds equal to the target’s Stamina, at which time they pass out).

2.      Flying Kick – A leap at your opponent to put extra power in a kick.  Several feet of running space is required to execute this (Dexterity + Kaensada, difficulty 7, Strength + 2 damage, if damage successes are greater than opponent’s Strength, the opponent falls prone).

3.      Joint Break – A nasty little move used to break the joints or limbs of an opponent (Dexterity + Kaensada, difficulty 7, Strength + 2 damage, three successes needed to break the joint or limb.  The GM will decide appropriate game penalties depending on the limb broken.  This may not be used to break the neck or back).

4.      Throw – The old grab and toss (Dexterity + Kaensada, difficulty 7, Strength damage, each to hit success throws them a foot).

5.      Leg Sweep – A low sweep with your legs to knock the opponent’s feet out from under them (Dexterity + Kaensada, difficulty 7, Strength damage, if to hit successes are greater than opponent’s Dexterity, the opponent falls).

 

Blademaster Maneuvers

            These are known as Sword Forms, and are listed in detail in the Blademastery section.  One thing to note here however, is that when using a Sword Form to parry a basic maneuver, the parry is performed at –2 difficulty.  Similarly, when using a basic maneuver to parry a strike from a Sword Form, that parry is performed at +2 difficulty.

 

Initiative

            Initiative is rolled as Wits + Alertness, difficulty 4.  Your number of successes indicates the segment (between 0 and 10) in which you will be able to take your first attack and is referred heretofore as your base segment.  A number of successes less than 0 (a botch) indicate you will not act in this round.  Initial attacks may only be made in your base segment.  Additional attacks are allowed as long as they are performed in segments which are less than or equal to your base segment modified by Recovery.  In the case of a number of attacks beyond two, the segment in which your most recent attack was executed is treated as your base segment.  The Recovery times vary between weapons and can be affected by Sword Forms and Situational modifiers.  The last segment in which anyone may perform an action is 0.  Any actions that are denoted as happening at the end of the round happen in segment 0.  Dice may be allotted from your total dice pool at any time to parry or dodge, even before your base segment.  However, please note that the rules about splitting dice pools remain and the total number of dice possible is that of the lowest dice pool.  If you have already made an attack with a Dexterity + Melee dice pool, you cannot allot dice to dodge unless your Dexterity + Dodge dice pool is equal to or greater than your Dexterity + Melee dice pool.  In normal combat, declarations are made between rolling for initiative and performing your actions.  Starting at 0 and going up, combatants declare ALL their actions as best they know them in the segments they believe they will happen in.  This includes their intended multiple attacks, if any.  During a one on one fight between two combatants utilizing Sword Forms, the declaration phase is omitted.