Close Combat Maneuvers

Close Combat Maneuvers

Bite

Unless possessed of a muzzle/snout, you must first successfully perform a Clinch, Hold, or Tackle maneuver before using Bite.

Roll: Dexterity + Brawl
Difficulty: 5
Damage: Strength +1/ B or L Actions: 1

Claw

Roll: Dexterity + Brawl
Difficulty: 6
Damage: Strength +1-3/ L or A
Actions: 1

Disarm

Striking at the opponent's weapon in an attempt to knock it out of their grasp.

Roll: Dexterity + Melee
Difficulty: +1 / 8/ 7
Damage: Special
Actions: 1

Flank or Rear Attacks

By attacking an opponent’s flank, an attacker reduces his difficulty by -1; by attacking from the rear, he reduces it by -2.

Roll: Normal
Difficulty: -1 / -2
Damage: Normal
Actions: 1

Grapple

Grabbing hold of her antagonist, the attacker tries to either immobilize him (a hold) or crush him (a clinch).

To grapple another character, the attacker needs to make a successful Strength + Brawl, Martial Arts, or Do roll. If she wants to bring the pain with her attack, the player can roll her Strength to inflict damage, beginning on the next turn and continuing until her opponent breaks free. That foe may try to soak that damage as usual. If, instead, the attacker wants to hold her opponent still, he’s stuck in her grip until his next action.

To escape a grapple, the opponent has two options: he can break free by successfully beating his attacker in a resisted Strength + Brawl roll, or he can reverse the hold by doing the same thing and then scoring two successes more than his attacker has scored. At the Storyteller’s option, an agile character can use Dexterity instead of Strength to escape; if he’s got Acrobatics, Martial Arts, or Do, he can use either of those Traits instead of Brawl.

Grappling attacks normally inflict bashing damage. A character who’s got barbs, spikes, or claws – and who tears into her victim with them while he’s held – inflicts lethal damage instead.

Roll: Strength + Brawl
Difficulty: 6
Damage: Strength or none/B
Actions: 1

Kick

Lashing out with a leg or two, the character hits an opponent where it hurts.

Roll: Dexterity + Brawl
Difficulty: 7
Damage: Strength +1/B
Actions: 1

Strike/Punch

Your standard punch. If the ST really feels like it, they may adjust diff and damage based upon type of punch, but unless the person is a pro boxer, I don't see much reason for that.

Roll: Dexterity + Brawl
Difficulty: 6
Damage: Strength/B
Actions: 1

Reading an Opponent

With the Storyteller’s permission, a hand�to-hand combatant may try to read an opponent’s intentions with a roll of Perception + either Brawling, Do, or Martial Arts. This becomes a resisted roll, pitting the observer’s Perception + combat Trait against her opponent’s Wits + combat Trait. If the observer succeeds, she adds one die per success to the dice pool to perform her next action. The character may attempt to do this only once per combat scene for each dot she has in Wits.

Roll: Perception + Combat Trait
Difficulty: 6
Damage: N/A
Actions: 1

Sweep

Using your own legs to knock your opponent's legs out from under them. May also be performed with staves, chains, or similar implements. If hit by this attack, target must roll Dexterity+Athletics vs 8 or suffer Knockdown.

Roll: Dexterity + Brawl or Melee
Difficulty: 8
Damage: None/B
Actions: 1

Tackle

Think American football. You rush the person and slam into them with your own body, attempting to bear them to the ground. A tackle requires at least two yards of distance to achieve effective momentum. Each combatant must make a successful Dexterity + Athletics roll (difficulty 6 for the attacker, difficulty 6 + the attacker’s successes for the target), or else wind up sprawled on the ground afterward.

Roll: Dexterity + Brawl
Difficulty: 7
Damage: Strength/B or L
Actions: 1

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