Close Combat and info
Maneuvers are typically performed versus difficulty 6. Maneuvers with specific combat effects may modify your attack roll, difficulty, or damage dice pool.
Traits: The Trait combination used for the action taken. If your character doesn’t have a rating in the needed Ability, default to its base Attribute.
Accuracy: The dice added to the roll to hit an opponent. A “+3” adds three dice to the dice pool for that attack.
Difficulty: Any additions or subtractions to an attack’s difficulty (which is most often 6). A “+2” means the difficulty of an attack, if initially 6, is increased to 8.
Damage: The damage dice pool used.
| Maneuver | Traits | Accuracy | Difficulty | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dex + Brawl |
+1 |
Normal |
Str +1 (A) |
|
Dex + Brawl |
Normal |
None (R) |
||
Dex + Brawl |
Normal |
Normal |
Str +1 (A) |
|
Str + Brawl |
Normal |
Normal |
Str (C) |
|
Dex + Melee |
Normal |
+1 |
||
Dex + Athletics |
Normal |
None (R) |
||
Str + Brawl |
Normal |
Normal |
None (C) |
|
Dex + Brawl |
Normal |
+1 |
Str +1 |
|
Dex + Melee |
Normal |
None (R) |
||
Dex + Brawl |
Normal |
Normal |
Str |
|
Dex + Brawl/Melee |
Normal |
+1 |
Str +1 (K) |
|
Str + Brawl |
Normal |
+1 |
Str +1 b](K) |
|
Dex + Melee |
Normal |
Normal |
Weapon |
Damage chart additional information
(A): The maneuver inflicts aggravated damage.(C): The maneuver carries over on successive turns.
(K): The maneuver causes knockdown.
(R): The maneuver reduces an opponent’s attack successes.
Details on Maneuvers
Difficulty and damage for these maneuvers may be modified at the Storyteller’s discretion, depending on the combat style the character uses. As always, drama and excitement take precedence over rules systems.
• Bite:
This maneuver is available only to vampires (or other supernatural creatures with sharp teeth, such as werewolves). A bite maneuver is a “combat” bite, intended to cause damage rather than drain blood. Bite damage is aggravated. To use a bite attack, the vampire must first perform a successful clinch, hold, or tackle maneuver (see below). On the turn following the successful attack, the player may declare the bite attempt and make a roll using the modifiers below. Alternatively, a player can declare her vampire’s bite to be a “Kiss” attack. A Kiss is resolved in the same way as a normal bite, but inflicts no health levels of damage. Upon connecting with a Kiss, the vampire may begin to drain the victim’s blood at the normal rate, and the victim is typically helpless to resist (see p. 269 for specifics). Following the Kiss, a vampire may, if she chooses, lick the puncture wound of the Kiss closed, thereby removing any evidence that she has fed. Traits: Dexterity + Brawl Difficulty: Normal Accuracy: +1 Damage: Strength +1• Claw:
This attack is available to vampires with claws, such as those from the Protean power of Feral Claws or bone spurs constructed with the Vicissitude power of Bonecraft. A few other supernatural creatures, such as werewolves, also have claws. A claw attack inflicts aggravated damage (if Feral Claws) or lethal damage (if a Vicissitude-constructed weapon). Traits: Dexterity + Brawl Difficulty: Normal Accuracy: Normal Damage: Strength +1• Clinch:
On a successful attack roll, the attacker goes into a clinch with the target. In the first turn, the attacker may roll Strength damage. In each subsequent turn, combatants act on their orders in the initiative. A combatant can inflict Strength damage automatically or attempt to escape the clinch. No other actions are allowed until one combatant breaks free. To escape a clinch, make a resisted Strength + Brawl roll against the opponent. If the escaping character has more successes, she breaks free; if not, the characters continue to grapple in the next turn. Traits: Strength + Brawl Difficulty: Normal Accuracy: Normal Damage: Strength• Disarm:
To strike an opponent’s weapon, the attacker must make an attack roll at +1 difficulty. If successful, the attacker rolls damage normally. If successes rolled exceed the opponent’s Strength rating, the opponent takes no damage but is disarmed. A botch usually means the attacker drops her own weapon or is struck by her target’s weapon. Traits: Dexterity + Melee Difficulty: +1 Accuracy: Normal Damage: Special• Hold:
This attack inflicts no damage, as the intent is to immobilize rather than injure the subject. On a successful roll, the attacker holds the target until the subject’s next action. At that time, both combatants roll resisted Strength + Brawl actions; the subject remains immobilized (able to take no other action) until she rolls more successes than the attacker does. Traits: Strength + Brawl Difficulty: Normal Accuracy: Normal Damage: None• Kick:
Kicks range from simple front kicks to aerial spins. The base attack is at +1 difficulty and inflicts the attacker’s Strength +1 in damage. These ratings may be modified further at the Storyteller’s discretion, increasing in damage and/or difficulty as the maneuver increases in complexity. Ability: Dexterity + Brawl Difficulty: +1 Accuracy: Normal Damage: Strength +1• Multiple Opponents:
A character who battles multiple opponents in close combat suffers attack and defense difficulties of +1, cumulative, for each opponent after the first (to a maximum of +4).• Strike:
The attacker lashes out with a fist. The base attack is a standard action and inflicts the character’s Strength in damage. The Storyteller may adjust the difficulty and/or damage depending on the type of punch: hook, jab, haymaker, karate strike. Traits: Dexterity + Brawl Difficulty: Normal Accuracy: Normal Damage: Strength• Sweep:
The attacker uses her own legs to knock the legs out from under her opponent. The target takes Strength damage and must roll Dexterity + Athletics (difficulty 8) or suffer a knockdown (see “Maneuver Complications,” p. 279 in the core book). The attacker can also use a staff, chain, or similar implement to perform a sweep. The effect is the same, although the target takes damage per the weapon type. Traits: Dexterity + Brawl/Melee Difficulty: +1 Accuracy: Normal Damage: Str; knockdown• Tackle:
The attacker rushes her opponent, tackling him to the ground. The attack roll is at +1 difficulty, and the maneuver inflicts Strength +1 damage. Additionally, both combatants must roll Dexterity + Athletics (difficulty 7) or suffer a knockdown (see “Maneuver Complications,” p. 279 in the core book). Even if the target’s Athletics roll succeeds, he is unbalanced, suffering +1 difficulty to his actions for the next turn. Traits: Strength + Brawl Difficulty: +1 Accuracy: Normal Damage: Strength +1• Weapon Length:
It is difficult to get in range with a punch or knife if someone else is wielding a sword or staff. A character being fended off with a longer weapon must close in one yard/meter before striking, losing a die from her attack roll in the process.• Weapon Strike:
A slashing blow, thrust, or jab, depending on the weapon used. See the Melee Weapons Chart, p. 280 in the core book, for particulars. Traits: Dexterity + Melee Difficulty: Normal Accuracy: Normal Damage: Weapon type• Stake Through Heart:
A vampire can indeed be incapacitated by the classic wooden stake of legend. However, the legends err on one point: A Kindred impaled through the heart with a wooden stake is not destroyed, but merely paralyzed until the stake is removed. To stake a vampire, an attacker must target the heart (difficulty 9). If the attack succeeds and inflicts at least three health levels of damage, the target is immobilized. An immobilized victim is conscious (and may use perception powers, such as those in the Auspex Discipline), but may not move or spend blood points.There are three types of defensive actions: block, dodge, and parry. Your character can defend against virtually any kind of attack with these three maneuvers. However, your character may not be able to avoid every single attack that’s directed at her. She can’t dodge when there’s no room to maneuver, and she can’t block or parry if she doesn’t know an attack is coming.
Each defensive maneuver uses the same basic system: The defensive action is a resisted roll against the opponent’s attack roll. Unless the attacker gets more total successes, he misses. If the attacker gets more successes, those that he achieves in excess of the defender’s successes, if any, are used to hit (the attacker doesn’t necessarily use all the successes he rolled). So if the defender has fewer successes than the attacker does, the defender’s maneuver can still reduce the effectiveness of the attack, even if the maneuver can’t counteract it completely.
• Block:
A Dexterity + Brawl maneuver using your character’s own body to deflect a hand-to-hand bashing attack. Lethal and aggravated attacks cannot be blocked unless the defender has Fortitude or is wearing armor.• Dodge:
A Dexterity + Athletics maneuver useful for avoiding attacks of all types. Your character bobs and weaves to avoid Melee or Brawl attacks (if there’s no room to maneuver, she must block or parry instead). In gunfights, your character moves at least one yard/meter and ends up behind cover (if there’s no room to maneuver or no cover available, she can drop to the ground). If your character remains under cover or prone, cover rules apply against further Firearms attacks (see “Cover,” p. 278 in the core book).• Parry:
A Dexterity + Melee maneuver using a weapon to block a Brawl or Melee attack. If a character makes a Brawl attack and the defender parries with a weapon that normally causes lethal damage, the attacker can actually be hurt by a successful parry. If the defender rolls more successes than the attacker does in the resisted action, the defender rolls the weapon’s base damage plus the parry’s extra successes as a damage dice pool against the attacker. Block, dodge, and parry can be performed as part of a multiple action in your character’s turn (punching then blocking, shooting then dodging, parrying then striking). Using a multiple action to act and defend is advantageous because your character can still accomplish something in a turn besides avoiding attacks. Rather than having to divide your dice pool among multiple defensive actions, you may declare that your character spends an entire turn defending. The normal multiple-action rules are not used in this case. Instead, you have a full dice pool for the first defensive action, but lose one die, cumulatively, for each subsequent defense action made in the same turn. It is still difficult to avoid several incoming attacks, but not as difficult as trying to attempt multiple things at once. Remember that any actions, including defensive ones, versus multiple attackers still suffer difficulty penalties (see “Multiple Opponents,” p. 276 in the core book).• Knockdown:
Knocking something or someone down is a very strategic move. Where it typically does little to no damage. a character or NPC that is knocked down has a number of effects applied to them. At the start of a turn all NPC and PC define their actions. The Result of the roll will indicate the level of severity of the knock down. if the defender succeeds in their rolls, they stand as normal. if they fail slightly at the GM discretion might be able to continue their action at a penalty, failure causes the player to b knocked down which carries over to subsequent rounds until the player spends an action to rise. You may choose to turn your action into a defensive action instead of an offensive action. However you may not change your action otherwise.| Weapon | Damage | Conceal | Weapon health |
|---|---|---|---|
Sap+ |
Strength +1 |
P |
2 |
Knife** |
Strength +1 |
J |
2 |
Sword |
Strength +2 |
T |
3 |
Large Sword** |
Strength +3 |
N |
4 |
Axe** |
Strength +3 |
N |
4 |
Large Axe** |
Strength +4 |
N |
5 |
Club+** |
Strength +2 |
T |
3 |
Stake* |
Strength +1 |
T |
2 |
Stake, metal core/tipped* |
Strength +2 |
T |
3 |
Concealment
P = Can be carried in the pocket;J = Can be hidden in a jacket;
T = Can be hidden in a trenchcoat;
N = Cannot be concealed on the person at all.
+ Denotes a blunt object. Blunt objects inflict bashing damage unless targeted at the head (see “Targeting,” p. 274). Head shots inflict lethal damage.
* May paralyze a vampire if driven through the heart. The attacker must target the heart (difficulty 9) and score three damage successes.
** Players with Potence takes the number of successes they got in a hit. the weapon rolls its health the successes are of the users attack is the difficulty. failures = damage and the weapon breaks with its out of health. ignore this rule if you are not using potence
Comments