Melee Combat

Melee Combat

You couldn't find a gun. There's never one around when you really need it. You figure the kids down the hall stole it, or you dropped it behind the dumpster (where you stashed that body) again. Looks like you're going to have to fall back on Melee Combat.
Melee combat is using weapons that you swing or stab. It also applies to anytime you use the parts of your body (like feet, hands, head, etc.) to strike an opponent.

How to Read the Melee Weapon Table
Melee Weapon Type: The classification of the melee weapon.
Example Melee Weapons: A few examples of the classification of melee weapons.
Number of Hands Required: How many hands you need to hold the weapon and use it. In the case of melee weapons the number of hands required is based on what the weapon is and not its classification.
Damage: The damage of a single attack from the weapon.
Rate of Fire (ROF): How many times the weapon can be swung with a single Attack Action.
Can be Concealed?: If the weapon can be concealed with the Conceal/Reveal Object Skill under clothing.
Cost: What the weapon costs in the main currency in Night City, the Eurobuck. The Price Category of the item is listed below its cost. See Buying and Selling here.

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Melee Weapons in Combat

Trained use of a melee weapon includes fencing, knife fighting, and club or other bludgeoning weapons, even staves and baseball bats.
Melee weapons use the Melee Weapon Skill to attack. When dealing damage, all melee weapons ignore half of the Defender's armor. Round up. Damage is dealt based on the Classification of the melee weapon. Heavier weapons deal more damage but can't be concealed under clothing with the Conceal/Reveal Object Skill. Very Heavy Melee Weapons can't attack twice in an Attack Action.
Melee weapons must be wielded in the number of hands that they were designed for, unless their handedness is specifically stated as otherwise, with one exception: A Character with BODY 8 or higher can wield a Melee Weapon designed to be wielded in two hands in a single hand.

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Resolving Melee Combat

Melee Combat is resolved:
Attacker's DEX + Relevant Melee Attack Skill + 1d10
vs.
Defender's DEX + Evasion Skill + 1d10

With the exception of Very Heavy Melee Weapons, all Melee combat is 2 ROF, allowing for 2 strikes to be made with every Attack Action. Targets must be in your reach (2m/yards).

If you beat the Defender's roll (Defender wins in a tie), you damage the Defender.
The Defender's armor will reduce the damage you do.

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Brawling, Bare Knuckle Boxing, and Grappling

Brawling uses the Brawling Skill to attack, and the damage dealt with each blow scales with the attacker's BODY STAT, with one exception: with a Cyberarm, your damage for a Brawling Attack is always at least 2d6 (but higher if your BODY is 7+). Brawling is also the Skill used for initiating and defending against a Grapple. When dealing damage, a Brawling attack does not ignore half the Defender's armor.

▶ Grab ◀
As an Action you can grab and hold someone, take an object they are carrying, or escape a grapple. You need a free hand to initiate a Grab, which cannot be used to do anything else for the duration of any Grapple that results from the Grab.
To determine the outcome of a Grab, both you and your target within your reach roll DEX + Brawling Skill + 1d10. If you win, you can choose to either grab hold of the Defender or take one object the Defender is holding in their hands into a free hand.
If you win and choose to grab hold of the Defender instead of their stuff, both of you are now considered to be in a Grapple and take a -2 to all Actions for as long as you both remain in a Grapple.
While Grappled, the Defender cannot use their Move Action, and is dragged with the Attacker whenever the Attacker takes their Move Action. No Character in the Grapple can make use of a weapon that requires them to use two hands, even if they have more than two arms. The Attacker can end the Grapple at any time without using an Action, but the Defender, or any other Character, must use this Action to roll a successful Grab against the Attacker to break the Grapple, which ends the Grapple for everyone involved. Grabbing a person is a prerequisite for Choking or Throwing them.

▶ Choke ◀
If you are currently the Attacker in a Grapple, you can use an Action to Choke the Defender you are grappling, dealing your BODY STAT directly to their Hit Points in damage. If damage dealt by a Choke would reduce a target with more than 1 HP to less than 0 HP, they are instead left at 1 HP and are Unconscious. This damage ignores the Defender's armor and doesn't ablate it. Additionally, if you Choke the same target for 3 successive Rounds, they go Unconscious regardless of their Hit Point total.

▶ Throw ◀
Throw a person you are Grappling or an object you are holding. If you are currently the Attacker in a Grapple, you can use an Action to Throw them onto the ground, dealing your BODY STAT directly to their Hit Points in damage. This damage ignores the Defender's armor and doesn't ablate it. Throwing your target ends your Grapple with them (freeing you both of the -2 to all Actions imposed by being either participant in a Grapple), and leaves them Prone, unable to use their Move Action until they use the Get Up Action.
If you want to Throw an object, you can do so by using an Action to make a Ranged Attack using DEX + Athletics + 1d10, up to a maximum of 25m/yds, using the Grenade Launcher DV entry on the range table. If you are throwing the object at a person that can dodge bullets, they can choose to dodge your object as well. Melee weapons deal their stated damage when thrown, but don't halve SP. Grenades deal the same damage as they would when fired from a grenade launcher. An improvised thrown weapon does as much damage as the GM thinks it would.