Melee Techniques comprise the movements and deliverance of specific actions you wish to do with your weapons and shields. Each Technique is different in their method and delivery and you can build each one according to the character concept you have built.
Base Ranks:
- Attribute 1 + Attribute 2 + Attribute 3 + Attack Ranks + Group Ranks + Weapon Focus Ranks + Prowess
Action Point Cost:
Vitality Cost:
Your base Vitality Cost for Attack is 30 minus the utilized Attributes (minimum of 1), plus the weight of the weapon.
- I have a Strength of 7, a Dexterity of 9 and an Insight of 8 with a Warhammer weighing 3 pounds.
- 30 minus 24 (total of the named Attributes above) plus 3 for the Warhammer equals a total of 9 Vitality per weapon Attack.
When making an attack, you must declare the intended area on your target that you wish to hit. This could be the shoulder of a humanoid target, or the specific leg of a beast. You roll your Attack and if it is higher than the Defender's roll, then you have successfully hit. You subtract the Defender's roll from your Attack roll, giving you what Event you will roll for damage.
- You have Strength 8 + Agility 7 + Insight 9 + Attack 6 + Blades 3 + Arming Sword 2 + Prowess 8, making your total Attack Event 41 with all the relevant Bonus Dice and Proficiencies from those attributes and skills.
- You would then roll Event 32, adding the Bonus Dice from all the abilities mentioned above, manipulated by your Proficiencies and that would be your total Attack roll. Your Attack is a 74, striking towards their right shoulder.
- The Defender attempts to Dodge your attack and rolls a 43 for their Defense. You would take 74, subtract 43 from it, and get 31. You would now roll Event 31 for damage, with all bonus Damage Dice, Proficiencies and other bonuses you might have.
Move to Hit Chart
Each time you surpass your opponent's Defense roll by your Hit Chart Accuracy, you gain “+1 Move to Hit Chart”.
- You are attacking your opponent and you aim for his Right Bicep, hoping to hurt his sword arm and make him weaker with his weapon. You roll a 412 for your Attack and your opponent rolls a Dodge of 84. Your Hit Chart Accuracy is 43% (50 minus your Dexterity of 7), so every 43% of 84, which is 36, you would gain “+1 Move to Hit Chart”. In this example, the Attacker would gain 9x “+1 Move to Hit Chart”.
- You were aiming for his Right Bicep
Base Ranks:
- Strength + Attribute 2 + Attribute 3 + Trip Ranks + Group Ranks + Focus Ranks + Prowess
Action Point Cost:
- Uses the Attack Action Point cost of your weapon.
Vitality Cost:
- Uses the Attack Vitality cost.
When an Attack lands on and in between the knees and feet of an opponent, the defender needs to roll a "Balance" Skill check. Their rolled total is compared to the damage rolled. See the chart below to know what occurs of this.
Note: The Trip Damage vs. Stability is rolled to determine what Severity applies. This is done BEFORE you apply Damage Reduction to see how much damage the defender actually takes. Even if the defender takes no damage, the force of the attack can still Trip or move them.
- x1 = Melee and Defense rolls are penalized by -10% until the Defender recovers.
- x2 = Melee and Defense rolls are penalized by -20% until the Defender recovers.
- x3 = Stagger: Move the Target ((1d4 + your Strength (-Target's Physique)) in feet. Melee and Defense rolls are penalized by -30% until the Defender recovers.
- x4 = Fall: Move the Target ((1d6 + your Strength (-Target's Physique)) in feet. Defender falls on a body part, rolled by the Arbiter. Melee and Defense rolls are penalized by -40% until the Defender recovers.
- x5 = Prone: Move the Target ((1d8 + your Strength (-Target's Physique)) in feet. Defender falls Prone, rolled by the Arbiter. Melee and Defense rolls are penalized by -50% until the Defender recovers.
- You attempt to Trip your opponent, hitting his knees and rolling a 237 on your roll. The Defender attempts to parry your roll out of the way and rolls a 94, giving you a Damage Event of 143. You roll 312 damage to his Right Knee. He rolls a Balance check of 101. Because the Damage doubled the Balance check, he would suffer the "x2" Stumble effect.
Base Ranks:
- Strength + Attribute 2 + Attribute 3 + Block Ranks + Group Ranks + Weapon Focus Ranks + Prowess
Action Point Cost:
- Uses the Block Action Point cost of your weapon from the Weapons Chart.
Vitality Cost:
- Uses half the Attack Vitality cost (rounded).
A defender placing their weapon in the path on an attack, is used when the Defender doesn't believe he can Parry fast enough. It is typically considered the second best Defense in martial combat. Not only does it slow down the momentum of their weapon in case they hit you hard enough to push through your block but also grants bonus Damage Absorption when this Technique is used.
Important Note: The Attacker gets to roll a Damage Event against you equal to his total Attack roll.
- An Attacker rushes to swing at you rolling a 314 for their Attack roll. They get to roll Damage Event 314 with all their bonuses because you are not attempting to mitigate their attack, you are simply taking the blow and relying on your weapon, possibly armor, to absorb the entirety of their damage amount.
If you roll less than 50% of the Attacker's Roll, than you have missed your Weapon Block.
Any roll that is 50% - 100% gives you a Damage Absorption equal to your Weapon Block Roll.
- A swordsman attacks you with a 212 on their Attack roll. You attempt to get your arming sword in the way to help reduce any incoming damage and roll a 149. You would gain 149 Damage Absorption from your Weapon Block and then any further damage would be applied to where they roll on the Hit Chart.
Any roll above the Attacker's roll reduces the Attacker's Damage Event by the difference.
- Using the above example, the swordsman attacks you with the same 212 Attack roll but this time, you roll a 267 for your Block roll.
- Because your rolled higher, you would reduce their Damage Event roll of 212 by 55, giving them their actual Damage Event of 157.
If the Defender rolls 200% of the Attacker's roll, then the Attacker would have no Damage Event.
- NOTE: They still get their Damage Dice from their weapon, Attributes and any modifiers attached to the object used.
Base Ranks:
- Attribute 1 + Attribute 2 + Attribute 3 + Parry Ranks + Group Ranks + Weapon Focus Ranks + Prowess
Action Point Cost:
- Uses the Attack Action Point cost of your weapon.
Vitality Cost:
- Uses the Attack Vitality cost.
A Parry is an attempt to ward off an attack by moving the weapon of your enemy to a position that penalizes their Action Points and makes it difficult for them to use their own weapon to defend against your next Technique. If a Parry is successful, it is usually followed up with an Attack, also known as a Riposte.
Your Parry roll reduces the Attacker's roll. This lowers their rolled Damage Event against or may nullify it completely.
- Your opponent rolls an Attack roll of 176 against you. You attempt to Parry their Attack and roll 134. You have reduced their Attack roll to a 42 and that is now the Damage Event they roll against you.
Rolling Above:
If your Parry rolls higher than their Attack roll, you reduce their current Action Points by the difference between your roll and theirs.
- Your opponent rolls an Attack of 52 against you, using 80 Action Points of their 167. You successfully Parry their Attack with a 79, superseding theirs by 27.
- You now reduce their remaining Action Points by 27, leaving them with 60.
- (167 total AP, reduced by 80 from their Attack and an additional 27 AP from your Parry, giving them 60 Action Points to use the rest of this second.)
Base Ranks:
- Attribute 1 + Attribute 2 + Attribute 3 + Sunder Ranks + Group Ranks + Weapon Focus Ranks + Prowess
Action Point Cost:
- Uses the Attack Action Point cost of your weapon.
Initial Vitality Cost:
- Uses the Attack Vitality cost of your weapon.
Maintenance Vitality Cost:
This Vitality cost applies each attempt that is made to free the Sundered object.
- Attacker's Vitality cost is equal to the Strength of the opponent being Sundered.
- Defender's Vitality cost is equal to your Strength.
Sunder is the Technique meant to separate or break apart an object from another object. If you wanted to remove the weapon or shield from your enemy, you would use this skill. If you wished to hit a specific weak point in the armor to render it useless for the wearer, you would use this skill. A person wielding an axe may attempt to hook the top end of the shield of his enemies to pull it away, or move it, thus giving his enemy no ability to Shield Block/Deflect for a brief period of time.
When you succeed your initial Sunder, use the Chart below to determine what effect takes place. You must make a check every time they attempt to use that object. This could be once in a second, or multiple times in a second depending on their skill level and their Action Points.
The check is made with the original Skill for the Attacker and original Skill for the Defender.
Use the chart below:
- Severity x1: The next action taken with the Sundered item, they must succeed at another Check or have a -10% to that roll with that object.
- Severity x2: The next action taken with the Sundered item, they must succeed at another Check or have a -20% to that roll with that object.
- Severity x3: The next action taken with the Sundered item, they must succeed at another Check or have a -30% to that roll with that object.
- Severity x4: You may decide to keep control of the object giving them a penalty of -40% to the next roll, or remove the object entirely from them. You may choose to remove the object or render it useless, as long as you can sustain the x3 or higher multiplier of your roll versus theirs.
- Severity x5: You may decide to keep control of the object giving them a penalty of -50% to the next roll, or remove the object entirely from them. You may choose to remove the object or render it useless, as long as you can sustain the x3 or higher multiplier of your roll versus theirs.
Resolved Effect:
- Once the Defender successfully rolls higher than the Attacker, the Sunder is nullified.
Base Ranks:
- Strength + Attribute 2 + Attribute 3 + Shield Block/Deflect Ranks + Group (Shield) Ranks + Shield Focus Ranks + Prowess
Action Point Cost:
- Uses the Shield Attack Action Point cost of your weapon.
Vitality Cost:
- Uses the Attack Vitality cost.
When a shield wielder decides to Shield Block, they are not attempting to mitigate the attack against them, but to reduce the damage dealt to them. Many shields were outfitted with different modifications whether you wished to hurt your enemy with spikes when hitting them with your shield or metal bands and/or a centered boss to increase defense and stability of the shield itself.
Typically, based on the crafting, the center of the shield was the place you wanted the attacker to hit because it granted the best stability and control for you. This is true for all shields. There are some modifications you can add that will add Damage Reduction when you're struck and provide better Breakaway for your shield. One of these modifications was metal banding that would be shaped to the outside of the shield, allowing the shield bearer to block on the outside rim of the shield with an added benefit.
All shields have a base size. The larger the shield, the more area it covers on the wielder, providing a higher chance of blocking or deflecting the attack. When you roll your Shield Block/Deflect, you will take the attacker's roll and in percentage, find out the difference between yours and theirs.
Damage Reduction
Your base Damage Reduction is based upon your Shield type and any modifiers to it. You receive your base Damage Reduction anytime your shield is hit.
- Targe gives you a 75% Damage Reduction when your shield is hit, every time.
Using Shield Block/Deflect, is 75% to 100% of their Attack roll,
Shield Block Accuracy
If you roll below your Shield's Block Accuracy compared to the Attacker's roll, you add +1 to your D30 Spread for each 1% point below that percentage.
- The Attacker rolls a 314 and you roll a 137 for your Shield Block. 1% of 314 is 3. So every 3 below the 50% mark, is +1 to the D30 Spread.
- In this case, the Defender rolled 20 less than what was needed, adding +6 (20/3=6) to the D30 Spread, still giving the Defender the chance to get their shield in the Attacker's path but it would make it impossible for the Defender to position the blow on the boss of the shield.
Passive Shield Block/Deflect
Base Ranks:
- Strength + Attribute 2 + Attribute 3 + Shield Strike Ranks + Group (Shield) Ranks + Shield Focus Ranks + Prowess
Action Point Cost:
- Uses the Attack Action Point cost of your shield.
Vitality Cost:
- Uses the Attack Vitality cost, replacing weapon weight with "shield weight".
Shield Strike is using the outside brim of your shield, which may or may not be banded, or the face of the shield, to cause blunt trauma to your opponent. You can also mount small spikes on the outside or inside banding of your shield. Some shield bearers have mounted larger spikes on the boss of the shield, giving them more punching power if they were to Shield Strike with the front side of the shield.
Push:
Action Point Cost:
- Uses half the Attack Action Point cost of your shield.
Initial Vitality Cost:
- Uses the Attack Vitality cost, replacing weapon weight with “shield weight”.
Maintenance Vitality Cost:
This Vitality cost applies to each continued attempt that is made.
- Attacker's Vitality cost is equal to the Strength + Physique of the opponent being Pushed.
- Defender's Vitality cost is equal to your Strength + Physique.
A Shield Push is used when you wish to move an enemy or object from it's current location. If you successfully hit with a Shield Push, the defender rolls a "Balance" check against the Attacker's damage roll. See the chart below to know what the outcome would be.
Note: The Push Damage vs. Defender's Stability roll to determine what effect applies, is done BEFORE you apply Damage Reduction to see how much damage the defender actually takes. Even if the defender takes no damage, the force of the attack can still Push or move them.
- x1 = Falter: Move the Target ((1d4 + your Strength (-Target's Physique)) in feet. Melee and Defense rolls are penalized by -10% until the Defender recovers.
- x2 = Stumble: Move the Target ((1d6 + your Strength (-Target's Physique)) in feet. Melee and Defense rolls are penalized by -20% until the Defender recovers.
- x3 = Stagger: Move the Target ((1d8 + your Strength (-Target's Physique)) in feet. Melee and Defense rolls are penalized by -30% until the Defender recovers.
- x4 = Fall: Move the Target ((1d10 + your Strength (-Target's Physique)) in feet. Defender falls on a body part, rolled by the Arbiter. Melee and Defense rolls are penalized by -40% until the Defender recovers.
- x5 = Prone: Move the Target ((1d12 + your Strength (-Target's Physique)) in feet. Defender falls Prone, rolled by the Arbiter. Melee and Defense rolls are penalized by -50% until the Defender recovers.