Unarmed Combat

From Edge of Darkness Wiki

Unarmed combat applies the Brawl Skill and usually inflicts bashing damage. Going unarmed into battle doesn't have to put one at a disadvantage over opponents. Training in this style of combat can make your character fully capable of disabling others. There is a variety of options possible in Brawl combat. The fundamentals available to anyone include punches, kicks and grapples. The average guy on the street with no martial training can perform any of the following basics.

Strike: The basic unarmed attack -- a blow with a fist, knee, head, foot or elbow. Roll Strength + Brawl without any bonus dice.

Bite: Your character's teeth clamp down on a target. Roll Strength + Brawl, with a number of bonus dice based on the size of attacker's jaws and teeth. An ordinary human's offer no bonus. Generally, a bite from a person inflicts bashing damage, while that from an animal or supernatural creature inflicts lethal harm. The Storyteller may decree that a human combatant can bite an opponent only after successfully grappling.

A vampire must achieve a Grappling hold to Feed in combat.^[1]

Grapple

Your character gets a hold of or tackles a target and may apply a clinch with various effects, from immobilizing the victim to crushing him. If the attacker's hold is broken, the grapple is over (although the attacker can attempt to grapple again). The victim of a grapple can try to free himself or perform a maneuver in subsequent turns, unless he is immobilized.

Establishing a Grapple on a prone target[2] requires the attacker to also become Prone.

Establish Grapple: Roll Strength + Brawl - DEF to achieve a hold.

Break Grapple': Roll Strength + Brawl - STR to break hold.

Overpower': Roll Strength + Brawl - STR to perform overpowering maneuver.

If multiple people seek to grapple a single target, and they get a hold, the target can try to break free of all holds simultaneously. Roll Strength + Brawl and subtract the highest Strength among the grapplers, with an additional penalty for each grappler after the first.^[3]

Grapplers lose the capacity to Dodge.^[4]

The All Out Attack technique cannot be used to attempt overpowering maneuvers or to break out of a grapple.^[5]

If a mage is casting a vulgar rote requiring him to perform Rote Mudras, he suffers a –1 dice penalty. If he is immobilized, he suffers a –2 dice penalty. This penalty does not apply to covert rotes or improvised spellcasting.^[6]

A mage cannot exert his Strength to resist his opponent’s overpower attempts in the same turn in which he casts a spell (Strength is not subtracted from his opponent's rolls).^[7]

Attack With Drawn Weapon

Successes achieved on this Turn's Strength + Brawl roll are applied as points of of damage is appropriate to the weapon used -- bashing for brass knuckles or lethal for a knife or pistol. A Weaponry or Firearms roll is not made under these circumstances, because it's your characterÕs ability to overpower his opponent in grappling combat that dictates how well the weapon is used. The advantage of bringing a weapon to bear manifests in equipment bonus dice to your Strength + Brawl roll for the attack, and in the severity of damage that might be done (say, lethal for a knife).

Concealment

With one or more successes, use opponent as protection (Concealment) from ranged attacks.

Damage Opponent

Successes achieved on this Turn's Strength + Brawl roll are applied as points of bashing damage inflicted on your opponent. Your character crushes, squeezes, bends or bites his victim.

Disarm opponent

With one or more successes, your character manages to pry an object from his opponent's hand. Taking possession of the item thereafter (in another turn) is the equivalent of drawing a weapon (see below). No damage is inflicted.

Draw weapon

With one or more successes, your character reaches a weapon on his person, on his opponent or nearby. Drawing or acquiring the weapon is an entire Turn's action. The weapon has to be small, such as a knife or small gun (a pistol), in order to be brought to bear in grappling combat.

Immobilization

Your character seeks to interfere with his victim's actions. Even one success renders the target immobile. The victim's physical actions are restricted to breaking free (he cannot attempt any overpowering maneuvers of his own), although he could bring mental or some supernatural capabilities to bear (Storyteller's discretion). Furthermore, the victim's Defense does not apply against attacks from opponents outside the grapple. So, if your character immobilizes a victim, attacks on him from your character's allies are not penalized by the victim's Defense.

• Once an opponent is immobilized, he remains so from turn to turn until he breaks the hold. You do not need to make further overpower rolls from turn to turn to keep the victim immobilized. He is automatically considered immobile thereafter. Your character can do nothing except maintain the hold, however. If he dedicates an action to any other effort, the target is no longer immobile. Your character still has a grip, but a successful overpower effort is required in a subsequent turn to immobilize the opponent all over again.

• Trying to break free from immobilization is handled like a contested action between grapplers. A Strength + Brawl roll is made for the victim, and it's penalized by the holder's Strength. Successes rolled are compared to those that were gained by the holder when he applied the immobilization maneuver. If more are gained, the hold is broken and the victim is free again.

Render Opponent Prone

With one or more successes, both combatants fall to the ground. Either party must break the hold in order to stand again in a subsequent turn. Rising is considered an action in a turn. If one combatant manages to rise, close-combat attack rolls to hit the prone opponent gain a +2 bonus.

Turn a drawn weapon

If your character's opponent has a weapon drawn in a grapple, your character may seek to turn the weapon on her enemy. Her action is dedicated to gaining control of the weapon and turning it, even while it's still in her opponent's hand. Your character's action in a subsequent turn must be a successful attack in order to turn the weapon completely. If your character's opponent manages to regain control of the weapon in his action, before your character's attack is completed, no attack can be made in a subsequent turn. Thus, control of a weapon can be wrestled over from turn to turn in a grapple, with each combatant seeking to gain control and then make an attack.