Unarmed Combat

Unarmed Combat

Sometimes you have to fight without weapons, or with improvised weapons. This is unarmed combat. Anyone can engage in unarmed combat, but certain skills make you a more effective unarmed fighter. For this purpose:

• Striking skills are Boxing, Brawling, and Karate.
• Grappling skills are Judo, Sumo Wrestling, and Wrestling.

Striking

See the Melee Weapon Table for the reach, damage, etc., of punches, kicks, bites, and other unarmed strikes. For additional options, see Sample Combat Techniques and Special Unarmed Combat Techniques. And see Hurting Yourself for the effects of striking an armored target barehanded...

Grabbing

You can grab something a foe is holding, like a weapon. To do so, you must have an empty hand (but some weapons, such as whips, can also grab). Make an attack using DX or a grappling skill, with the usual penalty to hit the hand (-4). Your opponent defends normally.

If you hit, you've grabbed hold of your foe's weapon. On subsequent turns, you may try to wrest it from him. Each attempt is a full-turn maneuver. Roll a Regular Contest of ST. If you win, you take his weapon away. If you lose, you lose your grip on his weapon.

Grappling

"Grappling" is an attempt to grab your foe's body. You must have at least one empty hand. On a game board, you must also move into your foe's hex ("close combat").

Each attempt requires an Attack, All-Out Attack, or Move and Attack maneuver. Roll against basic DX or a grappling skill to hit. Your foe may defend normally – he can parry, dodge, or block. You may Evaluate or Feint beforehand to improve your odds of success.

Grappling does no damage, but if you successfully hit, the foe has -4 to DX as long as you're holding on. He may not move away until he breaks free (see Actions After Being Grappled) or you let go. Exception: If you grapple a foe of more than twice your ST, you do not prevent him from moving away – you're just extra encumbrance for him!

You may grapple with any or all of your arms. If you grapple with more than two arms, each arm beyond the first two gives a bonus of +2 to hit. An arm committed to grappling cannot make unarmed parries until you let go. Letting go is a free action on your turn.

If you are holding onto your foe with all your arms, the only further attacks you can make are those listed under Actions After a Grapple, below.

Posture: To grapple a prone, kneeling, or sitting opponent, you must kneel or lie down yourself, unless his Size Modifier is two or more greater than yours. You may do this as part of the "step" component of an Attack maneuver.

Hit Location: The rules above assume that you are grappling the torso. To grab another body part, apply half the penalty given under Hit Location to your roll; see Grappling and Hit Location. If you hit, your foe has -4 to DX only when using that body part. You could grab a weapon arm or hand (to disarm your victim), a leg (to trip him), or the neck (to strangle him). If you grab an arm or hand, you cannot snatch a weapon away, but you can force your foe to drop it by winning a Regular Contest of ST – roll once per turn, as explained under Grabbing (above). For a related technique, see Arm Lock.

Actions After a Grapple

Actions After Being Grappled

If you have been grappled, you cannot take a Move maneuver unless you have at least twice your foe's ST. Aim, Feint, Concentrate, and Wait maneuvers – and ranged attacks – are completely impossible. If you are pinned, you can't take any maneuver that requires physical movement!

Otherwise, you can do the following:

Attack or All-Out Attack

You can take either maneuver, with certain limitations. You cannot use any limb that has been grappled – or bite, if your neck or head was grappled. You're limited to unarmed attacks (striking or grappling) or attacks using weapons with reach C. You can stab with a dagger, but not swing a sword!

Ready

You can Ready an item if you have a hand free, but you must make a DX roll. Failure means you drop the item. Ready maneuvers to switch advantages off and on succeed automatically.

Break Free

If you are grappled, you cannot move away until you break free by winning a Quick Contest of ST. Your foe has +5 if he is grappling you with two hands. If he has you pinned, he rolls at +10 if using two hands or at +5 if using only one, and you may only attempt to break free once every 10 seconds. If either of you has three or more arms, each arm beyond the first two gives +2. If your foe is stunned, he rolls at -4; if he falls unconscious, you are automatically free! If you successfully break free, you may immediately move one yard in any direction.

Once you have grappled a foe, you may attempt the following moves on subsequent turns (provided your opponent does not break free!). Each action requires an Attack or All-Out Attack maneuver.

Takedown

This is an attempt to bear your opponent to the ground. You may only try this on a standing foe. Roll a Quick Contest, with each contestant using the highest of ST, DX, or his best grappling skill. If you are not standing, you have a penalty equal to the usual penalty to hit for your posture. If you win, your victim falls down next to you (on a game board, he falls in your hex and any adjacent hex of your choice). If he was grappling you, he loses his grip. If you lose, you suffer the same effects! On a tie, nothing happens.

Pin

You may only attempt a pin if your foe is on the ground and you are grappling his torso. Roll a Regular Contest of Strength. The larger fighter gets +3 for every point by which his Size Modifier exceeds that of his foe. The fighter with the most free hands gets +3. If you win, your foe is pinned and helpless. You must stay there to hold him down, but you can free one of your hands for other actions. If you lose or tie, nothing happens.

Choke or Strangle

You must have grappled your foe by the neck. You must normally use your hands, and can't do anything else with them (e.g., parry) while holding on – but if you have the Constriction Attack advantage, you can use your body instead. Roll a Quick Contest: your ST vs. the higher of your foe's ST or HT. You are at -5 if you use only one hand, but at +2 per hand after the first two. If your Size Modifier exceeds your foe's, you can grapple and squeeze his torso instead, in which case you roll at -5 unless you have Constriction Attack. If you win, your foe takes crushing damage equal to your margin of victory. DR protects normally. Multiply injury to the neck by 1.5. If any damage – even blunt trauma – penetrates the victim's DR, you also start to suffocate him! On his next turn and every subsequent turn until he escapes, he loses 1 FP; see Suffocation.

Choke Hold

If you have Judo or Wrestling skill, you may try to apply a hold that can incapacitate without crushing the throat or torso. See Choke Hold technique.

Arm Lock

If you have Judo or Wrestling skill, you may try to apply a lock to restrain or cripple your opponent's arm. See Arm Lock.

Neck Snap or Wrench Limb

If you grappled your foe's neck or skull, or a limb or other extremity, you can twist. See Neck Snap or Wrench (Limb).

Other Actions

You can bite or use a Striker (provided it has reach C) even if all your hands are busy. If you're not using a hand to grapple your foe, you can use it to Attack or All-Out Attack (either unarmed or with a reach C weapon), or to take a Ready maneuver. You cannot Aim, Feint, Concentrate, Wait, or make ranged attacks unless you've pinned your foe. You may also perform the following free actions:

• Release your grip. Let go of the foe, if you are grappling or pinning him. Or you can release just one hand – but this makes it easier for him to escape.
• Throw away a ready weapon. This automatically succeeds and takes no time. You may do this to get a useless weapon out of your way, or to deprive the foe of a chance to grab a useful weapon (e.g., a blackjack) from you.
• Drag or carry your victim. If you've pinned your foe, you can move or step normally, dragging or carrying him; see Lifting and Moving Things for how much you can lift or drag. He counts as encumbrance, reducing your Move. If you haven’t pinned him, moving away from him means you automatically release your grip unless you have at least twice his ST. If you're that strong, you can pull or carry him with you!

Slam

You can deliberately collide with an opponent. This requires an Attack, All-Out Attack, or Move and Attack maneuver. Roll against DX, Brawling, or Sumo Wrestling to hit. Note that the -4 to hit and effective skill cap of 9 for a Move and Attack do not apply to slams.

Your foe may block, dodge, or parry (but your body counts as a heavy weapon; see Parrying Heavy Weapons. If your foe dodges, you must move at least two yards past him if you have enough movement. If you would hit someone else, see Hitting the Wrong Target.

If you hit, you and your foe each inflict dice of crushing damage on the other equal to (HP × velocity)/100. "Velocity" is usually just the number of yards you moved this turn – but in a head-on collision, add the distance your foe moved toward you on his last turn (that is, use relative velocity).

If damage is less than 1d, treat fractions up to 0.25 as 1d-3, fractions up to 0.5 as 1d-2, and any larger fraction as 1d-1. Otherwise, round fractions of 0.5 or more up to a full die. You can use All-Out Attack (Strong) to increase your damage!

If your damage roll equals or exceeds that of your foe, he must make a DX roll or fall down. You knock him down automatically if you roll twice his damage or more. If he rolls twice your damage or more, though, you fall down instead!

If your opponent dodged and you went past him and hit a solid obstacle, apply your damage roll to yourself (and to the obstacle, if it matters). You can also slam with a vehicle or mount. Roll against your vehicle-operation skill to hit with a vehicle, or Riding skill to hit with a mount. Figure damage based on the HP of your vehicle or mount.

For additional rules and special cases, see Collisions and Falls.

Flying Tackle: As slam, but you must have at least two legs and one arm free – most animals and vehicles can't do this! A flying tackle gives you +4 to hit and an extra yard of reach, and you may opt to roll against Jumping skill to hit. However, whether you succeed or fail, you end up lying down (in the same hex as your foe, if you are using a combat map).

Pounce: As flying tackle, but you must have four or more legs. After you attack, make a DX, Acrobatics, or Jumping roll. On a success, you stay on your feet! This is how some animals attack, especially cats: they knock down their foe and then claw or bite. If a mount tries this, the rider must roll vs. Riding-4 or fall off!

Shield Rush: As slam, but you must have a shield. Roll against Shield skill to hit, and add your shield's Defense Bonus to your damage roll. Your shield takes damage instead of you, but you still fall down if your opponent rolls twice your basic damage or more.

Shove

You can shove a foe with one or both arms. Roll against DX or Sumo Wrestling to hit. Your foe may block, dodge, or parry. If you hit, roll thrust/crushing damage – at -1 per die, if you used only one hand – and double it. This inflicts knockback (see Knockback, but never actual physical injury.