Melee Attacks
When you take a maneuver that lets you make a melee attack, you must specify who you are attacking, and with what weapon. You can make a melee attack using any ready melee weapon (including a natural weapon such as a kick, bite, or punch) against any target that is within reach.
You can use some weapons in more than one way; e.g., you can swing or thrust with a shortsword. Such weapons have multiple lines on the Melee Weapon Table. When you attack with a weapon like this, you must indicate how you are using it before you roll.
To Hit
Figure your adjusted chance to hit by:
- Taking your base skill with the weapon or unarmed attack you are using.
- Applying all conditional modifiers for your maneuver, situation, posture, and the target's visibility. A detailed list appears under Melee Attack Modifiers.
The result is your effective skill. A roll of this number or less is a successful attack roll. It will hit, unless the target succeeds with an active defense.
Ready Weapons
A one-handed weapon is ready if it's being held in your hand. A two-handed weapon is ready if you are gripping it with both hands. Some unwieldy weapons (e.g., the great axe) become unready after each attack unless you are extremely strong; see the Melee Weapon Table to learn which weapons are unwieldy, and their ST requirements (always marked ‡).
To draw a new weapon from a sheath, scabbard, or sling, or to ready an unwieldy weapon that became unready after an attack, you must take a Ready maneuver.
A natural weapon (punch, kick, etc.) is always ready unless the body part in question is occupied or restrained; e.g., you can't punch if you are holding a weapon with the same hand, or bite while wearing a full-face helmet or gripping something with your teeth.
Reach
A melee weapon can only attack a target that is within its reach (measured in yards), as given on the Melee Weapon Table. Most weapons have a reach of 1, which means you must be adjacent to your target (that is, within one yard of him). Reach plays a much larger role if using a game board; see Tactical Combat.
Melee Attack Options
Before making a melee attack, you may specify some additional options.
Hit Location
It is assumed that you are attacking the target's center of mass (the torso, on a human), unless you specify otherwise. If you wish to target another body part (e.g., the head), see Hit Location. If you choose to attack his weapon, see Striking at Weapons.
Deceptive Attack
You may designate any melee attack as "deceptive”" before you roll to hit. A Deceptive Attack is intended to get past an opponent's defenses through sheer skill. You can use this option to represent any number of advanced fighting techniques.
For every -2 you accept to your own skill, your foe suffers a -1 penalty on his active defenses against this attack. You may not reduce your final effective skill below 10 with a Deceptive Attack, which normally limits it to skilled fighters.
The GM may opt to speed play by limiting Deceptive Attacks to a flat -4 to skill, giving the target -2 on his active defenses.
Rapid Strike
A Rapid Strike is a melee attack executed swiftly enough that you get one extra attack. You must take an Attack or All-Out Attack maneuver, and you must use a ready weapon to make the extra attack. Make two attacks, both at -6 to skill. You can target multiple opponents this way.
If you already have multiple attacks, for whatever reason, you can replace one of them (and only one!) with two attacks at -6.