Fighting the forces of darkness requires combat - most monsters won’t go quietly into the night. Combat does not have to dominate a game, but it just wouldn’t be proper to have an adventure in most worlds without at least a dose of butt-kicking action.

When combat starts, you as GM need to help sort out the action. Sometimes it’s easy (the gang is fighting one big nasty demon) but other times we’re talking combat on a massive scale - many heroes, many NPCs, and many monsters all fighting each other all at once. The rules presented in this chapter are meant to help keep things flowing; the action should be fast and furious, while still entertaining to all concerned.

To make things go a bit easier when the rough stuff starts, the action is divided into segments, known as Turns. A game Turn represents a short bit of time - five seconds or so - during which characters can attack and defend. During a Turn, a normal character can attack once and defend once without penalties. Experienced or fast characters can make more than one attack during a Turn (see Multiple Actions).

Each turn has three phases: Intentions (where the players say what their characters intend to do), Initiative (determining who goes first in the combat order), and Actions (where the fight is resolved and damage, if any, is meted out). A fight usually lasts more than one Turn, unless the fight is particularly one-sided or the characters are particularly fortunate (or unfortunate).

At the beginning of the Turn, ask the players whose characters are involved for intentions what their characters want to do. Intentions can include such things as “I call on the forces of Hecate to let me see things as they truly are,” “I scream like a little girl and try to run away,” or “I launch a spin kick followed by two fast punches.” Decide if the action being attempted is feasible, if it will take more than one Turn to complete, and what skills will be needed to pull it off. If there is a problem with the intention, and it’s something the character would know, warn the player; likewise, if the character is trying something that isn't an existing maneuver or that might require some further definition or clarification (“so, what's the combat penalty for trying to kiss an enemy in combat?”), and their character would reasonably have a chance of assessing the difficulty involved (“er, if it's Cthulhu? probably pretty high, Dave.”), clarify any modifiers that will result. Otherwise, the intention stands, and any changing of minds due to events later in the Turn will result in complications…

At the beginning of a fight, you determine who attacks first. Common sense is the first determinant of Initiative. What are the circumstances of the fight? If it’s an ambush, for example, the ambushers go first. If a character is attacking a gun-toting goon, and is too far away to grab it, the gunman gets to shoot first. Unleashing a mental or supernatural power goes before a kick, and so on. Generally, mental actions (spells and similar supernatural powers) go first, followed by ranged weapons (guns, crossbows, cruise missiles) and finally by good old punches, kicks, baseball bats, and other weapons.

Beyond this, the character with the highest Dexterity (modified by Fast Reaction Time) goes first. If both sides have the same Dexterity (and they both have or lack Fast Reaction Time), each side rolls a die. The higher roll wins; a tie means both characters act at the same time (really painful if they were punching each other in the face). During subsequent Turns, determine Initiative in the same manner, or award it to the character who has momentum (whoever managed to connect a punch without being hit back, for example).

Whoever wins Initiative attacks first (assuming the Intention involved an attack). The target may be able to defend against the attack. Attacks are resolved using the basic game mechanic - the player rolls a D10 and adds the Attribute and Skill involved, plus or minus any modifiers. The defender does likewise, and the higher (or equal if defending) roll gets their way. If the defender has no defense action available, or decides to reserve his actions for offense or movement, she defends with a roll result of zero. In effect, the blow lands unless the attacker’s roll is nine or lower (in which everyone stands around looking silly). When fighting Guest Stars or Adversaries, attacks have to beat (defenses beat or tie) the target’s Combat Score to be successful.

If an attack hits, damage is determined based on the attack’s base damage, the Success Levels of the attack roll, the defender’s armor, and any damage type modifiers. This is also when players (and GMs) can spend Drama Points to get an edge during the fight.

After the first attacker is done, the second gets to go (no shocker there), and so on.

Something isn’t right if a typical combat goes like this:

“What do you do?”

“I punch the vampire.”

“Roll and tell me what you get.”

(Rolls)

“Sixteen—no, seventeen. Five Success Levels.”

“Okay, you hit him. Add five to your base damage.”

“Er, that’s 15 points.”

“The vampire is punching you back now. Roll and tell me what you get.”

Ugh. Double ugh.

Description, description, description. If you don’t create a picture of the action in the minds of the players, action sequences are going to get boring and repetitive. Players should help, too. They should try to describe their characters' actions. The best way to encourage that is to be descriptive and to reward players who go beyond the rules to help create that cinematic feeling we know and love. Try to visualize the action. Most adversaries with intelligence have options to work with. They might try to punch their victims (“The vampire’s fist is on a collision course with your head. What do you do?”), or grapple them (“Growling, the vamp tries to bull-rush you”), or use some improvised weapon (“This vamp’s got a baseball bat and he wants to hit your head out of the park”). If the player describes some interesting maneuver (“I duck under the swing and try to redirect the bat so the vampire hits himself in the face”), let him attempt it without penalty, or even give him some bonuses (usually a +1 or +2, or maybe the Success Level of the previous Combat Maneuver or defense roll). For really heroic stuff (“I somersault and walk all over the guy’s face, all Matrix-y like”), Drama Points may have to come into play, though.

Describing the effects of the characters' actions also helps the players feel they are kicking butt rather than beating the stuffing out of numbers on a piece of paper. “The look on the vampire’s face is major league surprise - just before she explodes in a cloud of dust.” “The punch spins the vampire like a top. She knocks over a park bench and lands in a heap.” “For a second, it looks like nothing happened. Then the demon’s head rolls off his shoulders. That’s gotta hurt.” Finally, if you have to choose between rules and fun, go for the fun. Be flexible - no rules system is going to cover all the bases and if your gut feeling tells you that it’s better to ignore or modify the rules for dramatic purposes, your gut is probably right.

If your group absolutely, positively needs something more random for their Initiative rolls, have each player involved in a combat roll a D10 and add him character’s Dexterity (plus any Fast Reaction Time bonuses) to the total. The character with the highest total goes first, and so on.

Sometimes, you may find that people's intentions at the start of a round may change… such as if their target is killed by another player, or if their front line is abruptly annihilated by a hand grenade, or if their original intention looks like a really bad idea once the monster goes game-face. If you allow this, PCs cannot change to perform another action that would normally take a full turn to pull off (so no spontaneous Jump Kicks), and they should be treated as having taken an action already (all further actions will be at -2). This means that characters have more versatility in combat, while giving them a realistic penalty for having to switch actions midstream.

When the time for talk is over, and the time for senseless violence begins, a nice repertoire of action moves can be a real face-saver. Punches and kicks are all right, but spicing them up with flying jump kicks, feints, and the ever-so-important stake through the heart is where cinematic combat shines. The Combat Maneuver area on the character sheet gives players a place for all the information on the diverse ways in which their characters can inflict pain and suffering on the forces of evil. The most common ways to do unto others before others do unto you are described in detail throughout this section. The appropriate roll modifiers and the base damage inflicted is also listed in the maneuver, or under the listing for the appropriate weapon. Almost everything is also gathered in a nice neat reference table in Appendix I for future reference. Handy or what?

To make things quicker, Attributes, skills, and modifiers should be summarized in the Maneuvers section of the character sheet or Quick Sheet. These areas should have the character’s favorite moves already pre-figured.

Note that any character may list any maneuver on his sheet; there are no requirements or limits. Still, don’t go nuts here; it makes little sense to list most or all maneuvers, regardless of whether the character has the skills or equipment to perform them. If your shy, unassuming bookworm suddenly has a need for Chainsaw Ballet, you can always come back here and look it up.

If you don't see a maneuver here, you can always try asking your GM – in most cases, the bigger the penalty, the more special the effect if it works. A hard and fast rule is to assess penalties, with -1 for relatively easy but unusual maneuvers up to -5 or worse for things that a normal human wouldn't be able to do without a lot of practice (and maybe a little luck.) For called shots, see the Called Shot maneuver below - generally, the smaller the target, the harder it is to strike.

Maneuvers are organized (loosely) by their expected usage. If you see a maneuver in one section that you think applies elsewhere, ask your GM!

This is a generic biting attack; for vampire bites, see the Vampire Bite maneuver instead, as it has specific additional effects.

While biting is not typically a favored form of attack, and is looked down on in polite circles, some creatures use biting as their primary attack source, and those who fight dirty or are fighting for their lives will want to know how to bite someone where it counts.

Biting typically requires a successful Grapple - either on the part of the biter or the bitee. In the case of the biter doing the grappling, there is no penalty to hit the specific body part being grappled - biting any other body part takes a normal penalty according to the target area (-3 for a Groin Shot, for example - talk about your bad dates), and may require that your opponent be wrestled to the ground first. (Holding someone's arm doesn't automatically give you the ability to bite off their big toe, for example.)

If the person doing the biting is already grappled by a body part that is not the neck, they can bite the grappling limb at no penalty, or take normal penalties according to the target area plus any normal penalties for being grappled.

Attempting to bite a subject that has not already been grappled causes normal penalties to hit the target area, and an additional -1 for the awkwardness of the attack. Species that specialize in this attack type to the exclusion of others (for example, a rat that only attacks by biting and physically cannot grapple) may forgo this penalty at the GM's option.

Bite attacks require a Dexterity + Kung Fu or Combat roll to land the bite, minus any penalties listed above. This inflicts 2 x Strength Slash/Stab damage; in order to simulate a stronger or more harmful bite, use Innate Weapon to increase bite damage.

Before this maneuver may be attempted, the character must succeed at a Grapple versus the opponent's neck. After that, the attacker rolls and adds Strength and Kung Fu, or just uses the Muscle Score. The defender rolls and adds Strength and Constitution. If the attacker’s roll is higher, the base damage is (4 x Strength) points (Bash type). If the total damage reduces the defender to -10 Life Points, she must pass a Survival Test with an added penalty equal to the Success Levels of the Break Neck attack (in addition to any normal Survival Test modifiers; this is due to the very sensitive nature of the neck for us normal human types and many other creatures). If she fails, you get that telltale crunching sound with fatal results. If the defender is a vampire and the successful attack reduces it to -10 Life Points, he has to pass a Survival Test (but no special modifiers are applied; undead aren’t so sensitive - in any sense of the word). On the vamp’s failure, his head is ripped off and she is dusted - gruesome but pretty impressive.

Before this maneuver may be attempted, the character must succeed at a neck Grapple. After that, the attacker rolls and adds his Strength and Kung Fu, or just uses his Muscle Score. The defender rolls and adds his Strength and Constitution (or again uses the Muscle Score). If the attack result is higher, the base damage is (Strength - 1) points (Bash type). Furthermore, the defender cannot breathe (see Suffocation). She is at -2 to all actions in addition to any other penalties - being choked to death can be quite distracting.

(in testing)

This is a complex maneuver in which a truly skilled martial artist expends most of his energy in evading attacks while striking anyone foolish enough to get too close. Anyone who steps into range of the martial artist is attacked (damage as per a normal Punch), and the martial artist automatically attempts to Dodge all close and ranged attacks. The character uses a Dexterity and Kung Fu - 4 roll, or his Combat Score -4 to attack and defend for the Turn. While this is an excellent maneuver in close combat, there are drawbacks. First of all, enemies can still Parry your attacks with weapons, and if successful, you take full damage from these Parries. Second, it's the only maneuver the character can take, and it gets to be exhausting very quickly; every Turn after the first, the penalty for this maneuver is increased by another -2. For the weaponized version, see Whirling Sword.

The hero jumps high in the air and kicks with both legs (either at the same time or in quick succession), nailing two enemies at once. This works like a Jump Kick with a -4 instead of a -3 penalty on the roll, but two opponents can be targeted at once. Each target defends normally against the attack. This move is reserved for those with Dexterity 4 or better. The clumsy need not apply.

Use of a Garrote is essentially a combination of multiple lesser maneuvers into one. First, the attacker must successfully sneak up on the defender (Dex + Crime resisted by the defender's Per + Notice, or Brains, plus sense bonuses). Assuming they have successfully done so, the attacker may proceed to make a Grapple maneuver (Dexterity + Kung Fu + 2) at -2 (effectively cancelling out the normal +2) to use the Garrote to grapple the neck area; the defender cannot resist unless they have Situational Awareness (if so, they can immediately make a check vs Perception + Notice; if successful, they can defend at -2).

(If the target is fully aware of the attacker - such as if the garrotte attempt is made from the front - the Grapple is instead made at -4, and can be defended against normally.)

Assuming this maneuver is successful, the attacker may immediately roll and add his Strength and Kung Fu (or just use Muscle); the defender rolls and adds Strength and Constitution (or uses Muscle) to resist. This is effectively a Choke maneuver; an improvised garrote (a length of rope, for instance) inflicts (Strength) points of Bash damage, whereas a piano wire or professional garrote inflicts (Strength) points of Slash/Stab damage. Furthermore, the defender cannot breathe (and suffers the effects of Suffocation), and typically suffers a -2 to all actions in addition to any other penalties (such as the -2 to defend against attackers from behind) - having someone slowly cutting through or crushing your throat is awfully distracting. In order to stop the damage, the defender must break out of the Grapple, or the attacker must release the defender. If damage inflicted by the Garrote is Slash/Stab and reduces a subject to -10 Life Points or less, they must pass a Survival Test. Failure to do so decapitates the target (as per Decapitation maneuver.)

Sometimes a character wants to grab someone and shake them until his teeth rattle in his head. She has to grapple them first, though. Grabbing people is fairly easy; use a Dexterity and Kung Fu + 2 roll, or the Combat Score + 2. The victim resists with a Dodge maneuver. Vampires and other goon types often try to grab their victims either to capture them or set them up for some necking action. The attacker has to decide what part of the body to grab: limbs, the whole body, or the neck. When Grappled, the target is at -2 to actions that involve the grappled limb, or -1 to all actions if grappled around the body. If both arms are grappled by two attackers, the victim is at -4 to most rolls, and cannot Dodge. A neck grapple doesn’t impair the target, but sets him up for either the Break Neck or Choke action. The victim can try to break free with a Strength (doubled) roll, or the Muscle Score versus another Grapple maneuver.

Sometimes, a character has to use the old noggin in ways not recommended by the Surgeon General. Head butts are very effective if the target is grappled or very close, because it’s hard to dodge out of the way. If the Head Butt misses, though, the attacker hits the target with the wrong part of the head, and she takes the damage instead of the victim. Head Butts use a Dexterity + Kung Fu - 2 roll, or the Combat Score -2, and do (2 x Strength) base points of damage (Bash type).

To impress friends and smite foes, few things beat a Jump Kick. It’s not easy to do, but when done right, it puts the kick back into “butt-kicking.” Jump Kicks require two rolls, but count as a single action. The first is a Dexterity and Acrobatics roll, or use the Combat Score, to get airborne; the second is a Dexterity + Kung Fu - 3 roll, or Combat Score - 3. The kick does 3 x (Strength + 1) base points of damage (Bash type), and gains an additional damage bonus equal to the Success Levels of the Dexterity and Acrobatics roll or Combat Score. Of course, if either of the rolls miss, the Jump Kick becomes a Jump Stumble (the character falls down and loses untold style points). A Jump Kick is the only attack action the character can attempt on that Turn (no multi- actions with this puppy).

The plain vanilla kick is a simple yet effective way to put a hurting on someone. If a kick is parried, the target has a golden chance to try and grapple the leg, though. The Kick uses a Dexterity and Kung Fu - 1 roll, or the Combat Score - 1, but football and soccer players can replace Kung Fu with Sports if they like. Ditto for ballet dancers (use Art instead of Sport). Base damage is 2 x (Strength + 1) points (Bash type).

Closed fist, traveling quickly towards the target. Uses a Dexterity and Kung Fu roll, or the Combat Score, and does 2 x Strength points of damage (Bash type). ‘Nuff said.

The All-American football maneuver that can stop touchdowns or bring down fleeing vampires. Tackles use Strength and Sports rolls, or Muscle Scores, and can be Dodged but not Parried. On a successful hit, the target takes 2 x Strength base points of damage (Bash type) and, if she fails to resist with a Strength (not doubled) roll or the Muscle Score divided by two, she goes down hard. At the end of a successful tackle, the attacker can grapple the victim’s legs or torso without rolling. Tackling is the only attack that can be attempted on that Turn (no multi-actions here either, nice try).

This is a spinning or roundhouse kick, harder to execute but delivering a great deal more damage. When a character really wants to leave a mark, the Spin Kick is the maneuver of choice. This move has the same potential problems as the regular Kick. It uses a Dexterity and Kung Fu - 2 roll, or the Combat Score -2, and does 2 x (Strength + 2) points of base damage (Bash type).

Just the thing to slow down a charging demon, the Sweep Kick does little damage but sends foes to the ground by kicking their feet out from under them. This special kick uses a Dexterity and Kung Fu - 1 roll, or the Combat Score - 1. If it hits, the defender takes Strength points of base damage (Bash type). Further, the defender must resist with a Dexterity and Acrobatics roll, or the Combat Score to keep his feet. If not, she falls down.

This includes judo throws, wrestling moves, trips and similar methods of making an enemy kiss the ground. The Takedown uses a Strength and Kung Fu roll, or the Muscle Score. If the target fails to Parry or Dodge, she hits the mat and takes Strength points of base (Bash type). Otherwise, the defender takes no damage and the Takedown fails.

Your basic “pick up victim, then hurl victim across the room just to prove how badass you are” move. The defender must be Grappled first and the attacker must have a minimum Strength 4. Then, the attacker uses a Strength (doubled) - 4 roll, or the Muscle Score - 4, and the defender resists using a Strength (not doubled) roll or the Muscle Score divided by two. If the attack succeeds, it does Strength points of base damage (Bash type). Also, the defender is tossed one yard for each Success Level in the roll, and is knocked down automatically. If the attack fails, the defender remains Grappled, but takes no damage and doesn’t go anywhere. Oh, and the attacker looks pretty silly.

Typically used by martial arts styles that focus on disarming and incapacitating an opponent, and also handy for people who just need to take someone else's weapon. Unarmed Disarm uses a Resisted Action with a Dexterity and Kung Fu - 3 roll, or the Combat Score - 3 against the target’s Parry action. If the target's Parry is successful, they may inflict damage as if they had succeeded on a Melee Weapon attack normally.

Unarmed combatants typically need to rely heavily on misdirection to take down enemies that are more heavily armed. A Feint counts as a Resisted Action. It uses an Intelligence and Kung Fu, or the Brains Score, and is resisted by the target’s roll adding Perception and either of those skills, or just the Brains Score. If the attacker wins, she can add the Success Levels of the Feint roll to his next attack action roll against the same opponent.

Your character needs a nearby wall or solid object with a vertical surface. He also needs some serious moxie and moves. With all that, and a Dexterity and Acrobatics - 3 roll, a Dexterity and Kung Fu -3 roll, or the Combat score -3, he can do that awesome 'run up the wall, flip over, and land behind the attacker' business. If the flipper gains at least one Success Level, he adds a +3 bonus to his result (as if he went Full Defense), and can apply that defense result against all attacks against him that Turn. If not hit, the character ends the Turn behind one of his attackers and gains initiative against the bloke the next Turn. If he fails his Wall Flip maneuver, he suffers his own Strength level in Bash damage and winds up prone next to the wall. His style point tally sinks as fast as his chances for survival.

Grabbing someone and slamming him into a wall or other nearby surface is rarely confused for a friendly gesture. The attacker must have sufficient Strength to lift his opponent without much effort, and must succeed in a Grapple roll first. If so, he can swing the defender around and introduce him bodily to a nearby surface. That requires only a Strength and Acrobatics roll or the Muscle score. The grabee defends with a similar roll or Score (assuming he has defense actions available). Damage is 3 x Strength in Bash type. There may also be damage to the surface slammed.

This is a half-nelson, full-nelson, or pretzel twist, in which the character immobilizes the enemy, usually by grabbing him from behind and twisting one or both arms. This requires a successful Grapple, and then a Strength and Kung Fu -2 roll (or the Muscle Score -2). The defender resists with a Strength or Dexterity (whichever is better) and Kung Fu roll, or the best of him Combat or Muscle Scores. If the attacker wins, the defender is at -1 to all actions for every Success Level in the attack until she breaks free or the attacker lets him go. Otherwise, the defender remains grappled.

This section is for armed (as in, melee) combat maneuvers. While you may not want to bring a sword to a gunfight, it's definitely better than your bare fists.

Got a chainsaw and a tutu? Okay, you can skip the tutu. Seriously. Skip it. Anyhow, take a chainsaw and a few stylish dance moves and you've got yourself one deadly maneuver. To pull it off, the hardware hero moves through a crowd of bad guys, swinging his chainsaw wildly. Make a Dexterity and Getting Medieval -4 roll (and apply any additional penalties from the power tool itself) to attack and defend for the Turn. Every Success Level allows him to attack one additional foe along his path (his usual movement rate if you're measuring such things.) Apply the attack roll to each opponent separately. Damage is reduced to half the usual amount though (round down), so Chainsaw Ballet is only really useful when dancing through the mooks and thugs of the evil world. Going Lord of the Dance against a boss demon is a really, really bad idea. On the up side, the Chainsaw Ballet result is applied to defend against all close combat attacks (ranged attacks are unaffected) targeting the user this Turn (with no multi-action penalties.) The Ballet is the only action that can be attempted in a Turn (multi-actions are right out.) It's also very tiring; every Turn after the first this maneuver is repeated, the roll penalty increases by two (cumulatively). Those without appreciation for power tools may be interested in Whirling Sword for an example of such deadly arts conducted with a sword, staff, or other balanced weapon (and damage isn't halved with that maneuver, either.)

So you've got a chainsaw, power drill, or other powered device, and you're surrounded by adversaries. This is the move for you. Dance of the Power Tools allows your hero to spin in place, slashing, drilling, or buffing a group of mooks who are already in close combat with you. The hero gets to defend against every close combat attack (this doesn't do squat against ranged attacks) this Turn using Dexterity and Getting Medieval with a -1 modifier.) He can't make any attacks, but roll a die whenever he is attacked; on a roll of one, the unfortunate has walked right into the power tool and suffers the unfortunate results (roll normally for damage.)

Your basic samurai killing slash; it needs a sword, axe, or similar Medium or Long Slashing weapon. Decapitation uses a Dexterity and Getting Medieval -5 roll, or the Combat Score -5, but damage is multiplied by five after Success Level bonuses are added and armor effects and other special modifiers are subtracted, instead of the usual modifier for damage type.

If the damage is enough to bring the victim to -10 Life Points or less, a Survival Test is in order. If that fails, the head comes off, and the opponent is (usually) killed. Flashy way to dust vampires and finish off battered and beaten enemies, but usually not recommended against anyone who might be able to competently defend themselves.

Any Slash/Stab weapon that has blunt parts can instead be used to inflict Bash damage, at a -2 penalty to the normal combat maneuver. While this is usually used in conjunction with Knockout to subdue a troublesome opponent, it may also come in handy for creatures that take much less damage from normal Slash/Stab attacks - or much more damage from Bash attacks.

Fencers and flashy swordsmen often make a point of trying to disarm their enemies rather than kill them - it makes interrogations much easier, after all. Melee Disarms can be used on any weapon that is the same size or smaller than the weapon being used (a person with a knife could not use Melee Disarm to take away someone's pole-axe, but a fencer could conceivably use this to knock a gun out of someone's hand.)

Melee Disarm uses a Resisted Action with a Dexterity and Getting Medieval - 2 roll, or the Combat Score - 2 against the target’s Parry action.

The art of faking out the adversary and smacking him from an unexpected direction. A Feint counts as a Resisted Action. It uses an Intelligence and Getting Medieval roll, or the Brains Score, and is resisted by the target’s roll adding Perception and either of those skills, or just the Brains Score. If the attacker wins, she can add the Success Levels of the Feint roll to him next attack action roll against the same opponent. This can be taken in the same Turn (at normal penalties for multiple actions), or saved for next Turn; typically, if not used within one Turn, the bonus is lost.

This covers swinging swords and axes, stabbing, and other close combat actions that involve sticking foreign objects into other people, or smashing said objects onto them. It uses a Dexterity and Getting Medieval roll, or the Combat Score. Baseball or hockey players can substitute Sports to swing stick-like weapons (fencers and archery enthusiasts use Getting Medieval, though). Since weapons do different types and amounts of damage (see Appendix I), each weapon should have its own listing in the Combat Maneuver area of the character sheet.

(in testing)

Normal combat assumes you have a single melee weapon at hand which is being used for both offensive and defensive purposes. If you have a weapon in the other hand, you may opt to use it either for an Off-Hand Parry or an Off-Hand Strike - you cannot use it for both (though something with Extra Arms, extra weapons, and Omnidexterity (see the Omnidexterity Quality) can take advantage of both maneuvers.)

With an Off-Hand Strike, you can take a second Melee Weapon attack at only -1 instead of -2; if it matters, by default your first Melee Weapon attack uses your on-handed weapon. Additional attacks are at -2 as normal. (Those with the Ambidexterity Quality use the modifiers noted under that Quality (-0 to your second attack, and -2 to additional attacks as normal.)

Most melee weapons only do you any good if you're actually holding them, and most people don't walk around town with weapons in their hands. As a rule, this usually means that if a weapon is stored in a reasonably accessible location, it takes an Action to ready; if stored somewhere inaccessible, it takes a Turn or more. That usually doesn't sit well with swordmasters, though, who use Ready Weapon (which uses Dexterity (doubled) or Dexterity + WC: Fast Draw) to be ready for abrupt confrontations.

With a Dexterity (doubled) roll, you can ready (that is, acquire and instantly equip) any weapon (or other item) that is reasonably accessible (in a scabbard or other holster or holder on your person, or lying on the ground and unattended) instantly - that is, without expending an Action. Otherwise, you spend an Action. This only helps if the item is reasonably unattended or accessible - searching your backpack for a hand grenade you stuffed in there earlier is still gonna take at least a Turn no matter how fast your hands are.

Poking someone with a sharp pointy thing is going to hurt no matter who it is. Still, if it’s not a vamp, and it’s not in the heart, it’s no different than using a knife. Stake poking uses a Dexterity and Getting Medieval roll, or the Combat Score, and does 2 x Strength points of base damage (Slash/stab type).

While not exactly a decapitation, slitting open someone's throat is usually lethal to anything that needs to breathe or keep blood flowing in order to survive. It can also be used for other forms of critical weak point and arterial targeting, as the GM permits, and usually requires a Short Slash/Stab weapon.

Throat Slit uses a Dexterity + Getting Medieval - 5 roll, or the Combat Score - 5, and is usually used against a sufficiently Grappled target who cannot dodge. Damage inflicted is multiplied by four after Success Level bonuses are added and armor effects and other special modifiers are subtracted, instead of the usual modifier for damage type. In addition, the target automatically loses one Life Point per Turn from blood loss, which means even if they survive, they might die a slow and bloody death anyhow. This can be stopped with an Intelligence plus Doctor check at -3 (most Throat Slits and similar arterial catastrophes aren't the sort of thing you can just slap a band-aid on), or with normal regeneration, or under suitably dramatic conditions.

If the damage is enough to bring the victim to -10 Life Points or less, a Survival Test is in order as usual. Even if the Test is successful, as long as the blood loss continues, so do the Tests until one fails or someone provides medical care.

This is a complex maneuver, swinging a sword or other balanced weapon (staff, fighting sticks, and so on) in a complex and non-self-debilitating pattern. Anybody who steps into range of the whirling sword is attacked (damage as per the Melee Weapon). Even better, any close attack made against the character can be Parried. The character uses a Dexterity and Getting Medieval - 4 roll, or his Combat Score -4 to attack and defend for the Turn. This is a great maneuver against multiple opponents, but has a couple of drawbacks. It's the only action the character can attempt that Turn, and it does squat against ranged attacks (you might've heard of an archaeologist who simply shoots whirling blade masters). The other problem is that the maneuver cannot be used for long before the character gets tired. Every Turn after the first, the penalty for this maneuver is increased by another two.

If you have a weapon in the off hand, you can choose to add +1 to your result for either offense or defense; if you have Ambidexterity, you can add +1 to both offense and defense. Penalties for fatigue are unchanged.

Ranged combat maneuvers are used with ranged weaponry (duh) - this typically refers to thrown or projectile weaponry, such as throwing axes, bows, crossbows, and firearms. As such, ranged combat maneuvers usually use either Getting Medieval (for the archaic weaponry) or Gun Fu (for guns of all caliber and similar weapons). Ranged weapons suffer from range penalties based on the weapon, which are applied to all maneuvers.

Sometimes it pays to take careful aim - if the character misses the vampire’s heart with a crossbow shot, she may not get a second chance. Aiming delays the shot action until near the end of a Turn. The player adds Perception and the appropriate skill (Gun Fu for guns, Getting Medieval for archaic ranged weapons) to the roll or just uses the Brains Score. The shot action roll gets a bonus equal to the Success Levels of the Aiming roll.

The Robin Hood maneuver. A character can fire a bow as fast as she can draw and shoot; multiple shots use the multiple actions penalties. A Bow Shot uses a Dexterity and Getting Medieval - 2 roll, or Combat Score - 2, and its base damage is (4 x Strength) points (Slash/stab type; to a maximum of 20). Modifiers due to range are applicable.

Crossbows are easier to use than bows, but they take longer to reload. It takes one full Turn to reload a crossbow (very hard to do when a vampire is charging). Crossbow shots use a Dexterity and Getting Medieval roll, or the Combat Score, and do 16 points of base damage (Slash/stab type). Modifiers due to range are applicable.

You can't have a cool gunfight in the Old West without a fast-draw contest. Each drawing character uses a Dexterity and Gun Fu - 3 roll, or just his Combat Score - 3. The one with the highest total on the roll or modified Combat Score gets to shoot first (which requires a separate Gunshot Maneuver roll or Combat Score). Fast Reaction Time adds +3 to the roll or Score. If one of the people involved has a gun already in his hand, she gets a +6 to the roll or Score, for obvious reasons. If the shooter takes out the shootee with his first shot, assume the shootee misses completely.

For those with Wild Card (Fast Draw), they may use that in place of Gun Fu, and no penalty is applied.

Fast Draw can also be used to ready small throwing items quickly, in which case use Getting Medieval skill instead of Gun Fu. Without using Fast-Draw, getting a weapon ready takes a normal Action (and thus has the usual penalties on further Actions).

Your basic assault with a deadly weapon. Point towards enemy, pull trigger. Big boom ensues. Use a Dexterity and Gun Fu roll, or the Combat Score. Base damage varies depending on the gun used, but all benefit from Bullet type damage. Modifiers due to range are applicable.

(in testing)

If one gun is good, two guns are better, right? This requires two firearms or similar weapons, both of which must be held in one hand, and both of which must be aimed at the same target. Use Dexterity + Gun Fu - 2 to hit, but effectively double the number of bullets (or other projectiles) that hit the target. (This penalty can be reduced to -1 if you have Ambidexterity; you can fire as many guns as you have hands with Omnidexterity, at -2 per extra gun after the first, and multiply final bullet impact by the total number of guns used. More dakka, anyone?)

If each gun is targeting a different adversary, roll for each gun separately, at -2 per additional gun; Ambidexterity does not help, though Omnidexterity still allows you to use a gun in each hand regardless of the number of hands.

Snipers are trained to take a weapon out of someone's possession without injuring them. Archers sometimes attempt to impress by knocking a weapon out of the user's hand. For times where you don't want to use Target Limb and potentially severely damage them, a Ranged Disarm might just be what you're looking for.

Ranged Disarm uses a Resisted Action with a Dexterity and Getting Medieval or Gun Fu - 3 roll (depending on the weapon you are using), or the Combat Score - 3 against the target’s Parry action. This typically only works on smaller weapons; large weapons typically can't be dislodged with the force of a ranged weapon, but see Target Limb.)

When you're in the midst of a bad situation and relying on ranged weaponry, you typically need to load it as quickly as possible. With Rapid Reload, you can attempt to speed up your reload rates beyond that typically listed. Rapid Reload requires either Dexterity (doubled) or Dexterity + WC: Fast Draw, as well as ready access to the materials one must reload.

If attempting to reload a weapon that normally takes more than one Turn to reload properly (a black powder firearm, for instance), a successful Rapid Reload makes one Turn of reloading count as one Turn plus one Turn per two success levels (minimum 2). In this way, a musket (normally requiring 12 turns to reload) could be reloaded in six Turns by a reasonably proficient user of this Maneuver.

If attempting to reload a weapon that normally takes one full Turn to reload properly (a crossbow, for example), a successful Rapid Reload makes one Turn of reloading occur instead in one Action. However, as this counts as an action, it (and other maneuvers during the turn) are penalized accordingly. A reasonably dexterous individual would be likely to double their rate of fire with a crossbow (fire at normal skill, reload using Rapid Reload - 2 for second action), allowing them to shoot every Turn instead of every other Turn.

If attempting to reload a weapon that takes a certain amount of ammunition per Action (handloading a revolver, for example), there are typically two rates of loading - one if you succeed on a Rapid Reload check, one if you fail. For example, a revolver lets you reload 2 bullets per Action, or 4 if you pass a successful Rapid Reload check.

If attempting to reload a weapon that can be entirely reloaded with an Action (a clip in a pistol, for instance), you can typically perform it without an Action with a Rapid Reload roll (with any normal penalties accrued for multiple actions to this point). Failure means you have to spend an Action to reload as normal.

The art of taking a properly balanced weapon and throwing it at a target. The range of this attack is two yards plus two yards per Strength level. Throw Weapon uses a Dexterity and Getting Medieval -1 roll, or the Combat Score -1, and the base damage varies by the weapon tossed.

Targeting maneuvers can be used interchangeably (in most cases) with melee or ranged weaponry, or even (in some cases) unarmed combat.

Your basic unsightly 'gray matter scrambling' move. This covers gunshots to the head, killing blows to the old cranium, and similar murderous acts. Simple punches to the face don't count - it's fairly easy to punch people in the face and that sort of attack is not forceful enough to get a damage bonus. Attacking the brain specifically uses the appropriate Combat Maneuver with a -4 penalty, or the Combat Score - 4. Bash damage is doubled for a Brain Shot, Slash/Stab damage tripled, and Bullet damage quadrupled - nothing says 'you're history' quite like large-scale brain trauma.

Don't see what you want to hit here? That's quite alright – a Called Shot uses a modifier determined by your GM based on difficulty.

The GM is likely to include his own modifiers for difficulty. For example, Decapitate is effectively -3 for the size of the target, and an extra -2 for the difficulty of the maneuver. As usual, the GM makes the final call as far as what modifier is appropriate for a certain shot. Note that particularly large creatures may have lower penalties to hit specific areas - the Amish robot Barnotron, with a head made from a single large barn, may garner a mere -1 to hit for size (though the range penalties will likely make up for it). GMs may also reduce or negate penalties in situations where they are less applicable than usual; hitting a dragon in the eye is much harder on the ground (in part due to those range penalties, in part due to target size) than it is if you're sitting on the dragon's head.

Hitting below the belt may be frowned upon by the old-school pugilists, but they’re all dead now, so who cares what they think? The attack employs another attack maneuver, with a -3 penalty to the roll or score. Damage is normal, but a male victim must gain at least one Success Level with a Willpower (doubled) roll (or the Brains Score) minus double the Success Levels of the attack. If not, he is knocked down and unable to do anything for the Turn. Females aren't completely unscathed either, but the Willpower roll (or Brains Score) suffers only a -1 penalty. Every Turn after the first, the character can make a new roll with a cumulative +1 bonus to recover.

The groin shot can be used with several different maneuvers. Kicks are the most common, but a punch, a weapon attack (nobody wants a baseball bat impacting there), and even a head butt (you do what you gotta do sometimes, eh?) may be used.

DEFINITELY EXAMPLE TIME: Our heroine gets really riled and kicks a brand-new vamp where it counts. Anne winds up with an attack roll of 17 (pretty sweet), or five Success Levels. She does her normal four base points of Bash damage, plus five for the Success Levels, but that’s not all, folks. The vamp compares his Brains Score (9) unfavorably with double Anne’s Success Levels (10). Things are not looking good for the bloodsucker.

Sometimes a character wants to take somebody out without inflicting permanent damage. Any Bash attack (punches, kicks, baseball bats, and so on) can be turned into a Knockout attack, at a -2 penalty to the original maneuver. The total damage of the attack is halved, but the victim has to make a Constitution (doubled) roll (or use the Muscle Score) with a penalty equal to the Success Levels of the Knockout roll, or she goes down for the count. Recovery from a knockout is in your fiendish GMly hands; the victim may recover in a few turns, or wake up an hour later … possibly in captivity.

Sometimes you want to break a leg, and not in a show biz good luck kind of way. Targeting a limb (arm, leg, wing, or tentacle) uses the appropriate Combat Maneuver with a -2 penalty, or Combat score -2. Damage over half the target's maximum Life Points cripples or severs that limb; excess damage is lost. Combine that with Slash/stab weapons and you've got some serious problems. Playing with large, sharp things is really only for the pros … and those with lots of Drama Points.

A classic. This attack has no effect on some creatures, but most things, including people, find it hard to survive after a sharp object gets stuck in or near the old ticker. Attacking the heart uses the appropriate Combat Maneuver with a -3 penalty, or the Combat Score - 3. Damage to non-vamps is quadrupled (after applying the base damage, Success Levels, and any armor; this multiplier replaces the damage type modifier). Through the Heart is used principally with bows, crossbows, stakes, and thrown stakes but other implements can and will be used.

Vampires and other creatures that can be killed-off-for-real if struck in just the right spot by a material take five times normal damage – if that damage is enough to immediately kill them. If not, treat damage as normal for its weapon and type for all intents and purposes (including any vulnerabilities the creature may have).

House Rule: Of course, there are those who might argue that hitting someone Through the Heart with a stake is a difficult trick, due to pesky things such as ribcages in the way. Those who are inclined to argue this point may choose to declare that the first eight points of damage inflicted by any Through the Heart maneuver are inflicted normally to the body; any further damage is treated as Through the Heart. This typically means that a mere mortal may have to resort to the hammer-and-stake method to stake their vampires, while even the heroic will have to soften their prey up if they want it to have any serious effects.

Defensive maneuvers are pretty easy to describe - they're what keeps pain, suffering, and misfortune from affecting your character. Usually, these make use of Getting Medieval or Kung Fu, although Acrobatics comes in handy for some of the flashier maneuvers.

Isn’t it super cool when a character just snatches sharp stuff out of the air? Don’t try it at home, though - it’s only for trained professionals. This maneuver uses a Dexterity and Kung Fu - 5 roll, or the Combat Score - 5. If the catcher’s roll is not greater or equal to the thrower’s roll, the weapon attack does an additional +5 base damage (nothing like jumping into the flight path of an object built for harm) on the limb used to catch the item. On the other hand, if the catcher’s roll works, she has a weapon all ready to go. And remember, reusing helps save the Earth.

A special type of Dodge, Dive for Cover neutralizes the typical -2 penalty on Dodges versus ranged attacks for any imminent attacks, but automatically renders the defender prone afterwards (and thus, more vulnerable to further attacks, if the opponent can still see them). The GM may give a higher bonus if suitable cover is available to dive behind (diving into a foxhole to dodge gunfire, for instance). This may be required in order to successfully dodge attacks such as large-scale explosions, automatic fire, close-range shotgun blasts, and similar wide-area attacks.

This is where the hero ducks, somersaults or leaps out of the way of an attack. Dodging hand-to-hand attacks can be done once per Turn without penalty (after which normal action penalties apply); dodging missile attacks (bullets, ninja stars, harpoons) suffers a -2 penalty on top of any other modifiers. Use a roll and add Dexterity and the highest appropriate skill (Acrobatics, Getting Medieval, or Kung Fu), or just use the Combat Score.

(in testing)

This requires a large-surfaced item and some skill in using it properly; medieval knights prefer good old-fashioned shields, but anything large enough to stop a blow will do in a pinch. Shields designed for the purpose provide a bonus to Off-Hand Block, and use Dexterity + Getting Medieval; improvised weapons use Dexterity + Kung Fu - 1, or appropriate Wildcard skills, with bonuses or penalties at the GM's option for particularly useful or useless items. In either case, a successful Block inflicts damage on the item - possibly destroying it. A proficient user can Block slow missle fire (arrows and thrown weapons) at -1, or fast missle fire (gunfire and similar attacks) at -3 - again, at GM's option.

(in testing)

A normal parry assumes you have a single weapon which is being used for both offensive and defensive purposes. If you have a weapon in the other hand, you may opt to use it either for an Off-Hand Parry or an Off-Hand Strike (see below) - you cannot use it for both unless you have Extra Arms and Omnidexterity (see the Omnidexterity Quality.)

With an Off-Hand Parry, you can take a second defensive action (as long as one of those defensive actions is a Parry) at only -1 instead of -2; if it matters, by default your first Parry action uses your off-handed weapon. Additional defenses are at -2 as normal. (Those with the Ambidexterity Quality use the modifiers noted under that Quality (-0 to your second defense, and -2 to additional defenses as normal.)

Your basic blocking move, used to deflect close combat attacks. Weapons may only be parried by weapons; a hand-to-hand attack may be parried by a weapon and that’s going to cause normal damage for that weapon to the bonehead who rushed in unarmed. A Parry uses a Dexterity and Kung Fu roll, or a Dexterity and Getting Medieval roll, or the Combat Score. Thrown weapons can be parried at a -2 penalty. Arrows and crossbow bolts are parried at a -6 penalty. Parrying bullets requires a total Perception plus Senses score of 10 or higher and comes at a -12 penalty - but usually, dodging is much more efficient.

Some maneuvers simply don't fit anywhere else - or haven't been sorted yet. This is their home.

(in testing)

There are a number of problems with bringing fists to a swordfight, but the most important is that they're probably going to be able to hit you before you can hit them (which can be particularly painful if they parry your fist with their battle-axe.) Hence, Close Ranks is the maneuver you need to enter the personal space necessary to use your weapon appropriately without getting a nasty Parry for your trouble. (Note that if you Close Ranks and attack on the same turn, your attack takes a -2 to hit due to multiple actions, but not taking advantage of the situation usually results in an enemy falling back to a range they can use their weapon from; see the Fall Back maneuver.)

Close Ranks uses Dexterity plus the higher of Acrobatics or (Kung Fu or Getting Medieval), depending on the weapon you are currently using, and is resisted by the same; Mooks use their Combat score. A successful Close Ranks lets you be the personal space invader inside of your opponent's weapon reach and attack without fear of being Parried; a failed Close Ranks means that you fail (and that your opponent can then gleefully Parry any upcoming attacks from you normally.)

In order to Close Ranks successfully and safely, you have to already be within general melee range of your opponent; moving long distances negates the ability to Close Ranks on the same turn, so you'd better hope your attack skills are sharp.

A person currently being Grappled is considered to be at short range to his grapplers under most circumstances.

(in testing)

As with Close Ranks, Fall Back uses Dexterity plus the higher of Acrobatics or (Kung Fu or Getting Medieval), depending on the weapon being used; unlike Close Ranks, Fall Back receives a +2 bonus if the person using the maneuver literally moves back and away from an attacker directly in front of them. In order to Fall Back, a person must not be Grappled. If the person using Fall Back succeeds, they can move away to the range of their weapon (or escape from their immediate combat and move farther, if desired.)

Sometimes, fighting is not the best option. Going fully defensive allows the character to defend against two attacks at no penalty (and against others if extra actions are available), and gives him a +3 bonus to all defense actions (dodges and parries, for the most part). No attacks are allowed on the Turn the character goes into Full Defense mode, although noncombat actions (such as movement and Taunts) are allowed.

This is a good idea for Mortals (particularly those with Combat Scores below 9) who want to keep their enemies busy until help arrives. Asking for one's mommy doesn’t provide any bonuses, but might make the character feel better.

Here the character attacks recklessly, without worrying about defense. Best reserved for surprise attacks or suicide troops. It’s also good when several attackers are going after one target. The character gets a +2 bonus on all attacks in that Turn, but cannot defend against any attacks. Note that for those most feeble of NPCs (Combat Score 8 or lower), the only way to have any chance of success when attacking is to go Full Offense, or use a Drama Point.

(in testing)

Sometimes, your hero has just the snappy comment to make the enemy's blood boil and hopefully make them make a crucial mistake. That's where Taunting comes in. Taunting counts as a noncombat Action, and can be performed while involved in a Full Defense; it receives no benefits from Full Defense or Full Offense, and attempts to perform other Actions in the Turn still result in a -2 penalty.

To use this, you choose a desired effect and a method of eliciting that effect (insults, lewd suggestions, significant threats, etc), and roll Perception or Intelligence (whichever is higher) + Influence - 2, resisted by the subject's Willpower (doubled) minus the level of any appropriate Drawbacks. If you succeed, the effect takes place. If you have abilities or effects that would normally enhance this effect, your GM may give you bonuses based on these effects (Attractiveness versus Lecherous opponents, for seductive provocations, for example). A list of effects:

• Provoke. Attempts to enrage, arouse, intimidate, or otherwise upset the subject into focusing their actions exclusively on the Taunter. This lasts for one Turn, unless the subject has a Drawback that would play into the Taunt, in which case, it may last for a number of Turns equal to the Success Levels of the Taunt, or until the Taunter is dead or something else gets the subject's attention.

• Distract. Attempt to enrage, arouse, intimidate, or otherwise upset the subject so that they are less focused on defense. This reduces all defenses by that target (including against attacks the user may make) by 1 (or by the Success Levels of the Taunt, if the target has a Drawback that would make them vulnerable to this maneuver; Violent vampires would fall for an enraging distraction, Lecherous ones would fall for a suggestive flirtation, etc.)

• Divert. Attempts to enrage, arouse, intimidate, or otherwise upset the subject so as to divert their attention. If successful, the Success Levels of the Taunt are used to penalize any Perception-based rolls the subject makes (resistance versus stealth, for example) for one Turn (or for a number of Turns equal to Success Levels if a relevant Drawback exists in the subject). This may also trigger any Drawbacks appropriate to the subject.

Taunting has no effects on characters with Iron Will. If multiple people Taunt the same person, the most recent Taunt takes precedence and negates previous Taunts. Drawbacks triggered by Taunts, however, do not become untriggered by other Taunts.

This typically requires a successful Grapple, an unresisting subject, or a subject that is otherwise completely incapable of resisting; against a subject who is merely Grappled but otherwise still capable of defending, it requires a Dexterity + Kung Fu or Combat roll to land the bite. This inflicts 2 x Strength Slash/Stab damage; after a hit, the vampire can choose to automatically inflict 3 x Strength damage (unaffected by type modifiers) per round from draining without an attack roll, and the opponent must make a Willpower (not doubled) roll and achieve one success to take any defensive or offensive action while being drained, including resisting the Grapple.

Most users of this ability have Vampiric Regeneration; they regain 1 LP for every five LP of damage inflicted through draining. The average mortal is sufficient to restore roughly 5 LP (26 LP / 5 = 5); most tougher types provide tastier treats, in part due to them having more LP to go around.

A vampire can choose to draw out the experience - either to focus on the more pleasurable aspects, or simply to preserve the life of the drained - draining anywhere from one LP per Turn to their full normal amount. However, vampires must make a Willpower (doubled) roll to stop feeding in a timely manner if they have a reason to be hungry (severe injury, general starvation, etc), and some may not choose to stop even if they have a reason to. On the other hand, physical pleasure is awfully distracting; vampires who draw out the experience for pleasure (half maximum damage or less per turn) may make a Constitution plus Influence roll, with any successes being subtracted from the victim's ability to resist. (For group feedings, use the highest success as the penalty to the roll.) This can be very addictive. This is partially responsible for the prevalence of bite clubs - clubs where vampires feed on humans and are paid for the privilege.

(in testing)

So perhaps your strong suit is in observation and alertness, and you'd like to share that benefit with your companions. With Watchful Eye, instead of making any attacks, you make a Perception + Notice roll (plus any relevant senses or other appropriate bonuses) to study the battlefield and assess the situation on the fly. Any success levels generated by this maneuver can then be granted to one character on the battlefield as a bonus to a single roll, based on insight provided by the user of the Watchful Eye to the recipient; this must make a reasonable amount of sense to the situation at hand, and the recipient must be capable of receiving the benefits of the Watchful Eye's information.

At the GM's option, different attributes and skills may be required in order to use Watchful Eye in different situations, and it may have different effects. For example, using the maneuver in the Astral Plane might require Intelligence plus Occultism plus any bonuses from supernatural senses, and provide defensive bonuses only; using the maneuver in a world where combat works according to a musical beat system would require Perception plus Art plus Hearing bonuses (with the usual results of the Talentless drawback); using the maneuver in a cyberspace realm might require Intelligence plus Computers and grant a penalty to a single roll of an opponent (via quick obstructive hacking), and so forth.

In most worlds, fights don’t happen in neat boxing rings and the rules are less Marquis of Queensbury and more Marquis de Sade. There’s no such thing as a fair fight when you have supernatural entities and hunters and other weirdness in the mix. Below are some complications that can add spice to your hunting activities.

Psst, a word of advice - if you have to stab somebody, stab them in the back - otherwise it ruins the surprise. A distracted opponent (like a vampire busy strangling a vampire hunter) cannot defend against attacks from behind. Targets with Situational Awareness are the exception; they can always defend, but at a -2 penalty. At your discretion, other would-be victims may get a Perception and Notice roll before they are bushwhacked; in that case, they can defend with a -2 penalty. If you as a GM rule that a normal person would not see an attack coming even with high Perception, someone with Situational Awareness can make a Perception and Notice roll, and if successful, can defend with a -2 penalty.

You can't always expect to have the weapon you need when you need it. You can always drop a weapon; throwing it counts as an action, and getting a weapon from a reasonably secure location requires an action (or a successful Fast-Draw maneuver). Weapons or items stowed in a backpack, purse, or other disorganized location require a full Turn to ready. Weapons that require reloading require one or more full Turns to ready unless all preparations are made in advance (for instance, a crossbow that is cocked and sitting within reach). A skilled Fast-Draw enthusiast can try to speed things up (see the Fast-Draw maneuver), at the GM's option.

Being on fire is generally frightening to most people, particularly vampires and other combustible sorts, and typically engenders a Fear Test at -2 (-4 if vulnerable to fire) against Willpower doubled (minus any relevant phobias, and with full penalties for injury; Pain Resistance does not add any benefit to this check, though Nerves of Steel does.) Failure results in being incapable of doing anything but moving or extinguishing (Dexterity doubled; reduce damage per Turn by one point per Success Level; water extinguishes normal fires immediately.) On a success, you may act normally this turn, at -2 due to the distraction of your burning flesh. Anyone contacting a burning individual takes half of the fire's damage per Turn (in Fire damage, natch), and may catch on fire themselves if they're not careful.

Sometimes you need a weapon right away and don't have it handy. Drawing or equipping a weapon typically counts as an Action. If the item is buried in a backpack, tool chest, trunk, or enemy's skull, it could take several Turns to ready. The GM is free to make a verdict on this, but the Fast Draw or Quick Draw maneuvers help.

Getting knocked on one’s bottom is a bad thing. When a character is knocked down, she cannot attack for the remainder of the Turn, and defenses are at a -4 penalty. After that, all actions (both offensive and defensive) suffer the -4 penalty until the character stands. Getting up takes one Turn. Doing it with that oh-so-cool flip and snap thing requires two Success Levels on a Dexterity and Acrobatics roll. A number of Combat Maneuvers result in a knockdown. Also, any blow that inflicts more than triple the victim’s Strength in damage (before accounting for Slash/stab or Bullet modifiers) may result in a knockdown, at your discretion (only do it if it seems dramatically appropriate).

Not being able to see somebody cuts way down on accuracy. On the plus side, invisible people aren’t encountered that often. On the minus side, they do exist - and when they do, they're incredibly annoying. Ranged attacks on invisible targets hit by pure chance. Make a roll; if the result is a ten, roll again. If that result is a nine or ten, the attack hits (like we said, pretty slim chance). Attribute and skill modifiers are irrelevant. The same rule applies for close combat attacks when the invisible target attempts to avoid combat. When the no-see-em engages in close combat, the opponent can concentrate for a Turn and make a Perception and Notice roll (or the Brains Score) with a -2 penalty. Success allows an attack to be launched or a defense to be employed (not both) against the invisible person but any such action suffers a -4 penalty. Once the attack or defense is done, another Turn of concentration is necessary to strike or defend again. The Perception roll may be dispensed with if some other means is used to pinpoint the invisible character. Steam, smoke, or other airbourne substance can mark the see-thru person, as would a sheet draped over him or a bag of flour poured on him. Penalties to hit marked invisible folks are only -2.

Characters can attack and defend once a Turn at no penalty. Fast and furious fighters, however, can do more. Characters can take extra attacks and defenses, but each subsequent attack or defense after the first suffers a cumulative penalty of -2. Noncombat actions are counted as 'attacks' for purposes of determining penalties. Characters make one die roll and modify the results appropriately for each action. When one attack fails, all attacks afterwards automatically fail; however, one failed defense does not necessarily mean other attacks will strike (though it's usually a bad sign.)

EXAMPLE ME, BABY: Jamie, a vampire hunter with Dexterity 7, finds herself in an alley with three vamps. She's in a hurry, so she decides to attack each vamp in one Turn - not a problem, as she could make up to three extra attacks if she wanted. She rolls and adds her Dexterity and Kung Fu; the result is 20. That’s over the first vamp’s Combat Score of 18, so he gets hit. Jamie’s second attack uses the same result (20) but subtracts two and becomes an 18. That ties the second vamp’s Combat Score (18 as well), so the blow doesn’t land (ties go to the defender). Jamie cannot take her third attack as the second vamp defended successfully against her.

Of course, most people don't stick to just one weapon when two can cut through people so much better. First, the positives of dual wielding:

• Fighters with a weapon in one hand and a shield in the other can use Off-Hand Block to stop incoming attacks through sheer force and strength of equipment. If a block roll succeeds by the bonus the shield's provides, the attack gets through, but the shield's AV reduces the amount of damage taken.

• Fighters with weapons in each hand receive lessened penalties for performing multiple attacks (if they use Off-Hand Strike) or defenses (if they use Off-Hand Parry). In addition, they receive a bonus when using Whirling Sword.

• Beings with natural weaponry can treat them as weapons for the purpose of dual wielding - a tentacular horror can use its extra arms for Off-Hand Strikes (and may have Omnidexterity in order to use more of them!)

• A Disarm attempt removes only one weapon at a time.

It's not all sunshine and stakes, though; there are some negatives involved:

• In order to gain the benefits of dual wielding (particularly, the defensive bonuses), you have to have both weapons 'ready' – and each weapon counts separately for purposes of 'Ready' actions, thus limiting your options. If you have two nearly identical weapons stored in convenient places, you can make a single Fast-Draw roll at -2 to draw both of them in a single smooth motion.

• This is probably fairly obvious, but it bears repeating – you cannot pick up anything while dual-wielding; your hands are full! (Those with more than two prehensile arms are free to ignore this restriction.)

Note, however, that an item used off-handed under unusual conditions (such as, after your favorite weapon arm has been severed, or while clinging to a mountainside with your good arm) gives a -2 penalty to use.

While many people are perfectly content to settle their differences mano-a-mano, some people are more inclined to bring a mount to an infantry fight (whether this be a horse, a dragon, a demon, or who knows what else.)

So how's mounted combat work? First off, the rider can attack or direct the mount to attack in a Turn. This assumes the mount is the attacking-on-command type (such as a warhorse or demon). If the rider directs the mount to attack, he has to succeed at a Riding roll (this is considered part of the mount's attack and does not count as a multiple action.) If he fails, the mount ignores him unless attacked itself. If the rider wants to both attack and direct his mount, he suffers multiple-action penalties.

Both the rider and the mount can defend once per Turn without suffering multiple action penalties, but they suffer a -1 penalty each (one may be dodging one way while the other dodges the other way.) The rider can work with his mount to defend against one single attack but has to succeed at a Riding roll; if he does, no penalty is applied to the defense roll.

If the rider has a weapon with significant reach (swords, axes, spears, etc. - no close combat weapons) and is attacking someone not mounted nearby, he gets a height advantage: +3 to the attack and +1 to effective Strength for damage purposes. A rider may not use a two-handed weapon. Also, ranged weapon attack rolls are much harder from atop a mount: -1 to -4 depending on how fast the mount is moving and how uneven the ground is. Attacking up at a mounted rider imposes a -3 attack penalty unless the ground-pounder has a pole arm. In that case, the rider must close with the pole-arm wielder using a Dexterity + Riding roll against the standar's Dexterity (doubled) or Dexterity and Acrobatics roll. If the rider fails, only the pole-armer can attack. This is how several ground troops can beat a rider… unless the knight simply rides away and comes back with a lance charge, that is. Even then, a set pole arm attack gains initiative against a mounted charge. Without pole arms, the footman's best bet is getting a bunch of buddies together and Grappling the rider to the ground.

If both combatants are mounted, combat works as normal - rider versus rider. Knights with a modicum of self-respect don't attack mounts, but the evil and the pragmatic might have other opinions on the subject. Obviously, whoever or whatever is being attacked defends normally.

Jousting involves galloping full speed towards each other while pointing lances in menacing ways. It's intensely serious stuff as a measure of manliness. As a measure of sanity, it's right after taking a bath with a toaster. Dodging isn't an option in a joust; best have a shield (the bigger, the better) and some good blocking skills.

Numbers count. When two or more attackers gang up against a single target, their actions gain a +1 bonus for each attacker, to a maximum of +4 (more than four attackers just get in each other’s way). So, if two vamps attack a hunter, they each get a +2 to their Combat Score. Again, if the defender doesn’t have enough actions to defend against all attacks, some attacks are resisted with a zero defense roll. Here is another way for below-nine Combat Score characters to have a chance of hitting their opponent - attack in numbers. Bonuses only apply in close combat – ranged combat has no such bonuses.

Characters do not receive a tag-team bonus if they change intentions, and all tag-team bonuses are lost if any participants change intentions.

Sometimes, the bad guys don’t just want to kill. Sometimes they want to tie a character up. When tied up, chained, or otherwise restrained, fighting is a lot more difficult. If the character’s legs are free, he can kick at no penalty. If he can move (i.e., isn’t bound to a stake or chained to a wall), he can also head butt. If his arms are tied in front of him, he can punch at a -2 penalty. Getting free uses Dexterity and Acrobatics, with penalties from -1 (the bad guys were never in the Boy Scouts) to -6 (a few miles of rope used, or police handcuffs).

For the action-horror lover in you, here's a special aside. Any time a poor sucker suffers more than 30 points of damage in a single blow from a 'bloody' wound, the area around him is literally showered in blood; anyone in range has to make a Constitution (doubled) check or lose their next action. Anytime someone or something actually dies from a 'bloody' wound - death by chainsaw, decapitation, watching Fox News until their head explodes - the gore is even greater. Everyone in a ten-foot radius has to make a Constitution roll. Since there are typically chunks of brain, bone, and other ick involved in such a fatal wound, Constitution isn't doubled.

Some demonic monsters are a special case - they're so full of blood that they impose a -2 penalty on all Buckets o' Blood rolls. Yuck.

Why resort to fisticuffs when enemies can be dispatched via long distance? While guns are not the weapon of choice in many worlds (see Gun Control, below), they are a fact of life.

Generally speaking, missile combat works just like regular combat. Attackers make their rolls or use their Combat Score, and the target tries to defend (usually by dodging). Dodging gunshots and the like is difficult, though; a dodge against missiles suffers a -2 penalty on top of any others that are applicable (the character is busy ducking for cover). If there is no available cover, the missile weapon dodge penalty increases to -4.

Depending on your world, your characters might be trundling around a lot of firearms. Keeping track of the number of bullets in their guns, charges in their tasers, and so on can get old real fast. Now there are some circumstances - such as when your ammunition supplies are limited (silver bullets to take down a werewolf pack, for instance, or when you're using rocket launchers) - where you really need to keep track of ammunition, but for most purposes it's a pain all around. So we're testing an alternate system for running out of ammo: Clip Value.

Clip Value causes weapons to occasionally run out of ammo without all the mess and bother of actually tracking the number of shots that have been fired. Clip Value is a number, usually between one and three. When a character fires a weapon, if the number on the d10 part of the Gun Fu roll is equal to or less than the Clip Value, she can't use that weapon again until she spends some time fixing the problem. The GM should assign a reload time of one to three Turns, depending on the weapons, the nature of the problem, and what best fits the scene (i.e., you’re tired of the Cast using their assault rifles all the time). Clip Value does not have to reflect running out of ammo; obviously, if a character spends a Turn reloading and then immediately has another bad roll, she’s probably not out of bullets again. Perhaps the gun has jammed. Perhaps the safety got switched on. The cosmetic details are up to the GM; they could even decide to let the player off the hook, if she’s been having bad roll after bad roll. The main question is - what would be the most fun for all concerned?

For weapons not already listed here, one can extrapolate Clip Values with the following handy table:

For weapons with one or two shots - say, rocket launchers - we’re assuming you can keep track of the ammo. If a weapon is used with burst fire, add one to its Clip Value; with automatic fire, add two to its Clip Value. A 30-shot assault rifle normally has a Clip Value 1; but if the character is firing bursts, the Clip Value is increased to two, and if used in full auto mode, Clip Value is increased to three. If a weapon has an extremely high capacity - like the taser cannon - you may want to ignore ammunition completely, unless the shooter is using special bullets or using automatic fire.

Again, the GM decides when to use Clip Values or whether to use them at all. The basic question is whether there’s a plotline reason to make players keep track of ammunition. If the need to conserve ammo is an important part of the story, make ‘em sweat it out. But for a more cinematic “we’ve got all the bullets we need” sort of thing, use Clip Value. Feel free to switch halfway through an episode, too: “Uh-oh, ammo’s running low - you’re all down to one clip apiece.” It’s all about the drama, baby.

“But wait!” you say, “What about creatures that just use the Combat Score and never roll? Do they never run out of ammo?” Well, aren't you a pain in the butt. You've got two options for you: either go ahead and roll a die for enemy shooters, purely to see if they have gun problems, or arbitrarily make them run out of ammo when it suits the needs of the story. If you're the GM, have some fun with it!

To keep things simple (this ain’t the Black Hawk Down RPG, y’know), assume no penalty at Short Range, a -1 penalty to shots at Medium Range, and a -3 penalty to shots at Long Range. A quick and dirty guide to short range would be under five yards for pistols and 20 yards for rifles. Medium range is under 20 yards for pistols and under 100 yards for rifles. Long range is up to 50 yards for pistols and up to 300 yards for rifles. People who want more detail can make their own approximations. Specific weapons with vastly differing ranges (such as sniper rifles) have this mentioned in their description.

If shooting doesn’t work at first, shoot them again and again. Most guns can fire more than once in a five-second period (in fact, most handguns can be emptied in five seconds). Roll and add Dexterity and Gun Fu; each additional shot uses the same roll, but suffers a cumulative -1 penalty (-2 for Big Pistols and larger). Guns are not constrained by the Multiple Actions rules unless firing at targets spaced wildly apart. Bows use the Multiple Actions rules. Crossbows and other single-shot weapons must be reloaded after each shot (takes a full Turn, or an Action on a successful Fast-Draw roll.)

Automatic weapons (assault rifles and machine guns) can fire a constant stream of bullets until the gun runs dry or the barrel overheats. While this might make the firer feel confident, constant recoil makes this fairly inaccurate. Group autofire into lots of ten or less bullets. For the first group of ten, the Success Levels of a Dexterity and Gun Fu roll show how many bullets hit. Each subsequent group uses the same roll but applies a -4 cumulative penalty.

Autofire is useful as suppression, though. The shooter picks a doorway-sized area and fills it with lead. Roll Dexterity and Gun Fu. Anyone moving into that area is hit by a number of bullets equal to the Success Levels of the roll.

No matter how autofire is used, anyone in the area must make a Willpower (doubled) roll or spend all their actions hitting the ground, ducking behind cover, or otherwise making themselves as invisible as possible. You should modify that roll as you see fit based on how close the person is to the hail of gunfire and how much combat experience he has.

Trained soldiers fire bursts – controlled gunfire that sends three downrange. For any autofire, make one attack roll; each Success Level in the roll allows one bullet to hit the target (up to the number of bullets fired). Successive bursts use the same roll but lose -3 cumulatively.

With either autofire or burst fire, the base damage for each bullet is modified by armor, and then added together before applying the Bullet type modifier. Success Levels do not affect the damage calculation. Still, lots of bullets leads to lots of death.

Typically, handguns are either revolvers (with five to six shots in the cylinder) or semi-automatics (with seven to 15 shots in the magazine). Hunting rifles and shotguns have one to five shots. Assault rifles and sub-machine guns have 20-30 shots in a magazine.

Some players may opt for the “Rambo Option” when fighting the supernatural, and festoon themselves in military hardware. For worlds where this is not the desired outcome, here are a few friendly reminders of why this might not always be a good idea.

First of all, guns are loud. Your typical cemetery fight, using hands, feet and assorted medieval cutlery, does not make enough noise to be noticed by the neighbors. Guns can be heard several blocks away, and a running gun battle soon results in 911 calls and the attention of the authorities. Unless the characters want to engage in open warfare with local and state SWAT teams, gun use is a no-no. Even professional military organizations, if they're attempting to be secretive, refuse to use guns extensively, especially in American cities, where the danger of collateral damage is so high.

Second, guns leave a trail. Bullets and guns can be traced to their crimes (and even to crimes that the current user wasn’t aware of) through ballistic forensics. Those using guns wind up with detectable residue on their hands and clothes. Next thing you know, assorted law enforcement agents are knocking on the door (or more likely, knocking down the door). Typically, supernatural hunters don’t want to attract too much attention, because they are much more likely to end up behind bars than they are to convince the authorities that they are fighting the good fight. Guns can be acquired illegally, but that means the characters will be dealing with criminals of assorted types. Not something conducive to long-term profits or health.

Finally, guns aren’t very effective against vampires in particular. Bullets hurt vampires, but they take a minimal amount of damage from them (damage/2 points). It takes several shots to knock down your typical bloodsucker, which brings us back to the “guns are loud” bit - one shot might be ignored, but five or six are going to be noticed. When it comes to slaying the undead, the old ways work best.

Still, sometimes you just want to shoot your problems. Some monsters happen to respond well to military hardware; in other worlds, you do have the right to bear arms; and sometimes, your adversaries have their own firearms and aren't nearly as shy about putting them to use, so why bring a sword to a gunfight? Either way, bear in mind the potential hazards involved when you start fighting fire with firearms.

Land enough punches and kicks on somebody, and something is going to break. Monster-fighting is a dangerous job, and the characters should expect their share of lumps, cuts and bruises. The occasional visit to the emergency room or even, for extreme cases, the morgue is not out of the question (although in many worlds, characters visit the morgue as investigators rather than as paying customers). When an attack hits a defender, subtract the total damage inflicted from the defender’s Life Points. Once their Life Point pool is depleted, the character is at risk of losing consciousness or dying. Armor can protect the defender from some harm. Players should probably write down their characters’ Life Points on a piece of scrap paper, and subtract from it rather than erase and scribble on the character sheet. For those of you using computer access, Notepad works just as well.

Each attack action has a base damage number or a formula. If it is a number, the base damage is fixed, an inherent characteristic of the weapon - a .45 pistol does the same base damage for everybody (it’s very democratic that way). Formulas usually depend on the Strength of the attacker - a punch from a 400-pound demon is going to hurt more than a punch from either Mary Kate or Ashley. Do the calculations once, and write the base damage of the attack on the Combat Maneuver List portion of the character sheet.

During play, the actual damage inflicted is equal to the base damage, plus one per Success Level of the attack roll, minus any Armor Value possessed by the defender, multiplied by any damage type or other modifier (see below). That’s a bit complicated, but once you play through a few combats, it will become much easier. The character sheet has the Success Level Table right by the Combat Maneuver area, so a quick glance provides that information. Quick Sheets have the Success Levels of the Combat Score worked into their damage entries.

EXAMPLE AWAY: Alecia has Strength 2. The Kick base damage formula is (2 x (Strength + 1)); enter two into the formula, and voila! Alecia’s Kick inflicts a base damage of six points. After an attack roll, she also gets to add the Success Level to this base damage. So if Alecia gets two Success Levels on a kick attack, she adds two to her base six, for a total damage result of eight Life Points.

EXAMPLE TWICE: Alecia uses a knife in the next combat. Knife base damage is (2 x Strength), or four for Alecia. After an attack roll with two Success Levels, the damage becomes six. Further, a knife is a Slash/stab weapon (see next), so the final damage is doubled to 12 Life Points.

EXAMPLE THRICE: Alecia is now loose with a pistol. The gun has a base damage of 12 (no formula this time). Alecia’s two Success Level attack raises that to a 14. Her target is wearing a bulletproof vest, though, which subtracts 10 from the damage, leaving a mere four. Bullet damage - the kind imposed by the gun - is doubled after armor (see below). So, the final damage result is eight Life Points.

There are four major types of damage: Bash, Slash/Stab, Bullet, and Fire.

This covers any attack by a blunt object (fists, two-by-fours, falling safes, and so on). Bash attacks reduce Life Points normally. It is the only type of attack that can be used to knock out a victim (knives and bullets tend to knock people dead). Armor (natural or worn) and the Natural Toughness Quality protect against Bash damage.

Pointy or sharp objects cause blood loss, puncture vital organs, and do other gross and gory stuff. Double this damage against most creatures, after subtracting for armor or similar protection (if any). Weapons with sharp edges can be used to cut off limbs or heads; if a limb is attacked and the damage is enough to reduce the victim to zero Life Points, the limb has been severed (see also the Decapitation Maneuver). Slash/stab damage modifiers are not used with attacks Through the Heart or monster bite attacks; in that case the Through the Heart or Bite multiplier replaces the Slash/stab damage multiplier.

EXAMPLE THIS: Justin stabs a possessed biker and inflicts 26 points of damage. Since the biker has no protection, this is doubled, for 52 points of damage, which likely is going to result in a bad case of road rash. If the biker had been wearing a leather motorcycle jacket (Armor Value 2), two of the 26 points would have been subtracted, reducing the initial damage to 24, doubled to 48 – better, but still not real healthy.

Bullets do nasty things to people. They mostly work like Slash/stab attacks, doubling against normal humans after armor is subtracted. Some critters (vampires especially) take very little damage from bullets, however. Bulletproof vests are very good against Bullet damage, but not so good against Slash/Stab attacks.

Burns are really bad. Fire can scar horribly, and Fire damage heals more slowly than normal. A person on fire takes three points of damage every Turn until somebody puts them out. If more than 20 points of Fire damage are inflicted on a character, some scarring occurs (assuming the victim lives). Fire damage also heals at half the normal rate; the player should keep track of fire damage separately. On the plus side, fire can kill vampires, if they burn long enough.

If you and your players want to keep things simple, have all damage work the same way as Bash attacks - no doubling effect, no healing modifiers and so on. This option is not very realistic, but it is easier to remember.

If a Cast Member is hurt enough, bad things start to happen. Characters reduced to 10 Life Points or below are severely injured, and find it hard to continue fighting; any combat roll suffers a -2 penalty. If reduced below five Life Points, this penalty goes up to -4.

CONSCIOUSNESS TESTS: When reduced to zero Life Points or below, unconsciousness or incapacitation (i.e., the character is conscious, but can only lie there and work very hard on breathing) is likely. The player must make a roll modified by both Willpower and Constitution, with a penalty of -1 for each of the character’s negative Life Points. So, a character at -4 Life Points (she has taken enough damage to reduce his Life Points to zero, and four more points on top of that) has a -4 penalty to his Consciousness Test. If successful, she can act normally (with the usual -4 penalty) but any further damage requires another roll (with new and no doubt greater minuses). The Resistance (Pain) Quality aids consciousness rolls, and reduces wound penalties.

SURVIVAL TESTS: If the character is reduced to -10 Life Points or worse, death is a possibility. He has to make a Survival Test. This uses Willpower and Constitution (just like Consciousness Tests), but suffers a -1 penalty for every 10 points that the character is below zero (i.e., a character reduced to -32 Life Points would have a -3 penalty to his Survival Test). The Hard to Kill Quality provides a bonus to Survival Tests. If the character passes the Test, she lives. If he doesn’t, he Passes On to the Great Beyond (cue somber music). Remember those Drama Points!

SLOW DEATH: If a character is below -10 Life Points and makes a Survival Test, but doesn’t get medical help within a minute, she may still die. Survival Tests are required every minute after the first, at an additional -1 penalty per minute (so after five minutes, the additional penalty would be -5; half an hour later, it would be -30, and even a Drama Point may not be enough to save her). A successful Intelligence and Doctor roll stabilizes the character, and eliminates any need for further Survival Tests (based on that injury).

DYING WORDS AND ACTIONS: Characters who fail a Survival Test are most likely unconscious and incapacitated. This is a huge downer, both for them and for the storyline. Such events should be marked in a significant way - immortalized. Thus, a special rule applies. If a character dies, the player has the option of performing one last deed, or saying some famous last words, at your discretion. The Last Deed option allows the character to act normally for one or two Turns (no wound penalties apply). Famous Last Words can take as much as a minute (more likely, they should consist of a couple of sentences). These are the character’s last acts – make them count.

RESUSCITATION: Some injuries may kill the character, but leave them intact enough for medicine to bring her back. Drowning, gunshot wounds (except to the brain), and similar injuries may not be destructive enough to prevent modern science from saving the character. Common sense should be your guide. If the character was burned to a crisp or killed by a soul-sucking demon that stole his life force, CPR just ain’t gonna do the trick. Resuscitation requires a Doctor and Intelligence roll, followed by another Survival Roll from the victim. In addition to all the previous modifiers, the victim gets a bonus equal to the Success Levels of the Doctor and Intelligence roll, and a -1 per five minutes since his untimely demise.

Or spend Drama Points – they're good for what ails ya!

A hospital or doctor can come in real handy whenever a character is severely injured. Without medical help, characters can heal from wounds, but very slowly (one Life Point per day). With Drama Points, healing is not much of a problem, though. Characters should be up and around by the next Episode, unless the injuries were truly epic in scope.

For the rest of humankind (those not blessed with Drama Point extras, or supernatural regeneration), injuries heal at the rate of one Life Point per Constitution level every day spent under medical care. Some supernatural critters heal much faster, at the rate of one Life Point per Constitution level every hour. Some exceptionally powerful supernatural beings may recover from injury even faster. If you’re up against those folks, we recommend large explosives (trashing the local high school is strictly optional).

Many things can kill a body, including cigarette smoking and high-fat diets. Those are not likely to come up in the course of a Series. The following are.

FALLS: It’s not the fall that hurts – it’s the sudden stop at the bottom. Any fall from more than one yard distance inflicts three points of Bash damage per yard. A Dexterity and Acrobatics roll (or the Combat Score) reduces the fall’s effective distance by one yard per Success Level. So a character who gets four Success Levels in his Dexterity and Acrobatics roll would take no damage from a three-yard fall, and would suffer six points of damage from a six-yard fall.

If you like, top out falling damage at 50 yards (150 Life Points). That’s highly cinematic (a fall of over 50 yards kills most characters but the serious veterans with Drama Points to burn might survive) but not totally bogus (humans have fallen out of airplanes and survived).

SUFFOCATION: If a character is unable to breathe or doesn’t have access to enough oxygen (i.e., underwater), she dies. At least non-vamps do. Anybody can hold out for 12 Turns. After that, a Consciousness Test is required with a cumulative -1 penalty each Turn. Survival Tests kick in, again with the cumulative -1 penalty, each 30 seconds. Those who have lost consciousness may be resuscitated with medical help.

POISON: Poisons have a Strength Attribute. Roll and add the poison’s Strength (doubled); this is resisted by the victim’s Constitution (doubled). If the poison “wins,” the victim is drained of one Attribute level per Success Level in the poison roll. Paralyzing agents drain Dexterity, while debilitating venoms might drain Strength. When the Attribute is reduced to zero, the victim is unconscious or incapacitated and the poison starts draining Constitution. When Constitution reaches zero, the victim dies. The frequency of poison rolls depends on how powerful the substance is. Very deadly poisons roll every Turn, while less powerful agents roll once per minute, per hour, or even per day. An Intelligence and Doctor or Science roll may help identify the poison and remove it from the victim. In other cases, it’s an antidote or nothing. Some poisons are supernatural and require special forms of antidote.

DISEASE: This works just like Poison, except the Disease rolls (using the Strength of Disease) are usually less frequent (rarely faster than once per hour, and typically once per day). Some diseases do not kill; they just incapacitate victims with fevers, chills and other unpleasantness. Some diseases can be mystical in origin— normal treatments or a call to Dr. Mom will not help.

Unless it is dramatically inappropriate, characters can break things without having to roll. Smashing a plate glass window or turning an expensive computer into a pile of useless electronic parts does not require rolls or damage calculations. On the other hand, a few important things that could be broken in the course of a game include doors, walls and other obstacles, where time is of the essence. Typically, the Success Levels of a Strength (doubled) roll determine how fast a door will be knocked down. Walls require a certain amount of damage before a man-sized hole is punched into them. In general, damage type modifiers don’t apply to inanimate objects.

F’INSTANCE: A vampire is trapped behind a cage-like metal structure and the sun is coming up. He goes after the reinforced metal door with abandon. The player rolls and adds his Strength (doubled) (14). Because the first five Success Levels are ignored, the player must roll a five or more to have any effect (19 is six Success Levels). Even then, he must amass eight Success Levels total to break through. Dawn's comin', bloodsucker.

For those who want to get a little more gritty, each object can be said to have a Damage Capacity (the object's “Life Points”). If the item takes more damage than its capacity, it is destroyed. Most objects also have an Armor Value.

Sometimes you just have to throw something. In order to throw something (aside from weapons that are meant to be thrown), the tosser must have a Strength attribute sufficient to lift the item or person without much effort (or have enough people working together to do so). While in most cases, damage thus inflicted is a matter of winging it, this table runs down the damage various weights of items inflict when hurled.

— VEHICLES —

Vehicles do not play a major role in the Buffyverse. It’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, not Knight Rider. In a commando Series though, the squad could be traveling across the world. Despite what the movies would have you believe, you can’t get from New York to Africa by drawing a red line on a map. Here’s a small selection of vehicles to play with—if you need more, just make them up. Sure, it LOOKS like an F-22, but it’s got the same statistics as a helicopter. Trust us, your players won’t know the difference. And if they do, you can always crash the plane.

Vehicles Rules

We’re not going to get into terrible complicated rules for vehicles.  A full set is provided in the Angel RPG Corebook.  For the Angel RPG-challenged, we’ll give the down-and-dirty basics.
If you run a car chase, make contested Driving rolls—if one of the vehicles is obviously faster than the other, give the driver a bonus.   It’s not rocket science . . . unless actual rockets are involved.   For the most part, we’re just going to tell you how hard it is to damage a vehicle and what kind of weapons it’s got—so if the squad brings that helicopter into the fight, you know just how much firepower you need to destroy it and strand the Cast in hostile territory.  Ha!  
Vehicles do have one special statistic.  Damage Capacity is how much damage a vehicle can take before it stops working (stopping dead or exploding in a cool fireball, depending what best suits the scene).  It’s just like a character’s Life Points, but with a few creepy exceptions vehicles aren’t alive, so “Life Points” seems like a stupid name.  Vehicles take the same amount of damage from all damage types; unlike living creatures, piercing a helicopter isn’t much different from whacking it with a crowbar.  In combat, vehicles don’t get to dodge—any Success causes a hit. 

Black Helicopter: Trademark of the true government conspiracy, the black helicopter is the standard vehicle for airborne insertion into a potentially hostile area.  While similar to the Black Hawk helicopter used by the US military, this bird has a few high-tech enhancements.  The black helicopter has the latest in stealth technology, which helps it avoid radar and other detection systems.  In addition, it has sound dampeners that allow it to fly almost completely silently—which can be useful for those violating restricted airspace or sneaking up on a nest of demons.  The helicopter has a crew of two and can carry eleven passengers.  It has a maximum speed of 200 MPH, can reach heights of up to 19,000 feet—you’ll be surprised how often you’ll need to know that—and can travel for about four hours straight, longer if auxiliary fuel tanks are used.  A black helicopter has 14 points of Armor Value and a Damage Capacity of 100.  It has two 7.62 mm machine guns—base damage 20 points (Bullet type), capable of burst fire, a range of  50 (short), 240 (medium), and 1200 (long) yards, and virtually limitless ammo—it runs out when you decide you’ve seen enough shooting out of the Cast.  Cast Members can also shoot from the open side of the helicopter, but anyone in a position to fire out of the helicopter (including using the machine guns, which fire out of the sides of the vehicle) can be attacked directly.  

HMMWV (Hum-Vee): The “Hummer” has become the default vehicle of the U.S. Army; it is used for reconnaissance, troop transport, and command functions. Riley shows up in a spiffy black Hummer in 6.15 As You Were, so it’s a good bet that USTARU uses them as well (strange thing: he arrives in a Hummer but leaves in a helicopter. What happened to the Hummer? Can we have it?). A Hummer requires one driver and can hold seven passengers, or six passengers and a gunner if the vehicle is armed. Possible weapons include a machine gun like the one on the black helicopter, a sun cannon, a holy water cannon, or a taser cannon. A Hummer has a Damage Capacity of 110. Military Hummers have Armor Value 20; the civilian model only has an AV 4.

The Art of Collision

So.  You’re in your Hummer, a vampire is standing in front of you, and your basic thought is “Hello, roadkill!”  What happens when you hit someone?  
To successfully hit a pedestrian with a vehicle, the driver needs to make a Dexterity and Driving roll; the target can dodge as usual.  A successfully hit inflicts Bash damage equal to one-tenth of the vehicle’s current speed plus Success Levels, multiplied by the size value of the vehicle (see the following table).  The vehicle also takes this damage, but if the target is lighter than the colliding vehicle (as in a truck hitting a compact car or virtually anything hitting a person), the vehicle only takes half damage.  If you are using the Monster Smackdown rules, vampires only take half damage from large blunt trauma, like collisions.  

Type of Vehicle Size Value Motorcycle 4 Small Car 5 Car 6 SUV/Hummer 7 Bus, Tractor-Trailer 9

Professional Driver, Closed Course: Riley is driving through Sunnydale in his spiffy black Hummer when he sees a demon henchman in the middle of the road.  Thinking fast, he guns the engine and heads for the demon.  He makes Dexterity and Driving roll and gets three Successes—you decide that he was going about 40 MPH.  The result is seven (40 MPH divided by 10 and three Success Levels) time seven (Hummer Size Value) or 49 points of Bash damage.  Splat goes the demon.  The Hummer takes half damage, as the demon was a light target: 24 points.  Subtract the 20 points of Armor, and only 4 points get through to the Hummer; barely a scratch on the paint.  Riley takes off, looking for more demons to squash.

Speedboat: Miami Vice, anyone?  For water insertions, USTARU typically uses a blacked-out “Go-Fast” boat capable of reaching speeds of up to 50 knots.  The speedboat can carry eight people in addition to the captain, and can mount one weapon—usually a machine gun (use the helicopter gun stats) or sun cannon.  A speedboat has an Armor Value 4 and a Damage Capacity 80.   

The forces of evil might prefer a fair fight, man to undying hellbeast, but that doesn't mean characters from a modern world from occasionally deciding to commit a little vehicular demonslaughter. Likewise, even a relatively minor mook can be made a bit more dangerous with some horsepower. Like characters, vehicles have Attributes:

Weight: The total poundage of the vehicle gives you some idea of its size and bulk. In case a character is driving over unstable ground or ice, it might help you decide whether the vehicle breaks through and bottoms out. For the most part, though, weight is only used for determining damage during collisions.

Speed: This has two values, maximum speed and average cruising speed. The former is for going all out. This puts serious stress on the vehicle, though. After a certain period (GM's call), start asking for Toughness (doubled) rolls with a cumulative -1 penalty for each successive roll. When one fails, the vehicle blows a whatsit. The repercussions of that range from a slow coasting stop to one of those big summer-blockbuster flip-through-the-air-and-call-the-stuntman-union affairs. This all assumes that the driver doesn't spin off the road because of a failed Driving roll, of course.

Armor Value: How much damage a vehicle's skin or armor stops before it starts taking damage. This runs in the area of two to ten for your typical car.

Damage Capacity: The Life Points of the vehicle. When a vehicle's Damage Capacity has been depleted, it usually ceases to function. It may not be completely destroyed, but it's no longer chugging around (a Survival Roll using Toughness may be allowed though).

Toughness: This is the equivalent of the Constitution Attribute, and measures the vehicle's ruggedness, redundant systems, and damage control. When a vehicle takes a lot of damage, a Survival roll - Toughness (doubled) - is needed to see if the vehicle continues to function.

Handling: This is the equivalent of the vehicle's Dexterity. It reflects how the vehicle maneuvers and responds to the driver. For some rolls, you have to use the lowest of the driver's Dexterity or the vehicle's Handling attribute. A semi just isn't going to corner like a Lamborghini. Handling varies from one to five or so for most autos.

No rules are needed to cruise around, retract the roof, or parallel park. It's when things get exciting (your basic car chase, smashing into a concrete abutment at 50 mph, or running through hordes of skeletons) that a few guidelines are needed.

Chases: These are resolved as resisted rolls, using Dexterity (or the vehicle's Handling, whichever is lower) and Driving. The faster vehicles gets a +1 bonus for every 10 mph of speed it has over the slower one. You can use the Combat Score for Supporting Cast members or monsters, modified if the vehicle's Handling is lower than the character's Dexterity. Both sides roll and keep track of their Success Levels every Turn. The pursued gets one automatic Success Level for every two Turns of head start he had. The first side that gets five more Success Levels than their adversary 'wins'. If the pursued wins, he manages to lose the chasers. If the pursuers win, they catch up and can attempt less than friendly stuff like ramming and hijacking.

Redline Me: A hero with a lead foot is on a Harley chasing a semi full of the new bestseller - Secrets of the Necronomicon! He figures it's probably a really Bad Thing if they make it from the printer to the distribution point where they'll be shipped out all over the world. The hero picks up the truck right out of the gate, so there's no head-start bonus there. Our Harley-riding hero then gets three Success Levels on his Driving roll, while the trucker gets two. He's on top of him and can blow out his tires or try some other Daring Plan. On the next Turn, our hero rolls badly and gets no Success Levels, but the trucker gets three - he's now two ahead of the biker. If he can get three more 'points' ahead of our Lone Biker of the Apocalypse on following Turns, he'll streak into the night without further molestation.

Crashes and Collisions: Boom, baby. Here's what happens when a vehicle hits something. Vehicles weighing under two tons do 10 points of Bash damage for every 10 mph of relative speed. Vehicles over two tons do 20 points per 10 mph of relative speed, and heavy vehicles (over 10 tons/20,000 lbs) inflict 30 points per 10 mph of relative speed. Relative speed factors the movement of both collidees. If only the vehicle is moving, it's easy - the vehicle's speed is the relative speed. If two vehicles collide and they are moving toward each other, the relative speed is the sum of both vehicles speed. Head-on collisions almost always result in tombstones.

How much damage the vehicle doing the smashing takes depends on how solid the target is - hitting a small animal does very little damage, while smashing into the side of a mountain is quite painful. Small animals or objects do no damage. Large animals or human-sized things cause the vehicle to take one-third of the damage it inflicts (round down). Hitting a lighter vehicle produces half the damage inflicted, and hitting anything solid or heavier than the vehicle does the same amount of damage right back atcha.

If the vehicle hits something hard enough to come to a stop, passengers inside the vehicle take half the damage if not wearing seatbelts and one-fifth of the damage if they are. Air bags provide an additional 20 points of damage protection.

Smash Me: The trucker from our previous example decides to slam on the brakes and let the biker run right into his tailgate. They were both doing about 70 mph, but their relative speed as the truck brakes is probably closer to 30 (a subjective call on your part based on the slowing of the truck as it brakes). That's 60 points of damage to the bike since the truck is a wee bit larger than a Harley (the bike stops working in a big way). The truck takes only 30 since the bike is definitely a 'lighter' vehicle.

Maneuvering: When trying to make tight turns at high speed, weave around traffic, and impress folks with donuts on wet pavement, make Dexterity (or Handling, whichever is lower) and Driving rolls. Speed kills - apply a -1 penalty for every 10 miles an hour over 50. Sharp turns incur a -2 penalty on top of that. Sudden moves (trying to avoid a deer jumping in front of you) suffer a -3 penalty. Trying to run another driver off the road works like an attack/defense combo - both sides roll a Maneuvering roll. If the defender ties or wins, he avoids the attempt; if the attacker wins, he pushes the target onto the shoulder… or worse.

Here's a handful of vehicles ready for road rage, complete with stats.

These house rules modify the rules listed above, and are used at GM discretion.

“I dodge. I block. I parry.” Bor-ing. We know you can do better than that, and this is where the descriptive defense comes in. Having a particularly descriptive defense has the following benefits:

• A defense that takes advantage of environmental factors adds a one-time bonus of +1 to +3 to the defense roll (at GM's option). Furthermore, it may incur other effects if the defense is successful. Example: “I wait for the goblin to charge me, and then at the last minute step aside and let him run into the flames.” Aside from receiving a modest bonus (perhaps +1), this also may result in damage to the goblin if they do exactly what the defender wanted. (Fire is bad, mmkay?)

• A defense can serve as the setup for an attack. In order to take advantage of this, the defender must have at least one attack ready. They receive no bonus to their defense roll, but if they succeed, the success levels of their defense rolls are added to the followup attack, and they get to make that followup attack immediately regardless of normal initiative order. Only one 'followup' attack can be used per defense. Logic (and GM whim) dictate what attacks may be used as followups, and usually rely on the situation. Example: I brace myself for the charging goblin, and when it gets close I duck under its swing and bring my knife up into its stomach in one swift move.

• Finally, a defense can focus (descriptively) on evasion to the exclusion of seeking additional combat benefits. Someone being shot at might dive for cover, while someone facing down a charging goblin may decide to leap to safer ground. At GM whim, this may either do nothing, add a small bonus to defense, or force a Dexterity + Acrobatics roll (and add the successes rolled to the defense roll.) A typical side effect is that the defender is usually rendered prone as a result (unless their Acrobatics were particularly good). Example: I note the arrow speeding towards me and dive behind a pillar.

The direct effects of Descriptive Defense are up to the GM; this is a house rule, and the GM has final say as to its application.

This revised version of the Multiple Actions rules are meant to balance things out a little and make them more sane for everyone. Those with particularly high Dexterity still receive some benefit, though this is mostly in making sure that they don't miss, and those who are ranged target fodder still have a reasonably decent chance of evading (particularly if Descriptive Defense is also used.)

A character can gain multiple attacks in one of two ways:

• Planned Attacks. These attacks are planned during the Intentions phase. A character can make as many attacks as he likes; however, every subsequent attack is at a -2 to hit. The GM may interrupt for realism's sakes if it seems like you're trying to do more than you possibly could - and if any of these attacks miss, the character effectively loses all remaining attacks. Also, some attacks take an entire turn, and cannot be performed as part of a multiple planned attack. Some noncombat actions (more than ten feet of movement, activating items, readying weapons, etc) count as attacks for the purpose of attack penalties even if they have no 'roll to succeed' on their own.

• Attack of Opportunity. Those who are familiar with D&D will recognize this; for everyone else, this is 'an attack chance that crops up due to some mistake on the part of the attacker'. In particular, this crops up if Descriptive Defense is used to turn a defense into an attack (grabbing a goblin's club and introducing it to his face, for instance.) If a character is given an Attack of Opportunity and chooses to take it, this attack has no penalty (no matter how many attacks or defenses they made); however, any other attack or defense made until the end of their next turn is at -2. Penalties from Attacks of Opportunity do apply to other Attacks of Opportunity.

These maneuvers handle Multiple Attacks in specific ways:

FEINT: You can declare a feint and then immediately attempt to gain an advantage from it; your planned attacks do not end if the feint fails. However, you do receive a -2 to your attack action, whether it succeeds or fails. Feint is considered a noncombat action.

AIM: Since Aim moves ranged attacks from the start to the end of the combat round, you receive no penalties to your attack or Aim rolls. Your Aim maneuver is taken on your normal combat turn (for ranged weapons), and your attack is taken after all Melee combatants have taken their turns.

CLOSING IN: Charging into combat causes a de facto -2 to actions if you are a significant distance away from your opponent. (In this case, your movement counts as your first action, and your normal attack as your second. Movement takes place during the Melee phase of actions.)

SEMI-AUTOMATIC FIRE: Bows use the standard 'multiple actions' penalties. Semi-automatic weapons are penalized as listed above.

AUTOMATIC FIRE: Traditionally used only with assault rifles and machine guns, but may be applicable to certain other weapons. Automatic fire is penalized as listed above.

HEROIC FEAT: A Drama Point spent on Heroic Feat influences one die roll (by +10) – so it is in your best interest to ensure you make the most of that die roll (and however many attacks you tie to it!)

FULL OFFENSE: Full Offense provides a +2 to all attacks; in effect, this means that you can get an extra attack in.

FULL DEFENSE: Full Defense provides a +3 to all defenses; it also allows you to defend against two attacks without penalty. This is very important if you are grossly outnumbered.

RIGHTEOUS FURY: Righteous Fury provides +5 to all actions for the duration of the combat. “Duration of the Combat” is determined by the GM, and can mean anything from a single short fight to an entire hack-and-slash rush through a castle's defenses, as long as the GM allows it and the character doesn't stop for anything. (In short, if you stop to look around, the combat is over. If you stop to recover, the combat is over. If you stop to loot, the combat is over. And so forth.)

Defense is handled similarly; your first defense is rolled at -0, and further defenses are rolled at a cumulative -2 penalty. This means that if you are surrounded by four people, and each only attacks you once, you defend against the first at -0, the second at -2, the third at -4, and the fourth at -6.

For those taking Descriptive Defense, take note: in most cases, using a Descriptive Defense gives a bonus to that defense, and that defense only; Attack of Opportunity gives a -2 penalty to all actions (including remaining defenses) until the end of the defender's next turn.

FULL OFFENSE: If you have used Full Offense, you get no defenses against most attack types, although you may resist their effects normally (for example, you cannot defend against a sword slash, but you can resist being choked to death).

FULL DEFENSE: Full Defense provides a +3 to all defenses; it does not provide this bonus to Attacks of Opportunity, though.

PARRY: Parrying uses Dexterity + Getting Medieval if you have a weapon, and Dexterity + Kung Fu if you do not. If you parry a hand-to-hand attack with a weapon (successfully), you inflict damage equal to your weapon's normal damage (not including success levels) without having to make a separate attack roll. Parrying with Dexterity + Kung Fu is typically a bad idea if you are facing an armed opponent (as they will automatically hit the arm if you fail), but you can turn it into a Disarm Attack of Opportunity if using Descriptive Defense.

DODGE: Dodging uses the best of Acrobatics, Getting Medieval, or Kung Fu, as applicable. However, taking advantage of specific Descriptive Defenses may mandate a particular skill (for instance, trying to turn an attack on its attacker may require Kung Fu; trying to duck under a blow so you can slash at the attacker requires Getting Medieval; nimbly sidestepping so your opponent can blunder into things requires Acrobatics.)

BLOCK: Blocking typically requires some sort of shield (and some level of Getting Medieval skill.) More on this later, as it is a new Maneuver.

HEROIC FEAT: A Drama Point spent on a Heroic Feat can be used on one die roll; this means that if you use one die roll for all defenses, then all defenses will benefit. Choose wisely, as you can only use one Drama Point per turn.

RIGHTEOUS FURY: Righteous Fury provides +5 to all actions for the duration of the combat. “Duration of the Combat” is determined by the GM, and can mean anything from a single short fight to an entire hack-and-slash rush through a castle's defenses, as long as the GM allows it and the character doesn't stop for anything. (In short, if you stop to look around, the combat is over. If you stop to recover, the combat is over. If you stop to loot, the combat is over. On the other hand, if you can manage to survive long enough, you could maintain a Roaring Rampage of Revenge long enough to garner a very impressive body count just by refusing to stop for anything until you literally run out of targets.)