Advanced Combat

This is for more unusual combat maneuvers. For the basics, see the Combat page.

Martial Arts

• Reference: KotE 83, 140-142; KotE Companion 119-121
• Available to all races.
• House rule: Martial Arts costs the same as a normal primary ability, but you must have Brawl at an equal/higher level first.
• House rule: Hard style and soft style are two separate abilities. You may learn both.

Simple maneuvers

Name	Summary	Soft style	Hard style
Strike	Same as normal punch		Can substitute Martial Arts (hard style) at -1 difficulty
Kick	Same as normal kick		Can substitute Martial Arts (hard style) at -1 difficulty
Grapple	Same as normal hold or clinch/grapple	Can substitute Martial Arts (soft style) at -1 difficulty
Throw	After a hold or clinch/grapple, roll Dexterity + Martial Arts Damage = thrown character's Strength Dazed/stunned works as usual	Can substitute Martial Arts (soft style) at -1 difficulty

Additional maneuvers

For each dot in Martial Arts after the first, you may pick one of these maneuvers.

Soft style

Name	Description
Acrobatic Dodge	May perform a number of dodge actions equal to your Acrobatics with no split-action penalties, but may not take any other extra/split actions that turn
Cataleptic Grapple	During a clinch/grapple, roll Perception + Martial Arts (soft style) vs 7, each success does 1 level of damage (soakable)
Counter Throw	Defensive action vs Brawl / Melee / Martial Arts Roll Dexterity + Martial Arts (soft style) If you get more successes, then you deflect the attack and can attempt a Throw (see above) as part of same action
Deflecting Block	Defensive action vs Brawl / Melee / Martial Arts Roll Dexterity + Martial Arts (soft style) If you get more successes, then attacker must roll Dexterity vs 8 (fail = fall to ground and roll their Strength as bashing damage to themselves)
Joint Lock	During a clinch/grapple, roll Dexterity + Martial Arts (soft style), each success does 1 level of damage (soakable)
Mantis Strike	Dexterity + Martial Arts (soft style) vs 7 Kuei-jin target loses 1 chi (attacker chooses type), other vampires lose 1 blood, damage = attacker's Strength Damage vs other targets = attacker's Strength + 1
Push Hands	Perform a block at +1 difficulty, success = attacker is knocked to ground and roll their Strength as bashing damage to themselves
Reactive Strikes	Requires extra or split actions, use one to block, success = use next to attack the attacker (can't be blocked or dodged), failure = lose next
Spinning Throw	Perform a single throw at +1 difficulty per attacker beyond the first (up to difficulty 10, additional attackers negate 1 success each); this resists each attack individually
Withering Grasp	Dexterity + Martial Arts (soft style), damage as usual 3+ successes = target drops a weapon 5+ successes = attacker grabs a weapon

Hard style

Name	Attack	Damage	Notes
Blow to Pressure Point / Thunder Kick	Dexterity + Martial Arts (hard style) vs 8	Strength + 3
Breaking Blow	Pick another attack	Add (attack successes / 2) dice on top of usual bonus Example: A punch with 4 attack successes has a damage pool of Strength (base) +3 (usual bonus) +2 (Breaking Blow)	Requires full turn of concentration (i.e. Breaking Blow must be your only action that turn); roll half the damage pool (rounded down) as damage to the attacker (soakable); botch = attacker takes 1 level of lethal
Damaging Block			Block roll Substitute Martial Arts (hard style) for Block 3+ successes = roll your Strength as damage to the blocked character No bonus damage dice for extra successes
Dragon Tail Sweep	Throw without requiring a hold or clinch/grapple first, difficulty 8	as above
Elbow Strike	Dexterity + Martial Arts (hard style) vs 5	Strength + 1
Ground Fighting	Pick another attack or defense	Normal	No penalty while crouching or prone (must still be able to reach target)
Jump Kick	Dexterity + Martial Arts (hard style) vs 6	Strength + 3	-2 difficulty to defend against it
Killing Blows	Pick another attack	Lethal instead of bashing, otherwise normal
Ripping Strike	Dexterity + Martial Arts (hard style) vs 5	Strength	Success = target is -1 die on all rolls until end of next turn 5+ health levels: May tear out ears / eyes / chunks of skin at ST discretion
Spinning Kick	Dexterity + Martial Arts (hard style) vs 7	Strength + 2

Common styles and techniques

Style	Origin	Technique	Typical maneuvers
Aikido	Japan	Soft	Counter Throw, Deflecting Block, Joint Lock, Spinning Throw, Withering Grasp
Chin Na	China	Soft	Deflecting Block, Joint Lock, Mantis Strike, Reactive Strike, Withering Grasp
Hsing-I Chuan	China	Hard	Blow to Pressure Point, Damaging Block, Elbow Strike, Killing Blows
Judo	Japan	Soft	Cataleptic Grapple, Counter Throw, Joint Lock, Mantis Strike, Withering Grasp
Karate	Japan	Hard	Breaking Blow, Damaging Block, Elbow Strike, Killing Blows, Spinning Kick
Pa Kua	China	Soft	Counter Throw, Joint Lock, Mantis Strike, Reactive Strike, Withering Grasp
Pencak Silat	Malaysia	Hard	Blow to Pressure Point, Damaging Block, Elbow Strike, Ground Fighting, Killing Blows
Savate	France	Hard	Dragon Tail Sweep, Elbow Strike, Jump Kick, Killing Blows, Spinning Kick
Shaolin Kung Fu	China	Soft	Acrobatic Dodge, Counter Throw, Deflecting Block, Joint Lock, Withering Grasp
Tae Kwon Do	Korea	Hard	Breaking Blow, Dragon Tail Sweep, Jump Kick, Killing Blows, Spinning Kick
Tai Chi	China	Soft	Counter Throw, Deflecting Block, Mantis Strike, Push Hands, Withering Grasp
Tiger Claw	China	Hard	Breaking Blow, Damaging Block, Ripping Strike, Killing Blows, Spinning Kick
White Crane	China	Soft	Acrobatic Dodge, Counter Throw, Deflecting Block, Mantis Strike, Spinning Throw

Shifter pack tactics

• Reference: WtA 212-213
• Each shifter pack may pick a number of these maneuvers equal to the lowest Gnosis score among pack members, even if that member isn't participating.
• Includes some minor adjustments/clarifications.

Name	Minimum number of PCs	Description
Fur Gnarl	1	Claw attack (Dexterity + Brawl vs 7), every 2 damage successes (pre-soak) = -1 soak dice when same location is targeted (choose any tier of standard targeting maneuver) until flesh healed or armor repaired
Harrying	4	Pack (Lupus or Hispo or equivalent) surrounds target. Rearmost rolls Dexterity + Athletics vs 5, target resists with same roll. Rearmost gets more successes: Target is chased toward a packmate of rearmost's choice and loses a Willpower. Tie: Target is chased as desired, but does not lose Willpower. Target gets more successes: Rearmost and target roll again, but rearmost's difficulty is increased by target's extra successes. Rearmost gets more successes: Target is chased as desired, but does not lose Willpower. Otherwise, target escapes. Target chooses to fight instead of run: Combat begins normally.
Savage	3	Body tackle or sweep attack, packmates (Lupus or Hispo or equivalent) bite whatever they can reach, target must succeed at Strength + Athletics vs (4 + number of attackers, max 10) to get up
Wishbone	2	Dexterity + Brawl vs (6 - number of grabs that already succeeded) to grab an extremity, then all successful grabbers roll Strength for damage (their choice of lethal or bashing); if any individual does 4+ levels of damage (after soak) then that extremity is broken/severed (ST discretion); can be done in Lupus or Hispo (or equivalent) if target is knocked down first

Do (Akashic Brotherhood)

• Cannot exceed 2 in character generation, even after spending freebies.
• Non-Akashics can only buy it with XP, must have compatible paradigm and a senior Brother's trust.
• For rotes using Do as a focus, see Akashic Brotherhood Tradition book pages 66-68.

Eight Limbs of Drahma Sutra

Name	Description	Abilities
Dhyana	Meditation	Awareness, Enigmas, Meditation
Prajna	Ethics and philosophy	Academics (philosophy), Cosmology, Law (Akashic codes)
Karma	Hard work	Crafts (artistic or professional), Etiquette
Sunyakaya	Stealth, illusion, espionage	Performance, Stealth, Subterfuge
Dharmamukti	Unarmed combat	Alertness, Do, Dodge
Shastamarga	Weapons	Crafts (weapons), Melee, Strategy
Tricanmarga	Internal alchemy, breath control, athletics, asceticism	Acrobatics, Athletics, Body Control
Jivahasta	Therapeudic and medical arts	Academics (Tibetan or Chinese medical theory or herbalism), Medicine, Survival

Level N of Do requires dots in at least N of the other seven limbs, and at least 2*N dots in the individual abilities within those seven limbs.

• Example: You could qualify for Do 4 by having these abilities:
  • Karma - Crafts (clothes dyeing) 2
  • Shastamarga - Melee 3
  • Prajna - Academics (Buddhist philosophy) 1
  • Tricanmarga - Athletics 1
  • Jivahasta - Medicine 1

Basic uses

• May substitute it for Brawl at -1 difficulty.
  • Attack: May choose to do lethal damage.
  • Defense: May block lethal, but not aggravated. Still can't block projectiles/bullets.
• May substitute it for Martial Arts (soft style or hard style), but does not reduce difficulty.

Additional maneuvers

For each dot in Do beyond the first, you may pick one of these maneuvers, or one from the Soft Style or Hard Style list.

Name	Description
Butterfly Palms	Negates 1 lost die per split action used for unarmed attack/defense/movement
Weapon Art	When using a familiar weapon (one type per dot in Melee): -1 difficulty May choose to do lethal May use Butterfly Palms, Arrow Cutting (can't catch missiles), Broken Rhythm If Do is less than Melee, you must substitute it for Melee when using this
Peaceful Way	Choose one ability from the Eight Limbs: -1 difficulty If Do is less than that ability, you must substitute it when using this Others can roll Perception + (Do or Awareness) vs 8 to detect the nature of this maneuver
Arrow Cutting	Dexterity + Do vs 7 to block an incoming missile (no bullets or anything else faster than an arrow), vs 9 to catch them for use in a later action
Broken Rhythm	Once a turn, if target's initiative is lower than yours, you can attack at +2 difficulty: Target's defensive action is penalized by difference in initiative (max +3 difficulty) If target has Time perception active, you must have Time 2+
Iron Shirt	Add Do to soak pool vs bashing (can't soak an attack completely unless your normal Stamina could have done so)
Iron Hand	Target is -1 soak die You are +1 difficulty on Perception or Dexterity rolls involving fine motor coordination or tactile sensitivity Can use Entropy 2 or Forces 2 to strike weak points (+1 level of damage per success)
Kiaijutsu	Once a combat, roll Manipulation + Do vs (target's Willpower + 3), each success gives them +1 difficulty on all actions next turn If successes exceed their Willpower, they're immobilized or flee next round (ST's choice) Alternatively, roll Charisma + Do vs 8, each success gives +1 die to Performance / Leadership / Intimidation for the scene (can be detected same as Peaceful Way) Mind 1 shield blocks this effect
Jou Chuan	As defense vs unarmed or melee attack, roll Dexterity + Do vs 7 and beat attacker's successes to redirect the attack at the attacker or someone else, or grab the weapon for use in a later action Damage = attacker's Strength + weapon bonus + your successes (beyond the minimum to beat attacker) Example: If they use a sword (Strength + 2) and get 3 successes and you get 5 successes, the damage is (their Strength) + 2 + 1
Escape Arts	Roll Dexterity + Do to escape physical bond Amateur knots = auto-succeed Standard handcuffs = 5 Captor binds all your limbs and sets you in a deliberately awkward situation = 7 or 8 Combine with Life 3 body alteration = auto-succeed most escapes, exception cases require at most 2 successes
Plum Flower Blossom	Roll Dexterity + Do vs 6 to double jumping distance or bounce from object to object for (1 + successes/2) turns Attacks take a split-action penalty and +1 difficulty but add +2 damage dice Forces 2 and Correspondence 3 can extend range
Ten Thousand Weapons	Use any object as a weapon Damage = Do (bashing) If it already did bashing, it converts to lethal If it already did lethal, add +1 damage die Entropy and Forces can boost the effect

Kailindo

TBA

Klaive Dueling

TBA