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