Cbt-Melee
Category: Combat
Usage: generic(act) -> chk|sv= +M
◊ attack(main-act) -> chk(TC)= +M -> eff= +M +M(Strength) eff
◊ aoo(re-act, R) -> eff= gain aoo 1+⅕•M act/rnd
◊ know(free-act, R, Tech) -> chk= +M
◊ switch(main-act) -> eff= change weapon
◊ switch(bonus-act, R) -> eff= change weapon
Usage (aspect): provenance -> Tech
◊ assess(min, R) -> chk= +M(Investigate) +R
◊ feint(bonus-act, 1ep, R) -> imp(sv, Insight, +M(Deceive) +R*) -> eff= adv(attack)
Description: A knowledge and practice with hand-to-hand combat in all its various forms.
With this skill you can make a melee attack either with your natural weapons (fists etc.) or a fashioned weapon (such as a blade).
Attack
The Attack action is the most commonly used action in Cbt-Melee, and is a simple check on this skill against the TC of your opponent. If you overcome the target’s TC (i.e., you hit the target), you nearly always add your M on this Skill plus your M(Strength) to the effect of the weapon you are using (usually meaning a bonus to damage).
attack(main-act) -> chk(TC)= +M -> eff= +M +M(Strength) eff
You cannot always add these Ms to the whole of the effect of the weapon, and there are some weapons where these Ms don’t apply at all. If such exceptions apply, they are noted on the effect properties of the weapon.
Attack of Opportunity
Any practiced fighter is looking for an opportunity to strike, whenever their opponent creates an opening. The two most common openings for such attacks of opportunity (aoo) are:
- when an opponent leaves any square within your reach under their own volition; and
- when an opponent performs any action that is not a melee combat action, while within your reach (free-acts, bonus-acts and re-acts are allowed).
You can use your re-act for attacks of opportunity as long as you have at least 1 rank in Cbt-Melee.
aoo(re-act, R) -> eff= gain aoo 1+⅕•R act/rnd
You may take advantage of 1 opportunity for an aoo in any round, plus 1 for every five Rs you have in this skill. For this purpose only, you may be granted more than one re-act.
Know
You can check whether you know basic features about a particular melee weapon with:
know(free-act, R, Tech) -> chk(10+rarity)= +M
The C, being 10 + rarity, is higher for rare weapons. Note also that subject to the Tech provenance aspect. This means that you may not be aware, for example, that the clavian’s plasma caster (Tech-Modern-Clavian) is also a ranged weapon.
Switch
The Switch action (see Chapter 7: Contests) means to quickly stow an item of equipment and bring out another easily accessible item for use. As long as you have ranks in this skill, you can use a bonus-act, rather than the main-act normally needed, to perform the Switch action to change your weapon during combat. In other words, you can perform
switch(bonus-act, R) -> eff=change weapon
rather than
switch(main-act) -> eff=change weapon
Assess
As long as you have ranks in Cbt-Melee, you can assess whether a potential opponent has hand-to-hand combat practice (has ranks as well) over the course of a minute by making a check on Investigate aspected by this skill:
assess(min, R) -> chk= + M(Investigate) +R -> set(PC)= 8 +M(Stealth+S)
A partial success just tells you that they have ranks, and your potential opponent may have noticed you, so they can make a chk(Perception) against the PC set by you.
A full success tells you whether your opponent has less than, equal to or more than your ranks (R).
A critical success will give you the number of ranks that they have
If you need to Assess more quickly, you can spend an ep to reduce the time requirement:
assess(rnd, 1ep, R) -> chk= + M(Investigate) +R* -> set(PC)= 8 +M(Stealth+S)
The R* notation means that spending 1ep will also have the effect of increasing your R (being the factor — out of R and M — that’s related to this skill) by 1.
Feint
Just before you make your attack, you can spend 1ep and use your bonus-act to impose:
feint(bonus-act, 1ep, R) -> imp(sv, Insight, 8 + M(Deceive)+R*) -> eff= adv(attack)
If your opponent fails the sv(Insight), you may make your following attack with advantage.