Melee (Action)

Heroic Action Role-Play

Melee is the skill to kick butt - with or without weapons.

Unskilled Use

Melee skill defaults to Body. An outcome matching this attribute on a stunt directed against Melee will often result in a Setback.

Use in Action

This is a primary combat skill, it is used with Weapons, Schtiks, and Powers to make attack rolls. As such, the rules are fairly detailed and precise.

Knowledge

You know the history of your school or gang, and of its great masters of the past and present. You know the philosophy or code of your group, both as it pertains to fighting and to life in general. If it has an oral or written code of conduct, you have memorized all of it. You have a basic grasp of the histories and teachings of rival schools and gangs. You know by reputation the great fighting masters of your time. You know others in you neighborhood who can fight, either as colleagues or rivals. You can identify a good fighter, even if you cannot name his style. And you instinctively understand the many unwritten codes of fighting, when it is all right to use weapons, when single combat is appropriate and so on.

Contacts

You know other practitioners and teachers of your style. You know members of rival groups, who may be your enemies. You know people involved in martial competitions, from judges to fans to patrons. You know street people involved in fights: ring managers, bar owners, gang members and little-old-ladies-with-sharp-eyes-in-need-of-protection.

Stunts

Bait

Basic Action

You present an attractive target for a split second, causing your opponent to take a wild swing or otherwise expose or make a fool of himself.

Make a Melee vs. Dodge roll against your target. If you succeed, you gain a +3 bonus to a later roll against the same opponent. Think of this as a bonus token, that you can spend at an appropriate time to improve a stunt or attack against this target. It is ok to ask if the +3 bonus would make a difference before using it. You will often use this to accumulate successes, repeating the same stunt several times, the bonus from the last attempt giving you a better chance of scoring a setback each time you try. Other uses include setting up an opponent for a friend (giving the bonus away) or to exploit a weakness, setting yourself up to do a task you could not normally accomplish.

It you score an Outcome matching the target's Reflexes, you also inflict a Setback; the target suffers some direct penalty, as appropriate to the situation and how you described your outmaneuver. He might strike past you at a friendly target, run out of ammunition, lose his weapon, or otherwise temporarily make a fool of himself.

Charge

Basic Action

You run a distance up to your Move in a straight line and make a Normal Melee Attack. This is in addition to the normal movement for a basic action.

Feint

Basic Action

You baffle others with false maneuvers. Make a Melee vs. Dodge roll; on a success, your target loses 3 shots and you can move past a position they covered or otherwise get a small respite in a fight - he cannot take Trigger Actions to hinder your movement. If your Outcome matches the target's Reflexes, you cause him major consternation; he loses six shots any anyone can move by him until his next shot comes up.

Find Weakness

Limit Break

Make a Melee attack against which the target cannot use Resist powers; targets do not get to add their Mind to their Action to soak damage from this attack.

Normal Melee Attack

Basic Action

You make an attack roll against your target's Dodge and inflicting damage equal to your Body plus relevant modifiers for the weapon used. A basic unarmed attack like a fist or kick does Body Blunt damage and has the Stun ability, while a dedicated natural attack like claws or jaws does Body +1 Cutting damage. Weapons, powers, and schticks can greatly enhance these values.

Strength Push

Trigger Action

The Body and Mass table shows what kinds of loads can be lifted depending on Body. Handling such loads does not require an action or roll. Handling greater loads is done with a Trigger Action triggered ny whatever event required greater strength. Make a Melee roll; for every 4 points you score on this roll, your effective Body is increased by one. A roll of 4 allows lifting at +1 Body, 8 allows +2 Body, 12 allows +3, 16 allows +4 and so on.

Tackle

Trigger Action

When an enemy not adjacent to you moves into contact with you and then tries to move away again as a part of the same action, you can make a Melee roll against the target's Maneuver. If you succeed that enemy is forced to halt next to you.