Fighting Style [2]

Fighting Style: Krav Maga (Defensive Striking; • to •••••)
Book: Armory Reload, p. 79
Prerequisites: Strength ••, Dexterity •••, Wits •••, Brawl •••, Brawling Dodge

Effect: Your character practices Krav Maga, and has become competent in an unarmed variant of Defensive Striking. Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. Krav Maga maneuvers are based on the Brawl Skill unless otherwise noted and are used unarmed.

Immediate Defense (•):
The character has learned to act quickly to neutralize a threat and make a fast escape. She gains a bonus equal to her Initiative equal to her Brawl Skill when fighting armed opponents.

Disarming Defense (••):
The character twists her torso out of danger while grabbing her opponent’s wrist and pulling him forward, using her own torso for leverage as she tears his weapon from his hand. This acts as the Disarm Merit save that it utilizes the Brawl Skill. Rather than knocking the weapon away, the character takes the weapon from her opponent, and may use it the following turn.

Impenetrable Defense (•••):
The character knows that offense and defense are one in the same. The character may add his rating in his Brawl Skill to his Defense or Dodge against a single incoming attack. The bonus from this maneuver combines with that from Brawling Dodge.
Drawback: The character must expend a Willpower point to perform this maneuver. This maneuver is reflexive, and a character may use it and perform an instant action (such as attacking) so long as she did not use the Dodge action.

The First Moment (••••):
The character has trained her reaction time to a tenth of a second, acting more by instinct than thought. If the character’s initiative roll results in a tie with another character involved in combat,the character automatically acts before his opponents and allies. Initiative Modifiers are not compared and initiative is never determined by a roll-off (though if multiple characters aside from the Krav Maga practitioner rolled the same initiative, their initiative ratings are resolved as normal). If two characters possess this maneuver, they act at the same time, each resolving their action as if the other had not yet acted. This can result in two characters killing each other in the same heated moment.

Finishing the Fight (•••••):
The character moves defensively, but knows when to lash out at an enemy to bring him crashing to the ground. The character declares and benefits from a Dodge action (including Brawling Dodge, if she possesses it). She may abort that action to make an immediate, reflexive counter-attack against an opponent whose attack fails to overcome her Dodge trait.
Drawback: This maneuver costs the character one Willpower point to enact. After making her counter-attack, the character loses her Defense for the remainder of the turn.


Fighting Style: Kung Fu (• to •••••)
Book: The World Of Darkness Core, p. 111
Prerequisites: Strength ••, Dexterity ••, Stamina •• and Brawl ••

Effect: Your character is trained in one of the many forms of Kung Fu, conditioning his mind and body for the purposes of focus and self-defense. He may have begun his training at an early age, following in the footsteps of family or friends, or he may have joined a school as an adult for the purposes of exercise or protection.Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have “Iron Skin” until he has “Focused Attack.” The maneuvers and their effects are listed below, most of which are based on the Brawl Skill.

Focused Attack (•):
Physical conditioning and accuracy allow your character to deliver blows at vulnerable spots on targets. Penalties to hit specific targets are reduced by one. See “Specified Targets,” p. 165. Even when a specific part of an opponent is not targeted, armor penalties to your character’s Brawl attacks are reduced by one.

Iron Skin (••):
Your character has hardened his body to physical blows, allowing him to withstand repeated hits with minimal effect. He has an effective armor trait of 1 against bashing attacks only.

Defensive Attack (•••):
Your character has mastered the ability to fight defensively. When using this maneuver, your character gains +2 to his Defense for the turn, but any attack he makes suffers a -2 penalty.He can move no more than his Speed while performing a Defense Attack maneuver in a turn.

Whirlwind Strike (••••):
Your character can unleash a storm of blows against an opponent. He can make a number of extra Brawl attacks for each point of Dexterity that he has above 2 in a single action. Each extra attack is made at a cumulative -1 modifier. Thus, he can perform a total of two attacks at Dexterity 3 (the second of which is at -1), three attacks at Dexterity 4 (the third of which is at -2), and four at Dexterity 5 (the fourth of which is at -3). All attacks must be on the same target.
Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver this turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of attacks.

Lethal Strike (•••••):
By focusing his might and concentration, your character can kill or maim an opponent with a well-placed strike. A strike inflicts lethal instead of bashing damage.
Drawback: Spend one Willpower point per attack. Note that this Willpower expenditure does not add three dice to the attack.


Fighting Style: Langschwert (Heavy Sword; • to •••••)
Book: Armory Reload, p. 83
Prerequisites: Strength ••• and Weaponry •••

Effect: Your character is skilled in the German two handed long sword style, or another martial art that specializes in using a long two-handed sword or stick.Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. Langschwert maneuvers are based on the Weaponry Skill and work in conjunction with a Size 3or 4 blade or staff.

Wards (•):
Your character knows how to use his weapon to deflect and threaten away attacks. Add 1 to his Defense when he wields a weapon compatible with this Fighting Style.

Fool’s Guard (••):
Your character knows how to hold his weapon low to seemingly invite attack, but when the opponent strikes, he can quickly raise it to counter. Instead of offering a normal Defense, roll Strength +Weaponry + 1 die against the opponent’s attack. This is an instant action. Each success reduces the attack’s damage by 1, and if the characters successes exceed the attacker’s, the difference is inflicted upon the attacker as damage from the character’s weapon
Drawback: The character cannot employ his Defense in any turn where he uses the Fool’s Guard.

Half Sword (•••):
Your character grabs the midpoint of his weapon to rain more powerful thrusts and blows at a shorter range, almost as if he was using the blade as a small spear. If his attack succeeds, add 2 to the weapon’s damage (do not add this as the weapon’s equipment bonus, but after rolling).
Drawback: The weapon’s reduced range nullifies the Wards maneuver, so the character loses its Defense bonus. It also reduces the character’s Weaponry-based dice pool by one.

Doubling Cut (••••):
Your character strikes the enemy with two quick cuts. He can make two Weaponry attacks against an opponent in the same turn.
Drawback: Your character cannot employ his Defense or the Fool’s Guard in the same turn as he uses this maneuver.

Wrathful Cut (•••••):
Your character steps in with a powerful blow, capable of overwhelming his enemy’s defenses. When he makes an All-Out Attack (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 157), add his Weaponry dots instead of the normal +2 bonus.
Drawback: Your character cannot employ his Defense or the Fool’s Guard in the same turn as he uses this maneuver.


Fighting Style: MAC (• to •••••)
Book: Dogs Of War, p. 38
Prerequisites: Strength ••, Dexterity ••, Stamina •• and Brawl ••

Effect: The character is trained in Modern Army Combatives, the modern military style of hand-to-hand combat that blends a number of fighting styles such as Muay Thai to provide a soldier with an all-round means of unarmed self-defense and defense with short weapons (Brawl and Weaponry Skills). Each dot of this Fighting Style is the prerequisite for the next higher dot; one cannot purchase “Atemi Attack” until one has purchased “Tactician’s Sense”, for example.

• Tactician’s Sense:
The character gauges the body language of combatants in his proximity. In game terms, he can make a Reflexive Wits + Composure perception roll and gauge the Initiative modes of all combatants before a fight starts.

•• Atemi Attack:
The human body has a variety of pressure points, any of which can cause an opponent great pain. The trained fighter knows where to strike for maximum effect. When striking with a Brawl or Weaponry attack, the character may ignore up to 1 point of the enemy’s Armor protection per dot in this Fighting Style.

••• Forearm Choke:
The character applies pressure to an enemy’s carotid artery in an attempt to knock him out. The character must successfully achieve a Grapple attack (see “Grapple”, the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 157). The character may apply the choke hold from the following turn. The hostile may attempt to free himself on his next action with Strength + Brawl, his dice pool penalized by the character’s Strength +1.This maneuver is designed to render the foe unconscious. The foe may resist each turn at a cumulative –1dice pool penalty. When your character has sustained the choke hold for a number of turns equal to the hostile’s Stamina, the hostile is rendered unconscious, and sustains a single point of bashing damage. The Forearm Choke is useless against creatures that do not need to breathe.

•••• Bullring:
The character is trained in fighting off multiple opponents simultaneously. His Defense is applied in full to each and every simultaneous hand-to-hand attack in a single turn.

••••• Lethal Strike:
The soldier’s hands become deadly weapons when the character spends a Willpower point. A successful Brawl strike delivered in a turn in which he spends Willpower delivers lethal, rather than bashing, damage.
Drawback: Because the lethal attack takes place in that turn, the character cannot spend Willpower to boost his attack dice pool.


Fighting Style: Muay Thai (• to ••••• )
Book: Ancient Bloodlines, p. 119Muay Thai, as a Fighting Style Merit, uses the same systems for ••, ••• and •••• as the Boxing Fighting Style(p. 110 of the
World of Darkness Rulebook). The • and ••••• maneuvers are described below.

Cut Kick (•):
Your character knows how to deliver powerful round kicks to her opponent’s legs. When you choose this option your character inflicts one less point of damage than usual, counted after rolling to see if the attack succeeds. (For example, an attack that scores one success would still be a successful cut kick, but inflicts no Health damage). However, each kick reduces the opponent’s Speed by one, down to a minimum of one. If you roll as many successes as the opponent’s Size, he falls prone because he’s been swept by a kick or can’t use his legs out of sheer pain. Opponents can get back up whenever they have the chance, but their Speed only recovers at the end of the combat scene.

Thai Clinch (••••):
Your character grabs an enemy around the head and pulls him into a vicious elbow or knee strike. If you are establishing a grappling hold as the first part of using the Combination Blows maneuver to inflict damage as the second move, add your Dexterity to your dice pool to attack.
Drawback: The usual –1 penalty for Combination Blows applies to the first grappling attempt, not to the following attack.This benefit does not apply if your character has already established a hold, or during future attempts to damage an opponent from the same hold, but she can always abandon her current hold and try a new grapple to use the Thai Clinch.


Fighting Style: Police Tactics (• to •••)
Book: 13th Precinct, p. 81, Tribes Of The Moon, p. 36
Prerequisites: Strength ••, Dexterity ••, Stamina••, Brawl •• and Weaponry •

Effect: Your character has picked up some of the mixed bag of subdue and compliance tricks that copslearn in the academy and on the street. If he doesn’t have law enforcement experience himself, he’s most likely learned these maneuvers from someone who has.Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have Weapon Retention until he has Compliance Hold. The maneuvers and their effects are listed below.

Compliance Hold (•):
When trying to overpower an opponent you have grappled (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, pp. 157–159), you gain a +2 bonus to your Strength + Brawl roll if you attempt to immobilize or disarm him. You must choose your maneuver before making your roll, rather than after it, to gain this bonus.

Weapon Retention (••):
An opponent who has grappled you must score successes equal to your Weaponry score on his Strength + Brawl roll to choose a “disarm” or “turn a drawn weapon” maneuver against you.

Speed Cuff (•••):
If you have a pair of handcuffs or equivalent restraints drawn while grappling, you may choose “cuff” as an overpowering maneuver. With success, you get the cuffs on one of your opponent’s wrists. With exceptional success, you cuff both wrists.


Fighting Style: Qinna (Controls; • to •••••)
Book: Armory Reload, p. 88
Prerequisites: Dexterity ••• and Brawl ••

Effect: Your character is skilled in a Chinese martial arts style that emphasizes qinna, or another martial art that specializes in standing joint locks, holds and chokes.Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next.Qinna maneuvers are based on the Brawl Skill and work in conjunction with unarmed combat. Qinna maneuvers are designed to exploit weaknesses in the human anatomy. Targets who do not feel pain, possess the need to breathe or have skeletons will not be affected by certain maneuvers. Of the commonly played supernatural beings, this renders vampires immune to the effects of Sealing the Breath or Disrupting the Veins.

Standing Control (•):
Your character gains an additional overpowering maneuver, called Standing Control.If she overpowers her opponent she may force him to accompany him wherever he goes.
Drawback: The character can only move himself and his opponent half as far as his Speed would normally allow. The character cannot have moved earlier in the turn, and cannot automatically dump his enemy over a cliff or into a fire or other dangerous environment without performing a separate attack. [Can you use the target as cover?]

Misplacing the Bones (••):
The character’s holds can snap bones and tear connective tissue. If his player inflicts more damage in an overpowering maneuver than the victim’s Size, he breaks a limb unless the defender opts to immediately fall prone. The fracture (or tissue separation) inflicts a point of lethal damage instead of the standard bashing damage, and renders the limb useless. It does not recover until the victim heals that damage. If the limb is an arm, reduce the defender’s Defense by 1 and note that he’s dropped anything held in it. If it’s a leg, the defender cannot walk upright.
Drawback: Unless the character opts for a specified target (see World of Darkness, p. 165), the defender’s player (or Storyteller) chooses which limb’s been damaged.

Grabbing the Muscles (•••):
Your character’s grappling holds twist muscles out of place or puts the defender in a position where she can’t use strength to force her way out of the attack. Treat the defender as if her Strength was two dots lower for the purpose of resisting overpower maneuvers.

Sealing the Breath (••••):
Your character can use choke holds and strikes to pressure points around the lungs to interfere with a target’s breathing. If he succeeds with a Brawl-based strike or damaging overpower rolled at a voluntary –1 die penalty, he inflicts a –1 die penalty to the opponent’s actions in addition to inflicting standard damage. This penalty is cumulative throughout the combat scene, but vanishes afterwards.

Disrupting the Veins (•••••):
Your character’s grappling maneuvers expertly attack an atomical weaknesses. When he damages a victim with an overpower maneuver you can choose to inflict lethal damage,and when he uses any other maneuver he can choose to inflict a point of lethal damage in addition
to other effects.
Drawback: Spend a point of Willpower per attack. This does not add three dice to your roll.


Fighting Style: Shurikenjutsu (Thrown Blade And Dart; • to •••• )
Book: Armory Reload, p. 104The Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu’s curriculum includes shurikenjutsu. Despite the “ninja throwing star” stereotype, most shuriken were actually spikes ( bo shuriken), not stars (hira shuriken or shaken), andwere mostly used by samurai who trained in one of the dozens of koryu that taught their use. Drop the idea that they would have been thought of as “dishonorable” weapons – it’s false.This is the core Fighting Style for thrown edged weapons. We’ve included them under the TSKSR because traditional shurikenjutsu is almost never taught outside of a larger curriculum. Dedicated interest in the art is growing, however; there are a few small schools, new and old, that do teach it exclusively.
Prerequisites:Dexterity ••• Athletics ••

Effect:
Your character knows how to throw edged weapons with particular skill. Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next.Your character may use Fighting Style: Shurikenjutsu with any edged weapon that’s been designed for throwing. She may also use it with any other Size 1 object as if she had one dot less in this Merit, or any Size2 weapon as if she had 2 dots less (Size 3 or greater weapons are not compatible with the Merit). The advantages of this Merit apply to the character’s attempts to throw a qualified weapon, not use it in close range combat.

Ma-ai (“Distance;” •):
Your character learns to properly gauge a target’s distance and modify her technique to match it. Double her short, medium and long range throwing ranges.

Kakushi Buki (“Hidden Weapons;” ••):
The character knows how to rapidly retrieve a throwing weapon from a sleeve, holster or other prepared spot on her body. She never needs to use an action to draw a throwing weapon from a prepared spot.

Choku Da-Ho (“Direct Hit Method;” •••):
Your character can throw using the power of her entire body.Add her Strength dots to the dice pool for throwing the weapon.
Drawback: The character is considered astill target and may not employ her Defense during the turn in which she uses this maneuver. She may not use this maneuver in conjunction with Ikki Gokken.

Ikki Gokken (“Five Blades in One Breath;” ••••):
Your character can throw multiple weapons in rapid succession during a single turn, provided she either holds them in one hand or can draw them instantly using Kakushi Buki. She may make a one additional throw for each point of Dexterity that she has above 2. Each extra action is rolled at a cumulative –1 modifier. Thus, she can throw twice at Dexterity 3 (with the second ata –1 modifier), three times at Dexterity 4 (at a 0, –1 then –2 modifier to dice rolls) and four time at Dexterity5 (at 0, –1, –2 and –3 to each dice roll, in turn). Drawback: The character is considered a still target and maynot employ her Defense during the turn in which she uses this maneuver. She may not use this maneuver in conjunction with Choku-Do-Ho.


Fighting Style: Sniping (• to •••••)
Book: Armory, p. 212
Prerequisites: Dexterity •••, Resolve •••, Firearms •••, and Stealth ••

Effect:
A sniper is the antithesis of a gunfighter, patient and serene rather than swift and ruthless. Your character, through life-long experience or intensive military training, is patient and skilled enough to spend hours staring through a rifle scope before taking one perfect shot that decides the fate of a hostage or a nation. Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have “Battle sight Zero” until she has “On Scope.” The maneuvers and their effects are described below, most of which are based on the Firearms Skill. All of the following maneuvers work only with rifles (including assault rifles).

On Scope (•):
Your character has an intuitive understanding of long-range ballistics and has spent countless hours straining to pick out tiny details through a telescopic sight. The maximum bonus she may receive from aiming (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 162) is increased to her Composure +1 for semi automatic and automatic rifles and her Composure +2 for break-action, bolt-action and lever-action rifles. In addition,when using a scope or other long-range optic device (e.g., binoculars), she receives a +2 bonus to all perception rolls (see the
World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 45).

Battle sight Zero (••):
Once your character is familiar with the capabilities of a rifle, she can wring unparalleled performance from it. Whenever your character sights in a rifle (see “Sighting Tools,” p. 164), she doubles the number of attacks that receive the bonus from this process. In addition, whenever she makes an attack with a rifle that receives this bonus, the weapon’s short range is increased by five yards times her Wits,medium range by twice this amount and long range by three times this amount.

Focused Shot (•••):
Your character can lurk motionless in ambush for days, ignoring sleep deprivation,temperature extremes and even life-threatening injuries in the name of putting lead on target. When making an aimed shot, she may ignore an amount of penalties for wounds, drugs, disease, pain, fatigue, environmental conditions and similar factors equal to her Resolve. For example, if your character has Resolve 4, has two points of Health remaining (–2), has gone without sleep for 36 hours (–2) and has ingested strong hallucinogens (–3), her aimed shots suffer only a –3 penalty instead of the –7 that affects all her other dice pools.

Tactical Intervention (••••):
Split-second timing and nerves of steel enable your character to take advantage of the smallest opportunities for accurate shot placement. When making an aimed shot, all penalties for shooting into close combat and for concealment are halved, rounding down.

One Shot, One Kill (•••••):
When your character picks up her rifle, people fall down. It’s just that simple.When making an aimed shot, do not add the rifle’s Damage rating to the attack dice pool (though “9 again” or “8 again” still applies if it would normally). Instead, if the attack succeeds, add the rifle’s Damage rating as extra successes.
Drawback: Spend one Willpower per attack. Note that this Willpower expenditure does notadd three dice to the attack.


Fighting Style: Sojutsu/Jukendo (Spear/Bayonet Combat) (• to ••••)
Book: Adamantine Arrow, p. 51
Prerequisite: Strength •••, Dexterity •• and Weaponry •••

Effect: Your character knows how to use a spear in close combat. Sojutsu (often incorrectly called yarijutsu) is the Japanese form of the style. These skills also apply to using a rifle with a fixed bayonet (called jukendo in Japan). Thus, characters might learn this fighting style in a modern military force or a martial arts school. Martial artists often learn this fighting style alongside Fighting Style: Staff Fighting (see World of Darkness: Armory, pp. 213–214). A character using this fighting style must use his weapon with both hands to take advantage of its maneuvers.

Warding Stance (•):
The basic advantage of a spear or fixed bayonet is its length. Trained fighters learn to keep the tip of the weapon pointed forward, constantly threatening incoming attackers. Thus, this maneuver lets a practitioner attack first whenever an opponent using a smaller-Size melee weapon attacks from the front.

Thrust (••):
The character knows how to deliver precise, powerful thrusting blows. His spear or bayonet gains the 9 again quality. If the spear or fixed bayonet already has this quality, he gains no further benefit.

Block and Strike (•••):
Your character can deflect incoming attacks with the haft or stock of his weapon and swiftly strike back. When using this maneuver, your character gains +2 to his Defense for the turn, butany attack he makes suffers a –2 penalty. Unlike similar maneuvers (such as Two-Weapon Fighting’s Deflect and Thrust maneuver), the character can move freely while using the technique.

Great Thrust (••••):
The character lunges forward, putting his entire body behind a powerful thrust. If he employs an All Out Attack (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 157), he adds a number of dice equal to his lower of his Strength or Weaponry Skill instead of the standard two dice.
Drawback: If the attack inflicts at least as much lethal damage as the opponent’s Size, the character lodges the weapon deep in his target’s body. Dislodging the weapon requires an additional Strength + Weaponry roll, but automatically inflicts a point of lethal damage.


Fighting Style: Sword And Shield (Shields; • to •••••)
Book: Armory Reload, p. 92
Prerequisites: Strength •••, Dexterity ••, Stamina ••, Weaponry ••

Effect: Your character has trained extensively with a weapon in her primary hand and a shield in her off-hand. She has learned to utilize the shield’s strengths, redirecting it towards incoming threats while overcoming some of the clumsiness involved in making attacks from behind a shield’s protective cover.Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. Sword and Shield maneuvers are based on the Weaponry Skill and function only when a character possesses a shield.

Cloak and Dagger (•):
Your character’s extensive training with shields allows her to utilize improvised shields more effectively. This maneuver is named for the practice of using one’s cloak to buffet incoming attacks away. A character with this maneuver doubles the effective Structure of an improvised shield (usually an improvised shield can only deflect a number of attacks equal to its structure before being destroyed) and suffers a –2 penalty to attack rather than the standard –3. This penalty can be further decreased by the maneuver The Shielded Strike below, but improvised shields cannot be used to perform the Shield Bash,Shield Charge, or Stand Strong maneuvers.

Shield Bash (••):
Your character has learned how to use the shield defensively and offensively. Attempts to strike another combatant with the character’s shield still suffer a –1 penalty, but gain a Weapon bonus equal to the shield’s Defense rating. Damage remains bashing.
Drawback: A character using a shield to knock an enemy back is not using it for defense. A character does not benefit from a shield’s Defense rating on a turn in which she uses this maneuver. If she has already used the full Defense rating against an incoming attack during the turn, she may not use the maneuver.

The Shielded Strike (•••):
The character’s use of her shield integrates seamlessly with that of her weapon.She may rest the blade across the top or side of a rectangular shield, pushing the weapon forward as if playing billiards. Perhaps she has developed a careful rhythm in which she lowers the shield for the bare instant necessary to deliver a fatal attack. Either way, when the character uses this maneuver to make an attack, she no longer suffers a penalty for using a weapon while benefiting from her shield, and her shield adds +1 to its Defense rating against the target of the attack.
Drawback: The character’s concentration on coordinating her shield and weapon leaves her open to attacks from the flanks and rear. She loses her Defense against attacks made by any opponent save the one she is attacking. If she has already used her Defense against an incoming attack from another opponent during the turn, she may not use the maneuver.

Shield Charge (••••):
The character charges forward, shield lowered before her, and crashes into the enemy line. The character makes a shield bash attack (see above) at a –2. The attack inflicts bashing damage, but if even a single success is scored on the attack, the character may send her enemy flying. An opponent who suffers the effects of this attack makes a reflexive Dexterity + Athletics roll; if he rolls fewer successes than the shield-user, he suffers knockdown (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 168). At Storyteller’s discretion, this maneuver may be used against multiple opponents, provided that they are standing close enough together. Each additional opponent targeted levies an additional –1 to the attack roll, and the damage rolled is distributed evenly among those hit. Those who suffer no damage do not check for knockdown, even if their companions do.
Drawback: Use of this maneuver necessitates a charge action (World of DarknessRulebook, p. 164), which means, among other things, she loses her Defense. If she has already used her Defense against an incoming attack from another opponent during the turn, she may not use the maneuver.

Stand Strong (•••••):
The character digs in her feet, raises her shield, and stands as a human wall against an onslaught of attacks. She benefits from her full Dodge trait and shield defense bonus against attacks made from a single direction (Weaponry Dodge can be applied). Additionally, attacks from that direction do not decrease her Defense against later attacks in the round. For the purpose of this maneuver, a direction is approximately one third of the circumference of a circle drawn about the character (typically claiming defense against attacks from the left, front, or right is sufficient). Attacks made against the character from other directions suffer a penalty equal to Defense only, which suffers penalties from multiple attacks as usual. Note that while a single enemy might be able to move around the character’s defenses, no more than three characters can assault the character from a direction that she can’t fully defend against through this maneuver.
Drawback: Using this maneuver requires an incredible exercise of will. A character must spend one Willpower point to gain the benefits of this Merit for one turn.


Fighting Style: Spetsnaz Knife Fighting (• to ••••)
Book: Armory, p. 213
Prerequisites: Dexterity •••, Weaponry ••

Effect: Your character is trained to fight effectively with a knife. This particular form of martial knife training is based upon original
Spetsnaz Russian Forces training. This training is now standard among many of the world’s Special Forces. It involves holding a single-edged knife in a downward (or “reverse”) grip.Maneuvers involve a lot of quick, fluid movements complemented by a mixture of slashing and stabbing toward vital areas.Dots purchased with this Merit allow access to unique combat maneuvers with a knife. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the subsequent maneuver. Your character cannot have “Advantageous Angle” until he has“Anticipate Attack.” These maneuvers and their effects are described below. All maneuvers are based on the Weaponry Skill.

Anticipate Attack (•):
Those trained in Special Forces knife fighting know to move fast before incoming attacks and in response to them. To do this requires a level of anticipation and strategy even before a combat begins. At this level, your character may substitute his Weaponry score for his Composure when determining his Initiative modifier. This is only during combat situations in which your character is using an edged or pointed weapon of Size 2 or under.

Advantageous Angle (••):
Your knife-wielder knows how to make a feinted attack from the side or rear in a way that grants him advantage. While normally such attacks confer no bonuses, the character is aware how to deceive an opponent into mounting a Defense against an attack that isn’t coming — and then stage an attack from a different angle. The foe’s Defense is at –1 during such an attack.
Drawback: This maneuver can only be made every other turn.

Vital Attack (•••):
Your character knows how to target his attacks to vital organs and other vulnerabilities.Attacks made with a knife have Armor Piercing 1, and penalties to hit specific targets or body parts (see“Specified Targets,” p.165 of the World of Darkness Rulebook) are reduced by one.

Slash and Stab (••••):
Your character’s deftness with a knife allows him to make two attacks against one target in a single action. The first attack is a slash, the second a thrusting stab. The first attack is made as normal, but the second suffers a –1 penalty.
Drawback: This quick maneuver leaves the character some what more vulnerable against the next attack coming toward him. His Defense is counted as being one less against the next attack.


Fighting Style: Staff Fighting (• to •••)
Book: Armory, p. 213
Prerequisites: Strength •••, Dexterity ••, Weaponry ••

Effect: Your character has learned to wield a quarterstaff, bo staff or jo staff effectively in combat. This is likely something she has learned from a martial practitioner. This style is sometimes called bojutsu.Dots purchased with this Merit allow access to unique combat maneuvers with polearms. Each maneuver isa prerequisite for the subsequent maneuver. Your character cannot have “Temple Strike” until she has “Trip.”These maneuvers and their effects are described below. All maneuvers are based upon the Weaponry Skill. Note that while a quarter-, bo or jo staff are the norm for this fighting style, the maneuvers are not limited to these weapons. A character can use any polearm for these maneuvers, but using other polearms with an item that isn’t one of the aforementioned three staff types requires an additional point of Weaponry(Weaponry •••). A character can also utilize improvised polearms (including post-hole diggers, scythes or other objects at least five feet in length) with this maneuvers. In such cases, the Weaponry ••• is still required,and all attack rolls are made with the appropriate improvised weapon penalties in place. Remember as well that utilizing a polearm in combat grants the wielder a +1 Defense.

Trip (•):
Your character can use her polearm to trip a single opponent, hopefully sending him to the ground. It is a contested roll pitting the character’s normal attack roll against the opponent’s Dexterity +Athletics. The character’s attack is penalized by the foe’s Defense, as usual. If the opponent falls, assume Knockdown rules (per p. 168, the World of Darkness Rulebook). In this case, however, the fall to the ground incurs a single point of bashing damage to the opponent.

Temple Strike (••):
Your character brings her staff against the side of her adversary’s head. The normal –3 penalty to hit the head still applies, but if the damage meets or exceeds the target’s Size, the target falls unconscious for a number of turns equal to the damage done. This damage is usually bashing, as it is meant to be performed with a blunt staff. The damage can be performed with a bladed weapon such as the naginata, however. The effect is the same, but the damage is now lethal instead of bashing.

Dangerous Radius (•••):
With this technique, your character can swing her weapon in a wide arc, hitting any one within three yards. Make a normal attack roll for the character (Strength + Weaponry + weapon bonuses). This roll receives a dice penalty equal to the number of opponents hit with this strike (to a maximum of –5 dice). Successes achieved on this roll are done as damage to all within the three-yard radius.If the weapon is a normal blunt polearm (i.e., a staff), it does bashing. If bladed, the weapon causes lethal damage.
Drawback: This attack cannot distinguish between friend or foe. Any allies within the three-yard radius are hit along with enemies. The technique cannot be pulled to exclude friends from the damage.


Fighting Style: Two Weapons (• to •••••)
Book: The World Of Darkness Core, p. 112
Prerequisites: Dexterity ••• and Weaponry •••

Effect: Your character has trained to fight with a weapon in both hands, allowing him to attack and dodge or make two attacks in the same turn. Your character still suffers the -2 offhand penalty when attacking with a weapon in his secondary hand (unless you have also purchased the Ambidextrous Merit). Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have “Deflect and Thrust” until he has “Whirling Blades.” The maneuvers and their effects are detailed below, all of which are based on the Weaponry Skill.

Whirling Blades (•):
Your character’s Dodge trait (Defense doubled; see p. 156) is not penalized by multiple attacks staged against him in a turn until the number of attacks exceeds his Weaponry dots, at which point each attack thereafter reduces his Dodge by -1. So, if your character (with 2 Defense and 3 Weaponry)dodges attacks in a turn, the first three incoming attacks suffer his full Dodge trait as a penalty (-4). The fourth suffers a -3 penalty, the fifth suffers a -2 penalty, and so on. Basically, your character’s weapons move so quickly all about him that opponents in close combat have trouble reaching or assaulting him.The Brawling Dodge Merit (see p. 110) cannot replace normal Dodge (Defense doubled) when this maneuver is performed.

Deflect and Thrust (••):
Your character can avoid attacks and strike back in the same motion. When using this maneuver, your character gains +2 to his Defense for the turn, but any attack he makes suffers a -2 penalty. He can move no more than his Speed while performing a Deflect and Thrust maneuver in a turn.

Focused Attack (•••):
Your character can attack a single target twice in one turn. The second attack suffers a -1 penalty.
Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver this turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of attacks.

Fluid Attack (••••):
Your character can make a single attack on two different targets in one turn. The targets cannot be a distance apart in excess of your character’s Speed trait. The second attack suffers a -1 penalty.
Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver this turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of attacks.