Grappling

“Grappling” is an attempt to grab your foe’s body. 

You must have at least one empty hand. On a game board, you must also move into your foe’s hex (“close combat”). Each attempt requires an Attack, All-Out Attack, or Move and Attack maneuver. 

• Roll against basic DX or a grappling skill to hit. 

• Your foe may defend normally – he can parry, dodge, or block. 

• You may Evaluate or Feint beforehand to improve your odds of success. 

• Grappling does no damage, but if you successfully hit, the foe has -4 to DX as long as you’re holding on. 

• They may not move away until they break free (see Actions After Being Grappled below) or you let go. 

Exception: If you grapple a foe of more than twice your  ST, you do not prevent him from moving away – you’re just extra encumbrance for him!

You may grapple with any or all of your arms. If you grapple with more than two arms, each arm beyond the first two gives a bonus of +2 to hit. 

An arm committed to grappling cannot make unarmed parries until you let go. Letting go is a free action on your turn. 

If you are holding onto your foe with all your arms, the only further attacks you can make are those listed under Actions After a Grapple, below. 

Posture: 

To grapple a prone, kneeling, or sitting opponent, you must kneel or lie down yourself, unless their Size Modifier is two or more greater than yours. You may do this as part of the “step” component of an Attack maneuver.

Hit Location: 

The rules above assume that you are grappling the torso. To grab another body part, apply half the penalty given under Hit Location to your roll.  It’s easier to grab a body part than to strike it. This does not apply to grabbing a weapon!

The penalties after being halved for grappling are as follows:

Skull (-4), Face (-3), Neck (-3), Groin (-2), Arm or leg (-1), Hand or Food (-2)

If you hit, your foe has -4 to DX only when using that body part. You could grab a weapon arm or hand (to disarm your victim), a leg (to trip him), or the neck (to strangle him). If you grab an arm or hand, you cannot snatch a weapon away, but you can force your foe to drop it by winning a Regular Contest of ST – roll once per turn, as explained under Grabbing (above). For a related technique, see Arm Lock. 

Actions After a Grapple Once you have grappled a foe:

You may attempt the following moves on subsequent turns (provided your opponent does not break free!). Each action requires an Attack or All-Out Attack maneuver. 

Takedown 

This is an attempt to bear your opponent to the ground. You may only try this on a standing foe. 

Roll a Quick Contest, with each contestant using the highest of ST, DX, or his best grappling skill. 

If you are not standing, you have a penalty equal to the usual penalty to hit for your posture. 

• If you win, your victim falls down next to you (on a game board, he falls in your hex and any adjacent hex of your choice). If he was grappling you, he loses his grip. 

• If you lose, you suffer the same effects! 

• On a tie, nothing happens. 

Pin 

You may only attempt a pin if your foe is on the ground and you are grappling his torso. 

Roll a Regular Contest of Strength. The larger fighter gets +3 for every point by which his Size Modifier exceeds that of his foe. The fighter with the most free hands gets +3. 

• If you win, your foe is pinned and helpless. You must stay there to hold him down, but you can free one of your hands for other actions. 

• If you lose or tie, nothing happens.

Choke or Strangle

You must have grappled your foe by the neck. 

You must normally use your hands, and can’t do anything else with them (e.g., parry) while holding on. 

Roll a Quick Contest: your ST vs. the higher of your foe’s ST or HT. 

You are at -5 if you use only one hand, but at +2 per hand after the first two. 

If your Size Modifier exceeds your foe’s, you can grapple and squeeze his torso instead, in which case you roll at -5 unless you have Constriction Attack. 

• If you win, your foe takes crushing damage equal to your margin of victory. DR protects normally. Multiply injury to the neck by 1.5. If any damage – even blunt trauma – penetrates the victim’s DR, you also start to suffocate him! On his next turn and every subsequent turn until he escapes, he loses 1 FP; see Suffocation.

Suffocation

If you completely lack air you lose 1 FP per second. 

At 0 FP, you must make a Will roll every second or fall unconscious.  

Regardless of FP or HP, you die after four minutes without air.

If you get clean air before you die, you stop losing FP and start to recover FP at the usual rate.

If you are unconscious, you awaken once you have 1 FP. 

If you went without air for more than two minutes, roll vs. HT to avoid permanent brain damage: -1 to IQ.

Choke Hold

This Judo and Wrestling technique involves locking one forearm around the target’s neck and applying pressure to the windpipe. The more the victim struggles, the tighter the choke becomes. This can quickly subdue an opponent. To apply a choke hold, you must grapple your victim from behind using both hands. This may be attempted while grappling your opponent.

Treat this as a normal grapple, but roll against your Judo at -2 or Wrestling at -3 to hit. 

A victim who is aware of you may attempt any legal defense, but suffers the usual penalties for an attack from behind. 

On your foe’s next turn and on subsequent turns, he may attempt to break free. You are at +5 in the Quick Contest. But note that you control your victim’s neck and head – not his arms and legs. 

He can attack you with a Wild Swing, Back Kick, etc., at the usual -4 for being grappled. 

On your next turn – and on each turn thereafter, until your foe breaks free – your victim loses 1 FP, per Suffocation. 

If you wish, you may choke him for crushing damage at the same time, and get +3 to ST for this purpose.

Arm Lock

An arm lock is an attempt to restrain or cripple an opponent by twisting his arm. It uses your Judo or Wrestling skill. 

To perform an arm lock, you must have two hands free and make a successful barehanded parry with Judo or Wrestling against your opponent’s melee attack. On your first turn following the parry, you may attempt to capture your attacker’s arm if he is still within one yard. 

This is an attack: step into close combat and roll against Judo or Wrestling to hit. 

Your foe may use any active defense – he can parry your hand with a weapon! 

If his defense fails, you trap his arm in a lock. 

Your foe may attempt to break free on his next turn, but you are at +4 in the Quick Contest. 

If he loses, he has a cumulative -1 on future attempts to break free. 

On your next turn – and on each turn thereafter, until your foe breaks free – you may try to damage the trapped arm. 

Roll a Quick Contest: the highest of your Judo, Wrestling, or ST vs. the higher of your victim’s ST or HT. 

If you win, you inflict crushing damage equal to your margin of victory.  The target’s natural DR (unless it has the Tough Skin limitation) and the DR of his rigid armor protect normally. Flexible armor has no effect! 

If you cripple your victim’s arm, he drops anything in that hand. 

You can inflict no further damage on a crippled limb, but you can continue to roll the Contest each turn. 

If you win, your target suffers shock and stunning just as if you had inflicted damage.

The rolls to inflict damage are completely passive and do not count as attacks! 

You can simultaneously make close combat attacks on your opponent, who defends at -4 in addition to any other penalties due to the damage caused by the lock itself.

You can also use this ability offensively. Instead of waiting to parry an attack, grapple your foe normally with Judo or Wrestling skill. If he fails to break free on his next turn, you may attempt an arm lock on your next turn, just as if you had parried his attack.

Neck Snap or Wrench Limb 

This brute-force technique consists of grabbing and suddenly twisting the victim’s head to break the neck, or a limb to dislocate or break it. 

You must first grapple your opponent by the neck or desired limb using both hands. 

Your victim may attempt to break free on their turn. 

If they fail, then on your next turn, roll a Quick Contest: your ST-4 vs. the higher of your victim’s ST or HT. 

• If you win, you inflict swing/crushing damage on the neck or limb. (Damage to the neck has the usual x1.5 wounding modifier for hit location.) 

The target’s natural DR (unless it has the Tough Skin limitation) and the DR of his rigid armor protect normally. Flexible armor has no effect! You may make repeated attempts on successive turns, but your opponent may attack you or attempt to break free, subject to the usual limitations of being grappled.

Other Actions

You can bite or use a Striker (provided it has reach C) even if all your hands are busy. 

If you’re not using a hand to grapple your foe, you can use it to Attack or All-Out Attack (either unarmed or with a reach C weapon), or to take a Ready maneuver. 

You cannot Aim, Feint, Concentrate, Wait, or make ranged attacks unless you’ve pinned your foe. 

You may also perform the following free actions:

• Release your grip

Let go of the foe, if you are grappling or pinning them. 

Or you can release just one hand – but this makes it easier for them to escape.

• Throw away a ready weapon

This automatically succeeds and takes no time. You may do this to get a useless weapon out of your way, or to deprive the foe of a chance to grab a useful weapon (e.g., a blackjack) from you.

• Drag or carry your victim

If you’ve pinned your foe, you can move or step normally, dragging or carrying him; see Lifting and Moving Things (p. 353) for how much you can lift or drag. He counts as encumbrance, reducing your Move. If you haven’t pinned him, moving away from him means you automatically release your grip unless you have at least twice his ST. If you’re that strong, you can pull or carry him with you!

Actions After Being Grappled

If you have been grappled, you cannot take a Move maneuver unless you have at least twice your foe’s ST. 

Aim, Feint, Concentrate, and Wait maneuvers – and ranged attacks – are completely impossible. 

If you are pinned, you can’t take any maneuver that requires physical movement! 

Otherwise, you can do the following: 

• Attack or All-Out Attack

You can take either maneuver, with certain limitations. 

You cannot use any limb that has been grappled – or bite, if your neck or head was grappled. 

You’re limited to unarmed attacks (striking or grappling) or attacks using weapons with reach C. 

You can stab with a dagger, but not swing a sword!

• Ready

You can Ready an item if you have a hand free, but you must make a DX roll. 

Failure means you drop the item. 

Ready maneuvers to switch advantages off and on succeed automatically.

• Break Free

If you are grappled, you cannot move away until you break free by winning a Quick Contest of ST. 

Your foe has +5 if they are grappling you with two hands. 

If they have you pinned, they roll at +10 if using two hands or at +5 if using only one, and you may only attempt to break free once every 10 seconds. 

If either of you has three or more arms, each arm beyond the first two gives +2. 

If your foe is stunned, they roll at -4; 

If they fall unconscious, you are automatically free! 

If you successfully break free, you may immediately move one yard in any direction.