Mano a Mano:Actions

List of Actions

Only quick actions can be used in a combo. A double power attack has two times the power listed by the weapon on the character sheet. Strenuous actions can only be used when a character is healthy. Standing actions cannot be used when the character is on the ground.

When rolling to see if a combat action is successful, there is an attacking character (attacker) and a defending character (defender). Attacks are successful if the attacker's modifier plus his dice roll is higher than his target's defense. Otherwise the attack fails.

Hand to Hand Attacks

Hand to hand attacks use natural weapons or hand weapons such as clubs and blades. Add the attack modifier next to the weapon on the attacker's character sheet to hand to hand attack rolls. The target's best defense is the difficulty of a hand to hand attack.

quick strike

A quick strike is a quick hand to hand attack.

strategic strike

A strategic strike is a strenuous standing hand to hand attack which cannot be used while grappling and has a +5 attack modifier.

cautious strike

A cautious strike is a strenuous standing hand to hand attack which cannot be used while grappling and gives a +5 defense modifier until the character's next turn.

powerful strike

A powerful strike is a strenuous double power standing hand to hand attack. A couple of quick strikes has a better chance of hitting at least once, but a powerful strike does damage quickly and hurts larger and armored characters more easily.

Thrown Weapon Attacks

Add the throw modifier next to the weapon on the attacker's character sheet to thrown weapon attack rolls. The target's missile defense is the difficulty of a thrown weapon attack.

quick throw

A quick throw is a quick thrown weapon attack. The maximum range of this attack is the character's throwing ability modifier plus the difference between the character's strength and the weapon's heft. This action cannot be used with unwieldy weapons. Quick throwing is useful when speed or precision is important, such as knife and hatchet-throwing competitions or throwing sand in an opponent's face.

powerful throw

A powerful throw is a strenuous double power thrown weapon attack. The maximum range of this attack is twice the range of a quick throw. Unwieldy weapons cannot be thrown this way. Powerful throwing is useful when distance or damage is important, like throwing a javelin.

heave

Heave is a strenuous double power thrown weapon attack. Any object the character can lift can be thrown by heaving. Heaved objects are wildly imprecise, so the character has a -5 modifier to hit the target. The maximum distance the character can heave an object is the range of a quick throw.

Archery and Marksmanship Actions

Add the attack modifier next to the weapon on the attacker's character sheet to archery and marksmanship attack rolls. The target's missile defense is the difficulty of an archery or marksmanship attack.

aim

Aim is a quick gun or bow action which cannot be used while grappling. Aiming gives a +5 attack bonus to the character's next attack unless he takes damage or stun between aiming and the attack.

quick shot

A quick shot is a quick gun or bow attack.

strategic shot

A strategic shot is a strenuous gun or bow attack with a +5 attack bonus.

cautious shot

A cautious shot is a strenuous gun or bow attack with +5 defense until the character's next turn.

draw and fire

Draw and fire is a strenuous bow attack which does not require the bow to be already drawn.

draw

Drawing a bow is a quick action. A bow must be drawn before it can be aimed or fired. Drawing a bow requires the use of two hands. If the bow's heft is at least double the character's strength, the character cannot draw it at all. Bows tend to be lightweight, but the power of a bow comes from its spring instead of its mass. So the heft of a bow reflects the bow's pull and the strength required to draw the bow.

unload

Unloading a gun is a quick action. Most weapons are designed to be loaded quickly, but unloading them can be trickier. Unloading a weapon is usually a quick action. After unloading the character can hold onto the ammunition or lets it drop. Putting away the ammunition a character is holding requires an extra quick action. (If a character is holding several rounds of ammunition which must be put away sepearately, putting away each round is a quick action.)

load

Loading a gun is a quick action. Some weapons must be loaded before each attack, or reloaded after a certain number of uses. Replacing a clip of ammunition requires two quick actions: unload and load. If rounds of ammunition must be loaded individually, reloading requires an unload action and a load action for each round. For example, if a character has to load a revolver one bullet at a time then each bullet loaded is a quick action. Some weapons take several actions to reload. A "Brown Bess" musket can be fired about 3 times per minute with training, suggesting 9 actions to reload and 1 turn to fire. (Each of these actions required to reload the musket takes a full turn, so they are not quick actions.)

Grappling Actions

Grappling actions can give the character the dominant position. (See Action/Grappling.) Add the attacker's grapple attack to grappling attack rolls. Use the defender's grapple defense as the difficulty of grappling attacks.

push

A push, pull or shove is a quick grappling action which puts the target off balance. Successfully pushing, pulling and tripping up a standing opponent forces him to move in the direction the pushing character wants, and puts the pushed character off balance so he must make an roll against a difficulty of 8 using his grappling or acrobatics ability or fall down. If the pushing character is standing when his opponent falls down, the pushing character must choose whether to let go of him or follow him to the ground.

trip

A trip is a strenuous double power grappling attack which puts the target off balance. Successfully attacking a standing target's legs puts him off balance so he must make an roll against a difficulty of 8 using his grappling or acrobatic ability check or fall down.

slam

A slam is a strenuous grappling attack which puts the target on the ground. If the slamming character is standing and chooses to fall onto his opponent, then this attack has double power. The target will always end up on the ground, but he can still make an additional grappling or acrobatics ability roll against a difficulty of 8 to reduce damage from falling. If this roll is successful the damage is reduced by the attack's power, which means the slam will do no damage if the attacker does not fall onto the target and normal damage if the attacker does fall onto the target.

hold

A hold is a quick grappling action. Hold is not an attack, but this action allows a character to make a grappling success roll. If this roll is successful the character doing the hold can choose to take the dominant position or stop grappling with his opponent.

wrench

A wrench is a strenuous double power grappling attack. The damage and stun of a wrench are determined like the damage and stun of a blunt weapon.

choke

A choke is a strenuous double power grappling attack which only does stun. A choke always causes at least two stun if it is successful, regardless of armor and absorption.

disarm

Disarm is a strenuous double power grappling attack which forces an opponent to release his weapon or other possession. The difficulty of this action is the target's defense plus 5. If a character doing a disarm is successful and he has at least one free hand, he takes the weapon from his opponent. If he is successful but has no free hands, the opponent drops the weapon.

Other Actions

drop

Dropping to the ground is a quick action.

stand

Standing up is a quick action.

instant stand

Instant stand is a strenuous action which is like standing up normally except that the character using instant stand also gets a +5 defense modifier until his next turn.

rest

This action recovers all of a character's stun and gives him a +5 defense modifier until his next turn.

cover

A character can put himself at risk to protect a target, usually an ally. When the target is attacked, use the covering character's defense plus 5 instead of the target's defense. If the attack is successful it still hits the target. If the attack fails, it hits the covering character.