Page 113 - World of Darkness

Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against maneuver this turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving
any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use out of the way of attacks.
this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks that oc- Fluid Attack (••••): Your character can make a
cur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform single attack on two different targets in one turn. The
this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver this turn. targets cannot be a distance apart in excess of your
He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of character’s Speed trait. The second attack suffers a -1 pen-
attacks. alty. Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense
Lethal Strike (•••••): By focusing his might and against any attack in the same turn in which he intends
concentration, your character can kill or maim an oppo- to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks
nent with a well-placed strike. A strike inflicts lethal in- that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can
stead of bashing damage. Drawback: Spend one Willpower perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver
point per attack. Note that this Willpower expenditure this turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the
does not add three dice to the attack. way of attacks.
Fighting Style: Two Weapons Fleet of Foot (• to •••)

(• to ••••) Prerequisites: Strength ••
Effect: +1 Speed per dot
Prerequisites: Dexterity ••• and Weaponry ••• Regardless of your character’s physical build, he can
Effect: Your character has trained to fight with a run quickly when he chooses to.
weapon in both hands, allowing him to attack and dodge
or make two attacks in the same turn. Your character still Fresh Start (•)
suffers the -2 offhand penalty when attacking with a
weapon in his secondary hand (unless you have also pur- Prerequisites: Fast Reflexes ••
chased the Ambidextrous Merit). Effect: Your character dedicates an action to alter-
Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special ing his standing in the Initiative order in the following
combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for turn and for all subsequent turns, choosing to insert him-
the next. So, your character can’t have “Deflect and self at a new point in the roster, even if it means going
Thrust” until he has “Whirling Blades.” The maneuvers first when he went last before. For example, if your Initia-
and their effects are detailed below, all of which are based tive roll (see p. 151) resulted in a 9, but a rival whom your
on the Weaponry Skill. character wanted to waylay got a 12, your character can
Whirling Blades (•): Your character’s Dodge trait forfeit an action in turn one to get a fresh start and then
(Defense doubled; see p. 156) is not penalized by multiple act before that rival at 13 in turn two and afterward.
attacks staged against him in a turn until the number of Drawback: A character must take an action to change
attacks exceeds his Weaponry dots, at which point each his Initiative ranking in subsequent turns. He can do noth-
attack thereafter reduces his Dodge by -1. So, if your char- ing else in that action except move up to his Speed.
acter (with 2 Defense and 3 Weaponry) dodges attacks in
a turn, the first three incoming attacks suffer his full Dodge Giant (••••)
trait as a penalty (-4). The fourth suffers a -3 penalty, the Effect: Your character is seven or more feet tall and
fifth suffers a -2 penalty, and so on. Basically, your over 250 pounds. He is +1 Size (and thus +1 Health).
character’s weapons move so quickly all about him that Available at character creation only.
opponents in close combat have trouble reaching or as- Drawback: Your character needs to shop in big-and-
saulting him. tall clothing stores or gets clothes custom tailored. He
The Brawling Dodge Merit (see p. 110) cannot re- might also be required to purchase two seats for air travel,
place normal Dodge (Defense doubled) when this maneu- depending on the airline.
ver is performed.
Deflect and Thrust (••): Your character can avoid Gunslinger (•••)
attacks and strike back in the same motion. When using Prerequisites: Dexterity ••• and Firearms •••
this maneuver, your character gains +2 to his Defense for Effect: Your character’s capability and experience
the turn, but any attack he makes suffers a -2 penalty. He with firearms is such that he can accurately fire two pis-
can move no more than his Speed while performing a tols at the same time. Your character still suffers the -2
Deflect and Thrust maneuver in a turn. offhand penalty for shooting with his secondary hand (un-
Focused Attack (•••): Your character can attack a less he also possesses the Ambidextrous Merit, above), but
single target twice in one turn. The second attack suffers he can shoot both pistols as a single action during a turn.
a -1 penalty. Drawback: Your character cannot use his The second attack is also at a -1 penalty. Your character
Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he may shoot at two different targets if he wishes, but the
intends to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against amount of concentration required negates his Defense for
attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before the turn.
he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the The Merit can be used with pistols only.

112
Chapter 5- MERITS