Page 159 - World of Darkness

fense does not apply against attacks from opponents out-
side the grapple. So, if your character immobilizes a vic-
tim, attacks on him from your character’s allies are not
penalized by the victim’s Defense.
Once an opponent is immobilized, he remains so from
turn to turn until he breaks the hold. You do not need to
make further overpower rolls from turn to turn to keep
the victim immobilized. He is automatically considered
immobile thereafter. Your character can do nothing ex-
cept maintain the hold, however. If he dedicates an ac-
tion to any other effort, the target is no longer immobile.
Your character still has a grip, but a successful overpower
effort is required in a subsequent turn to immobilize the
opponent all over again.
Trying to break free from immobilization is handled
like a contested action between grapplers. A Strength +
Brawl roll is made for the victim, and it’s penalized by the
holder’s Strength. Successes rolled are compared to those
that were gained by the holder when he applied the im-
mobilization maneuver. If more are gained, the hold is
broken and the victim is free again. Say that Greer man-
ages to immobilize Sloan and gets three successes in the
effort. To break free in subsequent turns, rolls made for
Sloan (Strength + Brawl - Greer’s Strength) must achieve
four or more successes.
• Draw weapon — With one or more successes, your
character reaches a weapon on his person, on his oppo-
nent or nearby. Drawing or acquiring the weapon is an
entire turn’s action. The weapon has to be small, such as a
knife or small gun (a pistol), in order to be brought to
bear in grappling combat.
• Attack with drawn weapon — An attack is made
with a drawn weapon. Each success achieved on your
Strength + Brawl roll inflicts a point of damage. The kind
of damage is appropriate to the weapon used — bashing
for brass knuckles or lethal for a knife or pistol. A Weap-
onry or Firearms roll is not made under these circum-
stances, because it’s your character’s ability to overpower
his opponent in grappling combat that dictates how well
the weapon is used. The advantage of bringing a weapon
to bear manifests in bonus dice to your Strength + Brawl
roll for the attack, and in the severity of damage that might
be done (say, lethal for a knife).
• Turn a drawn weapon — If your character’s oppo-
nent has a weapon drawn in a grapple, your character may
seek to turn the weapon on her enemy. Her action is dedi-
cated to gaining control of the weapon and turning it,
even while it’s still in her opponent’s hand. Your character’s
action in a subsequent turn must be a successful attack in
order to turn the weapon completely. If your character’s
opponent manages to regain control of the weapon in his
action, before your character’s attack is completed, no at-
tack can be made in a subsequent turn. Thus, control of a
weapon can be wrestled over from turn to turn in a grapple,
with each combatant seeking to gain control and then
make an attack.
• Disarm opponent — If you get one or more suc-
cesses, your character manages to pry an object from his

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Chapter 7- COMBAT