Special Attacks

Combat | Attacking | Stunts | Environment | Extras | Morale | Special Attacks | Mass Combat | Social Combat
Combatants attack to wound and kill by default, but sometimes, they wish to use more specialized techniques. See also Special Attacks Category.

Grappling

Adjusting Tone

The various penalties and bonuses associated with conditions ranging from terrain to cover to called shots strike a delicate balance between epic high action and gritty realism. In almost every case, the Exalted hold innumerable advantages over mere mortals without making them so invincible that they become boring to play. However, some Storytellers might wish to dispense with the complexity of stacked modifiers in favor of a more freeform high-action approach, toning "up" the cinematic quality of battle. Such games can gloss over details such as height bonuses and the external penalty for pulling a blow, allowing the flexibility of stunts to govern the degree to which characters use their environment to their advantage. Conversely, games focused on mortal protagonists might need to tone down some of the more extreme rules for the sake of believability, dispensing with the concept of extras and halving the lifting/breaking feats possible with a particular (Strength + Athletics) score. Storytellers should always inform their players what rules they plan to ignore or change, so that everyone knows exactly what to expect before starting a series.

Moving While Clinched

The basic grappling rules do not clearly address the reality of wrestlers moving and slamming each other into the environment while locked in their struggle. Although characters who control a clinch cannot take other actions without a flurry, reflexive actions do not count as actions in this sense any more than normal, so it is still possible to take a move action (but not a dash). However, because the character must also drag the opponent along to maintain the clinch while moving, he can only do both if his (Strength + Athletics) total is sufficient to pull the opponent's weight. As stated in the basic grappling rules, the controller can't block or dodge while gripping an opponent except through a stunt or magic. Characters held in a grapple may not move of their own accord despite being able to take reflexive actions.

Seizing an opponent in a clinch or pinning him down requires a grapple attack using ([Strength or Dexterity] + Martial Arts). The maneuver has Speed 6, Accuracy +0 and Rate 1. This attack can be dodged or parried normally, and it inflicts no damage if it hits. Clinching can be part of a flurry, and with a stunt or magic, it is possible to try holding two or more opponents at once by repeatedly flurrying with every new clinch roll. If the attack does not hit, the attacker's ineffectual pawing accomplishes nothing. If the attacker hits, he seizes the opponent in a clinch and controls it. The victim's action shifts immediately to inactive. The aggressor may do any of the following tasks with that control:

Break Hold: This can involve throwing the opponent a number of yards back equal to the aggressor's Strength (possibly resulting in a knockback dramatic effect as appropriate and definitely prompting an immediate knockdown check to avoid going prone). Alternatively, the aggressor can hurl the opponent to the ground, leaving him automatically prone. Finally, the aggressor can simply release the opponent without further violence.

Crush: The aggressor inflicts bashing damage equal to Strength plus the remaining successes on the clinch roll. This is a piercing attack.

Hold: The aggressor pins the opponent motionless without inflicting injury.

For as long as a character maintains a clinch, he can do nothing else without a flurry, and he must use every subsequent action to renew the clinch. Without a stunt or magic, he cannot block or dodge. The held opponent cannot block or dodge either, as per the inactive action, but she may use reflexive Charms or actions, as well as other Charms designed to function while held in a clinch. When renewing a clinch, reroll the ([Strength or Dexterity] + Martial Arts) of the aggressor, reflexively resisted by the victim's same pool. The winner controls the clinch and may perform any of the clinch tasks listed, adding net successes to damage if electing to crush. If a character held in a clinch turns the tables on his opponent, then his action immediately switches to attacking and the former aggressor switches to inactive, resetting the appropriate speed of each from that tick.

When multiple opponents "dogpile" onto a single victim, handle this action as limited teamwork with each helper adding a bonus die to the lead aggressor's clinch roll. Because a clinched victim is helpless to resist, anyone wishing to join in the clinch needs only a single success on the initial attack roll. If successful, she adds her bonus die to the lead character's next clinch roll for as long as she holds on. She does not make a clinch roll, but simply attacks without a roll to contribute the bonus or lets go at any time. Should a victim break free, he breaks free of everyone holding him except the leader, whom he can damage, throw or hold normally.

Called Shots

Whenever a character directs an attack more precisely than normal, the attack uses the following rules. Each variation of these techniques imposes an external penalty as noted in parenthesis and must be declared along with an attack. As external penalties, these are applied during step 5 of the Order of Attack Events.

Pulling Blows (-1)

By striking with the flat of the blade or applying less force than usual, a close combat attack that normally inflicts lethal or aggravated damage can be made to inflict bashing damage instead. With the aid of a stunt or magic, thrown weapons can also be pulled (like hurling a dagger so the pommel strikes). Arrows cannot be pulled, though most bows can fire blunt-tipped fowling arrows that inflict bashing damage. Directing a coup de grace to inflict maiming is also a form of pulling a blow (see p. 152 <-- ??for what??).

Showing Off (-1 to -4)

Characters may attack small targets for dramatic purposes, like cleaving a rope with an arrow or cutting fruit in half with a sword as it falls. In a similar vein, characters may decide to graze opponents in a way that marks them without inflicting sufficient injury to qualify for levels of damage. If a marking attack successfully hits and could inflict minimum damage or better (i.e., penetrates Hardness and similar defenses), the attack leaves the desired mark. Marking someone's clothing does not even require that the attack overcome Hardness. The Storyteller should assign the penalty for showing off based on the complexity of the task.

Disarming (-2 or -4)

Knocking a weapon out of someone's hand has a -2 external penalty with a close combat attack or -4 using ranged. If the attack hits, it inflicts no damage, but the victim's player must reflexively roll (Wits + the appropriate wielding Ability) against a difficulty of the net successes on the attack roll. For every success by which the victim fails to meet the difficulty, her weapon flies one foot away from her grasp. Retrieving a dropped weapon is a difficulty 1 (Dexterity + wielding Ability) roll and is only possible if a character can feasibly do so. Duels fought over looming chasms or aboard a ship might not afford such a luxury. Note that characters cannot be disarmed of their natural weapons (fists, feet, claws, fangs, etc.), nor can they have weapons taken from them that are actually strapped to the body such as a cestus or tiger claws. If players regularly take advantage of disarming as a prelude to executing a helpless victim (instead of using the maneuver for dramatic purposes), the Storyteller should feel free to raise the penalty imposed by the technique. With a flurry, it is possible for an attacker to disarm and then use a retrieval action to take the weapon for himself, provided he has hands free to take it. Doing so almost always involves a stunt.

Fierce Blows (-1)

A character may strike in fury, sacrificing accuracy for a slight increase in damage (+2L/A or +3B, depending on the type of damage the attack inflicts).