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- Parrying (Physical 50)—This proficiency allows an armed character to protect
himself more successfully than an untrained character. When the
character chooses the parry option during combat, the character's
AC improves by two additional points. Most characters therefore
improve their AC by half their level plus 2; warriors improve
their AC by half their level plus 3.
- Riposte (Physical 100)—This maneuver is an attack as well as a defense.
To use this skill, a character must withhold at least one attack
allowed to him in a round and attack in the same phase or faster
than his antagonist. The character waits until his foe begins
his assault, then parries with his weapon and rapidly strikes
his own blow.
- The success of the Riposte is determined just as a normal Parry
maneuver would be; if the Riposte deters the opponent’s attack,
the character’s subsequent attack is made at a +2 bonus. If an
opponent’s blow lands despite the parry the Riposte is negated
and the character loses his attack. In addition, an unsucessful
Riposte leaves the character vulnerable and his opponent gains
a +1 bonus to hit on his next attack.
- This skill is only available to Warriros and Crusaders.
- Shield Rim (Physical 50)—The feat of the shield rim is an attack using the
sharpened rim of a special shield. A shield rim attack is a slow
attack and causes 2d4 damage to man-size and smaller opponents
and 1d6 damage to large-size or greater opponents. The knockdown
die for this attack is a d8.
- Shield Use (Physical 50)—By spending 50 physical skill points, a character
can become more skilled in the use of a shield. Modern reenactments
of medieval tournaments have demonstrated that the shield is a
very important part of a warrior's protection. The extra protection
conferred by the shield varies by the exact type the character
becomes proficient in as detailed on Table 5.9.3 below. A character
that spends 100 physical skill points on the Shield Use skill
gains proficiency in the use of all types of shields.
Table 5.9.3: Shield bonuses
| Shield Type |
Normal AC bonus |
Skilled AC bonus |
Number of Attackers |
| Buckler |
+1 |
+1 |
1 |
| Small |
+1 |
+2 |
2 |
| Medium |
+1 |
+3 |
3 |
| Body |
+1/+2 vs. missiles |
+3/+4 vs. missiles |
4 |
- The number of attackers is the maximum number of times the shield
bonus can be used in a single round by the character. Normally,
shields can only be used against enemies in the character's front
spaces or in the flank spaces on the character's shield side.
- Spear Catch (Physical 100)—This impressive feat allows a character to catch
a spear or similar weapon (ie., those in the spears and javelins
broad weapon group) thrown at him and hurl it right back. A character
must be a specialist with the spear to learn this feat.
- Catching and returning a spear counts as a single attack; the character must make a skill check to catch the spear, modified
by ±5% times half the difference in levels (rounded up) between
the catcher and the thrower. For example, a 3rd-level character
trying to catch a spear thrown by a 10th-level character has a
penalty of -20% — (3-10)x0.5 = -3.5, or -4, -4x-5% = 20% — while
a 10th-level character trying to catch a spear thrown by a 3rd-level character has a bonus of +20%. If
the check is failed, the attack is resolved normally.
- Having caught the spear the character may throw it back by making
a normal attack roll. The catch and throw count as a single attack.
The spear may be thrown at its original thrower, or at any one
or anything within a 5-foot radius of the original thrower, subject
to normal targeting rules. A character may always choose to keep
a spear rather than throw it back.
- Steady Hand (Physical 1, Dexterity/Aim)—Characters with this talent are excellent
shots with bows or crossbows. They have an unusually good eye
for distance, a knack for judging a tricky shot and a smooth and
easy aim and release. If the character takes a full round to aim
his shot (i.e., voluntarily holds his action until last in the
round) he suffers no penalty for a medium-range shot and only
a -2 penalty for a long-range shot. If the character would normally
receive multiple attacks with his weapon, he has to forefeit them
in order to use this talent—he can make only one shot per round.
- Stroke of Precision (Physical 100)—This feat can be learned by a character of at least
10th level who has achieved grand mastery in an edged melee weapon.
The stroke of precision may only be used with that weapon.
- Before making the attack roll, the player may select a body location
that the character is trying to hit. This counts as a called shot
and incurs the normal -4 penalty to hit and a one phase penalty
to attack. If the attack roll suceeds, it has a chance of severing
the location as though it were an attack with a sword of sharpness, that is on a natural roll of a natural 19 or 20 for a man-sized
or smaller opponent or on a roll of a natural 20 for a larger
than man-sized opponent. This attack supersedes the normal chance
to score a critical hit.
- Stun (Physical 100)—This risky move allows an attacker to guide his
blunt weapon, sword pommel, spear butt, or like weapon to land
a blow that inflicts 1d4 points of subduing damage and stuns an
enemy who fails a saving throw vs. paralyzation for one round.
Stun attacks are made at a -4 penalty to hit. A stunned opponent
loses all shield and Dexterity bonuses, may not attack, and may
not use spells or psionics. A missed Stun attack leaves the opponent
an opening to strike at +2 on his next attack. If an adversary
is currently stunned and subsequently stunned again the following
stun attack adds 1d2 rounds to the time he is stunned.
 
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