So, I goofed when translating the Second Edition rules for thrown retraint weapons into Third Edition.
Grappling an opponent in Third Edition requires you to succeed at three different rolls. The Decisive attack roll against the target's Defense, the Initiative roll against the gambit's difficulty, and then an opposed roll. (Well, you can at least get in one good Savaging or Throw/Slamming action even if you fail the opposed roll, but you can't Restrain/Drag them and they're immediately free on their next action.)
Rather than counting extra successes on the Decisive attack roll, or even the Initiative roll, the grappler should only be able to inflict an Escape Restraint penalty equal to the number of successes scored on the third, opposed roll.
So, here's the revision, along with a number of smaller touch-ups.
THROWN RESTRAINING WEAPONRY
As the label suggests, these weapons are designed for two things: To be thrown at targets, and primarily to restrain those targets rather than harm them; only the bola actually deals damage upon impact.
For a character to use a thrown restraining weapon, her player makes a grappling gambit with a dice pool of (Dexterity + Thrown). If both the attack and Initiative roll succeed, the target is captured, but does not suffer the usual penalties for being caught in a grapple. Further, the following opposed grapple control roll is the attacker's (Dexterity + Thrown) versus the target's (Dexterity + Dodge or Brawl / Martial Arts), and any extra successes on the attacker's part become the Escape Restraint penalty.
The grapple lasts as long as bindings remain intact, or until the target wriggles free—usually not long, since the attacker cannot usually exert her Strength to keep the target held. However, the attacker can use the rounds in which the target is restrained to attack with another weapon, or to execute a normal Grappling gambit. It is easier to clinch someone who is already bound.
On his next turn, the target's player may take a Miscellaneous combat action (page 196) to try to escape from the restraint. He must succeed at a ([Strength or Dexterity] + [Brawl or Dodge]) dice roll, which suffers from the Escape Restraint penalty. If he is embattled (page 197), the difficulty of the roll rises to 2. Failure means he's bound for another action, but the Escape Restraint penalty drops by one after each attempt. So, for instance, if you catch someone in a net and score two successes above the target's Defense, the player of the target suffers a -2 penalty on his first roll, -1 on the second and no Escape Restraint penalties on subsequent attempts. If a restrained target wants to flurry his attempt to free himself with an attack, his attack suffers the Escape Restraint penalty as well; this does not apply to attacking the restraint itself in lieu of a miscellaneous escape action, which some forms of binding permit.
Any further penalties or restrictions imposed by the restraints are detailed under the appropriate weapons.
Alternatively, one of the victim's allies can try freeing him. They must also take a Miscellaneous combat action, with a dice pool deemed appropriate by the storyteller given the method (Melee for a held knife, Thrown for a hurled knife, etc), though they suffer none of the victim's penalties for being restrained. They still find that being embattled raises the difficulty to 2.
I've also made edits to the weapons.
Net (Light or Medium or Heavy, Thrown)
Bolas (Light, Thrown)
Lasso (Light, Thrown)
Here's the old Swinging tag updated into the leaner Tethered tag, thanks to Revlid.
Tethered: This tag indicates a weapon with at least one weighted end attached to a Reaching, Flexible length, which can be hurled at any enemy before being tugged back to hand -- examples include chain-sickles and grappling hooks. A Tethered attack may be used up to short range as a Thrown or projectile Martial Arts weapon, using the Thrown Range Accuracy bonus. Such attacks made beyond close range cannot benefit from the Grapple, Disarming, or Flexible tags. Once thrown in this manner, the weapon's weighted end must be retrieved -- this is done reflexively if the wielder and weight are in the same range band, but otherwise requires a Ready Weapon action (pp. 196). Should the martial artist move away without retrieving or dropping the weapon, it obviously follows after him, one range band behind -- this is important for lassos.
Finally, something new.
Grappling Someone Who Is Already Grappled (or Grappling)
A third party looking to get in on a pre-existing clinch can take advantage of the -2 Defense penalty that both parties suffer, which assists the Decisive attack roll. It doesn't do anything for the Initiative roll, but it seems like the target's opposition to the control roll should be penalized in some way. Possibly by treating it as a flurry, and thus subtracting three dice.
The rules as written also actually allow someone caught in a clinch to execute a grappling gambit against their own attacker! There's no explicit restriction against it, only a -1 penalty to any attack (or a -3 penalty if the victim wants to use a two-handed grappling weapon, such as a rope, chain, or garrote). Granted, if the victim only wants to escape, regular attacks are more reliable than savaging attacks, but the victim himself may be a grappling specialist who wants to wrestle with his attacker and merely moved slower. If the victim can establish his own clinch and maintain the hold longer than his opponent's control rounds, it will now be he who is in control of the grapple.
Neither a third party nor a counter-clinching target should be capable of throwing or slamming anyone else in the clinch; not without the cooperation of the one currently in control, anyway.
Someone caught in a clinch can also themselves clinch a third party, and being in sole control of that clinch, they may freely slam or throw their victim.
Grappling an opponent in Third Edition requires you to succeed at three different rolls. The Decisive attack roll against the target's Defense, the Initiative roll against the gambit's difficulty, and then an opposed roll. (Well, you can at least get in one good Savaging or Throw/Slamming action even if you fail the opposed roll, but you can't Restrain/Drag them and they're immediately free on their next action.)
Rather than counting extra successes on the Decisive attack roll, or even the Initiative roll, the grappler should only be able to inflict an Escape Restraint penalty equal to the number of successes scored on the third, opposed roll.
So, here's the revision, along with a number of smaller touch-ups.
THROWN RESTRAINING WEAPONRY
As the label suggests, these weapons are designed for two things: To be thrown at targets, and primarily to restrain those targets rather than harm them; only the bola actually deals damage upon impact.
For a character to use a thrown restraining weapon, her player makes a grappling gambit with a dice pool of (Dexterity + Thrown). If both the attack and Initiative roll succeed, the target is captured, but does not suffer the usual penalties for being caught in a grapple. Further, the following opposed grapple control roll is the attacker's (Dexterity + Thrown) versus the target's (Dexterity + Dodge or Brawl / Martial Arts), and any extra successes on the attacker's part become the Escape Restraint penalty.
The grapple lasts as long as bindings remain intact, or until the target wriggles free—usually not long, since the attacker cannot usually exert her Strength to keep the target held. However, the attacker can use the rounds in which the target is restrained to attack with another weapon, or to execute a normal Grappling gambit. It is easier to clinch someone who is already bound.
On his next turn, the target's player may take a Miscellaneous combat action (page 196) to try to escape from the restraint. He must succeed at a ([Strength or Dexterity] + [Brawl or Dodge]) dice roll, which suffers from the Escape Restraint penalty. If he is embattled (page 197), the difficulty of the roll rises to 2. Failure means he's bound for another action, but the Escape Restraint penalty drops by one after each attempt. So, for instance, if you catch someone in a net and score two successes above the target's Defense, the player of the target suffers a -2 penalty on his first roll, -1 on the second and no Escape Restraint penalties on subsequent attempts. If a restrained target wants to flurry his attempt to free himself with an attack, his attack suffers the Escape Restraint penalty as well; this does not apply to attacking the restraint itself in lieu of a miscellaneous escape action, which some forms of binding permit.
Any further penalties or restrictions imposed by the restraints are detailed under the appropriate weapons.
Alternatively, one of the victim's allies can try freeing him. They must also take a Miscellaneous combat action, with a dice pool deemed appropriate by the storyteller given the method (Melee for a held knife, Thrown for a hurled knife, etc), though they suffer none of the victim's penalties for being restrained. They still find that being embattled raises the difficulty to 2.
I've also made edits to the weapons.
Net (Light or Medium or Heavy, Thrown)
Throwing a net over someone is a good way to restrain him for a short time, and in mortal combat, a short time is all an attacker needs. Nets restrain the target's entire body, but loosely. The target can still try to fight, but he must use a flurry and he suffers further penalties for the restraint. Some nets are specially made with hooks or barbs to injure targets as they struggle to free themselves.
Using a net is a Grapple gambit (difficulty 3). If the net is heavy or the target is small, he is knocked prone from the weight. While the target is bound, he cannot flurry actions, cannot take movement actions except to Rise From Prone, and suffers a -2 penalty to Defense and -1 penalty to attacks.
If the net is hooked, then all turns spent bound drain the victim's Initiative at the end of his turn; 1 point for light nets, 2 points for medium nets, and 3 points for heavy nets.
Light Net Tags: Grappling, Reach, Flexible, Thrown (Short), Special
Medium Net Tags: Grappling, Reach, Flexible, Two-Handed, Thrown (Close), Special
Heavy Net Tags: Grappling, Flexible, Two-Handed, Thrown (Close), Special
Using a net is a Grapple gambit (difficulty 3). If the net is heavy or the target is small, he is knocked prone from the weight. While the target is bound, he cannot flurry actions, cannot take movement actions except to Rise From Prone, and suffers a -2 penalty to Defense and -1 penalty to attacks.
If the net is hooked, then all turns spent bound drain the victim's Initiative at the end of his turn; 1 point for light nets, 2 points for medium nets, and 3 points for heavy nets.
Light Net Tags: Grappling, Reach, Flexible, Thrown (Short), Special
Medium Net Tags: Grappling, Reach, Flexible, Two-Handed, Thrown (Close), Special
Heavy Net Tags: Grappling, Flexible, Two-Handed, Thrown (Close), Special
Bolas (Light, Thrown)
A bola consists of two to four weights connected by lengths of cord. You hold the bola where the cords join, swing the weights like a sling to build up momentum and then throw the whole contraption at a target. With a good throw, the weighted cords wrap around the target's limbs to restrain him. Tribal people sometimes use bolas to hunt animals and flightless birds.
Used as a normal projectile attack rather than a grappling gambit, the bola deals a small amount of Withering or Bashing damage when it hits, and then wraps harmlessly around only one limb or the target's torso, restraining him not at all. This attack may be Smashing, representing the target being stunned and unbalanced by a strike to the head, or tripped up by a strike to the ankles.
But when used with a successful projectile Grappling Gambit (difficulty 4), the victim immediately suffers a Withering Savaging action on the turn it strikes, and a special Restraining effect for each of his turns as long as he remains bound.
If his legs are bound together, he is knocked prone. Until he frees himself, he suffers a -2 penalty to his Evade and is forced to treat all terrain as difficult terrain. If he wishes to flurry the action to free himself with a Rise From Prone action, he must roll for both actions and suffers the typical flurrying penalty to both rolls.
If instead both of his arms are pinned to his body, he suffers a -3 penalty to any attacks or other actions reliant upon his arms, including the action to free himself (on top of the Escape Restraint penalty), cannot use a weapon with the Two-Handed tag at all without a stunt, and suffers a -2 penalty to his Parry.
Reducing the gambit's difficulty to 3 will bind only one of the victim's arms to his body, for which he suffers a -1 penalty to any attacks or other actions reliant upon his arms, including the action to free himself (on top of the Escape Restraint penalty), and a -3 penalty to use a weapon with the Two-Handed without a stunt.
The victim's weapon may be targeted as well, but by using a Disarming Gambit (difficulty 4).
Tags: Bashing, Grapple, Disarming, Flexible, Thrown (Short), Smashing, Special
Used as a normal projectile attack rather than a grappling gambit, the bola deals a small amount of Withering or Bashing damage when it hits, and then wraps harmlessly around only one limb or the target's torso, restraining him not at all. This attack may be Smashing, representing the target being stunned and unbalanced by a strike to the head, or tripped up by a strike to the ankles.
But when used with a successful projectile Grappling Gambit (difficulty 4), the victim immediately suffers a Withering Savaging action on the turn it strikes, and a special Restraining effect for each of his turns as long as he remains bound.
If his legs are bound together, he is knocked prone. Until he frees himself, he suffers a -2 penalty to his Evade and is forced to treat all terrain as difficult terrain. If he wishes to flurry the action to free himself with a Rise From Prone action, he must roll for both actions and suffers the typical flurrying penalty to both rolls.
If instead both of his arms are pinned to his body, he suffers a -3 penalty to any attacks or other actions reliant upon his arms, including the action to free himself (on top of the Escape Restraint penalty), cannot use a weapon with the Two-Handed tag at all without a stunt, and suffers a -2 penalty to his Parry.
Reducing the gambit's difficulty to 3 will bind only one of the victim's arms to his body, for which he suffers a -1 penalty to any attacks or other actions reliant upon his arms, including the action to free himself (on top of the Escape Restraint penalty), and a -3 penalty to use a weapon with the Two-Handed without a stunt.
The victim's weapon may be targeted as well, but by using a Disarming Gambit (difficulty 4).
Tags: Bashing, Grapple, Disarming, Flexible, Thrown (Short), Smashing, Special
Lasso (Light, Thrown)
A rope with a slip-knotted loop at the end makes a difficult weapon to use against people, but ranchers and pastoral nomads find it an indispensable tool. Constant practice on their herds leads such people to great skill with a lasso.
Unlike other thrown restraining weapons, such as bolas or nets, a lasso gives its wielder a way to retrieve a weapon ensnared with a Disarm gambit (which requires a Draw/Ready Weapon action to reel it in)... or to maintain an active hold on a grappled target.
If the attacker can maintain tension on the rope, a grappled target cannot attempt to increase the distance between them. However, if the victim is outside of the attacker's range band, he is free to move closer to the attacker. This forces the attacker to either move an equal distance away from the target, or else take a Draw/Ready Weapon action (page 196) on his turn to reel in the slack and thereby maintain tension. Until the attacker does either, the victim suffers none of lasso's Escape Restraint penalty, as the lack of tension loosens the lasso's loop; the penalty returns if the attacker creates tension again, but the penalty is reduced by one for each turn in which the attacker failed to maintain tension. Further, without tension, the victim may move freely into any range band allowed by the range of the rope, within a radius of the attacker.
Cutting the lasso's tether with an attack effectively destroys all possible tension, but does not automatically free the victim.
As with the bola, a lasso can only partially restrain a target, such as by pinning his arms to his body or binding his legs together, with effects identical to the bola's. However, the lasso may also effectively snare two other locations.
By reducing the gambit's difficulty to 3, the attacker may bind only one of the victim's legs. This inflicts no restrictions or penalties, save for the Escape Restraint penalty. However, as long as the rope remains intact and tense, the attacker may take a Miscellaneous action on his turn to pull the target off their feet, rendering them prone.
By increasing the gambit's difficulty to 5, the attacker will bind the target's neck. This leaves the victim as free to act as binding one leg. However, as long as the rope remains intact and tense, the attacker may inflict a Withering or Decisive Savaging action against the victim on his turn. This is normally the only method by which the lasso can inflict damage as a Light weapon, and the Decisive damage is Lethal, since the rope is crushing a delicate part of the victim's anatomy. A victim in Initiative Crash may only be subjected to Decisive Savaging attacks in this fashion.
The most effective strategy is to use a lasso from a steed and then to ride away, dragging the target along behind. In that case, the captured target faces a resisted roll of his ([Strength or Dexterity] + Athletics) against the (steed's Strength + attacker's Ride) to free himself, and still takes the dice penalty for the attacker's extra successes. Attackers with superhuman strength like unto a horse may employ this tactic on foot, opposing the target's resisted roll with their own (Strength + Athletics) instead.
Though lassos should always require two hands for throwing, at the storyteller's discretion or with a stunt, an attacker may need only one hand to continue using a lasso after snaring a target, freeing his other hand to perform other actions or attacks.
Tags: Grappling, Disarming, Flexible, Two-Handed, Tethered, Thrown (Short), Special
Unlike other thrown restraining weapons, such as bolas or nets, a lasso gives its wielder a way to retrieve a weapon ensnared with a Disarm gambit (which requires a Draw/Ready Weapon action to reel it in)... or to maintain an active hold on a grappled target.
If the attacker can maintain tension on the rope, a grappled target cannot attempt to increase the distance between them. However, if the victim is outside of the attacker's range band, he is free to move closer to the attacker. This forces the attacker to either move an equal distance away from the target, or else take a Draw/Ready Weapon action (page 196) on his turn to reel in the slack and thereby maintain tension. Until the attacker does either, the victim suffers none of lasso's Escape Restraint penalty, as the lack of tension loosens the lasso's loop; the penalty returns if the attacker creates tension again, but the penalty is reduced by one for each turn in which the attacker failed to maintain tension. Further, without tension, the victim may move freely into any range band allowed by the range of the rope, within a radius of the attacker.
Cutting the lasso's tether with an attack effectively destroys all possible tension, but does not automatically free the victim.
As with the bola, a lasso can only partially restrain a target, such as by pinning his arms to his body or binding his legs together, with effects identical to the bola's. However, the lasso may also effectively snare two other locations.
By reducing the gambit's difficulty to 3, the attacker may bind only one of the victim's legs. This inflicts no restrictions or penalties, save for the Escape Restraint penalty. However, as long as the rope remains intact and tense, the attacker may take a Miscellaneous action on his turn to pull the target off their feet, rendering them prone.
By increasing the gambit's difficulty to 5, the attacker will bind the target's neck. This leaves the victim as free to act as binding one leg. However, as long as the rope remains intact and tense, the attacker may inflict a Withering or Decisive Savaging action against the victim on his turn. This is normally the only method by which the lasso can inflict damage as a Light weapon, and the Decisive damage is Lethal, since the rope is crushing a delicate part of the victim's anatomy. A victim in Initiative Crash may only be subjected to Decisive Savaging attacks in this fashion.
The most effective strategy is to use a lasso from a steed and then to ride away, dragging the target along behind. In that case, the captured target faces a resisted roll of his ([Strength or Dexterity] + Athletics) against the (steed's Strength + attacker's Ride) to free himself, and still takes the dice penalty for the attacker's extra successes. Attackers with superhuman strength like unto a horse may employ this tactic on foot, opposing the target's resisted roll with their own (Strength + Athletics) instead.
Though lassos should always require two hands for throwing, at the storyteller's discretion or with a stunt, an attacker may need only one hand to continue using a lasso after snaring a target, freeing his other hand to perform other actions or attacks.
Tags: Grappling, Disarming, Flexible, Two-Handed, Tethered, Thrown (Short), Special
Here's the old Swinging tag updated into the leaner Tethered tag, thanks to Revlid.
Tethered: This tag indicates a weapon with at least one weighted end attached to a Reaching, Flexible length, which can be hurled at any enemy before being tugged back to hand -- examples include chain-sickles and grappling hooks. A Tethered attack may be used up to short range as a Thrown or projectile Martial Arts weapon, using the Thrown Range Accuracy bonus. Such attacks made beyond close range cannot benefit from the Grapple, Disarming, or Flexible tags. Once thrown in this manner, the weapon's weighted end must be retrieved -- this is done reflexively if the wielder and weight are in the same range band, but otherwise requires a Ready Weapon action (pp. 196). Should the martial artist move away without retrieving or dropping the weapon, it obviously follows after him, one range band behind -- this is important for lassos.
Finally, something new.
Grappling Someone Who Is Already Grappled (or Grappling)
A third party looking to get in on a pre-existing clinch can take advantage of the -2 Defense penalty that both parties suffer, which assists the Decisive attack roll. It doesn't do anything for the Initiative roll, but it seems like the target's opposition to the control roll should be penalized in some way. Possibly by treating it as a flurry, and thus subtracting three dice.
The rules as written also actually allow someone caught in a clinch to execute a grappling gambit against their own attacker! There's no explicit restriction against it, only a -1 penalty to any attack (or a -3 penalty if the victim wants to use a two-handed grappling weapon, such as a rope, chain, or garrote). Granted, if the victim only wants to escape, regular attacks are more reliable than savaging attacks, but the victim himself may be a grappling specialist who wants to wrestle with his attacker and merely moved slower. If the victim can establish his own clinch and maintain the hold longer than his opponent's control rounds, it will now be he who is in control of the grapple.
Neither a third party nor a counter-clinching target should be capable of throwing or slamming anyone else in the clinch; not without the cooperation of the one currently in control, anyway.
Someone caught in a clinch can also themselves clinch a third party, and being in sole control of that clinch, they may freely slam or throw their victim.
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