Melee Combat

Melee Combat

Dexterity, Untrained OK, Requires Specialisation

This skill covers all forms of armed melee combat, unarmed melee combat is covered by the fighting skill. Melee Combat requires one (or more) specialisations. Each specialisation represents the skills required for one particular group of weapons; in effect each specialisation represents one specific fighting style. The different weapon groups are somewhat compatible with each other, see below for further details.

Check: melee combat specialisation + Dexterity + size modifier + miscellaneous modifiers

Try again: No

Specialisations: The following melee combat weapon groups exist:

• 1h weapon (axes, maces and hammers)
• 1h weapon & shield (axes, maces and hammers combined with a shield)
• 2h weapons (axes, mauls and hammers)
• 1h sword (shortswords, scimitars, broadswords and longswords)
• 1h sword & shield (shortswords, scimitars, broadswords, longswords and 1h bastardswords combined with a shield)
• 2h sword (2h bastardswords and greatswords)
• 1h flail
• 1h flails & shield
• 2h flails
• Rapier
• Rapier & buckler
• Rapier & dagger (includes fighting with a cloak as a “shield”)¹
• Dagger
• Polearm (spears, polearms and staffs)
• Polearm & shield (spears, polearms and staffs combined with a shield)

The various weapon group skills are (in varying degrees) compatible with each other, someone trained in using 1h swords are, for example, able to use some of those skills when using 1h weapons. On the other hand a skill in some weapon groups will help very little if you are stuck with a weapon from a very different style of fighting. If a character tries to use a weapon from a weapon group that is closely related to the one in which he has a skill he receives a −3 penalty to the his attack bonus, if he tries to use a weapon from a weapon group that is only distantly related to the one he is skilled in, he will receive a −6 penalty to his attack bonus. Those weapons groups that are neither close nor distant are non-compatible and weapons in those groups must be used with their own skills.

Weapon Group Compatibility Table:

Weapon group	Close (−3)	Distant (−6)
1h weapon	1h weapon & shield	1h flail
	2h weapons	1h sword
1h weapon & shield	1h weapon	1h flail & shield
	1h sword & shield
2h weapons	1h weapon	2h swords
	2h flails
	Polearms
1h sword	1h sword & shield	1h weapon
	2h swords	Dagger
1h sword & shield	1h weapon & shield	1h flail & shield
	1h sword
2h swords	1h sword	2h weapons
	Polearms
1h flail	1h flail & shield	1h weapon
	2h flails
1h flails & shield	1h flail	1h weapon & shield
2h flails	2h weapons	Polearms
Rapier	Rapier & buckler
	Rapier & dagger
	1h sword
	Dagger
Rapier & buckler	Rapier
	Dagger
	1h sword & shield
	1h sword
Rapier & dagger	Rapier
	Dagger
	1h sword
Dagger	Rapier	1h sword
	Rapier & dagger	Rapier & buckler
Polearms	2h weapons	2h swords
	Polearms & shield	2h flails
Polearms & shield	Polearms

⁽¹⁾ Includes a variant of the Two-Weapon fighting feat and the Two-Weapon defence feat. If the character attempts to perform two attacks in a round, the attack roll with each weapon is at –2 (because the off-hand weapon, i.e. the dagger, is a light weapon). The two-weapon fighting style also improves the Defence. When wielding both the rapier and the dagger (but not while unarmed) and using parry defence, the character gains a +1 bonus to his Defence. When using total defence, this bonus increases to +2. NB! These bonuses are only applicable when fighting with a rapier and a dagger!

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