Weapons

Weapons 

Weapons is the skill of fighting with tools: swords, knives, axes, clubs, whips, etc. (except guns—that’s a whole section of its own). The exact weapon is more a choice of style than anything else, as this covers everything from fencing to a brawl using broken bottles and chair legs. Characters with a high Weapons skill are familiar with a variety of “old school” weapons and wield them with deadly accuracy. They include swordsmen, circus performers, and Special Forces soldiers.



Distance Weaponry 

''The Weapons skill also covers the ability to use weapons with an unusually long reach (like a whip or long spear) to attack targets in adjacent zones or to throw small handheld weapons up to one zone away. Use this skill to be good at throwing knives as well as fighting with them. If you are Weapons-focused, you have a leg up on folks who fight with their Fists; on the other hand, a Weapons user needs to have a weapon in order to make use of the skill. ''

  

Melee Combat 

''<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Weapons is a combat skill that is used to make attacks and maneuvers that incorporate the use of a physical weapon—such as knives, swords, clubs, and so on—but not bare hands (which uses the Fists skill) and not guns (which uses the Guns skill). When used to attack, melee weapons always deal physical stress. ''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;margin-left:24px;">''<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Weapons allow the character to maintain some reach and attack advantage over a barehanded opponent. On a successful attack, a handheld weapon often causes more physical stress than would a bare-fisted attack at the same level, making this a more wounding and lethal method of combat. The downside, of course, is that someone can take your weapon away from you, rendering this skill entirely unavailable.     ''

<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Melee Defense 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;margin-left:24px;">''<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">As a combat skill, Weapons inherently carries the ability to defend yourself in a fight against other Weapons and Fists attacks, so long as you have a weapon in hand. (You still need Athletics to make yourself a difficult target against ranged fire from Guns.) ''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">  

<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Weapon Knowledge 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;margin-left:24px;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">You are well-versed in a variety of fighting styles and weapons and you may use this skill as a knowledge skill covering those areas, such as “This sword is from Solingen; I can tell from the hallmark.”