Maelstrom Rules - Skills: Combat Skills

Key Concepts
The combat skills are explained below. Details of how to use these skills and information about armour points, body hits, damage calls, death counts etc, are all contained in Chapter Six.

You can use any melee weapon or any bow or crossbow to inflict a single point of damage. To do anything more than this requires a crafted weapon and the skill to use it.

You can use a crafted pistol to inflict a single point of damage to a visible target within five metres. You can use a crafted musket to inflict a single point of damage to a visible target within earshot.

You can use any thrown weapon to inflict a single point of damage. You can never inflict more than a single point of damage with a thrown weapon.

You can wear any suit of armour to gain one armour point. To gain more than this you need crafted armour and the skill to wear it. You can use a shield to stop incoming blows.

All weapons, shields and projectiles (e.g. crossbow bolts) must be examined and passed as safe by a Profound Decisions authorized weapons checker.

Axe Double
If you have this skill then you can call DOUBLE when striking a melee blow with a crafted axe or similar weapon.

Axe Cleave
If you have this skill then you can call SINGLE CLEAVE when striking a melee blow with a crafted axe or similar weapon. You must have purchased axe double to purchase this skill.

Mace Double
If you have this skill you can call DOUBLE when striking a melee blow with a crafted mace or similar bludgeoning weapon.

Mace Stun
If you have this skill then you can call SINGLE STUN when striking a melee blow with a crafted mace or similar bludgeoning weapon. You must have purchased mace double to purchase this skill.

Sword Double
If you have this skill then you can call DOUBLE when striking a melee blow with a crafted sword or similar edged weapon.

Sword Through
If you have this skill then you can call SINGLE THROUGH when striking a melee blow with a crafted sword or similar edged weapon. You must have purchased sword double to purchase this skill.

Great Weapon Double
If you have this skill then you can call DOUBLE when striking a melee blow with any crafted great weapon. To use any great weapon skill you must have both hands on the weapon.

Great Weapon Strikedown
If you have this skill then you can call SINGLE STRIKEDOWN when striking a melee blow with a suitable crafted great weapon. To use any great weapon skill you must have both hands on the weapon. You must have purchased great weapon double to purchase this skill.

Great Weapon Stun
If you have this skill then you can call SINGLE STUN when a melee blow striking with a suitable crafted great weapon. To use any great weapon skill you must have both hands on the weapon. You must have purchased great weapon double to purchase this skill.

Great Weapon Through
If you have this skill then you can call SINGLE THROUGH when striking a melee blow with a suitable crafted great weapon. To use any great weapon skill you must have both hands on the weapon. You must have purchased great weapon double to purchase this skill.

Great Weapon Cleave
If you have this skill then you can call SINGLE CLEAVE when striking a melee blow with a suitable crafted great weapon. To use any great weapon skill you must have both hands on the weapon. You must have purchased great weapon double to purchase this skill.

Bow Double
If you have this skill then you can call DOUBLE when shooting any crafted bow or crossbow.

Bow Through
If you have this skill then you can call SINGLE THROUGH when shooting any crafted bow or crossbow. You must have purchased bow double to purchase this skill.

Pistol Double
If you have this skill then you can call DOUBLE when shooting a crafted pistol at a target up to five metres away. No darkpowder weapon can be shot until it has been loaded.

Pistol Through
If you have this skill then you can call SINGLE THROUGH when shooting a crafted pistol at a target up to five metres away. No darkpowder weapon can be shot until it has been loaded. You must have purchased pistol double to purchase this skill.

Musket Double
If you have this skill then you can call DOUBLE when shooting a crafted musket at a target in earshot. To use this skill you must have both hands on the weapon. No darkpowder weapon can be shot until it has been loaded.

Musket Through
If you have this skill then you can call SINGLE THROUGH when shooting a crafted musket at a target in earshot. To use this skill you must have both hands on the weapon. You must have purchased musket double to purchase this skill. No darkpowder weapon can be shot until it has been loaded.

Light Armour
This skill allows the character to receive the full benefits of wearing crafted light armour. If you have this skill you gain two armour points by wearing crafted partial light armour or three armour points by wearing crafted full light armour. You can never combine the armour points from multiple suits of armour.

Heavy Armour
This skill allows the character to receive the full benefits of wearing crafted heavy armour. If you have this skill you gain three armour points by wearing crafted partial heavy armour or five armour points by wearing crafted full heavy armour. You can never combine the armour points from multiple suits of armour.

Shield
This skill allows the character to ignore all the effects of a SINGLE STRIKEDOWN or SINGLE CLEAVE by calling NEGATE when they use a crafted shield to parry the blow.

Endurance
Most characters have three body hits. This skill increases your body hits by one. You cannot purchase this skill more than once.

Great Endurance
This skill increases your body hits by one. You must have purchased endurance to purchase this skill. You cannot purchase this skill more than once.

Fortitude
This skill helps you to survive for longer if you are mortally wounded. Most characters have a maximum death count of 300. This skill increases the maximum death count by 100. You cannot purchase this skill more than once.

Great Fortitude
This skill helps you to survive for longer if you are mortally wounded. This skill increases the maximum death count by a further 200. You must have purchased fortitude to purchase this skill. You cannot purchase this skill more than once.

Constitution
Through fitness of body or gradual exposure, you have developed an ability to mitigate the effects of poisons. This may allow you to survive an otherwise fatal poison. You cannot purchase this skill more than once.

Great Constitution
Through fitness of body or gradual exposure, you have further developed your ability to mitigate the effects of poisons. This will improve your chances of surviving a fatal poison. You cannot purchase this skill more than once.

And so it began......

Dawn breaks, war looms, the evil Lord is gathering his armies to wage a campaign of destruction upon the free peoples of the world. It is up to I, Sir Maximilan Pegasus to stop him, with my trusted band of adventurers we must gather the enchanted sword of Tek, the Shield of Way-Lem and the amulet of Subsidence and together we shall slay this abomination! “TIME FREEZE” And bam, the fantasy world fades away, the enchanted sword of Tek in my hand is a rubber sword smothered in coloured ribbons with a laminated card cable tied to the hilt, I look down and I’m wearing plastic armour and unflattering heropants, and the magical world of my imagination washes away to reveal a field in Wigan, but you know what? It’s larp and I’m a larper, it’s what I do.
I started larping when I was 17, I’d never role-played before, I’d never played D&D or Warhammer, never played WoW or any form of online game, I’d never even read Lord of the Rings, I feel somewhat privileged that I hadn’t done any of those things, I think it gave me an untainted attitude towards what larp could be, I had no preconceptions about saving the maiden fair, slaying the dragon or smiting the liche, to me it was just a new thing to try.
It was cold, really cold, 10am on a September morning, the rain was battering down and I’d been given a faux fur tunic, a mouldy old sword and been pointed towards a man and told, “You’re monstering, there’s the ref he’ll tell you what to do.” I obeyed, I played wave after wave of zombies, orcs and various line monsters and to be honest, was cold, bored and hungry. That is, until lunchtime, the teams switched sides, I got into the kit I’d scrounged up, as with most first timers, a black trenchcoat. I took the mouldy old sword, stood with my fellow adventurers and it hit me, I’m a god damn hero!
Pow, there it was, a new larper was born.