Fighting Dirty Like
Bar fights in the wild west weren't all breaking chairs over the opponents back and knocking the bad guys out cold with a clean blow. Often a fight would see two grown men reduced to hair pulling, spitting, clawing and generally fighting like a pair of jealous whores...
Here's a few dirty tricks that may give you more success when puttin' up yer dukes, and the sneaky tactics used by those who've fought in the dirtiest of bar scuffles!
All the below moves use the Fightin':Brawlin' aptitude to carry out and anybody with an imagination can attempt them.
Headbuttin'
A nasty attack that can leave an opponent with a broken nose and gaps in his ivory smile. The attacker uses his head as a weapon by stepping back ever so slightly and then letting rip with his cranium with a hammer like action to bust the face of his foe. Only problem is that the attacker tends to knock himself silly in the process!
- Headbuttin' takes an action to perform, as normal
- TN to hit becomes 7 rather than 5 (before modifiers) but the damage is applied automatically to the target's Noggin'
- Damage caused equals the attackers Strength + 2d4, with damage being a choice of either Stun or Actual
- Unfortunately damage is also applied to the attacker's Noggin', equal to his own Strength roll when making the attack. (If you're using the new rules for Brawlin' damge then Vigor is rolled as normal to oppose the damage and the difference lost as wind damage)
Knee to the Groin
Knee, fist, teeth, elbow, whatever - an attack to the family jewels is enough to bring tears to the eyes of the toughest of men. This attack concentrates on the delicate area between the target's legs (assuming he's male!) and is usually carried out with a kick or a crunching knee manouvre
- Attacking the groin area requires a called shot to the vitals, add +4 to the TN to hit. It takes one action as usual
- If successful the area is hit and damage is caused as normal to the guts area, without the extra damage dice for a vitals hit - a groin hit is instead of a vitals hit
- Stun checks made by the victim suffer a -4 penalty to the roll for groin hits. Wind damage usually means a stun check at TN 3, so this would be a stun check of 7 for a groin hit. If a wound is caused then the TN is 9, two wounds mean a TN of 11! (if using the new rules then this does not change, just bear in mind that causing six wind in one go also causes a wound, meaning a stun check of 9)
Eye Poke
Poking two fingers into a fellows eyes can be enough to blind and distract them for a few vital rounds, hopefully enough time to employ all of the other dirsty tricks listed in this section!
One simply extends two fingers and jabs them sharply towards the target's weepers
- It takes one action to stab a fellow in the eyes with his fingers and a called shot at +6 to the TN to hit
- Roll damage as normal, with two extra dice for a head hit as usual. No actual wind or wounds are caused. Instead every 3 points of wind that would have been inflicted gives the target a -1 to all action rolls involving vision and loses him 1 point of his defence bonus in combat as they are momentarily blinded and instinctively clutch their face screaming: "My eyyyyes!!! I cannot seeeee!!!", usually to comic effect. These penalties reduce one point at a time at the end of every round after the attack was made as their sight slowly returns to normal (New Brawlin' rules do not differ from this)
Grabbing
To grab an opponent simply requires a raise on an attack roll, no damage is caused but the target is in some way held by the attacker. To break free of a grip requires an action and a success on an opposed Strength roll by the target
Bear Hug
Once a target is Grabbed (as detailed above) then the attacker, if he is strong enough, may begin to crush the life out of his snared victim. To do this he makes an opposed Strength roll against the target on each action. The target takes the difference in the rolls as wind damage. If the target wins the contested roll then he takes no damage, if he scores a raise then he manages to somehow break free. Unlike all other damage rolls either party may load their Strength roll with fate chips. The target also recieves no defence bonus against other attackers whilst grabbed
Bitin'
Most varmits in the weird west have a nasty array of teeth with which to rend their prey. It may come as a shock to most that nearly all people have a potentially damaging set of chompers too! Biting is a nasty, but usually non-lethal way of causing hurt on your opponent
- To bite an enemy usually you have to have Grabbed them first, as detailed above, and then roll an attack. Otherwise two raises need to be scored in an ordinary attack taking one action.
- Bites cause Strength + 1d4 damage, attacks to the Noggin' cause STR+2d4, attacks to the vitals cause no extra damage though
- If a target is Grabbed in combat they may themselves bite the attacker (usually on the hand) in an attempt to free themselves. They make their attack roll and must score a raise (although the attacker gets no defense bonus) and then cause damage as STR+1d4. The target needs to pass a Vigor check with TN equal to the damage sustained from the bite or else they release their victim
Using the Surrounding Area
By that I mean bottles, chairs, plates, ham shanks, spit buckets and whatever else comes to hand which may hurt an opponent
- Usually to make an attack with improvised weapons the attacker must subtract 2 (or 4 if using the new rules for Brawlin') from his attack roll, as if they were using a related aptitude.
- Planks of wood, unbroken bottles, chair legs and the like generally cause either STR+1d4 or STR+1d6 damage. Whole chairs or heavy ornaments may cause up to STR+2d6 damage but require 2 actions to attack with. To pick up and throw a larger object, such as a table (or small person!) would require a minimum Strength value, of say 4d8, and 3 actions altogether. Damage may be as much as Strength + 3d6, or STR+2d8. All this is variable and depends upon the Marshal. In certain cases Fightin':Club may be used and the -2 penalty to attacks ignored
You get the idea, play around with rules a bit and you'll find you can work any kind of attack into the Deadlands system - it just helps spice up barfights and street brawls a little and can make for some pretty interesting scraps!