Physical, Social and Mental Combat

It's no surprise that I need to address and house-rule combat of all stripes in this game. The fact is combat in Vampire: the Masquerade is horribly clunky and unfit for a Play-by-Post format. I will hew closely to the original write-up for combat, but will cut off the main culprits in combat that I feel bog things down (initiative, soaking, dodging and Celerity).

I eventually plan to devise systems for Social and Mental combat, too.

Physical Combat

As written by the Core V20 rulebook (p. 271), combat in Vampire attempts to capture the drama of violent conflict without downplaying its grim reality. Every effort has been made to create a system that has the feeling of dynamic, vicious combat while still leaving room for the unique (and often spectacular) elements that vampires bring to it. The Storyteller should be flexible when arbitrating combat situations; no rules can fully reflect the variety of situations encountered in warfare. If these systems slow the game or cause bickering, we do not have to use them. Combat systems are meant to add depth to the game, not create conflict between the players and the Storyteller.

Types of Combat

There are two types of physical combat, each involving the same basic system with minor differences:

• Close Combat: This covers unarmed combat and melee combat. Unarmed combat can involve a down-and-dirty bar brawl or an honourable test of skill. Opponents must be within touching distance to engage in unarmed combat. Melee involves handheld weapons, anything from broken bottles to swords.
  
  
• Ranged Combat: Armed combat covers the use of firearms and thrown weaponry. Opponents must normally be within sight (and weapon range) of each other to engage in a shoot-out.
  

Combat Turns

In combat, many things happen at virtually the same time. Since this can make things a bit sticky in a game, combat is divided into a series of fast-paced turns. Each combat turn has three stages: Initiative, Attack, and Resolution.

Stage One: Initiative

Passive Defense

A target is automatically allowed a degree of evasion when an opponent attempts to attack them. Such a response is a reflexive action and applies even if your character is attacked before their place in the Initiative order. This reaction is called your character’s Defense, a trait equal to your character's Dexterity trait.

Your character’s Defense is subtracted from an attacker’s dice pool. In essence, your character bobs and weaves to avoid the blow. This automatic Defense does not normally apply against Firearms attacks. The only instance in which Defense does apply against Firearms-based attacks is when the attacker shoots within close-combat range; within a yard or two of the target. Defense does apply normally against thrown weapons, such as rocks, knives and spears. A target who is tied up, unconscious or simply unmoving does not receive Defense as protection. Nor does one who’s taken by surprise or who is unaware of an incoming attack (say he has his back turned). That is, the attacker’s dice pool is not modified by the target’s Defense trait. A completely dormant target — a person who is tied up so that he cannot move at all, or who is unconscious — is a sitting duck for a killing blow (the attacker need not make a roll; he delivers damage equal to his dice pool. If the target wears armour, its rating is automatically subtracted from the damage inflicted).

Roll Initiative

Everyone, player and Storyteller character alike, rolls one die and adds it to their initiative rating (Dexterity + Wits); the character with the highest result acts first, with the remaining characters acting in decreasing order of result. If two characters get the same total, the one with the higher initiative rating goes first. If initiative ratings are also the same, the two characters act simultaneously. Wound penalties subtract directly from a character’s initiative rating, while Celerity dots that aren't being used for extra actions add to it (see Celerity, p. 142).

Stage Two: Attack
Attacks are the meat of the combat turn. An action’s
success or failure and potential impact on the target are
determined at this stage. You use a certain Attribute/
Ability combination depending on the type of combat
in which your character is engaged:
• Close Combat: Use Dexterity + Brawl (unarmed)
or Dexterity + Melee (armed).
• Ranged Combat: Use Dexterity + Firearms (guns)
or Dexterity + Athletics (thrown weapons).
Remember, if your character doesn’t have points in
the necessary Ability, simply default to the Attribute
on which it’s based (in most cases, Dexterity).
In ranged combat, your weapon may modify your dice
pool or difficulty (due to rate of fire, a targeting scope,
etc.); check the weapon’s statistics for details.
Most attacks are made versus difficulty 6. This can be
adjusted for situational modifiers (long range, cramped
quarters), but the default attack roll is versus 6. If you
get no successes, the character fails her attack and inflicts
no damage. If you botch, not only does the attack
fail, but something nasty happens: The weapon jams or
explodes, the blade breaks, an ally is hit, and so on.

Stage Three: Resolution
During this stage, you determine the damage inflicted
by your character’s attack, and the Storyteller describes
what occurs in the turn. Resolution is a mixture of
game and story; it’s more interesting for players to hear
“Your claws rip through his bowels; he screams in pain,
dropping his gun as he clutches his bloody abdomen”
than simply “Uh, he loses four health levels.” Attack
and damage rolls are merely ways of describing what
happens in the story, and it’s important to maintain
the narrative of combat even as you make the die roll.
Normally, additional successes gained on a Trait roll
simply mean that you do exceptionally well. In combat,
each extra success you get on an attack roll equals
an additional die you add automatically to your damage
dice pool. This creates cinematic and often fatal
combat.

Damage Types
All attacks have specific damage ratings, indicating
the number of dice to roll for the attack’s damage
(called the damage dice pool). Some damage dice pools
are based on the attacker’s Strength, while others are
based on the weapon used. Damage dice rolls are made
versus difficulty 6. Each success on the damage roll inflicts
one health level of damage on the target. However,
the damage applied may be one of three types:
• Bashing: Bashing damage comprises punches and
other blunt trauma that are less likely to kill a victim
(especially a vampire) instantly. All characters use
their full Stamina ratings to resist bashing effects, and
the damage heals fairly quickly. Bashing damage is applied
to the Health boxes on your character sheet with
a “/.”
• Lethal: Attacks meant to cause immediate and fatal
injury to the target. Mortals may not use Stamina to
resist lethal effects, and the damage takes quite a while
to heal. Vampires may resist lethal damage with their
Stamina. Lethal damage is applied to the Health boxes
on your vampire’s character sheet with a “X.”
• Aggravated: Certain types of attacks are deadly
even to the undead. Fire, sunlight, and the teeth and
claws of vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural
beings are considered aggravated damage. Aggravated
damage cannot be soaked except with Fortitude, and it
takes quite a while to heal. Aggravated damage is applied
to the Health boxes on your character sheet with
an asterisk (“*”).

Damage dice pools can never be reduced to lower
than one die; any attack that strikes its target has at
least a small chance of inflicting damage before a soak
roll is made. Moreover, damage effect rolls cannot
botch; a botched roll simply means the attack glances
harmlessly off the target. Specifics on applying damage
effects are described on pp. 284-285.

Soak
Characters can resist a certain degree of physical
punishment; this is called soaking damage. Your char
acter’s soak dice pool is equal to her Stamina. A normal
human can soak only bashing damage (this reflects
the body’s natural resilience to such attacks). A vampire
(or other supernatural being) is tougher, and can
thus use soak dice against lethal damage. Aggravated
damage may be soaked only with the Discipline of Fortitude.
Fortitude also adds to the defender’s soak rating
against bashing or lethal damage (so a character with
Stamina 3 and Fortitude 2 has five soak dice against
bashing and lethal damage, but only two soak dice
against aggravated damage).
After an attack hits and inflicts damage, the defender
may make a soak roll to resist. This is considered a reflexive
action; characters need not take an action or
split a dice pool to soak. Unless otherwise stated, soak
rolls are made versus difficulty 6. Each soak success subtracts
one die from the total damage inflicted. As with
damage rolls, soak rolls may not botch, only fail.

Armor
Armor adds to your character’s soak. The armor’s rating
combines with your base soak for purposes of reducing
damage. Light armor offers a small amount of
protection, but doesn’t greatly hinder mobility. Heavy
armor provides a lot of protection, but can restrict flexibility.
Armor protects against bashing, lethal, and aggravated
damage from teeth and claws; it does not protect
against fire or sunlight. Armor is not indestructible. If
the damage rolled in a single attack equals twice the
armor’s rating, the armor is destroyed.
Armor types, their ratings, and other specifics are described
on p. 280.

Combat Maneuvers
These maneuvers give you a variety of choices in
combat. Roleplaying combat is more entertaining if
you can visualize your character’s moves instead of
simply rolling dice. Most of these maneuvers take one
action to execute.

General Maneuvers
• Aborting Actions: You can abandon your character’s
declared action in favor of a defensive action
as long as your character hasn’t acted in the turn. Actions
that can take the place of a previously declared
action include block, dodge, and parry. A successful
Willpower roll versus difficulty 6 (or the expenditure of
a Willpower point) is required for a character to abort
an action and perform a defensive one instead. When
spending Willpower for an abort maneuver, a character
may declare the Willpower expenditure at the time
of the abort. A Willpower roll to abort is considered a
reflexive action. (See “Defensive Maneuvers,” below,
for descriptions of block, dodge, and parry.)
• Ambush: Ambushes involve surprising a target to
get in a decisive first strike. The attacker rolls Dexterity
+ Stealth in a resisted action against the target’s
Perception + Alertness. If the attacker scores more successes,
she can stage one free attack on the target; she
then adds any extra successes from the resisted roll to
her attack dice pool. On a tie, the attacker still attacks
first, although the target may perform a defensive maneuver.
If the defender gets more successes, he spots
the ambush, and both parties determine initiative normally.
Targets already involved in combat cannot be
ambushed.
• Blind Fighting/Fire: Staging attacks while blind
(or in pitch darkness) usually incurs a +2 difficulty, and
ranged attacks cannot be accurately made at all. Powers
such as Heightened Senses (p. 134) and Eyes of the
Beast (p. 199) mitigate this penalty.
• Flank and Rear Attacks: Characters attacking
targets from the flank gain an additional attack die.
Characters attacking from the rear gain two additional
attack dice.
• Movement: A character may move half of her running
distance (see “Movement,” p. 258) and still take
an action in a turn. Other maneuvers such as leaping
or tumbling may be considered separate actions, depending
on their complexity.
• Multiple Actions: If you declare multiple actions,
declare the total number of actions you wish to attempt
and determine which of the dice pools is the smallest.
Then, divide that number of dice between all of your
actions. If a character performs only defensive actions
in a turn, use the appropriate block, dodge, or parry system.
See Chapter Five, p. 248 for more information.
• Targeting: Aiming for a specific location incurs
an added difficulty, but can bypass armor or cover, or
can result in an increased damage effect. The Storyteller
should consider special results beyond a simple
increase in damage, depending on the attack and the
target.
Target Size Difficulty Damage
Medium +1 No modifier
(limb, briefcase)
Small +2 +1
(hand, head, cellphone)
Precise +3 +2
(eye, heart, lock)

Defensive Maneuvers
It’s a given that your character tries to avoid being hit
in combat — that’s why everyone makes attack rolls to
try to hit you. Sometimes, though, all your character
wants to do is avoid attacks. You may announce a de
fensive action at any time before your character’s opponent
makes an attack roll, as long as your character
has an action left to perform. You can declare a defensive
action on your character’s turn in the initiative,
or can even abort to a defensive maneuver. You must
make a successful Willpower roll (or may simply spend
one point of Willpower) to abort. If the Willpower roll
fails, your character must carry out the action that you
declared originally.
There are three types of defensive actions: block,
dodge, and parry. Your character can defend against
virtually any kind of attack with these three maneuvers.
However, your character may not be able to
avoid every single attack that’s directed at her. She
can’t dodge when there’s no room to maneuver, and
she can’t block or parry if she doesn’t know an attack
is coming.
Each defensive maneuver uses the same basic system:
The defensive action is a resisted roll against the opponent’s
attack roll. Unless the attacker gets more total
successes, he misses. If the attacker gets more successes,
those that he achieves in excess of the defender’s
successes, if any, are used to hit (the attacker doesn’t
necessarily use all the successes he rolled). So if the defender
has fewer successes than the attacker does, the
defender’s maneuver can still reduce the effectiveness
of the attack, even if the maneuver can’t counteract it
completely.
• Block: A Dexterity + Brawl maneuver using your
character’s own body to deflect a hand-to-hand bashing
attack. Lethal and aggravated attacks cannot be
blocked unless the defender has Fortitude or is wearing
armor.
• Dodge: A Dexterity + Athletics maneuver useful
for avoiding attacks of all types. Your character
bobs and weaves to avoid Melee or Brawl attacks (if
there’s no room to maneuver, she must block or parry
instead). In gunfights, your character moves at least
one yard/meter and ends up behind cover (if there’s no
room to maneuver or no cover available, she can drop
to the ground). If your character remains under cover
or prone, cover rules apply against further Firearms attacks
(see “Cover,” p. 278).
• Parry: A Dexterity + Melee maneuver using a
weapon to block a Brawl or Melee attack. If a character
makes a Brawl attack and the defender parries with
a weapon that normally causes lethal damage, the attacker
can actually be hurt by a successful parry. If the
defender rolls more successes than the attacker does
in the resisted action, the defender rolls the weapon’s
base damage plus the parry’s extra successes as a damage
dice pool against the attacker.
Block, dodge, and parry can be performed as part of
a multiple action in your character’s turn (punching
then blocking, shooting then dodging, parrying then
striking). Using a multiple action to act and defend is
advantageous because your character can still accomplish
something in a turn besides avoiding attacks.
Rather than having to divide your dice pool among
multiple defensive actions, you may declare that your
character spends an entire turn defending. The normal
multiple-action rules are not used in this case. Instead,
you have a full dice pool for the first defensive action,
but lose one die, cumulatively, for each subsequent defense
action made in the same turn. It is still difficult
to avoid several incoming attacks, but not as difficult as
trying to attempt multiple things at once.
Remember that any actions, including defensive
ones, versus multiple attackers still suffer difficulty
penalties (see “Multiple Opponents,” p. 276).

Close Combat Maneuvers
This is simply a listing of the common maneuvers
used in close combat; feel free to develop your own
moves (with the Storyteller’s approval). All hand-tohand
attacks inflict bashing damage unless stated otherwise.
The damage inflicted by melee attacks depends
on the weapon type (see the Melee Weapons Chart,
p. 280). It is typically lethal, though clubs and other
blunt instruments inflict bashing damage. All references
to Strength also gain the benefit of Potence, as
detailed on p. 192.
Difficulty and damage for these maneuvers may be
modified at the Storyteller’s discretion, depending on
the combat style the character uses. As always, drama
and excitement take precedence over rules systems.
• Bite: This maneuver is available only to vampires
(or other supernatural creatures with sharp teeth, such
as werewolves). A bite maneuver is a “combat” bite,
intended to cause damage rather than drain blood. Bite
damage is aggravated. To use a bite attack, the vampire
must first perform a successful clinch, hold, or tackle
maneuver (see below). On the turn following the successful
attack, the player may declare the bite attempt
and make a roll using the modifiers below.
Alternatively, a player can declare her vampire’s bite
to be a “Kiss” attack. A Kiss is resolved in the same way
as a normal bite, but inflicts no health levels of damage.
Upon connecting with a Kiss, the vampire may
begin to drain the victim’s blood at the normal rate,
and the victim is typically helpless to resist (see p. 269
for specifics). Following the Kiss, a vampire may, if she
chooses, lick the puncture wound of the Kiss closed,
thereby removing any evidence that she has fed.
Traits: Dexterity + Brawl Difficulty: Normal
Accuracy: +1 Damage: Strength +1
• Claw: This attack is available to vampires with
claws, such as those from the Protean power of Feral
Claws or bone spurs constructed with the Vicissitude
power of Bonecraft. A few other supernatural creatures,
such as werewolves, also have claws. A claw attack inflicts
aggravated damage (if Feral Claws) or lethal damage
(if a Vicissitude-constructed weapon).
Traits: Dexterity + Brawl Difficulty: Normal
Accuracy: Normal Damage: Strength +1
• Clinch: On a successful attack roll, the attacker
goes into a clinch with the target. In the first turn, the
attacker may roll Strength damage. In each subsequent
turn, combatants act on their orders in the initiative.
A combatant can inflict Strength damage automatically
or attempt to escape the clinch. No other actions
are allowed until one combatant breaks free. To escape
a clinch, make a resisted Strength + Brawl roll against
the opponent. If the escaping character has more successes,
she breaks free; if not, the characters continue
to grapple in the next turn.
Traits: Strength + Brawl Difficulty: Normal
Accuracy: Normal Damage: Strength
• Disarm: To strike an opponent’s weapon, the attacker
must make an attack roll at +1 difficulty. If successful,
the attacker rolls damage normally. If successes
rolled exceed the opponent’s Strength rating, the opponent
takes no damage but is disarmed. A botch usually
means the attacker drops her own weapon or is
struck by her target’s weapon.
Traits: Dexterity + Melee Difficulty: +1
Accuracy: Normal Damage: Special
• Hold: This attack inflicts no damage, as the intent
is to immobilize rather than injure the subject. On a
successful roll, the attacker holds the target until the
subject’s next action. At that time, both combatants
roll resisted Strength + Brawl actions; the subject remains
immobilized (able to take no other action) until
she rolls more successes than the attacker does.
Traits: Strength + Brawl Difficulty: Normal
Accuracy: Normal Damage: None
• Kick: Kicks range from simple front kicks to aerial
spins. The base attack is at +1 difficulty and inflicts the
attacker’s Strength +1 in damage. These ratings may
be modified further at the Storyteller’s discretion, increasing
in damage and/or difficulty as the maneuver
increases in complexity.
Ability: Dexterity + Brawl Difficulty: +1
Accuracy: Normal Damage: Strength +1
• Multiple Opponents: A character who battles
multiple opponents in close combat suffers attack and
defense difficulties of +1, cumulative, for each opponent
after the first (to a maximum of +4).
• Strike: The attacker lashes out with a fist. The
base attack is a standard action and inflicts the character’s
Strength in damage. The Storyteller may adjust
the difficulty and/or damage depending on the type of
punch: hook, jab, haymaker, karate strike.
Traits: Dexterity + Brawl Difficulty: Normal
Accuracy: Normal Damage: Strength
• Sweep: The attacker uses her own legs to knock
the legs out from under her opponent. The target takes
Strength damage and must roll Dexterity + Athletics
(difficulty 8)or suffer a knockdown (see “Maneuver
Complications,” p. 279).
The attacker can also use a staff, chain, or similar implement
to perform a sweep. The effect is the same, although
the target takes damage per the weapon type.
Traits: Dexterity + Brawl/Melee Difficulty: +1
Accuracy: Normal Damage: Str;
knockdown
• Tackle: The attacker rushes her opponent, tackling
him to the ground. The attack roll is at +1 difficulty,
and the maneuver inflicts Strength +1 damage.
Additionally, both combatants must roll Dexterity
+ Athletics (difficulty 7) or suffer a knockdown (see
“Maneuver Complications,” p. 279). Even if the target’s
Athletics roll succeeds, he is unbalanced, suffering
+1 difficulty to his actions for the next turn.
Traits: Strength + Brawl Difficulty: +1
Accuracy: Normal Damage: Strength +1
• Weapon Length: It is difficult to get in range with
a punch or knife if someone else is wielding a sword or
staff. A character being fended off with a longer weapon
must close in one yard/meter before striking, losing
a die from her attack roll in the process.
• Weapon Strike: A slashing blow, thrust, or jab,
depending on the weapon used. See the Melee Weapons
Chart, p. 280, for particulars.
Traits: Dexterity + Melee Difficulty: Normal
Accuracy: Normal Damage: Weapon type

Ranged Combat Maneuvers
Many physical conflicts involve ranged weapons.
The following maneuvers allow for a number of useful
actions during a firefight. Don’t feel limited by this
list; if the need arises, try developing a new maneuver
(at the Storyteller’s discretion). Refer to the Ranged
Weapons Chart, p. 281, for specific information.
• Aiming: The attacker adds one die to her attack
dice pool on a single shot for each turn spent aiming.
The maximum number of dice that can be added in
this way is equal to the character’s Perception, and a
character must have Firearms 1 or better to use this
maneuver. A scope adds two more dice to the attacker’s
pool in the first turn of aiming (in addition to those
added for Perception). The attacker may do nothing
but aim during this time. Additionally, it isn’t possible
to aim at a target that is moving faster than a walk.
• Automatic Fire: The weapon unloads its entire
ammunition clip in one attack against a single target.
The attacker makes a single roll, adding 10 dice to her
accuracy. However, the attack roll is at a +2 difficulty
due to the weapon’s recoil. Extra successes add to the
damage dice pool, which is still treated as equivalent
to one bullet. An attacker using automatic fire may not
target a specific area of the body.
This attack is permissible only if the weapon’s clip is
at least half-full to begin with.
Traits: Dexterity + Firearms Difficulty: +2
Accuracy: +10 Damage: Special
• Cover: Cover increases an attacker’s difficulty to
hit a target (and often the target’s ability to fire back).
Difficulty penalties for hitting a target under various
types of cover are listed below. A character who fires
back from behind cover is also at something of a disadvantage
to hit, as he exposes himself and ducks back
under protection. Firearms attacks made by a defender
who is under cover are at one lower difficulty than listed
below. (If a listed difficulty is +1, then the defender
suffers no penalty to make attacks from under that
cover.) If your character hides behind a wall, attackers’
Firearms rolls have a +2 difficulty. Your character’s attacks
staged from behind that wall are at +1 difficulty.
Note that difficulties for combatants who are both
under cover are cumulative. If one combatant is prone
and one is behind a wall, attacks staged by the prone
character are at +2 difficulty, while attacks staged by
the character behind the wall are also at +2 difficulty.
Cover Type Difficulty Increase
Light (lying prone) +1
Good (behind wall) +2
Superior (only head exposed) +3
• Multiple Shots: An attacker with a fast firearm
may try to take more than one shot in a turn. The attacker
can divide his attack dice pool by how many
shots she wants to fire at a similar number of targets,
up to the weapon’s rate of fire (multiple attacks against
the same target are covered under maneuvers like “Automatic
Fire” and “Three-Round Burst”). Each attack
is then rolled separately.
Ability: Dexterity + Firearms Difficulty: Normal
Accuracy: Special Damage: Weapon type
• Range: The Ranged Weapons Chart (p. 281) lists
each weapon’s short range; attacks made at that range

are versus difficulty 6. Twice that listing is the weapon’s
maximum range. Attacks made up to maximum
range are versus difficulty 8. Attacks made at targets
within two meters are considered point blank. Pointblank
shots are made versus difficulty 4.
• Reloading: Reloading takes one full turn and requires
the character’s concentration. Like any other
maneuver, reloading can be performed as part of a multiple
action.
• Strafing: Instead of aiming at one target, fully-automatic
weapons can be fired across an area. Strafing
adds 10 dice to accuracy on a standard attack roll, and
empties the clip. A maximum of three yards/meters
can be covered with this maneuver.
The attacker divides any successes gained on the attack
roll evenly among all targets in the covered area
(successes assigned to hit an individual are added to
that target’s damage dice pool, as well). If only one
target is within range or the area of effect, only half
the successes affect him. The attacker then assigns any
leftover successes as she desires. If fewer successes are
rolled than there are targets, only one may be assigned
per target until they are all allocated.
Dodge rolls against strafing are at +1 difficulty.
Ability: Dexterity + Firearms Difficulty: +2
Accuracy: +10 Damage: Special
• Three-Round Burst: The attacker gains two additional
dice on a single attack roll, and expends three
shots from the weapon’s clip. Only certain weapons
may perform this maneuver; see the Ranged Weapons
Chart for particulars. Attacks are made at +1 difficulty
due to recoil. As with automatic fire, the damage dice
pool is based on one bullet from the weapon in question.
Ability: Dexterity + Firearms Difficulty: +1
Accuracy: +2 Damage: Weapon type
• Two Weapons: Firing two weapons is considered
performing a multiple action, complete with dividing
the dice of the lowest pool between two different
targets. Additionally, the attacker suffers +1 difficulty
for the attack with her off-hand (unless she’s ambidextrous).
Each attack is rolled and resolved separately
— multiple attacks made against the same target are
covered by maneuvers such as “Automatic Fire” and
“Three-Round Burst.”
Ability: Dexterity + Firearms Difficulty:
+1/off-hand
Accuracy: Normal Damage: Weapon type

Maneuver Complications
The following are common combat complications.
The Storyteller should add any others as the situation
warrants.
• Blinded: Add two dice to attack rolls made against
a blinded target. Furthermore, blind characters are at
+2 difficulty on all actions.
• Dazed: If, in a single attack, the attacker rolls a
number of damage successes greater than the target’s
Stamina (for mortals) or Stamina + 2 (for vampires
and other supernatural beings), the victim is dazed.

The target must spend her next available turn shaking
off the attack’s effects. Only damage successes that
penetrate the defender’s soak attempt count toward
this total.
• Immobilization: Add two dice to attack rolls made
on an immobilized (i.e., held by someone or something)
but still struggling target. Attacks hit automatically if
the target is completely immobilized (tied up, staked,
or otherwise paralyzed).
• Knockdown: The victim falls down. After suffering
a knockdown, the subject makes a Dexterity +
Athletics roll. If successful, she may get back on her
feet immediately, but her initiative is reduced by two
in the next turn. On a failed roll, the subject spends
her next action climbing to her feet, if she chooses to
rise. On a botch, she lands particularly hard or at a severe
angle, taking an automatic health level of bashing
damage.
Maneuvers like tackle and sweep are intended to
knock an opponent down. However, an especially
powerful attack of any kind may send the target to the
ground. Such instances are best left to the Storyteller’s
discretion, and should occur only when appropriately
cinematic or suitable to the story.

• Stake Through Heart: A vampire can indeed be
incapacitated by the classic wooden stake of legend.
However, the legends err on one point: A Kindred
impaled through the heart with a wooden stake is not
destroyed, but merely paralyzed until the stake is removed.
To stake a vampire, an attacker must target the heart
(difficulty 9). If the attack succeeds and inflicts at least
three health levels of damage, the target is immobilized.
An immobilized victim is conscious (and may use
perception powers, such as those in the Auspex Discipline),
but may not move or spend blood points.