Common martial Abilities*:
Athletics -- Talent
Includes "support" maneuvers such as jumps, rolls, breakfalls, kippups, charges and groundfighting. Is also
used for hand-thrown indirect-attack weapons such as grenades, caltrops or any sort of "bank shot" attack
(hand-thrown direct-attack weapons--such as darts or javelins--fall under Melee instead).
Brawl -- Talent
Includes all varieties of unarmed strikes: punches, kicks, throws, holds and even bites and claw rakes.
Do (Non-Technocracy mages only) --Talent (Akashic Brotherhood) or Skill (all other Traditions).
An all-encompassing mystic style known for feats such as inhuman leaps, life-drain strikes and energy attacks.
Dodge -- Talent
The art of avoiding harm. Includes dodges, evasions, blocks, catches and--for werebeasts--shifting to a
smaller form just before an enemy's attack lands.
Firearms -- Skill
Includes all small-arms slugthrowers, from arquebusses to futuristic assault rifles.
Melee -- Skill
Includes weapons wielded in close quarters or thrown by hand.
Uncommon martial Abilities:
Archery -- Skill
Includes shortbows, longbows and composite bows. Due to their design, crossbows are wielded as Firearms.
Artillery -- Skill
Includes mortars and cannons, from old sakers and culverins to modern-day howitzers, naval cannons and
tank cannons.
Demolitions -- Skill
Includes explosives, whether throwing detpacks or leading enemies into well-placed or well-timed booby traps
(usually through Manipulation+Demolitions).
Drive (sometimes with fixed vehicular weaponry) -- Skill
Common in use for driving, listed here for either fixed vehicular weaponry or ramming with the vehicle.
Energy Weapons (restricted to Technocracy, Sons of Ether or Virtual Adepts) -- Skill
Includes ranged hypertech weaponry based on forms of energy such as laser, microwave, plasma, particle
beams, radiation, electricity, and electromagnetism (ie. Gauss weapons and railguns). Photon blades,
vibroblades, stun batons and other hypertech melee weapons fall under Melee instead.
Heavy Weapons -- Skill
Includes such dangerous weapons as rocket launchers, grenade launchers and flamethrowers.
Helmsman (sometimes with fixed vehicular weaponry; usually restricted to technomages) -- Skill
Similar to Drive, but relevant to spacecraft.
Pilot (sometimes with fixed vehicular weaponry) -- Skill
Similar to Drive, but relevant to aircraft.
Seamanship (sometimes with fixed vehicular weaponry) -- Skill
Similar to Drive, but relevant to boats and naval vessels.
Tactics -- Knowledge
Not an independent Ability for combat; instead, Tactics increases the effectiveness of a massed force.
Technology -- Skill
Rarely used for attack, mainly in the form of remote-guidance weaponry such as radio-controlled missiles.
*Note: As of this printing, those martial art styles specific to certain World of Darkness titles--styles which usually capitalize on the stylist's paranormal powers--fall under the Brawl and Melee abilities; this includes the Werewolf styles of Kailindo and Klaive Dueling (both formerly listed as separate Abilities) as well as Kibatsumejutsu (Vampire), Martial Arts (Kindred of the East), Gae Bolga (Changeling), Pan Do (Changeling) and Ragnarok (Changeling). The art of Do remains its own Ability for the same reason that the True Magick of mages remains separate from the "static" magicks of other supernaturals: it is primarily mental and metaphysical, manifest from a higher state of consciousness and packed with tons of mystic attacks and defenses.
