1. Roll Initiative: 1D10 + Dexterity + Wits
   Celerity Dots not being used for extra actions add 1D10
   Subtract Wound Penalties
   
2. Declare Actions: Characters declare in reverse order of initiative, thus giving faster characters the opportunity to react to slower characters’ actions. If multiple actions are going to be taken, they are declared now along with any Disciplines to be activated, Blood pool or Willpower points spent.
3. 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. Characters with Celerity can spend one blood point to take an extra action up to the number of dots he has in Celerity; this expenditure can go beyond her normal Generation maximum. Any dots used for extra actions, however, are no longer available for Dexterity-related rolls during that turn.
4. Delayed Actions: A character can delay their action. If your character delays her action, in which case her maneuvers happen when she finally takes action. Your character may act at any time after her designated order in the initiative, even to interrupt another, slower character’s action. If two characters both delay their actions, and both finally act at the same time, the one with the higher initiative rating for the turn acts first.
5. 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. If the Willpower roll fails, your character must carry out the action that you declared originally.
6. Defensive Manuevers: You may announce a defensive 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. 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.
7. Additional Actions: Finally, all additional actions that turn (including actions gained through Celerity) occur at the end of the turn. If two or more characters take multiple actions, the actions occur in order of initiative rating. An exception is made for defensive multiple actions, such as multiple dodges, which happen when they need to happen in order to avert attack.

1. Attack Roll:
   • For unarmed close-combat attacks, roll Dexterity + Brawl.
   • For armed close-combat attacks, roll Dexterity + Melee.
   • For ranged combat, roll Dexterity + Firearms(guns) or Dexterity + Athletics (thrown weapons).
   • Other close combat manuevers use different dice pools.
   
   

   Characters with Celerity can add 1D10 per dot of Celerity that was not used for multiple actions this turn.

   Each dot that the vampire has in Potence adds one die to all Strength-related dice rolls. Further, the player can spend one blood point and change his Potence dice into an equal number of automatic successes to all Strength-related rolls for the turn. In melee and brawling combat, successes from Potence (either rolled or automatic) are applied to the damage roll results.

2. A character can abort to a defensive action (block, dodge, parry) at any time before her action is performed, as long as you make a successful Willpower roll (or a Willpower point is spent).
3. Defensive Roll: 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
   • 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
   • 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.

1. Each extra success you get on an attack roll equals an additional die you add automatically to your damage dice pool.
2. Roll Damage: All attacks have specific damage ratings, indicating the number of dice to roll for the attack’s damage (called the damage dice pool). Damage dice rolls are made versus difficulty 6. Each success on the damage roll inflicts one health level of damage on the target.
• 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 (“*”).
3. Soak: Characters can resist a certain degree of physical punishment; this is called soaking damage. Your character’s soak dice pool is equal to her Stamina. 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

• Ambush: 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 and Eyes of the Beast 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 and still take an action in a turn. Other maneuvers such as leaping or tumbling may be considered separate actions, depending on their complexity.
• 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 (limb, briefcase)	+1	No Modifier
  Small (head, hand, cellphone)	+2	+1
  Precise (eye, heart, lock)	+3	+2

Accuracy adds to Attack Dice.

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).

• Bite: 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

  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. A claw attack inflicts #ptab2 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: N/A

• 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.

  Traits: Dexterity + Brawl	Difficulty: +1
  Accuracy: Normal	Damage: Strength + 1

• 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
  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: Strength /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. 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 Strike: A slashing blow, thrust, or jab, depending on the weapon used.
  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.

  Traits: Dexterity + Melee	Difficulty: +1
  Accuracy: Normal	Damage: Weapon Type

• 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 a 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.

  Traits: Dexterity + Firearms	Difficulty: Normal
  Accuracy: Special	Damage: Weapon Type

• Range: The Ranged Weapons Chart 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.

  Traits: 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.

  Traits: 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.”

  Traits: Dexterity + Firearms	Difficulty: +1/off-hand
  Accuracy: Normal	Damage: Weapon Type