Previously Established Holds and Locks

When a character is eligible to make an attack and begins the action phase with a character in his grasp, the attacker can release the opponent, try to improve his grip, or just hold on.

If the attacker releases his opponent he can immediately attempt another unarmed attack, draw a weapon and attack (this counts as a half-move action), or attempt some other action normally available to the character, such as movement.

If the attacker tries to improve his grip, make another opposed attack roll as described above. If both attack rolls fail, there is no change in the combatants’ status—they remain grappled and no damage is inflicted. If the defender wins, the attacker suffers 1d2 points of damage (plus Strength bonus) and the defender’s position improves one place. Locked defenders become held, held defenders break free. If the defender wins with a roll good enough to score a critical hit, the defender immediately scores a lock on the attacker, and can choose a lock result from the table below. The defender now controls the wrestling sequence and is treated as the attacker in subsequent action phases. If the attacker wins the opposed roll, the defender suffers 1d2 points of damage and the attacker’s position improves one place; held characters become locked.

If the attacker just tries to hold on, conduct another opposed roll. Unless the defender wins, his status does not change; held characters remain held and suffer 1d2 points of damage, and locked characters remain locked and suffer a lock result of the attacker’s choice. If the defender wins, his status improves one place, as noted above. There is no chance for the defender to roll a critical hit and achieve a lock on the attacker. If both attacks fail, or if there is a tie, the defender’s status remains unchanged, but the defender takes no damage and cannot suffer a lock result (though an established lock is not broken). The advantage of holding on is that there is also no chance for a critical hit to reverse the attacker’s fortunes.

A character who decides to hold on after he has achieved a lock can only repeat the previous lock effect. If the character wishes to change effects, he must win another opposed roll.

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