5.10 Universal Combat Abilities
This section lists combat abilities that all characters can use.
| Ability | Usage Time | Short Description | Tags |
| Desperate Exertion | Non-action | Reroll an attack or check with a +2 bonus |
— |
| Escape Grapple | Standard | Stop being grappled | Brawling, Physical |
| Grapple | Standard | Start grappling with a foe | Brawling, Physical, Size-Based |
| Ready Reaction | Standard | Ready an action | — |
| Recover | Standard | Regain HP, remove conditions | — |
| Run | Standard | Briefly double your available movement | — |
| Shove | Move or standard | Move a foe | Brawling, Physical |
| Sprint | Free | Double your available movement | — |
| Trip | Standard | Trip a foe | Brawling, Physical |
| Desperate Exertion | Triggered (see text) |
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You reroll any attack roll or check you just rolled, keeping the better result. You gain a +2 bonus with the reroll.
You can use this ability after you learn whether the original roll succeeded or failed. However, you must use it before using any other abilities or ending your turn.
After you use this ability, you reduce your stamina by two. This is not a cost, and it applies after you resolve the attack or check.
You cannot use this to affect other types of rolls, such as vital rolls. You cannot use this ability multiple times to affect the same roll. Finally, you cannot use this ability to affect actions that take one minute or longer to complete, such as rituals.
| Escape Grapple | Standard action |
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Make a brawling attack vs. Brawn against any number of creatures that you are grappled by. You can use the Flexibility skill in place of your brawling accuracy (see Flexibility). For each target, if you hit that target with this attack, it stops being grappled by you and you stop being grappled by it.
| Grapple | Standard action |
Tags: Brawling, Physical, Size-Based
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Make a brawling attack with a free hand against the Brawn and Reflex defenses of one creature you touch.
Hit: You and the target are grappled by each other. For details, see Grappling.
Critical hit: You also control the grapple (see Controlling a Grapple).
| Ready Reaction | Standard action |
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When you use this ability, you declare another standard action that you intend to take as soon as it becomes possible. For example, you could declare your intent to make a melee strike against a creature that is not close to you, or cast a targeted spell on an enemy that you can’t see behind a wall.
If your intended action ever becomes possible, between the end of your current turn and the start of your next turn, it happens immediately. Any attacks you make in this way are reactive attacks, so you can’t use the desperate exertion ability or similar effects. Your reaction resolves as soon as it becomes possible, interrupting other actions partway through their execution. This means that if you ready to hit an enemy as soon as it runs up to you, and it moves up to attack you, you will attack before it does.
You cannot react to the readied reaction of another creature. If your reaction becomes possible only as a result of the readied reaction of another creature, you do nothing.
| Recover |
Standard action |
Cost: Two stamina, and you cannot use this ability again until you finish a short rest.
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You regain half of your maximum hit points. Then, you remove all conditions affecting you.
| Run |
Standard action |
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Add your speed to your available movement. At the start of your next turn, add your speed to your available movement again.
| Shove |
Standard action |
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If you are grappling or being grappled by a creature, you can use this ability as a move action, and it affects all creatures grappling with you (see Grappling). Otherwise, the target is something you touch. You must be strong enough to push each target (see Weight Categories).
Make a brawling attack vs. Brawn against each target. If a target is not able to use any of its movement speeds, such as if it is being carried by a flying creature, its defense is treated as 0.
Hit: You can move up to half your speed, reducing your available movement as normal. During this movement, you can push each target 5 feet for each 5 feet that you move. If you push a target so it stops being adjacent to you, you stop being able to push it further. When pushing a target off of a ledge, if you move with the target over the edge to fall with them, it cannot make the normal reactive Athletics check to grab the ledge (see Push Effects).
| Sprint | Free action |
Cost: One stamina. You can only use this ability once per turn.
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You add your speed to your available movement.
| Trip | Standard action |
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Make a brawling attack vs. Brawn using a free hand against a creature you touch.
Hit: The target becomes prone (half speed, -2 Armor and Ref).
5.10.1 Grappling
A grappling creature is physically struggling with at least one other creature. While grappling, you suffer certain penalties and restrictions, as described below. Other than these restrictions, you can act normally.
- One of your hands cannot be used for any purposes other than using Brawling abilities, including maintaining the grapple. This prevents humanoid creatures from taking any actions that would require having two free hands, such as attacking with Heavy weapons. Monsters without hands must generally use an appropriate appendage, if possible.
- You take a -2 penalty to Armor and Reflex defenses. This penalty is removed if you control the grapple (see below).
- You cannot move unless you push all creatures grappling you, such as with the shove ability (see Shove). In addition, you cannot push a creature grappling with you so it stops being adjacent to you. However, you can use the shove ability to affect creatures you are grappling with as a move action instead of as a standard action.
- You can use the escape grapple ability to stop grappling (see Universal Combat Abilities).
- You can attempt to release the grapple as a free action. If each other creature you are grappling with used escape grapple ability or attempted to release the grapple in this way since your last turn, the grapple immediately ends for all participants. Otherwise, it continues.
Controlling a Grapple
Normally, when you use the grapple ability, neither creature controls the grapple. If you get a critical hit against every grapple participant, you control the grapple.
If you control a grapple, you gain two benefits. First, you do not take the normal -2 penalty to Armor and Reflex defenses for being in a grapple. Second, you can release the grapple as a free action regardless of whether the other participants want to leave the grapple.
To take control of an existing grapple, you can use the grapple ability. If you hit against the controlling creature, no creature has control of the grapple. On a critical hit against each participant, you gain control of the grapple.