Close Combat

Using a Melee Weapon
In your time in the New World, you will have to make use of more up close methods from time to time. This is an essential skill, whether it's knowing how to swing a bat to knock someone out of the park, knowing your way around a knife or even being able to destroy an opponent with a sledgehammer. This guide to melee weapons will teach you what classes of weapons are available, how to roll ability checks regarding melee weapons, such as "to hit" and "to damage", and finally any other information that is attached to melee weaponry.

Weapon Types
This is a blanket description for standard weapons, some weapons found could very well be outside these parameters, but this will cover most.
 * Player must have Strength level of 16 to wield Heavy weapons without penalty. Without the correct Strength level, the player will gain a negative modifier equal to half of the difference between their Strength level and level 16. So a player with 12 Strength is 4 levels below 16, therefore the modifier will be -2.

Rolling with a Melee Weapon
There are two different rolls associated with rolling die for melee, the "to hit" roll and the "to damage" roll.

To Hit

To successfully hit an enemy with a melee attack, you must roll a D20 and achieve a score above the target's defence. For example, if a target's defence is 13, you must roll a 13 or higher on the D20. You may add your Strength or Dexterity (depending on the weapon) modifier to this ability score. A scenario will provide a further example. To Damage
 * 1) Player (Strength level 16 [Modifier = +3]) decides to swing his hatchet at a target with a defence of 12
 * 2) Player rolls a D20and the result is 11.
 * 3) Player adds Strength modifier to this score (11 + 3). The new score becomes 14, and the hit is successful.

After successfully hitting a target, the player must roll the damage die that corresponds with the weapon used, following the previous example of a hatchet, a D6would be rolled to determine the amount of damage the target takes. After this step the target may take saves (if applicable).

Other Outcomes in the "to hit" roll
There are two other outcomes that can occur during the "to hit" roll of a melee weapon.
 * 1) If a player rolls a  Natural 20  on the D20the swing is counted as a Critical Strike. During the "to damage" phase of swinging this weapon, the player doubles the amount of Dn used for their damage roll.
 * 2) If a player rolls a  Natural 1  on the D20they lose their grip on the weapon, and it falls to the ground, the player must spend the remainder of this turn and the next recovering.

Wear & Tear
As you use weapons in combat, their durability will lower with each successful and failed attack. If a weapon reaches 0 durability points, it will shatter and be unrepairable.
 * Successful attacks will take off 1 durability point.
 * Failed attacks will take off 2 durability points.