CGR2 - The Complete Gladiator's Handbook

Overbear: When the only advantage the attackers trying to pin a weapon, the character suffers the same
have is numbers, the most effective tactic is often to sim- penalties as under the Barehanded penalty (-2 AC until
ply swarm the defender, to bring it down and pin it where his next attack, and an additional -2 attack penalty).
it is at the mercy of the attackers. The modifiers are as fol- Pull/Trip: A barehanded character cannot Pull/Trip
lows: Size difference is +/-4 if the defender is smaller or any size Large or larger creature, but can try against other
larger, respectively. There is a -2 penalty for each leg the creatures with no penalty to his attack.
defender has beyond 2. Finally, each extra attacker gives a Sap: The Barehanded Sap follows exactly the same
bonus of +1 to the attack roll. The attack roll uses the rules as the weapon-in-hand Sap, with the same chance
THAC0 of the weakest member; a successful attack for a knockout (5% per point of damage).
means the character has been overborne. Further success- Shield Maneuvers: Because a barehanded character
ful overbearing attacks each round pin the creature. The has by definition empty hands, he cannot perform these
pin lasts until the attackers fail to make a successful Overbearing
attack, or when the attacker breaks free of the pin
maneuvers.
(see “Pin” above). Tactics
Barehanded Maneuvers
Called Shots: Punching, Martial Arts, and Wrestling are
all called shots and are described in the “Martial Arts”
section later in the chapter.
Disarm: The Barehanded Disarm gives the unarmed
gladiator even more disadvantages. First, his AC decreases
by two places (for example, from 8 to 10) because he has
to expose himself to reach for his enemy’s weapon, and his
attack roll is at an additional -4 (for a total of -8) to hit. If
successful, he wrenches the weapon from his foe’s grasp.
Grab: The Grab is a naturally a barehanded move, so
suffers no additional penalty for an emptyhanded
attacker.
Hold Attack: There is no penalty for a barehanded
fighter to hold his attack.
Parry: The Barehanded Parry, like the Barehanded
Disarm, penalizes the character with a -2 AC modifier,
which lasts until the character’s next attack. When carrying
out the Parry, the fighter suffers an additional -2
attack penalty, because he must get close enough to get his
hand in front of his enemy’s weapon hand.
Pin: The Barehanded Pin against another barehanded
character is more properly a Wrestling maneuver. When
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A good gladiator always has strategies in mind when
attacking a foe. Trained gladiators almost never go into
combat simply to bash away at the opponent until one or
the other drops dead. The best gladiators plan in advance,
using the first few moments of combat to draw the opponent
out and appraise him for weaknesses. When the
gladiator has judged his opponent well enough, he formulates
a strategy to force his antagonist to make a mistake.
And when his opponent slips up, the gladiator is always
there to take advantage of it.
If, after the assessment, the gladiator determines his foe
to be weaker, he has no problem wading in to finish off his
opponent. However, few gladiators take this option, as
more experienced gladiators have been known to feign
weakness or inexperience to draw in the bold and brash.
This, in turn, has caused the newer gladiators to fear those
who seem to be weak, and they therefore do not attack the
weak-seeming ones outright. This serves the dual purpose
of teaching new gladiators to assess a foe, and luring the
less intelligent to their deaths. The mind games in the arenas
can be nearly as subtle as those the templars use on
one another, and often as entertaining as the sheer brutality
of the sport.
Despite their great size and physical prowess, it is only