Learned or not is the test. A Character striking with a technique they have learned from a Main Class Tier, Path or Branch is fighting Unarmed. A Character striking with one they have not is using an Improvised Tool. That one line decides which half of this page a strike is read from, and it is why both halves live together.
Hands and everything else. Hands keep Main Hand and Off Hand. Elbows, knees and the like have neither, and are Improvised Tools unless a Class, Path, Branch or Ability says otherwise.
Rule Sets. Sections marked Complex are not in play at a Bare Bones table. Blue is in play at every Rule Set, gold is Complex only, and a purple border marks anything a Modular table may keep or drop.
Unarmed
Unarmed Combat
Unarmed attacks use no weapon rank. Strength replaces the rank hit bonus.
Hit: d100 + Strength vs PROTS
Damage (main): 1d4 + Strength
Damage (off): 1d2 + Strength
Graze and Critical Hit rules apply as normal. Grapple rules apply as normal.
Anything using hands is Main Hand and Off Hand still. There are no bonuses for hands unless the Class, Path or Branch itself or the Ability, such as those from Monk or Brawler, define it.
Elbows, knees and the like have no Main or Off Hand, and they are treated as Improvised Tools unless the Class, Path or Branch itself or the Ability, such as those from Monk or Brawler, define it.
Certain class paths, such as Fighter, Brawler, prefer their bare hands, grappling, and improvising with objects from their environment as weapons. Characters with innate unarmed abilities may have class-specific bonuses that override or stack with these base values.
Improvised Tools
Any attack using an item in a way it was not designed for, or using an ability the Character has not learned from a Main Class Tier, Path or Branch, is an Improvised Tool. A sword thrown, an arrow driven in by fist, a shield swung edge-on, a bar stool, a rock, a beer mug: there is one rule for all of them and no separate rule for any of them.
| Subcategory | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Environmental Objects | Anything the world hands the Character rather than their kit, a chair, a rock, a lamp, a beer mug |
| Projectiles | Ammunition and throwing weapons used by hand instead of launched, an arrow punched in, a bolt used as a spike |
| Hand Weapons | A melee Armament used against its design, a polearm in a stairwell, a greatsword swung by the blade |
| Weapons | Any other Armament outside its use, a bow swung, a blade thrown, a firearm used as a club |
| Shields | A shield used to strike rather than to protect |
| Miscellaneous | Anything else in hand being used against its design |
An Improvised Tool has no Rank and no Grade, whatever it was before it was picked up this way. Its damage is read off its Improvised Class, which is a question of mass and how it is held, not of craft. Because it carries no Rank, improvised damage never scales; it is the same at Divine as it is at Common, which is why it is a thing a Character reaches for when they have nothing better, not a build.
| Improvised Class | DMG. | Hands | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light | 1d6 + STR | 1h | Beer mug, bottle, rock, plate, candlestick, book, hand tool, boot, arrow, bolt |
| Medium | 2d6 + STR | 1h | Lamp, frying pan, chair leg, wrench, shovel, fire iron, tree branch, shield, most Armaments |
| Heavy | 3d6 + STR | 2h | Chair, table leg, ladder, barrel, shop sign, cart wheel, anvil, a 2h Armament |
Hit: d100 + Strength vs PROTS. An Improvised Tool has no Rank, so Strength replaces the rank hit bonus, the same way it does Unarmed. There is no main hand or off hand distinction; a Character improvising is improvising with whichever hand holds the thing.
Learned or not is the test. A Character striking with a technique they have learned from a Main Class Tier, Path or Branch is fighting Unarmed. A Character striking with one they have not is using an Improvised Tool, whether their hands are empty or not.
Thrown: An Improvised Tool thrown rather than swung or driven uses the Throw band, 0–25 ft., and Agility to hit, the same as any thrown weapon. Its damage is still its Improvised Class.
Driven by hand: A Projectile driven in by hand rather than launched is a Close Quarters attack and not a ranged attack. Velocity state, the Velocity Curve column and Agility play no part in it; it strikes at its Improvised Class on Strength like anything else here.
What it loses: An Armament being improvised keeps none of its Rank dice, its Rank scaling, its Grade, its Abilities or its Enchantments for that strike. A Projectile keeps none of its Projectile Grade. Those return the moment the thing is used as designed again.
Breaking: A fragile Tool, glass, ceramic, or thin wood, breaks on any hit that lands and is gone after one strike. A solid Tool, stone, metal, or thick wood, breaks on a Fumble, and at a table not using Fumble it breaks on a roll of 1-5. A broken Tool deals its damage on the strike that breaks it.
On the Races and Classes pages, any Race or Class shown at low opacity is not playable in the Starter Set.
Grapple and Grab
On a successful grapple or grab attack, the target is held until they break free or the attacker releases. To escape, the target rolls d100 + Strength vs the attacker's PROTS (Encounter DIFS). One escape attempt is allowed per turn. Drop damage applies if released or escaped at height. Specific grab rules, carry height limits, and drop damage values are module specific.