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Attacks per Melee Clarification

By: Dustin M. Ramsey (DustinM@rifts-rpg.com)
With examples researched by: Nathan Taylor (taylorn@cadvision.com)

Several individuals have posted questions about the number of attacks per melee that characters have. Considering as haphazardly put together as the hand-to-hand combat section is, and how virtually every NPC ever published contradicts Palladium's official answer on the topic, this confusion comes as little surprise. After much debate and old-fashioned trial and error, we were able to determine the fairest, most balanced way to determine how many attacks characters start with.

Exceptionally alert GMs (and rules-lawyer players too!) may be familiar with the following section from the main RIFTS book:

"A reminder: All player characters automatically start off with two attacks/actions per 15 second melee. Additional attacks per melee are gained from the hand to hand skills and boxing." (RIFTS, pg. 37).

This section of the RIFTS book is actually a bad cut-and-paste from Heroes Unlimited that should be ignored. [In HU, "all heroes automatically get at least TWO attacks per melee, combined with the two from Hand to Hand: Expert it gives a total of four." (Heroes Unlimited, pg. 41)]

Palladium has since confirmed that RIFTS characters do indeed use this 2+2 method of determining the number of attacks. However, while the 2+2 method is entirely appropriate for a 'heroic' system like HU, it does not fit the mold of RIFTS. Additionally, virtually none of the NPC's published in any of the dimension, source, or world books follow this ruling.

By ignoring these contradictory rules and instead focusing on how NPC's were created in every book, we came up with the following well-balanced rules:

HUMANS

• All humans automatically start out with one attack per melee. (This is the 'base' number of attacks.) Individuals without any combat training will gain one additional action at levels three and nine (RIFTS, pg. 28).
• Learning any of the hand-to-hand combat skills of Basic, Expert, or Martial Arts provides a first level character with one additional attack per melee (so, under the Hand to Hand combat skills section, when the book says, "two attacks per melee," at level one, it honestly means just that! A human character starts out with a total of TWO attacks per melee! [A base of one, plus one for the HTH skill itself, which equals two]). The hand-to-hand combat skill Assassin does not provide an additional attack at level one, but instead gives two additional attacks at level two.
• If selected, the Boxing skill also provides the character with one more attack per melee.
• Special occupational training may give the character extra attacks per melee.

NON-HUMANS

• Unless otherwise stated, non-human characters gain hand-to-hand attacks in the exact same manner as humans. The only possible exception to this is the base number of attacks that the character's race starts out with. Carte blanche statements such as "three attacks per melee round, plus those gained from optional hand to hand: basic" (Lyn-Srial from New West, pg. 133) and "four without any hand-to-hand combat training, or four plus those gained from hand-to-hand combat and/or boxing" (Rahu-Men from the Conversion Book, pg. 154) mean that the particular race's base number of attacks is three for Lyn-Srial and four for Rahu-Men. Statements such as "two without any combat training, or one plus those gained from hand-to-hand combat and/or boxing" (Wolfen, Conversion Book, pg. 86) and "two without any combat training, or one plus those gained from hand-to-hand combat and/or boxing" (Gigantes, Conversion Book, pg. 96) means that characters without a HTH skill have a base number of attacks of two, while those with HTH have a base of one attack per melee.

Examples:

1. 'Cutter' a Juicer has six attacks. Being human, he starts out with one, and gains another attack from his HTH: Expert skill. Taking the skill Boxing gives him a third attack. From his special Juicer combat training, he gets an additional two attacks, bringing him up to five attacks per melee. His sixth and final attack came as a level increase from his hand-to-hand skill when he hit level four. (Mercenaries, pp. 42-43)
   
2. Sir Raoul Lazarious, Cyber-Knight has five hand-to-hand attacks. He begins with one, gains another from selecting HTH: Martial Arts, gets his third from taking the skill Boxing, gets his fourth from his special Cyber-Knight training, and his fifth from HTH: MA when he obtained level four. (Vampire Kingdoms, pp. 107-108)
   
3. "A typical CS grunt at 1st level has 2 attacks per melee with HTH expert." (RIFTS, pg. 256)
   
4. "Simply combine the number of attacks gained from each skill(HTH and Robot Combat). The total number indicates the total attacks per melee possible. Most first level pilots, with both skills, will have a total of four attacks per melee." (RIFTS, pg. 39)
   
5. "Most player characters start off with two attacks per 5 second melee round. Additional attacks may be acquired as one advances in hand to hand combat experience and from the boxing skill, special bonuses or magic. The average person, not trained in combat will only have one attack per melee round. Experienced fighters will have an average of three to six attacks per melee, sometimes more." (Palladium RPG 2nd Edition, pg. 48)
   
6. From the premier authority on Palladium combat: "The number of attacks per melee are limited by the type of hand to hand combat/martial arts one knows. Most martial arts forms start with two (2) or three (3), but some are only one while a few start with four. Normal humans start out with one one attack per melee. Extra attacks are gained by accumulating experience in combat/martial arts. These attacks are also called actions." (Ninjas and Superspies, pg. 126)
   
7. Erin Tarn has 4 attacks per melee. 2 from HTH: Basic at 1st level, +1 at 4th level, +1 at 9th level. (Africa World Book, pg. 147)
   
8. Sir Galahad has 5 attacks per melee. 2 from HTH: Martial Arts at level 1, +1 at level 4, +1 at level 9 and +1 from boxing. (England World Book, pg. 110)
   
9. Lieutenant Anna Mitchels has 5 attacks per melee in her VF. 2 from HTH: Expert at level 1, +1 at level 4, +2 from VF Combat training. (Robotech: Strike Force, pg. 70)
   

I could go on for hours, but I think that is sufficient proof...

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