Unarmed combat

Sounds like you have a good cast of characters started and hook to get everyone working together. What year are you thinking? Are all of the characters going to be English or Anglo-Saxon? This scenario would be very easy to play out at anytime during the Viking Age. There were so many skirmishes and battles between the Anglo-Saxons and Danes that it should be pretty easy to pin the events to a specific period.

My plan is to have them in a great battle they are loosing and they are retreating with someone senior who dies. I haven’t thought of all the characters but the following is my idea:

- A former slave or very low servant indebt to his master who is very strong but not smart

- A character that has the mirror opposite strengths, not sure yet what the character will be

- two other roles that may be able to be picked up and played along depending on number of friends who can play

Then my idea is that a fog comes onto the battlefield and they get lost, face challenges and inevitably change as people.

my idea for weapons are what they can scavenge from their now deceased superior and other bodies on the marshland.

Having worked in the midlands in England on large open fields in sometimes really foggy weather I was inspired to add this on,

also the below movie gave me some inspiration;

A Field in England

still need to do a bit of research about a battle to fit it into and challenges they face, but firstly just starting by creating the characters and testing them out against different opponents to get used to the game play

Yeah- maybe if it a survival situation, but otherwise let them have some seax, swords, or at least a couple of martial weapons. Or at least a way to obtain them early on. That's not to say that wouldn't be fun! Now if you gave them Rare Steel hand axes, that would be a different story!

Makes sense, I think I was being to mean giving my characters common axes to start off with, I’m planning a one shot and trying to keep it simple.

And doesn't make you use Hand-to-Hand Skill as opposed to your Common Weapons Skill! So it comes to an economy of Skill points allocated and damage types. If an object or opponent is resistant to bludgeoning damage, that hand axe comes in, well, handy. Note that when we're talking about an "Axe" we're also talking about your typical tool axes- hand axes, cooper's axe, wood axe, etc. It is a tool most often found with a peasant militia as opposed to a force going to war. A Norse raider might have one as a side arm or a ranged weapon, but the axe that they are going to reach for most often in a melee is their Daneaxe or Greataxe.

We thought about damage from unarmed being reduced by one stage after damage was resolved, but having the attack deal a Stun Point, but that seemed a bit "nerfed." We wanted to make using your fists in addition to your weaponry a viable attack for Talents like Locked Blades (in the Chronicler's Guide). If you want to downplay unarmed combat a bit, I would suggest that you use that as a house rule.

Does that answer your question?

ALL rolls in this system use the same general formula: roll a number of dice equal to a single Attribute that is best suited to the task. Take the highest roll. Then add and applicable Skill bonus, Talent bonus, circumstantial mod., etc. as a bonus. The defender rolls using a number of dice equal to their Vitality (if they want to soak it) or their Finesse (to dodge) using their total Defense bonus (Armor + modifiers) to their roll. The difference determines the outcomes.

For a straight unarmed attack (not a grapple/wrestle attempt), you'll roll Strength Attribute # of dice (3d20 for a Strength 3, take the highest result) PLUS your Hand-to-Hand Skill against the Defense roll of your opponent. The difference between the two rolls will determine the outcome (if defender wins, the blow is soaked or dodged, if the attacker wins, the difference determines the stages of success). Say you rolled 10 better than than the defender- that means you dealt 3 stages of damage.

The point of a weapon that doesn't give you a bonus is YOU HAVE A WEAPON. That means you can use Common, Martial, or Heavy Weapons Skills (as opposed to Hand-to-Hand) and can use that weapon's special properties. Additionally, Martial Weapons deal 1 extra stage of damage on a hit and Heavy Weapons deal 2 extra stages on a successful hit.

For instance, having a Sap means that if you would have dealt 2 stages of damage on an unarmed attack, you'll instead have dealt 2 stages PLUS 2 Stun Points. Having an Iron Bearded Axe means that when you hit for one base stage, you'll inflict two stages and can use it to trip your opponent OR when you use a Common Steel Greatsword you'll have a 10' reach and deal two extra stages on a successful hit. The usefulness of Common Weapons comes down to two things: range and/or special properties.