Combat Skills
The Doubling Rule. Before I talk about the various combat skills I thought this would be a good place to cover the Doubling Rule. Generally speaking it means that combat stuff cannot be more then doubled.
Your base OCV and DCV(both are dex/3) cannot be more then doubled, through the use of Combat Skill Levels(CSLs) or combat maneuvers. So, Joe has a 15 dex, which means he has a base OCV and DCV of 5. That means that through the use of CSLs or combat maneuvers(like dodge or martial strike), Joe's OCV and DCV cannot be increased by more then 5.
Also, the base damage of whatever attack or weapon you are using, cannot be more then doubled through the use of CSLs, strength, or combat maneuvers.
Something to note. Cinematic Feats(Feats for short) bypass the Doubling rule. Feats are there to take you beyond what normal folk can achieve and so ignore the Doubling rule. In some cases they even add to the base. Such things are noted in each Feat description.
Weapon Familiarity. To use a weapon without a -3 OCV penalty you must have Weapon Familiarity in it. You can purchase this in small groups for 1 point(blades, nets, crossbows, thrown knives, assault rifles, pistols, thrown grenades, etc...) or in larger groups for 2 points (common melee weapons, small arms, emplaced weapons, uncommon melee weapons). You may also buy Weapon Familiarity with Off Hand for 1 point, which gives you a +1 DCV in HTH combat. Assuming you have your second weapon with you.
Combat Skill Levels or CSLs. There are 5 of these that fall into 3 categories.
The first category is a 2 point level. A 2 point level can only be used to increase your OCV by 1. When it is bought you must pick a specific type of weapon or attack that it can be used with. Katana, Desert Eagle, throwing grenades, punch to the face, etc.
The second category covers 3, 5, and 8 point levels. They all behave the same way. The only differece is that the larger point levels can be used with larger groups of weapons or attacks. These levels can be used in the following ways. Increase your OCV by 1. Increase your DCV by 1(where appropriate, a Katana could not help defend you against a bullet). Use 2 levels to increase your damage by 1 DC(damage class). When you buy the levels you must define what they can be used with. 3 points levels cover a category of weapon or attack. Assault rifles, swords, punches, martial art style, pistols, etc. 5 point levels cover one of two things. Either all Hand to Hand combat or all Ranged combat. 8 point levels cover All combat and can act like DCV levels listed below.
The last category is DCV levels. These cost 5 points. DCV levels add one to your DCV against any attack(even ranged), as long as you are aware of the attack.
Range Levels. Range levels do NOT give you bonuses, instead Range levels subtract the penalties you receive when attacking at range. The most Range levels you can use towards any attack is equal to your base OCV. When you buy a Range level you must define what category of weapons or attacks it covers. A 2 point Range level covers the same size of catagory as a 3 point CSL. A 3 point Range level covers the same size category as a 5 point CSL.
Targeting Levels. Targeting levels do NOT give you bonuses, instead Targeting levels subtract the penalties you receive when you target a specific location(like the head or hand) or when you receive penalties from your target having cover. The most Targeting levels you can use towards any attack is equal to your base OCV. When you buy a Targeting level you must define what category of weapons or attacks it covers. A 2 point Targeting level covers the same size category as a 3 point CSL. A 3 point Targeting level covers the same size category as a 5 point CSL.
Overall Levels. Overall levels cost 10 points and cover everything that 8 point CSLs cover, plus they can increase any skill roll by one. They represent general world experience, so they cover all combat plus all non-combat skills(including knowledge skills and so forth). I limit the number of these you can buy. For every 100 character points of your character you can buy 1 Overall level. So, as you gain experience you will have the option to buy more Overall levels.
Autofire Skills. If you have a weapon that can make autofire attacks(machine guns and such) then there are 4 skills that can help you out. Each one costs 5 points.
Accurate Sprayfire. Normally if you are going to spray your attacks throughout more then one hex, you receive a -1 OCV penalty for each hex you are firing into. With this skill you just get a flat -1.
Concentrated Sprayfire. Normally if you are going to spray your attacks at more then one target, you can only fire one shot at each target. With this skill you concentrate more then one attack on certain targets, instead of just the standard 1 shot.
Rapid Autofire. With this skill you can use the combat maneuver Rapid Fire(see the Combat Maneuver page) with your autofire attacks. Each burst must be the same size though(same number of shots at each target).
Skipover Sprayfire. Normally if you are attacking multiple targets you have to fire at least one shot into each hex as you are tracking from target to target. With this skill you can skipover the empty hexes, saving ammo and being able to attack more enemies.
Rapid Attack. This skill costs 5 points and can be bought for Ranged attacks or Hand to Hand attacks. This skill allows you to use the Rapid Fire maneuver(see Combat Maneuvers), the Sweep maneuver(see Combat Maneuvers), or an Autofire attack as a Half action, instead of a Full action.
Two-Weapon Fighting. This skill costs 10 points and can be bought for Ranged attacks or Hand to Hand attacks, and gives you the following advantages. You ignore the usual -3 OCV penalty for your off hand. When using the Rapid Fire or Sweep combat maneuvers you only receive a -2 DCV penalty(instead of ½ DCV) and the cumulative OCV penalties do not start adding up until after your second attack.
Martial Arts. I have The Ultimate Martial Artist. It has just about any martial art covered in it(including things like Commando Training and Dirty Infighting). Talk to me if you want to know a martial art. Figure you will need 14 to 20 points to buy the maneuvers, knowledges, and skills.