[David Bofinger]

My list of advanced combat talents was vaguely like this. The idea was that each did something different, and something easy to visualise, that could be a defining capability of a character. So that you could say, "My character is a dragon slayer, he's better at killing giant monsters than people his own size," and the system would provide a talent to make him like that.

Delete the following talents: Shield Expertise, all kinds of Weapon Expertise, Fencer, all kinds of Weapon Mastery, Master Fencer.

New Advanced Combat Talent: Defensive (IQ 11, cost 2) When the character takes a Defend action he may also attack but must roll an extra die to hit. If the character has a large or tower shield then missile attacks from the front must also roll an extra die to hit when he takes the Defend action.

New Advanced Combat Talent: Shield Wall (IQ 11, cost 1) When a figure adjacent to you is hit, if (a) you have a large or tower shield ready, (b) the attack is something that can be affected by a shield, (c) the attacker is in your front and (d) you are at least as close to the attacker as the target is, then you may stop 2 hits from that attack.

New Advanced Combat Talent: Giant Slayer (IQ 10, cost 2, cost 1 with Naturalist). Attacks against a figure of 3 hexes or more receive +1 DX and +1 die damage. Roll one less die when trying to shift away from being overrun by a multi-hex figure or when trying to roll out from under such a figure. Trample attacks roll one more die when trying to hit them.

New Advanced Combat Talent: Mighty Blow (IQ 9, cost 2) For a penalty of ‑1 DX and 1 fatigue, may make a melee attack a mighty blow. If it hits it causes extra damage equal to the unarmed damage for the weapon’s ST requirement (additional damage minimum is 0), +1 for a one-handed weapon, +2 for a two-handed weapon.

New Advanced Combat Talent: Distract (IQ 11, cost 1) Immediately after movement you do something flamboyant (and probably noisy) to attract the attention of a figure you engage (and anyone else paying attention to you). If the figure fails a 3/IQ roll then you may rotate it 60 degrees toward you, and in the rest of the turn if it attacks a figure that isn’t you it rolls one extra die. Subsequent uses of this ability by the same character on the same figure only require 2/IQ.

New Advanced Combat Talent: Hand-to-Hand (IQ 10, cost 2). When a figure with Hand-to-Hand talent attempts to enter HTH against a figure without Hand-to-Hand talent, instead of just rolling one die as described in ITL 116‑7 the enemy figure rolls twice (rerolling 6s if from behind) and takes the lowest roll. When a figure without Hand-to-Hand talent attempts to enter HTH against a figure with Hand-to-Hand talent, instead of just rolling one die as described in ITL 116‑7 the enemy figure rolls twice (rerolling 6s if from behind) and takes the highest roll. Enemy figures do not receive the +4 DX bonus for the target being in HTH if the target has the Hand-to-Hand talent. A figure with Hand-to-Hand talent does +1 damage in HTH attacks. Hand-to-Hand talent has the same effect on pinning attempts (ITL 117) as a level of Unarmed Combat.

New Advanced Combat Talent: Subdue (IQ 11, cost 1) When using the Taking Prisoners rules (ITL 126) blows do four‑fifths damage (round off) instead of half.

New Advanced Combat Talent: Disarm (IQ 11, cost 1) Against a weapon of the same type, or any weapon requiring the same or less ST as his own, the character may strike to disarm. Announce that the attack is to disarm, and make the regular to-hit roll. On a success, the foe must roll 3/DX (2/DX if the target has Disarm) or drop their weapon.


New Talent: Battle Expert (IQ 13, cost 2) Allows the activation of two different advanced combat talents in a turn, each activated once. Otherwise only one advanced combat talent can be activated, once, in a turn.

New Talent: Battle Master (IQ 14, cost 2, prerequisite Battle Expert) Allows the activation of three different advanced combat talents in a turn, each activated once.