Hold at Bay

A permutation of an ambush, to hold someone at bay is to succeed at an ambush without attacking, choosing instead to hold the target hostage for a number of rounds.

The character may interrogate, threaten, cajole, or otherwise detain her opponent for a number of rounds equal to the difference in their Initiative.

If the target chooses to cooperate, the hostage-taker’s Resolve and Guile are at +1, while the target’s are each at -2 until the specified number of rounds have passed. When the hold at bay rounds have passed, if the target has not agreed to surrender, both roll Join Battle to determine who will act first, with the hostage suffering a -2 penalty to his results. If the hostage-taker wins, she can immediately execute a standard ambush attack.

If the target chooses to struggle or try to escape before these rounds are finished, the character may make an immediate decisive ambush attack against him with onerous results: not only is the target’s Defense set to 0, but his Hardness is set to 0 as well, and the attack gains +5 automatic damage.

If the character chooses to attack her target before the rounds are up, he may defend normally.