Close Drop (sage ability)

Close drop is an amateur-status sage ability in the study of Puissance, in which the character is able to ensure that a fumbled weapon can't land within an enemy-occupied hex. This acts as a strategic benefit to the combatant, as the weapon is therefore more easily recovered.

The customary rules governing dropped weapons, specifically concerning potential breakage and the duration required to retrieve the weapon, remain unaltered by this ability.

Example

In demonstration, the character Hig finds himself in a skirmish against Jerome and Marcus, backed by his ally Taver. Rolling the to hit die, Hig fumbles his warhammer. Normally according to fumble rules, a d8 would be rolled to determine where the hammer would fall — yet, owing to the sage ability, he retains some influence over the weapon's landing spot, so that it cannot fall in the hexes occupied by Jerome and Marcus.

The numbers shown on the figure provided shows the assigned weight to each hex where the hammer might fall, with a good likelihood that it lands in Hig's own hex. That failing, it's more likely to land in Taver's hex, where Taver could help Hig recover it; if not, then it falls into a hex marked with a "1." Altogether, 4, 2 and three 1s adds to 9; an appropriate die is therefore rolled and the weapon's resting place is thus determined.

Other Benefits

In like fashion, characters with this ability are unable to accidentally fumble their weapons into deep water or off a cliff, or otherwise into a situation where the weapon couldn't be recovered. Fumbled weapons may yet fall into shallow water, or potentially under furniture and other obstacles, but even this is less likely than a normal fumble.

See Combat.