Offhand Attacks: If your character makes attacks with his offhand (say, he’s right handed but is forced to use his left), they suffer a -2 penalty. The Ambidextrous Merit (p. 110) negates this penalty.
Drawing a Weapon: Pulling, sheathing or otherwise preparing a weapon takes one action. Thus, if your character draws a knife in a fight, he spends an action doing so. Having a weapon in hand before a fight breaks out allows your character to start swinging without delay, but brings with it the social implications of walking around with a potentially deadly instrument. If a weapon is hidden on your character’s person (under a coat or in a purse), an action is spent drawing it and your character loses her Defense for the turn. The Quick Draw Merit (see p. 113) allows your character to draw and attack in the same turn.
All-Out Attack: Your character foregoes all pretense of self-preservation. He gives his all to do his opponent harm. You gain two bonus dice on your character’s attack for the turn, but lose his Defense trait for the turn. Thus, he’s easier to be hit and harmed, but he can deliver more damage, too. An all-out attack can be performed with any close-combat attack, armed or unarmed. If your character’s Defense is applied against any incoming attack in a turn, he cannot perform an all-out attack in that turn.
Touching an Opponent: An option of close combat is intentionally making contact with a target, whether by hand or with a hand-held item, but without doing harm. This effort is considered touching, and might be performed to plant a bug on someone, to count coup, to deliver the effect of an occult incantation or to knowingly spread an infection. It’s assumed that a target doesn’t want to be touched. If there’s no resistance involved, the Storyteller can decree that a touch is performed automatically. Otherwise, Dexterity + Brawl or Dexterity + Weaponry is rolled to perform a touch. N o damage is delivered through an intentional touch, even if multiple successes are rolled.
If actually making contact with the target’s skin is not an issue — any part of him or his person can be contacted to achieve an effect — armor does not apply to efforts to touch. Armor rating (see p. 17 0) is not subtracted from dice pools to make a touch. If making contact with skin is necessary, a target’s armor applies normally.
A resisting target’s Defense always applies against a touch, subtracting dice from your Dexterity + Brawl or Dexterity + Weaponry pool.
No successes rolled in an effort to touch a target means your character misses altogether.