Hold Attack

This is a sort of non-attack maneuver.

The Hold Attack maneuver is a way for a character to delay making his attack until later in the combat round. It's usually performed when the character is hoping that battle circumstances will change so that he can get a shot in somewhere that is currently too well defended. Archers use this maneuver a lot, so that they can snipe more effectively.

To perform the Hold Maneuver, the character, when it's time for him to announce his intention, says ''I'm holding my maneuver;" Combat proceeds to the next character.

Then, once everyone has gone in the round, as secondary attacks are being determined, the DM again asks the character what he's going to do: he can take his action then. If he does not, he forfeits that attack.

Characters with Multiple Attacks

If a character already has multiple attacks in a round, he can still perform the Hold Attack maneuver with any or all of his attacks. This can make things a little complicated, but it's not a lot of trouble.

Example: In this fight, Rathnar the Barbarian (who has one attack per round), Drusilla the Spear·Maiden (who has two per round), and Lacksley the Archer (who has three per two, and has two this round) are fighting a jungle warrior (two attacks per round) and his monstrous jaguar ally (three attacks per round).

This round, Lacksley wants to shoot the jaguar, but he's still caught in a spring-loaded animal trap, and Drusilla is between him and the jaguar.

The player characters win initiative. Drusilla uses her first attack to spear the jungle warrior. Rathnar uses his sole attack to swing his axe at the jaguar monster. Lacksley announces that he's holding his maneuver. Now it's time for the monsters to respond: the jungle warrior attacks Drusilla with his own spear, and the jaguar monster jumps on Rathnar and uses one of its two paw hits.

It's time for secondary maneuvers. Drusilla misses her second strike. Rathnar has no second strike. It's time for Lacksley to act. He asks the DM if Drusilla has moved out of position yet, and the DM rules that she has. He fires, scoring a hit on the jaguar monster. The jungle warrior stabs Drusilla again with his second strike, and the jaguar latches hold of Rathnar with his second paw strike.

It's time for tertiary maneuvers. Lacksley, because of his Hold Attack maneuver, now takes what would have been his secondary maneuver. He shoots the jaguar again, killing it. It rolls off Rathnar before it can inflict its third attack, a deadly bite or an even more deadly rake.