• All for One and One for All!: On cue, you and your boon companions converge into a bristling formation of concentrated badass. So closely attuned are you to your com panions that you battle as a single unit, scattering enemies with elegant precision.

System: Assuming that you’ve all fought together as a unit before (this stunt won’t work for strangers or new allies), a single member gets chosen to be the spokesperson for your group. That person makes a Dexterity + Alertness roll and, for one turn per success, the characters within your group all employ the same initiative roll – a new one, based upon the highest initiative rating in that group (as per Mage 20, p. 399), and then act, one after another, until everyone within that group has taken their actions. Only after the entire group has acted can your remaining enemies (if there are any enemies remaining!) get to respond with anything other than a block, dodge or parry.

From a story perspective, the group moves like a well- oiled machine, each member intuitively synchronizing their attacks and defenses with dramatic efficiency. Once your foes lie scattered before you, be sure to toast your fellowship with a loud cheer and festive mayhem! Roll: Dexterity + Awareness Difficulty: 8 Damage: as normal Actions: 1 Magick: A successful Entropy 1 or Mind 2 Effect on the spokesperson’s part reduces the difficulty of that coordination roll by -1 per success, to the usual limit of -3.

• Alone in a Crowd: The battle rages. Suddenly, the crowd parts as two significant characters work out their frustrations on one another. Maybe the action stops; perhaps the fight continues. Either way, the major combatants have enough space to stage a dramatic showdown without interference from anybody else.

System: One success gets a few people to pull back and give the hero some space. Three successes clear a path for the showdown. Five successes reflect a showdown of such ferocity that everyone nearby stops to watch until the last blow lands. Roll: Manipulation + Intimidation Difficulty: 8 Damage: N/A Actions: 1 Magick: A successful Mind 2 empathy burst reduces the roll’s difficulty by -1 per success. For this Effect, consider the difficulty to be 5, as opposed to the usual Willpower-based difficulty for Mind-based attacks.

• The Hero Landing: leaping from an impressive height, the character plummets through empty space, lands on one knee and a fist, and rises a moment later to kick ass – no broken bones involved!

System: In real life, this sort of stunt will maim your ass. So long as the character has at least three dots in Athletics or Acrobatics, however, and looks badass enough to survive such a stunt, that character can land gracefully and without injury from heights of roughly 30’ (8 meters) or less. Cyborgs, beast- folks or brawny powerhouses may be able to leap down 50’ or more, although that sort of distance is pushing the limits of even Hollywood reality.

If you roll five successes or more, the leaping character automatically has initiative on the next turn because everyone is just that impressed with him. A failed or botched roll, though, is just plain messy – see Falls and Impact in Mage 20, p. 439. Roll: Charisma + Athletics /or Acrobatics Difficulty: 8 Damage: N/A Actions: 1 Magick: A Forces 2 Effect bends physics enough to keep you from getting yourself killed. Even if you don’t stick the landing, you won’t take damage when you hit.

• The Jackie Chan: Uh-oh… raging cyborg coming in from the left, martial-artist psychopath converging from the right, bunch of mooks charging at you head-on – time to grab the nearest object or surface and use physics to clean everybody’s clocks! Bonus points if you can do this perfectly with a panicked look on your face.

System: You need suitable surroundings (a construction site, kitchen, office, etc.) and at least three dots in Acrobatics, Athletics, Brawling, Do, and/or Martial Arts in order to pull off this stunt. A successful execution inflicts one level (not a die – a level) of bashing damage per success upon each character within a 10’ (3 meter) circle, keeps them all from hitting you this turn, and stuns all of them until the beginning of the next turn. Your opponents can try to soak the damage, but your agile charisma still stuns them with surprise.

Obviously, this stunt works only in hand-to-hand combat. A hero can perform this stunt once per fight for every dot she has in Charisma; after that, the trick gets old. Roll: Dexterity + Expression Difficulty: 8 Damage: as above Actions: 1 Magick: A successful Entropy 3, Forces 2, or Life 3 Effect adds one level of bashing damage per success to the damage inflicted by this attack. (Two successes add two more levels, three successes inflict three more levels, and so forth.)

• The Knockout Blow: When you wanna drop the hench man without making a sound, just pop him good and proper right in the jaw or upside his head, and he’ll be down for the count until you’re clear. Warning: This trick can be used on you as well!

As noted earlier, real-life “knockout blows” cause concussions and often inflict lasting brain damage; also, they don’t tend to work nearly as quickly or as easily – you’re more likely to give a pissed- up enemy a headache than to render him quietly unconscious.

System: A successful roll of Dexterity + Brawl, Do or Martial Arts inflicts normal bashing damage. Five successes or more, however, also drops the target into unconsciousness for one turn per success. This stunt doesn’t usually work on badass Night-Folk, although your Storyteller might let you punch out the werewolf for comedy’s sake. Just don’t be around when he finally wakes up… Roll: as above Difficulty: 8 Damage: as above Actions: 1 Magick: A Forces 2 Effect reduces the blow’s difficulty by -1 for each success rolled, thus making it easier to knock your foe unconscious. A successful Life 3 Effect can put your target to sleep as described above, and a Life 4 Effect can “transform” the conscious enemy into an unconscious one. Other potential Effects can be found in the Martial Arts section of How Do You DO That?, especially on pp. 63-64.

• Parkour Master: Bouncing off of walls, vaulting over obstacles, flinging yourself across suicidal distances to roll gracefully to your feet on the other side… hey, that’s just what parkour masters do, right…?

System: Assuming that your character has at least three dots of Athletics and /or Acrobatics, with a Parkour specialty, a successful roll (or a series of extended rolls, for multi-turn travel) allows your character to navigate apparently impossible multilevel terrain at their usual running speed, thanks to the miracle of freerunning discipline and impressive theatrical prowess. For movement speeds, see Mage 20, p. 401. Roll: Dexterity + Athletics or Acrobatics Difficulty: 7 Damage: N/A Actions: 1 or more

Magick: Each success rolled for a Forces 2 Effect reduces the difficulty for your parkour rolls by -1 per success, down to the maximum -3 modifier.

• Pulling the Wool: Grabbing hold of the target’s clothing, you try to pull it up, down or off. Depending on what you’re trying to do, this could unbalance your opponent, blind him for a turn, or embarrass the living shit out of him while you get a shot in… or run for your life.

System: This stunt demands two actions: the first to grab the clothing, and the second to yank it hard enough to have the desired effect. That grab roll involves Dexterity + Subterfuge, and the second roll involves Strength + Alertness. (And how often do those combinations come up, right?) The difficulty for both rolls is 7 if the target can see you coming, 5 if you’re catching him unawares. Three successes or more will dislodge the average item of clothing in the desired way – flipping the cap down, ripping the shirt off, pulling the pants down around your target’s ankles, and so forth. Special clothing (armor, unitards, reinforced garments, etc.) remains more or less im mune to this trick, though you might flip a helmet off-kilter or perform some other suitable wardrobe malfunction.

If successful, you startle your opponent for one turn, and render him unable to act that turn. His next action will depend on what you did, though he might need to make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) to avoid a reflexive cover-up, a Dexterity roll to avoid tripping, or some other suitable roll that helps him extract himself from this unexpected predicament.

By the way, do not try this stunt on werewolves or vam pires, unless you wish to become the target of an immediate frenzy check. Roll: as above Difficulty: 7/5 Damage: N/A Actions: 2 Magick: A successful Entropy 3 or Matter 2 Effect lets you disrupt the garment with only one success on the Dexterity + Subterfuge roll – no strength required! If you use the Matter Sphere and roll two or more successes with your Arete roll, this stunt will essentially destroy a typical cloth garment. Matter 4 will have the same effect on garments made from materials that were crafted by, or reinforced with, magick.

• Surfing the Wave: As the explosion goes off, you hurl yourself into the air and surf the concussion wave to safety. Cue the Mission Impossible soundtrack again!

Realistically, this stunt demands magick. Human bodies get pulped by concussion blasts in close proximity, and torn to shreds by flying debris. A cinematic high-adventure chronicle, though, might allow skilled Sleepers to pull off this sort of nonsense if the Storyteller agrees, and it certainly fits the defi nition of Hollywood reality even though it is… um, impossible.

System: A successful roll lets the character “ride the wave” for 20’ (6 meters) per success. Each success also inflicts one automatic level of bashing damage from the impact, though the character can try to soak those injuries. A successful character takes no damage from the explosion itself; an unsuccessful one takes it all. Roll: Stamina + Athletics Difficulty: 9 Damage: N/A Actions: 1 Magick: A Forces 2 and /or Entropy 3 Effect lowers the difficulty by -1 per success, to the usual -3 modifier limit.

Maneuver Traits Difficulty Effect

All for One… Dexterity + Alertness 8 Shared initiative (one turn /success)

Alone in Crowd Manipulation + Intimidation 8 Cleared showdown space

Hero Landing Charisma + Athletics /Acrobatics 8 Safe, impressive descent

Jackie Chan Dexterity + Expression 8 1 level B damage per success + stun + attack denial vs. all characters within 10’ #1

Knockout Blow Dexterity + Brawl /Do /Martial Arts 8 5+ Successes knocks out target (one turn / success)

Parkour Master Dexterity + Athletics /Acrobatics 7 Travel across difficult terrain

Pulling the Wool Dexterity + Subterfuge /Strength + Alertness 7/5 Wardrobe malfunction

Surfing Wave Stamina + Athletics 9 Travel 20’ /success away from explosion #2

Notes #1 = Requires at least three dots in Acrobatics, Athletics, Brawling, Do, and/or Martial Arts. Hero can perform stunt once per fight for each dot in Charisma. #2 = Negates explosion damage, but inflicts one level bashing damage /success on character.