Your melee damage is the amount of bonus, or extra, damage you do with unarmed and hand-to-hand weapon damage in combat. Using your fists, a knife, or a sledgehammer, in combat would do the basic amount of damage for those weapons plus your melee damage. If you want to do more melee damage, take a higher Strength.

Initial Level: Starting melee damage is equal to Strength - 5, with a minimum of 1 point. Average characters will have a melee damage of 1.