The "new" CM for Unarmed?

[Khamulcalle]

Has anyone tested the new CM for Unarmed combat?

These: http://runeunderwater.blogspot.com/2011/04/martial-arts-combat-maneuvers-for.html

are they working fine?

/K

 

[master of reality]

Thanks for the link. They look cool.

 

[Verderer]

It would be interesting to try them out. I seem to remember that Deus Vult included some unarmed martial arts moves as heroic abilites?

 

[Deleriad]

I think there are some neat ideas in there but that they are sometimes over complicated. As you know, once you play the game, adding more CMs tends to slow it down, especially if the CMs start demanding more dice rolls. For a really full-on cinematic martial arts game I would do 3 things.

1) Create martial art combat styles (Way of the butterfly etc)

2) subdivide unarmed attacks into different types

3) create some more CMs.

A Combat style then would include some or all of the unarmed attacks plus some or all of the new CMs.

For example:
punch (S/T 1D3), kick (M/S 1D4), Head Butt (M/T 1D4)

Kick: usually roll 1d10 for hit location and can't choose a high location, can't be used while grappling. Head Butt can be used in a grapple depending on circumstances; automatically hits the opponent's head but unarmed CMs cannot be chosen after head butt attack. (Generally a Head Butt is quite restricted in when it is appropriate). Punch also includes things like elbowing, gouging etc. A punch can be made two-handed, Captain Kirk style, in which case it is a M attack. Unarmed parries are made using punch statistics.

Of the CMs given I would say:



Break Neck/Neck strike. Simplify it. (critical, 1H-Punch attack only). The attacker can choose location (head) and bypass armour as a single Combat Manoeuvre.

Choke. Note that most of an actual choking effect is really damage to the throat which already exists in the rules under doing damage to gripped location. You don't really need a choke effect as well because the neck damage is going to render a major wound pretty quickly.


Jump Kick. (Kick attack only). Choose location without the usual restrictions.

Slam Tackle. This is really just a charge using Brawn vs a defence and if the charger gets a CM then they can grip. Which is to say that you can build it already.

Spin kick. I would be more tempted to say. (Unarmed kick attack only) Get 1 level of bypass parry and Bash as a single manoeuvre.

Throw. (Unarmed vs an opponent who you have gripped but who has not gripped you). Treat as a Bash CM where the thrown opponent automatically ends up prone.

Additional ideas might be.
Nerve Strike (Unarmed attack). Only works against an opponent not wearing armour on that location (or if the armour was bypassed). Roll damage dice twice and choose highest. In addition Location is stunned for 1 CA per damage actually suffered.

Fists of Fury. (Punch attack only). You may immediately attack the same target again. Any parry or Evade made by the target against this attack is Difficult (-20%). Not cumulative.

Meatshield (Unarmed Critical Parry). Spin a nearby foe around so that an attack which would have hit you hits the foe in a random location instead; the foe cannot parry the attack. The foe you have grabbed can attempt to resist this with Evade versus your original parry roll. (Good luck against a critical...)

Head Butt (Unarmed attack against an opponent you have gripped). You may immediately Head Butt the opponent. This costs a CA as usual. (Note, as per the rules on head butt, the Head Butt manoeuvre cannot be chosen after a Head Butt attack so you can't make some mad chain of head butt attacks...)


Of course some of these could be combined if you get multiple CMs. E.g. Spin kick + Jump kick = spinning jump kick.

Edit: developed some other ideas...

 

[Khamulcalle]

Great post Deleriad! I will sit down with my players and work something out from what you wrote

/K

 

[Dan True]

Please give a call from what you find. I would love to use a proper unarmed system for monks in Eberron.

- Dan

 

[sdavies2720]

Some good ideas here, but I'm going to have to think a bit before adding them. I think that it will be challenging to get the effects balanced. For instance:

...Fists of Fury. (Punch attack only). You may immediately attack the same target again. Any parry or Evade made by the target against this attack is Difficult (-20%). Not cumulative.
...

I'm assuming the second attack doesn't require another CA, but that the parry or evade does. If so, then you don't really need to penalize the parry -- just using up an extra CA is probably penalty enough.

Steve

 

[Deleriad]

Some good ideas here, but I'm going to have to think a bit before adding them. I think that it will be challenging to get the effects balanced. For instance:

...Fists of Fury. (Punch attack only). You may immediately attack the same target again. Any parry or Evade made by the target against this attack is Difficult (-20%). Not cumulative.
...

I'm assuming the second attack doesn't require another CA, but that the parry or evade does. If so, then you don't really need to penalize the parry -- just using up an extra CA is probably penalty enough.

Steve

No, it would require a CA. Would be rather horrible otherwise.

 

[PhilHibbs]

I'm assuming the second attack doesn't require another CA, but that the parry or evade does. If so, then you don't really need to penalize the parry -- just using up an extra CA is probably penalty enough.

No, it would require a CA. Would be rather horrible otherwise.

Agreed. Extra CAs should be hard to come by. I like the idea of it, though, a Matrix-style super-speed flurry of blows, each one granting the free CA for the next one, but that's Heroic Ability territory.

 

[master of reality]

Those are good ideas Deleriad. I've copied them onto a Word document for future reference.

 

[Morgan d'Barganfore]

Agree, nice one, Deleriad