Martial Arts parries too good
Paul Grogan
for a balanced set of rules that doesn't make one character 'broken'.
We just started a fantasy campaign with 150 point characters. A
variety of preofessions were generated, including a couple of skilled
fighters.
However, the guy who created a martial artist seems to have created a
bit of a power character.
Again, this may be all well and good, it's 150 points after all, and
he spent 24 points on Karate skill, so he deserves a decent character.
But, the problem I'm finding is that he's just way too good and the
other players feel that his character is a bit TOO good.
His disadvantages. He can't carry much equipment, as his encumbrance
level must be light or less (although I think Gulliver has suggested
rules for applying penalties for different levels of encumbrance).
In terms of gameplay, this doesn't really affect him. What little
money he has is carried in pockets in his ninja armour. So, the
limitation on weight is not a problem.
He's bought ninja armour (PD1 DR3) and taken Toughness 2 (DR2) - which
I made him take the Unusual Background for (and the player came up
with some good reasons - so I allowed it).
He has skill 16 in Karate, and Combat Reflexes.
So, in the rules as written, his chance of parrying an attack is 15 -
which works out at 95% chance.
10 for the 2/3 of skill, +1 for combat reflexes, +1 for armour, and +3
from retreating.
His attack is 16 (98% chance) and he does loads of damage because of
the +3 from Karate skill, and he's taken Iron Hand.
So, he completely outshines any other PC in combat. 98% chance to
hit, avoid an attack 95% of the time, and a DR of 5 on the ones that
do hit, and he does nearly as much damage as the guy with the sword
(although it's crushing).
One way I got round this was to attack him with multiple opponents,
then he can only parry one of them, relying on his dodge for the
others. Also, he can only retreat against one of the attacks, so he
generally parries the first one (chance=12=74%), then dodges and
retreats against the second (chance=10=50%).
This is OK for me, and eventually I skewered his left arm with a
spear, crippling it.
However, one on one, I can't see who I can throw at this guy to stand
a chance.
Against someone with armour of DR3, he has to make a HT roll or take
1d-2 damage to the hand or foot (B51) - but he gets his toughness on
this so it works out at 1d-4.
From what I've read on other posts (and what I've got from asking my
friends who have done some martial arts), it that is not as easy to
parry an unarmed attack as it is to parry an attack from a weapon.
But according to B101, the -3 penalty to parrying a weapon bare-handed
is negated, making it just as easy as blocking someone's fist.
If his parry does fail however, the attacker may choose to do damage
to the arm instead of its intended location, but since without the
parry, he was going to take the damage anyway (although probably to
the torso).
I think the best chance I've got is to wait for him to attack my Mr.
Bad guy end boss swordmaster, and when he attacks me, I parry.
According to B99, if I successfully parry a bare-handed attack with a
weapon, I roll against my weapon skill (at -4) and if I hit, I do full
damage.
Anyway, sorry I've gone on a bit, the basic question was that putting
realism to one side, I have the situation where one of the players
have created a potential super character in terms of fighting ability
and I'm not sure what I can do.
Thanks for any suggestions
Wrathchild
> bit of a power character.
Well, yes, from your description this guy has made something of a combat
monster.
He can't be good at much else ;-)
You've already described some of the things that can actually do him in.
Might I also suggest:
1) Feints - that will lower his defences when they succeed - and they will.
2) Weapons with reach and sharp edges - at a distance of two yards he
_cannot_ Parry those. Karate parries vs. weapons assume the ability to
actually connect with the arm/hand holding the sword, not the blade itself,
I believe. At distance, this is not possible.
3) Shoot him!
4) Spells ...
5) Grapples and slams and stuff - no Parries or at least PD vs. those
things. He can't very well retreat if he's being held, can he?
6) Do something other than combat ;-)
That last one is actually an important point: If combat is a very common
activity, this will make points spent on combat abilities seem to count for
more - thus, if there's a lot of combat such points coount for a _lot_ more.
I am sort of an action man myself, but I strive hard to make many other
abilities be crucial to succesful adventuring.
150 points is a lot. It's easy to build a combat or magic powerhouse with
that.
But it's also fun 8-)
As always my bottom line advice is: Get used to it - the system that is.
There are ways of bringing him down ...
Did I mention that my 350 point Trained by a Master Chambara mo********er PC
go downed by a sigle foe last time? With a Slam!!! HA!
(of course, he then carved the opponent up with his cybernetic Claws, using
his 3 attacks pr. turn - ah well ;-) )
I've also developed the mindset as a GM that if my players are having fun
slaughtering the cannonfodder, then I'm having fun. They just better have
fun when they become the fodder, too.
... hehe [snicker] ...
--
Wrath
------------------------------------
" I know Kung Fu ! "
" Show me ... "
Jake Bernstein
You could have 2-3 crossbowmen use Opportunity Fire and watch the hex behind
your fighter. When he retreat dodges from the guy he's fighting, they shoot
him. He can't retreat dodge, and those crossbows can easily go through his
armor (if you give them the right crossbows. Remember, they can be
stronger, it just takes them longer to reload without a tool).
--
-Jake Bernstein
apo...@u.washington.edu
"Paul Grogan" <pa...@runestonegames.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:2fe26b0d.01091...@posting.google.com...
Jake Bernstein
'Nuff said.
--
-Jake Bernstein
apo...@u.washington.edu
"Paul Grogan" <pa...@runestonegames.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:2fe26b0d.01091...@posting.google.com...
Andy Luker
"Wrathchild" <wrath...@hippie.dk> wrote in message
news:A_Mn7.13537$sk1.3...@news010.worldonline.dk...
> > However, the guy who created a martial artist seems to have created a
> > bit of a power character.
>
> Well, yes, from your description this guy has made something of a combat
> monster.
>
> He can't be good at much else ;-)
>
> You've already described some of the things that can actually do him in.
> Might I also suggest:
>
> 1) Feints - that will lower his defences when they succeed - and they
will.
> 2) Weapons with reach and sharp edges - at a distance of two yards he
> _cannot_ Parry those. Karate parries vs. weapons assume the ability to
> actually connect with the arm/hand holding the sword, not the blade
itself,
> I believe. At distance, this is not possible.
As writen karate can parry any weapon at any reach at 2/3rds, the only
downside is that if you fail the parry the attacker can choose to hit the
arm instead of rolling hit location (this is, has been noted on numerous
occassions, excessively good)
st3ph3nm
<snip>
> bit of a power character.
> Thanks for any suggestions
I have two suggestions.
1. Fight fire with fire - either another dude with karate, or a BIG
guy with a quarterstaff (as long as you call him "John"). Or a
fencer.
2. Exploit his weakness - he can't do a lot of damage to a guy in
plate mail, even if he hits. 16 skill ain't so hot if you need to
take aimed hits at softer bits (assuming the bad guy's GOT softer bits
uncovered).
With a shield and a broadsword, and ST 15, or so, he's going to be as
hard to hit, shrug off most hits anyway, and when HE hits (or she,
doesn't matter) it's gonna be messy.
3. (Bryan, don't read this, please) In between 1 & 2 is the Samurai
option - big guy in scale mail with a katana used 2 handed - giving
2/3 parry (from GURPS MA - which it sounds like you don't have,
though)
Cheers,
Steve
BOB!!
> So, in the rules as written, his chance of parrying an attack is 15 -
> which works out at 95% chance.
> 10 for the 2/3 of skill, +1 for combat reflexes, +1 for armour, and +3
> from retreating.
In other words, his normal parry is a 12, since there are plenty of
times when a retreat isn't an option. Make sure you put him in
situations where he can't retreat. And put him up against guys in nice
heavy armor that he can hurt his iron hands on.
Regards,
BOB!!
Mark K Styles
"BOB!!" wrote...
And the tank in plate blocking his Retreat can clock him from behind at
another minus 2 to Parry (or Dodge, if you, reasonably, don't let him
Parry), just for good measure ;-).
Also , remember he can only Parry so many times in a round then he's down to
his Dodge. A swarm of anything is nasty (Goblins, Kobolds, especially the
GURPS versions), making you use up your Parry and not letting you Retreat.
Even two or three guys are bad if one All-Outs.
Bill Seurer
> He's bought ninja armour (PD1 DR3)
What the heck is this? That looks totally abusive right there unless
you are playing GURPS: American Ninja III.
If you put him in "real" armor, i.e., cloth or nothing, he'll get his
arms chopped off forthwith. We had one guy try a martial artist once
and he was just sooo overconfident. He failed his VERY FIRST PARRY and
got his arm chopped off. Ouch.
SD Anderson
> for a balanced set of rules that doesn't make one character 'broken'.
>
> We just started a fantasy campaign with 150 point characters. A
> variety of preofessions were generated, including a couple of skilled
> fighters.
>
> However, the guy who created a martial artist seems to have created a
> bit of a power character.
>
> Again, this may be all well and good, it's 150 points after all, and
> he spent 24 points on Karate skill, so he deserves a decent character.
> But, the problem I'm finding is that he's just way too good and the
> other players feel that his character is a bit TOO good.
>
> His disadvantages. He can't carry much equipment, as his encumbrance
> level must be light or less (although I think Gulliver has suggested
> rules for applying penalties for different levels of encumbrance).
Q: are the Gulliver rules to his advantage or against them.
They're unoffical and optional. If he's abusing them feel free to
deny him access to them.
>
> In terms of gameplay, this doesn't really affect him. What little
> money he has is carried in pockets in his ninja armour. So, the
> limitation on weight is not a problem.
>
> He's bought ninja armour (PD1 DR3) and taken Toughness 2 (DR2) - which
> I made him take the Unusual Background for (and the player came up
> with some good reasons - so I allowed it).
So he's PD 1 and DR 5. Got you.
> He has skill 16 in Karate, and Combat Reflexes.
>
> So, in the rules as written, his chance of parrying an attack is 15 -
> which works out at 95% chance.
> 10 for the 2/3 of skill, +1 for combat reflexes, +1 for armour, and +3
> from retreating.
Two words: Rooted Feet. (See Magic p.27)
> His attack is 16 (98% chance) and he does loads of damage because of
> the +3 from Karate skill, and he's taken Iron Hand.
Ok he does Thrust plus three damage instead of thrust minus two
plus three and has an additonal point of DR on that hand.
I can backwards engineer that he has a 13 DX from his karate score
and point expenditure on the skill. That's low for DX on 150 pts.
I'll assume he has a ST of 14 or 15. With a 15 ST he would do a
base 1d+4 crushing (1d+1) +3. Average damage would be 6.5 pts.
Against Chainmail wearing foes with one level of Toughness, say
from an orc or hobgoblin (DR vs crushing of 5) he does no damage on a
hit 1/3rd of the time as it won't penetrate the foe's DR. At best, he
gets 4 points crushing on a hit, which rarely takes down someone who
isn't already huring.
It sounds to me like you're trying to beat a martial artits in
melee with non-martial artists.
Try ranged attacks. A crossbow does wonders in GURPS. Retreating
parries don't do much against an attack with a range/reach that more
than covers the retreat. A guy with a polearm drops his retreating
parry to a parry unless he can retreat far enough to get to the edge
of it's range.
As noted in the description of Parry Missile Weapons in Martial
Arts, there's a minus five penalty vs crossbow bolts and darts.
>
> So, he completely outshines any other PC in combat. 98% chance to
> hit, avoid an attack 95% of the time, and a DR of 5 on the ones that
> do hit, and he does nearly as much damage as the guy with the sword
> (although it's crushing).
Counter Karate with Judo or wrestling. An arm lock is resisted by
DX, Wrestlilng or Judo skill, not Karate. The points he spent there
don't help him at all. And once the arm lock is established he can
use his ST or Judo/DX/Wrestling to try to escape but you got a +4 for
getting the lock on him for breaking out contests. And after the
first turn, if the lock is still in place the Judo expert can *maim*
the locked arm if you want, or just do pain.
> One way I got round this was to attack him with multiple opponents,
> then he can only parry one of them, relying on his dodge for the
> others. Also, he can only retreat against one of the attacks, so he
> generally parries the first one (chance=12=74%), then dodges and
> retreats against the second (chance=10=50%).
> This is OK for me, and eventually I skewered his left arm with a
> spear, crippling it.
>
> However, one on one, I can't see who I can throw at this guy to stand
> a chance.
> Against someone with armour of DR3, he has to make a HT roll or take
> 1d-2 damage to the hand or foot (B51) - but he gets his toughness on
> this so it works out at 1d-4.
Does he have the night vision advantage? Orcs attacking a little
after sunset who have night vision are rather effective. They aren't
penalized. The PCs are.
>
> From what I've read on other posts (and what I've got from asking my
> friends who have done some martial arts), it that is not as easy to
> parry an unarmed attack as it is to parry an attack from a weapon.
> But according to B101, the -3 penalty to parrying a weapon bare-handed
> is negated, making it just as easy as blocking someone's fist.
You misread. Only THRUSTING attacks get the -3 penalty removed.
Swing them swords. A polearm that does swing damage cutting is the
LAST thing any sensible person would try to parry with an arm. He
can't out retreat it's reach so he's using a base 12 instead of 15 for
a parry. It's not a thrusting weapon attack so his 12 becomes a 9.
A halberd does SW + FIVE cutting damage. That plus negates his DR.
A 13 sT attacker will do 2d-1 damage *to him* on a hit. Yes it takes
two turns to ready the weapon. This is why pole arm users fought in
*units*. Three guys with Halberds each one attacks on a given turn
while his companions ready their weapons and attack on their turn.
How many turns does your PC survive of that/
>
> If his parry does fail however, the attacker may choose to do damage
> to the arm instead of its intended location, but since without the
> parry, he was going to take the damage anyway (although probably to
> the torso).
The ARM has fewer Hits than the torso. Once it's crippled it's out
of the parrying business and your guy isn't so invincible. And it
counts against the torso until it goes into negatives. (Only the Iron
fist hand has the extra DR). If he's right handed, has a right handed
Iron Fist and parries with his left arm, DON'T use the wrong stats.
Let's assume he's got a 12 HT. The arm is non-functionable after
six hits and he takes six Hits off his score. After that additional
hits can go towards crippling the limb but don't apply directly to his
HT score. Three points impaling damage to his arm after his DR puts
the arm out of action. It'd take 4 points over his arms DR in Cutting
damage, however, most cutting attacks use SWING instead of thrust.
> I think the best chance I've got is to wait for him to attack my Mr.
> Bad guy end boss swordmaster, and when he attacks me, I parry.
> According to B99, if I successfully parry a bare-handed attack with a
> weapon, I roll against my weapon skill (at -4) and if I hit, I do full
> damage.
Or simply TRIP the guy. Amazing how hard it is to defend when
you're on the ground unexpectedly.
You're trying to do what he's doing only better, using foes who
aren't designed to do what he does as well as he does it. It's ego,
you're the GM and dammit you should be able to whup him! It's a trap
most GMs fall into and sometimes all too often.
SD Anderson
>
> As writen karate can parry any weapon at any reach at 2/3rds, the only
> downside is that if you fail the parry the attacker can choose to hit the
> arm instead of rolling hit location (this is, has been noted on numerous
> occassions, excessively good)
He explicitly cannot parry missile weapons without the Parry
Missile Weapons skill.
Not that excessively good either. Remember, using a arm to parry
an attack makes the arm a weapon arm. It's merely at minus two to hit
anyway.
Wrathchild
No, SD - read it again, B101. -3 when parrying weapons, unless it is a
thrust, or [unless] it is a Judo or Karate Parry.
Wrathchild
> downside is that if you fail the parry the attacker can choose to hit the
> arm instead of rolling hit location (this is, has been noted on numerous
> occassions, excessively good)
You are right, of course. I've been moving into house rule/percieved common
sense terrioriy on this reach issue.
Zephyr
"SD Anderson" <10225...@compuserve.com> wrote in message
news:ad847902.01091...@posting.google.com...
What SD Anderson said, and more... :)
Two words, Armor - Reach.
Someone in serious armor is going to give him a good run around. Iron Hand
may add some DR to the hand, but he may still be taking damage when trying
to punch through armor.
Give that person a decent reach weapon and use hex grids and your martial
artist is going to find himself trying to get around that bussiness end of
the weapon before being able to do ANY attacks himself.
Poison is another option. He has DR 3 which most arrows and knives can punch
through enough to get poison delivered. His Toughness doesn't count for
that. If one point gets through the poison is delievered. It doesn't have to
be deadly, but incapacitating would be a good idea to slow him down,
especially things that affect DX.
Another Martial Artist would work or a mage. How about a rival school or a
master of magic? He is going to have a hard time parrying a Flame Jet or
dodging and Explosive Fireball. That isn't even including things like having
a mage take control of a friend and having them attack the MA. Now he has to
decide if he want's to do that Earclap and maybe ruin his friend's hearing
forever.
Here is the final solution. Don't sweat it. Let the PC have their fun taking
out armed people barehanded. Don't worry about overcoming him in combat.
Make him resolve other non-combat related problems. His master comes to say
he has been misusing the teachings. He is socially embarassed when
challenged to a sword duel for honor and he uses a "peasent" weapon of his
fists. He is refused entry into a walled town once they hear that he can
kill a man with his bare hands. Others are required to peacetie swords or
leave weapons at the gates. He can't leave his body behind which is his
weapon.
Darrell Hiebert
Zephyr wrote:
>
> "SD Anderson" <10225...@compuserve.com> wrote in message
> news:ad847902.01091...@posting.google.com...
> > pa...@runestonegames.freeserve.co.uk (Paul Grogan) wrote in message
> >
> > It sounds to me like you're trying to beat a martial artits in
> > melee with non-martial artists.
> >
> > Try ranged attacks. A crossbow does wonders in GURPS. Retreating
> > parries don't do much against an attack with a range/reach that more
> > than covers the retreat. A guy with a polearm drops his retreating
> > parry to a parry unless he can retreat far enough to get to the edge
> > of it's range.
Care to sight a page for this. In lieu of one I doubt this since it
takes a maneuver to change the reach of a polearm. Makes sense for
staff, bastard sword and great swords, etc., though.
> >
> > As noted in the description of Parry Missile Weapons in Martial
> > Arts, there's a minus five penalty vs crossbow bolts and darts.
> >
> > >
> > > So, he completely outshines any other PC in combat. 98% chance to
> > > hit, avoid an attack 95% of the time, and a DR of 5 on the ones that
> > > do hit, and he does nearly as much damage as the guy with the sword
> > > (although it's crushing).
> >
> > Counter Karate with Judo or wrestling. An arm lock is resisted by
> > DX, Wrestlilng or Judo skill, not Karate. The points he spent there
> > don't help him at all. And once the arm lock is established he can
> > use his ST or Judo/DX/Wrestling to try to escape but you got a +4 for
> > getting the lock on him for breaking out contests. And after the
> > first turn, if the lock is still in place the Judo expert can *maim*
> > the locked arm if you want, or just do pain.
> >
> > > One way I got round this was to attack him with multiple opponents,
> > > then he can only parry one of them, relying on his dodge for the
> > > others. Also, he can only retreat against one of the attacks, so he
> > > generally parries the first one (chance=12=74%), then dodges and
> > > retreats against the second (chance=10=50%).
> > > This is OK for me, and eventually I skewered his left arm with a
> > > spear, crippling it.
According to Kromm, you always get a defense for each hand, so an
unarmed fighter gets 2 unarmed parries. Are offhand penalties applied to
parries.
> > >
> > > However, one on one, I can't see who I can throw at this guy to stand
> > > a chance.
> > > Against someone with armour of DR3, he has to make a HT roll or take
> > > 1d-2 damage to the hand or foot (B51) - but he gets his toughness on
> > > this so it works out at 1d-4.
> >
> > Does he have the night vision advantage? Orcs attacking a little
> > after sunset who have night vision are rather effective. They aren't
> > penalized. The PCs are.
> >
> > >
> > > From what I've read on other posts (and what I've got from asking my
> > > friends who have done some martial arts), it that is not as easy to
> > > parry an unarmed attack as it is to parry an attack from a weapon.
> > > But according to B101, the -3 penalty to parrying a weapon bare-handed
> > > is negated, making it just as easy as blocking someone's fist.
> >
> > You misread. Only THRUSTING attacks get the -3 penalty removed.
> > Swing them swords. A polearm that does swing damage cutting is the
> > LAST thing any sensible person would try to parry with an arm. He
> > can't out retreat it's reach so he's using a base 12 instead of 15 for
> > a parry. It's not a thrusting weapon attack so his 12 becomes a 9.
Not according to what my BS says: If you parry a weapon bare-handed,
your defense is -3 unless you parry a thrust, or you are using Judo or
Karate (in either case, use your normal parry).
That's an or, not an and. If I'm using Karate, I can parry any weapon
attack at no penalty. If it's a thrust attack the penalty is removed no
matter what skill is used to parry. Has this been errata'd or
'clarified' somewhere.
> >
> > A halberd does SW + FIVE cutting damage. That plus negates his DR.
> > A 13 sT attacker will do 2d-1 damage *to him* on a hit. Yes it takes
> > two turns to ready the weapon. This is why pole arm users fought in
> > *units*. Three guys with Halberds each one attacks on a given turn
> > while his companions ready their weapons and attack on their turn.
> >
> > How many turns does your PC survive of that/
> >
> > >
> > > If his parry does fail however, the attacker may choose to do damage
> > > to the arm instead of its intended location, but since without the
> > > parry, he was going to take the damage anyway (although probably to
> > > the torso).
> >
> > The ARM has fewer Hits than the torso. Once it's crippled it's out
> > of the parrying business and your guy isn't so invincible. And it
> > counts against the torso until it goes into negatives. (Only the Iron
> > fist hand has the extra DR). If he's right handed, has a right handed
> > Iron Fist and parries with his left arm, DON'T use the wrong stats.
> >
> > Let's assume he's got a 12 HT. The arm is non-functionable after
> > six hits and he takes six Hits off his score. After that additional
> > hits can go towards crippling the limb but don't apply directly to his
> > HT score. Three points impaling damage to his arm after his DR puts
> > the arm out of action. It'd take 4 points over his arms DR in Cutting
> > damage, however, most cutting attacks use SWING instead of thrust.
Impaling attacks don't do double damage to limbs.
> >
> > > I think the best chance I've got is to wait for him to attack my Mr.
> > > Bad guy end boss swordmaster, and when he attacks me, I parry.
> > > According to B99, if I successfully parry a bare-handed attack with a
> > > weapon, I roll against my weapon skill (at -4) and if I hit, I do full
> > > damage.
> >
> > Or simply TRIP the guy. Amazing how hard it is to defend when
> > you're on the ground unexpectedly.
> >
> > You're trying to do what he's doing only better, using foes who
> > aren't designed to do what he does as well as he does it. It's ego,
> > you're the GM and dammit you should be able to whup him! It's a trap
> > most GMs fall into and sometimes all too often.
>
> What SD Anderson said, and more... :)
>
> Two words, Armor - Reach.
>
> Someone in serious armor is going to give him a good run around. Iron Hand
> may add some DR to the hand, but he may still be taking damage when trying
> to punch through armor.
>
> Give that person a decent reach weapon and use hex grids and your martial
> artist is going to find himself trying to get around that bussiness end of
> the weapon before being able to do ANY attacks himself.
Of course, he only has to defend once while he does a move to get inside
the weapon. Then the weapon is worse than useless.
>
> Poison is another option. He has DR 3 which most arrows and knives can punch
> through enough to get poison delivered. His Toughness doesn't count for
> that. If one point gets through the poison is delievered. It doesn't have to
> be deadly, but incapacitating would be a good idea to slow him down,
> especially things that affect DX.
>
> Another Martial Artist would work or a mage. How about a rival school or a
> master of magic? He is going to have a hard time parrying a Flame Jet or
> dodging and Explosive Fireball. That isn't even including things like having
> a mage take control of a friend and having them attack the MA. Now he has to
> decide if he want's to do that Earclap and maybe ruin his friend's hearing
> forever.
Flame Jet is truly nasty to anyone without a shield. Just ask any of the
mooks IMC.
>
> Here is the final solution. Don't sweat it. Let the PC have their fun taking
> out armed people barehanded. Don't worry about overcoming him in combat.
> Make him resolve other non-combat related problems. His master comes to say
> he has been misusing the teachings. He is socially embarassed when
> challenged to a sword duel for honor and he uses a "peasent" weapon of his
> fists. He is refused entry into a walled town once they hear that he can
> kill a man with his bare hands. Others are required to peacetie swords or
> leave weapons at the gates. He can't leave his body behind which is his
> weapon.
--
"I am Susan Ivanova. Commander. Daughter of Andre and Sophie Ivanov. I
am the right hand of vengeance...I am death incarnate, and the last
living thing you are EVER going to see... God sent me."
Susan Ivanova, Babylon 5
Only one Earth captain has ever survived a confrontation with a Minbari
warship. He is behind me. You are ahead of me. If you value your lives,
be somewhere else."
Delenn, Babylon 5
Zephyr
"> According to Kromm, you always get a defense for each hand, so an
> unarmed fighter gets 2 unarmed parries. Are offhand penalties applied to
> parries.
>
such as fists. Thus Karate, Brawling, Judo, Boxing, and Brawling are all
usable by either hand.
> >
> > Give that person a decent reach weapon and use hex grids and your
martial
> > artist is going to find himself trying to get around that bussiness end
of
> > the weapon before being able to do ANY attacks himself.
>
> Of course, he only has to defend once while he does a move to get inside
> the weapon. Then the weapon is worse than useless.
> >
Very true, but if it is a staff or something similar you can still defend
until he enters close combat. Then you're really in trouble.
> > Another Martial Artist would work or a mage. How about a rival school or
a
> > master of magic? He is going to have a hard time parrying a Flame Jet or
> > dodging and Explosive Fireball. That isn't even including things like
having
> > a mage take control of a friend and having them attack the MA. Now he
has to
> > decide if he want's to do that Earclap and maybe ruin his friend's
hearing
> > forever.
>
> Flame Jet is truly nasty to anyone without a shield. Just ask any of the
> mooks IMC.
> >
No kidding. Especially when you grant it to someone else. Expecially when
they are in the back row of a group and aren't expecting it. All of a sudden
flame is shooting from someone's hand in to the group. Fun and disruptive.
JustJessie
Zephyr <zep...@uslink.net> wrote in message
news:z0qo7.7024$yA6.2...@ratbert.tds.net...
>
> "> According to Kromm, you always get a defense for each hand, so an
> > unarmed fighter gets 2 unarmed parries. Are offhand penalties applied to
> > parries.
> >
> As far as I know you do not have an off-hand when using your natural
weapons
> such as fists. Thus Karate, Brawling, Judo, Boxing, and Brawling are all
> usable by either hand.
According to the Basic Set, the 2 unarmed parries are only for the Brawling
skill. Judo and Karate skills don't get the additional parries. It is
possible that it has been revised by the good Doctor though.
--
JustJessie
Narratus Insecurus
Ludus Encyclopaedous
Darrell Hiebert
Well, under Judo and Karate it says you can parry with either hand, no
off-hand penalty. It doesn't specifically say you can use them both at
the same time but it seems odd that a brawler would get more parries
than a trained martial artist.
My earlier comment about Kromm's ruling is from one of the Krommnotes,
but I can't find it now. Makes sense to me though.
>
> --
> JustJessie
> Narratus Insecurus
> Ludus Encyclopaedous
--
Zephyr
"Darrell Hiebert" <wicked...@home.com> wrote in message
news:3BA8490A...@home.com...
off-hand weapon will be at negatives to skill unless you have Off-Hand
Weapon Training maneuver bought up. Just having that second weapon can be
usefull even if you don't use it for attacks.