Martial Arts: Techniques
Techniques
A technique is any feat of skill that one can improve independently of the governing skill. The techniques in this section, being intended for martial artists, depend mainly on combat skills. They represent attacks, defenses, weaponhandling routines (grip changes, weapon retention, etc.), and strategies for coping with less-than-ideal circumstances (for instance, fighting from the back of a galloping mount). Martial-arts techniques obey all of the rules under Techniques. Their properties in brief:
Specialties: The buyer of a technique must specify the combat skill he's learning it for. (Exception: This isn't necessary for a technique associated only with Dodge or an attribute.) This is the technique's specialty. Most techniques offer a limited selection of specialties – perhaps one of the subcategories under Combat Skills, often an even shorter list. A warrior can learn a given technique for several different skills, but he must study and pay for each specialty separately.
Defaults: A technique defaults – typically at a penalty – either to the skill chosen as its specialty or to an active defense or another technique based on that skill. (Exception: A technique associated with Dodge or an attribute defaults to that score.) The penalty occasionally differs from specialty to specialty. A warrior who hasn't spent points to improve a technique can still attempt it at default.
Prerequisites: To improve a technique above default, the buyer must have at least one point in any skill listed as a prerequisite. This always includes the chosen specialty skill and may include others.
Difficulty: Techniques come in two difficulties: Average and Hard. This affects only the point cost to improve the technique; see the Technique Cost Table.
Maximum: Nearly every technique has an upper limit relative to the parent skill. Once the martial artist reaches this level, he must raise the underlying skill to improve further.
Description: Some techniques raise or lower the attacker's defenses, or those of his target. Others affect damage. Many require a skill roll and/or specific action for setup or recovery. Several are new versions of such maneuvers as All-Out Attack and Move and Attack, and replace the usual rules for those maneuvers. A few have unique effects. Read the entire entry to learn the technique’s strengths, weaknesses, and peculiarities.
Techniques and Combat Art/Sport Skills
A technique that defaults to a combat skill also defaults to the related Combat Art and Combat Sport skills at the same penalty. The Art version is for exhibition, the Sport version is for competition. If you improve the technique, however, you need only buy it once. Your level relative to the controlling skill – default, default+1, etc. – applies when using the technique with any of these skills. On your character sheet, you can note the specialty and associated skill level for any of the three skills.
Example: Kanjo Tosho knows Karate Art at 16 and learns Jump Kick. Jump Kick defaults to Karate-4, so it also defaults to Karate Art-4. His default is 12. He improves this to default+3, giving him Jump Kick (Karate Art) at 15. This is mainly for show – it looks great! However, Tosho also has Karate at 15, so default+3 means he could use Jump Kick (Karate) at 14 in a real fight. And with Karate Sport at 14, he could even try Jump Kick (Karate Sport) at 13 in competition. Tosho's player decides which one of the three appears on his character sheet, but he only pays points to improve one technique.
This is a special case! Normally, when Skill A defaults to Skill B, Skill A's techniques don't default to Skill B's techniques. For instance, Shortsword defaults to Broadsword-2, so a fighter with Broadsword at 20 has Shortsword at 18 by default. Back Strike defaults to skill-2; therefore, if he improves Back Strike to default+2 for Broadsword, he gets Back Strike (Broadsword) at 20. But this doesn't give him Back Strike (Shortsword) at default+2, or 18. He only gets his usual default, or 16.
Using Techniques Together
Some techniques can be used together in a way that combines all of their effects in a single success roll. For instance, you could use Ground Fighting with Kicking to kick from the ground, rolling only once to attack. In such situations, determine the relative level of each technique by taking the difference between its level and that of its parent skill. Like relative skill level, this is helpful information to note on your character sheet. To calculate your level with the combined technique, sum the relative levels of all the techniques involved and add the total to the underlying skill.
Example: With Karate at 14, Kicking at 13, and Ground Fighting (Karate) at 12, your relative level with Kicking is 13 - 14 = -1. Your relative level with Ground Fighting is 12 - 14 = -2. When kicking from the ground, add relative levels and roll at Karate-3, or 11.
See Also
Realistic Techniques
- Martial Arts: Realistic Techniques
- Martial Arts: Techniques That Aren't
- Martial Arts: Optional Rule: Targeted Attacks
- Martial Arts: "Go for the eyes!"
- Martial Arts: Dirty Tricks
- Martial Arts: Using Your Legs
- Martial Arts: Optional Rule: Combinations