Martial Arts: Move

Move (Martial Arts)

Dealing with Charging Foes

The surest counter to a charge is a stop thrust (see Wait): Wait, and then make a thrusting attack against an enemy who tries to close with you. You'll get a damage bonus for his movement. He can defend, but he can't retreat if he moved more than a step toward you.

Below are other options. These make life hard for chambara and wuxia fighters, and don't especially suit cinematic games.

Parry

You can use a ready melee weapon to parry a grab, grapple, slam (including a pounce or flying tackle), or any other unarmed attack at no special penalty as your attacker enters close combat. Effective "weapon weight" is ST/10 lbs. if he grabs or grapples, ST lbs. otherwise.

If you succeed, roll against weapon skill to injure your foe (at -4 if he used Judo or Karate). If your weapon can only thrust, success inflicts thrusting damage; otherwise, use swinging damage. This counts as a parry, not an attack.

See also Parrying Heavy Weapons and Parrying Unarmed Attacks.

Obstruction

If someone tries to evade you from the front (see Evading) and you have a melee weapon that can parry, you may roll against weapon skill instead of DX in the Contest. You keep him from evading if you win or tie – but if you win, you use your weapon to stop him! This counts as a parry with that weapon. Find damage as for Parry, above, and then halve it (round down).

Holding a Foe at Bay

If a stop thrust, parry, or obstruction attempt results in knockdown, your foe falls, stunned. His turn ends. If it causes knockback, he must use additional movement to close the gap. He might not be able to reach you; he could even fall down!

Even if neither knockback nor knockdown occurs, your weapon is in the way. If you inflicted injury with anything but a thrusting, impaling weapon – or if you rolled damage but didn't penetrate DR – your foe must win a Quick Contest of ST with you to get closer. Otherwise, you hold him off. To keep coming, he must use two movement points to sidestep and take a different path.

If you wounded your foe with a thrusting, impaling weapon, it's inside him. He can still spend two movement points to back off and change paths. Alternatively, he can try a Will-3 roll – at +3 for High Pain Threshold or -4 for Low Pain Threshold – to run himself through! Success increases his wound to the maximum possible injury from your original blow. Then find maximum damage for your weapon using his thrust score. If this exceeds the DR on his back, he can keep moving toward you and your weapon is considered stuck (see Picks).

Example: Tiberius runs 4 yards toward Rufus, who stop thrusts with his spear. Rufus' damage is 1d+3, +2 for the charge, for 1d+5. He rolls 8 points of damage, which pierces Tiberius' DR 5 armor and inflicts 6 points of injury. Tiberius makes a Will-3 roll and pushes forward. Rufus' maximum damage was 11, which would inflict 12 points of injury. Tiberius loses 6 more HP. Tiberius has ST 13. A spear in his hands would do 1d+3. Maximum damage is 9. This exceeds DR 5, so the spear comes out his back as he moves in!

Outside of pure ground-fighting styles, martial-arts masters laud the virtues of mobility. An extra point of Basic Move or one less level of encumbrance can mean the difference between life and death. This is why fighters in training often run as much for speed as for endurance, and why even warriors who face dangerous weapons might enter battle in light armor or no armor.

To give high-Move martial artists a realistic advantage, the GM should consider using Movement in Tactical Combat for the Move maneuver even when not playing out combat on a battle map. Tell the players how far apart the combatants are and strictly enforce movement point costs for facing, posture, footing, etc. This makes "closing the gap" with a foe wielding a ranged weapon – or fleeing from a losing battle – as dramatic as landing and avoiding blows.

Of course, Move is mainly for going from A to B. It's nearly always more effective to close the gap by selecting All-Out Defense (Increased Dodge) to travel at half Move and receive a Dodge bonus, or by taking Move and Attack to run at full speed and launch an attack. The GM should make the players aware of these tactical options and keep track of movement point costs for them as well.

Finally, in a cinematic Martial Arts game, heroes are as likely to move by jumping as by running. A Move maneuver lets a fighter jump from a standing start or run any distance up to his current Move and then jump. See Jumping for rules. To save time in play, calculate high- and broad-jump distances – for both standing and running jumps – and record the full values and halved values for combat on the character sheet. Some additional flashy movement options appear below.

Acrobatic Movement

Martial Arts campaigns often feature capoeiristas, ninja, and dashing swordsmen who move acrobatically in combat to avoid obstacles and surprise enemies. Below are some classic stunts for use during a Move maneuver. After attempting any of these, your next dodge (only) is automatically an Acrobatic Dodge, whether or not you used the Acrobatics skill: you dodge at +2 if your feat succeeded but at -2 if it failed.

These options are flamboyant but risky, and obey the laws of physics – which makes them plausible in a realistic campaign. For over-the-top cinematic action, see Chambara Fighting. For acrobatic versions of the Change Posture and Feint maneuvers, see Acrobatic Stand and Feints Using Non-Combat Skills, respectively.

Banister Sliding

Roll against the better of DX-2 or Acrobatics-2 to slide down a banister at Move 5, regardless of your Move score. This assumes a sitting posture. Roll against Acrobatics-8 if you're standing up! In either case, you can slide until you run out of banister, but you must make this roll once per turn.

Failure means you slip off and land standing on the stairs at a random point along your path; the GM can roll dice or simply choose a spot. Critical failure means you fall off at a random point, pitch headfirst down the stairs, and suffer a collision with the ground at Move 5 – or at Move 7, if you were standing. If the banister had open air on one side, roll 1d on a critical failure. On 1-3, you fall down the stairs as usual; on 4-6, you go over the railing and suffer falling damage!

Evading

You may substitute Acrobatics for DX when evading during a Move maneuver (see Evading). Specify what you're doing: tumbling between your foe's legs, rolling over his shoulder, etc.

If your high-jump distance – with any bonus for running but halved for use in combat – exceeds your opponent's height, you can try to evade by leaping over him. In this case, use Jumping in place of DX.

In either case, if you win the Quick Contest, you evade and can continue moving. If you tie, your foe stops you. But if you lose, you fail to evade and take +1 damage if your foe manages to hit you before your next turn – you leapt right into his attack!

Skidding

To skid across slippery ground, you must have moved toward it last turn. Make a DX or DX-based Skating roll at the surface's combat penalty for bad footing – usually -2 – each turn. You may kneel or go prone as a free action without affecting speed. On the first turn of skidding, success lets you slide the distance you moved toward the slick area last turn; on later turns, you travel half as far as on the previous turn (round down). This is instead of running as described in Bad Footing. Failure means you fall if standing, stop otherwise. Critical failure means you wipe out and collide with the ground (see Immovable Objects).

Spinning

If you use more than half your movement points, you may normally change facing by only one hex-side (see Facing Changes). To spin to face any direction at the end of your turn, make an Acrobatics or DX-based Running roll with the speed penalty for the distance you moved that turn. Consult the Size and Speed/Range Table; e.g., Move 5 gives -2. Failure means you end up facing a random direction; roll 1d. Critical failure means you fall down.

You can also spin at the end of a skid. To do so, roll as explained under Skidding (above) instead, but apply the speed penalty for spinning to the die roll. Failure and critical failure are as for skidding.

Swinging

You can swing from any rope, chandelier, etc., strong enough to support your weight (GM’s decision). If it's within reach or you can reach it with a step, simply grab it and swing. If it's more than a yard above you, roll vs. Jumping to reach it. Failure means you waste your turn jumping and missing; critical failure means you fall down.

The object's length determines how far you can swing. Regardless of its true length, its effective length can't exceed the distance from its suspension point to the ground. You can swing a distance of up to 3/4 of length in any direction from an object hanging vertically. If it's roughly 45° off-vertical, like a tied curtain, you can swing twice as far but your path must follow the imaginary line through your starting position and the place where the object would hang vertically. You can veer up to 10% of swinging distance (minimum a yard) to either side to avoid obstacles.

To execute the swing, make an Acrobatics roll at the speed penalty for the distance traveled. Apply a further -2 if swinging by the legs. Success lets you swing and hop off at any point along your path. Failure means you miscalculate and swing to a random point on the path – roll dice or the GM chooses. On a critical failure, you fall at a random location and suffer a collision with the ground; velocity equals the maximum distance you could have swung.

Tic-Tacs

A "tic-tac" is a running leap at a vertical surface, followed by a foot plant and shove to propel you up and away. This requires a roll against the better of Acrobatics-4 or Jumping-4. Success gives you height equal to 1/4 your running broad jump distance and lets you rebound the same distance horizontally. Halve distances in combat. Failure means a fall from the same height; critical failure inflicts maximum falling damage.

If this moves you into contact with another surface (e.g., a parallel wall), you can push off again. Use the same rules but roll at an extra -2. The "run" for calculating distance is the horizontal distance from your last tic-tac (in yards, rounded down). You can keep bouncing – at -2 per tic-tac – until you stop short of a wall or gain height equal to Basic Move/2 yards.

Once you stop, you can try anything allowed after acrobatic movement, including an Acrobatic Attack. You may try to clear an obstacle, if you're high enough; see Vaulting and Diving. In either case, apply the cumulative penalty for tic-tacs if that would be worse than the usual modifier for movement.

Example: David has Basic Move 6. He runs 4 yards and pushes off the wall of an alleyway with an Acrobatics-4 roll. Broad jump distance is (2 × Basic Move) - 3 feet, but he adds 4 to Basic Move for his run, giving 17'. He flies 17'/4 = 4.25' (1.4 yards) horizontally and gains 4.25' of height. He hits the far wall, 3' away, and jumps again. His running start is only 1 yard from his previous tic-tac. The roll is Acrobatics-6. He succeeds. This gives 11', which launches him 11'/4 = 2.75' (0.9 yard) across the alley – not far enough for a third tic-tac – and gives him 2.75' more height, or 7' total. He can now dive for a vent that’s 6' off the ground. He makes an Acrobatics-6 roll and slips through.

Tumbling

You may attempt to cartwheel, roll, or otherwise tumble across level ground at full Move. Make an unmodified Acrobatics roll. On a success, anyone who makes a ranged attack on you must add your Move to range, contrary to Ranged Attacks on Human Targets. Failure means you only get half your Move and no special benefits. Critical failure means you fall down and go nowhere!

Vaulting and Diving

Anybody can crawl under a table, clamber over the hood of a car, etc., in two turns, as explained under Jumping During Combat. To bypass such an obstacle without stopping, you must run at least two yards toward it to build momentum, have one or more movement point left, and attempt an Acrobatics roll. This roll is at -4 to dive through a window, or to tuck and roll between a high obstacle and a low one, such as two pipes or laser beams.

Success means you tumble under, vault over, or dive past the obstacle. This costs one movement point – but if you have any movement left, you can keep moving. You can try this stunt again on the same turn, but at a cumulative -2 per attempt after the first.

Failure means you fall down under or atop the obstacle but manage to avoid collision damage. Of course, falling "onto" flame or deadly lasers still hurts! Critical failure means you collide with the barrier, suffer collision damage (see Collisions and Falls) if it's solid, and end your turn lying down in front of it.