From:	Geoff Gerrietts <Sieffre@***.COM>
Subject:	Re: M.arts 3.0
Date:	Tue, 31 Jan 1995 03:53:37 -0500

OK, lots o' house rules. I myself have ruled that only the attacker can do
damage, and that a counterattack would occur when the defender got his chance
to swing.

Nonetheless, I move to examine the system as it stands:

Two things are immediately apparent to me -- first, that the "Firing while in
melee" modifier is something that must be dealt with, as is the procedure for
dealing with firearms in melee. This is a criticism of both the original
rules (which carefully ignore the question) and suggestion for the revised
rules (which don't acknowledge it yet).

Second, the issue of initiative total v. participation in melee is
interesting. I went through an example before, but remain skeptical of
Captain Sumo's ability to throw Speed Demon (usually requiring a complex
action) before Captain Sumo has a complex action available to him. I might
suggest that a delayed action be required for a counterattack, or that the
rules provide for the initiative / reaction difference inherently rather than
relying on the "house rule" system of balancing.

A third comment would ask about weapon styles -- several martial arts concern
themselves almost exclusively with weapons, and some elucidation on their
effects on melee combat, as well as some provisions for specialized armed
combat techniques (stun damage from edged weapons, disarming, etc.) might be
interesting and appropriate.

As a whole -- the system clears a lot of fuzz out of the way, and is (to
date) the most appropriate melee system I have yet seen. Thanks.

<G>