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Message no. 1
From: Rune Fostervoll <runefo@***.UIO.NO>
Subject: Re: Martial Arts Table, Kickboxing Concentration??[LONG]
Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 19:01:16 +0000
I might be a bit negative here.. anyway, I have a few points to make.

> KARATE

> Techniques TN Damage Reach
>
> Block/Evade 4 None None
> Can be used for counterattacks. Is assumed that the limb or the haft
> of the attacker's weapon is being blocked. An attempt to block/evade
> weapons is as follows: +2 to TNs for swords or any melee weapons with a
> reach of 2, +4 to TN for monowhips, and +1 to TNs for all other melee
> weapons; these modifiers can be negated for a -1 for every 2 Unarmed
> Combat skill points over attacker's Armed Combat skill.
Block/Evade: This is basically going 'full defence'.

> Karate Strike 4 (Str+1) M Stun +0

Someone with 'general skill' would know a bit of karate, a bit of..
well, everything. He would also know 'karate strike' or its
equivalent. Why should he use normal attacks if this is better?
(It is, in every way.).

>
> Kick 5 (Str+1)M Stun +1
So, kick has TN 5, modified by reach 4. Vastly superior to regular
attacks. This is the weakness of tables like these... taking a
concentration in an unarmed combat style should be a *WEAKNESS* not
a strength - you limit yourself to one style of fighting, but is
better in that style - reflected by having MORE DICE IN IT!.
Not by having access to 'fancy better than normal moves'.


> Jump Kick/Flying Kick 6/7 (Str+2) M Stun +1/+2

Mhm. I seem to recall flying kicks was originally intended to attack
mounted opponents. It is a flashy style, so often used in movies and
games, but not particularily effective. Still, no major comments..

> Disable or Subdue 6 for limb/8 for torso (Skill) M/S Stun +0
> An attack targeting the nerve points of the body which must be
> specified. Damage applied is not 'real' damage but if all 10 boxes are
> filled are filled for that specific body part, opponent cannot use the
> affected limb or collapses and incapable of any action for 20 combat
> turns/Willpower (2) + modifiers for torso attacks

> Get Inside Reach 5 for Rch 2/6 for Rch 1 None +0
> As long as an attacker manages 1 more success against the defender, he
> has negated both parties Reach modifiers.
>
> Lunge 4 (Str+2) M Stun +0
> Charging or lunging at an opponent. The attacker must make a delayed
> complex action by meeting the opponent's onrushing attack or jumping him
> before he gets to do anything. The opponent may only block or evade
> when charged.
> Sweep 6 (Str) M Stun +1
> A foot sweep which knocks the opponent off his feet. Attacker must
> make more successes than the defender.
>
> Pulled Punch 5 As Attack As Attack
The attacker may want to limit
> how much damage he does in an attack. Once an attack has been
> successful and before the opponent makes a Damage Resistance test, the
> attacker chooses a damage category for the attack below the damage
> category to which he has presently staged up to.
I prefer to handle this by making the players reduce the combat pool
they use for the attack - after all, you take a risk by pulling your
punches, and there is a lot of uncertainty. He may also use less
strength.

> Full Out Attack As Technique (+2 Power) As Attack
> The ultimate in a committed attack. The opponent receives a -1 to his
> TN to block/evade the full out attack. The kiai is used along with a
> full out attack in which the opponent centers all his inner energy into
> one furious blow. This technique cannot be used for counterattacks.
This is commonly called using the entire combat pool offensively.
(Since the combat pool is 66% mental stats... definitely.).

>
> Kiai Target's Willpower None +0
> A loud cry combined with limited but threatening moves, its purpose is
> to put an opponent off their attack, or unnerve the opponent into making
> a mistake or not attacking at all. Make an opposed Charisma test (along
> with half of his Karate skill) against the target's Willpower. For
> every success past the defender's, the target receives a +1 modifier for
> any block/evade or counterattack he attempts against the attacker. Is
> considered a Free Action when used with a full out attack, but a Simple
> Action for any other attack.

So, charisma+1/2 karate skill vs. willpower. In most combat
situations with equally matched opponents this is autokill.
(Coupled with the full out attack in particular).

> Grapple 6 None +0

> Throw 6 (Oppnt's Body) L Stun +0

This illustrates another point. Most martial arts include a bit of
everything. A 'real' tae-kwon-do martial artist would have skill in
unarmed combat
history (tae-kwon-do)
athletics

But it is not uncommon to see tables like these for TKD include
points that use unarmed combat for reducing fall damage etc..
Point is, the unarmed combat skill, no matter what its concentration,
is limited to the combat aspect of that skill.

Also, if Karate includes throws and grapples, how do you
differentiate it from, say, Judo or wrestling, which use throws and
grapples a lot more, but also has hand and foot strike techniques?

Martial artists spend a lot of time practicing combat techniques.
This gives them high skill ratings, through which they do more
damage. How they do it is up to the GM and player, but if a player is
skilled, that alone makes him better, not that he then also can use
'extra powerful attack forms' - the high skill is reward enough in
itself.

> I have made a similair table as well for the Aikido style (from watching
> WAY too many Steven Seagal movies) along with its unique attacks/moves
> to distinguiesh them from say, Karate. I have had much success with my
> Martial Arts tables so far as it allows beginner players (who know
> NOTHING about the Martial Arts) become creative when it comes to melee
> combat in SR instead of going, "I use my Karate concentration against
> Mr. Street Sam". :(

I/My group use descriptions instead, without paying much heed to the
details. If A gets a lot more successes than B, it's a kick that
almost knocks his head off; if it's one success or so, it's a number
of feints which end up in a nearly-deflected blow.

It's nothing wrong in making tables like these, but be careful not to
unbalance things. If you want a M.A - heavy group, there's no problem
in making M.A. more effective, but for a general suggestion, it
should be.

What might be needed, is a cure against the Attack & Die syndrome..
which is annoying, but according to most martial arts thinking it
makes sense...

A wins initiative, attacks. Let's say he has two options.. using
half, max, or no combat pool.
B, the defender, knows that the next action is his, so he can safely
use his entire combat pool for a counterattack.
If they're evenly matched, A won't hit by much, or even at all, even
if he uses his full pool. If he uses none, he'll be hurt bad. On the
next action, B attacks with full pool against an A which either has
no pool and gets creamed, or is hurt because he didn't use his pool
and gets creamed.


"But the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we no not of."
Message no. 2
From: "MARTIN E. GOTTHARD" <s457033@*******.GU.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Martial Arts Table, Kickboxing Concentration??[LONG]
Date: Sun, 18 May 1997 12:31:51 +1000
> > I have made a similair table as well for the Aikido style (from watching
> > WAY too many Steven Seagal movies) along with its unique attacks/moves
> > to distinguiesh them from say, Karate. I have had much success with my
> > Martial Arts tables so far as it allows beginner players (who know
> > NOTHING about the Martial Arts) become creative when it comes to melee
> > combat in SR instead of going, "I use my Karate concentration against
> > Mr. Street Sam". :(
>
Seagal uses Aikido? I've done Aikido on and off for years, and none of
the variant styles I've experienced looked anything like that.

I'll have to watch them again and see.

Marty
Message no. 3
From: Dale Talbert <LuvsAmanda@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Martial Arts Table, Kickboxing Concentration??[LONG]
Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 23:41:51 -0400
In a message dated 97-05-17 22:34:58 EDT, s457033@*******.GU.EDU.AU (MARTIN
E. GOTTHARD) writes:

<< Seagal uses Aikido? I've done Aikido on and off for years, and none of
the variant styles I've experienced looked anything like that.

I'll have to watch them again and see. >>

I thought that Seagal was a Zen martial artist (is there such a thing?) At
least that is what I heard from friend.

-Dale
Message no. 4
From: tom Cone <Brother-1@*****.NET>
Subject: Re: Martial Arts Table, Kickboxing Concentration??[LONG]
Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 18:03:00 -1000
>I thought Seagal was a zen martial artisit...
Zen is a way of thinking, a philosophy (sort of).
It can, and has been combined with several other philosophies/religions.
It's not specifically a way to defend oneself.

Brother-1. Decker for hire.
"Black IC!! You eeediot!! You bloated code!!
You sick little program!! I will DELETE YOU!!!!"
Message no. 5
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Martial Arts Table, Kickboxing Concentration??[LONG]
Date: Sun, 18 May 1997 10:25:57 +0100
Rune Fostervoll said on 19:01/17 May 97...

> So, kick has TN 5, modified by reach 4. Vastly superior to regular
> attacks. This is the weakness of tables like these... taking a
> concentration in an unarmed combat style should be a *WEAKNESS* not
> a strength - you limit yourself to one style of fighting, but is
> better in that style - reflected by having MORE DICE IN IT!.
> Not by having access to 'fancy better than normal moves'.

Erm... not having any hands-on experience with this myself, I'd say that
the fact that there are loads of different martial arts styles is because
each has some kind of advantage over the others (in terms of moves) which
leads people to concentrate on that style.

So I guess my question to you is: does "taking a concentration in an
unarmed combat style should be a *WEAKNESS* not a strength" refer to game
balance or to RL? If to game balance, I suggest using the martial arts
stuff from TSS #2 to figure out a higher Karma cost for learning the
style, which should probably balance the advantages (the "fancy better
than normal moves") against characters who tend to have lower skills due
to the higher cost oof buying the concentration.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
The best you can expect is to avoid the worst.
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-

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Message no. 6
From: "Arno R. Lehmann" <arlehma@***.NET>
Subject: Re: Martial Arts Table, Kickboxing Concentration??[LONG]
Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 03:27:02 +0200
On Sat, 17 May 1997 19:01:16 +0000, Rune Fostervoll complained about a
certain martial art table, because he thought, it made the user of it
too
powerful. I agree. finally he wrote:

>It's nothing wrong in making tables like these, but be careful not to
>unbalance things. If you want a M.A - heavy group, there's no problem
>in making M.A. more effective ...

So what if you had to learn every single technique from the table like
a specialization? So you would get a fancy fighting style, but as a
starting character you would not be very powerful. Later, you might
learn more of the techniques or improve the ones you know and then get
_really_ a good fighter, but every character improves ...

Might turn out a good way of handling tables like these.

One question, BTW: Did anyone get my post about Physical mages and
projection? I did not see it since I sent it.

--
Arno
*********************************************************************
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Message no. 7
From: Rune Fostervoll <runefo@***.UIO.NO>
Subject: Re: Martial Arts Table, Kickboxing Concentration??[LONG]
Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 05:25:57 +0000
Gurth wrote:
> Rune Fostervoll said on 19:01/17 May 97...
>
> > So, kick has TN 5, modified by reach 4. Vastly superior to regular
> > attacks. This is the weakness of tables like these... taking a
> > concentration in an unarmed combat style should be a *WEAKNESS* not
> > a strength - you limit yourself to one style of fighting, but is
> > better in that style - reflected by having MORE DICE IN IT!.
> > Not by having access to 'fancy better than normal moves'.
>
> Erm... not having any hands-on experience with this myself, I'd say that
> the fact that there are loads of different martial arts styles is because
> each has some kind of advantage over the others (in terms of moves) which
> leads people to concentrate on that style.
Also that they were developed by different cultures, to meet
different needs. Copeira (I think it was that one) was a combat form
disguised as dance, so that it was harder to identify as combat
training. The flourishing kicks Tae Kwon Do is renown for was
concentrated on to fight mounted cavalry; most oriental combat styles
were the peasant's weapon against armed opponents. Savate, on the
other hand, was developed as an amalgate of oriental styles and
common sense for french 'gentlemen'. It includes cane strikes, for
instance.



> So I guess my question to you is: does "taking a concentration in an
> unarmed combat style should be a *WEAKNESS* not a strength" refer to game
> balance or to RL? If to game balance, I suggest using the martial arts
> stuff from TSS #2 to figure out a higher Karma cost for learning the
> style, which should probably balance the advantages (the "fancy better
> than normal moves") against characters who tend to have lower skills due
> to the higher cost oof buying the concentration.
TSS#2? Not familiar with that one.

If what you say at the end there is what it sounds like - that the
added moves makes the conc. cost more than the general skill -
then I seriously suggest calling it something other than a
concentration, because it isn't. My whole argument's based on the
fact that concentrations are cheaper than general skills.

To answer the question, though:

It refers to both. If you have a high unarmed combat skill you
probably know more than one fighting style, and is versed enough in
different fighting methods that you are rounded out well. If you take
a concentration/specialization, you narrow down the field of your
expertise. IIRC, the unarmed combat skill reads like this:

Unarmed combat (P. 70, BBB).
Unarmed combat skill governs the use of martial arts techniques and
implant weapons. A concentration for martial arts style (with a
specialization for specific techniques) is listed below. This
Concentration (e.g. TKD) and specialization (hand strikes) is only
appropriate for use in the game when both the player and GM
understands the specifics of the desired style, including its forms
and limitations.

Concentrations: Subduing combat, Cyber implant weaponry(SW), Martial
Arts Style (Specific technique).

The basic premise is that you loose some, gain some. You gain more
skill in the form you expect to use the most, and loose some in the
others. Someone with a general skill as high as your concentration
skill would know the same you do in your chosen field, as well as
more in the others, according to the normal rules.

What riles me about this martial arts table is that you have more or
less every fighting method in it - wrestling, kicks, strikes, throws.
Where is the area he sacrifices?

Most people that has studied martial arts know that they do not
exclusively deal with one type of attack. Tae Kwon Do, while it has
many different and effective kicks, also includes self defence, hand
strikes, and wrestling. Judo, which is, in theory at least, mostly
wrestling, also has kicks and hand strikes. Karate is mainly hand
strikes and parries, but also has an arsenal of kicks. (I know less
about this style; I'm not sure how much wrestling's in it but I bet
there's at least basic training in escaping holds.).
While a martial art contains aspects of almost every technique, it is
not as good at them as an art specializing in that form. This
proposed table assumes that every attack form taught in karate will
be at an advanced level; that's wrong. Both in RL, and in regard to
balance.

I am afraid I have not mastered the art of writing short mails.
I hope you bear with me.

Rune

--
"But the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we no not of."
Message no. 8
From: Adam J <fro@***.AB.CA>
Subject: Re: Martial Arts Table, Kickboxing Concentration??[LONG]
Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 01:17:19 -0600
At 05:25 5/19/97 +0000, you wrote:
>Gurth wrote:
>> So I guess my question to you is: does "taking a concentration in an
>> unarmed combat style should be a *WEAKNESS* not a strength" refer to game
>> balance or to RL? If to game balance, I suggest using the martial arts
>> stuff from TSS #2 to figure out a higher Karma cost for learning the
>> style, which should probably balance the advantages (the "fancy better
>> than normal moves") against characters who tend to have lower skills due
>> to the higher cost oof buying the concentration.
>TSS#2? Not familiar with that one.

How can I pass up easy spam like this? TSS - The Shadowrun Supplemental
(My emag)
You can grab it at http://shadowrun.home.ml.org, Gurth was referring to
Issue #2, which has a system for creating balanced martial arts styles, and
was written by woneal@*******.net. I was going to mention this from the
start, but it seemed a bit spammish.. :)

-Aj
--
http://shadowrun.home.ml.org -- fro@***.ab.ca
"Do you know how many times I have said something that ends up in
someone's .sig?" -Dvixen, a phone call that turned out to be bloody cheap.
-
"Leading by example" in Target:UCAS

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