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Martial Arts



Maneuvers known

Throw: Having grappled her opponent (or used a counter throw, above), the martial artist slams him into a convenient surface. In game terms, the attacker needs a Dexterity + Martial Arts dice pool equal to, or higher than, her opponent’s Dexterity. With a successful roll, the martial artist can throw her opponent up to one yard for each success he scores on her attack roll. S long as she’s got a straight shot at the location, she can choose where her opponent lands. When he lands, he takes damage based on her strength. If he’d been charging her at the time he was thrown, the impact also inflicts an additional +1 die for every 10 feet he’d been traveling at the time (+10 dice maximum). If the impact inflicts more than three health levels in damage (after soaking), the opponent must make a Stamina roll (difficulty 8) or else be stunned for one turn. Should the martial artist throw one opponent into another one, the flying enemy inflicts one die bashing damage for each point of Stamina he has, plus one additional die for the momentum and impact if one or both of the opponents were moving at the time. (A Stamina 3 bad guy, for example, who’d just run 20 feet before being thrown would inflict five dice of bashing damage on his buddy.) Throwing one opponent into another one adds +2 to the roll’s difficulty for that throw, but it does indeed smash two birds with one throw.

Minimum Ability: Martial Arts (any style) 2

Roll: Dexterity + Martial Arts Difficulty: hard 7/ soft 6

Damage: Strength + movement/B Actions: 1

Counter Throw: Directing an attacker’s momentum against him, the martial artist sends him flying into the nearest wall… or the ground… or worse. A basic soft-style maneuver,this remains an effective technique. When the martial artist is attacked, make a resisted roll of Dexterity + Martial Arts against the attacker’s Dexterity + Brawl, Melee, or Martial Arts (depending on the Ability that the opponent is using to attack). If you score more successes than your attacker does, then you deflect the attack and may – immediately and without having to divide up your dice pool – try to throw him (as below). If you fail the throw, you still sidestep his attack.

Minimum Ability: Martial Arts 1, Athletics 1 (soft style)

Roll: Dexterity + Martial Arts Difficulty: 6

Damage: As Throw Actions: 1

Deflecting Block: Evading an attacker’s blow, the martial artist redirects the attacker’s force against her. In game terms, the defender rolls Dexterity + Martial Arts in Phase Two: Defense. Each success subtracts one success from the attacker’s roll. If the defender scores more successes than his attacker, then the attacker must roll Dexterity (difficulty 8) or else fall to the ground (or smash into a nearby surface), taking her own Strength in bashing damage.

Minimum Ability: Martial Arts 2 (soft style), Athletics or Acrobatics 2

Roll: Dexterity + Martial Arts Difficulty: 6

Damage: Attacker’s Strength/B Actions: 1

Joint Lock: Having already grappled his opponent, the martial artist applies pressure to joints and pressure points. If he chooses to exert force against that spot, he can dislocate or break limbs, joints, or possibly even the neck. The player rolls Dexterity + Martial Arts to grapple his opponent (see Grapple, above), then may immediately (without dividing his dice pool between attacks) roll Dexterity + Martial Arts to inflict damage. Each success rolled inflicts one health level’s worth of lethal injury.

Minimum Ability: Martial Arts 2 (any style), Athletics or Acrobatics 2

Roll: Dexterity + Martial Arts Difficulty: 5

Damage: Successes/L Actions: 1

Melee

Weapon

Sword diff 5 base damage strength +2

Advanced techniques known

Fleche /Charge: Darting in to close the distance, the attacker throws speed and momentum behind her assault.

Roll: Dexterity + (Ability) Difficulty: 7

Damage: Weapon +1 Actions: 1

Lightning Parry: With a massive blow or a flurry of blazing-fast strikes, the character deflects incoming shots from a host of attackers. Despite implacable odds, she remains – for the moment – untouched. En garde, gentlemen! The difficulty for this maneuver is 6 + 1 for every attacker beyond the first (+2 for three attackers, +3 for four attackers, and so on). With five successes or more, she breaks the opponents’ weapons, too, forcing them to roll their Willpower (difficulty 7) or back away in fear. Unless she has extra actions within a single turn, the defender cannot do anything this turn except deflect the incoming assaults. As a rule, this trick should work only against blade-fodder mooks, not against serious antagonists; for details, see Mook-a-Palooza, Mage 20, p. 414. Realistically, this maneuver should apply only to hand-to-hand attacks; martial arts movies, though, use this technique against missile weapons all the time.

Roll: Dexterity + (Ability) Difficulty: 6+

Damage: N/A Actions: 1

Slash: Going for the kill, the attacker brings his weapon around for a slicing blow. This attack applies only to hand-to-hand combatants.

Roll: Dexterity + (Ability) Difficulty: Weapon +1

Damage: Weapon +2 Actions: 1

Deflecting Block: Evading an attacker’s blow, the martial artist redirects the attacker’s force against her. In game terms, the defender rolls Dexterity + Martial Arts in Phase Two: Defense. Each success subtracts one success from the attacker’s roll. If the defender scores more successes than his attacker, then the attacker must roll Dexterity (difficulty 8) or else fall to the ground (or smash into a nearby surface), taking her own Strength in bashing damage.

Minimum Ability: Martial Arts 2 (soft style), Athletics or Acrobatics 2

Roll: Dexterity + Martial Arts Difficulty: 6

Damage: Attacker’s Strength/B Actions: 1