Martial Arts Known: Tai Chi Chuan, Silat
Weapon Choices:
Silat: Karambits
Tai Chi Chuan: Spear
Maneuvers Known: 10
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
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
she scores on her attack roll.
So 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
Death Strike
Aiming a rigid hand at an organ, joint, or
other incapacitating location, the attacker directs devastating
force at that target. This strike inflicts lethal damage.
Minimum Ability: Martial Arts 3 (hard style)
Roll: Dexterity + Martial Arts Difficulty: 5
Damage: Strength +2/L 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
Elbow/Knee Strike
A quick, brutal blow with an elbow
or kneecap, usually directed at a vulnerable spot at close range.
Minimum Ability: Martial Arts 1 (any style)
Roll: Dexterity + Martial Arts Difficulty: 5
Damage: Strength +1/B Actions: 1
Snake Step
Shifting away from the blow, our martial
artist deftly sidesteps a close or ranged attack. Naturally, he
must be able to see it coming first. A successful roll acts as a
dodge attempt with an additional three-dice bonus.
Minimum Ability: Martial Arts 1 (any style), Athletics or Acrobatics 1
Roll: Dexterity + Martial Arts Difficulty: hard 6/soft 5
Damage: N/A 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
Weapon Maneuvers
Karambit/Dagger moves
Bind:
Sweeping her antagonist’s weapon up with her
own, a defending fighter uses gravity and leverage to prevent
her enemy from using his weapon this turn. Essentially, this
technique involves a block that denies the opponent the use
of his weapon until he can break the bind. Unlike a typical
block or parry, however, this maneuver succeeds automatically
if the defender makes her roll.
As the opponent attacks, the defender captures his weapon
with her own. A successful roll represents a successful capture
attempt, which deflects that attack and immobilizes both weapons
(meaning that neither party can use them) until either the
defender ends the bind or the opponent successfully breaks free
as described under the Grapple maneuver (Mage 20, p. 421).
Both parties can use other attacks – kicks, head-butts,
punches, etc. – during a successful bind. Due to the close
range, occupied attention, and lack of leverage and space,
however, attacks other than head-butts add +2 to their usual
difficulty. Other opponents, however, subtract -2 from the
difficulty of trying to hit either fighter while their weapons
are bound.
Bind attempts typically begin with the defender maneuvering
her opponent into position – often with a held action, a
Feint (see below), a taunting remark, or some similar enticement
to strike. That enticement isn’t necessary, but it’s a common
tactic that – if successful – reduces the difficulty of the Bind
maneuver itself to difficulty 6, not 8. This enticement requires
an additional action before the Bind attempt itself. As with
other two-action moves, this enticement could be performed
within the same turn if the player chooses to employ a multiple
action (detailed in Mage 20, pp. 388-389).
Obviously, this is a hand-to-hand fighting technique that
typically demands weapons that are strong and rigid enough to
bind and be bound (blades, staves, clubs, etc.). That said, an
especially flexible weapon (like a chain, whip, or rope) could
be used to capture an opponent’s weapon too… and with such
weapons, this is a popular technique.
Roll: Dexterity + (Ability) Difficulty: 6/8
Damage: N/A Actions: 1+
Curtain of Blood:
With a superficial slash above his
opponent’s eyes, the attack spills a bit of the red stuff into
her vision. The resulting distraction sets him up for a better
shot… or possibly for a quick retreat.
It takes at least two successes on the attack roll in order
to cause that blood to flow. The “curtain” effect kicks in one
turn after the slice is made. The cut itself is too shallow to
cause damage; until the target can clear her eyes and staunch
that flow of blood, however, she’s using half of her usual dice
pools. (Stopping the flow requires one full action unless the
opponent can close up wounds through force of will or innate
healing abilities.) Naturally, this attack means nothing against
opponents who do not bleed, or whose faces are protected
from cuts and incidental blindness.
Roll: Dexterity + (Ability) Difficulty: 8
Damage: N/A Actions: 1
Jab:
A short, quick stab at the opponent tests his defenses
and skill. The attacker also adds +1 to the difficulty of her
opponent’s next attack against her, due to the fast, defensive
nature of this move.
Roll: Dexterity + (Ability) Difficulty: Weapon +1
Damage: Weapon -2 Actions: 1\\\