Difference between revisions of "FistWeapons/FistAndFoot"

Revision as of 08:06, 5 April 2010

After the suggestions of willows and szilard, I've decided it's probably not the best idea to automatically improve the Fist and Foot base stats as the relevant combat ability increases. Some twisted part of me wants to go ahead with said idea, then rewrite every single weapon to possess five ranks as well, so that points in MA and Brawl won't be so much more cost-efficient. Instead of that, I offer the following optional rules:

To characters who wish to reflect exceptional unarmed training, the Background 'Way of the Fist' will be available. Ranks in Way of the Fist improve the basic statistics for unarmed attacks. Brawlers may rename Way of the Fist to 'Cruisin' for a Bruisin at their discretion.
Way of the Fist, as with any other Background, should be explained in the character history, preferably with at least one wizened old mentor and/or remote training camp.
In games where Way of the Fist is available for purchase, all players and NPCs are assumed to start with 1 dot of Way of the Fist for free. Storytellers, note that this does make baseline unarmed stats worse than those of the Corebook, the PG, or my own custom stats.

Name                   Spd     Acc    Dam    Def    Rate    Other 
Fist (Rank 1)           0      +1     +0     -2      2      can't block Lethal
Fist (Rank 2)           0      +1     +0     -1      3      can't block Lethal
Fist (Rank 3)          +1      +2     +0     +0      4      can't block Lethal
Fist (Rank 4)          +2      +3     +1B    +1      5      can't block Lethal
Fist (Rank 5)          +3      +4     +2B    +2      6      can't block Lethal

Haymaker               -3      -1     +2B    [[NFistWeapons/FistAndFoot/A]]    -2     (modifies normal Fist stats: lose 2 Fist attacks to hit harder)
Killing Blow           -3      -1     +0L    [[NFistWeapons/FistAndFoot/A]]    -4     (modifies normal Fist stats: lose 4 Fist attacks to hit harder; Rank 4 and 5 only)


Name                   Spd     Acc    Dam    Def    Rate    Other 
Foot (Rank 1)          +2      +0     +3B    -3      1      can't block Lethal
Foot (Rank 2)          +2      +0     +3B    -2      2      can't block Lethal
Foot (Rank 3)          +3      +1     +4B    -1      3      can't block Lethal
Foot (Rank 4)          +4      +2     +5B    +0      4      can't block Lethal
Foot (Rank 5)          +5      +3     +6B    +1      5      can't block Lethal

Spinning Kick          -3      -1     +3B    [[NFistWeapons/FistAndFoot/A]]    -2     (modifies normal Foot stats: lose 2 Foot attacks to hit harder)
Jumping Spin Kick      -3      -1     +1L    [[NFistWeapons/FistAndFoot/A]]    -4     (modifies normal Foot stats: lose 4 Foot attacks to hit harder; Rank 4 and 5 only)


Name                   Spd     Acc    Dam    Def    Rate    Other 
Clinch (Rank 1)        -6      +0     +0     [[NFistWeapons/FistAndFoot/A]]     1       P
Clinch (Rank 2)        -6      +1     +0     [[NFistWeapons/FistAndFoot/A]]     1       P
Clinch (Rank 3)        -5      +1     +1     [[NFistWeapons/FistAndFoot/A]]     1       P
Clinch (Rank 4)        -4      +2     +1     [[NFistWeapons/FistAndFoot/A]]     1       P
Clinch (Rank 5)        -3      +3     +2     [[NFistWeapons/FistAndFoot/A]]     1       P

Here's my reasoning:
One, even the mortal martial artists (I'll use 'martial artist' to refer equally to Brawlers of comparable skill) should have a reason to fight barehanded. Two, martial artists at their peak (MA 5, not even necessarily Dex 5) should be able to land a single kick or punch powerful enough to flatten a normal opponent. Three, the master's fist should be the virtual definition of "accuracy" when it comes to mortal weaponry, being not an extension of the wielder's body, but his body itself. Four, six full-power hand strikes in three seconds is probably the best one can reasonably hope for (or, at least, while under the stress of live combat). Five, the defense rating of kicks is really for use against other unarmed attacks; any attempt to block weapons with your legs is going to be a crazy stunt anyways.

Clinching's pretty much based on the reasoning that A.) it's not really all that hard to grab someone if you're willing (and fast enough) to tackle them before they can respond, B.) the better a wrestler you are, the more parts of your opponent you can grab ahold of in order to initiate a grapple, and C.) it sucks if you're primarily a wrestler and you can never catch anybody.

Generally speaking, I would say that these enhanced stats do not stack with Brawling aids and other "fist and foot"-type weapons. This stems from a couple gut-feelings.
A.) Brawling aids are for people that aren't Grandmaster-class combatants; the unarmed masters are the standard to which all others compare, and Brawling aids are one way to approach these levels without spending your entire life training.
B.) These stats are intended to make people who want to be truly dedicated unarmed combatants competitive with weapons - not to make them even deadlier with weapons.
C.) Mechanically, punching/spearing/chopping/palm-striking is very different from the relatively simple methods of utilization applied by a cesti- or gauntlet-user. A Way of the Fist master has practiced specifically to improve his unarmed attacks, and this training is in many ways counter-productive for one who wishes to use a brawling aid.