FistWeapons/FistAndFoot
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 these ideas, then rewrite every single weapon to possess five ranks as well. 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.
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.
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 N/A -2 (modifies normal Fist stats: lose 2 Fist attacks to hit harder) Killing Blow -3 -1 +0L N/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 N/A -2 (modifies normal Foot stats: lose 2 Foot attacks to hit harder) Jumping Spin Kick -3 -1 +1L N/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 N/A 1 P Clinch (Rank 2) -6 +1 +0 N/A 1 P Clinch (Rank 3) -5 +1 +1 N/A 1 P Clinch (Rank 4) -4 +2 +1 N/A 1 P Clinch (Rank 5) -3 +3 +2 N/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.