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Old 08-09-2017, 12:21 PM   #801
Mailanka
 
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Default Re: Mailanka's Musings -- GURPS Content Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by lwcamp View Post
When I read this, I wonder about how constrained duels are. Traditionally, can you use a force buckler or force shield in a duel of force swords? Can you use your psionics (like pushing your opponent out of the rink with your TK)? Are unarmed strikes and grappling allowed?

Luke
Part of the reason I introduced Gaming (Dueling) and mumble about regional differences is to let the GM and player declare stuff on the fly ("Oh, but if there's a TK push, it's not ring out. Didn't you know? You don't study your dueling history, do you"), and because I don't want to write an exhaustive treatise on one tradition for one faction in the galaxy. In the end, what matters is that duels are about honor and that they don't represent the battle field. They definitely have weird, arbitrary rules you can exploit, and they're often more about winning social favor or skirting the law than they are about a true contests of skill.

So, force bucklers? Well, they'll frown on those because watching two guys hide behind shields isn't as fun as watching people flip around, but they are traditional, so I guess we have to allow them. Psionics? You couldn't stop an ESPer from ESPing anyway, and the aristocracy is inherently psionic so they'll naturally want to show their powers off, so of course you can use those (don't like that the TK guy can push you out of the ring? Don't challenge him, or challenge him under conditions that allow a more open field, or argue that he's a coward because he'll just push you out of the ring rather than "facing you like a REAL man" and thus get the rules changed for this fight). Punches, kicks and grappling? Probably against the rules, because then you might mess up someone's nice hairdo and it's not pretty ("What are we? Animals!"), and if it's allowed, it certainly wouldn't earn you any points with the ladies.
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