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Originally Posted by DouglasCole
In GURPS, a slam is a strike. It's used as a term of art, and whatever we'd like it to mean, the formal definition is on p. B371.
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Yes: "You can deliberately collide with an opponent. This requires an Attack, All-Out Attack, or Move and Attack maneuver. Roll against DX, Brawling, or Sumo Wrestling to hit. Note that the -4 to hit and the effective 9 Skill cap for a Move and Attack
do not apply to slams." The later-on addendum of Shield Rush to the same rules adds Shield as a skill to roll against for success with a slam.
The Sumo wrestler and the Roman legionary are RAW the exemplars of the rule; yet in neither case are they trying to do damage with the Slam/Shield Rush. The rikishi is really attempting to throw his opponent off balance in order to herd him out of the ring or to cause his hand (or knee, or other body part) to touch the ground. The legionary is attempting to pin his opponent's shield arm to his body, in order to facilitate a quick killing strike to the vitals--gladius-to-spleen--causing the opponent to bleed out. In the modern equivalent--SWAT crowd control--the shield is there for herding and pushing, as well as the cool sound it makes when the baton hits it. Both the Slam and the Shield Rush are very clearly skill moves, only tangentially related to ST, and neither is intended to cause, or is dependent upon, damage to the target.
The implied linking between Slam and (NA) football tackle (see "flying tackle" as a Slam technique, pg B372) is also invalid, as a properly executed tackle, flying or otherwise, is based on leverage points, skill, and frequently deceptive tactics (shifting centres of gravity, etc.), with ST being, at best, a modifier to either attack or defence. The whole point is that you are trying to put them off-balance, negating their ST. And rather than causing damage, the only point in which direct damage is done to an individual with a (NA) football tackle is
when they did it wrong.
Quote:
For (NA) Football, I would probably use one or more of:
Sumo Wrestling grapple + Takedown
Sumo Wrestling Sweep
These will knock a foe down.
Sumo Wrestling shove to knock a foe away, likely away and to the side for the offense.
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I like the idea that the primary skill involved in a tackle is Sumo Wrestling. It is clearly appropriate; one would, I assume, have a separate Sport:NA Football skill to take care of the differences between the rules of play.
It doesn't change the fact, though, that if Slam doesn't apply to Sumo wrestling, it doesn't apply to (NA) football, and it doesn't apply to Shield Rush tactics, be they Roman military or modern police crowd control, then what does it apply to?
If, however, we remove the idea of doing damage as a direct intent of the Slam/Shield Rush, then it can be a successful tactic, when used properly, in all the stated, and implied, situations.