Brawling default and other potential brain twisters

[Amra]

(I hope everyone believes in the "there are no stupid questions" philosophy here)

Brawling has no default, therefore if a character has no Brawling skill they can't try to punch/kick someone? I know I must have missed something here, but I can't figure out what.

Help, and is there any other skills that you can attempt without any actual skill in that has "none" listed as a default?

Thanks

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Amra

(I hope everyone believes in the "there are no stupid questions" philosophy here)

Perhaps not, but there are many stupid answers.

Originally Posted by Amra

Brawling has no default, therefore if a character has no Brawling skill they can't try to punch/kick someone? I know I must have missed something here, but I can't figure out what.

Anyone can roll against DX to try to punch a target or DX-2 to kick; no skill needed. The reason Brawling doesn't have a default is that it provides potential bonuses and abilities, which you don't get at all if you don't put points into the skill.

[Amra]

Turhan's Bey Company,

Thanks for the quick response. So all creatures can attack at a minimum of Dex then, such as animals, if an attack skill isn't listed?

Also, what differentiates skills like Brawl, where you can make a skill attempt at basic stat level with "no default" and other skills; like Breath Control, Karate or Enthrallment, which I presume you can't attempt without some skill level? Is it just common sense?

And a follow-up. The standard default for an Easy skill is Stat-4. Why can Brawling be attempted at full DX instead of DX-4?

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Amra

Also, what differentiates skills like Brawl, where you can make a skill attempt at basic stat level with "no default" and other skills; like Breath Control, Karate or Enthrallment, which I presume you can't attempt without some skill level? Is it just common sense?

The point here is that you're not attempting Brawling skill when you attack someone at DX. That's no more Brawling than Karate. You're just trying to whack someone without a specific skill. Brawling, like Karate, is a specific body of knowledge about how to whack people. It's rough-and-ready tricks rather than a "scientific" approach, but it's still a body of knowledge about how to go about whacking people for which there is no default.

[vicky_molokh]

Think of it this way:

Everybody is familiar with using her natural 'strikers' (includes fists, legs, teeth etc.) at DX+0. Out of them, punches are rolled at +0, kicks at -2, bites at +0 etc.

The first point in Brawling (putting it at DX+0) doesn't improve your chance to hit - yet. However, it gives better parries, allows using some techniques like Knee Strike (which is pretty useful if you know when!), elbow strike etc.

While not too frequent, this question seems to be a reccurring one. I'm tempted to polish the answer and uFAQ or maybe even oFAQ it. What do you think?

[Phantasm]

Molokh: Considering the number of times I've seen it asked, I'd say that putting it in a FAQ is a good idea.

Of course, we'll still have people asking the question, but that's because people don't always read the FAQs. ;)

[Not another shrubbery]

Read, people! If nothing else, then just the FAQs!

"All we want are the facts."

[Amra]

Thanks for the answers folks. My Brawling question has been answered. I'm still not clear on which skills w/o defaults can be attempted and which skills can't. I have linked to the FAQ and will so some reading.

[Tai]

No skill without a default can be attempted unless you have training in it - the default shows 'passive' training, from things you might've seen on TV or read in a book. An average modern-day person would have a default to Bow skill from maybe seeing it in a movie, but an average medieval Yeoman wouldn't have a default to Driving skill, because they've never seen it happen before.

When you fight without Brawling, you're not rolling against a 'Default' of DX, you're rolling directly against your DX. You're not throwing a clumsy but decent punch, you're swinging wildly at your target anywhich way and hoping you hit them.

[Kromm]

The very definition of "this skill has no default" is "nobody can attempt this skill, no matter what his abilities, sans training." Brawling isn't an exception . . . you cannot attempt Brawling unless you know it. You can attempt to punch, kick, or bite a foe without Brawling, though. Brawling isn't "the skill that lets you punch, kick, or bite people"; it's "a skill that improves the effectiveness of your punches, kicks, and bites."