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Old 10-14-2007, 10:47 PM   #1
whswhs
 
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Default Martial Arts: How does Disarm work?

I've been looking closely at the fencing styles and their maneuvers, which I expect to use soon.

The Disarm maneuver lets you attempt to strike at a foe's weapon, with intent to knock it out of their hand. If you succeed, you have a quick contest of weapon skills or of Disarm vs. Retain Weapon.

Now, if I'm a fencer, and someone makes a Disarm move at me, can I use an active defense against it? Can I dodge? Can I parry? It seems as if parrying a Disarm would involve putting your weapon in the way of the Disarm, which kind of defeats the purpose, but Martial Arts does say that there are moves called "parries" that involve getting out of the way. So if I make my defense roll, did my adversary just waste that Disarm?

Or is it impossible to defend against a Disarm, and do we go right to the quick contest?

Bill Stoddard
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Old 10-14-2007, 11:09 PM   #2
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Default Re: Martial Arts: How does Disarm work?

I'm pretty sure Disarm is a melee attack and is treated just like any other melee attack - hit, defend, then resolve (and if the hit fails or defense succeeds, nothing happens).
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Old 10-14-2007, 11:44 PM   #3
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Default Re: Martial Arts: How does Disarm work?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Extrarius
I'm pretty sure Disarm is a melee attack and is treated just like any other melee attack - hit, defend, then resolve (and if the hit fails or defense succeeds, nothing happens).
Correct. In GURPS, any attempt to control something held by something requires contact before the attempt. Grapples are required before you can Arm Lock, parries can be used to initiate Judo throws or Beats, and the same applies to Disarms.
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Old 10-15-2007, 12:01 AM   #4
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Default Re: Martial Arts: How does Disarm work?

Disarming is simply a technique to improve your odds at Knocking a Weapon Away (p. B401). As those rules note: "If you hit and your foe fails to defend, roll a Quick Contest of weapon skills with your foe; if you’re attempting to knock away a missile weapon, your opponent rolls against DX." In other words, there are four rolls in total:
  1. Your roll against skill (or Disarming, if better) at the usual penalties to hit the weapon, and an extra -2 with a non-fencing weapon. Note that one or two special weapons in Martial Arts -- the hook sword, deer antlers, bill, and trident -- also get to ignore the extra -2.

  2. Your foe's active defense. In this case, "parry" represents getting the weapon out of the way rather than interposing it; see Defending Your Weapon (p. B401) and What Is . . . a Parry? (Martial Arts, p. 122).

  3. Your roll against skill (or Disarming, if better) in the Quick Contest to disarm. This can be ST-based, and some weapons get a bonus to make the attempt (Jitte/Sai & Whip weapons).

  4. Your opponent's roll against skill (or Retain Weapon, if better) in the Quick Contest. This can be ST-based, and some weapons get a bonus to resist (two-handed weapons).
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Old 10-15-2007, 07:49 AM   #5
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Default Re: Martial Arts: How does Disarm work?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kromm
Disarming is simply a technique to improve your odds at Knocking a Weapon Away (p. B401). As those rules note: "If you hit and your foe fails to defend, roll a Quick Contest of weapon skills with your foe; if you’re attempting to knock away a missile weapon, your opponent rolls against DX." In other words, there are four rolls in total:
  1. Your roll against skill (or Disarming, if better) at the usual penalties to hit the weapon, and an extra -2 with a non-fencing weapon. Note that one or two special weapons in Martial Arts -- the hook sword, deer antlers, bill, and trident -- also get to ignore the extra -2.

  2. Your foe's active defense. In this case, "parry" represents getting the weapon out of the way rather than interposing it; see Defending Your Weapon (p. B401) and What Is . . . a Parry? (Martial Arts, p. 122).

  3. Your roll against skill (or Disarming, if better) in the Quick Contest to disarm. This can be ST-based, and some weapons get a bonus to make the attempt (Jitte/Sai & Whip weapons).

  4. Your opponent's roll against skill (or Retain Weapon, if better) in the Quick Contest. This can be ST-based, and some weapons get a bonus to resist (two-handed weapons).
Great, thanks! It seems I did understand it correctly. That will likely be useful in my upcoming fencing-based campaign. Finding the detailed discussion of "what is a parry" helped clarify this.

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Old 10-15-2007, 08:14 AM   #6
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Default Re: Martial Arts: How does Disarm work?

Take an axe and apply it - with great force - to your opponent's shoulder. There is a good chance he will be disarmed.
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Old 10-15-2007, 07:34 PM   #7
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Default But that makes the floor all slippery --

and the Environment Impact Statement is a [expletive deleted.]
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Old 08-09-2022, 03:26 PM   #8
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Default Re: Martial Arts: How does Disarm work?

Apologies for the necromancy, but:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kromm View Post

Your opponent's roll against [the weapon] skill (or Retain Weapon, if better) in the Quick Contest. This can be ST-based, and some weapons get a bonus to resist (two-handed weapons).
Just to be clear here.
With "This can be ST-based", does that mean that the melee weapon skill for the purpose of this context is based on strength, rather than dexterity, if it were better?

So instead of DX + 5 for a weapon, it would be ST + 5?

Or is it a dex weapon skill, or a strength quick contest 'as is' (retain the weapon with sheer grip strength)?
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Old 08-09-2022, 04:45 PM   #9
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Default Re: Martial Arts: How does Disarm work?

"Either of you may opt to make a ST-based skill roll instead of the standard DX-based one, if that would be better." (Basic 401 Knocking Your Weapon Away).

So when Speedy the Swashbuckler hits the ogre's weapon with the intent to knock it away, Speedy is making a DX-based roll against DX+5 (a 20, in his case). The ogre is making a ST-based roll against ST+2 (a 26, in his case).
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Old 08-10-2022, 07:52 PM   #10
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Default Re: Martial Arts: How does Disarm work?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lovewyrm View Post
Just to be clear here.
With "This can be ST-based", does that mean that the melee weapon skill for the purpose of this context is based on strength, rather than dexterity, if it were better?
I believe that the to-hit is still dex-based, but the quick contest can (optionally) be str-based. If you try to disarm the str 18 barbarian, he will probably opt to use strength for the contest. :)
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