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Old 05-23-2017, 03:43 AM   #1
ismenis
 
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Default [MA] [MA-TG] Mastering the kusari

Hi! I just realised I have been house ruling the use of kusari all this while without knowing, and now curious about whether it coincided with RAW or not.

RAW 1[p. B406]: a 2 yard kusari needs 1 turn to ready after attacking. A 3+ yard kusari requires 2 turns to ready after attacking.

RAW 2[p. B406]: 1 turn of readying changes the reach of a kusari anywhere from 1 to 4 yards (for a 4-yard kusari). This can also be achieved at the start of each turn as a free action with the Reach Mastery perk[p. PU2_7].

RAW 3 [p. MA179]: cinematic kusari users can dual-attack using two ends of the kusari, provided it is not readied at maximum reach.

Probably RAW? #1: if a 4-yard kusari is readied at 2-yard reach, it only takes 1 turn to ready after attacking, and would still be ready after attacking at 1-yard reach.

Probably RAW? #2: If a 4-yard kusari is readied at 3-yard reach and dual-attacking, the other end of the kusari has 1 yard of reach. If readied at 2-yard reach, the other end also has 2-yard reach.


Probably NOT RAW? #3: The half of the kusari readied at 1-yard reach IS READY even when the other half of the kusari is unready after attacking.

Probably NOT RAW? #4: The kusari wielder can parry using the half of the kusari ready at 1-yard reach. It cannot be used to attack on a turn subsequent to a turn in which it was used to parry, unless it is a defensive attack.

Probably NOT RAW? #5: If the kusari is held in a defensive grip at 3-yard/1-yard reach, even when the 3-yard half is unready, the wielder can still attempt a 1-handed Binding parry using the kusari as a grappling aid.

I have been using "probably NOT RAW" #3, #4 and #5 ever since my purchase of MA Technical Grappling, and they work fine in my sort-of-cinematic martial arts / super powers campaign, but now I wonder whether these would be considered RAW by others, or if they would allow it for, say, someone who is a weapon master, or TBAM.

Thank you for reading!
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Old 05-23-2017, 02:04 PM   #2
evileeyore
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Default Re: [MA] [MA-TG] Mastering the kusari

Quote:
Originally Posted by ismenis View Post
Hi! I just realised I have been house ruling the use of kusari all this while without knowing, and now curious about whether it coincided with RAW or not.

RAW 1[p. B406]: a 2 yard kusari needs 1 turn to ready after attacking. A 3+ yard kusari requires 2 turns to ready after attacking.

RAW 2[p. B406]: 1 turn of readying changes the reach of a kusari anywhere from 1 to 4 yards (for a 4-yard kusari). This can also be achieved at the start of each turn as a free action with the Reach Mastery perk[p. PU2_7].

RAW 3 [p. MA179]: cinematic kusari users can dual-attack using two ends of the kusari, provided it is not readied at maximum reach.

Probably RAW? #1: if a 4-yard kusari is readied at 2-yard reach, it only takes 1 turn to ready after attacking, and would still be ready after attacking at 1-yard reach.

Probably RAW? #2: If a 4-yard kusari is readied at 3-yard reach and dual-attacking, the other end of the kusari has 1 yard of reach. If readied at 2-yard reach, the other end also has 2-yard reach.


Probably NOT RAW? #3: The half of the kusari readied at 1-yard reach IS READY even when the other half of the kusari is unready after attacking.

Probably NOT RAW? #4: The kusari wielder can parry using the half of the kusari ready at 1-yard reach. It cannot be used to attack on a turn subsequent to a turn in which it was used to parry, unless it is a defensive attack.

Probably NOT RAW? #5: If the kusari is held in a defensive grip at 3-yard/1-yard reach, even when the 3-yard half is unready, the wielder can still attempt a 1-handed Binding parry using the kusari as a grappling aid.

I have been using "probably NOT RAW" #3, #4 and #5 ever since my purchase of MA Technical Grappling, and they work fine in my sort-of-cinematic martial arts / super powers campaign, but now I wonder whether these would be considered RAW by others, or if they would allow it for, say, someone who is a weapon master, or TBAM.

Thank you for reading!
1, 2, 3, and 4* sound kosher to me.

* If the defensive choice is "May parry with no bonus".

5 though? I'm not sure I'd allow a defensive grip on a kusari*. What little training I received in them** (way less than 1 point's worth) never emphasized defense, in fact it was basically "Attack, always attack, your best defense is to keep it moving and scare people back out of reach".

However, having said that, if I did allow a defensive grip (sure, why not) I'd require it to take up a yard of reach (giving you the chain held between both hands as a parrying surface and it would be "dual wielded" thus not allowable with maximum reach). The kusari hand would have chain firmly wound around it, thus restricting reach changes and the kama hand would have the kama in hand, thus reach 1 (and Sickle stats, Parry 0, damage sw cut). The only penalty would be a -1 to Side parries from the kama side (having less flexibility of reach) and there would be no further benes (though if they drop to reach 1 or 2 on the kusari hand I'd give them +1 to parry and defensive bind with it). You'd still need to be making Defensive Attack (No U Parry) in order to attack and parry with the kusari.

For a straight kusari (or with the kama being swung on chain), I'd limit reach to 1/2, they'd get an over all +1 to parries and defensive binds, no penalties, but still require Defensive Attack (no U Parry) to attack and parry.

But yes, they'd be able to make defensive binds using the length held between both hands (or the short length). The 3/1 has the 1yd Reach being the kama itself held in hand, it's not swung on the chain. And the strongest defense the kusarigama user has is keeping the kama in hand and using it as a sickle (though with the Axe/Mace skill or the right Perk, they could possibly do this without my write up on Kusarigama Defensive Grip).



* Mostly because I'm having a hard time imagining what it would look like aside from a Dual Attack Grip... but I think a strong restriction on reach changes (requiring a grip change to "standard grip" before allowing Reach changes) and possibly (maybe?) a further Reach penalty might just do it (so reduce reach to a maximum of 1/2 or even C/3 with the kama being swung).

** And it was a manrikigusari so just a chain and weights, no kama which may have had a bearing on defensive capacity. Also it was only 5' long so at best 2 yds reach. Grasping it in both hands to have a middle length to parry/grapple with would have reduced it's reach and striking power to... basically punching people with a bit of chain in hand, or doing very short flicks and swings (having a proper grip in both hands would have left only 1 foot of chain and would have reduced reach to C/C or C/1 (at best) and have definitely impacted any ability to "parry" on the sides.
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