[MA] Targeted Attack and Hit Location

[Kromm]

I don't think, though, that good training involves standing in a line going "Hoo hah hoo!" and throwing 100 identical punches to face level with a perfect little half-turn every time. That is what TA is -- always. Good training raises your basic skill so you can hit just about whatever you aim at when you get the chance. I'm basically saying that TA is a crutch . . . it's katas and wing chun dummies, not sparring.

[Ciaran]

Leaving aside the question of whether anyone has consciously sparred with an effort to improve their leg kicking, or body punching, or their hook to the head (and I think it is a rather strange thing to assume not), this is not so: it's hitting focus mitts and padded up trainers at live speeds, often with reciprocal contact.

Hitting a stationery dummy or the air may improve your power or form but it will not improve your ability to hit a precise target on a live opponent - for that you need a person in front of you.

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

I'm with Ciaran on this - I don't care if you put points in it or not, I'd back using the penalty for repeated attacks if you're using the TA rules. That way TA make more sense for repeated blows to a specific location than being untrained - because you're more likely to pull it off in spite of the penalties you both accumulate.

That would also mean TA is more like "I trained to hit this specific location with a body of flexible techniques regardless of the relative positions of my opponent and my weapon" rather than "I trained to do the same attack to the same spot in an identical fashion."

But either call is okay, it's an optional rule, really, and whichever floats your boat is best. In a detail-oriented game, I'd enforce the penalty on everyone and let the TA-boosting folk benefit from being able to defray that penalty for a longer period (by virtue of a higher net skill).

Editing later: I want to clarify "a body of flexible techniques" - I don't mean multiple Techniques in the GURPS sense, but small t-techniques in the real world usages - so someone learning Karate Punch/Face learns how to do it with a jab, a committed punch, a sharp hook from close in, a reaching punch, etc. with either hand and probably from either lead - a full body of what GURPS lumps into Karate Punch. I don't mean it affects more than one GURPS Technique by any means.

[Exxar]

Aye, that's how I thought it should look like.

I already intended to use TA rules in my games (instead of the old 3e Hit Location rules lol), enforcing that +1 bonus to defenses for any specific attack repeated more than two times in a succession, even untrained torso hits.