Points Buckets for a Cinematic Martial Arts Campaign

[Greg 1]

I’d like your thoughts on how to best set up points buckets for a cinematic martial arts campaign. This is not a game I’m running. I’m just tinkering with a setting that I may one day post online.

PCs are modern day cinematic martial artists of about equal combat effectiveness. They have non-combat abilities too, to give them things to do other than fight. I’m thinking of around 250 points in the combat bucket, though I’m not sure.

I’m even less sure about how many points should go into the non-combat bucket. I need to provide enough points for a PC to be a scholar with a handful of non-combat chi abilities, or to become a scholar and magician with a handful of non-combat magic abilities. Having said that, I also want players to be able to play an “ordinary” guy like the hero of so many martial arts films. I’m concerned that if I put too-many points in the non-combat bucket, it won’t be possible to play someone who plausibly thinks of themselves as an “ordinary guy”.

I have four main questions:

How many points for the combat bucket?

How many points for the non-combat bucket?

What abilities won’t fit clearly in either bucket?

What do you suggest as non-combat abilities that will still allow a PC to plausibly see themselves as an “ordinary guy”?

[Kalzazz]

Well, depends on 'ordinary guy' means to you

Depending how Cinematic of Martial Artist you want, 250pts of combat can be way high or way low

[Anaraxes]

An "ordinary guy" can't spend anywhere close to 250 points. You're already well into cinematic at that point. Are you and your players willing to have unbalanced party members, so the martial artists have their 300-400 (or whatever) total points while Joe Ordinary has 25 or 50?

Are attributes "combat abilities"? Or is there an attribute bucket as well?

An "ordinary guy" could have pretty much any skills not marked as exotic or supernatural. Same tech level as the campaign. Stat max probably not more than 12-13. (Not because higher levels are impossible, but they'd start to become unordinary and noticeable over that point. Also, on a small budget, even buying a stat up to that point is going to take so much of the budget that the one high stat is going to be the obvious focus of the character.) Advantages you'll have to judge. (GMs always should anyway.)

The "meta" advantages in particular are common ways to make ordinary guys (Scoobies, Time Lord Companions, etc) have more in-game ability without having all their points in the combat/smarts/etc like the Buffies and Doctors. That is, things like Luck, Serendipity, Gizmo, whatever form of impulse buy / Destiny points you may have, often show up for those characters, but a lot of them will start to feel distinctly unordinary at some point (the "Teela Brown" effect).

[Greg 1]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

An "ordinary guy" can't spend anywhere close to 250 points.

But that's just for combat abilities. The characters I'm talking about have great combat abilities but are otherwise ordinary folk. The heroes in Drunken Master and Ip Man, for example. The "ordinary guy"s I'm talking about are characters like those.

Are you and your players willing to have unbalanced party members, so the martial artists have their 300-400 (or whatever) total points while Joe Ordinary has 25 or 50?

I'm not planning to run a game. I'm just tinkering with a setting that I may pots online. PCs should be built on an equal number of points and all be cinematic martial artists of about equal combat ability.

Are attributes "combat abilities"? Or is there an attribute bucket as well?

I was thinking of putting ST, DX and HT in the combat bucket, and IQ in the non-combat bucket.

Thanks for your suggestions!

[johndallman]

How about a three-bucket solution?

75+25 points to build the normal person you were before you got involved with martial arts. 200+50 points of martial-arts related stuff. 50+25 points of chi abilities that aren't combat. Total 325 points, plus up to 100 of disadvantages.

[Greg 1]

Originally Posted by johndallman

How about a three-bucket solution?

75+25 points to build the normal person you were before you got involved with martial arts. 200+50 points of martial-arts related stuff. 50+25 points of chi abilities that aren't combat. Total 325 points, plus up to 100 of disadvantages.

Thanks for the suggestions!

What's the advantage of using three buckets?

Also, I don't want every PC to have to take non-combat chi abilities, because it makes it too hard to play an "ordinary" person with extraordinary combat skills, like the protagonists in Drunken Master or Ip Man.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Greg 1

What's the advantage of using three buckets?

Also, I don't want every PC to have to take non-combat chi abilities, because it makes it too hard to play an "ordinary" person with extraordinary combat skills, like the protagonists in Drunken Master or Ip Man.

I misunderstood you; I thought that you were wanting to ensure they had some non-combat chi abilities. Hence a separate bucket for them.