[Martial Arts] Non-Cinematic Tough Guy

[Wavefunction]

Hey guys,

I'm intrigued, how would you guys go about making a non-cinematic tough guy? Someone as hardy as humanly possible without slipping outside the realms of realism.

Ignoring the fact that Dodge is really the route to go if you want a character to survive. I'm more interested in someone who absorbs punishment, rather than avoiding it.

There are a few obvious things like HP, HT, and High Pain Threshold, but what about some of the less obvious options?

[PTTG]

Luck.

No, seriously. People who have survived insane punishment IRL are "lucky" in that they happen to habitually inhabit the far side of the probability curve. There's nothing supernatural about getting shot in the head with a small-caliber bullet and it going under the scalp but around the skull. It's just unusual.

Any discussions on the nature of Luck vrs. luck vrs. "psiono-magic probability technomanipulation" should go in that thread and not here.

[Adversary]

Hard to come up with things beyond the obvious: high strength (for hp, as a non-cinematic campaign presumably limits extra hp), health, hard to kill, hard to subdue, rapid healing.

But, given your thread title references martial arts and so I assume you want someone durable in hand to hand combat as opposed to withstanding bullets, here is an idea. You could focus on skills and techniques that allow you to do damage defensively. E.g. destructive parry, and judo (which allows throws after a parry). I'm not very familiar with the rules on destructive parry, but picture a guy who is adept at blocking punches and kicks hard with his elbows an forearms, or even taking them on his forehead. He's also conditioned his arms (DR with special exercises).

The effect is, you try to punch him, you get hurt, and he's still standing there. Or with judo, you try to punch him, you fall down.

A guy designed that way, plus the hp and other things mentioned, might in play give the impression of toughness. He's not going to launch a jump-kick from across the room, but he can walk into the middle of a group of thugs, damage his enemies, and not go down for a long time.

Oh, another idea along the same lines: I think there's a cinematic skill or technique that makes you very difficult to knock down. It's one of those that requires Trained by a Master. But with a rules exemption perk your gm might let you take one cinematic ability in a non-cinematic game, giving you someone who is hard to knock down, hard to hit without hurting yourself, and can stand up to a lot of damage even if you do get a blow through.

[Dingle]

Be armed in some way if at all possible.
Invest in a variety of skills.
Use equipment for everything.

[Gedrin]

He'll need high Will also.

[trooper6]

What is the character concept/background/history beyond Tough Guy?
Are we talking about a down and out Boxer?
Are we talking about mafia soldier?
Are we talking about a Hollywood stuntwoman?
Are we talking about a wiry crazy meth addict?
Are we talking about Football lineman?

Before I went about making the tough guy, I'd need to know about the tough guy's background...because I'd make them all a bit differently.

[Wavefunction]

Originally Posted by trooper6

What is the character concept/background/history beyond Tough Guy?
Are we talking about a down and out Boxer?
Are we talking about mafia soldier?
Are we talking about a Hollywood stuntwoman?
Are we talking about a wiry crazy meth addict?
Are we talking about Football lineman?

Before I went about making the tough guy, I'd need to know about the tough guy's background...because I'd make them all a bit differently.

Consider this an exercise in munchkinism, if you need him to be a down and out Boxer who was secretly on the payroll of the mafia, who managed to extract himself from their influence, dressed in drag to disguise himself and became a Hollywood stuntwoman, and when he was fired turned to meth in a fit of depression, and was then discovered by an NFL talent scout, go for it. As an unrelated side note, I need to get my GM drunk...

I'd probably go in the direction of former/current martial artist. May have been a weightlifter in the past to account for the ST needed to get the HP needed.

[Dingle]

What do you consider cinematic?
Skills above what?
Attributes above what?

Presumably minimal advantages.
I'd expect no cinematic skills or techniques.

Wealth is probably OK, combine it with holdout to cheat against more cinematic opponents.

One of the differences between cinematic and non-cinematic characters is that a cinematic character can bring a knife to a gun fight and do OK, your character is going to have to make sure they have the gun.

[Wavefunction]

Originally Posted by Dingle

What do you consider cinematic?
Skills above what?
Attributes above what?

Presumably minimal advantages.
I'd expect no cinematic skills or techniques.

Wealth is probably OK, combine it with holdout to cheat against more cinematic opponents.

One of the differences between cinematic and non-cinematic characters is that a cinematic character can bring a knife to a gun fight and do OK, your character is going to have to make sure they have the gun.

I don't mind a little debate as to what is and isn't cinematic, that's part of the reason I started this thread. I'm not asking for a completed character build, so exact levels aren't important.

I'm also not looking to build an effective character, I'm just curious to see what people can come up with to make a character who's damn tough, not in a 'difficult to defeat' kind of way, more in a 'absorbs punishment' kind of way.

In fact, I don't intend to play this character, I just like to explore the rules sometimes, and see what can be done with them. I think threads like this can also help others when they're looking for character ideas.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Wavefunction

not in a 'difficult to defeat' kind of way, more in a 'absorbs punishment' kind of way.

High HT (14+), Very Fit, and possibly Luck can combine into something quite brutal. E.g. such a character can run marathons and swim about a dozen miles in arctic waters.