Technical Grappling - Climbing on Opponents
 

I did a few searches and turned up nothing on this subject (surprised it wasn't asked, maybe I just missed it) and even the Technical Natasha didn't really address it.

With the various stability rules and other factors in Technical Grappling... how would you handle someone climbing/jumping on their opponent while they are still standing?

This might be more common in cinematic campaigns, but it happens enough in real life to be somewhat addressed: a smaller opponent - be it less SM or just a person with a slighter build and same SM - jumping on someone's back as a forced piggyback (grappling the torso with the legs and often the neck/head with the arms, although they might leave one arm free to beat their opponent on the head)... according to stability rules this might be considered under the exception detailing the "side mount" but I assumed that still implied contact with the ground for providing stability, so I'm wonder how this would be ruled (I assume they'd be considered Unstable, at least, if not in danger of falling prone) and what mechanics a person would use to handle it (skills involved, what penalties, how it affects opponent, how it affects attacker, whether it's a technique/combination/AoA-variant, if it includes Weight Advantage, etc.).

Apart from the above example (which everyone has seen probably seen happen in RL at least once), there's also the more cinematic act of jumping on someone's shoulders and grappling their neck with your legs (most often seen performed by females in film/video-games so my circle of friends has taken to calling it a "Flying Muffocation" after Keiko Kamen's signature move - also used by Cammy in Street Fighter and Black Widow in Iron Man 2) often followed by a takedown.

Dave's example of this in Technical Natasha detailing the Acrobatic Double-Leg Grapple is great, but lacks a few details I'm interested in... mainly, if you fail on the attack roll what happens (would you treat it like a missed Jump Kick)?
If it's not immediately followed up in a combination, does it have any special effects on the opponent's following round (especially since he's supporting your weight now) such as making them Unstable?
If an opponent breaks your grapple, will you automatically fall prone - basically giving him almost a free Judo Throw effect on you - or would you remain on his shoulders until he dislodged you another way?
How would mechanics be handled if you used your arms to brace against the walls (say in a narrow hallway) or held on to a beam/pipe overhead?

Any suggestions (or direction towards specific rules/posts/examples) would be most welcome!

Re: Technical Grappling - Climbing on Opponents
 

I read this, but i'm going on vacation; no guarantees I'll answer before next week, but I will get to this then.

Re: Technical Grappling - Climbing on Opponents
 

Found a bit of time. Definitely unstable. I need to write a post on airborne combatants for Pyramid or my blog. Somewhere I give guidance for this, on this forum.

Yes. Fall down go boom.
Only if they can't support your weight. You could potentially treat this as a passive takedown attempt using the weight modifiers; spend no CP, and you get no bonuses for posture change.
Yes, if he breaks your grapple, you fall to the ground. I'd treat it as falling too, from a height equal to his own height, more or less. Breakfall could mitigate as usual.

You'd be stable, I think.

Re: Technical Grappling - Climbing on Opponents
 

Thanks for the replies! Was looking at other situations that might fall under this... like a normal human climbing on a horse, giant or dragon... or a tiny opponent (like a gnome or small critter) on a normal human.

For now, I was thinking of considering the climber Unstable if they can at least maintain three points of contact (less than three would be in danger of falling off each turn if you failed a DX roll... possibly substituting Climbing or Grip ST possibly Riding if appropriate). Likely rule this as being similar to the opponent lifting you.

Still curious about Weight Advantage. I can see someone jumping on another person's back as maintaining a Weight Advantage, but what about a smaller opponent clinging to a much larger opponent's limb... could they still have the Weight Advantage (even though it's likely their opponent has no penalty it would at least remove their bonus).

Mentioning "airborne" combatants makes me also consider two people falling from a plane grappling in the air (this would likely fall under a Zero-G grappling category, being in free fall... I'll reread that section to see what else I can extrapolate to apply).

Re: Technical Grappling - Climbing on Opponents
 

And water, basically 3 dimensional fighting needs an article, maybe a book.

Re: Technical Grappling - Climbing on Opponents
 

Yes... I hadn't even thought of scuba divers wrestling (despite the fact I recently watched Thunderball on TV).

Re: Technical Grappling - Climbing on Opponents
 

Definitely! I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

3D fighting could also use some software tools. It's often tough to pull it off using a hex map (or software equivalent); best you can do is attach altitude labels or something. It's not ideal.