Re: Single usage versions of skills?
 

Technical Grappling, p. 11:

Impossible Positions
If you perform any action that changes your or your opponent’s
posture or position such that a grapple is no longer
physically possible – due to reach, facing, relative facing, or
orientation – then you and your foe must release your grip(s);
see p. 24.

Re: Single usage versions of skills?
 

Nope, I think I was flat out wrong. Just mis-remembering and not bothering to double check.

Re: Single usage versions of skills?
 

That's pretty nice. I've toyed around with that too, but in a less neat and easy way.

My theory (supported by my martial arts training) is that a large part of training in striking is learning how to hit with the whole body, not just the arm.

This is most important for unarmed striking, and least important for fencing weapons (it doesn't take much force to push a sharp point through unarmored flesh.)

My house rule is this:

I've yet to play test it, however.

Re: Single usage versions of skills?
 

So, if you succeed at a sweep, you're free? Any examples of other ways to get into impossible positions?

Re: Single usage versions of skills?
 

Yes, if you manage to sweep your foe while you're grappled, accepting the penalties to skill and ST involved, and since your foe can spend Control Points to make you lose, he will have to let go.

If you throw a foe and want to retain a grapple but be standing there're probably courting impossible positions.

It's a GM discretionary tool to help adjudicate WTF moments.

Re: Single usage versions of skills?
 

Umm, does that mean he can or can't spend control points to make your sweep fail? If he doesn't have a hold on your legs, then the -4 DX penalty doesn't seem to apply. So at default it would be (in the example above) sweep 15 vs ST of of 14-15. If he's got you be the leg, you're in much worse shape.

Re: Single usage versions of skills?
 

He can definitely spend points to make your sweep fail. No matter where he's grappling you unless it's the hands or feet only, he's adjacent to the head and torso that defines a "whole-body" move according to the rules.

If you're using TG, then that generic -4 to DX is no more, so mix and match doesn't make sense. It sounds to me, though I could be wrong, that you don't have TG. In which case I really can't discuss details with you - not out of any profit seeking, but it's pointless to do so unless you have context, and without the book,you don't.

A sweep isn't necessarily targeted at the legs, by the way. A canonical move in the book that qualifies is the very aikido-like clothesline (irminage, I believe) and that is the farthest thing from a leg grapple you can imagine.

Re: Single usage versions of skills?
 

No, I don''t have TG.

Really, Wrestling 13, maybe 14, is the best grappling skill the character's going to come up against - it's TL 7, pre-martial arts craze, mostly in the US and Europe. With Dodge 12, and acrobatic dodges and extra effort available, often the skill being used against the character doesn't matter all that much. Judo is pretty much not going to be encountered except perhaps during a junket to southeast Asia, although Boxing and Wrestling will be somewhat common. The thing is, there aren't really large numbers of people who actually have comparable levels of any melee skill at TL 7.

Which generally makes TL 7 an easier environment for unarmed fighters relying on dodge then say TL 3 - the most dangerous things are armor you'll hurt yourself on, and anybody with enough skill to make a decent deceptive attack - neither are that common at high TL's. Firearms aren't that big of a deal, for characters relying on dodge, since dodging them is no harder then dodging anything else. Except automatic weapons. And shotguns. Really, one person with high skill is more dangerous then a couple people with Brawling 12.

What I'm looking for is a rules-simple way to make breaking free from a bigger, stronger guy (but likely worse-trained by a large margin) somewhat more likely, particularly if it's in a one-turn and get your defenses back so you don't get clobbered by his buddies way.

Really though, with around 8 HP you're going down in one good hit anyway, and grappling is probably the least likely thing to fail dodge against. Most of the time he'll end up grappled is in the pre-rolling dice stage, generally due to a specific (GM created) situation - he already had a hold on you before it turned into a fight. Of course, the other guy might get a -2 or more for surprise, particularly if he wasn't expecting a fight.

If it's just an arm around you, with a 2.00 basic speed advantage at least, if you start it he might not even realize to hold on before you're free, so I would assume breaking free would be at a big bonus, perhaps -4 or more.

Is there anything that would particularly apply to a "get your arm off of me right now" into a 2 turn fight in TG? (break free-dodge-one good hit and he gets the message)

Re: Single usage versions of skills?
 

one-arm grapples suck in TG.

If you're looking for a bit more fine-grain in your fights and options, well . . . I'm the author. I'm biased. Ask others. Ghostdancer and Kallatari and Peter have all used TG in games.

Re: Single usage versions of skills?
 

YES. THEY DO. I had to hear about that today from one of my players when she decided she wanted to grab a hellhound and choke it out with one hand while focusing a spell at another target. It worked because she rolled crazy good...but only barely. You have to be stupid strong to pull it off. One option I've considered is offering a enhancement to ST that allows you to use it fully for even one-handed grapples, chokes, etc. Probably at around +50% or so.