[MA] Aggressive Disarming & mixed skills
 

Situation is: a player character has encountered a hit-team at his home. He's already killed two with a firearm but has been disarmed by his remaining opponent who is armed with a sword.
When the assassin next attacks, and the player responds with Aggressive Parry (Brawling), can he use Disarming as opposed to trying to punch through a sword?
Is he restricted to his Brawling skill for the attack segment of the move, ie if he is allowed to strike to Disarm instead of Damage, is it based off his Brawling Skill or the Aggressive Parry (Brawling) Technique or can he use his Disarm (Brawling) technique?
For that matter, if he can use the Disarm Technique, does it have to be based off Brawling, eg if he has Disarm (Sumo) at a higher level?

Re: [MA] Aggressive Disarming & mixed skills
 

I'd say no. If you want to employ Aggressive Parry, you would normally use the rules for "Against Armed." In Technical Grappling, I suggest using the -3 through -5 penalty progression for short to long weapons from the Basic Set; if your foe's sword is Reach 1, I'd say you can do an Aggressive Parry of the foe's arm (-2) or hand (-4) at an ADDITIONAL -3 if you step into CC (so you're at reach 0) or -4 if you keep your distance. Then there's the -3 for Brawling vs a swung weapon if he's swinging at you (I'd waive this if he's swinging at you and you STARTED in CC, rather than stepping into it on your turn).

In short, moving past the sword to aggressively parry the hand or arm is very risky. If you're a cinematic action hero (and you might be!) and can absorb the -9 to -11 in penalties to do this, have at it, but otherwise, you're in trouble.

What you'll want to do instead is to just do a parry, but slip around to his side and rear. You have Sumo and Brawling? You'll want to get to his rear arc and try and knock him down. If you had Judo, you'd want to do a Judo Parry with a slip to his side arc, capture his arm and utilize Arm Lock to force him to let go of his weapon.

This gets loving detail in Technical Grappling, as you might imagine!

As per Knocking a Weapon Away (p. B401), you can use any unarmed skill at -2. As per Disarming (Martial Arts, p. 70) you may default this attempt to Disarming (Whatever) if you have raised Disarming with Whatever to a higher level; the -2 and other penalties still apply. In this case, if you have Disarming (Brawling), you can use that instead of skill wherever it applies, both the roll to hit and the Quick Contest.


For that matter, if he can use the Disarm Technique, does it have to be based off Brawling, eg if he has Disarm (Sumo) at a higher level?[/QUOTE]

Re: [MA] Aggressive Disarming & mixed skills
 

Thank you, and yes, -10 v's a swung weapon.
But, as you say, the option would be available to a highly skilled Action Hero.
Considering that this situation would be an old/ unmaintained skill and the sword is 3d+2(10), side-slipping is definitely safer than probable amputation; then he can try his current technique, Disarm (Sumo), if he's still moving:)

Re: [MA] Aggressive Disarming & mixed skills
 

Another option if you've got Sumo is to knock him down with a Sweep, then use your Brawling to do something really violent.

Sweep has the advantage of not requiring an initial grapple, and your foe mightn't have the Ground Fighting technique, putting him at -4 to attack and -2 to defend. It also give you a nice chance to Run Away, since it'll take him a couple turns to get up to chase you unless he has Acrobatic Stand.

Re: [MA] Aggressive Disarming & mixed skills
 

Until Technical Grappling comes out, the only weapons that get a free-disarm after a parry are Jitte and Sai.

Aggressive Parry doesn't do what you want to do, and isn't helping you here.

If you had Judo, you could use that to parry, and then initiate an Arm Lock to control the sword, but Brawling is bad for defending against weapons.

Re: [MA] Aggressive Disarming & mixed skills
 

Well, I think he can still parry your sweep with his sword, which is bad for you.

But you've slipped into close combat, if you stack on some Deceptive, you should be able to minimize the risks.

Re: [MA] Aggressive Disarming & mixed skills
 

Yeah, this was predicated somewhat on the successful slip into a side/rear arc, to hit him with the -2 for that.

Against qualified opposition, it's tough to pull off. Attack using Sweep, foe can defend normally. If you win, roll Quick Contest of ST or Sweep vs. his ST, DX, Acrobatics, or best grappling skill.

In this instance, however, if your foe's ST isn't that high, and he's relying on his 3d+2 (10) (!!) to provide his oomph, it might be a pretty good option.

Yeah, honestly, facing 5-20 points of damage and a (10) armor (not to mention what's likely an unfavorable damage type) falls squarely into the Run Away category:

Re: [MA] Aggressive Disarming & mixed skills
 

The problem is that you can't keep him in Close Combat without grappling him, which risks a damaging parry. His skill is only penalized if you started your turn in close combat with him, which means he needed to stay in CC with you on his turn. This is doable if he already Stepped before his attack, and you Slipped to get in close. Otherwise, he can parry at normal skill as you step in to attack. In other words, keep him at two yards distance, Evaluating or All-Out Defending, then rush in when he steps to strike you. He could use Committed Attack (Extra Step) to strike then step out of reach, but that would prevent him from Parrying with his sword, allowing you to close the distance with impunity.

Re: [MA] Aggressive Disarming & mixed skills
 

Now that I think about it, I would recommend the following way to take full advantage of your higher skill and avoid getting cut to ribbons. After your successful Slip or Side-Step Dodge:

Turn 1. Feint with your highest combat skill (Brawling?), to reduce that damaging parry next turn.
---He will probably step back and attack, Slip into Close Combat Again.
Turn 2: Using a significant amount of Deceptive Attack, use Sumo Wrestling to Grapple his sword hand. Between your Feint and Deceptive Attack, you should have reduced the odds of getting your hand cut off by a successful parry considerably.
---Defend normally against whatever his next action is, but don't let go--don't leave close combat.
Turn 3: Continue holding on to the sword arm with both hands and use which ever of these has the best chances of success for your character: Disarm (Sumo), Knee-Strike to the sword arm (Brawling), Sweep (Sumo), or Wrench Limb on the sword arm (Strength). Since he won't be able to attack you with his sword this turn, consider using Committed Attack (Strong) or even AoA to really make it hurt.

Repeat until he is disarmed--once he is disarmed, proceed with savage beat-down--once the beat-down is over, pick up the Monowire (or whatever) Katana and start training to use it.

Re: [MA] Aggressive Disarming & mixed skills
 

You can always try a Hand-Clap Parry...