Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Opinions on cinematic martial arts skills?

JulianLW · 06-03-2021, 07:22 AM

I like that the cinematic skills give a different mechanic for achieving low-scale superheroic feats, but at a pretty high price. Lots of character concepts depend on having two different attributes at somewhat high levels. I think there have been a number of threads, for example, about the importance of high Will (in addition to high ST and DX) to accurately model characters like Conan.

If there was one fix I think would help the cinematic skills work better in a game, however, I think it would be more targeted talents such as Diestro from Dungeon Fantasy. Paying 30 CP for Trained By a Master and then 15/level for Chi Talent is a pretty steep hill to climb. Instead, you might just let a player pick the 5 or 6 cinematic skills she wants her ninja/xia/super archer/iron fist to do and make a 5/level talent and let her buy it up to 6, as in Dungeon Fantasy. After that, pay the extra 4/level to get really fast at delivering the x3 ST smackdown - and buy up FP to be able to do it more than a few times a fight....

That said, there are a couple of cinematic skills that seem a little pointless, especially compared to Imbuement versions of the same trick.... But Imbuement has a pretty high buy-in cost, too....

06-03-2021, 07:22 AM	#10
JulianLW Join Date: Apr 2019	Re: Opinions on cinematic martial arts skills? I like that the cinematic skills give a different mechanic for achieving low-scale superheroic feats, but at a pretty high price. Lots of character concepts depend on having two different attributes at somewhat high levels. I think there have been a number of threads, for example, about the importance of high Will (in addition to high ST and DX) to accurately model characters like Conan. If there was one fix I think would help the cinematic skills work better in a game, however, I think it would be more targeted talents such as Diestro from Dungeon Fantasy. Paying 30 CP for Trained By a Master and then 15/level for Chi Talent is a pretty steep hill to climb. Instead, you might just let a player pick the 5 or 6 cinematic skills she wants her ninja/xia/super archer/iron fist to do and make a 5/level talent and let her buy it up to 6, as in Dungeon Fantasy. After that, pay the extra 4/level to get really fast at delivering the x3 ST smackdown - and buy up FP to be able to do it more than a few times a fight.... That said, there are a couple of cinematic skills that seem a little pointless, especially compared to Imbuement versions of the same trick.... But Imbuement has a pretty high buy-in cost, too....