Trained Strength for Striking [TG]

[aesir23]

So, this has come up before, and very recently in this thread, but I thought it deserved it's own space for discussion.

When you train to fight, some part of that training involves the proper ergonomics of maximizing your striking power. I tend to think of this as "hitting with your whole body", because that's what it means in most my own martial arts training.*

Now, GURPS already gives a damage bonus for high levels of Karate, Brawling, and Boxing, and for weapons if you buy Weapon Master. But increased weapon Damage with high skills isn't particularly cinematic.

The Trained Strength rules from Technical Grappling seem like a good alternative for achieving increased striking power from high skill.

Douglas Cole gives his thoughts on the matter here.


My own thoughts are to simply reduce all Melee and Thrown weapon damage (by -1, perhaps?), and then plug them into a Trained Strength Progression:

Fast Progression: Karate, Boxing, Sumo Wrestling (for Shoves and Slams).

Average Progression: Brawling, All Melee and Thrown Weapons not listed below.

Slow Progression: Fencing Weapons (on the grounds that they rely on finesse and were designed for combat against unarmored opponents): Main-Gauche, Rapier, Saber, Smallsword. (I could see adding Knife and Whip to this progression, maybe?) Non-striking skills used to strike would also use Slow Progression (Skill Adaptation Perks, for example. E.G. Acrobatic Kicks and Judo Chops.)

Another interesting option would be to allow Bow to benefit from Trained Strength as well, with higher skill allowing you to pull a stronger bow--this would eliminate the need for high levels of Arm ST (which always kind of annoyed me, because it meant that stylists of Foot Archery can hit harder with a sword than actual swordsmen), and could probably replace the Strongbow Perk.



*I've trained the longest in Hsing-I and Baji Chuan (GURPS write-up available here), but I've also studied Wing Chun, Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, and I've dabbled in Jeet Kune Do and Boxing. My weapon training (in GURPS terms) covers Spear, Staff, and Broadsword.