One possible take on martial arts and "parry"

[Nils_Lindeberg]

Originally Posted by zot

-6 DX to attack while defending is intriguing.

The UC talents (new and old) already make a UC fighter harder to hit while not defending (in the new one, so far, "Evade" already kicks in at UC II). Maybe having the -6 DX option while defending is already good enough for them.

I like that the new rules allow for attacks and a better defense at the same time. But I would like a bigger difference and one that is more of a statement. A -1 here and there is easily forgotten. A whole die or two extra, not so easy to miss.

And the other big thing is to not limit this to only unarmed attacks. We don't see Sword I, II, III, IV, and V. So why should unarmed attacks get such a special treatment? The only reason I can see is so that a monk character can work, but if they spend all their points on just fighting they will never learn everything else that is part of the classic monk class.

And I would like to point out that advanced fighting techniques are not for unarmed martial artist alone. Every weapon should have access to similar advantages. Preferably in one skill so you pay 1 to 3 point for a basic weapon, then maybe 2-5 extra for advanced fighting talents that applies for all melee weapons (like Missile Weapons already does) and then you can buy a couple of more basic weapons and be an expert with all.

You can never be an expert in more than one or at the most two if you have to buy many talents for just one weapon. And that seems a little bit limiting.

And personally, I prefer to have an arms race or rather a talent race that gives you DX or toHit bonus and penalties. Bonus to damage makes the game too deadly and armor is a set number and can be abused. The worst that can happen with DX is that you need to be lucky or that you always hit, not game breaking.

So instead of being able to trade IQ or DX for extra damage, let them trade it to lower armor (armor piercing or aimed attacks) and lowering the opponents chance of hitting.

And all you have to do to make monks viable is give them advantages in throwing/tripping people, HTH and be good enough to hit like a weapon if they have cesti or otherwise a little weaker. If they want to hit harder than that, get ST, invest in enchanted gloves, get a spell or just hit twice. Then a few talents for the special powers like nerve strike that can only be done unarmed can go a long way to make them on par with normal fighters. And if you want them unarmored, see to it that a high adjDX pays off with some of the special abilities they can buy.

And every fighter should be able to get eyes-behind. It is not a unique unarmed thing. Defending your self well is not an unarmed thing either, it is more a tank thing to be used with a shield and heavy armor.

So keep most of the UC abilities open to everyone, divide the abilities into separate talents and allow attack and defend at the same time some form.