Martial Arts Abilities

[TippetsTX]

Originally Posted by Steve Plambeck

I don't call things like that "Talents" or skills or "Spells", I call them INNATE ABILITIES. That one, HEALER, is supernatural but there can be other INNATE ABILITIES that are purely natural, or straddle the line between natural and magical. Some other examples from my rules are KEEN SMELL, and DEPTH SENSE. By definition my INNATE ABILITIES are capabilities you have to be born with and generally can't be learned later. So they aren't "Talents" but I borrow the game mechanic to regulate "Talents" and set a cost in talent/memory points to pay for them, but again that payment must be at character creation and they can't be learned later. Being born with one means you can't learn as many other things later, just to maintain balance. Doesn't have to be that mechanic, it's just what I went with. Equally valid might be to charge an attribute point at character creation for any "special powers". Just so advantages are paid for with disadvantages, we can add all kinds of things to TFT without breaking the game.

I have something similar that are called 'Traits'. Mine aren't selectable, though. Most are baked into specific racial or cultural profiles.

But circling back to the topic of this thread, I can certainly understand why someone would prefer not to add a new character option for supernatural abilities that do not operate like spells. Many of the techniques we see in wuxia movies don't diminish the character’s overall power-level which is essentially what spells do, right? Thus, if those are part of the campaign's theme, you'll need another way to present them. Talents can provide a channel for that if you're OK with stretching their definition and usage.

Another solution that wouldn't require any change to the game's framework (though I wouldn't use it myself) is a wish. I could see a GM allowing a Lesser Wish (available for the low price of 500 XP) to grant a one-time or limited-use power. A Greater Wish could make such abilities permanent, although I could also see a demon having a field day re-interpreting something like "I wish to have a power allowing me to float across rooftops and treetops".