Building a setting with Ice Age and Celtic Myth

[Dangerious P. Cats]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

Nice work; thanks for sharing. Nitpicks:

Oh nitpicks, tasty.

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

IMHO this style doesn't really fit its description as-written. A simple self-defense style intended for widespread distribution to an entire gender doesn't need a couple of Hard skills (especially Acrobatics). Sure, the extra damage point for Karate is nice for women if you want to focus 8+ points on it, but Brawling gives you lots of really vicious techniques that can also compensate for low ST while only losing Jump Kick / Flying Jump Kick (which seem a little jarring in a style that otherwise looks more like BJJ anyway)... If I were doing this, I'd cut it down to Brawling + Wrestling with emphasis on Arm Locks and Knee Strikes (maybe even Technique Mastery: Knee Strike) and direct anybody who wants more to the "serious" armed styles.

I should probably up-date the description a little but when I said quick and nasty I meant that the style empahrsised quick attacks and movements, not that it was quick to learn. Likewise this is not a women's self defence course but a full martial art learnt over a period of years. There is no assumption that the practitioner is of low strength (below ST10). I really envisioned this as a style taught and practiced on an on-going basis.

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

If you're going to include Rapid Retraction for kicks, you may as well give it Kicking and/or Push Kick (for keeping the enemy at Broadsword range). I'd also remove Fast Draw (if your shield is gone, your sword's been out for a while now) and throw in Improvised Weapons (Brawling) for training at striking with the metal handle of the shield, which was historically used like brass knuckles after the wooden part was hacked away in some cultures, to play up the things that are unique and cool about the origin.

I like the idea of including push kick. The style was developed from the skills used if a shiled had been lost but it is an entirely single sword system by now, assuming that no shield is present when the fight begins. The reason for fast draw is because the practitioner cannot draw their sword behind the safty of a shield. Though adding brawling and shiled to the optional skills would be a good idea.

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

Why include Shield in a close combat style? Anybody using this style at all will want to discard his shield ASAP if he has one, to avoid the penalties and give himself a live hand for a grab-n-stab. Also, what kind of grapple is the special setup perk for? If Armed, why not include the Armed Grapple or Arm Lock (Knife) technique? (Arm Lock in general would be good for this, actually - I'd swap out Feint for it, nobody's going to be parrying in a knife fight). If Wrestling... how does that work, exactly? :]

The reaon I included shield is because prior to the Renneisence European fencing seemed to treat sword & shield as the default and single sword as an advanced methord beyond that, so it's assumed that all sword systems will teach shield. That said the style does teach single sword in the more advanced forms. It could be assumed that a practitioner would drop their shield once they got into grappling range (probably by slamming in with the shield).

The grapple in an unarmed grapple using wresteling with the off hand, this is the bits of the style where the shield is disgarded. That said I am tempted to add some more armed grapples now.

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

From a pure efficiency standpoint, are you sure you want Shortsword for this at all? If you focus the style on the Long Knife from MA, they trade a point of swing damage (more than compensated with their increased upper body ST, on the rare occasions when it's not better to stab in the clinch anyway) for free C,1 Reach and can put the points the Shortsword skill and the Close Combat technique would eat (at least ~8 to be useful) into the base Knife skill for better accuracy and parrying.

The style is a style for useing Thall bladed weapons, the swordish one of which is a bronze cleaver or Falchion, used with shortsword skill. The Thalls don't use long knives, they only have bronze work knives that they often end up fighting with.