Skill Adaptation Perk

[jacobmuller]

Designing a martial art style and initially completely misunderstood the SA Perk.
Have I got it right now?
Skill Adaptation Perks
· Arm Crock – prereq Brawling, cannot exceed Brawling +4: This is the Arm Lock technique, B403; an attempt to restrain or cripple an opponent by twisting his arm. It normally uses Judo or Wrestling skill. This technique lets you improve effective skill for this purpose only.
· Brakefall – prereq Battlesuit, cannot exceed Battlesuit+5: This is the Breakfall technique; it covers ways of controlling or absorbing the shock of a fall, MA69.
· Choke Out – prereq Brawling-3, cannot exceed Brawling: this is the Choke Hold technique, B404; an attempt to subdue or kill by applying pressure to your opponent’s grappled neck.
· Clothes-Line – prereq Brawling-3, cannot exceed Brawling: this is the Sweep technique, MA81; an attempt to knock your opponent down using a non-damaging stiff-arm to the head or neck.
· Trap – prereq Brawling Parry-1, cannot exceed Brawling Parry: this is the Trip technique; a Parry versus a Slam.

[Lupo]

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

Have I got it right now?

The examples you gave look mechanically correct to me.

Personally, I wouldn't allow that many Brawling Adaptation perks in a campaign - if in your Style "Brawling" is supposed to work very similarly as "Karate", you could as well use "Karate" skill, saving lots of time and points :)
Judging from Martial Arts, Skill Adaptation is meant to represent those styles that have 1 or 2 "tricks" typical to a different skill, not to turn Brawling into Karate or Wrestling into Judo...

[jacobmuller]

TQ.
It is my specific intent to turn brawling into Judo, minus the finesse, the throws, the holds, the defensive bonuses... New-age of war, post apocalypse, and all the masters died. Likewise with swords but not so many Perks.

NUKE [4]
The title is a contrived play on words, Nahe – Ubung – Kunst - Erdrucken: close – exercise – art – crushing, suggesting an escalation in power from the law-enforcement style TNT.
It is included in the Olympic Games as a sport but it is a serious combat style for battle-suits.
All Guards personnel begin training in Nuke’s direct, simple skills during Basic Training. Training includes hands-on drills that involve multiple opponents, armed attackers, and “mob engagements.” Unarmed techniques taught are few, brutal and chosen for relative ease of use in battlesuits. The armed skills borrow heavily from historic fencing styles but have lost all finesse. The style is finished off with simple lessons in disarming, weapon retention and improvised weapons. Advanced training progresses into grappling and ground-fighting tactics. Nukers engage with a punch, kick, grapple, or grab, followed by a Takedown attempt. Free Fall opens Nuke to use in microgravity, common aboard starships in combat.
• Skills: Shortsword; Brawling; Battlesuit.
• Techniques: Arm Lock; Disarming (Brawling); Elbow Strike; Knee Strike; Armed Grapple (Shortsword); Back Strike (Shortsword); Choke Hold (Shortsword); Close Combat (Shortsword); Counterattack (Shortsword); Disarming (Brawling or Shortsword); Feint (Shortsword); Ground Fighting (Brawling or Shortsword); Kicking; Knee Strike; Retain Weapon (Shortsword); TA (Shortsword Swing/Arm); TA (Shortsword Swing/Neck); TA (Shortsword Swing/Skull); TA (Shortsword Swing/Face); TA (Shortsword Swing/Neck); Trip.
• Perks: Clinch; Improvised Weapons (Brawling); Suit Familiarity (Battlesuit); Quick-Sheathe (Shortsword); Quick-Swap (Shortsword); Sure-Footed (Uneven); Off-hand Weapon Training (Shortsword).
Optional Traits
• Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Fit or Very Fit; 3D Spatial Sense; Perfect Balance; Games (Shortsword Fighting).
• Disadvantages: Bloodlust; Overconfidence.
• Skills: Free Fall; Fast-Draw (Knife); Knife; Tonfa; Acrobatics; Jumping; Wrestling.
• Perks: Brakefall; Arm Crock; Choke Out; Clothes-Line; Trap.
• Techniques: Breakfall*; Arm Lock*; Choke Lock*; Counter Attack; Ground Fighting (Brawling); Low Fighting; Neck Snap; Push Kick; Stamp Kick; Sweep*; Trip*. *Requires Perk.

[Lupo]

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

• Techniques: Arm Lock; Disarming (Brawling); Elbow Strike; Knee Strike; Armed Grapple (Shortsword); Back Strike (Shortsword); Choke Hold (Shortsword); Close Combat (Shortsword); Counterattack (Shortsword); Disarming (Brawling or Shortsword); Feint (Shortsword); Ground Fighting (Brawling or Shortsword); Kicking; Knee Strike; Retain Weapon (Shortsword); TA (Shortsword Swing/Arm); TA (Shortsword Swing/Neck); TA (Shortsword Swing/Skull); TA (Shortsword Swing/Face); TA (Shortsword Swing/Neck); Trip.
• Techniques: Breakfall*; Arm Lock*; Choke Lock*; Counter Attack; Ground Fighting (Brawling); Low Fighting; Neck Snap; Push Kick; Stamp Kick; Sweep*; Trip*. *Requires Perk.

Why should any player improve that many Hard techniques (or even 1/5 of them) instead of simply raising the underlying skill? It's both more effective and mechanically simpler (and way cheaper).

Martial Arts styles containing that many techniques prove to be only "theoretical" in actual play and character design, since most techinques are rarely if ever improved...

[Kromm]

The point of techniques lists is to provide a shopping list, not a recipe card. Those are the techniques that you can improve whenever you have points, once you've become familiar with the style, and the ones that count when determining how many extra Style Perks you can have. This doesn't mean that most practitioners will have more than one or two of them . . . Martial Arts explicitly recommends that you don't buy more than a very few. All it means is that practitioners will have one or two favorite moves off that style's list, and use those points to qualify for perks off that style's list. Lists of decent length are good because they accommodate a greater cross-section of stylists and training objectives.

[jacobmuller]

Originally Posted by Lupo

Why should any player improve that many Hard techniques (or even 1/5 of them) instead of simply raising the underlying skill? It's both more effective and mechanically simpler (and way cheaper).

Martial Arts styles containing that many techniques prove to be only "theoretical" in actual play and character design, since most techinques are rarely if ever improved...

Options, it's always nice to have options. And giving a list of options also gives an idea of limitations. That's what I love about Templates/ Lenses: kindof "this is what's commonly available, if you want something more exotic you'll need a good story."

But, yes, there a Lot of options in there. Really only expect them to take something like Suit Familiarity, Close Combat (Shortsword) and Disarming (Brawling).

[Anaraxes]

If there are too many techniques, a style seems to me to lose its stylishness. There's nothing particularly distinguishable about it if anybody can do anything. Then, since no one will learn more than a few of the techniques in actual practice, two practitioners of the same mega-style might not have any techniques in common at all. One guy is off doing head locks and another guy is doing spin kicks to the head or something. They don't look like the same "style" of fighting at all. Certainly, it's most effective for the PCs if they have every option available and can get lots of extra perks, but the color seeps out of the mechanic.

[thulben]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

If there are too many techniques, a style seems to me to lose its stylishness. There's nothing particularly distinguishable about it if anybody can do anything. Then, since no one will learn more than a few of the techniques in actual practice, two practitioners of the same mega-style might not have any techniques in common at all. One guy is off doing head locks and another guy is doing spin kicks to the head or something. They don't look like the same "style" of fighting at all. Certainly, it's most effective for the PCs if they have every option available and can get lots of extra perks, but the color seeps out of the mechanic.

If all of the techniques in a given style have defaults to the style's underlying skill, then practitioners of that style will all have exposure to those techniques and the ability to use them. It's just that they specialized differently and so will be better at different things than other practitioners of the same style. That's how (in my experience) it works in the real world: you practice (and get good at) what you think is cool/useful.

[Kromm]

Nearly every style teaches people the basics first. For unarmed styles in the current edition, that means some mixture of Boxing, Brawling, Judo, Karate, Sumo Wrestling, and Wrestling – and occasionally other skills, like Acrobatics. (I'm ignoring Combat Art/Sport, Games, Philosophy, etc. to focus on combat styles, but that doesn't change a thing.) Every technique that defaults to the style's basic skills is fair game for stylists in a fight, but the style will have certain moves it favors, and those are what the techniques list is for. Every stylist will practice those techniques more than others, but the improvement won't be worth a full +1 or more in game terms . . . unless he really specializes. The techniques list tells you what dedicated students are likely to focus on and gives you a roleplaying reason to try certain techniques at default in a fight (and possibly improve them later).

Outside of straitjacket McDojos, this is how things actually work. Sure, there will be students learning the basics. However, there will also be experienced guys drilling and sparring to work on techniques they regard as important. There will be the guy with a wicked uppercut, another guy with scary RNC skills, and so on. You'll be able to see their style in their moves – that's what Style Familiarity is for – but it would be unrealistic to assume that they all use the same moves. These days, especially, lots of styles really do have a pretty broad palette of techniques to teach; you probably can go in and see two guys grappling on the floor, two more boxing, another guy throwing kicks at a bag, and a whole line of novices paired off for standing grappling.

The karate that came back over the Pacific after WWII did a lot of harm to how people perceive martial arts, unfortunately. Lots of folks think it's about standing in a line, practicing the same N moves, then doing kata. The McDojos that sprung up to teach this stuff didn't help, as they isolated styles from their traditional teachers, who generally valued innovation and adaptation (Bruce Lee didn't invent that, he just brought it west!), and they eliminated cross-training in other local styles. Movies just piled on, with actors doing kata in fights and making goofy proclamations about recognizing so-and-so style from its punches or fearing such-and-such style's secret move. That's mostly a snapshot of a rarified situation – things were better before and things have become better since – and Martial Arts attempts to rectify that picture by focusing on traditional combat arts and modern-day MMA more so than rigid styles.

[Lupo]

Originally Posted by Kromm

All it means is that practitioners will have one or two favorite moves off that style's list, and use those points to qualify for perks off that style's list.

If the technique list is too long, all styles look similar, as most practitioners will choose only the most effective techniques anyway, regardless of style.

I think that a style is defined more by the effective techniques it lacks than by the uneffective techniques it has.

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

Options, it's always nice to have options. And giving a list of options also gives an idea of limitations.

That's kind of my point... too many options mean too few limitations, which means very similar styles.