Build Assistance: Forcing Opponents to Stay in Close Combat

[Kazander]

I'm looking for a little help on this one. I'm trying to build an ability whose effect is to limit an opponent's ability to leave Close Combat. GURPS being GURPS, it's the mechanical effect that matters, not the descriptive text or ability name.

I've a (Cinematic) Knife Fighter who fights very close, including wrapping his limbs around around the opponent, and otherwise do things that make it difficult for the opponet to Step back or Retreat. Not dissimilar to a 3E "Sticking Technique" kind of thing. He's very quick, having a Basic Move of 11, and thus a Step of 2.

Here's how I've built it (Multiplicative Modifiers in effect):

Extra Arms(2) (Force Extension, +50%; Grapple Only, -80%; No Signature, +20%) [7]
plus
Extra Attack 1 (Accessibility: only to Grapple -10%; Accessibility: only with Extra Arms, -20%; Single Skill: Wrestling, -20%) [13]

Force Extension is used based on the build here by Kromm for an Extra Block Option (http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.p...99&postcount=7). No Signature is because they simply don't actually exist as physical arms.

So, every turn he gets a chance to Grapple his opponent, which can be defended against normally. The only thing he can do with these 'extra arms' (which don't physically exist) is Grapple (no Slam, Arm Lock, Pin, use of a weapon, etc), and they cannot be used in conjuction with his regular arms for a Grapple Bonus. The Extra Attack can only be used for this Grapple Attempt.

The remaining thing I'm looking for in this build is to allow the opponent's Break Free action as a Free Action, instead of making him take his turn to escape. Not sure how much of a modifier to apply for that, but I'd like to include it because I think it's more than a bit too munchkin-like to make the opponent waste his turn Breaking Free all the time.

What does the hive mind think?

Thanks for the feedback.

[sir_pudding]

If it's a martial technique why not make it that way, rather than a weird ability?

[Kazander]

Eh, well...no real idea how to build it that way. It's so far (AFAICT) from anything that already exists, I don't really know what to do with it.

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by Kazander

Extra Arms(2) (Force Extension, +50%; Grapple Only, -80%; No Signature, +20%) [7]
plus
Extra Attack 1 (Accessibility: only to Grapple -10%; Accessibility: only with Extra Arms, -20%; Single Skill: Wrestling, -20%) [13]

The remaining thing I'm looking for in this build is to allow the opponent's Break Free action as a Free Action, instead of making him take his turn to escape.

As this basically means that the opponent can avoid the effects of the grapple, even when it's initially successful, I'm inclined to say it's probably worth at least a -20%.

Another way to model the effect: a resistable affliction that produces the effect of being grappled. Either way, it would be worth while to stat them both out and see how they compare. If they ended up costing the same, I'd feel pretty good about it.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Kazander

Eh, well...no real idea how to build it that way. It's so far (AFAICT) from anything that already exists, I don't really know what to do with it.

Something like?
Sticking Hard
Any Close Combat Weapon - (x as determined by the technique building rules)

If your opponent tries to move out of close combat on your turn roll vs Sticking for any weapon you are wielding. As long as they don't move more than twice your step you stick with them.

[chris1982]

Originally Posted by Kazander

Here's how I've built it (Multiplicative Modifiers in effect):

Extra Arms(2) (Force Extension, +50%; Grapple Only, -80%; No Signature, +20%) [7]
plus
Extra Attack 1 (Accessibility: only to Grapple -10%; Accessibility: only with Extra Arms, -20%; Single Skill: Wrestling, -20%) [13]

With this you could e.g. also grapple the opponents weapon arm etc. so it does much more than what you originally planned.

I also second a MA technique. But in that case you SHOULD think about what the technique is about.

A very simple solution would ofc be a combination of grapple with the off hand and stab with the knife.

[Anders Gabrielsson]

I'd also go with martial arts - the grapple/stab combo sounds good to me (without having the MA book). Right now this is pretty weird: his opponent is grappled, which has specific game-effects, but there's nothing holding on to him.

If what you want is for him to be able to stay C with his opponent rather than preventing the opponent from moving away and still don't want to go with a technique, I'd do it as some kind of out-of-turn movement ability.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Something like?
Sticking Hard
Any Close Combat Weapon - (x as determined by the technique building rules)

If your opponent tries to move out of close combat on your turn roll vs Sticking for any weapon you are wielding. As long as they don't move more than twice your step you stick with them.

Yeah, I was really sad not seeing such a technique (or a similar one) in the official MA. Currently, the rules are set up in such a way that a person walks backwards faster than forward while in combat (CA doesn't count, since it gives unneeded bonuses and nasty penalties).

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Yeah, I was really sad not seeing such a technique (or a similar one) in the official MA.

I still haven't been able to find a real-life technique that does something like this without physically grappling the opponent and/or grabbing the opponent's weapon. I don't recall any cinematic examples, either.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Toadkiller_Dog

I still haven't been able to find a real-life technique that does something like this without physically grappling the opponent and/or grabbing the opponent's weapon. I don't recall any cinematic examples, either.

I'm not talking about preventing an opponent from moving away. I'm talking about moving forward simultaneously with the opponent. It's mostly an issue of the way discrete turns are handled:
no matter how fast the offensive character, she can never move forward fast enough to keep the favourable distance. It's an Achilles and the Tortoise thing, but even worse thanks to the minimal unit being one hex:

O is offensive, D is defensive.
O moves from 1 hex into 0 hexes with D, but that doesn't count as Close Combat yet - D must start a turn in 0 hexes for it to be Close Combat.
D moves back (by retreat on O's turn, and/or by a Step on D's turn). Either way, D either starts his turn at 1 hex (so not CC), or starts in CC and immediately exits it (for some reason immediately benefiting from the altered range, unlike O).
O moves forward again, and the cycle continues.

To make matters worse, they both get an extra hex of movement if and only if the opponents succeeds on an attack roll (in the form of Retreat/Slip). Except that for some reason, while O's Slip sacrifices a defensive bonus for moving towards the enemy, D's Retreat doesn't sacrifice anything for moving backwards without looking.