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Old 01-04-2012, 01:23 PM   #1
desorto
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Oklahoma
Default Quick Question about Sport and Art Combat ans Wildcard Combat Skills

I love wildcard skills for depicting highly skilled characters, but I haven't used the combat wildcard skills before. So I'm a little unclear about a few details.

1) Do wildcard combat skills cover sport and art versions of the types of combat that fall under their jurisdiction? Example: Hidegaard has a Fist! skill of 20. If she wants to go undercover on the amateur women's boxing circuit to investigate the disappearance of some of the fighters does she get the effects of Boxing (Sport)-20? Does she instead get all the effects listed under the regular boxing skill at 20 (including the default to the sport version at 16)? Or Do wildcards simply not offer defaults like the normal skill would? I'm inclined toward the second option here (default skill of 16, since she might be a little more inclined to slip up and forget a rule or custom than someone who boxes for sport often).

2) Can one mix and match wildcard combat skills with martial arts styles from MA? I'm unclear on how this would work. My inclination to use MA to handle highly cinematic fighters is one of the things that has held me back on using the combat flavors of wildcard skills. Does one just buy Fist! (or Sword! or whatever) once and take only the additional skills and abilities that don't fall under the wildcard's scope as regular skills? What about perks and techniques?
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Old 01-04-2012, 01:42 PM   #2
Langy
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: CA
Default Re: Quick Question about Sport and Art Combat ans Wildcard Combat Skills

Quote:
Originally Posted by desorto View Post
I love wildcard skills for depicting highly skilled characters, but I haven't used the combat wildcard skills before. So I'm a little unclear about a few details.

1) Do wildcard combat skills cover sport and art versions of the types of combat that fall under their jurisdiction? Example: Hidegaard has a Fist! skill of 20. If she wants to go undercover on the amateur women's boxing circuit to investigate the disappearance of some of the fighters does she get the effects of Boxing (Sport)-20? Does she instead get all the effects listed under the regular boxing skill at 20 (including the default to the sport version at 16)? Or Do wildcards simply not offer defaults like the normal skill would? I'm inclined toward the second option here (default skill of 16, since she might be a little more inclined to slip up and forget a rule or custom than someone who boxes for sport often).
I'd say that's a definite yes. Wildcard combat skills definitely include Sport and Art versions of those skills by default. However, you could reasonably say they don't, too. Wildcard skills are extremely varied, and two people with the same exact wildcard skills might actually have completely different skill sets.

Quote:
2) Can one mix and match wildcard combat skills with martial arts styles from MA? I'm unclear on how this would work. My inclination to use MA to handle highly cinematic fighters is one of the things that has held me back on using the combat flavors of wildcard skills. Does one just buy Fist! (or Sword! or whatever) once and take only the additional skills and abilities that don't fall under the wildcard's scope as regular skills? What about perks and techniques?
Yes. Instead of buying Fist!, though, you take Ju Jitsui! or whatever - it's a Wildcard Style, rather than a skill. Rather than the stuff the wildcard skill normally has, it has all skills and techniques the style teaches, with the techniques at their maximum level. Perks you might have to buy separately, though.
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Old 01-04-2012, 01:48 PM   #3
Humabout
 
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Default Re: Quick Question about Sport and Art Combat ans Wildcard Combat Skills

Wildcard skills are intended to represent a broad swath of capability. They are not intended to be a list of skills that get bundled into one roll, so it's important to begin with the concept first: Fist! lets you fight without weapons. This should cover any rolls that have anything to do with unarmed combat, whether it's putting on a show at the carnival, beating up a thug, or answering questions about the history of savate. As long as you apply this standard to any wildcard skill, they should be compatible.

One question I haven't really gotten an answer to as of yet is how the above concept of a wildcard skill meshes with the wildcard style! skills in martial arts. The key difference here is that the above idea puts all rolls at the WC level, but (i believe and could be mistaken) does not account for techniques based off of the underlying WC skill, while Style! skills incorporate (only) techniques that are part of the style. Otherwise, they are the same.

So someone with Fist! would be able to roll against Fist! for any unarmed attack, but have to roll at -1 if they throw an uppercut; while, a person with Boxing! would roll against Boxing! to throw an uppercut, but would have to roll against DX-2 to kick an opponent. Both could answer questions about throwing punches, perform tasks that would normally be done with art or sport forms, etc.

That's my understanding anyway. I'd love some more information on this, and really hope one of the upcoming Power-Ups is dedicated to WC skills, in general.
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