What is the best warfighting tool set for the brawling skill?

[MrFix]

For Brawling? The handgun. Pistol Whip keys off of Brawling, and carrying a big honking pistol like a suppressed Desert Eagle with extended magazine gives you a Thr+4 crushing weapon to brain people. Flintlock pistol should work too.

[SID]

Your best “weapon” would be advantages, perks and advantages to improve unarmed combat.

If you go unarmed, the first thing would be avoiding getting hit.

Think of trained by a master, enhanced parry, enhanced dodge, peripheral vision, danger sense, stealth, etc. The running skill helps to outrun enemies.

Then what you want is “protection” and durability.

Regarding protection, consider striking surface (with limb DR adapted so you don’t lose your ability to fetch things) or striker LIMB (which you can use with brawling, and saves you a lot of the hassle of hurting yourself or getting hurt as you parry). These are sort of cinematic, but not entirely impossible.

There’s another perk called “unarmed parry”, it lets you float your brawling parry to knives, swords and the like. I’d even allow it with brass knuckles. The penalties are the same, but your limbs won’t get hurt.

For durability, high pain threshold, extra FP, fit and the hard to kill perk (was that the name? +1 to HT when avoiding death).

Then you might want enhanced mobility.

If I recall correctly, there’s an advantage called run and hit from monster hunters. It lets you strike a foe and avoid a lot of penalties involved in move and attack. Extra move and extra basic speed also help.

Then you want more combat options, acquire DWA brawling and targeted attacks, the clinching (perk) and so on. You can find detailed information about this in Martial Arts.

Weapons:

Look for things that change your damage from CR to CUT or IMP: Stuff that gets between your fingers is cheap and effective, such as the ninja spike/nail. But you can also pick fancier things like brass knuckles, the punching knife and the bladed hand (I would pick this one). The myrmex is another interesting option (but it gives you bad grip 1, the problem isn’t you get bad grip, but that it’s hard taking it off).

You said a shield could be an option but not IMO, you need a skill to make an effective shield bash and most shiedls are heavy. I’d pick a cloak, invest 1 CP in its skill and another CP in akimbo, this lets you wield the cloak and the bladed hand with a single hand with improved DB.

Your other hand should be free but well armored, so you can clinch (assuming you got no grappling skills).

[Varyon]

A cestus or gauntlet can be decent, as the DR offered should serve to negate Brawling's -3 to defense against swung weapons, and they give a +1 to punching damage. Personally, I feel the Katar (the knife-sized one, probably not the larger ones) should have its thrusting attack available using Brawling (it's a punch, after all), but that's not technically RAW (although a lenient GM might let you take Weapon Adaptation: Katar thrust defaults to Brawling). Failing that, wearing arm armor and wielding a Bladed Hand may be your best option in a straight-up fight.

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

A shield can possibly work, but that is still technically a combat skill of its own. And you need that skill if you want a reasonable chance against a moderately skilled weapon user. For a character with 12 Dex default Block without the skill is 7 (= 16.2% chance), with 1 point in Shield their Block jumps to 9 (37.5% chance).

While I'm not thrilled with the way it works out, you can still claim the DB for a shield even if you lack any skill in using one. So, you can strap on a medium shield for a free(ish) +2 to Dodge and Brawling Parry.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

just beating them up with a gauntlet and an armored boot isn't out of the question. .

The boot desn't techncially have to be "armored". Anything Gurps is wiling to call a "heavy boot" does +1 Kick as well as giving at least DR2.

A character who took Brawling only for game mechanical reasons rather than roleplaying ones probably only took Brawling so he'd have something to roll against in unarmed combats he could not avoid but didn't have major cp to commit to the area already needs to be aware that he can Kick nstead of Punch for -2 to hit but +1 to damage but if wears those Heavy Boots he can do +2 damage more than he punches for. Highly useful for those situations where your target has an iompaired ablity to use Active Defenses.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

The boot desn't techncially have to be "armored". Anything Gurps is wiling to call a "heavy boot" does +1 Kick as well as giving at least DR2.

A character who took Brawling only for game mechanical reasons rather than roleplaying ones probably only took Brawling so he'd have something to roll against in unarmed combats he could not avoid but didn't have major cp to commit to the area already needs to be aware that he can Kick nstead of Punch for -2 to hit but +1 to damage but if wears those Heavy Boots he can do +2 damage more than he punches for. Highly useful for those situations where your target has an iompaired ablity to use Active Defenses.

There's a reason 'kicking a man when he's down' is considered bad sportsmanship (and often also good sense). Easy target, lots of damage.

[Engurrand]

Originally Posted by MrFix

...a suppressed Desert Eagle with extended magazine gives you a Thr+4 crushing weapon to brain people...

Now, this is the kind of high-quality GURPS pedantry I've learned to expect. Do you know a page reference for this detail?

[Engurrand]

Originally Posted by Varyon

While I'm not thrilled with the way it works out, you can still claim the DB for a shield even if you lack any skill in using one. So, you can strap on a medium shield for a free(ish) +2 to Dodge and Brawling Parry.

This is what I had in mind in suggesting a shield. Also, IIRC you can shield rush with the brawling skill. While shield rushes are subject to some situational funkiness, they -can- be a good way to knock people down so your allies can stab them.
Personally, I would allow a Brawling shove with the shield, and I'd even permit a bash but at -2 to skill for an improvised weapon. Not raw, but I'd allow it.

I like the Katar idea. Lots of quality musings in this thread.

[Donny Brook]

Spiked cestus.
Like Schwartzenegger had in Conan the Barbarian pit fight.

[MrFix]

Originally Posted by Engurrand

Now, this is the kind of high-quality GURPS pedantry I've learned to expect. Do you know a page reference for this detail?

High Tech 93, Box, outlines Pistol Whipping. Pistol Whipping uses Brawling skill, and damage is Thr-1, plus absolute value of weapon's bulk. There's no statement that attachments do not count. So Desert Eagle (-3) with Suppressor (-1), x8 scope (-1) and Extended Magazine (-1), would deal damage of Thr-1+6 crushing. Or simply Thr+5 crushing.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Engurrand

But what if you only have Brawling? Perhaps there isn't time to learn another skill. Perhaps you don't want to.

GURPS is unsympathetic to the "I don't want to" argument. If you want to be special, you have to back that up with special abilities.