12-26-2015, 10:15 PM | #11 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
|
Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Kiai
Some times, just sometimes, you also don't want to hurt/kill someone. Kiai can be a pretty good option there, as GURPS usually lacks reliable "subdual damage" mechanics (realistically so).
|
12-27-2015, 01:14 AM | #12 | |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
|
Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Kiai
Quote:
Eh, you have some good subdual options with grappling skills. Besides, it's not like the stun from Kiai will last long. |
|
12-27-2015, 08:35 AM | #13 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands
|
Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Kiai
If by "winMore" you mean "If you're already winning, then you win even more," I don't agree. Fighters have vulnerable points, and a good strategy is going after a vulnerability they have not effectively defended.
In most of the fights in Cherry Blossom Rain (and I think this would apply equally to most fencing games), a single solid blow to an opponent is usually enough to tilt a fight sufficiently in your favor that you'll probably win a fight (though it's possible to brute your way through an attack, but that's a separate discussion). In such a case, your opponent's most important defense is his active defense, usually either dodge or parry. There are several ways to beat a high active defense. Deceptive Attack is the first most people reach for, and is generally a brute-force method that relies on you having enormous levels of skill. Alternatively, you can use feint, but that works best when your opponent's defense doesn't rely on weapon skill (it works better against dodgers or shield-users, or characters with several levels of enhanced defense). Stunning someone is a good trick too, but generally to stun someone, you need to be able to hit them. However, with a Kiai, you automatically bypass their active defense in favor of a contest between Kiai and Will. If their Will is low, you've landed a stun, and even if it only lands for a turn, that's a turn where they're at -4. So it's not a "winMore!" skill, it's a tool in a high-end martial arts game for getting past an opponent's defenses, provided he has exceptionally high weapon skill (and thus cannot be defeated with feints) but doesn't have high Will... which means it's also a somewhat specialized skill. Given that, say, more Broadsword has more utility than more Kiai in most cases, it's certainly worth a few points (especially if you have Forceful Chi anyway), but rarely worth more than that. (Honestly, though, it and several other Chi skills, like Flying Leap, strike me more as powers than skills, as to me a skill should be something that can support a variety of techniques and varying levels of investment. Broadsword, for example, can support a variety of approaches and techniques, and is useful from 12-32, while Kiai can only do one thing and is "enough" around 15 or so)
__________________
My Blog: Mailanka's Musing. Currently Playing: Psi-Wars, a step-by-step exploration of building your own Space Opera setting, inspired by Star Wars. |
12-27-2015, 09:25 AM | #14 | |
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: near London, UK
|
Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Kiai
Quote:
__________________
Podcast: Improvised Radio Theatre - With Dice Gaming stuff here: Tekeli-li! Blog; Webcomic Laager and Limehouse Buy things by me on Warehouse 23 |
|
12-27-2015, 09:55 AM | #15 | |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
|
Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Kiai
Quote:
So if you have points to spare, you can get this special, FP-eating, situational way of disabling enemies before you hit them . . . but then you probably could afford to just hit them with more points in the primary attack skill. And if you're falling behind, I'm very unsure of the skill's ability to let you win in combat. |
|
12-27-2015, 11:22 AM | #16 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Medford, MA
|
Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Kiai
Quote:
But again, GURPS contains multitudes, so if it isn't useful to you, don't use it. There are lots of other people who find value in it and will use it. |
|
12-27-2015, 11:25 AM | #17 | |
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South Dakota, USA
|
Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Kiai
Quote:
Given that GURPS 4e still keeps it as a cinematic skill, requiring Trained by a Master or Weapon Master, I think it needs revision. The less grounded in reality a series becomes, the more it can do; if it remains a Hard Skill, I'd add a lot more Techniques based on Kiai: group use with tweaked mechanics, probably some that do actual damage because in the more over-the-top settings, that seems to be a thing. As such I probably would not actually do that because a lot of the old cinematic martial arts skills strike me as being better represented as powers (though I do love me some crunch so that might be why). I'm not even sure if Karate and company should even provide their damage bonuses instead of being a prerequisite for buying a specialized form of "Claws" that represents your improved unarmed damage. That is getting off into the weeds though... I can also see just making it a HT/Easy skill or even making it a Technique of something else.
__________________
My GURPS Fourth Edition library consists of Basic Set: Characters, Basic Set: Campaigns, Martial Arts, Powers, Powers: Enhanced Senses, Power-Ups 1: Imbuements, Power-Ups 2: Perks, Power-Ups 3: Talents, Power-Ups 4: Enhancements, Power-Ups 6: Quirks, Power-Ups 8: Limitations, Powers, Social Engineering, Supers, Template Toolkit 1: Characters, Template Toolkit 2: Races, one issue of Pyramid (3/83) a.k.a. Alternate GURPS IV, GURPS Classic Rogues, and GURPS Classic Warriors. Most of which was provided through the generosity of others. Thanks! :) |
|
12-27-2015, 11:33 AM | #18 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
|
Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Kiai
Aha ... the correct way to use it for Intimidation is probably in conjunction with Deadly Pose (Action 3) or another way of getting a free Intimidation attempt. Not quite sure how you work the sequence of events, though.
|
12-27-2015, 11:45 AM | #19 |
Join Date: Jan 2012
|
Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Kiai
Oh, I...really like that. I might patch it in to the skill in my 4e anime fightmans game. There's a lot of magic-users floating around in that game, so low-will opponents are a rarity.
|
12-27-2015, 11:48 AM | #20 | |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands
|
Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Kiai
Quote:
__________________
My Blog: Mailanka's Musing. Currently Playing: Psi-Wars, a step-by-step exploration of building your own Space Opera setting, inspired by Star Wars. |
|
Tags |
basic, kiai, skill of the week |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|