New Martial Arts

[macphersonrants]

What interesting martial arts styles haven't been given an official treatment in 4e?

Feel free to post your versions if you like.

[mlangsdorf]

There's no official style for axe and shield or flail and shield that I'm aware of. A couple of styles like Kobujutsu or High Medieval Knightly Combat teach one or the other weapon, but nothing emphasizes them similar to Sword And Shield, Sword and Buckler Play, or any of the (multiple) Spear styles.

[Dwarf99]

I noticed (or perhaps didn't notice others) that there was only one style (Shaolin Kung Fu) where Drunken Fighting was a perk. I think it would have been neat if there was even a single style where it was a requirement... if for no other reason than "it fits the theme" of Drunken Master type styles.

[RogerBW]

Originally Posted by Dwarf99

I noticed (or perhaps didn't notice others) that there was only one style (Shaolin Kung Fu) where Drunken Fighting was a perk.

When I came up with the current rules formulation for Drunken Fighting, I certainly had in mind that it could be applied to any style. I don't think there would be any point in listing Drunken Aikido, Drunken Longsword Fighting, etc., as separate styles; that doesn't mean they can't exist.

[Ragitsu]

How about a handful of styles with Throwing/Throwing Weapon as part of the Skills (realistic)?

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by Dwarf99

I noticed (or perhaps didn't notice others) that there was only one style (Shaolin Kung Fu) where Drunken Fighting was a perk. I think it would have been neat if there was even a single style where it was a requirement... if for no other reason than "it fits the theme" of Drunken Master type styles.

I wrote this style about a week after first reading Martial Arts.

[aesir23]

In answer to the OP, I'd love to see more armed styles of ancient China appropriate for a Wuxia game.

There is definitely a big hole for styles with the Saber skill as well.

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

How about a handful of styles with Throwing/Throwing Weapon as part of the Skills (realistic)?

Inspired largely by Eric the Viking.

Axe Throwing 4

Skills: Fast-Draw (Axe), Thrown Weapon (Axe), Thrown Weapon Sport (Axe)
Techniques: Feint (Thrown Weapon), Targeted Attack (Thrown Axe/Skull)
Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting, Kai, Power Blow, Throwing Art (In a cinematic campaign, this replaces Thrown Weapon (Axe) as a primary skill.)
Cinematic Techniques: None.
Perks: Drunken Fighting, Special Exercises (+1 Arm ST), Unusual Training (Tricky Shooting in a campaign that doesn’t usually allow it.), Unusual Training (Drunken Fighting in a realistic game, must be bought separately for each skill)

[Polydamas]

I've already mentioned Bolognese fencing. The corpus includes unarmed, dagger, sword alone, sword and buckler, sword and shield, spear, polearm, spear and shield, and two-handed sword. 18th and 19th century European styles are also lightly covered, probably because medieval or ancient games are more popular. I had to make up a Chariot Archer style for my Bronze Age campaign.

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

There's no official style for axe and shield or flail and shield that I'm aware of. A couple of styles like Kobujutsu or High Medieval Knightly Combat teach one or the other weapon, but nothing emphasizes them similar to Sword And Shield, Sword and Buckler Play, or any of the (multiple) Spear styles.

In Europe, that's because our sources happen to neglect shields and ignore one-handed axes and maces. So any axe or shield style would be very hypothetical. A guy named Khorasani is working on some material from late medieval Iran which covers axes and maces, but he's publishing in Spanish.

[macphersonrants]

It would be pretty easy to break several of the historical European styles down by fechtbuch/master to add a little nuance and variety. We could probably also extrapolate several ancient and medieval styles based on visual sources and the work of serious re-enactors.