Redux: [MA] Skills vs. Techniques

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

[TL;DR = Background]
This redux thread is in lieu of reviving one of the zombie threads where we've kicked around ideas on redefining combat skills into things like Strike, Grapple, Lock, or Punching, Kicking, Wrestling, etc.

We've discussed many times how choosing form skills like Brawling, Boxing, Judo, Karate and Wrestling don't often fit what we want to model with unarmed combat in GURPS.
We've also gone on at lengths about how important footwork is and how it carries over into many different skills.
We've discussed skill defaults and how they don't work well to model how well people carry over certain base skills.
We've discusses how the pricing of skills, at the 4 point per level, limits the usefulness of multiple Techniques, making Techniques a bad investment in any style.
[/TL;DR]

Instead of doing skills like Striking, Grappling, Locking to replace Boxing, Judo and Karate, how about we just do away with skills altogether and go with just Techniques full speed.

We'd model each style with a Style Perk, which allows 4 Techniques per point, (a "No Style" Perk would allow 3 Techniques per point).
Base Technique defaults set at current levels but all references to skill substituted by DX, all references to cannot exceed skill would read cannot exceed DX + (#Perks*3).

Add in Average Techniques with DX-1 defaults for Hand Strike and Hand Grapple.


As an example, Praying Mantis Kung Fu would read as follows:


Praying Mantis Kung Fu

4 points

Techniques: Arm Lock; Counterattack; Ear Clap;
Exotic Hand Strike; Eye-Poke; Hammer Fist;
Hand Grapple; Hand Strike; Kicking; Knee Strike;
Targeted Attack (Hand Grapple/Arm).
Perks: Chi Resistance (Hypnotic Hands); Iron Hands;
Special Setup (Parry > Arm Lock); Style Adaptation
(Varies).


So someone spending the 4 points in Praying Mantis would have all the listed Techniques at default.

Using Kicking as an example, base would be DX-2 for 0 points spent on the technique, for an additional 2 points Kicking would be DX-1, for 3 points Kicking would be DX, for 4 points Kicking would be DX+1, etc.

This would then allow someone with 4 Style Perks to take up to 12 or 16 Techniques in order to model different style concentrations, and allow those Techniques to be raised to a max of DX+12.


We'd also have to address the damage bonus which goes away by eliminating skills like Karate, I'd say a simple straight up -1 to T* for +1 dmg, and -3 to T for +2 per die dmg, along with the existing Committed Attack, would work fine.

*(Using "T" as the abbreviation for "Technique" since "tech" might be confusing due to "technology level"-> "tech level".)