A rewrite by Kansas Jim
version 1.0
A rewrite by Kansas Jim
version 1.0
Part Two
It is possible for martial artists to be proficient in more than one style of martial arts. Each new style counts as a seperate skill and it must be developed seperately from any other martial arts skill. Naturally, a sensei or instructor will be needed to learn the first add of the new style and to teach its Disciplines.
To be a sensei (to teach true martial arts) requires the character to be fully proficient in the style he wishes to teach. This means that he must know every available Discipline of that style and depending on the cosm the character is from he may need to seek permission from some agency or meet some special restrictions placed on the instruction of martial arts (elvish monks for example may only teach their martial arts to other elvish monks.)
To teach common martial arts, the character merely needs to be proficient with his style; at least +3 adds in the skill and he must know the special ability.
A true martial artist may teach the common variant of his style to others if he has at least +3 adds in the skill and knows at least the first Discipline of the style (which will usually be the same as the special ability of the common variant, though not always) plus any other requirements he may have to meet as mentioned above.
In any case, teaching common or true martial arts also requires the use of the Training skill (Tokyo Citybook).
Martial artists may develop their own styles once they have learned the basic tenets of martial arts (in game terms, more than +3 adds in one style and at least one Discipline in that style or the special ability of a common martial art style). The design of the new style and the related Disciplines (or special ability) and requirements must be worked out in advance and approved by the GM. The character may not begin teaching his new style to anyone until he has first mastered it himself by learning all the Disciplines (or the special ability.) Because the martial artist will have to learn the Disciplines of his new style alone, the DN of each test is increased by +4 unless the martial artist has learned the Self Instruction Discipline in a prior style, in which case there is no additional modifier.
Guidelines for designing new martial arts styles can be found in Infiniverse #33 but it does not include the new Disciplines out of the Tokyo Citybook or this document nor does it account for the revisions made in this document (so I have not used it for the rewritten and new styles I have developed below.)
It is possible to develop a martial arts style completely from scratch but it takes much longer than working from a previous style. It is unlikely that a character could develop a martial arts style from scratch over the course of a campaign so rules for this will not be provided.
A style followed by (NT) is a rewritten style from the Nippon Tech sourcebook. A style followed by (TC) is a rewritten style from the Tokyo Citybook. The tests for the listed Disiplines are not listed as they will vary from sensei to sensei depending on various situations (I doubt there are very many rabbits on Marketplace for the Rabbit Chase.) A Discipline followed by (*) indicates a new Discipline.
Ninjitsu (NT)
Ninjitsu is the only form of true martial arts on Core Earth that did not go into seclusion 500 years ago. Instead, its practitioners remained out in the open (comparatively speaking, they were still very secretive by normal standards) and performed many services in Japan including assassination, spying, sabotage and even bodyguard duty. They are not quasi-mystical warriors with supernatural abilities; Ninjitsu is no more or less powerful than any other true style of martial arts, it just has more rumors and stories associated with it due to its presence in Japanese society for the last 500 years. Because the Ninjitsu masters did not honor the Sons of the Wind agreement 500 years ago, ninja are not looked upon favorably by that organization (which is basically every other true martial artist from Core Earth, so they're not very popular.)
Ninjitsu is a Core Earth martial arts style but there are Marketplace ninja. This is because 3327 learned of the ninja during his scouting of Japan prior to the Possibility Wars and realized that they would be a useful asset in his invasion. 3327 acquired the services of a ninja master and had him brought to Marketplace to introduce Ninjitsu to that cosm. In addition, other ninja clans in Japan were hired by 3327 before the invasion to deny his opposition their services and to swell the small ranks of Marketplace ninja he had at the beginning of the Possibilty Wars. Not all ninja clans were hired by 3327 though, so there are "good" ninja working in Nippon Tech.
The most common form of Ninjitsu teaches the following Disciplines and this is the only style known to Marketplace ninja. There are some variant styles available in Core Earth. No style of Ninjitsu grants extra attribute points or restricts the use of Possibilities on the Reality skill - that's just one of the many rumors that exist about ninja.
Disciplines:
1. Block/Strike
2. Lightning Fist
3. Spring Attack
4. Missle Dodge
5. Felling the Oak
6. Invisibility
7. Weapon Master
Restrictions:
The martial artist must have Stealth, Prestidigitation and Disguise before
a sensei will judge him worthy of learning Ninjitsu and becoming a ninja.
Some variants may have additional or other required skills such as Lock Picking,
Artist(acting), Forgery, Climbing, etc. depending on the primary focus of
that sensei's style. In addition, all ninja must take a vow of secrecy against
revealing the secrets of the style or of disclosing the identity of other
ninja to outsiders. Breaking this vow produces the same result as refusing
a duel, loss of all adds in the Martial Arts skill.
Red Lotus (NT)
Change Strike to Palm Strike and Drop Kick to Spinning Kick . The martial artist must have the Meditation, Long Jumping and Faith (Shinto) skills.
Ancient Shao-Lin (NT)
The required Faith add is in some form of Buddhism.
Change Strike to Balance (*) and Wind Running to Long Life .
Change Block/Strike to Crushing Block , Shout of Warning to Hold (*) and Detect Lie to Nerve Punch .
Change Strike to Palm Strike .
Sokanto (TC)
The martial artist must have Meditation, Willpower and the Find skills.
Aikuchi (TC)
Disciplines:
1. Palm Strike
2. Hold (*)
3. Felling the Oak
4. Shoulder Throw
5. Spring Attack
6. Whirling Attack
7. Iron Fist
This harsh, brutal style is noted for its devotion to causing as much damage as quickly as possible. The martial artist is restricted in that he cannot use his Martial Arts to attack with a melee weapon and so must have the Melee Weapons skill. (NOTE: I have basically rewritten this style completely because it's original form made little sense IMO.)
Kongorikishi (TC)
Change Knife Hand to Whirling Attack and change Cyclone Attack to Thunder Kick . The martial artist must have the Long Jumping and Acrobatics skills.
Mikoto (TC)
Change Sword Master to Weapon Master with a restriction of Weapon Master being limited to swords. The martial artist must have the Meditation, Evidence Analysis and an appropriate Faith skill.
Change Missle Master to Weapon Master (but with no restriction on what type of weapon.) The martial artist must have the Meditation skill and an appropriate Faith skill.
Minor Disciplines
Anticipate - This Akashan Discipline requires the martial artist to know the Telepathy power group. The character is able to read the surface thoughts and intentions of his opponent and react to them as his opponent is making them; this gives the martial artist a +2 bonus to his Martial Arts against that opponent (in addition to any other bonuses he may have such as the +1 bonus if facing someone who does not have Martial Arts.) The drawback is that it takes one round to activate and during that round the martial artist may only generate a Psionic Manipulation skill total against the target's Psionic Resistance or Mind value. If the martial artist fails he does not receive the +2 bonus and cannot attempt it again for the duration of the conflict. The target can nullify the bonus by generating a Psionic Resistance or Mind value greater than the Psionic Manipulation value of the martial artist. If the martial artist switches opponents during the fight he loses the bonus even if he switches back to the original opponent later on. This Discipline can also be negated by the Blank Discipline.
Attunement - This Akashan Discipline allows the martial artist to substitue his Martial Arts skill for the Biotech Weapons skill.
Awareness - The martial artist is attuned to his surroundings and is better able to detect all manner of things. The martial artist receives a +2 bonus to any sensory-based Perception skills.
Balance - The martial artist has great control over his body's coordination and center of gravity, giving him a +2 to Acrobatics and his Martial Arts when defending.
Blank - The martial artist empties his mind of all thought and reacts purely by instinct. This gives him a +2 bonus on Willpower against all forms of Character Interaction and negates the Anticipate Discipline.
Calm - This Discipline allows a Draygaak to come out of a Frenzy easier than normal. The Draygaak may add his Martial Arts adds to his Frenzy skill when attempting to come out of a Frenzy. Note that a Frenzied Draygaak is unable to use Martial Arts and must rely on Unarmed Combat and/or Melee Weapons to make attacks while in a Frenzy.
Hold - This Discipline allows the martial artist to seize his target in such a way that movement is severely restricted. While in a Hold the target is at a -3 penalty on all skills that require movement and will also cause himself damage if he moves or tries to resist the Hold. The damage he takes is equal to his own STR+2 plus the bonus value generated by the martial artist when he first applied the Hold. In addition, the martial artist may elect to cause damage to the target. In this case the damage is the martial artist's STR+2 plus a rolled bonus value. The target may attempt to free himself from the hold by generating an Unarmed Combat or Martial Arts skill total against a DN of the attacker's Martial Arts skill value. On a Good or better success the target manages to escape from the Hold. The martial artist may maintain the Hold as long as he wishes or until the target manages to escape.
Major Disciplines
Blind Sight - The martial artist is able to use his other senses in place of his normal vision. The character can detect living beings out to a radius equal to his Martial Arts adds in meters and can detect objects out to half that distance. Darkness modifiers are ignored for anything within the character's area of effect and the martial artist receives a +4 bonus to his Perception to resist Stealth attempts within his area of effect. The drawback is that the character can be "blinded" by loud noise, strong odors and other strong sensory input that might not normally affect him.
Push - The martial artist is able to tap his Ki to enable him to push himself harder without suffering ill effects. The martial artist may cut fatigue damage from Speed or Power push attempts in half (round up). This does not affect Fatigue results from Maneuvers or the Conflict Line nor any other kind of fatigue result.
Elvish Path of True Knowledge (Aysle)
1. Awareness
2. Blank
3. Missle Dodge
4. Stone Fist
5. Invisibility, Push , Resist Damage or Weapon Master
There are four different styles taught in the elvish temple but the only difference is in the Master Discipline.
Restrictions: The temple of the elvish monks has managed to raise their Social axiom by one point over the normal value of 18 in Aysle which gives them four Minor Disciplines instead of three and one Major Discipline instead of none. They may use all of their Minor Disciplines without risk of contradiction in Aysle but the use of the Major discipline does risk contradiction, though it will only be a one-case contradiction as the elvish monks have the same Social axiom as their temple (see the Delphi Council Worldbook's section on Haiti for more information on this kind of thing.) An elvish monk must have the Faith and Focus skills as well as meeting the behavior requirements outlined in the Ayslish sourcebook. Elvish monks in general must return to their temple to learn new Disciplines as the chances of finding another monk outside the temple to learn from are very slim.
1. Calm
2. Awareness
3-4. Shout of Warning & Stunning Attack
5-6. Sweeping Kick & Instant Up
7-8. Dragon Flight & Serpent's Coils
9. (none so far)
10-11. (none so far)
12. (none so far)
The Draygaak martial arts is a style still being developed and as yet no Draygaak has developed any Major Disciplines for it. In comparison to the berserk nature of a Frenzied Draygaak, the style being developed is very peaceful and non-violent.
Restrictions: The Draygaak must have the Meditation skill and cannot be of Coar alignment.
Shau-toth N'ahlar (Star Sphere)
1. Block/Strike
2. Stop Thrust
3-4. Awareness & Attunement
5-6. Throw & Hold
7-8. Anticipate & Disarm
9. Iron Fist
10-11. Jump & Weapon Master
12. Judge
This is one of the Akashan styles used by some Monitors.
Restrictions: The character must have the Psionic Manipulation skill and the Telepathy power group plus the Faith skill (usually Coar but Zinatt is acceptable.) Characters who have been infected by the Comaghaz and are part of the group mind are unable to use the Martial Arts skill (this applies for all martial arts, not just this one style.)
1. Drop Kick
2. Spinning Kick
3. Instant Up
4 Sacrifice Kick
5. Jump
This flashy kicking style is practiced by some of Wu Han's minions in Cairo. Back on Terra, the style has developed further (due to the higher Social axiom) and adds Spring Attack to the Minor Disciplines, Hail of Blows to the Major Disciplines and Cyclone Attack as the Master Discipline.
Restrictions: The character must have the Acrobatics and Long Jumping skills. In addition, the character's actions in combat create overly loud sound effects (the least of which are the strange cries of the martial artist himself.)
1. Blank
2. Fade
3. Missle Dodge
4. Weakness Probe
5. Detect Lie
Swamis from other cosms (Terra, Core Earth) may know styles similar to this one but will benefit from their higher Social axioms. In general the Disciplines represent facets of the Findaru belief about everything being part of Harat and that seperateness is just an illusion. The Swami is able to see through this illusion and use it to his benefit (avoid danger, find weaknesses, identify deceit, etc.)
Restrictions: The character must be a Swami, which means he must have the Meditation skill and Faith(Findaru) and follow the other restrictions outlined in the Orrorsh sourcebook.
1. Crushing Block
2. Ki Punch
3. Spring Attack
Conditions in Tharkold (like the Law of Ferocity) have prevented the Race from developing martial arts to the full extent allowed by their Social axiom. While development beyond this level is possible, no one has actually acheieved it in the cosm. This is a style used by Race warrior-priests from the region known as the Orient on Core Earth.
Restrictions: The character must have Faith(Way of the Race) and may not possess any cyberware that enhances his physical or mental abilities (because power must come from within, not from external tools.) He may however possess cyberware that grants him abilities outside the normal abilities of humans (thermal imaging, radiohear, etc.)
1. Missle Dodge
2. Kick Disarm
3. Feint
4. Weakness Probe
5. Ki Punch
6. Detect Lie
7. Flashback
This style is one commonly practiced by corporate types in Marketplace because its philosophical background is suited for the corporate environment. It's primary focus is on achieving goals and "striving for the top" with the necessary requirement of internal power being expressed as "you are the only one who can do what is necessary to make yourself superior". It's combat applications are primarily defensive in nature as overt action is rarely the way to get ahead in Marketplace, but when overt action is called for, it is usually swift and decisive. 3327 is believed to practice Kubatoshi though how many Disciplines he is capable of using is unknown.
Restrictions: The character must have the Find skill and a Spirit of 10 or greater (the average person does not have the confidence necessary to improve himself) and must be able to afford the fees imposed by the sensei for the lessons.
These are some of the common forms of martial arts available in several cosms. Each form will list the true style it is based off of, what kind of style it is (Unarmed Combat or Melee Weapons) and its special ability. Note that there can be numerous variations of a form and some may have different special abilities. For example, two different forms of Tai Chi are included below.
Jida Chen (Marketplace)
From: Seda Chen
Type: Unarmed Combat
Special Ability: Iron Fist (damage is STR+2 though)
From: Tai Chi
Type: Unarmed Combat
Special Ability: Balance
Tai Chi B (Core Earth)
From: Tai Chi
Type: Unarmed Combat
Special Ability: Stunning Attack (+2 on acting value)
Akido (Core Earth)
From: Aikido
Type: Unarmed Combat
Special Ability: Hold (skill penalty is only -1 and
damage is straight STR plus bonus value)
From: Atemi-Waza
Type: Unarmed Combat
Special Ability: Palm Strike (damage
is STR+1 though)
From: Jujutsu
Type: Unarmed Combat
Special Ability: Throw (but reduce distance thrown by 2 meters, minimum
distance one meter)
Shau-toth Braknar (Star Sphere)
From: Shau-toth N'ahlar
Type: Melee Weapons
Special Ability: Substitute for Unarmed Combat & Dodge (against Missle
Weapons)
Elvish Path of True Knowledge (Aysle)
From: Elvish Path of True Knowledge
Type: Melee Weapons
Special Ability: Substitute for Unarmed Combat & Dodge (against Missle
Weapons)
Savate (Core Earth)
From: none
Type: Unarmed Combat
Special Ability: Leaping Kick (damage is STR+2 though)
Chokami (Marketplace)
From: Mikami
Type: Melee Weapons
Special Ability: Dagger Dance
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page modified slightly 8/21/2002