Martial arts

From MegaTravellerWiki

Martial arts in MegaTraveller are somewhat lacking. There is only one skill that governs hand-to-hand combat, called Brawling, and it covers both improvised melee weapons (such as bottles and broken furniture) as well as basic punches.

In a later product in the Traveller product line, a Martial Arts skill is introduced at some point -- otherwise the Enhanced Police Characters career path by David Jaques-Watson would not be capable of making mention of it. However, as I only have access to the MegaTraveller material at this time, I figure I'd be better off writing my own system rather than trying to hunt down a single elusive skill in some other product.

Enter the MTWiki Martial Arts system. Based loosely off of Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0 by R.Talsorian Games, with some feedback of Ninjas and Superspies by Palladium Games, it's a complicated system that should make that bar fight just as varied and interesting as a gun fight!

Martial Arts combat is performed using the same Short and Long Action system as The MTWiki Revised Combat System, and makes use of the same initiative system. Characters in hand-to-hand combat act in the same turn order as do people operating guns, and may seize initiative to act first or otherwise.

Caught in Melee

When a person is attacked in melee combat, they are no longer capable of performing actions with free will due to the assumed interference of the person who is attacking them. They may freely seize initiative (contrary to the rules on p.70). Any time a person attempts to perform a non-melee action while caught in melee, they must roll on the following task:

If the person attempting to make a different action fails to complete the above task roll, the action they attempted is wasted. A weapon will have discharged harmlessly into the air, a knife the person attempts to draw will be knocked away, the person will not have been able to reach the control panel to launch the torpedo, etc. The referee is the arbiter of what exactly a failure entails, but in any case the person is not entitled to make the above task roll and then change their declaration if the roll fails.

Note that being "caught in melee" applies only when there are enemies adjacent to you who have already engaged you in melee combat, and only if those enemies are not stunned or unconscious. If you are caught in melee, you should consider using a blow to stun the enemy or a grapple to knock back the enemy before trying to perform the action.

This rule was written to allow for exciting situations, such as a person pulling a pistol and trying to shoot someone else (attempting to make a Fast Draw action), only to have the pistol knocked out of the way (the person is Caught in Melee) and discharge in the air (the task fails). Picture also the excitement of a thriller movie where the protagonist is trying to flee from the murderer (attempting to make a Move action), but the murderer is grabbing onto her ankle (she is Caught in Melee): only by kicking the murderer and stunning him (Basic Kick against a down opponent) can the protagonist escape with her life.

Melee Combat

Melee combat is a progressive series of Blows and Defences or Grapples and Escapes.

Blows are moves that are intended to knock down or damage the opponent. Examples include punches, kicks, palm strikes, sweep kicks, etc. Swinging a melee weapon such as a sword or club is also considered a Blow.

Grapples are moves that are intended to push, pull, trip, or restrain the opponent. Examples include shoves, throws, leg hooks, choke holds, arm locks, leg locks, pins, disarms, etc. Using a melee weapon to attempt to hold or shove the opponent (such as using a rifle or staff from behind to choke someone) is also considered a Grapple.

Defences are moves that are intended to avoid Blows or Grapples. Examples include tumbles, dodges, parries, catches, parry-ripostes, etc. Some Defences may also cause damage to the attacker if successfully used.

Escapes are moves that are intended to cancel a restraining Grapple if Defences failed to avoid the Grapple. Examples include flips, reverse elbow strikes, etc.

None of the Defences or other forms of evasion apply to ranged combat; even a legendary kung fu master can be shot and killed easily. Dodging bullets is very theatrical but has no place in realism. (You will note that the "To hit a target with direct fire" task in the Player's Manual is not a confrontation task.)

Melee Combat Procedure

There are two types of aggressive manoeuvres that can be made in hand-to-hand or melee weapon combat: a Blow or a Grapple. Collectively these are referred to as "melee combat attacks". All melee combat attacks in the MTWiki Martial Arts system are Short Actions, meaning that under ordinary circumstances, a person will have two Melee attacks per round.

When it comes to be the turn of the person, they should already have selected a type of Blow or Grapple to perform against their target. People can only select from moves which are available to the Martial Art that they know; if they want to attempt a non-standard move, they increase the difficulty of the to-hit task by one level. They must then declare the exact move they are attempting: "Colga makes a basic punch against the security guard." Once all seized initiative is out of the way, the attack can then be put into practice.

When attempting to make a melee combat attack, called a "Fight" action in the MTWiki revised combat system, the attacker must first make a roll to determine whether the attack can be made, using the standard task from the Player's Manual, reproduced here (with a simpler format):

Remember the margin by which the roll succeeded: this is the "Active Defence Penalty". For instance, if you required a 6+ to succeed and you rolled a 7, you have achieved an Active Defence Penalty of 1.

If you have successfully rolled the to-hit task, you do not automatically hit. The enemy still has a chance to defend against your attack, choosing an Active Defence which is applicable to the attack.

Blows

 Manoeuvre             DF   Pen    DV   Atk   Bal    Stand    Prone   Special
--------------------  ----  ----  ----  ----  ----  -------  ------- ----------
 Basic Punch            0     1     1     0     1     High     High
 Basic Kick             0     2     2     0     2       --   Normal
 Improved Punch         1     1     1     1     0     High     High
 Snap Kick              1     2     2     1     1      Low   Normal
 Palm Strike            1     0     2     1     1     High     High
 Haymaker               2     1     3    -1     2     High      --
 Elbow Strike           2     2     2     1     1     High      --
 Sweep Kick             2     1     1     1     2    V.Low      --    Knockdown
 Turn Kick              2     2     2     1     2   Normal      --
 Feint                  3     *     *     *     1       *        *    See Rules
 Gutshot                4     *     *     *     2   Normal      --    See Rules
 Slap                   0     0     *     0     1     High     High   See Rules

• Manoeuvre is the name of the maneouvre attempted.
• DF is the Difficulty Factor of the attack and is used as a DM both for the difficulty of training in the particular move as well as for successfully employing that move.
• Pen is the Armour Penetration value, using the standard Penetration rules from MegaTraveller.
• DV is the Damage Value of the attack, using the system provided in the MTWiki revised combat system.
• Atk is the attack bonus of the attack, used as a modifier to defeat an enemy's active Defence roll.
• Bal is the balance cost of the attack, which indicates how much the attack imbalances the attacker for the remainder of the round. Imbalanced fighters are easier to grapple or hit in melee combat.
• Stand is the Aspect/Offset variant that the move uses when applied against a standing target. "--" means the attack may not be performed against a standing target.
• Prone is the Aspect/Offset variant that the move uses when applied against a downed target. "--" means the attack may not be performed against a downed target.

Basic Punch

The basic punch is the most rudimentary blow. It involves drawing back the fist then pushing it forward as hard as possible, accelerating all the while, until it strikes the target. Even without training, all people have access to the basic punch.

Basic Kick

The basic kick is a very simple attack effected by the foot, and generally reflects on a lack of training. The fighter draws back their foot, then swings it forward hoping to use the thick part of the foot beneath the toes to connect with the downed enemy in the enemy's abdomen, chest, or head.

Combatants are unable to use basic kicks against standing opponents. However, the basic kick can also be used against a standing small animal.

All people can use basic kicks, regardless of training, unless their leg is otherwise restrained.

Improved Punch

The improved punch is an advancement over the basic punch and is almost always included as part of any hand-to-hand training. The main benefit is that the improved punch does not involve drawing back the fist: the fist is kept in an ordinary stance and is suddenly and explosively delivered to the target, with maximum acceleration applied immediately before impact. This makes the attack harder to defend against than a basic punch.

Snap Kick

Basic combat training usually gives a person access to the snap kick, a minor improvement over the basic kick. The first benefit is that the foot is not drawn back before it is delivered: it is explosively released, making the attack harder to predict. The second benefit is that the blow can be delivered against a standing opponent, unlike a basic kick -- due to the fact that the snap kick inflicts nearly twice as much damage as the improved punch, a martial artist often makes considerable use of kicks in his repertoire.

Palm Strike

The palm strike is effected by using the explosive force of the entire arm focused at the thick base of the palm. The hand is tilted back from the arm at ninety degrees and the part of the palm that is directly in line with the forearm is what is used as the striking surface (the actual palm itself is not used, as this would amount to little more than a slap and would break the attacker's wrist).

A palm strike, if it manages to connect, inflicts more damage than a punch because of the sheer force involved. However, due to the broad surface used to strike the target, it is also useless against anything except an unarmoured target.

Haymaker

A "haymaker" is an extremely forceful blow where the person uses their back muscles in addition to their shoulder muscles and arm muscles in order to effect an incredibly devastating punch against an enemy.

Elbow Strike

The hardest bones in the human body are the bones that make up the elbow; even the kneecap does not compare to the sheer durability of the elbow. The elbow strike is intended to capitalise on the elbow's intense hardness. To make an elbow strike, the attacker bends the arm at ninety degrees, then swings their upper arm to impact the target with the flat side of the forearm that is in line with the elbow and upper arm.

Sweep Kick

The sweep kick is a sudden and forceful strike with the shin where the attacker drops onto their haunches and rotates their leg with extreme force, delivering a powerful blow against the enemy's ankle or side of the lower leg. If a sweep kick successfully connects, the target must roll on the following task to avoid being knocked down:

Turn Kick

The turn kick involves standing towards an opponent, then turning slightly in order to kick "sideways" against the opponent, using the torso as a counterbalance to allow the kick to strike the target at any height from head to toe.

Feint

When a person wants to unbalance a skilled opponent, they will make a feint. Feints are declared like any other attack. The opponent must defend against a feint using a normal Active Defence: it is treated like any other attack. A feint is hard to pull off successfully, but if successfully applied it can mean an enemy's defeat.

If the opponent fails to defend against a feint, instead of causing damage, the feint provides 5 points of Imbalance to the defender.

Gutshot

The gutshot is a special technique practised by people skilled in the so-called art of "gunjutsu", where handguns are used as extensions of the body. Making a gutshot involves special training, where the fighter continues to knock away offending blows from the enemy until an opening appears that allows the combatant to point a pistol under the target's ribcage and then fire at point blank. Such a manoeuvre is not to be underestimated: it is considerably easier to make a gutshot manoeuvre than it is to attempt a point-blank firing with a pistol using normal means. Thankfully, it remains a very rare art.

If the pistol shot manoeuvre is successful, the practicioner will fire once with the pistol. If the target's Active Defence is not successful, the opponent will be hit directly in the abdomen with a single shot from the pistol; otherwise the shot will miss.

Any fighter who draws pistols in melee combat will usually have his or her pistols disarmed at high priority, so this skill is most dangerous in the opening moments of melee combat.

Slap

A slap is an open-palmed smack delivered against a target, usually used to express anger or admonishment. It is almost never used as a legitimate attack form except for entertainment purposes (such as "geek fight" or "foxy boxing" shows).

Any successful slap which succeeds in penetrating the target's armour inflicts 1 Damage Point (not 1 Damage Value) of Non-Lethal Damage.

A slap against an active melee combatant is ordinarily broadly targetted as a sort of impotent flailing -- such an attack will strike anywhere from the chest to the shoulder to the face, and can also make a near miss (temporarily distracting the opponent). If a combatant actually wants to smack an active combatant across the face specifically, it must be resolved as an Aimed Shot to the Head; failure means a wasted action. Note, however, that this applies only to an active combatant. A slap can hit an unwitting or incapacitated combatant on the face automatically.

TODO

Grapples

TODO

Defences

 Manoeuvre             DF   Def   DBal  ABal
--------------------  ----  ----  ----  ----
 Block                  0     2     0     0
 Catch                  1     2     1     1
 Push Away Blow         1     1     2     0
 Parry                  2     2     1     1

TODO

• Manoeuvre is the name of the manoeuvre attempted.
• DF is the Difficulty Factor of the defence and is used as a DM for the ability to be performed as well as the difficulty of training that maneouvre.
• Def is the defence bonus of the defence, used as a modifier to defeat the attacker's active Attack roll.
• DBal is the defender's balance cost of the defence and the number of imbalance points received by the defender when the defence is attempted.
• ABal is the attacker's balance penalty of the defence, and is the number of imbalance points the attacker is forced to receive if the defender chooses this defence method.

Block

A block is a primitive form of melee defence that involves placing an available hand, arm, or leg in the path of the attack. It causes the damage to be suffered by that body part rather than the torso. However, it causes no imbalance to the defender, making it a tactically useful skill even for martial artists at certain times.

All people instinctively know how to block.

Catch

A catch is an effort to intercept the entire force of the impact with the palm, arm, or leg, cushioning the blow like a shock absorber until the attacker's swing or thrust is stopped over a short distance (rather than stopped instantly, like a block). Though this forces the defender to suffer half of the damage of the attack against an appropriate limb, it is less unbalancing than pushing away a blow and causes a point of imbalance to the attacker.

Push Away Blow

Push away blow is a move designed to push away an incoming swing or thrust, forcing the enemy to hit only empty air rather than the intended body part. Unfortunately, the concentration required to anticipate the opponent's limb successfully enough to put a hand or shin to it and push it aside causes the defender to be significantly unbalanced as a result.

Anyone may attempt to push a blow away.

Parry

A skillful fighter can learn the parry, which allows the attacker's blow to be met with a sharp blow that knocks it into a harmless path instantly, rather than pushing it away slowly and forcing the defender to concentrate significantly on the act. A parry causes a point of imbalance to both the attacker and the defender.

Entangle

An entangle is an attempt to catch the limb being used by the attacker, turning the attack into a Grapple on the part of the defender. The grapple chosen must be an appropriate technique according to the limb used in the attack. Though quite difficult to pull off, an entangle can quickly turn an attack around.

Redirect

The redirect technique is a sneaky move that fools the attacker into stepping into and swinging at the defender in such a way that the defender can dodge and allow the swing to carry through into another person nearby.

If successful, the attacker is placed into the same space as the defender, the defender is moved to an empty adjacent space, and the unintended target must now attempt to defend against the attack. There is a penalty to hit (a good thing) because the original attacker is already attempting to slow the attack after perceiving a miss.

Both the original attacker and the defender are severely imbalanced by this defence.

Dodge

A dodge is an effort to move part, some, or all of the defender's body out of the way of the attack, rather than moving the attack out of the way. A successful dodge puts the attacker significantly off balance, but also puts the defender significantly off balance and is more difficult to perform.

Escapes

TODO

Standard Martial Arts

TODO

Creating Martial Arts

TODO