I've said it before (under past screen names like Luci or Faminefields or whatever), but I think the best way to avoid this whole mess is to:
A> Lump ALL hand-to-hand fighting skills (MA, Brawl, Fencing, Melee) into one skill simply called "Hand-to-Hand," which represents an amalgam of that character's fighting ability using whatever techniques they know. A character who has an 8 in HTH has an 8 in HTH, no matter how he got there...studying Wang Chung in the Far Hills of The Gungwai Province of yadda-yadda or just learning a little of everything in countless dirty streetfights. They can call their style whatever they want. The HTH skill is an across-the-board measure of the sum of their ability. Thrown weapons of ANY TYPE are missile weapons and not HTH weapons and are either treated under athletics or under their own skill.
B> Take the amount of points they have in Hand-to-Hand and allow them to distribute it between the key moves (strike, kick, etc.), with a maximum of +4 in any given move. This is what fleshes them out. They can dump it all into attacks, be more of a defensive type, or spread it around. If they are into some art in real life, they can base it on that.
C> Since your skill in HTH is a reflection of how dangerous you are with all things considered, there is one single difficulty modifier for increasing it: x3. It may be high, but this is nasty business, and anyone who does this so much as to have a huge score in it has risked death, maiming, mutilations, and whatever else to get that good at hurting people up close like that. Teachers (coaches, senseis, mentors, etc.) should be able to help, just like any other skill.
This is a bit of an oversimplification of the system I came up with (and have promised to contribute yet never delivered)--I had done things like add a few key moves for hand weapons and some other small mods....But I have to say that never again having to:
1. look things up in huge lists of martial arts...
2. deal with people agonizing over "What's the best one?"...
3. deal with players who are into martial arts commenting on the game's "inconsistencies with real life"...
4. hear about some "Superstyle" someone found in some munchkin-oriented supplement or website...
martial arts rules
in Cyberpunk RPG Rules and Guidelines
Posted
I've said it before (under past screen names like Luci or Faminefields or whatever), but I think the best way to avoid this whole mess is to:
A> Lump ALL hand-to-hand fighting skills (MA, Brawl, Fencing, Melee) into one skill simply called "Hand-to-Hand," which represents an amalgam of that character's fighting ability using whatever techniques they know. A character who has an 8 in HTH has an 8 in HTH, no matter how he got there...studying Wang Chung in the Far Hills of The Gungwai Province of yadda-yadda or just learning a little of everything in countless dirty streetfights. They can call their style whatever they want. The HTH skill is an across-the-board measure of the sum of their ability. Thrown weapons of ANY TYPE are missile weapons and not HTH weapons and are either treated under athletics or under their own skill.
B> Take the amount of points they have in Hand-to-Hand and allow them to distribute it between the key moves (strike, kick, etc.), with a maximum of +4 in any given move. This is what fleshes them out. They can dump it all into attacks, be more of a defensive type, or spread it around. If they are into some art in real life, they can base it on that.
C> Since your skill in HTH is a reflection of how dangerous you are with all things considered, there is one single difficulty modifier for increasing it: x3. It may be high, but this is nasty business, and anyone who does this so much as to have a huge score in it has risked death, maiming, mutilations, and whatever else to get that good at hurting people up close like that. Teachers (coaches, senseis, mentors, etc.) should be able to help, just like any other skill.
This is a bit of an oversimplification of the system I came up with (and have promised to contribute yet never delivered)--I had done things like add a few key moves for hand weapons and some other small mods....But I have to say that never again having to:
1. look things up in huge lists of martial arts...
2. deal with people agonizing over "What's the best one?"...
3. deal with players who are into martial arts commenting on the game's "inconsistencies with real life"...
4. hear about some "Superstyle" someone found in some munchkin-oriented supplement or website...
...were all worth it.
M.S.