“Martial arts” describes a huge variety of disciplines with many different objectives and philosophies (such as those discussed in External vs. Internal, Hard vs. Soft). It can be hard to tell where one art ends and another begins, but in general, a “martial art” or “style” is any body of fighting methods and tactics – aesthetic, competitive, or combative in focus – taught together for long enough to acquire a distinct identity. These terms are often synonymous with “school” or even “master,” and occasionally refer to a collection of schools – even rivals – that teach the same abilities in game terms.
This means that if a single set of skills and techniques describes a whole collection of related traditions, this section treats them as one style – although the entry for that style discusses its history and variants. Conversely, if several traditions with identical origins teach different skills and techniques – common when a venerable style diverges to serve multiple, incompatible purposes – they get separate entries. The most common schism is that between a style’s “combat” forms and other forms; see Do vs. Jutsu.
This section distinguishes styles on the basis of abilities in order to provide another tool for individualizing characters – another roleplaying “hook.” Each player can pick the style that suits his vision of his PC and be certain that this selection influences his options on the battlefield. The chosen style sets aside his PC’s actions from those of PCs who practice other styles, thus ensuring that each hero is distinctive even in combat, where dice and rules often threaten to eclipse roleplaying.
To ensure that there are plenty of choices, this section describes many different styles – some defunct, some current, and some fictional. The GM is free to modify these to suit his game and his view of the martial arts. In a realistic campaign, nearly any combination of believable abilities is supportable; the world is full of hybrid styles and breakaway schools. In a cinematic campaign, all that matters is that each style offers an interesting set of cinematic abilities so that players can use it to create fun and memorable PCs!
In game terms, the tactics and methods of a style are a collection of skills, techniques, and perks. Some of these components represent the style’s most basic principles, taught to all students. A martial artist must buy all such required elements to qualify for lessons that teach the style’s more advanced moves, which aren’t mandatory.
The next few sections explain how a martial artist must spend points acquired though training at his style (for details on point costs and learning times, see Buying a Style, pp. 146-148). This means his starting points plus points earned by studying at his school, unless the GM rules otherwise. He can spend points awarded during adventures however he wishes, within the limits set by Adding and Improving Skills and Techniques (p. B292). He can even learn his style’s advanced elements by studying another style that treats them as basic… although his master might disapprove!
Not all styles have every component discussed below. Some consist of core skills without techniques. Others offer no perks. Many lack cinematic abilities. If a style omits any of these items, it’s intentional.
Heroic Archer, Trained by a Master, and Weapon Master are explicitly listed as optional traits only for styles for which they’re extraordinarily appropriate. A student of any style must possess one of these traits in order to learn cinematic skills, though – these advantages are prerequisites for such skills. A martial artist who lacks such an advantage must learn it (see Learning Secret Martial-Arts Techniques, p. B293) before he can have cinematic skills that depend on it. The GM decides whether the master who taught him his mundane abilities can provide this training.
Cinematic skills may have mundane skills as prerequisites, too. If these aren’t part of the style, the student is expected to venture outside his school, learn the necessary skills, and return. The absence of extracurricular skills from the style doesn’t make them any less necessary.
Attempts to improve a style’s cinematic techniques are subject to the same rules.
A style’s skills are its irreducible core. They represent the majority of any student’s training. The most important skills are of course combat skills: weapon skills for armed styles; Boxing, Brawling, and Karate for unarmed striking styles; Judo, Sumo Wrestling, and Wrestling for unarmed grappling styles; and a mixture of these for well-rounded styles.
Non-combat skills may show up as well, and say a lot about the style’s character. Arts with a strong sports element require Games. Styles for mounted warriors include Riding. Very formal styles incorporate Savoir-Faire (Dojo). Some traditional martial arts claim to be a path to enlightenment, and teach Meditation, Philosophy, or Theology.
To learn a style and qualify to buy any of its other components, a student must spend at least a point on each skill under “Skills” (but not those under “Cinematic Skills” or “Optional Traits”). This is figured into style cost.
A style often carries a body of legend… tales of feats that true masters can perform. These are its cinematic skills, and represent a heroic exaggeration of its teachings. Not every style includes cinematic skills. Modern “scientific” styles developed for military, police, or sporting purposes are too young to have much of a mythology – and their no-nonsense instructors tend to shoot down improbable claims.
A martial artist must spend at least a point on each of his style’s mundane skills and buy its Style Familiarity before he can learn his style’s cinematic skills. Thus, the prerequisites of these skills are the usual ones plus the basic components of an appropriate style.
Each style lists the techniques that students can improve via study at any orthodox school of that art – or even without instruction, if they earn enough points during an adventure – once they’ve bought Style Familiarity and spent a point on each of the style’s skills. Anyone may attempt any technique that defaults to any of his skills. If it doesn’t appear as part of a style he knows, though, raising it above default requires outside instruction.
The GM may ease this restriction, but enforcing it has its benefits. For one thing, it gives combat a roleplaying dimension, with each fighter having his own “repertoire” of moves. It also makes it easier for players to remember the techniques available to them, as it’s simpler to learn the game effects of a handful of techniques than those of every possible technique – especially for players who lack personal martial-arts experience and have trouble visualizing what’s going on.
A martial artist doesn’t have to spend points on any of his style’s techniques. They’re always optional. In game terms, raising one or two techniques per skill above default – possibly to their maximum – is a good investment. It’s an inexpensive way to enjoy a higher effective combat skill in some specialized situations. This is realistic. Martial artists who have learned a style’s basics (its skills) do tend to specialize in a few favorite moves.
However, a martial artist who wishes to improve more than a couple of techniques for a skill is better off raising the skill. He’ll need a lot of time and points to improve his skill to the point where his default with a technique equals a specialist’s level . . . but when he’s done, he’ll be a formidable foe. This, too, is realistic. In the long term, a well-rounded fighter will be more successful, because he’ll have more tools in his toolbox.
A style’s cinematic techniques are the least-realistic techniques commonly attributed to it. They’re separated from regular techniques only because they’re more appropriate for cinematic campaigns than for realistic ones. To improve them, a martial artist must have Trained by a Master or Weapon Master, Style Familiarity, and at least a point in each of the style’s mundane skills. Any martial artist can attempt his style’s cinematic techniques at default, however.
Most styles include a few useful bits of knowledge that, once taught, change the way a martial artist views and practices his art. There’s a clear difference in thinking “before” and “after” learning each of these things. Many of them seem obvious once learned – but most aren’t! Unlike skills and techniques, you either know these secrets or you don’t. Once you do, you work them into your exercises and your grasp of them improves in tandem with your skills; you don’t study them independently.
In game terms, these are martial arts-related perks. They come in two varieties, both acquired just like skills and techniques.
Each style has its own Style Familiarity perk. This represents rote memorization of the art’s stances and movements. It has little to do with performing such moves – that’s skill. It simply makes it possible to recognize those forms well enough that they won’t come as a complete surprise. In game terms, a fighter with Style Familiarity ignores -1 in defense penalties from feints and Deceptive Attacks by co-stylists.
Any martial artist who “knows” a style should have its Style Familiarity. Some stripped-down self-defense schools omit this… with negative consequences.
To learn a style and be able to buy its Style Perks and cinematic skills and techniques, a student must buy its Style Familiarity perk. This is figured into style cost.
Improvements to combat skills and techniques correspond primarily to increases in accuracy. Not all advanced martial-arts classes have this goal in mind, however. Some teach how to fight under adverse conditions, eliminating penalties rather than providing bonuses. Others show students new, unorthodox applications of lessons they’ve already learned. Familiarization with another style – with the goal of imparting the tools to adapt its techniques – is common, too. Unusual exercise regimens intended to toughen body parts or develop other physical advantages are yet another possibility.
Each form of special training corresponds to a special perk called a “Style Perk.” An exceptional time investment in learning the style’s more mainstream components is the surest path to Style Perks. A student with Style Familiarity may buy one Style Perk per full 10 points he has in that style’s techniques and required skills. A martial artist never has to learn Style Perks. The training they represent isn’t universal, and is optional even when offered.
The components discussed so far are things taught by almost every school of a style. Some are more common than others; many are optional. However, the GM should make them available to PCs who meet the prerequisites and receive instruction in the style, unless there’s a good setting-related reason to forbid this.
Items listed under “Optional Traits” are less cut-and-dried. They aren’t so much components of the style as they are elements frequently associated with it. Possibilities include extra “entrance requirements” enforced by demanding masters; prerequisites for instruction in the art’s more mainstream teachings at certain schools; advanced training; and consequences of training. Where left unspecified, such details are up to the GM.
Optional advantages are most often either traits that would lead somebody to study and succeed at the style or learnable advantages (p. B294) taught only at particular schools. More rarely, they’re entrance requirements for exceptionally strict schools. See Desirable Advantages (p. 43) for many suitable examples. A few traits bear special mention:
Cultural Familiarity: Martial artists might have no choice but to travel abroad if they wish to study certain styles. Even if they learn at home, a martial art from a foreign land might encourage or even pressure them to become familiar with the art, food, music, and values of its background culture. This is especially true when the master hails from that culture! Any of these situations could justify Cultural Familiarity (p. B23).
Languages: As noted for Cultural Familiarity, those who study foreign styles might end up immersed in foreign ways. This definitely includes Languages (p. B23). A given master or school might refuse to instruct students in any language but that of the style’s homeland, because only that tongue has a vocabulary capable of properly explaining the style’s moves . . . or because the master speaks only that language!
Unusual Abilities: The style’s teachings might even enable students to buy cinematic advantages: Enhanced Time Sense, Extra Attack, Innate Attack, etc. These are subject to the same prerequisites as cinematic skills. See Chapter 2 for many examples.
Optional disadvantages are a mixture of traits that might influence a martial artist to pick this style over another, pledges required of new students at strict schools (most of which are self-imposed mental disadvantages; see p. B121), and side effects of training. A particular disadvantage can fall into more than one category. For instance, someone might elect to study Sumo because he’s Fat . . . or end up Fat after practicing Sumo and eating the diet it prescribes. See Common Disadvantages (p. 53) for possibilities.
Optional skills fall into three categories: •Skills that only some masters regard as “basic.” If the GM rules that an optional skill works this way, it goes on the main skill list for that school and adds a point to style cost.
• Skills that all students of the style are encouraged to study in order to gain a fuller understanding of the style. These are never necessary for the skilled practice of the style.
•Skills reserved for advanced students. These play a similar role to techniques, Style Perks, and cinematic skills: they’re never required, but martial artists who wish to learn them must first buy Style Familiarity and put a point into each of the style’s basic skills. The GM decides which niche each optional skill occupies.
A source of perpetual debate in the martial-arts world is the question “Which styles are better than what others?” The reality – which GURPS tries to model – is that almost any martial art can make a capable fighter out of somebody with suitable physical, mental, and emotional potential . . . but some styles do so more readily than others.
Not all styles are created equal – some truly are superior for certain purposes. Styles created for combat turn out apt fighters but rarely graceful kata performers or tournament winners. Dedicated sports styles produce contenders who perform better under controlled conditions than in a “street fight.” And styles optimized for fitness and relaxation rarely train warriors or champs, but are more likely than other styles to have a positive effect on the average person’s health.
There is no “best” or “ultimate” style, though. Styles are good for what they’re designed for. Judo, Tae Kwon Do, and Karate were designed as sports. Their practitioners focus on competition – although some become tough fighters. On the other hand, a Jeet Kune Do, MCMAP, or Krav Maga stylist learns to fight. He’d probably lose badly in a kata competition or a light-contact match scored on proper form, but pit him against an assailant in a dark alley and the result would be quite different. Mixed martial arts attempt to bridge this gap, training martial artists for full-contact matches but sharply limiting the use of techniques that are effective but likely to inflict crippling injury.
In a cinematic game, all bets are off. A realistic combat style might churn out capable warriors . . . but these would face easy defeat at the hands of disciples of more artistic styles with working chi powers. Sports styles might be every bit as effective in a deadly fight as in the ring. And the most “peaceful” arts might teach techniques capable of defeating any foe!
It’s rare for every school of a style to teach in an identical fashion – or even to profess a uniform style. Some belong to large federations that attempt to dictate a standardized curriculum. Others are independent, however, or part of a loose group that doesn’t try to enforce standards.
The GM can use this to justify modifying a style for the students of a specific school or master. He should be generous in allowing players to request changes to styles – within limits. Players who desire custom-designed styles should refer to Creating New Styles instead.
In some game worlds, Style vs. Style (p. 143) is hokum. There is an “ultimate” style (or styles – some settings have several), and it’s the wellspring of all other martial arts. Other styles are merely aspects of the True Way. The ultimate style is the True Way.
Trained by a Master is always a prerequisite for learning an ultimate style. By definition, anyone who knows the ultimate source of the martial arts is a master! Weapon Master is suitable for an armed ultimate style – although most ultimate styles profess that “a true master needs no weapons” and provide the ability to back up the claim. Those trained in an ultimate style are familiar with every style derived from it and must purchase a 20-point Unusual Background that counts as Style Familiarity with all styles.
An ultimate style contains all techniques and all of the skills from which they default, as well as all cinematic skills. It may also contain a few “invincible” or “unstoppable” moves with ludicrously steep default penalties; design these using Creating New Techniques (p. 89-95). It sometimes contains Combat Art and Sport versions of its combat skills, but a master can usually get by on defaults from his extraordinarily high combat skills. The GM might even consider using Wildcard Skills for Styles (p. 60).
Fictional ultimate styles include Sumito (from Steven Perry’s “Matador Series”) and Sinanju (from Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir’s Destroyer books). Some people claim that certain real-world styles are ultimate styles. T’ai Chi Chuan (pp. 200-201), Shaolin Kung Fu (p. 194), Ninjutsu (see Ninja and Ninjutsu, p. 202), and Te (pp. 169-170) would all work as the basis for an ultimate style. So would Pankration (pp. 188-189), which some speculate came to India with Alexander the Great and went on to China. In all cases, use the details below and ignore the entry for the style’s realistic version (which might still exist for use by lesser martial artists).
Skills: Acrobatics; Breath Control; Judo; Jumping; Karate; Parry Missile Weapons; Sumo Wrestling; Wrestling.
Techniques: All.
Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting; Body Control; Breaking Blow; Flying Leap; Hypnotic Hands; Immovable Stance; Invisibility Art; Kiai; Light Walk; Lizard Climb; Mental Strength; Power Blow; Precognitive Parry; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets; Push; Sensitivity; Throwing Art; Zen Archery.
Cinematic Techniques: All.
Perks: Skill Adaptation (Brawling techniques default to Karate); Style Adaptation (All); any cinematic Style Perk; any Style Perk from a style descended from the ultimate style (GM chooses).
Optional Traits: Altered Time Rate; Ambidexterity; Combat Reflexes; Enhanced Time Sense; Extra Attack; Weapon Master.
Every would-be student asks, “Which style should I study?” The answer depends in part on that to a more fundamental question: “What do I want to do?” Possibilities include getting in shape, competing, fending off muggers, fighting crime, and killing enemy soldiers. It’s tempting to select a style whose history and reputation seem compatible with your objectives, but it’s crucial to realize that the goals of the school you choose, and of its teachers, are far more important than the style itself. The police academy and YWCA anti-rape program might both teach “karate” – and even share instructors – but you can be sure that the two courses are very different!
The short answer, then, is that nearly any style will do – if your instructor puts the right “spin” on it. Pick a style that’s common in your game world . . . or one you’ve heard of in real life . . . or simply one that sounds interesting. It really doesn’t matter, as long as your choice isn’t too outlandish (e.g., Yabusame – horse archery – isn’t practical for self-defense!). Then modify the style’s training with the “lens” below that best matches your goals. All of these style variations, being practical, automatically exclude cinematic skills and techniques.
Military: Start with any non-military style and spend an extra point on each of Knife (for combat knives) and Spear (for use with bayonets or long arms). If the style includes Combat Art/Sport, Games, or Savoir-Faire (Dojo), make these skills optional – although services that encourage competition might teach Combat Sport or Games. Add Retain Weapon for Knife, Pistol, and Rifle to the style’s techniques. Remove any “fancy” technique that would be difficult to teach usefully in a few weeks of training; this includes any Average technique with a default penalty of -5 or worse and any Hard technique with a default of -4 or worse. The result is a no-nonsense variation on the local fighting style. In affluent nations, recruits might learn a dedicated military style instead; see Styles for Soldiers.
Police: Start with any style and spend two extra points: one on Judo or Wrestling, one on Shortsword or Tonfa. Combat Art/Sport, Games, and Savoir-Faire (Dojo) become optional skills – officers may learn them on their own time. Some instructors integrate Guns (Pistol), Guns (Shotgun), and Liquid Projector (Sprayer) into the training. Add Handcuffing and Retain Weapon (with any weapon your department issues) to the style’s techniques. Omit Average techniques with a default penalty of -5 or worse and Hard techniques with a default of -4 or worse. The specifics of weapons training and techniques depend on the jurisdiction and the individual instructor.
Self-Defense: Buy any style without its Style Familiarity perk. Keep all of its skills. Hard techniques, Style Perks, and optional traits aren’t taught. Training seldom exceeds a point in Judo and/or Karate, and perhaps a point in a few of the style’s Average techniques (Arm Lock, Elbow Strike, and Knee Strike are popular) – although modern women’s self-defense courses might add Eye-Rake, Targeted Attack (Karate Kick/Leg), and similar Hard techniques for discouraging stronger assailants. Those without previous training typically find self-defense lessons stressful, so Quick Learning Under Pressure (p. B292) applies when learning in play. Once per class, roll for each skill and, when the skills are known, each technique. Improvement past the first point in each of these things requires the usual 200 hours a point.
Street: Streetfighters typically rely on Brawling and Melee Weapon skills, but some train. Choose any style and spend an extra point on Brawling if it lacks striking skills or on Wrestling if it has no grappling skills. Put another point into a Melee Weapon skill of your choice – typically Axe/Mace (for wrenches and pipes), Flail (for chains), or Knife. Remove Combat Art/Sport, Games, and Savoir-Faire (Dojo) skills. The GM, playing the role of the instructor, should add a single unorthodox technique (such as Head Butt) or Style Perk (often Clinch or Improvised Weapons) to the style. Optional traits are usually ignored.
Trained by a Fraud: You learned from a fraud or a con artist. He might have been well-meaning but incompetent; a grifter selling a fake art; or a businessman who put fees for memberships, belts, and tests ahead of solid instruction. Regardless of your teacher’s motives, your training is showy but useless. Replace all of the style’s skills with Combat Art versions of its combat skills. Techniques don’t change, but the GM should add one or more worthless techniques (see Useless Techniques). You may also have a Delusion as a result. Overconfidence is appropriate, too: you believe that your skills are as effective as your instructor claims, which could get you into deep trouble…
Lenses are entirely optional. Purists, historical warriors, and cinematic heroes should probably learn “traditional” styles as written. If you do choose a lens, though, it’s best to apply it to a style with goals that complement it. In all cases, it’s helpful to know which arts favor what uses. The next few sections loosely categorize styles by purpose.
One can learn almost any style for “self-defense,” but some styles are more suitable than others. Today, these are generally unarmed styles, both because most people don’t go armed at all times and because there are legal consequences to using a weapon in self-defense. In earlier times – or in rougher areas – weapons might be more common. Those concerned with self-defense in such situations tend to learn armed styles (or simply carry firearms!).
Common styles for self-defense include Aikijutsu, Hapkido, Karate, Krav Maga, and Tae Kwon Do – with or without the “Self-Defense” lens. Short-course self-defense training typically has the lens. However, some students show up seeking self-defense lessons, enjoy the experience, and stay to learn the entire style.
Police fall somewhere between civilians seeking self-defense lessons and soldiers seeking weapons training. Soldiers learn to kill. Civilians train to ward off attackers with minimal harm – and minimal legal consequences! Police generally have restrictions on the amount of force they can use but enjoy greater latitude than civilians.
Police styles favor techniques that can physically control or incapacitate an opponent without inflicting injury. Even societies that presume “guilty until proven innocent” tend to prize capture over killing. These goals differ from those of military styles, which seek to disable the opponent without regard to his safety.
Tokugawa-era Japanese police trained in Taihojutsu; modern Japanese officers train in Aikido, Judo, and/or Kendo. In the U.S., the style depends on the department. Examples include Aikido, Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Hapkido, and Karate… and it’s common for American lawmen to be dedicated students of other styles on their own time.
Military styles – unlike those for self-defense or law enforcement – don’t concern themselves with the opponent’s safety. The goal is to incapacitate the target expediently and by the best available means. In recent centuries, this has most often meant using a firearm.
Historically, emphasis on the martial arts increased with troop quality. Peasants and irregulars rarely received any martial-arts instruction, while professional soldiers learned a combat style. The nobility and other elite warriors – those with ample time to train and the economic means to do so constantly – learned complex styles or even multiple styles. This is still true today: elite special-operations forces generally enjoy superior training.
Near the start of the 20th century, most soldiers learned little more than a series of set attacks and responses. Genuine styles soon emerged, emphasizing a few broadly useful techniques and plenty of aggressiveness. Dedicated military styles include Fairbairn and MCMAP.
The versions of Krav Maga and Sambo given in Martial Arts are “combat” forms of those arts, taught mainly to troops. Some services use stripped-down Brazilian Jiujitsu, or forms of Judo or Jujutsu. Most troops learn bayonet fighting, too; use Jukenjutsu to represent all such training.
“Streetfighting” systems are generally simpler and more direct than other martial arts. They eschew fancy techniques, kata, and art or sport forms in favor of what works in a fight, and openly accept “dirty” techniques such as shots to the groin or eyes. Practicality trumps attractiveness and legality.
Some styles were born “stripped down” for use on the street: Krav Maga is a streetfighting system and Jeet Kune Do is – in the words of Bruce Lee, its creator – “scientific streetfighting.” However, nearly every modern style claims some degree of street utility. The more combat-oriented the style, the less modification it needs for this to be true. Omitting forms, kata, belts, and similar formalities is widely regarded as being a necessary step. A student of even the most artistic style can become a streetfighter – it just requires extreme dedication and training.
Streetfighting styles also include ad hoc “prison” or “prison yard” styles. These have a relatively small body of techniques; they only retain what works. Weapons, if any, are improvised. Emphasis is on quickly eliminating the opponent before the guards see who did what to whom.
Buying a style is a simple matter of purchasing its individual elements at their usual point costs, subject to the rules under Components of a Style. Since a style’s basic components are typically taught together, and are prerequisites for its advanced abilities, it’s useful to know their minimum cost. This is the “style cost,” which appears at the start of each style entry.
Style cost is a point for Style Familiarity plus an additional point per basic, mundane skill. It always equals the number of skills in the style, plus one. Cinematic and optional skills only increase style cost if the GM deems them “required training” in his campaign. No other traits ever influence style cost.
For game purposes, a martial artist doesn’t “know” a style until he buys all of its basic components by spending points equal to style cost. He can always spend more; style cost is the minimum investment to unlock the style’s advanced abilities. The next few sections discuss different ways of making this investment.
A newly created martial artist who’s supposed to “know” a style should possess all of the traits included in its style cost. If he has these things, he can enter play with points in the style’s techniques, cinematic skills (as long as he meets their other prerequisites), and Style Perks (one per 10 points in the style’s skills and techniques). He may also purchase any optional abilities that the GM has set aside for the style’s advanced students.
A PC can learn a new style during the course of the game. As a rule, he must have a teacher; therefore, his first task is to find an instructor. Depending on the campaign and the style, this might be as simple as opening the Yellow Pages or as complex as a quest!
Once the PC has a teacher, he may spend character points on the abilities of the new style, starting with its required components. He must put at least a point into each basic skill he doesn’t already know and then buy Style Familiarity. After spending points equal to style cost, he may acquire advanced abilities if he wishes.
The student can earn the points for his new style via study (see Improvement Through Study, p. B292) or on an adventure that exercises suitable skills. Either way, the most realistic rate of learning is a point per 200 hours of supervised lessons and practice. For a cinematic alternative, see The Training Sequence (below).
In a realistic game, learning a new style involves studying with a teacher (see Learning New Styles During Play, above). Training is a common theme in cinematic stories, too, but traditionally occurs far faster than Improvement Through Study (p. B292) allows – never mind the glacial pace of Learning Secret Martial-Arts Techniques (p. B293). Cinematic heroes learn entire styles in mere days or weeks! Movies help suspend disbelief by inserting a “training sequence.” This is a series of brief scenes – a montage – depicting the hero’s steady improvement and suggesting a lot of time and effort. It always ends in time for the hero to win the big tournament or defeat the bad guys (whose plans were conveniently on hold).
This optional rule describes such a training sequence in game terms. It’s for cinematic games where the PCs lack the downtime for realistic training – and for any gaming group that regards Time Use Sheets (p. B499) as boring accounting. It isn’t just for martial arts. The GM may use a training sequence whenever the PCs have a few days to learn from a great master: musical skills from Apollo, spells from an archmage, and so on.
There are two criteria for a training sequence:
1. A legendary master. The teacher must be a true master of his art. He must have level 20+ with the skills being taught and level 12+ with the Teaching skill. Moreover, he must possess a special advantage that represents his “spark.” For martial arts, this is Trained by a Master or Weapon Master. It might be Magery 3+ for magic, the Spirit meta-trait for shamanic rituals, and so on. Details are up to the GM, who should choose requirements that suit his campaign.
2. An exceptional student. A new martial artist must have no attribute below racial average (10 for a human), and at least two that are two or more levels above this (12+ for a human). The GM may allow Reawakened or a suitable Destiny to substitute; he might even require such a trait. A skilled martial artist adding a new style must know all the skills of another style at level 16+. If he’s trying to add cinematic skills or techniques, he also needs Trained by a Master or Weapon Master. Vary this as needed; for instance, a wizard might need IQ four levels above average and related spells (or the Thaumatology skill) at 16+.
If both conditions are met, choose a training time and roll against the master’s Teaching skill.
Modifiers: The Teaching modifiers on p. B224; the bonuses under Equipment Modifiers (p. B345) for lavish training facilities, but never a penalty for poor (or no) equipment; the modifiers under Time Spent (p. B346) for training periods shorter or longer than a full week (-9 for a day, -7 for a weekend, +2 for a month, or +4 for a season).
Success doesn’t give the students points but enables them to spend earned points on any perks, skills, or techniques the master teaches, to a maximum of points equal to the margin of success. Students with Eidetic Memory add five points to this limit; those with Photographic Memory add 10. Those who have the Laziness disadvantage halve the final limit. Critical success means each student also gains a free point, which he must spend on the abilities his master taught.
Failure means the students learn nothing. On a critical failure, they also suffer training injuries. When the training sequence ends, apply the instructor’s most damaging attack to a random hit location for each student, as if he had struck them!
This rule works best when the heroes have the chance to earn points during game sessions building up to an important tournament or showdown, or on a quest for a legendary master. Just before the adventure’s finale, the GM cuts to the training sequence, describes the lessons and exercises, rolls the dice, and lets the players spend points. Then regular game time resumes and the heroes can use their new abilities to compete, confront their enemy, or pass their “final exam.”
This chapter presents many historical styles and a few non-historical ones. It doesn’t have space for every historical style, though – and fictional worlds need original styles. These are good reasons to design new styles.
The GM has free rein to develop new styles. The only hard-and-fast rule is that a style needs a unifying philosophy – even if it’s only “defeat all foes in total combat” – or it will feel like a haphazard group of skills and techniques, tossed together on a whim. In particular, look out for techniques and skills that don’t mix well. For instance, the aesthetics of Karate Art are at odds with the pragmatism of Head Butt, and Breath Control and Combat Art/Sport would seem impractical next to Melee Weapon skills in a style intended for soldiers.
A useful method of generating new styles is simply to rename existing ones – perhaps Martian Kung Fu is just Wushu with a different name. Another option is to modify a style with one of the lenses under Choosing a Style or a GM-created lens. Yet another is to modify an existing style to suit the peculiarities of a nonhuman race; e.g., Dwarven Ogre-Slayers learn Sumo but add Brawling to its skills and Head Butt and TA (Head Butt/Groin) to its techniques.
A player might want his PC to develop a custom style in play – whether a “self-defense” version of an existing style for quickly training NPCs or fellow PCs, or a whole new style that will cement his place in history. That’s fine! There’s no harm in letting a player select combat skills, techniques, and perks that his PC knows, call them a style, and formalize it by spending a point on Style Familiarity. Multiple PCs can even pool abilities by teaching each other. Anyone who wants credit as a cofounder must know all of the style’s abilities, though; “the guy who taught Judo to the founder” doesn’t count.
A player might also wish to create styles out of play, for his PC to learn or to add color to the game world. This is riskier. The GM must ensure that the player isn’t trying to design an “ultimate style” or “the style with every technique I want an excuse to learn.” Such styles should also be in tune with the setting’s history and flavor.
Every style has flaws. Striking styles are vulnerable to limb captures by grapplers. Grappling styles – especially ground-fighting ones – aren’t ideal for fighting multiple aggressors. Unarmed styles are weak against weapons. Weapons training is worthless without a weapon. Hand-to-hand styles can’t fend off ranged weapons. And so on.
One way to patch these holes is to learn a style that aims to be truly comprehensive, but such breadth implies a massive time investment by the student. The more common solution is to learn multiple styles. For instance, Muay Thai stresses striking over grappling, while Brazilian Jiu-jitsu emphasizes grappling but teaches few strikes… and a martial artist who learned both would be a formidable unarmed fighter.
A PC who starts with several styles must buy each style as described in Styles Bought During Character Creation. He must pay the full style cost for each style, even if they have overlapping skills. This represents the minimum investment in time and effort to learn those styles.
However, the martial artist doesn’t have to buy duplicate skills multiple times. If he already possesses some of a style’s components, for whatever reason, these do satisfy his styles’ requirements. For instance, if he knows three styles that include Karate, he need only buy Karate once – not three times! If this means that the sum of the style costs for his styles exceeds the points he actually needs to meet the basic requirements of those styles, he can spend the “excess” points on any component(s) of those styles.
Example: Maj. Milstein learns Krav Maga and Sambo. Krav Maga has a style cost of 3 points, for Style Familiarity (Krav Maga), Karate, and Wrestling. Sambo has a style cost of 4 points, for Style Familiarity (Sambo), Judo, Karate, and Wrestling. Maj. Milstein must spend 7 points – but Karate and Wrestling overlap, so he can spend the 2 points this “saves” him on any component of either style. He puts them into the Leg Lock technique from Sambo.
The same rules apply to second and later styles learned in play. The student doesn’t “know” a new style until he spends points equal to its cost, as described in Learning New Styles During Play (pp. 146-147). If he already knows some of the basic components of the new style, though, he can use points that would normally go toward those things to buy other elements of that style or any overlapping one.