Does martial arts seem really over powered to you guys?

[KPhan2121]

Martial arts can be used with melee weapons and it adds another damage dice to an attack, so if I take a halberd, I can deal 4d6+damage bonus points of damage per attack. Does that sound a bit op to you guys? How do you deal or not deal with martial arts.

[Mankcam]

Yes, BRP Martial Arts are pretty powerful in the fact that base damage dice gets an additional roll. I tend to balance this by only allowing skill gain thru Training, never successful Experience. That way there is a maximum of 4% gain, and sometimes no gain at all. I also rule that the training roll covers a 6 month period of downtime,

This does not prevent training in combat skills of course, although I am pretty conservative and rule that training other skills cover a 3 month period anyway.

Combat skills gain % thru Experience as usual however, but doing so with Martial Arts would minimise its importance.

If these checks are not in place characters becomes experts at everything far too easily IMO

I also widen Martial Arts to include melee combat Fighting Styles, so a swordsman might learn Duelism , Fencing, or Kendo (Kenjitsu), for example, to be used with their Sword attack skills, or you could include fantasy-flavoured styles like Beserker for Vikings perhaps; no need to restrict it just to Oriental unarmed combat styles

I would even go so far to describe different effects rather than the default roll-twice-damage. For example, a swordsman using the Florentine martial arts might get an additional sword attack in that combat round, or perhaps using Akido grants a free Grapple/Throw manuver with the attack, for instance.

It is very effective when used with melee weapons, so it needs to be balanced in regards to skill gain

[p_clapham]

I didn't realize Martial Arts could be used with melee weapons, I thought it could only be used for unarmed attacks.

[Mankcam]

I think as written in the BGB (which is similar to RQ3) it may be only for unarmed attacks.

Someone in one of these forums several years ago described their take on widening the scope of Martial Arts to include Fighting Styles in general, so I have been running with that concept for several years.

Works for me

[nclarke]

Delta Green has various styles of Martial Art that includes weapons like knives, clubs and other similar weapons which mimic authentic MA combat styles. I've used a variation of that for the Fairburn-Sykes combat style taught to SOE/OSS agents and commando soldiers in WW2 and some law enforcement agents since that period. The DG system limits the attack to either double damage or allows the use of MA skill in place of the Unarmed skill.

 

As you need both Unarmed or the melee weapon to be at a similar level of skill to the MA skill it's costly in terms of points/skill improvements (You roll once and have to be under both the melee skill and the MA skill value to succeed).

 

But it's a fun addition and mimics unarmed combat/martial arts well enough.

[NickMiddleton]

From the BGB entry for the Martial Arts skill:

Always use Martial Arts in combination with another skill: Brawl, Melee Weapons, or Grapple, as appropriate.

There was a thread back in 2011 - - and the topic has come up in a few others as well.

Cheers,

Nick

[RosenMcStern]

Don't forget that the Game Master must rule that a specific Martial Arts specialty must exist in the game world, and that it is available to players in order for your character to learn it. I would not allow a halberd specialization in any case, and limit the application to weapons that require a particular deal of finesse to be effective: katanas, fencing foils and the like.

You can get some additional ideas about martial arts in "Dragon Lines", a supplement by Charles Green that we published some years ago. Or, f you want something realistic, in The Celestial Empire, still available from Alephtar Games.

[Mankcam]

You can get some additional ideas about martial arts in "Dragon Lines", a supplement by Charles Green that we published some years ago. Or, f you want something realistic, in The Celestial Empire, still available from Alephtar Games.

 

These are both pretty cool supplements; highly recommended

[Cdr Vimes]

I must have read the rules wrong as well. I only allow a player to take martial arts for a specific melee weapon/ unarmed combat style that fits within the world/scenario.  In my current steampunk/VSF campaign certain characters have martial arts skill in fencing (sword/foil/sabre), La Canne (fighting with a cane and even an ex fairground pugilist who has pugilist as his martial art.  

 

Not sure where I got the rule from but if the attack roll is successful for both the martial art and the to hit roll I allow the player to roll damage twice but choose the highest result only.  When using the RQ6 combat effects instead the player can forego the damage roll and choose an extra effect instead.  Of course many therefore choose the maximise damage effect.

 

Seems to work OK.

[Aycorn]

My martial arts rules variant is a bit more down-to-earth, I think.  Should still be in the downloads section.

[seneschal]

Maybe I've misunderstood what I read in the Big Gold Book, but BRP martial arts seemed underpowered to me (keeping in mind that I've spent years playing Hero System).  Even the Unarmed Combat super power seemed rather modest in its effects.  Grabbing a weapon and shooting or whacking somebody seems to be more efficient and effective than fancy hand-to-hand moves, at least in this game system.

[threedeesix]

In my brothers BRP Fallout game, I had a boxer character called Tyrone the Cyclone. He was a big guy and at campaign end, he had a skill in Martial Arts of 112%. He used to punch the heads off people. It may not have been realistic, but it sure was fun.

 

Rod

[smjn]

In my brothers BRP Fallout game, I had a boxer character called Tyrone the Cyclone. He was a big guy and at campaign end, he had a skill in Martial Arts of 112%. He used to punch the heads off people. It may not have been realistic, but it sure was fun.

 

Rod

OT: Do you happen to have any notes, stats and other stuff you might want to share? Been meaning to run a game of BRP Fallout for a long time now but I'm lazy and would like it if somebody already did the work for me.

[threedeesix]

Sorry but no. It was my brother campaign and he "mostly" ran things on the fly. He may have had some mutant write-ups at one point but not sure if he still does. I know I uploaded the character sheet years ago.

 

On a side note, now he's all stoked to run a RQ6 version of Wasteland. Not sure if he'll get around to it though, life seems to have gotten busier over the last couple years.

 

Rod

[skull]

I think the problem with martial arts skill is it is to generalized.   Some special martial arts  attacks might reasonably do extra damage. Many would not do extra damage. One also has to consider the type of martial arts. Some martial arts use the opponents momentum against themselves and most likely would not do extra damage. Some martial arts use specialized bone breaking techniques. Some use nerve strikes that do little damage but temporarily paralyze the  opponents limbs or body. In most cases i don't like martial arts doing extra damage unless there is a reason to justify it. To say all martial arts do more damage is not a reality. I have trained in Karate, Ninjitsu and Taijutsu.  The later two are  perhaps harder to learn, but definitely more effective.