RQ6 Combat Style: Bartitsu

[Mankcam]

I am in the process of porting over my Pulp Adventures BRP game from BGB/CoC6E to RQ6 mechanics (also using the draft Raiders of Ryleh mechanics)

One preexisting character has the BRP skill of Martial Arts (Bartitsu). The fighting style that Sherlock Holmes is proficient in, so yes, it's very pulpy.

I am recreating this as a RQ6 Combat Style called Baritisu.

I am thinking that it will obviously include weapons of Brawling and Bludgeons. However it also needs to include a Combat Style Trait, so I am still working on this.

The first idea I had was to attach the Daredevil Trait, and I'm unsure if another Weapon or Trait should also be included. I'm also considering the Unarmed Prowess Trait either to replace Daredevil, or also to include both Traits within the Bartitsu combat style.

Suggestions welcomed from anyone who is aware of Bartitsu.

cheers :-)

Edited October 5, 2015 by Mankcam

[Mankcam]

I went with Unarmed and Bludgeons for weapons. For combat style traits I eventually went with Unarmed Prowess and Brass Knuckles. I found a mention of Brass Knuckles in my Luther Arkwright pdf with one of the NPCs, and it kinda suits (increases unarmed damage by one step)

I'm still happy for input if someone else has a more fitting idea, I'm no combat expert by any stretch :-)

 

 

UPDATE:

I re-posted this query over at the Design Mechanism forums, and Pete Nash replied. He advised me to build this combat style as thus: Bartitsu (Unarmed, Bludgeons, Concealed Intent, Throw Down, Unarmed Parry). Concealed Intent grants a Surprise advantage upon Deceit vs Insight before the combat round starts; and Throw Down allows for a penalty to apply whenever the opponent tries to resist a Trip Opponent effect by the character using Bartitsu. Also with Unarmed Parry, the character can still Parry when unarmed, as long as he has a coat or cloak available. Possibly even a hat or cap at a stretch (perhaps with penalties)

Great stuff, very pulpy; I'm taking these as canon!

Edited October 5, 2015 by Mankcam

[clarence]

Excellent work. I might find some use for this in a BRP Space campaign I'm working on at the moment...

[Sunwolfe]

Brilliant. It's seriously a cool thing that those guys--Pete and Loz--chime in on queries as often as possible Though we may get annoying from time to time, they know how to treat fans of their work.

Cheers!

[Aelwyn]

Here's an interesting wrinkle. The inventor of bartitsu taught jujitsu to Edith Garrud, a suffragette who later founded an all-women suffragette protection unit called the Bodyguard. A former suffragette bodyguard would make a great character for pulp or 1920s Cthulhu adventures.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Margaret_Garrud  

The story is historically accurate, but it's been recently fictionalized in Suffrajitsu: Mrs. Pankhurst's Amazons.

http://suffrajitsu.com/ 

In the UK, women over 30 got the right to vote in 1918. Women over 21 were enfranchised in 1928. Women's suffrage was ratified in the United States in 1920.

Weapon: India bat, 1D6+DB

Skills (BRP): Brawl, Grapple, Martial Arts (Jujitsu), Arson, Persuade, Dodge, Fine Manipulation, Stealth

(RQ6): Athletics, Brawn, Evade, Influence, Stealth, Unarmed, Willpower, Lockpicking, Oratory

[Mankcam]

Wow, that is excellent Aelwyn!

We have a female character who is an Archaelogist, who happens to be aligned very much with the Suffragettes. The player portrays her as a colourful mix of Katherine Hepburn, Miss Marple, and Laura Croft. I think she'll really dig this Suffrajitsu idea

Thanks for posting!

Edited October 10, 2015 by Mankcam

[soltakss]

Here's an interesting wrinkle. The inventor of bartitsu taught jujitsu to Edith Garrud, a suffragette who later founded an all-women suffragette protection unit called the Bodyguard. A former suffragette bodyguard would make a great character for pulp or 1920s Cthulhu adventures.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Margaret_Garrud  

The story is historically accurate, but it's been recently fictionalized in Suffrajitsu: Mrs. Pankhurst's Amazons.

http://suffrajitsu.com/ 

In the UK, women over 30 got the right to vote in 1918. Women over 21 were enfranchised in 1928. Women's suffrage was ratified in the United States in 1920.

Weapon: India bat, 1D6+DB

Skills (BRP): Brawl, Grapple, Martial Arts (Jujitsu), Arson, Persuade, Dodge, Fine Manipulation, Stealth

(RQ6): Athletics, Brawn, Evade, Influence, Stealth, Unarmed, Willpower, Lockpicking, Oratory

The BBC has an article on this - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34425615 - Bouqets of barbed wire and clubs hidden in dresses, perfect for a RPG.