Old Game Review: Ninjas and Superspies (TM)

[DrPraetor]

Please, don't fuck books.

You're not the boss of me.

That's right, you need fucking acupuncturists around for surgical operations. Do you carry your healing crystals, Frank?

I believe that the NHS only pays for healing crystals if they are provided by a certified healing-crystal practitioner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCbVAr3iGWo

Frank is still training towards his Reiki certificate, aren't you Frank? More seriously, I think the NHS has copied Chairman Mao's playbook. The Conservatives don't want to spend enough money to give people real medical care, so they can offer homeopathy and such to suckers at a huge costs savings.

Okay, so let's talk about martial artists. The first thing to know is that you have to start training at a young age. If you're old enough to drive, it is too late for you to take up martial arts.

First, how are you not making a Yoda joke?

Second, Kev has always had something of an issue with this. Rifts would be a much better game if the various non-combatants could join real classes during play - Beyond the Supernatural may actually have some mechanism for the Scully surrogate to learn Magic once she believes it exists, but I recall it didn't.

As it is, the Paradigm Rifts party consists of:
[*] A dragon who shapeshifts into a teenage girl. Dragon Hatchlings aren't really a powergaming choice but they're respectable and Rifts does deserve some props for making this choice work at all.
[*] The everyman hero from Gundam. He has a robot with an anime-gimmick cannon which is how you actually win fights. His power level depends entirely on what sourcebooks you believe in.
[*] A wookie with magic spells in a rebreather mask. Magic is extremely broken and he knows a bunch of it. Most of the best magic is in the basic book, especially if you care about ley lines and such.
[*] Noam Chomsky, who is a cranky old man. He's supposed to solve problems using his skills (which as Koumei mention elsewhere aren't actually described in terms of what they do), also he needs a nap.

If Noam could respond to circumstances by learning to fly a giant robot or , I dunno, becoming a fucking wizard, the game would hold together much better.

Now, here are all the OCCs you can pick:
-Martial Artists: Dedicated Martial Artist, Worldly Martial Artist
-Espionage Agents: Cyber Agent, Gadgeteer Agent, Operator Agent, Wired Agent
-Free Agents: Private Eye, Professional Free Agent, Thief Free Agent, Wandering Free Agent
-Gizmoteers: Dreamer Gizmoteer, Gizoid Gizmoteer, Tinker Gizmoteer
-Mercenaries: Academy Officer, Commando Mercenary, Cyborg Soldier, Veteran Grunt

I see long discussion and it looks better than Rifts in that, at least, every character class is heroic. You grade martial arts but not classes: are any of them trap options? The Tinker doesn't seem to get much that you'd care about.

+5 motherfucking MA points (pair with Drunk style or whatever for a total of +8 to a stat that is hard to boost through skills... and rarely actually gets used for anything)

Since you're periodically referencing who wants what from Rifts - Shifters, in the current incarnation of the rules (and Kev always meant for it to work this way, he just forgot to include the rule from the original Palladium RPG when he actually wrote Rifts, which is also why so few of the skills are meaningfully described), roll under the MA on a D20 (best two out of three, I think?) to control their summoned demons. I think there are modifiers based on bribes, the grade of the demon, and so on.

So, that's a big deal. TBH, I forget - other than getting more spell pointsISP, why do Mind Melters care about ME?

[Koumei]

First, how are you not making a Yoda joke?

I'm not a Star Wars fan so the "He's too old" didn't occur to me until you mentioned it then.

Now, here are all the OCCs you can pick:
-Martial Artists: Dedicated Martial Artist, Worldly Martial Artist
-Espionage Agents: Cyber Agent, Gadgeteer Agent, Operator Agent, Wired Agent
-Free Agents: Private Eye, Professional Free Agent, Thief Free Agent, Wandering Free Agent
-Gizmoteers: Dreamer Gizmoteer, Gizoid Gizmoteer, Tinker Gizmoteer
-Mercenaries: Academy Officer, Commando Mercenary, Cyborg Soldier, Veteran Grunt

You grade martial arts but not classes: are any of them trap options? The Tinker doesn't seem to get much that you'd care about.

Both Martial Artists basically have the grade that their styles give them, more or less. Most Agents rate from A to B between the various things they get. The Gizmoteers are all over the place and it completely depends on what the MC lets them have and do. Therefore, they have a grade of $ERMAC. Mercenaries tend to also hover around the B level, though they can go up from there depending on firepower and combat training.

Shifters, in the current incarnation of the rules...

Yes, it's crazy-good for a Shifter. I'm not saying you will ever be allowed to play a Shifter with a martial art, maybe you can make your character a martial artist and then multiclass into Shifter, eat the XP penalties and have to play out the pact thing instead of just starting with the pact of your choice. But it would make sense for Shifters to be constantly on the look-out for these things.

TBH, I forget - other than getting more spell pointsISP, why do Mind Melters care about ME?

That's really all it does but the fact is that's the only thing (short of "gaining more levels") that gives more ISP, and unless you use a specific issue of the RIFTER (TM) it's the only way to raise your ME. Even with that issue, there aren't many +ME skills and you don't have many skills available. You also don't have the skills available to trade in for a martial art (that you can't learn anyway), but again, technically they should be at least looking into it. Or again, it'd be a decent career move to multiclass out from a martial artist into a Mind Melter, except you can't do that because it's a racial class, except maybe you can because actually it's a psychic class and fuck it I need a drink.

[OgreBattle]

Of all the martial arts they had in N&SS, for RIFTS China they decided China's military cyborgs could learn shaolin or... dog boxing.

[Koumei]

MUAY THAI (EXCLUSIVE)


This one is, like Ninjutsu, DOUBLE EXCLUSIVE and thus is only available to a Dedicated Martial Artist who consumes both slots. So it's worth knowing you can't practice muay thai at the same time as any other art.


This person does not exist according to N&SS

Don't worry, it still lists other arts with shorter training times for people with this as a primary. Anyway, you need PS 8+, PE 8+, Spd 8+ and PP 12+ to enter. It also has a special height and weight chart, and grants you +2 PS, +2 PE, +1 PP, +2 Spd, +10 SDC. 3 base attacks, Combo Parry/Attack, and heaps of kicks. It has a special move, the SHIN KICK! It only does 1d6 damage (plus bonuses), but deals damage direct to hit points, because it hurts so much I guess. Can enter LIGHTNING FORM: you have to have Initiative to do it, but if so, you can frontload all your attacks into one burst, so you make all your attacks at the outset and then you're spent. You then can't Dodge and have no bonus to Parry for the rest of the turn, but if you think you can take your opponent out, there's no reason not to do it. Think of it like 1st Gen Hyper Beam.

Only one martial arts power, from Body Hardening, Martial Art Techs or Special Katas (no weapon katas), can trade it. Grants Thai and Ritual Dancing, that's it. You end up with pretty good numeric bonuses and a scimitar for a foot, and it seems to gain attacks/round at a good pace (+6 over 14 levels, compare with +4 for Tang Soo Karate), but for something that is supposed to be your entire character, it's very unimpressive. If it were a normal Exclusive I'd give it an A-, but as it is I'm giving it a C+. Kicking people in the shins is awesome, but it still doesn't compare to kicking people in the plums.

TIEN-HSUEH TOUCH MASTERY (exclusive)


BAD TOUCHING, NO! Diabolic Evil alignment only, IQ 11+ and ME 8+.



Obviously it's yet another evil "poke people to invert their chi and explode their heads" art. You probably already know how it works. Double Chi, +4 ME, +2 MA, 1 attack, only a few strikes, Paralysis attack, DIM MAK! This is the best thing to just shout at people when attacking. They will either shit themselves or collapse into laughter, allowing you to kick them. Anyway, it's the Quivering Palm/Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique, a delayed deathblow.

You get three powers from between Invisibility, Atemi and Chi, and one Zenjoriki power, which can all be traded. You also gain Chinese, Geomancy and Confucianism. Does Confucianism permit being an evil kung fu master who has a long beard and murders people with a touch?

You get a fair number of special powers and three more Chi doublings, but only one more attack per round, which is awkward. Still, even if the martial arts powers turn out to be shite and not good at instant-killing people, the fact is you can spend Chi to temporarily boost your strength, without an upper limit, so you can make those attacks hit really fucking hard if you want. A-

WUI WING CHUN (exclusive)

So apparently this is only related to regular Wing Chun, and it's only taught to women. No idea why they haven't covered regular Wing Chun, maybe they knew I'd laugh at them? Anyway, +10 Chi, +3 MA, +2 PS, +1 PP, 3 attacks per round. Combo Parry/Attack, combo Dodge/Kick, Combo Grab/Kick, and a special move, the Combo Hand Hold/Strike: requires two attack rolls, and you lose the ability to Dodge or Parry for the entire round. +3 damage, that's all it does. Weapon Katas for staff and paired knives.

You get two powers from Invisibility, Martial Art Techs and Special Katas, which can be traded. Also grants Chinese, Archery, Climbing, Gymnastics, Prowl, Swimming and Feminist Taoism, if that is even a thing.

In the progression, you get a few Chi doublings (and eventually learn a few Chi Mastery powers) and at one point gain +4 levels to WP Naginata, which is interesting, what with that being a Japanese weapon and this allegedly being a Chinese art. Anyway, it's a bit of everything, and in general I'd award it all of a C+.

WU SHU (exclusive)

The silk pyjamas are really nice

As far as I can tell, Wu Shu is basically "fast Tai Chi". I've been to a free lesson, and it's kind of a Dance-Fu and not a proper martial art for kicking people in the fucking head. So let's see what Kev thinks it does.

+2 MA, +1 PE, +1 PP, +4 Spd, +10 SDC, and 3 attacks base. Lots of rolls, flips and cartwheels, okay, a bunch of strikes and the Elbow Lock that Jujutsu didn't get. You get to pick three Weapon Katas from Spears, Cudgels, Scimitars, Broadswords, Daggers, Paired Swords, Paired Broadswords, Paired Hooks, Paired Whips, Paired "Sword Plus Whip", Nine-Section Whip, Three-Section Staff, Meteor Hammer, Rope Dart. Fuck there are a lot of options there.

It also gives you a special kata, Mao's Pride. It is literally just a fancy display that cannot be used in combat (but lets you double your attacks for a display). Apparently it "is often enough to intimidate opponents into retreating" but there is no actual in-game effect there.

You get one power from Indivisibility, Special Kata or Metapod Hardening, and can trade it. It teaches Chinese, Acrobatics, Climbing, Gymnastics, Prowl and Maoism. The progression is a bit low on attacks/round, and although it adds powers, expanded crit range, auto-KO on high rolls and all, they still pad it out with a lot of shit like +1 to Somersault and +6' to Leap Distance. So it's kind of shit. But with the weapon katas and all, you might find some use there. C+.

XING CHIAO - EAGLE CLAW KUNG FU


An iconic one. +10 Chi, +3 PS, +1 PP, 3 attacks. Power Parry, lots of leaps, a bunch of strikes, and 1/round you can make the EAGLE CLAW attack, a punch that deals 2d6 damage. No really that's all it does.

2 powers from Martial Art Techs or Special Katas. Can trade them. Chinese, Acrobatics, Taoism, nothing interesting. C just for having 3 attacks (+4 more over the progression) and Acrobatics.

YU-SOOL


This is actually one of the components of Hapkido, which is one of the top five bullshit wanker styles. You need to be a "service" type with Good alignment or Bushido discipline. I assume they mean military service and not maids or restaurant waiting staff. But who knows? +10 Chi, +1 PP, +2 PE, +10 SDC, 2 attacks. Combo Parry/Attack, Combo Grab/Kick, Chokeholds, Automatic Arm Lock (please tell me that means you automatically apply an armlock to anybody in reach, all the time), Paralysis Attack.

3 powers from among Body Hardening, Chi Mastery, Special Katas (no weapon kata), can trade. You learn Korean and Zen. A few Chi doublings, extra powers, and the usual variety of bonuses and "high rolls are awesome", along with throws dealing 2d6 damage now. The chi levels aren't bad, and the usual quantum/zen state of choking means this could be good or bad just based on that. But you also have THE AUTOMATIC ARM LOCK. So let's call it a solid B.

ZANJI SHINJINKEN-RYU
Image spoilered for size and also for knickers, because this Masamune Shirow art is what a Google image search revealed.

Honourable alignments only, IQ 9+, PP 10+, Spd 8+. This is the ancient art of samurai swordsmanship. +10 Chi, +2 ME, +2 PP, +1 PE, 4 base attacks (+5 over the progression, holy shit), and Combo Parry/Attack, Power Parry, and four strikes. SPECIAL Combo Grab/Slash, without saying how it is resolved or what it does exactly. Also grants your choice of 4th level Katana or Wakizashi Weapon Kata, or 3rd level Daisho Weapon Kata (ie WP gets automatic +3 or +2 levels to it). Also normal Weapon Katas for whichever you didn't choose of those three, and for the Bokken, Staff, Spear and Naginata.

2 powers from Body Hardening or Martial Art Techs, can trade them. You learn Japanese, three Cultural Weeaboo skills, Archery, Prowl and Zen. No, not Bushido, Zen. You end up with 18-20 crit, 19-20 Instant KO and 20 Deathblow, a bunch of powers including Zenjoriki and Chi Mastery, and a doubling of Chi. That's quite the basket of stuff. Shame about the lack of a Strength boost and no Gymnastics/Acrobatics, but honestly, there's enough good stuff there for a solid A.

So next episode, you get the actual powers! AND THE CROWD GOES MILD!

[Berkserker]

Under the Wui Wing Chun writeup, does 'Feminist Taoism' refer to female-practiced yin-yang oriented chi sorcery? Or is it something completely different?

Also, yay, Masamune Shirow! It's too bad that smut pays so much better than manga.

[Koumei]

Under the Wui Wing Chun writeup, does 'Feminist Taoism' refer to female-practiced yin-yang oriented chi sorcery? Or is it something completely different?

It refers to "Taoism (Feminist)". That's the only info Kev thinks we need.

It's too bad that smut pays so much better than manga.

Speak for yourself, I think it's great.

[Berkserker]

Well, clearly either way it's still Masamune Shirow and we all still win.

As for the Taoism thing...well shit, that seems a bit thin. Kinda sad.

[Koumei]

Okay, let's try burning through these powers.

Arts of Invisibility almost manages to mention something relevant: we picture ninja as the black-clad types because in kabuki plays, that's how the stage hands dressed and you basically "didn't see" them. You ignore their presence, they're "not really there", and then when "an unknown assassin" kills someone, they use a stage hand for it, and not an actual person playing a role. This claims that ninja learned the arts of stealth from how we ignore stage hands that are in clear view.

Art of Stealth (Pi Mi Hsing Tung): Prowl, but base 50% +3% per level, and auto-succeeds in darkness when unsuspected. Also the ability to silently move into/out of water, 70% +2/level.

Art of Hiding (Inpo): undetectable while remaining motionless, unless the area is well lit and carefully inspected, in which case you still have 43% +3/level.

Art of Evasion (Hsing Tsia): you can follow someone undetected, staying out of view even as they turn, as long as they don't back up against a wall or have a friend shout a warning. Automatic if they're unaware of your presence, but if they suspect someone is following them it's 30% +3/level. As long as you remain unseen you can constantly back-attack them (most HtH skills and martial arts offer Critical Strike from Behind or Knock-Out from Behind).

Art of Vanishing (Sun Shih K'an Chien Chih): distract the opponent for just long enough to disappear. In darkness with objects to hide behind it's 70% +1/level, but with up to 50% worth of penalties based on light and lack of cover. The hidden state lasts for one action, meaning you have enough time to run a bit, deliver some form of sneak attack, or use some other form of stealth.

Art of Disguise (Hensho Jutsu): this lets you change your movements so much that people just flat-out assume you're someone different if they lose sight of you during the period where you change movements. So run around a corner and suddenly become a staggering drunk or whatever. Automatically works in a large crowd, otherwise 52% +3/level with a bonus if you have the Disguise skill. Doesn't work if your outfit is just flat-out going to give it away, so you shouldn't dress "like a ninja".

Art of Escape (Inton Jutsu): 1d6 rounds to automatically escape handcuffs, chains, ropes and such by dislocating joints. 1 action to escape a hold, 1 round to escape a joint lock (just hope they don't snap the limb before then), and it doesn't let you squeeze through bars or up someone's asshole, and doesn't give you the ability to pick locks.

Art of Mystic Invisibility (Chi Zoshiki): each round it can be used against one person, and it removes you from their mind. If you move or fight, each action costs 1 Chi. Spending an action to utilise another form of stealth does not cost Chi though. Entering invisibility mode actually costs an action and 1 Chi. This sounds pretty handy so far, except then it still has a roll to see if it works: 50% +3/level. This automatically prevents Chi Awareness from detecting your presence, even if it isn't active.

Atemi abilities are special pressure point strikes.
Healing Atemi (Duatsu): includes training in acupuncture, and lets you reverse any other Atemi attack except DIM MAK, with just a touch. Can also remove KO, Stun, Paralysis or any form of "temporary shock", possibly including Bio-Manipulation? Has no cost, doesn't actually restore HP, SDC or Chi.

Neural Atemi (Kyosho): causes no-save paralysis of the limb of your choice if you hit, lasting 2d6 minutes (so, the rest of their life). If you successfully paralyse two limbs, then the third paralysis can, at your discretion, cause total paralysis. This is a good one to take.

Blood Flow Atemi (Chirigi): can only be used with a fingertip attack or fore-knuckle strike, and you need a 9+ to hit but you probably need higher than that to bypass Dodge/Parry anyway, so whatevs. It deals 1d8 direct HP damage, bypassing SDC, but with no damage bonus, so that's extremely situational. Remember, HP is (1d6 per level) + PE stat, so you need to make a whole bunch of these to do anything.

Grasping Hand Atemi (Kansetsu Waza): after succeeding on a limb hold or lock, you then automatically deal 2d6 + 1/2 level damage each round via dislocation. The RIFTER (TM) article that boosts grappling makes deliberate break attempts (via joint locking or this ability) really successful, including penalties that taking fucking ages to heal up.

Open Hand Atemi: you can clap and either deafen, knockdown, stun, or send a sonic wave (1d6 direct HP damage, no damage bonus, also deafens). Very short range, +4 to strike for the first one of these you unleash against someone, and no way to roll with it.

Withering Flesh Atemi (Iken Hisatsu): hitting someone with this reduces their SDC to half (a roll with fall/punch/impact reduces this to just 1d6 SDC loss), and if successful, a second one reduces them to 1 SDC. Never does HP damage. So it's a Final Fantasy Gravity attack.

DIM MAK: automatically available to Tien-Hsueh, and available to Chi Hsuan Men (7th level), Ch'in-Na (12th level) and Jujutsu (11th level). Nobody else can take it. You need to hit with a one-finger attack, and if it hits, they can try to roll. On a successful roll, it causes 1 damage (plus bonus) direct to HP, otherwise they are afflicted with it and lose their Chi, meaning they're going to get sick and die.

PENISBody Hardening Exercises: these are the usual things like punching a post until your hands resemble concrete, or sitting under waterfalls. The bonuses explicitly remain even if you swap forms in combat, because it'd be dumb to suddenly lose a bunch of SDC.

Stone Ox: bonus to PE and SDC

Kangeiko and Shochu Geiko: can remain unprotected in any weather/temperature for up to 24 hours. Also a small bonus to HP, SDC and PE.

Iron Hand (Kanshu): no, Kanshu, not Kancho. That'd be terrifying with an iron hand. Anyway, you get a small bonus to PS, damage from hand-based strikes, and SDC, and your hands can't be broken or otherwise injured. If you have Tamashiwara, then using that never deals damage to you.

Chi Gung: each turn, you can spend 2 Chi to gain an Armour Rating (ie Armour Class) of 13, which gradually goes up in level, up to 18. This is handy if you don't intend on using Parries or Dodges, to be honest. Also you get some SDC off the bat, as a bonus you always have, not as part of activating this.

Dam Sum Sing: a bonus to PE, PS and SDC.

Wrist Hardening: ahurr hurr hurr, I've got your wrist hardening exercises right here. Bonus to escape arm holds, can escape wrist locks without damage, small bonus to PS and SDC.

Kick Practice (Chagi): in RIFTS (TM) this lets you deal Mega Damage with kicks even as a human. And a fair number of dice, too, it's an important part of my nuclear feet build. Anyway in this game what it does is give you perfect flexibility of legs so you can kick something above your own head, and gives a bonus to hit and damage with kicks and a Speed bonus.

Next time we cover CHI MASTERY!

[Koumei]

CHI MASTERY

This one is actually interesting and useful, which surprises me to be honest.

So, it takes one action to focus your Chi so you can use a specific skill. You can do that when you wake up, but if you want to use a different one you have to spend another action to re-focus. That can be a problem depending on what you're doing. Anyway, as long as you take any Chi Mastery skills whatsoever, you also get the following for free:

Chi Awareness: 40' range, it tells you how many people are nearby, roughly how much Chi they have, whether they have Negative or Positive Chi in them, whether they have (Arts of Invisibility, Body Hardening, Katas, Martial Art Techniques), and if they have Chi Mastery skills.

Chi Relaxation: relax and rest at will, and regain all Chi (other that Negative Chi or Chi damaged by Dim Mak) with an hour of meditation. Also as long as you have 10+ Chi, you ignore all effects of insanity and addiction. Be careful, your wise master of Zen might actually be a mental case with Chi Mastery, and if he one day has to spend a lot to heal you, suddenly he reverts to an alcoholic who needs to kill people with hammers.

Chi Defence: if someone engages in Chi Combat against you (only possible if they have Negative Chi), then you need this to defend yourself. So, that's a ranged attack from them, and every point they spend on Negative Chi deals 3d6 Chi damage to you (ie it reduces your Chi by that amount, and if it reduces you to zero then you're fucked). However, after you know how much they're spending, you can spend Positive Chi - for each point, roll 1d6 and reduce their Chi attack by that much. So if they attack you for 5 Chi, you could defend for 2 Chi, roll a 1 and a 3 because that's life, and so you reduce their attack by 4, down to 1, and take 3d6 Chi loss. People without Chi Mastery can't defend, they're just straight-up fucked.

Unlike DIM MAK fuckitude, it's slightly easier to remove Negative Chi - there's Chiatsu, and meditating in a place of great Positive Chi, like a wild forest, where each day eliminates 1d6 Negative Chi.

POSITIVE CHI SKILLS

Chiatsu: you can channel positive Chi into someone to heal them - even yourself, as long as you're conscious. Each point heals 1 HP and 10 SDC and gives an extra roll on the Coma Recovery roll. This is usually "best of three" on a percentage thing, so basically if you have 1 extra roll, you roll four attempts, ditch one of your choice, and thus turn P-P-F-F into P-P-F success! If you have two extra attempts then you only need two passes out of five rolls and so on. Also, each point can destroy 2 Negative Chi in someone who has been fucked up by Chi Combat.

Dragon Chi: you can tap into the natural Chi world, and each round get up to 9 Chi just from the world around you (that is wasted if it isn't spent that round). This would be pretty handy if not for the fact that you have to spend an action to refocus your Chi on using it. If the three basic abilities don't count and don't need specific Chi attunement, this is awesome just for giving you some automatic defence against Chi combat every round. Also people can willingly donate Chi to you as though it were PPE in RIFTS (TM).

Kokyu: this is awesome. You can spend any amount of Chi to raise your ME, MA, PS, PP or Spd. Each point of Chi grants 5 points to add for one round, and attribute bonuses are indeed based on the new attributes. So you can spend 10 points, get 50 strength, and then powerbomb an elephant through a truck. If you have Supernatural Strength in RIFTS (TM) and are using the optional damage table for Supernatural Strength with Martial Arts in the RIFTER (TM), THEN GET THIS FUCKING POWER ASAP. No word on whether this gives you bonus temporary ISP for psychics, I assume the answer is $INVALID QUERY"); DROP_TABLE("UNIVERSE") DIVIDE BY ZERO ERROR

EITHER/OR SKILLS (can be used by Positive or Negative users, no difference)

Hardened Chi: can be used defensively for +5 damage absorption per Chi point spent (a temporary SDC shield), 1/round (so you're best off hitting them twice rather than making a Power Attack. As always). Or can be used offensively, granting +2 damage per 1 Chi spent (before any doubling for Critical Hits and such). One attack per round. Chi is not spent if you are not hit/if you don't hit.

Soft Chi: can be used to add +1 per Chi to all Parries, Flips/Throws and Taido Spins/Turns/Circles for an entire round. Yes you can make yourself temporarily impossible to hit without rolling a Nat 20 (or using No Parry attacks).

Find Weakness: Spend a full round meditating and focusing on your target. On the next round you get +1 to hit and +2 damage to that one target, remaining until you move your attention to someone else (they are defeated or you deliberately engage another foe). Has no Chi cost but is garbage.

NEGATIVE CHI SKILLS (for BADDIES)

Now, if you take any Negative Chi skills, you gain the following for free:
1. Negative Chi Control: You can spend 2 rounds emptying your Chi, then filling it with the opposite (so going from Positive to Negative (and thus able to use the other powers from this) or Negative to Positive (and thus able to heal damage)). When negatively charged, you take no damage from Negative Chi attacks (Chi Combat).
2. Chi Combat: you can attack with it now

Actual Negative Skills are:
One Finger Chi: reaching out to 30 feet, you can point a DEATH RAY at people. No Dodge or Parry, but you get no normal bonuses to hit, only a flat +3. What I'm saying is, on a 2+ you hit and that's that. No KO, Crits or Deathblows are available. Each point of Negative Chi you pump into it deals 3 damage (normal, not direct to HP), and they can roll with it for half. No limit to how much you pump in, but it takes up all your attacks for the round just to unleash one.

Fist Gesture: you spend 8 points of Negative Chi to attempt a normal Deathblow attack (if you have one) out to 35 feet. This is garbage, because if you're super-lucky you have Deathblow on 18-20, most will only have it on a 19-20 or a flat 20 (and some characters lack it altogether). Furthermore it takes all your actions for one turn, so you're better off spending one turn walking up to them and then just repeatedly punching them in the face and hoping for a Deathblow.

Dark Chi: if you're in environments of Negative Chi, you can tap into that each turn just like Dragon Chi for Positive. Again, if Chi Combat doesn't count, this can be useful to fuel that - if you're lurking in an underground tomb the way you're supposed to, that's 6 per turn to hurl at people, meaning they can very quickly burn through all their Chi defending against it.

So what we learned from this section is that for the most part, Negative Chi is shit, and what you want is a mix of Positive and Neutral, except that Negative Chi Combat can be pretty awesome. Overall though, good guys win.

MARTIAL ART TECHNIQUES

Falling Technique: up to 50' you take no falling damage, if falling up to 360' it's 1 point of damage per 50 feet, and if falling up to 1200' it's 1 damage per 20' fallen.

Kaijutsu: you can shout (kiai) to affect people at about 40' of range, taking up all your actions. The options are AoE Save vs Pain (Stun 1d4 rounds), AoE Save vs Pain (knockback 3d6 feet and -1 attack), AoE Save vs Pain or suffer 1d6 damage (10+ to halve it on a roll), or single-target only 20' range Save vs Lethal Poison (4d6 damage). If you're going to take this at all, just use the Stun.

One Life, One Shot, One Hit, One Kill: focus on a target for at least one round. Each round grants +1 to Strike that target, and once you have even 1 round of focus on, you just need a total of 20+ for a Critical Hit, not a natural roll. The bonuses last until you stop concentrating on fighting them, so if you think your opponent has heaps of HP/SDC you could burn one round, pick up a +1, add it to your +12 from other assorted bonuses, and then every 7+ rolled is a Crit. Only works with weapons, not unarmed attacks, and explicitly DOES work with firearms.

Tamashiwara: when utilising this, you have 1 attack per round, but you basically ignore the AR and SDC of objects you hit, with the following effects: 14+ to hit breaks the object (or punch a hole in it if that makes more sense). 5 or less is just a miss (I know a 5+ hits normally, shut up, we're doing cocaine over here!) 6-13 lets you do full damage to the object (so you DON'T ignore the SDC), but you also suffer half that damage. Against humans and their ilk, a 14+ deals double damage, direct to HP. But remember you are only making one attack per round when doing this.

Zanshin: you have a circle of awareness that starts at 6' but grows 2' per level. You automatically even sense the presence of invisible creatures, though you still can't see them. +6 Initiative, +2 Parry, +4 Dodge, can't be surprised by attacks from behind (does this negate auto-crits from behind and the like? NOBODY FUCKING KNOWS). Against invisible foes, you don't get the Zanshin bonuses, but you do gain your full regular bonuses. Also you have Chi Awareness, but only extending as far as your Zanshin circle.

Iaijutsu: you get a scaling bonus to Initiative, that is all.

After Chi Mastery actually having some really cool things, Martial Art Techs really let me down (although some are certainly useful in the generic "Giant bonus that fucks the math" sense). So I'm taking a break to drink more. In retrospect I should probably have splashed out for fancy Japanese whisky, but it's over a hundred dollars for a bottle and I don't know if I'd like it.

[Koumei]

SPECIAL KATAS (not that special)

These are annoying things where you have to decide at the start of the round which Kata to enter, and then you're locked in for the round, complete with drawbacks.

Fortress Penetration Kata: attacks get +3 to hit, but you get -3 to Parry and Dodge

One Mind Kata: you can either double one attack roll or damage roll, but be unable to defend, or double one parry or dodge roll, but be unable to attack. Requires that you have at least one Chi point, but doesn't cost any.

Warrior Spirit Kata: you can't attack, but you temporarily have MA 20 (or +6 if it's already 20+) and everyone has to test against your Intimidation. If they fail they either back down, run away, or fight with a penalty of -4 to hit.

Kata of Five Principles: can't attack, but you automatically make Circular/Multiple Parry attempts with a +2 Bonus and Automatic Multiple Dodge with a +2 Bonus.

Windmill Kata: Wax on, wax off. Can't attack, but automatically deflect/grab thrown weapons and arrows.

Weapon Kata: doesn't have the restrictions of other katas. Instead, you select a weapon, and then you not only get proficiency, you also can flat-out use that weapon with that martial art form, including any stances, techniques and katas.

ZENJORIKI

These are special mystic powers that don't cost Chi points but require you have at least one point.

Calm Minds: everyone in 120' must roll 16+ on 1d20+ME Bonus, or be calmed and decide not to fight for 3 minutes. They can do anything other than attack, and if you attack, the effect ends for everyone. It also dispels fear, hysteria, emotional attacks, mind control and similar. It is considered a Psionic Attack (so you would instead Save vs Psionics with your probably much better save) in other Palladium (TM) games.

Karumi-Jutsu: you can reduce your weight by up to 85% when concentrating on that, allowing for very little fall damage, better jumping, auto-successful climbing, and the ability to walk on the usual things ninjas can walk on.

Mind Walk: your spirit gets up and goes for a walk without inviting your body. Chi Awareness will spot you, and Chi Combat is possible against you, but you can also use Chi Combat and any other Chi powers you have. You drift really slowly, but can also teleport to familiar places with concentration (you must have already been there in person). Can't change your Chi direction without revisiting your body. If your Chi is wiped out in this form, you are fucked, and basically you're just going to die in a few hours. So you can't do the annoying Astral Projection routine. Your body can't heal while the Chi is wandering around, and after two hours, you need to make hourly saves against falling into a coma.

Vibrating Palm: <insert masturbation joke> You can shatter objects by leaning against them. The first round deals 1 damage. Each round thereafter, you double it like rice on a chessboard, up to ten rounds (512 that round, 1,023 total).

So there you go. Those are all the different powers. The book then goes on to explain Hand to Hand combat, and I should now point out that Combo Strike/Parry or Strike/Dodge is actually shit, Power Parry does 1d6 damage without bonuses so is shit (and also rarely deals damage at all), and Joint Locks are shit if you're not using that issue of the Rifter (TM). So everything is ruined, just thought you should know that.

That said, jumping and leaping attacks, and attacks from behind, are automatically critical hits. Except they stack in a D&D sort of way - a jumping natural 20 is x3, a jumping natural 20 from behind is x4. So um, that's something.

Kickboxing is suddenly looking really awesome

...except that jump attacks use up all your attacks for the turn.

Never mind. Fuck having options, they're all shit. Everyone just stand there and kick each other in the face.

Okay, so all this time I thought "Deathblow on a 19-20" or whatever meant a natural roll automatically becomes that. No, you have to announce in advance, and then roll in the hope of getting that number. That's lame and nobody should ever attempt it. All it does (if successful) is double damage, direct to HP (if reduced to zero HP they collapse from a heart attack). If it's enough to hit at all but not to trigger a Death Blow, it does 1d6 damage.

Same "you have to announce" applies to KO/Stun, so you can't just go "BAM MOTHERFUCKER!" and kick someone in the head reliably while also aiming for an instant KO. So again, nobody is ever going to do this. Also it doesn't do any damage. I remind you there's another move that already automatically stuns people, except it also does damage and doesn't require a special roll to hit.



Okay, things start to get better: yes, when you wield paired weapons, you can just double your attacks if you don't mind losing your parry. Paralysis attack doesn't have a stupid "only on a natural X" rule, you just cause low-level paralysis such that for 1d6 rounds they can't attack and lose all bonuses.

Then there's a reminder of what the saves are - this game sets universal DCs at the start (as in any save vs Lethal Poison needs a 14+ to pass), you just get different bonuses as you go. Oh and in one case not even that is correct: Psionic characters have a Save vs Psionics of 10+, whereas other characters have a Save vs Psionics of 15+. They specifically mention for Acids "No save possible - Dodge!" which is fucking weird. They also go so far as to actually mention what a Save vs Pain does, seeing as some things just say you "need to make a save vs Pain" without listing an effect. Failure causes you to pass out instantly.

I wish to mention Simultaneous Attack now. It's great. Instead of a Parry or Dodge, you can just go "Simultaneous Attack, motherfucker!" and make an attack of your own. Neither one of you gets to Parry or Dodge, so chances are that you both hit each other, and that's their action. Extra hilarious if you have the ability to stun them or whatever, because then they can get stunned as their own action. Anyway, if you're dual-wielding, you can simultaneous attack and still parry (one weapon), or go nuts and simultaneously stab them with both weapons but not get a parry.

Also, remember how there are martial art things that specifically work with guns? Or how sometimes a form would work really well as a side-benefit for when you're mainly carrying a gun as a shooty person? I just want to mention that hunting rifles and 50-cals deal 5d6 (or 5d6+6 for the machinegun) damage, which is roughly equal to a normal karate punch by someone with a PS of 30. Oh wait, if you go for a heavy machine gun, that's 7d6 damage. And bazookas, grenade launchers and so on are 1d(4-10)*100 damage, so I guess you could use that with specific arts.

There's a bit of talk about crossovers, how it is balanced (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA) at the same level as TMNT (TM) and Heroes Unlimited (TM), but is too strong for Palladium Fantasy (TM). So they created a "quick and dirty" Martial Artist OCC that you could use in the latter if you decided you wanted to do that. Apparently they can do just fine in RIFTS (TM) as well. Spoiler: they can't. Apart from one style that can just stunlock everyone in the universe with no save, presumably even when he can't deal the necessary Mega Damage.

Also it says RIFTS (TM) characters cannot learn these, because it's all lost knowledge. That maybe some Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do and Jujutsu remains in the Americas, England and Atlantis for people to learn, but that's it, and if you want anything else, you need to specifically play a character from Asia, and wait for the relevant book to come out for that.

I am not going to cover the added crap like plot hooks and sample organisations and shit. That is all, the book is finished.

[OgreBattle]

That is all, the book is finished.

howabout a stream of consciousness revision of all those things you pointed out being useless. It'll turn out more playable no matter how little time you spend on it.

[Username17]

Martial Arts rules of the late 80s and early 90s tended to be clunky and full of too many moving parts, and it didn't turn out well. In the early 1980s editions of Champions, having Martial Arts was a binary state, where having it meant your attacks did more damage and you got bonuses to your attack and defense when using basic combat maneuvers. But in the big blue book of the late 80s, Champions martial arts had become a fidgety affair where you custom built your character's martial art by purchasing specific maneuvers. It was overly fiddly, not any more realistic, and had way too many moving parts. And the worst part about it was that it incentivized you to make a martial art where you just did the same couple of maneuvers over and over again because the marginal benefit of having an extra maneuver option was less the more maneuvers you already had. D&D would eventually figure out how to copy that fail state with maneuver improving feats.

Ninjas and Superspies fit squarely into the zeitgeist of the time - martial arts rules that were bizarre kludges moving parts stuck together at odd angles to try to represent all the crazy shit the martial arts enthusiasts the designers knew would rant at them about. It was a stupid time and that entire line of reasoning was basically a dead end. When even nWoD combat specialties look elegant, you know you're designing up the wrong tree.

-Username17

[Koumei]

Pretty much. Now I probably would make it a "build your own" thing, but in a kind of limited fashion. You'd choose one of X archetypes/progressions for the main build (Defensive, Offensive, Balanced, Chi-Focused), and that would determine what bonuses you get over the course of your career. You'd then have the most basic of moves, but would then have a few points to spend on training packages that give you "Advanced punches", "Advanced kicks", "Grappling", "Basic pressure points or whatever", "Better defences", "Weapon Katas".

Then powers would be handed out at basically the same rate (perhaps fewer for a Pure Physical style like BJJ or Boxing and more for Chi-Centric ones like Ninjutsu and DIM MAK), and you just pick powers from a universal bucket when you level up. It would then have a few examples.

It might very well run the risk of being too clunky and full of too many moving parts, but off the top of my head, that's what I'd do. And as long as you're not picking where each individual +1 is going, it should at least work out okay.

Ogre: If you wanted my stream-of-consciousness on each form and power that was shitty, I guess I could take a swing at that tomorrow.

[erik]

That is all, the book is finished.

howabout a stream of consciousness revision of all those things you pointed out being useless. It'll turn out more playable no matter how little time you spend on it.

That's just mean. Revising palladium content has caused more madness than syphilis (Treponema pallidum), hence the name.

[Berkserker]

Wow, okay, that last part is saddening. So to recap, the only reasons you use these martial arts is to stunlock people or improve your glock-fu?

[Koumei]

Pretty much, yes. Or for Chi Powers so you can give yourself a massive PS score and just punch people so hard their ancestors keel over (more effective in RIFTS (TM) with a Supernatural PS and that one Rifter (TM) issue).

[Username17]

Wow, okay, that last part is saddening. So to recap, the only reasons you use these martial arts is to stunlock people or improve your glock-fu?

Palladium skills are basically always like that. There's no real skill system, in the way that there isn't a skill system in Call of Cthulhu. You might have a 70% in Herbalism, but what does that mean? 70 percent chance to do what? No one fucking knows. There is no general theory for what any number on a skill means in any context.

But in the descriptions of the skills themselves, there are often named benefits or specific effects. And while you can't ever know what the fuck will happen if you try to use a skill itself as a tool to solve problems, tagging the skill to get bonuses is one of the few things in the game that are not ambiguous. So every RIFTS(tm) character dabbles in boxing. Not because they have any intention of ever boxing, but because you get +1 attack for being trained in boxing. Then you use that bonus attack to swing a vibro sword or fire a plasma missile as normal.

-Username17

[Berkserker]

Confession: I don't play Rifts. But it's always sounded interesting. Now it sounds less interesting to actually play. Dumpster-diving for skills that improve my stats or other benefits just so sounds as bad as dumpster-diving through pathfinder's mess to find exactly what I want for my cleric. I'd say it sounds worse, as though it leaves a part of character creation utterly useless, except it certainly does have a use - just not the one that should seem obvious on the face of it.

And holy shit I wish my time in the ring translated to my plasma missile skills.

[mlangsdorf]

There's nothing in Rifts that can't be done in a less mechanically awful system, and it doesn't even need to be a very good system: Savage Worlds is pretty crufty, but it's still better than Palladium's base system. Shadowrun would also work (or GURPS) and you wouldn't spend much more time converting stuff and writing up new things than you would deciphering the basic Rifts rules.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

But in the descriptions of the skills themselves, there are often named benefits or specific effects. And while you can't ever know what the fuck will happen if you try to use a skill itself as a tool to solve problems, tagging the skill to get bonuses is one of the few things in the game that are not ambiguous. So every RIFTS(tm) character dabbles in boxing. Not because they have any intention of ever boxing, but because you get +1 attack for being trained in boxing. Then you use that bonus attack to swing a vibro sword or fire a plasma missile as normal.

-Username17

See, I liked that about Palladium. I have no idea how realistic it is, but it does make sense for someone who wants to be good at swordfighting be trained in some form of unarmed combat first. I couldn't tell you if it was a GOOD idea but it was one I liked.

[Grek]

See, I liked that about Palladium. I have no idea how realistic it is, but it does make sense for someone who wants to be good at swordfighting be trained in some form of unarmed combat first. I couldn't tell you if it was a GOOD idea but it was one I liked.

The problem isn't that being trained in unarmed contributes to swordfighting. Its that you specifically have to be trained in boxing, and no other unarmed martial art can be substituted, as no other martial art provides the bonus action. Everyone MUST be a boxer, you can't have any karate or muay tai masters for variety.

[Koumei]

Yeah, boxing isn't a martial art form*, it's just a physical skill. It just gives you some stat boosts, some more SDC and, most importantly, an extra attack. One of the books also added kickboxing not as a martial art form* but as a physical skill that also grants an extra attack. Similarly, wrestling isn't a martial art form*, it's a skill that gives you a decent bonus to physical stats.

Meanwhile, if you take a Martial Art form in N&SS that doesn't give Weapon Kata: S-Words, you fucking suck at using swords. This doesn't apply in RIFTS (TM), which doesn't use weapon katas: any hand to hand weapons use your HtH/Martial Arts, and all firearms use your attacks per round but don't get bonuses to hit from... anything except Weapon Proficiency or innate weapon accuracy.

*Except when it is. There are Rifter (TM) magazines that DO introduce all of these as actual martial art forms. They don't say you can't ALSO take the basic skills, thus being a DOUBLE BOXER or whatever.

Confession: I don't play Rifts. But it's always sounded interesting. Now it sounds less interesting to actually play. Dumpster-diving for skills that improve my stats or other benefits just so sounds as bad as dumpster-diving through pathfinder's mess to find exactly what I want for my cleric. I'd say it sounds worse, as though it leaves a part of character creation utterly useless, except it certainly does have a use - just not the one that should seem obvious on the face of it.

You also need to remember that RIFTS (TM) doesn't have an SRD. If you so much as publish a web page that just acts as a super-index and tells you which book contains X class or skill, Kev will probably try to sue you, because fuck it, he wrote this stuff, HE OWNS THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE.

So dumpster diving is SUPER annoying and time-consuming.

[OgreBattle]

If you're gonna play RIFTS™ consider using erik's not-RIFTS™ game Nexus:
http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=56297

[Koumei]

Okay, I'm not going to do a full review, but I thought I might just include the extra martial art forms from a couple of Rifter (TM) issues.

Rifter (TM) #3 gives us a discussion on how it's not JUST for N&SS any more. So to start with they explain why you might want to learn SDC martial arts in RIFTS (TM). Spoiler: half of it is BECAUSE YOUR EQUIPMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY FUCK YOU, the other half is BAD ADVICE. But then they backtrack on what was said in N&SS, and no, masters of martial arts totally would have survived here and there (I suppose being a Kung Fu master IS the kind of thing that helps you survive the apocalypse), and are keen to pass their knowledge on, but the rarity means a huge fee.

They then put their foot down on who can learn them: you need to be able to take (or already have) HtH: Martial Arts, and be able to take (or already have) the Boxing skill. You also need some kind of excuse, probably in your backstory. "This is an excellent opportunity for character development". So you then need to spend the necessary skills to upgrade up to HtH: Martial Arts (if you already start there, you're golden), and then it's 4 more skills to upgrade to a non-Exclusive, or 6 for an Exclusive.

I want to point out that there's a "mutation" you can start with, from RIFTS (TM) World Book: Lonestar (apparently this is a Texas thing and not a space thing?), that gives you a lot of extra skills and lets you learn any fucking skill you want. Just throwing that out there in case you wanted to be an aikido scientist or whatever.

Then there's a section on Martial Arts in Nightbane (R), and I don't fucking care.

So it adds:
Bishoudo: a form that originated in NYC, and requires you not be in trouble with THE LAW and be drug-free. Kata for paired knives, gets special knife attacks and a special kick attack (1d8 SDC unless you roll 15+ on the die, in which case it's 2d6 straight to HP and 20% chance of KO), and elbow and wrist locks (automatic as well). Knives are easy to hide and carry anywhere and can even be legal to carry in some places when guns and swords aren't. B-

Chi-Kung: a very simple, versatile martial art taught to government agents worldwide. Only costs 1 more than HtH: Martial Arts/Assassin. A bunch of decent strikes, and also finger/wrist/elbow locks, chokehold, Katas for Knife and Auto-Pistol, and a special pistol-whip attack. No powers whatsoever. C

Chiang Di Chuang: SPEAR! SPEAR! SPEAR! Oh wait, the pointy thing, not the tackle. It's the art of BIG STRONG MAN HIT YOU HARD! Also it grants Weapon Kata: Spears, with +2 levels to the proficiency. Mostly Body Hardening powers, always has Stone Ox, and at level 4 gets +1d6 damage to spear attacks. Get yourself a Phase Spear and go crazy, A-

Gen Kuei Do: Kata for dual-wielding Sai, at +2 levels of proficiency. They then specify that just for you, you don't use WP: Forked for Sai, you use a special one that has relatively fast-tracked bonuses instead (but doesn't also apply to tridents and such). You also get a bunch of extra attacks with the Sai. Gives a bonus to ME, which is interesting, because Raphael was the least calm and focused of the Turtles. You get access to Chi Mastery and Arts of Invisibility right off the bat. B+

Lei Fang Do: Weapon Kata for nunchaku at +2 levels (and a good pair deals 1d8 or 2d6 damage in typical "Whatev, Kev" fashion), and you can use your nunchaku to choke and throw people, gaining +4 damage to do so. Also gets a bonus to ME, what the hell? Anyway, choking people out with a nunchaku is a defensible life choice (not from an ethical standpoint, perhaps), so A-

Luan Mo: THE BEAUTIFUL DEVIL. Sadly you can't do this as Zhang He because it's female only. More kicks than punches, Elbow/Wrist/Finger locks, and Katas for Fan, Paired Fans and Skirt. This is a new thing, basically by holding a long skirt/robe/cheongsam you can conceal your legs, giving scaling bonuses to hit with kicks (and to entangle or parry with the skirt itself). Requires two hands (thus preventing any arm-based attacks) until level 7 where it only requires one. I prefer to think it's just literally lifting the skirt up, showing your knickers, then kicking them in the trachea while they stare in amazement. It's not that great, but you could totally do a Mai Shiranui thing with this. C+

Mo Long Kung: it's another government fighting style, but actually does utilise Chi. They suggest this one could just be "HtH: Martial Arts" plus three skills. 4 base attacks, various strikes, wrist and elbow locks, and access to Body Hardening (except Chi-Gung), Arts of Invisibility (except Chi Invisibility) and Specialty Katas. It's not awful, but at this point you may as well spend one more skill and run about kicking everyone in the nads.

O-Ken Wa: I'll take Swords for 400, Alex. 4 attacks and +3 PP? Where do I sign up? Kata for paired swords (+2 levels to it), and you get Iaijutsu (can't exchange) plus 2 from either Martial Art Techs or Arts of Invisibility. It specifically IS available in RIFTS (TM) Earth. A because dual-wielding magic/vibro/rune swords is something that is perfectly acceptable.

Yung Huo Jen: I can't evaluate this because there's a chunk of text missing. No, I didn't spill a drink on my book, this is just their approach to editing. So after Basic Foot Attacks it skips straight to what you get at 4th level. 4 base attacks and +3 PP looks good, and everything suggests they get Weapon Kata: Swords (probably +2 proficiency levels), but we will never know.

Then we get some talk on grappling, and how certain arts should get a bonus to grappling moves because they're grappling arts - and how Ch'in Na should even though it doesn't get the Body Flip/Throw ("I recommend converting its Strike bonuses to Grappling Bonuses"). Similarly, if someone has no grappling moves of their own, they defend against grappling at -4. If they have grappling moves but not the one you're using, they defend at -2.

Now we move onto why I am an advocate for chokeholds.

Aside from that

With the revised rules introduced here, each attack action deals 1d4 + 1/2 your damage bonus, direct to hit points. Additionally, every single action forces a Save vs Pain (14+) or they pass out. So let's say you have 7 attacks per round. We'll pretend you have zero bonuses to damage. That's 7d4 damage to HP and seven chances for a KO. On a save that doesn't really get bonuses from stats and things.

Joint Locks have also been modified: you can spend an action to deliberately exert pressure and attempt to break the joint. Basically, you make an opposed roll the same as if they were trying to escape, and if you win, you break the joint. Which can result in "can't use that limb, get fucked". So if you break one elbow with a kimura, then transition to an armbar and break the other elbow, they can't use wielded weapons or punch you. That's four actions, so for the other three you can stand there and laugh.

And then they continue with more martial arts after that interval. I don't know why they did that.

Hung Gar Kung Fu: one Weapon Kata, a bunch of powers ("including Demon Hunter". Um, okay?), and Horse Stance, which is shitty. Also I can assure you that in real life, horse stance fucking kills your thighs, don't do this. C-

Kalaripayit: Indian martial art with chokehold, wrist lock, only a few strikes, fingertip attack, two Weapon Katas, and a handful of Atemi/Hardening/Special Katas. So it's an Atemi style, that's all right. Let's call it a B.

Kodokan Judo: obviously a grappling art. It has an automatic throw, chokehold, elbow lock, critical throw, gets to upgrade throwing to 2d6... also has Kangeiko/Shochu Geiko, and two from Atemi/Martial Arts/Special Katas. This is actually pretty good if you want to be a grappler, and as we've discussed, there are reasons to want to do that. B

Wrestling: they actually DO discuss the origins of the style used in professional wrestling (Lancashire, obviously, with carnivals, and if you beat the champion you get a prize, so the champion knows a variety of dangerous hooks that can get a win in seconds because carnies are assholes). Anyway, you get basically no basic strikes, but can knee, elbow, forearm, headbutt, choke, throw, and apply basically every lock: wrist, elbow, ankle, knee. You automatically get Kansetsu-Waza, and can take one Body Hardening exercise. You can't trade them out. You get grapple bonuses and a 2d6 throw:



It's more solid than it has any right to be and I award it A-. Only because it doesn't grant Chi Powers (and I wouldn't expect it to, not even the Undertaker can do that).

Also this is the issue that offers the Optional Damage Table for Supernatural Martial Artists. Imagine you have Supernatural PS of 51-60. If you were dealing 1d4 damage for an attack, you'd instead deal 1d6x10 MD. You'd presumably choke people for 5d6 MD. If you were dealing 1d6, you'd do 2d4x10. If you for whatever fucking reason had a roundhouse kick that dealt 6d6 damage, you'd do 12d4x10 MD per kick.



Maybe next time I'll cover the other Rifter (TM) which goes into WORLD WARRIORS.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Calling this a martial art is a fucking stretch. In fact, that's what this is: stretching exercises. If a bunch of guys leap out at you with chains, knives, katanas and other "Art of Fighting" weapons, then you are not going to bust out your Tai-Chi.

Okay, I gotta sperg. I studied the combat form of Tai Chi for years. Like many martial arts it has a combat and a fighting form. The combat forms of most martial arts (ninjutsu, karate, etc) no longer exist, but people do practice the combat form of Tai Chi. And I have used it to fuck people up*

*More accurate to say I redirected their momentum and let them fuck themselves up while wrestling and during dust-ups in high school. It probably would not work in an actual fight but neither would most martial arts. Point being, if you can imagine your dude beating someone up with Aikido or Capoeira or Dim Mak it's not any sillier to have them tai chi someone's spleen out.