Martial Arts Tactics and Tips

The GURPS Martial Arts book is packed full of ways you can trick out a character. So much so that it can be quite daunting. Image pointed out in a recent email exchange that it is probably best to specialize in a few skills instead of trying to spread out a few points here and there in a lot of skills, and I wanted to elaborate on that some. Additionally, I think there are some particular ideas for character creation given the nature of the campaign that will prove useful.

I think starting with a good DX is crucial. Given that Karate damage bonuses apply when you have your skill trained to DX or DX+1 and that Weaponmaster gives weapon damage bonuses when you have the skill trained to DX+1 or DX+2, these are probably the values to keep in mind. Your primary combat skill should be at least this much, so that you get the full damage bonus. Also, given that a 15 attack means you can score a critical on a 5 or that a 16 means you can score a critical on a 6, these are good levels to shoot for for your primary attack form. This may be a challenge to do with a 125 (or even 150) point build, but perhaps it's doable. So, if you wanted to be a real martial arts badass, you could start with a DX of 12 and train Karate up to DX+4 so that it's 16. This would cost (2 x 20) + (20) = 60. This would be pretty potent, though, as it would give you a parry of 11 (which can be increased further through advantages) and let you score a critical hit with a 6! For a weapon skill, if you took a the one weapon version of Weaponmaster (for 20 points) and wanted to be a badass with said weapon, you could, again, take a DX of 12 and buy the skill up to DX+4. That would cost (2 x 20) + (20) + (16) = 76. In both cases, the character would be doing his thrust or swing damage +2, as appropriate, which is pretty substantial.

In terms of key advantages, I think Combat Reflexes, High Pain Threshold, Enhanced Dodge, and Enhanced Parry are all great choices for any martial artist who intends to be on the front lines. High Pain Threshold would make sense for any brutish fighters as well. The aforementioned Karate badass who took Enhanced Parry and Combat Reflexes would have a parry score of 16/2 +3, +1, +1 = 13. Using a Defensive Attack (MA pp 100) would bring that up to 14. Given that Zhuang is TL 2 and that first aid is of limited use, and that armor is uncommon and not entirely useful, high defenses, be they dodge or parry, will be critical to surviving combats. Someone who is heavier on the offense and doesn't have great defense scores can always go with High Pain Threshold to mitigate the damage by eliminating shock penalties. For this type of warrior, some Hard to Kill and/or Hard to Subdue will also be welcome. Ambidexterity is also very nice, especially for someone with Extra Attack, as it means any extra attacks made with an off-hand have no penalty. It also allows for off-hand parries with no penalty, meaning someone could parry twice without a penalty, whereas trying to parry multiple times in a turn with one weapon has an increasing penalty for every parry after the first.

Image is right that specializing is probably a good idea. Cal demonstrated how effective Flying Leap can be, but I think people should take a look at the other Cinematic Skills that Weapon Master or Trained by a Master allow. Power Blow is quite potent. Invisibility Art is extremely useful. Pressure Points is also awesome, especially if you want to disable someone without killing him (or even if you want to kill him). If each character specialized in one or two techniques and also specialized in one or two of the cinematic skills, that would probably make for a devastating party. For instance, a Flying Leap specialist could either buy up his Basic Move or dump points into the Jump skill (which is Easy, so it's cheap) to get a high base to work from. Someone with a 12 DX who put 12 points into Jump would start with an equivalent move of 8. So, a successful flying leap from a standstill for such a person would be triple the distance of a standing broad jump, which is 2 x Basic Move (or 1/2 Jump skill) - 3 in feet. So the flying leap would go 39 feet. LOL. A running flying leap where someone got, say, a four yard running start would go 63 feet. Note that attempting a jump takes two successive concentration maneuvers, and if you attempt a jump without first taking those maneuvers, distances are halved. In the case of an immediate flying leap from such a person, that would still be 19 feet (6 hexes) from a standstill or 31 feet (10 hexes) from a run. That said, a Flying Leap also takes concentration maneuvers, and anyone trying to jump instantly is at -10 to skill (though there are ways to lessen this penalty as per the Flying Leap entry on MA129).

Examining Power Blow, we see a similarly powerful ability. If you start with the aforementioned Weaponmaster using a Shortsword, he will be getting a +2 to his damage. A shortsword is normally equal to your swing damage (cutting) or your thrust damage (impaling). If you have a 10 ST, your base is 1d swing and 1d-2 thrust. With the Weaponmaster bonus, it would be 1d+2 swing and 1d thrust. However, a successful Power Blow lets you double your strength for one attack, meaning that your swing damage jumps to 3d+2 and that your thrust damage jumps to 2d-1. With the Weaponmaster bonus, that's 4d cutting damage or 2d+1 impaling damage with a shortsword. 4d cutting damage or 2d+1 impaling damage is pretty devastating.

Rapid Strike (B370) is probably a very good tactic for anyone who has Trained by a Master and/or Weapon Master, as the attacks only suffer half the normal penalty (so, -3 instead of -6). Note that someone with Extra Attack can only replace one of his attacks with a Rapid Strike.

Iron Body Parts is quite a nice perk, especially on the hands or arms, and especially for people who make heavy use of unarmed attacks. You can get DR 1 or 2 from it. It's nice because it comes into effect any time you strike something or someone with high DR and damage yourself, and also any time one of your unarmed attacks is parried by someone with a weapon who manages to then score a hit on you during his parry.

Back to Zhuang.