A New System for Martial Arts Fighting

[AJ_Flowers]

Thanks for all the recent replies on this thread! I'd meant to jump back in to it this weekend but the Forge was being refurbished so it slipped out of my brain.

As to Ron's question about context:  I really think the system would be cool for fun martial arts fighting adventures, along the lines of the "tournament game" I once ran using the somewhat inadequate BESM.  I'm also a big fan of the kind of mystical karate genre with powers and so-on, so here, as cheezy as it sounds, I'm thinking of an adventure flavored almost like Mortal Kombat, with very deadly and personal combat. But you might have an element of gods and mortals fighting as well, so even if the combat results in a lot of damage or loss characters don't instantly die.

As for the idea of a "move list," with different types of punches and so-on it definitely brings to mind the kind of fighting game genre I'm emulating. But, I tried that initially in a larger treatment of the system but discarded it, because it was so crunchy, too much to write out and memorize. I wanted to take the mechanic back to its initial abstraction.

Contracycle: I like the idea of keeping the ranges abstract. I want the system to flow without having to measure distances precisely.  The idea of a band with a token to represent this between two opponents definitely has some merit there. Sorry it took me a while to get back to your PM on it!

I may start a new thread with drafts of more specific rules based on the feedback here.

[Noclue]

True. It has gone silent.

OK, Here's my implementation Idea. Skillful defense requires you to roll more successes (even numbers are successes) than the oponent's attack value (AV).

Daniel-san has Karate Defense of 4 and is attacked by Sho Nuff with a deadly but slow Power Punch (AV = 2).

Daniel-san rolls four defense dice and gets four successes, meaning he skillfully defends against Sho Nuff's attack with a margin of 2 successes. So his next attack has a +2 AV

Daniel-san then uses the Crane Kick (AV = 5 + 2 = 7). Sho Nuff defends with his Karate Defense of 6, rolling 4 successes. This is 3 short, which would result in a 'hit' unless Sho Nuff gets "desperate." (You could roll hit location at this point to see where the damage would be--let's say its the head)

Sho Nuff decides he really does not want to be hit in the head, so he pushes himself. Sho Nuff can roll up to 6 additional dice (because of the Karate Defense of 6). However, each additional dice will temporarily reduce his Karate Defense until he is able to "get a breather" which would require him to force Daniel-san to skip an attack by hitting him hard enough to stun him. Sho Nuff pushes all 6 dice in the hopes that he will be able to block the attack and destroy Daniel-san with his counter. He rolls 4 successes, which means his desperate defense has worked but left him open to attack unless he scores well in his counter.

Sho Nuff decides to use his Jab 7, and rolls a location "left shoulder." Daniel-san can not avoid the hit without pushing and even if he pushes, he's got a good chance of taking damage. He rolls his 4d and gets 2 successes. Daniel-san can not avoid being hit, and Sho Nuff's 5 success margin is high enough that he might be able to retain initiative. He decides to push 2 dice, and rolls one success, reducing the margin to 4.

(need some kind of damage mechanic here)

Daniel-san is bleeding, but he has initiative and Sho Nuff "no can defense." He tries his Crane Kick (AV = 5), with an automatic 5 success margin. But, is it enough to keep the intiative, or will Sho Nuff rally back?

[Noclue]

so here, as cheezy as it sounds, I'm thinking of an adventure flavored almost like Mortal Kombat, with very deadly and personal combat. But you might have an element of gods and mortals fighting as well, so even if the combat results in a lot of damage or loss characters don't instantly die.

In your OP you said martial arts/comedy. I was thinking something like Big Trouble In Little China.

[Ron Edwards]

Hey everyone,

It's time to let Amanda think! She will return with something using this idea, I'm sure, but now's a good time for the thread to end. Unless Amanda says otherwise (PM please), it's closed.

Best, Ron