Will the real martial artist please stand up...

[AbdulAlhazred]

Arguably using a martial strike - means your empty hands count as both empty and weapon x.

Jeet Kun Do allows ones unarmed attacks count as any melee weapon you are trained in.

Picturing now someone using a fantasy martial art say the Art of the Panther... to emulate the use of reach weapon

Yeah, should work fine. Can I get the Grasping option on that?

 

[Garthanos]

After some consideration on this I am actually finding the idea of martial arts being a combination of yin and yang techniques for defending and attacking without the conventional weaponry to be far more satisfying than I thought I might... That our core martial classes then become THE martial artists and advancing ones unarmed techniques to a magical degrees becomes a legendary sensei ability (a martial practice ) ... while being trained in the basics can be aquired from a teacher in many villages if the setting is correct.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

After some consideration on this I am actually finding the idea of martial arts being a combination of yin and yang techniques for defending and attacking without the conventional weaponry to be far more satisfying than I thought I might... That our core martial classes then become THE martial artists and advancing ones unarmed techniques to a magical degrees becomes a legendary sensei ability (a martial practice ) ... while being trained in the basics can be aquired from a teacher in many villages if the setting is correct.

Yeah, really there's no EXPLICIT 'martial arts' per se. There are just many powers and whatnot that work together to BE martial arts. I mean, there never WAS a dividing line between a knight who is really good with a sword and a monk who uses one in a fighting style. They probably BOTH follow some sort of style taught to them by whomever they learned from. Clearly 'knight' and 'monk' can be classes that follow slightly thematically different kinds of techniques, but fundamentally they all work the same way, you learn a power, you gain access to a 'boon', etc.

 

[Garthanos]

Yeah, really there's no EXPLICIT 'martial arts' per se. There are just many powers and whatnot that work together to BE martial arts.

I am referring in this case to "martial arts" mechanically being a combination of methods that allow one to do any of those martial maneuvers without weaponry and armor (mechanically they replace those) ... ie yes real martial arts would be the whole maneuver/power set used by the martial classes.

I mean, there never WAS a dividing line between a knight who is really good with a sword and a monk who uses one in a fighting style. They probably BOTH follow some sort of style taught to them by whomever they learned from. Clearly 'knight' and 'monk' can be classes that follow slightly thematically different kinds of techniques, but fundamentally they all work the same way, you learn a power, you gain access to a 'boon', etc.

I think if I am to absorb the monk back into the martial classes I need more flexible mobility and the flurry multi-striker option to be in either the rogue or the ranger.... although I think fighters could use more mobility.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I am referring in this case to "martial arts" mechanically being a combination of methods that allow one to do any of those martial maneuvers without weaponry and armor (mechanically they replace those) ... ie yes real martial arts would be the whole maneuver/power set used by the martial classes.



I think if I am to absorb the monk back into the martial classes I need more flexible mobility and the flurry multi-striker option to be in either the rogue or the ranger.... although I think fighters could use more mobility.

Yeah, you could label 'unarmed fighting styles' as being a bit of a specialized thing. Anyone could do it, but a 'monk' would of course be best, which is at least what they were AIMING for with the PHB3 Monk.

I think mobility and mobile striking could be handled pretty well with a class feature and then an MC feat would sort out what you want. I mean, you can kinda do it already, its just awkward with the Ki Focus vs Weapon thing and such.

 

[Garthanos]

This is 4e...and the paladin isn't better than the fighter any more

Sent from my XT1585 using EN World mobile app

 

[Garthanos]

Yeah, you could label 'unarmed fighting styles' as being a bit of a specialized thing.

Thinking of making them a martial class only thing - But I am also thinking to make it a world specific limit.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Thinking of making them a martial class only thing - But I am also thinking to make it a world specific limit.

Well, I think, clearly, there's room for classes like 'monk', and maybe something like 'ninja', say, but on the whole I am suspicious of purely culturally derived classes. I think class is best focused on what you do, and not so much focused on culturally dependent details like if your sword is curved or how the facemask and crest on your helmet are styled. Thus the 'knight' class of HoML easily covers many characters who might be termed 'Samurai' in a flavor way. OTOH I don't actually like that name for it, because I would rather have players picking mechanics and social roles more-or-less independently. Still, I have the name 'fighter' too because it swallows everything else martial!

 

[Garthanos]

Still, I have the name 'fighter' too because it swallows everything else martial!

Remember the ranger was a type of fighter and the paladin was a type of fighter and so on... and till they made up the thief the "fighting man" would probably hve been the one best at sneaking around.

With this paradigm we have 4 types of core martial artists almost like the monk swallowed them all. Tee hee.

 

[Garthanos]

The Warlord classed martial artist can even be the Healer flavored martial artist which 4e's monk doesnt really do well at all... but which seems an archetype.