Blood and Fists (Print)

[PosterBoy]

Blood and Fists brings the action of the Martial Arts genre into your d20 Modern game. With new advanced classes like the Martial Arts Master, the Contemplative Master, and the Badass Barroom Brawler, Martial Arts Styles from around the world, and over 100 new feats, rules for Ki, Pressure Points, Zen Mastery, and other mystical abilities, Martial Arts Modern gives you everything you need to bring exotic fighting styles to your game.

From Aikido to Zen Archery, Blood and Fists has it!

 

[Psion]

Blood & Fists: Modern Martial Arts

[imager]http://www.rpgnow.com/products/product_1742.jpg[/imager]Blood and Fists is a martial arts sourcebook for the d20 Modern system. The book is written by Charles Rice and published (in both PDF and print format) by RPGObjects.

A First Look

Format: Available as a 64 page perfect bound softcover book for $14.95. Also available in PDF format for $6.95. The contents of the two are essentially identical.

Art: Cover art is by Jeremy Simmons, and is an orange-red with various east Asian themed symbols and characters on it, with the silhouette of a shuriken most prominently displayed on the front cover. The interior is black and white, with a few basic ink drawings of martial artists by Chris Martinez.

Layout: The book uses a basic two-column format. A conservatively sized body font text is used. The header font text used has a calligraphy-style look to it, but is clear and readable. The tables are well organized and easily readable.

A Deeper Look

Detailed treatment of martial arts in the d20 System is a somewhat hazardous subject to broach. Arguably, the feat system is where these sorts of abilities are best represented, but characters only receive a handful of feats as they advance. This being the case, various authors (including those on WotC's payroll) have tried to circumvent this using such dubious techniques as handing out free feat-like benefits with the right "lottery combination" of feats, allowing feat like benefits in exchange for raw XP or money, or even systems assigning individual skill ranks the importance of feats!

Blood & Fists, I am happy to report, avoids all this nonsense. Blood & Fists uses the foundational built in features of the d20 System to handle martial arts: feats and classes.

The basic building block of a martial arts style is one of many "martial art style" feats. Each of these feats corresponds to a fighting system, most of them drawn from authentic real world sources. Martial art style feats include well known east Asian combat system such as karate, kung fu, and jujutsu, as well as less known fighting systems from other parts of the world such as Hawaiian Lua, Russian ROSS, and Brazilian Capoeira. The styles here aren't just limited to the ever-popular unarmed fighting styles; you will also find styles like fencing, kendo, and kyudo herein.

"Animal" style feats, such as those taught by bando and various kung fu variants, are generalized into styles just named after the animal (cat, leopard, etc.), making the abstraction that these styles are fundamentally similar.

Each style feat offers a number of basic benefits that vary by style. These benefits can include new class skills, being considered "armed" when performing certain styles of attacks, negating two-weapon penalties with specific weapons, addition of class skills, and the ability to use abilities other than strength for melee attack rolls.

All of these feats have prerequisites; most of the unarmed styles have combat or defensive martial arts as a prerequisite. It may seem that some of the benefits are redundant with those of the prerequisite feats. However, the benefits from the style feats are somewhat similar to class skills granted by starting occupations in that if you already have the named class skill (or other benefit), you get a +1 bonus instead.

Of course, there are many martial arts in the world, and this one does not capture them all. To allow you to emulate unlisted styles (or make up your own fictional styles), the book has a simple 6-point system with which you can design your own martial art style feats.

A single feat only captures the basics of the style, but there are a variety of martial arts maneuvers. Many are available to a wide variety of martial arts characters, but most have a short list of martial arts styles of which one is required as a prerequisite. In this way the system adds further details as more advanced techniques of all of the martial arts styles. For example, a kick oriented style like Tae Kwon Do or Capoeria brings access to Axe Kick (which allows you to perform a kick attack with increased damage once a round), while arts with grappling and hold techniques bring access to Choke Hold (which allows you to quickly enter a strangulation hold). Many of these maneuver feats have more complex maneuver feats based on them.

More general maneuvers include the various levels of combination feats (which provide bonuses when you perform other "maneuver" style feats in a particular order) and iaijutsu (which allows an initiative bonus with a melee weapon). Also, general feats are available that have no particular maneuver or style as a prerequisite, such as kata feats (which are basically specializations in a style), know thy enemy, and knowledge is power (both of which provided benefits against practitioners of a specific style.)

One maneuver feat left me uncomfortable, the block feat, which let you use attacks to block incoming attacks. While a basic mechanical technique that has been used elsewhere, it seems to lack something; as an opponent's attack rarely occurs on your turn, the only way to practically do this under the rules is to reserve an action, which makes the feat seem weak considering the limitations on holding actions.

To further define martial arts styles, a number of signature maneuver feats are available. Unlike the general maneuver feats, each of these is unique to a particular style.

Some "aesthetic" styles have access to a selection of feats call ki feats. Ki feats are considered FX abilities, and allow access to benefits such as enhancing ability scores, ignoring environmental damage, or issuing a kiai shout that renders a foe flat-footed.

Though this is a lot of game mechanical details that are being lent to martial arts styles in the game, it is still not all. However, to tell the rest of the story, I must delve into the three new advanced classes provided for the game.

The three new advanced classes are bad-ass barroom brawler, contemplative master, and martial arts master. The bad-ass barroom brawler (whose name strikes me as a bit crass for a game mechanical entity) is the least entangles with the martial arts system of the three. The brawler receives three types of class abilities as it advances: rage, "cheap shot" (which allows sneak attack style bonus damage once per combat), and bonus feats selected from the more "no nonsense" type of feats providing benefits in melee combat.

The contemplative master and martial arts master's special abilities are similar in format. At odd levels, members of both classes get mastery abilities, which like various maneuver feats, are selected from a list of mastery abilities appropriate to a style the character knows; style masteries are more potent additions to the style, and the most potent are only available at the higher levels of these classes. At even levels, they get bonus feats chosen from those appropriate to the character's styles.

The contemplative master has poorer general combat abilities (hit die type, BAB advancement) than the martial arts master, but has more skill points per level (and access to more different skills) as well as access to bonus feats and masteries from an additional "contemplative" list.

To round out the tools with which to describe various martial arts styles, the book introduces three new skills (meditation, pressure points, and zen mastery) as well as new uses for balance (resisting trip attacks) and sense motive (predicting attacks.) The zen mastery skill leaves me a bit uncomfortable in that it circumvents the normal skill system and instead provides a percentage per skill rank subtracted from concealment miss percentages; this sort of modifier seems more appropriate for a feat.

In addition to the mechanics section of the book, part of the book is dedicated to the topic of martial arts campaign considerations. One chapter has a rundown citing many conventions common to cinematic martial arts movies and comics, and providing ideas on how you could use them in a d20 Modern campaign styled after these resouces.

The final chapter features the Hanmei, a tournament styled after those that appear frequently in the source material. The chapter describes the tournament, ways to use it in a game, and detailed sample NPCs using rules in this book of a variety of different levels.

Conclusion

I was really impressed with Blood and Fists. It is the first martial arts resource for an RPG that really set my imagination alight since Hero's Ultimate Martial Artist, and is the best treatment of martial arts that I have seen for the d20 System to date. It doesn't resort to dubious techniques that bypass level mechanics and provides statistics for real world styles that people are interested in representing, and represents them in a very detailed yet playable manner.

The book does have a few shortcomings. As mentioned, there were a few mechanical implementations that I was not comfortable with, such as the block feat and the zen mastery skill.

The book makes martial arts more powerful than they are as represented in the core d20 Modern rules, and owns up to the fact on the basis that it really doesn't make them more powerful than guns. While this point is well taken, it does make the book more appropriate to campaigns that wish to emphasize martial arts as a central element of the game vice simply adding martial arts techniques to campaigns that only have them as a sideline.

Overall Grade: A-

-Alan D. Kohler

Edit: RPGO recently updated the PDF version of this book, addressing most of my concerns with the new skills and block maneuver. You can check the PDF if you want to see changes. Also, if you want both, RPGO lets you buy the print version for cheap if you buy the PDF.

 

[C. Baize]

Quite a well done review.
*Thumbs up*

 

[Messageboard Golem]

Thanks for the review Psion

I agree about Block and Zen Mastery to some extent.

I tend to treat attacks within the same round as simultaneous. While this is my take on how combat should play out, and fits my actual "combat" experience (boxing and football- both like D&D- combat with rules lol), it isn't 100% grounded in the rules.

If you take a strictly mathematical approach to the round, and make characters use the delay action to block an attack, the feat becomes problematic.

If two characters are locked in melee, I don't run it that way, allowing a character making three attacks to launch 2 and reserve a third for a block when his opponent attacks.

But again- I dont think that's 100% kosher. For those uncomfortable with that take, I would simply use Combat Expertise instead.

Chuck

 

[Messageboard Golem]

I give this review two thumbs up. A must read.

Jeff

 

[eheide]

Psion,

Do you think these rules can be easily applied to a standard D&D campaign? I don't plan D20 Modern, so I'm not sure if they have different mechanics for combat.

 

[Psion]

eheide,

I would say it could be adapted, but you might be happier with "Beyond Monks" if that is your goal (and I will be reviewing the print version of that book soon, and it is pretty good.)

I contemplated implementing a system very much like the one in Blood & Fists in my D&D game and think that if you tweaked it a bit here and there to recognize the slightly different environment of D&D (with stronger magic, etc.), it would work well.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

Hi, I recently bought this book and I was wondering if this would be a more viable way to incorporate the Block feat. Perhaps, instead of being like an attack action, it works like the Core books of DnD handle parrying (although, parrying in some books work just like Block in this book): where it adds to one's Defense instead (giving a +1 Block bonus to Defense, something like that).

I've heard about balance issue with this ruleset being used in a game where martial arts aren't the main focus, especially with the Martial Arts Master advanced class. Any suggestions to make it more balanced?

 

[JoeGKushner]

Blood and Fists is a martial arts companion for the d20 modern game. It’s a relatively simple book broken into six chapters: classes, skills, feats, weapons, campaigns, and the manmei. The book does an excellent job of informing the reader what its goal is and what changes happen to the d20 system.

In short, the author notes that d20 Modern puts guns as the top dogs and as a design decision, that’s fine. However, not every campaign revolves around the use of guns and some campaigns may want a break from a Hard Boiled or Better Tomorrow style game in favor of Enter the Dragon. To that end, martial arts as presented in the core rules are really not sufficient.

Enter Blood and Fists.

The first chapter introduces three advanced classes, the bad-ass barroom brawler, the contemplative master and the martial arts master. The first one is in essence a barbarian like martial artists who gains not only the ability to rage, but also can get in a cheap shot once per combat that acts as a sneak attack. The latter two are meant to replace or act of options for someone who doesn’t like the d20 Modern Martial Artists. The contemplative master gains mastery. This can come from the Style list or the Contemplative list, things described a little latter. The martial arts master also gains mastery. The difference between the two is that the former is more on the will side gaining a higher will save, more skill points and fewer hit points.

Chapter two is a brief one page for skills. Some of these are new uses like predict attack using sense motive or resist trip attack with balance. Others like meditation, pressure points and zen mastery, are new. All of the new skills can only be used trained and each one focuses on some aspect commonly attributed to a martial art environment. Meditation for example, allows the user to slip into a trance and ignore fatigue or exhaustion for an hour before having to try again and ignore another hour.

The real meat of the book is chapter three, feats. The book starts off with general feats. Many of these break up weapons into different groups like archaic weapons-Chinese or Japanese. The bulk of the chapter though, is martial art styles that in turn have a martial art style feat, and maneuver feats. The style feat is the basics while the maneuvers are the tricky moves within the style.

Let’s say you spend a feat on Cobra style. You are now considered proficient in punch attacks and considered armed when punching. You can also feint as a Move action. You get Bluff, Intimidate and Pressure Points on your Class Skill list. Last, you use your Dexterity modifier for combat instead of Strength. Then you can take something like Heart Punch, a feat that increases your die damage by one size and treats the target as flat footed the first time you use it in each combat. If you hit the target when he’s flat footed, he has to make a Fortitude Save or be stunned.

It’s an interesting system. The ability to augment your feats is one not really utilized enough as bonus feats, no matter how many, tend to putter out in power level as the character gains power. What feat for example, can compare to a 9th level spell? Not as big a problem in a d20 Modern Game unless you’re using FX, but the concept is still the same.

Now remember those mastery abilities I mentioned at the start of the review that two of the PrCs could take? Using the example of Cobra, there are a few things that such a master could take. For example, they can gain up to Accurate Punch 3 ability or a Stunning Punch 2. What does that mean? Well, an Accurate Punch 3, by stacking, you have a +2 to your base attack bonus from 1 and 2, and from 3, you gain the True Strike attack that’s unaffected by any Dodge bonus or Blocking Feat. For Stunning Punch, which I assume is Stunning Strike, you can strike an opponent and stun them for 1-4 rounds.

Chapter four brings us back to the earlier part of the chapter that concerned feats for various weapon groups. Here those weapons are detailed and broken up into different families. Name, damage, critical, type, range, size, weight and cost are included.

Chapter five provides the reader with advice on a martial arts campaign. I’m an old reader of numerous comics and the martial art subgenre in Champions, especially the Ultimate Martial Artists and Ninja Hero, do a much more throughout job than this chapter, but for newcomers, this is a good starting point.

The last chapter, The Hanmei, provides the GM with a system of street fighting with different levels to take characters through. Very much in the style of Enter the Dragon. The good news is that the author has provided numerous pregenerated characters for GMs in a hurry or those pressed for time.

The book, at $14.95 for 64 pages, is average price. The interior layout is standard two-columns and has a fair use of white space. Art isn’t quite up to Malhavok or Green Ronin’s best but suitable for the material. The writing flows well, especially with the author’s enjoyment of the genre coming through his fiction that carries us through the book.

Charles Rice has done a good job with Blood and Fists and players interested in trying various styles of martial arts should look into it. Game Masters who are intrigued by this may want to hunt down the first edition of the Ultimate Martial Artists as it’s a little deeper and more detailed in some areas and actually includes some game material to be used in a d20 game (2nd edition D&D) unlike the newer edition which is larger, but doesn’t have those game mechanics.

 

[Psion]

lofdandar,

Sorry I don't get by to old reviews much.

It's not that I think it's unbalanced, but it changes the assumed balance. Guns are king in standard d20 modern, which is realistic.

One simple way to make it more like the default assumption would be to use the feats, styles, and maneuvers herein, but not the classes. This would allow access to the feats and maneuvers, but keep the more potent high end masteries out of reach of the players.