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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Atridis" data-source="post: 1301232" data-attributes="member: 13919">I agree with what Mallus said, more or less. However, that wasn't how I read your question: I don't believe there _is_ a "realistic option for someone who hasn't dedicated their character concept to non lethal damage." The only time it's possible to use non-lethal force against an adversary who is trying to kill you - and it's never a good idea - is if you are a skilled fighter and your adversary is not. Contrary to the popular image, traditional martial arts are not meant to make an unarmed man capable of defending himself against an armed attacker. Most martial arts involve the use of weapons, and many incorporate "disarms" precisely because facing an armed attacker is such a perilous situation that must be stopped as soon as possible. In the last half-century or so, martial artists have begun to search for non-lethal techniques that are applicable to actual combat (as opposed to sport fighting). Police departments now train in non-lethal methods of disarming and disabling armed and violent people, and they blend techniques from jiu-jitsu, aikido, Greco-Roman wrestling, and kenpo karate, among others. Furthermore, police officers carry weapons designed to assist them, such as the now-ubiquitous tonfa, and train in their application. As well, scientists and engineers are constantly developing non-lethal weapons systems for law enforcement (and, more recently, for the military). Few of them have proven effective enough to see general use. Which is to say, police officers actually DO dedicate their character concepts to non lethal damage. And despite all of that, if you were to go at a police officer with a knife, I'd bet all the money in my wallet that the first thing he'd do is draw his gun. If you neither surrendered nor forced him to shoot you, the second thing he'd do is call five or six of his buddies-in-blue and play "Pig-pile on the Perp."</blockquote>

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