Martial Arts in d20

[takyris]

Well, actually, a pistol whip is on the list as being a simple melee weapon, just like a rifle butt.

I'd say that bumps them into the category where an opposed roll is called for. At the very least, it's a grey area of the rules.

Well, if you asked one hundred people whether a gun was a ranged weapon or a melee weapon, I think the odds would be slightly more in my favor.

When you think about it, ANY ranged weapon can also be a melee weapon. Heck, you can club someone with a bow if they get too close to you. Just list it as an improvised weapon. The only difference is that they listed the pistol butt officially because it was likely to happen more often as people run out of ammo or get stuck in a group.

Mistwell, any chance we could get an official ruling on whether guns count as ranged weapons when you try to disarm someone holding one? For the record, I firmly believe they're ranged, but would accept a ruling (or house-ruling) that they are considered to be however they were used in their most recent attack (ranged or melee). If they are never considered ranged, however, then that entire entry in the book is there for no reason, because there's NO reason to use that rule except against guns.

-Tacky

 

[Dareoon Dalandrove]

What is the stuff for table1 for? I don't understand that.

 

[jonrog1]

The SPYCRAFT martial arts stuff, along with the expansion book Pan-Asian Collective, is a nice mid-ground for complex yet not too complex effective martial arts rules.

 

[Mistwell]

The SPYCRAFT martial arts stuff, along with the expansion book Pan-Asian Collective, is a nice mid-ground for complex yet not too complex effective martial arts rules.

After reaqding that free Rich Redmon stuff mentioned above, there is no reason to go through the hassle of converting spycraft stuff for this. It's all already done, by one of the writers of d20 Modern!

 

[drothgery]

You'll lose. Your BAB is 3, versus the gunslinger's 9. You'll fail the disarm, and then he'll shoot you. Of course he IS CR13, versus a party level of about 1.

... and almost any twink gunslinger is going to go dual-pistol (and will likely be Fast 4/Gunslinger 9; you take fast 4 at 8th level for the +1 BAB [which 5 Gunslinger wouldn't grant] and the feat, which gives you a +6 BAB and Improved Two-Weapon Fighting).

 

[suburbaknght]

This was a phenomonal amount of work - thanks for sharing! I have every intention of using this stuff...

btw, have you guys seen some of the stuff the game mechanics are putting out as freebies? In a very similar vein as this stuff, and written by Rich Redman. Worth checking out...

http://www.thegamemechanics.com/freebies/index.asp

Look for Martial Arts Mayhem.
jericho

Glad you like it! It was a fair amount of work, but not as much as it appears; the core forms (Aikido, Muai Thai, etc.) were just adaptations of the forms in Oriental Adventures, many of the others seemed to write themselves. Others were based on suggestions from the original postings, and British Bareknuckle Boxing was even written by someone who saw my post and liked the idea.

I like the Game Mechanics system as a set of mechanics. My only problems with it are 1) it doesn't simulate learning new moves very well (only three compared to eight or so feats) and 2) it's a new set of rules. I can give my system to someone used to d20 and they just pick feats for the form they want. That said, it's a great system (and some of the abilities are very creative. I love their take on wrestling) just not what I want.

 

[suburbaknght]

What is the stuff for table1 for? I don't understand that.

It's an adaptation of the table in Oriental Adventures if you want to design a martial artist with a type of fighting in mind but not a specific form.

 

[Quickbeam]

Some GREAT stuff in here to help along this fledgling d20M Gamemaster before my campaign gets fully underway. Now I can go over some of these concepts with my players before their character development is too far along, and we can work out PC options. Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Plane Sailing]

For a laugh, early on I wondered how I'd stat up Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan as d20M characters. This is what I came up with (ignoring attribute values or the full details)

Bruce Lee
I picture him as the ultimate martial artist, and this is the closest that I can get while still remaining simple.

Fast 4 / Martial Artist 8 / Soldier 8

I chose this combination in order to maximise the potential martial arts damage... Assuming that as Soldier he takes weapon focus in unarmed combat. The Advanced Martial Arts feat lets him crit on 19-20, the soldier class ability ups that to 18-20. His base unarmed damage is 1d10 (from living fist) +4 (from greater specialisation), his BAB is about +17, giving him 4 attacks (plus an extra one if he uses flurry of blows).

Jackie Chan
I see Jackie as a much more complex character (and not quite as high level), he doesn't portray such kick-ass fighters, but comes over as tough and fearless, while using all manner of improvised weapons.

Fast 3 / Tough 1/ Infiltrator 2/ Daredevil 4/ Martial artist 7

Because of his prediliction for doing his own stunts, and the physical punishment he often takes I added in a tough level. The Daredevil levels give him his fearlessness, his instant stand and action boost (to reflect his luckiness). The infiltrator levels are to give him the improvised weapon benefit, since he typically uses every kind of implement known to man to fight with (!). Finally I round it off with enough levels of Martial Artist to give him the flurry of blows class feature.


I love the idea of playing a dedicated/martial artist; that faith ability would be so cool to use (Just watched Big Trouble in Little China again)

Cheers

 

[takyris]

PS,

I love your version of Jackie Chan -- that's dead-on what I'd use, I think, if I thought about it enough.

Not sure I agree on Bruce Lee, though. Everyone likes to use Fast for anyone who is agile. When I watch a Bruce Lee movie, I don't (and please correct me if I'm remembering poorly) see a ton of acrobatics -- at least, not relative to a Jackie Chan movie. Bruce Lee is not REALLY REALLY good at tumbling and leaping off of walls and stuff like that. He's not bad at it -- I'd give him a high Dex -- but it's not how he styles himself. Running quickly or tumbling would make me think "Fast Hero". I think that Bruce Lee's Basic Class should actually be Strong Hero.

(Please note that this is yet another example of me crusading to retake Strong Hero as a cool and stylish class, fighting off those who think that only Fast Heroes can look cool.)

Given Bruce's ability to hit with such precision and power that he can damage folks who are much bigger than he is, and his ability to hit a WHOLE BUNCH OF TIMES, I'd put Bruce into classes that give him the best BAB possible and the most damage bonuses. For me, that'd mean Strong Hero with Melee Smash -- forget the name, which is inelegant. What it really means is, "I've learned to craft my blows into precision instruments that do more damage than they ordinarily would." That strikes me as Bruce Lee in a nutshell.

Heck, make him Athletic by occupation and let him get ranks in Tumble that way, if you like.

-Tacky