Aberrant 2.0 Martial Arts

Martial Arts

Basic Attacks

Note that these are unchanged from the standard hand-to-hand attacks (save the damage reduction which is a nerf to unarmed in general to make armed fighting more preferable) and are all available at Martial Arts 0.

• Strike: Accuracy +0, Damage (Str + 0B), Difficulty +0
• Kick: Accuracy +0, Damage (Str + 2B), Difficulty +1
• Grapple: Accuracy +0, Damage (Str + 0B), Difficulty +1, holds target (Str + Might contests)
• Disarm: Accuracy +0, Damage (Str + 0B), Difficulty +1, disarming (damage successes apply to disarming the target instead, disarming if they exceed the target's Strength)
• Tackle: Accuracy +0, Damage (Str + 4B), Difficulty +1, disabling (+1 difficulty), no multiple actions
• Striking Smackdown: Accuracy +0, Damage (Str + 6B), Difficulty +0, costs 1wp to initiate, takes one turn to wind up, no multiple actions
• Grappling Smackdown: Accuracy +0, Damage (Str + 4B), Difficulty +0, costs 1wp to initiate, takes one turn to wind up, no multiple actions, holds target

Optional Rule: Stun Damage

Fists and feet are generally poor ways of inflicting damage on people and this optional rule allows this to reflect that. If this rule is in place, characters without Mega-Strength or a normal Strength of 6 or above deal Stun, rather than Bashing damage with their unarmed attacks. This means that beating someone unconscious is still possible but they'll tend to recover after the scene no worse for wear. As a more realistic form, this may only hold true for characters with low Brawl/Martial Arts scores, as they do not know how and where to hit to maximize damage.

Martial Arts Classifications

Characters may buy either soft or hard martial arts, which both provide their own independent bonus sets. Soft martial arts provide benefits for grapples, defensive maneuvers, and disarms, while hard martial arts provide benefits to strikes and enduring injury. Characters may buy both, but pay full cost. Martial Arts is still limited by the number of dots of Brawl a character has-a character with Brawl 2 can have no more than Martial Arts 2.

Soft Martial Arts

Examples of soft martial arts are judo, aikido, tai chi, and other relatively gentle unarmed combat forms which rely on redirecting the opponent's strength rather than exploiting one's own. Soft martial arts are more delicate and graceful than the brutality of hard martial arts, but are still effective

Martial Arts *: +1 Accuracy to disarms and grapples (incl. grappling smackdowns), +1d to unarmed parries.

Martial Arts **: -1 difficulty for disarms and tackles (so difficulty is +0 instead)

Martial Arts ***: Grapples may use (Dexterity + Martial Arts) against the opponent's (Strength + Might) instead of a contested roll of (Strength + Might) to hold targets. Grapples may also use the opponent's Strength to deal damage, rather than the character's.

Martial Arts ****: +1 success on all rolls to keep control of a held target, an additional +1d to all unarmed parries (total +2d).

Martial Arts *****: Any successful parry of an unarmed or melee attack uses its remaining successes as a counterattack that attempts to either grapple (unarmed) or disarm (melee).

Hard Martial Arts

Hard martial arts rely on raw power, physical brutality, and vicious speed to deal devastating blows against foes. Examples are Karate, Kung Fu, Krav Maga, Commando Sambo, LINE, MCMAP, and other alphabet soup military martial arts forms. These tend to be based on the simple principle of hitting someone very hard very often until they stop fighting back.

Martial Arts *: +1 Accuracy, +1 Damage to Strikes and Kicks (including the Striking Smackdown)

Martial Arts **: +1B/0L soak, -1 difficulty for kick attacks

Martial Arts ***: -1 Multiple Action Penalty for unarmed strikes/kicks only, +1 Damage to Strikes and Kicks (total +2 damage)

Martial Arts ****: +1 Bashing Health Level, -1 wound penalty from bashing damage, +1 accuracy to strikes and kicks (total +2 accuracy)

Martial Arts *****: +1 Bashing Health Level (total 2), striking smackdowns convert their damage to Lethal after soak.

Bashing Health Levels are considered to be -0 Health Levels, but may only be filled with Stun or Bashing damage. Lethal or Aggravated damage ignores them-basically, they're a buffer against Bashing damage and provide the martial artist the ability to survive more of a beating from clubs or fists than an untrained man, but provide no protection against knives or guns.