Old Ideas, New Visions

By P. E. Schilling

I don’t know how many of you use the I.C.E. system, occasionally mocked as “Rulemaster” because of their “Rolemaster” series of tomes, but I have some thoughts about their martial arts and the relationship between stats. I studied a variety of martial arts for twenty years, usually switching when I moved (I’ve had a more nomadic life than I intended), and I believe many attributes can be used as the foundation of martial arts as long as they are reflected by using the proper charts.

The basic template of martial arts in Arms Law is AG(agility)/AG/ST(strength) for martial arts sweeps, which is basically judo, and ST/ST/AG for martial arts strikes, which is basically Tae Kwon Do, but any martial art that is ST/ST/AG ought to have crits from the Pummeling chart instead of martial art style criticals. MA Strikes crits should be based on a martial art using ST/AG/QU(quickness). I have sparred with Tae Kwon Do experts whose martial arts abilities are better represented by QU/AG, and based on the damage they did me, they should be using the Sweeps chart and Strike crits, because the concussion damage is less. When I took judo, I found that either Quickness and Strength could be used alongside Agility, and the resulting charts would be the same.

Another option would be the substitution of reasoning as a third stat. A “reasoned” attack could result in an “unbalancing” critical, as the intelligent martial artist figures out how and when to strike that will knock the opponent off balance.

I’ve seen TV and movies where martial artists hit the pressure points to disable opponents. I would use Memory as the third stat for this action, because a person would have to memorize where the pressure points are, and the result would be using the “stunning” critical table. And since elves, dwarves, orcs, etc., have different biological characteristics, each level of martial arts study could represent memorizing their pressure points. A standard martial artist would learn four different sets, but in theory could only learn two or three or maybe five or more by spending more development points.

Aikido, in theory, uses zero strength. All the force comes from the opponent. So I would recommend aikido being Qu/Ag, but the PC must let the other person go first, and then save verses Aikido the same way they would have to save verses being disarmed. If they fail their save, then the MA sweeps chart and crits come into play, but the offensive bonus is the opponent’s. So if a martial art has five ranks in aikido, they let the opponent attack. The opponent’s OB is 150 and does two times damage.  The opponent rolls to save vs. fifth level, and if they fail, the defender rolls on the MA sweeps chart, adds 150, and includes the two times damage factor. I allowed my brother to have a monk using this skill in my campaign and he really enjoyed how much damage he could do to larger than human opponents, although I didn’t allow it to be used against creatures with more than two legs.

Then there could be “holding way,” which would play like the disarming skill but if they fail their save the PC pins them, no damage caused.

For a few years, I studied a martial art like aikido, except instead of throwing the opponent away, we hit them back. The premise is that if someone is throwing a punch, they are too distracted by attacking to defend themselves, so attacking your opponent at that moment negates their defensive bonus from dodging or parrying. This could be represented in game play by winning the initiative roll but letting the other person attack first anyway, and then striking at an opening creating by the attack. The martial art stats would include agility, quickness, whichever mental stat you believe best represent the warrior’s ability to see a weakness in the opponent’s defense, the chart would be MA sweeps, and the critical would be MA strikes. If the PC doesn’t win the initiative roll, then they weren’t fast enough and just dodges and hopes to win the initiative next round.  

If you’ve read this far, I’m sure most of you have seen Tai Chi forms. It looks peaceful and healthy, and I have seen practitioners develop enviable balance and flexibility, but what use would it be in fantasy land? In my homebrew campaigns, someone can study a martial art using quickness, agility, and their magical stat (usually empathy) turning their body into a magical weapon against demons and undead. An option would be they have to learn power projection, roll to break a 100, with the negative being the level of the demon or undead.