Quickie Styles of Martial Arts

For those of you who prefer more specific styles than Hand to Hand: Martial Arts, without the high cost of full version of a style.

Martial Artist OCCs and quickie martial arts: I recommend allowing double the normal selection if these versions are studied.

Multiple Styles and quickie martial arts: Hell yes, unlike standard Hand to Hand Combat skills, a character should be able to learn as many of these as they want. The only restrictions being that they must be able to learn Hand to Hand: Martial Arts, and that they must pay the same cost (three skills) for each selection. I can't however, recommend making these available for Secondary skills or skill slots, simply because "Secondary Skills are those learned and developed on one's own through observation, practice, and self-education."

Several styles shouldn't have quickie versions available, Triad Assassin Training comes to mind, since it's little better than Hand to Hand Assassin with guns. Other possibilities include "Exclusive" styles, however I prefer to see that on a case by case basis, Sumo, Tien Hsueh, Hsien Hsia, and Pao Chih, with Ba Gua, Bak Mei, and Hsing-I being possibilities, for example should not have a quickie form, but other exclusive forms should, such as Aikido, Hwarang-do, Wu Shu, and Wing Chun. Of course, then there's the two whacked Exclusive styles, Ninjutsu and Thai Boxing. Both of these should have quickie versions, with Ninjutsu having a quickie form of 'Taijutsu' and Thai Boxing having something between the full version and the sport skill (of course that raises the question of martial arts as sport skills as well as quickie forms).

Entrance Requirements: I recommend keeping these as is.

Skill Cost: These should be really low compared to the full blown versions, I recommend one fourth the time listed, possibly one third.

Character Bonuses: I recommend that these either not be included, or cut in half (i.e. half the bonus listed for the full version and/or only half the bonuses available).

Combat Moves: Special style-only available attacks and moves. These should not be available in most cases. In the cases where you feel they are needed (Taido as a possible instance), make them Level Advancement Bonuses (LABs).

Attacks Per Melee: I recommend keeping this roughly the same, especially since most styles start off with two attacks. In the case of one attack to start, that should be used in stead. For three, four, and five attacks, I recommend one or two to start, with the remainder available at second level. a 'quickie' style should NEVER have more attacks than the full style.

Escape Moves: Except for Roll with Punch/Fall/Impact (which should be an initial move known), I recommend these only as level advancement bonuses.

Attack Moves: I recommend these only as level advancement bonuses.

Basic Defensive Moves: The main three (Dodge, Parry, and Auto Parry...when they are available to the style) should always be part of the initial moves known. Other basic defenses should be added as level advancement bonuses.

Advanced Defenses: These should not be available, if you do want to include them, I recommend them as only high level advancement bonuses.

Hand Attacks: The character should start out with at least Strike (Punch) (If available), and possibly only one other hand attack. Later hand attacks can be learned as LABs.

Basic Foot Attacks: The character should start with at least Kick attack (if available), possibly one more foot attack. Later foot attacks can be learned as LABs.

Jumping Foot Attacks: Jump Kick should be available (when known by the style) as a LAB, other attacks should not be available.

Special Attacks: Only available as LABs.

Holds/Locks: Unless the style is predominantly a grappling style (such as Sumo or Jujutsu), these should only be available as LABs. When the style is a predominately grappling style, they should know at least two of the moves available. Also, grappling styles should definitely be limited to only one hand and one foot attack (typically Strike (Punch) and Kick attack) if they start with grappling moves.

Weapon Katas: For styles with only one or two Weapon Kata selections available, I recommend one weapon kata, as a level advancement bonus. For styles with three or more Weapon Katas available, I recommend starting with one, then adding an additional one (for styles with three or four Weapon Katas) or two (for styles with five or more) Weapon Katas being available as Level Advancement Bonuses. Eighteen Weapons Kung Fu and Moo Gi Gong (of the main book styles) are special cases. In the case of Moo Gi Gong, it should receive all weapon katas available to the full style. Eighteen Weapons Kung Fu should start with four of the eighteen weapon katas, then receive an additional weapon kata for each level advancement bonus after first. All styles receiving more than one Weapon Kata should allow the quickie version student to pick which weapon kata(s) they wish to learn from those available (with Eighteen Weapons Kung Fu, all the basic Weapon Katas must be chosen, with only four of the paired weapon versions being learned (I recommend these be the last four Weapon Katas available to the style).

Modifiers to Attack: Keep in mind the basics (Pull Punch, Critical Strike, and KO/Stun) as starting moves, other moves, or increased bonuses should be available as LABs. (Remember, with special attacks or modifiers requiring natural hit numbers, keep them lower than the full blown version, or at least equal to.)

Martial Art Powers: These should not be available. If you do want them available, I recommend at most, keep them equal in number to the starting martial art powers of the full blown version, and make them level advancement bonuses.

Skills Included in Training: These should not be included. However the character should try to acquire these skills to complement the style.


So, let's look at Choy Li Fut:
First off, there's going to be a few areas where the quickie version won't be able to match the full blown version. Such things as hand to hand attacks and beginning bonuses come to mind. Of course, there are a few ways around this.

One, ignore the fact that someone who takes a quickie form will have more attacks at higher levels than someone starting with Choy Li Fut.

Two, use low level bonuses from the full blown version to create your high level bonuses for the quickie version (i.e. the first five full blown level advancement bonuses could be the last five quickie level advancement bonuses).

Now, let's look at the basic set up for Choy Li Fut
Starts with 2 attacks, several character bonuses, and 24 combat moves.

Well, since the quickie artist isn't going to be as good as the full blown artist, I suggest a quick breakdown and elimination of the combat moves. First let's limit the quickie form's starting combat moves to ten, with five additional ones gained as level advancement bonuses, this will give the character 15 of the 24 combat moves.

So which ten should we start with...this will be relatively easy.

Roll with Punch/Fall/Impact
Dodge
Parry
Automatic Parry
Strike (Punch)
Snap Kick
Pull Punch
Knock-Out Stun
Critical Strike
--These are pretty standard and common tto most hand to hand styles, so they should be the basic selection (Note: As Choy Li Fut does NOT have the standard kick attack, they start out with Snap Kick instead).
Now for our last beginning selection. This is a bit difficult since several of the combat moves should be reserved for level advancement bonuses, or not included at all (I recommend that all style special attacks be removed from selection, this helps give the full blown students a bigger advantage over quickie students). So, let's remove Overhead Fore-Knuckle Strike, Uppercut, and Roundhouse Strikes from selection. Leap, and Critical Strike from Rear (possibly KO/Stun as well) should be level advancement bonuses. I'm opposed to offering Circular Parry at all as well.

This leaves us with Fore-Knuckle Fist, Backhand, Tripping/Leg Hook, Elbow, Forearm, and the four W.P. katas to choose from. Personally, I recommend the selection of one of the W.P.s since this does seem to be a somewhat weapon using style. For simplicity sake, let's take the first W.P. on the list, W.P. Spear (Pa-Kua Lance).

So now we've got our ten basic moves down. Next (before level advancement bonuses), let's decide how many attacks we want to start with. In keeping this simple, I recommend starting with two attacks (in this case, some styles would only start with one, others could possibly start with three). Now, to keep increased number of attacks from level advancement bonuses (LABs) simple, I recommend using the LAB attacks from hand to hand martial arts (in some cases, where other styles start with more attacks, I might recommend Hand to Hand Assassin be used instead).

So now we know where to start

Choy Li Fut (Quickie version)
Attacks: 2
Basic Moves: Roll with Punch/Fall/Impact, Dodge, Parry, Automatic Parry, Strike (Punch), Snap Kick, Pull Punch, Knock-Out Stun, Critical Strike, and W.P. Spear (Pa Kua Lance).
Level Advancement Bonuses: (Note this becomes a bit trickier)
1st: Critical Strike on a Natural 20, KO/Stun on a Natural 20, +1 to Parry/Dodge
2nd: +1 Attack Per Melee
3rd: Gains Trip/Leg Hook
4th: +2 to Roll with Punch/Fall/Impact
5th: +1 to Strike
6th: +1 Attack Per Melee, Gains Elbow Attack
7th: +2 to Damage
8th: +1 to Parry/Dodge
9th: +1 Attack Per Melee, Gains Leap Attack
10th: +2 to Roll with Punch/Fall/Impact, +2 to Parry/Dodge, +2 to Leap (add 4ft distance)
11th: +1 to Strike, +1 to Damage
12th: Gains Critical Strike from behind
13th: +1 Attack Per Melee
14th: +2 to Leap (add 4ft distance)
15th: Gains W.P. Short Sword (Willow Leaf Double Swords)--Paired, +2 to damage, Critical Strike on a Natural 18, 19, or 20

So our totals become;
Attacks: 6
Strike: +2
Parry/Dodge: +4
Roll with Punch/Fall/Impact: +4
Leap: +4 (add 8 feet to distance)
Damage: +5
Ko/Stun on a Natural 20
Critical on a Natural 18+
New Moves: Trip/Leg Hook, Elbow, Critical Strike From Behind, Leap, and W.P. Short Sword (Willow Leaf Double Swords)--Paired

Now, I bet you're wondering how I arrived at all these bonuses and such. Simple really. I started by adding in the attack level bonuses form hand to hand martial arts. Next I figured where I wanted the additional five combat moves. Well, since there are five combat moves, basic math shows us that five goes into fifteen three times, hence a new combat move every third level. Ok, since I included certain combat moves as part of the initial start process, I added their numbers to the first level bonuses. Moving on, I decided to take my earlier advice and use the first five level advancement bonuses from the full version as the last five level advancement bonuses. However, there is a definite difference, we've already put in attacks and new moves, also, we don't want the character to have access to martial art powers, and we've already used some of those bonuses as part of our first level bonuses, so the end result is what you see. Lastly, I still had some gaps and other areas that needed stuff (though which moves should be gained where was my priority, given the bonuses that appeared so far, I found where I needed to put some of the moves...no problem), well, since we're using this to replace hand to hand martial arts, I thought I'd check out those bonuses. By reducing some, I was able to come up with my remaining bonuses. Of course, you could easily alter these bonuses as you see fit, moving some around or even changing some of the numbers. But I like to keep things simple. This is basically Hand to Hand Martial Arts (Choy Li Fut), so I went with it. However, other martial arts have somewhat different set-ups. Ninjutsu and Monkey Style are more darker type styles, so using bonuses from Hand to Hand Assassin may be more appropriate. Wu Shu, Tae Kwon Do and Kyokushinkai Karate are sort of military/combat oriented, so Hand to Hand Expert or even Commando might provide the bonuses. Lee Kwan Choo and Aikido are fairly passive, so perhaps Hand to Hand Basic bonuses. Remember these are only used for bonus guidelines so you can still change or move them around as you see fit.