Zen Marksmanship (Exclusive)
By Kuseru
Entrance Requirements: Requires a Minimum M.E. of 12. Limited to those of Honorable Alignment.
Skill Cost: 16 Years
Zen is a philosophical sect of Buddhism, originating from the synthesis of mainstream Buddhism with Taoist thought. Originally called Ch'an Buddhism in China, this philosophy spread to Japan around 1200 AD where it was adopted by the Japanese. The single idea behind Zen Buddhism, that all humans have a Buddha nature inside them and to realize this nature all a human being has to do is search his or her inner self, achieved through meditation. Many of the samurai martial artists of Japan took this idea further, attempting to achieve self-realization through exclusive focus on weapon use. These Zen martial artists achieved highly effective and accurate combat feats through meditation and focus on the perfection of weapon usage methods. With the arrival of firearms to Japan, it is natural that there would be martial seekers who decided the gun was the weapon through which to achieve enlightenment.
Costume: Zen gun marksmen have adopted the Kyudogi; a white cotton jacket with black Hakama (pleated trousers), Kaku Obi (belt), white cotton Tabi (split toed socks), and soft leather gloves with reinforced, stiff sections.
Stance: Low, wide legged, side stance, with most of the body centered over the back leg, forward leg resting lightly on the ball of the foot. Weapon is held in appropriate shooting stance, with pistols using a modified weaver stance and rifles/shotguns having the non-shooting arm bracing the weapon and the shooting arm on the trigger with the elbow sticking out parallel to the ground.
CHARACTER BONUSES
Add +3 to M.E.
Add +3 to P.P.
COMBAT SKILLS
Attacks per Melee: 4
Escape Moves: Roll with Punch/Fall/Impact, Maintain Balance
Attack Moves: None.
Basic Defense Moves: Automatic Parry, Dodge, Parry.
Advanced Defense Moves: Automatic Dodge, Combination Dodge/Attack, Combination Parry/Attack, Disarm.
Hand Attacks: Strike (Punch)
Basic Foot Attacks: Kick Attack
Jumping Foot Attacks: None.
Special Attacks: Aimed Shot, Called Strike, Disarm Shot, Head Shot/Death Blow.
Holds/Locks: None.
Weapon Kata (Pick one): W.P. Revolver, W.P. Automatic Pistol, or W.P. Rifle.
Modifiers to Attacks: Critical Strike, Leading, Pulled Shot.
SKILLS INCLUDED IN TRAINING
Martial Art Powers: Select a total of three (3) Martial Art Powers from among Firearm Martial Art Powers or Weapon Kata or from the following: One Life, One Shot, One Hit, One Kill, Zanshin, Debana-O-Kujiki Kata, or Gun Chi Technique (same as Sword Chi Technique, but used with a firearm).
Temple: Meditation
Weapon Proficiencies: W.P. Revolver, W.P. Automatic Pistol, and W.P. Rifle.
Philosophical Training: Zen
If this is your Primary Martial Art then the following other styles can be learned in a shorter time:
LEVEL ADVANCEMENT BONUSES
1st: +3 to Strike with Aimed Shot, +2 to Parry/Dodge, +1 to Roll with Punch/Fall/Impact, Called Strike on a 20.
2nd: +2 Attacks per Melee, Head Shot/Death Blow on a Natural 20.
3rd: +1 to Pulled Shot, Called Strike on a 19 or 20.
4th: +1 to Strike with Aimed Shot, Blind Shooting
5th: +1 to Parry/Dodge, +2 to Roll with Punch/Fall/Impact, Select One additional Martial Art Power from Firearm Martial Art Powers.
6th: +2 Attacks per Melee, Speed Reload.
7th: Called Strike on a 18, 19, or 20.
8th: +1 to Strike with Aimed Shot, +1 to Pulled Shot.
9th: Head Shot/Death Blow on a Natural 19 or 20.
10th: +2 Attacks per Melee, +1 to Strike with Aimed Shot.
11th: Called Strike on a 17, 18, 19, or 20, Select One additional Martial Art Power from Firearm Martial Art Powers.
12th: +1 to Parry/Dodge, +1 to Roll with Punch/Fall/Impact, +1 to Pulled Shot.
13th: +1 to Strike with Aimed Shot, Called Strike on a 16-20.
14th: +2 Attacks per Melee, Head Shot/Death Blow on a Natural 18, 19, or 20
15th: +1 to Strike with Aimed Shot, Select One additional Martial Art Power from Firearm Martial Art Powers.
Why Study Zen Marksmanship?
For those who seek the true experience of firearm weapon combat, and who understand that there is magic in the barrel of a fine weapon, this is the ideal martial art style. It's very impressive, it's highly effective and it also has a strong moral background. One of the rare arts that teaches internal powers. The art is effective but not very glamorous.

NOTE 1: All of the gun styles use their superior level advancement bonuses in place of the weapon proficiency bonuses for modern weapons.

NOTE 2: Gun Styles use these Modern Combat Rules.

NOTE 3: Gun Styles use these Modern Weapon Proficiencies.