Gigacrawler: Martial Arts

This is a place where you can write in melee combat techniques for characters in Gigacrawler (the sci fi dungeoncrawl game we're writing) to use. Any move a character knows may be used once per day, unless noted otherwise.

Martial arts should, in most cases, not give constant bonuses to anything--that would go under skills.

A PC may use a maximum of 5 moves in any one day. If a technique requires a specific roll to be successfully initiated and that roll fails, it is wasted for the day (unless otherwise noted).

Keep in mind: When a PC learns a martial arts technique, the technique they learn is generated randomly, so feel free to include weaker or more powerful results. You may use this.

Keep in mind the average PC has 10-11 Physique points (hit points). You might want to reread the combat section in the original post for ideas. It's short and not terribly different, scalewise than The World's Most Familiar RPG System, but there's a kink or two.

One day this will all be collated into a numbered list. Until then, if you are creating a character using these results, you can count the results here and use this to randomize which martial arts moves your PC knows.

If you contributed any of the results to this earlier open call for Kung Fu moves for our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game and would now like to submit them to Gigacrawler, feel free. However, I would ask that you please re-stat them (if necessary) and cut and paste them into the thread below yourself for the benefit of my sanity.

Keep in mind not all martial arts originate on Earth, so they may have special effects, or require exotic conditions to be effective--these should be conditions a PC could plausibly fulfill with enough effort.

Here are some to start....

1. Golden Monkey Hook Strike: Leap into the air, hook leg around target's neck, land on the ground and attempt to crush trachea. A successful hit automatically causes 4 physique damage (no need to roll vs target physique) + target makes physique roll vs. attacker's agility to avoid 4 choking damage, plus target is on the ground and grappled.

2. Lucky Number Dodge: PC chooses a number between 1 and 10. Each time s/he rolls that number while dodging (i.e. when rolling to defend against an incoming attack), s/he may automatically trip the attacker. (Always "on"--i.e. it can be used more than once per day, but "turning it on" costs a slot for the day.)

3.Thousand Drunken Tongues Technique: After a successful unarmed to-hit roll, the player begins to speak and the GM starts a stopwatch. The player must then continuously describe, in detail, a series of physical movements his or her character is using to attack his or her enemy, without stopping.

(Example: "I leap into the air, twist, land on top of the guy's head, reach down, shove my fingers into his eyesockets, pluck out one eye, throw it into the air, slice it in half with my dagger, catch the pieces in my mouth, spit them into his face, jump off his head, sweep his legs out from under him, catch him by the hair, throw him through the window, jump through after him, punch him in the neck four times before he hits the ground"...etc.)

If the player pauses for more than one second ("one Miss-iss-ipp-i") the recitation must stop and the GM stops the stopwatch. The longer the player speaks, the more dangerous the attack. The attack causes damage equal to one third the number of seconds the description goes on (rounded down).

The described attack does indeed occur--though it can only include actions which the PC (or, at least, a Jet Li-like version of the character) could physically perform--i.e. if the PC can't eat metal then the description cannot include the PC eating the target's sword. If the description suggests some result in addition to direct physical damage from the assault (i.e. if the strike involves the target being disarmed or thrown into a spike-filled pit), the target may be allowed an agility roll vs. the attackers agility or the like.

Although the described attack can include any number of actions involving weapons, they do no additional damage and the initial to-hit roll is made as if it were an unarmed strike. If more than one target is included in the description the PC can decide how exactly to allocate the damage generated.

An attack description can last up to 30 seconds.

4. Claw of Megathrox: Using a clever feint, the PC grabs two of an enemy's limbs, spins, hooks a third limb under his/her leg and twists the third limb back upon itself, rendering it useless. The complexity of the attack requires the target to have at least 3 arms or appendages placed roughly where arms would be. It is useless against two-armed creatures (or creatures with only 2 functioning arms). If the PC's agility is higher than the target's Physique, the twist is automatically successful. If it is equal or less than the target's physique, there is an opposed agility vs. physique roll. A successful attack also does d4 point of physique damage.

5. Reptile Emperor Ninefold Seeking Fist: The PC can attempt to redirect up to 9 attacks by creatures in a 15-foot radius toward any target of his/her choosing. The PC must announce his/her attention to use this technique at the beginning of a round but the GM should proceed as if the creatures under his/her control do not know this is about to happen. The attacks must be ones that could plausibly be redirected by physically manipulating the attacker (for example, a psionic attack would not be redirected). The PC makes an agility roll against the agility of each attacker, a success indicates the attack has been redirected and must be rolled against the new target instead of the intended one. If no attacks are made in that round, oh well, the technique is wasted for the day.

6. Familiar Ancient Ronin Dodge. If a PC is being attacked by two or more foes at once (melee or missile), this allows the PC to cause the enemies to hit each other (if the physical set up makes that plausible). The PC must successfully dodge (win the roll) against the first attack, thereafter the other attacks are presumed to have been dodged as well. The enemies all then skip to hit rolls and go straight to rolling weapon strength vs. physique at each other (though they may add any points of armor to this roll). If the PC's roll is unsuccessful, s/he may take a combat action to make another dodge (as usual) and the technique takes effect. If this is unsuccessful, it's wasted for the day.