Hmm... Well, let's see here. I think the biggest problem
you have w/ crippling/killing moves is that they make for
boring fights. I mean, yeah it's cool & all that you
can totally incapcitate someone in one hit... but who wants
to watch a 5 second fight? I mean, it might as well become
flip a coin & see who wins. But, you have a valid point, most
of the styles we use in SF were designed to kill/cripple/incapacitate
an opponent. Usually quickly and w/o style or grace. Just
quick & effective. I had a player recently walk out on me
cuz I wouldn't let him develop crippling maneuvers like the style
he was playing "should" have.
I suppose you could allow every style that would have
crippling moves go ahead & invent them, but I think that would
really change the feel for the game. As it is, it's sorta this
cartoony world, where the bad guys seem all powerfull, yet
continue to make critical errors in judgement every time they
beat a PC... Imagine what would happen if every time you
lost in a SF you had to worry about your character getting
his neck snapped? Makes getting to rank 2 pretty damn hard.
(On the up side, it does make the group more of a team, as
they constantly fight to protect each other).
If you decide to implement crippling maneuvers, try to keep
in mind game balance. This move is gonna win me the fight if
I connect with it... There had better be some big drawback to using
it, or everyone will use it. And I mean more than Honor/Glory here,
cuz in a "Death-Match" style world, no one's gonna really care about
Honor too much... (Another question, am I running the only
group that doesn't really care about Honor? I have a troup of 7,
& 5 ended up being total glory hounds, & would LOVE to have
crippling maneuvers... 6 of them have dislocate limb....
Gee, and they wonder why no sensei will teach them any maneuvers...)
A-ways, I've been considering allowing crippling maneuvers, but
they'd have to be balanced in some way... My rational up to this
point has simply been that against another equally trained fighter,
they're
gonna be smart enough to know how to avoid any really crippling
maneuver,
so you get these 'middle ground' maneuvers we currently use, which are
fast enough to actually connect, but not as leathal as crippling stuff.
Figure a true crippling move either out to require a round to set-up
before
you do damage (like you grab them in an arm-bar the 1st round, &
if you hold it, you can break their arm the 2nd round), or these
maneuvers
ought to be slow as all shit (-3 or -4 speed).
Another thing we've been doing in my group (although it
hasn't been very popular, thank god) is allowing called shots. You can
target any limb you want, only the damage difficulty rises to 8(instead
of 6). If you succeed in doing more damage to the limb than 1+ that
persons stamina (enough to dizzy them normally), they lose use
of that limb for the rest of the fight. If you targetted the head,
that's
an instant KO. Obviously, there are allota cases up to GM judgement
(NO footsweeping at someone's head), and there are allota cases
where it seems like this rule should be automatic ("Head bite
says I'm biting his damn head, now he SHOULD be
knocked out!!!!"...)
A-ways, that's my food for thought. Has
anyone actually gone thru & created any other crippling maneuvers
the rest of us could look at? A PC of mine is busy right now creating
a "Dislocate leg" maneuver w/ similar stats to the infamous dislocate
limb. I wasn't planning on actually allowing it, but maybe we
could generate some ideas here to make it playable... So far it
plays just like the Dislocate Limb, only it costs a WP for activation...
(So like, how would you pop your leg back into socket if it popped out
anywaY???? I can't even imagine....)
Well, laters all!
-Chris!
> From: Steve 'Doom Trooper'
> Karstensen[SMTP:skarsten@...]
> Reply To: skarsten@...
> Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 1998 9:56 AM
> To: Joshua Rogers
> Cc: streetfighter@...
> Subject: [streetfighter] Re: a new sourcebook(sorta) - and Mortal
> Kombat
>
> This brings me to a topic I've been pondering for some time but cannot
> get a satisfactory answer on.
>
> Mostly, in fact nearly all, of the fighting styles (barring the
> "sporting" ones like boxing or wrestling) are designed to defend
> oneself, usually by rendering the opponent incapable of moving. In
> other words, beat the shit out of him until he can no longer attempt
> to
> hurt you. Thusly, most of the fighting styles were designed as
> killing
> arts. I figure that every style has maneuvers and techniques that
> could
> easily seriously hurt or kill someone, but are not used in Street
> Fighting because they could, as pointed out, end a fighter's career if
> used. For example, you fight a Combat Sambo-using opponent and you'll
> be lucky, if he fights true to form, to come out of the match with
> your
> legs *not* broken off at the knee. Maneuvers like Dislocate Limb
> skirt
> dangerously close to this 'forbidden' zone, so even in the 'no holds
> barred' arena of Street Fighter some restraint must still be used for
> safety, in an ironic sort of way.
>
> I want to simulate this in the system somehow, kinda like how DC
> Heroes
> did 'killing' and 'non-killing' combat. I'm at a loss as to how to do
> so. I've so far decided that any fighter can announce that he's
> actively trying to kill or maim his opponent. This carries serious
> honor reprocussions as it can (and usually will) be considered
> excessive
> force; for every round the fighter attempts to use lethal forms of his
> attacks (punches aimed specifically at vital points, not 'pulling' his
> Improved Pins to keep from snapping a limb, etc) he will lose an
> as-yet-undetermined amount of temporary honor. All damage will be (or
> not?) aggravated, and if the opponent goes unconscious to a negative
> value equal to his stamina, and all that damage is aggravated, he is
> dead. That will carry a permanent Honor loss of some form. Glory may
> be awarded or penalized, but this sort of thing is *not* for the ring.
>
> Also, if the opponent survives, he suffers some form of injury that
> cannot be healed merely by resting until all of his Agg. damage has
> healed; he must get it treated by a doctor and let it heal over time
> (broken bones for example).
>
> I see problems with this. Fo' example;
>
> What nasty fighter *wouldn't* do this outside the ring? Since the
> Honor
> losses are so high, no clear-thinking PC would do this, and it would
> give unfair advantages to the bad guys.
>
> Where do weapons come into play? Makes bat-wielding thugs a *lot*
> more
> dangerous, doesn't it?
>
> Anyway, I've been thinking about this for some time and have finally
> decided it's time to chuck it out to the floor for debate. Thoughts?
>
> Joshua Rogers wrote:
> >
> > In my own hobby of collecting every RPG I can lay my hands on, I've
> > picked up this book (Which the official subtitle is "The Big Book of
> > Beating Ass", not just unofficial- check the title page) but haven't
> > found much use for it in actual Streetfighter games. Most of the
> > maneuvers listed have been distinctly lifted, true. But hey, it's
> better
> > than how TSR recycled artwork (and rerecycled, and rererecycled, ad
> > infinitum). The big problem comes with translating the few maneuvers
> > that aren't listed. With the weapons manuevers, this isn't too hard.
> > However, things like Joint Break, and Neck Break aren't really that
> > useful for SF. Neck Break in particular is not something that'd be
> > accepted for use in most tournaments, since it has a nasty habit of
> > outright killing opponents. Joint Break is a quick and dirty way of
> > winning a fight at the expense of an opponent's career. Maybe give
> these
> > to the less honor-bound folks (I can easily see Vega knowing how to
> snap
> > someone like a twig), but I don't think they ought to be use for
> > mainstream. It's more in theme with the various WoD characters who
> treat
> > mortals like popcorn and then moan about it. (*SNAP* "Oh, my poor
> > tortured soul! How angst ridden am I! Another life taken by my
> hands!")
> >
> > ______________________________________________________
> >
> >
> ______________________________________________________________________
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