Who says BW can't do wire-fu?

[Kublai]

There are the occassional remarks that BW is too gritty and realistic and that it can't properly create the feeling of the outrageous acts seen in our favorite kung-fu flicks. Well, I say they are ignorant! Let me describe a scene that occurred this past Sunday...

The my character was, a Tae Poong Do master with a G9 skill and a B7 Reflexes, facing off against a Giant with a high Grey Mortal Wound and Hands of Stone. One touch from the Giant meant instant death! I was actually worried! All I had to protect me was a mithril shirt and my skill.

In a 30 pace cattle pen we circled each other - he with throwing rocks (Pow 2, VA2), me with glass shuriken (Power 2, VA1). He wins the first Range and Cover test and nails me! A B13 wound is barely averted by my mail. I win the second test and nail him with B12! His hide armor fails and he takes a light and fails his Steel test by 4! (This was VERY unlikely!)

I take advantage and toss another shuriken into his chest for another B12! He fails his Steel again for 3 more actions!

Seeing as how he was helpless, I move in for the kill. Unfortunately, I figure I can never do more than a Light to him!

I use my Aura of Fear to make him take yet another Steel test which he fails. He refuses to Run and Scream as he is the Giant King's champion. Too bad for him.

Calling upon Heaven, I invoke Hueh Oh Ri Baram and grey out my Reflexes for the exchange - G7!! My first attack is a Flying Kick from 10 paces out resulting in a G3 wound! Before I hit the ground, I have Circle Kicked him for another G2 wound. As I land, I Great Throw him straight up - 8 paces! I Leap up after him 7 paces high and Push Kick him while DOUBLING my dice! The Giant Champion sails 22 paces out of the ring and into the Giantish crowd! He doesn't get up.

Try that Jet Li!!

[luke]

oh my aching script sheet.

of course, you should have seen the look on Pete's face when I won the first RnC test and hit with a boulder in the chest with 6 successes. He thought it was all over.

-L

[Thor]

Fortunately, your ultra-cheatin' martial art is not Revised-approved. :lol:

[skandall]

This topic is especially important to me as my entire reputation at local conventions is based on the crazy Hong Kong Action Theater games I GM. Having tired greatly of that systems over simplification and lack of style, I'd love to use BW to tell yet another outlandish tale of Martial Arts, be it ancient martial arts schools at war, modern day Triads, or far future Monks in Space. Heck, I even did one based on Ghostbusters!

It seems to me that BW is no less capable of wire-fu and gun-fu than any other game. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that BW is perfect for the Hong Kong Action style of games. Some may think that the script limits combat, but I see the script as a means to provide those amusing moments and intense misses we're so fond of. Players and Mooks alike are scripting their actions in combat and that can lead to some very interesting situations. Range and Cover is abstracted now and it basically screams with cinematic style. I mean, look at the rules proposed for reloading modern firearms! Doesn't get much more cinematic than that.

The Martial Arts in the original BW were amazing and I certainly look forward to the Revised version. Many RPGs have martial arts, but few really make a distinction between them beyond the name of the skill. BW makes you actually work to learn the moves and that is a good thing.

With a little effort we could come up with a wire-fu system that could work something like the magic wheel. Players pick the elements of the move and that determins the obstacle. If the succeed they may get bonuses to attack or positioning. Fail, and the move could go horribly wrong. Same could be done for Gun-fu as well.

I'd make the system myself, but I don't feel I understand BW well enough to make such a system. Still, I'd love to see it and maybe I can tinker with the idea and get some feedback.

[Kublai]

Well... :oops: Abzu removed the Martial Arts from the Revision! :shock:

However, that just opens the door for what I lovingly refer to as "The Burning Way" book. All martial arts, all the time.

[Redoid]

So it wasn't included for reason of layout, space, and consistency of the book, and not of game balance? It's a real question, because I liked the way martial arts functinoned and would have liked ot expand on it rather than see it disappear.