Post originally by Paranoid Obsessive at 2004-06-23 21:22:20
Converted from Phorums BB System

Weeeeeeeeeellllll....

~gasp~ He's about to contradict the Master? ~look of horror~

~grin~

By the book, surely all forms of unarmed combat fall under Strength - after all, in a four-stat system, the effects of each stat become somewhat general (which is why playing chess, fencing, and leading massive armies into battle all stem from Warfare, while in reality, it would be easily possible that the world's greatest swordsman ever to walk the Earth couldn't lead a high school football team).

But for a LOT of people who play Amber Diceless, the "unarmed combat = Strength" idea is usually countered by the martial arts argument - martial arts is such a tactical style, involving thinking out your moves in advance, feinting, reacting, etc, that it seems very much like a Warfare trait. This is how the 98lb, 60-year old Asian man can beat the holy bejeesus out of the grizzled ex-cop (yes, I AM thinking about the Remo Williams movie right now - classic. ~grin~)

The solution? Some people just stick with using Strength (as do people who are happy with the idea in the first place). Others swap it over into Warfare. Personally, I've compromised by using Strength for most untrained physical combat and Warfare for martial arts, or by averaging the two scores together into a sort of "martial arts score" (so, someone with Strength 70 and Warfare 200 has an effective rating of 135 when using martial arts).

I think any of those systems (or even a different home-grown one) can work fine - the key is to make sure you and your players all agree on the system in advance, and stick to it.