Quote:
Originally Posted by C.W.Richeson
Thanks for the review, Reverend Pee Kitty!
Would you describe this supplement as being more for folk very comfortable with GURPS? I understand GURPS well enough to play and run it (with most of the bells and whistles left out), but the thought of adding even more crunch is a little intimidating.
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Sean answered this in his way, so let me approach the answer from a different direction by saying that, in many ways, the "crunch" can be used in a fairly non-crunchy manner. Let me explain...
Many of the new combat rules and all of the techniques can serve as nothing more than a silent reference sheet for the GM. Rather than trying to actively throw them into the mix, you can just wait until one of your players says something like, "Okay, he's on the ground? I'm going to boot him in the head as hard as I can." That's when you can pull out Martial Arts and use the rules for a Stamp Kick. Many of the combat options are very FAQ-like -- for example, the rules on how being grappled affects your defense. Like much of GURPS Campaigns, it can serve as a reference in the middle of combat for situations that (A) happen to come up during the course of combat and aren't handled in detail in GURPS Campaigns or (B) involve one of your players wanting to try something new and crazy that GURPS Martial Arts happens to cover. None of the above requires actually learning a bunch of new rules and forcing everyone to become familiar with them -- it's all just using the rules as they're needed.
(And if one player finds that s/he uses a given Technique a few times after learning that it's possible, that player may just want to put some points into it as a signature move and use it even more. This builds comfort with the concept a little bit at a time.)
Now, you should arguably only use Styles for someone who wants to build a serious martial artist. Having 1 point in Two-Handed Sword does not necessarily mean the character needs to learn all of Longsword Fighting. That being said, I've used Styles with "casual fighter" characters as a tool for giving them some suggested tactics in combat and ideas for what skills to take. For example, in my current game, one player wanted to know Tae Kwon Do. She didn't want a black belt or anything -- she just wanted a little bit of combat effectiveness. After pulling out GURPS Martial Arts and letting her read the Style writeup for TKD, she (A) had an idea for how a TKD fighter would fight and (B) knew what traits she'd take if she were building a serious, dedicated TKD practitioner. Since she wasn't, of course, she just took Karate skill and the Kicking technique, for a form of "TKD Lite".
It's important to understand that you're only offered additional OPTIONS with this book. It's important to decide which ones you're most comfortable using in your game. It is possible to pick and choose every single section in the book -- there's nothing that can't be skipped over without hurting the stuff you do want to add. You could decide that your players will love styles and the new weapons, but will hate techniques, and that you'll use only two or three of the new combat rules, for example. That's perfectly valid and easy to implement.