Whew! let me say this first, i can't use google docs for crap. but like i'v been mentioning, me and my crew need some help testing some homebrew stuff. I put together all of the martial arts and a few other combat oriented things and some accompanying material into a document submitted for your approval (or disapproval as the case may be).

have a gander at what i have managed to put together here and let me know what you think, but i warn you, i think this document looks ugly. i had so much trouble with google docs, especially when i went to paste stuff in, but i hope it all looks okay.

one of these days i hope to gather all homebrew on this forum and have a nice big collab with everyone, but one step at a time i guess.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zIUw5M5amTY5_2Si1vpsJrb4evCLZxdeHE5WmmDNNL8/edit?hl=en_US

sorry for the double post, but just a word of warning, i went kind of crazy with this, so the document is kind of big, 50 pages in all.

Looks interesting on first glance. I just skimmed over the first 20 or so pages.

I'll probably end up printing this out at work tomorrow.

If you like, I can clean up the formatting a bit for you.

i wouldn't mind that a bit, but you don't have to trouble yourself it it would be a lot of work.

brewmaster_vitty said:

Just saved it on my PC, reading it will still require a bit of time, though...

Just finished reading it and preparing a review. As a general response: your work was amazing and I both enjoyed it and will probably get some stuff to my play groups! Nevertheless there are some things that' don't match my ideas of the game and as such I decided to share with you my thoughts on your as already said amazing job.

Here’s my feedback:

GENERAL RULES:

Feint: I like this maneuver and will probably introduce it in my games.
Intuition: I dislike adding new secondary abilities…I’ll just keep using Notice, instead of Intuition. Anyway, as far as “additional secondary abilities” go, it’s a good one.

COMBAT MODULES:

Knockout Attack: Increased Critical Module gives +10 to ALL CRITICAL ROLLS for 20DP, this gives +10 only to Critical Rolls for knocking out. I like it, but its cost shouldn’t be higher than 10DP and the blunt weapon restriction can be taken away, since performing knock-out without blunt weapons is already a big problem due to penalties. I might even consider allowing it in my games.

Sundering Attack: I like this one too. I’d compare it to the Module that increases Fortitude (from GM Toolkit). For 30DP that module raises weapons’ Fortitude by a score equal to character’s Dexterity. Since breakage tends to stay lower than Fortitude, I’d go for a 30DP module that raises weapon’s Breakage by a score equal to half (rounding down) the character’s Strength.

Sylish Faint: well, I’m not really sure it’s very significative. Except for Paladins and Dark Paladins, classes that have High Style also have High Sleight of Hand (Tao must raise it to gain access to a variety of Martial Arts, Acrobatic Warriors have an identical class bonus). Perhaps something different would be more useful, but I’m not really sure about how to modify it. I don’t think I’ll put this in my game, but I guess it’s ok, although 20DP would be enough to buy it, on my opinion.

Insightful Defense: very situational, even if I considered using the Intuition secondary ability. I believe a bonus to Notice Checks in combat situations would be more interesting, since it would also help against surprise attacks. I have difficulty evaluating the DP cost for such module, since first I’d modify it.

BASE MARTIAL ARTS:

Drunken Fist: Double Agility bonus to defense is insanely broken…(sorry). I’d stay with the Combat Acrobatics/Feint Bonus. In particular I’d make something like single Agility Bonus to Faint/Combat Acrobatics at Base Level, double Agility Bonus at Advanced Level and triple Agility Bonus at Supreme Level. Dodge bonus at base and supreme level seems very ok, as well as the usual +10MK at Advanced and Supreme Levels. It’s very possible I will play it like this with my group. As for the concept, it’s very nice.

Judo: Nice Martial Arts, seems like it somehow complements Aikido nicely. The attacker’s Str bonus to Attack should be written down in the “advantages” section and not in the “damage” section, so that at least the Counterattack bonus applies also when using Judo in combination with damage from other martial arts. Also, I don’t know if it’s intentional or not but martial arts usually give bonus to dodge OR block, not both…I believe it should stay that way.

Kalaripayat: I like this, but I believe it should be modified a very little bit. The Intellect bonus to Aimed attacks is a very interesting input, but I don’t like too much it also applies to Criticals, the reason being that Tao can already gain amazing bonus to Criticals with other Martial Arts and if you cumulate them too much, it becomes excessive, on my opinion. Also, the PhR bonus is a out of it, on my opinion. I’d focus the martial art allowing it to give +Int Bonus to Aimed attacks at Base Level, +2XInt Bonus on Advanced Level and +3XInt Bonus to Aimed Attacks AND +Int Bonus to Criticals at Supreme Level. As for the weapon damage Bonus, I’d simply work it like this. I’d apply a Bonus of +5Initiative and +5Damage both at Advanced and Supreme Level. If you do it like this, both Bonus will apply to all weapons from the Kalaripayat Module (urumi, staff, kukri, saber, mace), obtaining an effect that is more adjusted to what Martial Arts usually do.

Lua: Well…I guess it’s ok…there’s already a lot of stuff working on trap maneuvers so I’m not really sure whether this is necessary, but…seems ok at least.

Lucha Libre: We all like professional wrestling, don’t we? Seems ok, but perhaps you’re putting Initiative Bonus on too many martial arts. By combining them a martial artist can become insanely quick…which is beyond the point, I believe. I’d go for a -/+10Attack/+10Attack Bonus, since it’s a very offensive style. Besides there really are too few base Martial Arts giving Attack Bonus.

Ninjutsu: Just to let you know, unarmed attacks already have only half penalty for Aimed Attacks, so the martial art doesn’t make too much sense on that purpose. I’d just let Supreme Ninjutsu to reduce to ¼ (instead of ½) the penalty for aimed attacks. The bonus to feint and acrobatics is already given from drunken fist…How about a +10/+20/+30 Damage bonus on surprised opponents to represent it’s really lethal nature? I guess Initiative bonus cannot be avoided for ninjutsu, besides I see it’s only +10, so it’s ok…

Savate: Insanely high critical bonus...and extra initiative. Enough to make a Tao an unstoppable killing machine, which means I’m never going to allow it in my games…I don’t have suggestions for this one, because I believe it really adds nothing that other arts don’t already give, so it’s pretty pointless (except for power playing).

Taekkyeon: More bonus to Feint?! I don’t think you should stack all those bonus together…again, I’m sorry, but I can’t see a way to make this art more interesting.

Xingyiquan: The mere fact that this Martial Art has a name that is almost identical to Xing Quan (Dominus Exxet pg.36), doesn’t bode too well for it. As for the rest, it might be interesting, but I believe there’s a reason why the only martial arts that stacks with keapons is Tae Kwon Do and comes with strong penalties to the additional attack unless you have achieved Supreme Level. A big point of martial artists is that not being able to wield weapons means not having access to a wide range of “magical bonus” from magic-weapon items. Such downside is compensated by the insanely good bonus that martial artists gain from both base and arcane martial arts. Also weapons shouldn’t gain bonus (even to damage) from Martial Arts all that easily. I’m not sure this art is broken or excessive, but I don’t think I’d let it in my games.

ADVANCED MARTIAL ARTS:

Fahstiz: The mechanism is a bit complicated, but it’s still somewhat acceptable. I’d take out the +10 Damage Bonus though. Not only there shouldn’t be too many Martial Arts giving bonus to Damage, but also this martial arts seems more about “grace” than violence. Also, I’d say a fascinated/dazed target should be allowed to get out of such state with a new Composure Check every time they suffer damage, with a bonus to their damage equal to damage suffered (it’s hard remaining fazed when you’re hurting so much…). Finally, +15 Initiative is a frigging lot and it’s a Bonus, not a Master Bonus (Master bonus go on Attack/Defense, since they are an exception to the +50 limit). A +5Inititive Bonus and a +10Dodge Master Bonus would be more fitting and probably balanced, perhaps.

Leminuse: +20 Damage is a bit much (ok, Hakkyouken grants an actual +30, but then again, we should consider the possibility of combining them). Anyway, the Impact Attack is an additional attack or is an effect you can give to one of your attacks? I’d definitely prefer the second. As for the rest, breakage bonus should be noted in Advantages and not Bonus. Also As Master Bonus, I’d opt for a +10Attack and +10Block, since it’s not a purely defensive style.

Olimpus Mons: This one seems very ok to me.

Panzerkunst: I’d apply the bonus to targets with Damage Accumulation, instead of Damage Resistance, since that’s the rule used by unusually big opponents. As for the rest…seems ok and interesting somehow.

Rahab: It seems ok, but then again the Initiative Bonus is simply absurd. Also the willpower Damage bonus isn’t really fitting it, since it’s mostly a defensive style and is based on movement rather than sheer damage output. I’d give a +5Initiative Bonus at base level and +5Initiative Initiative Bonus at Arcane Level and add a +15 Master Bonus to Dodge.

Ryute: A Martial Art improving weapon use…and giving more and more Initiative bonus…Tao shouldn’t wield weapons, that’s all there is to it. At most they can wield martial art module weapons, but then again, they gain no Martial Art bonus except to innate bonus…and really, there are far too many Initiative bonus in your martial arts. No, I can’t find use for this, just like I wouldn’t use Xingyiquan.

Shadus: Somewhat acceptable, although perhaps I wouldn’t add any value to the PhR check difficulty…there are already tons of critical bonus out there, so I don’t need this is needed. Making easier achieving a critical already combines well with martial arts increasing the Critical…Everything else seems ok to me.

Shunsatsu: Ok…except for Initiative Bonus (I already commented it more than once). +10Attack bonus and +10 Attack Master Bonus should be fitting for such an aggressive technique.

Tekken: Interesting concept…but insanely good anyway (and another Initiative bonus!). I’d go for a much simpler martial art. +30 to Base Martial Art Damage and +10 Attack Bonus at Base Level. +20 additional Base Damage and +20 Attack Master Bonus at Arcane Level. Like this it would already be a very interesting thing to buy.

Valde Orbis: This one seems definitely ok.

MARTIAL ART WEAPONS:
I trust they are ok, but you should determine a DP cost for such modules.

WEAPONS:
Seems all ok with a single exception: Whipsword already exists and requires a specific Magnus called Scorpio. I think things should stay like this.

KI TECHNIQUES:

Juggernaut: Seems ok…I’m not really convinced I’d get it (despite I love tanking), but seems ok. Also, I prefer schools that concentrate ki expenditure on a limited number of stats.

Kamejutsu: I believe I liked it more, but still it requires ki from too many stats.

Jin Kuei: PhR limit for Supernatural States of Level 2 Techniques in Dominus Exxet is 160, so the PhR of Jeu Chiu and Bingjiang is too high and both techniques must be corrected. The effects of Leng Shouliudan are pretty complex, so I don’t believe I like it too much. Anyway, the same problem with too much split costs remain.

thank you very much for the in depth response. you make a lot of very good points, when i get some time in a few days i shall do some framework for a revision.

and on luminuse, yes, the impact effect is something you can grant to an already established attack.