Combat Styles as Advanced skills

[MrNexx]

So, playing with a few ideas, I wanted to introduce some combat style variation into SW, allowing a degree of specialization. Since it's my frequent hammer for such things, combat styles are advanced skills, allowing you to up your combat skills, but only in a specific fashion.

Combat Styles
In some ways, Combat styles function similar to advanced skills, but somewhat more narrowly; while someone who is skilled in medicine adds their Medicine dice to all First Aid skill checks, someone using a Combat Style only adds those dice in specific situations... they must not only train in the style, but also be armed according to the style's usage, and the skill dice may only be used in the way specified. Thus, characters might conceivably acquire multiple weapon styles, at different levels of proficiency, to represent the different ways they might fight. While they require the same amount of CPs to improve as other advanced skills, they do have the advantage that they do not require training once acquired; someone who has learned the basics of a Combat Style may improve it through use, like a standard skill.

Weapon styles are exclusive; you may use one per round, not switch freely between them within a round. The skill dice for these styles form a round-by-round pool that can be allotted in different ways; someone with Two-Handed melee style of 3D may choose to allot those dice to damage, making a single, heavy attack at a single target, or may choose to make an attack at 3D against a second target... or, perhaps, make an attack at 2D against a second target, while adding 1D to the damage of the weapon. On the next round, they could reallocate those dice, making 3 MAP-free attacks at different targets, with no bonus to damage.

Two-handed Melee Weapon
Pre-requisite: Melee Combat 5d, a two-handed melee weapon
Use of the two-handed melee weapon style is limited to non-staff style weapons, such as large, unpowered or powered swords, axes, and clubs. Relying on larger swings and significant leverage, skill dice in Two-Handed Melee Weapon combat may be added as damage when armed appropriately, or used to make a MAP-Free attack against a second target.

Staff Melee Weapon
Pre-requisite: Melee Parry 5D, a staff-like weapon
A more defensive weapon, the staff (and its variants) may be used to create a more comprehensive defense; its dice may be added to Melee Parry attempts when appropriately armed, or may be used to make a MAP-free parry each round.

Two-weapon style
Prerequisite: Melee Combat 5D, two one-handed weapons
Using a pair (matched or mismatched) of smaller weapons, the two-weapon fighter can provide a comprehensive defense, or sneak by the defense of single-weapon weilders. The dice of the skill may be used to make a MAP-free attack with the second weapon, or alloted to improve Melee Combat or Melee Parry, accepting the MAP for a second weapon.

Sword and Shield Style
Prerequisite: Melee Parry 5D, one-handed melee weapon, shield
When using a shield and a one-handed weapon, the character may add their skill dice to Melee Parry attempts, or may use the dice themselves to Parry blasters, slugthrowers, and other projectiles.

Single-Weapon Style
Prerequisite: Melee Combat 5D, single one-handed melee weapon
When using a sole single-handed weapon, the character has more accurate attacks, and can either add the dice from the advanced skill to their Melee Combat rolls for a single attack, or make a secondary, MAP-free attack using only the Style dice.
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"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
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[CRMcNeill]

I would suggest adding multiple skills as prerequisites. Using just Melee Combat or Melee Parry limits the character to just improving attack or defense, but if an Advanced Skill has both Combat and Parry as prerequisites, it can be applied to both. The more prerequisites an Advanced Skill has, the more attractive it becomes as an option.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[MrNexx]

I think I need to come up with a separate concept from advanced skills; I see these as being similar in some function, but not necessarily adding to the generic function of the skill (so your Two-handed style dice won't add if you're using a single handed weapon, or two weapons, or what have you).
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/

[garhkal]

I could also see limiting the skill (A) to being within 2d of the base skill(s)..
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[MrNexx]

[garhkal]

Maybe i worded it wrong.. I was trying to say that as a limiter, your (A) skill cannot be improved to more than 2d above the base skill. SO if you have yet to RAISE the base skill from when you learned the (A) skill, you can't ever take it to more than 7d... OR better yet, your (A) skill cannot be higher than the base skill.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[MrNexx]

[Naaman]

Unfortunately, the only advanced skill we really get in the RAW is Medicine (I have also seen Brain washing in one of the source books, not sure which one, but it had a prereq of 4D--not 5D--in Intimidation).

It seems to me that an advanced skill is "meant" to be the opposite of a specialization: it improves the character's ability in all aspects of the prerequisite skill, as well as giving them the ability to perform feats beyond what the base skill is intended to do (hence the higher cost).

Of course, it's your game, do what you want.

I have found that advanced combat skills are very difficult to get the right "feel" for without significantly altering the D6 simplicity... something just "feels" clunky whenever I try to do it.

If "real life" is of any value when deciding these things, I'd argue that any fighting style should be it's own specialization of the brawling skill, and that those specializations should come with pros and cons. Boxing, for example, would limit the character to only punches (unless he wants to roll the basic brawling skill), but would allow for faster combos... so maybe two or three punches with one attack roll. Tae Kwon Do would allow for faster and more versatile kicks, which translate into greater damage, but when a punch is required, it is less effective than a standard brawling attack would be (less damage, unless the character wishes to roll the basic brawling skill for that punch).

Anyway, if you want to run with the advanced skills idea, I'd recommend really taking a look at the cost of the prerequisites and factoring in the cost of raising an advanced skill and try to balance those costs with the benefits. If the advanced skill is going to have some trade off built into the mechanics, it might be a candidate for a specialization rather than an advanced skill. YMMV.