as per title, can someone give a brief description of core melee as compared to present situation.

and if there are optional maneuvres available without waiting for WAR!

and that might add some flavour to Non-shootists for upcoming missions characters

thanks

I too would like to hear about the new melee system from someone who has access to the book. Ideally I very much want it to have been revamped, but I'm not prepared to get my hopes up.

~Umi

I heard that the Kung Fu style gets a +2 wireless bonus. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Joking aside, are there any major changes to expect?

Will some styles grant better accuracy with certain types of attacks?

As long as my Muy Thai gets +4 Wireless bonus, we are good. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

You guys are awful. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

only if we go offline. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

But on a more serious note, can imagine adding some elemental effects could be interesting addition to the melee.

Escrima is a nasty enough skill, get a pair of custom built shock batons to hold like the classic rattan clubs and it would be a good way to disable someone.

I just got a fun idea. What if your opponent's WiFi enabled cyber eyes auto searched videos to match the awesome looking martial art style that they are seeing for the first time?

And it would also provide bad voiceover options.

Nah, the new kung fu rules are actually really retro and a stark contrast to the new matrix rules. It actually rewards hardwired connections to nearby objects and even other characters with a +2 wuxia bonus.

Taskmaster PhotographicReflexes should, technically, be possible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taskmaster
This is one of the cases where being online all the time is worth it.
You see somebody doing something. You have an expert program running to determine what he is doing.
Then that expert program goes online and downloads the needed skillsoft directly into your skillwires or move by wire system.
You can now do whatever the person you were watching was doing when you were watching the person you were watchting.

Personally I hope they ditch martial arts. I'd prefer a more general concept of maneuvers core to the various close combat skills that don't need to be purchased. Things like throws, locks, aggressive and defensive fighting etc should just be part of the skill like burst fire, full auto, cover fire etc are part of the automatics skill. Make the specialties something simple like striking, subdual, defense.

I am totally with you on this one. A melee system should be a concise collection of very basic maneuvers as an option. In my gaming groups are, myself included, a lot of self defence/ martial arts geeks and the martial arts mechanic (especially counting against qualities in chargen) felt somewhat off sometimes. The only thing that I find it reflected well, was the "cost" of beeing a specialist melee fighter in comparison to beeing a good gunfighter.

love,
Sunshine

for 10.000 ¥ per Level ?

with a very expensive Dance
Medicineman

or 10% if you go for warez or something like that.
but yes, the monetary problem is one associated with cyber generally.

I would suggest being sure to apply to the rule of no edge allowed for activesofts and skillwires since it will not be your own reflexes so much as a preset response snagged from the matrix.

Plus you may want to make it reactive only, ie you have to be responding to someone's style otherwise this will be a abused as a shortcut to cheap downloaded variable MA that mysteriously does everything.

i just realized:
why would one ever need to learn the MA qualities, if there are skillsofts? o.O

If it were just reactive, i'd make it an adept skill.
If you really do go with the ware / skillsoft approach, then no, it can't just be reactive.

A no for both on using edge when using them, aside from skillsoft with the correct modifications, is a given in terms of fairness i think . .

I have to admit, I like the idea of a blank skill soft that can be changed as a X action as part of the wireless bonus. That is much cooler than +1 rating. But that would have made cyber useful and we can't have that.

At least not as long as it ain't vulnerable, no, of course not . . we'd be encroaching on the magic niche then . .

Because wired skills override your natural responses and you can not learn from it or increase their level. All you could do is buy a better version, which may be limited in availability.

Used to be you had to have a bit of adaption time when you downloaded the skills as you had to get used to it, now though it seems its pretty much plug and play in that regard so yeah a spider could potentially download some kick ass kung fu into that janitor you just ran into and have him go into a mop smacking frenzy on your butt.

If the janitor is outfitted with skillwires or equivalent ware, sure.
And if he is there when you are there.

At the very least they should have come out with skill softs that included maneuvers and specialties. Things like Muai Thai 5, this time with more kicking power. Unarmed combat 5(7 Muai Thai) includes +2 DV in damage from martial art maneuvers.

Why has no one linked this yet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmEPXXJ4sKw

Always a good one.

Course they never mention that even if you do download the skills, if the body is not already in shape you could do some damage to yourself following what the program thinks you should be doing.

Good point that gets missed.
You have to familiarize your body with a truly active skillsoft.
Course with the adrenaline flowing you will likely not pay for it until after the excitement.
But boy will you be stiff.

On the other side they totally ignore muscle memory when it comes to learning a skill after using a activesoft.
The hardest thing about learning an active skill like say dancing is getting your form right and your body in condition.
Making sure your body's muscle are limber and strong enough to handle any odd motions needed by the skill.
Your body will be all over and if you are not careful you can pick up some bad habits or even injury yourself especially as your body gets tired.

With an activesoft, skillwires, proper conditioning you can run through say a Waltz, perform an gymnastic roll, or execute the perfect sidekick a hundred times with perfect form.
You can condition your body to be able to do the skill perfectly even when tired and your body will remember the correct position which is a HUGE help.

So using a good set of skillwires to get your body in to condition for the skill should actually help you learn the skill much faster once you take the skillchip out.
You don't have to do the strengthening and stretching exercises needed to master a skill. Something that literally can not be rushed.

What you describe here may actually be a good example for the "limits" is 5th Edition. When your Body is not in good shape slotting that Muay Thai Chip is not going to do you much good.

As a GM I would allow a running or weigthlifting skillsoft to be used towards training to increase body or strength for example, but not for improving said skill.
Acquiring a Skill has imo three parts. Part one beeing the actions to be taken to execute the skill, Part two beeing the expierience to anticipate the effect of the action taken and Part three reflecting on the skill in relation too oneself (learning from mistakes).

Part One can be easyly done by Skillsoft. Slot a chip and draw like Picasso, unload it and go back to stick figures and smileys. Imo you never made the mistakes neccessary to get to draw like a master artist and with the skillsoft acting as a shortcut, you can't learn from your mistakes as you never were aware of the reason why you executed an action the way you did.
What I would argue is that most Activsofts might have a Virtual Instructor attached at about half rating if you loaded it in "training mode".

Back On Topic:
Does anybody know anything about Melee Combat in SR5 other than what could be gleaned from the Combat Preview?


love,
Sunshine