Combining martial arts? Options

[AKWeaponsSpecial...]

So, is there something stopping a character from taking multiple martial arts that have the same mechanical effect? (say, karate 4/kenpo 2, or aikido 2 jiujutsu 3?)
I thought of this, and while it's pretty common for me to make my GM to want to kill me, I keep it within the rules....(don't worry, he does it to me, when I GM, too :JD).

[Udoshi]

No, the martial arts rules stack with each other. However, the sidebar pretty clearly states you can only get +3 DV through stacking. So no punches that blow up tanks.

[Saint Sithney]

I think that they only have MA lvl4 specifically because there are only 4 benefits from any given MA style.
If you could cherry pick, then you could take the Krav Maga skill that allows you to take aim as a free action, then the Wildcat skill that allows you to get +1DV on any called shot to increase DV. That would basically give you a free +2DV on one shot each IP.

[Udoshi]

No, thats perfectly allowable. I've been looking at combining Krav and Firefight and, oddly, arnis de mano to get a firefight style that actually works.

What does limit it somewhat, is you have to take the martial arts quality for each style, and only get one bonus per level of it.

[Kerenshara]

It's only 4 levels PER MA style, and they're all built that way. So it would read:

Martial Arts (Krav Maga) 3
Martial Arts (Kenpo) 1
Martial Arts (Karate) 2

on the character sheet.

At least, that's how I read it.

There is a spate of new "qualities" in the game that are being called "qualities" because that term is handy. Note, unlike normal "positive qualities", you don't need GM approval to take these after game start. And you can learn the base MA abilities (not the maneuvers) with an instructor just like a new skill or even a spell.

That's why I feel the way I do about it. And seriously, it's 10 Karma PER each, which if you're going to have a second MA after start, 40 Karma is a PILE, just barely less than an entire skill group to 4 or one skill to 5 and a second to 2!

[Udoshi]

Martial arts qualities do count against your positive quality limit at creation, right?

[Kerenshara]

Martial arts qualities do count against your positive quality limit at creation, right?

Well, that's another problem, neh?

In our PnP game, no.

In the PbP game I am running, no.

The problem is, they are "qualities" not "positive qualities" IIRC. Are they under "New Qualities"? I don't recall the precise wording under which they were slipped in, but we didn't read it that way.

[Marwynn]

Not that I disagree, since Martial Arts should just be a certain kind of skill itself but p156 inset says "Martial Arts (Positive Quality)".

[Kerenshara]

Well, it's certainly not a "negative" quality. *grin*

I can see limiting it at start, but they are the ONLY quality (off the top of my head) you can train into with standard training rules. They're just VERY expensive skills that cap at 4 and have a flat cost curve.

But it's your table. This is one where it's not going to break the game to exempt it from the cap.

[Ascalaphus]

I really dislike the implementation of MAs.

In my view, having a very high Unarmed Combat pretty much implies that you are a martial artist - wether of a formal style or not. The same would go for the other combat skills I think; fencing is also often considered a martial art.

I don't like having to buy maneuvers separately; it feels "tacked-on" to the system. It suggests you can't really try a maneuver without having paid for it - I prefer the "Don't say no, determine difficulty" approach. Or if your GM does let you, it doesn't cleanly integrate into the system.

Cleaner would be to make a short list of maneuvers and assign each a DP penalty to perform, because they're somewhat harder than straight punches.
Second, make a list of martial arts, and which maneuvers are featured heavily in them.
Now, anyone who takes a martial art as specialty to any combat skill can apply his specialty bonus to those maneuvers, mitigating (or cancelling) the penalty for the maneuver.

Optionally and additionally, you could make martial arts also a positive quality, that gives one or more of those special benefits from the book (some of which are nifty), and a +2 to the maneuvers related to that art; the maneuvers would typically have a -4DP modifier.
This allows you to more easily demonstrate the benefits of knowing multiple martial arts. I'd say that for any typical test you can apply only one art's bonus though; there's a credability limit to how many different exotic techniques can be applied to the same action after all.

[Rotbart van Dain...]

I really dislike the implementation of MAs.

Still, compared to the SR3 implementation, it's pure awesome.

[Ancient History]

Maneuvers are a hindsight 20/20 thing; given my druthers I would have had them be specific actions that you pay Karma to make them easier for your character to do, representing additional training to do those things. Or as Neal Stephenson put it:

This would have pitched any other man out of the saddle, but Jeronimo seemed to be ready for it. As he flew out of the saddle he shoved off with both fit, pitching his hindquarters upwards; tucked his head under; landed hard on one shoulder, and rolled completely over in a somersault. In the same continuous movement he sprand up to his feet, drew his rapier, and drove it all the way through the body of the officer who had shot at him. "How do you like that, eh? El Torbellino made me practice that one until I pissed blood; and then he made me practice it some more until I got it right!"