Watching Gymkata repeatedly has been a very important part of my life ever since I was in college. I have gone through the trouble to go to amazon.com and buy the new Gymkata DVD recently but before the DVD existed I owned the VHS which was one of my most prized possessions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mkl9rtttog

I realized that what Shadowrun needs is Gymkata. In any good film you always need some kind of superior martial art that lets the hero prevail. It might be better because it's older, or because it's newer, depending on if the martial arts films you watch come from Hong Kong or from Hollywood. It might even be better because it means you're drunker, which is always fun.

However, when we're talking Gymkata, we need something truly awesome and totally indomitable. Just look at the pommel horse fight scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gTkUcXGF_Q . Even though Kurt Tomas was basically facing a +120 TN penalty due to Enemies In Melee the fact he could use Gymkata to its full effect by the pommel horse being there in the town filled with criminally insane people meant that he punk'd them all. Basically, we need something so awesome that should it appear in a campaign not centered around Gymkata it should cause that campaign to EXPLODE.

Now, SR4 is far too complicated and convoluted for my puny mind to understand. I can only think in the straightforward, simple, and concise terms of SR3.

So, here we go:

1.) A character may not have a Gymkata skill level higher than the average of his Athletics (Gymnastics) and Unarmed Combat skill. Gymkata is linked to Quickness and must be purchased using chargen points or karma seperately from those two skills. Furthermore, in order to learn Gymkata a character needs 2 trainers instead of just 1 like for most other skills, and furthermore one of the trainers must be Asian and speak English poorly and the other must be a heavily muscled African American who is proficient in horseback riding, unarmed combat, and staff fighting. This extra cost justifies it being super powerful and campaign-wrecking.
2.) A character may always apply a number of dice equal to his Gymkata skill level to any dodge tests as though these dice were combat pool dice. These dice may also stack with the dice provided by using Athletics to be harder to hit, to reduce damage from falling, to jump farther, or in any other situation the GM feels is appropriate.
3.) Instead of attacking, a character using Gymkata may perform confusing combat gymnastics flips as a Complex Action. If the character's next action is either a Gymkata attack or Full Defense, the opponent must roll the combat skill he is using in an opposed test against the Gymkata exponent's Gymkata skill level. For every 2 net successes the Gymkata exponent earns, his opponent's TN for melee against the Gymkata exponent is raised by +1. If the opponent is NOT using Gymkata, but is rather using Unarmed Combat or a lesser martial art, his TN for the opposed test is raised by 1.
4.) If a character uses Gymkata within a 5 meter radius of a pommel horse, high bar, balance beam, or any other gymnastics fixture, any and all TN modifiers that would otherwise apply due to Enemies In Melee and Reach to melee involving the Gymkata exponent are completely negated provided that the character chooses to fight or defend using his Gymkata skill.
5.) The Gymkata skill may be used in conjunction with a long staff. This is because Kurt Thomas uses a staff a few times in Gymkata and let's face it, the 2 point Reach is just so cheesy in the first place that as long as we're making the ultimate campaign exploding skill we should have a chance to use this tool in our quest for brokenness.
6.) A number of dice equal to the Gymkata skill level may be added to Perception tests for the purpose of noticing and reacting to ambushes, and incoming sniper arrows, without being totally surprised and not being able to react properly. This is because during your training the aforementioned Asian trainer tells you "heaa the onry sound of axe...cutting air." That's why you specifically need the Asian trainer for the Gymkata, see?

Or, alternately, it could be built as a martial art somewhat in line with Capoeira (penalties for being in a confined area, and let's say it gives bonus dice on Athletics checks), with Kick Attack, Whirling, Zoning, and a couple of flashy, mobility-oriented, manuevers.

It'd be less awesome, of course, but you could use it in a game, at least.

I just want to say: I name checked it first in the Gymnastics Dodge thread last week...


In all Caps no less unless my memory is going....

That was just about the worst film clip that I've ever seen in my adult life, and I feel like less of a man for having watched it.

WR, try this movie on for size: For Y'ur Height Only. A parody (or homage?) of James Bond movies, with a kung-fu midget as Agent 00.

That looks pretty intense. But is it even possible to order it?

To bring it in line with the SR4 MA rules:
Gymkata maneuver 1: Opponents can only attack you 2 at a time, independantly of how many opponents there are...
Gymkata maneuver 2: You get a free attack to anyone moving into range as soon as they move within range...
Gymkata maneuver 3: If you hit someone, they are pushed out of range...
Gymkata maneuver 4: Random scenery that could be used as gym equipment gives you a +5 DP bonus to hit...
Yeah, that seems to make you able to do what the guy does in the movie...

I think all melee can benefit somewhat from the 1st maneuver. Afterall, is there not a limit physically to how many people can attack one poor dude at the same time? Now the level of absurdity of Gymkata is a bit more than this (like you said ArkonC, 2 at a time, and then knocked out of range), but I think some limit to number of people able to gang up has to have a limit. I think ~6 with unarmed to ~10 with polearms/spears. This way. The elf adept martial arts master (Agility 10/Reaction 10 + Skill 7 + Specialization 2 + Improved Ability 3-4, rules dont say whether to round up or not) always has some die to attack/defend with. Though, he must be careful as well, if he knocks an opponent down, they no longer count towards the max opponents able to engage a single opponent in melee combat.

Actually, it does:

Which implies you round down...

In SR4, anyway, the maximum modifier for ganging up on someone is +4 (which is for five guys). A dozen guys attacking you also get +4 each; a somewhat cinematic and/or silly martial art could reasonably reduce or negate that bonus, sure.

Guess they Errataed that after the third printing, *sigh*. Guess I'll have to go buy the fifth.
I see now, they included it with the skills and not with the adept power description (they should have)

Behold, the power of teh Internet.

I only have two comments:

1. You are my hero.

2. Town of crazies!

I believe that having a black friend is a basic requirement for all WR 80s characters. I don't see any particular reason to say THIS guy must be the black friend (although obviously, the other skills should be included). Debatably, having an Asian friend who speaks English poorly (preferably who is old, male and enigmatic) is a requirement for Awesome. I bring this up because both of these are such a common thread in WR rules, I feel they would warrant getting pulled out so they aren't included in EACH ruleset, and rather set aside as general WR rules.

Also worth adding, all actions related to the kidnapping of a female character get a -1 to appropriate TNs. Black friends get a -1 to all actions related to support roles, but a +1 to anything related to being the actual protagonist.

Heh. It might be worth googling S John Ross's Blue Room (particularly the Beyond the Grip of Realism section).