Fighting Styles
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General
Fighting Styles can be extremely effective in nWoD. They also can be very diverse and, in some cases, leave room for different interpretations of different write ups. The following are rules clarifications and house rules concerning Fighting Styles as understood and used on Vienna by Night.
There are few questions about most Fighting Styles using weapons. They generally cover expert training in fighting with certain weapons (ie: Archery, Chain Fighting, Staff Fighting, Fencing) or specific ways to handle a weapon (ie: Speznaz Knife Fighting, Kendo). It is not always as apparent what the unarmed Fighting Styles cover. Following are the definitions as used on Haunted Memories:
- Boxing: includes all combat styles primarily focused on strength over speed, agility and technique. This includes mostly heavy weight boxing styles, Karate, street fighting, etc.
- Kung Fu: includes all combat styles focusing heavily on technique and agility and not only brute force. This includes certain boxing styles, military hand to hand, Muay Thai, etc.
Haunted Memories uses Fighting Styles from following books: WoD Core, Armory, 13th Precinct and Rage. That are following Fighting Styles: Boxing, Kung Fu, Two Weapons, Archery, Chain Weapons, Combat Marksmanship, Fencing, Kendo, Filipino Martial Arts, Sniping, Spetsnaz Knife Fighting, Staff Fighting, Police Tactics, Tooth and Claw.
Stacking Styles and Maneuvers
- Rule 1: No active merit can be stacked onto any other active merit. This means that Haymaker (Boxing) can not be combined with Whirlwind Strike (Kung Fu).
- Rule 2: Merits that confer passive benefits do stack. Duck and Weave (Boxing) stacks with Iron Skin (Kung Fu). This is not only defensive, however. Focused Attack (Kung Fu) is a passive discipline and therefore stacks with Body Blow (Boxing).
- Rule 3: No free penalties. If you use any action which imposes a penalty, no other action may be stacked onto the first action that would impose no penalty because of the first actions penalty. For example: All-Out Attack negates own defense and therefore can not be combined with any Merit which negates own defense such as Combination Blows (Boxing) or Whirlwind Strike (Kung Fu). If any actions reduce, by penalty, any trait to zero, then no other actions that would impose a further penalty on that trait may be used.
Rules on specific maneuvers
Filipino Fighting Arts
Armory, p. 211 states when a character gets to level 4 (Final level) they can use all the stuff without weapons. The character still rolls Weaponry to employ these maneuvers - even though he does not actually wield a weapon, he still acts as if he does.
Spetsnaz Knife Fighting
Armory p.213 states the character knows how to effectively wield a knife using a 'reverse' grip. Anticipate Attack (Spetsnaz O) says this maneuver can be used with any Size 2 weapon. This is specific to Anticipate Attack only, other Spetsnaz Maneuvers can only be used with knifes as they require the blade to be held a certain way and not all Size 2 weapons can be wielded in a 'reverse' grip (ie: longswords, katana, etc.)
Fencing
Interpretations/additions for Fencing (Armory, 210-211):
Fencing 3: Riposte
- HM clarification
- The fencer can use his Defense against no other attacks, except the one against which he uses this counterattack.
- (The text in Armory says no further attacks.)
- Armory Errata
- This maneuver costs a WP point, which must be spent as soon as he decides he’ll apply twice his defense to an incoming attack.
- (This is not a house rule, but we're pointing it out for simplicity's sake.)
Fencing 4: Moulinet
- HM house rule
- The fencer loses his Defense when using this maneuver.
Claws & Boxing/Kung Fu
- HM clarification
- Kung Fu 1 & 4 and Boxing 1, 3, 4 & 5 cannot be used with supernatural-based claws.
