[Fighting Style] Creating Fighting Styles + 2 Styles

[Dmitri Scull]

Creating Fighting Styles in Fireborn
Dmitri Scull

The Fighting Styles in the Fireborn Player's Handbook are fairly comprehensive for an overview, and offer a style that can fit just about any situation.  However, gamers being who they are, there is always a demand for more.  In this case, new Fighting Styles seem obvious: the examples are deliberately broad and generally do not include specific real-world combat arts.  Further, in order to create the greatest range of options, styles that are weapon-specific are also largely avoided in the book, since a style that can encompass several weapons is obviously more useful from a design standpoint.

The Design Process
Once you've decided you want to create a new Fighting Style, you need a concept for it.  Usually, this isn't a problem - chances are, your concept of a new style is what prompted your decision to create one.  At this point, you should have a basic idea of what the style is capable, what flavor of sequences it should include, and any weapon requirements it might need.

A Fighting Style should have at least five sequences and should not have more than twelve.  In general, the more sequences the style includes, the higher its cost should be, so if you are creating a simple style, you should have at most eight sequences.  Most of the styles in the book fall into the six to eight sequence range, with Gun Fu having the most, at eleven.  It's probably a good idea to include at least one defensive sequence in any Fighting Style that isn't purely offensive.

The styles should include a range of move Thresholds; preferably at least one with a Threshold of 2 or 3, and at least one with a Threshold in the 5-6 range.  In general, a sequence should have a Payoff Rating proportional to its Threshold.  A two-move sequence should not inflict a Death Payoff, and in most cases a six-move sequence should have at least a PR of 4 or 5.  However, it's better to give a weak payoff to a high-Threshold move than to create a TH 2 powerhouse.

The moves within the sequence and the Payoff should be based on what the move physically does; when designing the sequence, visualize what is happening, and assign the moves required to mimic the action.  The Payoff usually logically follows this progression.  The Barroom Brawling Fighting Style is an excellent source of inspiration for how this process works, since it includes parenthetical asides explaining the Ready moves in two of its sequences.

Example: Suppose you're building a high-level style and want to include a "Touch of Death" style attack.  The concept of this sequence involves the attacker studying his opponent then performing a quick chi-powered strike to a vital pressure point, which causes death.  Even though the physical activity in this attack is minimal, this should still be a high-Threshold move, since Death is rated at PR 10.  The attack breaks down into three steps; studying the target, gathering chi, and the strike.  There are four Fighting Styles in the Fireborn Player's Handbook that have a sequence with a Death Payoff, and all four are six-move sequences - so it's probably best to have any new Death-dealing sequences also be TH 6.  With this in mind, you decide that "Touch of Death" is TH 6, with a Ready + Ready + Ready + Power + Power + Fist Strike attack.  It is PR 10 with a Payoff of Death.
 
Side Effects and Pitfalls   Many Fighting Style sequences "break the rules" a little bit.  There are Slam moves that do not follow the required move, sequences with too few Ready moves, and multiple opponent attack sequences that lack Retarget.  These are intentional, and are meant to follow the flow of action.  Since the sequences are practiced combinations, it makes sense that a response could flow faster than normal (fewer Ready moves, lack of Retarget) or the move takes into account special attacks that are not reflected in the normal rules for the weapon in question.  Slam moves that do not follow the normal rules are "following the action" by bodily moving the opponent about (and as noted in the rules, do not give their normal benefits when they occur in such manner).

However, regardless of the effect of the sequence, certain moves - mental actions and full physical actions - cannot be used in sequences.  The following list is a quick reminder of combat moves that are off-limits for sequences (mental actions that are not normally combat moves are not included, but are still unusable in sequences):
    Aim  Ambush    Cast
    Defend Defensive Feint Delay
    Distract    Escape Feint
    Focus   Grit  Interrupt
    Steady  Taunt
 
Payoff Ratings
The Payoff Rating (PR) of a sequence is based on its Payoff; a move with more than one Payoff effect has a Payoff Rating equal to the sum of the PR for each effect.  Note that no style in the Fireborn Player's Handbook has a PR greater than 10.  In general, a PR higher than 10 indicates a very powerful move; anything with a PR higher than 12 is probably too powerful.  The table on the following page indicates the PR for each Payoff effect.

Payoff Effect PR Notes Additional damage +5 1 Effect is leveled Bleed 4 Not specifically leveled, but   could be Blind 7   Daze 5 Effect is leveled Deaf 5 Never given in the book; PR is   an estimate Death 10   Disadvantage (mental) 1 Effect is leveled Disadvantage (physical) 1 Effect is leveled Disarm 3   Dismember digit 4   Dismember extremity 6   Dismember limb 8   Knockout 3 Is more effective if combined   with another Payoff Paralyze 9   Pin 5 Effect is leveled Push 1 Effect is leveled, aka   knockback Stun 6 Effect is leveled Trip 2      In the case of leveled Payoffs, the PR is multiplied by the level (for additional damage, that is PR 1/+5 damage).  Bleed isn't listed as a leveled Payoff, but does have a cumulative effect, so a Bleed 2 result is certainly imaginable. The effect of Knockout is proportional to the PR of the sequence (the PR sets the Threshold to resist the knockout); so a combined Payoff increases the likelihood of knockout. In all cases, the PR was obtained by comparing the ratings given in the Fireborn Player's Handbook, so PR calculated using this table should produce comparable results.  However, the following cautions are issued: No sequence in the book has a "Deaf" Payoff.  The "5" is based on the PR 7 of Blind, lowered since Blind is of more combat utility. No sequence in the book has a leveled Payoff for an Effect with a higher PR than 1; there are no Stun 2 or Pin 2 Payoffs to compare with.  Given the severity of these effects, however, a static increase of the PR seems justified. A few rare sequences in the book "break" these PR values.  In all cases, the most common value has been used, under the assumption that the incongruous PR values are errata  Style Cost Style cost is really the only tricky part of designing a style; since designing the sequences is largely a matter of mechanics - the costs (TH and PR) are set by the nature of the sequence itself.  Style cost, on the other hand, requires a judgement call, based on the effectiveness of the style and its utility.  There are a few generalities that can be made, however, based on the nature of the style. A 1-point style has few sequences, and most of the sequences have a fairly low PR.  Generally, a 1-point style should have eight or fewer sequences and should not have any with a PR of higher than 5 or 6. A 2-point style has more utility; it should still have eight or fewer sequences, but they can be of any PR up to 10.  However, the style should not have a sequence with a Death Payoff, nor should it have more than 2-3 moves with a PR greater than 5. A 3-point style will probably still have eight or fewer sequences, but they can be of any PR, and the style can include a Death-dealing sequence. 4- and 5- point styles have no limit on number of sequences or PR; generally the main difference between a 4- point and 5- point style is the proportion of high-level moves, or low-level moves with high Payoffs.  In most cases, you can assume that the style is a 4-point style, unless it has special conditions that would warrant otherwise. There are, of course, a fair number of special conditions; the most common are listed below, but in the end, it will require a judgement call.  In most cases, the style should not deviate more than ±1 level from where its number and level of sequences place it. If the style has multiple low-TH moves with powerful Payoffs for such moves, increase the style cost.  An example of this is Eastern Small Style, which has two TH 2 moves that earn +15 damage each; although the style is fairly straightforward, such powerful TH 2 moves earn Eastern Small Style a style cost of 3. If a style has a PR 11+ move, increase the style cost. If the style is based around an environmental condition and relies on that condition for its moves (like Barroom Brawling or Submerged), decrease the style cost. If the style is based around a single weapon that isn't a natural weapon, and cannot be used without that weapon, decrease the style cost. Examples of Style Creation Continuing with the "Touch of Death" concept, let's consider a style built around mystic chi-based pressure secrets.  The moves will all be similar - a ready or so to locate the target point, a power to build chi, and a fist strike to deliver the attack - but pressure point attacks can have various effects.  A "Gentle Touch" attack that's a push/trip seems like a good start, plus one that will daze, one that stuns, a knockout, paralyze, and a blind/deaf ultimate technique...  Add in a grab the arm and tap the elbow technique for defense, a few other moves to flush out the style, and we're just about set.  Quickly assembling our efforts, the style looks like this: Pressure Point Mastery (5) TH Name Moves PR Payoff 3 Gentle Touch Ready + Power + Fist Strike 4 Push 2, trip 3 Enlightenment Ready + Power + Fist Strike 5 Daze 4 Control the Hand Spin + Grab + Ready + Fist Strike 5 Disadvantage (physical) 2, Disarm 4 Reminder Ready + Power + Power + Fist Strike 6 Stun 4 Numb the Flesh Ready + Ready + Power + Fist Strike 7 Disadvantage (physical) 5, disadvantage (mental) 2 5 Numb the Mind Ready + Ready + Power + Power + Fist Strike 8 Daze, knockout 5 Gentle Rebuff Ready + Power + Power + Power + Fist Strike 10 Push 8, trip 5 Numb the Body Ready + Ready + Ready + Power + Fist Strike 9 Paralyze 6 Touch of Death Ready + Ready + Ready + Power + Power + Fist Strike 10 Death 6 Deny the Senses Ready + Power + Fist Strike + Ready + Power + Fist Strike 12 Blind, deaf        Obviously, this is a powerful style, with ten sequences, three of which have PR 10+.  It's a shoe-in as being in the 4-5 range.  In addition, it has a PR 12 move (not normally advised, but it fits in well with the style) and its "low end" sequences have Payoffs like Daze and a PR 4 push/trip combo.  About the only weakness of the style is that most of the Payoffs are not damage related, and most sequences have only one attack - and it's at the end.  This means that negating the sequence makes the entire attack fail, and the style is nearly useless against non-living targets, since most attacks will do only Fist Strike damage.  While this is enough to ensure that the style remains balanced at a 5 rating, it's still clearly a cost 5 style. As a second example, let's try something simpler and a little more physical.  Suppose a scion able to manifest claws wants a quick and dirty claw fighting style, designed for a humanoid frame, rather than a dragon, since a most scions still won't necessarily have the Awakened Rank to manifest hindclaws, a bite attack, or tail.  Now that we have our basics, let's consider some sequences.  A simple claw attack seems mandatory, as does a double-claw rend.  Another good attack idea would include an uppercut-like attack raking the claw up the torso of the opponent - that would be the "Bleed" Payoff. A quick look at some existing styles - a good place for inspiration, especially for common attacks, like knockout punches, groin kicks, and basic claw attacks - shows some promising candidates in Ravager and Swift.  Adder's Fangs from Ravager can probably be used as is; Rend seems a little extreme for a human attacking a human, where the claw attacks will probably be aimed a little more center-of-mass and are unlikely to dismember an extremity.  Gut from Swift is a low-power variant of what we envisioned for our torso-raking attack.  Right now we have a "Claw Swipe" attack, which is probably a simple Power + Strike + Press...  for the basics, added damage works fine.  "Rending" is a copy of Adder's Fangs - no need to reinvent the wheel, though keeping the name consistent with the style is probably a good thing.  Our torso rake is "Eviscerate," a Crouch + Power + Claw + Press (with maybe another Press, depending on the rest of the style) that does added damage and a Bleed.  At this point we need "filler," and decide on a spinning backhanded strike ("Backslash"), a pouncing attack ("Claw Dive"), and a double-Bleed tear-out-the-throat attack ("Throating").  Defensive moves are always good, and a basic parry/slash routine ("Clawstorm") fits the bill.  We're now at seven sequences, we've got a few powerhouses and a simple attack or two, but our low-end is a TH 3 attack.  We could remove the Press from Claw Swipe, but a quick forehead slash to drip blood in the face at a TH 2 adds a little more depth, and gives us more freedom in determining the Threshold of the other moves.  This leads us to our basic style:    Claw Rage (3)    TH Name Moves PR Payoff 2 Quick Slash Spin + Claw Strike 2 Disadvantage (mental) 2 3 Claw Swipe Power + Claw Strike + Press 3 Additional damage +15 3 Backslash Spin + Power + Claw Strike 3 Additional damage +10, push 1 4 Rending Power + L Claw Strike + Power + R Claw Strike 4 Additional damage +10, disadvantage (physical) 2 4 Clawstorm Block + Ready + Power + Claw Strike 5 Daze 5 Claw Dive Dash + Jump + Power + L Claw Strike + R Claw Strike 6 Additional damage +20, trip 5 Eviscerate Crouch + Power + Claw Strike + Press + Press 7 Additional damage +15, bleed 6 Throating Grab + Press + Press + Press + Power + Claw Strike 9 Additional damage +5, bleed 2      Claw rage has eight sequences, and three of those are over PR 5.  This puts it right at the border of having a style cost of 2 or 3.  The low-end payoffs aren't terribly excessive, so it could conceivably be a cost 2 style.  Similarly, it's based around claws, so it's weapon specific - but that weapon is a natural weapon for dragons, even if it has to be manifested for a scion to use them, which isn't enough to push it towards a cost of 3. So why is it a 3?  After all, Long Arm has it beat for Payoff Ratings, and it's a cost 2.  Luring Blade has higher added damage.  The style lacks any disarm, knockout, or similar means to gain a potent edge on an opponent, with only a trip move and a daze.  Ultimately, it's the Bleed moves that make Claw Rage have a cost of 3.  The style does have its fair share of added damage - which, while not terribly high, do apply to nearly all the payoffs.  Similarly, many of the attacks have a "partial damage" effect - that is, they have a claw attack early in the sequence, so that even if the sequence fails, some damage is still dealt.  But the double bleed payoff on Throating in a style that already has a Bleed Payoff means that the style is specialized at getting that one payoff to stack Ultimately, style cost is a matter of gauging how efficient a style is in combat, when used by someone who will concentrate on its strengths, not by some formula.

[Dmitri Scull]

There are two styles described in the article.? For those who don't care about the article, but might care about the styles, I'm including them here, as well.  Please forgive the ragged columns.

Admin Edit: They were here, but I had to expand the above post. As such, you can now copy them from there.