GURPS Martial Arts - Home

Vaulting and Diving
Anybody can crawl under a table, clamber over the hood of
a car, etc., in two turns, as explained under Jumping During
Combat (p. B352). To bypass such an obstacle without stopping,
you must run at least two yards toward it to build
momentum, have one or more movement point left, and
attempt an Acrobatics roll. This roll is at -4 to dive through a
window, or to tuck and roll between a high obstacle and a low
one, such as two pipes or laser beams.
Success means you tumble under, vault over, or dive past
the obstacle. This costs one movement point – but if you have
any movement left, you can keep moving. You can try this
stunt again on the same turn, but at a cumulative -2 per
attempt after the first.
Failure means you fall down under or atop the obstacle but
manage to avoid collision damage. Of course, falling “onto”
flame or deadly lasers still hurts! Critical failure means you
collide with the barrier, suffer collision damage (see Collisions
and Falls, p. B430) if it’s solid, and end your turn lying down in
front of it.
MOVE AND ATTACK
You can use this maneuver with any melee attack – bite,
grapple, kick, shield bash, etc. – not just a strike with an empty
hand or a melee weapon. If your attack delivers thrusting damage,
you may substitute slam damage (HP ¥ velocity/100), if
that would be better. For instance, a centaur with ST 18, HP
18, and Move 12 thrusts for 1d+2 but slams for 2d, so her Move
and Attack with a spear (thr+3 imp) would inflict 2d+3 imp.
For extra realism, modify the defense limitations on Move
and Attack as follows:
Active Defense: If you attacked using an arm, you cannot
use that arm to parry (if the attack involved a fist, elbow, or
weapon) or block (if you used a shield or cloak). If you used
any other body part (foot, head, knee, mouth, shin, etc.) to
attack, you cannot dodge. You can use any other defense, but
you cannot retreat. These restrictions take effect after you
make your attack roll. If someone uses a Wait to interrupt your
maneuver before then, you may defend normally and then finish
your maneuver.
The GM should consider extending the -2 for “trying to do
two things at once” to all success rolls except defense and
resistance rolls against enemy attacks. For instance, it would
modify DX rolls to evade or to keep someone from evading you
(see Evading, p. B368), Fast-Draw rolls, rolls to stay standing
after suffering knockback (see Knockback, p. B378), and Sense
rolls to notice something in combat.
Most melee attack options (e.g., hit location) are compatible
with Move and Attack. Assess penalties for these before
applying the effective skill limit of 9. Rapid Strike and
Combinations aren’t allowed, however. Neither is Deceptive
Attack, unless you’re making an attack that removes the skill
cap (such as a slam or a cinematic technique like Flying Jump
Kick), as it requires a final effective skill of at least 10. Certain
uses of extra effort in combat are also forbidden, including
Flurry of Blows, Mighty Blows, and Giant Step.
This maneuver is unfavorable in realistic melee combat due
to its penalties and limits. In cinematic games, special techniques
exist that make it more attractive.
Acrobatic Attack
You can use any of the special tricks described under
Acrobatic Movement (pp. 105-106) as the movement portion
of a Move and Attack. The benefits and drawbacks of Move
and Attack “stack” with those of your acrobatic feat. You
have an additional -2 on both your attack roll and any roll
required to pull off the stunt – the price of doing two things
at once!
Example: Manfred wishes to swing 10 yards on a rope
and cut down one of the Black Duke’s bodyguards with his
saber as he passes. Consulting Swinging (pp. 105-106), he
sees that a 10-yard swing requires an Acrobatics roll at -4,
which becomes -6 with the extra -2 for an Acrobatic Attack.
His attack has the usual -4 for Move and Attack, plus another
-2 for his stunt; it, too, is at -6. Since this is a Move and
Attack, Manfred’s adjusted attack roll cannot exceed 9, and
he cannot parry or retreat afterward . . . and thanks to his
swing, his next dodge counts as an Acrobatic Dodge, but he
could end up in the wrong spot or even fall down.
When creating a technique based on Acrobatic Attack,
you must specify the particular acrobatic movement option
it uses. Its basic default is -6: -4 for Move and Attack plus an
extra -2 for Acrobatic Attack. Add an extra -1 to ignore the
skill cap of 9. Remember that all rolls for the movement portion
of the technique are at -2.
Flying Attack
Somewhat less risky than an Acrobatic Attack is a Flying
Attack: a Move and Attack with a jump for extra distance
(not to avoid an obstacle, evade a foe, etc.) just before the
attack. You must run, then jump, and then attack. You cannot
change the order; you need an uninterrupted run to
build momentum for the jump, and a successful jump to
attack.
First, run as far as you plan to. This can be any distance
up to your full Move. In fact, this option gives little benefit
unless you run your full Move!
Next, make a running broad jump. This requires a DX or
Jumping roll. Success gives extra movement equal to your
jumping distance at the end of your run. Add the bonus for
running, but halve the final distance for jumping in combat.
Your jump carries you in the direction you were running.
Failure means you fall down and you turn ends; you cannot
attack. See Jumping (p. B352) for details.
Finally, launch your attack. You can attack anyone you
can reach from your landing point. This is at -5 instead of
the usual -4 for Move and Attack. The usual restrictions on
Move and Attack still apply, such as the maximum adjusted
skill of 9.
Many cinematic techniques are Flying Attacks. These
often time the jump to improve damage, and focus so
sharply on offense that they lack the usual skill cap on Move
and Attack. See Creating New Techniques (pp. 89-95) to learn
how to design techniques like this. Such moves have dire
consequences if they fail, though – the attacker is so committed
to attacking that he needs a successful hit to brake!
For an example, see Flying Jump Kick or Flying Lunge
(pp. 83-84).
COMBAT 107