GURPS Martial Arts - Home

An important part of martial-arts mythology, especially
in cinematic settings, is that “martial artist” is as much
a mindset as it is a skill set. These optional rules address
this philosophy.
The Contest of Wills
In martial-arts films and samurai legends, entire battles
are fought in the mind. The warriors lock eyes, and
then one suddenly breaks eye contact and walks away,
beaten . . . or charges, knowing that he’s doomed.
To initiate a Contest of Wills, the challenger must
Concentrate and lock eyes with his opponent. If his foe
accepts the challenge, he must take a Concentrate maneuver
as well. If he rejects it, he must make a Will roll to
avoid being drawn in anyway. Success means he can take
his turn normally and cannot be challenged again this
combat.
Once the Contest begins, roll a Regular Contest of Will
each turn. Either fighter may substitute Intimidation or
Mental Strength for Will, if better.
Modifiers: Fearlessness; +5 each for Indomitable and
Unfazeable; the better fighter gets +1 per three levels by
which his best combat skill exceeds his opponent’s.
Reputation can go either way. For instance, -2 for being a
ruthless killer would give +2, but +2 for being merciful
might give -2. In some settings, Status and other reaction
modifiers apply.
Roll once per turn until somebody wins. Find the winner’s
margin of victory as if this were a Quick Contest and
make a reaction roll for the loser, applying the margin as
a bonus. Use the “potential combat situation” results on
the Reaction Table (p. B560). If this drives the loser to
attack, he has the winner’s margin of victory as a penalty
to his attack rolls!
This rule is for PCs and major NPCs. See Fear and
Martial Artists (below) for a way to demoralize thugs.
Concentration and the Martial Arts
Losing your cool can mean losing the fight! If a
martial artist fails his self-control roll for a mental
disadvantage that would distract him (GM’s opinion), he
fights at -2 to DX. This includes submitting to Bad
Temper in any fight, Lecherousness when facing a sexy
foe, etc., but not things like Berserk and Bloodlust.
You can end a jump stuck to a wall that’s within reach
of your leap. To do so, make a Lizard Climb roll when you
land.
If you’re against a flat surface, with enough room to
climb at least half your height, you can try a Lizard Climb
roll to retreat upward as part of an active defense. Apply
the usual skill modifiers; for instance, if you leave hands
free to parry or block, you’ll have -2 per extremity less
than four dedicated to the climb. Success gives a further
+1 to your retreat bonus, making it +4; critical success
Mind Games
130 COMBAT
Fear and Martial Artists
Fear can be a killer, too. A failed Fright Check
(p. B360) is likely to stun the victim and make him easy
prey. The GM may require Fright Checks from combatants
who suffer dismemberment (p. B421) or lose an
eye to an Eye-Pluck (p. 72), a nose or an ear to Pressure
Secrets (p. 59), or any body part to a bite (see Teeth,
p. 115). While most Fright Checks in combat are at +5
for the heat of battle, those for gruesome injuries are
not!
Heroic PCs can use Intimidation (p. B202) on minor
NPCs. The GM may want to quantify the +1 to +4 for
displays of strength as +1 per five of their number the
NPCs know the heroes have defeated, to a maximum of
+4. This doesn’t have to be in the same fight! It affects
soldiers who hear tales from buddies who survived the
last battle, thugs who see the heroes emerge unscathed
from a room guarded by a dozen of their comrades, etc.
Reputation is another important modifier; see The
Contest of Wills (above). Enough bonuses make even
default skill (Will-5) effective!
Faking It
To convincingly fake martial-arts skill based on what
you’ve seen in demos and movies, make a DX-based
Performance roll. Success means your audience
believes you! This lets you attempt Intimidation using
the rules for specious intimidation. Critical success
means you pass yourself off as a master, which may
have minor social benefits.
To portray the martial arts on stage or screen, roll
against Stage Combat (p. B222). This defaults to
Combat Art/Sport skills at -2, and to combat skills and
Performance at -3. For scenes involving multiple performers,
roll against the lowest of the worst performer’s
skill and the choreographer’s Fight Choreography skill
(p. B198).
Such tricks provide no combat benefits and are
unlikely to fool real martial artists! Against a trained
fighter, treat these rolls as Quick Contests. He gets an
IQ-based roll against his best combat, Combat Art, or
Combat Sport skill. You must win to convince him
you’re the real thing.
means your defense succeeds automatically! Failure or
critical failure means the defense fails or critically fails.
Some common stunts seen in wuxia movies combine
Lizard Climb with Light Walk. For instance, running up
a bent bamboo cane, about 3” across, would require a
Lizard Climb roll (at +2 for bark, +2 for a slope, but -4
for both hands free) and a Light Walk roll (at +8 for a
feat of balance but -8 for a 3” cane), with failure on
either indicating a fall.