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TOURNAMENT COMBAT
Not all combat is in deadly earnest. In modern times,
most martial-arts battles take place in the bloodless, often
contact-free environment of the tournament. Even in
bygone eras, when martial arts served a deadly purpose day
in and day out, tournaments were popular. Tournament
combat sometimes served a judicial, religious, or social role,
and entire martial arts with few military or self-defense
applications existed for tournament battle.
ROLEPLAYING
TOURNAMENTS
There are two ways to resolve tournaments and competitions.
One is to game them out as regular combat, with each
fighter taking his normal actions on a one-second time scale.
The other is to use one of the abbreviated methods below,
which are designed to answer the questions “Who won?”
and “What happened to the competitors?”
Quick Contest Method
The simplest way to resolve a tournament is with a
Contest (p. B348) between the fighters. Roll a Quick Contest
of combat, Combat Art, or Combat Sport skills; the exact
skills involved depend on the type of competition (see
Competition Types, pp. 134-135). The winner of the Contest
wins the match. This is useful when you only need to know
who won. It works best for non-contact or light-contact
events, or full-contact events where injury is rare (e.g.,
Kendo or Judo).
This method can be used to resolve “death match” tournaments,
though – most often those involving NPCs. In this
case, if the winning competitor fails his skill roll in the
Contest, he takes a full-force hit from his opponent’s best
attack to a random hit location. This represents an injury
suffered in the course of the match. The loser also suffers
these consequences, even if his skill roll succeeds. If a contestant
critically fails, roll three attacks in this manner. No
defense rolls are allowed. Even if the fighter won, he suffered
to do so!
A winning fighter may be victorious but suffer severe or
even fatal injury. This isn’t unrealistic. One Olympic
Pankration match in ancient Greece was won posthumously
– the winner was mortally wounded but forced his rival to
submit before he expired!
For especially dramatic competitions, use this method
round-by-round or point-by-point. Award the winning fighter
the round or a point. Total up the number of winning
rounds or points for each competitor to determine the
winner.
Detailed Method
Use this option to resolve competitions in round-byround
detail without playing out each second. For instance,
a boxing round is three minutes long. Played out a turn at a
time, this would be 180 seconds of combat! Not only is that
too long to game out, it’s unheard of for fighters to be active
134 COMBAT
for every single second of a match. Realistically, each fighter
will spend most of the round circling, evaluating and probing
his opponent. These rules provide a snapshot of the
“action” while allowing for round-by-round drama.
When using this method, fights consist of lulls, during
which the contenders rest and circle, and flurries, when
exchanges of blows take place. The GM should roll secretly
for the length of flurries and lulls; realistically, fighters don’t
know how much of an opening they have to press the action.
This also adds tension as a close fight nears its end without
a decision.
Each round starts with an initial lull lasting 4d seconds.
Then roll 2d to determine the length of the first flurry, 4d for
the next lull . . . and so on, until the round ends. During a
flurry, play out combat normally using the rules in the Basic
Set. If both parties retreat, step out of each other’s reach, or
Do Nothing, an early lull occurs (roll 4d for duration). The
fighters step back to take a breath, are separated by the referee
(if there is one), or otherwise disengage. During a lull,
fighters may Change Posture, Do Nothing, Evaluate, Move,
Ready, or take appropriate free actions.
A fighter may also attempt to extend a flurry by pressing
the fight. If both sides wish to press, the action continues for
another 2d seconds without the need for a roll. If only one
competitor wishes to press, roll a Quick Contest of Tactics. If
the pressing fighter wins, the flurry continues for seconds
equal to his margin of victory. Otherwise, a lull begins
immediately.
Assess fatigue after each round – or after every two to
three minutes, if the contest doesn’t have rounds. Use the
costs under Fighting a Battle (p. B426). Always deduct FP
spent on Extra Effort in Combat (p. 131) immediately,
though.
These rules allow fighters to battle for fairly realistic periods
of time. The GM may wish to lengthen or shorten lulls
and flurries, depending on the contest. Bare-knuckle boxing
matches sometimes took dozens of multiple-minute rounds,
with the action coming fast and furious for brief periods, followed
by long lulls of little action or extended clinching. For
these types of matches, roll only one flurry per round.
Pressing to extend a flurry may be the only way to score a
victory against a reluctant foe, and a wily fighter may be able
to stay in the ring with a tougher foe . . . if he can survive the
flurries!
COMPETITION TYPES
The world has seen many different types of tournament
combat. The examples below are merely the most common
forms.
Sport Competitions
Demonstrations: These tournaments are a show of the
competitors’ artistic form and control. Each performs one or
more kata, drills, or forms. Judging is point-based. Use
Combat Art skills to resolve such competitions.