GURPS Martial Arts - Home

A leg lock is an attempt to restrain or cripple an opponent
by twisting his leg. This technique allows you to improve
your effective Judo or Wrestling skill for this purpose only.
To use Leg Lock, you must have two hands free and
already have a successful Leg Grapple (p. 76) on your opponent.
On your first turn following the Leg Grapple, you may
attempt to place your foe’s leg in a lock. This is an attack. Roll
against Leg Lock to hit. Your victim may use any active
defense – he can parry your hand with a weapon! If his
defense fails, you trap his leg in a lock.
Your foe may attempt to break free (p. B371) on his next
turn. If he loses, he has a cumulative -1 on future attempts to
break free.
On your next turn – and each turn thereafter, until your
opponent breaks free – you may try to damage the trapped
leg. Roll a Quick Contest: the higher of your ST (including
your Wrestling bonus) or Leg Lock vs. the higher of your victim’s
ST+4 or HT+4. If you win, you inflict crushing damage
equal to your margin of victory. The target’s rigid DR protects
normally. Flexible armor, including natural DR with the
Flexible or Tough Skin limitation, has no effect.
If you cripple your victim’s leg, he’ll be unable to stand on
it. You can inflict no further damage on a crippled limb, but
you can continue to roll the Contest each turn. If you win,
your target suffers shock and stunning just as if you had
inflicted damage.
Rolls to inflict damage are completely passive and don’t
count as attacks. You can simultaneously make close-combat
attacks on your opponent, who defends at -4 in addition to
any penalties due to the damage caused by the lock itself. An
attempt to throw him using the lock does count as an attack;
see Throws from Locks (pp. 118-119).
You can also apply this technique offensively. You must
first use Judo or Wrestling to grapple your victim’s leg with
two hands. If he fails to break free on his next turn, you may
try Leg Lock on your next turn.
Leg Lock uses finesse to cripple a foe’s limb. For a bruteforce
technique, see Wrench (Limb) (p. 82).
Low Fighting
Hard
Default: prerequisite skill-2.
Prerequisite: Any combat skill; cannot exceed prerequisite
skill.
This technique lets you buy off the -2 to attack from a
kneeling or crouching posture. Roll against Low Fighting
instead of the prerequisite skill whenever you use that skill to
attack from a low posture. For instance, if you had Wrestling
at 14 and Low Fighting (Wrestling) at 13, you could grapple
from your knees at skill 13.
Low Fighting affects the -2 to defend while kneeling in the
same way. If you know it at skill-1, you’re at -1 to defend,
while at full skill, you have no penalty.
Low-Line Defense
Hard
Default: prerequisite skill Parry-2.
Prerequisite: Boxing or Sumo Wrestling; cannot exceed
prerequisite Parry.
Kicking is illegal in the boxing or sumo ring, so boxers
and sumotori don’t normally train to face it – which is why
Boxing and Sumo Wrestling parries are at -2 against kicks.
Fighters who cross-train against kicking martial artists or
use their skills outside the ring can certainly learn to parry
kicks, however! This technique lets them buy off the -2.
Mounted Shooting
Hard
Default: ranged weapon skill-4.
Prerequisites: Riding or a vehicle-operation skill
(Bicycling, Driving, Teamster, etc.), and a ranged weapon
skill; cannot exceed ranged weapon skill.
You’ve practiced shooting a ranged weapon from a moving
mount or vehicle – chariot, horse, howdah, etc. You
must specialize by both weapon skill and mount or vehicle
type. Use the specialties listed for the two skills chosen as
prerequisites. Mounted Shooting (Bow/Horse) is extremely
common and called “Horse Archery” for brevity (p. B231).
If you’ve improved this technique, modifiers for a rough
ride and/or limited mobility (see Attacking from Moving
Vehicle or Mount, p. B548) – including those for turning in
the saddle to shoot – can’t reduce your weapon skill below
your Mounted Shooting level when using your chosen
weapon from the specified platform. Other penalties apply
normally. For instance, if you had Thrown Weapon (Spear)-
13 and Mounted Shooting (Thrown Spear/Chariot)-11, the
penalties for a bumpy chariot ride couldn’t reduce Thrown
Weapon (Spear) below 11, before other modifiers.
Remember that your skill with a mounted attack can’t
exceed Riding skill (p. B397). Combat Riding (p. 69) mitigates
this for the rider himself, but his passengers are limited
by his Riding skill.
Neck Snap
Hard
Default: ST-4; cannot exceed ST+3.
This brute-force attack consists of grabbing and suddenly
twisting the victim’s head, with the intent of snapping the
neck. Unlike most techniques, Neck Snap defaults to ST, not
a skill. Wrestling gives its usual skill-based ST bonus.
To use this technique, you must first grapple your opponent
by the neck using two hands; see Grappling (p. B370).
Your victim may attempt to break free on his turn. If he
fails, then on your next turn, roll a Quick Contest: Neck
Snap vs. the higher of his ST or HT. This counts as an attack.
If you win, you inflict swing crushing damage on your
victim’s neck, with the usual ¥1.5 wounding modifier for hit
location. The target’s rigid DR protects normally, but flexible
armor – including natural DR with the Flexible or
Tough Skin limitation – has no effect. Neck injury can have
serious consequences; see Lasting and Permanent Injuries
(pp. 138-139).
Otherwise, you inflict no damage. You may make repeated
attempts on later turns. Your opponent may attack you
or attempt to break free during this time, subject to the
usual limitations of being grappled.
TECHNIQUES 77