Armed vs Unarmed Melee combat

[James Langham]

Originally Posted by The Dark

I decided to run an analysis on the existing martial arts styles in James' documentand see how to weight the various categories to minimize the difference between the "best" and "worst" art and minimize the standard deviation, then use that information to create a point buy system for new martial arts, as a supplement to the random system I proposed before.

My methodology was to take the bonuses and penalties for each martial art except for Mixed Martial Arts (which had no modifiers), sum the modifiers, then look at the mean, standard deviation, and the spread between minimum and maximum of the sums. Once I had done this, I started varying the weight of each maneuver with an eye towards minimizing the standard deviation and the spread.

To create a new martial art: Roll 2d6-7 and divide by 2 for the number of points available to spend. A martial art may have negative points and/or half points, with a range of -2.5 to 2.5 and an average of 0.


Points spent or refunded per plus or minus (maximum modifier +/- 3):
Punch: 2
Kick: 0.5
Headbutt: 0.5
Grapple: 0.5
Block: 0.5
Escape: 0.5
Diving Blow: 1.5
Throw: 1

With these weights, the mean is 0.25, standard deviation is 1.74, and spread is 5.5. All of the existing martial arts fit into the -2.5 to 2.5 range except for Sport Sambo and Sumo, both of which are at -3 and should possibly receive minor boosts.

The high-value martial arts are the two Kung Fus, Military Sambo, and Wrestling, all of which are at 2.5. Low-value martial arts are the previously mentioned Sport Sambo and Sumo at -3, along with Taekwondo and Judo at -2.

I love the mathematical analysis, I'm not surprised at the low value of Sumo or sport sambo in game terms. I am surprised wrestling comes out so well. I suppose though the relative weighting is the only subjective. I am working on expanding the article and would value others opinions as to the over/under rated plus any missing martial arts.

[The Dark]

Originally Posted by James Langham

I love the mathematical analysis, I'm not surprised at the low value of Sumo or sport sambo in game terms. I am surprised wrestling comes out so well. I suppose though the relative weighting is the only subjective. I am working on expanding the article and would value others opinions as to the over/under rated plus any missing martial arts.

In addition to gatka (mentioned earlier in the thread), styles of interest to me would include bartitsu and pankration, Filipino martial arts (such as panununtukan, eskrima, and sikaran), plus (since the Bangkok book exists), styles players could encounter in SEA such as silat, pradal serey, l'bokator, lethwei, naban, and bando.

I kept a spreadsheet with my math, so I could analyze proposed changes to the values.

[James Langham]

Originally Posted by The Dark

In addition to gatka (mentioned earlier in the thread), styles of interest to me would include bartitsu and pankration, Filipino martial arts (such as panununtukan, eskrima, and sikaran), plus (since the Bangkok book exists), styles players could encounter in SEA such as silat, pradal serey, l'bokator, lethwei, naban, and bando.

I kept a spreadsheet with my math, so I could analyze proposed changes to the values.

Interesingly we must think on the same lines as the first three are already added.

[The Dark]

Originally Posted by James Langham

Interesingly we must think on the same lines as the first three are already added.

When you get ready to release the new document, I have a pair of possible revisions that I noticed. First, Muay Thai only has a "3" under kick rather than "+3". It's clear what it should be if one is familiar with Muay Thai, but it doesn't hurt to fix it. Second, and this may be a difference between dialects that I'm not familiar with, but I've always seen "headbutt" with two t's, whereas the document has "headbut".

Finally, I thought of another style to add - Wushu would be useful since it's the culturally approved form of martial arts in the PRC. Possibly some of the other 20th-century Chinese styles like Hung Ga or Eagle Claw would find use in campaigns as well.

[James Langham]

Originally Posted by The Dark

When you get ready to release the new document, I have a pair of possible revisions that I noticed. First, Muay Thai only has a "3" under kick rather than "+3". It's clear what it should be if one is familiar with Muay Thai, but it doesn't hurt to fix it. Second, and this may be a difference between dialects that I'm not familiar with, but I've always seen "headbutt" with two t's, whereas the document has "headbut".

Finally, I thought of another style to add - Wushu would be useful since it's the culturally approved form of martial arts in the PRC. Possibly some of the other 20th-century Chinese styles like Hung Ga or Eagle Claw would find use in campaigns as well.

Thanks, will change.