Subject: GURPS Gunnm/Battle Angel Alita, Part 1: Panzer Kunst Copyright (c) 1996 by Jeff "Sakura" Johnston OK, someone mentioned GURPS Anime to me...heh. Here's something I started on after picking up Martial Arts, 2nd Edition...slowly but surely I'm converting Yukito Kishiro's GUNNM over to GURPS. My sources, since I speak and read no Japanese, have been the Viz comics translations. Eventually, once I have enough of it, this stuff will all go up on my web site. Comments are welcome and encouraged, especially if you've read or seen Battle Angel in any of its incarnations. If I've screwed anything up completely, let me know. For those people unfamiliar with Gunnm/Battle Angel, it's originally a Japanese manga about a young cyborg girl, named Gally (Alita in the translations) who suffers from total amnesia. After being found and repaired by Cyber-Doctor Ido, she starts trying to find her memories - and herself. It's a great series, and it was later made into an OAV under the title 'Battle Angel' - also available thru Viz, subtitled. If you like anime, martial arts, or dark future, check it out. There's a Gunnm homepage at http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/pappasnw/anime/gunnm.html with synopses of the first two volumes of the Viz graphic novels. Gunnm is copyright Yukito Kishiro/Shueisha Inc., 1994. Battle Angel Alita is a trademark of Viz Communications Inc.GURPS is a trademark of Steve Jackson Games. All of these terms are used without permission. None of this material should be construed as a challenge to the status of any copyrights or trademarks held by any of the aforementioned parties. Since I'm using the translations of the manga, I'll be referring to the main character as 'Alita' to avoid confusion...(she is called Gally in the original manga, as well as (I believe) in the OAV. Without further ado, here's my writeup for Panzer Kunst: The Armored Art, along with my notes and references to the Viz graphic novels. Panzer Kunst (Armored Art) 14 points/34 points A cyborg martial art, very acrobatic, involving many spinning and acrobatic moves, combined with devastating strikes like the Hertza Haeon (a devastating combination of Power Blow and Breaking Blow). Very few non-cyborgs can master any of its techniques. Panzer Kunst was developed on Mars - it is described as the "most ancient Martian way of combat". Primary Skills: Karate, Judo, Acrobatics, Body Language Secondary Skills: Jumping, implanted weapons skills Maneuvers: Aggressive Parry, Back Kick, Breakfall, Feint, Hit Location, Jab, Kicking, Spin Kick, Jump Kick, Riposte Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow, Flying Leap, Power Blow Cinematic Maneuvers: Acrobatic Kick, Enhanced Dodge, Flying Jump Kick Notes: All page references are given in volume/page/panel format: 1/23/3, for example. 1/26-1/28: Our first look at Panzer Kunst...Alita spends a lot of time aerial in this fight, and the style incorporates many spinning moves - hence the acrobatics and jumping skills, and the Jump Kicks and Acrobatic Kick. 1/126-1/130: Alita shows off her skill again by trashing a barfull of hunter/warrior cyborgs. Because of 1/127/5, I almost added 'Whirlwind Attack' to the art, but the spinning kick attack that Alita performs against the three cyborgs could easily be explained by having a high enough skill. On pages 128 and 129, Alita uses some kind of technique to basically 'take control' of an opposing cyborgs body by guiding his arms (and knife) to attack the other cyborgs. I'm not sure how to accomplish this in game terms, especially without making it too powerful...I'd guess it's be some sort of odd variant on Sticking. On page 130, Alita does a _lot_ of knockback, kicking over a dozen cyborgs out the door and up the stairs...I'd suggest leaving this as 'cinematic license'. 1/150-1/154 The best argument for the Enhanced Dodge - Makaku's grind-cutters move at supersonic speeds, but Alita manages to avoid them. As for the final fight, the capabilities of Alita's Berserker Body are beyond the scope of Panzer Kunst...but if anyone has an idea of how to do the plasma jets, I'd love to hear it. (I was thinking about a range C force blade...but I'm not certain, as it has no parrying capacity. Except for aggressive parry, of course...) 3/81 Alita's first use of the Hertza Haeon, 'strike that's done by storing and delivering a vibration over 100 Hz. Even an opponent with an armored skull can't withstand it.' I'm a bit indecisive on whether to make this a new skill or not - it seems like it could be a combination of Power Blow and Breaking Blow (for a x2 ST and 1/5 DR!). Later in the series (Volume 5) an uncyborged human uses the Hertza Haeon, but aside from him, this ability is unheard of for non-cyborgs. 3/108-3/115 Alita defeats Ajakutty, a disciple of the 'Asian Arts'...this is where I took the 'Body Language' skill from. 3/152-3/155 Alita's arm-wrestling contest with Jashugan is another instance of the Power Blow skill in use. 4/27/2-4/27/3 Alita uses the Hertza Haeon on a 'live' opponent - it seems to bypass the armor here, not break it, which is a decent argument for it being its own skill...but it could also just be a 'special effect' of the Breaking Blow. In volumes 3 and 4, Alita also uses various blade techniques - these were probably taught to her by Esdoc and not part of the Panzer Kunst style. I'm not sure what to call the arm blades, or what skill should be used with them...they're a blade that runs the length of the forearm and out about a foot past the elbow. Maybe I'll write them up in a later post (along with the grind-cutters and the plasma fingers? Who knows.) Bibliography - All are published by Viz Comics _Battle_Angel_Alita_. This book and the second volume (Tears of an Angel?) were (heavily) adapted into the anime OAV _Battle_Angel_. Introduces the main characters and Alita's 'berserker body'. ISBN 1-56931-003-3. _Killing_Angel_. Volume 3, Part 1 (Issues 1-5). Alita leaves Ido to play motorball. Introduces the Panzer Kunst technique of the Hertza Haeon, as well as the Machine Klastch martial art. ISBN 1-56931-092-0. _Angel_of_Victory_. Volume 3, Part 2 (Issues 6-13?) More motorball action. ISBN 1-56931-082-3