Copyright 1998, Raine Määttänen, arete@saunalahti.fi
"To master the virtue of the long sword (GURPS Basic Set) "Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not"Areté is the achievement of maximum performance."
- Plato
is to govern the world and oneself, thus the long sword is
the basis of strategy. The principle is "strategy by means
of the long sword". If he attains the virtue of the long sword,
one man can beat ten men. Just as one man can beat ten, so
a hundred men can beat a thousand, and a thousand men can
beat ten thousand. In my strategy (ARETE), one man is the
same as ten thousand, so this strategy is the complete
warrior's craft."
- Miyamoto Musashi
supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in
breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."
- Sun Tzu
STRENGHT's weight is changed. Basic damage with muscle-powered weapons
consists of weight and speed (F=ma). If you move weapon with your ST, you also
move your whole body with ST: your Move score is figured from your ST and weight.
If your ST is 10 and weight 150 lbs., your Move is 5.
If both your ST and weight are doubled, Move remains 5.
But if your ST is 20 and weight 150 lbs., Move is doubled.
Move | (75 x ST) / weight |
weight | (75 x ST) / Move |
Strenght | (Move x weight) / 75 |
Weight is much more than Fat advantage or Skinny disadvantage.
See Natural Encumbrance below.
DEXTERITY still helps you run faster (Running skill, based on DX), attack swiftier
(See Turn Sequence below) and dodge blows more easily (see Dodge below).
INTELLIGENCE isn't anymore a base for Sense and Will Rolls.
Hit Points and Fatigue start out equal to HEALTH.
The point cost for four attributes above remains equal.
SENSES and WILL are the missing fifth and sixth attribute, separated from IQ, a score of
10 is the human average for them. Buy appropriate advantages to raise them.
Danger Sense is like a sixth sense. It gives you a warning someone's hostile intentions,
but it doesn't warn you about mechanical traps. With sixth sense you can also sense
someone staring at you. Roll against full Senses (Senses + Alertness).
Natural Encumbrance from GULLIVER v4.0 by T. Bone.
In brief if two persons have same ST, but the other person weighs considerably
less, he is faster. This leads to different advantages and disadvantages. The very main
idea below comes from GULLIVER but otherwise I only use its core applied to Arete.
In addition to the Move there are Half and Full Modifiers: these are modifiers to physical abilities.
Half Modifier: Dancing, Jumping, Stealth and both many Sports skills and DX rolls.
Full Modifier: Acrobatics, Climbing, Dodge, DX (with Tactics), Flight and Roll with
Blow (see Battle Skill below).
Move | Encumb. Level | Half Mod. | Full Mod. | Cost |
0 | Max | -5 | -10 | -50 |
1 | X-Heavy | -4 | -8 | -40 |
2 | Heavy | -3 | -6 | -30 |
3 | Medium | -2 | -4 | -20 |
4 | Light | -1 | -2 | -10 |
5 | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
6 | Neg. 1 | 0 | +1 | 5 |
7-9 | Neg. 2 | +1 | +2 | 25 |
10-14 | Neg. 3 | +1 | +3 | 35 |
15-19 | Neg. 4 | +2 | +4 | 65 |
20-29 | Neg. 5 | +2 | +5 | 80 |
30-49 | Neg. 6 | +3 | +6 | 110 |
50-69 | Neg. 7 | +3 | +7 | 125 |
70-99 | Neg. 8 | +4 | +8 | 155 |
100-149 | Neg. 9 | +4 | +9 | 170 |
150-199 | Neg. 10 | +5 | +10 | 200 |
No normal human should have greater Negative Encumbrance Level than 2.
Nightvision: If Vision - darkness penalties is 10 or more, you don't suffer penalties
at combat. 5 points Night Vision halves darkness penalties.
The Revised Wealth Rules by Incanus.
Dodge (Physical/Easy), based on DX.
Battle Skill is the average of the Tactics and Combat/Weapon skill (round down). "All warfare is based on deception."
Combat/Weapon skill measures accuracy and speed. "Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy's If Tactics is higher than the highest Combat/Weapon skill, it is counted for Battle Skill Most people's Tactics skill isn't nowhere near as high as their Combat/Weapon skills. Tactics is also usable as so-called Combat Sense. With Tactics you know where to look "In all forms of strategy, it is necessary to maintain the Body Language skill isn't usable in the heat of the battle (use Tactics instead) Esoteric at least today's provable Body Control, Breath Control, Meditation and Karate and Bow are Physical/Average skills.
Sexual skills by Tim and Christine Morgan.
Skill progression variant (1/4th and 1/10th of a point) by Hal Carmer.
The maximum number of CPs for buying skills when creating a character is equal to These are only maneuvers I use and none of them cannot exceed Kicking (Hard) (kick, back kick, knee kick, jump kick, sweep kick) "The Body Strike means to approach the enemy through a gap in head butt, neck snap, bite grapples (grapple, face attack, eye-gouge, hair grapple: -3 ... -7, groin grapple: -6, joint locks (arm lock, elbow lock, wrist lock, finger lock, leg lock, ankle lock) O-HWP (Off-Hand Weapon Training), 2 points/lvl, applied to all weapons Aggressive Parry is a normal attack, same as Striking at Weapons (sidebar, p. B110). Disarm is a normal attack against a weapon (see Knocking a Weapon Away, "Everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing Turn Sequence: A combatant with the highest TS value goes first: Speed + Choose maneuvers for a turn
You need this skill to defend yourself and attack your opponent (See Combat below).
- Sun Tzu
Tactics is controlling distance, timing, feinting and outguessing the enemy. You have
in essence so-called style familiarity, intuition and body language skill. Tactics skill
is universal in combat.
Tactics helps whether you swing a sword, throw a knife, fire a gun or are involved in
vehicular or air combat.
unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him
where he has taken no precautions."
- Sun Tzu
only as high as the C/W skill. You don't have enough practical experience (aka instincts
and reflexes) to apply your theories. But Guns-20, Karate-15 and Tactics-20 means that Guns
Bs is 20, but Karate Bs is only 15 (separate melee and missile skills).
If you know your enemy - his skills, techniques, personality - well, you get a bonus of
1-3 to your Tactics skill against this opponent: this can raise Battle skill over normal
boundaries. Animals' (predators) Bs is usually their DX.
for possible ambush spots and with Vision you may see assassins. With Hearing you can
hear a noise coming near you in the middle of noisy crowd and with Tactics you can
recognize it pulling gun's safety off, so watch out!
In game terms your Combat Sense is the average of the Tactics skill and appropriate
Sense (round down). A person can have keen eyes but without Tactics he may not see
the forest for the trees.
combat stance in everyday life and to make your everyday
stance your combat stance. You must research this well."
- Miyamoto Musashi
but otherwise it is treated as an Empathy or Detect lies skill. You may get a bonus
of Vision - IQ.
Pressure Points skills exist.
character's age quadrupled.
prerequisite skill level.
hand strikes (punch/slap, eye poke, ear clap, elbow strike)
slam attacks (Slam,
Body Strike - Defaults to and Prerequisite: Karate or Brawling
flying tackle)
For every 2 points the winner beats his ST roll by after successful
hit, the loser is knocked backwards 1 hex, and takes 1 point of
damage (lethality depends on Karate/Brawling skill level).
his guard. The spirit is to strike him with your body. Turn your
face a little aside and strike the enemy's breast with your left
shoulder thrust out. Approach with a spirit of bouncing the enemy
away, striking as strongly as possible in time with your breathing.
If you achieve this method of closing with the enemy, you will be
able to knock him ten or twenty feet away. It is possible to strike
the enemy until he is dead. Train well. "
- Miyamoto Musashi
Leg Grapple: p. MA41)
There isn't a bonus of +3 for Grapple but there also isn't a penalty for grappling with
"off" hand, and you can try Random Hit Location. Hit Location penalties are applied.
holds (arm hold, leg hold, neck hold, choke hold, body hold)
throws (general body flip/throw, Head Lock, on "his" head)
D-WA (Dual-Weapon Attack) (Hard)
RwB (Roll with Blow)
Close Combat
Ground Fighting
Aerial Fighting (same as Ground Fighting)
You can try AP if you are faster and let the other person attack first. Or if you are
slower, but not more than 3 points of TS. Otherwise you may try to wait your second
attack without launching the first one.
sidebar, p. B111).
is difficult. The difficulties accumulate and end by producing
a kind of friction that is inconceivable unless one has
experienced war."
- Carl von Clausewitz
Combat Reflexes(+1) + Combat/Weapon skill 12+(+1), 20+(+2).
[1] To bring distance closer or to draw away?
[2] Choose the speed of your movement. The faster you move the harder it
is your foe to hit you but it is also harder you to defend yourself. So there is
no special Retreat. The table below is a part of the Size and Speed/Range Table.
Speed/yds | Modifier |
0 ... 2 | 0 |
2+ ... 3 | -1 |
3+ ... 4.5 | -2 |
4.5+ ... 7 | -3 |
7+ ... 10 | -4 |
10+ | -5 |
[3] Decide either to choose All-Out Attack or Defense, or not. "Now an army may be likened to water, for just as flowing
[4] Choose the method of your attacks.
[5] Aiming at anything?
water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an
army avoids strength and strikes weakness."
- Sun Tzu
When you try to Slam, Evade or Withdraw, you have to win a Quick Contest of Skills,
the average of DX and Tactics (see p. B112-113). Some fighters try to do "Runaround"
Attack (p. B108).
If your Speed is 12+, you can take additional 1 attack, 1 defense and 1 Roll with Blow
but if using this speed all actions are at -1. With Speed 18+ six extra maneuvers at -2
to all actions, and so on at six-point intervals.
Uge has 2 attacks (combinations - using same body part only once), Slam is 1 attack.
Dual-Weapon Attack with kick-kick is possible, also head butt-knee kick at close-
combat - anything goes. When using 2-handed weapon there is only 1 attack per turn.
Uge rolls against his Battle skill
- speeds
- Hit Location (this favors looking for opening in opponent's defense and attacking it;
but you can reduce penalties for hit locations by 3 for only counting successes for
reducing opponent's defense)
+ All-Out Attack (+4 for 2 attacks, +2 for Dual-Weapon Attack)
- Combat at Different levels: bonuses and penalties for hit locations are only for
Combat/Weapon skills
- other modifiers (darkness, unbalance, injuries, fatigue)
(-PD)
Battle Skill in Ranged Attacks is only needed if target is defending himself by "Boards don't hit back."
using Active Defense or otherwise moving unpredictable.
- Bruce Lee, Enter the Dragon
Misses by only 1 means that the attack only touches the target if he does/can not
defend. This only matters when for example the weapon is Mage touch or poisoned blade.
All joint locks, holds and throws done with only one hand are at -4 to Bs. Using two
hands in these maneuvers are not counted for two attacks unless two different hit
locations are attacked.
Unarmed Critical Miss Tables are used (pp. 60-61 CII).
Nage has 1 Parry/Block with each hand, 1 Dodge and 3 Roll with Blows. When using
2-handed weapon there is only 1 parry per turn.
Nage rolls against his full Battle skill
- speed
+ All-Out Defense (+2 for all, Parries to Dodges or double number of Parries)
- Combat at Different levels: bonuses and penalties for hit locations are only for
Combat/Weapon skills)
- other modifiers (darkness, unbalance, injuries, fatigue)
(leg parry ½, except against attacks below the waist)
The defender always gets his defense roll when a critical hit is rolled, unless his
effective Bs becomes less than 3.
For every point the attack succeeded by, the defender is at -1 to any Active Defense
against that attack. This counts for all feints and the speed of the attack. With Ranged
Weapons no accuracy and aiming bonuses are noticed: these won't deceive or speed the
attack.
Weapon | Mod. to Parry/Block | Notes |
axe, spear, stone | -2 | fast |
knife | -4 | fast, small, hurling |
arrow, dart | -6 | very fast/fast, very small |
crossbow bolt | -8 | very fast, small |
bullet, beam | not a chance with an Active Defense Even Dodge is halved after penalties | extremely fast, tiny |
Evading the enemies: The fastest runs away but if he is surrounded or attacking the
enemies, he must win every one of them at Move Maneuver with one roll. Roll only once
for
each combatant. Notice modifiers from the surrounding space (tiny room filled with thugs).
Two-Handed Weapon advantages: reach, minor dmg bonus, defense against disarm, durability;
disadvantages: one parry and attack only, poor at close combat, visibility.
A crushing hit to the torso has 6 or less chance to hit Vitals, an impaling attack or bullet
has 10 or less. Hit to the face, roll 1d6: 1 jaw, 2 nose. "Random" hit to the Vitals, roll
1d6: 1 groin, 6 neck.
Using Pressure Points (Atemi) skill gives a penalty of -9 to hit (-3 from lock), -1 more if trying
to hit to the awkward locations.
If hit locations 3-10 are grappled with both hands, foe is at DX-4 using arms except breaking
free. If hit locations 11-16 are grappled with both hands, foe is at DX-4 using legs except
breaking free.
Grappled arm cannot be used without winning quick contests of ST vs. ST (+2 if two hands)
and even then at -4.
With an arm lock you get behind your foe's back. The foe is at -4 to attack and defend.
With wrist lock foe's hand breaks more easily (>1/3 HT) but the foe is at -2 to attack.
In general a foe is at -4 to attack and defend, and you are at +3 to takedown, from all
locks and holds.
Revised damage bonuses from quality - a bonus of 1-5:
+1 good, +2 fine, +3 very fine (the finest steel with the finest technique),
+4 super fine (some other alloy with the finest technique/armourer),
+5 unearthly (master armourer, maybe enchanter)
These are even applied to arrows, bolts and darts.
Compared to last paragraph if weapons can be made so heavenly, we should have
less burdensome and more durable armor (see sidebar, p.CII43 for a clue).
Just many successes don't increase the damage because of feint and "random location",
but critical success doubles rolled damage. This simulates Critical Hit Tables.
Injury rules by Leif Kjonnoy
and using Leif's Lethal and Non-Lethal Damage I've changed unarmed combat's
basic damage bonuses:
Karate/Boxing skill 15+ and Brawling 18+ are Level III; Karate/Boxing skill 18+ and
Judo 15+ are Level II.
Joint Locks' damage is swing/impaling (Lvl III): two people's vectors and weights summed
with joint manipulation. With one hand damage is only swing. Roll with Blow is possible:
this is "true" acrobatics.
Successful use of Atemi (p. MA33) results in paralysis, knockout or respiration loss. Just
make the effects more severe.
Paralyzing the foe's entire body needs three successful paralyzing touches.
Knockout needs only one successful hit to the area of neck or head.
A hit with Blood Flow Atemi increases the lethality of the punch: Level I - after winning
a Quick Contest of Skills.