Rising Storm Crow Damage Calculation

Since Steve Karstensen will never ever finish his page of house rules and left this incomplete, here it is:

The Rising Storm Crow's damage is written somewhat ambiguously:  "The target takes two damage tests:  one at the fighter's Strength-3 when the forced flip is initiated, and then another at twice the fighter's Strength when the target lands."  The system summary just says "-3/x2."  There is no mention of the attacker's Grab technique at all, and how if figures in.

The two most obvious misinterpretations are, "Damage is just Strength -3 and Strength x2," and "Double damage on the throw."  The first idea leads to a horribly low-damage maneuver not even worth considering, and the second results in fighters doing 20 damage.  Neither result is acceptable.

Here is the definition that makes sense:

On the forced flip, the damage modifier is -3.  On the throw, the damage modifier is normal, but Strength is doubled for damage purposes.

Looking at it ths way, one can see that one of the big drawbacks to this powerful maneuver (besides its snail-like speed) is the fact that you will usually be rolling 1 or 2 dice on the initial test, leaving you more open to a botch result.

In addition, it's obvious that Strength matters even more to the Majestic Crow stylist than others.  A strength of less than 4 means that you will almost always do less damage with the RSC than with a Hair Throw, while at Strength 5 your damage is a tiny bit better.  The real advantage to the RSC over the Hair Throw is the fact that it's a powerful knockdown throw maneuver that can be done at range, thus a fantastic choice for opening in a team fight, as well as for the aspiring Zen No-Minder who is lucky enough to practice the style.

The Flying Tackle Movement Issue

This also applies to moves like the Rising Storm Crow.  If a fighter uses something like a Flying Tackle and has a move of 5 with it, and charges an enemy at 3 hexes who steps out to jab, the attacker may not then eat the jab and continue moving to attack the target in the new hex.  Mister Jab has interrupted the tackler at the moment of his attack (a mean GM can require a player to say this :P).  The tackle whiffs, and the tackler can now just sit there to eat the Jab or abort, since the maneuver was never completed.

Deflecting Punch Mechanics

The system for Deflecting Punch seems to have been thrown together with only the one-on-one scenario sans multiple hit maneuvers in mind.  What happens versus a Hyper Fist, or two enemies trying to punch you at the same time?  When do you stop Blocking?

First of all, I consider Blocking to be more than an interception of an attacker's X foot-pounds of kinetic energy with a limb.  If this was the only definition of a Block, it would run completely contrary to the tenets of many included martial arts styles including Aikido, Tai Chi Chuan, many forms of Silat and Baraqah, Boxing, etc.  It has to be looked at as a combination of evasive techniques and redirection of attacking energy.  If one looked at it as less than this, one could only assume that the difference between someone with Block 1 and Block 5 was that the Block 5's forearms were much larger so he could absorb more damage.

With this in mind, let's look at Boxing, a style associated strongly with the Deflecting Punch technique.  The most common methods of avoiding the full brunt of an attack in Boxing include bobbing, weaving, and slipping (excluding techniques like dancing, which would be subsumed under maneuvers like Move and Esquives).  Now assume a Street Fighter character is using a Boxing-type Deflecting Punch against someone using a flurrying attack like Hyper Fist.  Assuming he has the defend/counterpunch idea in mind, it makes no sense for him to slip the first strike and counter, then standing there like an idiot to eat the rest of it.  Therefore, a fighter who uses Deflecting Punch against a multiple-hit maneuver eats all the strikes with his Soak bonus vs. the punches, then counters.

Multiple opponents are a different story.  Once the counter is landed, the defense for that turn can be considered over, as the fighter has changed his intent from evasion and defense to the equivalent of a Jab.  If someone comes up after this exchange and cold cocks him, he is no longer evading and no longer gets his soak bonus.  He can not opt to maintain his deflection versus both opponents and then counter after both have attacked, as that would be the equivalent of a Block-Jab combo, and not the reflexive action a Deflecting Punch is supposed to be.  Against multiple punchers, he would be better off using Punch Defense.

Maka Wara Damage Calculation

The basic damage done by a Maka Wara fighter using Block against a punch or a kick is Stamina + Block -3.  But what if a non-basic Block is used?

The use of Punch Defense and Kick Defense do not incur additional damage against an attacker based on the additional soak bonuses.  However, it is not lowered in the case of a person attacking with the other form of attack.  Therefore, Punch Defense, Kick Defense and Block all do the same damage.

San He is arguably different.  The fighter is defined as making himself immobile and thus more resistant to damage.  If the fighter is nigh-impossible to move, the kinetic energy has to go somewhere... right back into the attacker.  Plus, San He effectively doubles Block technique, instead of providing additional Soak like Punch/Kick Defense.  San He increases Maka Wara damage to Stamina + (Block x 2) -3.  This can be a LOT of damage for high Stamina/Block fighters, but after it becomes known that a fighter can do this, opponents will see the interrupt with San He and choose not to execute a punch or kick, neutralizing both fighters for that round.  Also consider that San He costs Chi and may not ever be useful during the round, and compare it to other 1 chi maneuvers like Improved Fireball or Acid Breath.

Toughskin's description of hardening the body's tissues seems right in line with the mechanics of Maka Wara, and is good for a +2 on the die pool.  The use of Toughskin with a Block, Punch Defense or Kick Defense brings damage up to Stamina + Block -1, or for San He, Stamina + (Block x 2) -1.

Missile and Energy Deflection provide no soak versus punches and kicks, and their maneuver descriptions on 116 and 117 seem to convey the idea that they are not designed to intercept these mundane attack forms.  A fighter with Maka Wara using Missile/Energy Reflection does no damage to an enemy puncher or kicker.

Also bear in mind that Maka Wara does no damage to someone attacking with a Grab, an Athletics maneuver, or a Focus attack.

Why Does Grappling Defense Have a Move Rating?

Grappling Defense:  Speed +4, Move -1.  Why would a technique designed to neutralize a sustained hold need a Move rating when you are generally immobile in the hold?  The answer is in the way you define Grappling Defense.

Grappling Defense is, presumably, a technique primarily taught to wrestlers of all types for use in same-style practice.  Neutralizing the effects of being in a sustained hold is a mixture of factors like minimizing the distance between you and the striking limb (if any), tying up the enemy's arms to negate leverage, shifting body weight, etc.  However, Grappling Defense can also be seen as a technique used by a wrestler to not be put into a hold in the first place, generally by splaying the legs, rapid backwards movement while maintaining a forward center of gravity, etc.  Footwork is just as important in the defense of a wrestler as it is for a karateka.  If you like, you can even say that Grappling Defense subsumes the ability to close a distance between youself and an enemy while maintaining this state of readiness, which is reflected in the high Speed of the maneuver, and the low movement as compared to Move.

Seen this way, Grappling Defense subsumes two techniques used by a master wrestler:  the ability to shuffle around in a perpetual state of readiness against attack, and the ability to neutralize the effects of a hold.  And there's no reason why it shouldn't do both; it's a very spendy maneuver with a Grab 4 prerequisite.  Anyone who is that advanced in the techniques of a grappling science should logically be able to stutter-step around the ring, waiting for an opportunity, avoiding direct contact until the moment is right.

One more note about Grappling Defense:  although it "... works similarly to a Block," do not allow a +2 speed bonus after its execution.

Why Is Hundred Hand Slap So Much Worse Than Hyper Fist?

One of my pet peeves with the normally super-balanced Street Fighter system is the glaring discrepancy between Hyper Fist and Hundred Hand Slap.  Hyper Fist has cheaper prerequisites (Punch 4 and Power Uppercut vs. Punch 5) and is in all respects the same as Hundred Hand Slap except it's faster by 3.  Hyper Fist is definitely one of the best maneuvers you can get; Hundred Hand Slap is a pain in the ass to actually get off on a target before he calmly throws you.  Why then is Hundred Hand Slap even there?

It's actually not unbalanced, but not because of the maneuvers' statistics, which are obviously grossly different.  The balance comes from the approach taken by the different styles.  Sure Kung Fu may not have Hyper Fist, but it does have things unavailable to Boxing and Western Kickboxing like the Dim Mak and Improved Fireball.  Sumo has... well, Sumo is the lightest of the styles in terms of number of maneuvers, but the maneuvers they do have are cheaper than average, and sumotori tend to pump all their points into attributes and techniques and use crunchy "any" maneuvers to make up for it.  (E. Honda:  6/5/7, Punch 6, Buffalo Punch.)  In summary, Hundred Hand Slap is something you can get because you can't get Hyper Fist.  Deal.

Aborting, Knockdown, Dizzy, and Turn Punch

Does an abort, knockdown, or dizzy in the middle of a Turn Punch setup phase mean the Turn Punch is negated?

The Turn Punch setup can only be negated in between turns, as stated in its description on pages 166-167.  If a player, while setting up a Turn Punch, finds himself needing to abort, he therefore must do it at the -1 penalty to Speed, Move and Damage; he cannot elect to stop concentrating on the Turn Punch to get his full modifiers.  Considering that someone starting a Turn Punch has to spend a point of willpower just to get things rolling, and he has to make any aborts at reduced modifiers, it seems unnecessarily cruel to further penalize him by saying an abort means his setup is wasted, especially if the alternative is being knocked down and wasting the Turn Punch anyway.  If he's aborting to Block or Jump at reduced modifiers, obviously he is still thinking about the setup, and therefore the Turn Punch is still working.

Note that if a character aborts the actual execution of the Turn Punch, the maneuver is wasted and cannot be held for later execution.

Being knocked down or dizzied, however, negates the Turn Punch, as a fighter cannot be setting up an attack if he's suddenly flat on his back or listening to little birdies tweet around his head.

Duration of the Turn Punch Setup

According to the rules on 166-167, a Turn Punch can only be held for four turns before being executed.  If it was wasted after four turns of waiting because the enemy simply saw what was happening and ran out of range, the boxer has wasted his point of willpower for absolutely nothing, akin to penalizing a Zen No-Mind when all your targets have run 100 yards away.  I say that a Turn Punch can be held for as long as the player wants to, at no additional benefit past 4 turns (Speed +1, Damage +7, Move two).

Cartwheel Kick

The Cartwheel Kick as presented in the Player's Guide is the single most repulsive and vile idea within that whole misbegotten tome.  I use the Steve Wieck version.

Psychic Rage Based on Chi

The maneuver Psychic Rage has the potential to be interesting from a storytelling point of view, but it just doesn't work.  This is because it's based on Willpower.  The most common use of Psychic Rage is by Revenants, who go into the contest of permanent Willpower with... one willpower.  When Dehrik Savitch falls to Psychic Rage in the introduction to Secrets of Shadoloo, he shouldn't have been so concerned afterwards... it was obviously a freak accident.  Therefore, it makes more sense to base the contest on permanent Chi ratings.

It also fixes the problem of perceived effect... as it stands, a beginning student of Kabbadi (chi 5, will 2) is more likely to be thrown into an unreasoning rage than a beginning wrestler (chi 1, will 6).  This doesn't seem to fit well with the concept behind the maneuver.