Venusian Karate, anyone?

[olegrand]

So, I've just watched the whole INFERNO episodes with my wife, who also happens to be the player of the Time Lady Penelope Ashworth, the heroine of my ongoing one-on-one DWAITAS campaign. It was our first Jon Pertwee episode - and she was extremely interested by the Venusian Karate technique used by the Third Doctor to neutralize guards etc, using a kind of quick nerve-strike... and since her character is currently spending quite a lot of time with the Doctor, improving her "Time Lord education" and learning all she can from him, it seemed logical that, yes, she would now have heard of Venusian Karate and that yes, it would be a great idea for her to learn such tricks, since she usually goes unarmed on her adventures and often finds herself in tight spots because of this.

So I dashed to my newly-acquired UNIT : Defending the Earth pdf, to see how the Third Doctor's stats reflected the Venusian Karate technique... and found nothing pertaining to it.

How would you guys quantify or represent this technique in game terms ?

I don't think it can simply be interpreted as a better level in the Fighting skill - or at least not only, ie someone mastering this would probably get an extra level in the skill (but any form of formal combat training would also have this effect IMHO) but the whole nerve-strike thing seems mainly used in non-combat situations, against surprised targets.

My first thought would be to treat this as a Minor Good Trait, requiring perhaps a level of 2 or more in Fighting and, of course, an appropriate background - such as Time Lord etc. (Why "only" Minor ? Because many "Minor" traits do have significant effects in the game, such as, say, Run for your life, quick reflexes, lucky etc).

As for the effects per se, I would limit them to the nerve strike itself... but how can we handle such things in game terms? My guess would be to require a Coordination + Subterfuge test unless the victim is already restrained etc. Game logic would seem to dictate some kind of defensive roll for the target... but then, the very point of such a nerve strike is that it can take down the victim regardless of his actual stamina or toughness (as opposed to standard forms of attacks - and let's not forget that such a nerve strike would be completely useless against Daleks, Cybermen, robots... as well as, probably, non-humanoid aliens or anyone wearing proper armour). So, no defense or resistance roll at all? In this case, important NPCs could always nullify the roll by spending some Story points to turn the attacker's success into a failure... but if what would be the difficulty level of our Coordination+Subterfuge roll ? I'd be tempted to set it at 15, since it is quite a Tricky action.

Of course, all this assumes that the victim is not already fighting the character; in such cases, I'd say that the character must first beat his opponent's defense roll in the usual manner (using his Fighting skill, as per the usual rules) but instead of inflicting damage, he would have the chance of making the aforementioned roll.

Effects would be as the Stunned effect.

What do you think? Do you find this version too powerful / easy? Just right? Having some major hidden flaw?

[Escher]

I would rule it as a normal Fighting attack roll, no special modifiers, costing 1 Story Point per use (to prevent a character from using it to auto-knockout every opponent.)

It can either:

• Instantly knock-out an opponent or
  
  
• Instantly immobilize an opponent
  

This is potentially quite powerful so maybe consider a Major Good Trait status?
Or perhaps the Story Point cost does make it a Minor Good Trait? This is open for debate.


Some aliens could prove to be immune to the technique, so either:

• The opponent gets to spend 1 Story Point to avoid the effects at the GM's discretion OR
  
  
• Venusian Aikido does not work on non-humans
  

From

tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Venusian_aikido

Venusian aikido could be used to immobilise an opponent by using pressure points (The Mind of Evil, Inferno) and perform joint locks, throws and kicks. (The Claws of Axos)

These were effective against many different humanoid species, but were useless against non-human duplicates and seemed to have no effect on Ogrons or Sontarans. (The Claws of Axos, Day of the Daleks, The Time Warrior)

The Third Doctor used it to disable Professor Stahlman. He claimed that, if the move was held for a period, it would paralyse the target permanently. (Inferno)

The Third Doctor tried to use Venusian aikido against Primords. When this didn't work he moved on to Martian karate, but this had no effect either. (PROSE: Inferno)

[olegrand]

Oct 27, 2012 2:30:52 GMT Escher said:

I would rule it as a normal Fighting attack roll, no special modifiers, costing 1 Story Point per use (to prevent a character from using it to auto-knockout every opponent.)

Yes, the "auto-knockout" risk is the main potential problem here.

I had wondered about the Story point cost to limit potential abuse, but this does seem a bit too massive, since (for instance) the Major version of Hypnosis (which is, in effect, a form of mind control) does not require any Story point expenditure to activate. In the Special Trait department, unless I am mistaken, such Story point expenditures are restricted to things like Clairvoyance and Precog - presumably because their use often, if not always, has a major effect on entire plotlines - even Telekinesis and Telepathy do not require it (presumably since their effects tend to be confined to specific scenes, as opposed to entire plotlines), so it would not be very fair / logical / consistent (IMHO) to impose it on a nerve strike effect.

That's why I added the (Coordination + Subterfuge) roll - to add an element of uncertainty and prevent the "automatic" aspect of things - but it might not solve the issue entirely, since a difficulty level of 15 is not that hard to beat (provided you have decent Coordination and Subterfuge scores) - and yet, raising the difficulty to 18 or 21 would seem a bit absurd.

Thinking a bit further along these lines, the power of knocking out or immobilising even a far stronger opponent might seem a bit too "generous" at first - but any character equipped with a stunner-like blaster would also have such a possibility (with the extra advantage of range), so we are not talking about a wildly "over-the-top" ability here... but the matter is indeed open for debate.

[olegrand]

OK, here is a somewhat improved & updated version...

NERVE STRIKE (Minor Good Trait)

This special technique is known to students of various styles of subtle martial arts, including Venusian Karate; as such, it requires a specific training and a level of at least 2 in Fighting. At the GM's discretion, characters with the Medicine skill at 2+ may also qualify (thanks to their knowledge of anatomy etc).

When used in hand-to-hand combat, this technique is treated as a normal attack roll - except that the attacker needs at least a Good victory to deliver the nerve strike (a mere Success won't be enough). In all cases, no real damage is done - and if the nerve strike does succeed, it will result in a standard Stun effect.

When used outside combat, this maneuver requires a Coordination+Subterfuge roll, opposed by the intended victim's reaction roll. If the victim is unaware of the technique, has no reason to suspect anything etc, the reaction / defense roll simply uses his raw Awareness; if, however, the victim knows that the character has access to this technique or has good reasons to suspect some dirty trick, the roll will be based on (Awareness+Ingenuity). In non-combat situations, however, a mere Success is enough to deliver the nerve strike (since the victim is either caught off-guard or has had no real time to adopt a fighting attitude etc).

Story points may affect the outcome of these conflicts, as per the usual rules.

What do you think?

[misterharry]

I like it - simple and elegant, and reflects what we see the Doctor can do.

[Escher]

Oct 27, 2012 10:47:02 GMT olegrand said:

OK, here is a somewhat improved & updated version...


What do you think?

Compact, balanced, effective, generic enough for varied character design and follows game logic. I'd happily use this in a game.


One point: Venusian Aikido can also immobilize as well as stun, so I would possibly consider also allowing a normal attack as per the knockout rules on
p52 of the 11th Doctor's Gamemasters Guide, but have damage applied to Coordination.

If this is the case then you can ‘strike to immobilize’, and the damage inflicted will reduce the target’s Coordination only. When it reaches zero the target is paralysed. Damage taken from being immobilized is restored after the scene is over.

Alternatively, just have a 'Good' result cause paralysis as above.

Some might argue that a stun is effectively the same as paralysis but in that case, one renders a target unconscious and the other does not. This may have a situational impact, for example, a conscious charater may see and hear things that are vital or can use mental powers.

Perhaps adding this extra option to Nerve Strike makes it a Major Good Trait?
You must choose one option or the other for a Minor Good Trait.

[NurseRani]

Olegrand, I love your write up on the Nerve Strike. And we'll definitely start using it. Venusian Aikido is something both one of our companions (a 29th century librarian) and our Timelady would know.