Unarmed combat in RPGs

[JarlFrank]

I have to agree with this, if youpush for realisml then take off magic, talking about how you would break your fist punching a dragon's hard scales is a bit of an contradiction isn't it.

lolno it's not

There's a difference between believable fantasy and HERP DERP IT WORKS BECAUSE IT DOES illogical and self-contradictory fantasy. Dragons can be believable. A party of warriors managing to hunt down a dragon can be, too, if the fight is properly challenging. An unarmed human roflstomping dragons with hard scales and sharp claws on their hands, knights in full plate armour armed with sword and shield, highly trained riflemen and other dangerous enemies WITH HIS BARE HANDS just because he's a high level monk/martial artist is HERP DERP.

 

[Excidium]

What if the unarmed attacks are supported by magic?

Let's say, unlike a mage which manipulates the forces and elements, a monk channels the power from within, which allows him to strike with much greater force than a normal person and do other wondrous physical feats.

There you go.

 

[Eyeball]

I have to agree with this, if youpush for realisml then take off magic, talking about how you would break your fist punching a dragon's hard scales is a bit of an contradiction isn't it.

lolno it's not

There's a difference between believable fantasy and HERP DERP IT WORKS BECAUSE IT DOES illogical and self-contradictory fantasy. Dragons can be believable. A party of warriors managing to hunt down a dragon can be, too, if the fight is properly challenging. An unarmed human roflstomping dragons with hard scales and sharp claws on their hands, knights in full plate armour armed with sword and shield, highly trained riflemen and other dangerous enemies WITH HIS BARE HANDS just because he's a high level monk/martial artist is HERP DERP.

Ever see a Hong Kong kung fu movie? Same lack of logic applies to RPGs.

Frankly, in a world where you can call down the fires of heaven with magic to destroy orcs and zombies, I find it a bit illogical to get uptight about kung fu masters hitting really, really hard with their bare hands.

 

[PorkaMorka]

Too many people concerned with realism in fucking RPGs. How many RPGs out there take place in a realistic setting?

If people can throw fireballs by waving their hands, I'm fine with punches and kicks empowered by KI, Jesus, whatever.

If you completely abandon attempts at verisimilitude in games you're on the road to that horrifying anime shit you see in certain MMORPGs, hack and slash and console games, where every weapon swing is accompanied by a glowing purple light trail and fighters randomly shoot blasts of energy by swinging their swords.

Keeping unarmed fighting shitty is a reasonable and important step back from the brink of that kind of insanity.

 

[Excidium]

What if the unarmed attacks are supported by magic?

Let's say, unlike a mage which manipulates the forces and elements, a monk channels the power from within, which allows him to strike with much greater force than a normal person and do other wondrous physical feats.

There you go.

 

[mondblut]

As if RPGs aren't retarded enough already to warrant to ape "Hong Kong kung fu movies" to boot.

Keep this shit in gookland, kthxbye.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

As if RPGs aren't retarded enough already to warrant to ape "Hong Kong kung fu movies" to boot.

Keep this shit in gookland, kthxbye.

Why do you hate Wizardry?

 

[CappenVarra]

Since everybody is throwing opinions around, might as well add mine:
- Unarmed moves during normal melee fighting with armor and weapons (such as grappling, tripping, kicking an armored kneecap to destabilize the opponent as a part of an attack...) - can do (in a detailed melee combat simulation).
- Unarmed fighting such as fist fights in a tavern, where actually killing somebody or drawing a weapon gets the character in trouble with the law - can do (very rarely, as a plot device or to break the flow of normal combat encounters a bit).
- A mage sub-class or variant that focuses spell power through body parts transmuted to metal or stone (something along the lines of Spellsword, but with body parts instead of swords, or specializing in spells such as Tenser's Transformation) - possibly all right, but a bit stupid in most situations since mages are quite low on hitpoints and should stay out of melee range.
- Unarmed combat augmented with technology, but semi-plausibly underpowered against serious armor (such as Power Fists in Fallout) - all right.
- A game that focuses on being a Hong Kong action movie simulator, and doesn't have other options - all right, since it sticks to its genre, even though I probably wouldn't play it (Jade Empire).
- Anything resembling a Hong Kong action movie in a supposedly Western cRPG (such as D&D 3.0+ monks) - utter nonsense. Might as well add half-human half-panda fur-freedom-fighters that devastate their opponents with chopsticks. Or a ranged fighter who uses "magic-powered" fire-arm substitutes which make light-saber noises instead of bows. It's just a terrible case of genre-mixing, "let's add anything cool we saw in a movie once".

EDIT: grammer.

 

[Excidium]

So, how unarmed combat should be implemented in an RPG (if it's even plausible) varies according to the setting.

What a fucking pointless argument.

 

[betamin]

Pretty much.

Unarmed rules though if well implemented (That may be just me though, I like martial arts and contact sports)

Besides, did Neo throw lighting when he was the one? No, he punched you in the face hard.

 

[mondblut]

Why do you hate Wizardry?

That's my single biggest problem with them, actually. Thankfully, monks can be safely ignored, offering nothing in terms of skills which couldn't be acquired otherwise. Having to tolerate ninja crap was annoying as fuck, but at least they do use weapons to handle armed opponents and dangerous beasts, like real men do.

 

[CappenVarra]

So, how unarmed combat / magic / space travel / time travel / the Force / alignment / plasma-based weaponry should be implemented in an RPG (if it's even plausible) varies according to the setting.

What a fucking pointless argument.

Expanded for greater clarity

 

[Mastermind]

- Anything resembling a Hong Kong action movie in a supposedly Western cRPG (such as D&D 3.0+ monks) - utter nonsense. Might as well add half-human half-panda fur-freedom-fighters that devastate their opponents with chopsticks. Or a ranged fighter who uses "magic-powered" fire-arm substitutes which make light-saber noises instead of bows. It's just a terrible case of genre-mixing, "let's add anything cool we saw in a movie once".

I have no problem with it. This seems to largely be a matter of taste. Namely, good taste (mine) and bad taste (yours).

High fantasy faggotry vs realism/immershun faggotry.