I appreciate that, I also appreciate all of the helpfull suggestions I’ve been getting and I really would prefer to be able to find a way to do this storyline within standard rules if possible. I just haven’t found it yet (I would almost need a Dt version of Dexterity of the Cat).
I think some of what Jackie Chan does requires a trait to raise the human cap. He also does some things that are actually impossible for humans to do without the magic of cinema. In any case, outside of a wuxia game I don’t think you need the skill, and inside a wuxia game you still don’t need the skill, you just need to make crazy wire-fu stunts have ridiculous low Obs.
I’ll quote for the MonBu, though: Speed 6, “highly adept at physical skills and athleticism”; Speed 7, “able to perform physical feats that leave others with their jaws hanging open—acrobatics, flips, handstands, cartwheels, diving, running up walls”; Speed 9, “forward-flipping over other characters, running up walls, clearing a room with a single leap.” These are all Speed. What’s Acrobatics left to do?
I’ll reiterate, though, that if you want these to be more common in general rather than something one character is exceptionally good at, you don’t want an added skill, you need a genre shift. And that’s set by the valid intents and Obs. In a gritty game it doesn’t matter what your speed is, you can’t leap across the entire court to behead the king while still in the air. It’s not an acceptable intent and there’s no roll for it. In a crazy martial arts game that might be Ob 4.
I see your point there, and it could just be that I need a combination of higher than average speed and some type of conditional die trait or multi purpose call ons to handle things like tumbling to land on your feet after a throw, push, or fall instead of spending three actions to get to your feet. Or a +1D to speed for acrobatic manuvers only (Dt).
Like I said, I haven’t found the right combinations, yet.
It’s two actions to Get Up in Fight.
Genre expectations again. A Dt to reduce the actions taken to stand up could work—and it’s already covered. Practiced Precision! You could also have a Kip-Up action and set the Ob for using Speed to leap back to your feet in a single action. Something like Ob 3 and clumsy weight penalties feels right to me, off the cuff, for a generally realistic game. Ob 2 would feel very flippy.
I can’t believe that I forgot about “Practiced Precision”, that would do wonders as far as an “instant stand” was concerned, link it with Dexterity of the Cat priced as a Dt instead of a C-O with a condition to limit armor choices to Reinforced Leather with armor training, Gambeson without it.
What would you suggest such a Acrobatic Dt should cost?
The low end is 2, the cost of either trait alone, and the high end is 4, the cost of both separately. So I’ll go with 3! And call it something more interesting than Acrobatics. Heck, I like Dexterity fo the Cat, still. Or Catlike Grace, if you need a different name. “He leapt back to his feet with the dexterity of a cat/catlike grace” sounds exactly right.
So to build a acrobatic type of character I should go for a high speed to handle the physical aspects and use traits to represent the specific skill-like aspects such as Practiced Precision to stand up quickly after a fall, Dexterity of the Cat to walk on ropes and such, or Create aTrait such as Acrobat (Dt) 4 pts.: Grants +1D to Speed when performing acrobatic manuvers such as tumbling, swinging on a rope/chandelier, and avoiding dangerous situations.
Master Acrobat (Dt) 6 pts. (Requires Acrobat Dt): Grants an additional +1D to Speed when performing acrobatic manuvers. A master acrobat always lands on his feet after a fall and subtracts 2D from the Power of any falling damage he receives.
(I’ve never tried trait burning before and would appreciate feedback on these.)
Those traits are exactly what I was thinking. Perhaps making the Acrobat a Call-On instead of a Die Trait when performing those moves?
I was thinking an acrobat would start out with the practiced percision to roll to his feet after a fall (stand up in 1 action rather than 2) and perhaps dexterity of the cat, then progress to the acrobatic die trait and eventually, master acrobat.
Back in the day, we created a whole slew of Martial Arts LPs, skills, and trainings. For one, the LP included an “Instant Stand” training that allowed getting up to be 1 action instead of 2. So instead of Practiced Precision, maybe you can call it something more colorful and explicit in its usel?
I was playing around with this idea:
Acrobat (Dt) 4 pts.:
The trained acrobat gains +1D Speed (for acrobatic manuvers only).
He only requires one action to spring to his feet.
He subtracts 1D Power Damage from any fall.
He may wear nothing heavier than Gambeson without Armor Training.
He may wear nothing heavier than Reinforced Leather with ArmorTraining.
Master Acrobat (Dt) 4 pts. (Requires Acrobat):
The master acrobat gains an additional +1D Speed (+2D total,for acrobatic manuvers only).
He instantly regains his footing after any type of fall (zero action to stand).
He subtracts another 1D Power Damage from any type of fall (-2D total).
He may wear nothing heavier than Gambeson without Armor Training.
He may wear nothing heavier then Light Mail with Armor Training.
Do these Die Traits seem alright ?