Monday, March 31, 2008

Shuai Jiao

Edwin's primary discipline is probably Shuai Jiao, which translates to "to throw onto the ground through wrestling with legs". It focuses on trips, throws and getting your opponent off balance - them smacking them to keep them down.

Here is a list of example tricks (written for a pirate setting). I expect to tryout the emboldened examples most assuredly.

• Appel: A sudden stamp of the foot to distract your opponent.

• Backflip: Using an obstacle, such as barrels, a cart, or even a wall, to help you flip over an opponent.

• Balesta: A sudden hop forward, either as the prelude to an attack or to catch an opponent off guard.

• Beat: Slapping an opponent’s blade out of the way to leave his body open to an attack. Could also be used to slap an opponent’s hand to cause him to snatch it back, thus leaving a gap in his defenses.

• Bind: Encircling an opponent’s blade with your own. This move is designed to prevent him from moving his blade while you slide yours forward along his.

• Buffeted: Moving past a foe and jostling him as you do so is a way of helping an ally with a Trick. Very handy if the foe has already acted and your ally has not, since they can be sure to take advantage of the –2 Parry bonus (well, hopefully).

• Catch! (or Hold This): Usually involves throwing one of your weapons at a foe in a bid to force a reflex catching motion. Always best to make sure you are holding two weapons, though. In some settings, this also works with expensive items,like coins or the gold statue you just swiped from a musty tomb. Of course, you can always fake throwing the object as well if you prefer.

• Corps a Corps: French for “body to body.” This usually involves giving your opponent a shove to unbalance him.

• Duck (Smarts): The hero ducks or flinches, hoping to convince his foe there’s something nasty heading his way.

• Falling Objects: Cutting through a rope holding up a chandelier to cause foes to jump back (not to damage them) is a Trick. Pulling down a tapestry or curtain and throwing it toward a foe can also be a Trick (although a hero may wish to use it as a form of grapple so he can make a quick escape).

• Flash (Smarts): A lady can distract a foe by flashing her cleavage or thigh. Only tends to work on men

• Flick: A sudden movement of the blade designed to distract a foe.

• Flip: Kicking a stool at a foe or knocking over a table to distract him. Can also work with small objects, like plates, mugs, candles, or books. Depending on the GM’s interpretation of the weight of the object, this may require a Strength roll from the hero instead.

• Flurry: Ever had a friend come up and begin jabbing at your head and torso with his hands, aiming to cause you to try and react to his moves rather than beat you senseless? Well, that makes a great Agility Trick. It basically overwhelms a foe’s defenses searching for a weak point.

• Head Butt: Another Trick designed to distract but not actually harm a foe. Head butts can certainly be dangerous, but that’s a Called Shot to the head for damage.

• In Your Face!: Throwing sand, ale, or some other substance (food fight!) in a foe’s face to temporarily blind them. Note that lobbing around substances like acid is an attack, not a Trick.

• Meet Mr. Table: Smacking a foe’s head against a table or wall to momentarily stun him could easily be a Trick. As usual, no damage rolls are made as a Trick.

• My Eyes!: Slashing the forehead so it bleeds into a foe’s eyes. The same sort of Trick also covers nicking ears (ears bled a lot), cutting off locks of hair, or even removing entire ponytails. All are distracting rather than deadly.

• Nice Clothes: May involve pulling a foe’s hat over his eyes or flipping a cloak over his head.

• Overbalance: Useful as an interrupt. Before a foe strikes, interrupt his action and say you’re sidestepping (it’s just a Trick—you don’t actually have to move your character). If he misses or is Shaken, it leaves him overbalanced.

• Pull the Rug (Strength): Yanking a rug out from under a foe’s feet. At the GM’s discretion, this Trick can work against more than one opponent. However, a penalty of –1 per additional foe would not be amiss in this circumstance, if only to prevent overuse.

• Revealing Underwear: Slashing an opponent’s braces or belt so his trousers fall down, causing him to grab them and hold them up. A similar Trick can be used to remove buttons, sashes, and such like.

• Shoelaces (Smarts): Another old one. The character tells his foe his shoelaces (or trouser zip) are untied.

• Singe: Setting fire to a villain’s hem line or hair forces him to put it out, thus distracting him. Trying to set him on fire, however, is an attack and uses the standard rules for Catching Fire. Requires a source of fire. This could also be used to knock a foe’s hand onto a hot surface (briefly).

• Slippery When Wet: Scattering something slippery under a foe’s feet causes him to lose his balance and possible fall. It is worth noting that in some settings using a bag of marbles or pool of oil may have long-lasting effects when used in this manner, such as being treated as Difficult Ground affecting everything in a Medium Burst Template. If the effect is only to last a single action, however, keep it as a Trick and assume whatever the substance was has dispersed.

• Stamp: Similar to slapping the hand, but this involves stamping on someone’s foot.


• Three Stooges Routine: Nose pinches, ear pulls, head slaps, beard tugs, and eye jabs are all forms of related trickery.


• Trip: Shoving a foe back over a low obstacle or kicking out his legs so he falls prone.

• Who’s That? (Smarts): The hero points behind him and utters the clichéd words. The oldest trick in the book, but it still works.


• Z: Carving your initial into a foe’s clothing or flesh. As always, carving flesh may cause bleeding, but never actual wounds. A raise might even leave a scar, and create a new Enemy.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Firearm Regulation 5.3

Use of firearms

5(3) Before discharging a firearm, a member of a police force must be satisfied that assistance and a lesser means of force are not readily available or would not gain control over a dangerous situation.