Empty Hand Combat (Martial Arts / Wrestling)

So, what do the developers and the community think of adding an empty hand combat system? Id love to be a wandering kung fu monk, but Sosaria-style. Fighters could easily be given all sorts of casted spell-like abilities, crowd control skills, quick-getaway styles, etc, which would level the playing field against players with weapons or magic. Powerful empty handed fighters could even have skills which allow their skin to function like armor, or such better evasive and parrying techniques that it puts the player on par with a fighter in armor, and with weapons. It also would be more interesting in situations where a player's weapon breaks or decays entirely (and you have to fight with your hands!).

Some ideas for skills would include things like the following:

• basic punches and kicks, augmented by enhanced bone density from training
  
• power up / "chi casting" buff abilities which greatly enhance the striking power of punches or kicks, or defensive buffs which can render the player immune to critical strikes, or even bladed weapons (think like Shaolin monks).
  
• grappling and claw attacks which have high chance for critical damage (think Pei Mei in Kill Bill 2 and the eyeball tear out technique)
• pressure point grabs, punches to critical areas, or grapples which root / stun / paralyze / slow etc the opponent
• health regeneration spells from advanced breathing techniques, or cure poison / remove debuffs and remove-crowd-control spells.
• disarm
• can chop down trees with awesome karate chops, so no need for an axe when harvesting (ok, jk...)

Any takers? I think it would add an interesting dynamic to all the weapons based combat, and having "chi," or perhaps even endurance-based, spell-like abilities would be an interesting dynamic along with mages.

Later in the game's development, you could have players learn some extremely powerful techniques that could be taught to other players, sort of like emotes. That could allow for guilds to function like martial arts schools.

Also feel free to merge this if there is a thread already. I was searching for "empty hand combat" and "wrestling" but couldnt seem to find any relevant threads. Id be surprised if this wasnt discussed already.

 

Thumbs up!

This would add another melee skill set and open up a path for a new type of character role playing.

I would rather see archery be made much more fun first though.

 

Personally I don't like it when games create special systems to make unarmed fighting on par with a fully armed person. I would much prefer if more games came with an escalation system for combat where it's not always appropriate to walk around loaded down with lethal weapons and sometimes a punch to the face is a better way to end a fight than a sword through the ribs. Like, if you get accosted by a drunk, or shoved during an argument you might not want to initiate an armed conflict right away.

 

But a martial arts master, of quite a few of the world's martial arts, is on par with a fully armed, fully armored person.

Think of the following example: A knight in plate mail using a mace and shield would strike much slower than a kung fu and chi gong expert, and would actually be very predictable and very easy to dodge for a master of chinese martial arts. The same master would not find it difficult to sidekick his opponent's kneecap, which would make fighting extremely difficult for said plate mail - mace fighter. An extremely powerful kick to the head while suffering from a shattered knee joint could render the knight unconscious. It wouldnt hurt the monk's foot at all due to training and conditioning. In such a scenario, the plate mail wouldnt stop a killing blow, since the knight isnt in a position to defend himself/herself. The imagination could conjure up many similar examples.



Some chinese warriors' fingertips are more deadly than a halberd. Some spears can not penetrate a shaolin monk's trachea. Some tibetan warrios' breathing techniques allow them to radiate an immense amount of heat in the middle of a snowstorm, eliminating need for a coat. Some Chi-Gong masters can heal internal injuries simply by placing their hands on their subject. These are not simple feats, and require mastery, but the point is, empty hand combat is just as viable as combat augmented with weapons. Also its way more badass.

 

Yeaaa, sorry, but your argument is basically "But martial arts masters can do magic in real life!" at this point. Can your mythical chi master perform this neat little trick on someone while they are in a CT scanner? Surely having proof of magic would win you a Nobel prize or ten. I guess nobody who likes million dollar prizes is well informed about the amazing powers of martial arts.

How about external injuries? I mean, it must be way easier to treat an injury that you can actually see than one that you can't see right? I mean, I suppose this could follow the same rules as faith healing, and never actually cure anything that is visible. I guess that would mean that Televangelists are martial arts masters.

 

Love me a pugilistic fighter. Specialist for kung fu, boxing, wrestling (read: holds)....ah fun times. Count me in!

 

Dude.... hahahaa thanks for the laugh

 

Ooo saw the argument brewing.

Remember the primary reason martial arts (sorry Kung Fu...gongfu...what have you) was developed was for the unarmed peasants to defend against armed assailants.

Now, I love my guns. But if I met a Krav Magra master in a dark alley...I would run. Because my gun will just irritate him and Krav Magra hurts.

 

Love it!!! If I could like the OP twice I would. +100

 

Plenty of people here are running around in game believing they can cast magic....

By comparison....martial arts? Just saying.

 

Suspension of disbelief gets harder the closer you are to reality, and in reality martial arts do not turn you into an unstoppable fighter who is under no threat from armed opponents. Besides, even if we accepted the premise that you can train yourself to be so good at fighting unarmed that you can defeat guns, armor and swords, what would stop you from being just as well trained with guns, armor and swords?

 

Keep in mind that it's always been the intention to continue to add new skills. Marital arts skills have always been popular in game for as long as I can remember, but doing them right is another story. Combat right now is very limited to a handful of skills that aren't very fluid. We might all keep in mind though that martial arts isn't just about unarmed combat. Weapons are often used as well.

 

I like the idea of having unarmed skills in the game, I just prefer implementations where unarmed skills are useful because you may not always be armed over implementations where unarmed skills are useful because somehow fists are just as good as swords. Besides, that kind of breaks the whole game economy. Even mages need to wield staves or suffer drastic reagent costs. The second you go down the Diablo route of epic enchanted brass knuckles to justify fist fighting on the battlefield it becomes even more silly.

 

I think It would be great. I would love to see a wrestling/boxing/kickfighter build. It would also be good for bar fights to establish dominance for the ladies!

 

Um...Corp Por! *runs away*

 

An Lor Xen

 

Kal Ort Por. Stop following me!

 

*follows through moongate with Forensics skill*

 

This reminds me of "hey, he's unarmed, let's rob him!".

" are you nuts? He's probably a mage!"

 

Like Monks in D&D? I've always been a fan of martial arts. Monks were pretty crazy and overpowered in D&D but I'd like to see something implemented that is balanced and doesn't leave standard melee characters out to dry - if anything it should be additive. Johannes Liechtenaur (a german grandmaster 'fencer' / swordsman from the 14th century) taught his students of the importance of wrestling and hand to hand combat before teaching them how to use a sword if I recall correctly. The concept being, if you're dismounted from your horse or lose your weapon, you must learn how to overpower your opponent with your hands. So if Disarm or weapon break functions were added to the game, your ability to wrestle your opponent until you could secure your weapon would be imperative. Of course this would make more sense in a world where extra swords were carried on horses...and not carrying 50 of them in your backpack.

A few days ago I was going to suggest on the forums the possibility of the Tumbling skill allowing you to reduce falling damage when jumping off cliffs or buildings. It turned into a post about how I've wanted game developers to continue to push the boundaries of game dynamics in persistent worlds (wall of text) so it didn't make it here until now. Perhaps more advanced techniques could be taught by master trainers that must be sought out and paid for, in an assortment of ways.

Also, MMA style fighting is a big craze right now, so having an interesting martial arts system might tie into that customer segment.