HERO SystemTM ® is DOJ, Inc.’s trademark for its roleplaying system.HERO System Copyright © 1984, 1989, 2002, 2009 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved.Champions, Dark Champions, and all associated characters © 1981-2008 Cryptic Studios, Inc. All rights reserved. “Champions” and “Dark Champions” are trademarks of Cryptic Studios, Inc. “Champions” and “Dark Champions” are used under license from Cryptic Studios, Inc.Fantasy Hero Copyright © 2003 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved.Pulp Hero Copyright © 2005 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved.Star Hero, Justice Inc., Danger International, and Western Hero Copyright © 2002 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or computerization, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher: DOJ, Inc., 226 E. 54th Street, #605, New York, NY 10022-48541.Printed in Canada. First printing January 2010.Produced and distributed by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games.Stock Number: DOJHERO1005ISBN Number: 978-1-58366-124-6www.herogames.com

AuthorsSteven S. Long, Michael Surbrook

AdditionAl ContributionsAaron Allston

Editing And dEvElopmEntSteven S. Long

lAyout, grAphiC dEsign, And quotE-bunny

Bill Keyes

CovEr ArtFred Hicks

intErior ArtBrett Barkley, Dan Christensen, Storn

Cook, Curtis Craddock, Andrew Dobell, Brendon & Brian Fraim, Edd Ghent,

Mark Helwig, Sam Kennedy, Storm Kerr, Bradley K. McDevitt, James Nguyen, Jeff

Preston, Christian N. St. Pierre, Jason Williford, Kurt Wood, Jonathan Wyke

spECiAl thAnks to: All the HERO System fans who continue to love All Things Martial Arts in their games.

stEvE’s spECiAl thAnksI owe an additional special thanks to the following

people who have, over the years, answered martial arts questions for me or provided with

with information or ideas that helped shape this book: Aaron Allston, Chris Avellone, Scott Bennie, Tim Binford, Garrett Charnaw, Cliff Christiansen,

Earl Cooley III, Storn Cook, John Cooper, Kim Cooper, Amy Crittenden, John “Case of Swords” Cunningham, Mike Dean, Sean Fannon, Morgan

Flo, Thom Foster, John Grigni, Scott Jamison, Greg Kerner, Eric Livengood, John Losey, Andy

Mathews, Dave Mattingly, Riley McLaughlin, Rob Miles, Greg Morero, Bryce Nakagawa, James

Pinkerton, Marcus Pritchett, Bob Quinlan, Scott Sigler, Greg Smith, Geoff Speare, Steve Stone,

Michael Surbrook, Jason Walters, David West, Eric Wylie, Doug Young, various online commentators,

and, most especially, Greg “Devil’s Advocate” Lloyd and Jeff “I have a license from Japan” Mueller.

Special thanks also to SETAC for its usual insightful input and suggestions.

HERO SyStEm

maRtIal aRtSA Core Library Supplement for the HERO System

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Enerjutsu ..................................................................80Four Celestial Kung Fu ..............................................80Gun Fu .....................................................................82Hypercombat ............................................................83Red In Tooth And Claw ..............................................84Shiroi Sumomo Kempo ..............................................85Thunder Dragon Kung Fu ..........................................86

dEsigning nEW mArtiAl Arts stylEs .......................87DESIGNING MARTIAL ARTS STYLES ...............................87STYLE BUILDING BLOCKS .............................................88EXTRA DAMAGE CLASSES AND WEAPON ELEMENTS .....89

CHaPtER tWOmaRtIal maNEUVERS

designing martial Arts maneuvers .................................92MANEUVER BASIS ........................................................92MANEUVER ELEMENTS .................................................95MONGOOSE STYLE.....................................................101

rAngEd mArtiAl Arts ...............................................103DESIGNING RANGED MARTIAL MANEUVERS ................103

poWEr AdvAntAgEs For mArtiAl mAnEuvErs ....106

AltErnAtE mArtiAl Arts ..........................................109THE COMBAT SKILL LEVEL MARTIAL ARTS ..................109POWERS AS MARTIAL ARTS ........................................110

CHaPtER tHREEtHE SECREtS OF tHE maStERS:

maRtIal aRtS aBIlItIESmArtiAl Arts AbilitiEs .............................................112

rEAlistiC mArtiAl Arts AbilitiEs ............................113OFFENSIVE ABILITIES ..................................................113DEFENSIVE ABILITIES ..................................................119MOVEMENT ABILITIES ................................................120MISCELLANEOUS ABILITIES ........................................121

CinEmAtiC mArtiAl Arts AbilitiEs ...........................123OFFENSIVE ABILITIES ..................................................123DEFENSIVE ABILITIES ..................................................130MOVEMENT ABILITIES ................................................133SENSORY ABILITIES ....................................................135

WuXiA mArtiAl Arts AbilitiEs ..................................136OFFENSIVE ABILITIES ..................................................136DEFENSIVE ABILITIES ..................................................152MOVEMENT ABILITIES ................................................157SENSORY ABILITIES ....................................................160MISCELLANEOUS ABILITIES ........................................161

vidEo gAmE mArtiAl Arts ........................................164 OFFENSIVE ABILITIES .................................................164 DEFENSIVE ABILITIES .................................................169 MOVEMENT ABILITIES ...............................................169 MISCELLANEOUS ABILITIES .......................................170

AnimE mArtiAl Arts ..................................................172 OFFENSIVE ABILITIES .................................................172 DEFENSIVE ABILITIES .................................................176 MOVEMENT ABILITIES ...............................................177 MISCELLANEOUS ABILITIES .......................................177

ninJA AbilitiEs ...........................................................178 OFFENSIVE ABILITIES .................................................178 DEFENSIVE ABILITIES .................................................183 MOVEMENT ABILITIES ...............................................183 MISCELLANEOUS ABILITIES .......................................185

CHaPtER FOURtRaINING FOR PERFECtION:

CHaRaCtER CREatIONmArtiAl Artist ChArACtEr ArChEtypEs ...........................................188

THE CAREER PATH OF THE MARTIAL ARTIST ................195

skills .........................................................................197

pErks And tAlEnts ...................................................204PERKS .......................................................................204TALENTS ....................................................................205

poWErs .......................................................................206POWER ADVANTAGES .................................................208POWER LIMITATIONS ..................................................209COMPLICATIONS ........................................................209

CHaPtER FIVEmaRtIal aRtS GENRE By GENRE

ChAmpions .................................................................214CYBER HERO..............................................................220DARK CHAMPIONS .....................................................223FANTASY ...................................................................226PULP HERO ................................................................231STAR HERO ................................................................234OTHER GENRES .........................................................238

introduction .....................................................................4

CHaPtER ONEtHE Way OF tHE WaRRIOR:

maRtIal aRtS StylESthE WAy oF thE hEro ....................................................6

MARTIAL ARTS MANEUVERS ...........................................6MANEUVERS AND WEAPONS ..........................................8

Ranged Martial Arts And Weapon Types .......................9LEARNING MARTIAL ARTS...............................................9

Building New Maneuvers And Styles ..........................13BELTS AND RANKS .......................................................13

rEAl-World mArtiAl Arts .........................................15STYLE DESCRIPTIONS ..................................................15JUTSU VERSUS DO; INTERNAL VERSUS EXTERNAL .........16

Aikido ......................................................................17An Ch’i .....................................................................18Angampora ..............................................................18Arnis/Kali/Escrima .....................................................19Arte dell’Abbracciare .................................................20Bandesh ...................................................................21Bando (Thaing) .........................................................21Baritsu .....................................................................22Bersilat ....................................................................23Bojutsu (Staff-fighting) ..............................................23Bokator ....................................................................24Boxing, Ancient.........................................................24Boxing, Modern ........................................................25Capoeira ..................................................................26Commando Training ..................................................26Dambe .....................................................................27Dirty Infighting/Fisticuffs/Cinematic Brawling ..............27Fencing ....................................................................29Gatka .......................................................................31Generic Martial Arts ..................................................32Hapkido....................................................................32Hisardut ...................................................................33Hsing-I .....................................................................33Hwarang-Do .............................................................34Jailhouse Rock .........................................................35Jeet Kune Do ............................................................35Jujutsu .....................................................................36Jukenjutsu ...............................................................38Kalaripayit ................................................................38Kampfringen .............................................................39Karate ......................................................................39Kenjutsu ...................................................................41Khridoli ....................................................................43Knifefighting .............................................................44Krav Maga ................................................................45Kuk Sool Won ...........................................................45Kung Fu (Wu Shu) .....................................................45Kuntao .....................................................................51Kyujutsu ...................................................................51Lua ..........................................................................52Lucha Libre ..............................................................53Marine Corps Martial Arts Program ............................54Muay Thai (Thai Kick-Boxing) .....................................54Naginatajutsu/Sojutsu ...............................................56Ninjutsu ...................................................................56Pakua ......................................................................58Pankration ................................................................59Pentjak-Silat .............................................................60Qwan Ki Do ..............................................................63Re-Efi Areh-Ehsee ....................................................64Saijutsu ....................................................................64Sambo .....................................................................64Savate......................................................................65Shurikenjutsu ...........................................................66Simgomdo ................................................................66Stickfighting .............................................................66Sumo Wrestling ........................................................68Swordfighting ...........................................................68Tae Kwon Do ............................................................69Tai Ch’i Ch’uan .........................................................69Tang Soo Do.............................................................70Thang-Ta .................................................................71Than Vo Dao .............................................................71Vovinam Viet Vo Dao .................................................71Weapons Combat .....................................................72Whipfighting .............................................................73Wrestling ..................................................................74Wrestling, Professional ..............................................75Yu-Sool ....................................................................75Zipota ......................................................................76

OTHER STYLES ............................................................76

FiCtionAl mArtiAl Arts..............................................78Battle Shifting ...........................................................78Brick Tricks ..............................................................79

CHaPtER SIXBlOOD aND StEEl:

maRtIal aRtS COmBatCombAt And mArtiAl mAnEuvErs ...........................242

General Rules .........................................................242Bind .......................................................................243Block .....................................................................243Choke Hold .............................................................244Cover .....................................................................244Crush .....................................................................244Dodge ....................................................................244Feints .....................................................................244Flying Dodge ..........................................................245Flying Kick ..............................................................246Full Move ...............................................................246Grab ......................................................................246Grab Weapon .........................................................246Joint Locks And Related Maneuvers .........................246Killing Throw...........................................................247Martial Escape ........................................................247Move By/Move Through...........................................247Multiple Attack........................................................247Nerve Strike............................................................247Passing Disarm.......................................................249The Response Element ............................................249Root .......................................................................249Takeaway ...............................................................249Throw ....................................................................249The Velocity/10 Element ..........................................249

spECiAl CAsEs & optionAl rulEs ............................250BLINDED CHARACTERS AND MARTIAL ARTS ................250BOUND CHARACTERS AND MARTIAL ARTS ..................250CASUAL STR VERSUS BARRIERS ................................251CONCEALED WEAPONS AND GADGETS ......................251DISABLING ATTACKS ..................................................251HINDERING CIRCUMSTANCES AND MARTIAL ARTS ......252KNOCKBACK ..............................................................253SEQUENCE ATTACKS ..................................................253 WOUNDS ..................................................................254

mArtiAl Arts WEApons ............................................256ARMOR ......................................................................272

CHaPtER SEVENNINJa HERO:

tHE maRtIal aRtS GENREmArtiAl Arts subgEnrEs ........................................274

REALISTIC MARTIAL ARTS .........................................274 CINEMATIC MARTIAL ARTS ........................................274 WUXIA MARTIAL ARTS ...............................................275 VIDEO GAME MARTIAL ARTS ......................................276 ANIME MARTIAL ARTS ...............................................276

ElEmEnts oF thE mArtiAl Arts gEnrE...................277 MARTIAL ARTS AND METAGENRES .............................282

Comedy .................................................................282Horror ....................................................................283Mystery ..................................................................283Romance ................................................................283Satire/Social Commentary .......................................284Tragedy ..................................................................284

gAmEmAstEring ninJA hEro ...................................285 CREATING THE CAMPAIGN .........................................285

Power Levels And Point Ceilings ..............................285Campaign Tone ......................................................286Campaign Viewpoint ...............................................288Campaign Theme ...................................................289Campaign Framework .............................................290Campaign Setting ...................................................290

RUNNING THE CAMPAIGN ..........................................291 MARTIAL ARTS VILLAINS ............................................299 MARTIAL ARTS NPCs .................................................302

BIBlIOGRaPHy & INDEXAppEndiX.....................................................................306

A GLOSSARY OF MARTIAL ARTS TERMS ......................306

AsiAn nAmEs ..............................................................309

bibliogrAphy .............................................................314NONFICTION BOOKS ...................................................314FICTION .....................................................................315

FilmogrAphy .............................................................316HONG KONG CINEMA .................................................316JAPANESE CINEMA ....................................................316OTHER ASIAN CINEMA ................................................316JAPANESE ANIME .......................................................317AMERICAN ACTION CINEMA ........................................317AMERICAN TELEVISION ...............................................317

table of Contents

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4 n introduction hero system 6th Edition

INtRODUCtION

With a few exceptions, there’s one thing that all game campaigns feature, regard-less of genre, setting, time period, or character type: combat. Fights and

battles are exciting and fun, so it’s natural that they’d appear in most roleplaying campaigns. And while lots of games feature fights with guns, bows, and other Ranged attacks, Hand-To-Hand Combat is an element of nearly every genre and adventure.

HERO System Martial Arts is your complete guide to martial arts and other forms of hand-to-hand combat in the HERO System. It covers all aspects of the martial arts — the styles, the maneuvers, and the Martial Arts genre itself.

Chapter One, The Way Of The Warrior, describes dozens of martial arts styles from around the world and throughout history, and shows you how to buy them for your character. It also lists special abilities appropriate to each style so you can expand beyond the basic Martial Maneuvers to improve and better define your character.

Chapter Two, Martial Maneuvers, describes how you can create your own Martial Maneuvers from scratch, and discusses other ways to buy martial arts and advanced fighting abilities for your character. It also includes rules for buying Advantages for Martial Maneuvers.

Chapter Three, The Secrets Of The Masters, describes over 200 special martial arts abilities characters can buy. With these powers at your disposal, you can easily re-create any “special technique” you’ve seen in martial arts movies, or that legend attributes to the greatest masters of a particular fighting style.

Chapter Four, Training For Perfection, covers martial artist character creation. It includes archetypes and Templates for characters who commonly appear in Martial Arts stories, and special rules for Skills and other game elements that martial artists often buy.

Chapter Five, Martial Arts Genre By Genre, showcases how martial arts feature into various genres of adventure gaming, such as Superheroes, Fantasy, and Pulp. It includes a dozen genre-specific fictional martial arts and eight sample characters.

aBBREVIatIONS this book uses the following abbreviations to refer to other HERO System books:

6E1: The HERO System 6th Edition, Volume I: Character Creation

6E2: The HERO System 6th Edition, Volume II: Combat And Adventuring

aPG: The HERO System Advanced Player’s Guide

Chapter Six, Blood And Steel, examines martial arts combat. It includes advanced rules and infor-mation for various Combat and Martial Maneu-vers, a comprehensive list of martial arts weapons and equipment, and other useful information.

Chapter Seven, Ninja Hero, covers Martial Arts as a genre. It reviews each of the five major subgenres of Martial Arts — Realistic, Cinematic, Wuxia, Video Game, and Anime — and discusses how to create characters and campaigns for each type.

Lastly, HERO System Martial Arts concludes with an Appendix containing a glossary of martial arts terms, lists of names for Asian characters, and a comprehensive bibliography and filmography.

So practice your Fists of Fury maneuver and prepare your most secret techniques — it’s time for action-packed martial arts combat with HERO System Martial Arts!

“lET mORTAL cOMBAT bEGIN!”

- Shang Tzung, Mortal Kombat

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Chapter oNe

THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR:

MARTIAL ARTS STYLES

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6 n the Way of the Warrior: martial Arts styles hero system 6th Edition

tHE Way OF tHE HERO

This section discusses the rules and other terms used to describe martial arts styles and related matters in the HERO System. Gamers interested in doing their own

research on these subjects should consult the Bibliography at the end of this book.

maRtIal aRtS maNEUVERS

The maneuvers (both Hand-To-Hand and Ranged) in the accompanying list include most of the ones used to construct the martial arts pack-ages in this chapter.

In the list, the Maneuver column gives the maneuver’s generic name. Typically, a name specific to the art replaces the generic name when the maneuver appears in a style. For example, Martial Strike becomes a “Punch” in one style, and an “Elbow Strike” in another.

The next column, Phase, indicates how long it takes to perform the maneuver. Most are Half Phase Actions; some, like a Haymaker, require a Full Phase plus one Segment and land at the end of the Segment after they’re begun.

The next column, Pts, gives the maneuver’s cost in Character Points.

The next two columns, OCV and DCV, show the Combat Value modifiers of the maneuver.

In the Ranged Martial Arts Maneuvers list, the next column, Rng, indicates the bonus or penalty added by the maneuver to the standard Range Modifier.

The last column, Damage/Effect, describes (in short form) what the maneuver does when used successfully. For explanations of the terms under “Damage/Effect,” refer to the “Designing Martial Arts Manuevers” and “Combat Maneuvers” sections of this book.

raNGeD Martial MaNeUVers

Maneuver Phase Pts OCV DCV Rng Damage/EffectBasic Shot ½ 4 +0 +0 +2 Strike, +2 DC

Defensive Shot ½ 3 -1 +2 +0 Strike

Distance Shot 1+1 5 +0 -2 +6 Strike; +1 Segment

Far Shot ½ 5 +1 -1 +4 Strike

Offensive Ranged

Disarm ½ 5 +1 -1 +2 Disarm, +10 STR

Offensive Shot ½ 4 -1 -1 +0 Strike, +4 DC

Offensive Trip ½ 5 +1 -1 +0 Strike, +v/10; Target Falls

Quick Shot ½ 4 +1 +0 +0 Strike, +2 DC

Ranged Disarm ½ 4 +0 +0 +0 Disarm, +15 STR

Trip ½ 4 -1 -1 +2 v/10, Target Falls

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hero system martial Arts n Chapter one 7

haND-to-haND Martial MaNeUVers

Maneuver Phase Pts OCV DCV Damage/EffectBasic Strike ½ 3 +1 +0 STR +2d6 Strike

Charge ½ 4 +0 -2 STR +2d6 +v/10 Strike, FMove

Choke Hold ½ 4 -2 +0 Grab One Limb; 2d6 NND(2)

Counterstrike ½ 4 +2 +2 STR +2d6 Strike, Must Follow Block

Crush ½ 4 +0 +0 STR +4d6 Crush, Must Follow Grab

Defensive Block ½ 5 +1 +3 Block, Abort

Defensive Strike ½ 5 +1 +3 STR Strike

Defensive Throw ½ 3 +1 +1 Block, Target Falls

Disarming Throw ½ 5 +0 +0 Grab Weapon, +5 STR to take weapon away; Target Falls

Fast Strike ½ 4 +2 +0 STR +2d6 Strike

Flying Dodge ½ 5 — +4 Dodge All Attacks, Abort; FMove

Flying Grab ½ 5 -2 -1 Grab Two Limbs, +10 STR for holding on; FMove

Flying Tackle ½ 3 +0 -1 STR +v/10 Strike; You Fall, Target Falls; FMove

Grappling Block ½ 4 +1 +1 Grab One Limb, Block

Grappling Throw ½ 3 +0 +2 STR +2d6 Strike; Target Falls; Must Follow Grab

Joint Break ½ 5 -1 -2 Grab One Limb; HKA ½d6, Disable

Joint Lock/Throw ½ 4 +1 +0 Grab One Limb; 1d6 NND(7); Target Falls

Killing Strike ½ 4 -2 +0 HKA ½d6

Killing Throw ½ 5 -2 +0 HKA ½d6; Target Falls

Legsweep ½ 3 +2 -1 STR +1d6 Strike; Target Falls

Martial Block ½ 4 +2 +2 Block, Abort

Martial Disarm ½ 4 -1 +1 Disarm; +10 STR to Disarm roll

Martial Dodge ½ 4 — +5 Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort

Martial Escape ½ 4 +0 +0 +15 STR vs. Grabs

Martial Flash ½ 4 -1 -1 Flash 4d6 (choose Sense Group)

Martial Grab ½ 3 -1 -1 Grab Two Limbs, +10 to STR for holding on

Martial Shove ½ 4 +0 +0 +15 STR to Shove

Martial Strike ½ 4 +0 +2 STR +2d6 Strike

Martial Throw ½ 3 +0 +1 STR +v/10; Target Falls

Nerve Strike ½ 4 -1 +1 2d6 NND(1)

Offensive Strike ½ 5 -2 +1 STR +4d6 Strike

Passing Disarm ½ 5 -1 -1 Disarm, +10 STR to Disarm roll; FMove

Passing Strike ½ 5 +1 +0 STR +v/10; FMove

Passing Throw ½ 5 +0 +0 STR +v/10; Target Falls; FMove

Reversal var 4 -1 -2 STR +15 to Escape; Grab Two Limbs

Root ½ 4 +0 +0 STR +15 to resist Shove; Block, Abort

Sacrifice Disarm ½ 4 +2 -2 Disarm, +10 STR to Disarm roll

Sacrifice Lunge ½ 4 +2 -2 STR +v/10; FMove

Sacrifice Strike ½ 5 +1 -2 STR +4d6 Strike

Sacrifice Throw ½ 3 +2 +1 STR Strike; You Fall, Target Falls

Takeaway ½ 5 +0 +0 Grab Weapon, +10 STR to take weapon away

Takedown ½ 3 +1 +1 STR Strike; Target Falls

Weapon Bind ½ 4 +1 +0 Bind, +10 STR

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