Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Martial Arts Style: Vampire Killer

Conan versus Count Chocula.
So, I've done a bit on whips before, and I like Castlevania a bit, even though some real aficionados might call me a light weight (Gatekeepers, gasp!) Today, I'm gonna try putting together a martial arts style based on the moves that Richter Belmont and Jonathon Morris use in Castlevania: Harmony of Despair.

First off, thinking about the majority of weapons used by Belmont characters.

  • Primary
    • Whip - The default representation of the Vampire Killer.
    • Kusari - Often the in-game physics seem to conform more to a weighted chain than a rope
    • Flail - Used by Simon in the first game sometimes.
  • Secondary (Often sub-weapons)
  • Fighting and challenge
    • Thrown Weapon (Knife) - A classic subweapon
    • Throwing - The skill used for holy water
    • Thrown Weapon (Stick) - Skill used by boomerangs, which is used by the cross
    • Brawling and Karate - Jonathon and Richter have a bunch of special combination moves that they can use.
Besides this, many Belmonts know the following techniques:
  • Good jumping and acrobatics [Skills really, but oh well]
  • Uppercut
  • Roundhouse Kick
  • Sliding Kick
  • Knee Kick
Combining these together, I now have a chance to make a martial arts template.

Vampire Killer

6 points
Skills:  Acrobatics; Flail; Hidden Lore (Vampires); Kusari; Whip;
Techniques:  Acrobatic Stand; Attack From Above(Brawling or Karate); Crack(Whip); Drop Kick (Brawling); Jump Kick (Karate); Knee Drop (Brawling); Uppercut (Brawling);
Cinematic Skills:  Innate Attack (Sub-Weapon); Throwing Art; 
Cinematic Techniques:  Flying Jump Kick (Karate); Springing Attack(Karate/Kick or Uppercut(Brawling)); Whirlwind Attack (Flail, Kusari, or Whip);
Perks: Form Mastery (Vampire Killer) ; Style Adaptation (Kusarijutsu); Technique Adaptation (Any Kusarijutsu techniques compatible with a flail or a whip); Weapon Bond (Vampire Killer) 
Optional Traits
Advantages: Ambidexterity; Chi Talent; Enhanced Dodge; Higher Purpose (Thwart Dracula); Innate Attacks For Subweapons; Weapon Master (Flail, Kusari, Whip; Count as a small category of weapons?) 
Disadvantages: Sense Of Duty (The Human Race);
Skills: Jumping; Thrown Weapon (Knife); Thrown Weapon (Stick) Throwing;

Other Thoughts and Closing

This style has a lot of optional capabilities, and has the Style Adaptation perk for Kusarijutsu, because any of the really neato abilities of Kusarijutsu are probably appropriate for a Belmont. Mechanically, a lot of what makes a whip good in GURPS is not available to the Belmont family, so I'd just be making stuff up if I started adding things that a good whip user should have. That said, they know enough to be good enough to have a long list anyway! Some of the Belmont's Bare-handed attacks like a roundhouse kick count as a committed or all-out attack and not a technique out and out, so there is no mechanism to specifically represent them, except maybe a complex melee innate attack. Some other mechanics of Castlevania really don't fit into martial arts styles, so I won't, for example, stat out some of the elementary innate attacks like Axe (projectile with overhead and very reduced range) or Bible (area effect, emanation) but they are simple enough if anyone really wants to have them spelled out.

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