Special Fighting Forms, while not combat skills in themselves, are used exclu- sively by the Orca to augment combat abilities in armed and unarmed combat.
Taught in the Specialist Training of section 3.1, each Fighting Form level enhances two Combat or Martial Arts levels, up to the character's conventional level.
Each form has its strengths and requirements discussed below.
Experience gained in combat is added to the conventional combat skill.
Example:
Rodrigo has a Combat Skill level of7.
Ifhe learns 3rd level Water form he may fight either 7th level conventional style or 3 X 2 = 6th level Water form.
When he learns 4th Water form he is qualified to fight 8th level Water form but as his conventional level is only 7th, can only fight at 7th Water form.
Wind Form Wind Form uses movement and feints to increase defensive powers.
It allows a character whose Base Action Time (BAT) is 1 or better to Dodge, strike, and parry in the same phase.
Strikes and parries are done by the normal Combat rules, but any blow thrown at the character must be rolled on Combat Attack Table (4D) to get past the Dodge before parries are taken into account.
Example Trebor is fighting 3rd level Wind form against two 3rd level opponents.
Each oppo- nent takes a blow at him.
Trebor takes two parries this phase so has Full Parries.
Using Combat Attack Table (4D), the chance the blows get past the dodge is 50%.
The opponents roll a 68 and 25, so one blow gets past the dodge and the other finds only empty air.
The blow which got past the dodge must now get past Trebor's parry to hit.
The chance of hitting past Trebor's Full Parry is taken from table (4A), and is 22%.
The opponent rolls a 38 and misses.
Earth Form Earth Form increases the defenses of a character whose Base Action Time (BAT) is 1 or better, and can be used only by a character fighting without a shield.
Earth Form gives a continuous Dodge, like Wind Form, and also the ability to Flex Parry.
The Flex Parry is a defensive move combining motion, stance, and counterstrike to limit an opponent's avenues of attack.
While it costs two weapon actions to do, a Flex Parry makes the foe roll twice on the appropriate Combat Attack Table to hit.
Example Nirva is defending a corridor against a skilled opponent.
She is fighting 5th level Earth form.
The opponent is 8th skill level.
To maximize her defense she takes a Flex Parry against the opponent's single attack.
To hit, the opponent must first get past the dodge (70% chance from table (4D», and then past the Flex Parry (16% chance from table (4A».
The opponent must roll less than or equal to a 70 to hit past the dodge, and then less than or equal to a 16 twice to hit past the Flex Parry.
If anyone of the three rolls fa!ls, the blow misses.
Fire Form Fire Form is an entirely offensive type of 2-handed weapon fighting that uses motion and power to crush the enemy.
It can only be used by characters whose Base Action Time (BAT) is 1.4 or greater, and doubles the Damage Bonus in any phase the character is moving forward and attacking.
If he does not advance, no advantage is received.
Fire Form is especially well suited to heavily armored Targas.
Water Form Water Form is a defense / offense style of fighting used only by those whose Base Action time (BAT) is 1.2 or greater.
It gives the character the continuous Dodge of Wind Form plus the ability to Strike Parry.
A Strike Parry is an offensive move that combines a defensive parry with an offen- sive blow.
A character doing a Strike Parry beats his opponent's weapon or body out of position for a blow, and snaps his own blade into an attack in one fluid motion.
A Strike Parry takes the same number of weapon actions as an offensive blow, but counts as a parry ~ an offensive blow.
A Strike Parry can be taken only in response to the opponent's attack.
Example Rodrigo is fighting 7th level Water form.
His opponent is also 7th level and takes 2 blows.
Rodrigo takes two short stroke Strike Parries and a short stroke offensive blow of his own.
The Strike Parries give him 2 parries against the two attacks (Full Parry) plus two short stroke attacks.
So Rodrigo has a Full Parry this phase and three short stroke attacks.
06.07-special_fighting_forms.txt
