rules question: if the style is similar to my own, but not identical, how does that work for his teaching of me? does he teach me his style, and mine gets little practice? does it count as an instruction bonus anyway, even though it's not the same style? is it a partial teaching bonus?
The above question is to ascertain whether or not I am using my style against his, and he is showing me some pointers, or if he is teaching me his style, and I am starting from the beginning of his training regimen. If I can do either, I prefer the former-that is, practicing the style I already know. If I am learning his style, I will learn to use the bat, as it sounds interesting.
I set my stuff to the side, and get ready to train.
You have your choice on this, but it's not all the same either way and there are options you've not considered.
If you pursue your own style, you advance at regular practice rate. Since you are 1@10 you need a double-doubled program to reach 2@1; but it can be argued that sparring against a professional partner is one doubling (and an in-game one--see recent discussion in Eli's thread about doublings of martial arts practice). It would take "sixty hours over one hundred days" to advance.
If you pursue his style, since he's a teacher (hey, what Jack-of-all-trades is not a teacher?) you would advance more quickly, but of course you wouldn't reach professional level more quickly. The system says that you shorten the time to "thirty hours over fifty days", but can advance in half the time if he makes a successful teaching roll (up to the point where you are equal in skill ability level with him). On a really rough estimate you would advance two intensities every seventy-five days, reaching 1@10 in three hundred seventy-five days and 2@1 around four hundred or so days from now.
However, Comparing his maneuvers against yours, his pain inflicter is almost certainly like yours and his stunning strike might be comparable to your knock out blow, so he could teach you those. In Multiverser, maneuvers and weapons are not "locked into" specific styles. If you know for example a pain inflicter, you can use it in any style, subject to the bonuses and penalties of that style and such restrictions as whether you have your hands free (if you are holding a sai in each hand, you obviously can't poke someone in the eye with your finger very easily). Further, you could supplement your style with his maneuvers and with his weapon by learning from him, to his skill ability level.
So it's your call on which style you want to use.
--M. J. Young
I see. I will seek to learn his style then, mostly to learn his maneuvers to supplement my own.
"I'm really curious about this weapon you use. Can I see it?"
After I take a look at the bat, I'll be ready to start learning. I'll thank him before we start, and knowing me, again when we are done.
"So...how is your style different from my own?" I assume my own stance, and let him see the differences so he'll know what will have to change. Good starting point, I think.
I think from what you say that there might be a confusion. You do not need to learn his style in order to learn his maneuvers; he can show you the maneuvers which you can adapt to your style.
It's still your call.
George says he's got one in his quarters, but he didn't think to bring it; he'll show it to you after.
The initial stance for Han Karon puts the fighter's left shoulder toward the opponent, with the hands drawn back, the right elbow crooked tightly to place the slightly open right hand between shoulder and ear, the left crossing the body such that the hand is near the right elbow. The stance can be reversed.
How does that differ from your starting stance?
--M. J. Young
Quite a bit, actually. My center of gravity is probably lower than his. I focus on deflecting attacks then countering, so I don't need to be able to move around as much. My forward arm is a smidgeon out from the body, and angled up toward my head (it is my main deflecting arm-deflect then strike with my other hand, or use it to feint). My back arm is much lower, a little over my hip, in a spot where I can quickly move it where I need it and attack sensitive spots on the torso. My stance is reversible, though it wouldn't be very easy for someone who is not ambidextrous.
sounds like his style is more suited to dealing with an armed opponent, also.
By the by, is this sort-of baseball bat sometimes covered in metal studs? It sounds sort of like a Kanabo. (http://img219.imageshack.us/i/kanabool0.jpg/)
Ah. Well, learning a new style is never a bad thing, eh? That's why I took up staff fighting. I'll learn his style.
Yeah maybe? I'd have called it a tetsubo and I did not think the metal studs were so prominent; but I've only seen drawings of it.
You follow his instruction and by the end of the session you've got the stance down pretty well and understand the basic attacks and defenses. It is highly defensive, but fast, very like yours. Your impression is that you would be hit more but hurt less, as it seems to rely more on moving with a blow and causing the attacker to miss the sensitive spots.
--M. J. Young
--M. J. Young
Ah, a Tetsubo. If I remember correctly, a tetsubo is a one-handed kanabo.
I bow to him, then say.
"Invigorating, that. Let me know if you'd like to practice again sometime. So...can I see this bat you use?" (my character still didn't see it, and would still be curious)
My information about the weapon comes mostly from gaming sources, but I take it to be a two-handed weapon a bit heavier in length and girth than a baseball bat with metal studs on the exterior. I am aware that most Oriental martial arts weapons have a tool function, but do not know what the tetsubo's non-combat use was.
George escorts you to his quarters, which are less comfortable than yours but conveniently located about half way between the bridge and engineering. He has what looks like a baseball bat but a good three to three and a half inches in diameter along the bulk of the length, a few inches longer than most bats you've used, and studded with rounded caps, like bolt-heads, maybe five or six around in rows. One is missing, showing that they were nailed into the wood after it was stained but before it was shellacked, probably with something like polyurethane. The grip is long enough for two hands, and you can see that when George uses it his stance is similar to that of a baseball player awaiting a pitch--but he apparently has never heard of baseball.
He's glad to let you handle it.
--M. J. Young
I see. That's all I needed to see. That's a tetsubo all right, though the stance is rather odd.
"Thanks George. Want to practice again some time?"
"What's funny about the stance?" he asks. "It gives me a lot of leverage, as I can swing the weapon by moving hands in opposite directions and twist my body for extra momentum. It also gives me a slimmer profile against blaster fire, although," he jokes, jostling his slightly protruding belly, "not so slim as when I was a student."
He'd be glad to practice with you every two or three days or so, when there's nothing else pressing. His own duties are rather flexible, since he does a bit of everything so he fills in for almost everyone.
--M. J. Young
I did some reseatrch out of curiosity, and the difference between a testsubo and a kanabo is rather simple. Tetsu means iron. Bo means rod, pole, or stick. Kana means written letters, but combined with bo, means wooden war stick. Their compound words are funny like that. It's why their language is so hard to learn. So, it's a kanabo unless it is metal.
"The stance is funny because it is very difficult to keep your fluidity of movement of the weapon while ALSO keeping your ability to move your body fluidly. The stance would seem to imply that you must set yourself before each strike, or sacrifice some of your accuracy and striking power to be able to move around. It also looks like the weapon would be harder to block with like that. Then again, that may very well be the point. I have never used a smashing weapon.
"On the plus side, you will have incredible striking power while you are set like that, often taking down a person in one really good shot, because you can make all of your muscles work together to maximize your power. That is why that stance was used for the game I was telling you about, baseball. The object was to strike the ball hard enough that the players stationed out in the field could not catch it, and you would have enough time to run to each of the three safe zones before running back to the place where you started, thus scoring a point. Bit boring, to me anyway, but some liked it."
"Interesting. The game sounds silly, but then, most games probably sound silly when you describe their objectives. Even chess amounts to moving carved figures with different movement rules within a confined space so as to prevent your opponent from being able to protect one specific one of his carved figures. Sounds silly when you describe it, but it is a very challenging game to play.
"Well, the weapon is powerful, but the position allows me to protect in several directions, including behind my head, fairly easily. I don't use it in combat, really, but I expect I could kill someone with it."
There is plenty of work in engineering over the next few days, as some of the equipment stolen from the listening post has to be installed. Of particular interest are the QNL probes, which are able to transmit and receive (one direction) audio and video signals instantly over any distance. The receivers are being installed in engineering and tied into the main computer and communications grids; the transmitters come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including small missiles with guidance capability, boxes a couple inches to a side, and a few other designs.
There are also missiles to restock some of the weapons systems. The ship relies primarily on energy weapons, but there are advantages to physical missiles in some situations.
--M. J. Young
So, a buay few days. Will I have to work "overtime"? That is, do I have much free time, such as the time to meet with George again, etc.?
Whenever I have some free time not allocated to training with George, I'll go to the lounge and chat with anyone there. Get to know the crew.
Your time is all your own; everyone is a volunteer here, and you put in as much time as you think you can and the job needs. Right now, engineering is very busy, George doing his part, and even Phil is helping with the computer interfacing aspects. On the other hand, Ishara, Gary, John, Marilyn, Tom, and Ann have a lot of free time, since for various reasons none of them are involved in the engineering work. (Ann doesn't really have "free time"--she's often hooked up to the comm grid constantly, even when she's asleep--but there's nothing urgent at present, so she's taking her meals in the galley and sometimes even sleeping in her bed, catching up when she reconnects later.)
So the question is whether you want to put all your waking moments into getting engineering battened down as quickly as possible (like Burly and Toni are doing) or make time in your day to spend with others.
--M. J. Young
Ah, I see. The work is more important, as our communication systems and our ammo really do need to be fully operational, just in case. So, I'll help out just as much as Burly and Toni, stopping only for sleep and eating, and when it's all done, then I'll take a break and look for someone to chat with. No matter how many days it takes.
The lack of a set schedule is strange to me, sometimes.
You go through a grueling five days of work in engineering, learning about the new equipment and how to operate it and why it has to be installed as it is. Then it's all done, and George says he'll watch engineering for a day while everyone else gets some sleep.
The aspect of no one having a schedule is not completely true. There is always someone on the bridge. It's just that the computer can in normal circumstances fully pilot the ship and monitor its systems, so as long as someone is awake and available and there's no unusual circumstance, it runs itself. Toni and Burly don't have anything "better" to do than monitor engineering when they're awake, so usually one or the other of them is there--but then, they are married, so sometimes someone else is covering and sometimes engineering is empty. No one would ask you to monitor the bridge or engineering yet, because you're still learning and probably wouldn't recognize a problem if it happened. But you are becoming more part of the crew as you work with them, and you've got a better understanding of engineering than you had a month ago.
--M. J. Young
Wow, that took a while. I'll crash and get some sleep. when i wake up, I head to the galley for a bite, then I'll ask around to find out where we are headed now (where the ship is heading, that is).
At the moment the ship is just staying out of sight. The captain is entertaining a request from a known rebel organizer for transportation from a world not too far from here to one on the other side of Earth, but the organizer doesn't want the ride for another few weeks (it's not urgent either that he leave where he is or arrive where he's bound, so he's wrapping things up) and John wants to see what else is happening before he commits.
So you fall back into the routine, practicing your fighting skills with George, doing what you can in engineering, learning how the spaceship works, chatting with crew members when you find them, and whatever else you've indicated as routine activities.
--M. J. Young
I always set at least a couple hours a week to shutting off all the technology (TV, computer, and all) off and just thinking or reading. So, on one day per week, I'll spend my free time reading.
That is the only action I'll add to the list of routine activities. Can we skip time forward to the next event that breaks the routine?
Is your desire for the next event to come quickly the desire of your character, or are you expressing a desire that there be a long down-time during which you can learn and practice but that we leap over it to get to the next event in play, your character having improved his skills in the interim?
--M. J. Young
A desire for some down time in which to settle in to a routine, catch up on my reading, lose some weight and get better at my skills, and so on. But that we skip time past it to the next interesting story event.
Speaking of lost weight, in real life I ahve decreased my weight from 296 (when I first came to these boards) to 268 lbs. I am quite happy about it!
May your personal life have an event of equal positive personal importance to you. =)
A week after you get this routine started, it is announced that Destiny will be handling the transport of the previously mentioned rebel leader. She's been designated a terrorist by the Federation, which continues to deny that it is at war with anyone but simply is using its military to maintain peace on planets which have joined it.
In another week you reach the planet in question and are in orbit. There is a brief meeting as orbit is being established. Captain John opens the discussion.
"We have several issues to address. The first I think we've already handled: Phil assures us that there is no sign of Federation ships near enough for this to be a hard trap to escape if it proves to be a trap. That being the case, we'll risk a landing party.
"We are still getting location information. It has to be done in fragments, since we don't want the Federation picking up her location and getting to her before we do--as unlikely as that seems, they almost certainly have agents on the ground, and we cannot be certain where. However, once we have confirmed a rendezvous location, we'll need to send a team to confirm her identity as quickly as possible and then to bring her aboard by transmat. We'll do a more thorough vetting of her once she's aboard--and of course we'll also need to prove to her while still on the ground that we are who we claim, since she'll be putting her life in our care.
"I'm thinking Marilyn should head the landing team. She's the best shot we have at confirming the honesty of whoever is waiting. Who else?"
"I should go," Ishara says. "If she is not who she claims, I am the best chance we have of getting us all out alive."
--M. J. Young
. I am still around, I just haven't gotten to the game yet. I'll post my game post later-I like to keep up with the non-game posts here, but i have limited time on the computer.
No worries.
--M. J. Young
So, I am spending on awful lot of my time on Shadowrun lately. I mean, seriously. I have been writing story, designing rules, buying supplements when I can, scouring the net for advice and info from other GMs, and just generally not spending much time on MV. So, that's what I have been doing. I have also been participating in one game and running two more, and the group I am playing in has asked me to take over as the GM. Busy busy busy.
Anyway, to the game!
So, any more imformation about the planet we are orbiting? Is it a civilized world? Will we be entering an actual city to pick her up? If it IS inhabited, is it a human-only colony? If I lack some or all of this information, I will ask the Captain. It will influence my decision as to whether or not I volunteer. Do we need to appear unobtrusive? I can do that readily. People tend to trust me instinctively unless they are paranoid. I'm good with kids and generally friendly, so people tend to find me harmless. Good traits for laying low in a colony world.
It is civilized enough to mount a defense against a Federation attack, if necessary, although that might be a mostly ground-based guerrilla defense. It has cities; it is not yet known whether she is in one or in the country, because the location information hasn't been fully received. There is abundant agricultural land, as is common in colony planets, as food is a valuable export when population is still relatively low.
The existence of Destiny is the only evidence to date that there might be intelligent non-human life in the galaxy, and that's only evidential because no one knows of any humans with the technology to have built such a ship.
What the landing team will need to do remains unknown at this point. Probably the team will transmat to a location other than the target hiding place, in part because hiding places tend to be difficult to target accurately enough without precise location information about them. They would then have to meet the rebel organizer at an agreed safe rendezvous point, handle the mutual identification tasks, and outfit her with a transmat harness so we can bring her up.
Being unobtrusive and trustworthy are probably positive features for the mission, although since it is so unpredictable nearly any skills might be useful. Tom insists that there's absolutely no need for him to be involved on the ground, and he is more likely to be needed up here if it's a trap, as he would be the first to run away.
--M. J. Young
Very well.
"I am really not much of an engineer just yet...I wouldn't be much help up here. On the ground however...I am pretty good at setting people at ease. I could probably assist in any tense situations involving the colonists...I volunteer to accompany the ground team."
This is all assuming we share a language. Everyone I have met so far were all speaking English, correct? I know some French, but not a whole lot, and other than that, the only other language I study at all is Japanese, and that is a difficult one that I have no mastery to speak of just yet.
Everyone in the galaxy seems to speak English, more or less.
It is decided that you, Marilyn, and Ishara are the ground team. Marilyn is team leader; she calls the shots and makes decisions as to whether to proceed or abort. Ishara takes command if there is a combat situation. You are support, and you will carry a spare teleporter harness, although Marilyn will have one as well. If anything happens to Marilyn, you are to make the decisions about how to proceed.
The rendezvous is to be in a presumably empty warehouse near a large inland sea. Toni has found a place about a mile from there, a secluded lightly wooded park where you can probably materialize unnoticed. You are all to be armed; you may take whatever other equipment you deem useful. Marilyn will have a light medical kit. Ishara is taking personal weapons.
--M. J. Young