The Imperial Age - Fisticuffs and Swordplay (ADM4115), RPG (po angielsku)

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down a back aisle of the rookery, trying to make it to Shaftsbury Avenue. St. Giles
was one of the worst areas in the City and it was no place for an unescorted
woman at night, especially with Scarlet John prowling around. Thankfully, the sporadic
drizzle had cleared the usual fog and as it was between showers Abigail used her
closed umbrella as a walking stick.
She’d stepped out onto one of the small streets crisscrossing the rookery, intending
to cross it and continue through another alley on the other side. Abigail had taken
this route for the better part of a week and knew that she was only a block away from
the safety of well-travelled Shaftsbury Avenue. While of upper middle class, Abigail
wore a simple dress that would not mark her as a lady. This was beneicial, as
it kept most of the robbers away, but it was well-documented that Scarlet John
preferred to accost working women.
As she stepped into the middle of the street, she noticed a hansom parked in
the centre of it. While not entirely unusual, most cab drivers would not dally in
St. Giles for long. Abigail saw no evidence of the driver and after a moment
she understood why. A smartly dressed man stepped out of the alley in
front of her with a walking stick in one hand and a revolver
pointing at her in the other. Even more telling was the red
scarf he had covering his mouth. It was Scarlet John!
‘Good evening, my dear,’ Scarlet John greeted in a calm
but menacing tone. ‘If you cooperate, things will go much
better for both of us. I do not intend to harm you.’
No matter what deinition he was using, he intended to
harm her, she thought. She kept her opinion to
herself however, merely gasping and putting a
gloved hand to her face. ‘Oh my!’
she exclaimed. ‘It...It’s you!’
‘Indeed,’ Scarlet
John said as he
approached her.
Imperial
Fisticuffs
Swordplay
by
Walt
Ciechanowski
A
bigail Henderson pulled her shawl more tightly around her shoulders as she hurried
Age:
and
She saw the joy in his eyes beneath the brim of his bowler. ‘My reputation precedes me, so you know what will happen if
you do not cooperate.’
And what will happen to me if I do, Abigail thought. She said nothing, though; instead, she stumbled backwards as if she
were going to faint. As she did so, she noticed the open sewer nearby, collecting the rainwater that was slowly lowing
across the cobblestones.
Scarlet John closed to catch her and Abigail moved. She quickly braced her legs and swung the umbrella up against the
attacker’s forearm. Scarlet John howled as he released his grip and the revolver fell onto the street and created quick
sparks as it skipped over the stones. With a quick second strike, she took a leg out from under him and sent him crashing
on his posterior. Scarlet John howled again and cursed as Abigail ran down the street, pausing to bat the revolver into the
sewer before turning down an alley.
Scarlet John chuckled as he got back to his feet and started after her. He obviously knew these streets better than she did
as she had run down a blind alley to a dead end. Gripping his cane, he rushed down the alley after her. He stopped dead
in his tracks as he noticed something on the ground near the dead end. It was a woman’s skirt coat and shawl; the same
items that his prey was wearing. His eyes darted around and up, but there was nowhere to go.
‘Confused?’
It was a woman’s voice. Scarlet John turned to see Abigail step out of the shadows behind some crates. She still wore her
blouse, but she had a pair of men’s riding trousers on in place of her skirt. She also wore high boots; both must have been
concealed by her dress. She still clutched her umbrella in both hands.
‘You’ve got spirit, woman, I’ll give you that,’ Scarlet John said as he unsheathed his sword from his walking stick and
discarded the cane, ‘But you’ve made a grave mistake by not leeing when you had the chance. What sort of woman are
you anyway?’ He cocked an eyebrow at her dress. ‘Are you even a woman at all?’
‘You can’t accept a woman that says “no?”’ Abigail smiled grimly. ‘Your reign of terror is over, Scarlet John. You’ll have to
face me before you can get your bloody hands on another victim.’
Scarlet John cautiously stepped forward. He would not be fooled by her umbrella tricks a second time. He held up his
sword. ‘I fail to see how you’ll stop me. An umbrella is no match for a gentleman’s sword.’
Abigail calmly turned the handle of her umbrella and unsheathed her own sword. Scarlet John’s jaw dropped. ‘Fortunately,
I see no gentleman,’ she said as she dropped into her defensive fencing stance. ‘You, however, are facing the daughter of
a master fencer, as well as his best student. Tell me, Scarlet John, how does it feel when the hunter becomes the hunted?’
Scarlet John was shocked and embarrassed. He’d fallen for her trap hook, line and sinker and while proicient with a
sword cane, he was by no means an expert. Still, she was only a mere woman. He bellowed in rage and charged her with
his sword drawn back.
It would be the last sound he’d ever utter.
Whether it be back alley brawling, fencing challenges, or kickboxing tournaments, close combat martial arts were alive
and well in the Victorian age. While the term “martial arts” conjures images of East Asian karate, kung fu, and related
arts, the term itself means any form of combat. While historical versions of these styles did ind their way west during
the Imperial Age, especially in growing “Chinatowns” and similar communities, European close combat styles had been
developing for centuries. Many of these, including boxing, fencing, and savate, were organized into oficial schools and
tournaments. Toward the end of the Imperial Age these techniques were blended with East Asian styles to form hybrid
styles such as Bartitsu.
The Imperial Age: Fisticuffs & Swordplay
is designed to enhance martial lavor in your campaigns. Towards this end,
a number of melee combat lavored advanced classes are presented. These classes are designed to work within any
campaign (although some styles will not it in a pure historical; these are noted in the advanced class descriptions).
ASIAN MARTIAL ARTS
While
The Imperial Age: Fisticuffs & Swordplay
does not address Asian martial arts (except tangentially in the case
of Baritsu), this does not mean that you cannot include Asian martial arts in an Imperial Age campaign. London
is perhaps the most cosmopolitan city of the era and includes people from many cultures, some of whom have
brought their techniques with them. In most cases, these styles can be represented by the Martial Artist advanced
class and perhaps a few levels of advanced classes in this work.
You may, of course, wish to aid more martial arts lavor to your campaign. There are some excellent products
that can do this, including
Blood & Fists
by RPG Objects and
Martial Arts Mayhem
by the Game Mechanics, with
little adjustment. A word of caution, however; once you introduce such martial art styles and advanced ighting
mechanics to your campaign, you can expect that every player character will build a justiication into his or her
background to use them. If that’s the type of campaign you want (and indeed, some modern ‘historical’ movies and
television series revel in such anachronisms), then by all means, feel free to include them. The Imperial Age setting
is a toolkit, not a straitjacket.
FISTICUFFS BASICS
There is a common misperception in many d20 campaigns that a character needs a class in order to be considered
competent in the related art. This is patently false; any character, with the proper selection of skills, feats, talents, and
possibly occupation can claim to be a master of fencing or boxing. An advanced class simply represents an extra level of
dedication to a particular art, to the exclusion of others.
In other words, all characters may attempt to strike, grapple, bull rush, overrun, or trip an opponent. The archaic weapons
proiciency will make a character adept with a fencing foil or sword cane. A few ranks in balance and tumble will allow the
character to deftly move through combat in less than ideal circumstances. Combat Martial Arts, Brawl, and related feats
will help a character inlict more damage with his ists.
On the other hand, selecting an advanced class allows a character access to specialized maneuvers and more
opportunities to add combat-related feats. While any character with the Archaic Weapon Proiciency, Weapon Focus,
Weapon Finesse, and Weapon Specialization feats can claim to have graduated from a fencing academy, the instructors
of that academy probably have a few class levels of Fencing Master.
BARITSU MASTER
In 1893, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle penned the death of his famous
consulting detective Sherlock Holmes in “The Final Problem,” plunging
over the Reichenbach Falls locked in combat with his nemesis, criminal
mastermind Professor Moriarty. Popular demand eventually persuaded
Doyle to “resurrect” the famous detective a decade later in “The Empty
House.” Holmes explains to his friend Dr. Watson that he faked his
own death, overpowering Professor Moriarty with his skill in the art of
“baritsu.”
“I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system
of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me.”
--Sherlock Holmes, from “The Empty House.”
It is generally agreed that Doyle meant “bartitsu,” a popular martial art
in England at the time he wrote the sequel (1903) and some editions
of his story have corrected the spelling to relect this. Bartitsu was
developed by Edward William Barton-Wright, an Anglo-Indian who
had extensively traveled the globe. Bartitsu combined many martial
arts into a ighting style designed for practical self-defense rather than
competition (modern examples include Jeet Kune Do, Krav Maga, and
military/police self-defense courses). Unfortunately, Doyle created an
anachronism. While written in 1893, “The Final Problem” was set in
1891. Mr. Barton-Wright had not unveiled bartitsu (a combination of his
last name and jujitsu) until 1898.
While technically Victorian, Bartitsu would be inappropriate for any
campaign set before 1898. This creates an issue, as
the Imperial Age
covers 1880-1900, which would certainly limit the product’s utility. The
idea of a “gentleman’s martial art” has a certain appeal and I’d like to
make it available to any
Imperial Age
campaign. As such,
The Imperial
Age: Fisticuffs
& Swordplay takes the conceit that Doyle’s “baritsu” is
a ictional martial art primarily taught to Victorian gentlemen and the
aristocracy from 1880 forward.
Thus, baritsu was introduced in London by William Edward Barton,
an Anglo-Indian world traveler. Concentrating on cloak and stick
techniques, baritsu is a gentleman’s martial art. In keeping with the real
world bartitsu’s mixed style and practical applications, the Defensive
Techniques class feature allows for random selection (and includes
more techniques than can possibly be taken), as different baritsu
instructors will emphasize different techniques.
THE WALKING STICK
As the baritsu master uses his walking stick for some of his
techniques, he prefers that stick to be as balanced and elegant
as possible. While there are many variations, the most common
type of walking stick preferred by baritsu masters use the same
rules for metal batons except that their critical threat range is
increased to 18-20, they weigh 4 lbs, and they have a purchase
DC of 9. They also require the Archaic Weapons Proiciency to
use properly. They are considered light weapons.While baritsu
stick techniques can be used with a sword cane, some baritsu
masters prefer reinforced walking sticks for social concerns
(sword canes are considered swords and may be banned from
some social functions).
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The Imperial Age - Fisticuffs and Swordplay (ADM4115), RPG (po angielsku)

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