2D6 Martial Arts

I found the Colonel lying near the door. Whoever had taken him down was a pro. I hoped they weren’t still… “And who might ye be?” A long-limbed, sinewy man with a thick shock of red hair leaned almost casually against the doorframe. I hadn’t heard him approach. “If ye’re with that fellow there,’’ he indicated the prone figure of the Colonel with his chin, “Ye’d best be telling where me valuables are…or I might have to get rough with ye, too.” Judging by his physique and the way he moved, he knew how to fight. But the streets of Calpurnia taught me a few things. I gave him my best steely glint as I slowly rose to face him. Throughout literature and visual media there have been characters who have taken the path of perfecting fighting skills using their natural weapons: feet and hands, arms and legs. Preferring the power of the body over the power of the gun or sword, they manage to hold their own in most melee contests, and even sometimes prove superior to those who depend on weapons to harm opponents…although there are plenty of those, too. Some of these people’s names have become legend in reality and fiction: Bruce Lee; Toshiro Mifune; Jackie Chan; Wing Chun; Darth Maul; Batman; Rocky Balboa, The Three Musketeers, among many others. The 2D6 system isn’t really designed for detailing such characters, preferring instead to fold the relevant skills into catch-all categories such as Brawling or Melee. However, some players might like the challenge of playing an unarmed combat specialist, or a hero who disdains the use of weapons for whatever reason and would still like the option of self-defense. 2D6 Martial Arts is here to help. It’s a simple system intended for the non-martial artist (like the author) to play an ass-kicking, fear-inducing, practitioner of unarmed mayhem while providing seamless integration with the rest of the 2D6 system and games that use it like Cepheus Engine and the Original Science-Fiction Roleplaying Game. When words and diplomacy fail, it’s time for 2D6 Martial Arts.