HiBRiD Grappling- An Alternative Point of View

Introduction

Anyone still chewing on my previous post? Did it seem to simple? Too complicated? Not "dice-ish" enough? Perhaps 3 steps was 2 steps too many? Perhaps, you don't play or watch tennis and the scoring is just too "European"...too erudite....or for rich snobby people? (Let me guess, you hate the metric system too...)


Perhaps you felt there weren't enough game-slowing tables, flow charts, and pages of conditions to memorize so that you can feel like you're better than anyone who doesn't play your system. Your system is the best anyway, right? And any who don't play your system or might question it or wish to raise it as a topic for discussion are just a bunch of (insert plural expletive here).


Well, I have been thinking about it with a HiBRiD^TM eye for a long time and as I thought about it again after writing my previous post, it strengthened my belief and reinforced the question I have had answered in my own mind for quite a while now: "Why does there need to even BE a "grappling system", anyway?

Before you go off, let's think about it for a second.

Let me start with the fact that in HiBRiD^TM1.0, I fell victim to the "need for grappling rules" myth. For all unarmed combat, characters had a %KO stat that different moves increased by different amounts, modified by the degree of success. When the opponent hit 100%, it was knocked out, given a broken arm, et cetera.  It was fun, but slow as all get out.

When I sat down to write v2.0, the %KO rule was one of the last rules I shredded. But why did I get rid of it? It came down to a fundamental HiBRiD^TMconcept that I wanted to capture in the ruleset: Players want to do stuff, and make things happen. This is mitigated significantly in a hit-point-based system (HPBS), which requires round after round of whittling down an opponent to 0 hit points. When a weapon is used in an HPBS, the opponent is whittled down to 0, killing them or at the least making them no longer a threat. The ultimate goal, then, whether it is to put an opponent down temporarily or kill the opponent, is simply remove that opponent as an obstacle. (Though some storylines require the killing of a monster as a central goal, of course)

In a HBPS (or any simulationist) system, what do hit points represent? They represent heroism. They represent a knowledge of how to avoid taking damage due to experience gained. They do not represent, however, actual physical damage. Unless you overlay a system of critical-hits or some other determinant for specifying damage locations, things such as lacerations, broken bones, bruises, sprains, et cetera are all abstracted into hit-points. If they weren’t, you would be playing something else (Rolemaster, Blue Planet v1.0, Morrow Project, et cetera) or have added an elaborate set of rules (which begs the question of why aren’t you playing something else?).

The Essence of Grappling

In the HiBRiD^TM way of thinking, grappling is just the same thing as fighting with a weapon just restated. If you are using an HBPS, you have made the conscious choice to have things such as broken bones, joint locks, and internal injuries abstracted away into the loss of hit points. The ultimate goal is to hold or delay an opponent, throw an opponent, control an opponent, or break an appendage. All of these things can be handled in an HPBS without the need for special rules. So, looking at it this way, a grab is just a simple roll to hit. The defender’s hit points represent all of the opponent’s resources toward avoiding the desired goal of the grapple. Hit points administered by a grapple represent the attacking character’s efforts to actually overcome the opponent’s physical and experiential resources. Once the opponent is reduced to 0 hit points, the ultimate goal of the grapple is obtained.

Why a Separate Grappling System?

If a player wants something quicker, then the group can simply agree to a house rule saying a critical success doesn’t do damage-it simply means the goal is obtained immediately. Or the group could tack on the Ité Gaming Engine. Or that player could quit whining and find a group playing something else. I would put forth that many players that want a system for grappling just want a quick workaround the hit point abstraction for their strategic advantage; players truly wanting more realism or quicker resolution would be playing something else. A director can test this easily by having a number of grappling enemies breaking a few of that player’s character’s arms, legs, and necks and gauging the player’s response.

Conclusion

Adding an additional system is inefficient, repugnant, and totally not HiBRiD^TMish . A HiBRiD^TMish system is one where one system is applied equally to all situations, with few if any special cases; there is no need for a separate grappling system and players should be subject to the same effects when opponents grapple them. In HiBRiD^TM, a modified HPBS, any character goal is represented by depleting the opponent’s hit points, regardless of whether it is a grapple, an unarmed strike, or an armed attack. And for those who have played, it is easy to see why the Ité gaming engine fits in so neatly with heroic combat; it allows the players a clean and integrated mechanic to  allow them to “make things happen”!

An Addendum:

If players want grappling to be crippling and instantly drop opponents, all they really need to do is agree to a house rule to jack up the number of hit points inflicted by a successful attack. Maybe a 1d6+STR per character level or monster hit die. That will make it ridiculously unbalanced and ridiculously quick in a snap...and gauge the same tactics to the monster power level. I would recommend the characters meet up with grapplers as skilled as themselves just to make sure they get a taste of it on the receiving end as well!