Lightning Reflexes.....is it worth it?

[Force]

Re: Lightning Reflexes.....is it worth it?

 

I admit that my +7 Lightning Reflexes in the example above is over the top. I would probably never allow it in any of my games without the player coming up with some extraordinary explanation.

 

To answer your question if you are buying Lighting Reflexes and Combat skill levels to represent someone with a higher DEX than you are right, you should buy the higher DEX.

 

However, that is not what I am doing. The STR example is the best example I can give. Not every Martial Artist has a 30 STR. However, because of training I could see a Martial artist doing 7d6 with a martial punch.

 

Not every NAVY SEAL is a olympic quality gymnist. However, they do have tha ability to hit often and react quickly in combat. That does't mean they have high DEX.

 

If I follow the example that Lightning Reflexes and Combat Skill levels are only bought to represent someone with a higher DEX than you could also say that Martial Arts are only bought to repesent someone with a higher STR.

 

Why buy Martial Arts that add damage from punches or STR to grabs and disarms when you can just buy STR?

 

The reason comes down to Special Effects. No my Martial Artist isn't strong enough to lift mountains, but I have trained to know where and how to hit.

 

No my NAVY SEAL isn't the most Dexterious person on the planet, but through training I have learned how to act/react in combat.

 

I agree with this assessment. I guess the +7 did throw me off. I do believe that a few levels of Lightning Reflexes along with couple of Combat Skill levels are appropriate to represent training. My whole point was if you are buying lots of them to represent 'abilities', then you should probably buy up your base dex.

[Wolf]

Re: Lightning Reflexes.....is it worth it?

 

Martial Arts started by both monks and warriors who used said forms in and for combat. And outside of the UFC and some places in the east, it is no longer used as such. Now it is a pretty show, and most practitioners have never had a true life and death scenario happen to them note I said Most, and of those most are solved with the use of firearms. I put forth that the SF and army martial arts are the only true forms left. The only ones used as they were originally intended. Put in a truly life threatening situation martial artists are just as new to it as anyone else who has not been in one. Though the mental and Physical disciplines taught are important and rare in this world… and quite similar to those taught by the military.

-Woof

[Wolf]

Re: Lightning Reflexes.....is it worth it?

 

I apologize for jacking this thread and will now leave you to the discussion at hand.

-Woof

[prestidigitator]

Re: Lightning Reflexes.....is it worth it?

 

Martial Arts started by both monks and warriors who used said forms in and for combat. And outside of the UFC and some places in the east' date=' it is no longer used as such. Now it is a pretty show, and most practitioners have never had a true life and death scenario happen to them note I said Most, and of those most are solved with the use of firearms. I put forth that the SF and army martial arts are the only true forms left. The only ones used as they were originally intended. Put in a truly life threatening situation martial artists are just as new to it as anyone else who has not been in one. Though the mental and Physical disciplines taught are important and rare in this world… and quite similar to those taught by the military.[/quote']

Martial Arts were developed by commoners who were denied conventional weapons, in order to defend themselves against those who did have them. Hence the farming implements that have evolved into weapons, and the meaning of the word Karate: "empty hand." The, "pretty show," was there from the start, and was a means of training under the noses of those who might be weary of people who appeared to be training against each other in combat. It is quite a deep and intriguing history. In any case, Martial Arts are at least 90% mental, and quite the opposite of the discipline of the military, which discourages individual, self-aware, and philosophically logical thought.

 

However, this is probably pointless to argue in any case, and is unlikely to change anyone's opinions (not to mention being far off-topic). I really did not mean to go this far, and I apologize for voicing anything that goes against what you believe. I will try to stop at this point rather than escalate matters further. I will be pleased to hear what else you might have to say on the matter, but I will let it rest myself.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Lightning Reflexes.....is it worth it?

 

I apologize for jacking this thread and will now leave you to the discussion at hand.

Beat me to it. That's what I get for being a slow typer. I'm glad we agree about something, though.

[Herolover]

Re: Lightning Reflexes.....is it worth it?

 

I just want to point out that there are Special Forces and then there are "Special Forces." An example of this is the Army's Ranger and the Navy's Seal teams.

 

Yes the Army's Ranger is considered a "special forces" unit, but I would only give them a few more things than a nomral soldier. On the other hand a Navy Seal is wow. In the DC champs book it would take most of a 150 point character's points just to buy the package deal.

 

I once read a book about the training Seal Team 6, the anti-terrorist team, went through. It got to the point in live fire urban training that the soldiers were hitting their targets all the time. So, they took 3x5 cards and placed them over the heart and head of the targets. They only got credited with a kill of they hit the 3x5 card.

 

That said, now, a person spending a lifetime doing something isn't equivalent to a person spending part of their life doing it.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Lightning Reflexes.....is it worth it?

 

For your information Special Operational Forces are usually...

 

Like I said, a run-of-the-mill action hero. The only difference is that in real life it takes that kind of training and dedication and in the films all it takes is a good writer.

 

Oh, and prestidigitator, as far as the Hero System is concerned Martial Arts are fighting and not anything else. A way of life would be buying the KS and other related Skills that goes with it.

[Osprey]

Re: Lightning Reflexes.....is it worth it?

 

Thats a strange interpretation of lightning reflexes' date=' only to grab guns?[/quote']

 

Not when you consider that Lightning Reflexes first appeared in WESTERN HERO and was called "Quck Draw" Skill.

 

 

 

(Boy I feel old. Are Aaron Allston and Mark Williams still fighting?)

[lemming]

Re: Lightning Reflexes.....is it worth it?

 

(Boy I feel old. Are Aaron Allston and Mark Williams still fighting?)

Sadly, Mark Williams died in the 90s.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Lightning Reflexes.....is it worth it?

 

Not when you consider that Lightning Reflexes first appeared in WESTERN HERO and was called "Quck Draw" Skill.

...and now we have both Quick Draw and Lightning Reflexes, I believe. I wish I had remembered to check on that when I got home. isn't Quick Draw the more appropriate one to use for the example of being limited to the drawing of a weapon?

[Ki-rin]

Re: Lightning Reflexes.....is it worth it?

 

I just want to point out that there are Special Forces and then there are "Special Forces." An example of this is the Army's Ranger and the Navy's Seal teams.

 

Yes the Army's Ranger is considered a "special forces" unit, but I would only give them a few more things than a nomral soldier. On the other hand a Navy Seal is wow. In the DC champs book it would take most of a 150 point character's points just to buy the package deal.

 

I once read a book about the training Seal Team 6, the anti-terrorist team, went through. It got to the point in live fire urban training that the soldiers were hitting their targets all the time. So, they took 3x5 cards and placed them over the heart and head of the targets. They only got credited with a kill of they hit the 3x5 card.

 

That said, now, a person spending a lifetime doing something isn't equivalent to a person spending part of their life doing it.

...and First Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta is even tougher to get into and made up of even more impressive folk.

 

200 CP for a SFOD-Delta member would not be outrageous. And they aren't allowed to have much in the way of -any- Dis Ads.