Arena: Wrestler versus Knife Fighter

Arena: Wrestler versus Knife Fighter

This time, we decided to test out a fight between a wrestler and a knife fighter. I won't be posting maps for this one, because they aren't really necessary here.

Wrestler

ST 13     HP 16       Basic Speed 5.25

DX 10    Will 10     Basic Move 5

IQ 10      Per 10      Dodge 8

HT 11     FP 11       Parry 10 (-3 against weapons)

Punch (10): thrust 1d-1 crushing, Reach C.

Kick (8): thrust 1d crushing, Reach C-1.

Traits: Fit; Ground Guard; Hard to Subdue 2; Lifting ST 2; Power Grappling; Skill Adaptation (Sacrifice Throw (Wrestling)).

Skills: Acrobatics-9; Climbing-10; Jumping-11; Wrestling-14.

Techniques: Drop Kick-14; Elbow Drop-14; Ground Fighting-14; Sacrifice Throw-14.

Knife Fighter

ST 11     HP 11       Basic Speed 5.75

DX 12    Will 10     Basic Move 5

IQ 10      Per 10      Dodge 8

HT 11     FP 11       Parry 9

Punch (12): thrust 1d-2 crushing, Reach C.

Kick (10): thrust 1d-1 crushing, Reach C-1.

Small Knife thrust (14): thrust 1d-2 impaling, Reach C.

Small Knife swing (14): swing 1d-2 cutting, Reach C-1.

Skills: Knife-14; Wrestling-12.

Techniques: Reverse Grip (Knife)-12; Spinning Strike (Knife)-13.

Second 1

Knife Fighter: The combatants start 6 yards apart. The knife fighter has enough time and distance - he steps forward and takes a Ready maneuver to switch the knife to reverse grip.

Wrestler: The wrestler does the only move that makes sense here - a drop kick. He charges forward, jumps, and rolls 7 vs. 14 to hit. The knife fighter does not really want to get kicked, so he spends 1 FP to do a feverish dodge. He rolls 8 vs. 10, so the wrestler flies by and falls prone, with his upper body in a hex adjacent to his adversary.

Second 2

Knife Fighter: Steps into close combat with the wrestler's upper torso. Does a Committed Attack (Determined) to stab to wrestler's neck. That's +2 for Committed Attack, -5 for hit location, and -2 for attacking a prone target's neck while standing as per Martial Arts. He rolls 17 vs. 9. This is a critical failure that after a roll on the appropriate table results in the knife fighter dropping his knife.

Wrestler: Grapples the knife fighter's right leg with both hands. Due to the posture, he gets no hit location penalty at all! He rolls 11 vs. 14. The knife fighter has -2 to Dodge due to making a Committed Attack, so he opts for a feverish defense. He rolls 14 vs. 8 - his leg is grappled now.

Second 3

Knife Fighter: Unfortunately, the knife fighter does not have Brawling or Karate to perform a Stamp Kick. However, since he has Wrestling, he can try Knee Drop from default (Wrestling-4). So, he rolls against 9 vs. 8. He misses and hits the ground with his knee, taking 1d+1 (results in 3) crushing damage. His posture is kneeling now.

Wrestler: Changes posture from lying face down to kneeling.

Second 4

Knife Fighter: Since he is still grappled, and the dropped knife is within reach, he makes a DX roll to pick up the knife with a Ready maneuver. He rolls 9 vs. 12 - that's a success. He's armed and dangerous now. He picks it up in reverse grip, so he does not have to switch to it. This is not mentioned in the rules, but it seems reasonable to allow.

Wrestler: Wrenches the knife fighter's leg. He has ST 13 + Lifting ST 2 + Wrestling bonus 2 and -4 default. He rolls 13 vs. 15. The knife fighter resists with ST+4. He rolls 8 vs. 15. The wrenching fails, and the wrestler opts to release the grapple and stand up as a step.

Second 5

Knife Fighter: Stands up as a step. Does a Committed Attack (Determined) Rapid Strike one-handed  torso grapple and a reverse grip knife stab. First, he rolls 7 vs. 8 to grapple, then 8 vs. 10 to stab. The wrestler pays 1 FP to make a feverish parry against the grapple and rolls 11 vs. 12. Then, he does a sidestep dodge, rolling 9 vs. 9 against the knife stab, because Wrestling parries are at -3 against weapons.

Wrestler: He successfully did a Wrestling parry, and his Skill Adaptation (Sacrifice Throw (Wrestling)) perk allows him to use that as a setup for the Sacrifice Throw technique. He does a runaround All-Out Attack Sacrifice Throw. He also opts for a damaging throw, taking a -1 penalty to the to-hit roll. He rolls 10 vs. 13. The knife fighter is at -2 to defend due to this being a runaround attack, -2 to defend due to making a Committed Attack, and at -1 to dodge and -3 to parry due to the specifics of Sacrifice Throw. He spends 1 FP for a feverish dodge to at least have a chance, then rolls 10 vs. 5. Both fighters are now lying face up. The damaging throw deals 1d-1 crushing damage (results in 0), and forces an HT roll to avoid stun. The knife fighter rolls 13 vs. 11 and becomes stunned.

Second 6

Knife Fighter: Rolls 6 vs. 11 to recover from stun. He does so successfully and may act normally next turn.

Wrestler: Grapples the knife fighter's leg with both arms. He rolls 7 vs. 14. Due to stun and posture penalties, the knife fighter has no chance to defend at all.

Second 7

Knife Fighter: The knife fighter performs the only maneuver he thinks of that can save him here, trying to force a stun roll - an All-Out (Determined) Telegraphic kick to the face, spending 1 FP for mighty blows. He rolls 12 vs. 9. He does not have to roll to avoid falling down because he's already on the ground.

Wrestler: Does a step forward and All-Out Attack (Double) to shift grapple to torso and then pin the knife fighter. The knife fighter cannot defend, so he loses. Fight's over.

Conclusion

The wrestler did to the knife fighter what John Romero promised to do to Daikatana players. All-out attacking against a wrestler is a very bad idea in one-on-one fights, because usually that results in an All-Out Attack (Double) in response that you cannot defend against. Also, Ground Fighting is a very good technique. We got to try out Sacrifice Throw, Knee Drop, and some esoteric posture-related penalties from Martial Arts.