Quick Question about the Martial Arts Stunt(s)

[JediDresden]

Sorry I do not have my books with me at work, but I seem to recall the Beta (?) PDF saying that the Martial arts stunt was a prereq for other stunts in the Fists section.  But in the book that reference was removed from the stunts in that section so could a character take Armed Arts with out the Martial Arts stunt first?

Can anyone give me any tips or point me to a thread that explain this better?  Thanks.

[Tedronai]

It's my understanding that the general idea was that Fists was already nerfed enough, and didn't need a further stunt tax to make it useful.

[Roxy Rocket]

In the proper version you just take whatever stunt you want.

I haven't seen the beta but the requirements were definitely removed. I think that's where Always-On items are from, the bad old beta Dresden where they had harry wrestling with a Saber Tooth Tiger!

[devonapple]

One of the goals the developers identified was to move away from Stunt trees (which came to be a major part of character-building in Spirit of the Century) and ensure all of the Stunts could stand alone.

[JediDresden]

Make sense.  Cool.  Thanks Guys.

[evileeyore]

...bad old beta Dresden where they had harry wrestling with a Saber Tooth Tiger!

That sounds like pure Tigerblooded WINNING!

[Sanctaphrax]

Does anyone know why they got rid of the stunt trees?

I kinda like the idea.

[MorkaisChosen]

At a guess, I'd say because they wanted to give you a bit more freedom- this way, you still can make a guy who knows martial arts, including some armed ones- but you can also have a character with the Armed Arts stunt representing the ability to brawl with whatever comes to hand, by using it to allow Fists to attack with bottles, chairs, tables, bits of pipe...

[Richard_Chilton]

Another guess:
The powers are huge sinks that swallow most of the refresh.  There's no way for a starting wizard to have enough spare refresh to buy a stunt tree.

If only Pure Mortals could afford to develope stunt trees than what's the use of them?

Richard

[Sanctaphrax]

Well, they let you give stunts effects that are more like those of powers. A bit stronger, and not as limited to simple skill bonuses.

What's more, they let mortals specialize better.

Mortals should get cool stuff too.

[MorkaisChosen]

Well, they let you give stunts effects that are more like those of powers. A bit stronger, and not as limited to simple skill bonuses.

What's more, they let mortals specialize better.

Mortals should get cool stuff too.

Can't you just have stunts that do that without being locked into a tree structure?

[KOFFEYKID]

This is how it was in the Beta:

Martial Artist: As a result of advanced training, you are able to recognize many styles of martial arts, using Fists as a knowledge and perception skill focused on unarmed fighting. This enables you to make assessments and declarations related to fighting styles and fighting culture using your Fists skill. This stunt may be used as a prerequisite for other Fists stunts.

Armed Arts: Requires Martial Artist. You are practiced with a small number of weapons as part of your martial arts training. Pick two weapons which logically fit in with your training (nightstick and knife with cop training, for example). You may use the Fists skill instead of Weapons when wielding these implements.

Lethal Weapon: Requires Martial Artist. Your hands are lethal weapons. When using Fists to strike an unarmored opponent, you are considered to have Weapon:2.

Redirected Force: Requires Martial Artist. You’re an expert at turning close-combat attacks (swung fists, thrust knives) against themselves. On a successful defense roll using Fists against such an attack, you may sacrifice your next action (giving this an effective limit of one per exchange) to treat the defense as a successful maneuver on your part (requiring no additional rolling), placing a maneuver aspect like Thrown to the Ground or Taken Off Balance on your attacker.