Helping My Players - "Wrestler" Character

[jb.teller4]

Over on the Yahoo FATE group, Lenny Balsera gave the following reply when I was asking some questions about Might skill and wrestling:  I added bolding to two sentences that seemed particularly pertinent to this thread, but the whole reply seemed worth copying.

So, Might is the lead skill in grappling, which basically allows you to put the nastiest of blocks on an opponent ever (as in, one that applies to all his actions) while doing gradual damage to him. If your GM goes with the "cannot spellcast while grappled" interpretation, it also happens to be one of the best anti-wizard combat applications. If your GM goes with the "increased difficulty for spellcasting", it still forces the wizard's magic to be more costly, which doesn't suck. Yes, you'll probably have to spend fate points and make good use of stacked maneuvers to keep your block values high, but I'd argue that's true of any conflict tactic.

The book says that if you can ensure a one-on-one exchange, you could probably justify rolling Might instead of Fists, even if you don't necessarily grapple as per the formal definition above. This is largely a situational, color distinction, but an important one, because Fists is the primary physical conflict skill. YMMV may vary on that - I'd probably let the Might guy go to town if he had a "ring" to fight in with one opponent.

Might solves a lot of physical problems, if you're willing to bend, lift, and break things. It's no different from Athletics in that regard, which solves physical problems if you're willing to jump or climb over things. Some of that awesomeness therefore relies on the GM knowing what skills her players have and fine-tuning situations appropriately, but I'd argue that's true of any skill in the game.

Might modifies any reasonable (read: most) uses of Fists or Weapons in physical conflict. It's not as unbalancing as it sounds, given that to modify the skill positively in the first place, Might has to be higher than the primary. So, the most that'll happen is that your character will be fighting at the level of his Might, presuming that his Fists or Weapons is one rank down. That's precisely why, in the powers section, Strength powers allow Might to give the +1 *regardless* of its value.

So, I think there's a broad enough utility there to justify it as its own skill.


-L

(Note: The last sentence is in reply to my original question in the vein of asking whether Might was worth being its own skill.)

I would also add in support of the second bolded sentence (about Might modifying most uses of Fists and Weapons) the first sentence under the Wrestling trapping of the Might skill description (YS pg. 135):

In combat, Might can help you with particular applications of Fists and Weapons: if physical force is a very significant element at play, Might will modify (page 214) the primary skill.

-John B.

[Crion]

@jb.teller4: Thanks for sharing that post from the Yahoo Fate Group. The first bolded section is useful and will be something to consider with this guy whenever he's in the "ring," regardless of stunts. I also overlooked the second part, and will have to read into the Might skill a bit more to get a better feel on this. Thanks again.

[JosephKell]

@JosephKell: Those are great options for stunts. I haven't really put much thought into it (especially not knowing what exactly the guy is considering), and I'm not as familiar with the line of thought he's approaching. If you have any other random thoughts/samples/advice on stunt making, I would be more than happy to hear it.

Well so far I have only suggested "offensive" stunts.  So I figured I would throw out some defensive ones.

In my mind, there are three main ways to escape a grapple: slither out (Athletics), overpower (Might), or hurt the guy grappling you enough to make him let go (Fists or Weapons).
Slippery Wrestler (Athletics): You know just how to pivot to shake the best body locks.  You get +2 Athletics to escape a grapple.
Lock Breaker (Might): Practice makes perfect, and you've practiced how to overpower a hold.  You get +2 Might to escape a grapple.
Dirty Fighter (Fists): All is fair in love, war, and wrestling; you'll claw, pinch, grab, and bite anyone crazy enough to tackle you.  You get +2 Fists when attacking a target that is grappling you, if you inflict a physical consequence as part of the attack, you immediately break the grapple.

Does a +2 Fists and escaping the grapple seem too much?  I mean the target has to accept a consequence, especially since accepting consequences represents a commitment to the fight.  Almost sounds like a grappler that would accept consequences would be more willing to keep holding on.  I just convinced myself.

In this sense a target is grappling you if they are executing the grapple action (the block) on you.  Remember, as per usual, for an action to occur while being grappled, I think you have to meet/exceed the block value.  So a +2 to escape (or claw someone's eyes out) might not actually mean that much if they are a good grappler.

Also, "grappler" is apparently not a real word.

I posted my thoughts on "throwing people" in Papa Gruff's thread.