Re: Combat Acrobatics in TFT.

[PvK <pvk@oz.net>]

It depends on what other talents are added. I played using the Defensive Quickness talents from Interplay, which simply added dice to hit someone with them, and had crazy prereqs so only some of the best fighters had them. 

Yours also adds the +3 damage effect, which is useful. The IQ effect is interesting and I actually like that mechanic but it sounds like something low-crunch players would hate.

My main feelings though are:

1) I think RAW TFT is lacking a mundane ability to fight more defensively without sacrificing all offense with the Defend option. I would want to houserule something that represents fighters trying to avoid being hurt, and takes their skill into account, and applies even to low-point-level characters, before adding talents representing combat experts on top of that.

2) Like Defensive Quickness, these expert combat talents tend to increase the steepness of the game's power curve/hierarchy - people who have them will tend to outclass low-level people even more than they already do. And there can be a "tiered" hierarchical effect when the abilities are steep enough, where the people with such talents out-class those without them, which can be a bit much, and so I think balance and flavor should be considered to make sure such effects are desired. I tend to think that high-level abilities can be fun/interesting but that I like their effects not to be huge, and for there to be a variety of builds with pros AND CONS that make them different but not just better.

3) In this case, the talent is no good until someone has high DX, but for high-DX characters, suddenly gives a -4 defensive bonus (which is hard to get in other ways - well except Blur, but this doesn't require fatigue or time) and +3 damage (which is a new way to get more damage and stacks with magic & fine weapons). So it gets better the better someone is, and represents 7 levels of superiority in ways you can't get by raising ST or DX, and for characters who are going to be paying huge amounts to get +1 attribute point, so unless every high-level fighter has several alternative cool talents to choose between, for high-level characters it will increasingly be a "do you have this or not?" ability, which is the issue I mentioned in point 2).

I prefer the GURPS treatment of Acrobatics in combat, which is there's already an active defense system, and someone with Acrobatics can attempt to make one defense per turn be "acrobatic", requiring a skill roll, and if they make it they get a modest +1 to that defense's usual chance, but it adds a risk that they screw up, making themselves easier to hit and/or falling on their butt.

4) I like things to fit my sense of what makes sense, and it seems to me acrobatics are not really usually a great idea in real combat. Being acrobatic may give you an edge, but it can also be a risk and isn't a decisive thing except in Buffy the Vampire Slayer or something.

PvK