The Sword Polisher’s Record
FISTS & FIENDS RULES ADDENDUM
The following dev log is devoted to:
Rules updates/addendums post Fists & Fiends 1.0 book printing. The changes listed below are ‘official updates’ by Randy Brown, after careful consideration and further playtest sessions for current and unannounced projects. The following addendums will be represented in future book releases.
CREDITS: The title of this devlog is inspired by one of my favorite martial arts books at the time of my first year of training back in 1999. Recommended by my coach at the time, The Sword Polisher’s Record by Adam Hsu was inspirational in my early training.
Player’s Handbook & GAMEMASTER’S GUIDE
ACTIONS
DODGE (SLOW ACTION) *UPDATED — Roll Agility vs any type of attack or grab.
FIRE WEAPON (FAST ACTION) *UPDATED — If a target is running away while you are using AIM, and they are >20m add +1. If the target is <20m add +2.
MOVEMENT
Crawl, Walk, Run — no roll required unless in combat or using stealth.
FLEE — REMOVED*.
DISENGAGE — REMOVED*.
CRAWL — Crawl consumes both actions. Move 1 to 3m/round. The faster the movement the less stealth bonus. +2 (1m), +1 (2m). No roll required unless in combat or using stealth.
ENGAGE (SLOW ACTION) — close distance with an enemy from Stones Throw to Melee. Can be used as a FAST ACTION within melee range to change opponents.
MOVE & COVER (FAST & SLOW ACTION) — NEW! — You move as deft and dexterous as the wind, closing or gaining distance with extreme speed, then executing a feat of acrobatic spectacle — leaping, ducking, diving, jiving or jinking behind cover. Combines RUN (20m), and TAKE COVER actions. Requires STAMINA III+, and AGILITY III+.
*Use RUN instead. Disengage is unnecessary. ESCAPE is used to exit a grapple, and someone getting a FREE hit when running away is unrealistic to actual melee combat. Unless dealing with ranged weapons this is not a factor (See FIRE WEAPON addendum above).
ATTACK PENALTIES
-2 to STRIKE in a STANDING GRAPPLE unless AGILITY level III+ and STRIKE skill level III+.
-4 to KICK in a STANDING GRAPPLE unless AGILITY level III+ and KICK skill level III+.
UNTRAINED Kicks require Agility roll every attack regardless of success/fail.
CHARACTER CREATION
TENETS (optional): List three words that define and guide your character through life. Use these when making decisions for your character. (see pre-gen characters in the F&F Character Sheet book for examples).
WEIGHT CLASS (OPTIONAL)
Roll for weight class during character creation. This new option can simplify the process of choosing a weight class as well as create a more dynamic and interesting gameplay experience where players are forced to deal with more variation than they might by picking a middle of the road weight. Weight class matters when grappling in Fists & Fiends, smaller characters have a speed advantage on GRAPPLE-ATTEMPTS, while larger weight classes get an advantage to the GRAPPLE-ATTACK.
Use the following table to determine weight class if you prefer this method:
BACKGROUNDS
Bannerman - Nomad — +1 Strength. Years of fighting on horseback has given you a hardiness others lack. Roll Iron Body (2), once/game session. Fire a bow with 1 less penalty for range.
Security-Escort — Keen Eyes. +1 Perception. The hairs on the back of your neck stand up when enemies lurk nearby. You get: +2 to Perception rolls when trying to spot a sneak attack. +1 Communication roll once/day. +1 to any Defense action once/day.
Barbarian — Khan’s Decree -
• +1 Accuracy with a bow. Reload, Ready Weapon are Free Actions with a bow.
• +1 Stamina and ignore weight class penalties when stand-up grappling.
• +1 Grapple-Attempt/Attack roll once per gaming session.
Monk — Third Eye - +1 Willpower. Burn 1 incense. Enter a deep undisturbed meditation for:
2 hours. Heal 1 damage, and 1 virulence level of a disease per Fighting Spirit spent. Or,
4 hours, foregoing healing. Emerge with 4 Fighting Spirit.
COTTON BOXER: IRON-NEEDLE TALENT EXPLAINED
“NOVICE (D6 Fight Die). Spend 1 Fighting Spirit to roll AGILITY vs any type of incoming attack to avoid it as your defense (stunts allowed). ROOT is a Free Action. No penalty to AGILITY while rooting.”
Anytime AGILITY is used to defend an attack rather than the matched skill, e.g. BLOCK a STRIKE, CHECK a KICK, SPRAWL vs a takedown, or EVADE a THROW, it costs 1 Fighting Spirit to do so.
Why this matters? — Due to the counter-fighter nature of the Cotton Boxer class, coupled with their Combat Stunts predominantly being triggered by AGILITY roll, players usually prioritize the AGILITY Skill during character creation over the other aforementioned Skills. If for example, a character has AGILITY III, but STRIKE II, GRAPPLE-STANDING II, or KICK 0, the Cotton Boxer’s Iron-Needle Talent gives them a strong advantage to defend with AGILITY, increasing the probability of shutting down the attack, and pulling off a stunt.
Cotton Boxers should rarely need to use the DODGE action due to this ability.
EXPERIENCE POINTS (XP)
Question 1 changed to:
Insertion Roll missions result in XP awards reflecting the difficulty in surviving a mission gone sour. This reflects learning from your mistakes/failures. Surviving after a dire insertion roll awards more XP to the character. If the Insertion was easy, your character learned less (why fix what isn’t broken) and therefore gain less experience.
NO Insertion Roll mission = 1XP automatic.
GMs use the following scale for XP awards:
0 to 1 on insertion roll = 4XP
2 successes = 3 XP
3 successes = 2 XP
4+ successes = 1 XP
WEAPONS
UNSKILLED WEAPON USE (pg 99) - Missing Text:
Unskilled Weapon Penalty: “Using a weapon without the appropriate skill level in that weapon type (pole, blade, etc.), triggers the following penalty in addition to the ‘Untrained Critical Failures’ penalty noted on page 100.
-X to Attack with that weapon for each missing level of Weapon Skill prerequisite. Example: A Monk Spade requires a Pole Weapon 2 or above skill level. Therefore you take -2 to attack penalty. If you have Pole Weapon 1, then you take -1 to attack.
