Martial Arts

In M20 Core, Martial Arts is a Primary Ability in addition to Brawl, which confers 2 combat maneuvers per dot.

On Modern Nights, we have a drastically smaller Ability list to reduce skill bloat, meaning Martial Arts is no longer on the list, and you choose from Athletics, Brawl, Melee and Firearms for combat stats. Where the book asks you to use Martial Arts, use Brawl instead. We also have only approved a number of the Martial Arts maneuvers, as several of them render the standard combat maneuvers vestigial.

There are 10 possible Martial Arts Maneuvers in our selection, which is as follows:

• Deflecting Block
• Dragon Tail Sweep
• Joint Lock
• Throw
• Nerve Strike
• Thunder Kick
• Vital Strike*
• Block Projectile**
• Withering Grasp.

There are also 5 Dirty Fighting Maneuvers in our selection:

• Blinding
• Body Slam
• Curbstomp
• Head Butt
• Pistol Whip.

(*) Vital Strike is house ruled: Vital Strike allows you to apply Lethal Damage instead of Bashing Damage by specifically first using the Called Shots/Targeted Location mechanic.

(**) Block Projectile allows you to catch thrown objects or arrows with a Dex + Brawl roll vs 8 as seen on page 411 of M20.

Omitted Martial Arts and Dirty Fighting maneuvers are not available on Modern Nights. To acquire the available maneuvers, you need to have a Brawl rating of 3+. Then, you can purchase each individually at a flat rate of 3 XP per maneuver. This is regardless of if it is a Dirty Fighting or a Martial Arts technique.