Them Fighting Hooves - Equine Martial Arts

    In one of my gruesomely unproductive days (which happen too often to not be an issue), I was re-reading a copy of GURPS: Furries. As it happens to me every time I read this book, I've stopped on the page for Houyhnhnm racial template. Something about these cold-minded horse people being included in the Furries book is deeply funny to me. Not to mention that at that point I was actively thinking about racial templates to include in a new swashbuckling setting, inspired by Alchemical Baroque. 

    Houyhnhnm have a special style in GURPS: Furries, one that only sapient horses can use effectively. So I read it and was like "what if... I made more of styles like that?". So here's that. I made three more styles for sapient horses of various kinds to use in games. This caters to what I assume to be an expansive underground audience of people who desperately want to play an equine martial artist, but couldn't achieve their hidden dream before. Enjoy.

Hriighaa                                                                                                        4 points

 

This one is a style, invented by more combative and open-minded Houyhnhnm (Furries, p 30), after their exposure to a fencing culture, quite foreign to them at the time. Hriighaa (which translates to something akin to “aggressive stabbing” in Houyhnhnm language) is a calculated and methodical martial art of using a special horned helmet (called “Pfffhr-iiigh”, if that bit of language matters to the reader). It draws heavily on mathematics and science, favoring cold, analyzed movements and precise strikes. The stylists prefer to Evaluate and Wait until their opponent makes an opening, which they can exploit through Counterattack. Sometimes, they lock “horns” to potentially put opponents into a vulnerable position. Hriighaa is often practiced alongside Hnarff, forming a relatively balanced family of combat disciplines.
Houyhnhnm who venture outside of their lands, may translate their combat skills to oppose non-equine opponents. They might even wear heavy armor to ensure optimal defense against unexpected attacks.
Cinematic stylists can achieve perfection of mind and position, highly resistant to any attempts of trickery due to their rational minds.
Houyhnhnm themselves would never stoop so low as to allow a human to ride themselves. Sapient horses of more agreeable kind could add Mount to the list of skills, or pair this style with Heroic Steed (pyramid 3-111 p 27)

 

Skills: Karate, Wrestling, Mathematics/TL3 (Pure)

Techniques: Locking Horns; TA Horn Thrust/Neck; TA Horn Thrust/Face; TA Horn Thrust/Vitals; Rearing Kick; Feint (Karate); Counterattack (Karate); Headbutt

Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength; Immovable Stance

Cinematic Techniques: Springing Attack; Symbol Carving

Perks: Iron Neck; Rapid Retraction 1-3 (Horn Stab); Armor Familiarity; Sure-Footed (Uneven); Rolling Stone.

 

Optional Traits

Advantages: Increased ST Combat Reflexes; Danger Sense; Enhanced Parry (Karate); Unfazeable; Weapon Master, Striker (Horn).

Disadvantages: Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents); Code of Honor;

Skills: Philosophy (Rationalism); Tactics; Teaching; Body Language; Rapier.

Techniques: Bind Weapon (Karate); Disarming (Karate).

Perks: Chi Resistance (Kiai); Chi Resistance (Invisibility Art); Skill Adaptation (Bind Weapon to Karate).

Unicorn Horn-Dance                                                                                   4 points

 

This is a style practiced by true unicorns in their communities, be they wild forests, shining castles or small villages of their kind. It is intended for use both against other unicorns, and various enemies of nature and horse-kind. In a way, Horn-Dance is an ultimate unicorn style. The combat emphasizes fencing with horns, as if they were swords, and ramming as if they were lances. The fight resembles a wild dance, with unicorns retreating and jumping at each other at high speed, seeking to get injure the opponent. Hooves are also utilized, to attack from angles off the horn arc, and against enemies less susceptible to impaling attacks.

Some unicorns battle terrible opponents (Including chimeras, dragons and various shapeshifting predators), and so have to learn techniques to improve their Dodge. Those noble unicorns, who allow themselves to be ridden by fair maidens (or valiant knights) should learn Mount as an optional skill.

Cinematic stylists ramp up the pace even more, being able to run enemies with their horn from the spot, and deafen them with their mighty neighs.

 

Skills: Karate; Sumo Wrestling; Judo

Techniques: Feint (Horn); Lock Horns; TA Horn Thrust/Neck; TA Horn Thrust/Face; TA Horn Thrust/Vitals; TA Horn Slam/Neck (Sumo); TA Horn Slam/Vitals (Sumo); TA Horn Slam/Face (Sumo); Rearing Kick; Back Kick (Karate); Dual Back Kick (Karate); Stamp (Karate); Axe Kick (Karate); Trip (Sumo Wrestling or Judo); Aggressive Parry (Karate); Counterattack (Karate); In and Out (Karate).

Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance, Flying Leap; Kiai; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Flying Lunge (Karate)

Perks: Skill Adaptation (Flying Lunge to Karate) and (Trampling to Karate); Ramming Speed; Rapid Retraction (Horn Thrust); Armor Familiarity; Iron Neck.

 

Optional Traits

Secondary Traits: Improved HP, Basic Speed or Move.

Advantages: Enhanced Parry (Karate or Sumo) or Dodge; Fearlessness; High Pain Threshold; Combat Reflexes; Extra Attack; Enhanced Move (Ground); Weapon Master.

Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Chivalry); Sense of Duty (Nature)

Skills: Rapier; Lance; Mount; Jumping

Techniques: Evade; Skirt Death from Above; Skirt Death from Below: Bind Weapon (Karate); Disarming (Karate)

Perks: Skill Adaptation (Bind Weapon and Disarming to Karate).

Sonic Bolt Training                                                                                      5 points

 Prerequisites: Flight (at least Winged); DR 3+ or ability to resist self-damage from slams

Sonic Bolt Training is a martial art of very  hot-headed pegasi, emphasizing speed and force over all else. While more sane pegasi probably fight using a more cautious and graceful winged style (for example, Winged Victory from Pyramid 3-14), the fights of the practitioners resemble plane dogfights, with pegasi doing high-speed maneuvers and striking each other, trying to drop or injure their opponent. Most used attack in the style is getting to high speed and ramming your enemy with your whole mass. The combat tactics can seem unusually aggressive, with All-Out or Committed attacks being commonplace. At the same time, aerobatic dodging and evasive maneuvers are employed, to avoid a hit. Due to inherent fragility of pegasus wings, most fights end in one or two strikes. Pegasi don’t tend to wear much armor, extra weight slowing down flights and wings being notoriously hard to armor, so any kind of active defense is welcome.

Bolt Training is cinematic enough of itself, but there are rumors of truly awesome stylists blowing their opponents from the sky with wing buffets, parrying arrows with their hooves and breaking sound barrier in a reality-defying attack.

 

Skills: Aerobatics, Flying, Brawling, Sumo Wrestling

Techniques: Human Missile (Aerobatics); Wing Buffet; Evade; Aerial Sweep; Aerial Trip; Evade; Elbow Strike; Stamp: Back Kick: Double Back Kick; Kicking; Rearing Kick.

Cinematic Skills: Precognitive Parry; Push; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Lethal Strike; Timed Defense (Brawling)

Perks: Sure-Footed (Windy); Ramming Speed.

 

Optional Traits

Secondary Characteristics: Increased Air Move, Increased FP, Increased HP

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Enhanced Move (Air), Damage Resistance

Skills: Wrestling