That's all beside the point. I want to play a Martial Artist. But I have every intention of buying the Horton Utilities (TM) for my Fu schticks.

(As in Prodigious Leap, Friend of Darkness and Willow Step)

But it make me feel a little guilty. Does that choice, even though I actually like all the powers, make me a closet munchkin?

Prodigious Leap is a given, I'd never be without it. I like the fact that with Friend of Darkness I can see in the dark (useful for those night-time prowlings a la Iron Monkey and Crouching Tiger). Willow Step reminds me of that line from Dune "I shall bend like a reed in the wind". But the only reason I have that is because it is the best first rank defensive Fu.

So is that the only guilty power here, or am I worrying about it too much? Has GMing tainted my style of play?

Kiero

On a completely personal note, I tend to rebel in my own humble way against the painfully obvious. I've never yet created a character with the "Horton Utilities" simply because, damn, that's too easy at this point. If everyone and their grandma knows about and uses the Utilities, then I'm not really doing anything clever by using them again.

I suppose this comes from being a game master rather than a player. I have nothing against someone using these schticks, but I'd rather make my PC different, even at the risk of having something goofy replace the HU's. Perhaps I'm twisted, but I'd much rather play a Martial Artist with, say, Hands W/o Shadow, Signature Weapon (iron prayer bead necklace, used as chain), and Natural Order. Granted, I'm not as flashy as someone leaping around with Horton's, but a year from now, who's everyone gonna recall fondly around the gaming table... the prayer-bead wielding monk who could dodge bullets, or yet another guy with Horton's?

Plus, I've always been annoyed with all that leaping about. Those Leap schticks just seem goofy to me. [Don't hate me.]

(I took Fox's Retreat, Prodigious Leap, and Clothed in Life.)

That being said, what's wrong with the Horton Utilities? They're pretty much standard in all action movies now, aren't they? Well, Willow Step is at least. Prodigious Leap is only useful if you religiously keep track of movement (which I usually don't) so its never been a problem. As for Friend of Darkness... attack the players in broad daylight or make sure your bad guys can see in the dark, too.

It's Feng Shui... you're supposed to be pulling off death-defying stunts... and you feel guilty about this?

Actually Prodigious Leap is useful when jumping and falling. Whether anyone's keeping track of movement or not, it saves you having to find a way up a storey or two if you can just jump. And short falls are no longer a worry. More to the point, it's a cool ability to have. Very Jedi, too...

Kiero

For a Martial artist, the advantages are less obvious to me because he
has enough Fu to take advantage of the more powerful schticks higher
along the Fu paths. Powerwise, I would much prefer a high reflexes
crane or a high body Tiger practitionner, and stylewise I find them
much more distinctive.

I would also require a background reason for such a diverse Martial
Arts style, but those can always be imagined with enough ingenuity.

Prodigious Leap (a must for every Fu user with more than 2 schticks), two storeys or so of height are no longer a consideration - you can just jump them. Same goes for falling. You can also move faster than an Olympic sprinter by using it multiple times. And being able to jump is cool - very wuxia and Jedi.

Friend of Darkness means you can see in the dark. Who needs night-vision equipment? Again this is very cool, and a must for the night-thief who doesn't want to carry light sources around. Since they can give you away.

Willow Step. Always reminds me of "I shall bend like a reed in the wind" from Dune. As much a state of mind as a power. And of course the way Agents and Neo in the Matrix dodge is Willow Step.

And other first rank Fu powers:

Hands without Shadow. Movie classic, Wong Fei Hung's "No Shadow Kick". Need I say more?

Natural Order. Expensive but intimidating, especially against mooks. One shoots you, you shrug. Sure the others might think to open up, but played right they may believe you are immune to bullets. Perception is everything.

Gathering of Clouds. Juggle knives whilst reciting sonnets and riding a unicycle. Or balance a sword on the tip of your nose, while standing on one foot and writing calligraphy with the other foot.

Fist of Flame. Not especially powerful, but looks cool. And intimidating too.

Eyes of the Snake. "Look into my eyes!" Become the mesmerist you always wanted to be.

I'd rather have a disparate collection of first rank powers, usable in a wide range of situation, than a narrow set of highly-specialised, and Fu-expensive higher level ones.

As to a Martial Artist having a range of powers, aside from there being no "rule" against it, I believe there are as many literary examples of breadth over focus. The most famous of which being Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do (and the Orange Principle from Blood of the Valiant), which is deliberately a blend of the "best" from different styles. Regardless of what you think of JKD, picking and choosing from a range of styles is as valid as focusing one one style. Thus an eclectic mix is just as appropriate for a Martial Artist as three from the same Path.

Kiero

Grifter

The traditional "old school" method of teaching was jealous of other styles, and studying with other schools was a gross form of treachery. But that didn't mean masters didn't take things they saw from them to improve the quality of what they were teaching.

If that kind of cross fertilisation hadn't been going on from the beginning of martial arts, we'd still be using the basic grappling techniques documented in the Yellow River Kingdom in 4000BC.

Agreed older movies often used that kind of "my style is this" and practiced against another. But more modern films were a lot broader, not least because of the popularity of Bruce Lee.

And at the end of the day, as far as the mundane parts of the arts, there are only a finite number of permutations of what the human body will do.

Kiero

I don't think you should worry about diversifying your fu powers. What matters is if you think it's cool. Cool is the epitome of the Feng Shui hero, not rationale for what schticks they have.

In my new game, the player of our Taoist swordsman also was concerned about explaining why he would have some of the schticks he had, and we discussed it. He stuck with most of the schticks he had, but ended up switching some for a path I found on the Genocide Lounge (Path of Tempered Steel), which he took the first two schticks in. Works out pretty well.

Granted I prefer to have my GMC's be more linear, but if a pc can give a cool explanation for the power, I see no reason not to allow it.

Besides, in the movies, Shaolin teaches a wide variety of styles, so learning such diverse tecniques can be as simple as stating you learned them from different masters you studied under while at Shaolin. Unlike those who chose to specialize in certain paths, your character chose to diversify his initial training. Simple, effective, and cool. That's all ya need imho :-)