This is technically a thread necro, in the sense I did do this kind of idea before. But it's also a thread refresh, in that I've come back to this concept of mine for a Fighting Style mechanic, and decided to reword it to make the wording shorter, more simple, and a little more loose in some sense on who gets a bonus against who.

So, before I begin posting dials, the mechanic.

Fighting Styles

Fighting Styles are listed on the character card. Throughout media (comics, games, movies, etc.) there are people with exceptional fighting skills above your typical goon or civilian. These people excel in hand-to-hand combat, and sometimes can outclass even those with super powers in terms of raw skill. This skill can even the playing field between a non-powered martial artist and a metahuman in some cases.

In HeroClix, this is usually portrayed in high Attack and Defense values printed on the dial, resulting in point costs being raised too, or having to load up various martial artists with the same powers over and over despite disparities in their actual practice.

Fighting Styles Mechanic is an attempt to streamline and simplify some of this across the board for human and super human fighters alike with skills.

The Actual Mechanic

Fighting Style(s): When a character with one or more listed Fighting Styles makes a close attack or is the target of a close attack, it modifies it's Attack and Defense Value +2 against characters with no listed Fighting Styles, and +1 against characters whose listed fighting styles do not match this character's (Including if the two characters share some but not all listed fighting styles). This bonus is applied per target.

Example in Action: Superman attacks Batman. Superman has no Fighting Style listed, Batman does. Superman attempts a close attack on Batman, so Batman would get +2 to his Defense against it.

Same two characters, Superman tries a range attack. Batman does not get +2 defense because it's not a close attack.

Batman attacks Superman, close attack, +2 to his attack for having better Martial Arts skill in the form of a fighting style, but if he tried ranged, no bonus.

However, none of this directly means Batman necessarily hits harder against Superman. He may be more precise, but he's still got to find a way to get past damage reduction.

Different Example: Batman attacks Lady Shiva. Both have one or more listed Fighting Styles, but while they may have one or two matching styles, Lady Shiva has one that Batman does not. In this case, when either of them attacks the other in Close Combat, they both get +1 to Attack and Defense for it because, while they share some fighting styles, they do not have all the same fighting styles, even though this is because Shiva has one more than Batman in this example. While it could be argued this would make Shiva better in martial arts, it could also be counter-argued that Batman's more skilled in the arts he does have, while Shiva has more diverse styles but less skill in each one.

I think the game has enough bonuses to keep track of and its an unnecessary complication that can be simulated with preexisting powers from the PAC (ES/D and CR) and it neglects that every Fighting Style has a strength, but also a weakness.

Not sure if you’ve played D&D but fighting style is already a mechanic present in that game. It’s not like ‘Ninjitsu, Kung Fu, Judo, etc’ and is a lot more general in its application. One handed weapons, two handed weapons, shield use, dual wielding etc. They actually require equipping something to gain the bonus (minus class specific Monk) and nothing of the ‘if you don’t hit me with exactly this’ you may as well not try.

It does probably need some refining, though the basic premise was indeed, not everyone qualifies for it.

But I can see it probably as a separate universe mechanic similar to the WWE rules, at least for awhile, given only to a handful of figures from a non major comic brand universe. I have a particular manga/anime I used last time I pitched this idea, to compliment it too.

Part of why I even paired the Fighting Styles mechanic with it was to avoid a lot of repetitive use of Combat Reflexes and excessively high printed attack values.

Though I did also combine it with Fighting Style Traits, but that's similar to different figures having traits sharing the same name, so that's not new or necessarily worth folding into this idea right now until the core of it is refined.

Full disclosure: I'll never forget you explaining why your Bruce Lee didn't have Close Combat Expert-- he can't punch through walls.

You saying that changed the way I think about CCE-- I dislike it when it makes a character with human-level abilities able to punch through walls or injure Kryptonians (or their equivalents) unassisted. I've also come to dislike characters that have CCE but can't make ranged attacks. In that case, just give them higher base stats, as CCE no longer has strategic flexibility!

Preface aside, I think the first part of of this --the Fighting Style granting +2 Attack & Defense against characters who don't have it, +1 against those that do, and no bonus against ranged attacks-- feels like a shared trait that one might see in a full set-- like if someone made a Heroes for Hire or Assassins of DC set (I'd enjoy to see you make either).

The second part, interactions with different fighting styles, is very interesting but feels like it could be too complicated if each style is described in a discreet special ability/trait. If those different styles are only shown through standard abilities and combat values, that might be sufficient, but I could see leaving out that portion just for digestibility.

That said, what you're outlining does, as ComicJunkie says, sounds like a discreet game. That's not a bad thing! A few years ago, ideas I had for a Resident Evil set wound up transforming into a prototype for an original game. Maybe you're in the process of designing an original game? If so, you could start with how complex you want your fighting mechanics to be, what individual fighting styles do and how they interact, and streamline it from there. I could see that kind of game being pretty rad!

If you’re going to go with WWE style you may as well finish off the color sets for round powers. It’d likely be the easiest way to keep track of them. The reason I dig the 2020 to present rules is the inherent counter each power brings to another power. Barrier isn’t as nasty when Super Strength is across the table. Battle Fury has its drawbacks but inherently supersedes three powers.

I like that the idea can generally counter itself but if it’s found in a modifier within a complicated trait that doesn’t reference a standard power there is little by way of getting around it outside of silver bullets or bringing your own excessively wordy modifying trait. Tie it to a PAC and those problems are solved. I played Mage Knight and so did quite a few other people so having a PAC with double the powers isn’t as intimidating as you might think.