Intermission: Archery Styles
Styles were added to GURPS Fourth Edition in Martial Arts , and represent a great tool for characterisation and for widening the combat space. Player characters don't just know Broadsword, they know Iaijutsu , which distinguishes them from the random bandits that jump them. Having Style Familiarity also vastly increases the number of perks you have available, as shown in the table below, which can make or break a character. I defy you to build a samurai without at least Grip Mastery and Form Mastery! For the GM, the use of combat styles can help with world-building by distinguishing some factions from others, or some players from others. It can also act as a justification for granting enemies abilities and options the players don't have access to, with the added bonus that it might be available at some point (after a long quest to prove their worth, of course). It subtly shifts the responsibility for remembering combat rules from the GM onto players, too: if everyone can Ripo...