Seven Vector Swordsmanship

Alternate Names: Melee Geometrics, Shinjurai Kendo

In the ancient days of the Shinjurai people, before the Crusades of Alexus Rex, before the superstitions of the Akashic Mysteries, when the Galaxy was fresh and the Shinjurai people ascendant, they practiced an ancient martial art using the ceramic katana. This weapon combined the strength of nanomaterials with the precision of manufacture that gave it an ultra-hardened edge that was monomolecular in width. This made it an incomparably sharp weapon. Ceremonial guards, elite assassins and the finest nobles all carried one. Then Maradon created the force sword and overnight, made the weapon obsolete.

Shinjurai swordsman struggled to keep their traditional art form relevant. They studied the weaknesses and strengths of Maradonian force swordsmanship. They learned to angle and treat their blades to deflect the worst of the destructive power of the force sword, and to use their mastery of combat geometrics to determine the lines of attack blasters would make and then use their weapon to deflect those blasts in imitation of the maradonian space knight. But despite their best efforts, they couldn’t defeat the crusades and the Shinjurai worlds fell and the art of Seven Vector Swordsmanship fell with it.

Today, the weapon and its practitioners remain something of a curiosity. The material nature of the weapon allows cyborgs and genetically augmented Shinjurai to leverage their strength in ways that the force sword cannot, and this does offer an advantage, if a niche one. Seven Vector Swordsmanshipka struggle to keep their ancient art alive, embracing the memories of an era before the force sword, and the most dedicated can unlock some of the storied promises of the superiority of the ceramic katana to the force sword.

Seven Vector Swordsmanship

5 points

Skills: Broadsword, Mathematics, Meditation, Philosophy (Neo-Rationalism).

Techniques: Feint (Broadsword), Targeted Attack (Broadsword/Arm), Targeted Attack (Broadsword/Neck), Targeted Attack (Broadsword/Skull).

Cinematic Skills: Power Blow, Precognitive Defense.

Cinematic Techniques: Timed Defense (Force Sword).

Perks: Academic Power Blow, Combat Quotations, Grip Mastery (Broadsword), Ethnic Cool Weapon (Ceramic Katana), Geometric Deflection, Interception Calculus.

Optional Traits: Fearlessness [2/level], Lightning Calculator [2], Striking ST +1 to +5, Weapon Master (Broadsword).

Optional Skills: Armoury (Melee), Fast-Draw (Sword), Literature (Neo-Rational).

Optional Perks: Weapon Bond (Broadsword).

Seven Vector Swordsmanship Traits

Advantages

Foresight (Single Combat): Your character can have the equivalent to a gizmo or have prepared some special means of defeating a specific foe, provided they had the opportunity to study their opponent in combat already. This tends to be limited to anticipating surprise attacks, or having something on hand to exploit a specific (known) weakness of a single target. 5 points.

Perks

Academic Power Blow: The character may treat Power Blow as an academic IQ-based skill. This allows them to give it an optional specialization and represents a distinct body of lore on how to maximize the impact of a particular weapon. At the GM’s discretion, this perk can allow a character to forgo the need to learn Weapon Master or Trained by a Master.

Combat Statistics: The character may always roll Mathematics as a Complementary Roll to a Tactics roll; this requires an additional hour to perform the necessary calculations, unless the character has Lightning Calculator, in which case it requires only 10 minutes, or Intuitive Mathematician, in which case it takes no time at all.

Combat Quotation (Neo-Rationalism): The character gains the ability to make a Combat Quotation. This requires either an appropriate Literature or Philosophy skill roll; on a success, the character gains the equivalent to a Secret Styles bonus: on an attack the target suffers a -1 to defend, or the character gains a +1 to defense; if this attack or defense roll succeeds, the character also gains a +1 reaction from any Believers in the philosophy or those who are culturally bound to the appropriate literature. In the context of Seven Vector Swordsmanship, this refers to Neo-Rationalism. As with Secret Styles, the character may only use this perk once per battle per level of the quirk.

Ethnic Cool (Shinjurai Ceramic Katana): Your character has mastered the full potential of the unique characteristics of the Ceramic Katana, and all the legends about it are true! Add +1 to all damage rolls with a Ceramic Katana, and halve the penalty for multiple parries, as though it were a Fencing weapon.

Geometric Deflection: Prerequisite: Lightning Calculator or Intuitive Mathematician. The character has learned to angle their blade perfectly to maximize the blade’s durability against an attack. On any failed breakage roll, the character may roll Mathematics to prevent the breakage, unless the roll is impossible to succeed (that is, if the attack is certain to destroy the blade, clever movements won’t help).

Interception Calculus: Prerequisite: Lightning Calculator or Intuitive Mathematician. The character may learn Precognitive Defense and Timed Defense without Trained by a Master, but their skill may be no higher than their Mathematics. Furthermore, they may perform a Mathematical Parry, where they perfectly predict the angle of the next attack to maximize their parry; they may roll Mathematics to gain a +2 to a single parry in a turn; this is not cumulative with the bonus +1 to Parry from Precognitive Defense.

Personal Tactics: If the character succeeds at a Tactics contest with the target before the battle (for example, by planning in advance), reduce their margin of victory by 1. In the battle with the target, they may explicitly claim a single “Abstract” combat reroll (even if the fight is using a different benefit for Tactics) for themselves (ignoring the rule about leaders giving away rerolls) at any time; they must still explain how the tactics of cover and formation (etc) altered the outcome, but the GM should be exceptionally generous with the flimsiest of explanations.

Techniques

Running Attack: Hard; Defaults to Prerequisite Skill-5; Prerequiste: any Combat skill, cannot exceed prerequisite skill; See GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-Ups page 12. This removes the penalties for Move-and-Attack.

Seven Vector Swordsmanship Power-Ups

Seven Vector Swordsmanship – Student:

20 points
Prerequisite: None

The student of Seven Vector Swordsmanship must master the essential basics of swordsmanship and the proper handling of the monomolecular-edged katana, but their study comes combined with extensive mathematics and a detailed array of geometry and calculus formulas. The student must typically be able to answer these math questions intuitively and instantly while also practicing with their blade. Part of this study includes the essential first step of Melee Geometrics, which is the correct prediction of incoming melee attack vectors, so they can parry with exceptional ease. All of this is taught to the student under the umbrella of Neo-Rationalism.

Advantages: Lightning Calculator [2]; Striking ST +1 [1].

Perks: Grip Mastery (Broadsword) [1]; Interception Calculus [1]; Style Familiarity (Seven Vector Swordsmanship) [1].

Skills: Broadsword (A) DX+2 [8]; Mathematics (H) IQ [4]; Meditation (H) Will-2 [1]; Philosophy (Neo-Rationalism) (H) IQ-2 [1].

Seven Vector Swordsmanship – Adept:

20 points
Prerequisite: Seven Vector Swordsmanship – Student

The character’s training in swordsmanship and mathematics continues, but the Adept excels at combining both. They learn to understand the nature of their blade, where it is strong and where it is weak, and they learn to manipulate their blade to maximize its ability to survive contact with dangerous weapons, such as force swords. They also learn to maximize their interception calculus, predicting incoming arcs of fire with near superhuman precision, allowing them to preemptively move the blade to deflect incoming blaster fire.

Perks: Geometric Deflection [1]; Striking ST +1 [1].

Skills: Armoury (Melee) (A) IQ [2]; Fast-Draw (Sword) (E) DX+1 [2]; Precognitive Defense (H) IQ [4]; improve Broadsword to (A) DX+4 [16] for 8 points, Meditation to (H) Will-1 [2] for 1 point and Philosophy (Neo-Rationalism) to (H) IQ-1 [2] for 1 point.

Seven Vector Swordsmanship – Master:

20 points
Prerequisite: Seven Vector Swordsmanship – Adept

The Seven Vector Swordsman perfects their mastery of the ceramic katana, unlocking the hidden potentials built into its structure. They also perfect their ability to deflect incoming attacks, their swordsmanship in general, and their mathematical skill.

Advantages: Striking ST +1 [1].

Perks: Ethnic Cool (Ceramic Katana) [1].

Skills: improve Broadsword to (A) DX+6 [24] for 8 points; Improve Mathematics to (H) IQ+1 [8] for 4 points; improve Precognitive Defense to (H) IQ+1 [8] for 4 points.

Techniques: Timed Defense (Broadsword) (H) Broadsword Parry+0 [2].

Seven Vector Swordsmanship Moves

Classic Principle: Decisive Force

5 points
Prerequisite: Style Familiarity (Seven Vector Swordsmanship)

Pursue one decisive aim with force and determination

The character studies the deeper meanings of the Decisive Force principle of Seven Vector Swordsmanship. This teaches them to exert their full power into a singular attack. This training grants them +2 ST for the purposes of attacks, the ability to spend fatigue to increase the damage of All-Out (Strong) or Committed (Strong) and teaches the Trademark Move and Combat Quotation both associated with “Decisive Force”.

Trademark Move (Decisive Force): Make a Deceptive Committed (Strong) attack; Roll Broadsword-3; on a success, the target must defend at -2; the target takes the character’s normal damage+2 (or +1 per die). The character cannot parry or retreat, but may dodge at -2.

Increase Decisive Force’s Broadsword Penalty to -5 and the base defense penalty to -3 if the character is an Adept, and -7 and the base defense penalty to -4. In all cases, the target ignores up to -1 in penalties if they have Style Familiarity (Seven Vector Swordsmanship).

The character may improve this trademark move once per battle by quoting the classics. Roll the better of Literature (Neo-Rationalism) or Philosophy (Neo-Rationalism), both at +1. On a success, apply an additional -1 penalty to their defense against this attack.

Decisive Force has a special relationship with Leverage Studies and adds its Trademark +1 bonus to any Power Blow roll made on the same turn.

Perks: Combat Quotation (Neo-Rationalism) [1]; Focused Fury [1]; Trademark Move (Decisive Force) [1].

Advantages: Striking ST +2 [2].

Classic Principle: Heroic Audacity

5 points
Prerequisite: Style Familiarity (Seven Vector Swordsmanship)

No warrior became great without audacity

The character studies the deeper meanings of the Heroic Audacity principle of Seven Vector Swordsmanship. This teaches them to divide up their attack to strike from multiple points at once. This move teaches the Trademark Move and Combat Quotation both associated with “Heroic Audacity”.

Trademark Move (Heroic Audacity): The character makes a Committed (Determined) Combination Broadsword Attack. Roll Broadsword-3 three times as three attacks to the torso; if the character does not have Trained by a Master or Weapon Master, they must spend 1 fatigue per attack roll. The target defends at -1 in addition to usual penalties for multiple defense rolls; the target takes the character’s normal swing damage. The character cannot parry or retreat, but may dodge at -2.

Increase Heroic Audacity’s Broadsword Penalty to -5 and the target defends at -2 if the character is an Adept; a Master rolls at -7 and applies a base defense penalty of -3. In all cases, the target ignores up to -1 in penalties if they have Style Familiarity (Seven Vector Swordsmanship).

The character may improve this trademark move once per battle by quoting the classics. Roll the better of Literature (Neo-Rationalism) or Philosophy (Neo-Rationalism), both at +1. On a success, apply an additional -1 penalty to their defense against this attack.

Perks: Combat Quotation (Neo-Rationalism) [1]; Trademark Move (Heroic Audacity) [1].

Technique:

  • If the character does not have Weapon Master or Trained by a Master: Combination (Broadsword/Torso x3) (H) Broadsword-10 [3].
  • If the character has Weapon Master or Trained by a Master: Combination (Broadsword/Torso x3) (H) Broadsword-4 [3].

Classic Principle: Quick Action

5 points
Prerequisite: Style Familiarity (Seven Vector Swordsmanship)

Act quickly; hesitation loses the moment

The character studies the deeper meanings of the Quick Action principle of Seven Vector Swordsmanship. This teaches them to make a Move and Attack at no penalty while also ignoring the “Wild Swing” rule during a Move and Attack and teaches the Trademark Move and Combat Quotation both associated with “Quick Action”.

Trademark Move (Quick Action): The character makes a Deceptive Running Attack with their Broadsword. Move full movement and roll Broadsword-3; on a success, the target must defend at -2; the target takes the character’s normal damage. The character cannot parry or retreat, but may dodge normally.

Increase Quick Action’s Broadsword Penalty to -5 and the target defends at -3 if the character is an Adept; and -7 and the base defense penalty to -4 for a Master. In all cases, the target ignores up to -1 in penalties if they have Style Familiarity (Seven Vector Swordsmanship).

The character may improve this trademark move once per battle by quoting the classics. Roll the better of Literature (Neo-Rationalism) or Philosophy (Neo-Rationalism), both at +1. On a success, apply an additional -1 penalty to their defense against this attack.

Perks: Combat Quotation (Neo-Rationalism) [1]; Trademark Move (Quick Auction) [1].

Techniques: Running Attack (H) Broadsword+0 [3].

Classic Principle: Simple Complexity

5 points
Prerequisite: Style Familiarity (Seven Vector Swordsmanship)

Proceed from the simple to the complex

The character studies the deeper meanings of the Simple Complexity principle of Seven Vector Swordsmanship. This teaches them to understand moves within moves, and grants them a +4 to all Feint rolls. It also teaches the Trademark Move and Combat Quotation both associated with “Simple Complexity”.

Trademark Move (Simple Complexity): The character quotes the classics and makes a Defensive Feint with their Broadsword. Roll Broadsword+5 in a quick contest with best of the target’s melee combat skill or Tactics; If the character succeeds, the target’s next defense against them is penalized as normal for Feints. The character may defend at +1.

The character may improve this trademark move once per battle by quoting the classics. Roll the better of Literature (Neo-Rationalism) or Philosophy (Neo-Rationalism), both at +1. On a success, increase your defense against one attack by +1.

Perks: Combat Quotation (Neo-Rationalism) [1]; Trademark Move (Simple Complexity) [1].

Techniques: Feint (H) Broadsword+4 [3].

Force Conversion Analysis

5 points
Prerequisite: Style Familiarity (Seven Vector Swordsmanship)

A ceramic katana is not the same as a force sword; the weight and geometry of the blade requires different skills and muscles to manipulate than the skill required to control a force blade. Even so, profound similarities allow a skilled swordsman to learn the art of force swordsmanship with relative ease, and to analyze the target for the specifics of their technique. This mattered a great deal to traditional Shinjurai, as they used the technique to fend off Maradonian space knights, though it proved too little too late.

Force Conversion Analysis gives the Swordsman a deep, academic knowledge of the theory behind force swords. This allows them to readily recognize the style their opponent uses, and after 1d seconds of seeing them in action, they gain the equivalent of Style Familiarity against one of the target’s Force Sword Style Familiarities that they’ve seen in action. Finally, they can use a Force Sword with their Broadsword skill.

Advantages: Super-Memorization (1 point; Accessibility, only against a single target -10%; Style Familiarity Only -50%; Requires IQ roll -10%; Takes Extra Time, 1d seconds, -20%) [2].

Perks: Weapon Adaption (Force Sword to Broadsword) [1].

Skill: Expert Skill (Hoplology) (H) IQ-1 [2].

Leverage Studies

5 points
Prerequisite: Style Familiarity (Seven Vector Swordsmanship); Trained by a Master, Weapon Master (Broadsword) or Classical Principle (Direct Force) (GM’s Discretion)

Given sufficient in-depth theory and practice on the art of leverage, the material weight of the ceramic katana allows a character to amplify their effective strength when using the weapon, allowing them to greatly increase the damage they can deal with the weapon. Leverage Studies converts Power Blow from an expression of the character’s chi to an expression of their academic understanding of the ceramic katana’s interactions with the laws of physics. They can use IQ instead of Will when using Power Blow, and can take Optional Specializations with Power Blow.

Perks: Academic Power Blow (Broadsword) [1].

Skills: Power Blow (Broadsword) (A) IQ+1 [4].

Seven Vector Swordsmanship Exercises

A Tactical ACT


The Tactics roll of Tactical Meditation and Perfected Tactical Meditation is meant to resemble the planning roll of GURPS Action. The swordsman plans in advance before executing their attack. If this is so, can the swordsman benefit from carefully studying their foe? Can they gain ACT bonuses on their Tactics roll against their target? Yes.

If the GM chooses to allow the character to gain ACT bonuses against their target, they should also penalize the roll. Consider applying BAD to the roll, and allow the player to accumulate ACT against the roll. This ACT might also apply to the general planning roll. For example, if the players are seeking some way to break into a Ranathim warlord’s base and kill him, the swordsman might combine the gathered ACT for both the strategy roll to break into the base with their personal tactics roll to defeat the Ranathim warlord.

Tactical Meditation

10 points
Prerequisite: Style Familiarity (Seven Vector Swordsmanship)

Seven Vector Swordsman learn the art of meditation to clear their mind and better prepare their mathematical calculations. But while in this heightened state of mental awareness, they learn to simulate an expected battle. They take all variables: how their opponent fights, how their opponent thinks, and construct a tactical profile that they can use against their opponent. In practice, the result is a simple tactical plan, but Seven Vector Swordsman are especially good at exploiting their own tactics for effect, and they often have astonishing insights when fighting one specific foe.

In addition to training the swordsman in the personal combat tactics and psychology, this allows the swordsman to personally benefit from Abstract Tactics (even if the game isn’t necessarily using that), and explicitly allows them to use Mathematics as a Complementary roll to Tactics. Finally, if they’ve had time to prepare and studied their opponent, they may declare that they retroactively prepared a means to defeat a specific target.

Advantages: Foresight (Single Combat) [5].

Perks: Combat Statistics [1]; Personal Tactics [1].

Skills: Psychology (H) IQ-2 [1]; Tactics (H) IQ-1 [2].

Seven Vector Swordsmanship Secrets

Perfected Tactical Meditation

15 points
Prerequisite: Style Familiarity (Seven Vector Swordsmanship), Tactical Meditation

Tactical Meditations makes Seven Vector Swordsman astonishingly effective against a single target in combat, but some sources exaggerate this, suggesting that a Seven Vector Swordsman can so perfectly predict a fight that they can call out each move as their opponent performs them, and react to their opponent with near inhuman skill.

If the GM decides this is true, they may allow Perfected Tactical Meditation as a Secret Training. Treat this as Visualization, only the character may do so in advance. This requires at least an hour of planning, and requires the character to analyze collected data, often in some highly visible way that another might notice (a “combat conspiracy board”). Once this has been done, at the moment of combat, the swordsman’s player may explain how they expect the combat to proceed (they may “visualize the fight”) and then immediately roll Tactics. They may apply 1/3 of their margin of victory as a bonus to all rolls against the target provided the fight more-or-less proceeds as the swordsman expects. The GM should be generous with this, as the 1/3rd value already assumes the character is largely incorrect in their assessment, but a major change in venue or a complete context change (such as an army suddenly showing up, or a massive artillery barrage destroying the field of combat) should be enough to invalidate the Visualization.

Advantages: Visualization (Accessibility, only with sufficient collected data -10%; Aspected, double, Combat Only, Only vs Prepared Target -40%; Feature, Tactics in place of IQ; Reduced Time 7 +140%; Requires 1 hour preparation -50%) [14].

Perks: Secret Training (Perfected Tactical Meditations) [1].

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