Topic: Martial Arts Weapon Kata Clarification?

[drsmitty]

Regarding martial arts weapon kata, does one need to develop a separate skill in the specific weapon as well as the MA Kata style?  For example, does one need to have a skill in the quarterstaff before developing a kata style with it, or can one simply elect to develop a kata style with the quarterstaff only developing the MA kata style?

Is the major benefit of developing a weapon kata basically the ability to use Chi Defense and the multiple Monk Attack abilities in conjunction with the weapon?

I'm also curious about the rationale behind the need to develop either MA strikes or MA throws in order to be able to develop a specific MA style.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

Weapon Kata -- No, no ranks in the weapon are required, only ranks in the MA that it is being used with.

Yes, those are some of the major benefits (along with doing the weapon's crit rather than the MA crit)

Rationale -- The MA Strikes or Sweeps skill is the basics, the general martial arts knowledge. Individual Styles then build upon this in various ways. The basic rationale is that your specialized knowledge cannot be higher than your basic knowledge, and yes, this is something that carried over from HARP's RM roots. It works as a balancing factor, to keep characters from dumping too much into a single skill, and then becoming overly powerful.

[drsmitty]

Very good.  Thanks, Rasyr!