GURPS Kung Fu Cowboys Session 10: Battle with the Black Dragons

Big Po - Hungry Hungry Sumotori (Absent)
Michelangelo - Friendly Capoeirista
Roberto King - Murderous Dagger Fighter
Dan da Ying -  Helpful Eagle-Stylist

Sweetwater Train Station
Dan declared to the Black Dragons that their mission had failed, as both the Jade Dragon and the governor were secure.  The old lady asked "Is it?", Mike said "Yes", and she answered "Well, we'll see about that".  The party moved into a Teamwork formation, and the old lady tsk'd and said "you Eagle-stylists are always getting in our way".  Roberto passed 3 disadvantage rolls and asked if there was some way of ending this without violence.

The old lady tried challenging Dan, but he resisted, and the party leapt towards their foes.  Roberto landed a Mighty Blow to a thug's neck, but Mike whiffed and Dan was parried.  The old lady's right hand man jumped at Roberto with a Deceptive Flying Jump Kick, and would have broken his leg were it not for Second Wind.  The wounded thug kicked Mike for only 1 damage after Roll with Blow, while the other one hit Dan with a Dragon Fist which almost knocked him over.  The old lady just piled into the combat, but didn't attack.

Dan struck back and landed a grazing blow on the fresh thug, reduced further by Roll with Blow; Mike took out the other one with a pair of kicks.  Roberto exchanged blows with the right hand man, and Dan defended against the mook and the old lady, then kicked the mook through the glass window of the ticket booth in retaliation, leaving only two enemies left.  Roberto and the right hand man continued their duel, each retreating before stepping back into close combat.

The old lady stunned Mike with a Kiai, and Dan and Roberto decided to try to overwhelm the right hand man, leaving Mike to his fate.  However, Dan was on target with only one out of three of his attacks, which was parried, and Roberto's attempted Arm Lock was parried as well; fortunately, the right hand man's Feint went poorly, and Roberto parried the follow-up.  The old lady Giant Stepped into position, then kicked Mike for a crit, which was turned into a regular hit with Luck, though he still failed to defend.

Unfortunately, she successfully used Pressure Secrets and hit for double damage, knocking him down and well past a death check.  Dan stepped to the right hand man's side, then launched another flurry of attacks, this time causing him to expend two parries, and he then had to spend Feverish Defence to parry Roberto.  To avoid encirclement, the right hand man Evaded over Roberto, then struck him in the back with a Dragon Fist.  Roberto sidestepped out of the way, which brought him face to face with the old lady, who tried a Dragon Fist of her own, but critically failed and was knocked off-balance.

Mike finally recovered from stun, and Dan and Roberto turned to attack the old lady, but she successfully defended against all attacks with a healthy dose of Feverish Defence and luck.  Roberto resisted a Kiai from the right hand man, and, despite Luck, Dan failed to parry a kick from the old lady which nearly shattered his leg, though he did resist the Pressure Points that would have paralyzed it, and passed the stun check.  Proving resilient, Dan crit his consciousness check, which meant he wouldn't need to make it any more, and passed his Will check for being at negative FP.

In a desperate gambit, Mike made a Committed Feint and Roberto used it with Teamwork and attacked the right hand man's feet, but with a retreat and Feverish Defences, he managed to parry both thrusts.  Dan moved up into close combat and launched two Eagle Claw Strikes, but the right hand man parried both attacks.  Fortunately for the party, the right hand man missed his Dragon Fist on Dan, and the old lady Move and Attacked for two Uppercuts to the skull at Roberto but missed both.

After passing their consciousness checks, the party sprang into action, taking advantage of the old lady's lack of parries due to Move and Attack.  Dan attacked first, but she dodged out of the way.  Mike did an All-Out Attack (Double) Rapid Strike, with Flurry of Blows to reduce penalties, to the foot from a side hex, but missed the first, and she dodged the second, then hit with the third, which she reduced with Second Wind to avoid a crippling injury.  Roberto then used his Secret Technique of Consecutive Normal Stabbings, for a Flurry of Blows Rapid Strike with his favourite knife.

Even with the old lady's Flying Dragon Dodge, he landed all three attacks, crippling the old lady's foot and then slashing her twice across the neck, using Luck to reroll the third hit's damage to be more devastating.  The old lady fell to the ground, stunned and crippled, but she was still alive.


Notes:
I've ruled that Teamwork formation is maintained so long as they are all adjacent after the last player's turn, but it can be broken due to retreating.  In addition, the formation can be rejoined for free so long as at least 2 people keep it.  They can choose what order to go in while in the formation.

Teamwork also gives a bonus +1 to resisting challenges while in formation.

We've ruled that, when it comes to transferring Feint bonuses with Teamwork that it applies to whoever uses it first, including if that person misses.

When Mike used Luck to avert a crit, the second roll was also a crit, and the third was an 8.  Remember to always charge your dice, so that the luck builds up.

To quote Dan, when well below 0FP and 0HP: "Don't worry, I have infinite FP until I die."

This game saw a lot of FP spent on Extra Effort in combat, mostly to boost defenses and, and to reduce HP damage under crippling thresholds.

The old lady's Move and Attack was a terrible tactical mistake, and has entirely reversed the momentum of the battle.  I completely forgot that you don't get to parry with whatever you used to attack!