Sentinel: You said before that you thought the Ancient Master from N&S was overplayed and overbalanced. By that do you mean you think he's too powerful?If so (or not), how do you think the Ancient Weapons Master from PU2 compares?
The Ancient Master as I have seen him has become the catch-all martial artist. The character has every type of attack maneuver (it's like being the master of Karate, Jujutsu, Aikido, etc), and despite the name of the archetype, most PCs aren't "ancient" at all: they are young turk hotshots who have every move known, at hopped up levels.
This is one aspect of combining the two settings that I liked very much: if you wanted a young Jujutsu master, then you could roll up a WMA and select Jujutsu.
However, I frequently found that players wanted the body flip/throws as well as power punches and kicks, etc: they wanted to masters/mistresses of every martial art technique known to man. I preferred the give-and-take approach: You might know 50 Kicks (Tae Kwon Do, for example) but you'd suck in close-quarter fighting.
You might be a fantastic close up puncher or joint locker (Li-Chia Short Hand or Chin'Na), but you'd lack Jump Kicks, Leap Attacks, etc.
Further, one style might offer the Martial Arts Powers you want, but another might have the moves and techniques you want to use: well, which is more important to you? Choose one or the other, you can't have it all.
If a player wants a character who is truly an ancient master (I won't break the conversion rule, but think long white beards, and mocking acerbic tones as they stand on your sword), then I'll work with a player and use the AM as it should be.
A 19 year old kung-fu hotshot however can be done with the WMA from N&SS.
Mystic China also provides additional martial artist archetypes, as well as non-martial arts characters (the Capitalist Entrepenuer, The Chi Arcanist, and the Antiquarian all come to mind).
I like the Ancient Weapons Master okay, although I haven't gotten to use the archetype too extensively.
I think I'd prefer to see more of a Specialized weapon user as opposed to ALL melee or ranged weapons, if I had my way about it.
when you get right down to it, Sentinel's right.~Uncle Servo.
Sentinel. you'll be always loved by the German Princess.~Nelly
That's twice in one day Sentinel has cleaned up my mess.~The Galactus Kid.
That's the best place to start. Otherwise, listen to Sentinel~lather
Listen to the Sentinel...he speaks truth.~ Shadyslug
Sentinel you have the biggest sig I've ever seen~Natasha