Nightbane and martial arts

[Colt47]

Does anyone know how exactly Nightbane forms would work with Ninja's and Super Spies martial arts? I'm assuming that if a Nightbane in his normal form had a superior skill to hand to hand martial arts, that the character could choose to use that form instead of his Nightbane forms Hand to Hand martial arts when in morphus.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Does anyone know how exactly Nightbane forms would work with Ninja's and Super Spies martial arts? I'm assuming that if a Nightbane in his normal form had a superior skill to hand to hand martial arts, that the character could choose to use that form instead of his Nightbane forms Hand to Hand martial arts when in morphus.

No. Two problems.

1: martial arts are about learning and training for years and years how to use your human body to the best of your current ability, and always striving to improve that ability. if you suddenly transplant that training into a giant wolf with tenticals and a jet pack, well, none of that training will do you the slightest good. nightbane arn't even garenteed to still have opposable thumbs let alone hands. This is why it says that morphus forms have the "equivlent ability" to hand to hand martial arts. they do not actually have HtH: MA because only a handful would still even be applicable to it.

2: lets say you have a pure barbie/ken doll bane. it still wouldn't work. all of the sudden you are dozens of times stronger than you used to be, faster, and more agile. your timing is thrown to hell. you instincts, as you gain a new instinctual combat training, are constnatly hammering at you to do something else. your muscle memory is completely gone because your muscles themselves are new and vastly different in ability. and as the first time you try to scrap with some lousy NSA cultist find out, 90% of what you learned is kind of wasted time. why set up a long combo to break through a guys defences when you can litterally shatter the arm he tried to block you with and rip out his heart in the same motion. why learn joint locks when it's far easier to rip the limb clean off. To fight other nightbane more effectively? not really, barbie/kens are rare and most MA training dosn't apply to half-deer metal clad tentical monsters with demon horns.

in short, with bodies with radically different capabilities and muscle memory and instinct alike telling them to do very different things, any martial arts they know in human form is useless, and more likely to make them fight worse instead of better.

[Colt47]

Does anyone know how exactly Nightbane forms would work with Ninja's and Super Spies martial arts? I'm assuming that if a Nightbane in his normal form had a superior skill to hand to hand martial arts, that the character could choose to use that form instead of his Nightbane forms Hand to Hand martial arts when in morphus.

No. Two problems.

1: martial arts are about learning and training for years and years how to use your human body to the best of your current ability, and always striving to improve that ability. if you suddenly transplant that training into a giant wolf with tentacles and a jet pack, well, none of that training will do you the slightest good. nightbane aren't even guaranteed to still have opposable thumbs let alone hands. This is why it says that morphus forms have the "equivalent ability" to hand to hand martial arts. they do not actually have HtH: MA because only a handful would still even be applicable to it.

2: lets say you have a pure barbie/ken doll bane. it still wouldn't work. all of the sudden you are dozens of times stronger than you used to be, faster, and more agile. your timing is thrown to hell. you instincts, as you gain a new instinctual combat training, are constantly hammering at you to do something else. your muscle memory is completely gone because your muscles themselves are new and vastly different in ability. and as the first time you try to scrap with some lousy NSA cultist find out, 90% of what you learned is kind of wasted time. why set up a long combo to break through a guys defenses when you can literally shatter the arm he tried to block you with and rip out his heart in the same motion. why learn joint locks when it's far easier to rip the limb clean off. To fight other nightbane more effectively? not really, barbie/kens are rare and most MA training doesn't apply to half-deer metal clad tentacle monsters with demon horns.

in short, with bodies with radically different capabilities and muscle memory and instinct alike telling them to do very different things, any martial arts they know in human form is useless, and more likely to make them fight worse instead of better.

I'd say the non-human form is more likely to cause a problem than greater agility and physical strength. The ruling would probably matter more on the final form of the Nightbane, so 90% of the time it's probably going to have to go to hand to hand Martial Arts. On the upside, at least they can still use chi, zenjoriki, and body hardening exercises.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Does anyone know how exactly Nightbane forms would work with Ninja's and Super Spies martial arts? I'm assuming that if a Nightbane in his normal form had a superior skill to hand to hand martial arts, that the character could choose to use that form instead of his Nightbane forms Hand to Hand martial arts when in morphus.

The general consensus (if there is one, based on the games I've played) is that NB and NS can only use Martial Art Forms while in their facade.

And I a part of this consensus.