Parkour skill?

[Prodigy]

Is anyone familiar with Parkour? It is the "building jumping" martial art. Has this been explored in the Palladium megaverse? What would the bonuses be with this skill? I attached the wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour

[Traska]

Parkour... I'd make it a non-secondary Physical skill (much like acrobatics or gymnastics), or a secondary using two choices (as it could be learned from internet videos plus trial and error, but it's going to take you a lot of practice to do so):

The ability to run, jump, and climb in an urban environment, while always on the move. Focuses on the ability to run faster and longer, as well as climbing up walls, running along ledges, and making leaps from building to building. It also teaches how to absorb a bad fall when it happens, so that one can get back up to keep on the move.

50% +2% per level -- Walk Tightrope or High Wire
50% +3% per level -- Sense of Balance
60% +5% per level -- Back Flip
50% base climb ability or adds +15% to climb skill
+2 bonus to roll with punch or fall
+1 to P.S.
+1 to P.P.
+2 to P.E.
+1D6 to Spd.
+2D6 to S.D.C.

EDIT: Updated material in green.

[Prodigy]

Awesome summary, thanks!

[wolfsgrin]

DUde that totally rocks. I had written up one that was a complete form and it ended up being a weee bit too much lol. This will help me tone it down. Stupid movies make me think too big, and I forget that most games start at first level. Nice. Really nice.

[Traska]

The thing is though, Parkour isn't just gymnastics, or running, ro climbing, or acrobatics... it's a little bit of all of them. And knowing Parkour wouldn't help you much ina gymnastics meet, and being a gymnast wouldn't help you run from building to building. It really is a brand new skill, born from several others.

[wolfsgrin]

The thing is though, Parkour isn't just gymnastics, or running, ro climbing, or acrobatics... it's a little bit of all of them. And knowing Parkour wouldn't help you much ina gymnastics meet, and being a gymnast wouldn't help you run from building to building. It really is a brand new skill, born from several others.

Just make sure your player knows that these skills and bonuses are conditional. Must be in an urban setting to utilize the skill.

[Prodigy]

The thing is though, Parkour isn't just gymnastics, or running, ro climbing, or acrobatics... it's a little bit of all of them. And knowing Parkour wouldn't help you much ina gymnastics meet, and being a gymnast wouldn't help you run from building to building. It really is a brand new skill, born from several others.

Just make sure your player knows that these skills and bonuses are conditional. Must be in an urban setting to utilize the skill.

I dont know if I agree with that. I think the skill woudl translate into a multitude of environments. If one can jump from building to building, they can jump from cliff to cliff or something like that.

[Traska]

I suspect gymnastics and acrobatics prowl has to do with being light on one's feet. On the other hand, Parkour is the opposite... it's built for speed. You're not going to sound like a light squirrel on the rooftops. You're going to sound like a thunderstorm.

Also, even though Parkour is *designed* for an urban environment, I disagree that the bonuses are only applicable there. After all, Boxing (everyone's favorite munchy skill) doesn't only give you the extra attack if you're in a squared circle wearing oversized mittens.

[Prodigy]

I suspect gymnastics and acrobatics prowl has to do with being light on one's feet. On the other hand, Parkour is the opposite... it's built for speed. You're not going to sound like a light squirrel on the rooftops. You're going to sound like a thunderstorm.

Also, even though Parkour is *designed* for an urban environment, I disagree that the bonuses are only applicable there. After all, Boxing (everyone's favorite munchy skill) doesn't only give you the extra attack if you're in a squared circle wearing oversized mittens.

LOL, "oversized mittens!"

[Blight]

This came up a while ago and this is what i came up with.
Parkour only as a occ. related or 2 secondary skills
+12% to climb X2 to climb speed, take 2 feet from fall per lvl
+5 roll with fall and punch
+2 to dodge
+2 to physical prowess
+1 physical strength.
+1 physical endurance
+3d6 to speed
not to shabby and not over the top

[Traska]

+3D6 to speed? Running gives 4D4, and it's entirely focused on increasing speed.
No SDC increase? Running along two to three story heights, you're going to fall eventually. And that's going to toughen you up.
I still say it would give balance, tightrope walking (actually ledge walking, but the skill is tightrope) and back flip, as these are all elements of Parkour.

[Blight]

Wikipedia

In September 2009, American Parkour began a community effort to define parkour
.Parkour is the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one's path by adapting one's movements to the environment.
.Parkour requires... consistent, disciplined training with an emphasis on functional strength, physical conditioning, balance, creativity, fluidity, control, precision, spatial awareness, and looking beyond the traditional use of objects.
.Parkour movements typically include... running, jumping, vaulting, climbing, balancing, and quadrupedal movement. Movements from other physical disciplines are often incorporated, but acrobatics or tricking alone do not constitute parkour.
.Parkour training focuses on... safety, longevity, personal responsibility, and self-improvement. It discourages reckless behavior, showing off, and dangerous stunts.
.Parkour practitioners value... community, humility, positive collaboration, sharing of knowledge, and the importance of play in human life, while demonstrating respect for all people, places, and spaces. —American Parkour Community Definition

Parkour's emphasis on efficiency distinguishes it from the similar practice of free running, which places more emphasis on freedom of movement and creativity. Which is what i think you are wanting.

Free running or freerunning is a form of urban acrobatics in which participants, known as free runners, use the city and rural landscape to perform movements through its structures. It incorporates efficient movements from parkour, adds aesthetic vaults and other acrobatics, such as tricking and street stunts, creating an athletic and aesthetically pleasing way of moving. It is commonly practiced at gymnasiums and in urban areas that are cluttered with obstacles.
The term free running was coined during the filming of Jump London, as a way to present parkour to the English-speaking world. However, free running and parkour are separate, distinct concepts — a distinction which is often missed due to the aesthetic similarities. Parkour as a discipline emphasizes efficiency, whilst free running embodies complete freedom of movement — and includes many acrobatic maneuvers. Although the two are often physically similar, the mindsets of each are vastly different. The founder Sébastien Foucan defines free running as a discipline to self development, following your own way.

[Traska]

Note the word "alone". Acrobatics or tricking alone do not constitute Parkour. They are definitely elements, though. And Sense of Balance and Tightrope *definitely* are. I'll concede Back Flip, though, with the provision of adding +10% without giving the skill outright.

[DevastationBob]

Yeah, I would just say that if you have Gymnastic/Acrobatics, Climbing and Running, your guy could do Parkour type stuff anyway. It's more a physical program than a new type of skill.

[Traska]

Yeah, I would just say that if you have Gymnastic/Acrobatics, Climbing and Running, your guy could do Parkour type stuff anyway. It's more a physical program than a new type of skill.

I would say if you can put one foot in front of the other rapidly, you've got Running. That's not a skill, it's something children can do. The skill comes from being able to do it in a specific way that aids in speed and health. Body Building isn't just lifting heavy things, it's doing it in a specific way. So, too, i Parkour sufficiently different from just running+acrobatics that it's grown into its own skill.

[Traska]

Kind of my point, yes.

[Traska]

Not the full benefits of the Running skill (else, why have a Running skill?), but my write up give 1D6 to Spd, 2 to PE, and 2D6 to SDC. Remember, Parkour isn't exclusively about running, it's about running, jumping, climbing... all while in an urban environment.

[Traska]

Why should gymnastics be only one skill?
Why should acrobatics be only one skill?

Parkour is one skill because it's a subset of talents that lend themselves to one style.

[Traska]

I've assumed that learning parkour would require approximately the effort that would be required in learning a skill program.

Actually, both Gymnastics and Acrobatics are difficult to learn. (Have you ever watched a circus acrobat? That's a good deal of training there). That's why they can't be taken as secondary skills. That's why I feel Parkour works as a non-secondary Physical skill. It's no more munchy (and actually less so) than Boxing, and is roughly equivilent to both Gymnastics and Acrobatics (as I wrote it up, anyway).

But a skill program is a little extreme. In that case, most sports would require a skill program (Hockey: ice skating, WP Blunt, and Boxing )

[Traska]

I think we're at an impasse, but I will say this... Parkour isn't going to help you on a trapeze, nor will it help you on parallel bars. Ability to use the rings isn't going to help you much in Parkour. Yes, technically Parkour is a subset of Acrobatics... but so is Gymnastics. That's why there's so much skill bleed.

If there were a Rifts 2E where Acrobatics were a category of skills instead of a skill, I'd say put Parkour there. But at the current time, it's a separate skill, just like Gymnastics.

[Traska]

1 to PP is pretty tame... Parkour requires a lot of agility.
1 to PS is pretty tame... you get more than that from body building, which can be taken secondary.
2 to PE is a little large... but it's an activity that requires a lot of running and exertion. I could see the argument for 1 instead of 2, but I don't personally think 2 is out of line.
1D6 to Spd... it's an activity that's primarily about running, but I didn't ant it to completely overshadow running.
2D6 to SDC is equivalent to Gymnastics, but adjusting it to 2D4 (to place it between Acrobatics and Gymnastics) wouldn't be completely out of line. My thought was that falling onto firm surfaces is going to toughen you up, and the early training of Parkour is going to have you falling a *lot*.

I wouldn't think of telling superhero players they couldn't do commonplace superheroic things just because they didn't have Parkour just because they didn't have that particular form of Acrobatics.

Oh, I fully agree. Just as I wouldn't tell a player they couldn't move faster than walk speed because they don't have running. Parkour isn't a skill that enables you to do these things, it's a skill that blends these things together in a unique way. The only specific skills it grants outright would be the ones I included as subskills: walk tightrope/high wire (for the ability to move along narrow surfaces quickly, such as ledge running), sense of balance (because if running along a ledge five stories up doesn't teach you balance, then you just aren't learning it), climbing (for scaling walls), and back flip (admittedly, this is a "cinematic" Parkour skill, but roleplaying games are "cinematic" in flavor to begin with.)

It's a lot like Running: Everybody can run (excepting those with physical disability, of course), but Running (the skill) teaches you how to do it in a way that promoted greater health and speed while doing it. Parkour doesn't specifically teach you running, jumping, and grabbing onto ledges, it teaches you how to blend these things into a new physical art form. The fact that being able to perform this way also increases the skills and attributes most useful in it is just the side bonus that makes it a physical skill as opposed to a hobby skill.