(riffing on Ben L.s great rules here, this is a development of such "martial training" relevant to the local setting of Cothon and the swordmasters present here)
As all the masters might say: now, before you go off seeking extravagant forms and techniques with each and every weapon by which to subdue and slay your enemies, practice your footwork. Make sure your thrusts are true. Draw arrows, flight after flight, against the butts of the range.
All of this is keeping in form, in which a character rolls 2d6, plus their fighter level or plus 1/4 their magic-user level. On a 6- the practice is of no benefit (and snake-eyes is always failure), whereas on a roll of 7+ the character may choose one weapon type (e.g. short sword, dagger, spear, longbow, &c. &c.) and receive for that weapon type either +1 to hit OR +1 to damage.
Fighting-men and -women may have this bonus for up to one weapon per fighter level, while magic-users are limited to one such bonus per half magic-user levels, i.e. if Najm (MU4 as of this writing) were to keep in form, he could do so with his net and his spear, but then no further weapons until attaining the 6th level. He could, however, end the bonus with the net and "keep in form" to add a bonus to attacks with a sword.
But for those insistent on learning new techniques, certain masters are known to frequent the areas around Cothon, or the Great Spire of the Klackons. These masters are not likely to take students "cold", unless perhaps the student is known for their martial prowess. Rather, the master must first be approached through cultivating a relationship, and only after success in that may a player-character engage them for training in their specialized technique.
each of these requires three (3) successes of (7+) on the dice, trained under the master to perfect and use thenceforth in combat:
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A Kzin hero and partner of Akin the Beautiful as co-leaders of the adventurer-fraternity the Heroic Companions of Hrrl-ra, Seeker-for-Relics (or Seeker for short), is currently famed in the city for having defeated the Bulrathi warrior Kobur in the Coreguyi Arena. After that heroic feat, he was approached by one Lars Ghar-Rider, who asked to learn the Heroic way of "Scream and Leap", and after sharing much drink, and scrapping together in the streets during the Locor-riots, Seeker acquiesced. Perhaps other humans could follow Lars' example ...
The Kzinti battle-philosophy is intended to break the enemy's morale and momentum by a screaming attack; as Rooster Cogburn once said, "You go for a man hard enough and fast enough, he don't have time to think about how many's with him; he thinks about himself, and how he might get clear of the wrath that's about to set down upon him," and that's when he'll break.
This technique must be declared before initiative on the first round of a new combat, and is necessarily accompanied by a scream and an attack roll (i.e. no stealth). The character then acts at +1 initiative, and receives a +1 to attack on the first attack roll.
There is undoubtedly a "higher" method to this technique, but it would also undoubtedly be more difficult for a human to learn.
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Uncle Doj -- Wall of Strokes
A dore of the Free Klackons, or Thri-Kreen, who are encamped outside the city under the shadow of the Long Wall. The Free Klackons are a nominally nomadic tribe, who for unknown reasons have established a semi-permanent camp by the city. One of their members, "Ix", was known to be an associate of the Survivors of the Tel, though she has since been reported dead. Regardless, the Thri-Kreen are recognized as a martial people, and Uncle Doj, having already trained Sesel of the Survivors, may now grudgingly train other non-Klackons in the technique wall of strokes:
Declared before initiative is rolled, this technique precludes any attack, but grants the character +4 to AC. It is predicated on the Thri-Kreen Klackon's four-armed defense, but can be taught to those two-armed humans who persist long enough to get their reaction-times fast enough
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Hajji al Ittiyqi -- Zwerchhau
Swordmaster of the dueling fraternities of the Herm & Stone tavern, Hajji oversees the various duels there, and teaches the initiates the techniques of proper swordsmanship. Though the fraternities tend to focus on the use of a single smallsword in a one-on-one duel, Hajji is also a master of the two-handed longsword, and is known for a particular stroke--the "crooked hew"--by which a swordsman can strike quickly and closely even with the longsword.
By placing one's thumb on the base of the blade and swinging the sword along the plane of the blade, one is able to quickly change the angle of attack, and thus strike or block from unexpected directions. This technique can be used with either one- or two-handed swords.
Because of the swift and unexpected nature of such techniques, which simultaneously close lines of attack from an enemy and open them for oneself, this technique grants a +1 bonus to AC when wielding any edged sword.
--- Outside of Cothon ---
Karakt'katax -- Punch Through
Or more easily "Katax", she is an older Attine fighting-drone, impressed by the somewhat recent successes of the Survivors of the Tel and their comrades in finally cleansing the "infection" of parasitic beings that had taken over the Sixth House of the Attine Klackons--cleansed with fire and sword! In the celebrations following their successes, the Survivors were feasted by the Fifth House, and there Gan ad-Din, loyal follower of Bartholomew Pettibone, fell in with Katax, and was promised that if he wished to learn her fighting techniques, she would teach him--despite him being merely human!
Because of their natural armor, much of Klackon fighting technique involves piercing or punching through hard armor with a sturdy estoc or spear, or with a crushing blow from a blunt instrument. The estoc is preferred by veterans. Trained well in this "puncture hard" warfare of the Klackons, Katax trains her charges in thrusting true against otherwise secure armor, and in spotting the weaknesses of otherwise "impervious" natural or plate armors.
With this technique, a character wielding a piercing weapon (i.e. straight-swords, daggers, or spears, &c.) against armor (mail or plate) or a creature with similarly armored carapace, may spend a round without attacking to judge where best to strike the armor, and then the next round strike at +4 to hit. (like Ben's "Sharpshooter" technique, but in melee)
---
Ro'ak -- Thunderbolts On High
Ro'ak, son of Karrak, is an Alkari warrior from among those who dwell at the top of the Great Spire on the northern slopes of the Tel al Safina. His feathered crest dyed dark, he is known often to fly lone patrols along the sea-cliffs north and east, and to mingle sometimes with the religious Alkari of the Gao-tribe who dwell in their sea-caves and cliff-monasteries.
With the recent opening of the Klackon market to the humans of Cothon, the Alkari of the Spire are now also considering allowing closer contact with humans. Ro'ak is among those pushing for such--he has even spoken with Hry-Haya Yehat, an associate of the Survivors of the Tel, asking him to send his friends for an audience with the Alkari of the spire (or really, any barbarian-adventurers). One thing he promises is that he can teach those who come the old Alkari technique of "thunderbolts on high", that is, the casting of plumbata-war darts in rapid succession to overwhelm an enemy. Ideally it would be done while flying, using one's lower hands--but even humans, who have neither, can learn the proper way to cast the darts quickly.
A character can learn this technique for either darts or javelins.
Its use with darts allows a character to throw up to three darts per round, at -1 "to hit" for each one.
With javelins, a character may throw two javelins per round, with the same -1 "to hit" for both rolls.
The javelins or darts must, of course, be quick to hand, i.e. extra javelins gripped in the shield hand, or extra darts in a quiver at the belt. Ro'ak might lament that the technique is most effective with magicked weapons, like darts that strike as real thunderbolts (like in the hero-songs!), but with the modern world as it is, that is of course quite unlikely ...
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