Capoeira
- An energetic and deceptive style relying on quick unpredictable movements.
An Afro-Brazilian martial art, Capoeira was born through the adversity of South American slaves within the Porchagese empire. Outlawed until the 1930’s, Capoeira was kept alive though underground practitioners passing the martial art on through the generations. To disguise themselves when practicing, Capoeira was developed as a dance and game that could be played.
The core of Capoeira revolves around the ginga, a series of shifting movements that keeps the martial artist in a ready state to attack or defend. This constant movement also facilitates feints, to trick the opponent into opening themselves up and allows the martial artist to strike in unpredictable ways.
Associated Weapons: Knife, Short Spear/balded berimbau, Short Sword/Machete, Sword Cane
Capoeira practitioners maintain a wide open stance, with arms swinging at the side. The ginga moves the fighter around their opponent as they look for an opening or opportunity. Strikes that appear to be flailing are often used to set up foes for their next strike.
Author’s Note: All builds presented in this series should not be taken as the only way to interpret a given style. Players and GMs are encouraged to treat these as a framework to build their own character’s style.
Fighting Style: Capoeira
- Parent Attribute: Expression
- Primary Role: Defense
- First Secondary Role: Offense
Common Specialties:
- Interrupting Actions
- Surprised Foes
- Stagger
- Trip
Common Combos:
- All Fall Down: Trip (Assailant One) – Trip (Assailant Two) – Trip (Assailant Three)
- Break Away: Stagger – Move
- Floor Them: Stagger – Trip
- Misdirection: Distraction – Strike
Key Talents:
- Acrobatics
- Art: Performance
- Dance
- Distraction
- Fitness
- Manual Labor
- Study: Art
- Movement: Running
Additional Boons
- Amazing
- Critical Skill: Distraction
- Languages: German, Portuguese, Spanish
- Distraction Supports Offense
- Art: Performance Supports Interrupting Actions
Super Style Capoeira
As an already deceptively powerful style, our super powered Capoeira plays into the acrobatic and fast nature of the style. As a super powered martial artist the Capoeira practitioner can move in and out of range in blinding speed, covering short distances in seconds.
Example (Classic Power Level)
Capoeira 12
- Expression/Defense
Range TY
Evasion MA
Secondary Role (Full Role): Offense MA2
Secondary Role: Support: Subterfuge MA
New Movement: Repositioning (Rapid Acceleration) MA2
Limited: Subterfuge only adds to Damage against Surprised Defense and Range Short Range Only.
(S) Interrupting Actions 7
(S) Surprised Foes 4
(S) Stagger 7
(S) Trip 7
An expert in Capoeira can move across the battlefield in the blink of an eye striking foes at a range others might not think possible. Their unpredictable style allows them to take foes off guard inflicting massive damage.
Cost 1 Power + 12 Selections + 11 AP
Boons
Amazing MA
Combo: Break Away TY
Critical Skill: Distraction MA
Languages: German, Portuguese, Spanish TY
Distraction Supports Offense MA
Art: Performance Supports Interrupting Actions TY
Cost 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 9 AP
Use In Conflict
Despite the defensive nature of Capoeira the unpredictable movements allow the practitioner to take aggressive actions in combat. Find a target and don’t let them get a hit in. Using Interrupting Actions are like taking an Active Defense, but you get to strike at your foes. Save Active Defenses for Attacks that can’t be circumvented. Don’t be afraid to Stagger an opponent, even for a single Action or Turn. More so, giving up an Action to feint using the Distract Talent to scale up Damage against harder to hit foes. Critical Skill can give you a free Distraction, and can be paired with Amazing for an added die to increase one’s chances of scoring a result with two 6s.
