Fight To Survive RPG - 5yhidv

Role-playing
Martial Arts
Meets Heart
BY JAMES KERR
FIGHT TO
SURVIVE
BY JAMES KERR
Design, Writing, Layout | James Kerr
Illustration | Ian MacLean, Steven Wu, Sofia Lopez,
Jonny Bloozit (Watercolour), Wouter F.
Goedkoop (Cartography)
Iconography & Creative Consultant | Eric Palermo
Editing | Emily Minthorn
Sensitivity Reading | Gemma Grover
Theme Song | Ian Crewe
Fight to Survive
Copyright © 2023 Radio James Games | All rights reserved
Published by Radio James Games
First printing, version 0.2, March 2023

Printed in Canada
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-7388155-0-0

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-7388155-1-7
Digital ISBN: 978-1-7388155-2-4
No part of this publication may be reproduced—traditionally or digit-

ally—stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, analog, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without written
permission of the publisher. To attain permission email the publisher
at info@radiojamesgames.com. Prior permission is given to repro-
duce identified portions of this text for personal use in playing of Fight
to Survive. Permission is also given to play this game live, via broad-
cast—analog or digital—recording, or in any other public format, and to
reproduce materials from this text for such a purpose.
This book was produced using the fonts Source Sans Variable and
Impact, and assembled using the Adobe Creative Suite.
Please visit our website for more information and for future projects:
www.radiojamesgames.com
PAGE 4
FIGHT TO
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SURVIVE Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 6 NEW HOPE CITY BLUES 236
Begin 8 Map of New Hope City 238
CHARACTER CREATION 14 The Battery 240
New Fighters 16 Beat Town 242
Successors 54 Chinatown 244
CONFLICT RESOLUTION 60 C-Com Industrial District 246
Conflict Overview 62 The Docks 248
By the Numbers 70 The Neon Strip 250
Moves Versus Moves 92 Parkside 252
CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLENCE 114 The Richmond 254
Health 116 Read Island 256
Hardship 128 Woodside 257
Comforts 136 REFEREE THE STREETS 258
THE MARTIAL WORLD 146 Phases of Play 260
Empty Hands 148 General Play Rules 268
Martial Arts 162 Example Characters 282
Training 184 Adventure in the 1980s 288
Weapons 192 Stock Fighters 302
Outnumbered 200 Years 312
Teachers 208 APPENDIX & GLOSSARY 320
Special Moves 220 Glossary 322
Stages 226 Afterword 330
Revenge 232
PAGE 5
INTRODUCTION
N
ew Hope City belongs to the martial artists,
all 20th century long. One hundred years of
punches. All those folks getting kicks from
kicks, all for nothing. Prisoners to violence.
Challengers prowling the streets. Everybody trying to
be somebody tough. For what? Who will be there to
crown you King of All Street Fighters? And who will be
there when you’re lying on the ground in a back alley
holding three broken ribs in place, blinking through
a crushed orbital and trying to rest on a hip joint that
will never set right? Nobody at all.
All you have is yourself, and your fists. Dare to believe

in them. What else is there? Some fight out there will
be your last—so what? If your back’s to the wall, come
out swinging. There is some final victory out there
unconquered, if only you can reach out and punch it.
There is a time in each life to stand and be counted,

just but once in your life. Your time is now. Steel your-
self. You’re a fighter. Make something of your name.
Rise, martial artist. You’re coming alive.
PAGE 6
Sweep the Mat, 1900. Fortune-hunter and one of the most colourful among the
early fighters in New Hope City’s history, Ian MacGalligar was a known showboat
and braggart. He was killed in action in 1914 during World War I.
BEGIN
Frail heroes in a desperate world,
Throwing punches, throwing kicks,
Throwing away their lives.
F
ight to Survive is a table-top role-playing game
about martial artists in the 20th century. It
is a mundane, emotional game about tough
and ferocious folks, where most situations are
violent and usually end in sadness. Your character—
your “fighter”—will get into fist fights and take on both
injury and emotional hardship as a result of their vio-
lent lifestyle in low-stakes high-emotion adventures of
down-to-earth urban try-and-die martial arts.
PAGE 8
BEGIN
Getting Started
First Time?
If this is your first table-top role-playing game (RPG
or ttrpg), then the structure is largely this: the game
master (GM) leads the game’s events by presenting
various imagined conflicts, and you, the player—one
of several around the gaming table—imagine em-
bodying a player character (PC) within the in-game
world, proposing actions that they do and reacting to
the GM’s prompts. It involves a shared social contract
and a willing suspension of disbelief. It’s like a game
of “What would you do if you were this person?” with
deep layers of imagined consequence.
What You Need to Play

● This rulebook.
● A GM to run the game, and to have prepared the
session’s adventures beforehand, at least to an
extent—this game is particularly forgiving to the
GM because of strict Phases of Play.
● At least one player other than you, to a maximum
of five players. (Not counting the GM.)
● Characters sheets for each player.
● A mode of communication. (In-person? A
chatroom? A forum? Homing pigeons?)
How to Read This Book

● Text in this book is written from a
player’s perspective. When it says
“you”, it means you, the player. GMs are
terms e
have their own section at the back, but Game hted in blu
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highli out the
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will otherwise be called out in occasional throu nalling
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boxes, like this one on the right. m out as n-
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Call-out boxes are used throughout the imp r ions.
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sidera
text to provide meta-textual tips on why a
particular design decision was made, and
are largely for the indulgence of the author.
PAGE 9
At A Glance
System at a Glance
For the system junkies out there, Fight to Survive is:
● Multi-generational: Each game session advances the in-game

calendar by one to three years. While it is possible to hold on to
a single PC throughout most of the century, it is equally possible
to go through a series of characters, exploring the 20th century
through a martial lineage.
● Rules-medium: The weight of these rules are a firm “medium” in
terms of their crunch and complexity, if we take the current iteration of
the world’s most popular RPG as being rules medium-to-heavy.
● Theatre of the Mind: No maps, and no miniatures, however, you may
want to refer to a map of New Hope City from time to time.
Mechanics at a Glance
● Fights & Other Conflicts: The outcome of fights is determined by
comparing moves, with certain moves trumping others, back and
forth until there’s a winner—kind of like rock-paper-scissors. The
system is diceless, with all other conflict resolution using a com-
parison of relevant numbers with the highest number winning.
● Harm & Hardship: There are no “hit points”. Instead, Harm and
Hardship—metrics that describe the lousiness of a PC’s life—are
governed by a complex series of checkboxes and brackets. If either
of these meters are exceeded, the character exits the game.
● Comforts: These are the people, places, and things a character seeks
out to make them feel better. Keep in good with your Comforts to
make sure you can rely on them to reduce your Hardship.
Setting at a Glance
● The Mundane and the Sad: This game is not a power fantasy.
Stakes are personal and low. Fight to Survive runs on a vicious cycle
of street fights and misery. The only way out is to die, go crazy, or
pass on the cycle of violence to the next generation.
● Historical Accuracy: Historical events relevant to the “Martial
World” are important, but Fight to Survive fiddles with the details.
Events that actually happened across the continent—in New York,
PAGE 10
BEGIN
San Francisco, or Toronto—instead happen in the

single fictional location of New Hope City, located
“where-ever west”. New Hope City acts as a kind
of North American Hong Kong, a tremendous hub
of cultural diversity where all things intersect.
● Character Diversity: Districts in New Hope
City act as cultural and economic boundaries.
Accordingly, the game is ripe for exploring issues
of systemic oppression, racism, colonialism, and
social and economic hardship. Even if your group
doesn’t want to tackle those issues, the game in
no way assumes middle-class, straight, white,
male, European-descended, American protag-
onists. A plethora of distinct cultural voices and
backgrounds works best and is more in keeping
with the state of martial arts throughout the 20th
century, anyway.
Design Goals
In brief, my design goals were pretty specific with Fight
to Survive. I wanted a system:
● About martial arts where the players didn’t have

to know martial arts in order to play and enjoy it,
but which would also give people who know mar-
tial arts the ability to make meaningful choices.
● Where fighting feels like how getting into a fight
really feels. This game does not seek to emulate
reality, but rather to achieve a feeling of veri-
similitude, so there are a number of potentially
counter-intuitive design decisions intended to
get you into the right head-space and give you
choices indicative of the game’s wider themes.
● That captures the melodramatic emotional side
of martial arts movies mechanically relevant to a
table-top RPG experience.
PAGE 11
Safety Tools
If you’ve never used safety tools before in a ttrpg, F2S is a good oppor-
tunity to start. The content of this game inherently tackles some pretty
big topics like racism, class divide, and the problematic nature of vio-
lence. It’s okay to be uncomfortable at the gaming table when working
through these issues—it’s cathartic...or, it can be. There can also come
a point where you’re not having fun anymore. Safety Tools help avoid
uncomfortable situations at the table, and help get play back on track.
X-Card
This game recommends keeping a sheet of paper with a big “X” on it
in the middle of the gaming table. When you feel like something in the
game has gone too far, tap the card. If you aren’t playing in-person,
agree on a signal—so long as it facilitates the same function. The GM
will re-adjust whatever it is that’s going on, and the game can continue.
As a rule, other players shouldn’t question the player tapping the card.
In every case I’ve ever known of its use, the reason has been immedi-
ately obvious—you’re not going to be the only one who was thinking
that. But even if it’s not, have some respect. We’re all here to have
fun, and if someone feels uncomfortable enough to tap that card then
please be respectful enough to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Lines & Veils

This game further suggests that before any play begins, the GM should
lead a discussion of what topics should be lines (as in, do not cross—I
don’t want this kind of content in the game at all) and veils (as in, “fade to
black”—sure it can be here, but I don’t want the details). The GM should
start with their own lines and veils, then encourage others to share.
For example, I cannot stomach any sexual violence in a ttrpg. I don’t care
if it is a common trope in martial arts cinema, it’s just going to make me
miserable. Hard line. Also, I just don’t want to spend my time imagining
torture. So, let’s avoid gory detail—veil.
The fact is, you do not know what content is going to make other people
around the table uncomfortable, even your friends. Establishing lines &
veils takes about five minutes, and you always learn something.
PAGE 12
BEGIN
Establish Tone
Discussions of lines and veils will inherently bleed into
a talk about tone. The game has certain play expecta-
tions baked into the mechanics, but there is latitude
for table personality.
Camp
I recommend using the Rocky scale. On a scale of
Rocky I to Rocky IV, how realistic versus how campy do
you want this game to be? Rocky was a heartwarming,
realistic depiction of fight life both sad and beautiful.
Rocky IV is the one with two back-to-back glorious ’80s
training montages, a robot, and where his post-fight
monologue single-handedly ends the Cold War.
The sample adventures starting on page 288

are around a Rocky III in tone, even though I
personally like to be a little more straight-faced
Watch for
with Fight to Survive. this little
F2S logo
Preference will vary table-to-table. So long as your below. It
acts as an
variance from player to player is not more than one end-cap to
Rocky’s difference, your tone will be consistent. each section
in the book.
Blood & Guts

You should also discuss the level of violence that is
agreed upon for your game. Just as some martial arts
films indulge in ultra-violence and others do not even
feature significant bruising, make sure you as players
have a similar sense of the violent road ahead.
Once prepared, move forward into glorious gaming.
PAGE 13
CHARACTER
CREATION
Y
ou’re stepping up to be counted among
the fighters of your generation. Right now
you’re just a scrapper, but the fire in your
heart is growing. You have the potential to
be a great martial artist, but you’re unknown in the
Martial World, clueless, and broke. What you want to
achieve you’ll have to fight for, fight to the end—and
take New Hope City for all it’s worth.
PAGE 14
Competitors Kotnebue (left) and
Reeberg (right), at a 1977 Dutch Karate
Championship. Photo by Rob Bogaerts.
NEW
FIGHTERS
Friendships forged in the
fires of combat, misery, and
mutual respect
T
here are two different types of character
creation in Fight to Survive. Create a New
Fighter to begin a martial lineage, and a
Successor to continue it. If this is your first
time playing Fight to Survive, you’ll want to make a
New Fighter. For Successors see page 54.
Before character creation begins, the GM will tell

you the Year in the 20th century that play will start.
This start date will influence what communities your
character likely belongs to, where they probably live
in New Hope City, and the Martial Arts they are most
likely to learn.
PAGE 16
NEW FIGHTER CREATION
Enter the Kumite, 1990. Illegal underground martial arts tournaments were com-
mon throughout the 20th century, and peaked in the early ’90s. Between ’90 and
’93 the Red Dragon Fighting Society (still struggling in leadership post-Countess
Montague) rented space in Chinatown at an old Sky Sect Triad meeting hall to host
the Dragon Attack, an annual tournament to decide its membership. Leo “Justice”
Daring (27) and Colonel “Iron Falcon” Grenville (29) were hired by the Society to
check invitations at the door. Col. Grenville was in active service at this time, but
Leo Darning already washed out of his military career.
Ideally, the creation of a new PC should not be done

alone. PCs are created relative to the rest of their gen-
eration of fighters—the other PCs in your play group.
New Fighters in the same generation share certain
aspects with each other, and Successors have differ-
ent connections to previous generations of fighters, so
it’s important to make your characters together, just
as you plan to play together.
Remember, the character you create is the start of a

martial lineage that could last a hundred years.
PAGE 17
The Character Sheet
Many of the rules in Fight to Survive are signified on the character sheet,
making it a busy-looking single-page, but a largely self-sufficient refer-
ence for you to know how to play the game, and keep track of how your
character changes.
Key Parts of the Character Sheet

● Build: Determines Turn Order, and influences the Force of your
character’s
blows.
● Moves: What
you use to fight.
Each Move has its
own Technique
(a number for
breaking ties with
other Moves) and
Force (how much
damage it Hits.)
● Challenges:
These are the
tiers of difficulty
for resolving
conflict outside
of a fight
situation.
● Versus Chart: In a fight, compare Moves to see what wins.
● Training Regime: How the Technique of Moves advances.
Health: Your measure of your fighter’s bodily condition.
Fill in checkboxes as they get Hit.
● Comforts: The People, Places, and Things that are important to
your fighter. Mechanically, these are what reduce Hardship.
● Hardship: Your mental stability and the condition of your PC’s spir-
it. Like Health, if this is exceeded then your PC is out of the game.
PAGE 18
RULES SUMMARY
PAGE 19
1. Appearance
It’s time to show the world what you look like. Construct your fighter’s
image by picking their Build (including Distinctive Feature), age, and
style of dress.
Build
First, you must decide the general shape of your fighter’s body. No two
PCs in your play group can have the same Build, at least for the group’s
first generation. So, come to an agreement among yourselves as players
about which PCs will have which Build. There are five options:
1. Small Build
2. Thin
3. Medium "You think you can win just
4. Tall / Muscular because you're bigger than
5. Huge Build me? I'll show you!"
— Diamond Mike, 1981
There are a few
considerations for
what to choose:
● Small for Speed: The smaller you are the quicker you are. Build
determines Turn Order for characters in moments of action. Quick-
er fighters always go first in play, while really hulking big fighters
always go last.
● Bigger Packs a Punch: The bigger you are the harder you Hit, but
also the more potential you have to Train for more Force in your
Moves, and pack an even greater wallop with your blows.
● Train For Your Body: What about the middling Build? Each Build
gets a different Move (Grapple, Punch, Kick, Block, or Footwork) that
they find easier to Train, just given the size and shape of their body.
Medium Build has the most options of what Moves you can pick, so
you can be more specific about how your fighter will Train up their
Moves. For more on this see Training on page 184.
PAGE 20
Size Up
Sizing Up, 1970. The small-built Joe “Screaming Bird” Zhang (30) was one of
the first to oppose Giant Skeleton’s (35) reign of terror in the Martial World.
BUILD
Train Force Distinctive Features
Small Footwork q, q, q Bare Muscles, Wrist-bands, Earring(s)
Thin F or K q, q, q Long Hair, Jean Jacket, Hat
Medium G, P or K q, q, q Eye-patch, Hand-wraps, Headband
Tall/Musc. G or B qq,q,q Tattoo, Wild Hair, Sunglasses
Huge Block qq,qq,q Fat Belly, Scar(s), Leather Jacket
Distinctive Feature: Once your Build is chosen, make

a selection of a Distinctive Feature for your fighter
based on their Build. This helps make a character
memorable. “Oh, you’re the one with the glasses!”
Each Build has three options for Distinctive Features.
(If—probably from a Successor—two PCs in the same
group have the same Build, make sure they have two
different Distinctive Features.) Distinctive Features
break ties when figuring out who goes sooner. The
farther left, the faster; the farther right, the slower.
PAGE 21
Age and D.O.B.
Identify your fighter’s date of birth while keeping in mind the starting
date of play. (The GM will tell you that.) You’ll need to both check off
their age checkbox and write in an exact Year of birth, because both will
be pertinent in the course of the game.
“Aren’t you a little young

for full-contact?”
— Famous Neon Strip Pro-
Wrestler “Handlebars”, 1988
● First Fighters: If it’s your first time playing, it is highly recom-

mended that your first fighter be in their teens, 20s, or 30s.
● Veteran Fighters: Have you done this a few times now? Consider
mixing it up by making a group of characters from different age
brackets.
STARTING AGE
Age Checkboxes
Teenager Recommended start
In your 20s Recommended start
In your 30s 1 Destroyed
In your 70s or more 12 Destroyed
Gender
Assign gender and pronouns as suits your vision of the character, with-
out compromise.
PAGE 22
Dress
Pick one of the five options of dress. You are not
restricted to one style of dress; you can always change
your clothes during the course of the game, but in
terms of what you want the other players around the
table to imagine your character looks like, this will
help. It does not matter if multiple characters pick the
same style of dress.
DRESS
Clothing Options
Cultural Attire
Fancy Dress
Martial Arts Uniform
Professional Wear
Street Clothes
Example PC
Let’s apply this stuff to:
BUILD
q Small q Thin q Medium q Tall / Muscular q Huge
Bare Muscles Wrist-bands Earring(s) Long Hair Jean Jacket Hat Eye-patch Hand-wraps Headband Tattoo Wild Hair Sunglasses Fat Belly Scar(s) LeatherJacket
APPEARANCE
Starting with Build, I picked
Medium, checkmarked it, then
circled one of its Distinctive
Features—Hand-wraps. I’ve Age Dress
decided this PC is going to be
a fellow, and this time I have a q Up to 18 q Cultural Attire
name—Jet! The GM said play
is going to start in 1989. I’ve q 20s q Fancy Clothes
made my PC born in 1965 so
he is 24 years old when play q 30s (-1 c.box) q M.A. Uniform
starts. Then I throw him into
some Street Clothes for Dress,
q 40s (-3 c.box) q Professional Wear
because he’s got ’80s attitude!
q 50s (-5 c.box) q Street Clothes
PAGE 23
2. Origin
Pick your fighter’s place in the urban martial arts land-
scape of New Hope City.
District
New Hope City breaks down into ten Districts, each
with their own cultures, economic factors, and en-
vironments. PCs may have different Districts or may
share some, or perhaps all be from the same District.
DISTRICTS OVERVIEW
District Description
Mechanically The Battery Abandoned factory slums of

there is no
once-great industry.
difference
between
Districts, but Beat Town The multi-cultural West-side of
circumstan- bars, nightclubs, and crime.
tially they’ll
matter quite
a bit. If you Chinatown The city within the city, where
pick the Docks anything can happen.
for instance
and choose
to meet your
C-Com Industrial Over-producing factories of
opponents on District soulless corporations.
the Old Pier,
you’re playing
The Docks Bayside, the gateway in and out
a different
character than of New Hope City.
someone who
lives in the The Neon Strip Downtown grubby shops coat-
slums of The
Battery and ed in the splash of neon lights.
meets their
opponents in Parkside Wealth, power, and privilege
an abandoned
glass factory. are all Parkside.
Read Island Isolated nature reserve, known

to a few as “Fighter’s Island”.
The Richmond The Old Town, peaked in the

’50s and steadily decayed since.
Woodside Rural and semi-rural areas sur-

rounding New Hope City.
PAGE 24
DISTRICTS Landmarks
The Battery Abandoned Buildings, Crowbar, Empty Factories

aka The Slums (Glass, Ice, Pallet, Paper Mill), Poison’s Pub, Junk
Yard, Old Power Plant, Seedy Shops (Gun Shop,
Hock Shop, Junk Shop), Train Yard
Beat Town Bars, Castle Arcade, Good River High School, Hit
aka The West Side Radio Station, Motels, New Hope Concert Hall,
Nightclubs, The Old Airfield
C-Com Industrial Construction, Industrial Park, New Power Plant,

District Public Utilities Commission, Undeveloped Land
Chinatown Buddhist Temple, Chinese Benevolent Associ-

ation Community Centre, Go Tea Shop, Market,
Restaurants, Shaolin Temple, Shops
The Docks Main Pier, Old Pier, O’Shay’s Pub, Run-down

aka Bayside Amusement Park, Shoreline Beach, Water Treat-
ment Plant, Warehouses
The Neon Strip Bars, Bus Depot & Subway Centre, Dept. Stores,
aka Downtown Downtown High School, Doxy St. Youth Centre,
Golden Goose Casino, Hospital, Hotels, Library,
Metro Mall, Neon Strip Wrestling Arena, Office
Towers, Shops, Town Hall
Parkside Estates, City Park, Gallagher Golf Course, Howard

aka Uptown D. Irwin University, Office Buildings, Penthouses,
Restaurants, True Pinnacle Hotel
Read Island New Hope City Conservation Area

aka Fighter’s Island
The Richmond Diners (Reeva’s Diner), Drive-in Movie Theatre,

aka Old Town Mechanic Shops, Motels, Pool Halls, Shopping
District, Strikeout Bowling Alley, Waterfront
Woodside Crossroads Truck Stop, Farmland, Highway

PAGE 26 Attractions, Subdivisions, Motels
RULES SUMMARY
Martial Arts Schools Communities
Hand of Death Fighting Several disassociated, disenfran-

Association, Old Sluggers chised cultural groups oppressed for
Boxing, Poison Dojo, Sidekicks cheap labour at various points in the
Hapkido century, unable to move elsewhere.
Atari Aikido, Beat Town MA, A cosmopolitan of folks, but with a

Rad Kickboxing, Iceman-do strong Caribbean Village, Latin Town,
Karate, Soul MA, TKD XPress Little Russia, and West Africa Town.
C-Com Athletics Ass., Sanctu- Mostly corporate created transposed

ary Gym, Stick Escrima S. American Latin communities.
Bao Martial Sciences Academy, Sometimes violent segregation

Five Masters, Glorious Hong, between Hong Kong Chinese, Korea
King Boxer, Golden Arm, Wood- Town, and Mainland Chinese folks.
en Men Wing Chun
Devil’s Hand Boxing, Cham- Small semi-closed communities: In-

pion Muay Thai, Cleef Gym, Ye dian, Irish, Little Philippines, Malay,
Ar Kung Fu Thai Town, Vietnamese.
Doxy Street Com. Centre, No single cultural groupings dom-

Flashdance Kicks, Neon Lights inate The Neon Strip. This is where
Wrestling Gym, New Jujitsu fortunes are won and lost. Few live
Ninja School, Rabbit Kai, Ring downtown because of its high rent,
of Fire Tai Chi and costly dreams.
Art Kickboxing, Duchess Mar- Wealthy communities of northern

tial Arts, HDU Gym, New Hope European, Middle Eastern, and
Karate, Walton Health Spa Mainland Chinese ancestry.
X No one lives here...or, no one is sup-

posed to live on “Fighter’s Island”.
Bearfighter Karate, Big Trouble Japan Town, Little Italy, and various
Judo, Blackeye Boxing, Cauli- communities of European ancestry.
flower Gym, Octagon Tang Soo Do
Rural and semi-rural Rural folk of various backgrounds.

PAGE 27
Heritage
New Hope City is a multi-cultural hub. Unless you would like your PC to
be Indigenous, all PCs in Fight to Survive are first or second generation
immigrants. If you would like your PC’s heritage to come up frequently
in game, the Comfort of “language & culture” is for just that. There will
be more on Comforts later. See page 32 or 136 for more on that.
HERITAGE
Heritage Common District
African The Battery, Beat Town
Asian Beat Town, Docks, Chinatown
Australian The Docks, Parkside
European The Richmond, Parkside
S. American C-Com, The Neon Strip
Your character is free to have a background that differs from your own
as a player, but if you intend to act out a culture that you do not experi-
ence, please approach the situation with sensitivity. You are playing just
one person of a particular heritage. You are not a representative of that
heritage. Please lead with the personality of the character as impacted
by heritage, not as a tokenized version or walking embodiment of an
ethnicity. Playing a character with a different cultural heritage than your
own is not an invitation to enact offensive stereotypes.
As in all walks of life there are issues of both systemic and overt racism
in the martial arts. The impact of racism on 20th century martial his-
tory is undeniable, but such topics can be raw as a play experience. It
depends on your emotional bandwidth, and that of your fellow play-
ers, how deeply you wish to tackle these issues. It can be surprising
for some players to learn that if they are playing a Chinese person in
the 1920s, and are wounded, ambulances will not visit Chinatown.
It can be disheartening to learn the well-documented history in the
United States of America, and especially in the first half of the 20th
PAGE 28
century, black fighters who won in official fights were

often denied the titles they earned out of a policy of
unapologetic racism. (There’s a reason Jack John-
son has a full page photograph in this book.) There
are too many examples to list, and—not to mar the
fun of the content—I encourage you to research the
history involved. How deeply your group makes these
difficult themes central to play necessitates a thor-
ough discussion and agreement. Remember that the
history of martial arts in the 20th century is also one
of cultures coming together and learning from one
another despite great barriers.
“I say, stiff upper lip and

all that, what-what!”
— Lord Pepperpash, 1912
Example PC
Let’s return to...
Okay, we had to make some tough choices this time. I think I want Jet to be Italian, and
have a tough old Italian dad—but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. I notice “Little
Italy” is in the District called The Richmond...but that’s a 1950s style place, and I’d rather
lean into ’80s pop with this guy. Looking at the District of Beat Town—that seems more
hip and happening and matches his ’80s attitude better, so let’s say he was born in the
stuffy Richmond,
but it’s the ’80s now,
man, and he’s 24! D.O.B 1965 R.I.P
He moved to Beat
Town, where it’s all Gender Male
happening! And he’s
going to BE some- Heritage Italian
body! But still visits
his dad regularly,
obviously. What’s District Beat Town
a good Italian last
name? Palermo? M. A. Kickboxing
PAGE 29
Martial Art
Though the forms of combat are many and varied, for the purposes
of this game one is not better than another. The choice of your style
of Martial Art—especially as a fighter of limited experience—does not
matter as much as individual ability.
The availability of a particular Martial Art depends on the GM’s start

date for play. Multiple PCs can have the same choice without conflict,
and that can even make for interesting rivalries.
Every Martial Art imaginable can be covered in Fight to Survive, but

for simplicity (and approachability) starting characters are offered five
basic choices.
● Boxing: Known for the tremendous endurance of its blocks and for
powerful punches.
● Kickboxing: A Western synthesis of world kicking practices into a
basic all-around martial approach.
● Karate: Meditative art with strong stances and an emphasis on
form and striking power.
● Kung Fu: Chinese acrobatic styles with complex techniques; em-
phasis on tool diversity over simplicity.
● Wrestling: Complex throws, holds, and powerful slams for typically
strength-based competition.
MARTIAL ARTS
Origin Intro Main Move
Boxing Western 1900s Punch
Karate Japan, Okinawa 1940s Block
Kickboxing Western, Thai 50s, 70s Kick
Kung Fu China 00s, 60s Footwork
Wrestling World-wide 1900s Grapple
Street Fighting World-wide -
PAGE 30
“Behold, the elegant hands

of imminent death!”
— Grand Naga, martial
arts assassin, 1920
Other Martial Arts: If this is your first time playing,

stick to one of the five Martial Arts listed here. For
more intricate choices see the Martial Arts section on
page 178 for the many listed there.
No Martial Art: You may not want to pick a Martial Art

yet, and leave yourself open to discovering one during
play. There are mechanical advantages to doing this,
and it means you get to be the centre of attention for
a bit as your character discovers the Martial World for
the first time. (“I have to paint a fence?”)
If you choose not to have a Martial Art, you are ef-

fectively choosing “street fighting” for the time being.
Street fighting means that you have no specific fight-
ing style; street fighting is the art of no-art.
Common Districts Teacher Schools
Docks, Richmond Coach Boxing Gym
Beat Town, Richmond Sensei Dojo
Battery, Parkside Coach Kickboxing Gym
Chinatown Sifu Kwoon or Temple
Neon Strip Trainer Wrestling Gym
Battery, Docks X X
PAGE 31
3. Comforts
Here you identify three important connections in your character’s life.
These are the people, places, and things from which your character
seeks solace and respite from the hardships of daily life, and the trou-
bles that haunt you, leading to such a violent lifestyle.
Notes on
Comforts “Jet and Leo, Leo and Jet,
● Person, one is a blonde, the other
Place, or brunette. Best friends.
Thing: Identify Worst enemies!”
one Person, — Hot-head Kickboxer
one Place Jet Palermo, 1984
and one Thing that is
important to your PC. By the end of character creation you will have
a total of five, but start with just picking one of each. Through the
course of play you will acquire other Comforts as well.
● Shared Comforts: You must share at least one Person and Place
with at least one other PC in your player group. The relationship you
each have with that Person or Place may be different, though.
● Relationship to Comforts: Beside each entry for a Comfort, fill in
details as you think of them, such as the nature of the relationship,
and the Year you met. You have authority over these decisions, but
should still coordinate with your GM.
● Value of Comforts: Each Comfort has a number associated with it,
but do not write in a number for your Comfort just yet. You will be
able to decide on its number during the next step.
● Neglected Comforts: If you do not fill in a Comfort—for instance,
you haven’t identified a home for your character, or their place of
work, or all their living family—that does not mean that they don’t
have a home, a job, or a family, just that your character has no par-
ticularly feeling from these and derives no Comfort from them.
Mechanically, the value you have in each Comfort is employed to lower

your Hardship score, which is just as important as taking physical harm.
PAGE 32
Person
It is common for a fighter to seek comfort in the
people closest to them. The oldest Comforts in a
fighter’s life are probably these people. The entry for a
Person must include a name, Year met, and a defin-
ition of the relationship.
For character creation, choose one Person with whom

your PC finds Comfort. This Person must also be a
Comfort for at least one other PC, although you may
have a different relationship to them. To choose a
Person you can:
1. Make up a Person: This is your opportunity to

make up supporting characters for your story.
2. Use Another PC’s Person: Sharing is great, but
this should be agreed upon with that player. Kiss in the
Rain, 1975.
3. Use a NPC Met During Play: Just make the GM Passions run
aware of your choice. hot in a fight-
er’s life, such
as the whirl-
New players may find it easiest to think of a family wind romance
member or friend. Players looking for a fraught time between the
Chinatown
may prefer a rival, or a lover. Those looking for an edge Kid (24) and
on their fellow party members may want to pick a “Hardcore”
Harriot Cohen
Teacher, or a Student. (16).
PAGE 33
EXAMPLE PEOPLE
Family q Parent / Grandparent
q Romantic Partner / Lover / Spouse
q Sibling / Cousin
Martial World q Criminal Martial Clan (like a Triad)
q Cult or Religious Order of Martial Artists
q Official Martial Arts Organisation
q Secret Society of Martial Artists
q Underground Gambling Fight Ring
New Hope City q Culture & Language
q Community (like a Tong)
q Gang
q Organised Crime (like the Mafia, or Yakuza)
q Snitch / Gossip Contact
Professional q Colleague from Day Job
q Government / Military Contact
q Professional (Doctor / Lawyer / Police)
Teacher / q Coach q Manager
Student q Master q Promoter
q Rival q School
q Student(s) q Teacher
q Trainer
Types of People
You can invent the character if you like, with scant detail, but most Per-
son entries for Comforts are chosen from NPCs met in the game.
Individual People: Any one living human, martial artist or otherwise.

See examples in the chart above.
Groups of People: As opposed to “Katie Yuen, a student”, the entry

could be “Students of the Glorious Hong Kung Fu School”.
Example Relationships
Like the name of the entry itself the relationship to this Comfort could
be broad or specific depending on your understanding of the Person.
For example, Best Friend, Bodyguard / Henchman, Colleague / Class-

mate, Old Army Buddy, Rival, Spouse
PAGE 34
Special Types & Relationships

Teachers: Usually as a player you have the right to
make up whatever Person you write in, but the Person
who is going to teach your PC Martial Arts has a huge
impact on the game. Determine what Martial Art the
Teacher teaches, and the GM will determine the rest of
your Teacher’s characteristics.
Student: At some point in the game, most PCs will lead,

defend, or otherwise represent a school, temple, or
gang of fighters. You can start that way if you like, either
by creating a Student PC, or by choosing the Comfort
“students”, which refers to the group more broadly.
Languages & Culture: Individual languages & culture

groups are also considered a Person for the purposes
of this game. This Comfort represents an under-
standing of a single culture’s history, customs, and
one spoken and written language within that culture.
(Language barriers can be a big issue in New Hope
City.) A language and cultural group must be chosen,
and justification for that choice cited.
Example PC
Okay, obviously my Person
is going to be Jet’s dad...
PERSON
uhhh—“Pop” Palermo. Name Y. Met Relationship
Since I want Pop to be a
tough old guy we’ll say he’s q “Pop” Palermo ’65, Teacher
Jet’s Martial Arts Teacher
as well. I hope it’s okay if q
Pop just knows tough-old-
q
guy fighting or something
because I can’t imagine him q
kickboxing, and I want Jet
to be a kickboxer, because q
that was pretty popular in
’80s Martial Arts movies, and q
I see Jet as a shameless ’80s
homage.
PAGE 35
Victory Lunch, 1954. Tom Dukes (25), Mayor Marion Hill (40), Elaine “The Attacker”
Hill (23), and Yumi “Street” Notaro (24) sat in Reeva’s Diner “The Hurley Street Bar
and Grill” in Old Town after a hard-worn battle rescuing Elaine Hill from the Battery
where she was captured by the Grease Fire Gang and her ex-boyfriend, Ambros
“Greaser” Brown. Last night was what it meant to be young.
Place
This is where your character wants to be. For character creation choose
one Place that exists within New Hope City where your PC will seek
Comfort. You must share this Place with at least one other PC, although
the relationships you have with that Place can be different. To choose a
Place you can:
1. Make up a Place: This is your opportunity to make up interesting

locations within a District in New Hope City. Consult the map on
page 25 if you need to.
2. Share Another PC’s Place: With their agreement.
3. Remember a Place: Use a Place known to you in New Hope City
from previous play, with the GM’s approval.
PAGE 36
EXAMPLE PLACES
Gym q Boxing Gym (P) School q Above a Store
q Kickboxing Gym (K) q Back Room
q Swimming Pool (K) q Basement
q Workout Gym (!) q Store-front
q Wrestling Gym (G) q Temple
Private q Apartment Work q Bar / Pub
Space q Backyard q Construction Site
q Basement q Dock
q Garage q Factory
q Rooftop q Junk-yard
Public q Back Alley q Nightclub
Space q Nature Park q Office
q Parking Garage q Restaurant / Diner
q Parking Lot q Military Base
q Sidewalk q Store / Shop
If you’re stuck, the easiest Place to choose as a Com-

fort is somewhere your PC frequents, such as their
home, work, a public location such as a favourite res-
taurant, or a school where they teach or learn Martial
Arts. If you want to get deeper into the mechanics,
you may identify any reasonable Place as a Stage.
Types of Places
A Place must be more specific than a District.
Specific Locations: A single building or landmark

makes a fine Place.
For example, My Apartment, Count Dante’s Black Dragon

Fighting Society Dojo, New Hope City Penitentiary, The
Streets of Fire Dance Club.
Broader Locations: Places that defy the above speci-

ficity but justifiably capture a sense of territory are
also allowed.
For example, the subways of New Hope City, or the roof-

tops of the Neon Strip.
PAGE 37
International Locations: It is common for fighters to leave the coun-
try from time to time, and perfectly reasonable for an international
location to be identified as a Place, albeit a Place that will only rarely be
available for use. International locations—or anywhere else outside of
New Hope City—can be more broadly defined to try and compensate for
their lack of availability for use as a Comfort.
For example, Hong Kong, Japan, or Mother Russia.
Examples of Relationships
You are free to define your relationship to the Place as makes sense to
your use of it, with a few exceptions.
For example, Owner, Hangout, Tourist, Worker, Where I was born, Home-
town, Girlfriend’s House.

Stage: This is where your fighter is known to receive challenges, and
where they are able to most focus on their Training. For more on Stages
see page 226.
Meditation: This is a Comfort that cannot be chosen but can be be-

stowed by a Teacher. It is both a Place and a unique conflict resolution
tool. For more on Meditation see page 191.
Example PC
What’s some Place kinda
PLACE
dorky, super ’80s, and there’s Name Y. Met Relationship
still fights sometimes? I
don’t want to just go with a q Castle Arcade ’82, Stage
bar. Maybe a pool hall? How
about...an arcade? We’re not q
into the early-’90s arcade
explosion, but they’re still q
fun places that don’t really
survive the 20th century, so,
q
let’s have that as his main
q
haunt. Maybe he can work
there, too? Regardless, I q
want it for his “Stage” so
people know where Jet is. q
PAGE 38
Road to Nowhere, 1993. There was no easy way out for Mariana “Peaches” Lee
Ray (22) after her defeat by Janelle “Turbo” Jones in the underground kickboxing
competition Dragon Attack, so Peaches worked out her feelings speeding her
sportscar down the Neon Strip at night, waiting for her wounds to heal.
Thing
This is an object, big or small, that your PC holds dear.
Unlike the other Comforts, a Thing is kept to the indi-
vidual and not shared with another PC. It is unique to
your character.
The easiest Things to use in play are a token or trinket.

A common choice that grounds you in the city is a day
job. If your character has expressed a penchant for a
certain vice as their Thing, good luck to you. A vice is
not recommended for first-time players.
Types of Things
The categories of Things are strictly defined.
Unique Things: This is your prized possession. For

these purposes a Thing is a material object that can be
held, or at least touched if it is too large to be held. It
is generally assumed to be on you, or near you, or you
are readily aware of where you left it.
PAGE 39
For example, a fancy hat, a baby duck, a knife, a photograph of an old
lover, or a Dome Zero concept car.
Note that a Weapon is a prized possession and can be a Thing, but the
value you place in it as a Comfort is not indicative of its use in a fight.
You cannot use a Weapon’s Comfort for Moves Versus Moves conflict
resolution, only for By the Numbers. To Train in the Weapon to be able
to make use of it in combat, see page 198.
Collections of Things: Instead of a single, unique Thing, you could

broadly define the Thing.
For example, hats, ducks, or sportscars.
Intangible Things: Only a few exceptions are permitted, see below.
Examples of Relationships
Descriptions of relationships do not vary much among Things when
we’re talking about physical objects.
For example, a prized possession, collection, or a hoard.

Addiction: This is like any other object, except you are constantly con-
suming it. You must have means to fulfil the addiction in order to seek
Comfort in it.
For example, you need an alcoholic drink to feed your addiction to drink.
It’s pretty easy for the GM to place an addiction Under Threat, they just say
you’re out of booze.
Day Job / Means: This is your place of work, your income, and your
status with the company. Your relationships to this Comfort is depend-
ent on its value. This is covered extensively in the By the Numbers
conflict resolution on page 86.
Fame: It may be an intangible Thing but fame holds sway over lives. It
can impress people and get you into parties, maybe. We’ll call you.
Wealth: Unlike a day job, wealth is just a briefcase full of cash, or money
in the bank. But money talks.
PAGE 40
EXAMPLE THINGS
Addiction* q Drinking
q Drugs
q Gambling
q Sex There are no
q Smoking mechanical
advantages
Day Job / Means q Blue Collar to having a
q Criminal collection of
something
q M.A. Instructor over having a
q Military unique Thing.
q White Collar
Token or Trinket q Jewellery
q Medallion or Amulet
q Photograph
q Scarf or Handkerchief
q Vehicle
Wealth / Fame q Fame
q Wealth
Weapon q Antique Sword
q Heirloom Pistol
q Old Knife
* This is not typically a desirable choice for a PC.
Example PC
If I leave Castle Arcade as
just a Place then it’s just THING
somewhere I go. I’d much Name Y. Met Relationship
rather Jet be more heavily
involved with the Castle Ar- q Janitor at Arcade’85, Job /Means
cade, so let’s have him work
there, too, as his day job. I q
add “Janitor at the Arcade”
as his Thing. Is this overkill? q
Probably. It also means that
if one is Under Threat then q
the other one probably is,
too, so it’s risky, but I’ll get q
to pick two more Comforts
q
after this, and I’ll just make
sure the next Thing is more q
versatile.
PAGE 41
Remaining Comforts
Now that there is one Comfort for each of Person, Place, and Thing,
choose two more Comforts of any kind for a total
of five.
Example Character
Let’s return to building our guy...
Let’s fill in the last of Jet’s Comforts. Beyond “Pop”, I

figure he needs at least one more Person, so I’ve made
up his girlfriend—Ellen Darning. Another player has
agreed to have Ellen as his sister. Is it too much to
make Ellen a pop-star? I’ll leave it to the GM, for now.
For Jet’s last Comfort I picked a Thing. Since being
a janitor at the Castle Arcade is location-specific, I
wanted a Thing that he could
carry around, so I chose the
highly-portable (and easily re-
placeable!) option of a beloved
PERSON
paperback novel, specifically the Name Y. Met Relationship
1940 wartime thriller “The Ghost
in the Black Forest” by New q “Pop” Palermo Teacher
Hope City’s own pulp novelist
Howard D. Irwin. That sounds so q Ellen Darning Girlfriend
specific because we did an ear-
lier Fight to Survive campaign q
taking place from the ’30s and
PLACE
’40s, and Howard D. Irwin was
a PC, a boxer and novelist, who
wrote pulp novels for his Com-
fort and the GM made him name Name Y. Met Relationship
them every time he did.
q Castle Arcade Stage
Now it’s time to distribute Jet’s
age in Points (24 / 2, rounded q
up = 12) between Comforts and
Moves. Pop is a big deal, so he’ll q
get 3, and Jet loves the Castle
THING
Arcade, so let’s give it a 2, but he
only kind of likes working there,
so that gets a 1. That’s all I really
want to spend on Comforts... Name Y. Met Relationship
although, it leaves nothing for
my novel...ugh. Okay, I guess I’ll q Janitor at the Arcade Job/Means
put 1 in the novel, totalling 8,
and have only 4 Points leftover q Paperback Novel Prized
for my Moves. I hope that’ll be
enough to survive.
q
PAGE 42
Not Comforts
Anything else that is neither a Person, Place or Thing,
or an identified exception—day job, fame, and vice
being the key ones—cannot be chosen as a Comfort.
To a martial artist, there is no Comfort in knowledge.
Routine is not a Comfort, only a stalling tactic. Habits
are a superstition, and make you weak and predict-
able. A fighter gains no Comfort from military training,
a love of art, nor other nebulous concepts. Comfort
can only be derived from the concrete.
“There is no real solace in a

fighter’s life. The warrior’s
path is a long road. Some
find it lonely.”
— Sojiro Tanaka, perhaps the
city’s first karate teacher, 1919
Power Ga
ming Com
ment and forts: If yo
becoming u care mo
the best p re
choices fo
r those pu ossible fig about advance-
Teacher fo rposes is to hter, the o
r a Person have a Sta ptimal
a Martial , and to m ge for a P
Art. ake sure yo lace, a
u’re start
However, ing with
a warning
risks findin —any figh
g ter who a
pick are th themselves in over dvances to
o quickly
e things th their head
be put un at are on . The Com
der threa the chopp forts you
acter may t by th in gb
be more vu e GM. Keep in min lock. They will
who finds lnerable to d that you
the losi r char-
during pla ir Martial Art, Teach ng it all than some
y. er, and Sta one
ge
PAGE 43
4. Numbers & Checkboxes

At this time you’ll figure out the Technique and Force
of your PC’s Moves, how to deal with their checkboxes,
and what you’ll name your fighter.
Moves
Each PC’s ability to fight is defined by the same five
Moves: Grapple, Punch, Kick, Block, and Footwork.
The aggressive Moves (Grapple, Punch, and Kick) break
City Within
down into two components: Technique and Force. a City, 1910.
(Opposing
Technique: The higher the Technique is, the more Page). Even
the Go Tea
likely the blow is to land. The Technique for all Moves Shop was
of a New Fighter in this game is 0, which means martial not safe
when the
competence. You will increase this with Training later. Tong wars
raged. Dur-
Force: The greater the Force of a Move, the more ing this time
Master Bao
damage it will do when it Hits. For a new PC, Force in (47), veteran
each Move is 1, but is also affected by their Build. of such
conflicts,
● If your Build is Muscular / Tall, then you get to fill

was charged
with the tu-
in one extra checkbox of Force for one Move. telage of the
● If your Build is Huge you get to fill in two extra

impatient
young Tong
checkboxes in Force. You could pick the same successor,
Songbird Lin
one twice for a whopping 3 Force. For reference, 3 (15), who
checkboxes of Force Hits as hard as a baseball bat. would take
●
over from
If you are any other Build, you start with 1 Force her father
to lead the
in each Move. That’s a normal Hit for the un- Chinese
armed attack of a martial artist. Benevolent
Association.
Points: Now you get to spend half of your character’s
age in Points, rounded up, on improving some of your
PC’s Techniques and Comforts. You aren’t required
to put a Point in every Move and Comfort you have.
Note that by increasing a Move’s Technique you also
increase the Virtue associated with that Move. (A good
Puncher has more Heart.) The value of your Tech-
niques, Virtues and Comforts will be used for By the
Numbers conflict resolution.
PAGE 45
GRAPPLE Example
Technique Character
Let’s return to build-
STRENGTH
ing our guy...

Force
n
q qq
Weapon Outnum. Improv. Guns
Rake Crowd Pin Snipe
PUNCH
Technique
Force
HEART
n
q qq Originally, I planned to roughly divide Jet’s Points
into two piles, figuring he’s a caring dude as much
as he’s scrappy, but then I ended up putting 8 of
Slash Rush Throw Shoot
them in his Comforts, leaving only 4. Maybe he just
KICK has a lot of heart? At least until character creation

is done I can change this if it’s not working out, but
Technique I think it’ll be okay. You don’t have to put Points in
every Comfort, but I got excited.
So, Jet is going to be a kickboxer...and half Jet’s age
Force in Points is 12, minus the 8 I already spent, means
FLASH
I’ve got 4 to distribute into the Techniques of his

n
q qq Moves. Looking at the Challenges for reference, I
Weapon Outnum. Improv. Guns know I want him to be Skilled or Tough in at least
Lunge Hit/Run Flail Spray one Move—just a matter of pride—so there goes 3
Points into Kick, which is what I want to be his best
BLOCK Move. This also means he’s Flashy—a big show-off!
That leaves me with 1 Point.
Technique
After a long and arduous battle I’ve decided to put
that Point in Footwork, on the grounds that that
makes him a better than average dancer. Who
SCHEME
knows if dancing will come up? But, I’ll try and

make a dance-off happen.
Weapon Outnum. Improv. Guns With a Medium Build, none of Jet’s Moves have a
Guard Close Up Shield Cover greater Force than just its starting value of 1, so we
can skip that.
FOOTWORK Jet isn’t 30 yet, (don’t trust anyone over 30!) so he
Technique does not have any checkboxes to destroy. His name,
obviously, is going to be Jet Palermo. Most of the
time I have no idea what my characters are going
to be called until the very end, but this one knew his
EVADE
name early. I have no idea if “Jet” is a given-name,

but with a dad like “Pop”...
Acrob. Surround Press Duck
PAGE 46
CHALLENGES
1 Easy for a marital artist to do
3 Skilled or Tough challenge for a martial artist
5 Expert, Strong or First-rate stunts
8 Champion skill exhibited
12 Master feats of amazement and the fantastic
For example, with a Technique of 1 you can succeed at

any applicable task that would be considered easy for
a martial artist to do.
Checkboxes: If your character is 30 years old or older

then they take on noticeable health problems as a
result of the normal process of aging and their violent
lifestyle. At age 30, you must destroy 1 checkbox of
either Health or Hardship. Pick any one you like, even
a filled one. These boxes are forever skipped, and
cannot be revived by Points or Training. Strike them
out with a big “X”, or scratch them out.
● Destroying checkboxes for Health makes your PC

physically weaker.
● Destroying checkboxes for Hardship makes your
PC more emotionally unstable.
Every 10 years the number of checkboxes destroyed

increases to a total of 3 at 40 years old, then 5, then 8,
then 12 when you turn 70.
Name
By going through the character creation process to
this point you may now have a good idea of your PC’s
name. This can be whatever you like, within theme,
from a mundane name from your daily life like “Dave
Jones” to a brief embodiment of your identity in the
Martial World, like “Dragon”, or “Skeleton Secretary”.
PAGE 47
5. Training Regime
In this last step, you construct the chart for your character’s Training
Regime. You will use this chart during each Training segment where
your fighter can improve their skills.
Constructing your Training Regime

In each column place an X, checkmark, or appropriate distinguishing
mark to indicate that your character is able to Train in that Move during
a Training segment. Leave space to put multiple marks in the same box
later, just in case.
● Body: Refer to your Build for the Move you get to Train and in-
crease by virtue of your body. If there are multiple choices for your
Build, you must pick only one.
● Martial Art: Refer to your Martial Art for “main” Move you get to
choose as an extension of your practice and understanding of the
art. If you have no Martial Art yet, use street fighting and pick any
one Move for now.
● Stage: If your PC has a Stage (a Place where you are able to Train
and receive challenges) then mark the Move you can Train there.
Your GM will tell you what Move it is given the Stage’s nature.
- If the Comfort is valued at 3 or more, you will gain additional bo-
nuses to Moves that you can Train at the Stage during Training.
● Teacher: If you have a Teacher (or a coach, trainer, sifu, or anyone
else who trains you) then mark the Move you can Train from the
Teacher. The GM will tell what this Move is.
- If the Comfort is valued at 3 or more, you will gain additional
bonuses to Moves that you can Train with that Teacher during a
Training segment where they are present.
“If you can’t train every

day then you can’t fight
any day.”
— Moxie Wellingston,
flapper pugilist, 1925
PAGE 48
BUILD MOVE
Build Training Move Max Force
Small Footwork qq,qq,q
Thin q Footwork q Kick qq,qq,qq
Medium Build q Grapple q Punch q Kick qqq,qq,qq
Muscular / Tall q Grapple q Block qqq,qqq,qq
Huge Block qqq,qqq,qqq
MARTIAL ART MOVES

Main Move Training Method
Boxing Punch Shadowboxing
Karate Block Kata
Kickboxing Kick Kicking Drills
Kung Fu Footwork Flexibility training
Wrestling Grapple Pair Exchanges
Street
Your choice of one Move X
Fighting
STAGE MOVES
Stage Training Move Examples
Gym q Grapple Boxing Gym (P), Kickboxing Gym
q Punch q Kick (K), Swimming Pool (K), Workout
Gym (!), Wrestling Gym (G)
Private q Footwork Apartment, Backyard, Basement,
q Block Garage, Rooftop
Public Weapons Back Alley, Nature Park, Parking
Lot, Sidewalk, Train Tracks
School q Footwork Above a Store, Back Room,
q Block Basement, In Public View, Temple
Work Force Bar / Pub, Construction Site,
Diner, Dock, Factory, Junk-yard,
Military Base, Nightclub, Office,
Restaurant, Store / Shop
PAGE 49
Totalling the Chart
Total the rows for each Move in the Total column. This represents the
total number of Technique you could advance during a Training seg-
ment if all necessary conditions are met. (For instance, you are able to
be at your Stage and/or your Teacher is present.)
For example, if your Martial Art has you Train in Punch, and your Teacher
has you Train your Punch, and your Stage has you Train in Punch, then
you could use a Training segment to Train in Punching of +3 for the first
Training Point spent, increasing your Punch Technique by 4 for only 1
Point. (You do not gain this bonus for every Point spent, just the first.
So, if in this example you instead spend 3 Points to increase your Punch
Technique, it would advance by a total of 6.)
Adding to the Training Regime

As you increase your Teacher and your Stage Comforts, the marks you
can make on your Training Regime in each column also increase, ex-
cept for the body (Build) column and Martial Arts column which do not
(usually) change after character creation.
● The Stage column increases with more value put into that Comfort.
More options become available to you with Training as you realise
your space better. Force Training (hitting harder through strength
training or endurance training) is a common option here. Find the
Stages on page 226.
● The Teacher column increases when you have more Comfort in-
vested in your Teacher. See the Teachers section on page 208.
● Some Martial Arts teach the use of Weapons, but you must get that
knowledge from a Teacher—and you still need to find this Weapon.
For more on combat with Weapons see 192.
c-
hara
y o ur c here’s
You only get a bonus for the first On heet t
Point spent? Yeah. That may seem ter s bbell
m
stingy, but remember that the a du e Com-
h
o t ease
n
conflict resolution scale only goes up bol r
sym you inc ur
to 12. You’re free to exceed 12, but at that point
h a t , if and yo s.
st xp ion
you’re just trying to outdo each other, or prepare fort , will e me opt
i
in paranoia for a fight that may never come them ing Reg e this:
n ik
because there’s always someone tougher. Trai looks l
It
PAGE 50
Before the first Year when play begins, your PC may al-
ready have been active in the Martial Arts. The differ-
ence is now something has forced them to take hold
of every moment, and trapped them in the burning
determination to stake their claim, even up the score,
and fight. Perhaps this moment went unnoticed,
perhaps it was a small challenge, but now—maybe
even against their better judgment, even if the passion
will slowly burn over years—it is time to fight, fight,
and keep on fighting, fight for martial justice, fight to
prove yourself, or maybe just fight...to survive.
“If you don’t take the time

to train, you’re going no-
where, fast!”
— Mayor Marion Hill,
advertising his gyms, 1960
Example Character
Let’s return one last time to our guy...
TRAINING REGIME
Last thing—the fiddly bits.
What are our Training seg-
ments going to look like? As a
kickboxer I get Kick in my M.A. Build M. A. Stage Teacher Total+
column, that’s obvious. For my
Medium Build I have a pretty
G +
broad choice between Grapple,
Punch, or Kick. Let’s go for Kick
P +
again and double-up, there. For K +
my Stage I argued my GM that
playing all those arcade ma- B +
chines should give me a boost
to Grapple...from wrestling F +
with the joysticks? I’m amazed
she let me. Finally, since my W
Teacher (dad) is at 3, that
means he gives me not only W
Footwork, but Punch, too! q Choice Study q Force Training q Meditation
PAGE 51
q Special Move q Weapons
Summary of New Fighter Character Creation
1. APPEARANCE
- Build: Must have a different Build for each PC in the group.
- Then, choose a Distinctive Feature from your Build.
- Age and D.O.B.: The GM will state the Year that play begins.
- Pick a gender and a pronoun for your PC, as you like.
- Dress: The clothes you typically wear. They can be changed.
2. ORIGIN
- District: Pick a home territory for your PC within New Hope City.
- Heritage: May inform languages known, if you list it as a Comfort.
- Martial Art: Pick a Martial Art, if desired. There are a few provided.
- If not, your Martial Art is, by default, “Street Fighting”.
3. COMFORTS
- Categories: Choose one each of a Person, Place, and Thing.
- Suggest: Teacher, rival, or Student for People, and school, or work
for Places. You may want to identify one Place as a Stage.
- Connections: One Comfort of a Person and one of a Place must be
shared with another PC at the table.
- Then choose two more Comforts of any kind for a total of five.
4. NUMBERS & CHECKBOXES
- Moves: Determine each Move’s Force by Build.
- Then take half the PC’s age in Points to distribute into any Tech-
niques and Comforts. Not all of them must have a value.
- Checkboxes: Destroy checkboxes in Health or Hardship by age.
- Name: Give the PC a name.
5. TRAINING REGIME
- Build: The PC’s Build determines the Move under this column.
- MA: The Martial Art chosen determines the Move under the MA column.
- Street fighting does not get a consistent Move listed, it changes
each Training segment.
- Stage: If you have a Stage, its Visiting Move goes here.
- Add a new Move to the Stage column of the Training Regime
when the value of its associated Comfort equals 3, 5, 8, or 12.
- Teach: If you have a Teacher, their Visiting Move goes here.
- Add a new Move to the Teach column of the Training Regime
when the value of its associated Comfort equals 3, 5, 8, or 12.
- Total: Add together the values by row to populate the Total column.
That is the bonus you get to a Technique to Train when you spend
your first Training Point on each Move in the Training sequence.
PAGE 52
1. Appearance
NEW FIGHTER CREATION CHEAT SHEET
Build q Small q Thin q Medium Build q Muscular / Tall q Huge
Train: Footwork Train: F or K Train: G, P, or K Train: G or B Train: Block
Force: 1, 1, 1 Force: 1, 1, 1 Force: 1, 1, 1 Force: 2, 1, 1 Force: 2, 2, 1
Max Force: 2, 2, 1 Max Force: 2, 2, 2 Max Force: 3, 2, 2 Max Force: 3, 3, 2 Max Force: 3, 3, 3
D. Feature Bare Muscles Long Hair Eye-patch Tattoo Fat Belly
Wrist-bands Jean Jacket Hand-wraps Wild Hair Scar(s)
Earring(s) Hat Headband Sunglasses Leather Jacket
Age q Teens q 20s q 30s q 40s q 50s
Recommend Start Recommend Start Destroy 1 Checkbox Destroy 3 Checkboxes Destroy 5 Checkboxes
Dress q Cultural Attire q Fancy Dress q Martial Arts Uniform q Professional Wear q Street Clothes
2. Origin
District q The Battery q Beat Town q C-Com Industrial q Chinatown q The Docks
q The Neon Strip q Parkside q Read Island q The Richmond q Woodside
Heritage q African q Asian q Australian q European q South American
Martial Art q Wrestling q Boxing q Kickboxing q Karate q Kung Fu
3. Comforts
Person q Family / Friend q Martial World q New Hope City q Professional q Teacher / Student
Place q Gym q Private q Public q School q Work
Thing q Addiction q Day Job / Means q Token / Trinket q Wealth / Fame q Weapon
RULES SUMMARY
PAGE 53
SUCCESSORS
This generation, with fire in our hearts—ready
for the fight, but not ready to lose.
No, never ready to lose...
C
ombat is a lethal game. An individual fighter
is not meant to last long. If your character
doesn’t die in a fight, they will likely reach
a point where they are too old, too phys-
ically injured, or have incurred too much Hardship,
to continue in this lifestyle. Luckily, your character
can continue on, in a way, by naming a Successor to
their martial heritage, their goals, their memory, and
perhaps to continue in a quest for vengeance on their
behalf. A Successor has the potential to be stronger
for their age than their master was.
PAGE 54
SUCCESSOR CREATION
QP Touch Gloves
Touch Gloves, 1988. In the disused boxing gym at Howard D. Irwin

University, Androcles Brown (42) took to training young boxing prodigy
Rachel Hannigan (12).
“I’ll teach you a secret that

was taught to me. If done
right, it’s invincible!”
— “Pop” Palermo,
teaching his son, Jet, 1987
No Successor
If your fighter dies or retires without a Successor, you
create an entirely new PC, using the character creation
process for a New Fighter.
Finding a Successor
You can find and appoint a Successor in-play, or
develop them as a new character and give them to the
GM to act as a NPC until it is time to transfer owner-
ship of the new character into your hands, or invent
one the point at which your PC dies or is otherwise
lost to you. There may be some overlap from when
you develop your Successor to when it is a good time
to pass the baton, during which time the Successor
could even die!
PAGE 55
Candidates for a Successor
Prime candidates include most entries for a Person listed under Com-
forts—your daughter, Student, or adopted son, but potentially any
other character you have met in the course of the game, or could work
into the game, could be named Successor. The Successor must be
listed in your PC’s Comforts. However, a Successor does not need to be
a Student of the fighter. Technically they could never even have met.
For example, when King Kane, proprietor of the Neon Strip’s Golden
Goose Casino, decided to hang up his hat in the fight game in 1953
after years of conflict, his Successor was someone inspired by King
Kane’s Fame (a Comfort under Things) from the fight movies he filmed
in the ’40s. Effectively, a stranger rose up to continue the legacy that
King Kane abandoned.
Successor Creation
Differences from New Fighters
● Build: Can be any you like, even if there is already a PC with that
Build in the group. Choose a Distinctive Feature based on your
Build. Then, also circle the Distinctive Feature of your predecessor,
as you have adopted their eccentricities.
● Age: Must be determined by the predecessor’s records of how old
the Successor should be.
● District: Where in New Hope City the Successor comes from prob-
ably matches their familial lineage (where their parents are from)
and does not need to have anything to do with who the previous
fighter in their martial lineage was.
● Heritage: The Successor should look again to their familial lineage
to determine this.
● Moves: The Points for Techniques and Comforts a Successor gets
are still equal to 1/2 their age, rounded up. Unlike for New Fighters,
a Move’s Force can be trained up to the second checkbox for any
Move at the cost of 3 Points.
PAGE 56
SUCCESSOR CREATION
● Comforts: This is where character creation differs

quite a bit from that of New Fighters.
1. Inherit three Comforts from your predecessor
at a value of 0. You get to pick which ones.
2. As a representation of the passing torch, pick
one of those Comforts and inherit half its
value, rounded up. That’s how much you care.
3. Any Comforts you inherit have a Rift on them.
4. Then, choose two more Comforts that are
unique to your Successor. Just for you.
5. There must be at least one Comfort in each cat-
egory. (You will have a total of five, and maybe
more depending on inheritance.) At least one
Comfort must be shared with another PC.
“My family is everything

I fight for. Father to son,
father to son.”
— Atticus Brown,
father to Ambros and
grandfather to Androcles, 1932
Successor Training Regime

Construct your Training Regime as you would for New
Fighters, with two key additions:
● Build: Under this column the Build Move of one

the Successor’s familial lineage is added, as well
as your own Build. If you don’t know your Succes-
sor’s parent’s Build Move, just pick one now, but
be consistent about it later.
● M.A.: Under this column, any of the Predecessor’s
Moves that had at least 8—a Champion status— in
Technique, gets added.
There is one further step to creating a Successor—

sorting out your inheritance in the Martial World.
PAGE 57
Inheritance
Depending how the Successor becomes the player’s PC determines a
lot about them. There are three circumstances:
1. The Predecessor will be the Successor’s Teacher.

2. The Predecessor died (violently or otherwise).
3. The Predecessor quit (likely from excess Hardship) or retired willingly.
If the Predecessor will be the Successor’s

Teacher:
1. If your Predecessor had a Comfort for the Successor specifically
(“My son, Ryu”), then inherit that Comfort at the same value, but
rename it to represent your Predecessor instead. (“My father,
Hoshi”) You care about them as much as they cared about you.
2. Remember to mark the Comfort’s relationship as Teacher, in addi-
tion to whatever other label.
3. If the Predecessor had a Comfort that more generically encom-
passed your Successor, (“My kids” or “My students”), inherit that
same Comfort at half the value, rounded up. These are in addition
to the Comforts dealt with in the previous section.
4. The GM will need to construct a Training curriculum for the Pre-
decessor as a Teacher. Even though the Predecessor will be a NPC,
the GM will use the PC to PC learning rules on page 212 to construct
a curriculum. If your Comfort for your Predecessor hits the tiers of
3, 5, 8, and 12, then you may get to fill in more Moves in your Train-
ing Regime, provided your Predecessor was skilled enough.
5. Starting Hardship for the Predecessor is equal to the former char-
acter’s filled checkboxes in Hardship at the time the baton passed.
For example, Janelle “Turbo” Jones is the Successor to her father’s

martial lineage. Kelly “Iceman” Jones was a famous karateka in New
Hope City, but he also loved his daughter and had her listed as a
Comfort: “Jannelle, Daughter, +6”. When Jannelle takes over Kelly’s
karate studio, and the player abandons the old PC for the new, she
inherits the Comfort “Kelly Jones, Father, +6” without having to come
up with the Points to pay for it.
PAGE 58
SUCCESSOR CREATION
If the Predecessor Died

1. Revenge Pool: Add the sum of all filled check-
boxes in the Predecessor character’s Health and
Hardship to the Successor’s Revenge pool.
2. Revenge Comfort: If the Predecessor died fight-
ing, then you may add the Comfort of their killer
with the relationship of “revenge” at the value of
what the Predecessor invested in you specifically
as a Comfort, or you more generally (like family,
students, etc.) at half the value, rounded up.
If the Predecessor Quit or Retired

If the Predecessor survives but will not be the Succes-
sor’s Teacher, they inherit one of their Predecessor’s
Special Moves as their final lesson. “I’ve taught you all
I know”.
“I don’t stop until all the

River City gang is dead!”
— Black Crow, 1940
New Replaces the Old

● You should start generating your Successor and
telling your GM about who you would like it to be
before your first PC meets some terrible end. Typ-
ically players begin to plan this as soon as their PC
gains a bit of reputation around town.
● Once you take over a Successor as a character
they become your fighter—your only PC—and
your old fighter regresses into the role of being a
New Hope City NPC, and stops adventuring and
advancing.
● You may only ever embody a single character at a
time in Fight to Survive.
PAGE 59
CONFLICT
RESOLUTION
T
here is no greater dare than your life on the
line. Just wait until the going gets tough,
that’s when you come alive. That’s when
there’s nothing left to do but swing. At heart
you’re a fighter, and perhaps that’s all you’ll ever be.
Perhaps that’s enough, at moments like now. You know
the moves. And you’ll be the one standing. And they’ll
be the one on their face. No one’s going to stop you so
long as you dare—dare! That’s got to be enough.
PAGE 60
Shojiro Jibiki, founder of the International
Federation of Kenshokai Goju-ryu Karate-Do.
CONFLICT
OVERVIEW
The most deadly weapon is your
imagination...
E
ach game of Fight to Survive has the same
structure. The GM will present an event that
starts the Year, and most of the game time
is spent responding to that event, and the
events that follow it. The game progresses in free
role-playing until a moment of uncertainty arrives
over what should happen next, in which case play
escalates to formal conflict resolution mechanics. A
few questions will need to be answered first.
● What exactly is being resolved in this conflict?

(Simply clarification of stakes.)
● Who is going to resolve it? (See resolution
responsibility, page 64.)
● How are they going to do it? (See conflict reso-
lution funnel, next page.) And,
● When? (See Turn Order, page 66.)
To answer these questions, use the conflict resolution

funnel outlined on the following page.
PAGE 62
CONFLICT OVERVIEW
Conflict Resolution Funnel

(How is this getting done?)
To adjudicate conflict, the GM uses three different
tools. These are ordered from broad to specific, from
first steps down to last resorts. They are each gov-
erned a little differently.
1. Free Role-play: Simple role-play—that

is to say, the table reaches an agree-
ment by a combination of in-character
and out-of-character discussion—is These concepts are
presented in what is
used when the stakes are low and failure intended to be the best
order for learning the
would be uninteresting. The GM can
rules of Fight to Survive,
make a ruling if it becomes necessary to in the hopes that the GM
will lead you through
progress the game. them seamlessly and
2. By the Numbers: This is the general they will become second
nature in-play.
conflict resolution mechanic of Fight to
Survive, used for resolving points in the
game where there are meaningful stakes
at play, you need to know what happens in order
to progress the game, but the situation is not
directly based in violence—or at least not usually.
See page 70 for more on By the Numbers.
3. Moves Versus Moves: For times of violence, use
the Moves of a fighter’s Martial Art: Grapple,
Punch, Kick, Block, or Footwork in an exchange of
Moves to determine life-and-death outcomes. See
page 92 for full details on Moves Versus Moves.
These three methods act together as a kind of funnel

for the action, starting with setting the scene and
leading, tragically but near-inevitably, to violence.
PAGE 63
Resolution Responsibility
(Whose job is it?)
Each player in Fight to Survive controls one, and only one, player char-
acter (PC, sometimes referred to as a “fighter” in this text) at a time.
You, the player,
are solely respon-
sible for communi- “And I’ll be havin’ a long
cating the actions talk with anybody who bet
and feelings of against me!”
your PC. — The kilted Ian MacGalligar,
before entering the ring, 1902
The responsibility
(or opportunity) to
resolve conflicts is often obvious in the course of play. The PC who gets
to resolve a given in-game situation is usually the one whose player vol-
unteers to do so. At other times, the GM must determine what PC or PCs
will be responsible for resolving the conflict presented. This responsib-
ility may fall on an individual PC, many PCs in the group, or the entire
group, depending on the circumstances. The GM determines this ratio,
but players’ plans influence it greatly. When a challenging situation
arises in-game it could be that:
● All PCs have to employ the game’s mechanics to resolve the

situation individually.
For example, each PC has a different opponent to fight in one-on-
one fisticuffs.
● One PC can champion the issue and resolve it for everyone.
For example, one PC is driving the car and must turn the steering
wheel to avoid the guardrail, which will save everyone in the car.
● Every PC has to face the same situation at the very same time, as
individuals.
For example, there is a sudden landslide that buries everyone except
those with adequate Footwork to flee.
● Or, a combination of these scenarios.
PAGE 64
CONFLICT OVERVIEW
Individual Events
Usually, each PC (or most PCs) will be doing some-
thing a little different from each other on their turn.
When that is the case, the GM will resolve each of the
situations individually by the order of the Build of each
character, from the smallest PC first (as the fastest) to
the biggest PC last (as the slowest). See page 66 for
more on Turn Order.
Championed Events
There are other cases where one PC can “champion”
the situation for all PCs.
For example, the group is traversing a narrow alley

when suddenly there is a charging bull coming
down it towards them. The PC at the front could
deal with the situation for the entire group.
When a champion fails, another champion does not

replace them. Instead, every PC in the group must
deal with the situation individually.
Group-Wide Events
In some cases, most or all PCs will face the same chal-
lenge at the same time.
For example, the floor collapses and the whole group

is falling to the level below among timber, splinters,
and smashing furniture.
In that case one PC could not champion the rest and act
to save others; it would be every PC for themselves.
Combined Events
Most of the time a cycle of turns will feature a combin-
ation of the above situations. It may be that one PC
champions a situation, another does something on
their own, and a few are separated. The structure of
the Turn Order is how this is all sorted out.
PAGE 65
Turn Order
(Who goes when?)
Each PC gets a chance to do something (a turn) unless they are
prevented from doing so by in-game circumstances, such as being
Knocked Out or having an emotional breakdown. A PC does not get
another turn until all other PCs in the playgroup have had one. Then,
the cycle of turns repeats.
Length of a Turn
How long a given turn takes and how much a given PC can do within
that time can be anywhere from the time needed to exchange a few
punches on up to a whole in-game calendar Year. The lens of time may
be constantly shifting one cycle of turns to their next, and back again.
Certain rules prevail, however.
Turns are Equal: All PCs share the same

length of time within a cycle of turns.
One PC cannot be in a fight using Moves
Versus Moves when another PC is resolv-
In many RPGs, a turn is a ing their months-long mayoral campaign
spotlight shed on each PC,
using By the Numbers in the same cycle.
and when all players have
had one turn, a “round”
only then ends. Length of Turns Requires Fair Warning:
Fight to Survive uses the The GM will warn you if the length of
word Rounds to mean time necessary to resolve what you
something completely
different—specifically, propose will be greater than you might
the exchange of blows in
a fight. So, I’m trying to
expect, because it will mean the other
dodge the use of the word players may have to adjust what their
“round”, here as it relates to
ttrpg mechanics. PCs are doing during the same time
Where necessary I’ve used allotment. The cycle of turns, therefore,
“cycle of turns” or just is as long as the longest PC’s turn.
“cycle” to mean where
all PCs are getting a turn
before play moves on. For reference, a single session of play for
Fight to Survive, which in real life takes
about four hours to do, is expected to
advance the in-game calendar by about
one to three years.
PAGE 66
CONFLICT OVERVIEW
HP
Two
Against
the
World
Two Against the World, 1940. The Blood Gang—excommunicated members of the
Triad group Mountain Sect—took advantage of the second Sino-Japanese War to
run drugs into New Hope City until Lai Leung “The Golden Dragon” (23) of the Under
Heaven Society took them down with the aid of her friend Moxie Wellingston (36).
Build Determines Turn Order

In all cases in this game, the order of PC turns is deter-
mined by the Builds of the PCs.
● Small Build characters go first

● Thin Build
● Medium Build
● Tall / Muscular Build
● Huge Build characters go last
Build determines Turn Order in several ways:
Player Turns: When the GM is going around the

table asking each player “What does your character
do?” the GM does so based on the PC’s Builds, from
smallest to biggest.
PAGE 67
Reflexes & Movement: Resolving matters of speed
between characters to answer the question of
The Take- what happens sooner again references Build from
down of
Giant Skel- smallest to biggest.
eton, 1971.
(Opposing Marching Order: The GM will use Build to determine
Page) Giant
Skeleton (36) who among the PCs are affected by traps, ambushes,
came out of and other Stage Dangers based on who is out front
the slums of
the Battery, (usually the smaller PCs, and therefore swifter) and
seemingly who is in back (the bigger PCs, and therefore slower.)
from no-
where, killing When proceeding with caution, players may elect to
nearly a
inverse this order. For Stage Dangers see page 278.
whole gener-
ation of mar-
tial artists Exceptions
before being This Turn Order structure is defied if the situation
brought to
his grave, dictates that one PC’s action is going to immediately
making the
instigate rapid change.
reputation of
future Tong
boss of the For example, Red Norton is Tall/Muscular and he press-
Ten Hands es the button that drops the crane through the roof.
Group, Joe
“Screaming The GM is not going to rule that as a slow action. When
Bird” Zhang
(31), and
Red press the button, he effectively jumps the queue.
reminding
everyone NPC Turns
that there is The GM places the NPCs on the very same Turn Order
always some-
one tougher. track from smallest to biggest.
When Does the World Go?

Most external factors in Fight to Survive that are not
singular human opponents tend to be circumstances
that are necessarily slower or faster than the PC fight-
ers, and so fall before or after normal Turn Order.
For example, a car driving through a stop sign is going

faster than a PC can react. The GM may rule differently
if the situation is more severe—a brick wall falling and
flattening a PC would act slower than PCs, if only to meet
genre conventions and in the interests of not flattening
and killing PCs as a matter of course.
PAGE 68
BY THE
NUMBERS
Take your measure,
Challenging your opponent,
Challenging death!
W
hen the going gets tough, when
push comes to shove, that’s when
you get to see what a fighter is
Expectations: When
there’s a conflict or really made of, and take their
a task to resolve, it measure. In Fight to Survive that measure is
often comes down to
an issue of num- represented by the game coming down to its
bers, and uses this
numbers.
method.
In moments of action, pick a number on your

PC’s character sheet most appropriate to re-
solving the conflict, and the GM will match it against
set numbers—Challenges—to see if your character
succeeds.
PAGE 70
BY THE NUMBERS
Resolving Conflict
In any competition where the outcome is uncertain,
numbers are compared—either to the opponent’s
relevant numbers, with the highest number winning,
or to the “Challenge” tiers, where only meeting the
number signified on the tier is necessary for success.
There are three main tools for conflict resolution By

the Numbers:
1. Techniques: As martial artists, each PC is gov-

erned by, and thinks in terms of, five Martial Arts
Moves that are deeply ingrained in their lives.
2. Virtues: Each of the Martial Arts Moves also
relates to a martial Virtue, a spiritual expression
that can be just as useful for solving conflict.
3. Comforts: The People, Places, and Things that
are important to a PC can sometimes help them
solve conflict as well.
Each of these options have a number value from 0 to

12, and each use the same scale of comparison called
Challenges to determine outcomes.
Challenges
To represent the distinction of what is possible in
the game and what is required to accomplish it, a set
numbered steps called Challenges are used.
CHALLENGES
5 Expert, Strong or First-rate stunts
12 Master feats of amazement and the fantastic

PAGE 71
Method
When made apparent by the GM, or otherwise by the in-game world,
any situation where the outcome is uncertain (except for open violence)
is governed by the following steps:
1. A Proposed Solution: A player chooses a relevant quality of their

PC that has a number—a Technique, Virtue, Comfort, or a Special
Training of their PC—and describes what they hope to accomplish
and how. The player does not tell the associated number to the GM.
2. Choose Difficulty & Reveal Threats: The GM will take the proposed
situation and decide on a Challenge of 1, 3, 5, 8, or 12. Against a NPC
or other PC(s), the GM will instead refer to that character’s own
appropriate number value.
● Depending on the circumstance, the Challenge tier may be kept

secret from the player attempting the task. Against a rival PC or
NPC, the number to overcome is always secret.
● The GM will warn if injury will result from failure, but consequences
that would be necessarily hidden from the fighter’s view—for in-
stance, an ambush—are similarly hidden from their players.
3. Testing the Player: If the player wishes to influence the Challenge

their PC faces, they can attempt to shift the Challenge by one tier
through role-playing their PC appropriate to the situation.
4. Tier Shifts: Based on what the player said during role-playing, the
GM may shift the Challenge up or down by one tier.
5. GM Narrates Outcome: There are only a few outcomes.
● If the PC’s score is less than the Challenge, then PC will fail in
their action and suffer whatever predetermined consequences.
Often this just means incurring +1 Hardship.
● If it is equal to or greater than the Challenge, they succeed,
roughly speaking, as intended.
● If they opposed another PC or an NPC and the results tied, then,
if the outcome was mutually exclusive, both sides lose. If not,
then both sides (somehow) achieve their goals, although prob-
ably in a dissatisfying way.
PAGE 72
BY THE NUMBERS
Over and Above

If the PC is overly capable and resolves the situation
using a higher tier than the task requires, then the GM
gains “Hard Knocks”, a meta currency they will use
to make things more challenging for the PCs later.
How many Hard Knocks the GM gets scales with how
much better the PC does than what was required of
them, according to the following: The Over and
Above structure
● +1 Hard Knocks if there is only 1 tier difference.

means that if the
●
players are doing
+3 Hard Knocks if they perform 2 tiers beyond well enough,
they’ve effect-
what was necessary.
●
ively raised their
+5 Hard Knocks if it was 3 tiers needlessly better. own difficulty
● +8 Hard Knocks if it was 4 tiers overkill, which

and given the
GM more tools to
is as high as it goes—for example, a Master affect play.
doing something Easy.
Technique Resolution
Martial Arts in Fight to Survive are expressed by five
tenets, the Moves: Grapple, Punch, Kick, Block,
and Footwork. Their primary use is in combat—
circumstances that are explored in detail in the next
section, Moves Versus Moves.
However, since each of them has a Technique number

rating them from 0 to 12 or beyond, they can also
be used to solve conflicts using the Challenges. For
example:
PHYSICAL ARTS
Grapple Catching an object, climbing, gripping
Punch Passing or throwing an object
Kick Jumping, swimming
Block Enduring pain or strain, fasting
Footwork Acrobatics, matters of balance, running

PAGE 73
Resolution with Virtues
Each PC has a rating in five martial Virtues that
correspond to each of the standard Moves of Martial
Arts. To use a Virtue to resolve conflict, use the
Technique of its corresponding Move and compare
it to the Challenge cited by the GM. Virtues can
be enacted by the character physically, spiritually,
emotionally, or as a
combination of all
expressions. The Virtues
and their uses are:
VIRTUES
Techniques & Virtues
Grapple Strength
Punch Heart
Kick Flash
Block Scheme
Footwork Evade
Strength
This may be strength of
Sumo Strength muscles but also inner
strength, focus of will,
and resistance to temp-
tation of things self-de-
Sumo Strength, 1927. The jocular structive. Strength is also
geriatric sumo wrestler Fuma “Thunder”
Matsudo (65) was possessed of surprising used for intimidation.
strength, and would routinely best New
Hope City martial mainstays like karateka For example, the group has
Sojiro Tanaka (42) before thanking them
for such a joyful time, and wandering off, captured someone who
laughing, in search of a cup of tea. broke into a PC’s apartment.
Torture is a wholly inappro-
priate activity for PCs, even if
PAGE 74
BY THE NUMBERS
they don’t prescribe to heroic virtues, but to stare down

your enemy in intimidation—that is precisely on point.
Ah, noble intimidation! Karateka Kelly “Iceman” Jones
glares with fire behind his eyes at the intruder bound by
rope to a chair and says: “Who sent you? Talk!” Grapple
Technique is then compared with the Challenge tier of
how much the GM thinks
the intruder can hold out.
Heart
Passion, courage, and
inspiring others. Hearts
on fire. Proving your
determination, and
communicating your sin-
cerity and truth. Seeing
the truth in others, and
knowing their fighting
spirit. Heart is also used
for matters of love.
For example, local

watering hole Poison’s
Pub is going under, and
the PCs are trying to save
it by fundraising—but its
Courage Undr
denizens are apathetic
and drunk. Fighting
schoolgirl Judy Herrera
jumps up on the table
Courage Under Fire, 1942. Martial arts com-
and makes a rousing mando Red Norton (30) reportedly worked
speech about community “off-books” missions during World War II. No
small amount of daring was required to face
and a chosen home, citing bullets with bare hands. After the war he be-
the virtue of Heart, which came a solider for hire. He died mysteriously
in ’82, found with a slit throat in a back alley
uses the number from their in the Battery.
Punch Technique, against
the GM’s Challenge.
PAGE 75
Flash
Showing off is a big part of expressing martial prow-
ess. Adding some Flash involves dazzling others,
wow-ing them, being impressive, demonstrating skill,
and causing a scene or a distraction.
For example, through convoluted circumstances, the

group has had to steal
a sacred scroll from the
New Hope City Chinatown
Shaolin Temple. They are
having trouble making
their escape; there are
too many highly-trained
guards around, and it’s
important that the iden-
tities of the group are not
discovered. So, boisterous
bartitsu-practicing Scots-
man Ian MacGalligar steps
out and challenges them
all, using Flash to attract
their attention with a
dazzling display of moves.
MacGalligar’s Kick Tech-
nique is compared with
the Challenges. If the dis-
traction is successful, the
rest of the group sneaks
Showmanship, 1939. The image of war-time
away with the scroll.
pin-up girl and wrestling showboat Morticia
Barrage (29) was well-known to homesick
G.I.s. Morticia supported the war effort
through propaganda posters and tours of
exhibition matches throughout WWII, dis-
playing feats of strength with her character-
istic glamour.
PAGE 76
BY THE NUMBERS
Scheme
Sometimes the present situation offers no tools to
solve the dilemma at hand, and if there was going to
be a solution it should have already been set up. Good
thing this was part of your clever scheme all along!
Use Scheme to retroactively change minor (though
impacting) details in the
situation.
For example, you need

to get into the Streets
of Fire dance club, but
you’ve been barred entry.
Fighting with the boun-
cers will work against
the fact that you need
to get in good with the
club’s owner. The player
of Janelle “Turbo” Jones
employs Scheme to say
that one of the bouncers
belongs to her same
kickboxing gym, and is a
friend, and so will vouch
for them. Janelle’s Block
Technique is compared
with the Challenges of
the GM’s assessment
of how likely it is that a
bouncer at a nightclub in Assassin’s Trade, 1918. For a time, the
this district would be part most feared man in New Hope City was
Rajesh Naga (17), or “Grand Naga”, an
of her gym. If successful, it assassin of considerable skill whose fights
is so. went largely unwitnessed. His only known
failure was against women’s self-defence
instructor Edith Wright (46), who lived to be
98 years old.
PAGE 77
Evade
This Virtue is used to evade questions, responsibil-
ities, emotional commitments, and accountability—to
a point. You could also dance. This Virtue hews close-
ly to its raw physical Technique, Footwork, because
not being where you would get hit—physically, or
emotionally—is such a key part of survival.
For example, fighters Red

Norton and “Pop” Palermo
are poised to fight in an
alleyway when a local
beat cop takes notice.
“What’s going on, here?”
Pop uses the martial
Virtue of Evade, shuffling
off the question and
feigning innocence. It’s
not a lie—that would be
a Scheme—but it’s close.
Pop’s Footwork Technique
is compared with the
Challenges.
The Dirt on Sche

mes: Unlike
most conflict re
solution meth-
ods, Scheme allow
s the player
to go back and es
tablish past
elements retroac
Elevator Panic, 1989. Fights can happen at tively. The
purpose of this
any time, even in the elevator of the Pi Quan from a design
perspective is to
Tower building in the C-Com Industrial dis- “get on with it”
in terms of keep
trict on your way back from the mall. Sally ing the action
moving in-game,
Ting Pei (22) can only rely on her natural so players
don’t feel bogged
skills of evasion to avoid Rage Animal’s (15) down trying
to plan their raid
surprise attack. on a rival dojo
or their heist of
a prized boxing
manual or what
ever else. Does
this seem powe
is. Over and Abov rfu l? Yes, yes it
e—see page 73—
to curtail that. helps
PAGE 78
BY THE NUMBERS
nd...
thing: Wait a seco
s and Evade Every
Powerful Scheme e more po we rfu l tha n the
e seem like they’r more use. What
Scheme and Evad e they’l l ge t a lot
they seem lik
other three. Also, bug. Block and Fo
ot-
, ga me ba lan ce ?!...Feature, not a ce rta in oth er
gives y have
ge in a fight, but the ltiple
work don’t do dama d ca n co un ter mu
stick around an
that those Moves l in other contexts
.
advantages—like ply a little more usefu
bu t als o tha t they’re sim
wa go n, rem em ber—you
Moves— fensive band
hopping on the de hurt. You do not
But before you go e, yo u just avoid getting
n’t wi n fig hts be ing de fen siv
nt to? Th at’ s the trade off.
do
ur ca us e, an d ma ybe you don’t wa
advance yo
The Criminal Arts

The structure of conflict resolution in Fight to Survive
can be broadly interpreted. How the Moves act physic-
ally and how the Virtues behave emotionally can lend
to other activities—criminal behaviour, for example.
The fighters of New Hope City often find themselves
on the wrong side of the law. Typically, fist fighting
in the streets, participating in underground tourna-
ments, and vowing revenge against your enemies
are not law-abiding activities. Conflict resolution for
criminal activity is a good example of an alternative
application of this conflict resolution structure.
CRIMINAL ARTS
Grapple / Strength Steal, pick-pocket, or yank
Punch / Heart Stake out, survey (the heart

to stick with it)
Kick / Flash Distract
Block / Scheme Deceive, lie, convince
Footwork / Evade Sneak, stealth, hide
PAGE 79
Knife Work, 1955. Showboat street fighter Tom Dukes (26) successfully plied
his knife skills defending the Hurley St. Bar & Grill (better known locally in the
Richmond as “Reeva’s Diner”) from an attack by the Wildcards gang, who were
looking to expand their territory south from Beat Town.
Resolution by Comforts
The Comforts of a PC can be employed to resolve conflicts on their behalf.
People
NPCs can act on your PC’s behalf if there is enough value put into them
to be successfully compared against the tiers of Challenges.
For example, the fighter called Black Crow needs to be at the Bird Nest
laundromat keeping watch because he got a hot tip the Red Dragon
Fighting Society would raid it tonight. So, Black Crow uses their Comfort
of a Person, Otto the neighbourhood kid, and gets Otto to wait on the
opposite rooftop and signal with a hand mirror when the Red Dragon
Fighting Society starts coming down the street. Thank you, Otto!
Caring Goes Two Ways: Relationships are reciprocal in Fight to Survive.

Any Person that is down as a PC’s Comfort cares about them just as
much by the same value. So, it is just as common for a Comfort to ask a
favour of the PC as it is for a PC to ask a favour of a Comfort—and there-
by use that Comfort as a conflict resolution for Challenges.
PAGE 80
BY THE NUMBERS
THE VALUE OF A PERSON

1 Work For: Would do a favour for you.
3 Fight For: Would live with you; fight alongside you.
5 Kill For: Who you love, and would kill to save you.
8 Die For: Give up their life to protect you, and you them.
12 Live For: Would trek across the world to rescue

you, not knowing if you are alive or dead.
“It’s a good thing I brought

my parasol, but why must
you make such trouble?”
— Edith Wright, martial
arts suffragette, 1921
Risk of Rifts: If a PC strains the relationship with a

Person then it will cause a Rift with that Comfort.
For instance, to ask a Person to do something that is
against their values (or in excess of what they know to
be their capabilities). They may still do it—as long as
the Challenge is met—but it will cause a Rift with that
Comfort to represent the tension that exists in that
relationship now. Similarly, refusing to do a favour for
a Person may also cause a Rift with that Comfort. For
more on Rifts see page 144.
most
o b a b ly the pli-
n is pr st com
Perso lso the mo for fa-
C o m forts, b u t a s k in g
a ts
Of the ally useful, always be all Comfor
in s ic ey ’l l o f e
intr a t t h t li ke ly ’re t h
in th mos they
cated nd are the st because p ways to
o u rs ,a m — ju h in k u gs
v
o m e to har the GM to t es and Thin s
to c s fo r . P la c lo t le s
t one reat sk a
easies m Under Th seful, but a t o harm
e u G M
put th as directly er for the the
t rd out in
are no and it’s ha It all comes
,
of you them. wash.
PAGE 81
Places
Your PC can employ the value of a Place they have listed as a Comfort
to resolve conflict concerning that location—how well they know the
space, access to its assets, and the secrets that Place holds—using the
same scale of Challenges. The value put into a Place also determines
the PC’s feelings towards it.
THE VALUE OF PLACES

1 Make an Effort: Fondness. Comfort. Happy memories are found
here, or at least they were for a time.
3 Personal Investment: Probably there every day. Know every

part of it, or at least every public part.
5 Local Landmark: Will never give up on, will maintain and save if
troubled. Know secrets about it few people know.
8 Most Important: Would give up everything to save if it were in

peril. Know its deepest secrets, and have full access to its uses.
12 Devote Your Life To: Must serve, protect, maintain it and see it
through the years with your companionship.
Places are Familiar: Whatever Place you have listed as a Comfort, you
know it well. You know all the secrets the location has to offer, all the
boards that creak, and where the hidden stuff is stored.
For example, the Golden Goose Casino is a Place of show wrestler Morticia
Barrage. Cops have come to raid the casino, and Morticia has to book it to
the safe-room. It’s a chase, but Morticia has no Technique in Footwork, so
she cites her Place of the Golden Goose, saying that she knows the layout
well and walks it daily. Surely she can be faster on familiar territory!
Places Keep Things: Unlike most locations in Fight to Survive, if your PC

has a Place as a Comfort then it is up to you to decide, reasonably, what
is there. The GM will trump preposterous notions, but generally speak-
ing, your Places are your canvas.
PAGE 82
BY THE NUMBERS
For example, Moxie Wellingston returns to her apart-

ment to find Jane Ordy, international thief, swiping the
deed to the Little Tots orphanage downtown. (How did
Jane know about the bootleggers gold buried in the
basement?) Moxie’s player gets to decide if there’s a
lamp nearby she can throw at Jane, if there’s a rug that
she can pull out from under her, or if the window near-
est her (and her most likely escape route) is locked.
The Bright
Risk of Rifts: If you employ a Place in such a way that and the
Dreary, 1928.
reasonably jeopardizes its state, the Comfort gains a Rift. New Hope City
was an early
For example, local brawler Tom Dukes is steering clear adopter of
electric neon
of the Hurley Street Bar & Grill after he trashed the place
lights, which
during a showdown with the Wildcards greaser gang. kept the city
awake until
The large front window was smashed, and now poor the wee hours
Reeva, the owner, is ticked. “Do you know how much of the ’20s,
spawning an
curved glass costs?!” The Place has a Rift. Tom can’t go active night
back there until he can make things right with Reeva. culture and
encouraging
the back-alley
Things fights and
Your PC can use any of the Things that are important to martial arts
rivalries that
them to resolve conflict against Challenges. Anything would come to
you list as a Comfort under Things, so long as it is rea- dominate the
20th century.
sonable to carry on your person, your PC has on them
PAGE 83
at all times. If it is not reasonable for that to be the case—like a piano or a
horse—then you get to determine where it is stored. The value put into a
Thing also determines the PC’s feelings towards it.
Things as Skills: Things are the closest that Fight to Survive gets to a
“skills” mechanic. Having a car means you have the skill to drive it about
as well as the value you have in it. Having lock-picks means you know how
THE VALUE OF THINGS

1 Work to Preserve: What you like with great affection.
3 Fight to Keep: What is important to you, and usually keep near.
5 Devoted to Protect: Never give up; associated with you.
8 Be its Champion: Devoted to this thing, and hold it dearer than

most anything in life.
12 Value Above Life: The cornerstone of your identity.
to use them proportionate to the value invested. Having a scalpel down as

a Comfort means you can perform surgery. All of this is measured against
the Challenge to determine your success with the Thing.
For example, Big Mar O’Rourke has a bright orange trucker hat. A flash-
bomb goes off in front of Big Mar, and so he employs his Comfort of Hat
against the Challenge of pulling the brim down over his eyes to avoid
being blinded. Okay!
Things as Means: Fight to Survive does not have players tracking the
dollars and cents in their wallets, not the least of which because keep-
ing track of currency inflation as the 20th century advances would be
cumbersome to play. So, one Comfort of a Thing is singled out as a PC’s
day job—a representation of their available income, physical resources,
and their standing in their profession.
The value of the Job/Means Comfort number can be matched against

Challenges to determine buying power in the moment.
PAGE 84
BY THE NUMBERS
BUYING
1 Ordinary things are not difficult for you to get.
3 Hard-to-Get things are attainable.
5 Illegal, expensive, and prohibited objects can be

acquired, or at least their location known.
8 Exclusive and rare items are attainable, or at least

their location is known.
12 Secret things are known to you, both their loca-

tion and how to get them. You are wealthy, and
money is no longer a barrier.
● Like other conflict resolution in By the Numbers,

if Job/Means is successfully used to solve a prob-
lem, the thing is bought. If unsuccessful, it was
not acquired, although there is some wiggle-room
in there for rumours of rarities.
● Ordinary objects or common expenses like dinner
or rent are not (usually) considered a Challenge
and do not require conflict resolution.
● If the PC has no entry for Job/Means under Things
then they can still be leading an ordinary life,
financially, and may still well have a job, but do
not have the flexibility in their income to solve
Challenges with money.
● There is no loss to the value of the Comfort for
Job/Means by acquiring items, no matter how
many times you use it, and even for very expen-
sive items. It stays at the same value unless raised
or lowered by being Under Threat or increased in
Affirmation of Life.
PAGE 85
Things as a Job: The Thing of Job/Means also signifies a PC’s profes-
sional standing, representing the clout, influence, and control they
have within their profession and by extension their influence on others,
and also what items from their profession they probably have on their
person without the retroactive use of the Virtue of Scheme.
EMPLOYMENT
1 Just Work There. You are known and generally liked at your
workplace, but have no special privileges there.
3 Got the Keys. You are secure enough in your position that you
may use work as your Stage.
5 Bad Work-Life Balance. You may have any hand held object
on your person that is from your work location (wrench, paper,
knife, camera, so on).
8 Associated with the Place. You are a famous figure at your

workplace, and everyone in the neighbourhood knowns you
work there. You are a well-respected and connected person
in your field. You probably own the place at this point, de-
pending on what it is.
12 Leader In your Field. You are famous in your work, a pioneer

of its details, and the person others go to for advice. You cer-
tainly own, lead, or otherwise entirely control the space.
Risk of Rifts: If you employ a Thing in a way that puts it in danger or

strains it use, it will cause a Rift with that Comfort.
This is common with the Thing of Job/Means when a PC is using it to

buy something beyond their reasonable means, or bribe a NPC. The GM
rules that the acquisition of the item strains the PC’s financial situation
and a Rift will be put on the Job/Means Comfort to signify that the PC
is now financially broke, at least until the Rift can be mended by an
Affirmation of Life.
PAGE 86
BY THE NUMBERS
For example, Leo “Justice” Darning needs to get a

sportscar in order to attend a meeting of an under-
ground racing club where his sister, a minor member,
is in danger. Leo uses their Job/Means Comfort at +5
to meet the Challenge of something “illegal and/or
expensive” and buy a bright yellow sportscar from a
shady back-alley chop shop. The GM warns that this is
beyond Leo’s means and will put a Rift on the Comfort.
Leo’s player accepts in order to acquire the car, get into
the race, somehow win against all odds, and rescue
his sister!
Generic vs. Specific Rifts: If the Thing you have a

Comfort in is generic in nature rather than specific,
a Rift is interpreted as the thing being lost or broken
and needing to be replaced.
For example, Chancy “Boxcars” Charles has the Thing

of a Screwdriver and wants to use it to hammer a nail,
which should cause a Rift. Just having the Comfort as
generic “Screwdriver” (as in any screwdriver) means
the tool may break when the job is done and have to
be replaced—that will be its Rift. If the Comfort was in-
stead an individual “Grandfather’s Antique Screwdriver
That Saved Him In the War”, then it just gets a Rift of
being scuffed up and will need mending.
Special Training
There are other numbers in the game that get tracked
on a PC’s character sheet, notably the Training score
for Weapons training and the score for other special
Training methods invented by the GM as necessary.
These can also be used for conflict resolution By
the Numbers, and their number compared with the
Challenges to determine outcomes.
PAGE 87
Life is Unfair
If the situation dictates that the PC succeeds in their
The Lost task in a way that the GM indeed communicated all
City, 1949.
(Opposing available information but the matter did not con-
Page) From a clude in a way satisfying to the player’s intent, their
combination
of economic PC gains +1 Revenge.
and social
pressures the For example, the group of PC fighters has been invited
Battery was
perhaps the to a celebratory dinner by local Triad boss Warrior
most violent Guan of the Mountain Sect in thanks for a task the
district in
the city, but PCs undertook earlier in the Year. Warrior Guan offers
throughout them all a drink of “ancient wine”. To refuse would be
the ’40s to the
’80s one of impolite, so each PC (unless they try to Evade it some-
its land-
how) tests their Strength to stomach the ancient wine.
marks, The
Crowbar, was Those who fail pass out early in the night of drinking.
a safe-haven
for some. The
Those who remain please Warrior Guan, who then
friendship brings out his “magic wine”, which (unknown to the
between
fighters Am- PCs) is outright Poison, designed to test the mettle of
bros “Greas- true warriors—those who survive it he will offer to join
er” Brown
(29), Big Mar the Mountain Sect. The PCs can’t reasonably know this
O’Rourke until afterwards because it is quite literally a deception
(31), and Red
Norton (37) on the part of an ally with deadly stakes where he feels
ensured it
was the best
he’s doing the right thing. PCs who stomach the drink
protected gay are Poisoned, and quite rightly deserve a +1 Revenge,
nightspot in
the city. because mechanically they were punished for success,
even if narratively it has a logical consistency.
That is a highly specific example, all to say that the

stakes, what is at risk, and the likely outcome of
decisions you make as a player in the game are not
always clear or easy to anticipate. Life is Unfair.
Whenever you feel the GM has done your character
a bad turn, even if they succeeded mechanically,
appeal for Revenge.
PAGE 88
Summary of By the Numbers
A. TURN ORDER: Follows Build from smallest to biggest.
B. RESOLUTION: When a situation (outside of fighting) is uncertain

then a player or the GM will
call for a resolution By the CHALLENGES
Numbers:
1. A Proposed Solution: A play-
3 Skilled or Tough challenge
er chooses a relevant quality of
for a martial artist
their PC that has a number: a
Technique, Virtue, Comfort, or 5 Expert, Strong or First-rate
a Special Training of their PC. stunts
They describe what they hope
to accomplish and how.
12 Master feats of amazement
2. Choose Difficulty & Reveal
and the fantastic
Threats: The GM chooses a
Challenge of 1, 3, 5, 8, or 12.
The GM reveals if damage would result from failure.
3. Testing the Player: Player may influence the Challenge tier.
4. Tier Shifts: Based on the PC, the GM may shift the Challenge one tier.
5. GM Narratives the Outcome: If the PC’s score meets or exceeds the

Challenge, the player will have the intent of their PC fulfilled to the best
of all available information.
TECHNIQUE AND VIRTUE RESOLUTION

Criminal Physical Social
Grapple Steal Catch, Climb, Grip Discretion
Punch Stake Out Pass, Throw Short Courage
Kick Distract Jump, Swim, Throw Far Show Off
Block Deceive Endure, Fasting Rebuke
Footwork Sneak Acrobatics, Balance, Running Dance
PAGE 90
RULES SUMMARY
THE VALUE OF COMFORTS

Person Place Thing
1 Work For: Would do Make an Effort: Work to Preserve:

a favour for you, like Fondness. Comfort. What you like with
help you move. Happy memories are great affection.
found here.
3 Fight For: Would Personal Invest- Fight to Keep: What

live with you; fight ment: Probably there is important to you,
alongside you. every day. Know and is usually kept
every part of it. near.
5 Kill For: Who you love, Local Landmark: Devoted to Protect:

and would kill to save Will never give up Never give up; associ-
you. Would help you on, will maintain and ated with you.
move a body. save if threatened.
8 Die For: Would sac- Most Important: Be its Champion:

rifice themselves to Would give up Devoted to this thing,
protect you, and you everything to save if and hold it above
them. it were in peril. most anything in life.
12 Live For: Would trek Devote Your Life To: Value Above Life:
across the world Must serve, protect, The cornerstone of
to rescue you, not maintain and it and your identify.
knowing if you are see it through the
alive or dead. years with your com-
panionship.
- Over and Above: If the PC chose to resolve the situation in a way

greater than was necessary, they give the GM Hard Knocks.
- Life is Unfair: If the situation dictates that the PC succeeds but it does
not satisfy the player’s intent, their PC gains +1 Revenge.
PAGE 91
MOVES
VERSUS
MOVES
There’s always someone tougher
I
f reputation has failed, if talk has failed, all that re-
mains is violence. The conflict resolution method
outlined here applies to all situations of personal
physical violence in Fight to Survive, including
one-on-one combat, one against many, or many
against many fights, armed and unarmed.
Grapple Punch Kick Block Footwork
The Rudiments of Combat

Combat of any kind in Fight to Survive is governed by
five principles of attack and defence called “Moves”.
They are simplified and represented as above.
PAGE 92
MOVES VERSUS MOVES
For each Round of a fight, you pick a couple of these

Moves to issue against your opponent. The Moves you
picked and the Moves your opponent picked are com-
pared, one at a time, and the Versus Chart determines
the winner of each exchange.
Rounds
Combat is divided into Rounds. Each Round is a set of
Moves exchanged between fighters. Rounds follow a
standard set of events, in order:
1. The First Swing

2. Posturing
3. Opening Move
4. Exchange of Blows
5. Consequences
When the Round is over, the process can be repeated

up to best 2/3 Rounds, or until one fighter (or group of
fighters) has been Knocked Out, killed, or both sides
agree to stop.
Combat in Fight to Survive lasts to best of 2/3 (two out

of three) Rounds, no matter how serious the intent
of the fighters. It could be a friendly competition or
something begun with killer intent, it is still best 2/3
Rounds. These “rounds” do not have to necessarily be
distinguishable to the fighters—there is rarely a referee.
Rounds primarily serve as a way for we, the players
of Fight to Survive, to distinguish the action. Between
Rounds, fighters might only pause for a moment be-
fore re-engaging.
In extreme cases, some fights can escalate to best 3/5

Rounds, but this is rare—and even more dangerous.
For the difference see the Rights of Victory in the sum-
mary on page 112.
PAGE 93
The First Swing
Sometimes before the fight even begins, a fighter can sneak in one
extra Move, forcing their opponent to respond. The First Swing is
where the Aggressor gets an extra Move. Any surprise attack quali-
fies as a First Swing, including misdirection.
For example, tossing loose change at an unaware opponent, or punching

someone in the
back of the head.
The First Swing

“It’s gonna be over before
is not an Opening
you know it’s begun.”
Move because it
— Elaine “The Attacker” Hill, 1958
happens before
the fight can truly
begin.
Skipping the First Swing

The First Swing is not possible when both fighters are aware and have
agreed that they are going to fight, if their intentions towards combat
are known to each other, or if they have both otherwise demonstrated a
commitment to violence. If the criteria for a First Swing is not met, then
proceed to Posturing.
When to Apply the First Swing: Situations where The First Swing is
permissible include:
1. When one fighter wants to fight and the other one does not.
For example, Fighter A is in a bar, fuelled with anger towards Fighter
B. Fighter A wants to get into a fight but Fighter B does not. Fighter
B is hoping the fight will not happen, effectively conceding The First
Swing to Fighter A.
2. When one fighter is completely unaware of the other.
For example, Fighter A is walking home and Fighter B is hiding
behind some boxes. Fighter B jumps out and throws The First Swing
before Fighter A is aware there is a conflict.
3. When violence is uncertain.
For example, when two fighters are making angry threats towards
PAGE 94
MOVES VERSUS MOVES
each other, both unsure if they want to escalate

the situation to physical blows or not. The first
fighter to attack may get The First Swing. This situ-
ation is highly subject to GM adjudication.
4. When appearances are deceiving.
For example, when one fighter’s capabilities are
completely unknown or unguessed, The First
Swing may still apply, but only in extreme cases
determined by the GM, which must involve some
level of intended deception or misunderstanding.
How to Throw the First Swing

When a First Swing is issued:
1. The fighter issuing The First Swing is identified as

the attacker or the Aggressor (or Aggressors).
2. The Aggressor tells the GM the Move they wish
to use. Depending on the circumstance, the
opponent may or may not be aware of what the
Fist Swing Move will be—like in the event of an
ambush, for instance.
3. Both the Aggressor and the Responder write
down their Moves for the Exchange of Blows.
4. Using their Moves, the Responder must deal with
The First Swing before the normal sequence of
Moves.
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PAGE 95
Posturing
When opposing fighters know there is battle upon them, the GM will ask
the player of each fighter involved to pick their Moves for the Round,
usually three each.
● Strike a Pose: The time you spend coming up with the Moves
for the Round is equivalent to the fighter’s time spent stretching,
posturing, and preparing for the coming exchange.
● Moves are Options: The Moves you pick are not your fighter’s
combat sequence for the Round. The Moves can be issued
during the Exchange of Blows in any order in response to your
opponent’s Moves.
● Number of Moves: There are circumstances where you may
have more or fewer than three Moves available to you in a
Round, such as with The First Swing (or other Troubles) or if
you are Outnumbered. The GM will inform you of these circum-
stances before Posturing begins. Most of the time, however,
you’re getting three Moves for the Round.
● Moves are Secret: It’s important that players do not know the
choice of Moves made by their opponents beforehand.
● Vs. Non Martial Artists: A martial artist has an advantage against
any opponent untrained in the Martial Arts. Any NPC with no
Martial Arts knowledge and no aptitude for it (this precludes
those practicing street fighting) is considered to have only a
single Move for a Round.
Opening Move
The first Move issued in an Exchange of Blows is called the Opening
Move. Since one Move answers another it’s important to figure out
what Move is starting off the back-and-forth exchange. The side that
makes the Opening Move is the Aggressor, and the other side is the
Responder.
Aggressor Acts First

The Aggressor and is obligated to issue the Opening Move, or abandon
the conflict.
PAGE 96
MOVES VERSUS MOVES
The role of Aggressor can change each Round. A fight-

er becomes the Aggressor when:
● They are the last to make a Hit. (This is the situ-

ation that most often comes up.)
● The other fighter has little or no will to fight.
Who ever wants to continue becomes the
Aggressor. In other words, when the opposition
has weakened in their resolve or quit.
Turn Order by Build

In cases where the Aggressor is not clear, the Opening
Move is determined by Build.
● The larger a fighter’s Build (marked farther to

the right) the sooner they go.
● The smaller the fighter’s Build (on the
left) the later they go.
This may seem counter-intuitive at first, but Aggressive

Expectations: In many
there’s a reason for that! This rule stands in combat situations,
for the fact that the bigger you are, the heav- because fighters on
the whole tend to
ier you are, the more effort it takes to haul be arrogant, NPC
that weight around and throw a strike. Even opponents will often
issue the Opening
once committed, the nimble fighter can react Move, and thereby
more swiftly. It may be that you went at the ignorantly give the PC
an advantage.
same time, but the smaller opponent’s blow
is more likely to intercept in response.
In the Event of a Tie

If there is a tie in Build, the Opening Move will be
issued by the fighter with the Distinctive Feature
farthest right on the Build chart. Just like the choice
of Build, for Distinctive Features the left-hand is faster
and the right-hand is slower on the Build chart. In the
event of further ties see page 100.
PAGE 97
Exchange of Blows
Each Move is compared with their opponent’s Move, and the Versus
Chart relates the outcome.
Versus Chart
Re
G
G
r
so
sp
es
See the chart here for how
on
P
P
gr
 
de
Ag
Moves are related to each
K
r
 
B
other. The left side represents
   
F
F
the Aggressor—the one acting,
and the right-hand side represents
 
 
the Responder. Blank spaces rep-
resent a tie where Technique must
 
be compared to decide a winner of the
exchange. See Consequences on page 101
for more detail on what happens with each Move.
Call & Response

After the Opening Move, the Responder issues the next Move based on the
Move they have incoming. Then the Aggressor issues another Move, and
the Responder responds to it again, and so on. Remember to maintain the
back-and-forth to know who should be issuing a Move when.
Defensive Moves Stand

The only disruption to this back and forth are the defensive Moves of
Block and Footwork, which “Stand”. Normally one Move cannot work
against multiple Moves, so if the situation dictates that an offensive
Move would carry over, instead damage is issued—for instance with a
Bad Move. The exception to this is defensive Moves: both Block and
Footwork, which Stand, and apply through several opposing Moves in
sequence, so long as they remain relevant.
For example, your opponent issues a Punch, and you respond with
Block. Not only does your opponent miss, they have
to issue (and spend) their next Move as well. They
issue another Punch. Your first Move, Block, con-
tinues to be relevant, so you didn’t need to use your
second Move. Your Move “Stands”.
PAGE 98
MOVES VERSUS MOVES
Backalley Brawl, 1982. Famed Neon Strip wrestler Handlebars (32) faces
“Diamond” Mike (37) in a backalley fight. Diamond Mike was the perpetual
“palooka”—someone who comes out to fight and never wins, always losing,
always trying. Diamond Mike was not without skill, but his fight career was
ultimately doomed. In great contrast, the famed Neon Strip pro-wrestler
Handlebars was a superstar of the pro-wrestling world, but chose to moonlight in
backalley brawls for the rush of it. Fighting was never a fair game.
Technique
With the exchange of any two Moves that do not
trump each other automatically, the Technique of
each Move is compared to decide victory, with the
higher Technique value winning.
For example, Fighter A issues a Kick, and Fighter

B responds with a Kick. If Fighter A has the higher
Technique, then the Hit gets through, and Fighter B is
harmed. If instead Fighter B has the higher Technique,
it is up to Fighter A to issue the next Move.
PAGE 99
Fighter A Kick Fighter B Kick
Technique Technique
Force Force
FLASH
FLASH
n
q qq n
q qq
Weapon Outnum. Improv. Guns Weapon Outnum. Improv. Guns
Lunge Hit/Run Flail Spray Lunge Hit/Run Flail Spray
Further Ties: If the Moves are compared and their Technique is tied, or
there is no Technique for either Move, then:
● A bigger Build wins, by force of weight.

● If both fighters have the same Build, then defensive Moves win
out over offensive Moves.
● If both fighters issue an offensive Move, both Hit at the same time.
Technique Negated: There are circumstances where Technique is not

important in a fight at all, specifically when there are too many combat-
ants in some kind of mass brawl for the grace of Technique to mat-
ter—an Outnumbered circumstance. Your GM will inform you of these
situations when they come up.
“Your martial art skills are

inadequate to the task of
victory.”
— The studious boxer,
Androcles Brown, 1992
Opponents Come Pre

pared: The GM will ha
NPC fighter’s Moves ve determined the
sequence beforehand
personality and fighti based on the fighter’s
ng style. This is not a
what the GM will do guessing game over
. If the GM is making
opponents on the fly up Moves for your
that are martial artists it ceases to be a game
and becomes a two about characters
versus GM. This is con player guessing game
trary to the design of of Player
Fight to Survive.
PAGE 100
MOVES VERSUS MOVES
Consequences
When a Move is issued, it has the intent of causing an
effect, usually to do damage. The three possible ef-
fects of a Move (be it in armed or unarmed combat) are
presented below, ordered from most desirable to the
least desirable outcome for the one issuing the Move:
1. Make a Hit: The Move does damage. Grapple,

Punch, and Kick do this.
2. Render a Move Moot: The opponent’s incoming
Move is stopped or avoided. The damage of the
Move is negated and you are unharmed. Block
and Footwork do this.
3. That Was a Bad Move: You provide your oppon-
ent with an opening and are Hit instead. Any
Move can be a bad choice if you issue it when it
will lose. Sometimes you have no choice but to do
this, if you are otherwise out of Moves.
Make a Hit
The purpose of Grapple, Punch, and Kick
is to do harm to the opponent. If success-
ful, then the proposed Move will impact
upon the opponent’s body, inflicting one
tick of damage (or more) to the opponent’s Fighting is Dangerous: In
Health. Damage can be increased with most Rounds of combat
nobody will make a Hit,
certain Training, with Weapons, and some but there will also come
a time when one fighter
other circumstances.
is completely unprepared
for the onslaught of
For example, your opponent another, when none of
has issued Footwork. You the three Moves written
down during posturing
issue a Punch, catching up are appropriate for the
exchange of blows, and
with their fancy movements
the fighter is going to get
and doing them bodily harm. seriously pummelled from
the Opening Move on. This
will happen. Try to make
sure it does not happen
to you.
PAGE 101
Render a Move Moot
Block and Footwork do not seek to do damage, but instead to nullify the
effect of an incoming damaging Move, rendering it harmless. If success-
ful, the offensive Move is no longer relevant, regardless of its Force.
For example, your opponent tries to Kick you, so

you choose to demonstrate some fancy Footwork.
You step easily out of the way of your opponent’s
Kick, and receive no damage. The opponent must
then issue their next Move to try again to hit you.
It does not matter if the opponent is Kicking with
three ticks of Force (what a Kick!), one situation trumps another.
The capability to render an incoming Move moot is certainly less

advantageous than doing harm to your opponent, but remember that
defensive Moves will Stand, and could therefore be useful through a
series of the opponent’s Moves.
That Was A Bad Move

A Bad Move is a Move that automatically fails against the Move being
proposed, but the fighter either issued it by mistake or because they
have no other Moves left. When a fighter issues a Bad Move against an
offensive Move they are immediately Hit.
For example, Fighter A issues a Kick and Fighter

B responds with Punch. Punch always loses to
Kick—it was a Bad Move—so Fighter B is immedi-
ately Hit even if they have Moves left.
If you respond to your opponent’s Move with a Move that will fail
according to the Versus Chart, it is a Bad Move. This is like your plan
backfiring and provide your opponent an opening.
● If the incoming Move was offensive, responding with a Bad Move

means you are Hit.
● If the incoming Move was defensive, responding with a Bad Move
means it is spent for the Round, and you have to issue another
Move as well.
PAGE 102
MOVES VERSUS MOVES
For example, your op-

ponent has just thrown
a Punch at you. All you
have left is a Grapple,
but you’ll be unable Bad Moves Happen: If
you have a Move that
to close the distance
overcomes the previous
and will just get a palm Move, issue it. If the
Move you issued results
strike to the face. There’s
in you getting damaged,
no taking a Move back, you take the damage.
This means people who
the Grapple is issued, don’t know how to play
and the oppon- Fight to Survive can
easily get themselves
ent’s palm lands a Hit in a fight, just like
Hit. You just got a when you’re learning
how to fight...
bloody nose.
Taking a Hit
When a fighter is Hit they take a tick of damage
(or more than one tick) in a checkbox of a bracket of
Health. A fighter is Hit in either of two cases:
Bruised Beat Up Knocked Out Dying
HEALTH q q q q q q q q q q q q
1. When they run out of Moves

2. When they issue a Bad Move
Out of Moves: When a fighter is out of Moves in a

Round they are Hit by however many offensive Moves
their opponent has remaining.
For example, Fighter A issues a Punch, Fighter B intercepts

with a Kick. Fighter A responds to that with a Grapple,
Fighter B with a Punch. Let’s say Fighter A is out of Moves
for this Round—that means they just got punched. A Hit!
PAGE 103
If one fighter is out of Moves, and the opponent has more Moves left,
those Moves keep coming until all Moves are exhausted. This may
result in a fighter getting hit three times (or more.)
For example, Fighter A issues a Punch, Fighter B

responds with Block. Let’s say all Fighter A had
was: Punch, Punch, and Punch. Well, an open-
ing Block will beat any of those Moves (because
defensive Moves Stand). So, Fighter A plays one
Move, avoids all the Punches, and then gets to
follow-up with their two remaining Moves against an opponent who
spent everything they had and is now defenceless against attacks.
What To Do When Hit: When a PC is harmed, their player decides where

to put the tick of damage on Health, either to the right of a checkbox
already filled, or jumping to the first checkbox of the next bracket.
● The 1st checkboxes in each bracket of Health have very little

lasting health effect on a fighter (although it does escalate the
farther up in brackets you go.) These can be eliminated later with
a simple Rest segment.
● The 2nd and 3rd checkboxes in each bracket of Health are each
more severe than the last in terms of the injury you accrue. These
can only be Healed during End of Year activities, and only by
giving up other things.
This means that when you are Hit you must then make the choice to
stay in the fight longer and take more damage (putting the tick directly
right of one already filled) even to the point of grievous injury, or gam-
ble you can get away relatively unscathed (jumping up brackets).
PAGE 104
MOVES VERSUS MOVES
“Maybe now you’ll believe

in my strength!”
— The grittiest of judoka,
Yumi “Street” Notaro, 1947
Force: When a Hit lands, the damage that is issued is

the Force of the Move that made the Hit.
● Most fighters inflict one tick of Force with each

offensive Move, but some have Trained their
Moves to have greater Force, or were born with
a Build that made one or two Moves stronger.
● Even if you are Hit for a lot of damage, you get
to decide where each tick of the Hit goes, decid-
ing one tick at a time if you want the damage to
go to the right of a filled-in checkbox, or to jump
up a bracket of Health.
● In the case of multiple Moves hitting, each
Move’s impact should be dealt with by the vic-
tim one Move at a time.
Bad Health: If a PC has filled checkboxes in Health,

they are considered to have injuries. Some brackets
of checkboxes indicate when they are Knocked Out,
Dying, or—if the track is exceeded—dead.
● Knocked Out: The fighter has lost conscious-

ness and cannot participate in play until Tend-
ed by an ally.
● Dying: If a PC has a checkmark in the bracket
of Dying, then when the current segment ends,
they die. (Unless they can be Tended, which
pushes it back another segment!)
For more on damage, see Health on page 116.
PAGE 105
Alternatives to Damage
Instead of doing damage on a Hit, a fighter may inflict a:
Setback: Inflict one of a few different narratively relevant circum-

stances on their opponent based on the Move used. For example:
On a successful Grapple it may be wiser to restrain some-

one and end the fight than to keep it going. (Unless they
have a Move left this Round that would break a Grapple,
but you can only try...)
A successful Kick could disarm your opponent of their gun

by striking suddenly at their hand, forcing them to drop it
and fight unarmed.
Pushing someone off a nearby rooftop with a Punch that

Hit may be more relevant to the situation than just doing
the normal damage, if it has already been established by
the GM that you are fighting dangerously near the edge.
For more on the Setbacks see page 277.
Trouble or “In Trouble”: At any time when you make a Hit you may
forgo direct damage and instead inflict a Trouble on your opponent. A
Trouble grants +1 Move for next Round during Posturing. Think of this
as setting up a circumstance for later.
For example, Fighter A has navigated their foe into a corner when they could
have made a Hit. The foe is now In Trouble. Fighter A will get an extra Move
next Round, starting Posturing with four Moves instead of three.
For more on Troubles see page 276.
PAGE 106
MOVES VERSUS MOVES
Conditions of Victory
Slugging it Out,
1931. Street
fighting at the
The Round continues until all participating fighters’ Docks was a ca-
Moves are exhausted, or there’s a K.O., or death. reer for Chancy
“Boxcars”
Then the fighters break, even if only to stare at each Charles (52)
other for a brief moment. Fighters are encouraged to until a match
with Cynwym
reassess the situation at this time, and decide if they O’Rourke (47).
Both fighters
truly want to continue this pursuit of violence. Other-
were advanced
wise, Rounds continue to best 2/3, or with escalation in age, and the
fight was so pro-
to best 3/5, until victory is established, or until the tracted it ruined
fight is abandoned. them both.
O’Rourke would
The Winner be assassinated
two years later
To determine who wins in a Round (which is not during a protest
for worker’s
always an easy prospect) the winner is: rights, and
●
Charles would
Whatever side made a Hit. reportedly die
● Or, if both sides made a Hit, whatever side in action in ’37

during the Span-
made the last Hit in the Round. ish Civil War,
● Or, if neither side was Hit, the winning side

although some
say he was seen
is the one that does not meet the criteria for as late as 1950,
regularly drunk
losing. See page 109 for losing. at Poison’s,
O’Rourke’s old
pub.
PAGE 107
Rights of Victory: The defeated fighter is not entirely at the victor’s
mercy. There is only time and opportunity for so much. Therefore, the
winner may choose one of the following options to enact upon the
losing side:
● Cause a Rift: Inflict a Rift to a defeated fighter’s Comfort, as

context and sense dictates.
● Destroy a Comfort: In a fight of best 3/5 Rounds only, the winner
may utterly destroy a Comfort of a loser. More on this below.
● Escape Without Contest: In matches of best 3/5 only, the winner
may escape without risk of pursuit by any character.
● Gain Information: Gain one piece of Info. The GM must answer
honestly, given what the defeated fighter(s) know(s).
● Inflict Hardship: To cause a NPC Hardship moves them up a
bracket, as NPC Hardship is only counted by the bracket. Inflict-
ing a Hardship on a PC means increasing it by +1.
Stressed Out Just Snapped Breakdown Quitting
HARDSHIP q q q q
● Mercy: If the winner chooses not to administer consequences for

a loss, that is their right, but mercy has no mechanical advantage
in Fight to Survive. Mercy is, perhaps, its own reward.
● Punishment: The victor may also choose to issue an uncontested
Hit on the loser for three ticks of damage, or five ticks if armed. Ef-
fectively damage moves up a tier. In matches of best 3/5 this is more
severe, at five ticks of damage unarmed or eight with a Weapon.
Destroying Comforts: When a Comfort is destroyed, the bonus it had

goes to the victim’s Hardship and Revenge pool.
● The Comfort must be chosen without the victor’s knowledge of

the value of that Comfort.
● The reduction of a Comfort does not always have to be a heavy
role-play experience. It could be that the loss spoils the defeated
fighter’s sense of connection with the world.
● The destruction of the Comfort may not appear to go into effect
until later.
PAGE 108
MOVES VERSUS MOVES
For example, Warrior Guan gets killed in ’21 before he can

enact the destruction of Songbird Lin’s “Father” Comfort
from when he won a 3/5 fight earlier. When Songbird Lin
returns home she finds Warrior Guan’s here-to-unknown
son has killed her father to avenge his. Solved.
The Loser
The fighter who received damage last, or who was the
one who instigated the conflict (usually the Aggressor)
but failed to do harm to their opponent, is the loser.
Beyond just accepting their loss, losers have essentially
two options:
● Escape: If the winner wishes to press their ad-

vantage and pursue the loser, a chase ensues.
● Escalate: The loser has the option to escalate the
combat to a new fight of best 3/5 Rounds—but be
warned how much more severe the penalties for
loss are.
This Fight is Over

After the fight is done, if you wish to engage in further
violence it must be under other circumstances; at an-
other time, or another place. Camping out in front of
someone who beat you to fight them again would be
regarded as poor form in the Martial World. Go away,
and train.
best 3/5
the players that fights that are
GMs, please make it clear to ”, and clim acti c fights
for the “big bad
Rounds should ideally be left e alon g ever y few sessions
that only com
with the fighter’s bitter rival And,
frequent, then play will drag.
of play. If fights to best 3/5 are y figh t they lose they will
esca latin g ever
if players make a habit of ry and loss of
become unplayable from inju
find their fighter will quickly but it gets fighters
ender” is a lovely mantra,
Comfort. “No retreat, no surr cess or it will mea n the player is
not have a Suc
killed. If the character does . If that ’s what they
a new martial lineage
constantly ‘starting over’ with r exp ecta tion s.
want, that’s great, but...te mpe
PAGE 109
Summary of Moves Versus Moves
1. FIRST SWING: Aggressor issues one extra Move.
- Or, a Move can inflict a Setback or another Trouble.
2. POSTURING: Each side picks their Moves, usually three.
PC Circumstance Posturing Opp. Tech Opp. Force
vs. One 3 vs. 3 Move Move
One
vs. Two 3 vs. Shared 4 Move Move
vs. Outnumbered 3 vs. 5 Group Group
vs. One Shared 4 vs. 3 Move Move

Two
vs. Matched Shared 3 vs. Shared 3 Move Move
vs. Outnumbered Shared 4 vs. 5 Group Group
vs. One 5 vs. 3 Group Group

More
vs. Matched 1 each vs. 1 each Group Move
vs. Outnumbered 1 each vs. 1 Null All Group
3. OPENING MOVE: The Aggressor is who provoked the conflict, or

threw The First Swing. Their opponent is the Responder.
- If there is no Aggressor then the Opening Move is determined by

Build. The largest fighters go first (and so slower), smaller go after.
- If Build is tied, use Distinctive Feature to break; lefter is faster.
- If it is still a tie, then defensive Moves win over offensive Moves and
all offensive Moves are simultan-
eously successful.
Re
G
G
r
so
sp
es
on
P
4. EXCHANGE OF BLOWS: Respond-

gr
 
de
Ag
er issues their Move in response

r
 
B
to the Opening Move. Fighters

   
F
issue and discard Moves until

 
none remain.
 
 
PAGE 110
RULES SUMMARY
MOVES VERSUS MOVES

Grapple Punch Kick Block Footwork
Elbow, Closed and Kicks, Block, Acro-
Grasp, open-fisted sweeps, Deflect, all batics,
Unarmed
Knee, Punches, and Stances Balance,

Push, Pull, and short hyper-ex- and Pos- Dodge,
Stomp kicks tended tures Run Away,
punches Roll
Rake, Trap Slash, Extend, Block Dodge
Swing Thrust,
Weapons
Lunge
Crowd, Rush & Hit & Run Turtle, Surround,

Outnumbered
Smother, Pummel, Tactics, Close Encircle,

or Pile Up or Gang Up One After Ranks, or Spread
On On the Other Close in, Out
Form a
Barrier
Pin with it Throw Swing Shield with Press
Improv. Weapon
Something Wildly it Forward
Snipe, or Aim & Spray fire, Lay Down Run

Line Up Shoot or Shoot Cover Fire
Shot Wildly
Guns
- Moves are compared on the Versus Chart relative to each side’s role
as Aggressor or Responder.
PAGE 111
GROUP TECHNIQUE GROUP FORCE
1 Impaired / Small Group 1 Unintentional
3 Uncertain / Rabble 3 Unarmed
5 Confident / Gang 5 Partially Armed
8 Motivated / Slew 8 Fully Armed
12 Trained & Coordinated 12 Execution
- Higher Technique resolves draws between Moves. If it’s the same,

use Build with larger winning; if still a tie use rules above.
- Once issued, a Move is discarded for the Round, except defensive
Moves (Block and Footwork) which may Stand and be compared
with the opponent’s next Move.
- Offensive Moves (Grapple, Punch, Kick) result in a Hit if the oppon-
ent issues a Bad Move, or runs out of Moves.
- Hits inflict the damage of a Move’s or a Weapon’s Force.
DAMAGE
1 Normal unarmed martial artist’s Hit
2 Strong unarmed Hit, random objects, improvised Weapons, or

a small fire
3 Fierce unarmed Hit, held Weapons, fall two stories,

Outnumbered by a group
5 Guns, Poisons, electric shock, fall four stories, or Outnum-

bered with some Weapons
8 Massive damage; fall ten stories, hit by a car, or Outnumbered

with Weapons
12 Explosions, electrocution, fall from an aeroplane, hit by a

train, or shot by artillery
PAGE 112
RULES SUMMARY
- Hits can instead inflict a Setback or a Trouble if the attacker prefers.

- Flashback: A PC may spend all Revenge for one Round of Technique (at
1 to 1) or Force (at 3 to 1) to all of their Moves. The pool is then empty.
5. CONSEQUENCES: At the end of each Round:
- The role of Aggressor and Responder swaps based on the situation.
- The last to Hit becomes the Aggressor.
- If one fighter wants peace, the other becomes the Aggressor.
- Next Round’s Opening Move is issued by the Aggressor.
- When there is no clear Aggressor, larger Build goes first.
VICTORY: The loser of a fight is the one who was harmed, or who start-
ed it and failed to harm their opponent. In the case where both fighters
took damage in the Round, the last one to be Hit loses. The winner can
then inflict upon the loser their choice of penalty.
A. Victory: For a match of best of 2/3 Rounds the winner may:
A. Cause a Rift: Inflict a Rift to a defeated fighter’s Comfort.
B. Gain Information: Gain one item of Info; the GM must answer
honestly, given what the defeated NPC knows.
C. Inflict Hardship: Inflicting Hardship on a NPC moves them up a
bracket, as NPC Hardship is only counted by the bracket. Inflicting
a Hardship on a PC means increasing it by +1.
D. Mercy: Nothing happens to the loser.
E. Punishment: An uncontested Hit of 3 damage (5 if armed).
- Loser may attempt escape, or escalate to 3/5 Rounds.
B. Greater Victory: For a match of best of 3/5 Rounds the winner may:
A. Destroy a Comfort of the loser.
B. Escape the situation without contest.
C. Inflict an uncontested Hit of 5 damage (8 with a Weapon).
C. Comfort, Hardship, and Revenge
- When a Comfort is damaged it value is reduced by -1, and both
Hardship and Revenge gain +1.
- When a Comfort is destroyed it increases Hardship and Revenge
by their value. If the Comfort was already Under Threat then it gains
in Hardship the remainder of its value (from when it was put Under
Threat), and its full value is added to Revenge.
PAGE 113
CONSEQUENCES
OF VIOLENCE
Y
our brother has been hurt, hit by a bus, and
he sits in traction at the hospital. There is a
way to pay for the operation he needs, but
it means doing something that you swore
you’d never do—fight again. For the wrong people,
again. Always, again. You cannot escape. You’re
trapped in a never-ending cycle of violence, and it has
consequences.
PAGE 114
Judo demonstration at the
Nauwelaerts d’Agé gym, 1951.
HEALTH
Sometimes you earn enough to pay the
dentist to fix your mouth, sometimes it has
to stay that way.
H
ealth is organised into escalating brackets
to track a fighter’s physical condition and
detail the extent of their injuries, when they
go unconscious, and when they die as a
result of too much punishment.
Brackets of Health
There are four brackets representing different states of
Health, denoting a progressively worsening physical
condition for your fighter.
Overview
● If a PC has no checkboxes in Health filled then
they are considered fighting fit, in the pink, and
all-in-all relatively healthy.
● If they have lots of checkboxes filled in Health
then they are roughed up, injured, in a bad way.
● If they take enough ticks of damage to exceed
the Health chart, they are dead. Life has left their
body. You need a new character.
PAGE 116
HEALTH
“Being on the verge of death

has left you confused!”
— Lai Leung “The Golden Dragon”
of the Under Heaven Tong, 1967
Brackets
● Bruised: Your body is without any apparent ser-
ious medical concerns, just some bruising.
● Beat Up: Your body shows signs of damage, spe-
cifically evidence of physical violence. This ranges
from mild bruising to need for medical attention.
● Knocked Out: Your body has gone unconscious,
or is fighting to maintain consciousness.
● Dying: Your body approaches death. It requires
immediate medical treatment, and you still may
not make it.
Checkboxes
The first, second and third checkboxes of each bracket
of Health have different meanings.
1. The 1st Box in each bracket of Health typically

has no permanent nor lasting injury.
2. The 2nd Box in each bracket signifies serious
injury like open wounds or broken bones.
3. The 3rd Box in each bracket of Health repre-
sents a potential permanent or semi-permanent
injury—a broken wrist, a slipped disc, a lost eye,
and so on.
Escalating Damage: The higher up the brackets the

more severe the injury the character suffers. Where
the first check of Bruised has no mechanical reinforce-
ment—it serves mostly as a warning to players—the
first check of Knocked Out involves the risk of passing
out. It gets worse the farther up it goes.
PAGE 117
Taking Damage
Each filled checkbox in Health represents some kind of injury. When a
fighter is successfully Hit, most of the time a Move does 1 tick of damage.
When your fighter takes damage, fill in the first checkbox on Bruised,
the farthest bracket to the left. The next tick of damage you receive, you
get to choose where it goes. You can either:
● Worsen a current bracket of Health by filling in the box directly to

the right of the one you filled.
● Jump your checkmark up to the beginning (farthest left, 1st check-
box) of the next bracket of Health.
Once a checkbox is passed over to check something higher, a lower box

cannot be checked.
“Do us both a favour, kid,

and don’t get up.”
— Chancy “Boxcars” Charles
in the ring, 1933
DAMAGE
2 Strong unarmed Hit, random objects, improvised Weapons, or

a small fire

5 Guns, Poisons, electric shock, fall four stories, or Outnumbered

with some Weapons
8 Massive damage; fall ten stories, hit by a car, or Outnumbered

with Weapons
12 Explosions, electrocution, fall from an aeroplane, hit by a train, or

shot by artillery
PAGE 118
HEALTH
Bodily Health Reference

Refer to these states to get an idea of a fighter’s bodily
condition when different boxes are checked.
Bruised
Relatively speaking this is the healthiest a fighter can

be, unless they have suffered no harm at all.
1. Bruised 1 “Warmed Up”: Although struck recent-

ly, there is no real evidence of harm, internal or
external, nor does the fighter feel any worse other
than the pain of the moment.
2. Bruised 2 “Sore”: While there may be little or no
outward effects of violence, the fighter is going to
feel it in the morning.
3. Bruised 3 “Looks Rough”: The fighter is scuffed,
bruised, and may have some internal injuries such
as bruised organs.
Beat Up
Now things are getting serious.
1. Beat Up 1 “Hurt”: Signs of damage, specifically

evidence of violence. Looks like they lost a fight,
even if they won. You should see the other guy.
2. Beat Up 2 “The Room Spins”: Body covered in
bruises, inflamed joints, muscle strain, possible
internal muscle tears. There may be long-lasting
injuries like broken bones and lost teeth. Parts of
the fighter’s body may never again be the same.
3. Beat Up 3 “Black and Blue”: The fighter is hurt,
and may have permanently screwed up a knee,
an elbow, or damaged a lung. In extreme cases,
they may never fight again.
PAGE 119
Knocked Out
Your fighter’s body is attempting to save itself by shutting down.
● When a Knocked Out box is ticked, if the fighter wants to remain con-
scious they suffer +1 Hardship, and pass out when the fight is over.
● Or, you can choose to pass out now, enter K.O., end the fight, and
avoid the additional Hardship. This is may be preferable.
1. Knocked Out 1 “Looks Like Hell”: For a moment you were under,
but just a moment...
2. Knocked Out 2 “In a Bad Way”: Minor brain damage, which will
catch up with the fighter someday. It always does.
3. Knocked Out 3 “In Danger”: Memory loss, motor-control damage,
or nerve damage, all of it serious.
Dying
The fighter’s body is failing, and life is leaving it.
● Each time a Dying checkbox is ticked, if the fighter wants to remain

conscious they gain +1 Hardship. At the end of the fight they pass
out and start Dying.
● Or, the PC can choose for their fighter to pass out immediately and
not gain the additional Hardship. Even so, they will start Dying.
● If a Dying character’s circumstance is not Tended before the next
segment begins, they die. It must also be Treated before the seg-
ment after ends, or they will die. You can get in quite the mess.
1. Dying 1 “Touch-n-Go”: You almost didn’t make it.

2. Dying 2 “Near Death Experience”: Wanted to go towards the light.
3. Dying 3 “On Death’s Doorstep”: A hair’s breadth away from death.
Your body has had enough of you, and is failing.
Death: If a fighter takes enough damage to exceed the number of Health

checkboxes, they are dead. Absolutely dead. There is no coming back.
PAGE 120
HEALTH
Health Conditions
Two brackets on the Health track trigger special states
when their 1st checkboxes are filled.
It Seems You Are Knocked Out

The character is unconscious by K.O., and therefore
unaware of their surroundings and in an effective state
of paralysis.
Fix: A fighter is roused from a K.O. by two

circumstances.
ng,
K.O., like Dyi
1. If the fighter went unconscious during no t co un t
does
nfair”
combat, they awaken as soon as there is a as “Life is U
) and
(see page 88
Break in the Fight segment. e it do es
therefor
t ea rn yo u +1
2. If the fighter paid Hardship to delay uncon- no
you are
Revenge. If
fights,
sciousness and then passed out when the getting into
ca n ex pe ct to
you
fight was over, they may be roused by another fight off un co n-
us ne ss .
when Tended, during Sitting Out in a Fight sc io
segment or the end of the next Rest segment.
As You Lay Dying

A Dying PC is exiting this life.
● If a Dying character’s circumstance is not Tended

before the next segment starts, they die.
● If the Dying circumstance is not Treated before
the end of the next segment, they die.
● If a Dying PC is Tended and enters a Rest seg-
ment, they do not Heal, but also will not die yet.
● If a Dying PC exacerbates their injuries at any time
then their Tended circumstance is revoked. Phys-
ically strenuous activity, including participating in
more than one Round of fighting, qualifies.
Fix: To resolve Dying requires the afflicted fighter to

be both Tended and Treated. Treatment must be
done by a Doctor. For more on Doctors see page 126.
PAGE 121
Injuries
When a checkbox in Health is filled it represents an injury. How an
injury is described, and therefore how to Trend and Treat it, is based
on a few value judgements made by the GM. This is fairly open-ended
because GM interpretation of the moment is a more valuable mechan-
ic than over-detailing injury, but mechanically, the structure of these
types are consistent.
Bleeding Wounds
Usually from being cut by sharp objects, but also internal bleeding from
blunt-force trauma. In many cases the skin and perhaps muscle of the
fighter’s body has been ripped and blood is escaping. This can be as
extreme as limb loss. Muscle damage and brain damage also fall into
this category. Brain damage is usually sustained in conjunction with
being K.O.’d or in a coma, and damage to the brain affects not just the
physical body but the personality of the fighter. Brain damage is almost
always permanent in some form.
Common Causes: Over-training, the hyper-extension of limbs, lifting

something too heavy, being crushed, bullets, edged Weapons like
knives, the attacks of a tiger claw or eagle claw kung fu, barbed wire,
fire, or jumping through glass.
Broken Bones
The bones of the fighter’s body have splintered, cracked, or smashed.
The area of the bone and muscles attached to it are not usable.
Common Causes: Hard-hitting strikes of any kind, severe grapples,

falls, and strikes from blunt Weapons or objects.
Poison
This includes both known purpose Poisons, as well as sickness and drugs.
● Drugs that cause paralysis can be treated as inflicting a K.O.

● Poisons that are lethal cause Dying.
Each of these present special circumstances for Tending and Treating

the Poisoned PC. See pages 124 and 125 for more details.
PAGE 122
HEALTH
Healing
How to recover checkboxes and erase checkmarks in
Health is a complex prospect in a world of constant
violence, and it depends on what checkbox it is.
1. The 1st Tick: All first checkmarks in each bracket

of Health can be erased at the same time if the
fighter undertakes a Rest segment at any time
during general play.
2. The 2nd Tick: All second checkmarks in each
bracket of Health can be erased at the same time
if the fighter chooses Affirmation of Life as their
End-of-Year activity.
3. The 3rd Tick: A single checkmark from a third
checkbox in any one bracket of Health can be
erased during the End-of-Year activity Affirmation
of Life, but you must choose between doing that
or erasing all 2nd checkboxes.
“Geez, Mister. I’m sorry!

I’m sure that’ll heal
eventually!”
— Judy “The Fighting School
Girl” Herrera, 1952
Permanent Injury
If you find your fighter is bogged down by lasting filled
checkboxes you can’t ever find time to Heal, there is
another option. Between Years you can choose any
filled checkbox in a bracket of Health, destroy it, and
erase all other checks, accepting a permanent injury.
Just like checkboxes destroyed from aging, this can
never be recovered.
PAGE 123
Tending
To Tend means to stall the advancement of K.O. or Dying. Any PC may
Tend to a K.O.’d character to rouse them. Tending to a Dying PC delays
death to the next segment and must be done by a Doctor.
● If a Dying PC exacerbates their injuries by doing something phys-

ically strenuous—such as fighting for more than one Round—then
the Tended status is revoked, and they are again Dying.
How to Tend Injuries:

● Bleeding Wounds: Any one person can administer bandages (if
available) to Tend injuries of this kind.
● Broken Bones: Any one person can set the bone and bind it with a
splint, if available, to Tend these injuries.
● Poison: Meditation by the Poisoned fighter is the only way to Tend
the injury. (Slowing heart-rate slows the advance of the Poison.)
Treating
Treatment saves you from Dying. Surgery, drugs, and other complex
medical practices are considered Treatment.
● Before an injury can be Treated it must be Tended, unless it is

being done in a Hospital.
● A Doctor is required to Treat injuries, except for the administration
of the antidote to Poison, which can be done by anyone.
● Only once Treated can the PC begin to Heal in a Heal segment.
How to Treat Injuries:

● Bleeding Wounds: A Doctor and at least one assistant are required
to perform surgery. That will take as many hours as the injured
person’s filled checkboxes in Health.
● Broken Bones: At least one Doctor must make and set a cast. The
injured party will require immediate bed-rest for as many hours as
their filled checkboxes in Health.
● Poison: An antidote must be found and administered by one
attendant. The injured person still must rest for as many hours as
their filled checkboxes in Health.
PAGE 124
HEALTH
Beaten Half to
Death, 1935.
For reasons
not publicly
known, Black
Crow (35) spent
half a century
single-handed-
ly wiping out
the River City
gang, a project
for which he
suffered many
injuries, until he
was ultimately
beaten to death
in broad daylight
by a revived
version of the
gang in ’78.
TENDING & TREATING

Tend Treat
Administer Attendance Administer Attendance
Bleeding Wounds Bandages 1 Surgery Doctor +1
Broken Bones Set & Splint 1 Cast Doctor
Poisoned Meditation 0 Antidote 1
PAGE 125
Doctors
An important part of the fight game is the “cutter” who
will patch you up. PCs would be wise to befriend even
the crudest surgeon, or to pursue medical Comforts.
Doctors
●
Doctor,
Doctor, 1938. Doctors do not Heal you—they do not erase filled
(Opposing checkboxes in Health. Doctors simply patch you
Page) Doctor
Edmund up to give your body a chance to Heal itself.
“Pale Ghost”
Pie (31) was ● A Doctor is the only way to Treat the Dying. (The
a well-known exception to this are Poisons that can be Treated
“cutter” in
with an antidote.)
●
the fighting
community, Any PC or NPC with a Comfort that the GM ac-
patching
injured mar- knowledges as sufficiently medical for the sake of
tial artists Fight to Survive is a qualified Doctor.
●
like Big Mar
O’Rourke The Doctor’s medical Comfort must be equal to or
(20). Big greater than the number of filled Health check-
Mar was
born Martha boxes of the Dying PC in order to Treat them.
O’Rourke and
fist-fought his
way through
Comas
much of the If the medical Comfort that Treated a Dying PC is only
mid-century
equal to and does not exceed their filled Health check-
to affirm his
identity in boxes, then the Dying PC enters a coma.
the Mar-
tial World.
His father,
● A comatose PC is treated as K.O.’d but is unable to
Cymwynn be Tended or Treated.
O’Rourke, in
contrast to ● Players of comatose PCs can still hear everything
the harsh city, going on in play, but are unable to respond.
supported
him always. ● The coma continues until the beginning of the
next Year, or for as many months as the Dying
PC’s filled Health checkboxes multiplied by three,
whichever is longer.
Hospitals
While at a hospital or similar facility:
● Injuries skip Treated and get Tended.

● All injured fighters can be Tended at the same
time, within the same segment.
PAGE 126
HEALTH
PAGE 127
HARDSHIP
The pangs of a fighter’s heart.
Broken warrior’s dreams.
H
ardship is a representation of a fighter’s
traumatic experiences and failures, their
sadnesses and their troubles. This may be
a vague ennui in the fighter’s approach
to the world, or anger, or something more specific
like the loss of a loved one, the dashing of hopes and
dreams, or losing faith in humanity because of war or
the great universal unfairness.
● Every PC has a Hardship score between 0 and 12.

● Having zero Hardship means the fighter is par-
ticularly well adjusted, considering their activities.
● Having lots of checkboxes filled means they are
emotionally troubled, to varying degrees.
● Each time a fighter’s Hardship score reaches a
new bracket they will be swallowed by despair
and anger and commit some terrible act contrary
to their long-term happiness. This is called a
Hardship Event.
PAGE 128
HARDSHIP
“Some are born to fail,

others have it thrust upon
them.”
— Howard D. Irwin, pulp
novelist and prize-fighter, 1924
Hard Times
There are a few instances within the game when Hard-
ship will go up. This is not always avoidable.
● A Comfort Is Under Threat: The action that

propels each in-game Year is that a Comfort of a
PC comes Under Threat. When that happens, the
PC gains Hardship equal to half the value of the
Comfort, rounded up.
● A Comfort is Reduced or Destroyed: When a PC
loses a fight their Hardship may increase by +1 or
by whatever bonus they had for the Comfort.
● Life is Unfair: The GM will often hand out Hard-
ship to PCs just because whatever happens is
emotionally taxing. This can happen at any time.
If you feel the instance is unfair, argue, and they
will probably give you +1 Revenge.
Continuous Hardship
Hardship is granted when bad things happen, but it
cannot be continuously doled out. Hardship is issued
once per terrible circumstance, unless that situation
significantly escalates.
For example, Mayor Marion Hill fights in the rain, so

its participants gain +1 Hardship. They do not gain
a Hardship for every Round of fighting in the rain,
because the circumstance hasn’t changed.
PAGE 129
Brackets of Hardship
Just like Health, there are four brackets for Hardship representing a
progressively worsening state, but Hardship applies to a (mostly) emo-
tional circumstance.
HARDSHIP q q q q q q q q q q q q
When your PC takes on Hardship, fill in the 1st checkbox on Stressed

Out, the farthest bracket to the left. The next Hardship you receive you
get to choose where it goes. You can either:
● Worsen a current bracket of Hardship by filling in the box directly to

the right of the one you filled.
● Jump your checkmark up to the beginning (farthest left, 1st check-
box) of the next bracket of Hardship.
Once a checkbox is passed over to check something higher, a lower box

cannot be checked.
Hardship Events
As each bracket of Hardship is reached the PC must enact a Hardship
Event—some kind of manifestation of their emotional turmoil—as there
is opportunity and justification to do so.
● A Hardship Event is only necessary the first time a checkbox in a

bracket is checked, not every time a check gets put in that bracket.
● There is not always time—if the PC is in the middle of a pressing
circumstance—to enact a Hardship Event, in which case they’ve
bottled it up for the next available time to express themselves, like
a Sitting Out or a Break.
● If multiple Hardship brackets are checked before there is an oppor-
tunity to enact a Hardship Event then the PC enacts the one of the
highest bracket.
● A Hardship Event cannot cause further Hardship, even if it seems
like it should, or “Life is Unfair”—they’re not in their senses at the
moment. But, depending on the circumstances a Hardship Event
(at the GM’s discretion) may cause a Rift on a Comfort.
PAGE 130
HARDSHIP
Stressed Out
The fighter is going through the ringer in their home
life or job, and just can’t take it anymore. The fighter
may be grouchy during this time, but commits no
other horrible act.
Examples include grumpiness, rudeness, or arrogance.
Just Snapped
The fighter does something they know is wrong. They
cannot restrain their anger any more, and took it out
on something (or someone) undeserving.
Examples include shouting at someone you love,

beginning substance abuse, starting an affair, stealing
a car, destroying someone’s property, or striking some-
one with little or no justification.
Breakdown
The fighter experiences a temporary psychotic break,
acting not simply out-of-character but contrary to
their personal philosophy and goals. They do some-
thing they wouldn’t think of doing in their right mind.
Examples include smashing up your prized car with

a baseball bat, ruining your marriage, purposefully
aggravating a local mob boss into frenzy, or betraying
a friend.
Quitting
The fighter has entered the unmerciful realm of tempor-
ary madness. Or have they come to their senses? Either
way, they’re done with all this, and they’re leaving.
Examples include quitting the important circumstance

at hand, running away, the ultimate betrayal of a com-
rade, breaking of an oath, or public cowardice.
Like death itself, if a PC passes the final checkbox of

Hardship they are out of the game.
PAGE 131
Madness at the Times,
1929. After news of the
stock market crash,
celebrated Queensbury
boxer Lord Dufferin
Pepperpash (59) went
mad and sank his own
ship in Uppercut Bay.
It took the efforts of
two fighters of the
time to subdue him,
Christopher “King”
Kane (40), and pulp
novelist Howard D.
Irwin (28). The sinking
would tragically drown
Lord Pepperpash’s own
footman, the fighter
“Dandy” Dodson (29),
who was trapped
below deck. This ended
Lord Pepperpash’s for-
tune, fighting career,
and reputation in New
Hope City
PAGE 132
HARDSHIP
Quitting
If a checkmark is placed in the final bracket of Hard-
ship, “Quitting”, then the PC takes on the Quitting
condition and is looking to exit this violent lifestyle
once and for all.
Quitting Condition
● If a Quitting PC’s condition is not Tended before
the next segment starts, they leave the situation,
the game, and cease to be a PC.
● If the Quitting circumstance is not Treated before
the end of the next segment, they also leave,
permanently.
● If a Quitting PC enters a Rest segment they do not
Heal, but if already Tended they will not quit yet.
● If a Quitting PC suffers enough Hardship to ex-
ceed the chart, they cannot be Tended or Treated,
and have utterly abandoned the Martial World.
Look to your Successor, if you have one.
Fix: To resolve Quitting requires the afflicted fighter to

be both Tended and Treated. Tending must be done by
a PC, and Treatment must be done by a Comfort.
Tending
To Tend means to address the negative condition of
Quitting. Tending does not eliminate the Quitting
condition, it only delays the fighter leaving, effectively
buying them one more segment.
● It is necessary to Tend to a Quitting PC before the

circumstance can be properly Treated.
● Only a PC can Tend another PC and convince
them not to Quit.
PAGE 133
How to Tend a Quitting Fighter:
This is largely a role-play opportunity for other players.
● Belittle them, angering them to action.

● Remind them what’s at stake, why they’re fight-
ing, of their revenge, of their quest.
● Expose emotional vulnerability; confessing a
secret, or your love!
Treating
Treatment eliminates the Quitting condition, finally
convincing the PC not to give up on their fight dreams.
Only a Comfort of the PC who is afflicted by a desire
to Quit can Treat their Quitting, so this largely falls on
the GM unless another PC is the fighter’s Person.
Boxer at
Rest, 1997.
● Before a Quitting PC can be Treated they must be
Tended. (Only way around that is a Doctor.)
●
(Oppos-
ing Page) To Treat, the administering character’s By the Num-
Diamond
Mike (52) bers value must be equal to or greater than the sum
never caught of all filled checkboxes in the quitter’s Hardship.
a break. He
persisted ● Only once Treated can a PC have their Hardship
as a little reduced in the Relief from Hardship.
known fighter
throughout
How to Treat a Quitting Fighter:
●
the 20th
century, and An emotional exchange.
●
at its close
faded away, A meaningful gesture.
and was no
longer heard
● An emotionally significant gift.
from again.
Relief from Hardship
People, Places and Things are articles of importance
in a PC’s life that lower their Hardship. Comforts are
where a fighter seeks comfort from their inner de-
mons by meeting commitments and having mundane
responsibilities, and where they gain peace. This is
the only way to lower Hardship, and can only happen
through the Relief from Hardship option at the End of
Year Phase. See Comforts page 136 for more.
PAGE 134
HARDSHIP
PAGE 135
COMFORTS
I know someone who can help.
I know somewhere we can go.
I have something for this.
C
omforts are the people, locations, and gen-
eral things in a fighter’s life that are often-
times the only things keeping them from
spiralling into the anger and depression of
life’s Hardships.
Comforts are used to resolve conflict, instigate events,

and to lessen a fighter’s Hardship score.
Defining Comforts
For each Comfort you must identify:
● The name of the Comfort.

● The relationship your PC has with the Comfort.
● The Year they met or otherwise acquired it.
● The value of the Comfort, which is the number
it uses for conflict resolution By the Numbers,
and the value it relieves in Hardship. A Comfort’s
value can range from 0 to 12.
● A category: either a Person, Place, or a Thing. These
are explored in New Fighter Creation on page 16.
PAGE 136
COMFORTS
Poison’s Pub, 1912. Unlikely friends Cynwym O’Rourke (28), head of the Irish
Worker’s Union, and Japanese karate master Sojiro Tanaka (27), opened “Poison’s”,
an Irish-themed pub in the Battery at the height of Irish-Chinese tension. The Carter
Company (who would go on to re-brand as C-Com) was forcing wage competition
between Irish and Chinese workers. The day Poison’s opened, the Chinese Benevo-
lent Association, of which Master Bao (49) was a general, went to war with the Irish
Worker’s Union after an assassination attempt on a high-ranking Tong member by an
Irish gang. Poison’s would be a battleground for years to come.
Many Relationships
Sometimes a Comfort can have multiple rela-
tionships, like a Person who is both a best friend
and a rival, or a Place that you used to have as a Everything you
love will slip
hangout but now own. There is no mechanical away. The things
nor social in-game penalty in Fight to Survive for you look to for
comfort in your
having complex relationships, and you are free life are fleeting.
If you’re lucky, by
to change this relationship as the circumstances the end of this,
change in-game. something you
care about might
still be around.
PAGE 137
Use of Comforts
Comforts are used differently in each Phase of play.
1. We Have a Situation: Comforts are placed Under Threat to insti-

gate the main action of the Year, and to keep the game moving.
2. Segments: As a conflict resolution mechanic By the Numbers.
3. End of Year: To be employed in Relief from Hardship.
Comforts Under Threat

The instigat-
ing action in
a Year of play “The Mountain Sect will
is when the show you no mercy!”
GM places — Warrior Guan, to the
one Comfort Tongs of New Hope City, 1916
Under Threat,
putting a Rift on that Comfort and setting the conditions that the situa-
tion must be addressed, or the Comfort will be harmed or destroyed.
For example, Diamond Mike has the Comfort of a boyfriend, Teddy at +6.
Teddy is kidnapped, so gets a Rift (and becomes inaccessible for Relief
from Hardship, and for conflict resolution with By the Numbers) Diamond
Mike has to go on an adventure to get Teddy back.
During the rest of the Year other Comforts will be placed Under Threat
as well. For more on this see Phases of Play on page 260.
Comforts by the Numbers

Within the segments, Comforts can be successfully employed to
resolve conflict, so long as the Comfort’s nature is applicable to the
circumstance at hand and its value is greater than the Challenge.
For example, Joe “Screaming Bird” Zhang uses his Comfort of Darts at +5
to overcome Challenges that would qualify as expert, like hitting a key on
a keypad across the room behind the back of a security guard.
For more on Comforts in By the Numbers see page 70.
PAGE 138
COMFORTS
Comforts Relieve Hardship

Perhaps the most pronounced mechanical impact a
Comfort can have in F2S is as the only way to less-
en a PC’s score in Hardship. During the End of Year
Phase, one option is to choose Relief from Hardship.
You then pick a Comfort and role-play how its value
reduces Hardship.
For example, Col. “Iron Falcon” Grenville has the Comfort

of a “Big Black Motorcycle +3”. The player says that Gren-
ville will just go on a stoic ride on his motorcycle around
the city during sunset, reducing his Hardship by 3.
Comfort Availability: Relieving Hardship must flow

logically from the Comfort chosen to relieve it. It is
insufficient simply to hand-wave the situation by the
numbers. There must be a justification for the way the
character seeks the relief, in line with their behaviour,
or it will be overturned by the GM.
For example, Clancy “Boxcars” Charles is chained in

a basement at the Docks, a prisoner of his enemy,
Warrior Guan. Clancy can’t use the Comfort of “My Run
Down Apartment” if he can’t get there.
Increasing Value: Keep in mind, Hardship is not re-

duced on a 1:1 ratio with the Comfort’s value.
● 1st checkboxes in each bracket of Hardship have

a value of 1, so they’re cheap to get rid of.
● 2nd checkboxes in each bracket of Hardship have
a value of 2.
● 3rd checkboxes in each bracket of Hardship have
a value of 3, so they’re difficult to get rid of.
For example, Yumi “Street” Notaro is troubled. Her

Hardship is now up to Quitting. It looks like this:
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
PAGE 139
During Relief from Hardship, Yumi “Street” Notaro goes to Big Trouble
Judo and seeks guidance from her devoted sensei, Master Kado at
+7. Yumi’s player will have to decide how to divide her Comfort’s value
among the filled checkboxes in Hardship.
Where to Relieve: When relieving Hardship with a Comfort, you get to

choose what checkboxes are erased, based on how much you’re able to
do with the value you have.
Continuing this example, with a value of 7 on her Comfort, Yumi Notaro’s

player chooses to erase the checkmarks of the following boxes, one that
is worth 3, one that is worth 2, and two that are worth 1.

Yumi’s player could have done that differently. For instance:

Multiple Comforts: At times it will make sense for multiple Comforts to

combine. If the player chooses to use multiple Comforts, all Comforts
employed gain a Rift. This is sometimes necessary if the PC has many
low-value Comforts and finds themselves in a bad way with Hardship.
For example, let’s say Yumi “Street” Notaro wants to be able to clean her
slate in Hardship, or close to it. She employs not just her Sensei Kado +7
Comfort but her Big Trouble Dojo +4 Comfort at the same time. She gets a
Rift on both (which she’s going to have to do an Affirmation of Life at the
End of Year on another Year in order to mend), but she’s able to clear off
a lot more Hardship within this Year—in this case, all of it.

Comforts from Memory: If a Comfort is inaccessible to a PC they can

still employ it during Relief from Hardship, but only at half of its value
rounded up.
For example, if Yumi Notaro’s sensei Kado happens to be on a trip to

Japan when Yumi is having her Breakdown, Yumi can still employ the
PAGE 140
COMFORTS
Comfort of her sensei Master Kado by imagining what

he would say and how he would advise her, but the
effective value of the Comfort would only be +4 instead
of its usual +7.
Role-play It Out: A player must role-play an event to

call upon a Comfort to reduce their fighter’s Hardship.
Remember that the Relief from Hardship is not just
a mechanical function but an emotional journey that
has relevance within the game. When enacting a Relief
from Hardship, a Hardship Event takes place where
the player is in charge of communicating how this
thing is done.
Let’s continue the above example. Yumi has resolved

Quitting but is in a bad place, so seeks sanctuary at
her dojo and the guidance of sensei Kado. How does
she actually come to feel better? Yumi’s player decides
that sensei Kado is a no-nonsense judo master and is
unlikely to sit her down and espouse comforting wis-
dom, so—every day he surprises Yumi by throwing big-
ger and bigger household objects at her. She deflects
these with her judo training, and throws them away,
refining her inner strength and helping her “throw off
her troubles”.
What if Yumi’s player uses both the Comforts of Sensei

Kado and the Big Trouble Dojo? Yumi’s player rules that
at some point Yumi throws a giant metal-lined travel
trunk through the dojo’s front window, so that was the
Rift on the Big Trouble Dojo. For Master Kado, let’s say
Yumi never figured out the purpose of the exercise and
just thought he was throwing random things at her.
So, she yells at him: “Leave me alone! I don’t need you,
I don’t need anybody!” and leaves, having made a Rift
with her Teacher, not realising how relieved she is of
her Hardships and troubles because of him!
PAGE 141
Changing Values
The value of a Comfort—the number associated with it—may change
several times over the course of play.
How Comforts Are Created

At any time in play you may write in a new Comfort at a value of 0. Dur-
ing the Affirmation of Life option at the End of Year Phase you can add
to a Comfort by +1 or add a new Comfort at a value of 1.
How Comforts Go Up and Down

● If you lose a fight that is to best 2/3 Rounds, as a Right of Victory
your opponent can decrease one of your Comforts by -1.
● When a Comfort was Under Threat but successfully rescued then
its value increases by +1. If it was not successfully rescued, its value
could decrease by -1.
For example, Giant Skeleton has publicly decried the martial ability of
the Iceman-do Dojo, putting the Comfort of the Students Under Threat. If
their teacher, Kelly “Iceman” Jones, fails to beat Giant Skeleton in a fight,
the Comfort with his Students is lowered by 1, from loss of respect.
How Comforts Are Destroyed

● If you lose a fight that is best 3/5 Rounds, as a Right of Victory your
opponent can destroy one of your Comforts utterly.
● If a Comfort is Under Threat and the situation dictates that it is
dire, failing to rescue the Comfort may result in its destruction.
For example, let’s say instead that Giant Skeleton kidnapped the students
of the Iceman-do Dojo, duct-taped them into a school bus and wired
the bus with bombs. Kelly “Iceman” Jones’ Comfort of Students is just as
Under Threat, but now he has to fight on the top of this bus for the fate
of his students. If he fails to rescue the Comfort Under Threat, Giant Skel-
eton presses “detonate”, and the Comfort is destroyed with a boom.
When a Person Dies: One of the most common tragedies that can befall
a fighter is to return home and find that an enemy has killed their entire
family. Immediately upon making this discovery, the fighter inherits the
Hardship equal to the value of all Comforts affected, and those Com-
PAGE 142
COMFORTS
forts are permanently struck from the fighter’s list of

Comforts. These Points go into Hardship, and into
the Revenge pool.
When a Place is Destroyed: It’s a bad day when a

fighter goes to work and finds it has been blown up
by a rival martial arts school. Just like with the loss of The value of a
Comfort is signi-
a Person, the entry is gone and the Points are moved fied by a heart
to Hardship and Revenge. on the character
sheet that looks
like this:
When a Thing is Destroyed: If the Thing you have is
unique, it cannot be replaced. If it is a generic Thing
—sportscars, for example—then to represent the
destruction of the Comfort, the PC’s love of it must be
somehow spoiled so that it cannot be replaced.
Transfer of Affection
When a Comfort is destroyed but a good case can be
made that the Years of Points invested in it should be
transferred into a new Comfort at End of Year, then:
1. The PC gains a new Comfort at half the value of

the destroyed one, rounded down, or the value of
their Revenge pool, whichever is lower.
2. The PC still suffers the remainder of the Comfort’s
total value in Hardship.
3. Doing this also empties the PC’s Revenge pool,
because they’ve found some glimmer of new
hope to carry on.
The categories of Comforts—Person,

Place, and Thing—are covered in
the New Fighter section of character
creation instead of in this chapter on
Comforts, because that’s probably
when you need that information
most. The New Fighter section starts
on page 16.
PAGE 143
Rifts
Through various circumstances a Comfort can suffer a Rift, which
means it is not accessible to that PC until a role-playing event transpires
where the Rift is mended. This is most easily done during the Affirma-
tion of Life option during the End of Year Phase. A Rift being caused,
and a Rift being mended, are both Hardship Events that need to be
role-played.
A Rift is inflicted on “Now let’s forget all this

a Comfort when: nonsense and go have a
drink.”
● A Comfort is
— Cynwym O’Rourke, founder
placed Under
of Poison’s, 1922
Threat.
● A Person asks for a favour from the PC, and is denied.
● Any Comfort is used in By the Numbers conflict resolution in a way
stretching its reasonable capacity.
Examples of Hardship Events with Rifts

● Shouting at Someone You Love: You told your girlfriend Cindy to
get lost, and now she won’t talk to you. Cindy has a Rift.
Fix: Go to Cindy’s window and apologize, eat crow, and beg her back.
● Stealing a Car: Police Officer O’Hara, who you were on good terms
with, no longer trusts you.
Fix: Returning the car you stole, paying any fine, and accepting the
judgment of Officer O’Hara.
● Destroying Something You Love: Smashing up your car, your
favourite Thing, so it will no longer run.
Fix: Working out a deal with the local mechanic to spend your
nights slowly repairing your prized car,
while listening to the radio.
fort is
o n a Com rt on
ift
g a R broken hea oks
Havin a lo
ied by t that
signif racter shee
h a
the c :
is
like th
PAGE 144
COMFORTS
Wingback Chair, 1936. After rescuing Lord Pepperpash (65) from his madness at
the sinking of his ship in 1929, famed pulp novelist and fellow boxer Howard D.
Irwin (35) gave the now destitute Lord a home. Lord Pepperpash became How-
ard’s boxing instructor until the Lord’s death from undiagnosed illness shortly
after this portrait was commissioned to commemorate their friendship.
PAGE 145
THE MARTIAL
WORLD
N
ot everyone steeped in a life of violence
finds it necessary to practice the strict rules
and practices of having a Martial Art, but
by choosing a path of violence you enter
into the so-called “Martial World”—an ecology of com-
plex relationships between Teachers, Students, allies,
and enemies, with intricate practices, traditions,
politics, and secrets. You may never quite understand
this secret social contract of violence, but it’s too late
now. The Martial World is your life.
PAGE 146
Boxer Jack Johnson circa 1910.
Photo by Paul Thompson.
EMPTY
HANDS
Find the fight left inside you and claw your
way back from defeat.
P
ut up your dukes. Fight to Survive is a game
where fist-fighting happens, and the founda-
tion of in-game conflict is bare, naked fists.
Prepare yourself.
Defiant Fist, 1917. The wars between rival Tong sects at the turn of the century
eventually reached such a pitch that Triads began to choose sides. Here Warrior
Guan (42) of the Mountain Sect Triad confronts the young heir to the Chinese Be-
nevolent Association Tong, Songbird Lin (22) and her hatchet gang about their
alliance with the Sky Sect at the height of the Chinatown Tong Wars.
HP Defiant Fist
PAGE 148
EMPTY HANDS
Versus Chart
Arrows are used on the diamond Versus Chart for the
player to quickly see if the Aggressor (left, red arrow)
or the Responder (right, blue arrow) wins the ex-
change, or if it is left up to comparison of Technique (a
blank diamond on the chart).
Move-Trump-Move
Re
G
G
r
so
sp
es
Each Move results in one
on
P
P
gr
 
de
Ag
or more of the following
K
r
outcomes:  
B
B
   
●
F
F
Hit: Beats another  
Move to score a Hit,  
doing damage.  
● Moot: Renders another
Move ineffective.
● Bad Move: The Move was
chosen poorly and will not work against the Move
it seeks to counter; in this case you take the hit,
if it is
designed
to Hit. “Everywhere I go, there’s
always somebody looking to
If neither
get their head punched in!”
Move trumps
— Tom Dukes, local tough guy, 1957
the other,
each Move’s
Technique is compared with the higher number win-
ning. If there is a further tie, the bigger Build wins by
the advantage of bulk.
Martial Arts
Some Martial Arts use different names for these
Moves, making them more specifically applicable to
that art. This stems from a different philosophy of ap-
proach or a different interpretation to the Move’s core
concept. For more on Martial Arts see page 162.
PAGE 149
Grapple
Grapple includes all grasps, locks, and throws, but more broadly this Move
encompasses all “in-fighting”; anything from elbow range to the centre line
of the body.
For example, perhaps the most common Grapple is a throw. There is usually
not sufficient wind-up space from centre line to the shoulder line for a
strike, but within this space Grapple still offers many fighting options
including pressing, shoving, or pushing, or close action like bear hugs,
crushes, or chokes.
At the first range where sufficient wind-up is possible to make striking

damage—say, the point of the shoulders—then Grapple also might in-
clude the shoulder check, foot stomp, nudge, trip, a bind, and leg hooks.
The farthest axis of Grapple’s range is the point of the elbows and knees,
headbutts or snug trips.
Although Grapple is not (usually) a strike, the aim of the Move is to score
a Hit. It can also forgo the Hit and inflict the circumstance of throwing
someone into something or off a high place, or restraining them.
PAGE 150
EMPTY HANDS
Grapple vs. Other Moves

● Grapple loses to Punch, on the basis that a
medium-distance, carefully-considered strike is
usually enough to disrupt a grab. Grapples can
also be reasonably intercepted with repeated
jabs, or be intercepted with a strike.
● Grapple beats Kick, the idea being not just
an overt “catch of
the foot” but that
Grapple here can
represent muting the
wind-up on a long
ranged attack and
taking advantage
of that opening. For
QP
instance, a downward
elbow stab stopping a
forward Kick.
● Grapple beats Block
on the basis that if
your opponent as-
sumes a rigid posture
it is easier to know
where to apply a
grab, or how to apply Suffrijitsu
pressure to best cap-
italise on in-fighting
distance.
Suffrajitsu, 1903. Adapting jujutsu teach-

ings from her time in Japan, Edith Wright
(31) was New Hope City’s preeminent
instructor of women’s self-defence for most
of the century. The complex grappling tech-
niques she endorsed aided many women in
the (at times, literal) fight for the vote.
PAGE 151
Punch
This Move encompasses all striking attacks that can happen from the
elbow line to the full extension of the fist from no more than a forward
stance. This range is perhaps the most common arena of combat.
Examples include, palm strike, uppercut, hay-maker, drill-punch, piercing

punch and other variations. This same range could also include short
kicks like shin-kicks and knee-kicks, but the most common medium range
attacks are Punches.
The aim of Punch is to score a Hit. It can be used to cause a circumstance

as much as any other Move, but its application isn’t usually as obvious. You
can’t Punch a Weapon out of someone’s hand very effectively.
Punch vs. Other Moves

● Punch beats Grapple, the idea being that if you separate enough
to wind-up a strike at a short distance, the opponent is vulnerable
while attempting to maintain a hold.
● Punch is harmed by Kick, on the grounds that if someone is
already in the full swing of a Kick, attempting to close that distance
PAGE 152
EMPTY HANDS
to strike them with something of shorter range is

a dangerous prospect. If you’re already that close,
getting that little bit closer to off-set the momen-
tum they have with a Grapple is wiser. So, this
move-trumps-move assumes that with a good
understanding of Martial Arts theory, people
aren’t going to try and Kick you at a range where
you could Punch
them as a reasonable
response.
● Punch is negated
by Block, because
once a good Blocking
stance is established
to deal with incom-
QP
ing blows, it usually
requires only minimal
repositioning; simple
Punching strikes are
not usually enough to
penetrate a con-
sidered guard.
● Punch beats Foot-
work. The notion
behind this is that
of all the avenues of
Deadliest Woman
attack, Punching has
the potential to be the
most mobile because
Deadliest Woman in the World, 1968.
it frees the legs. The Countess Montague was the snake-oil sales-
option to Punch is woman of her generation, promising fantas-
tic martial feats to anyone who ordered her
the only thing that mail-away catalogue. Though exaggerated,
can track down fancy her skills were well demonstrated, until her
mysterious death in 1975 after a botched
Footwork. bank robbery.
PAGE 153
Kick
This Move represents all long-range unarmed attacks; any strike from
the range of beyond the fist to the full extent of the foot.
For example,
roundhouse
“If you can’t out-kick me, you
kick, snap
can’t beat me. These legs
kick, scor-
mean I’m nobody’s lunch.”
pion trip, axe
— Sally Ting Pei,
kick, whirl- scrappy C-Com translator, 1994
wind kick,
inside leg kick, side
kick, forward kick, cross kick, and most other kind of Kick you can think
of. This could also include the horse-stance extended long-punches seen
in some styles of kung fu and karate, since they cover the same distance,
but the most common long range attacks under this rubric are Kicks.
Kick is a strike whose aim is to score a Hit. It can also inflict the circum-
stance of disarming an opponent of a Weapon, or of tripping them to
fall to the floor.
PAGE 154
EMPTY HANDS
Kick vs. Other Moves

● Kick is beaten by Grapple, on the grounds that
Kicks need a certain distance in order to operate
properly, and if someone sneaked within your
guard for a Grapple that distance is lost.
● Kick beats Punch, the idea being that it is easier
to intercept with a longer-range attack than it is to
close the distance and
strike.
● Kick may beat Block,
depending on Tech-
nique, on the basis
that once a Blocking
stance is committed
you can overwhelm it
QP
at a vulnerable point
with a strength of
a Kick with greater
ease than you could a
Punch of equal skill.
● Kick is mooted by
Footwork. This oper-
ates on the assump-
tion that if a fighter is
being highly mobile
the way to catch them
Kick Collage
is not to compromise
your own mobility
when striking, as you
Kick Collage, 1925. Were the many kicks of
need to rely on one “Dandy” Dodson merely a trick of the film
foot or no feet to Kick. reel? Or, was his employer Lord Pepperpash
correct in his footman’s obituary: “Dodson,
the distance between a floor and a man’s
head was but an inch.”
PAGE 155
Block
This Move is not just the concept of intercepting an incoming strike with
a barring gesture so as to control the incoming direction, but also in-
cludes stances and any weight shifts or repositions to avoid harm, even
if they involve the feet, so long as they don’t have the body changing
location on the field.
For example, high block, low block, cross-block, but also the very idea of
gritting to endure the attack, gripping your toes into the dirt and forcing
yourself not to move from the force of a blow.
The aim of this Move is to render incoming strikes ineffective.
In the rea
l world fig
Block is b ht, somet
asically a imes an e
an interru strike unto ffective
pting sho itself, like
rt kick to d
a high kic sh in to prevent th your oppo oing
em raisin n
k. F
strikes-as- or the purposes of g their leg ent’s
blocks do Fight to S into
not do rele urvive the
vant dam se
age.
PAGE 156
EMPTY HANDS
Block vs. Other Moves

● Block is harmed by Grapple, as it is a difficult
prospect to ward off attempts to grab when we
consider the grab and the Block to be adminis-
tered with equal skill.
● Block cancels a Punch on the basis that the
principles of Blocking
spend most of their
focus on interrupting
strikes such that
any mid-body or
upper-body strike
should be rendered
ineffective.
● Block does not re-
liably moot Kick on
the basis that while
Block is trained to do
so, the relationship is
not perfect. Kicks can
have a lot of weight
behind them and a
Block cannot neces-
sarily hold up to that
forward momentum. Judy’s Last Stand
Judy’s Last Stand, 1969. It was December

when the unknown fighter Giant Skeleton
(34) rose from obscurity in the Battery and
began targeting and killing the previous
generation of martial artists. Former fight-
ing schoolgirl Judy Herrera (49) was his first
victim. It would be January of ‘71 before he
was stopped.
PAGE 157
Footwork
Any movement or repositioning of the feet necessary to avoid attack is
represented by
this Move.
Examples “I’m out of your zone;

include, dash I’m out of your league.
forward, rush Footwork is king.””
into the op- — Karate teacher Kelly
ponent’s per- “Iceman” Jones, 1972
sonal space, run away,
encircle, half-step forward or back, charge, pivot to one side, as well as
any bodily repositioning like bobbing-and-weaving. This also includes
extreme measures of physical movement such as to jump, crouch, flip,
tumble, roll, leap back, twist out of the way, or crawl. The most common
ways to move in a fight are covered here, as well as fancy footwork and
acrobatics.
The aim of this Move is to render incoming harmful Moves ineffective.
PAGE 158
EMPTY HANDS
Footwork vs. Other Moves

● Footwork only might outrun Grapple, de-
pending on the Technique, on the premise of
working to keep out of range of in-fighting with
mobility.
● Footwork is caught and punished by a Punch,
because the precision of strikes allowed with a
considered Punch
are more than a bit of
bobbing and weaving
can handle when both
Moves are performed
with equal skill.
● Footwork avoids all
Kicks, on the grounds
that a Kicking attacker
is usually reliant on a
single foot for balance,
so the quick move-
ments available for
Footwork can usually
avoid an attack along
a stable trajectory.
Fire Walker
Fire Walker, 1952. For a time in the 1950s,

Ambros “Greaser” Brown seemed to be
unstoppable. The great ’52 fire that burned
down half the Battery inspired him to form
his motorcycle club the Grease Fire Gang,
with whom he would rule the Battery for the
next decade.
PAGE 159
Moves as Concepts
The relationship between the five Moves, what makes a Hit and what is
ineffective, are all based on certain assumptions about how the Martial
Arts operate. Specifically:
● The point at which all the possibilities of physical combat are

boiled down into only five standard options, these tenets of conflict
must be treated as being equal to one and other.
● Even without additional Training, each of these five Moves are
considered to be expressed perfectly; used to the maximum of their
ability, such that it is only the chess-game of Move vs. Move that
affects outcome.
● That Fight to Survive is a game, not a scientific combat simulator,
and is not meant to emulate reality specifically but to generally
emulate the perception within the experience of fighting. This Move
vs. Move structure is imperfect, but for the practical purposes of
getting on with things, it does the job.
Equal Moves
Are these Moves
“Looks like I finally ran into
perfectly symmet-
someone that likes to play
rical in relationship
as rough as I do.”
to each other? No.
- Janelle “Turbo” Jones, 1995
If this was made
a perfect rock-
paper-scissors then they would be, but also they would lack individual
character. Circumstantially you’ll be able to Train some, not others,
and will have Martial Arts available that teach some, and not others.
You may find some Moves preferable to others for your style. As in life
a varied approach to combat is usually wisest.
PAGE 160
EMPTY HANDS
Esoteric Names for the Moves

The five Moves used to represent fighting are ordered
according to their effective range rather than alpha-
betically, from nearest (where fighters are closest to
each other) to farthest (where the fighters are farthest
away from each other). For the purposes of a game,
and writing down the Moves in Posturing, it’s a lot
easier to refer to Moves as Punch / Kick, etc., and
write down a shorthand like “PKGBF”. But concep-
tually, within the mechanics of Fight to Survive, the
five Moves can just as easily be reinterpreted as the
concepts:
1. Close Range
2. Medium Range
3. Long Range
4. Stopping
5. Avoiding
This becomes more apparent when cross-referencing

Moves between unarmed, armed, Outnumbered, and
improvised combat.
There is a handy chart in the summary on page 113.
PAGE 161
MARTIAL
ARTS
Bold traditions handed
down, meant to temper your
violence. The knuckle-works
of pounding a buddy’s face in.
Hail, the Martial World.
“U
nless there are human beings with
three arms and four legs; unless
we have another group of human
beings that are structurally differ-
ent from us, there can be no different style of fighting,”
said Bruce Lee.
The Use of Martial Arts

For our purposes in F2S, there are a few differences
between Martial Arts. They get a different Move as a
bonus during Training, but the larger differences be-
tween Martial Arts are contextual, cultural, and greatly
depend on the curriculum of a Teacher of that art.
Main Move
During a Training segment, your fighter can gain a
bonus of +1 to Train the Technique of one Move cor-
responding to the Martial Art.
PAGE 162
MARTIAL ARTS
You may have already gotten wise to MAIN MOVES

the fact that there are five Moves and
Boxing Punch
that the five basic Martial Arts in F2S
take one each as their “main” Move. Karate Block
When you get a Martial Art, checkmark Kickboxing Kick

its main Move on your Training Re-
Kung Fu Footwork
gime under the column of MA (Martial
Art) to remind yourself of the bonus. Wrestling Grapple
Teachers
A Teacher of different arts (and so perhaps called a
master, sensei, instructor, manager, coach, mentor,
trainer, guro, sifu, shifu, sabom, or professor, among
other terms) will grant your PC different bonuses to
Training and different Training options. While Martial
Arts have an inherent approach (signified by their
“main” Move) their real depth is in the tradition of
learning passed from Teacher to student.
For example, you could choose tai chi as an art that

trains Grapple as its main Move just as easily as pro
wrestling, but your kung fu sifu would teach you Medi-
tation (which is a Comfort), or the use of a jian sword
(a Weapon), whereas a pro wrestling coach might
focus on building muscle to increase Force.
For Martial Arts Teacher’s curriculum see page 214.
Martial Tradition
What Martial Art the fighter studies opens up a
world of interesting non-mechanical, unquantifiable
in-game experiences. Practicing a Martial Art is like
joining a club. Each has its own history, traditions,
practices, rituals, and ethos. Sometimes these have
a cultural, historic, or even religious significance. To
take on a Martial Art you become part of a martial lin-
eage passing down traditions, another link in a chain.
PAGE 163
Understanding Moves in a Martial Context
All Martial Arts, regardless of their arsenal of Punches and Kicks,
adhere to the basic executable philosophy of the five outlined Moves
detailed in the previous chapter (see page 148.) While mechanically only
five Moves represent the full range of motion within Martial Arts, there
is still a great variety to their approach to these concepts.
Naming Your Martial Arts’ Moves

Some Martial Arts do not Kick, some of them do not Grapple. So, how
do these ideas reconcile with the game system? When appropriate,
the names of different Moves can be adapted to the art in question to
help better conceptualise the action. Instead of a Kick, a Western boxer
could distinguish Punch and Kick as “Jab” and “Uppercut” respectively.
The purpose
of Moves is
merely to dis- “If you don’t know how to
tinguish what- move, then go home and
beats-what start over. You’re through
within the on these streets.”
context of the — Leo “Justice” Darning,
Martial Art. martial vigilante, 1990
For example, the kung fu called hung gar (sometimes hung ga) is a
colourful and acrobatic Martial Art, essentially merging older tiger and
crane styles descended from the Henon Shaolin Temple.
● Grapple: Instead of just Grapple, hung gar might specify just “Chin
Na”, small joint locks.
● Punch: Instead of just Punch, “Tiger Fist”, with terrible, claw-like,
raking fingers.
● Kick: Instead of just Kick, regard a high inside Crane Kick or snap-
knee Tiger Kick.
● Block: Instead of just Block, “Crane Block”, with sweeping arms
and graceful posture.
● Footwork: Hung gar is an acrobatic art, with descriptions of back-
flips, leaps, and monkey-like tumbles, so “Acrobatics” may be a
better term.
PAGE 164
MARTIAL ARTS
Describing Moves in Action

Battles do not have to be a mechanical chant of “I
punch” / “I kick” / “I grapple”. Use your Martial Art to
colour descriptions. Instead of “I kick”, perhaps “I jump
into the air twirling in place and issue a whirlwind kick!”
Be creative.
Let us explore descriptions for the Move “Grapple”

over several different Martial Arts:
● Judo: “Grasping your collar, the judo expert

pivots on her back heel. She seems to be turning
around, but before you know it, she has doubled
over and you are flying above her, being thrown
into the far wall.”
● Sumo Wrestling: “The tattooed yokozuna sweeps
his big arms around you and squeezes your
sides, lifting you up off the floor in his arms. The
pressure closes around your back and he starts to
crush you.”
● Catch Wrestling: “The hulking figure of the wrest-
ler charges at you—running, until suddenly they
crouch low and have wrapped their arms around
your middle. You feel weightlessness as you are
lifted up onto their shoulders as they stand tall.
They seem poised to fall backwards, to slam you
against the mat in probable concussion.”
● Tai Chi: “The old lady seems to ignore your kick,
snaking down to the ground with an impossibly
low crouch, before rising with her front leg behind
your back leg. With her hands grasping your wrists
you find yourself suddenly bent over and in a
terrible arm lock.”
PAGE 165
Move Clarity
Be creative, sure, but also communicate the mechanics. You must clear-
ly declare the Move you are using to your opponent. You cannot use the
opportunity of flowery technique description to trick your opponent,
even accidentally.
For example, “Oh, well, yes I said it was a Punch but it was a long Punch
because I practice changquan, and our horse-stand long-punches ac-
tually behave more like Kicks, at a kicking range. So, I...Kicked?”
No. Be clear.
Martial Strategy
It may be good to understand the basic philosophy behind a few differ-
ent Martial Arts if you wish to prevail in combat.
For example, if your opponent is an old-timey strongman catch-as-catch-

can wrestler, they are more likely to Grapple (because that is how they
are Trained.) So, during Posturing, prepare something that will defeat a
Grapple, like Punch.
It is fairly easy to remember just one favoured “main” Move of a few

different well-known and well-practiced Martial Arts.
● Judo wrestlers like to Grapple, so Punch.

● Kickboxers like to Kick, so prepare Grapple and Footwork.
● Boxers like to Punch, so use Blocks and Kicks.
● Kung fu experts like their Footwork. Readying a solid Punch is key.
cticed
on of pra
: T h e id entificati a rg u ed. Exten
-
ebate rts can be
Martial D a rt ia l A g b ette r
oves in M ern boxin
“main” M say West el free to
u co uld easily e Punch. Fe
sively . Yo
a n it d o e s th
o r another
ct ice s Block th to in te rpret one ur
p ra
how you
wan t create yo
work out o u r G M . It’s easy to vent one
rt with y l Art, in
wn Martia ble reference list
Martial A
st y le o u t of a kno th e si za
own or, refer to n page 178.
entirely, o
PAGE 166
MARTIAL ARTS
Learning Martial Arts

There are three ways for a character to learn a Martial
Art in Fight to Survive:
1. Start the game knowing a Martial Art.

2. Discover and take up a Martial Art in play.
3. Give up one Martial Art for another.
Start With a Martial Art

Certainly the least complicated option is to begin Fight
to Survive with your PC already practicing a Martial
Art, which they have learned at least the rudiments of
before play began.
Your PC may or may not have a Teacher if you start

with a Martial Art. It depends if you wrote one in as
a Comfort, or if a NPC Teacher is necessary to jus-
tify how you came to learn the Martial Art, or if your
understanding can be explained as self-practice.
Find a Martial Art

Some players find it more exciting for their PC to seek
out and learn a Martial Art within play. While you
have no Martial Art, you are considered to practice
“street fighting”. When you give up street fighting for
a Martial Art, you gain a Training Point for every Year
you spent without a formal martial path. For more on
this see page 175.
PAGE 167
The Five Martial Arts in Detail
The most basic options available for Martial Arts in
Fight to Survive are:
Bag Work,
1923. A popu
lar
socialite an
d
ferocious
suffragette,
as well as an
accomplishe
d
pugilist, Mox
ie
Wellings-
ton was a
mainstay of
the fighting
flappers in
New Hope
City’s roar-
ing ’20s.
Boxing
The practice of boxing is found worldwide and
throughout history, but for the purposes of Fight to
Survive, boxing is understood to be the Western trad-
ition of fisticuffs that was popular at the turn of the
20th century and continued to be refined throughout
the 20th century as a sport practice.
Timeline: Boxing spiked several times in popular-

ity during the 20th century. It shared the stage with
wrestling as the most common fighting style in the
West before World War II, and hit its height in the
1950s through the 1970s.
PAGE 168
MARTIAL ARTS
Karate
In the context of Fight to Survive, “karate” is meant to
encompass the traditions of both Okinawan karate,
and the disparate Japanese schools that came to
prominence in the 1920s, after a film of a Western box-
ing match sparked interest in striking arts among the
Japanese public. National pride began to rally around
naming and codifying karate in a great departure
from how it had been taught. The four resulting major
styles of karate were: Shotokan, Wado-ryu, Shito Ryu,
and Goju-ryu.
The tie that binds these different approaches under

a single karate banner for our purposes is a strict
adherence to form, and its strong blocking structure,
which makes karate the flagship Blocking art in Fight
to Survive. Each are treated individually in the detailed
breakdown of Martial Arts styles.
1965.
Smashing Bricks,
ito (40 ) wa s
Terry Sa
al
famous in the Marti
for his po we rfu l
World
his tea ch er
blows. After
o was
Yumi “Street” Notar
Gia nt Sk ele ton in
killed by
e influ-
’71, and the gentl
actice
ence of her judo pr
ito tur ne d
waned, Sa
into
his powerful blows
kil ls an d be came
one-hit
arate
an international “K
Assa ssi n”.
PAGE 169
Timeline: In some forms karate is older than the
20th century, so fighters can be worked into Fight to
Survive knowing karate in any Year. Western know-
ledge of karate didn’t become widespread until after
World War II, when American soldiers returned home
with (an often fractured) knowledge of it. Karate was
popular in the 1950s, and exploded again in the 1980s
in response to the cinematic bildungsroman The
Karate Kid (1984).
Melon Smash,
1972.
The kickboxer Go
ber
Hawkwind (24)
embraced the ha
rsh
training metho
ds
of Muay Thai,
eschewing train
ing
equipment in
favour of kickin
g
trees, melons,
and coconuts.
This resulted in
the New Hope
City watermelo
n
shortage of ’72.
Kickboxing
What we think of as kickboxing is relatively new. For
most of the 20th century this wasn’t really a Martial
Art, but a coming together of karate and other forms
to practice full contact sparring for tournaments and
exhibitions. Kickboxing as a Martial Art arose from
those sporting practices. Still, some martial artists
insist 20th century kickboxing was a mislabel for a
mixed martial arts approach focused on striking, or
say, “Oh, that’s just something Joe Lewis made up.”
PAGE 170
MARTIAL ARTS
Timeline: Like most martial timelines, it can be hard

to pin down kickboxing’s development, but when Ha-
waiian-born Ed Parker started running full contact kar-
ate tournaments in the 1960s, kickboxing was certain-
ly a part of it. Kickboxing as a practice was formalized
by the 1970s, and was popular in both the tournament
scene and the cinema of the 1980s and ’90s.
Alternate Timeline: The idea of a mixed Martial Art

striking practice can be loosely thought of as relevant
at any point earlier in the 20th century if you look at
some of its older variations and similar arts like savate
or muay thai.
Kung Fu
Let’s get this right out of the way and say that “kung
fu” does not exist. It is a gross umbrella term used to
denote all Chinese Martial Arts, of which there are
hundreds if not thousands of styles, many of them
having nothing to do with one another other than
their country of origin. (Technically, there are even
kung fu styles from outside of China.)
Kung fu is not even properly spelled with a “k”—that

was an American misconstruction since the only
Martial Art from the eastern hemisphere familiar to
Americans in the 1960s was “karate” (and perhaps
judo) and therefore the word “gongfu” was mis-
labelled “kung fu”, making it even more imaginary
than it was before.
Gongfu translates as a skill you practice hard at—so

technically, as the old joke goes, you can be a kung fu
master of cooking—but in common vernacular it almost
always refers to someone practicing specifically Chi-
nese Martial Arts. The words “quanshu”, “quanfa”, and
“wushu” also attempt to capture Chinese Martial Arts,
and to various degrees fail because it is a vast world.
PAGE 171
Wooden
Dummy, 1944.
Lai Leung the
“Golden Dragon”
of World War II
era Chinatown
ruled the Under
Heaven Society
in its efforts to
aid the Chinese
cause in the
Pacific Theatre,
though this
would leave the
Tong weakened
and it would
eventually be
quietly sup-
planted by its
longtime enemies
the Chinese
Benevolent Asso-
ciation after the
war ended.
Reasoning: So why, since its definition is such a mess,

is “kung fu” one of the Martial Arts available in Fight
to Survive? There are several reasons:
● The breakdown of all Chinese Martial Arts is
worthy of its own book and would be too exhaust-
ive to contain in this volume without making it
majoritively about kung fu.
● Most Chinese Martial Arts share the same em-
phasis on stance and Footwork, meaning we can
roughly house them under a crude similarity to
the Move “Footwork”.
● Using a united “kung fu” term allows an easy point
of entry for non-martial artists to be able to play
this martial arts game, too. It is easy for interested
players to then explore specific Chinese Martial
Arts within the framework presented in this game.
PAGE 172
MARTIAL ARTS
“My 10,000 Palms will

prove too much for you, it
is all but proven so!”
— Kung fu acrobat,
The Chinatown Kid, 1975
Style Clarification for Martial Arts Nerds: If you want

to get technical, then for gaming purposes the Train-
ing Regime followed under generic banner for kung fu
is actually that of Ahrat Fist or Lohan Quan (sometimes
considered the same, sometimes different) represent-
ative of a really basic foundational routine that has a
shared ancestry with the widest possible number of
Chinese Martial Arts styles.
Timeline: Kung fu has existed in the West since before

the 20th century, especially on the west coast of North
America when it was brought by migrants. Through
the first half of the 20th century kung fu remained
restricted to small communities. It experienced a
mainstream rise in the mid to late ’60s, but didn’t
explode in popularity until the release of the film King
Boxer aka 5 Fingers of Death (1973).
The 1970s in Martial Arts was dominated by kung fu,

largely because of the films of Bruce Lee, to the point
of the art’s detriment; mainstream popularity dwin-
dled as a reaction throughout the late 20th century.
PAGE 173
Wrestling
Wrestling has roots in perhaps every human culture.
As it moves through the 20th century the broad label
of wrestling can accommodate catch wrestling, sport
wrestling, early 20th century strongman shows, late
20th century fanfare driven pro-wrestling, and various
folk wrestling and grappling traditions from around
the world. All of these are united in their focus on
grappling as a skill, and the development of strength
training.
Weight Liftin
g, 1908.
Travelling st
rongman
Atticus Brow
n (22)
was born on
ly two
decades after
the
American Civi
l War
ended, and th
rough
the complicat
ions
of indentured
service grew
up
wandering th
e
North Americ
an
continent, m
akin
his living thro g
ugh
strongman sh
ows,
wrestling co
mpe-
titions, and ci
rcus
showmansh
ip.
He eventually
settled in New
Hope City.
Timeline: Wrestling was a popular show sport in the

early 20th century before World War II. After WWII, wrest-
ling’s character changed, and although the sport form
persisted, the exhibition matches that once took place
at county fairs evolved into glitzy television events that
have been wildly popular since the late 1970s.
PAGE 174
MARTIAL ARTS
Street Fighting
This is a game about martial artists, so even without
knowledge of formal Martial Arts a PC will still have an
understanding of combat, exemplified in the practice
of street fighting.
Becoming a Street Fighter

At any time a martial artist may abandon their Martial
Art and take up street fighting. And, at any time, a
martial artist may abandon street fighting to take
up a Martial Art without the need to find a Teacher,
although a reasonable explanation should be found
for why your character is suddenly studying a formal
practice. Did they find an old fisticuffs manual?
Training Street Fighting

Street fighting is not a formal structure of understand-
ing; it’s raw experience and what your fighter has been
able to figure out through practical application. You
may construct your Training Regime normally where
Build is concerned, and still reap whatever benefits
are bestowed on your Training Regime from being a
Successor, but otherwise there are some differences
to keep in mind:
● Your Move: During a Training segment, your

fighter can gain a bonus of +1 to Train the Tech-
nique of any one of the five Moves of your choice.
This can change each Training segment.
● No Masters: You can have a Teacher but you
cannot advance your understanding with that
Teacher by investing in their Comfort. The meth-
odology of gaining insight into fighting principals
is simply not there. There is no path to under-
standing; it is not an art. Teachers who practice
street fighting do not take on students for more
than casual lessons, and could only ever give you
PAGE 175
a +1 bonus to one Move’s Technique just as a visiting allied Teacher
might. There is no curriculum for a street fighting Teacher to follow.
Once your PC decides to take on a Teacher formally, they must
abandon their free-spirited practices and learn the Martial Art of
the Teacher. This is not an option for street fighting Teachers.
● Stake Your Stage: The practice of street fighting does not preclude
your ability to take on a Stage, and advance what that Stage can
offer your Training by investing in its Comfort. A Stage therefore
becomes very important to a street fighter.
Welcome to the Martial World

When your PC takes on a Martial Art for the first time in-game—as in,
within the events of the game—then a few things happen:
1. New Understanding: Add the “main” Move of your new Martial Art
to your Training Regime.
2. Untapped Potential: Add a number of Points to your Training
Points pool equal to the number of Years your character has been
a PC and not had a formal Martial Art, or the number of Years they
were between Martial Arts, whichever is less.
For example, if the GM started your Fight to Survive game in 1946, and
your character was 20 years old then, but is 25 years old now in 1951
when they started studying kickboxing, then they get to add 5 Points to
their Training pool.
3. Years are Unique: If you were on a break from formal study to
embrace the free-form of street fighting, you cannot dip into those
Years for untapped potential more than once.
4. Deeper Relationships: If it makes sense to have a pre-existing Per-
son as a Teacher, then you get to add more of their curriculum to
your Training Regime, but only one ‘step’ (at the tiers of 3, 5, 8, and
12 ) per Training Regime until you catch up.
For example, you’ve embraced the Martial Art of your old mentor and
already have 5 in that Comfort. The first Training Regime you can learn
from their visiting Move, and what is listed for their Comfort of 3. It will
take until a whole new Training segment to get them to teach you the
lesson at a Comfort value of 5 as well.
PAGE 176
MARTIAL ARTS
Give up one Martial Art for Another

Many martial artists practice more than one Martial
Art in their lifetime.
Criteria: Changing Martial Arts requires much spirit-

ual upheaval, not to mention changes to your
routine.
● One Martial Art: A PC can only practice one

Martial Art at a time. (This is an over-simpli-
fication for the sake of the game.)
●
When you give up
Find a Teacher: You must find a new Teach- your old Martial Art
you have only the
er in the art you want to learn before you Techniques and Force
can take on a new Martial Art, unless you and whatever other
skills you learned
abandon the formal structure of Training for from it. Otherwise,
street fighting, which you can do any time. you are starting from
●
ground zero all over
New Stage: If you want to still have a Stage again. Yes, it is a big
drop. However, you
under a new Martial Art, you must identify must empty that tea
a new Stage among your PC’s Places. It can cup.
be a Comfort your fighter already has, you’re
just changing the relationship with that Com-
fort. You cannot keep your old Stage as your Stage.
Process: When taking on a new Martial Art, erase your

Training Regime entirely. You are starting fresh with
your understanding of combat.
● You may redefine the Build Move for your character,

if you have other options available given your Build.
● Add to your Training Regime given your Com-
forts for your new Teacher and Stage, if you
have those.
● If you are giving up a Martial Art for street fight-
ing, you do not get to redefine Build, and still
lose access to your Teacher and your Stage.
PAGE 177
World Wide Martial Arts
History and the world offer us more than just five Martial Arts. And, for
those of you keeping track in the home game, the five Martial Arts (and
street fighting) are over-simplified umbrella terms for larger, splintered,
disassociated traditions. They are meant only to get players started
in the game, to make its mechanics more understandable for people
without Bruce Lee posters on their wall. If you want a more exhaustive
account of Martial Arts, here is a list to send you down a path of more
pedantic martial understanding.
To see how each of these Martial Arts changes and grows and offers
different opportunities for Move advancement, look to your Teacher.
The Martial Art itself does not advance—it is only an idea of martial ap-
proach. Knowledge is passed down, not unlocked as soon as a martial
affiliation is claimed. It is you that must advance in your understanding,
which can only be done by a Teacher showing you the door—but you
must step through. See Teachers on page 208 to delve deeper.
MARTIAL ARTS
Martial Art Origin Intro Main Move
52 Blocks USA 1960s Block
Aikido Japan 1940s Block
Baguazhang N. China 1980s Footwork
Bajiquan N. China 1910s Grapple
Bartitsu England 1920s Punch
Capoeira Brazil 20s, 70s Kick
Catch Wrestling Western 1900s Grapple
Changquan N. China 1960s Punch
Choy Lay Fut China 1910s Punch
PAGE 178
MARTIAL ARTS
Legend
Origin: The country where the Martial Art most prominently originated.
Intro: The earliest decade when the Martial Art would be available to
learn by a common fighter in New Hope City. These are estimates only.
Move: The main Move of the Martial Art, the one that is added to your
Training Regime simply for dabbling in it, and put under the MA column.
The art is characterised by...: A brief summary of the art’s chief charac-
teristics and what is seen as unique about it given other Martial Arts.
“The secret of karate

is to win!”
— Terry Saito, karate
assassin and spy, 1977
The art is characterised by...
Counter-attacking blocks, strong elbow, and some boxing.
Joint locks, throws, and the manipulation of an opponent’s space.
Circular stepping to get behind the opponent, unusual angles of attack.
Low horse stance in-fighting with explosive elbows.
English mix of jujutsu and fisticuffs with Irish cane fighting.
Acrobatic dance-like art with unusual angles requiring great agility.
Showmanship, strongman competitions, and aggressive competition.
Continued pressure from horse stance long punches.
Northern-Southern hybrid art; animal hands but springing legs.
PAGE 179
Drunken Fist China 1980s Footwork
Eagle Claw N. China 1960s Footwork
Escrima Philippines 1920s Weapon (Stick)
Fisticuffs European 1900s Punch
Five Ancestors S. China 1900s Footwork
Folk Wrestling World 1900s Grapple
Fujian White Crane S. China 1910s Block
Goju Ryu Karate Okinawa 1900s Block
Hapkido Korea 50s, 90s Kick
Hung Gar S. China 1960s Block
Hwa Rang Do Korea 50s, 90s Kick
Jeet Kune Do USA, HK 1960s Punch
Judo Japan 1940s Grapple
Jujutsu (Brazilian) Brazil 1940s Grapple
Jujutsu (Japanese) Japan 1940s Grapple
Kenpo (American) USA 1950s Block
Krav Maga Israel 1950s Grapple
Kyokushin Karate Japan 1960s Block
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) World 1990s Grapple
Monkey Fist China 1960s Footwork
Muay Thai Thailand 1970s Kick
N. Mantis (Wang Lang) N. China 1960s Footwork
PAGE 180
MARTIAL ARTS

Acrobatic pivots, awkward angles of attack, and drunkenness.
Use of claw-like hand posture to tear and rip at clothes and flesh.
Use of sticks or both arms in simultaneous motion to overwhelm.
Stand-up boxing practices, largely endurance contests.
Early composite all-around southern kung fu style.
Regional sport wrestling adaptable to combat. Sometimes oiled.
Wide sweeping arms and legs and a pecking beak-hand like a crane.
Hard and soft, linear and circular; balanced and spiritual art.
Spinning side-kicks that generate great force. Strike emphasis.
Clawing fingers rake and crane-posture hands grab. Some high kicks.
Both complex joint-locks and acrobatic flying kicks.
Bruce Lee’s non-system to cultivate individual fighting approach.
Perfected throws, some pushes, and low sweeping kicks.
Primarily ground-fighting, but with some strikes and disarms.
Complex grappling joint-locks, throws, and bone breaking in-fighting.
Speed and power emphasis, round-movement striking with light footwork.
Composite art focused on quick take-downs at any cost.
Mas Oyama’s power-based striking art with strong stance work.
Sport MMA that is largely a strength-based jujutsu variation with strikes.
Acrobatic art of rolling, tumbling, and monkey-like palm slaps.
Strong kicking in all forms, elbow, knee, and impressive conditioning.
The poking double-fingers of mantis fist, snap kicks and short dashes.
PAGE 181
Ninjutsu Japan 1980s Footwork
Okichitaw Canada 1990s Grapple
Pro Wrestling Western 1900s Grapple
S. Mantis (Chow Gar) S. China 1960s Punch
Sambo Russia 1990s Grapple
Savate France 1920s Kick
Shaolin Lohan Fist China 1900s Footwork
Shito Ryu Karate Japan 1930s Punch
Shorinji Kempo Japan 1940s Meditation
Shotokan Karate Okinawa, JP 1930s Block
Silat Malaysia 20s, 90s Grapple
Snake Fist N. China 1920s Punch
Sumo Wrestling Japan 1940s Grapple
Systema Russia 00s, 50s Grapple
Taekwondo Korea 50s, ’88 Kick
Taijiquan, Chen N. China 1930s Grapple
Taijiquan, Yang N. China 1980s Grapple
Tang Soo Do Korea 1990s Block
Tiger Claw (Fu Jow Pai) S. China 1960s Block
Wado Ryu Karate Japan 1930s Grapple
Wing Chun S. China 1970s Block
Wushu China 1960s Footwork
Xing Yi Quan China 10s, 90s Punch
PAGE 182
MARTIAL ARTS

An art of getting away, also using joint-locks to disarm and disable.
Weapon and grappling art with strong disarms and ground fighting.
Showmanship through complex throws, holds, and powerful slams.
Aggressive in-fighting with strong stance stability.
Complex of holds, throws, and strength-based strikes and crushes.
Single-sided kicking techniques and fisticuffs boxing punches.
Foundational Shaolin art; acrobatic, complex techniques.
A fluid karate composite with a speed emphasis.
A Japanese form of kung fu as a spiritual practice.
Low, strong stances and secure, power-based strikes.
Knife-use, short, lethal punches and bone-breaking in-fighting.
Shaolin style imitating snake motions, good for penetrating defences.
Force meeting force with tremendous pushes, holds, and crushes.
Old art updated with cross-training for real world application.
Few but complex kicks chained together with tactical intent.
Combat-application moving meditation with strong in-fighting.
Flowing throws, joint-locks, elbows and pushes, and pulls.
A Korean form of karate; the punch-oriented art of Korea.
Lethal raking claws of the tiger-claw hand structure.
Even approach of joint-locks, throws, and strikes. Many techniques.
The small overcoming the strong by combined attack-defence.
An acrobatic sport amalgamating several dance-like kung fu styles.
Straight-line bulldozer-like attacks using both hands at once.
PAGE 183
TRAINING
Train your heart out,
like it’s your final fight.
Train hard, as hard as
your life can stand it.
T
he only way to improve a fighter’s perform-
ance is by Training. Each PC has Training
Points that can be spent to increase the Tech-
nique or Force of their Moves, and to gain
new abilities like the use of Weapons or Special Moves.
When to Train
PCs get the opportunity to advance during a Training
segment, which can happen any time in general play
(the Segments Phase) when the players suggest it and
GM agrees that there is enough undisturbed time and
adequate space for PC(s) to Train.
Training Points
Each PC has their own individual pool of Training
Points that are accrued during play. Training Points
are scarce in the game because there is only one way for
a PC to gain them: to Study.
Study A Good Fight

● Witness the fight in person but do not participate.
● The fight must be between worthy opponents.
Any fight between martial artists (like the
other PCs) qualifies as a “good fight” for these
purposes, even if it is unbalanced or unfair.
● A fight where one of the participants is not a
martial artist is not a worthy fight, because
there would be nothing to learn from it.
PAGE 184
TRAINING
Backyard Training, 1987. At their well-known Doxy Street backyard training area
in Old Town, celebrated kickboxer Jet Palermo (22) was taught martial arts by his
father, “Pop” Palermo (65), himself a celebrated street fighter of some renown in
his day. Under his father’s direction, Jet would rise to become perhaps the best kick-
boxer the Richmond ever produced, but Pop Palermo’s training process was highly
public, much to Jet’s embarrassment. While training, neighbourhood kids would
teasingly chant about Jet’s closeness to his friend, Leo “Justice” Darning: “Jet and
Leo, Leo and Jet—one in a blonde and the other brunette!” Bunch of punks.
Spending Training Points

During a Training segment, Training Points can be
spent to increase:
1. The Technique of your Moves.

2. The Force of your Moves.
3. Or, to gain new abilities like the use of Weapons or
Special Moves, as offered by a Teacher.
You can Train multiple Moves in the same Training

segment, both the Technique and Force of any of
them, or any combination you like.
PAGE 185
Design Time: Why do you get Points for NOT fighting?
That’s the wrong way ’round! How come there’s no
reward for fighting in a game about fighting? Isn’t this
all backwards?!
Design-wise, it increases tension, helps players weigh the benefits
of getting into every scrap, plays to genre conventions, and better
allows multiple PCs to co-exist as allies. As a martial artist...
Listen, you lead a violent lifestyle. There’s a huge amount of ten-
sion in your life between the glory of the fight and the grim reality
of its miseries. It’s a contradiction, and a compulsion, and a noble
purpose, debased by cruelty and violence, and a complicated mess
of emotions that probably goes back to some struggle to deal with
the human awareness of mortality. You’re not going to get over it,
so hang the sense of it and keep on fighting. By the time the fight
comes you better have learned something, or else it’s too late. If
you win—well, you don’t learn anything by success, so victory had
better be its own reward. If you lose, you’ve got injuries to deal
with, and your mind is going to be elsewhere. Adrenaline rules you.
“A machine? That’s exactly

what you’ve gotta be if you
want to fly!”
- Col. “Iron Falcon” Grenville
Reeva’s Diner, 1951. ”Pop” Palermo (so called because of the loud crack of his
knuckles popping on his one-punch knockouts) guarded the outside of Reeva’s
diner on Hurley Street in Old Town after a series of break-ins by the River City
gang. Such acts of rough gallantry would eventually win Reeva over, and Jet
was born to them in 1965.
PAGE 186
TRAINING
Training Technique
Each of the five Moves (Grapple, Punch, Kick, Block,
and Footwork) have a value representing skill and
finesse called “Technique”. Technique is a measure of
a Move’s form, flexibility, creative application, and the
ability for the fighter to limit their telegraphing.
How to Train Technique

During a Training segment it costs 1 Training Point
to increase the Technique of a single Move by +1.
However, each PC has a bonus to Train a Move or a
few Moves. This bonus applies to the first Point spent
for that Move in a Training segment. Adding up the
columns in each row of the Training Regime chart
determines your total bonus, because it could come
from many sources, including (but not limited to):
● Build: There’s one Move that a fighter is

able to Train more given their Build.
● Martial Art: You are given one Move that you
This dumbbell
symbol on your
can add to your Training Regime if you have character sheet
denotes a Comfort
a Martial Art. You must be following a formal, that affects your
structured Martial Art to gain this bonus. Training Regime.
● Teacher: If your PC has a Martial Arts Teach-

er then they are given a Move that can be
added to their Training Regime. You can add
to the Training bonuses of your Training Re-
gime in this column by increasing your Comfort
for the Teacher. For more on this see page 214.
● Stage: If your fighter has identified a Stage on
their Comfort’s Places then they are given a
Move they can add to their Training Regime. You
can add to the Training bonuses of your Training
Regime in this column by increasing your Com-
fort for the Stage. For more on this see page 226.
PAGE 187
Sometimes your PC will visit a friendly Teacher or a Stage belonging to
an ally, or somewhere otherwise conducive to a good Training oppor-
tunity. When they do, they can make use of a Visiting Move for that
Teacher and/or Stage as determined by the GM.
For example, laying low from a yakuza faction that have it in their
minds that you betrayed them, the group has decided to hide out in the
basement of a local butcher shop owned by an ally. There’s not much
to do, but there’s a fair open space in the dusty concrete basement—not
enough to run around, though. The GM decides that this is a good oppor-
tunity to study the forms and structures of your Moves and so would
reward anyone studying Block this Training Regime with a +1 bonus.
If a Move is not part of your PC’s Training Regime, you can still improve
it without a bonus to the first Point spent: just increase it by +1 Tech-
nique for +1 Training Point.
Circumstances for Training

To make use of the bonuses on a Training Regime the circumstances
must be appropriate in-game.
● If your Teacher is away on vacation, you cannot learn from them,

and therefore get no bonus from your Teacher correcting you
and revealing new lessons.
● If your PC is not at their Stage, they cannot benefit from the loca-
tion, and the things used there to enhance Training, and so on.
Mark Your Sheet Build M. A. Stage Teacher Total+

Remember to signify your G +
new, more advanced
P +
Training Regime by
marking up your Training
K +
Regime with additional B +
bonuses, and any ad- F +

vancement in your Move’s W
Technique by increasing W
the number in the Tech-
nique box for that Move on your character sheet.
PAGE 188
TRAINING
Training Force
Force is the measure of the fighter’s ability to inflict
damage, in the case of offensive Moves (Grapple,
Punch, or Kick). Lacking Force, blows have little power.
How to Train Force

During a Training Segment you can increase Force,
but only if you’ve learned how from a Teacher or
Stage. See Special Training page 190.
Force Training Cost:

● It takes 3 Training Points to increase the Force
of one Move from one to two ticks.
● It takes 5 more Training Points to increase the
Force of one Move from two to three ticks.

Like increasing Technique, you must have the
opportunity to increase Force in order to do so.
You cannot Train Force unless you are at a location
where it is possible, and well justified.
For example, if your Stage has heavy objects like oil

drums and cinder blocks, you can lift them to build
muscle. If you are not at that Stage, you cannot build
muscle and therefore cannot increase your Force.
Mark Your Sheet

If your gain the ability to increase Force then keep
track of it with a checkmark on your character sheet
on the checkbox of “Force Training” under your
Training Regime. (See
next page.) Also, mark PUNCH
any advancement of a Technique
Move’s Force by filling in
another tick on the Move Force
that was Trained. q q q
Slash Rush Throw Shoot
PAGE 189
Special Training
During a Training segment, Training Points can be invested into some
areas that are not Moves.
q Choice Study q Force Training q Meditation
Types of Special Training

A Special Training option cannot be learned on its own and must be
taught by a Teacher who knows it already. Once taught, a PC can con-
tinue to advance most Special Training options on their own.
● Choice Study: You get to choose the Move as the focus of your
advancement. It can be any Move, but this choice is only made
once, checked, and then you cannot choose a different Move.
Add the Move to your MA column on the Training Regime.
● Force Training: See previous page, 189.
● Meditation: See the next page, 191.
● Special Moves: See the Special Moves section page 220.
● Weapons Training: See the Weapons section page 192.
“Two-thousand jumps to make your steps

light. Four thousand leg kicks to sharpen
up your bones. Six-hundred finger push-ups
to tighten up your grasp—and then you’ll
be ready to start learning kung fu at last!”
— Tong general Master Bao
on his training methods, 1949
Once a Teacher offers Special Training to learn, it must be accepted, or
else the offer is rescinded and it will cause a Rift with your Teacher. It
may not be offered again after that. If your PC accepts the lesson, check-
mark the box under Training Regime corresponding to the type of Spe-
cial Training. This signifies that hereafter you can continue advancing
your Training in that thing without your Teacher’s direct supervision, if
that’s an option given by the Special Training.
PAGE 190
TRAINING
Meditation
Meditation is an aspect of many esoteric Martial Arts.
Meditation cannot be chosen. It must first be taught
by a Teacher. In Fight to Survive Meditation is repre-
sented as a Comfort of a Place. It is like a spiritual
“Place” and as such can be used nearly anywhere.
Every Training Point spent contributes to the Com-
fort. Meditation acts not only as a Comfort to relieve
Hardship, but for the sake of conflict resolution it can
be used to:
● Ignore prolonged circumstances of pain, isola-

tion, or confinement.
● Ponder mysteries, study conundrums, and
assist in thinking through problems.
● Tend to Poison within yourself for one segment
by calming your body.
● And, like any other Place, Meditation can also
fall Under Threat!
Training is Hard
Any Training Point spent is also repeated in Hardship,
because Training your body is physically and emo-
tionally exhausting.
This means that Training is a great strain, but it does

not count as a “Life is Unfair” situation. For more on
that see page 88.
PAGE 191
WEAPONS
Every martial artist is armed and
dangerous, and some of them
carry weapons.
T
his is primarily a game of empty-handed
combat, but unscrupulous enemies will
often bring Weapons to a fight, and a player
can viably explore the use of a Weapon or
two for their character. Armed and unarmed combat
operates identically, with the Moves renamed for a
new, armed circumstance. Mechanically these Moves
are the same as their unarmed equivalents (Grapple,
Punch, Kick, Block, Footwork) and can interact with
them the same way across different Move sets.
For example, your opponent has a gun and you are

unarmed. Your opponent makes to “Aim & Shoot”.
Knowing this is effectively the same as a Punch, you
take advantage of this split-second of aiming to Kick
the gun. Kick beats Punch, causing the shot to go wild
and miss.
You do not say “I attack with my nunchucks”; that’s

like saying “I attack them unarmed”. You might say:
“I slash with my katana”, which is the equivalent of a
Kick for a sharp Weapon, and gets treated as a regular
Kick when comparing Moves Versus Moves.
Any Weapons can be used by any PC, but without

Training your Technique in all Moves while using the
Weapon will be zero.
PAGE 192
WEAPONS
“Arm yourself to prepare.

Tomorrow is coming, and
you do not rule tomorrow.”
— Songbird Lin, head of the CBA
during her time, 1963
WEAPON MOVES
Blunt Weapons
Grapple Push, Trip, Bunt, or Pommel
Punch Swing or Jab
Kick Lunge, Thrust, or Poke
Block Guard or Block
Footwork Footwork or Acrobatics
Sharp Weapons
Grapple Rake, Drag, or Swivel
Punch Slash, Swing, or Jab
Kick Lunge, Thrust, or Stab
Block Guard or Block
Footwork Footwork or Acrobatics
Gun Weapons
Grapple Snipe, or Wait and Shoot
Punch Aim & Shoot
Kick Shoot Wildly or Spray Bullets
Block Cover Fire or Suppressive Fire
Footwork Duck and Reload

PAGE 193
The Difference When Armed
For the sake of making battles in Fight to Survive a little more interesting
than “then he draws a gun and shoots you. The end,” someone who is
armed has no mechanical advantage over someone who is not, except
for general context, and two main mechanical differences: how the
Weapon wielders deal with Technique, and how much damage results
from a successful Hit with the Weapon.
Weapon Technique
For Weapons, Technique is called “Training”. When you use a Weapon,
the Technique in the Move you use cannot exceed the Training score for
that Weapon. You will always use the lesser value.
For example, street punk Tom Dukes has Training in knives from his
Teacher “Pop” Palermo at 3. Tom has a Kick Technique of 5 and a
Footwork Technique of 2, but no other Techniques in his Moves. When
Tom Dukes lunges, extending his knife far (a thrust, an edge Weapon’s
Kick) his effective Technique is 3. When he uses Footwork with a knife
in-hand, it is at a Technique of 2. When he tries to issue a series of short,
close stabs (a Weapon’s Grapple) Tom has a Technique of 0, because he
had no Technique in Grapple.
No Flip-Flopping: If you’ve called out that your PC is using their

Weapon, you cannot claim that they just happen to be doing an un-
armed Kick after making a strike with their staff, because you know your
unarmed Kick has a greater Technique than your staff’s Training.
Either you are using your Weapon (and so the only Technique you have
is the lesser of the Move or the Weapon’s Training) or you’re unarmed.
Sure, you can still describe the action as a dramatic Kick to the head—it
does not have to involve the Weapon, but the Kick’s Technique is still
no higher than the Weapon’s Training. The in-game justification for
this is that if you’re focused on the use of your Weapon you cannot take
advantage of your full range of Technique with the rest of your body.
PAGE 194
WEAPONS
DAMAGE
2 Strong unarmed Hit, random objects, improvised

Weapons, or a small fire

5 Guns, Poisons, electric shock, fall four stories, or

Outnumbered with some Weapons
8 Massive damage; fall ten stories, hit by a car, or Out-

numbered with Weapons
12 Explosions, electrocution, fall from an aeroplane,

hit by a train, or shot by artillery
Weapon Damage
Weapons do a set amount of damage on a success-
ful Hit with an offensive Move (Grapple, Punch, or
Kick) regardless of the wielder’s Force in the Move.
Typically, Weapons do a lot more damage than
unarmed attacks could.
● Improvised Weapons: Most objects that are not

designed as a Weapon will do 2 ticks of damage.
Examples: Flower pots, ladders, chairs, pool cues,
darts, or glass bottles.
● Held Weapons: All blunt or sharp Weapons do 3
ticks of damage, regardless of the Weapon.
Examples: Clubs, sticks, baseball bats, batons, brass
knuckles, bicycle chains, knives, a lead pipe, or a sword.
● Gun Weapons: Firearms of any kind do 5 ticks of
damage, regardless of their calibre.
● Excessive Weapons: Any greater Weapon, short
of an explosion itself, will do 8 ticks of damage.
PAGE 195
Context Matters
The use of Weapons can sometimes complicate a situation. If it’s excus-
able that your PC could Kick the gun out of the shooter’s hands, or even
run up and do a jump Kick to the shooter all within the same Move then
yes, the Moves Versus Moves structure holds.
However, if the shooter is firing from a position where an offensive Move

is not going to reach them (say they’re perched on a nearby rooftop),
your options for response may be understandably limited. This would
instead be treated as a Stage Danger at the GM’s ruling. For more on
Stage Dangers see page 278.
Improvised Weapons
Not to diminish the role of Martial Arts in Fight to Survive, but breaking
a glass bottle against the bar and slashing it at an opponent’s head is
an effective, if brutal, course of attack. The differences between using
unarmed Moves and an improvised Weapon are:
● Improvised Weapons do 2 ticks of damage.

● If the improvised Weapon is similar in form to a Weapon in
which you have Training, you can use the Training value with the
improvised Weapon.
For example, using an umbrella as a stand-in for sword Training.
What Qualifies as an Improvised Weapon

Most hand-held objects or objects that can be lifted qualify as impro-
vised Weapons, including chairs, broken bottles, ladders, frying pans,
etc. What does not quality is something like a baseball bat, lead pipe,
or bicycle chain. While technically improvised Weapons, these are too
widely used as Weapons in street fights to qualify, and would therefore
fall under “held” Weapons.
Training Just Improvised Weapons

Some strange Martial Arts do Train in the use of improvised Weapons
itself, in which case you’d accrue Training and gain its benefit for the
use of anything that is specifically not designed as a Weapon.
PAGE 196
WEAPONS
y, 1957.
Escrima Read
“T he At tacker”
Elaine
as an
Hill (26) w
matched
escrimador un
po ns co mbat
in wea
0s . She
during the ’5
kn ow n to wander
was
at
the Neon Strip
gh t, is su in g surprise
ni
much
challenges to
st ro nger
larger and
hter s, a be haviour
fig
agrin
much to the ch
former
of her father,
Marion
pro-wrestler
as the
Hill, who w
-t im e m ay or of
long
pe Ci ty from
New Ho
fatal
1950 until his
in ’76.
heart attack
Breaking an Improvised Weapon

An improvised Weapon will break within one to three
Rounds of use regardless of the success the wielder is
experiencing in the fight itself.
● An object like a chair, glass bottle, or two-by-four

will break after only one Round.
● A found object that is close in shape and design
to a Weapon you already know how to use (as in,
have already contributed Training to), will break
after two Rounds.
● A Weapon, designed as a Weapon, will only break
against something designed to break it, and will
do so after one Round.
PAGE 197
Learning Weapons
Teachers (and sometimes even Stages) can Train a
PC in the use of Weapons, increasing the Weapon’s
Training. Karate and various styles of kung fu are
famous for their Training in Weapons—see the Martial
Arts curriculum on page 214 for more detail on that.
However, any given Teacher knows only so many
Weapon options given their Martial Art.
● All Weapons can be used by any PC without any

Training at all, but your Technique will be zero.
● A Teacher, and in some cases a Stage, must “un-
lock” a Weapon in order for you to Train in it.
● When you first Train a Weapon, it costs 1 Training
Point and the Weapon’s Training gets a value of 1.
Martial
Honour, 1913.
(Opposing
Page) This
tragic duel “Train armed, then take
over trivial
honour would
away the weapon, and do
change the the same.”
fate of the
city. The best
— Ziigwan Two-Axes on
fighter of her weapons combat, 1905
generation,
Ziigwan
Two-Axes (39)
was slain,
Training in Weapons
proving to Weapons are broad categories of Special Training for
the CBA Tong your Training Regime.
that Songbird
Lin (18) was
ready to lead. ● After you first Train with a Weapons you can
check a box on your character sheet (under the
Training Regime) to remind you that you can now
Train it on your own, without a Teacher or Stage
around, but you must have the Weapon available
to you in order to Train with it.
● There is no bonus on the Training Regime to
improve with a Weapon. A Training Point is equal
to +1 in the Weapon’s Training.
PAGE 198
Screaming Bird Betrayed, 1979. Joe “Screaming Bird” Zhang (39) won his position at
the top of the Tong underworld after defeating Giant Skeleton in 1971, and led the Ten
Hands Group for eight years of nearly undisputed power until he was ambushed and
killed by thugs at the Chinatown border. Were the thugs working for the Bo Yee Tong?
The CBA? Or, as some say, was it remnants of the Under Heaven Society?
OUTNUMBERED
Everyone, everywhere, all at once.
Limbs are flying, bodies falling.
It’s a mad house.
S
ometimes a brawl gets out of hand. You end
up taking on a whole gang, mob, a whole
Martial Arts school, or a small army. This is
how to fight your way out.
PAGE 200
OUTNUMBERED
Sharing Moves
When multiple characters are acting against a single
one, the allied side “shares” the Moves to
be issued by their side during a Round.
What is meant by shared is:
● Fighters on the same side divide the

i m
ant
port fighter
t o
number of Moves given to them for Pos- It is which with

w
kno ociated when
s r
turing between their fighters. is as Move fo ds
e
each e succe ers
For example, Leo and Jet are fighting the a M o v
F i g h t
c a u se not
be o
pro-wrestler Handlebars. Leo and Jet get 4 dBd ave
A an sarily h e,
e s c
Moves to Handlebars’ 3. Leo identifies with 2 of nec ical For
e n t h e n
id
the Moves, and Jet with the other 2, even though for w
and e fails
v
Jet really wanted to do 3 things and leave Leo 1. a Mo ding
i
●
( d e c s
During Posturing, the allied side must connect take
who it).
H
what Move is identified with what PC. the
Continuing this, Leo says he’s going to Grapple

and Punch, and Jet says he’s going to Kick twice.
● The last fighter to issue a Move on their side is
the one open and vulnerable to be Hit if the foe
has Moves left, but either fighter on the allied
side can still be Hit when they issue a Bad Move.
This could result in one Hit affecting two fighters.
Keeping the example going, Leo and Jet are the
Aggressors in the Round. Their players decide
they want the Opening Move to be Jet flying in
with a Kick. Handlebars counters by Grappling
Jet out of the air. Jet’s other Kick won’t do any
good, so Leo jumps over his friend to issue his
own Grapple—hoping its Technique is better
than Handlebars, but it’s not, it is a Bad Move.
Handlebars’ Grapple against Jet now Hits, and
since Leo’s Move was a Bad Move, the same
Grapple also Hits Leo. Let’s say Handlebars
grabs them both and smashes their heads
together. Embarrassing.
PAGE 201
Managing Groups
When a side is made up of three or more fighters, they do not share
Moves but are instead treated as a single identified “group”. The exact
complement of the group is not important and the GM is not expected
to track members. The group of fighters that Outnumbers (referred
to mostly just as “group” here) acts effectively as a single fighter and
its membership is approximated. A fight against a group or between
groups works much the same as unarmed combat and Weapons com-
bat with the following exceptions and clarifications. See page 205 for
specific circumstances.
Group Build
An Outnumbering group is always treated as going last on the Build

track in a fight, as though they are faster than their individual members.
Their overwhelming number is the equivalent of speed in this case.
Group Moves
The Moves of a group of people have different names. Mechanical-
ly these Moves operate the same way as their unarmed equivalents
(Grapple, Punch, Kick, Block, Footwork) and can interact with them the
same way across different Move sets.
OUTNUMBERED MOVES
Outnumbered
Grapple Crowd, Pile Up On or Smother
Punch Gang Up On, or Corner
Kick Rush & Pummel, or High & Low Tactics
Block Turtle, Group Up, or Close Ranks
Footwork Back Off Slightly or Encircle
PAGE 202
OUTNUMBERED
Group Posturing
During Posturing, a group gets one extra Move (or
more) to represent its circumstance every Round, just
as if the PC(s) it faces are treated as being In Trouble.
See the chart on page 205 for more on this.
Group Technique
Whatever Technique a group’s individual members
may have for their Moves does not matter when fight-
ing as a group. It is too difficult to coordinate attacks
in a group to make their use of Technique relevant.
Modern martial artists, and certainly the vast major-
ity of those encountered in New Hope City, are not
Trained to fight as a group.
Effective Technique: Groups have an effective Tech-

nique for any Move that represents their strength in
numbers. A Technique can be arrived at by looking at
the GM’s description of numbers, or an assessment of
their motivation, or just by using the Challenges.
GROUP TECHNIQUE
Complement Motivation
1 Small Group Impaired
3 Rabble Uncertain
5 Gang Confident
8 Whole Slew Motivated
12 Mad Mess of Fighters Trained & Coordinated
As a group takes damage and members are lost their

collective Technique does not decrease. It is sufficient
to regard only a consistent number for their collective
Technique.
PAGE 203
Group Force GROUP FORCE
In a crowded circumstance the flurry Intent
of activity dictates that sometimes
1 Unintentional
even errant blows are going to land,
so damage must be adjusted. 3 Unarmed
Group Health 5 Partially Armed

A group is treated exactly as one
8 Fully Armed
normal fighter for the purposes of
tracking Health. They all share one 12 Execution
bar of 12 checkboxes or fewer (as
determined by the GM beforehand).
This means a lone PC can damage a group of three just as well as an
army of a hundred, as long as they don’t die in the attempt.
For example, an uncommitted group will only want to take 3 ticks of

damage before they are all knocked out or flee, while a truly committed
group of cultist warriors fighting under vow of death endure a fanatic 12
ticks of damage and then all die. (It is not possible for any group, or any-
thing at all in Fight to Survive, to weather more than 12 ticks of damage.)
Die in Context:
A group passing “There are dozens of them, but
the Dying they don’t go on forever—so keep
bracket on swinging!”
the Health — Red Norton,
track does not
martial arts commando, 1944
necessarily mean
everyone in the group is dead. It depends on the context of the group,
what they were hoping to accomplish, and how many there were.
● With a group of only three fighters, passing the Dying bracket may
well mean they are all knocked out or splattered on the walls.
● Against a small army, passing the Dying bracket may just mean
they were demoralised and decided to quit, leaving a few behind
that may be dead or may just be knocked out or injured.
PAGE 204
OUTNUMBERED
Combat Circumstances
With an understanding of how to share Moves and
what changes in a group, various combat circum-
stances are outlined below with their own rules.
POSTURING REFERENCE
PC Circumstance Posturing Opp. Tech Opp. Force
vs. One 3 vs. 3 Move Move
One
vs. Two 3 vs. Shared 4 Move Move
vs. Outnumbered 3 vs. 5 Group Group
vs. One Shared 4 vs. 3 Move Move

Two
vs. Matched Shared 3 vs. Shared 3 Move Move
vs. Outnumbered Shared 4 vs. 5 Group Group
vs. One 5 vs. 3 Group Group

More
vs. Matched 1 each vs. 1 each Group Move
vs. Outnumbered 1 each vs. 1 Null All Group
One Fighter Outnumbered

With fire in your heart, a lone fighter stands alone.
● One on One: This is extensively covered in

Moves Versus Moves on page 92 as the default
play assumption.
● One Ganged Up On: If one PC is ganged up on
by two opponents, the PC gets 3 Moves against
the duo’s 4. This is a tough circumstance.
● One Outnumbered: When Outnumbered by
a group of three or more, then the PC gets 3
Moves against the group’s 5 Moves. This is a
terrible circumstance for a fighter to be in.
PAGE 205
Two Fighters Stand Together
It is common for two PCs or even two foes to pair up in their fights.
● Two PCs Gang Up On One NPC: Two PCs share 4 Moves vs. the
NPC’s 3. Strangely enough, ganging up like this is not usually
considered dishonourable in the Martial World.
● Two PCs face Two Opponents: To properly coordinate their
efforts, PCs share 3 Moves against the two opponent’s shared 3.
● Two PCs are Outnumbered: Two PCs share 4 Moves against the
Outnumbering group’s 5. Such a fight is often a mess of Moves
from flailing limbs. PCs are wise to fight back-to-back.
More PCs Fight Together

If more than two PCs are participating in a single fight, then circum-
stances get messier.
● Three or More PCs Against One: If instead this is an Outnum-

bering group of three or more PCs against a single NPC, players
must remember to share their 5 Moves between each other to go
against the NPC’s set of 3.
● PCs in a Matched Fight: If the PCs are fighting a group where
their opponent’s numbers match or slightly exceed the player
party, this is the order of events to use regardless of the size of
the encounter. It could be the same number as the PCs, it could
be the PCs have an army of allies and they are facing an army.
1. The GM rotates through the PCs Turn Order according to their

Build, starting with the smallest.
2. Each player chooses only a single Move to represent their fighter
for the entire Round.
3. This Move is compared individually with a Move the GM reveals,
one group Move for each PC Move, like they’re in mini-battles.
4. Success and failure in this case is individual to each fighter be-
cause of the heated fray of chaos and violence.
Technique and Force are governed normally for individual fight-

ers, and with group rules for the group.
PAGE 206
OUTNUMBERED
● PCs are Outnumbered: For the purposes of

these mechanics to be Outnumbered is for a PC
to face three or more opponents, or for all PCs
to face approximately three times their number.
If the PCs face a greater force then:
1. Each player chooses only a single Move to

represent their fighter’s behaviour in the
Round and presents those Moves.
2. The GM presents a single Move to represent
the group against all of its opposition this
Round.
3. The GM rotates through the Turn Order
according to Build, starting with
smallest PC, resolving all the PC’s
Moves against the group’s one
Move.
Technique: No fighter, not the PCs and You may ask: how com
e
not the group, can use any Technique I have fewer Moves in
a
big brawl scenario?
in this fight. Mass brawls are a mess of firstly because such
Well,
a
desperately wild, disorganised activity. scenario is a cacopho
ny
of violence all happen
This is not the time for elegance. ing
at once. A single Move
re-
flects your fighter’s
com-
Ties between Moves are resolved in bined efforts through
out
the Round. Mechanic
the favour of the group because of you have fewer optio
ally,
ns
their superior numbers. to reflect how despe
rate
the situation is. Also,
if
the number of Moves
Force: Follows group rules for the kept
going up it would tak
e
group, and individual rules for the forever to resolve.
PC fighters.
“Never say die! We

stick together till the
fighting’s done. No
retreat, no surrender.”
— Melody Rockford,
karate cop, 1971
PAGE 207
TEACHERS
You’re not the only one fighting your
opponent in the ring. Your teacher is
swinging with you, and their teacher
before them, and their teacher before
them for generations, pouring a thousand
years onto even one glancing blow.
T
he gateway to any Martial Art is what is
taught. Teachers inherit a martial tradition
that they carry forward to their Students,
altering it along the way based on their own
successes and failures. Teachers broaden a fight-
er’s knowledge of the Martial Arts, allowing them
to advance much faster and in some cases opening
up interesting Training options. More so than the
Martial Arts as inherent truths unto themselves, it
is the curriculum of the Teachers, and their strict or
loose adherence to their martial lineage, that makes a
greater difference in Martial Arts styles, and the skills
of their Students.
PAGE 208
TEACHERS
Final Lesson, 1999. After Terry Saito (60) issued a final challenge to his long-time
rival and prolific karate teacher Kelly “Iceman” Jones (58), neither were heard from
again. Iceman-do closed shortly after, when his daughter, Janelle “Turbo” Jones
(24), turned her back on karate in favour of taekwondo, and his best student and
heir Melody Rockford (45) returned to alcoholism, giving up martial arts.
● A fighter may have several Teachers throughout

their life, but only one Teacher at a time can
count in terms of affecting a PC’s Training Re-
gime, which is the primary thing a Teacher does
mechanically. For more on the Training Regime
see page 184.
● There are circumstances where you have the
opportunity to learn something from a Teacher
that is not yours, like an allied Teacher. This does
not count as having a whole new Teacher, just be-
ing open to wisdom. If the Teacher likes you and
trusts you with their wisdom, they’ll make their
Visiting Move available to learn.
PAGE 209
● You can only learn from one Teacher in a Training segment, even if
there are multiple Teachers present.
● To take on someone as a Teacher you must erase the Teacher col-
umn on your Training Regime to start fresh, and erase your current
Martial Art (if any) and write in their Martial Art.
● It is not necessary to list a Teacher as a Comfort, but it does help
maintain the relationship. Investing in the Comfort of a Teacher
means they like you more, and so will Teach you more.
For an example of all of this, in 1947, 17 year old scrappy school-

girl Judy Herrera was injured when fighting a street gang alone in
Chinatown and went unconscious. When Judy awoke, she was in
a small room below a Chinatown umbrella repair shop, and in the
care of a kindly and small old man, Master Bao. Master Bao was a
venerated expert in several styles of kung fu—but that was a long
time ago. Now he runs the shop above. Over the following weeks
while Judy was being nursed back to health, she had the opportunity
to reawaken old Master Bao’s love of Teaching, and, undertaking a
Training Regime, she could learn from Master Bao to gain +1 to Grap-
ple Technique, if she chose to develop that Move. When the Year ends
Judy Herrera can reflect back on her time, and choose if she wishes
to put down Master Bao as a Comfort under Person and appeal to
him to become her Teacher formally—in this case a “sifu”. Judy would
then erase her current Martial Art and write in that of Master Bao.
Now that there is a formal Teacher-Student relationship, Master Bao
provides more Training options—he expects her to learn Meditation,
some martial philosophy, and at least a bit of Cantonese.
Most of this section deals with the mechanical advantage of having a

Teacher to help your fighter learn a Martial Art, but remember that a
Martial Art is also a community and the relationship a fighter has with
their Teacher can be one of the most important in their lives. In the
above example, Judy Herrera is not just writing down Master Bao as a
Comfort mechanically, her player is choosing to invest in Master Bao as
a recurring fixture of the game, to risk him as being Under Threat, and to
deepen their fighter’s experience with Chinese Martial Arts and culture.
PAGE 210
TEACHERS
Teaching Qualifications
When the Student is ready, a Teacher will appear. It can
be entirely another matter to get the Teacher to teach
you, however. The requirements of a Teacher are:
“Am I the baddest moo low

down around this town?”
— Ambros “Greaser” Brown, on
his teaching qualifications, 1959
1. The Teacher Must Be a Master! To begin a Teach-

er-Student relationship, a Teacher must have
more Points in the Technique of all combined
Moves than the Student’s age.
2. Teachers Can Be Temporary: A Teacher does not
need to practice the same Martial Art as their Stu-
dent. Learning is accomplished across disciplines.
Martial artists often learn many different styles
through the course of their lives. Some even mas-
ter a few different ones. But, if the Student wants
to benefit from having a Comfort in the Teacher—
that is the point at which they must change their
Martial Arts to the Teacher’s.
3. Alternative Education: In extreme cases with a
lenient GM a Teacher could even take the form of
a book, at-home VHS tape series, spiritual hallu-
cination, or something similar. There is precedent
for such cases in martial history. Whatever form
this alternate Teacher takes it still needs to be far
enough advanced to be considered a “Master”.
The GM is the grand arbiter of such cases, and
must remember this is not an excuse to divorce
the Martial Art from its cultural heritage.
4. Learn Amongst Yourselves: A Teacher can be
another PC in the group. See page 212.
PAGE 211
Benefits of Education
When a Teacher is present and willing during a Training segment a
Student can make use of their tutelage.
● Like a Stage, and the Martial Art itself, a Teacher may present a
bonus to learn the Technique of a certain Move, reflecting their
corrections, lectures, demonstrations, and coaching in that Move.
● Given the opportunity, and when certain conditions are met, the
Teacher may instead offer to bestow the use of a Weapon or some
Special Move of the Martial Art, as dictated by the Martial Art and
the Teacher’s individual curriculum generated by the GM.
Special Training
Points can be spent to acquire Special Training under the direction of a
qualified Teacher. This type of learning—like Weapons, Meditation, and
so on—is available almost exclusively through Teachers. You cannot get
“better” at Special Training with more Training Points. You either have
it or you do not. For more on this see Special Training on page 190.
Peer (PC to PC) Learning

There are two circumstances where a PC can be the Teacher of another
PC. If a PC chooses to teach they cannot do anything else in the Train-
ing segment but instruct.
Casual Coaching
A PC can be the temporary Teacher of another PC—the equivalent of
showing your buddy a few moves in the backyard, broadening your
understanding of combat through sharing.
● The Teacher PC does not have to meet the criteria above of being
a Teacher, but must be at least a Champion (8) in the Technique of
the Move they are going to teach.
● This peer Teacher is able to provide the other PC(s) a +1 to Train in
that Move during a Training Regime.
Dedicated Teaching
A PC can be a dedicated Teacher of another PC, or several PCs, within
the same playgroup.
PAGE 212
TEACHERS
● To be a dedicated Teacher as a PC you must fulfill

the criteria for being a Teacher on page 211.
● The Training curriculum of the Teacher
PC that is available to the Student PC is
based on the Technique of the PC Teacher’s
Moves and the strength of the Student PC’s Peer learning is a
good idea if a skilled
Comfort for their Teacher. PC does not wish
to Rest and has no
Curriculum: As the Teacher, decide what your Training Points to
employ their own
curriculum is for other PCs during a Training
Training Regime.
Regime. After you establish your curriculum it is Just make sure the
other PCs adequately
permanent for that character. compensate you for
●
your efforts!
Visiting Move: The PC’s best Move—the
one that is highest in Technique. If multiple
Moves tie for this position, pick one.
● Comfort at 3: The PC’s third best (highest)
Technique Move. If several Moves are their third
highest, pick only one.
● Comfort at 5: There are two options.
- The Move of their second best (highest) Tech-
nique—if there are ties, pick only one.
- Or, a Weapon in which you are proficient (have
at least a 1 Training to use.)
● Comfort at 8: Give a +1 to learn the Move of their
best (highest) Technique. If there was a tie for
best Move before, another best Move can be
chosen or the first Move can be increased again.
● Comfort at 12: The Teacher must pick one option.
- Impart a Special Move (S) you know.
- Teach Choice Study—that is to say, the Student
picks any Move in which the Teacher has at least
some Technique. The choice is fixed once made.
PAGE 213
Curriculum
In life, nearly every Martial Art trains you in all Moves—each usually
has a full and balanced curriculum—but for the sake of abstracting
each Martial Art’s training methods into F2S, certain calls had to be
made. The assumption is made here that the Teacher is not particu-
larly old-school wicked-strict and neither are they particularly McDojo
pyjama-dancing. This curriculum represents a Teacher of middling
capacity with a full understanding of their art that has navigated their
curriculum through Years of application.
GMs should not feel shy about altering the below curriculum as fits their
understanding of the Martial Art, the attitude of the NPC Teacher, the
needs of the player, and the direction of the game. If you have a better
Training curriculum in mind for the art, implore your GM. Martial Arts
are ever-evolving, living traditions, less like a mountain and more like
a river, always moving. Research into the Martial Arts—and better still
their practice—will forever be encouraged. A small glimpse into our rich
human history of martial sciences lies before you. For a bit more infor-
mation on each, see the Martial Arts section on page 178.
TEACHING MARTIAL ARTS

Martial Art Visiting Move Teacher Comfort at 3
52 Blocks Pair Exchanges (G) Shadowboxing (B)
Aikido Pair Exercises (G) Zoning Drills (F)
Baguazhang Circle Walking (F) Patterns & Forms (P)
Bajiquan Floor-walking (F) Pair Exchanges (P)
Bartitsu Pair Exchanges (G) Stick / Cane (W)
Capoeira Dancing (F) Sparring (K)
Catch Wrestling Grip Exercises (G) Sandbag Drills (P)
Changquan Floor-walking (F) Long Punch Drills (K)
Choy Lay Fut Jian or Spear (W) Floor-walking (F)
PAGE 214
TEACHERS
TEACHING THE 5 BASIC MARTIAL ARTS

Visiting 3 5 8 12
Boxing Block Punch Grapple Block Choice (X)
Karate Punch Kick Medit. Kama (W) Special
Kickboxing Punch Footwork Kick Grapple Choice (X)
Kung Fu Kick Staff (W) Medit. Footwork Special
Wrestling Block Grapple Footwork Punch Choice (X)
Legend
! Force 3 Points to raise to two ticks, 5 more to raise to three.
W Weapons In use, Moves cannot exceed Training in a Weapon.
M Meditate The Comfort of Meditation raises instead of a Move.
S Special A Move custom-designed by a Martial Arts Master.
X Choice One-time choice of one Move: G P K B or F.
Comfort at 5 Comfort at 8 Comfort at 12
Shadowboxing (P) Zoning Drills (F) Open Sparring (X)
Meditation (M) Sparring (G) Special Move (S)
Staff or Jian (W) Circle Walking (F) Special Move (S)
Elbow Patterns (G) Horse Stance (F) Special Move (S)
Shadowboxing (P) Bicycle (W) Open Sparring (X)
Dancing (F) Toe Razer (W) Special Move (S)
Running (F) Competition (X) -
Sparring (P) Dao or Spear (W) Special Move (S)
Wooden Dummy (G) Meditation (M) Special Move (S)
PAGE 215
Drunken Fist Patterns & Forms (G) Floor-walking (F)
Eagle Claw Grip Exercises (G) Patterns & Forms (P)
Escrima Basic Strike Route (K) Pair Drills (B)
Fisticuffs Guard Train (B) Heavy Bag (P)
Five Ancestors Patterns & Forms (B) Flexibility Train (K)
Folk Wrestling Heavy Bag (P) Pair Exchanges (G)
Fujian White Crane Pair Exchanges (G) Kicking Drills (K)
Goju Ryu Karate Meditation (M) Kata (P)
Hapkido Kicking Drills (K) Pair Exchanges (G)
Hung Gar Flexibility Training (K) Iron Rings (W)
Hwa Rang Do Pair Exchanges (G) Jang Geom (W)
Jeet Kune Do Zoning Drills (F) Striking Drills (X)
Judo Pair Exchanges (G) Sparring (F)
Jujutsu (Brazilian) Zoning Drills (F) Sparring (G)
Jujutsu (Japanese) Pair Exchanges (B) Sparring (G)
Kenpo (American) Punching Drills (P) Kicking Drills (K)
Krav Maga Shadowboxing (P) Running (F)
Kyokushin Karate Kihon (P) Kumite (K)
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Shadowboxing (P) Conditioning (B)
Monkey Fist Pair Exchanges (G) Staff (W)
Muay Thai Heavy Bag or Post (G) Target Kicking (K)
N. Mantis (Wang Lang) Mantis Hand (P) Short Punch Drills (G)
PAGE 216
TEACHERS

Improvised (W) Pair Sequences (P) Special Move (S)
Meditation (M) Finger Conditioning (G) Special Move (S)
Pair Exchanges (G) Knife (W) Open Sparring (X)
Running (F) Competition (X) -
Sandbag Drills (P) Guan or Dao (W) Special Move (S)
Conditioning (B) Special Move (S) -
Butterfly Knives (W) Patterns & Forms (B) Special Move (S)
Sparring (K) Kata (B) Special Move (S)
Acrobatics (F) Nunchaku (W) Special Move (S)
Grip Exercises (G) Meditation (M) Special Move (S)
Sparring (P) Flexibility Training (K) Open Sparring (X)
Open Sparring (X) - -
Competition (G) Special Move (S) -
Pair Exchanges (B) Competition (X) -
Zoning Drills (F) Competition (X) -
Pair Exchanges (G) Stick or Knife (W) Open Sparring (X)
Pair Exchanges (G) Open Sparring (X) -
Kata (B) Meditation (M) Competition (X)
Pair Exchanges (G) Open Sparring (X) -
Patterns & Forms (P) Meditation (M) Special Move (S)
Conditioning (B) Sparring (P) Special Move (S)
Floor-walking (F) Patterns & Forms (P) Special Move (S)
PAGE 217
Ninjutsu Katana (W) Crab Walk (F)
Okichitaw Gunstock Warclub (W) Running (F)
Pro Wrestling Conditioning (B) Improvised (W)
S. Mantis (Chow Gar) Universal Post (B) Patterns & Forms (G)
Sambo Heavy Bag (P) Sparring (G)
Savate Target Kicking (K) Running (F)
Shaolin Lohan Fist Flexibility Train (K) Meditation (M)
Shito Ryu Karate Flexibility Train (K) Kata (B)
Shorinji Kempo Flexibility Train (K) Kata (B)
Shotokan Karate Flexibility Train (K) Meditation (M)
Silat Knife (W) Pair Exercises (G)
Snake Fist Short Punch Drills (G) Floor-walking (F)
Sumo Wrestling Conditioning (B) Zoning Drills (F)
Systema Knife (W) Running (F)
Taekwondo Patterns & Forms (P) Kicking Drills (K)
Taijiquan, Chen Patterns & Forms (B) Pair Exercises (P)
Taijiquan, Yang Patterns & Forms (B) Jian (W)
Tang Soo Do Kicking Drills (K) Pair Exchanges (P)
Tiger Claw (Fu Jow Pai) Stair-climbing (F) Grip Exercises (G)
Wado Ryu Karate Kata (B) Meditation (M)
Wing Chun Wooden Dummy (P) Wooden Dummy (B)
Wushu Flexibility Train (K) Jian, Dao, or Spear (W)
Xing Yi Quan Floor-walking (F) Spear (W)
PAGE 218
TEACHERS

Pair Exchanges (G) Throwing Star (W) Special Move (S)
Pair Exchanges (B) Floor Work (G) Open Sparring (X)
Pair Exchanges (G) Special Move (S) -
Floor-walking (F) Stance Train (K) Special Move (S)
Obstacles (K) Exchange Boxing (P) Open Sparring (X)
Shadowboxing (P) Competition (X) -
Patterns & Forms (P) Staff (W) Special Move (S)
Meditation (M) Tonfa or Staff (W) Special Move (S)
Patterns & Forms (P) Special Move (S) -
Sparring (P) Kata (B) Special Move (S)
Kicking Drills (K) Patterns & Forms (P) Sparring (X)
Target Striking (P) Meditation (M) Special Move (S)
Sparring (G) Heavy Bag (P) Special Move (S)
Shadowboxing (P) Disarm Drills (G) Sparring (X)
Running (F) Sparring (X) -
Push Hands (G) Patterns & Forms (B) Special Move (S)
Meditation (M) Push Hands (G) Special Move (S)
Routines (B) Target Kicking (K) Sparring (X)
Flexibility Train (K) Special Move (S) -
Punching Drills (P) Sparring (K) Special Move (S)
Short Punch Drills (G) Sticky Hands (X) -
Acrobatics (F) Special Move (S) -
Pair Exchanges (P) Floor-walking (F) Special Move (S)
PAGE 219
SPECIAL
Flying
Kick, 1964.
Although a
judoka, Yumi
MOVES
Notaro (21)
earned her
nickname
“Street” by
unleashing
a surprising
flying kick
The power was inside you all along.
F
while de-
fending Big
Trouble Dojo or every Martial Art there are secrets known
from local
only to its upper echelon of practitioners. Only
trouble-mak-
er Hawkwind the greatest martial artists are familiar with
(16).
techniques of this kind. The details of Special
Moves are only bestowed by the greatest Teachers
upon the most worthy students.
● A Special Move is like one of the five Moves (Grap-

ple, Punch, Kick, Block, Footwork), and can take
the place of any Move in an Exchange of Blows.
● Use “S” to signify it, if necessary, just as you
would GPKBF to represent the normal Moves.
● Unlike ordinary Moves, Special Moves inflict 3
Hardship upon their user when performed. If used
again in the same fight, it inflicts 5, then 8, then 12.
● Once acquired, a Special Move does not need a
particular value and cannot itself be Trained.
PAGE 220
SPECIAL MOVES
Requirements to Learn
1. Special Moves can only be learned from a quali-
fied Teacher if your Comfort in them is sufficiently
high for them to regard you as the person who
should inherit their secrets.
2. Developing your own Special Move requires great
Technique in a few Moves.
3. A human body can only know a
maximum of three Special Moves.
Makeup
Special Moves seem to affirm a
Your Teacher may know the Special fantastic sense of the Martial
Move because it will be part of a mar- Arts, running contrary to Fight
to Survive’s more grounded,
tial tradition. All Special Moves have mundane approach. But,
the same makeup: Special Moves are found in
some of what is otherwise the
● Based on one Move, using its Tech- most grounded of Martial Arts
cinema. These are reserved
nique and Force. for the higher level of play to
● Beats one Move outright.

fighters of great skill or for a
●
particularly brutal Big Boss
Backfires against one Move. NPC. This is as far up the ladder
of the fantastic as things go.
Is this propagating myth? Is
Its relationship to the rest of the this showmanship and martial
Moves are decided by higher Tech- fakery? Certainly. Just as
martial artists invest delusions
nique. into the righteous heroism of
combat, so too does the Martial
Special Force World fetishise its own glorious
● If the Special Move is Based on an

mythos. Things like “dim mak”
are a part of that tradition,
offensive Move (Grapple, Punch, which has had true and real in-
fluence on the Martial Arts. So,
or Kick) then the Special Move’s this breaks Fight to Survive’s
Force is double that Base Move’s own themes, just a little, for the
sake of embracing a relevant
Force. It packs a wallop. tidbit of the fantastic.
● If the Special Move is Based on a
defensive Move (Block or Foot-
work) then the Special Move’s Force is treated as 3.
For example, a “Flying Kick” is Based on Kick but it

Beats Footwork, Backfires against Kick, and compares
Technique/Training with anything else.
PAGE 221
Example Special Moves
To preserve martial taboo, Special Moves are usually hand-crafted by
the GM to make their reveal all the more special, or invented by the
players. But just for the sake of understanding the structure here are
some example Special Moves.
SPECIAL MOVES
Special Move Description
Dashing Punch Jump forward, springing off the back

foot with an extended fist.
Attack pressure points, disrupting

Dim Mak
blood flow and the spirit.
With the opponent grabbed, leap into

Downtown Pile-driver
the air and spin into a pile-driver.
Become fully airborne with an ex-

Flying Kick
tended leg and the other tucked.
Channel a line of force from the back

One Inch Punch
heel up to an inch past the lead hand.
Squat, then rise in a great jump pro-

Rising Uppercut
pelled by your fist rising into the air.
Charge at a full run, with an out-

Running Clothesline
stretched arm to bar the chest.
Three spinning kicks so swift they

Shadowless Kick
reportedly cast no shadow.
Slaps so furious all an onlooker sees

Thousand-hand Punches
is a thousand hands on blurred arms.
Move upside down, spinning, legs

Upside-down Spin Kick
outstretched in a splits.
PAGE 222
SPECIAL MOVES
“Rip the joy of life from the jaws of

death! Super sumo smack!”
— Fuma “Thunder” Matsudo, every time
he performed his special move, 1930
Martial Art Examples Base Beats Backfires
Boxing, Karate Punch Kick Block
Kung Fu Punch Punch Grapple
Wrestling Grapple Punch Footwork
Karate, Kickboxing, Kung fu Kick Footwork Kick
Kung fu, Karate Punch Block Kick
Boxing, Karate, Kung fu Punch Kick Footwork
Wrestling Grapple Footwork Kick
Kickboxing, Kung fu Kick Footwork Punch
Boxing, Karate, Kung Fu Punch Block Footwork
Karate, Kickboxing, Kung Fu Kick Grapple Footwork
PAGE 223
Developing a Special Move
During an Extended Training segment at the End of
Year you can choose to invent your own Special Move.
Makeup of Your Special Move

● The Base Move must be one where you have at
least 12 Technique.
● The Move it Beats must be one where you have at
least 8 Technique.
● The Special Move Backfires against the Move of
your lowest Technique.
Awesome
Power, 1991. In the case of ties in these requirements, you get to
(Opposing pick whichever one you favour.
Page) As
the century
Cost to Develop
●
was nearing
its end the Spend a Training Point to start teaching yourself
Martial World
seemed to a Special Move.
conspire that
teachers
● Inventing a Special Move inflicts 3 Hardship to
pass on their develop the first Special Move, then 5 to develop
secrets. Fight- another, then 8 Hardship for a third.
●
ers like Sally
Ting Pei (24) A human body can only ever know a maximum of
and Rachel
Hannigan
three Special Moves.
(15) set these
fantastic
special moves Defeat a Special Move
against each Another thing you can do with Training Points is
other in what
would turn spend them to learn the weakness of an opponent’s
out to be the Special Move. During a Training segment a PC can
biggest street
fighting tour- spend 1 Training Point to learn the “backfire” Move
nament the
for that Special Move—the one it is vulnerable to. You
city had ever
seen. must have witnessed the Special Move performed
during the Year. Learning this also incurs 1 Hardship.
For example, Terry Saito was defeated earlier in the

Year in a fight by a Special Move, and so embarks on a
Training segment to learn how to defeat that Special
Move specifically. He learn that its weakness is that it
can be Grappled. Prepared, Terry will challenge again!
PAGE 224
SPECIAL MOVES
PAGE 225
STAGES
Set the stage of violence.
Make fist-fighting your home.
You can never outrun it.
It lives in your dreams.
T
he heart of a fighter is often set to a certain
location—their turf, their territory, their spe-
cial place of Training that they will defend
violently. This is their Stage.
● A Stage in the Martial World: In terms of the

greater movements within the Martial World,
a Stage is the Place with which your fighter is
associated, what people think of as the seat of
your fighter’s power, and where other martial
artists will come looking for them to challenge.
The more value is invested in a Stage as a Com-
fort, the more in-world benefit the PC derives.
See page 230 for example Stages.
● Training Regime: A good chunk of a martial
artist’s life is spent in Training. A Stage is a dedi-
cated place where Training occurs, and being
there provides bonuses to Training. Even when
just visiting a friendly Stage—the Stage of an
ally or somewhere else conceivably safe—you
can derive some benefits for a Training Regime
when in that space with a Visiting Move.
PAGE 226
STAGES
What Qualifies as a Stage

Almost any location can be a Stage if the player deems
it appropriate for their PC, with certain caveats.
1. One Stage: A PC can only have one Stage at a

time, although they may go through a few differ-
ent Stages in their martial career.
2. Space & Quiet: To qualify as a Stage there must
be sufficient room, quiet, and time for the fighter
to train consistently.
For example, a busy city street could not be a Stage
because a martial artist would not be able to lift
weights or practice routines without making a spec-
tacle of themselves, the attention of which would
hamper their Training progress.
3. Authority Over the Space: If you plan to use your
place of work as your Stage you need at least a
value of 3 in the Place, since you need to have
a certain amount of authority over the location
before you’re given the space, time, and quiet to
make use of it for Training.
4. Uncontested: Although multiple PCs may have
the same Place as a Comfort, no two characters
can share the same Stage. If the Stage is con-
tested between PCs (or with an NPC) that matter
should be resolved through violence, with the
winner gaining sole relationship to the Place as a
Stage as the Right of Victory.
Present at Stage
To accept challenges, to defend their territory, or
even just to make use of it as a space for Training,
your character must be present at the Stage to gain
its benefits. This is not always possible if the situation
(like a Comfort Under Threat) keeps you away.
PAGE 227
Confessions at Poison’s, 1950. Poison’s collected fighters of all kinds, from Judy
Herrera (20) confiding in Big Mar (30) to Mayor Marion Hill (36) trying to win votes
or start a wrestling match, and even an elderly Chancy “Boxcars” Charles (71),
much past his fighting days (although some say he died in the Spanish Civil War).
Visiting Stages
Even if there is no value in the Stage, or no one has it as a Comfort, it
can still contribute to a fighter’s Training Regime. You would just make
use of its Visiting Move, the inherent Training bonus of the Place.
For example, the PCs are marooned on Read Island after the boat they
were on capsized in a storm. The Scheme they’ve made for rescue will
take some time, so the PCs decide to do a Training segment. The GM
rules that where they are—the long beach area on the north side of Read
Island, the nesting grounds of the endangered Western Duck-billed Read
Cormorant—is a great spot for running. So, anyone looking to improve
their Footwork would gain a +1 bonus Training here.
See the chart on page 230 for more examples.
PAGE 228
The reasoning for visiting Stages runs like this. There are stories of STAGES
martial artists Training to great heights of skill confined to a small
apartment, but there is also a reason for schools and other set
locations for Training, and beyond that, some martial artists—even
with access to a dojo or other dedicated space—might sometimes travel to
strange locations to Train. There must be something different offered by far-off
mountains that isn’t at the downtown dojo. Each relevant location must have its
own advantages for Training. Understanding how to recognise the advantages
of, and make use of a Place is part of what distinguishes a martial artist.
How to Get a Stage

Ways to get a Stage include:
● Start with a Stage: Without penalty, you can

identify a Stage when creating your PC. The
biggest advantage of doing this is that you can
identify how much you’re investing in that Com-
fort immediately.
● Change a Relationship: At the end of any Year
you may voluntarily give up on your Stage and
choose to define another Place as your Stage by
adding to its relationship.
● When a Stage is Destroyed: If you have a Stage
then—like any other Comfort—a Stage could be
destroyed or ruined. This follows the same rules
as other lost Comforts, see page 142 for more.
However, once lost you are free to identify an-
other Place as your Stage at the end of the Year.
● When Changing Martial Arts: If you give up
one Martial Art for another you are required to
abandon your Stage. You may still keep it as a
Comfort, but the relationship will no longer be
identified as a Stage. You must choose another
Place to be your new Stage, either by altering the
relationship with a Place you already have or by
making a new Place.
● Taking Over: If one fighter wants revenge on an-
other, contesting their Stage is a good way to wound
them in the Martial World. You can steal a Stage
from another fighter by the Right of Victory. It will
belong to the victor of the fight, and not the loser.
PAGE 229
Training Regime
While it is true that a resourceful martial artist will see training possibil-
ities everywhere, Stages by their nature lend themselves to one Train-
ing option or another. Below are some common examples.
Legend
! Force 3 Points to raise to 2 ticks, 5 more to raise to 3.
W Weapons In use, Moves cannot exceed Training in a Weapon.
M Meditate The Comfort of Meditation raises instead of a Move.
S Special A Move custom-designed by a Martial Arts Master.
X Choice Your choice of any one of the Moves: G P K B or F.
STAGES
Stage Visiting Move Stage Comfort at 3
Boxing Gym Speed Bag (P) Heavy Bag (!)
Casino Running (F) Restraining (G)
Dojo (Japanese) Floor-walking (F) Kata (B)
Factory Lifting (!) Running (F)
Junk Yard Lifting (!) Tossing (G)
Kickboxing Gym Stretching (K) Heavy Bag (!)
Kwoon (Chinese) Floor-walking (F) Patterns (K)
Nature Running (F) Lifting rocks and wood (!)
Private Space Stances (B) Weight Lifting (!)
Temple Floor-walking (F) Brick Breaking (!)
Workout Gym Weights (!) -
Workplace Martial office work (B) Demonstrations (X)
Wrestling Gym Call & Answer Drills (G) Weights (!)
PAGE 230
STAGES
Investing in a Stage
The more that is invested in the value of the Stage’s Comfort, the more
bonuses it gets on the Training Regime, at least to a certain extent. Not
every Stage is capable of allowing more and more bonuses at the tiers
of 3, 5, 8, and 12. Some, by their natural limitations, can only advance
in Training so far. This is part of why dedicated spaces for Training like
gyms, dojos, kwoons, and temples are so valuable; they are set up in
anticipation of graduated learning, and will not be as limited in the
utility of Training as, say, your local diner or the rooftop of an old movie
theatre. Work with your GM to come up with the Training option that
makes sense for the kind of Stage you envision.
Sparring (F) Shadowboxing (P) Ring Tactics (X)
Stage Shows (X) - -
Kata (B) Sparring (X) Ring Tactics (X)
Tossing (G) - -
Improvised (W) - -
Ring Drills (F) Target Kicks (K) Study (X)
Forms (B) Sparring (X) Study (X)
Meditation (M) Special (S) -
Running (F) Meditation (M) -
Study (X) Meditation (M) Special (S)
- - -
- - -
Sequences (F) Drills (G) Study (X)
PAGE 231
REVENGE
The rage will never quit, but it can find a
home in your enemy, for a while.
P
ursuing a lifestyle of violence has intense and
real emotional repercussions. Suffering such
physical and emotional hardship, each fighter
carries the weight of a pool of boiling, barely
contained feelings of revenge inside their heart. When
truly horrific events happen to your fighter, the Revenge
pool grows, waiting to be unleashed. There is no limit
to the amount of Revenge a fighter can keep bottled up,
unspent. The pool could grow upwards to infinity. But
when the time is right, you can choose to unleash Years
of held feelings of Revenge in a single moment!
How Revenge is Earned

Destroyed Comforts
When your fighter loses an escalated fight (to best of
3/5 Rounds) one possible outcome is that the oppon-
ent destroys one of your PC’s Comforts utterly. When
this happens, the Comfort is eliminated from your
character sheet, and whatever value was invested in
the Comfort is added both to your PC’s Hardship and
to their Revenge pool.
Life is Unfair
At times the GM will have reason to administer to
your PC an additional Hardship, or some struggle or
Trouble or thematic Setback based in the logical con-
text of in-game events. When this happens, you may
appeal to them to add +1 to your PC’s Revenge pool.
PAGE 232
REVENGE
Having Your Revenge

In the middle of a fight, or otherwise when the time
is right, you may choose to ‘cash-in’ your fighter’s Re-
venge pool to boost their Technique in all Moves that
Round, or all Moves applying to that circumstance.
The Right Circumstances

● You must be in a fight to use your Revenge, or in
a clearly defined situation of competition where
your reputation is on the line, or your life directly
at stake.
● You must declare at the beginning of a Round or
clear circumstance if you intend to spend your
Revenge pool, before you establish the Moves in
Posturing.
● When committed, Revenge must be entirely
expended; you cannot partially take from the pot.
(There is an exception to this, detailed later.)
● When the Round is over, the Points from your
Revenge pool are gone, forever, no matter the
outcome of the fight. Your Revenge pool is now
empty, at zero, and you will need to fill up the
pool to use it again.
Use of Revenge Points

● The Points from Revenge can be spent to gain +1
Technique per Revenge to all Moves that Round
or +1 Force to all Moves per 3 Revenge spent, or
any combination of those two.
● Outside of a violent experience it works the same
way, but instead of for a Round it lasts until the
competitive or survival circumstance is resolved.
● It is possible with Revenge to exceed the limita-
tions of the human body when it comes to Force
and do more than 3 ticks of damage on a single Hit.
Such is the awesome power of the fighting spirit!
PAGE 233
Flashback
When your Revenge pool is spent, as a player, you must role-play the
experience of your memories to the other players at the table and reveal
the following things about the pain and suffering your PC has endured:
● At least one Comfort that was destroyed and added to the PC’s
Revenge pool, if any were.
● The Comforts that have a Rift as a result of your PC’s journey, if any.
(Rifts are marked by
a checkbox on your
character sheet.)
● The Hardship that
your PC has been
through; characterise
your current Hardship
bracket in terms of
QP
your character’s emo-
tional state.
● In looser terms, the
struggles your PC has
faced, and describe how
they have faced them.
There Is No
Satisfaction
Half of what you spent in
Revenge, rounded down, is
repeated in Hardship once
the Round (or life-threaten-
ing circumstance) is done.
This does not count as a
Broken Heart, 1976. Drunk from his success
“Life is Unfair” situation in a kung fu competition, the Chinatown
and you do not get Re- Kid (25) celebrated at the Red Luxury House
brothel. His lover “Hardcore” Harriot Cohen
venge Points for inflicting (17) discovered his unfaithfulness thanks to
Hardship upon yourself in a tip from the Kid’s kung fu rival, Screaming
Bird. The Chinatown Kid would not die until
this way. the following year, however, fighting Tong
thugs sent by Screaming Bird.
PAGE 234
REVENGE
Giving Up Revenge
In some circumstances, you can give up some of your
Revenge to assist an ally. The well of fury inside your
heart has been spent, but not to the satisfaction of
your warrior spirit. Accordingly:
● You get to pick how much Revenge you give up

to an ally. (It has the same costs, too.)
● Multiple allies can spend Revenge to help the
same ally at the same time.
● Spending Revenge in this way does not inflict
Hardship on yourself.
The Right Circumstance

1. You must not be participating in a fight, but be able
to witness and communicate with the ally partici-
pating in a fight, in order to use Revenge this way.
2. You declare that you are spending from your Re-
venge pool once an ally has issued a Move where
Technique is compared, but before the GM has
revealed the result of the exchange.
3. You may spend as much Revenge from your pool
as you wish to spend, but never the entire amount
of your Revenge. At least one Point must remain.
4. Once spent in service to your ally, those Revenge
Points are gone, no matter how the fight went.
Call Out
When Revenge is spent this way, as a player, you must
call out in-character what you’re saying to your ally to
add to their fighting ability. For instance:
● Remind them of the opponent’s weakness.

● Remind them of the traumatic event that pre-
cipitated the conflict.
● Remind them what the stakes are for losing.
● Encourage them to keep fighting despite the
odds, not matter how terrible it looks!
PAGE 235
NEW HOPE
CITY BLUES
T
he poor house is full of passionate fighters
who said, “Never back down.” That works
until it doesn’t, I guess. The fact is, the city
is made to kill you. Every day you turn your
sweat and your sinew into concrete for rich men. Your
body is all you have, and what they’ll use. No wonder
you fight. Nothing’s fair, except what you can fight. It’s
these little victories that keep you going.
PAGE 236
Olympic Bronze Medalist
Boxer Raymond Smillie, 1928.
THE
BATTERY
The Slums
A
jungle of pipes, barrels, abandoned factor-
ies filled with broken equipment. The area
is smoky and misty. Paint peels off every-
thing. Industrial sounds eerily emanate
from the distance. You walk past garbage and debris,
by chipped brick, rusty metal pipes, and scrap.
PAGE 240
DISTRICTS
Makeup
● Communities: Several disassociated disenfranchised cultural
groups oppressed for cheap labour at various points in the century,
unable to move elsewhere.
● Power: A rotating series of street gangs.
Schools
Many Martial Arts schools have come and gone through the Battery.
Some of the most prominent mainstays have been:
● Old Sluggers Boxing (’00-62) Boxing. A grumpy old gym.

● Poison Dojo (’51-70) Silat school with harsh training techniques.
● Hand of Death Fighting Association (’67-75, ’89-95) An especially
quarrelsome Jujutsu and Kempo Karate school of ill repute.
● Kuro Dogi Kan (’80-99) Kuro Ken Jutsu. Founded by Kensuke
“K-Taro” Suzuki, a champion who has realised that his masters
were jealously guarding their few pitiful secrets. The name of the
school means “black gi hall” reflecting K-Taro having turned his
back on the old ways (white gis).
● Sidekicks (’84-91) Kickboxing. A friendly and welcoming school.
● Talon Strike Academy (’87-99) SCARS. They aren’t selective with
who learns as long as you prove yourself.
Stages
Abandoned Buildings, Empty Factories (Glass, Ice, Pallet, Paper Mill),
Junk Yard, Old Power Plant, Seedy Shops (Gun Shop, Hock Shop, Junk
Shop), the Train Yard, and:
● The Juke Boxer Blues Club (’02-61) Nightlife spot and early jazz club.
● Poison’s Pub (’12-91) Staple of the New Hope City Martial World run
by the O’Rourke family, father to son. All fighters visit Poison’s, but
fights don’t happen in Poison’s.
● Crowbar (’45-86) The city’s most violent gay bar and nightclub,
ruled by the Grease Fire Gang for most of its history.
● Raven’s Nest Motorcycle Clubhouse (’50-69) Disenchanted war vets
formed a social club. Sometimes it’s a boxing gym, too.
PAGE 241
BEAT TOWN
The West Side
W
here the people come to play, the place
of music, clubs, bars, seedy motels,
and back-alley fights. Huge, ostenta-
tious signs hang streetside, advertising
every pleasure. Gambling, music, and the high life are
available here, for a price, and sometimes you’ll have
to fight for it.
PAGE 242
DISTRICTS
Makeup
● Communities: A cosmopolitan of folks, but with a strong Carib-
bean Village, Latin Town, Little Russia, and West Africa Town.
● Power: A loose parliament of crime kingpins.
Schools
Many Martial Arts schools have been heard on the streets of Beat Town.
Some of them are:
● Tanaka Karate (’12-53) Shotokan Karate.

● The Wolf Den (’32-51) Catch Wrestling.
● Red Dragon Dojo (’55-99) Kempo.
● Atari Aikido (’61-93) Aikido.
● Eagle Hapkido Dojo (’69-87) Hapkido.
● Iceman-do Karate (’71-99) Goju-Ryu Karate. Run by prolific karate
teacher Kelly “Iceman” Jones.
● Beat Town MA (’75-99) Capoeira.
● Soul Martial Arts (’75-79) Shorinji Kempo.
● The Kappa Lair (’77-99) Ninjutsu. In the sewers beneath Bleecker
Street, run by Sliver, who will train anyone able to find them, and
who he deems of “pure of intent”.
● The Mosh Pit (’82-92) Street Fighting. Music Venue/Roadside Bar.
● Rad Kickboxing (’88-93) Kickboxing. The rad new sport!
● TKD XPress (’88-96) Tae Kwon Do.
Stages
Bars, Good River High School, Hit Radio Station, Motels, New Hope
Concert Hall, Nightclubs, The Old Airfield, and:
● The Beat Town River Dam (’00-78)

● Ballroom of the Desperado Hotel (’12-44)
● Back-Alley Anger Monastery (’33-79) A stretch of alleyway behind a
series of bars that gained a reputation as a fight place.
● Club 9 Gentleman’s Club (’51-88)
● Castle Arcade (’70-96)
● The New Wave Enclave (’76-92) A techno-beat bar and hangout spot
with a back room almost as large, where organised fights take place.
● Streets of Fire Dance Club (’84-97)
PAGE 243
C-COM
The Industrial District
S
team rises from the rainbow oil slicks lining
the roads. Factories roar against each other,
spewing smoke into the air and bile into the
Red River, so named for the pollution. Hardly
anyone lives here in the C-Com Industrial District. Its
workforce comes from the nearby slums, the Battery,
that powers the city. C-Com is the factory town, where
you are owned by the company.
PAGE 244
DISTRICTS
Makeup
● Communities: Mostly corporate-created transposed South Amer-
ican Latin communities, but others, too.
● Power: The power is in the C-Com Corporation’s hands, entirely.
Schools
Few Martial Arts schools have seated themselves in the C-Com Indus-
trial District. Some of them are:
● Stick Escrima (’20-89) Escrima.

● Sinister Ball & Chain (’21-77) Historical European martial arts
(HEMA) and other ancient European weapon traditions.
● Sanctuary Gym (’40-70) Drunken Fist.
● C-Com Athletics Association (’62-99) Kickboxing.
Stages
Construction Sites, Factories, Industrial Park, New Power Plant, Public Util-
ities Commission, Undeveloped Land, Warehouse Developments, and:
● Pi Quan Tower (’60-99) The seat of power for C-Com Industries, with-
in the Industrial Park, bordering on the Neon Strip’s own towers.
ict
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PAGE 245
CHINATOWN
City within the City
O
ne of the oldest Chinatowns on this side of
the world, the great stone archway greet-
ing tourists and warding off demons is now
faded and chipped. Tacky market stalls
sit in front of every storefront. There’s always more
people here than should be able to fit; some bustling,
some sitting looking idle. Martial arts schools here are
plentiful; some ostentatiously public, while others are
possessively secret. The most violent business hap-
pens in tea shops, go parlours, and restaurants.
PAGE 246
DISTRICTS
Makeup
● Communities: Sometimes violent segregation between Hong Kong
Chinese, Korea Town, and Mainland Chinese folks.
● Power: Various Tongs, and occasionally one Triad or another,
usually the Mountain Sect or Sky Sect.
Schools
Of the many Martial Arts schools in Chinatown, some of them are:
● Bao Martial Sciences Academy (’00-71) Various Nanquan Kung Fu

styles. This is the chief training house of the Chinese Benevolent
Association, and those outside the Tong would not be welcome.
● New Hope City Shaolin Temple (’09-87) Shaolin Boxing and various
animal forms, although this is primarily a spiritual place.
● Go Tea Shop (’03-99) Baguazhang. A neutral place for the Tongs.
● Invisible Dragon Kung Fu (’06-20) Shaolin Boxing.
● Five Masters Martial Arts (’14-37) Five Ancestors.
● Golden Arm Martial Sciences (’22-80) Hong Gar.
● Glorious Hong Kung Fu (’31-58) Hong Fist.
● King Boxer Martial Arts (’37-93) Choy Lay Fut.
● Tiger Claw Silat Harimau (’50-70) Pencak Silat.
● Big Boss Fighting Society (’70-93) Eagle Claw.
● Wooden Men Wing Chun (’74-85) Wing Chun.
Stages
The Market, Restaurants, Shops, and:
● Fan Tan Alley (’00-61, ’73-88) Territory of the Bo Yee Tong.

● Sweet Florist (’00-48) Headquarters of the Under Heaven Society.
● Soko Buddhist Temple (’01-83) “Primordial Temple”, a sanctuary.
● Fu Win’s Curiosity Shop (’02-18) Though a crowded shop it has a
back-room reserved for resolving price disputes and returns with
martial arts. The shop is known to offer deals when hosting a fight.
● Chinese Benevolent Association Community Centre (’03-99) Not-
for-profit assisting new Chinese immigrants to New Hope City.
● Legend Aroma Foods (’08-99) Seat of the Ten Hands Group.
PAGE 247
THE DOCKS
Gateway to the City
E
verything coming to New Hope City goes
through the Docks, a long series of shipping
yards, storage warehouses, and piers as far
as the eye can see. Between them are seedy
bars, empty warehouses, and back-alleys where no
good thing happens. The people here have big dreams
and work hard, thankful for a job not in a factory, and
one that doesn’t care about their past. The subway
ends before it gets here, like it too has forgotten about
this place.
PAGE 248
DISTRICTS
Makeup
● Communities: Many small semi-closed communities: Indian, Irish,
Little Philippines, Malay, Thai Town, and Vietnamese.
● Power: Fairly neutral territory since every group needs access.
Schools
Many Martial Arts schools come and go on the Docks. Some of them are:
● Devil’s Hand Boxing (’00-66) Fisticuffs, and later Boxing.

● Cleef Gym (’00-75) Various forms of Wrestling.
● Quayside Ramblers (’06-25) Street Fighting. A loose collection of
shakedown criminals that prowl the Docks.
● Ye Ar Kung Fu (’12-78) Changquan. A highly traditional school.
● Cirque De Chasseurs (’23-34) Savate. Former circus performers run
an acrobatic savate school out of the Old Amusement Park.
● The Shillelagh Club (’31-49) Bataireacht, an Irish stick fighting art.
● Three Sovereigns Xing Yi Quan (’36-80) Xing Yi.
● Double-Edged Fist (’37-60) Muay Thai. The highest ranking fighters
reportedly dip their roped hands in grease and broken glass.
● Champion Muay Thai (’68-99) Muay Thai. An impoverished gym.
● The Viper’s Pit aka “The Squatter’s Penthouse” (’70-78) Various. A
dilapidated factory warehouse where dark cult of fighters gather.
Stages
Main Pier, Old Pier, Run-down Amusement Park, Shoreline Beach, Water
Treatment Plant, Warehouses, and:
● O’Shay’s Pub (’00-99) Abject bar of dock workers and criminals.

● The Whalesong Barge (’12-29) Where Captain David “Whalesong”
Craven holds wrestling contests on deck.
● The Mermaid (’27-59) A dock-side bar known for its knife fights.
● Pag Pag Diner (’35-70) Four metal poles and a corrugated metal
roof in Little Philippines serving some of the best food in the city.
● The Rusty Anchor (’47-79) A scrappy sailor’s bar of ill-repute.
● The Whiskey Stick Bar (’60-77) O’Shay’s’ rival in the pub wars of ’77.
● The Golden Tide (’53-62) Fight club in smuggler’s tunnels.
● Stalled Construction Site (’71-78) Hosts the fights of the Ice Cold club.
● The Pit (’84-88) Box warehouse location for illegal tournaments.
PAGE 249
THE NEON
STRIP
Downtown
L
ight from neon signs glow everywhere, into
every window. Lines of clubs and shops,
crowded with foot traffic and slow-moving ve-
hicles, Saturday night cruisers in their custom
cars. A lot of people are out, looking for some action.
Large windows look out onto the street showing TVs
with their music videos. A glitzy neon mish-mash of
colour, crowds, and street noises.
PAGE 250
DISTRICTS
Makeup
● Communities: No one cultural group dominates the Neon Strip.
This is where fortunes are won and lost. Few live downtown be-
cause of its high rent, and costly dreams.
● Power: City Hall and local police.
Schools
Many Martial Arts schools have come and gone through the Neon Strip.
Some of them are:
● Old Sluggers Boxing (’00-62) Boxing.

● Neon Lights Wrestling Gym (’00-99) Goju Ryu Karate.
● Ring of Fire Tai Chi (’63-89) Taijiquan (Chen).
● Doxy Street Community Centre (’72-98) Karate (Various).
● Rabbit Kai (’78-95) Hwa Rang Do.
● New Jujutsu Ninja School (’81-93) Japanese Jujutsu.
● Flashdance Kicks (’83-99) Kickboxing.
● B.C Bernard Rogue Assassins Dojo (’91-99) Jeet Kune Do.
Stages
Bars, Bus Depot & Subway Centre, Dept. Stores, Downtown High
School, Hospital, Hotels, Library, Metro Mall, Office Towers, Shops,
Town Hall, Workout Gyms, and:
● The Golden Goose Casino (’19-48) Some say the brightest lights on the
Neon Strip are here. They also say there’s a golden fight ring inside.
● The Museum of Movie Props (’32-69) Tourist attraction, or fight club?
● The Doxy St. Community Centre (’65-99) A place for wayward youth
to find the help they need, and learn discipline through martial arts.
● The Neon Strip Wrestling Arena (’67-99) A location for large sport-
ing events, monopolised by the New Hope City Wrestling League
for its regular, typically sold-out shows. It dominated the wrestling
space in New Hope City until infighting among its members in the
mid ’90s led to splinter groups.
PAGE 251
PARKSIDE
Uptown Wealth
T
his is where the city keeps its face washed.
The buildings are huge, stone, and beauti-
ful. There are parks, playgrounds, and
fountains. Here they hang plaques, put up
statues, and the politicians go make speeches. It’s so
lovely it’s an eyesore. But all you’re likely to ever see is
“Mugger’s Park” in the after-hours, or to be invited to
some rich man’s fight club as the entertainment.
PAGE 252
DISTRICTS
Makeup
● Communities: Wealthy communities of northern European, Middle
Eastern, and mainland Chinese ancestry.
● Power: The City Hall, and local police, and the influence of the
wealthy elite, especially in favour of C-Com Industries.
Schools
The exclusive Martial Arts schools of the Parkside include:
● Walton Health Spa (’09-82) Various.

● Howard D. Irwin University Boxing Gym (’35-62) Boxing. A training
facility for students and some teachers of the martial sciences.
● Duchess Martial Arts (’52-88) Various.
● New Hope Karate (’71-94) Kyokushin Karate.
● Art Kickboxing (’75-99) Kickboxing.
Stages
Estates, Golf Course, Office Buildings, Penthouses, Restaurants, and:
● Gallagher Golf Course (’06-80) A truly violent place.

● City Park (’22-99) A sweet place for a daytime stroll, but after-hours
it is known as Muggers Park, a frequent fighting ground.
● True Pinnacle Hotel (’29-93) Reportedly the finest hotel in the city.
● Howard D. Irwin University (’45-99) Named for the novelist.
● The Windsor Lodge (’55-98) Where the rich rub elbows with some of
the best fighters in New Hope City, while enjoying excessively rar-
efied diversions, and wagering on private gladiatorial contests away
from the prying eyes of the media, the law, and the commoners.
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PAGE 253
THE
RICHMOND
Old Town
Y
ou walk down a street of potholes, where
half the chrome-signed storefronts are
abandoned. Between the subway overpass
and the pollution it’s always kind of a neon
night time, but there’s a lot of pride here in the “Old
Town”. At least some chrome storefronts still shine.
The cars may be old but they’re still polished. Folks
here say this is the real hope of the city, it’s just not so
new anymore.
PAGE 254
DISTRICTS
Makeup
● Communities: Japan Town, Little Italy, and various communities of
derived from New Hope’s earliest British settlement.
● Power: Gangs and organised crime from Little Italy vie with Japan
Town’s old yakuza groups for power in the Richmond, but they
usually keep an uneasy truce.
Schools
As the oldest place in the city, it has some of the oldest schools.
● St. Mary’s Orphanage (’00-76) Boxing. The “Fighting Orphanage”,

where Father Patrick Graves teaches all the children boxing.
● Cauliflower Gym (’00-97) Wrestling. A place of ripped ears.
● Big Trouble Judo (’02-90) Judo.
● Eight Point Gate School (’03-21) Bajiquan.
● Blackeye Boxing (’11-39) Boxing.
● Studio 4 (’21-84) Dance fighting.
● Bearfighter Karate (’45-75) Kyokushin Karate.
● Octagon Tang Soo Do (’52-80) Tang Soo Do.
● Flaming Hand Hapkido (’72-83) Hapkido.
● World Class Martial Arts (’84-94) Karate.
Stages
Diners, Drive-in Movie Theatre, Mechanic Shops, Motels, Pool Halls,
Shopping District, Strikeout Bowling Alley, the Waterfront, and:
● Reeva’s Diner (’40-93) Frequent haunt of hungry fighters.

● Ruffalo’s Buffalo Chicken (’67-97) Little Italy culinary institution
and sometime staple of the Martial World, Mama Ruffalo would of-
fer two-for-one specials on the nights when her sons were throwing
down behind the restaurant.
● Metro-Megaplex-Action-Cinemaplex (’77-90) As an attempt to
restore the Richmond to its former glory, the MMAC was a multi-
screen cinema and shopping mall complex too ambitious for its
time, never properly opened, and used as fighting grounds instead.
PAGE 255
READ ISLAND
The Forbidden Land
A
rocky and desolate forest island whose cliffs make it in-
accessible for commercial use. No one lives here...or, no one
is supposed to live on what some call “Fighter’s Island”.
Makeup
● Communities: None. Although some are rumoured to train here.
● Power: The New Hope City Conservation Authority technically has
jurisdiction here since the Western Duck-billed Read Cormorant is a
protected species that lives only on Read Island.
Schools
Strange lone hermits have sometimes trained here, but there have been
very few schools to survive this rugged terrain. One of them is:
● Tiger Pounce (’12-26) Tiger Claw (Fu Jow Pai). A survivalist school.
Stages
● The Refugee Forge (’37-45) A secret place, a staging ground to
avoid the normal ports of immigration into New Hope City.
● NHC Conservation Area (’48-99) A shack only manned in the spring.
PAGE 256
DISTRICTS
WOODSIDE
Beyond the City
O
utside of New Hope City is mostly forest, farmland, and long
stretches of rural areas bordering highways aiming to get you
on to the next, less violent city. The two main roads exiting
New Hope City on either side are Turbo Street and Phoenix
Street, and around them as they turn into roads, is where most of Wood-
side populates. Mostly it’s a place where folks go to hide from the city.
Makeup
● Communities: Rural folk of various backgrounds.
● Power: No central authority in the Martial World.
Schools
With only a few Martial Arts schools to be found in Woodside, some are:
● Giizis Okichitaw (’00-44) Okichitaw.

● Jun MMA Gym (’93-97) MMA.
Stages
The peaceful Woodside is filled with Farmland, Highway Attractions,
Subdivisions, Motels, and:
● The Wooden Nickel Tavern (’00-50) An ill-lit roadside tavern on the

road into town. A tough place where they could easily bury a body.
● Military Motor Pool (’37-56) A leftover outpost, lost in the shuffle.
● Cross-roads Truck Stop (’53-99)
● Jun Bed & Breakfast (’80-99) A pleasant roadside B&B...with a MMA
gym in the back. A sign of the city beyond?
PAGE 257
REFEREE
THE STREETS
F
eel the heavy swing of his arm missing your
head. You survived another move. The fight
is never fair—it’s angry bodies smashing
together—but what really makes the differ-
ence is will. Who can remember their pain on com-
mand? Bigger men fall into uncertainty. The stumbling
pipsqueak stands tall. It’s all a measure of who hurts
more. You out-box your past every time. Make no
mistake, the hurt in your heart is what you fight. Left—
the bullies growing up. Right—the father who never
wanted you. There are no peaceful fists. All fists are
fists of an angry past.
PAGE 258
Above: Karateka Sosui Ichikawa.
Below: Boxer Ángel Tejeiro.
PHASES OF
PLAY
The invincible seasons pass
through a fighter’s life, leaving
old muscles weak.
T
he game-running side of Fight to Survive
looks very different than the player side. As
the GM you’ll have to keep in mind that play
is relegated to set sequential Phases, and
keep the players on track in their order. They are:
1. We Have a Situation: Where the Year is set up

and action is propelled into the next Phase.
2. Segments: Where the bulk of play occurs, swap-
ping between five different segments as necessary.
3. End of Year: A summary of the experiences of
each PC for the remainder of the Year.
Once these Phases are exhausted, the in-game Year is

over. The cycle can then repeat for the next Year.
A typical play session of Fight to Survive—assuming

about four hours of play time—will see the in-game
calendar advance one to three Years. This is highly
variable, of course. Sometimes play can get stuck on a
particular Year for a session or more, and other times
whole Years are skipped.
PAGE 260
PHASES OF PLAY
1. We Have a Situation
1. ABSENT: Players who missed games, or otherwise if their PC sat out:
- Narrate what happened to their PC during that time. Based on this,
gain +1 to a Technique or Comfort per Year absent.
- Sometimes the GM will elect to skip a Year, in which case treat it as
a Year absent for everyone; players explain what their PCs did and
adjust their Techniques or Comforts accordingly.
2. AGE: Destroy checkboxes for Health or Hardship starting at age 30

with 1 checkbox. Every 10 years destroy 3, 5, 8, then 12 in total.
- Erase all 1st box checkmarks in Health, leaving 2nd and 3rd boxes filled.
- The GM gains +1 Hard Knocks, because the Years grow harder.
3. UNDER THREAT: GM narrates the year-to-date, establishes what sea-

son and sometimes time of day the PCs will begin play this Year.
- At a Place a PC gets news that one of their Comforts is Under Threat.
- When a Comfort is put Under Threat with a value of 0, treat as 1.
- Any PC with that Comfort gets half of its value in Hardship, rounded up.
- That Comfort has a Rift until the situation is resolved.
- Throughout the Year each PCs may have their own Comfort Under
Threat, but not usually more than one each Year.
A. Victory: The point at which rescuing the Comfort was successful:
- For any PC who has that Comfort and participated in resolving the
situation, the Rift is mended and they gain +1 to that Comfort.
- For any PC who has that Comfort but did not participate in resolv-
ing the situation, the Rift maintains and the Comfort stays as it is.
- For any PC who did not have that Comfort, they gain nothing.
B. Defeat: If a situation where a Comfort was Under Threat ends in
failure, or can be reasonably interpreted as a loss by the GM, then:
A. The Comfort is either reduced by 1 and +1 Hardship is inflicted
on any PC who has that Comfort, or,
B. If the Comfort is considered destroyed, then the remaining value
of the Comfort is inflicted on the PC who had it in Hardship, and its
total amount is also added to Revenge.
- This difference is determined by play circumstance.
- If a Comfort is destroyed the GM must pay for it in Hard Knocks.
PAGE 261
2. Segments
Once the first Comfort of the Year is put Under Threat, play is directed
into one of five segments: Bond, Fight, Rest, Train, or Travel. The bulk
of the play experience in Fight to Survive is to swap between various
segments (in no particular order, just as they arise) until all situations
Under Threat are satisfied (that is to say, victory or defeat conditions
are met for each) and the Year ends.
- Different PCs can undertake different segments simultaneously.
- All segments happen and last the same length of time as each other.
The longest segment sets the pace for the rest.
- No segment can happen twice in a row for the same PC(s).
- Note that segments are important to track the condition of Dying.
Bond
When the PCs talk, scheme, and share time together. This is the default
segment governed by free-style role-playing.
Fight
When a fight is going on PCs have the following options:
A. FIGHT: To participate in the fight, unless K.O.’d.

- The rules governing a fight are extensively covered in the Moves
Versus Moves section starting on page 92.
- Note that Dying is not an impediment to participating in a fight the
way that being Knocked Out is. For Dying see page 121.
B. SIT OUT: When a fight is going on, unless K.O.’d, or Dying, each PC
can do one of the following:
A. Call Out: Spend any number of Points from your Revenge pool to
add to the Technique or Force of an ally participating in a fight.
B. Study: Any witness to a relevant fight gains +1 Training Point.
C. Tend or Treat: Tending to a K.O.’d PC revives them, and Tending
to a Dying PC keeps them alive for one more segment.
- Treat a Dying PC only if your medical Comfort is equal to or greater
than the number of filled Health checkboxes of the Dying PC.
C. OTHERWISE OCCUPIED: PCs taken out of the fight by circumstance

gain +1 Revenge, just from the anger of it.
PAGE 262
PHASES
PHASES OF
OF PLAY
PLAY
The Hong Kong Bus, 1946. WWII expanded the landscape of martial arts in New
Hope City but also left a scar of trauma across its fighters. Edmund Pie (39), better
known as “Pale Ghost” from his popular wartime propaganda posters, lost his peer
group in the war: Ollie, Scrappy, Eye-Patch, and Squirrels. They were once street
thieves together in the ’30s. Post-war, alone, Pie reformed and became a doctor like
his father. Unfortunately, Pale Ghost couldn’t quite quit the violent lifestyle, and
worked as a “cutter” for fighters, stitching their ringside wounds, until he died in
’57 in a suspicious altercation with local police. No report was filed.
Rest
At any time that there is no immediate danger, a PC may choose to
Heal, which means to erase all checkmarks in the 1st checkboxes of
each bracket of Health.

- If time is an issue, each checkbox takes one hour to Heal, and the
player may choose the order in which they are erased.
- If a PC is Dying but has been Tended in the segment before this,
then the Rest segment is treated as respite. The PC will die at the end
of the next segment instead. For more on Dying, see page 121.
- If the PC has no checkmarks in the 1st checkboxes in Health to Heal,
even if they have only checkboxes in the 2nd or 3rd boxes, then this
segment is a waste of their time.
PAGE 263
Train
At any time that there is no immediate danger and sufficient space,
time, and quiet, the PCs may use their Training Routines to improve
their fighting skills.
- Each PC participating applies Training Point(s) to Move(s).
- Each Training Point spent increase a Move’s Technique by 1.
- Every Training Point spent is repeated in Hardship.
- If time is an issue, each Point takes one day to become a Technique.
Bonus to Training: Each PC has a bonus to Train a Move or a few Moves

given to them by their Build, Martial Art, Teacher, Stage, or all of these.
- This bonus applies only to the Technique of a Move after the first
Point is spent, and only once per Training segment per Move.
- Adding up the columns in each row of the Training Regime chart
determines the bonus for that Move.
- Contributing to this total bonus is the following:
● Build: One Move that a fighter is able to Train more in, given the
structure of their body. This is determined at character creation.
● Martial Art: You are given a Move that you can add to your Train-
ing Regime if you have a Martial Art.
● Teacher: If your PC has a Teacher for the Martial Arts then they
are given a Move to add to their Training Regime.
- You can add to the Training bonus of your Training Regime in this
column by increasing your Comfort for your Teacher. So, the more
your Teacher likes you, the more and different things they teach you.
● Stage: If your PC has identified a Stage on their Comfort’s Places
then they are given a Move to add to their Training Regime.
- You can add to the Training bonus’ of your Training Regime in
this column by increasing your Comfort for your Stage. The more
you know a Place, better you are able to take advantage of it.
If a Move is not part of your PC’s Training Regime, you can still improve
it without a bonus to the first Point spent, just at a rate of 1 Training
Point for +1 Technique each.
PAGE 264
PHASES OF PLAY
Build Move Explanation
Small Footwork Agile from low weight
Thin Kick or Footwork -
Medium Grapple, Punch, or Kick Versatile structure
Tall / Muscular Grapple or Block -
Huge Block Leveraging weight
Martial Art Move Explanation
Boxing Punch Repetition, bag-work, and ring drills.
Karate Block Study, kata, and stance training.
Kickboxing Kick Drills, target striking, and sparring.
Kung Fu Footwork Gymnastics, floor-walking, and forms.
Wrestling Grapple Study, ring drills, and practice routines.
Circumstance: To make use of the bonus on a Training Regime the

circumstances must be appropriate in-game.
● If your Teacher is away on vacation, you can get no bonus from

your Teacher correcting you and revealing new lessons.
● If your PC is not currently at their Stage, they cannot benefit from
their Stage, and the things used there to enhance training.
Visiting a Stage: Sometimes your PC will visit a Stage belonging to

an ally, or visit where circumstances are conducive to a good Training
opportunity. When they do, they can make use of the Visiting Move of
that location determined by the GM. See page 230.
Training to Defeat a Foe: For 1 Hardship, a PC may also spend 1

Training Point to learn the weakness of a Special Move they witnessed
earlier in the Year—specifically the Move that it will backfire against.
Such a study takes up a whole Training segment.
PAGE 265
Travel
PC(s) may travel from one District to another within New Hope City
within one Travel segment. In doing so they may:
A. Visit one Person, to learn one piece of Info from them, acquire a
Thing from them, or fight them.
B. Visit one Place and gain some Info from there.
C. Go in search of and acquire a Thing.
- Success is not granted. Travelling usually involves meeting a Challenge.
er
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PAGE 266
PHASES OF PLAY
3. End of Year
The Year ends once the PCs have faced the situations of the Comforts
being Under Threat and the threats, and situations arising from them,
are reasonably resolved. Then, each PC may pick one way to spend the
remainder of the Year:
A. AFFIRMATION OF LIFE: The rest of the Year is spent focusing on life

and strengthening relationships. The PC does the following, in order:
1. Heal all filled 2nd checkboxes in Health or a single 3rd checkbox.
(This is the only way to Heal those checkboxes.)
2. Mend a Rift while with a Comfort. This is a Hardship Event.
3. Increase a Comfort by +1 or add a new Comfort at a value of 1.
This is also treated as a Hardship Event by the player who relates
how this relationship was deepened or formed.
B. EXTENDED TRAINING: The rest of the Year is spent focusing on Martial

Arts. The PC undertakes a normal Training segment, but in addition can
develop their own Special Move. See page 224 for rules on how.
C. RELIEF FROM HARDSHIP: The rest of the Year is spent trying to

recover from the stress of the Year, or the accumulated trauma of Years.
This happens in two parts. In order:
1. Hard Times: Enact a Hardship Event based on the highest
checkbox in Hardship. The player answers for their PC how that
level of Hardship makes them act, according to their character.
2. Seek Comfort: Then, employ a Comfort to relieve Hardship. The
player enacts a Hardship Event given how the Comfort is used,
illustrating how their PC would go about using it to feel better.
Keep in mind that some checkboxes are costlier than others.
- First checkboxes of Hardship cost 1 to remove.
- Second checkboxes of Hardship cost 2 to remove.
- Third checkboxes of Hardship cost 3 to remove.
A. Comforts used from memory and otherwise inaccessible offer only
1/2 relief of Hardship, rounded up.
B. Using multiple Comforts causes a Rift for all used.
PAGE 267
GENERAL
PLAY
RULES
Live by the rules, die by the rules.
That’s a fighter’s life—the rule is
survival.
C
ompared with many other table-top
role-playing games the duties of a Fight to
Survive GM are light. The events of the game
are largely player-driven. The GM begins
a Year by setting the season and putting a Comfort
Under Threat. The rest is up to the players. They may
resolve the situation, or they may not. They may even
solve it without violence, although those are excep-
tional Years. The GM follows along with the Phases
of Play, and otherwise their obligation is primarily to
act as NPCs, sometimes opponents, and occasionally
to throw a Stage Danger at the PCs. The GM gets to
decide when the situations in play have reached their
conclusion—whatever form that takes—and begin the
End of Year Phase.
PAGE 268
GENERAL RULES
Conflict Funnel
The mechanical backbone governing conflict resolution in this game is
the Conflict Funnel.
VERSUS
1. Role-play: Govern situ-
R
K sor
G
G
es K
ations by agreement as
B gres
po
P
P
necessary.
 
nd
g
er
A
2. By the Numbers: Players  
B
propose their PCs’ actions    
F
with a Technique, Vir-  
tue, Comfort, or Special  
Training number the GM  
compares to the resolution
steps of Challenges.
3. Moves
CHALLENGES
Versus
Moves: 1 Easy for a marital artist to do
For im-
mediate
hand-to- 5 Expert, Strong or First-rate stunts
hand and
Weapon
violence. 12 Master feats of amazement and the fantastic
TECHNIQUE & VIRTUE RESOLUTION

M.A. Grapple Punch Kick Block Footwork
Distance Close Near Far Stopped Avoided
Virtue Strength Heart Flash Scheme Evade
Criminal Steal Stake Out Distract Deceive Sneak
Physical Catch, Pass, Jump, Endure, Acrobatics,

Climb, Grip Throw Swim, Fasting Balance,
Short Throw Far Run
Social Discretion Courage Show Off Rebuke Dance
PAGE 269
Reminders
When running a game of Fight to Survive keep in mind these key points.
Some of this is discussed elsewhere in the text in more detail, but most
points are here for emphasis because listing rules rarely tells you what
is practical information when running a game.
● GM Sets the Pace: If nothing is happening, move on. If the PCs will
not resolve the situation, it fails. Let the players direct play, but
the call of when a situation has been resolved and a Comfort is no
longer Under Threat is ultimately the GM’s. Some Years very little
will happen, and that’s okay. Keep the game moving through the
Years and the players will get a sense of the passage of time.
● Hardship is Common: Any trauma the PCs witness or reasonably
experience expresses itself in Hardship. When such a situation oc-
curs, inflict +1 Hardship to all applicable PCs. Be liberal with this.
● Make Use of Rifts: If the PCs are using their Comforts in By the
Numbers resolution in a way that you think is too much of a
stretch, warn them it will inflict a Rift on the Comfort. This is com-
mon if a PC is trying to bribe their way out of a problem using the
Job/Means of their Things, but it happens in many circumstances.
● Dramatic Threats: Don’t put all Comforts you have planned to be
Under Threat that Year in danger all at once. Pace them throughout
the Year as dramatically (or melodramatically) appropriate.
● Shift the Spotlight: Some Years one PC or another is not going to
do much. Just make a Comforts of theirs the focus of next Year.
● PvP: If PCs want to fight amongst themselves, fine. The same rules
apply. It’s usually counter-productive for them.
● PCs are Never Well: Players will want to be able to “clear” their
Health and Hardship at the end of each Year. However, that will
almost never happen, especially after the first few Years of play. The
End of Year should always be about hard choices. Some players
find this intensely frustrating, and that’s okay. That means they’re
in a good head-space for their character.
These aspects are not secrets from the other players per se, but players
of Fight to Survive may find the most enjoyment not knowing details.
PAGE 270
Hard Knocks
The GM’s power to do terrible things to PCs is rationed according to an
in-game meta-currency called Hard Knocks. Fight to Survive has harsh
themes, but the relationship between GM and players is not adversarial.
To balance these seeming contradictions the GM is given a pool of Hard
Knocks to spend to send adversity against their players.
● When the GM spends Hard Knocks terrible things happen in the

game that are outside of its normal conflict resolution structure
but still impact play mechanically.
● This could include a Comfort of a PC being killed or destroyed, a
vital object being lost or forgotten, or the PCs being ambushed by
superior forces, and so on.
● Rather than the GM arbitrarily deciding this is the next thing to
happen, even if the tragic circumstance is perfectly logical within
in-game events, the GM will need to pay for it to happen from
their pool of Hard Knocks.
This is in some ways a limiter on GM power, but more so it’s a guide to

the action, and can help make hard GM choices much easier.
“Hire a bodyguard or
choose a less aggressive
lifestyle!”
— Joe “Screaming Bird” Zhang,
famed Tong Boss of the Ten
Hands Group, 1978
Hard Knocks are in som

e ways the answer to
Diceless table-top role-p dice in Fight to Surviv
laying games typically e.
level of trust between require an elevated
the GM and the other
similar games with dic pla yers, compared with
e, because they lean mo
of consequence. Dice re on the GM’s fair sen
(“I, the GM, didn’t ma act as a fun prop, a layer of plausi se
ke the decision that you ble deniability
and by their nature hel r character should die
p arbitrate conflict bet , the dice did”)
up to fate” (however apo ween the GM and player
cryphal that may be). s by “leaving it
Dice are not, however,
suitable to all kinds of
ous reasons. Die result table-top role-playing
s have a seemingly arb games, for vari-
more concerned with itrary “swing”, and Fig
consequences that foll ht to Survive is
ow circumstances.
PAGE 272
GENERAL RULES
For example, not every martial artist is going to die in a glorious fight.
Most of them are going to pass away from perfectly mundane circum-
stances, like sickness. In 1956 when kung fu master Master Bao was 93
years old, having passed on his style to many of New Hope City’s kung
fu experts for more than 50 years, the GM rules it makes sense that this
Year he should pass on. Master Bao is generally well-loved, has many
loyal students, and has outlived all his enemies, so the GM rules that he
will die of natural causes—in this case a bad heart. It is sad, it makes
sense at his age, but it also has a big mechanical impact on whatever
PCs have invested Points in Master Bao as a Person, especially if he is
their Teacher. Everyone dies; even a Martial Arts master can’t live forever,
but without losing a fight and having the Comfort destroyed, how do
we, in a mechanically relevant way, exit the beloved Master Bao? The
GM spends Hard Knocks to “pay” for the mechanical implications of his
death. Obviously, the GM will also structure some kind of relevant send-
off, like one last Year putting the Comfort of Master Bao Under Threat by
asking a favour, a dying wish, to see his legacy continue on by planting a
tree in his honour on Read Island, a difficult place to get to and guarded
by a violent karate hermit. Such a send-off warns the players that their
PCs are in for a huge hit of Hardship when old Master Bao dies, and they
can plan accordingly, just as we all prepare for grief when life sometimes
gives us the opportunity.
What Hard Knocks Do

● Let the players know that the harsh decisions against them are
reasoned and rationed and not arbitrarily damning.
● Act to guide the actions of the GM, to give them a good and fair
sense of when to have things turn for the worse for the PCs, to
measure the tempo of those sad decisions, and help maintain the
tone and themes of Fight to Survive.
● Balance the difficulty of play with PC capability under the Over
and Above rule.
PAGE 273
Gain Hard Knocks
The GM gains Hard Knocks in the following ways:
1. Over and Above: During conflict resolution By the Numbers, the

GM earns Hard Knocks when a PC succeeds at a task above what
Challenge was necessary to accomplish their stated goal. The PCs
are effectively raising their own difficulty by doing this. For more on
Over and Above see page 73.
2. Hard Times: At the beginning of each Year the GM adds +1 to their
tally of Hard Knocks. (The longer the group plays, the more likely
something really bad will happen.)
3. Carry Over: Any Hard Knocks unspent from one Year carry over to
the next.
OVER AND ABOVE

1 Easy No Hard Knocks are gained by barely accom-
plishing something.
3 Skilled or +1 Hard Knocks if there is only 1 tier differ-

Tough ence.
5 Expert, Strong +3 Hard Knocks if they perform 2 tiers be-

or First-rate yond what was necessary.
8 Champion +5 Hard Knocks if it was 3 tiers needlessly

better.
12 Master +8 Hard Knocks if it was 4 tiers overkill—for

example, a Master doing something Easy—
which is as high as it goes.
Player Uncertainty
The players should not know exactly how many Hard Knocks the GM has
at a given time, although they are free to guess. They’ll know if their PCs
are performing well enough that the number will be climbing sharply,
and the mystery of that rising tension is useful for a game atmosphere.
PAGE 274
GENERAL RULES
Spend Hard Knocks

With all that is above in mind, a tremendous amount of trust is still
engendered in the GM under these rules. At any time that it is sensible
to do so as a consequence of play, the GM can spent Hard Knocks from
their pool to make any of the following happen:
SPEND HARD KNOCKS

Cause a Some Comforts will be made inaccessible by the natural
Rift consequence of play. Beyond happenstance, the GM can
spend 1 Hard Knock to cause a Rift for a Comfort of any
value. There must be a good reason for this Rift. If the
Comfort falls under multiple PCs then pay 1 Hard Knock
for each.
Destroy a When it is logical in the course of events for a Comfort to

Comfort be destroyed outside of the Under Threat structure, the
GM must pay for the Comfort’s value in Hard Knocks. If
the Comfort is used by multiple PCs, the GM must pay
the sum of all entries in Hard Knocks.
Get in This is inflicting a Trouble on a PC. Although circum-

Trouble stances can put PCs in an unfavourable position regard-
less, it is important to “pay” for those circumstances
with Hard Knocks when they influence a fight mechanic-
ally. See Troubles on the next page.
Examples: Ambushed, Blinded, Burdened, Downed, Dizzy,
Cornered, No Room, Restrained, Sprained, Swimming.
Throw a A circumstances for a PC worsens with a Setback.

Setback Examples: Dropped what you were holding, lost some-
thing from your pocket, disarmed, out of ammo, the
device does not work, or your improvised weapon is
destroyed.
The exception to this, when no Hard Knocks are required to enact tra-
gedy in-game, is as the result of a fight, the consequences of which are
narrowly defined in the Rights of Victory on page 108.
PAGE 275
Troubles
This represents any circumstance where in combat a PC is “In Trouble”.
An opponent gains a combat advantage of +1 Moves over the PC(s).
The GM informs players when there is a Trouble in the circumstance, or
multiple Troubles. If it seems unfair, see Life is Unfair on page 88.
EXAMPLE TROUBLES
Ambushed A trap, assassination, surprise strike, or snipe.
Blinded Deprivation of the senses, perhaps from being in

darkness, or because someone threw dirt or powder
in the PC’s eyes to deprive them of their senses.
Cornered A circumstance where modes of egress are cut off, like

running into a back-alley and finding a dead-end.
Crowded In situations of extreme close-quarters such as trying

to fight in an occupied elevator.
Dizzy Blunt force trauma, especially to the head; surprise;

being caught off-balance, or being caught unawares
or at a disadvantage, such as when sleeping or hold-
ing something delicate before it can be tossed away.
Downed When on the ground fighting a standing opponent,

when falling, when fighting from seated, or while swim-
ming, or at some other environmental disadvantage.
This is often the result of being tripped or thrown.
First Swing The “sucker punch” operates the same as a Trouble

but it happens before the exchange of blows. For
rules on The First Swing see page 94.
Throw a Anything that restricts movement, such as being

Setback restrained by a person, or by ropes, or just being
cornered, or trapped. This is often the result of being
grappled in a way that will not illicit damage, or being
trapped by environmental circumstance.
PAGE 276
GENERAL RULES
These circumstances could stack. You could be ambushed and cornered

and blinded all at once, giving the opponent three extra Moves for an
Exchange of Blows, for example.
Resolving a Trouble
Troubles fade after a single Round of combat, presumably because your
PC has learned to compensate for the situation. To have the Trouble
maintain, the GM must pay Hard Knocks for every Round.
Setbacks
When a fighter is forced to lose something as a consequence of game-
play then it is called a Setback. Setbacks maintain until intentionally
resolved by PC action.
Types of Setbacks
Example Setbacks that can be inflicted by the GM include:
● Disarmed or Out of Ammo: These are common for PCs that carry a
Weapon, but even more commonly inflicted on their opponents.
Fix: A PC can only replenish ammo in one of two ways: if defeated
enemies have guns as well, ammo can be replenished on a Break
in a Fight segment. Otherwise, they must wait until a Rest Phase
and have it take place where ammunition would be accessible,
like downtown along the Neon Strip of New Hope City.
● Lost: If there is reason to believe the PCs could get lost in unfamiliar
territory this can be reasonable.
Fix: Once lost, PCs can find their way by entering into a Rest Phase.
● Rift to a Comfort: For instance, if a NPC that is listed as a Comfort
goes on vacation and is then inaccessible.
Fix: The NPC themselves may resolve the Rift. Otherwise, a Rift is
only mended during Affirmation of Life at the End of Year Phase.
Rejecting a Setback
In some borderline cases of a Setback at PC can negate the circum-
stance by inflicting +1 Hardship on themselves instead. If this is not pos-
sible, and the Setback is still going to happen, the PC gains +1 Revenge.
PAGE 277
Stage Dangers
A variety of perilous situations can befall a martial artist beyond fights
themselves, and most of these are considered Stage Dangers. A Stage
Danger is defined as whatever is dangerous about a location in-game
that can be reduced down to a single Move to represent an event
with the potential to harm PCs. Whether it’s a flash flood, a carefully
considered trap, or wide-spread hallucinogenic vapours, whenever a
dangerous situation is attacking the PCs it is a Stage Danger.
Strange Moves
Any Stage Danger is represented by one of the five Moves: Grapple,
Punch, Kick, Block, or Footwork. The Move roughly reflects the nature
of the situation, encapsulated as something the PCs can face directly
with a Move choice of their own. The relationship between Moves acts
the same as the Moves Versus Moves structure, but with only a single
Move compared for each side.
The chart on the opposing page represents many common situations

reduced to the Move that best fits their circumstance, both in the atti-
tude of the Move and in terms of how that Move is defeated by other
Moves. This methodology, of reducing events down to a single-Move
comparison, can be applied more broadly.
For example, Mariana “Peaches” Lee Ray walks out of her aerobics class
and onto the sidewalk, when suddenly a car mounts the curb and is set
to run over her. Because cars are much faster than Martial Arts, on the
whole, the GM says that the car is “speeding recklessly towards Mariana,
steering wildly.” This best fits a Kick, and the GM has written this down be-
forehand (so as not to change their mind on the fly). This is not a precise
or meditated attack—which would better fit a Grapple or a Punch—but
the result of a drunk driver’s ignorant lead foot. The response that will
automatically trump this Kick is, of course, Footwork—jumping out of the
way. If Mariana’s player chooses a Bad Move instead (like a Punch) then
Mariana “Peaches” Lee Ray will immediately be Hit by the car.
PAGE 278
GENERAL RULES
“Next time, get out of the

bar when I ask nicely.”
— Big Mar O’Rourke, whose main
weapon was the bar itself, 1953
EXAMPLE STAGE DANGERS

Move Explanation Examples
Grapple Events that happen up-close Asphyxiation

and there’s no real time to Buried underground
respond. These are situations Car crash
that struggling would worsen. Drowning
Quicksand
Rock-slide
Strangulation
Punch Situations where a creative Deluge of water

and gutsy application will be Large thrown object
necessary. Wall falling
Kick Events that originate away from Falling ceiling beams

you, and you may have time to Laser grid
react to them. Land mines
Run down by a car
Small thrown objects
Trap floor
Block Situations that demand still- Bear trap

ness, delay, and thoughtfulness Net
over rash action. Snare
Trip-wire
Footwork Situations where very little can Explosion

be done, except apply a bit of Fire, small or big
luck and well-trained skill. Grenade lands near
Splash of acid
PAGE 279
Turn Order
The Turn Order of Stage Dangers is set, with a Stage
Danger either having its turn before or after the Build
track, depending on the situation.
● If the Stage Danger is a surprise, especially

fast, or its implications unknown, then it will
go second in the exchange of Moves, after the
players have already committed to their Moves.
● If the Stage Danger is telegraphed, can be
anticipated, is forewarned, or in some way
prepared for in-game, then it will go first in the
exchange of Moves, with its Move known before
players respond with their own.
For more on Turn Order see page 66.
To continue the above example, the GM knows the car

is careening towards Mariana “Peaches” Lee Ray but
Mariana has no knowledge of the danger. Since it’s a
surprise, the GM tells the player: “You hear the screech
of tires behind you and a revving engine, the wheels
are squealing wildly. You turn and look, and see a car
coming towards you, fast.” The GM asks the player
what Move they would like to use to respond to the
situation, and the player does not know what Move is
representing the car, although they could guess based
on the description.
On the other hand, let’s say Mariana got a hot tip that
a mobster was waiting for her to exit her aerobics class
to run her down in a car. The car attack would be a
Punch (a considered, aimed attack) and Mariana’s
player would know it was a Punch, choosing their own
Move accordingly.
PAGE 280
GENERAL RULES
Resolution Responsibility
A Stage Danger may be resolved by a single PC cham-
pion on behalf of all the PCs, separately by each PC,
or by a combination of responsibilities. This is usually
dictated by the nature of the situation and determined
by the GM, but the players’ plans affect this tremen-
dously.
For example, while out on Uppercut Bay the fancy

yacht that Howard D. Irwin and Lord Pepperpash
are on begins to sink. The GM planned that each PC
should face the Stage Danger of drowning separately,
but Lord Pepperpash—famous boxer that he is—has
no Technique in Kick, and so is a poor swimmer. He
is likely to drown. Howard D. Irwin does have some
Kick, even though he is also a boxer, and expects he
will be able to reach Read Island, the closest land,
safely. However, he is concerned for Lord Pepperpash’s
fate—even though it was Pepperpash himself that
sank his own yacht, in his rage at the stock-market
crash of ’29. Howard’s player decides he will test his
Technique against the Challenge of the Stage Danger
on behalf of both characters (simply making it a higher
Challenge). Howard swims over to Pepperpash to
keep him afloat and kicks furiously to bring them both
to shore. Lord Pepperpash will only need to face the
Stage Danger if Howard D. Irwin fails, because Howard
is championing the task. Whatta guy.
For more on resolution responsibility see page 64.
PAGE 281
EXAMPLE
CHARACTERS
Dreams can’t fight by themselves.
They need your fists swinging.
P
Cs and their adventures are especially inter-
twined in Fight to Survive, because of the
Comforts that define each character, how
they relate to each other, and what happens
when the GM decides to put one Under Threat.
In this chapter are five PCs ready to immediately join

the fight. Matching these characters against each
other and seeing their differences will prepare you for
the coming violence and wonder of Fight to Survive.
PAGE 282
CHARACTERS
Age Dress
q Up to 18 q Cultural Attire D.O.B 1954 R.I.P
q 20s q Fancy Dress Gender Female
q 30s (-1 c.box) q M.A. Uniform Heritage Ukranian-Irish
q 40s (-3 c.box) q Professional Wear District The Neon Strip (Downtown)
q 50s (-5 c.box) q Street Clothes M. A. Karate

Jean Jacket
MOVES
GRAPPLE PUNCH KICK BLOCK FOOTWORK
Technique Technique Technique Technique Technique
Force Force Force

n
q qq n
q qq n
q qq
STRENGTH HEART FLASH SCHEME EVADE
CHALLENGES VERSUS TRAINING

1 Easy task for a martial artist to do Build M. A. Stage Teacher Total+
G
Re
r
3
G
G
+
so
Skilled or Tough challenge

sp
es
5 P
P
P
on
Expert, Strong, or First-Rate stunts

  +
gr
de
Ag

  K
r
+
B

    B +
F
Special Moves Base Beats Backf   F +

  W

 

Revenge Training q Choice Study q Force Training q Meditation

HEALTH q q q q q q
.
K.O q q q
ing
Dy q q q
COMFORTS
PERSON PLACE THING
Name Relationship Name Relationship Name Relationship
q Kids at Youth Centre Students q Doxy St. Youth Centre Stage q Bodyguard Job/Means
q q Reeva’s Diner Hangout q Booze Addiction
q q q

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
PAGE 283
Age Dress
D.O.B
D.O.B 1946 R.I.P
R.I.P q Up to 18 q Cultural Attire
Gender
Gender Male q 20s q Fancy Dress
Heritage
Heritage West African q 30s (-1 c.box) q M.A. Uniform
District
District Parkside (Uptown) q 40s (-3 c.box) q Professional Wear
M.M.
A. A. Boxing q 50s (-5 c.box) q Street Clothes

Fat Belly
MOVES
Force Force Force

n
q qq n
q qq n
q qq

G
Re
r
3
G
G
+
so

sp
es
5 P
P
P
on

  +
gr
de
Ag

  K
r
+
B

    B +
F

  W

 


HEALTH q q q q q q
.
K.O q q q
ing
Dy q q q
COMFORTS
PERSON PLACE THING
q Mathamatics Pupils Students q Howrd D. Irwin U. Stage q Professor of Math Job/Means
q q Doxy St. Youth Centre Volunt. q Paperback Novel Prized
q q q

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
PAGE 284
CHARACTERS
Age Dress
q Up to 18 q Cultural Attire D.O.B
D.O.B 1967 R.I.P
R.I.P
q 20s q Fancy Dress Gender
Gender Female
q 30s (-1 c.box) q M.A. Uniform Heritage
Heritage Chinese
q 40s (-3 c.box) q Professional Wear District
District C-Com Industrial District
q 50s (-5 c.box) q Street Clothes M.
M. A.
A. Kung fu

Earring(s)
MOVES
Force Force Force

n
q qq n
q qq n
q qq

G
Re
r
3
G
G
+
so

sp
es
5 P
P
P
on

  +
gr
de
Ag

  K
r
+
B

    B +
F

  W Fan

 


HEALTH q q q q q q
.
K.O q q q
ing
Dy q q q
COMFORTS
PERSON PLACE THING
q Cynthia Dragon Teacher q Pi Quan Tower Stage q Translator for C-Com Job/Means
q q Howard D. Irwin U. Student q Pop Music Love
q q Meditation Spiritual State q

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
PAGE 285
Age Dress
D.O.B 1965 R.I.P q Up to 18 q Cultural Attire
Gender Male q 20s q Fancy Dress
Heritage Italian q 30s (-1 c.box) q M.A. Uniform
District Beat Town q 40s (-3 c.box) q Professional Wear
M. A. Kickboxing q 50s (-5 c.box) q Street Clothes

Hand Wraps
MOVES
Force Force Force

n
q qq n
q qq n
q qq

G
Re
r
3
G
G
+
so

sp
es
5 P
P
P
on

  +
gr
de
Ag

  K
r
+
B

    B +
F

  W

 


HEALTH q q q q q q
.
K.O q q q
ing
Dy q q q
COMFORTS
PERSON PLACE THING
q “Pop” Palermo Teacher q Castle Arcade Stage q Janitor at Arcade Job/Means
q Ellen Darning Girlfriend q q Paperback Novel Prized
q q q

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
PAGE 286
CHARACTERS
Age Dress
q Up to 18 q Cultural Attire D.O.B 1963 R.I.P
q 20s q Fancy Dress Gender Male
q 30s (-1 c.box) q M.A. Uniform Heritage Dutch
q 40s (-3 c.box) q Professional Wear District The Richmond (Old Town)
q 50s (-5 c.box) q Street Clothes M. A. Wrestling

Wild Hair
MOVES
Force Force Force

n
q qq n
q qq n
q qq

G
Re
r
3
G
G
+
so

sp
es
5 P
P
P
on

  +
gr
de
Ag

  K
r
+
B

    B +
F

  W

 


HEALTH q q q q q q
.
K.O q q q
ing
Dy q q q
COMFORTS
PERSON PLACE THING
q Ellen Darning Sister q Reeva’s Diner Stage q Tabby cat “Tabby” Love
q q Castle Arcade Hangout q Sportscar Prize
q q q

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
PAGE 287
ADVENTURE
Castle
Arcade,
1980. The
aisles of
IN THE
the Castle
Arcade in
Beat Town
were an
arena to a
1980ss
1980
generation
of the city’s
top fighters.
It was one
of the most
violent
places in Tonight is what it means to be young.
New Hope
S
City, from
its opening
in 1970 to ince the events of a session of Fight to Sur-
its much- vive are highly dependent on the Comforts
publicised
destruction of the PCs, it is difficult to show example
in 1996.
Years without clearly defined characters.
The sample Years included here work with the stock
characters provided on page 282.
PAGE 288
ADVENTURE IN THE 1980S
1985
Let’s present a simple Year for a stripped down introduction of play.
● Year to Date: The summer is ending, and everyone in Beat Town

is looking forward to only one thing—the pop music sensation
The Attackers, who are coming for a one-night only show at the
Castle Arcade. The Castle Arcade is an actual video game arcade,
but it has something like a stage, and for the youth crowd that
will be good enough. It’s a fund-raiser with all proceeds going to
the Doxy Street Youth Centre.
● Spotlight: Jet Palermo and Leo “Justice” Darning are the
biggest focus of this Year, but depending how it goes everyone
might have a Comfort Under Threat.
● We Have a Situation: Local street fighter “Hardcore” Harriot, a
proponent of the punk genre, disagrees with The Attackers’ pop
sensibilities, and so throws a brick through the Castle Arcade
window with a threatening note tied to it. Her aim is to stop the
show, or at least get in a few good fights.
Background to 1985
The West Side, known colloquially as “Beat Town” is where the music
lives in New Hope City. Some martial artists are just looking for a chal-
lenge, and any excuse will do—even taste in music.
Characters Starting in 1985

To avoid needless complication, let’s assume the PCs are known to each
other, and are fellows in the Martial World, so to speak.
● Jet Palermo and Leo “Justice” Darning are at the Castle Ar-
cade—Jet because he is working there at the time, and Leo
because he is hanging out, bothering Jet.
● For the sake of ease let’s also say Sally Ting Pei is there as well,
playing video games.
● Androcles Brown and Melody Rockford are both at the Doxy
Street Youth Centre, volunteering their time to help wayward
youth and keep them off drugs. They are planning the after-party
for The Attackers’ show.
PAGE 289
COMFORTS UNDER THREAT IN 1985
PC Under Threat Notes
Jet Palermo Castle Arcade Obviously Jet is the one getting

(Stage), Janitor at picked on this Year, with the
Arcade (Job/Means) most to lose.
Leo Justice Castle Arcade Though he has only a minor

(Hangout), and commitment in the arcade, if
later Sportscar they argue with Harriot at all
(Prize) then she’ll trash Leo’s car later.
Sally Ting Pop Music (Love) If word gets around that the
Pei concert is unsafe, then The
Attackers may not come.
Androcles Doxy St. Youth Cen- If the show does not happen,
Brown tre (Volunteer) what happens to the Centre?
Melody Doxy St. Youth The same as above.

Rockford Centre (Stage)
Step-by-Step 1985
It’s not always possible to get all PCs Under Threat in a Year, and you
shouldn’t always try. Some Years are just quieter. This one should be
quiet, putting only a few PCs’ Comforts Under Threat in order to ease
players into the system, but it could get complicated.
1. Year to Date: Read the text of the Year to Date above, and explain
to the players the background for this Year’s events, and where
each of the PCs are when play starts. Allow the players to ask ques-
tions about what the scene is like.
2. Setting the Scene: Ask each of the PCs about their activities: Jet
Palermo: What are you cleaning up? Leo Justice: How are you
bothering Jet? Sally Ting Pei: How are you doing in your video
game? (This is a good opportunity for some By the Numbers con-
flict resolution of how Sally is doing at her video game.)
PAGE 290
3. We Have a Situation. “When suddenly, the front window of the

Castle Arcade smashes in, and a brick falls to the floor inside.”
- Explain to the players that some Comforts are now Under
Threat, and outline all that entails. Immediately, the Castle Arcade
as a whole, and Jet’s job there, specifically, are Under Threat.
- PCs just inherited half the value of those Comforts in Hardship,
rounded up. (In Jet’s case this happens twice right now.)
- Remember that when the situation is resolved, all those Com-
forts will increase by +1. If not, then they will be reduced by 1.
4. The Note Reads: Scrawled on the event poster that was wrapped
around the brick, is a note that reads: “No way are The Attackers
playing here tonight. I won’t allow it! With love, Hardcore Harriot.”
- Ask the players how their PCs react, according to the Turn Order
determined by their Build.
5. Not Threatening: Right now, Sally Ting Pei does not have anything
Under Threat, and neither does Androcles or Melody, but that could
change pretty quickly if word got out that local tough gal Hardcore
Harriot wants to sabotage the show.
- Who is going to go tell them what’s up and enlist their help?
6. Race Against Time: The show starts at 8:00pm and it’s 5:00pm
now. That leaves three hours to fix the window, set up for the show,
and deal with Harriot. If you want to keep this super introductory
then don’t bother tracking time, but for a more intense game let’s
say that’s three segments. There isn’t enough time to deal with all
these things one at a time; the team will have to divide and con-
quer. Give players a sense of the tasks before them:
● Fix the Window: Already the arcade’s owner, Mrs. Abdul, took a
lot of convincing to host a rock show. If Mrs. Abdul sees the win-
dow smashed, that could be the end of Jet’s employment here. It
will take a segment to do each of these steps:
- Go get a large new window (Travel segment, no Challenge.)
- Pay for the window (Job/Means of “hard to get” at 3.)
- Install the window (Strength of “tough”, requiring at least 3.)
- Paint the letters back in so Mrs. Abdul does not notice (Heart 3,
or Flash 5 but it will look different no matter what in that case.)
PAGE 291
● Set up for the Show: This involves two segments.
- Clearing the pinball machines off the riser—effectively a stage—and
putting them in the back storage. Then, moving the air hockey game
into the back to make room for the dance floor. (Strength 3.)
- Setting up the sound equipment. (Heart that is strong, so 5, or
some applicable Comfort related to audio engineering or music.)
● Harriot’s Haunt: Do the PCs want to go out and find Harriot, or
wait for her to show up at the event? She could cause a disrup-
tion that would end the show, which is probably her plan. How
do the PCs want to deal with that?
- If the PCs hit the streets for information on where to find Hard-
core Harriot, it takes any Person who’s a martial artist only a 1 to
know that her favourite haunt is Crowbar, a seedy dive bar in the
Battery frequented by tough folks.
- It will take a whole Travel segment to get there and back. In
fact, she won’t be there. The PCs will be told by regular Mikey
the Bikey that Harriot said: “She had to take care of something in
Beat Town”. The PCs are free to assume that means them, but if
they press Mikey the Bikey, he specifies: “Something to do with
the radio station.”
- You could also have the PCs get in a fight here with bikers if this
goes south, which would add a Fight segment to the tally until
the show starts, and could tenderise them for Harriot.
- If the PCs just search around the local area around the Castle
Arcade in Beat Town they find her without Challenge, talking
into a payphone with local broadcast facility Hit Radio, calling to
threaten that nobody had better come to the show tonight.
7. Smash My Point: At the end of the second segment, anyone in the

Castle Arcade can hear the smashing of a sledge hammer on metal.
If they investigate, they find Leo “Justice” Darning’s sportscar
smashed in, and a great big heart drawn on the hood in lipstick. No
one is to be found. Leo Darning’s sportscar is now Under Threat.
8. Show-time: It’s up to the PCs how much they want to warn the
band, or the venue, or what plan they want to hatch to ambush
Harriot when she shows up to the show. A Scheme would get her in
PAGE 292
Trouble with an ambush or other trap, but that would be difficult to

do because she knows what she’s walking into. She’s there to make
trouble! At showtime, Harriot shows up at the door and busts her
way in, and is generally committed to causing a scene, smashing in
arcade machines until someone agrees to fight her.
OPPONENTS IN 1985
“HARDCORE” HARRIOT COHEN a street brawler with a bad attitude
Build: Sm / Thin / Med / Tall / Huge Mohawk MA: Street Fighting
DOB: 1959 Ts 20s 30s 40s+ 60s+ Gender: F Moves Sequences
Heritage: Jewish-Iranian G 8 qqq 1. FPG
Look: Punk rock, leather with a mohawk P 2 qqq 2. GKG
K 2 qqq 3. PKG
Stage: Crowbar District: Battery B 4. GFP
qStressed qSnapped qBreakdown qQuitting F 5. GPG
Comforts: Punk Music Trigger: Angry Yell
Bruised Beat Up K.O. Dying

Health
● All Harriot really wants is a good fight. She does not even care
about the show, she’s just being a jerk. The book she was reading
ended poorly and now she’s on a rampage.
● If Harriot wins a fight with a PC she will be dismayed. “Go be a
dentist or something. You’re no fighter, buddy,” she says, and
will break the arm of the loser (the “punishment” option) and
challenge the next PC. Hey, she’s hardcore.
● If Harriot loses a fight with a PC she will say, “Finally, a real fight,”
smile, and leave. If anyone pursues her she will become irate.
“The levels of violence

in here are about to rise
through the roof!”
— “Hardcore” Harriot Cohen, 1985
PAGE 293
Opportunities in 1985
With all situations resolved you can choose to end the Year when you like,
which is great for keeping the progress of time punchy, but considering
this is the introductory game you might want to give the players a bit
of a chance to explore the various segments. Try to keep the energy up
throughout the Year, the action clear, and events swift, since the game
has the most impact if players can see what it’s like with passing Years.
● Bond: Any time where the PCs just stand around talking, or the
players talk representative of their characters’ behaviour, de-
faults to this segment.
● Fight: If a fight grows out of the ongoing circumstance of the
Year—for example, hunting down Hardcore Harriot at her Stage
at the Crowbar, or making an enemy of the denizens of the Crow-
bar—then use this segment.
● Rest: If any PCs took damage, then suggest they may want to
recover with a Rest segment before going on to the End of Year
Phase. (This is perhaps not strictly necessary because at the be-
ginning of the Year all filled 1st Health checkboxes are erased.)
● Train: For any PC who has a Training Point to spend, use this
opportunity to indulge in a Training segment.
- This can also be done during those three segments before The
Attackers get to town and the show starts, if anyone is ahead.
- If the PCs elevate their Comforts for Teacher and Stage to the
next tier of 3, 5, 8, 12, come up with what new Move gets added
to their Training Regime. See pages 214 and 230.
● Travel: If a PC wants to explore the city, use this opportunity to
explain to them the limitations of this segment.
When the energy is dying down, move on to the End of Year Phase and
ask the PCs what they are doing for the rest of the Year.
Keep in mind that during the End of Year Affirmation of Life, Harriot is
a great Person to add as a new Comfort. The PC has the opportunity to
define that relationship during End of Year, reflective of the time they
spent together over the rest of the Year. Are they rivals now? Or, best
friends? Lovers, perhaps?
PAGE 294
1986
● Year to Date: Autumn leaves coat the Parkside campus of Howard
D. Irwin University. It is an unusually windy November in New Hope
City, 1986.
● Spotlight: Androcles Brown is the big spotlight, but Melody Rock-
ford and Sally Ting Pei may also have it just as much. Jet Palermo
and Leo Justice’s threats may not come up, but that’s okay because
they probably had a lot to do last Year.
● We Have a Situation: The PCs are gathered at Howard D. Irwin Uni-
versity where the president of C-Com Industries, Dr. Zhong Weiping,
will be giving a talk to students and community members about the
C-Com’s expansion into the Battery, the former industrial district of
New Hope City. Protesters are present. Unfortunately, violence will
probably follow.
Background to 1986
The Battery was the heart of industry in New Hope City for half a cen-
tury, but it has been in decline since its peak in the 1940s. The mainland
Chinese company C-Com struck a deal with then-mayor Marion Hill
in 1962, carving out an essentially private district in New Hope City as
the “C-Com Industrial District”. Since then, the Battery has decayed as
all industry has shifted to the C-Com Industrial District under C-Com’s
control. By 1986, the Battery has become a slum, and now the current
mayor, Miriam Ghulam, has made a deal with C-Com to expand the
territory of their district into the Battery.
Citizens in New Hope City that live below the poverty line are disturbed
by this trend and concerned for their future—especially the denizens of
the Battery itself. Some activist students from Howard D. Irwin Univer-
sity have united in their opposition to the C-Com expansion, believing
it will lead not just to gentrification, but an expanded role of private
ownership and wage slavery. President of Howard D. Irwin University,
Bonnie DeBever, has organised a speech for C-Com President Zhong
Weiping in the hopes that he can win over students, not realizing how
volatile opposition to the expansion has become. The packed crowd in
the HDI University’s Great Hall is angry...and might even turn violent.
PAGE 295
Androcles Howard D. Irwin U. The reputation of the University

Brown (Stage), Parkside is at stake if the C-Com Presi-
dent Dr. Weiping is harmed.
Jet Palermo Ellen Darning (Girl- Threatened if the situation

friend) dictates.
Leo Justice Ellen Darning Again, Ellen can be threatened

(Sister) if it comes up.
Melody Bodyguard (Job/ The president of C-Com, Dr.

Rockford Means) Weiping, is making an address
at Howard D. Irwin University
about C-Com’s so-called “take-
over” of the Battery.
Sally Ting Translator for Your job depends on the Presi-

Pei C-Com (Job/Means) dent’s address going well.
Characters Starting in 1986

Let’s assemble our PCs sensibly.
● As faculty, Androcles Brown is charged with presenting the

president of C-Com and saying kind words about him on the
University’s behalf.
● Melody Rockford is on the podium standing right-flank-rear to
the C-Com President, charged with his protection.
● Sally Ting Pei is translating on behalf of the C-Com President.
● Both Jet Palermo and Leo “Justice” Darning are in the crowd.
They are there with Ellen Darning, Jet’s girlfriend and Leo’s sister.
Ellen is a student here. The opinion of Jet and Leo on the C-Com
takeover of the Battery is up to their players to decide.
PAGE 296
Step-by-Step 1986
Since this is a complicated Year, below is more planning that typically
needs to be done to present a Year in this game, but for the sake of get-
ting used to the game structure let’s go through it in perhaps needless
detail. When you’re more familiar with the overarching structure, a Year
will be much easier to summarise.
1. Year to Date: Read the text of the Year to Date above, and explain
to the players the background for this Year’s events, and where
each of the PCs are when play starts. Allow the players to ask ques-
tions about what the scene is like.
2. Introductions Made: Invite Androcles Brown’s player to present
a speech introducing Dr. Zhong Weiping, a speech of which HDIU
president Bonnie DeBever would approve, presumably.
- Androcles can speak using Heart, try to dazzle the crowd with
Flashy words, or Evade his responsibility in the speech.
- It will take an Expert (5) speech to quiet down the crowd, a
Champion (8) speech to settle them well, and a Master (12)
speech to get them to listen with an open mind.
- Feel free to shift the Challenges a tier higher or lower according
to how Androcles’ player orates.
3. Lost in Translation: Dr. Zhong Weiping approaches the podium
to booing and angry shouts from the crowd. Dr. Weiping’s English
skills are limited, so Sally Ting Pei will be acting as translator.
- You may want to write some corporate dialogue and hand it to
Sally’s player to read aloud. For instance: “We look forward to
benefiting the depressed neighbourhoods of the Battery, encour-
aging its growth and the long-term health of the neighbourhood”,
“Our partnership with New Hope City continues to flourish...”, “But
the plans were on display...”, “Splendid and worthwhile”, “Cruddy
little village”, etc., followed by a “booooo” from the crowd.
4. It Turns Violent: When suddenly, a man steps forward from the
crowd. He is long-haired, bare-chested, bare-foot, muscled, and
oiled. He points a finger at Dr. Weiping, and announces: “Down with
gentrification!” Then he makes to charge the stage, as a shocked Dr.
Weiping stands stunned.
PAGE 297
- The violent protester is the martial artist named Hawkwind (38)
who is always trying to champion the underdog fight, right or wrong.
- If he is able to reach his target (which can happen if he attains
victory over any PC in a fight) then he will immediately pound
the poor man into unconsciousness, which could have untold
political ramifications for C-Com’s future with the university, New
Hope City, and to the PC’s Comforts.
5. We Have a Situation. Explain to the players that some Comforts
are now Under Threat, and outline all that entails. Right off the bat:
Howard D. Irwin University for Androcles Brown, the Bodyguard
job for Melody Rockford, and the Translator Job for Sally Ting Pei
have a Rift. The PCs have inherited half the value of those Comforts
in Hardship, rounded up, and when it is resolved those Comforts
will either increase by +1 or be reduced by 1, in this case.
6. Who Fights Hawkwind? The players will then talk (or argue) about
who should fight this greased-up Battery protester.
OPPONENTS IN 1986
GOBER HAWKWIND hero of the underdog and fighter for peace
Build: Sm / Thin / Med / Tall / Huge Long Hair MA: Kickboxing
DOB: 1948 Ts 20s 30s 40s+ 60s+ Gender: M Moves Sequences
Heritage: Huguenot French G 2 qqq 1. GKK
Look: Worn and torn 60s counter-culture duds P qqq 2. FPK
K 10 qqq 3. KGK
Stage: City Park District: Parkside B 3 4. FGP
qStressed qSnapped qBreakdown qQuitting F 4 5. KGK
Comforts: Aviator Sunglasses Trigger: Draw Knife

Health
● Hawkwind is just an old instigator always finding new causes. He

has near single-handedly held back any social progress in New
Hope City for nearly 30 years, keeping it a violent, struggling
dump in an effort to sooth his own paradox of peace.
● If he wins, Hawkwind says, “Now you know peace, man,” grants
mercy and leaves, smugly. If he loses, he says, offended, “Is this
how you solve things? With violence?” and attempts escape.
PAGE 298
7. Rush of the Crowd: In the wake of the protesters’ victory or defeat,

multiple accomplices from the crowd will attack as well.
- “Rushing in” is like a Punch in this case, so any Move that would
beat a Punch beats it. Anything that would be a Bad Move gets the
PC hit for 3 ticks of damage (the standard for an unarmed crowd).
- This is good for getting the players accustomed to both Stage
Dangers and how Health works.
8. One Last Danger: If you want to throw in one more complication for
the Year, have Hawkwind rise again from unconsciousness (clearly
this one will not work if he was able to beat up Dr. Weiping earli-
er) and put a knife to the neck of Ellen Darning, putting her Under
Threat. “C-Com will pull out of the Battery or I’ll cut this girl!”
- If Ellen is rescued then the Comfort goes up by +1, but if she
is not then she is killed, the Comfort is destroyed, and the PCs
inherit the remainder of the Comfort’s value in Hardship...so long
as you, as the GM, have 3 Hard Knocks to pay for that decision. If
you do not, then she will survive the violent act but need im-
mediate medical attention.
- Some conflict resolution By the Numbers is necessary to get
the knife away from Ellen’s throat. It would take a Champion (8)
Technique to charge in and try to struggle (Grapple) it away from
him, an Expert (5) Kick to kick it from his hand, or a Scheme of
some kind, or—as a more creative application, Expert (5) Foot-
work to keep him talking as he backs away, angling yourself to
steer him so he trips over some abandoned chairs and falls back-
wards, dropping the knife, for example
- If any PC wants to follow up with a fight, once Hawkwind and
Ellen are untangled, the values of the protester are the same
again, except only a single tick of damage would send him into
K.O., and the knife he wields does 5 ticks damage, but allows him
to use no Technique.
- Before anybody asks, if you Study multiple relevant fights in a
Year then you get that many Training Points. There is no once-
per-Year limit.
PAGE 299
Near endless complications and opportunities for conflict resolution
can result from these sketched-out steps. What if Dr. Weiping does not
want to go, what will it take to convince him? What if he threatens the
crowd? What if some of the PCs agree with the crowd, and are put at
odds with other PCs? They may just ally themselves with Hawkwind.
Listen to your players and lean into what is working.
Opportunities in 1986
With all situations resolved you can choose to end the Year when it
seems sensible to do so. Of note about the segments:
● Fight: If a fight grows out of the ongoing circumstance of the

Year—for example they track the protesters back to the Battery
and tangle with them there—then use this segment.
● Rest: If any PCs took damage, then suggest they may want to
recover with a Rest segment before going on to the End of Year
Phase. They should still be relatively healthy now, but who
knows how the fights went earlier in the Year?
● Train: For any PC who has a Training Point to spend, use this
opportunity to indulge in a Training segment. This is especially
relevant if they plan to continue the Year and take the fight into
the Battery.
Build on the events of this Year to inform the next. Whatever PC didn’t
get much time to shine this Year, make them the focus of next Year.
Does the University close its doors because of violence, putting Andro-
cles Brown’s job in jeopardy? Does Dr. Weiping lose confidence in his
bodyguard, Melody Rockford, and decide to test her in some dangerous
way? Do the students form a club to hold the PCs accountable for their
involvement in the protests? Does the Battery vow revenge? Was Hawk-
wind just a prelude to something more sinister?
PAGE 300
1987
Last year was intense, so let’s calm things down a bit and just focus on
one Comfort. It’s a simple Year, but let’s crank up the physical threats.
● Year to Date: Hot town—it’s summer in the city. The pavement

on the Neon Strip seems to sizzle under the sun, and some down-
town kids have managed to open a fire hydrant and are playing
in the water across Turbo street.
● Spotlight: Melody Rockford, primarily.
● We Have a Situation: Someone broke into the safe at the Doxy
St. Youth Centre on the Neon Strip, and made off with the money.
Word is that someone is selling drugs to the kids at the Youth
Centre, and it’s up to you to set the community right.

Melody Kids at Youth Cen- Fallen in with drugs.

Rockford tre (Students)
OPPONENTS IN 1987
● Mob: A youth gang (5 Technique) partially armed (5 Force) with
baseball bats, bicycle chains, and bad attitudes.
● Good Kid in with a Bad Crowd: Bobby, the good kid, Melody
Rockford’s third-best karate student. Going through tough times.
● Henchman: “Apple Pie” a ’50s throwback from the Richmond
with a pompadour and suit. He’s a freestyle wrestler.
● Boss: Local drug dealer Mr. Big Time, who has the fear of his
drug-dealing youth gang. Nothing can stop Mr. Big Time!
Continuing with Your Own Years

Once these Years are done—or the PCs have gone far enough off-track
that whole new Years need to be planned—see the next few sections on
how to plan your own. Endless adventure awaits.
PAGE 301
STOCK
FIGHTERS
What strength! But don’t forget
there are many guys like you all
over the world.
C
rafting engaging opponents for your PCs
to fight (or ally with) is a big part of what
makes the game interesting, and the
responsibility of it rests squarely on you, the
GM. There are many stock opponents listed starting
on page 307 that are free to be peppered throughout
the game Years. To make your own opponents, follow
nearly the same character creation steps as creating a
New Fighter, but with some simplifications:
1. Appearance: See page 20 in New Fighter creation.

2. Origin: See page 24 in New Fighter creation.
3. Comforts: Choose only a single Comfort for min-
or opponents, and three for major ones. Who is
expected to be minor and who gets to me major
is just a judgement call by you, the GM.
4. Numbers & Checkboxes: This is the big differ-
ence. See page 304’s Creating Opponents for
special rules that apply to opponents.
5. Training Regime: Opponents do not have this.
PAGE 302
STOCK FIGHTERS
“I am the deadliest woman

in the world!”
— Countess Montague, who
took out ads in comic books to
advertise her deadliness, 1973
Planning the Year’s Opposition

An interesting Year of conflict involves a variety of
different problems—usually these are an intuitive
extension of Comforts Under Threat, but as this is
a Martial Arts game it’s also important to present a
variety of potential opponents. For instance:
● Fighter: A wandering warrior, a plucky challen-

ger trying to prove their worth, a former champ
trying to recapture glory, the henchman, or the
“big boss” themselves—all of these are unarmed
fighters of varying levels of skill.
● Weapon-master: It is good to occasionally intro-
duce a Weapons fighter between the unarmed
fighters, if only to force players to confront the
Weapons rules and how deadly their circum-
stance can become.
● Mob: Larger groups can be treated as single op-
ponent with the Outnumbered rules, and can be
a great addition to the ecology of the opposition.
For example, the Year is going to involve a likely con-

flict with the karate dojo of Janelle “Turbo” Jones, a
hot-headed karateka the PCs have run afoul of before.
For this Year’s opponents I’ll prepare her, the students
of the Dojo itself (as a group), a “henchman” for the
dojo—a devoted student of exceptional skill, and let’s
give them a bo staff for fun. For the final boss, we’ll
bring in Kelly “Iceman” Jones, a prolific teacher the
PCs have heard of in the past, and Janelle’s father who
may or may not agree with her in these matters.
PAGE 303
Creating Opponents
Although simplified from PCs, much mechanical freedom is given to
the GM to craft compelling allies and adversaries. The following section
substitutes for the Numbers & Checkboxes step in character creation.
Strength of Opponents
Players do not know the exact strength of their opponents, and only get
hints of it based on your GM descriptions and what other NPCs say about
them. This mystery is part of what creates tension heading into a fight.
Within the game, there are three rough tiers for opponent strength:
1. Weak: Who get half their character’s age in Points, about three
checkboxes of Health, and little or no Hardship.
2. Strong: Who get their full character’s age in Points, six to eight
boxes of Health, and usually some Hardship.
3. Fierce: Who get their age and a half in Points or more (up to twice
their age), ten or twelve boxes of Health, and at least some Hardship.
Returning to our example:
Janelle Turbo Jones is a known strong opponent, so I’ll give her her age
in Points. Kelly “Iceman” Jones is a legend by this date, so he’ll get his
age and a half. The Students can probably be weak taken together. The
henchman with a bo staff—the stand-out student—we’ll also make her
strong. That’s a good all around opponent gallery for the Year.
Opponent Point Spend

An opponent spends Points a little differently than PCs because NPCs
do not have to invest in their Comforts. Opponents can spent Points on:
● Move Technique: At 1 Point per Technique for each Move.

● Move Force: For each Move: 5 Points for two ticks of Force, another
8 for three. Increase Hardship by one tier for each Force increase.
● Special Move: At 8 Points to get one. Increase Hardship one tier.
● Trigger: 3 Points gives them a special circumstance. See page 306.
● Weapon: 5 Points gives them a Weapon. Always assume the Training
of the Weapon is equal to the greatest Technique of the NPC’s Moves,
so you don’t have to bother doing any calculations on the fly.
PAGE 304
STOCK FIGHTERS
Health Checkboxes
Not every fight needs to go to the gruelling bitter
end. To try and cut down on the spur-of-the-moment
choices GMs have to make and to semi-automate the Nearly Even
Odds: More
sequence of events based around the nature of the standard
character, NPC fighters do not get a full three check- Health check-
boxes is really
boxes per bracket of Health. You as the GM fill in up to the only edge
three checkboxes per bracket based on your under- PCs have over
NPCs in a fight.
standing of the character. Chalk it up to a
lack of commit-
For example, a moderate fighter may only have a few ment.
checkboxes like this:
HEALTH q q q q q q q
When running the game, run it as it makes sense.

Maybe you don’t need to use all those checkboxes in
Health and it makes sense to skip some just as a PC
would do, but if you limit the number of boxes before-
hand reflective of the attitude and aims of the oppon-
ent then it can cut down on having to make creative
decisions at the time—filling in one checkbox after
another—and focus on larger considerations.
For example, a fighter of mounting conviction:

HEALTH q q q q q q q
Hardship Checkboxes
Opponents do not get a full track of Hardship like PCs.
Instead, they have a simple set of checkboxes, one for
each tier of Hardship. To have none means no checks.
qStressed qSnapped qBreakdown qQuitting
Make the choice of how emotionally well-adjusted the

opponent is. High Hardship is mechanically disadvan-
tageous to them, but role-playing the associated
volatility can make them more dangerous in-game.
PAGE 305
Round Sequences
So Fight to Survive does not become a two player game
between the GM and one player at a time, a NPC fighter’s
decisions in a Round draw from a predetermined pool of
Move choices based on their martial approach.
For example, a passionate kickboxer may have planned

sequences of a cautious Round 1 with FKK, then a more
committed Round 2 of PKK, then go all out if he gets to
a Round 3 with a KKK. If he makes it to Round 4, he’ll
regroup his tactics back to FKK, and finally Round 5 he’s
down for KPK. That’s the battle plan, let’s go!
You still choose the Move that makes sense when re-
sponding to the PC’s Move—this is not an automated
sequence—it’s just a more limited pool so the oppon-
ent is restricted to behaviour that is in keeping with
their character, as you have determined beforehand.
Triggers
Completely unlike PCs, you can have your NPC trigger
events on their Health track. Draw a star by a Health
checkbox to signify that once it is filled, the situation
with the fighter changes, generating a Trouble or a
Setback in the opponent’s favour. For instance, they:
● Call in reinforcements.
● Pull out a hidden Weapon.
● Go into a terrifying frenzy and leap with abandon.
● Drink a swig of booze, smash the bottle on a near-
by table, and lunge at the PC as a Trouble, armed.
Such a situation almost always involves the GM spend-

ing Hard Knocks in order to ‘pay’ for it. The point of
setting this up as a Trigger beforehand is to ease the
course of play, rather than the GM having to come up
with these creative circumstances mid-fight—which
you certainly can if you’re up for it!
PAGE 306
STOCK FIGHTERS
Delayed Satisfaction
When an opponent is created and even after they are introduced into
the game, they may not get into a fight for several Years. Perhaps they
are just joining the complex political tapestry of the Martial World.
That will entirely depend on the behaviour of the PCs. But, just in case,
it’s good to go through the work of creating the opponent fully in case
things suddenly turn violent.
Opponents Listing
NPC opponents exist on a sliding scale. You can make them as fully
realised as PCs, like on page 282. Or, you can rough out an opponent
like on page 310—just add Move sequences, and if you want a Trigger
for some, and they’re set to play. Or, you can plan somewhere in-be-
tween. The opponents listed below are a great example of complete
NPCs, ready to be stocked in your New Hope City or to be copied out
into PCs as New Fighters, but not written up in so much information
that will interfere with the kind of game you want to run. Any of these
would be a good centrepiece for the conflict of the Year as a “big boss”.
LORD ZON THE DISEMBOWELLER a mad knight and wealthy businessman
Build: Sm / Thin / Med / Tall / Huge Hand-Wrp MA: Historical European MA
Heritage: Romanian nobility G qqq 1. FFK
Look: Aristocratic late 17th century courtier’s P 3 qqq 2. FKB
outfit with peruke, thin moustache K 8 qqq 3. PKK
Stage: Zon Tower Keep District: C-Com B 2 4. FPK
qStressed qSnapped qBreakdown qQuitting F 6 5. BPK
Comforts: The memory of his daughter, Trudy Weapon: Broadsword
His daughter’s grave stone Trigger: Throwing dagger
Wealth, Locket containing daughter’s hair tossed when losing

Health
(’32-44) One of the early pioneers of the C-Com Industrial District as a

place for corporations to decide their business fate without oversight,
Lord Zon, affectionately named “The Disemboweller” after his love of
fencing, is known to stake land and large sums on whomever can best
him in swordplay. So far, none have.
PAGE 307
RAJA HARIMAU the Tiger King, master of the Karambit
Build: Sm / Thin / Med / Tall / Huge Headband MA: Silat Harimau
Heritage: Indonesian G qqq 1. FPB
Look: Indonesian dress P 5 qqq 2. BKP
K 5 qqq 3. PKB
Stage: Soko Temple Roof District: Chinatwn B 5 4. BFP
qStressed qSnapped qBreakdown qQuitting F 5 5. PKP
Comforts: Grandfather, master of Silat Harimau Weapon: Karambit (Knife)
Soko Buddhist Temple, Chinatown Trigger: Draw the knife when
Medallion of rank in Silat the fight gets interesting

Health
(’50-70) Often seen meditating on the roof of Chinatown’s Soko Temple,

the Tiger King—so called because of Pencak Silat’s movements resem-
bling a tiger—is recognised throughout New Hope City for his deadly mas-
tery of the curved karambit knife. The one he uses was handed down to
him by his grandfather, once grandmaster of his school of Silat Harimau.
NOORU~Ē-GO “NORD” CRONHOLM son of Viking Cronholm

Build: Sm / Thin / Med / Tall / Huge Hat MA: Jujutsu
Heritage: Swedish-Japanese G 9 qqq 1. GGP
Look: Blue-green eyes. Black hair with light skin. P 7 qqq 2. GPG
Simple but comfortable work clothes. K qqq 3. KGP
Stage: The Mermaid District: Battery B 1 4. PKK
qStressed qSnapped qBreakdown qQuitting F 3 5. GPG
Comforts: The memory of his father Trigger: Yell, unleashing rage
Job as a bouncer and bodyguard and increase Force +1
Mother’s necklace for the next Round

Health
(’23-37) Son of famed Swedish boxer and jujitsuka Viking Cronholm,

Nord travelling with his father and Japanese mother, often brawling
with locals over his mixed heritage. Now Nord struggles alone in the
shadier parts of the Battery, working as a bouncer, muscle for hire,
bodyguard, or prize fighter, as the needs of his stomach dictate.
PAGE 308
STOCK FIGHTERS
RICHTER “THE ACCOUNTANT” SOLOMON Scion to the Solomon Crime Family

Build: Sm / Thin / Med / Tall / Huge Tattoo MA: Hapkido
Heritage: Eastern European G 5 qqq 1. GBF
Look: Fine business suit, leather shoes, P 4 qqq 2. BFK
and an expensive haircut. K 5 qqq 3. BGK
Stage: N.S. Opera House District: Neon Strip B 3 4. KGP
qStressed qSnapped qBreakdown qQuitting F 4 5. BKP
Comforts: Newly discovered sister Ada Solomon Weapon: Handgun
The Neon Strip Opera House Trigger: Draw handgun and
Gambling, Revenge for Fam. Solomon shoot when necessary

Health
(’88-95) Once an urchin pickpocket on the Neon Strip, Richter was discov-
ered by patriarch of the Solomon crime family, Magnus Solomon. Rich-
ter’s natural mathematical skill advanced him to be the accountant to the
family's fortunes, and eventual heir, until Magnus’ death sparked a war for
succession and destroyed the family. Now, Richter fights to avenge.
FRANZ “THE HUSTLE KING” VAN JIVE the hippest cat in town
Build: Sm / Thin / Med / Tall / Huge Great Hair MA: Dance Fighting
Heritage: Pan-Scandinavian G qqq 1. FFP
Look: Dressed pure white suit and with perfectly P 6 qqq 2. FPK
quaffed blonde hair. K qqq 3. PFP
Stage: Stage 9 District: Beat Town B 4. FFF
qStressed qSnapped qBreakdown qQuitting F 12 5. FPF
Comforts: Students of Studio 4 dance class Special: Flash Mob
Rooftop of family home on the Docks Trigger: Comb hair, look good,
Convertible sportscar named “Jezebel” and unleash dance mob

Health
(’67-79) After growing up on the rough-and-tumble Docks, Franz worked

hard to win himself the Beat Town dance club Stage 9. He spends his days
teaching at Studio 4 and his nights putting emotion into motion on the
dance floor. They say his moves can kill. When people come to his gym
and want to throw down, he says, “Can you keep up with the beat?”
PAGE 309
OPPONENTS Weapon Trained Force 2 Force 3
Born District Look

Eddie “Sugartooth” 1889 The Docks Huge dirty gruesome north English M
Mungston A dirty fighter with a sweet tooth
Marie Togo 1900 The Battery Thin regal West-African F, with long-hair
Known as the “Queen of the Battery”
Smoke Gender 1910 Woodside Tall Cherokee M with long hair and tattoos
The Broken Disciple 1910 Chinatown Small youthful-looking Chinese F, formal
Anna Ye Known for “soul syphoning” kung fu
Geisha Sheila 1903 The Docks Small Australian F in formal Japanese dress
Seamus 1928 The Docks Thin scruffy red-haired Irish M cane fighter
O’Shaughnessy Known for calculating patience
Raja Pemakan Manusia 1931 Chinatown Huge M Indonesian warrior monk
Warren “Shellback” 1924 The Docks Medium grizzled sailor European M

Brownstone “Captain” of the Rusty Anchor Pub
Walthorp 1917 Parkside Tall English gentleman M
Retired SAS officer.
Harlan “Death’s Door” 1939 Beat Town Muscular jock-like Thai M
Saelim Who only fights to the death
Six-Gun Leung 1936 Chinatown Medium Chinese M with an explosive punch
The Viper 1934 The Docks Thin well-dressed Japanese-Korean M
Paul Neale 1948 Parkside Med. Caucasian M with movie-star looks
John Reith 1920 The Battery Med. one-eyed European M in combat fatigues
Don Fry 1950 Beat Town Medium Scottish M in fine clothes
Hosts fights at the Desperado Hotel ballroom
Misha R. Wong 1952 Chinatown Tall-Musc. Hmong M with a milky right-eye
A large and terrifying champion of the art
Kensuke “K-Taro” 1955 The Battery Medium brooding Japanese M
Suzuki Founder of the Kuro Dogi Kan Dojo
Lukas “Cardshark” 1953 The Docks Huge vicious-looking Romanian-Welsh M
Vanderous Member of the Cirque De Chasseurs
Victor Vamstein 1960 Neon Strip Huge Greek-Japanese M metal-head
“Professor” Carroll Little 1957 Beat Town Tall African-American M in work duds
Aruko “The Ripper” Saito 1960 The Battery Tall Japanese armoured ninja M
Hunting down his ninja clan rival
Bone-Head 1970 Beat Town Tall skeleton-themed Irish M metal-head
The Whistling 1962 Read Island Muscular unknown masked M
Wanderer Vengeful spirit protector of Read Island
B.C Bernard 1976 Neon Strip Huge Spanish-Native M
Dressed in a trench-coat and sunglasses
Julia “Jun” Diana 1977 Woodside Medium curvy African-Amer. F southern belle
PAGE 310
STOCK FIGHTERS
Y. Act Martial Art G P K B F Hrd. Comfort

’06-25 Street fighting 7 3 5 qqqq Candy
’17-30 Savate 3 7 2 2 qqqq Folks of the Battery-

community
’20-44 Okichitaw 3 6 6 qqqq Bear claw necklace

’31-50 Línghún Hóngxī 5 3 8 qqqq 3 Petalled Lotus Tea
House (Stage)
’41-63 Tessenjutsu 8 12 qqqq Tea time

’45-61 Bataireacht 3 5 3 qqqq Siobhan (Daughter)
’50-70 Inti Ombak Silat 8 8 qqqq Tiger Claw Silat (Sch)

’51-72 Improv. Weps 4 8 6 8 qqqq Rusty Anchor Pub
’51-69 Sword Cane 8 3 qqqq The Tea House (Stage)
’55-91 Muay Thai 2 5 2 4 3 qqqq Dao Saelim (Teach)
’57-80 Xing Yi Quan 10 7 qqqq Stew

’65-79 Street Fighting 3 4 8 qqqq Lantern St. lights
’66-86 Kickboxing 10 3 qqqq Vanity
’67-83 Escrima 5 8 12 qqqq Whiskey
’69-81 Hapkido 1 5 2 qqqq Sportscars, Wealth
’75-81 Muay Thai 2 1 3 2 1 qqqq Headband
’75-99 Kuro Ken Jutsu 1 2 3 2 2 qqqq Buddhist Temple
’76-99 Savate 1 3 4 4 qqqq NHC Aquarium
’80-85 Pro-Wrestling 11 qqqq Old movie props

’80-99 Jujutsu 5 5 3 4 3 qqqq Mechanic (Job)
’84-99 Ninjutsu 2 3 1 2 2 qqqq Historical Koga Tome
’85-92 Street fighting 6 6 6 qqqq The Mosh Pit (Stage)

’88-93 Street fighting 3 3 2 2 1 qqqq The Serene Court on
Read Island (Stage)
’91-99 Jeet Kune Do 8 4 8 qqqq Synthwave Music
’93-97 MMA 6 5 qqqq Cooking, Nature
PAGE 311
YEARS
No martial standing, no secret move,
no perfect kick, no victory, can
survive the opponent of Time.
T
o prepare a game night of Fight to Survive, it
should take no more than 15 to 20 minutes
to plan out about a four-hour session of
play. The most time consuming part of the
process is creating opponents for the PCs to face. To
prepare a session of the game, see below.
Plan a Year
1. Start with a Situation: It can be helpful to seat
the Year’s events in a certain situation. Many ex-
ample situations are included on page 315.
2. Look to Comforts: Review the PC’s Comforts
and pick one for each PC that hasn’t been Under
Threat in a while, and come up with a clever
way to put them Under Threat. Relate this to the
situation going on, and see if you can tie it into
larger ongoing events. More on this can be found
in Comforts section on page 136.
3. Other Threats: See if you can put any of the
Comforts of other PCs Under Threat as well in the
same Year to make the situation more compli-
PAGE 312
YEARS
Brown Family
Line, 1960.
Three gener-
ations of the
Brown family
fought in New
Hope City.
Atticus (73) was
a circus strong-
man known for
his kind heart.
His son Ambros
“Greaser” Brown
(40) was a crime
boss in the Bat-
tery in the ’50s,
but would aid in
the takedown of
Giant Skeleton
in ’71, giving
his life to do so.
Ambros’ death
would spur his
academic-mind-
ed son, Andro-
cles (here 14)
into the Martial
World.
cated, in a way that makes sense. It’s not always

possible to have a Comfort Under Threat for each
PC, and sometimes from the way PCs can share
Comforts one or two PCs might have multiple
Comforts Under Threat in the Year. That’s okay,
just keep in mind who is taking a beating this Year
and who didn’t get a lot of attention, and adjust
attentions accordingly next Year.
4. The Star: Usually coming up with a game this way
singles out a particular PC to be the spotlight. Try
to rotate that spotlight Year after Year so a differ-
ent PC is taking centre stage. Everyone wants to
be important, sometimes.
PAGE 313
5. Complicate Matters: Each Year should offer a var-
iety of challenges. Pepper the situation with some
Stage Dangers, as appropriate to the locations
you’ve chosen. Stage Dangers are on page 278.
6. Fight Prep: Make up some opponents relevant to
that threat. There is a guide for this on page 303.
Generally, you should plan about three fights a
Year—one introductory skirmish, one interesting
challenge, and a final confrontation. Sometimes
there are none, and that’s okay. Sometimes it’s a
bit of a gauntlet, and that’s okay, too—just design
the next Year in response to the last. Finally, make
sure you have planned out your opponents’ Move
sequences before play begins to avoid bias on
what PC stands up to fight that foe.
Example Year Mockup

It’s a windy August in 1932. Let’s say one of the PCs has
the Comfort of “Wealth” and had been surviving the
Great Depression nicely, so it’s about time to fix that.
The group is on the main drag of the Neon Strip walk-

ing to an off-the-books fight joint when they notice the
nearby bank is being robbed. The PC’s money is there—
Wealth is now Under Threat. There is a police barricade
around the bank, too, so we can treat that as a Stage
Danger. The bank robbers will be drawn up as potential
enemies. One is holding dynamite (for the safe). I’ll also
assume there’s a getaway driver behind the bank, wait-
ing, which, if the robbers get out to the car, will present
quite the By the Numbers Challenge for the PCs. I’ll
make a few notes that the robbery was planned by a rich
Parkside mastermind with a crossbow. Between these
various situations it should be pretty easy to pick out a
few Comforts from the other PCs and figure out a way to
put them Under Threat as a result of the action.
PAGE 314
YEARS
Years of Problems
It is best to have situations follow the consequences of past Years and
build a history together, but if you need new situations to change the
play dynamic, here are ten decades worth of hooks that can be tied into
PC Comforts to put them Under Threat.
1900s
● Serial murders linked to a high-stakes dice game.
● Sky Sect Triad Princess needs protection by a neutral party. She is
being targeted by a secret rival faction vying for power within the
Sky Sect.
● To save your Teacher from a mysterious Poison, you must travel
to Read Island for a herb found only there. However, a crazed
survivalist has claimed the island, has laid traps, and will shoot.
● Protection racket surges through Chinatown.
1910s
● Unknown martial artist comes from Thailand; has hospitalised
several local masters.
● Expert thief steals art from wealthy Parkside residents.
● Surprise! Parents are visiting from overseas, and expect you to
host them in elaborate fashion.
● As a sign of respect, a PC is contacted by a cult-like underground
fighting society that says a sacred object of theirs has been smug-
gled into PC territory. Requests their help retrieving it.
● Military needs rag-tag group of recruits whipped into shape and
trained in your esoteric martial skills.
1920s
● Circus strongman recognises a PC’s martial prowess and challen-
ges them to increasingly aggressive competitions, culminating in
a fight and stage show. Was that the plan all along?
● Suffragettes protest their rights in the street. Police beat suffra-
gettes near to death. Suffragettes come to you for Training.
● Doctor dies of mysterious illness in Battery slums.
● Mysterious boxer woman ripping through high-society, mur-
dering, seeking the killer of her father.
PAGE 315
1930s
● Woman sword-master cuts through a local Tong-owned tea shop,
apparently on some mission of vengeance.
● Older family member Person is dying slowly of disease, and longs
to see their homeland again. The only passage the PC can get is
with criminals, who have their own nefarious plans.
● Underground Martial Arts tournament linked to child slavery ring.
● Corrupt cops arrest a Person on wrongful charges. Seeking bribe.
● Orphanage attacked by men in fancy suits and black cars. Appar-
ently, someone wants the land, and old Ma Brown just won’t sell.
These kids have nothing. Nothing but you to look up to.
1940s
● Local restaurant won’t serve PC and their Person because of racism.
● New neighbourhood beat cop known to abuse wife.
● You saw what you weren’t supposed to see: a Kage of a ninja clan
that is not supposed to exist. Now the Koga are coming after you.
● 1945. WWII ends. Disillusioned vets return home, traumatized
from shell shock, start picking fights with tough looking folks.
1950s
● Greaser gang attempts to bust up diner for protection money.
● Drunk driver swerves into the path of a PC, will continue ca-
reening down the street.
● A PC’s Person owes bad people too much money, and the only
one who can protect them is you.
● Kids missing from the streets. (Recruited into a dark street army?)
● Head of local biker gang kidnaps Person as their prize.
● Karate God-hand Mas Oyama tours New Hope City. In 1947 he
came down from his mountain of seclusion where he has been
training since WWII, and won the Japanese National Martial Arts
Championship. In 1953 he gained infamy fighting bulls. Now,
he sets his sights on New Hope City because he learns there are
powerful challengers here.
● Youth gangs assemble on rooftops along the Neon Strip for im-
promptu Martial Arts tournaments.
PAGE 316
YEARS
1960s
● Robbery at fancy Parkside wedding. Wealthy forced to fight?
● Rival Martial Arts school hopes for local fame by destroying a
PC’s school, proving their Martial Arts are no good!
● Person is part of a strange lineage of martial artists who emi-
grated to New Hope City in the 1920s. Every 10 years the family
gathers for a Martial Arts tournament to determine the head of
the family. Grandma has reigned supreme for 40 years, and only
by beating her can you gain permission to date her grandchild.
● Oh no, the Tanaka Dojo has been broken into and trashed! Your
group is accused.
● Criminal holds bus load of schoolchildren hostage.
● Hermit monk retires to New Hope City after the war. In Beijing he
was known as the greatest kung fu Teacher alive. Some say he is
descended from Chen Sen Feng himself. Now, notice has gone up
on his garden door: “Looking For Student. Most Prove Worthy”.
● 1964. The first publicly recognised above-ground Martial Arts
tournaments are advertised across the city.
1970s
● The Mountain Sect Triad is unhappy with a PC teaching kung fu,
and has sent a challenger to shut them down.
● A young boy pick-pocketed a Thing from a PC during a busy ped-
estrian crossing, and now takes off down an alleyway.
● Wealthy businessman needs temporary bodyguard.
● Latest-greatest Martial Arts film playing at the cinema. A braggart
in the audience won’t stop making rude remarks.
● Mysterious accidents plague stunt men on a film set.
● Young Asian women murdered. Suspected work of war vets.
● 1970. John Keehan aka “Count Dante” leads the Black Dragon
Fighting Society to battle at the Black Cobra Hall of the Green
Dragon Society. Count Dante dies under mysterious circum-
stances in 1974 after a successful high-profile bank robbery.
● 1973, July, the death of Bruce Lee.
● 1974. Rumble in the Jungle, the fight between Mohammed “The
Greatest” Ali and George “Feed Me a Horse” Foreman.
PAGE 317
1980s
● Local author marked for death for book about “ninja secrets”.
● Martial artist found dead in Beat Town night club bathroom.
● A Person’s daughter has fallen in with a local gang. As a favour,
please, get her out! (The gang fights for justice?)
● Aboard a vacation cruise ship, terrorists plan explosion.
● The Skeleton Crew are back, stirring up trouble in the Battery!
● Famous pro-wrestlers fight for-real in their after-hours, selling
premium tickets.
● Yakuza heir sends a PC a love letter. The Yamamoto Zaibatsu will
not abide this forbidden love, and sends their forces against you.
● Mayor Chaustirer kidnapped! Are you bad enough dudes to res-
cue the Mayor?
● 1985. The wrestlers of New Hope city gather for the biggest Neon
Strip Wrestling event in history, “Wrestletopia”.
1990s
● Former student seeks protection after witnessing murder orches-
trated by big-deal politician.
● Old bank vault found in Chinatown basement. Inside is a monk in
meditation, seemingly there for 100 years. Waking him could be
an offense, so the local Tongs asks you to do it.
● Rival returns to professional circuit, fresh from winning trophies
and accolades throughout South America. Now they’re home in
New Hope City, and word about town is they’re bad-mouthing
you, and your school. They’re on the way to the top, and noth-
ing’s going to stop them now. Except maybe you.
● Scroll arrives at your school: invitation to a gathering of martial
artists in a remote area of Tibet. It is the Shamballa Tournament,
once every hundred years, and you—in all the world—have been
selected to represent your Martial Art and heritage.
● Conditions have been met for an ancient Irish prophecy of a
“chosen one”. Rival Irish mobs on the Docks compete to kill or
save the young boxer.
● 1991. Street fighters flood the streets of New Hope City, holding
back alley bouts that are televised to wealthy gamblers.
PAGE 318
Old Photo, 1907. A photograph of the first generation
of New Hope City fighters. Left to right: Master Bao (44),
Ziigwan Two-axes (33), Atticus Brown (20), Edith Wright
(35), Lord Pepperpash (36), and Ian MacGalligar (44).
APPENDIX
& GLOSSARY
T
he sick smack of flesh, bruising under touch.
A photograph will never resemble you again.
That’s the fight. While the body stands, it
fights. When your limbs fail, hold them high-
er. Don’t give up the victory dream.
PAGE 320
Karate lesson for women
by Joop Verschoof, 1977.
GLOSSARY
Defining the terms of combat both with
bold strokes and delicate details.
A
ll game terms are marked in blue throughout the text, but
here is a handy list of what they are, ordered for your con-
venience and easy reference.
Affirmation One of the options for how a PC spends the remainder of the in-
of Life game Year during the End of Year Phase. Your character concen-
trates most on their relationships during this time, and:
267
1. Heal 2nd checkboxes in Health (or one 3rd checkbox).
2. Mends one Rift with a Comfort.
3. Increase a Comfort by +1 or add a new one.
Aggressor The Aggressor is the one instigating a violent situation. Mechanical-

96 ly, the Aggressor is the one who must make the Opening Move in a
Round of combat.
Bad Move When you issue a responding Move that will fail against your oppon-
103, 106 ent’s Move, based on the Versus Chart.
● If the incoming Move was offensive, responding with a Bad
Move means you are Hit.
● If the incoming Move was defensive, responding with a Bad
Move means you have to issue another Move.
Bond A segment during the general Phase of play where PCs talk freely
(Segment) and scheme.
262 ● This is the default segment of play.
● Transition into this segment happens automatically when there is
no other segment going on.
Build The size of a PC or NPC’s body is represented by one of five Builds.

20 From the smallest (and therefore fastest) to the biggest (and therefore
slowest) they are: Small, Thin, Medium, Tall / Muscular, or Huge. This
determines Turn Order.
By the One of the three methods of conflict resolution in the conflict funnel
Numbers of F2S, By the Numbers is the one where a number the PC has for
Technique, Virtue, Comforts, or Special Training, is compared to
70, 90 the Challenges—1, 3, 5, 8, or 12 (as determined by the GM). Meeting
or exceeding the tier the GM establishes means success for the PC.
Call Out During the Sit Out option of the Fight segment, spend any number
235 of Points from your Revenge pool to add to the Technique or Force
of an ally participating in a fight by calling out your encouragement.
Challenges The tiers of difficulty for conflict resolution By the Numbers are 1,
71 3, 5, 8, and 12. The GM chooses the difficulty when presented with
the PC’s proposed solution using the number from their Move’s
Technique, a Virtue, a Comfort, or in some cases a special Special
Training number, and compare it to the Challenges.
PAGE 322
APPENDIX & GLOSSARY
Comfort The People, Places, and Things that are important to a fighter, and
32, 136 the means through which they alleviate Hardship during the Relief
from Hardship option of the End of Year Phase. Comforts can also
be used for conflict resolution using By the Numbers, comparing the
value of the Comfort against the Challenges.
Damage Ticks or checkmarks fill in checkboxes on a PC’s Health track when a

102, 118 Hit is made. Damage has a number value representing the number
of checkmarks to make, usually one. When Hit you can fill in a tick
to the right of the highest (farthest right) filled checkbox, or fill in the
first checkbox of the next bracket. There is strategy to injury.
Distinctive A visual characteristic based on a character’s Build. This is primarily

Feature a reference for the PC’s appearance, but is also used to break ties
between fighters of the same Build. The farther left the Distinctive
20 Feature, the faster the fighter; the farther right, the slower.
District General locations within New Hope City. For the purposes of this
26, 238 game there are ten of them.
Dying Life is leaving your body.

104, 121 1. Pay 1 Hardship or pass out.
2. At the end of the fight, pass out regardless.
3. When play transitions to the next segment, if your injuries are
not Tended, die.
4. If play transitions to the segment after, die if not Treated.
End of Year The final Phase of a Year of play, which establishes what the PC is
267 doing for the rest of the Year. The End of Year has the options of:
● Affirmation of Life
● Extended Training
● Relief from Hardship
Extended An option during the End of Year Phase where a PC can wholly
Training devote themselves to Training for the remainder of the Year, and
invent a Special Move.
267
First Swing, A preemptive attack that can precede a fight if the opponent is
The surprised or otherwise caught unaware. The First Swing grants the
Aggressor an extra Move in Posturing. This is a kind of Trouble, so,
94 the GM must pay a Hard Knock when NPCs do it.
Fight A segment during the general Phase of play whenever PCs get into a
(Segment) fight or other violent conflict. Transition into this segment happens
automatically whenever there is violence.
262
Force The power behind a Move, and how many ticks of damage are done
104 on a successful Hit. A typical martial artist will Hit for one tick of
Force, but it can go up to three. Weapon damage varies.
Hard A GM currency to help running the game by balancing the pun-

Knocks ishment the PCs receive against some kind of karmic debt. Hard
Knocks are gained primarily through the PCs going Over and Above
272 what is necessary to meet Challenges in By the Numbers conflict
resolution, and are spent to generate Setbacks, Troubles, and cause
Rifts or to destroy Comforts.
Hardship A measurement of your PC’s emotional and spiritual condition,

128 represented as a series of checkboxes separated into tiers indicating
how much stress and misfortune your PC can take before the chart
is exceeded and they leave the violent lifestyle (the PC leaves the
game.) Hardship can only be reduced during the End of Year Phase
by choosing Relief from Hardship, and employing Comforts.
PAGE 323
Hardship A role-playing scene where a player describes what their PC does as
Event a reaction to their emotional state—usually because they reached
a new tier of Hardship, or when they’re trying to mend a Rift they
130 caused.
Heal Erase filled checkmark boxes in Health.

123 ● A Rest segment Heals all 1st checkboxes in Health.
● The Affirmation of Life option during End of Year Heals all 2nd
Health checkboxes or one 3rd checkbox.
● If a PC misses a Year all 1st checkboxes are Healed.
Health A measurement of your PC’s physical condition, represented as a

116 series of checkboxes separated into brackets indicating how much
damage your PC can take before certain circumstances trigger like
being Knocked Out, Dying, or—if the tack is exceeded, dead.
Hit To do damage to a character by forcing them to fill in a number of

101 checkboxes in their Health. The number is determined by the Force
of the Move that Hit, or by the damage of the Weapon.
Info A key fact relevant to the in-game events is given by the GM in one of
108, 112 three cases:
● Won in a fight as a Right of Victory.
● Gained during Travel segment when visiting a Person or a
Place.
● Otherwise earned through effective role-playing.
Effectively, the GM must answer a question honestly from the per-
spective of the circumstance or an NPC’s point of view.
Job / Means A Comfort under Things that is treated a little differently than most
86 because it determines financial buying power and the PC’s standing
in their profession.
Knocked Your body enters shut-down to save itself.

Out / K.O.’d 1. Pay 1 Hardship or pass out.
121 2. Once the fight is over, pass out regardless.
3. You may be roused by an ally if Tended.
Life is Unfair If a Hardship inflicted on a PC seems unwarranted from their

88 player’s perspective, the player can appeal to this rule, and gain +1
Revenge.
Martial Arts A tradition of Training that has been passed from Teacher to pupil,
162 refined over time into a tradition of approach and fighting philoso-
phy. Primarily, this informs the Training Routine of fighters via their
Teachers, but it also influences of the lore of the game.
Meditation A Special Training that is a Comfort, considered a Place (in the spirit-
191 ual sense) and can be used for By the Numbers conflict resolution.
Moves The five standard Martial Arts actions are: Grapple, Punch, Kick,
70, 148 Block, and Footwork. There are also Special Moves, but they are a
little different.
Moves A conflict resolution method used for moments of violence where

Versus Moves are compared with each other using the Versus Chart to
determine the outcome. Moves either make a Hit, make another
Moves Move moot, or their Technique must be compared to determine the
92 winner.
New Fighter A brand new character, first of their traditions, and unknown in the
16 Martial World. A New Fighter becomes a Predecessor when they
pass the baton of play to a Successor character.
PAGE 324
APPENDIX & GLOSSARY
Outnum- The circumstance of one fighter facing three or more opponents. At

bered this point they are no longer counted individually but are treated
as a mass of “Outnumbered”, their Moves renamed to reflect the
200 circumstance and tactics, and the rules governing their collective
Technique and Force are a little different.
Over and If a PC succeeds in By the Numbers conflict resolution to a greater de-

Above gree than was necessary, it earns Hard Knocks for the GM to use later.
More Hard Knocks are earned by the greater the difference between
73, 274 what was proposed and what happened on a scale of 1, 3, 5, 8.
Person A category of Comforts representing people the PC cares about.

33, 136 Each entry for Person has a name (which could be a broad category
like “folks at the laundromat”) a relationship (a definition of how the
PC knows them) and the date they met.
Phases Every Year of play has three Phases. In order, they are:
260 1. We Have a Situation
2. Segments (where general play happens)
3. End of Year
Once these Phases are done a new Year begins.
Place Each entry for Place has a name (must be more specific in definition
36, 136 than a District of New Hope City) a relationship (a definition of how
the PC relates to the Place) and the date the PC first entered there.
Points There are two kinds of Points in this game to keep track of for each
184, 232 PC: Training Points, and Points for the PC’s Revenge pool. They
are not to be confused. (The GM also keeps track of a tally of Hard
Knocks on their side, which is a totally different tally.)
Poison You sustain damage proportionate to the intensity of the Poison and
122, 124, take on the condition of K.O. or Dying as appropriate to the Poison.
There are specific measures for Tending and Treating Poison that
125 make it different than the normal circumstance of Dying.
Posturing When a player is coming up with the Moves their fighter will use in the
96 Round. In-universe, your fighter may be readying themselves, too.
Predecessor A player’s previous PC, before the Successor took over. The Pre-
54 decessor was once a New Fighter, but now they are old.
Quitting You no longer want to participate in violence.

133 1. When play transitions to the next segment, if your attitude is
not Tended, leave this lifestyle.
2. As the segment after begins, quit for good if not Treated.
Relief from An option at End of Year where a Comfort is employed to reduce

Hardship Hardship by that number by erasing filled checkboxes. Different
checkboxes in Hardship have different values.
267
● The 1st checkboxes in each tier cost 1 to relieve.
● The 2nd checkboxes in each tier cost 2 to relieve.
● The 3rd checkboxes in each tier cost 3 to relieve.
The player chooses what boxes are erased with the value of their
chosen Comfort.
Responder The fighter to go second in a fight, to issue their Move in reaction to

96, 98 the Aggressor’s Opening Move.
PAGE 325
Revenge A currency tracked by each PC that can be spent during moments of
232 crisis to:
● Flashback: Increase the Technique or Force of all Moves for a
Round. Must spend all Revenge at once. Gain half in Hardship.
● Call Out: Give an ally a boost to Technique or Force.
Rest A segment during the general Phase of play where PCs can physical-
(Segment) ly recover Health.
263 ● Heal all the 1st checkboxes in Health.
● Delay the circumstance of Dying by one segment.
This segment must be undertaken intentionally.
Rift A Comfort is made inaccessible until mended, and cannot be used

144 for Relief from Hardship.
● If the Comfort is Under Threat, it can be mended narratively
by resolving the situation.
● Otherwise, the Rift may only be mended in the Affirmation of
Life option at End of Year.
Rights of The winner can inflict one of the following on the loser:
Victory 1. Cause a Rift
108, 112 2. Reduce or destroy a Comfort
3. Gain Info
4. Inflict Hardship
5. Punishment (an uncontested Hit that is stepped up in Force)
Or, to express mercy, and do nothing at all.
Round Fights are broken down into Rounds, the combat sequence involv-
93 ing the exchange of Moves that operates in a set sequence of:
1. The First Swing
2. Posturing
3. Opening Move
4. Exchange of Blows
5. Consequences
At the end of the Round the fighters re-assess. Fights are to best 2/3
Rounds, or escalate to best 3/5.
Segment The second, and principal Phase of play during a Year. PCs can
262 individually or separately undertake one of five segments at a time:
Bond, Fight, Move, Rest, Train, or Travel.
● No segment can be undertaken twice in a row by the same PC.
● All PCs undertaking a segment do so simultaneously.
● All segments last as long as the longest segment in that cycle.
Setback The circumstance for a fighter worsens. This is a largely flavour

277 event in-game that will not influence the Moves of a fight (that’s a
Trouble) but is nonetheless influential to the events at hand and
narratively impacting. It must be a binary circumstance like losing
the McGuffin, the computer you’re hacking into isn’t responding, or
running out of ammo.
Sit Out During the Fight segment when not participating in a fight, and not
262 K.O.’d or Dying, a PC can choose to:
● Call Out to an ally, spending Revenge to aid them in a fight by
adding to their Technique or Force.
● Study the fight, gaining +1 Training Point.
● Trend or Treat an injured ally to keep them alive for one more
segment or prevent them from Dying, respectively.
PAGE 326
APPENDIX & GLOSSARY
Special A Move that does not obey the rules of the five standard Moves, and
Move is custom-constructed with its own relationship to the other standard
Moves in terms of what it beats, what it is beaten by, and what it
220 compares Technique against.
Special Knowledge granted by Teachers or Stages that, once acquired, are

Training check-marked on the character sheet to signify that they can be
Trained during a Training segment thereafter.
190
● Choice Study: Getting to choose a Move in which you get a
bonus for Training Technique.
● Force Training: Advancing Force for a Move.
● Meditation: A Place with several special qualities.
● Special Move: A unique Move that works differently than the
standard five.
● Weapons Training: Listed by individual Weapon.
Stage A special Comfort under Place that gives bonus’ to Training the
226 Technique of certain Moves in a PC’s Training Regime at the tiers of
1, 3, 5, 8, and 12.
● Each Stage has a Visiting Move that any martial artist can
recognise and use during a Training Regime even if the Stage is
not a Place for any of the PCs.
● The Visiting Move is determined by the nature of the Place
under the guidance of the GM.
● In some rare cases a Stage can Train Force or other Special
Training instead of a Move’s Technique.
Stage Anything dangerous that can act on the PCs from a place, inside or
Dangers outside of a known combat circumstance, is a Stage Danger. Stage
Dangers are responded to with a Move compared with the Move of
278 the Stage Danger on the Versus Chart as with Moves Versus Moves.
Stand Normally in Moves Versus Moves conflict resolution, one Move

98 is compared with only one other Move then discarded. Defensive
Moves (Block and Footwork) can be compared with subsequent
Moves, and if they still apply they can Stand.
Student Someone learning Martial Arts from a Teacher. The Student or

34, 56, 208 Students may also be a Comfort.
Study The only way to gain Training Points to advance your character in
184 F2S is to witness a good fight and not participate.
Teacher A special Comfort under Person that gives bonus’ to a PC’s Training
208 Regime at the tiers of 1, 3, 5, 8, and 12.
● The Visiting Move is determined by the attitude and martial
history of the Teacher under the guidance of the GM.
● Teachers sometimes prefer Special Training options
(Weapons, Meditation, and more) instead.
Technique This is a measure of the form, speed, and grace of a Move. With the
73, 90, 99 exchange of any two Moves that do not trump each other auto-
matically according to the Versus Chart, the Technique of each
Move is compared to decide victory, with the higher Technique
winning.
Tend Rouse an ally from K.O.’d or an otherwise unconscious state. PCs

124, 133 can also Tend as “first aid” to keep an ally from Dying at the end of
the segment.
● Any PC can Tend to an injured PC.
● Before Dying, a PC can only be Tended as often as half their
unchecked boxes in Health, rounded up.
● The Tended status is lost if the injury is exacerbated.
PAGE 327
Thing A category of Comforts representing the Things that are important
39, 136 to the PC. Each entry for Things has a name (which could be a broad
category like “wrist-watches”) a relationship (how the Thing is
connected to the PC) and the date it was acquired. This category of
Comforts is also used for a job, which is also the measure of money.
Training A segment during the general Phase of play, Segments, where PCs
(Segment) can use their Training Routine to increase their Moves and gain new
abilities. This segment must be undertaken intentionally.
264
Training During a Training segment, to increase the Technique of a Move ac-
184, 264 cording to your Training Regime, or, to gain some Special Training.
The same word is used to describe a Weapon’s value in a fight.
Training A PC meta-currency of potential, insight, and creative inspiration

Point that can be used during a Training segment to advance the char-
acter in the Martial Arts. Training Points are acquired under one
184 circumstance:
● Study a Good Fight: When a fight is going on in which the PC
is not participating they may Study and earn a Training Point
from the insights gained watching someone else’s applica-
tion of Moves.
Training A tracking system to organise the bonuses that a PC gets during a

Routine Training segment when spending Training Points to advance their
character. The Training Routine keeps track of bonuses to advance
48, 184, Technique through Build, Martial Arts, Teachers, and Stages, as
264 well as whether the fighter has access to Special Training.
Transfer of When a Comfort is destroyed the PC may be able to keep a part of it.
Affection The PC suffers half its value in Hardship, rounded up, and transfers
the other half of the old Comfort’s value to a new Comfort. The new
143 Comfort’s value is limited by the Revenge pool, which empties.
Travel A segment during the general Phase of play where PCs can move
(Segment) around the city in one of several ways:
266 1. Visit one Person and learn one piece of Info, acquire one
Thing, or fight them.
2. Visit one Place and gain some Info from there.
3. Go in search of and acquire one Thing.
Travelling usually involves meeting a Challenge.
Treat Eliminate the Dying circumstance in an ally.

124, 134 ● Can only be performed by a Doctor, or by a character whose
medical Comfort meets or exceeds the filled checkboxes of the
patient’s Health.
● Must be successfully Tended to be Treated, unless at a hospi-
tal, in which case Tended is skipped.
Trigger A marker put on a NPC fighter’s Health track so that when that
305 checkbox is filled, the circumstance of fighting changes in some
way, usually a Trouble or Setback that involves the GM spending
Hard Knocks.
Trouble, or When a PC is “in” Trouble their opponent gains +1 Moves the next
In Trouble Round during Posturing.
105, 276 ● Examples include: Ambushed, Blinded, Burdened, Downed,
Dizzy, Cornered, No Room to Move, Restrained, Sprained,
Swimming.
● The First Swing is also a Trouble.
Turn Order The order of PCs turns from smallest Build to largest. Stage Dangers
66 fall before or after the Build track, circumstantially.
PAGE 328
APPENDIX & GLOSSARY
Under The GM puts a Rift on a Comfort and sets up a threat of thematic

Threat repercussions if the Rift is not resolved.
261 ● Immediately, PCs with that Comfort are afflicted with half its
value in Hardship, rounded up.
● If the Comfort is rescued from being Under Threat then its
value increases by +1.
● If PCs fail to rescue the Comfort then it is either damaged—its
value is reduced by 1, and +1 is added to Hardship and Re-
venge—or it is destroyed.
● Destroyed Comforts are afflicted with the remainder of the
Comfort’s value in Hardship and given the total value of the
Comfort in Revenge.
This is the action that starts the Year of play, but may happen mul-
tiple times throughout the Year with different Comforts such that
the majority of PCs may each experience a Comfort Under Threat.
Virtue The five martial Virtues are: Strength, Heart, Flash, Scheme, and
74 Evade, representing social attitudes for conflict resolution. These
correspond to, and use the Technique value of the Moves: Grapple,
Punch, Kick, Block, and Footwork, respectively.
Visiting Move A bonus to Training based on being in a friendly location conducive

214, 230 to Training or when a Teacher friendly to you is willing to Teach you,
even though you may have no Comfort in that Place or Person.
Versus Chart A chart to evaluate what Move beats what Move between the Ag-
98 gressor side and the Responder side. An arrow points to the winner.
Blank squares denote a draw where Technique must be compared
to determine the winner.
We Have a The first, and setup Phase of play during a Year. After some initial
Situation bookkeeping (like aging characters) the GM talks about the season,
what has happened in the Year so-far, and puts the first Comfort
261 Under Threat.
Weapons Objects that can be held by characters that ignore the Move’s Force
192 and instead have a set damage value.
● Found Objects: 2 ticks of damage.
● Held Weapons: 3 ticks of damage.
● Guns: 5 ticks of damage.
Year The course of in-game events breaks down into three Phases, which
260, 312 together make up one in-game calendar Year.
1. We Have a Situation
2. Segments
3. End of Year
A typical play session will cycle through one to three Years.
PAGE 329
AFTERWORD
The Final Word on Fighting
B
lood, sweat, and tears go into just about
every table-top role-playing game you play.
Doubly so for this one. I paid in blood from
growing up in a small town, where bigotry
was rampant. I’m a tall, big guy, and I never cared
to look much like I fit in. I’d routinely be jumped by
this-or-that group while walking home late at night
and have to fight my way out. They were attacking
me because I was a tad queer—and I don’t just mean
that in the archaic sense. I remember standing over
groaning bodies, bleeding from split knuckles, sad,
shocked, much alive, and sick to my stomach. Some-
times I’d have friends fighting alongside me, but that
wasn’t always the case.
Sweat came when I got into the martial arts seriously.

Since I have a competitive spirit without killer instinct,
formal martial arts was a good fit for me. I surely had
no romantic notion about street fights. Was formal
martial arts a response to the fighting in my youth?
Maybe. Can I reconcile that thrill and upset with the fun
of watching Bloodsport (1988) today? Yes.
When I saw Jean-Claude Van Damme sitting on a

Hong Kong bus, feeling haunted by his upcoming
fight, while Stan Bush sings “On My Own—Alone”...
that...that’s the moment. I wanted to substantiate
the emotional journey of characters in a genre that
is usually looked upon as poorly plotted, and give it
meaning in a role-playing medium.
PAGE 330
AFTERWORD
As I looked around at the ttrpg space there was no

game that dealt responsibly with how horrible (and
yet exciting) it is to actually be in a fight, and no game
that could really communicate the fine melodrama of
a martial arts film, let alone reconcile it with the hyper
20th century represented in a combination of media
that was never quite real. I wanted to marry these
contradictions of realism and romance in an access-
ible way, and Fight to Survive: Role-playing Martial Arts
Meets Heart is the result.
As in any publishing endeavour, there were tears

along the way, but here we are. One way or another,
we all...Fight to Survive.
James Kerr
August 22nd, 2022
Backers
I believe in this game, and 262 others do, too. Some of them are:
Adam Chandler, Alex, Anthony Gulston, Austin Walts, Bruce Laing, Bryan McKellar,
Burny0929, Camryn, Cheryl Karoly, Chris Lawson, CM Morgado, Danny Taro, DeadOperator,
Elijah Dixon, Eric Alexander, Erik Growen, Francis Helie, GuruPhil - The Dark Orb, Jamie
Hagen, Jason Connerley, Jeff & Kathryn Condon, Jerimah, Kate Mitchell, L. B., Leif Mogren,
Louchapour, Ols Jonas Petter Olsson, Pat Reddick, Philip Roast, rchaddick, Robert Hailman,
Sean Lefebvre, Snarkayde (Philip), Ted Pick Jr., Wes, and Zak V.
The Print Grandmasters

Adam Hybbert, Brandon Steward, Doc Chez, Gabriel Midnight, Garrett Edward Spears,
Jacob Leonard, Jeffrey Polly, Jon Broster, Joseph Horak, Justin Wood, Shaleah
Sanders, and Travis Vance.
Fighters for Martial Justice

[No Name], Hadley Connor, Jimmy Hunter II, and Kevin O’Brien.
Create a Fighters
Above all these I want to thank the folks that gave tremendous support
to the project by creating fighters for the opponent’s page. They are:
Craig Jeffcoat, Harry Heydon, Robby Andersson, Stephen Van Der Werf, and Scott Behl.
PAGE 331
Age Dress
Age Dress
Age
  Dress


Age
 

Dress

 Age


Dress



Name

Name

Age



Dress




Name


Name
Player

Age 

 Dress

Player
Name








Player 
Player
Name  Small  Thin

 Medium  Tall /  Muscular



 Huge

Small
  Thin
 Medium Tall
 /
Muscular Huge

Player Small
  Thin
 Medium Tall
 /
Muscular





Huge

Name

 Small

 Thin

 Medium

 Tall / Muscular

Huge

Player MOVES

 

MOVES

 Small  Thin  Medium  Tall / Muscular  Huge
Player
GRAPPLE PUNCH MOVES
KICK BLOCK 
FOOTWORK

 Thin MOVES

 Small  Medium  Tall / Muscular  Huge
GRAPPLE
PUNCH

KICK
MOVES

BLOCK
FOOTWORK

Small
 Thin
  Medium  Tall / Muscular  Huge
GRAPPLE PUNCH KICK
BLOCK FOOTWORK

MOVES

STRENGTH

SCHEME

STRENGTH

HEART
EVADE
MOVES
FLASH
STRENGTH
SCHEME
GRAPPLE 
  
PUNCH

 
KICK

 
BLOCK
FOOTWORK
HEART
EVADE
FLASH
SCHEME
STRENGTH

 

     
HEART
EVADE
FLASH
  
SCHEME
   

GRAPPLE

PUNCH

KICK

BLOCK

FOOTWORK

HEART
EVADE
K Ksor K sorK sKorK sKorsosr orsor FLASHFLASHFLASH

 
 

STRENGTH
     

  
SCHEME

HEART

EVADE
STRENGTH

CHALLENGES     VERSUS TRAINING REGIME
  

 
  SCHEME
CHALLENGES VERSUS TRAINING REGIME

HEARTHEART

EVADEEVADE
STRENGTH
CHALLENGES
    VERSUS
  TRAINING REGIME


 
  Build M. A. Stage Teacher Total+
SCHEME
CHALLENGES
1 VERSUS TRAINING REGIME

B BresB reBs BresB rBesresresreFLASH
Build M. A. Stage Teacher Total+

G
Re ReRe RKe KRK
     

311

G G G G GG G
G GG G G G G


 
CHALLENGES VERSUS G TRAINING REGIME
sp spsp spBesBpBesBp eBsp B B

s
3

GP Build M. A. Stage Teacher Total+
P P P P PP P
P PP P P P P
on onon on on on on
31

5

CHALLENGES



VERSUS 
TRAINING

REGIME

F F AggF AgFg AFgFg AFggAgAgggAgg

GP
de dede dFe FdeF Fde Fde F F

5
3
   K
P
r r r r r r
8
51



 GK
P
8 CHALLENGES VERSUS  TRAINING REGIME

5
12
3

81

     BK

  B
KR KR K K
12
8
5
31
12


    
  G
B
K
PF Build M. A. Stage Teacher Total+

12

 
  
  B
GP
KF

8
5

   
W F

3

12
8

 
   

B
WK
PF

5
 
  





W

12 
Revenge 

  

 

Training B
WKF

r
8

   W 

12
Revenge

Revenge   
 Training

Training W
B F
 


Revenge

 
 Training


 
 
 
 

 


W F

  

Beat Up

 
Bruised Revenge TrainingKnocked Out   Dying

HEALTH

W
W 

Bruised Beat Up Knocked
 TrainingKnocked Out  Dying

HEALTH  Revenge

Bruised  Up
Beat    Out    
 Dying 
HEALTH W 
Bruised
  Beat
 Up Knocked
  Out
  Dying

 

HEALTH    Revenge    Training      


COMFORTS

Bruised
  Beat
 Up Knocked
  Out
   Dying

 
HEALTH

Bruised
  COMFORTS
COMFORTS
Beat
 Up Knocked
  Out
  
 Dying
 

HEALTH PERSON   PLACE

COMFORTS THING
PERSON PLACE THING

Bruised   
Beat Up  
Knocked 
Out  
Dying 
HEALTH PERSON

PERSON
PLACE
COMFORTS
THING
   PLACE

  
   THING
 



 PERSON

 COMFORTS

PLACE


 THING

COMFORTS
  
 PERSON PLACE THING




  
 PERSON

 PLACE

THING







  

 
 

  
HARDSHIP

 
 


 HARDSHIP
HARDSHIP




Stressed
Stressed


Out



Out
Just

Just

 
Snapped
Snapped




  

Breakdown

Breakdown

 






Quitting
Quitting




 HARDSHIP 


Stressed





Out


Just





Snapped









 
Breakdown










Quitting




 HARDSHIP


Stressed
  Out
 Just
 Snapped
  Breakdown
    Quitting
 
HARDSHIP
 











 

 




HARDSHIP



 



 



 


 
FIGHT TO
Frail heroes
in a desperate world.
SURVIVE
Throwing punches.
Throwing kicks.
Throwing away their lives.
Fight to Survive: Role-playing Martial Arts Meets Heart is a

heartbreaking, struggling, mundane, down-and-dirty table-top role-
playing game about martial artists in the 20th century. It includes:
● 1 complete, original, set of easy-to-learn rules

● 5 ready-made fighters
● 50+ martial arts
● 30+ opponents
● 10 districts in New Hope City
● 100 years of martial history and lore
●
www.radiojamesgames.com
3 years of pre-made adventures
● Shawscope full-colour interior
FIGHTING FUN FOR UP TO 6 PLAYERS
Take a foray onto the mean streets of New

Hope City where your guts and your fists are
all you have to fight, fight...to survive.

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Role-playing

First printing, version 0.2, March 2023

Softcover ISBN: 978-1-7388155-0-0

No part of this publication may be reproduced­—traditionally or digit-

SURVIVE Table of Contents

All you have is yourself, and your fists. Dare to believe

There is a time in each life to stand and be counted,

What You Need to Play

How to Read This Book

● Multi-generational: Each game session advances the in-game

San Francisco, or Toronto—instead happen in the

● About martial arts where the players didn’t have

Lines & Veils

The sample adventures starting on page 288

Blood & Guts

Once prepared, move forward into glorious gaming.

Before character creation begins, the GM will tell

Ideally, the creation of a new PC should not be done

Remember, the character you create is the start of a

Key Parts of the Character Sheet

Thin F or K q, q, q Long Hair, Jean Jacket, Hat

Medium G, P or K q, q, q Eye-patch, Hand-wraps, Headband

Tall/Musc. G or B qq,q,q Tattoo, Wild Hair, Sunglasses

Huge Block qq,qq,q Fat Belly, Scar(s), Leather Jacket

Distinctive Feature: Once your Build is chosen, make

“Aren’t you a little young

● First Fighters: If it’s your first time playing, it is highly recom-

In your 20s Recommended start

In your 30s 1 Destroyed

In your 40s 3 Destroyed

In your 50s 5 Destroyed

In your 60s 8 Destroyed

In your 70s or more 12 Destroyed

Martial Arts Uniform

Mechanically The Battery Abandoned factory slums of

Read Island Isolated nature reserve, known

The Richmond The Old Town, peaked in the

Woodside Rural and semi-rural areas sur-

The Battery Abandoned Buildings, Crowbar, Empty Factories

C-Com Industrial Construction, Industrial Park, New Power Plant,

Chinatown Buddhist Temple, Chinese Benevolent Associ-

The Docks Main Pier, Old Pier, O’Shay’s Pub, Run-down

Parkside Estates, City Park, Gallagher Golf Course, Howard

Read Island New Hope City Conservation Area

The Richmond Diners (Reeva’s Diner), Drive-in Movie Theatre,

Woodside Crossroads Truck Stop, Farmland, Highway

Martial Arts Schools Communities

Hand of Death Fighting Several disassociated, disenfran-

Atari Aikido, Beat Town MA, A cosmopolitan of folks, but with a

C-Com Athletics Ass., Sanctu- Mostly corporate created transposed

Bao Martial Sciences Academy, Sometimes violent segregation

Devil’s Hand Boxing, Cham- Small semi-closed communities: In-

Doxy Street Com. Centre, No single cultural groupings dom-

Art Kickboxing, Duchess Mar- Wealthy communities of northern

X No one lives here...or, no one is sup-

Rural and semi-rural Rural folk of various backgrounds.

African The Battery, Beat Town

Asian Beat Town, Docks, Chinatown

Australian The Docks, Parkside

European The Richmond, Parkside

S. American C-Com, The Neon Strip

century, black fighters who won in official fights were

“I say, stiff upper lip and

No part of this publication may be reproduced—traditionally or digit-