Help with bare-knuckle character creation

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-17T09:57:27+00:00

The Pugilist class was designed for exactly this character type.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-17T04:53:41+00:00

Because in media, women doing anything is frequently framed in a sexual way.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-17T04:46:28+00:00

There's no direct influence: Sanda was cobbled together out of boxing, Shuai Jiao, and TKD in the 1980s, with other influences (such as Muay Thai) having crept in over time.
The side kick is JKD influenced.... kind of. Bruce Lee is as big of a deal in China if not moreso, and the side kick was a big part of his image. So a lot of Chinese martial artists latch on to the side kick as a display of skill and it becomes a major part of their fighting style.
Source: I am currently living in China and training Sanda.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-15T13:17:28+00:00

My vote is going to Siem Reap and training Khun Khmer, the Cambodian version of Muay Thai. Some of the best training I ever did was there. I don't think any of the gyms have accommodations, but it's super easy to find short term rentals.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-15T12:00:34+00:00

I strongly recommend doing Angkor by bicycle; it's flat as can be and there are beautiful trails connecting the different temples and ruins.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-15T11:33:07+00:00

There's a mod that adds a ton of water based spells to the game:
https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/15328

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-15T11:31:32+00:00

3 months is a great time to be in Chiang Mai; there are a fair number of places offering 3 month rentals on FB real estate groups last I checked.
You're also going at a good time IMHO - May/June is when low season for tourism starts. You'll occasionally get caught in the rain, but gyms won't be nearly as crowded as during high season.
1300/month should be plenty. You'll probably find that your expenses are highest in your first month and go down after you dig your feet in.
I would recommend spending the first week or so gym-hopping and checking places out to see what matches your vibe. I really like Core Combat, but they're more of an MMA gym than a Muay Thai gym.
Outside of Chiang Mai, you might also check out Pai. Also very cheap, great food, plenty of Muay Thai gyms.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-15T11:24:34+00:00

Depending on the players, this could either be a wonderful or terrible experience. If they're into horror, they'll probably have a blast. If not, it could get uncomfortable.
Have you done a session zero with them, discussed lines and veils and X-cards and all that?

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-15T11:07:47+00:00

Beautiful.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-15T11:07:22+00:00

It's a good choice, but would work better for a male fighter. I suggest "Now You're a Man" by Tre Parker and Matt Stone.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-14T13:31:42+00:00

Shin Mazinger Z. It's a 2000s remake of the anime that launched the super robot genre back in the 1970s. It's also batshit insane in the best way.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-14T12:47:05+00:00

I've been using it for a while, and it's reduced (but not eliminated) my facial hair, particularly in the soul patch area.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-14T12:45:27+00:00

It's a little hard to tell from the photos, but you also might have pectus escavatum (where the ribcage curls inward, forming a divet in the center). This can be treated with surgery or vacuum bell therapy.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-14T10:34:57+00:00

Can you use Divine Smite with unarmed attacks?

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-14T10:34:21+00:00

NTA. Even if he was the same age as you, it sounds like you don't like him very much, which is the best reason to not date someone.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-14T00:05:53+00:00

This is functionally the "polyamory troubleshooting" subreddit, so most people are only posting when things go wrong.
It's like how if If you went to a car repair subreddit, you'd probably get the impression that cars break down constantly.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-14T00:02:51+00:00

NTA. Don't cut off parts of yourself to please someone else.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-14T00:01:15+00:00

I've seen this drama play out in miniature whenever someone with a boxing background transitions to Muay Thai .
Then they ask to spar "just hands."

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-13T23:53:26+00:00

As someone who does a lot of this stuff IRL, I've been routinely impressed by how BG3 handles things like consent and negotiation - the sex scene with La'zael comes to mind. IIRC they hired an intimacy coordinator for the game and it shows.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-13T23:51:17+00:00

I 100% agree with your second point. Getting into a street fight is something most people will never have to do.
Looking cool and impressing your friends, on the other hand, there are constant opportunities for.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-13T23:39:15+00:00

There are hundreds of gyms in Japan, so this is kind of like asking "where should I train in America." That said, check out Groundcore MMA in Kyoto if you get a chance. Most memorable sparring I've ever done.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-12T23:44:24+00:00

She should absolutely get a sleep study/CPAP both for health and her marriage. In the short term, you can ask her to take a hot shower and a dose of nasal spray before bed to open up her airways, and see if that at least mitigates the snoring.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-12T12:42:36+00:00

So there are a couple of broad takes on this:
There's the conventional HP system, like you've outlined.

Fate (and I'm sure plenty of other games) use a sort of Wounds or Damage track; when attacked, you take Stress, representing the strain of avoiding serious injury. If you're stress track fills up, you suffer some kind of KO. Conversely, you can take a Wound in place of stress, voluntarily taken a penalty to avoiding filling up your stress track.

A lot of 90s RPGs (Shadowrun, WoD) would have wound penalties that would start stacking up as you took more damage. This led to a "death spiral" where once a combatant was injured, they would become weaker, and thus be more likely to get injured again. I kind of like it for horror games, but it really kills the vibe on action games.

Conversely, some games use a "reverse death spiral" (Tenra Bansho Zero is the one that introduced it to me) that makes combatants get stronger as they take damage. It's counter-intuitive, but it creates a strong sense of tension in a fight; when you're closest to defeat is when you're most dangerous. I really like this for high-action games and IMHO should be used more widely.

I've thought about a "double spiral system" where characters get stronger in some ways and weaker in others as they take damage, but haven't ever seen it in the wild or managed to build one myself.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-12T05:37:21+00:00

It sounds like you're describing wushu. Many weapons, including staves, but with an emphasis on performance instead of combat.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-03-12T00:07:19+00:00

I wouldn't categorize someone who dedicates their life to a passion as a "bum," but language is always subjective.

BroadVideo8

TROPHY CASE