Analysis #8: Multi-hit Attacks in Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game

 

This is a simple comparative analysis of multi-hit attacks, by which I mean all attacks that can hit a single character more than once, in Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game.  This comparison limits itself only to the special maneuver listed in the core book, in their original forms.

 

Here they are in summary format:

There are essentially three categories of attack here.  1) It hits twice but doesn’t do a lot of damage, and it doesn’t cost Willpower (Double Hit Kick, Double Hit Knee).  2) It hits 3 times but doesn’t do a lot of damage, and it costs 1 Willpower.  3) It hits once for every time you move but doesn’t do a lot of damage, and it costs 2 Willpower, Chi, or combination thereof.  Of course, there are really only 3 maneuvers that fall into category 1, so it’s a debatable category, but I’ll keep it because it is useful.

 

Almost all the moves fall into one of those three categories, with the exception of Flaming Dragon Punch, Dragon Kick, and Double Dread Kick.  That’s 2 maneuvers, because Dragon Punch and Dragon Kick are identical, and those only hit twice if you start the round adjacent to the opponent.  If so, you do a lot of damage with those two hits. 

 

Category 01 (Double Hit) maneuvers aren’t bad, as long as the opponent doesn’t block and doesn’t have Maka Wara.  They can do a good deal of damage because they aren’t as threatening as the other maneuvers on the list (due to their low damages), and it’s possible that the opponent won’t take them seriously.  Of course, if the opponent blocks, they do little damage, and if the opponent blocks and has Maka Wara, there is a good chance the fighter will be taking more than he’s giving.

 

Category 02 (Triple Hit) maneuvers are problematic, with the possible exception of Hyper Fist.  They will do a ton of damage if they connect, but next to nothing if they are blocked, and everyone knows it.  So everyone blocks them, and they become a very expensive way to burn Willpower, in most cases.  Hyper Fist, with its high speed modifier, has the potential to deal a lot of damage if it used in an unblockable combo.

 

Category 03 (Hurricane) maneuvers have all the same problems as Triple Hit maneuvers.  They are block-bait.  You really have to use them well to have any decent effect.  In addition, they are expensive, costing 2 of your precious Willpower and/or Chi.  Hardly worth it, in most cases, especially as your opponent can abort to block at a cheaper cost than you are paying for the maneuver, in most cases.  There are other problems with these moves as well—the Turbo Spinning Clothesline makes Spinning Clothesline obsolete, essentially replacing it.  Hurricane Kick and Air Hurricane Kick have another problem—the difference between the two maneuvers is unrelated to the “promised” difference of their different names.  The tradeoff is not between Aerial and non-Aerial—Hurricane Kick is listed in the rules as an Aerial maneuver!  Instead, the tradeoff is between speed and movement, as Hurricane Kick is 1 point faster than Air Hurricane Kick, but Air Hurricane Kick has 2 more movement.

 

Repeating Fireball seems to be the best of the Category 03 maneuvers—at least you are (hopefully) far away from your opponent, keeping you safer from retaliation if he blocks.  Plus, there’s a chance he’ll try to dodge instead, giving you as many opportunities to hit him as you have dots in focus, for full damage possibilities if you do hit.

 

Of course, these maneuvers are not designed for head-to-head combat.  They are designed for group combat, the real focus of the roleplaying game, and in group combat they may shine: many of the Category 03 maneuvers hit all adjacent hexes. 

 

Additional maneuvers from Secrets of the Shadoloo and the Storyteller’s Screen:

 

Scissor Kick is perhaps the best cost/benefit maneuver of the multiple hit maneuvers.  It is fast, damaging, and mobile, and it only costs 1 Willpower.  It’s what makes M. Bison (US name) so scary in the RPG.  It is more likely to be worthwhile than a Psycho Crusher, for its cost.