Analysis #1: Rising Attacks in Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game

This is a simple comparative analysis of rising attacks, such as the Dragon Punch, Thunderstrike, etc., 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:

Name	Cost	Spd	Dmg	Mv	Effects
Punch
Flaming Dragon Punch	w, c	-1	+6 x2	-2	KD, KB, Air, Dodge
Dragon Punch	w	+0	+6	-2	KDA, KB, Air, Dodge
Kick
Dragon Kick	w, c	-1	+6 x2	-2	KD, KB, Air, Dodge
Flash Kick	w, c	-1	+7	No	KDA, Air, Dodge
Flying Thrust Kick	w	+0	+6	-2	KDA, KB, Air, Dodge
Flying Knee Thrust	w	+1	+2	+1	Air, Dodge
Grab
Air Throw	w	+2	+5	+0	vs. Air, KD, Mv-Hit-Mv
Athletics
Jumping Shoulder Butt	-	+0	+3	-1	Air, Dodge
Thunderstrike	-	+0	+5	-1	Start adjacent, in-hex, Mv-Hit-Mv
Vertical Rolling Attack	w	+0	+3	+0	KDA, Air, Dodge

Ok, first off, Dragon Punch is identical to Flying Thrust Kick, and Flaming Dragon Punch is identical to Dragon Kick. We’ve known this for a while. This reduces the number of unique “rising attacks” to 7. It’s worth noting that Flaming Dragon Punch and Dragon Kick only hit twice if the fighter is adjacent to his opponent at the start of the round.

Dragon Punch, Flying Thrust Kick, Flaming Dragon Punch, and Dragon Kick all cause Knock Back, potentially useful when fighting a grappler.

Some of these maneuvers do not cause Knock Down, even on Aerial opponents—a fact that had escaped me in spite of years of playing the game. Among these are Flying Knee Thrust and Thunderstrike.

Ah, Thunderstrike. I think it may still be overly powerful due to its lack of a Willpower cost, in spite of interesting limitations that I had never noticed. 1) it does not cause Knock Down, even on Aerial opponents. 2) The fighter must start the round adjacent to his opponent and must enter the opponent’s hex in order to use Thunderstrike. It also has a benefit I hadn’t realized—after doing damage, the fighter can finish his movement.

Flash Kick seems weak in comparison to the other maneuvers. Sure, it does +7 damage, the highest in the game. But this is offset by the cost of 1 Chi and 1 Willpower, and the fact that it has 0 Movement.

Now, let’s look at the maneuvers from Secrets of the Shadoloo, and the Storyteller’s Screen.

Name	Cost	Spd	Dmg	Mv	Effects
Kick
Forward Backflip Kick (Storyteller’s Screen)	w	+2	+1 x2	two	vs Air, KDA
Tiger Knee (SotS)	2 w	+3	+2	+0	KD, Air, Dodge
Grab
Air Suplex (SotS)	-	-1	+4	+0	vs. Air, KD, end turn in-hex
Choke Throw (SotS)	-	-1	+2	+0	vs. Air or Stand, KD, end in-hex

Forward Backflip Kick and Tiger Knee seem like good additions to the game—they work differently and are not overpowered. Tiger Knee is incredibly fast and causes Knock Down, but its stats are offset by its high Willpower cost. Forward Backflip Kick is excellent if you catch the opponent in the air, but it isn’t a complete loss if the opponent doesn’t go aerial.