List of Techniques

This is a list of Techniques from various GURPS Books. Techniques from Classic (called Maneuvers) are in italics.

See Category:Technique Pictures for pictures of some Techniques many of which do not appear on this list.

List of Techniques

A

Technique	Difficulty	Prerequisite	Default	Maximum	Damage	Book/Page
Acrobatic Stand	Average	Acrobatics	Acrobatics-6	Acrobatics	NA	Martial Arts p. 65
Aggressive Parry	Hard	Any SS	Parry-1	Parry	Worse of thr-4 or thr-2 at -1/d cr‡	Martial Arts p. 65
Arm or Wrist Lock	Average	Judo, Wrestling, or app. MWS	PS	PS+4	QC	B230; Martial Arts p. 65
Armed Grapple	Hard	Cloak or app. MWS	PS-2	PS	Grapple	Martial Arts p. 67
Attack from Above	Average	Any MWS or UCS	PS-2	PS	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 67
Axe Kick	Hard	Karate	Karate-4	Karate	Better of thr+1 or thr at +1/2d cr‡	Martial Arts p. 67

B

Technique	Difficulty	Prerequisite	Default	Maximum	Damage	Book and Page#
Back Kick	Hard	Karate	Karate-4	Karate	Kick	B230; Martial Arts p. 67
Back Strike	Hard	Any MWS	PS-2	PS	Per attack at worse of -2 or -1/d with swung	Martial Arts p. 67
Backbreaker*	Hard	None	ST-3 or Wrestling-3	ST+3 or Wrestling+3	sw cr	Martial Arts p. 82
Beheading Blow	Hard	Any MWS capable of swung cutting attacks	PS-5	PS-2	NA	H30
Bind Weapon	Hard	Jitte/Sai or any fencing	PS-3	PS	Bind	Martial Arts p. 67
Binding*	Hard	Judo or Knot-Tying	PS	PS+4	Tie Up	Martial Arts p. 82
Bow & Palette Firestarting	Average	Survival or having seen the skill practiced before	Survival	PS+4	NA	GURPS Lands Out of Time 11
Breakfall	Average	Acrobatics, Judo, or Wrestling	PS	PS+5	NA	Martial Arts p. 68
Bullet Parry	Hard	Parry Missile Weapons and Enhanced Time Sense	PS-5	PS	NA	GURPS Supers 38

C

Technique	Difficulty	Prerequisite	Default	Maximum	Damage	Book and Page#
Camouflaged Mind Block	Hard	Mind Block	PS-4	PS	NA	GURPS Supers 38
Cavalry Training	Hard	Riding and any MWS	PS-2	PS	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 69
Chariot Archery	Hard	Bow	PS-6	PS	Per attack	F136
Choke Hold	Hard	Judo, Wrestling, or app. WS	Judo-2, Wrestling-3, or app. WS-3	PS	QC	B230; Martial Arts p. 69
Close Combat	Hard	Any MWS	PS-4, -8, or -12	PS-2, -4, or -6	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 69
Close Combat – Ranged	Hard	Any RCS	PS-Bulk	PS	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 69
Coded Thoughts	Hard	Mind Block and Cryptography	Mind Block-6	Mind Block	NA	GURPS Supers 38
Combat Riding	Hard	Riding	Riding	Riding+4	NA	Martial Arts p. 69
Combination – 2 Attacks	H+2	Any 2 TAs, even defaults	TAs-6	TAs	Per attacks	Martial Arts p. 80
Combination – 3 Attacks	H+3	Any 3 TAs, even defaults	TAs-12	TAs	Per attacks	Martial Arts p. 80
Combination, 2H – 2 Attacks	H+2	Any 2 TAs, even defaults	TAs-4	TAs	Per attacks	Martial Arts p. 80
Combination, 2H – 3 Attacks	H+3	Any 3 TAs, even defaults	TAs-9	TAs	Per attacks	Martial Arts p. 80
Coordinated Attack	Hard	PS	PS	Per attacks	None	GURPS Powers 166
Counterattack	Hard	Any MWS or UCS	PS-5	PS	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 70
Crack	Average	Whip	Whip-4	Whip	Per attack+2	Martial Arts p. 70

D

Technique	Difficulty	Prerequisite	Default	Maximum	Damage	Book and Page#
Disarming	Hard	Any MWS or UCS	PS	PS+5	Disarm	Martial Arts p. 70
Double Eye-Poke†	Hard	Brawling or Karate	PS-5	PS	Blind	Martial Arts p. 88
Drop Kick	Hard	Brawling, Sumo Wrestling, or Wrestling	Brawling-1, Sumo Wrestling-1, or Wrestling-2	PS	Slam+2	Martial Arts p. 70
Dual-Weapon Attack*	Hard	Any UCS or 1H CS	PS-4	PS	Per attack	B230; Martial Arts p. 83
Dual-Weapon Attack (Bow)*	Hard	Bow	Bow-4	PS	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 83
Dual-Weapon Defense*	Hard	Any MWS or UCS	Block-1 or Parry-1	Block or Parry	NA	Martial Arts p. 83

E

Technique	Difficulty	Prerequisite	Default	Maximum	Damage	Book and Page
Ear Clap	Average	Any SS	PS-3	PS-1	thr-3 cr‡, Deaf, Stun	Martial Arts p. 70
Elbow Drop	Hard	Brawling or Wrestling	Brawling-4 or Wrestling-5	PS	Better of thr+2 or thr at +1/d cr‡, Knockdown	Martial Arts p. 70
Elbow Strike	Average	Brawling or Karate	PS-2	PS	thr-1 cr‡	B230; Martial Arts p. 71
Entangle	Hard	Kusari or Whip	PS-4	PS	Entangle	Martial Arts p. 71
Evade	Average	Acrobatics or Judo	PS	PS+5	NA	Martial Arts p. 71
Exotic Hand Strike	Average	Karate	Karate-1	Karate	thr cr‡	Martial Arts p. 71
Eye-Gouging	Hard	Brawling, Judo, or Wrestling	PS-5	PS	thr-4 cr, Blind	Martial Arts p. 71
Eye-Pluck*	Hard	Brawling or Karate	PS-10	PS-4	thr-3 cr‡, Cripple	Martial Arts p. 72
Eye-Poke	Hard	Any SS	PS-9	PS-4	thr-3 cr	Martial Arts p. 72
Eye-Poke Defense†	Hard	Any UCS	Parry	Parry+5	NA	Martial Arts p. 88
Eye-Rake	Hard	Brawling or Karate	PS-5	PS	Blind	Martial Arts p. 72

F and G

Technique	Difficulty	Prerequisite	Default	Maximum	Damage	Book and Page#
Feint	Hard	Any UCS, MWS, or special	PS	PS+4	Feint	B231; Martial Arts p. 73
Fighting While Seated*	Hard	Any CS	PS-2	PS	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 83
Finger Lock	Hard	Arm Lock	Arm Lock-3	Arm Lock	QC	B231; Martial Arts p. 73
Flying Atomic Wedgie†	Hard	Brawling or Wrestling	PS-8	PS	Pain	Martial Arts p. 88
Flying Jump Kick*	Hard	Karate	Karate-7	Karate	Kick at better of +2 or +1/d	Martial Arts p. 83
Flying Lunge*	Hard	Any thrusting MWS	PS-4	PS	Per attack at better of +2 or +1/d	Martial Arts p. 83
Grand Disarm*	Hard	Any MWS or UCS	Fencing-9, MWS-11, or UCS-11	PS	Disarm(s)	Martial Arts p. 84
Ground Fighting	Hard	Any CS	PS-4	PS	Per attack	B231; Martial Arts p. 73

H and I

Technique	Difficulty	Prerequisite	Default	Maximum	Damage	Book and Page#
Halitosis Attack†	Average	OPH (Foul Breath)	HT-5	HT+5	Stun	Martial Arts p. 88
Hammer Fist	Average	Brawling or Karate	PS-1	PS	thr-2 cr‡	Martial Arts p. 73
Hand Catch*	Hard	Any GS	Parry-3	Parry	Grab or Grapple	Martial Arts p. 84
Hand Catch (PMW)*	Hard	Parry Missile	Weapons	Parry-3	Parry, Grab	Martial Arts p. 84
Hand-Clap Parry*	Hard	Judo or Karate	Parry-5	Parry	Grab, Disarm	Martial Arts p. 84
Handcuffing	Average	None	Binding, DX-2, Judo-1, or Wrestling-2	Binding, DX, Judo, or Wrestling	Cuff	Martial Arts p. 73
Hands-Free Riding	Hard	Riding	Riding-3	Riding	NA	Martial Arts p. 73
Hang From Saddle	Hard	Riding	PS-3	PS-1	NA	F136
Head Butt	Hard	Brawling or Karate	PS-1	PS	thr-1 cr	Martial Arts p. 74
Head Lock	Hard	Judo or Wrestling	PS-3	PS	QC	Martial Arts p. 74
Hit Location	Hard	Any combat/weapon skill; must specialize	Combat Skill-Hit Location (Combat Skill-3)	Combat Skill	normal	Classic: Martial Arts p. 50
Hook	Hard	Any app. MWS	PS-5	PS	Hook	Martial Arts p. 74
Hook Kick	Hard	Karate	Karate-3 or Kicking-1	Karate	Kick	Classic: Martial Arts p. 51
Horse Archery	Hard	Bow and Riding	Bow-4	Bow	Per attack	B231; Martial Arts p. 74
Human Missile	Hard	Acrobatics or Jumping and the Super Jump advantage; Aerobatics and the Flight advantage; or Aquabatics and one of Amphibious, Aquatic, Enhanced Move (Water), or Flight (if usable underwater)	Acrobatics-3, Aerobatics-3, Aquabatics-3, or Jumping-3	PS	Per attack	GURPS Supers 38
Impersonate	Average	Mimicry (Speech)	PS-3	PS	NA	B233
Initial Carving*	Hard	Any fencing	PS-4	PS	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 85

J through L

Technique	Difficulty	Prerequisite	Default	Maximum	Damage	Book and Page#
Jam	Hard	Brawling or Karate	Parry-1	Parry	Worse of thr-3 or thr-1 at -1/d cr‡	Martial Arts p. 74
Judo Throw	Hard	Judo	Judo	Judo	thr-1 cr, Knockdown, Stun	Martial Arts p. 75
Jump Kick	Hard	Karate	Karate-4	Karate	Better of thr+1 or thr at +1/2d cr‡	B231; Martial Arts p. 75
Kicking	Hard	Brawling or Karate	PS-2	PS	thr cr‡	B231; Martial Arts p. 75
Knee Drop	Hard	Brawling or Wrestling	Brawling-3 or Wrestling-4	PS	Better of thr+2 or thr at +1/d cr‡	Martial Arts p. 76
Knee Strike	Average	Brawling or Karate	PS-1	PS	thr cr‡	B232; Martial Arts p. 76

L

Technique	Difficulty	Prerequisite	Default	Maximum	Damage	Book and Page#
Leg Grapple	Hard	None	DX, Wrestling, or Judo	DX+4, Wrestling+4, or Judo+4	Grapple	Martial Arts p. 76
Leg Lock	Average	Judo or Wrestling	PS	PS+4	QC	Martial Arts p. 76
Leg Throw	Hard	Judo	Judo-2	Judo	thr-1 cr (ST+2), Knockdown, Stun	Martial Arts p. 79
Lethal Eye-Poke*	Hard	Karate	Karate-11	Karate-5	thr-2 pi‡	Martial Arts p. 72
Lethal Kick*	Hard	Karate	Karate-4	Karate	thr-1 pi‡	Martial Arts p. 85
Lethal Strike*	Hard	Karate	Karate-2	Karate	thr-2 pi‡	Martial Arts p. 85
Lifesaving	Hard	Swimming	Swimming-5	Swimming	NA	B233
Low Fighting	Hard	Any CS	PS-2	PS	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 77
Low-Line Defense	Hard	Boxing or Sumo Wrestling	Parry-2	Parry	N/A	Martial Arts p. 77
Lower-Body Arm Lock	Average	Judo or Wrestling	PS-2	PS+4	QC (ST+2)	Martial Arts p. 79
Lower-Body Arm Lock	Average	Judo or Wrestling	PS-2	PS+4	QC (ST+2)	Martial Arts p. 79
Lower-Body Head Lock	Hard	Judo or Wrestling	PS-5	PS	QC (ST+2)	Martial Arts p. 79
Lower-Body Leg Lock	Average	Judo or Wrestling	PS-2	PS+4	QC (ST+2)	Martial Arts p. 79

M through O

Technique	Difficulty	Prerequisite	Default	Maximum	Damage	Book and Page#
Motion-Picture Camera	Average	Photography	PS-3	No limit	NA	B233
Mounted Shooting	Hard	Riding or any vehicle and any RCS	RCS-4	RCS	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 77
Multiport	Hard	Body Sense and the Warp advantage with Rapid Fire	Body Sense	Effective Body Sense		GURPS Supers 38
Neck Snap	Hard	None	ST-4	ST+3	sw cr	Martial Arts p. 77
No-Hands Riding	Hard	Riding	PS-3	PS	NA	F136
No-Landing Extraction	Hard	Piloting	PS-4	PS	NA	B233
No-Mind	Hard	Invisibility Art and Mind Block	Mind Block-5	Invisibility Art	NA	GURPS Supers 38
Noogie†	Hard	Brawling or Karate	PS-5	PS	Pain	Martial Arts p. 88

P through R

Technique	Difficulty	Prerequisite	Default	Maximum	Damage	Book and Page#
Piledriver*	Hard	Wrestling ST-5 or Wrestling-5	ST or Wrestling	Better of thr+4 or thr+2 at +2/d	cr‡, Pin	Martial Arts p. 85
Pole-Vault Kick*	Hard	Jumping and Karate	Karate-4	Karate	Better of thr+3 or thr+1 at +1/d cr‡	Martial Arts p. 87
Pressure-Point Strike*	Hard	Pressure Points/Secrets and app. CS	CS-2	CS	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 87
Purse Cutting	Hard	Knife	PS-5	PS	NA	F136
Push Kick	Hard	Karate or Brawling	PS-3	PS	Knockback	Martial Arts p. 78
Quick Mount	Average	Acrobatics, Jumping, or Riding/vehicle	PS-3	PS	N/A	Martial Arts p. 78
Remote Hypnosis	Hard	Hypnotism; Telepathy Talent 1, or any other talent relevant to influencing others’ minds	Hypnotism	special limits	No limit	GURPS Supers 38
Retain Weapon	Hard	Any MWS	PS	PS+5	N/A	B232; Martial Arts p. 78
Retain Weapon – Ranged	Hard	Any RCS	DX	DX+5	N/A	Martial Arts p. 78
Return Strike	Hard	Flail or Kusari	PS-5	PS	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 78
Reverse Grip	Average	Any MWS	PS-6, -4, or -0	PS	N/A	Martial Arts p. 78
Roll with Blow*	Hard	Acrobatics or any UCS	PS-2	PS	N/A	Martial Arts p. 87
Rope Up	Average	Climbing	PS-2	PS	N/A	B233

S

Technique	Difficulty	Prerequisite	Default	Maximum	Damage	Book and Page#
Sacrifice Throw	Hard	Judo	Judo	Judo	Knockdown	Martial Arts p. 78
Scaling	Hard	Climbing	Climbing-3	Climbing	NA	B233
Scissors Hold	Hard	Wrestling	Wrestling-2	Wrestling	Grapple	Martial Arts p. 79
Set Trap	Hard	Explosives (Demolition)	PS-2	PS	NA	B233
Sharp Turn	Hard	Teamster	PS-1	PS	NA	F136
Shoot Backward	Hard	Riding and Bow	Bow-4	Bow	Per attack	F136
Shoot Over Mount	Hard	Riding and Bow	Bow-4	Bow	Per attack	F136
Slip Handcuffs	Hard	Escape	PS-5	PS	NA	B233
Snap Weapon*	Hard	None	ST-4 or ST-based Jitte/Sai-4	ST+3 or ST-based Jitte/Sai+3	QC	Martial Arts p. 87
Spinning Kick	Hard	Karate	Karate-3	Karate	Kick, Feint	Martial Arts p. 79
Spinning Punch	Hard	Karate	Karate-2	Karate	Punch, Feint	Martial Arts p. 79
Spinning Strike	Hard	Any MWS	PS-2	PS	Per attack, Feint	Martial Arts p. 79
Springing Attack*	Hard	Any MWS or UCS	PS-2	PS	Per attack at better of +2 or +1/d	Martial Arts p. 87
Staff Vault	Average	Drop Kick, Staff	None/Drop Kick-4	Not Given	Special	Classic: Martial Arts p. 112
Stamp Kick	Hard	Brawling or Karate	PS-3	PS	thr+1 cr‡	Martial Arts p. 80
Staying Seated	Average	Riding	Riding	Riding+4	N/A	Martial Arts p. 81
Sticking	Hard	Judo at 14+	Judo-2	Not Given	attack and parry at +2	Classic: Martial Arts pg 60
Sweep	Hard	App. MWS or UCS	PS-3	PS	Knockdown	B232; Martial Arts p. 81

T through Z

Technique	Difficulty	Prerequisite	Default	Maximum	Damage	Book and Page#
TA – Grab, Strike, or Throw	Hard	Any MWS or UCS	PS-HL	PS-HL/2	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 68
TA – Grapple	Hard	Any GS	PS-HL	PS	Per attack	Martial Arts p. 68
Tight Beam	Hard	Innate Attack (Beam)	Innate Attack (Beam)-2	PS	Per attack	GURPS Powers 39
Timed Defense*	Hard	None	AD-2	AD	N/A	Martial Arts p. 89
Triangle Choke	Hard	Judo or Wrestling	Judo-4 or Wrestling-5	PS	QC (ST+2)	Martial Arts p. 79
Trip	Hard	Any GS	Parry-1	Parry	Knockdown	Martial Arts p. 81
Two-Handed Punch	Average	Brawling	PS-2	Brawling	Better of thr+1 or thr at +1d cr‡	Martial Arts p. 81
Uppercut	Average	Any SS	PS-1	PS	thr cr‡	Martial Arts p. 81
Work by Touch	Hard	Lockpicking	PS-5	PS	NA	B233
Wet Willy†	Hard	Brawling or Karate	PS-6	PS	Squeamish	Martial Arts p. 88
Whirlwind Attack*	Hard	Boxing, Karate, or any MWS	PS-5	PS	Per attack(s)	B232; Martial Arts p. 89
Wrench (Limb)	Hard	None	ST-4	ST+3	sw cr	Martial Arts p. 82
Wrench Spine	Hard	None	ST-4 or Wrestling-4	ST+3 or Wrestling+3	sw cr	Martial Arts p. 82

Reference Notes

“*” indicates a cinematic technique, usually restricted to cinematic campaigns.
“†” indicates a silly technique, usually available only in silly campaigns.

“H+2” and “H+3” indicate Combinations for Damage, which are Hard and have an extra cost equal to the number of attacks: +2 or +3 points for two or three attacks, respectively.

• Maximum: The Maximum level to which the technique can be increased by someone without Technique Mastery.
• Damage: The technique’s Damage or other effects – or “N/A” for utility and most defensive techniques. Unarmed attacks often give a formula for crushing (cr) or piercing (pi) Damage based on thrust (thr) or swing (sw) Damage.

“‡” after a formula means that standard skill-based Damage bonuses apply.

“Per attack” means the technique delivers regular Damage for a basic attack with the prerequisite skill, including any relevant skill-based Damage bonus.

“Kick,” “Punch,” and “Slam” mean the technique does the indicated kind of unarmed Damage, including any relevant skill-based Damage bonus.

“QC” means Damage depends on a Quick Contest.

Abbreviations

• 1H: One-handed.
• 2H: Two-handed.
• AD: Active defense (Dodge, Block, or Parry).
• app.: Appropriate.
• CS: Combat skill (any UCS or WS).
• GS: Grappling skill (Judo, Sumo Wrestling, or Wrestling).
• HL: Hit location penalty (e.g., -3 for the vitals).
• MWS: Melee weapon skill
• PS: Prerequisite skill
• RCS: Ranged combat skill (e.g., Bow or Guns).
• SS: Striking skill (Boxing, Brawling, or Karate).
• TA: Targeted Attack.
• UCS: Unarmed combat skill (any SS or GS).
• WS: Weapon skill (any MWS or RCS).

References

• Basic Set 229-233
• GURPS Martial Arts Techniques Cheat-Sheet
• GURPS Fantasy 136
• GURPS Low-Tech