Martial Arts

Vulcan Neck Pinch

The Vulcan Neck Pinch is a martial technique developed by the Vulcans.--Vulcan neck pinch - Memory Alpha

Related to neuropressure, the Vulcan neck pinch involves applying pressure near the base of the neck, at the shoulder, and nearly instantly renders the target unconscious, often so fast that the target is unable to cry out, but not always (TOS: "Day of the Dove").

The Vulcan neck pinch requires two rolls to accomplish.

1. Roll DX-6, Judo-6, Sumo Wrestling-6, or Wrestling-6 to grapple the target’s shoulder near the neck.
2. Roll Vulcan Neck Pinch technique to causes unconsciousness.

Techniques

Vulcan Neck Pinch is required to preform a Vulcan neck pinch. The other techniques will make your Vulcan neck pinch more successful.

Vulcan Neck Pinch

Hard Technique

Pressure Secrets-2

Vulcan, Trained By A Master (30 pts), Pressure Points at 16+, and Pressure Secrets; cannot exceed Pressure Secrets skill

On the same turn after you successfully grapple the proper nerve cluster, roll your Vulcan Neck Pinch technique. On a success, your foe falls unconscious for minutes equal to your margin of success. If you succeed exactly, your target may cry out before falling unconscious. You may also choose to inflict damage equal to your margin of success (but without any double bonus).

Looking at it another way, the whole point of this technique is to quickly render a foe unconscious after an attack to a rather specific hit location. As such, it differs little from a targeted attack to the face or skull, which can result in a knockdown-and-stunning roll (possibly at -5 (-10)). (B552).

Any Zorski Interspecies Compatibility off species penalty when used on a species outside of your specialty for this technique. (Vulcan is your assumed specialty.)

Vulcan Neck Pinch Attack

Hard Technique

DX-6, Judo-6, Sumo Wrestling-6, or Wrestling-6; cannot exceed DX-2, Judo-2, Sumo Wrestling-2, or Wrestling-2

Vulcan Neck Pinch technique

This technique allows you to buy off the -6 grappling penalty when setting up a Vulcan Neck Pinch. All of the Pressure Secrets, but only half the hit location penalty (round up), can be bought off (MA68). For this reason, your Vulcan Neck Pinch technique cannot exceed your attack skill-2. E.g. Spending 5 points on the Vulcan Neck Pinch technique allows you to make grapple attacks that initiate a Vulcan Neck Pinch at -2 instead of -6.

Looking at it another way, the whole point of this technique is to attack a location that might quickly render a foe unconscious. As such, it differs little from a targeted attack to the face or skull. The face (skull) is -5 (-7) to target.

Any Zorski Interspecies Compatibility off species penalty when used on a species outside of your specialty for this technique. (Vulcan is your assumed specialty.) In noncombat/surpise situations, a +5 situation modifier should be applied to the initial roll to hit; if the victim wants to be neck pinched, +10.

Special Exercises (Vulcan Neck Pinch Attack on Species)

Average Technique

Vulcan Neck Pinch Attack-off species penalty and Vulcan Neck Pinch-off species penalty; cannot exceed Vulcan Neck Pinch Attack or Vulcan Neck Pinch

Vulcan Neck Pinch technique

This technique allows one to buy off the penalty for attempting the Vulcan neck pinch on a species outside your specialty. (Vulcan is your assumed specialty.) This technique is unusual in that can effect two techniques: Vulcan Neck Pinch Attack if you have it, and Vulcan Neck Pinch. I.e. it effects both the grapple roll to initiate the Vulcan neck pinch, and the Vulcan Neck Pinch roll to cause unconsciousness. In the absence of this technique, a successful Physiology roll for a species can be made to avoid its off species penalty, but this would need to be done before every attempt to apply the Vulcan neck pinch to a member of a species you're not specialized in nor have this Special Exercise perk for. E.g. Spending 3 points on the Special Exercises (Vulcan Neck Pinch on Humans) technique would allow a Vulcan to make the initial grapple and cause unconsciousness on a Human without any off-species penalty.

Perks

Unusual Training (Vulcan Neck Pinch)

The prerequisites for the Vulcan neck pinch techniques assume the Vulcan neck pinch is part of a Vulcan martial arts style. Many Vulcans learn the Vulcan neck pinch by itself. (Some Vulcans don't learn it at all.) Taking the Unusual Training (Vulcan Neck Pinch) perk allows a Vulcan to take the Vulcan Neck Pinch technique without having the Pressure Secrets skill or any other prerequisites. When this perk is taken, the Vulcan Neck Pinch default becomes IQ-9; cannot exceed IQ. (-2 from the usual Vulcan Nerve Pinch technique penalty, -7 for defauting from a very hard skill) Non-Vulcans may acquire this perk, but must purchase a 5 point Unusual Background to do so.

Technique Mastery (Vulcan Neck Pinch)

This perk increases the maximum allowed level in your Vulcan Neck Pinch technique by +4: so Pressure Secrets+4 (or IQ+4 if you have the Unusual Training (Vulcan Neck Pinch) perk). It has no effect on your Vulcan Neck Pinch Attack technique.

Species Specialties and Skill Penalties

Because of the common genetic ancestry of most of the races of the Milky Way Galaxy...--Hybrid - Memory Alpha

Many behavior/cultural and medical/physiological skills and techniques require you to specialize by species. There is a penalty when using these skills with culture [B23] or physiology [B181] you aren't specialized in. It is assumed you will specialize in your own species, but you don't have to. (Being specialized in other species but not your own requires a plausible background story—a 1 character point Unusual Background Perk).

Behavioral/Cultural Off-Culture Penalties

The penalties for using the behavioral/cultural-type skills – Anthropology, Body Language, Carousing, Connoisseur, Criminology, Dancing, Detect Lies, Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Games, Gesture, Heraldry, Hypnotism, Interrogation, Intimidation, Leadership, Merchant, Poetry, Politics, Propaganda/TL, Psychology, Public Speaking, Savoir-Faire, Sex Appeal, Sociology, Streetwise, and Teaching [B23] – on a species outside your specialty are given in the table below. The Expert Skill (Xenology) skill suffers from the same penalties when used to identify or answer general questions about a species' culture.

* Cultural Familiarity for unknown species costs 1 character point, plus a 1 character point Unusual Background.
† Cultural Familiarity for enigmatic species costs 2 character points.

Counseling officers have access to Cultural Adaptability (10 pt) (or Xeno-Adaptability (20 pt)) which allow them to ignore these cultural unfamiliarity penalties for Common and Uncommon species (or all species). The Counseling! wildcard relative skill level bonus reduces these penalties for those skills above that aren't covered by Counseling! E.g. If you had Counseling! at Attribute+1 (36 pt), you would have only a -1 penalty when Carousing with an Alpha Centauran and no penalty when Interrogating one.

Medical/Physiological Off-Species Penalties

The off-species penalties for medical/physiological-type skills are based on the Zorsky Interspecies Compatibility Table [from GURPS: MODULE PRIME ALPHA, pp. 28-29] given below. These penalties can be waived if you can make a Physiology (species) roll for that species first. You may roll against Physiology (species) at defaut; such a roll suffers from the same penalties given below.

Physiology (species)/TL

IQ/Hard

IQ-6, Diagnosis-5, Physician-5, Physiology-off species penalty, or Surgery-5

This skill is covered on p. B213. A successful roll against your species specialty of Physiology temporarily removes the off-species penalty for physiology-esque skills [B181]: Diagnosis, First Aid, Physician, Pressure Points, Pressure Secrets, or Surgery. If you fail this Physiology roll, you feel the full effects of any off-species penalty. While a high Physiology skill with several species specializations can be an efficient way to go for high-IQ individuals and/or those with a wide range of medical/physiological skills, purchasing additional species specialties for particular skills removes their off-species penalty permanently.

These penalties can be waived if you can make a Physiology Skill roll for that species first, which will of course suffer from the same penalty. If you don't have the Physiology Skill for that species, you can roll against a default: IQ-6, Diagnosis-5, Physician-5, or Surgery-5.