Druidism (the religion) and Druidry (the practice) is considered the oldest coherent metaphysic on Panisadore, with paleolithic roots developed during the Age of the First Suns. It still retains much of the flavor of its Khurorkh origins (St. Kherrekh himself was a Druid Illuminate) but over the millenia has grown, adapted and changed in countless ways. What is presented below (and in following posts - this of course is only a section of a Great Wall of Text in progress,) is meant to present the core elements of the predominant tradition in the setting at the present time. It is distinctly non-deistic, Druids honor the Primordials but do not really worship them or serve as their clergy. The personal relationships of clergy with their respective deities was developing (along with the exploration of what would later be termed Arcane Magic) among the Fehladurh at roughly the same time. Eventually both of course had some degree of influence upon the other.
This should lay down the basic framework for this, um, lifestyle. What I'm creating is meant to be extremely broad '" in it's original sense it was seen as 'all encompassing.' Viewing nature as all encompassing; 'unnatural' is synonymous with 'impossible,' so it follows that to study all of nature is to study everything there is. Druids view everything as Sacred, while distinguishing what most would term as Unnatural, Evil, Defiled etc. (produced by Gaurashiage) as still an aspect of the Natural, hence Sacred, but Aberrant (cancerous) as opposed to Holy. (They use the terms rather differently than in Rimenoshan metaphysics, but both groups find much commonality in principals.) In practical terms of course, many things are not explored. For instance, few if any Druids have every been notable artists or bards, although it's not unheard of for one to show some ability in such areas. In attempting to reflect the 'system' of study mechanically, a number of prerequisites are imposed upon the progress. This should in no way represent variations in GURPS mechanics, rather it describes mechanically the structure of Druidic development within a setting (i.e., is entirely flavor dependent). Druidic development is based on a comprehensive set of core skills as learned only from, and under the direct supervision of, a mentor who has in turn demonstrated to hir Mentor (and peers) hir own mastery of the core and chosen special curriculum. Therefore, a Dedicant will be required by hir Mentor to demonstrate skill and understanding in certain areas before being taught others, as well as maintaining a degree of balance in hir development in the core skills. This does have the effect of forcing a character to spend a lot of points in various skills which they might not otherwise choose to; a Druids path is slow and arduous (and very thorough). I do intend to include certain bonuses and synergies that should arise from such a course of study though '" the results should not only be worth the time and cost, but be attractive.
The body of lore and skills reflected here is a syncretic system drawing upon both Celtic and Taoist concepts as well as relatively independent fantasy tropes. 'Druids,' as most gamers will think of and expect such, should be quite recognizable and it may be tempting to view them as a 'character class.' However, it should be come very obvious below that the straightjacket of such is ripped to shreds here; within a setting this should be viewed as a profession/lifestyle similar to any real world professional ecclesiastic/monastic, and the requirements the same as say, a modern setting should impose upon characters who might be doctors, lawyers, police officers, etc.. (Sorry if I'm stating the obvious, as I've been working on this some of it has struck me as looking superficially as if I was creating a character class.) I would prefer in some ways to use a different word than 'Druid' for this in order to get avoid some assumptions the name may carry, but it is simply too convenient and common of a handle to discard. Instead, for my own setting I'm playing with the internal languages so that the word is instead a (contraction of a) racial word meaning 'Illuminated Person.' The ultimate goal of a Druid (and many others) is enlightenment (in the transcendental Taoist/Buddhist/Hindu sense) and the most highly developed Druids are therefore certainly 'illuminated' if not having achieved true, full enlightenment.
There is a distinct hierarchy in place, directly reflecting Clerical Investment and Religious Ranks as purchased Advantages. (Requiring this to be purchased may actually be excessive given the requirements to achieve the rank in the first place '" see next paragraph.) This also reflects the clear distinction between Mentors and Dedicants. Beyond the hierarchy depicted in the following table there is no formal 'church structure.' Rank reflects recognizable accomplishments and the inherent respect which those attain from both ones peers and society . Internal politics of course are present, in some areas common or even rampant, but this is a competition for influence rather than authority. Once a Druid is acknowledged by hir Mentor as ready to mentor others (hence, is no longer a Dedicant,) s/he becomes an autonomous authority in hir own right. Higher levels of Church Rank require a degree of peer review and acknowledgment but 'mavericks'or 'renegades' could purchase the ranks with discount for Unrecognized [-20%] or Opposed [-40%]. (This might be tweaked and even greater/finer shades of disagreement may well be reasonable, up to being viewed as a danger/enemy for [-80%] for a Druid who has chosen to be come very skilled in necromancy for instance.) There is a direct relationship reflected in the respective vestments between the Mentor (Black) and dedicate (White) ranks. (A Mentor cannot teach someone who wears more white the s/he does black. . .) Ranks of 7+ are informal and honorary, reflecting local organization where any such could be said to exist.
There is no real requirement to become an Aspirant beyond finding a Mentor who will teach hir. Guardians (of the Mysteries) are those who begin the initial training of Aspirants, intended to determine the students' suitability and introduce them to the core skills of The Five Roots of Wisdom outlined below.(Four of these are Mental, Hard and the other Physical, Average.) An Aspirant will not learn any Ritual Magic, but will most likely learn the basics of Religious Ritual (i.e., 'The Path of Nature' as described in 'Thaumatology'). The bare minimum requirement for achieving any rank is an average relative skill level in the 5 core skills equal to that rank. Various Mentors and sub-traditions may further emphasize one of the 5 Roots, refusing to train any of the other 4 to a level higher than the Aspirant has learned that primary skill. (This will be described further below.) One of the essential things to realize about this mechanically is that a Druid's training in any of the various (optional) Limbs is limited by hir achievements in the core skills; e.g., no Mentor will train an Aspirant in Ritual Magic to any relative level higher than hir ability in Religious Ritual '" which further cannot be raised significantly without some increase in the other 4 as well. There is still a good deal of flexibility in this, but 'overspecialization' (in Druidic thinking) is not permitted '" the system of training enforces a value placed upon comprehensive learning. The table below includes the minimum point values that will have been spent on the core skills to achieve each rank in parentheses. Additionally, a Dedicant must demonstrate the development of Eidetic Memory before becoming a full Druid (Clerical Rank 2) and no Illuminate can expect to achieve any honorary rank as a Luminary without having developed a fully Photographic Memory.
Table 1; Druid 'Ranks'
Rank (pts) Title Vestments
None (0) Aspirant White Collar (on green or brown robe/cloak)
0 (18) Acolyte White Collar and Hood
1 (36) Ordinate White Collar, Hood, Hem (i.e., trim: bottom and cuffs)
2 (56) Druid Full White Robe
3 (76) Guardian Black Collar (on white robe)
4 (96) Master Black Collar and Hood
5 (116) Wise (or Cunning) One Black Collar, Hood and Hem
6 (136) Luminous One Full Black Robe
7+ Luminaries: Honorary/Elected White collar, hood, (& poss. trim) on Black robeThe core curriculum of Druidic study arises from the 5 Roots of Wisdom displayed in Diagram 1: (which won't copy from OpenOffice Writer, so just imagine a pentagram connecting the words. . .)
Metaphysics
Meditation__________Acrobatics
Observation___Ritualism
Metaphysics (IQ, Hard) is a new skill intended to fill in the gray area between Theology and Philosophy. Non-deist spiritual traditions such as Buddhism and Taoism which are frequently described as 'a philosophy, not a religion.' Shamanism and most indigenous spiritual traditions would probably fit here as well. Specialization in a specific tradition is required, but General Metaphysics would apply to any at a default of -5, and between Comparative Religion and Comparative Philosophy at -7. This is the true heart of Druidry '" the understanding of the natural world '" the other skills are considered critical to it's development. Consequently, some traditions refer to this as the Trunk and the others as the 4 Roots. . . Such traditions insist that the roots cannot be developed more than the Trunk , much less the skills of the various Limbs. Understanding is viewed as arising from direct Observation of the Natural World. Aspirants for instance will not be simply told about the behaviors of various animals, they are required to spend time actually observing them directly and then questioned at length regarding what they have observed. Ritualism primarily refers to Religious Ritual, but the Limbs of Understanding and Power are both based upon Ritual Magic which is seen as a further development of this and cannot exceed it. Nearly all Druids, regardless of personal focus on any particular Limb(s) will learn at least some abilities from one or both of those limbs. Meditation is the bridge between Observation and Understanding. Finally, Acrobatics is the basis upon which Wind Through Trees, the primal Druidic martial art, is developed. Wind Through Trees is first off meant as a way of ensuring that Druids do not neglect their own bodies in the pursuit of Enlightenment. (Comparative to the mythic origins of Chi Kung and Shaolin Kung Fu '" initially taught by Bodhidharma to the monks of the Shaolin Temple to correct their lack of physical condition which resulted in their inability to meditate properly for any significant length of time.) It is divided into two parts: Forest Floor which is a rudimentary form of self-defense learned by all Druids and the much more advanced Forest Crown which constitutes the martial Limb known as The Way of Winter. Forest Floor practitioners additionally learn the skills of Brawling and Wrestling, and usually one or more of the optional skills of Bow, Staff, Knife and Cloak. Forest Floor is immanently practical in its intent '" most Druids are expected to need to defend themselves far more from dangerous (and often magical/supernatural) beasts of the wilderness than from members of other races. Brawling and wrestling are most suited. The three weapons mentioned are pretty obvious, but the Cloak skill deserves mention here. It is also viewed as a very practical skill since virtually everyone will have one ready to hand and few wear any sort of armor or learn to use a shield. As with any style, the Perk, Style Familiarity, is required to learn any further techniques, etc. These, along with the details of Forest Crown will be described later.
From these roots then are developed the many Limbs of Druidry. The most common and well known of these are:
The Way of Understanding (Path Magic per Thaumatology),
The Way of Power (Ritual Magic per B 242 sidebar),
The Way of Spirits (Shamanism),
The Way (or Crown) of (Nature's) Blessings (development of typical 'Druidic Powers' through attunement with Nature),
The Way of Glowing Embers (Psionics '" a very new limb in Panisadore),
The Way of Spring (Healing '" both the mundane skills and various magical abilities from other Limbs),
The Way of Summer (Natural Sciences '" Druids who teach animal husbandry, horticulture and conservation are Adepts of this Limb),
The Way of Autumn (Woodsmen and outdoorsmen, wilderness runners, etc.)
The Way of Winter (Martial Artists), and
The Way of the Web (Social influence skills '" in Panisadore very old and rarely developed now, while in the Palladium Northern Wilderness this could well be a hypothetical Limb being developed by a few who see these skills as critical to the survival of Druidry. The Autumn Web should be a fairly obvious possible approach to the concept.)
While Druids typically focus upon one, sometimes two of these, they will invariably learn some abilities form a number of others. A Limb may best be thought of as a declared major with minors being common and double majors not uncommon. Those who actually learn skills from all however are exceedingly rare - it quickly becomes for too much for even the longest lived of races to make a truly comprehensive study of the overall tradition. At various times and in different regions variations in any of this are to be expected - the idea here is for a flexible system which can be adapted to virtually any fantasy setting with little effort.
Just want to say that I like the different "ways" and how it covers a lot of things. I'll probably ask some more questions this weekend.
My first question is why is Eideic Memory required for becoming a Druid?
Harking back in part to Celtic tradition, Gaelic was never a written language, Druids, Bards, Brehon, etc. all relied entirely on memory. Druids are in many ways "scholars without libraries" and as I get deeper into the training the importance of memory over writing I think will be a little more evident. In the simple terms it is a tradition transmitted orally (and experientially) from Mentor to Dedicant. Memory training really begins with the Observation skill - learning to observe in great detail and clearly remember all that was observed. Teaching method here consists primarily of the Mentor questioning the Dedicant at great length.
Krunch here is cross referencing a couple of different sources providing variants to the basic GURPS magic system - the effect offers Druids certain advantages arising from their comprehensive training compared to typical mages but makes them notably weaker spellcasters in many respects. Rather than pasting many pages of source text, I'll be happy to answer any Krunchberry questions. Of course, for basics of how skill rolling (and skill levels in general) work the GURPS Lite free download will clarify most. sjgmames download store, e23, offers it free - another free reference there lays out all the spells by "college" (as listed in table 2) in a tree format showing standard prerequisites. This is useful in seeing how difficult a given spell becomes in the Ritual Magic alternative: each prerequisite spell to the one being cast imposes as -1 penalty to the Ritual Magic default skill level - the further down the tree the bigger the penalty.
(Attach to end of last paragraph:) Upon each limb then will be found the specific skills (or Branches) pertinent to it and in keeping with the Tree analogy, the techniques based upon the skills are commonly referred to as the Leaves upon the Tree.
The Ways of Understanding and Power can best be considered first in comparison to each other. Both rely upon skill in Ritual, however, while 'a few rituals (from the Way of Understanding) somewhat resemble standard spells, they're different in fundamental assumptions '" they tend to be more flexible, subtler, and less direct.' (Thaumatology, pg. 122) The Way of Understanding is the most direct expression of the Religious Ritual skill. The Limb supports numerous branches (Paths of Magic per Thaumatology) and all Druids have some skill in at least The Rites of Nature. Other common Rites are learned as appropriate to an individual's personal focus, usually one or two additional Branches e.g., A Druid who primarily walks the Way of Spring will typically learn the Rites of Health while someone walking the Way of Spirits will learn the Rites of Spirit and often those of Dreaming as well. A few Druids focus specifically upon this Limb and those who walk the Way of Understanding become skilled ritualists, able to effect the world around them in a great variety of ways. The only common Rites outside of their purview are those of Gadgetry. The Root skill supporting this Limb is Religious Ritual. Unlike most practitioners of Path Magic, Druids find the Rites to constitute Hard, rather than Very Hard skills and many rituals are techniques of only Average difficulty. Relative Skill Level in any of the Branches still cannot surpass that of the Root skill, nor can Relative Skill Level in any given Ritual surpass that in the Branch upon which it constitutes a Leaf. The Root skill, even for those specifically walking the Way of Understanding is still limited by maintaining balance among the 5 Roots as a whole, although for these latter this is invariably the most developed Root skill.
The Way of Power begins with the study of Ritual Magic in order to produce more direct and immediate effects. Relative Skill Level in this cannot surpass that in Religious Ritual and remains a Very Hard skill for Druids. However, once this is understood, the actual Paths of Magic (as described in Basic, pg 242) may be learned with varying degrees of ease. They are divided into four groups reflecting increasing levels of abstraction and difficulty from the relatively obvious (to one already schooled in Druidic Metaphysics) to the nearly incomprehensible (from that same point of view) which are only, if ever, learned through independent study and research. Actual spellcasting requires Power Investiture to an increasing degree commensurate with the Branches difficulty. The Branches then are grouped as shown in Table 2. Branches of higher difficulties are never taught before at least two branches of the preceding difficulty have been learned, nor are more Branches of any difficulty taught than have been learned of the preceding. Many Druids learn some Branches of this Limb of course, a healer for example learning at least Animals and Plants then Healing. As the Leaves (spells) as techniques upon the first two sets of Branches are of Average difficulty to learn, while those upon the latter two are Hard. All other normal rules regarding prerequisites affecting defaults apply.
Table 2, Branches of Power
Obvious (E, PI 1) Abstract (A, PI 2) Obscure (H, PI 3) Unknown (VH, PI 4)
Air Communication/Empathy Body Control Enchantment
Animal Healing Illusion/Creation Gate
Earth Knowledge Food Making and Breaking
Fire Light and Darkness Mind Control Meta
Plant Sound Movement Necromancy
Water Weather Protection Technology
Fascinating construct you have here. If I may make a couple of comments, I'd first like to mention that brawling and wrestling is really only best suited for facing humanoid opponents. Personally, I'd prefer never to wrestle a bear, yet alone a magical creature. I'd rather shoot it in the face repeatedly with a bow from as far away as possible. Barring that, I'd prefer to stab it in the face repeatedly with as long a pike as possible. Things to consider when developing Forest Floor and Forest Crown - application will determine the skills and setup, really.
You should also decide, as mentioned above, the important and emphasis on literacy. If this is an illiterate culture, great value will be placed on eidetic memory types. Various expert skills may become useful.
Has this been developed further? I'd be interested in seeing where it has led over the past month.
[spoiler=Now some crunchy bits]
Quote from: Snargash Moonclaw'¦no Mentor will train an Aspirant in Ritual Magic to any relative level higher than hir ability in Religious Ritual '" which further cannot be raised significantly without some increase in the other 4 as well.
Metaphysics (IQ, Hard) is a new skill intended to fill in the gray area between Theology and Philosophy.[/quote]
Re: Brawling/Wrestling - true, but compared to the other 4 generic unarmed skills, less so. The MA style write-up is next on the list for this which should clarify some, but the basic premise for Forest Floor is self-defense rather than offensive. My line of thought here is that if a stalking predator attacks someone, that predator will have (at least believe it has) gotten the jump on them, else foregone the attack until confident of surprise, hence the defender will be unlikely to bring weapons to bear immediately, assuming an appropriate weapon is in hand (rather than a bow). Any unarmed combat with an animal is essentially brawling and all predators (and a few prey) animals listed in B: Campaigns have Brawling skill. So, while defending unarmed is certainly less than ideal, it can often be a necessary preliminary part of any combat until weapons can be ready and the animal driven off or killed.
Forest Floor Style Familiarity actually focuses on familiarity with animal attacks (in this sense animals can be viewed as "stylists") and since there is no penalty for facing an unfamiliar style when defending against them this perk will give a slight bonus to defense/offense (probably +2/+1). The fundamental basis for this (and later, Forest Crown) of course is acrobatics - mobility in close quarters. The style costs [4] for Style Familiarity, Acrobatics, Brawling and Wrestling - with optional skills of Knife, Staff, Spear, Cloak and Terrain Adaptation. This last is not really an option - it's an inherent development of the style, but not purchased immediately, stylists eventually learn it. Many will learn Bow as well.
Druids who master the style often learn the Advantage, Calm Chi, which is mandatory before moving on to Forest Crown for the few who do so. Masters of Forest floor (only) however tend to by fairly advanced - anyone not focusing on the Way of Winter who has developed Calm Chi is invariably wearing a black robe (though not necessarily solid black).
The key idea here is working with the fact that GURPS combat skills have been designed with the inherent assumption that those learning/using them will be fighting other people, not beasts and bestial monsters, so I'm trying to create an effective style outside of that transparent assumption. Any suggested techniques would be very appreciated! Wrestling is meant to take advantage of grappling which most people can do while few animals really can - three cheers for opposible thumbs - while recognizing that Master Po putting a grizzly bear in an arm lock would be going beyond even the wildest wu xia stunts. . . Breaking/dislocating the forelimb of a lunging wolf however would be within the realm of possibility - and might buy time to draw that knife before it's pack mate made its move.
The "Moonscar Resurrection. . ." story is meant in part to illustrate via narrative the general approach to Druidic training - including the fundamentals of Forest Floor. Forest Crown is where they focus on fighting other people and the skills in it should display a pretty direct development from those of Forest Floor. Masters of the Way of Winter are essentially Druidic fighting monks and that style (Wind Through Trees) is kind of the Panisidorean (Khurorkh) equivalent of core Shao-lin Kung Fu in the sense of an ancient, legendary style from which most others were later developed.
While I understand you want a self defense against animals, realize that most animals are stronger adn faster than people. That is why we use tools, like knives, spears, swords, bows, etc. If you want combat that is effective against animals in GURPS terms, try something like this:
[ic=Forest Floor Example]Forest Floor utilizes speed, agility, and calmness of mind to deal with the unrelenting attacks of predators. Focusing on the knife, because of its versatility and ease of use in close quarters combat, the goal fo every encounter is to peirce a vital organ or slit the creature's throat.
Most strikes are made as Defensive Attacks, and parries are prefered to dodging so as to increase the chance of wounding the animal with the knife. Practitioners often wear gloves and arm guards to protect themselves against the natural weapons of beasts. Careful retreats are used in combination with All Out Defense while waiting for an openning. Another common tactic is to use a side or forward retreat to open up the opponent to a counterattack or riposte.
Because many animals attempt to knock their prey to the ground or do so by virtue of their sheer strength and size, close in fighting as well as ground fighting are taught in conjunction with the knife. In such situations, ending the fight quickly is of hte utmost importance as no human can easily take on an animal in such a situation. As a result, vitals are targeted almost exclusively until the animal is dead. Another option often exploited is to cut open the creature's stomache so its entrails spill out and inhibit its movement.
Because most predators utilize the element of surprise, practitioners are taught to maintain a heightened level of awareness at all times. Additionally, they learn to draw their weapons at a moment's notice. Some go so far as to learn to draw and strike almost instantly. Another tactic they learn is to throw their knives when luck gives them the option, because most wild beasts cannot attack from a distance. Advanced practitioners also learn to use improvised natural objects as clubs or batons. This way, even if a knife is not readily at hand, they are not completely unarmed.
Skills: Knife; Quick Draw; Thrown Weapon (Knife)
Techniques: Close Combat; Counterattack; Evade (Acrobatics); Ground Fighting; Low Fighting; Retain Weapon; Reverse Grip; Targeted Attack (Knife slash/throat); Targeted Attack (Knife thrust/vitals)
Perks: Off-Hand Weapon (Knife); Quick Swap (Knife); Sure-Footed (Uneven); Weapon Adaptation (Knife > Shortsword); Weapon Adaptation (Knife > Axe/Mace)[/ic]
Note that I have not included any cinematic elements as this is just thrown together to simulate something that might have a higher chance of success against wild animals. Considering your focus on acrobatics, you might consider Flying Leap and Light Walk. Cinematic Techniques may include Dual Weapon Attack or Dual Weapon Strike.
Remember that with animals, feinting is almost pointless in the traditional sense. They do not understand that a slight dip in the tip of your weapon or shift of your feet means you are about to attack. Intimidation would be better suited here. Also note that disarming is pointless. Any sort of intentional grapplign is nearly suicidal since most animals are far stronger and far more agile than humans and have far fewer inhibitions about literally tearing your throat out. In addition, animals are naturally armed, so they will always have a huge advantage against an unarmed human. Thus it is important to merely always be armed. Locks and throws are not very useful against animals, since they can recover much more quickly and are more at home on the ground. To make matters worse, being as limber and armed as they are, even if you grab one limb, they can likely still bite or claw you with another. You'd only hold yourself in range while they mawl you.
If you absolutely must fight an animal barehanded, your best bet would be to prep the arena first. Use your head to set up traps and only attack the animal when you can do so without exposing yourself to harm. Otherwise you're just asking to be an all you can eat buffet for the worms.
[EDIT]
A real life example of when Forest Floor might be useful would be case of Carla Nash (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/02/18/2009-02-18_charla_nash_lost_eyes_nose_and_jaw_in_ch.html), the woman who recently had her eyes, nose adn jaw ripped off by a chimp. Even then, it took the police shooting it several times to kill it. I have to ask how a man armed with nothing would survive survive such an encounter in any fashion worth mentioning.
This is some good material, thanks. To clarify a couple of things, the UC skills are not meant to be relied upon - they are part of the initial "buy-in" which didn't include weapons - they're learned first to some degree, after which (and rather quickly) *some* weapon(s) *must* be learned - which specific weapons can vary.
Consider too that this was not initially a human MA - it's a refinement of what was a primal, stone-age Khurorkh fighting style - stronger, tougher and with teeth. Not to say that they would have wrestled bears even then, they learned (and teach) skills to first survive the initial attack, then follow through in the most effective means possible. Your suggestion of Quick Draw (for any weapon) is very well taken in this regard - once the initial pounce/leap/lunge/strike is fended off then that is certainly the next step as soon as possible.
Knife in particular fits the Fehladurh (elves) extremely well here, but as a choice for a single weapon that everyone learns (if such choice is made) it's a strong candidate. Staff and/or spear are often learned since reach is a good thing. Race will certainly come into play with further development. Roughly half of the actual Druids (as separate from the religion's adherents) are Khurorkh, with the remainder roughly equal between humans and elves. A small, but growing number of dwarves are actually exploring this path as well however - projecting long term trends this could have a very interesting influence on many aspects of Druidry as a whole if one were to peer into the setting a couple of centuries down the road. Regarding the MA specifics, numerous adaptations should be present, I've been describing the primary, global tradition, specific needs would be addressed in a practical manner however. Given the very top-down approach I take to setting development I would also, in GMing it, welcome and encourage player development of such - the idea being that I'm providing the basic conceptual template and keeping things very free for a player then to come back with an idea which appeals to them as to how someone of a given race and culture might then perceive, interpret and have trained in the conceptual context.
Building the MA style perhaps I should include an extra point as "choose one of the following weapons." As with most (I realize not all) MA training, basic unarmed skills are learned first then weapons taught as an extension of them. Knife again as a development of Brawling moves makes much sense. The Khururkh BTW rarely learn to throw knives simply because they use khukri, which doesn't throw as well as most, and they're not very good (due to specifics of vision) at ranged combat.
Overall, if I haven't made it clear, your suggestions here are excellent and greatly appreciated.
I'm glad thsi helps some. One more thing I might ask of this style, becvause it greatly affects Forest Floor as an entry MA, is what is its purpose?
MAs that develop for militaristic use tend to teach weapons before empty hand figthing because it is easier to kill with weapons. Shao Lin focused on empty hands and bludgeoning weapons because it is primarily a form of exercise and their faith frowns on killing. Purely self defense agaisnt other humanoids will have a more practical and less-than-lethal set of skills centered around disarming and subdueing an assailant.
From what you have written, I suspect that a combination of the formermost and lattermost would best suit Forest Floor. Animals are armed naturally, so discard disarming techniques (though you could incorporate attempts to dismember. Unfortunately, these are less efficient than just killing). Animals are tyring ot kill you dead, so your best defense is to try to kill them dead first. Thus, I'd make training in at least one weapon manditory up front with empty hand training forming the basis of very advanced techniques for "Oh Crap!" situations when you are truly unprepared (which in a real wilderness environment means you're dead anyway). I chose knife above simply because it's also an extremely versatile tool - it makes housing, cuts rope, serves as a fork, marks paths, is a writing implement, is improvised surgical gear, is a weapon. A spear is a walking stick, a tent pole, a pole for pushing a boat or poking at things from a distance, but it's not quite as versatile. Heck, you can tie a knife to the end of a stick and make a spear. Knife for the win, in my book. :)
Additionally, depending on how practical and down to business you want this MA, remove the frilly things like acrobatic kicks and strikes. Acrobatic dodges should always be coupled with retreating; acrobatic feints should be minimal. In fact, all feints should be minimal since animals aren't really bright enough to buy into good feints. Intimidation or bad feints to make them flinch are probably better suited. A style that focuses on mobility, sureness of foot (falling sucks against people. it's a death sentence against a leopard), and aggressive, wounding attacks. The further away you are from the animal, the more aggressive you can be, but the trick is to end the fight before the animal gets in a lucky shot--most will be fight-enders.
Here's the second half of the MA - the optional traits and skills taught at different institutes:
Advantages: Improved Per; Improved Basic Move; Combat Reflexes; Enhanced Defenses (Dodge or Parry); Talent (Outdoorsman); Weapon Master
Disadvantages: Your call here. This is pretty much fluff in mechanics form.
Skills: Bow; Camouflage; Naturalist; Shortsword; Spear; Staff; Stealth; Survival (Forest); Tracking; Traps; Wrestling
Perks: Form Mastery (Spear); Grip Mastery (Spear or Staff)
still waking up, so meat will follow later - for the moment, some gravy: telegraphic, acrobatic techniques in nature (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTQc-WEb5h8) not for Forest Floor - but there's just gotta be a style inspired by this