What does a Carromeleg fighter look like, and when would he get his extra dice if he specialized that way?
I've always liked to think of it like Bartitsu - the gentleman's elf's martial art.
I've seldom had a concrete mental image of it, despite it being a common occurence on my character sheets. Most of my guys who've used it have had other martial arts, as well (when I play a combat guy, I play a
combat guy), so I've mostly described the Carromeleg as a state of mind, then their actions and attacks as appropriate for their other art.
The problem with it is that it's long been described as a mental thing, full of formal stances, quasi-mystical levels of balance and focus, and that sort of thing (all in Sperethiel, so you can be plenty Fourth World and exotic if you want). Stat-wise, it used to be the exact same as Capoeira, meaning you could -- if you wanted -- describe it as full of wild attacks, big circular motions, strange and unpredictable stances, with lots of flexibility and balance.
Also, though, I've always kept in mind that the Tir Peace Force has mandatory service and characters have often been described as getting their Carromeleg from the service, which gives me a more brutal, efficient, easily-taught and very instinctive, Krav Maga or Muay Thai sort of mental image (very natural movements, direct attacks, etc).
In the end, it's one of the games most "make of it what you will" flavors. Which is awesome to the for-fun writer in me, but frustrating to the stickler for canon.
