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21:45, 4th May 2024 (GMT+0)

Homebrew Mechanics Thread.

Posted by The All-Seeing EyeFor group 0
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 35 posts
Fri 27 Nov 2015
at 22:47
  • msg #1

Homebrew Mechanics Thread

I'll be posting any homebrew mechanics to this thread.  This will primarily be Martial Arts styles, though it may include custom Spells, Evocations, etc.

Update: Slightly modified Fivefold Venom Fist Style, specifically reducing the accuracy bonuses of Viper's Fang Strike, which now adds to the duration of any poisons affecting the target, too.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:11, Sat 12 Dec 2015.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 36 posts
Fri 27 Nov 2015
at 22:49
  • msg #2

Fivefold Venom Fist Style

Fivefold Venom Fist Style

Fivefold Venom Fist is a brutal style designed around slipping past an opponent's defenses and either outright murdering them or dosing them with dangerous poisons.  The style specializes in rapid claw and pincer strikes, coupled with brutal kicks and elbow strikes.

A character may always stunt Lethal damage while using Fivefold Venom Fist style.

Weapons:  This Style may use tiger claws, knives (regular and throwing) and darts.

Armor:  Fivefold Venom Fist Style may be used with light armor.

Complementary Abilities:  Practitioners of Fivefold Venom Fist style often develop Resistance to assist in managing the poisons the style deals with and to help with the style's offense-heavy approach.

Venom-Eating Fist
Cost: 5m; Duration: Scene; Type: Simple
Martial Arts 2, Essence 1
Keywords: Dual, Mastery
Prereqs: None

By infusing his fists with Essence, the Venom Fist can absorb and redirect poisons and toxins into his foes.  When this Charm is active, the Venom Fist does not take Initiative damage from poisons or toxins.  Furthermore, as long as the martial artist is poisoned, he may poison his foes when he hits them.  His withering attacks subtract an extra point of Initiative from his enemies, and his decisive attacks inflict a foe with poison assuming at least one level of Lethal Health Track damage is done.  The poison has the following stats:  Damage: (Martial Arts)i/Round (B in Crash); Duration: Essence Rounds; Penalty: -(Essence).

Mastery: When this Charm is active, the martial artist subtracts his Essence rating from the Duration of any poison he is inflicted with.

Viper's Fang Strike
Cost: 4m; Duration: Instant; Type: Supplemental
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Keywords: Terrestrial, Uniform
Prereqs: None

The Venom Fist relies on striking first and never letting up in combat.  In doing so, his opponent is worn down and killed.  This Charm grants Double 9s on attack rolls and extends the duration of any poison affecting the target by the Venom Fist's Essence rounds if the attack is successful.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted only may only 1 to the duration of a poison affecting the target.

Fivefold Venom Fist Form
Cost: 8m; Duration: Scene; Type: Simple
Martial Arts 3, Essence 2
Keywords: Form, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs:  Venom-Eating Fist, Viper's Fang Strike

The Venom Fist adopts an offensive stance, ready to strike and rend his opponents.  His Essence becomes poisonous, and flows into his hands.  When in Fivefold Venom Fist Form, the Martial Artist's Parry is increased by 1, they treat their opponent's Defense as being 1 lower, and the Martial Artist gains 1 point of Initiative each round one of their Poison effects damages an opponent.  This applies whether the damage is done to the opponent's Initiative or their Health Track.

Terrestrial:  The Martial Artist only treats their opponent as having a lower Defense after they have been poisoned.

Mastery:  The Martial Artist also extends the Duration of any poisons affecting their target by 1 on a successful decisive attack.

Special Activation Rules:  The Martial Artist may reflexively adopt Fivefold Venom Fist Form upon successfully poisoning a foe.

Toxin Absorbing Vault Attitude
Cost: 3m; Duration: Indefinite; Type: Simple
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords:  Stackable, Terrestrial, Mastery, Decisive-Only
Prereqs: Fivefold Venom Fist Form

By absorbing toxins and poisons, the Venom Fist can store them for future use.  This Charm facilitates that, by merging the Essence of a poison with that of the Martial Artist.  Once stored, they may be delivered again with the correct strike.  This Charm may be used to store up to the Martial Artist's Essence in poisons or toxins.  By decommitting the Essence of the Poison during a decisive strike that does at least one level of Health Track damage, that poison may be delivered into the victim, and is removed from the Martial Artist's store.  The Martial Artist must survive the affects of any poison stored as normal.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalt may only store up to one poison at a time with this Charm.

Mastery:  The Martial Artist may instead spend up to their Martial Arts in motes as a Reflexive Charm use to deliver the desired poison without having to decommit the Essence holding the poison and losing it from their store.  The Duration of any poison delivered in this manner equals the number of motes spent, to a maximum of the Martial Artist's Martial Arts score.

Contaminating Talon Posture
Cost: 6m, 1w; Duration: Scene; Type: Reflexive
Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Keywords: Uniform, Counterattack, Terrestrial, Perilous
Prereqs: Fivefold Venom Fist Form

The Venom Fist adopts a stance allowing a quick response to any incoming attack, as they claw at any offending limbs.  The martial artist may make a Counterattack against any opponent whose attack did not pierce her Defense, which may be withering or decisive at the martial artist’s choice.  The martial artist gains bonus dice on the Counterattack roll equal to the amount in which their Defense exceeded the attack.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial exalt may only maintain this Charm for 5 rounds, and may only gain up to (Essence) bonus dice on the attack roll.

Crippling Miasma Claw
Cost: 5m, 3i; Duration: Instant; Type: Supplemental
Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs: Fivefold Venom Fist Form

With a brutal strike, the Martial Artist poisons an opponent and causes the poison to run its full course immediately.  This Charm can only be activated if the Martial Artist has a means of poisoning his opponent.  The poison of the strike is resisted as normal, except any remaining Duration is applied immediately.  If this takes an opponent into Crash, the Martial Artist gains the associated benefits and the poison has its normal effects in Crash.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial may only apply up to their Essence in Duration instantaneously.

Mastery:  The Martial Artist may stack up to their Essence in uses of poisons from Toxin Absorbing Vault Attitude.

Fivefold Venom Atemi
Cost: 8m, 1w; Duration: Instant; Type: Simple
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Keywords; Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs: Crippling Miasma Claw, Contaminating Talon Posture, Toxin Absorbing Vault Attitude

With a devastating strike, the Venom Fist causes every poison in his opponent  to cascade, tearing through the victim's body mercilessly.  This requires a pinpoint strike to an opponent's vitals.  Due to the difficulty of the technique, the Martial Artist treats his opponent's Defense as being 2 higher than it normally is, and at least one level of Health Track damage must be done to the opponent.  If these conditions are met, the victim takes a number of levels of Lethal Health Track damage equal to any remaining Duration of all poisons still active.  If this Charm is used with Crippling Miasma Claw, any Duration from that Charm's poison is still counted for the use of Fivefold Venom Atemi.

Terrestrial:  A Dragon-Blood may only add up to their Martial Arts in added Health Track damage.

Mastery:  The Martial Artist does not face any added Difficulty on the strike.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:58, Fri 25 Mar 2022.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 37 posts
Fri 27 Nov 2015
at 22:51
  • msg #3

Essence Pyre Style

Essence Pyre Style: 3e

Internal Essence Pyre style is, in the words of one practitioner, the ancient art of beating people to death with your soul.  In the hands of a mortal, the style is forceful and brutal.  In the hands of one of the Exalted, it becomes an explosive nightmare, striking with his very anima.

Form Weapons:  Essence Pyre stylists can stunt Lethal damage with their unarmed attacks, and consider unarmed attacks, fighting gauntlets and boots (and their artifact equivalents) as Form weapons.  A true master of this style finds any weapon he is familiar enough with can be used to devastating effect (see Chakra Inversion Method).

Armor:  This style is not compatible with armor or shields.

Complementary Abilities:  Due to the style's focus on hitting and taking hits, Resistance and Athletics are favored by Essence Pyres.

Charms:

Essence Soul Strike
Cost: 3m; Type: Duration: Instant; Type: Supplemental
Martial Arts 2, Essence 1
Keywords: Dual, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs: None

The sheer force of the Essence Pyre's strikes are enough to flatten most opponents.  Their attacks alight with the flames of their anima and soul, and batter their targets mercilessly.  This Charm adds the character's Essence to the damage of their withering attacks.  The martial artist adds (Essence / 2, round up) to the damage of their decisive attacks.  The martial artist also may add the Piercing or Smashing tag to their strike.  The specific tag is chosen when the Charm is learned.  Essence Soul Strike may be used in a Grapple to supplement the appropriate action (Savage or Slam).

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalt is not able to add the Piercing or Smashing tag to his strikes when using this Charm.

Mastery:  The character adds (3 or their Essence, whichever is higher) to their damage.

Pulsing Shock Stride
Cost: 2m; Duration: Instant; Type: Reflexive
Martial Arts 2, Essence 1
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs: None

An Essence Pyre is adept at using their anima to boost their physical prowess.  This technique gives the martial artist an unexpected boost of speed.  The martial artist adds their Essence to both Rush and Disengage attempts.  Furthermore, if this Charm is used in midair, the Essence Pyre is able to travel one further range band horizontally or vertically.  This mobility adds the martial artist's Essence in dice to Athletics rolls related to jumping or running.

Terrestrial:  A Dragon-Blood may not use this Charm in midair, and the Charm cannot be used to assist in athletics rolls related to jumping.

Mastery:  The martial artist gains 1 Evasion during each turn in which this Charm is used.

Essence Pyre Aflame
Cost: 1wp; Duration: Special; Type: Simple
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Keywords: Mastery
Prereqs: Essence Soul Strike, Pulsing Shock Stride

By focusing their will, the Essence Pyre focuses their soul.  This requires total concentration, but can reap incredible rewards.  Upon activating this Charm, the Essence Pyre begins flaring their anima, gaining one level of anima for each round this is done until their anima is at the bonfire/iconic level.  The character's Parry and Evasion are both set to 0, but they gain their Essence in Soak and Hardness, as well as Essence additional motes each round. The martial artist may flurry an Aim action each turn this Charm is active.

Mastery:  The character does not lose Initiative when aborting the Charm, and gains Essence Initiative for each turn of concentration.  They also gain the higher of 3 or Essence Soak, Hardness and additional motes per round.

Essence Pyre Form
Cost: 10m; Duration: Scene; Type: Simple
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords: Form, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs: Essence Pyre Aflame

The Essence Pyre is one of the strongest and toughest martial artists alive.  Their anima flares as it fortifies their body, and increases the power of their strikes.  The martial artist adds their Essence to their Strength, Soak and Hardness.

This is a Form Charm, and it obeys all the rules of Form Charms.

Terrestrial:  A Dragon-Blood does not gain any Hardness.

Mastery:  The character also gains a non-Charm +2 die bonus to all Clash attacks, and gains the higher of 3 or Essence to Strength, Soak and Hardness.

Special Activation Rules:  A character may reflexively enter Essence Pyre Form if they win a Clash against a non-Trivial opponent, or if they hit a non-Trivial opponent with a decisive attack that deals 3 or more damage.

Unleashing the Soul Fires
Cost –; Duration: Permanent; Type: Permanent
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs: Essence Pyre Form

Through intense training, the Essence Pyre learns to unleash their anima to create destructive blasts.  These blasts are extensions of the martial artist's own anima, and keep the same elemental composition and coloration.  The martial artist permanently gains a new weapon, statted as an Artifact Medium Throwing Weapon with the tags - Thrown (Medium), Bashing, Concealable (special).  As these attacks are an extension of the character's anima, there is no visible hint of the capability under most circumstances.  The character may also pick one of the following tags: Cutting, Smashing or Piercing.

These Soul Fires are considered a Form Weapon for this style.

Terrestrial:  A Dragon-Blood's Soul Fire replaces Thrown (Medium) with Thrown (Short) and they cannot pick one of the additional tags.

Mastery:  The character's Soul Fire is considered Thrown (Long), and they may develop Evocations for their Soul Fire by repurchasing this Charm (similar to Glorious Solar Saber).

Anima Flux Driver
Cost – (+1m); Duration: Permanent; Type: Permanent
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Mastery
Prereqs: Essence Pyre Form

This Charm allows the Essence Pyre to manifest their anima more fully when they attack.  When using Essence Soul Strike, the martial artist may reflexively pay 1 mote to charge their strike with their anima.  The effect can vary based on the anima of the Exalt using this Charm.  Some examples follow.

Solar:  The Exalt adds their Essence in dice of post-soak damage to creatures of darkness.
Sidereal:  The Exalt is treated as if he had spent one round Aiming prior to making the attack.
Fire Aspect:  The attack gains the Fire tag.
Earth Aspect:  The attack gains the Smashing tag.
Wood Aspect:  The attack is poisoned, with the following stats: (Essence i)/round (L in Crash), (Essence*2) rounds, Essence difficulty penalty.
Abyssal:  The attack does Aggravated damage to living beings.
Lunar:  The martial artist adds their Permanent Essence to the Accuracy of the attack.

Mastery:  This Charm gains the Stackable keyword, and may be purchased up to Essence times for different anima effects.  The martial artist may never apply more than his Essence uses of Anima Flux Driver on any single attack.

Flurry of Force Kata
Cost: 6m, 1w, 1a; Duration: Instant; Type: Simple
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords: Uniform, Terrestrial
Prereqs: Essence Pyre Form

With a surge of power and speed, the Essence Pyre lays into their hapless foe.  The Essence Pyre rerolls all successes on a damage roll until no more successes show up on the roll.  As with a normal damage roll, 10s count twice on withering attacks, and only once on decisive attacks.

Terrestrial:  A Dragon-Blood may only reroll up to (Essence x 2) successes.

Dragon Shockwave Clash
Cost: – (+ 3m); Duration: Permanent; Type: Permanent
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Keywords: Uniform, Terrestrial
Prereqs: Unleashing the Soul Fires, Anima Flux Driver

An Essence Pyre's soul explodes with the burning force of a thousand suns.  The Essence Pyre may reflexively spend 3 motes when activating Essence Soul Strike to cause his attack to be unblockable.  This Charm also allows the use of the Guard Breaker gambit.

Guard Breaker:  Difficulty 4:  This Gambit breaks an target's defense through brute force, lowering their Parry and Evasion by 2 for until the end of the next round as they struggle to move their sore limbs.

Terrestrial:  Terrestrial Exalted do not gain access to the Guard Breaker gambit.

Glorious Sunfire Inferno
Cost:  10m, 1w, 3i (+5m); Duration: Instant; Type: Simple
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs: Anima Flux Driver, Flurry of Force Kata

The Essence Pyre can unleash a horrible blast at incredible range, capable of flattening all but the hardiest of opponents.  The martial artist concentrates their anima in their hands, and then directs the blast outwards.  This is a Martial Arts attack that can be made at Long range, with double 10s on the damage roll.  Further, upon impact, the detonation extends out to Short Range, dealing Essence decisive damage to each character caught in the affect.  The martial artist is immune to his own blast, and characters may avoid the explosion with an appropriate defense roll (Stamina + Resistance or Dex + Dodge/Melee) at a difficulty equal to the martial artist's successes.  Friendly characters can be affected by this technique.  Despite being a Simple Charm, this is explicitly comboable with Flurry of Force Kata.  This Charm may only be used once a scene, and the character's anima resets to dim.  If targeting an opponent at long range or farther, the martial artist may spend an extra 5 motes to make a Reflexive Aim action.

Terrestrial:  A Dragon-Blood can only attack out to Medium range.

Mastery:  This Charm can attack out to one range band beyond Long Range.

Special Activation Rules:  This Charm resets once the martial artist has 10+ Initiative and his anima at the bonfire level.

Chakra Inversion Method
Cost – (+2m or 0m, 1w); Duration: Permanent; Type: Permanent
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Mastery, Mute
Prereqs: Glorious Sunfire Inferno, Dragon Shockwave Clash

By focusing all of their power into a single point, the Essence Pyre helps another internalize an explosion.  As with many things, an internalized explosion cannot remain that way, and, subsequently, the target proceeds to become an – often very messy – explosion.   Using this Charm allows the Essence Pyre reflexively spend 2 motes to apply the Mute keyword to his Essence attacks (Essence Soul Strike, Flurry of Force Kata, Dragon Shockwave Clash, and Anima Flux Driver), allowing them to be used stealthily.  Each Charm must be paid for separately.  The real strength of this Charm is when a strike is made using these Muted Charms and a point of Willpower is spent.  The full force of the effect is internalized in the target, and the Essence Pyre can choose to commit the Essence used in the attack.  This lasts for (the target's (Essence + Stamina) – the martial artist's (Essence + Martial Arts)) rounds.  If this is 1 or less, the detonation will occur 1 round after the Essence Pyre releases the committed motes.  During these rounds, the target is at a penalty on all actions equal to the Essence Pyre's Permanent Essence.  The damage from the strike ignores all Armor-based and non-magical Hardness.  In addition, the damage roll starts at double 10s, and the doubling number drops for every 5 motes spent on the attack (equivalent to a level of anima that would have manifested), to a minimum of 7.  Even if the target survives, the damage is horrendous and gruesome, and the explosion is often like the anima of the martial artist who inflicted the attack.  This damage is always Lethal, though that may be upgraded with certain uses of Anima Flux Driver.  The damage is rolled up on the attack's success.

It is theoretically possible to save a target struck by this attack, by diverting the Essence out in a manner that leaves the target alive before the explosion.  The roll (often Wits + Medicine or Occult) subtracts one level of damage per success rolled.  If the end is more than one roll away, multiple attempts may be made.  Detecting the Chakra Inversion is only possible once the Essence of the strike is released.

Truly dangerous Essence Pyres also have access to a technique known as the Sun-Swallowing Overdrive.  To use this technique, the Essence Pyre hits him or herself with a Chakra Inversion Punch, and then rolls all damage as normal.  This damage is held in abeyance for up to the Essence Pyre's (Essence + Stamina) rounds while the Essence of the attack is committed.  If the Essence Pyre does not discharge the attack before that time, they take all of that damage, ignoring all Hardness.  Through either an attack with a Soul Fire Strike or Glorious Sunfire Inferno, they add any damage they are storing to a successful attack, on top of any damage rolled.  During this attack, the Essence Pyre's anima is always at the bonfire level, and it resets to dim after the attack is finished.

As a final benefit, once this Charm is learned, the Essence Pyre considers the Form Weapons of any other Martial Arts Style he has completely mastered (as in, Martial Art (xxx Style) 5, and knows all the Charms) as Form Weapons for Essence Pyre Style.

Terrestrial:  A Dragon-Blood cannot use Sun-Swallowing Overdrive.  In addition, this Charm may only be used once per scene, and it resets after the Essence Pyre's anima has reached the 3+ (bonfire/iconic) level.

Mastery:  The damage roll from this attack is always made at double 7s, and the Form Weapon benefit applies once an Essence Pyre has learned up to the Form Charm of another Martial Art Style.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:44, Tue 26 July 2022.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 86 posts
Fri 15 Apr 2016
at 00:15
  • msg #4

Homebrew Weapon Tags & House Rules

These rules apply to both games (this one and the MagePunk game).

Weapon Tags:

Shield: Also adds +1 Parry.  Flexible weapons automatically ignores this bonus.  Smashing and Chopping weapons may forgo benefits from appropriate attacks to remove Shield defensive bonuses for 1 round.

Firearm:  Archery - Use Dexterity when calculating damage.

Sniper: Archery - user Perception when calculating damage after an Aim action.

Burst: +2 withering Damage, -1 Accuracy

Automatic: Aim dice degrade at 1 per turn as long as attacks are made.  Each successive attack adds +2 Difficulty to the ammo/reload roll.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:39, Fri 13 May 2016.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 98 posts
Fri 13 May 2016
at 23:35
  • msg #5

Larceny and Bureaucracy

Upon consideration, I will allow Larceny and Bureaucracy to be used in a manner similar to Lore in regards to making up Facts.  Specifically, Larceny can be used for making up Facts in regards to criminal activity and society, and security issues.  Bureaucracy can be used for matters of law and trade.

This will apply to both games (Ex3 and MagePunk).  Lore (Hacking) operates just as any other Lore specialty in this regard, too, with the caveat that I will specifically allow it to create Facts regarding information that could be obtained through hacking.

As with all player-specified Facts, they are subject to Storyteller veto or adjustment.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 117 posts
Tue 29 Nov 2016
at 02:00
  • msg #6

Violet Bier of Sorrows Style

This is the signature style of the Sidereal Exalted, specifically the Chosen of Endings, as a Work-in-Progress update for 3e.  Again, this is WIP, and is definitely subject to change if needs be.

Violet Bier of Sorrows Style

The favored Martial Art of the Chosen of the Maiden of Endings, Violet Bier of Sorrows style is designed to kill quickly and efficiently.

Weapons: Violet Bier of Sorrows allows the use of knives, swords, staves and three-section staves (and their Artifact equivalents).

Armor: None of the Charms in this Style may be used with Armor or Shields.

Charms:

Secrets of Future Strife
Cost –; Duration: Permanent; Type: Permanent
Martial Arts 2, Essence 1
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs: None

This Charm grants an edge when conflict starts, and those trained in Endings move to make certain that the required destinies cease.  This Charm grants double-8s on the first Join Battle roll the character makes in a scene.

Terrestrial: The Join Battle roll is made at double-9s.

Mastery: The Join Battle roll is made at double-7s.

Flight of Mercury
Cost: 1m/die; Duration: Scene; Type: Reflexive
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Keywords: None, Terrestrial
Prereqs: Secrets of Future Strife

The Chosen of Endings is always ready to finish a job.  This Charm adds up to the Martial Artist's ability rating dice to a Join Battle roll.  This can be used if the Martial Artist has any means of re-rolling Join Battle during combat, and may be used when the Martial Artist resets their Initiative.  In which case, they only roll the extra dice.

Terrestrial:  A Dragon-Blood may only add up to their Essence dice to their Join Battle roll.

Joy in Adversity Stance
Cost: 5m; Duration: Scene; Type: Reflexive
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Keywords: Perilous
Prereqs: Secrets of Future Strife

The Chosen of Endings revel in the dangers of combat, and Joy in Adversity Stance showcases this predilection.  Every time the avoid a blow using their Parry or Evasion score, they gain 1 mote for every success that their opponent failed by.  A Martial Artist may only gain their Martial Arts in motes this way in a single round.

Blade of the Battle Maiden
Cost: 5m, 2 wp; Duration: Scene; Type: Reflexive
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Keywords: Mastery, Dual
Prereqs: Secrets of Future Strife

The Exalt fortifies herself for further conflict.  Her hands strike like swords, and her blades cut down her foes even faster.  The Martial Artist treats her unarmed attacks as medium weapons with the additional following tags: Lethal, Balanced.  If she is wielding a form weapon already, she gains the following benefits  her damage on withering attacks is increased by her Essence, and she adds one automatic level of health track damage on any successful decisive attacks.  While Blade of the Battle Maiden is actie, the martial artist's unarmed attacks are considered to be a sword (slashing or straight) if it would be beneficial for cross-style compatibility.

Mastery: The martial artist's unarmed attacks use the the stats of a medium artifact weapon, and use the same tags.  This Charm may be repurchased to buy Evocations for the Blade as per the Charm Glorious Solar Saber.

Violet Bier of Sorrows Form
Cost: 8m; Duration: Scene; Type: Simple
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords: Form, Mastery
Prereqs: Flight of Mercury, Blade of the Battle Maiden, Joy in Adversity Stance

Fate always leads towards endings.  Once a martial artist has activated Violet Bier of Sorrows Form, their Overwhelming value is set to a minimum of their Martial Arts score.  In addition to this effect, whenever the martial artist lands a decisive attack, they do one automatic health level of damage, and they may choose to forgo the damage and instead degrade an Intimacy of the victim's.  In order to do this, the damage from the attack must equal the level of the Intimacy (+2, +3 or +4 for Minor, Major and Defining respectively).

Mastery:  All of the martial artist's decisive hits deals one automatic health levels of damage, including ones which degrade an Intimacy.

Death-Parrying Stroke
Cost: 3m/HL or 2i/HL; Duration: Instant; Type: Reflexive
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs:  Violet Bier of Sorrows Form

As adept at killing as they are, the Chosen of Ending are also adept at avoiding the same fate for themselves.  At the last moment, they divert a killing blow, reducing the damage or potentially eliminating it entirely.  After a decisive hit to the martial artist rolls damage, the martial artist may pay 2 motes or 3 Initiative per Health Level to remove levels of health track damage.  This may only be done after the martial artist attempted to stop an attack with a Parry.  The martial artist may only remove up to Martial Arts levels of damage this way.

Terrestrial:  A Dragon-Blood may only remove up to half of her Martial Arts rating in levels of damage, round up.

Mastery:  A true master of this style adds their Essence to the Decisive levels of damage negated, as long as they have paid to negate at least 1 HL worth of damage.

Life-Severing Blow
Cost: 3m/HL; Duration: Instant; Type: Reflexive
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial
Prereqs:  Violet Bier of Sorrows Form

A true adept of the Violet Bier of Sorrows may turn an insignificant strike into one that ends the fight entirely.  Upon landing a decisive attack that inflicts at least one Health Level of damage, the martial artist may spend 3 motes per health level to add automatic successes to the damage roll.  The martial artist may not add more than her Martial Arts score in decisive damage.  This Charm may be used with Brawl and Melee.

Terrestrial:  A Dragon-Blood may only add half of her Martial Arts rating in damage, round up.

Metal Storm
Cost: 10m, 1w; Duration: Instant; Type: Simple
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial
Prereqs: Life-Severing Blow

Seizing the moment of a critical opening within her opponent's defense, the martial artist strikes again and again.  All failures on a decisive damage roll are re-rolled until there are no more failures.

Terrestrial:  A Dragon-Blood may only re-roll up to her Martial Arts failures.

Conclusion-Pursuing Approach
Cost: 10m, 1w, 1hl; Duration: Scene; Type: Simple
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Keywords: Dual, Mastery
Prereqs: Death-Parrying Stroke, Metal Storm

By adopting the Conclusion-Pursuing Approach, a battle's ending becomes all the more inevitable.  When this Charm is active, the martial artist gains 1 point of Willpower when she resets her Initiative after a successful decisive attack.  Also, every opponent that the character has either attacked or used a defense against in a round adds ½ the Martial Artist’s Essence to their Wound Penalties, rounded up.

Mastery:  Each successful decisive attack damages the victim's Willpower by 1 point.  If the victim is in Initiative Crash, the martial artist's damage is considered all successes.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:32, Mon 25 July 2022.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 118 posts
Wed 30 Nov 2016
at 03:29
  • msg #7

Harmonious Essence Style

Harmonious Essence Style

Harmonious Essence Style is a primarily unarmed Martial Arts style focused on using your opponents' strength against them.  Its flowing motions and sudden reversals can easily lead enemies to be stunned, incapacitated or worse.  A Harmonious Essence Stylist is also a master of leverage, and can easily hold the strongest opponents in place or throw them with the gentlest of motions.

Favored Abilities:  Harmonious Essence stylists tend to have high Awareness and Dodge.

Form Weapons and Armor

Harmonious Essence Style may not be used with armor.  In addition to fighting Unarmed, this style may be used with staves, spears, swords, short staves (which use club stats) and fighting chains.  A Harmonious Essence stylist may always use Dexterity for grappling rolls (attack and control) and inflict Bashing damage with a Stunt.

Charms:

Flawless Awareness Technique
Cost: 2m
Duration: 1 Turn; Type: Reflexive
Minimums: Martial Arts 2, Essence 1
Prereqs: None
Keywords: None

Attuning himself to his surroundings, the Martial Artist detects the motions of everything around him.  When this Charm is activated, the Martial Artist adds his Martial Arts rating to all Awareness rolls for the rest of the Turn.

Harmonious Movement Meditation
Cost: 2m
Duration: Turn; Type: Reflexive
Minimums: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Prereqs: Flawless Awareness Technique
Keywords: Mastery

By attuning himself to the flows of Essence of the universe, the Martial Artist moves through and around obstacles with startling ease.  The Martial Artist may use this Charm to receive Double 9s on Rush or Disengage rolls.

Mastery:  When a master uses this Charm, they may ignore difficult terrain during their move action for the round, and may balance on the flimsiest objects so long as they keep moving.

Guiding Waterfall Step
Cost: 3m, 1i
Duration: Instant; Type: Reflexive
Minimums: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Prereqs: Flawless Awareness Technique
Keywords: Counterattack, Uniform, Terrestrial, Mastery

While parrying or evading an attack, the Harmonious Essence stylist uses their enemy's own strength against them.  With the lightest of touches, even the strongest foe may be thrown to the ground or even held immobile.  As a Counterattack, the Martial Artist rolls Dexterity and Martial Arts versus their opponent's Defense.  If the Martial Artist succeeds, they roll Dexterity + Martial Arts with Double 9s as a grapple control roll.  This is contested as normal, and the grapple proceeds as normal.  If the martial artist chooses to immediately throw or slam their opponent, they calculate their forfeited control rounds using their Dexterity.  A decisive throw or slam will not reset the martial artist's Initiative until the next round.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may only use this Charm after completely evading an attack, and the counterattack uses their action for the next round.

Mastery:  A master of this style adds a number of dice to their control roll equal to any 1s or 2s on their opponent's attack roll.  Furthermore, if the Solar succeeds on their grapple control roll, their opponent may not roll damage even if the attack was successful.

Harmonious Essence Form
Cost: 8m
Duration: Scene; Type: Reflexive
Minimums: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Prereqs: Guiding Waterfall Step, Harmonious Movement Meditation
Keywords: Form, Mastery

The Harmonious Essence stylist adopts a relaxed stance, easily moving in and around all attacks aimed their way.  Their movements become more fluid, and they effortlessly move with their enemies.  Once in Harmonious Essence Form, the martial artist gains +1 Evasion, reduces all movement difficulties by their Essence, and may reflexively stand up if sent prone.

Mastery:  A master adds their Essence automatic successes on all Dexterity-based grappling control rolls, and takes no penalties to their Defense while grappling.

Special Activation Rules:  A martial artist may reflexively enter Harmonious Essence Form after evading an attack from an enemy with 5+ Initiative, or when winning a grapple control roll.

Arrows-As-Raindrops Understanding (Inner Peace Harmony)
Cost: – (+4m, or 3m, or 6m, 1w)
Duration: Indefinite; Type: Permanent
Minimums: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Prereqs: Harmonious Essence Form
Keywords: Counterattack, Perilous, Uniform, Terrestrial, Mastery

With the proper understanding of the flows of Essence of Creation and a measure of inner peace, the martial artist may now use Guiding Waterfall Step as a counterattack against ranged attackers for a cost of 3 motes.  They may send the attack directly back to the attacker, send it harmlessly to the side, or at another opponent within range.  No control roll is made, but the target of the new attack must deal with the original attack's successes, minus any that might have made it past the martial artist's defenses.

In addition, the martial artist may pay +4 motes when activating Guiding Waterfall Step to be able to apply the Charm to attacks made by enemies they normally would not be able to grapple, such as those with Legendary Size.  This can also be used to use Guiding Waterfall Step against Unblockable or Undodgeable attacks.  Against opponents of equal size, this Charm grants the martial artist Double 7s on the control roll.

Finally, by paying 6 motes and 1 willpower, the martial artist may counter attacks or environmental effects that deal Uncountable damage.  They may redirect the effect as per the ranged counterattack portion of this Charm.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may not use the counter against Uncountable damage, and must maintain restrain an opponent of Legendary Size or greater for at least 1 round before they can throw them.

Mastery:  A master may restrain even the strongest foes with barely any effort.  For the duration of a grapple initiated with this Charm, the martial artist's restrains or drags only cost 1 turn of control.

Flowing River Kata
Cost: 4m (2m)
Duration: Scene; Type: Simple
Minimums: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Prereqs: Harmonious Essence Form
Keywords: Mastery

The opponents of a Harmonious Essence stylist find their attacks flowing around the martial artist like a river flows around rocks and terrain.  Once activated, the martial artist may spend 2 motes as a Reflexive action when attacked to roll a number of dice equal to their Dodge ability dice pool.  Each success subtracts one success from their opponent's attack.

Mastery: A master gets Double 9s when rolling their Dodge dice.

Essence Reversal Meditation
Cost: 4m, 1i
Duration: Instant; Type: Supplemental
Minimums: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Prereqs: Harmonious Essence Form
Keywords: Dual, Terrestrial

With a subtle, or simply violent, twist, the Harmonious Essence stylist wrenches their opponent into an untenable or outright painful position.  This Charm grants Double 9s on withering grappling damage rolls and Double 10s on decisive grappling damage rolls, and may be used on both savaging attacks and throws/slams.

The martial artist also gains access to the following Gambits, and gains Double 9s on the Initiative roll.  Any of these Gambits may be used on a decisive attack instead of rolling damage.  Exalted regain the use of any damaged limbs once they heal.  Mortals must seek medical help if they wish to be healed.  These injuries do not count against the story limit on Crippling injuries.

Stunning Reversal (Difficulty 1-5):  By quickly reversing course and striking an opponent in a vital chakra point, or causing them to land on such a point, the martial artist stuns an opponent for a number of rounds equal to the difficulty chosen for this Gambit.  A stunned opponent cannot attack, and is at -1 to their Defense.

Limb-Twisting Snap (Difficulty 3):  By savagely twisting an opponent's arm or leg, or causing them to land wrong on some part of the terrain, the Harmonious Essence stylist cripples an opponent's limb.  This causes only 1 level of Lethal damage, but can either remove the use of an arm (potentially causing the opponent to drop their weapon), or a leg (which causes the opponent to treat all terrain as Difficult, or even be unable to move at anything more than a crawl if both legs are broken).

Neck-Wrenching Flip (Difficulty 3-7):  The martial artist uses their opponent's weight and mass against their weakest areas.  Against an Exalted, this Gambit causes between 1 to 4 Lethal health levels of damage, based on the difficulty selected, and doubles all wound penalties for the rest of the scene.  Against a mortal, the wound penalties are doubled until their wounds are healed, but deals a number of Lethal health levels equal to the difficulty chosen.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted does not gain access to the Neck-Wrenching Flip Gambit, and Stunning Reversal is capped at Difficulty 3.

Harmonious God Throw
Cost: 10m, 1w, 3i
Duration: Scene; Type: Simple
Minimums: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Prereqs: Arrows-As-Raindrops Understanding, Flowing River Kata, Essence Reversal Meditation
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery

Adopting a stance of perfect repose, the martial artist may counter any attack that comes their way.  While Harmonious God Throw is active, the martial artist may use Guiding Waterfall Step against any attack for the cost of only 1 mote, 1 Initiative, and reduces the cost of Arrows-As-Raindrops Understanding by 3 motes (minimum 1 motes).  Furthermore, the martial artist takes no penalties while to their Defense while grappling, and may maintain multiple grapples at one time as long as they have at least one free limb.  Restraining or dragging an enemy does not cost any turns of control.

While this Charm is active, the martial artist may only counterattack or clash.  The martial artist does not lose Initiative for delaying their action or not attacking during a round at all.

Terrestrial:  This Charm gains the Perilous keyword, ending the Charm if the martial artist is pushed into Initiative Crash.

Mastery:  A master gains +1 Evasion and may activate this Charm reflexively upon the successful use of Guiding Waterfall Step.  In addition, if the martial artist is grappling at least one enemy, they may move that enemy into the path of any attacks made against them for 3 motes, including Unblockable attacks.  The grappled enemy applies their defense as normal against the attack.  If this is used to successfully block a decisive attack, the grappled enemy is released once the attack is resolved.

Rising Dragon Wave
Cost: 5m, 1w
Duration: Special; Type: Reflexive
Minimums: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Prereqs: Harmonious God Throw
Keywords: Mastery

A true master of Harmonious Essence Style may use their opponent's own attacks against them in a most spectacular fashion.  By drawing an opponent deeper and deeper into a spiral of anger, which the martial artist turns against the aggressor in an explosion of essence.  This Charm may be activated after successfully applying Evasion against an attack.  For the duration of this Charm, the Martial Artist ignores all penalties to their Evasion, and gains their opponent's Essence Initiative after each successful dodge.  The martial artist may gain a maximum of (their Essence * their opponent's Essence or Size of an opposing Battle Group) Initiative this way, and it must be released at the end of the Charm.  The martial artist may not attack for the duration of this Charm, nor do they lose Initiative for not attacking or delaying their action.  At any point during the Charm, or within the Martial Artist's Essence in rounds after maximizing the Initiative they can gain from this Charm, they must make a Decisive Clash attack against their opponent when they attack, which resets the Martial Artist's Initiative as normal.  If this attack is successful, the opponent not only takes the damage of the Decisive clash, but they are flung one Range band into the air for each attack they missed.

If the opponent wins the Clash, the Charm is disrupted, and both the martial artist and their opponent must deal with a one-time Environmental hazard with a difficulty of the number of successfully dodged attacks, and damage equal to the Martial Artist's Essence plus 1 for each dodged attack.  If anyone fails to avoid this effect, they are also knocked prone.

Finally, if the martial artist incorporates the differences between themselves and their opponent (such as the calm of the martial artist versus the rage of their attacker, or differences in their Essences, such as between a Solar and an Abyssal Exalted, or between a Fire Aspect and an Air Aspect) into a stunt, this lowers the doubling number of the Initiative roll.  A one-point stunt grants Double 10s, a two-point stunt grants Double 9s and a three-point stunt grants Double 8s.

Mastery:  A master of this style gains Double 10s on the Initiative roll, and the stunt bonus may lower the roll all the way to Double 7s on a three-point stunt.  Finally, on a successful Clash, the martial artist creates a one-time Environmental hazard that affects any additional enemies within Close Range.  This has the following effects:  the difficulty equals the number of successfully dodged attacks, and the damage is equal to the Martial Artist's Essence plus 1 for each dodged attack.  If anyone fails to avoid this effect, they are knocked prone in addition to taking the damage.  Finally, the Martial Artist treats both their Essence and their opponent's Essence as having a minimum of 3.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:52, Sat 24 Dec 2022.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 121 posts
Sat 21 Jan 2017
at 18:52
  • msg #8

Gentle Fist Style

With credit to where I found it, here's another acceptable homebrew style.

Gentle Fist Style
Originally by: JiveX
Converted to 3e by: MysticTemplar
Mastery/Terrestrial keywords by: Sandact6

This unusual martial art was rather commonly practiced in the First Age by sidereals who found its elegance, smooth gentle motions appealing. This style focuses on precise strikes against the bodies meridians which disrupt that natural workings of the opponent's body. Though each strike appears weak, it does surprising damage with even the softest touch. Master's of this style stare through the lies of the physical and see the truth that lies in the Essence of all things.

Complementary Abilities: This style requires a complex understanding of the movement of Essence and many charms require the character to have Essence Sight (or function better when the character does). Essence sight must be sight based (so charms such as Essence Unveiling Touch do not qualify) but can come from a charm or artifact. The Martial Artist must train with Essence Sight active when learning the charms of this style. In lieu of Essence Sight charms that let one sense dematerialized spirits can be used to train for anything but Clear Eyed Understanding of All. Moe Ninja Exigents (of any type) treat may learn the charms as a Solar could.

Gentle Fist Weapons: Gentle Fist may only be practiced unarmed.

Armor: This style is compatible with light armor.

Gentle Strike Formulation
Cost: -; Mins: Martial Arts 2, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Gentle Fist Stylist strikes with an open palm or outstretched fingers, the better to facilitate his attacks against his opponent's vital Essence meridians, and pass through their opponent's defenses.

This grants their natural attacks the Piercing and Flexible tags, for even a touch can cause their foe's limbs to seize from the foreign energy. In addition, while the stylist is under the effect of any Charm that grants the ability to perceive Essence, they receive 1 free success on attack rolls against characters with Essence 2+. These strikes can be used on any martial arts related attack, but not on Brawl ones.

Essence Twisting Strike
Cost: 2m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual, Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Gentle Strike Formulation

If used with a Withering Attack, the Martial Artist converts one damage die into an automatic success on withering attacks. If the martial artist has Essence sight active, this Charm also causes the target to lose a number of motes equal to (the targets Permanent Essence / 2, rounded up). If the target has no Essence pool, instead convert an additional dice of damage into an automatic success (for a total of two). In addition, if Gentle Fist Form is active, the user adds (User’s Essence) dice to their raw damage for withering attacks. If used with a decisive attack, it instead adds one die of raw damage, which is converted to an automatic level if her target is crashed.

Mastery: The Martial Artist may add their Intelligence score to the raw damage instead of Essence if that is higher.

Panoptic Awareness Defense
Cost: 4m or 4m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Gentle Strike Formulation

Such is the Martial Artist's omniscient focus that those who would strike her are laid bare before her all-seeing eyes. Whenever the martial artist is fails to discover an opponent who is hiding from her in battle, she may invoke this Charm to reroll her attempt. Every one that her foe rolls on this attempt grants her one point of initiative, as she takes advantage of the smallest cues of even an unseen foe. The stylist may wave the Willpower cost of this Charm should she possess a charm capable of perceiving Essence such as Essence Sight.

Gentle Fist Form
Cost: 7m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: Form
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisite Charms: Panoptic Awareness Defense, Essence Twisting Strike

Focusing on the Essence of the World, the martial artist glimpses at the rarified celestial essence that comingle with the Elemental essence of the Dragon lines and weave their way through creation. Deeping her awareness of these things, the Martial Artist opens her eyes to a vision of the world that is clearer and more revealing than she previously believed possible. Upon activating this charm, The Martial Artist's pupils turn silver white and take on a crystalline appearance as they expand to eclipse their iris, upon activating this charm. The veins on her temples which feed blood and essence to her optic nerves expand and become prominent features on her face.

    The Stylist may activate any Charm that grants the ability to perceive Essence (Like All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight) in conjunction with this Charm. If she does, it remains active for as long as this Form does.
    The Martial Artist's sight, if he has Essence Sight active, expands to a 360 degree field of view and intensifies, he adds (Essence or 3, whichever is higher) bonus dice to all sight based perception rolls including those to scrutinize an effect with his Essence Sight. He also ignores visibility penalties based on darkness, smoke or other similar obstruction.
    The Martial Artist sees through sight-based illusions unless the character using it has a Permanent Essence 2+ points higher than his own. In either case the presence of an illusion is plainly evident to the stylist, though the Martial Artist might not know what it conceals.
    Her natural weapons may deal lethal damage at her discretion. Lethal damage inflicted this way manifests as internal bleeding and damage to viscera and organs, it does not manifest external signs of Lethal damage (cuts, gashes etc) normally consistent with Lethal Damage. Add +1 to the difficulty to any Medicine roll to diagnose or treat an injury inflicted this way.

Special Activation rules: Whenever the Stylist causes a non-trivial foe to lose Essence as part of her attack, she may reflexively activate this Charm.

Terminal Caress Tactic
Cost: 2m 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Gentle Fist Form

The Martial Artist drives her Essence into the target's body, disrupting the normal function of their internal processes by causing contusions and swelling of their internal organs. This Charm may be activated whenever a Gentle Strike deals at least two levels of lethal damage. The damage is reduced by 2, but the target selects a limb that is crippled for the rest of the fight. All damage is internal, no limbs are severed, through nerve endings leading to them are temporarily disconnected. These crippling injuries are permanent for mortals and non-Exalted Essence users with Essence 2 or less, absent medical care, but are healed by Exalt's after a single day of rest or whenever the wound associated with this attack heals, whichever is shorter. Automata and other mechanical entities cannot be crippled by this charm, neither, curiously, can the Alchemical Exalted.

Mastery: If the damage inflicted exceeds the target’s stamina, the martial artist can select which limb to cripple instead.

Unassailble Divinity Technique
Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Gentle Fist Form

The Martial Artist attunes herself to the Essence of those who would strike her, subverting their attempts to do her harm with graceful ease and speed that confounds the mind and cannot be followed by the human eye. This Charm allows the Martial Artist to apply her full defense to an attack. In addition, if both a Charm granting Essence Sight and the form are active, she adds (Opponent's Essence/2) to her defense.

Heavenly Whirlwind Shield
Cost: 5m or 6m,1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual, Terrestrial, Mastery
Duration: One Tick
Prerequisite Charms: Unassailable Divinity Technique

The Martial Artist releases a flood of essence in response to an incoming attack, spinning as she does. This flood of Essence raises a dome of brilliant essence about the martial artist protecting her from harm. It also provides the Martial Artist with +10 points of soak and 8 Hardness, as the shield wall reduces the impact of rare blows that pierce the defense. The Martial Artist may not move on her next action after activating this Charm. This charm may only be used while Essence Sight is active. When Unassailable Divinity Technique is activated simultaneously with this charm, it shares Heavenly Whirlwind Shield's Duration. For a higher cost of 6m, 1wp, the Martial Artist may activate it in response to any environmental effect that strikes her that would cause arbitrary damage to negate it entirely. Note that it must strike the stylist - she could use this charm to evade damage from a falling meteor, but not from a thousand foot fall.

Terrestrial: Unassailable Divinity Technique does not share Heavenly Whirlwind Shield’s duration.

Mastery: The martial artist is not stopped by this charm, but rather slowed. Until the end of the Martial Artist’s next turn apply a -3 penalty to all movement actions.

Body Seizing Counterblow
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Clash, Decisive Only, Terrestrial, Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Terminal Caress Tactic

With a graceful sweep of his hand the martial artist bats aside an incoming blow, and swiftly returns the favor delivering a well timed strike to vital points in his assailants body. This Charm lets the stylist make a reflexive Martial Arts clash attack against an attack directed against her, regardless of her place in the initiative order. If damage caused by this Clash attack exceeds (Opponent's Stamina), on her opponent's next turn, they lose their reflexive movement action, and must use their normal action if they wish to move. During this time, attempts to rush or disengage suffer a penalty of Minimum(Damage Suffered or 5). If the user has a Charm granting Essence sight active, she adds (Opponent's Essence/2) dice to the Clash attack roll.

Terrestrial: This charm counts as the Martial Artist’s action.

Mastery: If the Martial Artist clashes an attack with multiple attacks (Such as Iron Whirlwind) and does more damage than the (Opponent’s Stamina), then every single other action is automatically aborted.

Thousand Strikes Subdue the Dragon
Cost: 6m 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Heavenly Whirlwind Shield, Body Seizing Counterblow

The Martial Artist adopts a curious stance, facing her enemy sideways she scrutinizes her opponent's Essence flows. This Charm requires the Martial Artist has taken a reflexive action to scrutinize her Target's essence using Essence sight previously in the scene. Having done so, she launches a series of (Target's Permanent Essence), Minimum 2, Maximum 5) decisive attacks, which must all be directed at her target. The Martial Artist divides her initiative evenly between each attack, with any excess initiative being lost. If these attacks benefit from Essence Twisting Strike, reduce the cost of all activations of that charm after the first to 0 motes. Furthermore, if the target suffers more levels of damage from these attacks than their (Permanent Essence x 2) they add a 4m surcharge to the first activation of any Charm or Combo each action, for the Martial Artist's (Essence) actions.

Terrestrial: Dragonblooded may only use this charm once per fight, but may be reset upon incapacitating a strong opponent and building their initiative back up to 15.

Clear Eyed Understanding of All
Cost: -; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Thousand Strikes Subdue the Dragon

Reaching the Pinnacle of his enlightenment, the Martial Artist comes to permanently internalize the teachings of this style which are writ upon his features. Upon learning this charm, the Martial Artist's eyes shed their pupils and the irises become grey or white. If his eyes show some unique trait as a part of his Exaltation or fundamental nature (such as a Lunar's Tell or the Stars in a Sidereal's eyes) he melds the two traits in a manner both player and Storyteller deem appropriate. He gains the following benefits:

    She may deduct up to the cost of Gentle Fist Form from the cost of activating another Charm that provides Essence sight, to a minimum cost of 1m.
    While the Form Charm is active all natural weapons add (Opponent's Wound Penalty) to their post soak damage. If a Gentle Strike kills a target, the target appears to have suffered a natural death due to an internal organ bursting. Any effect which contests resolves this contest with an automatic roll-off to which the Martial Artist adds +1 success. Because this charm permanently alters the Martial Artist such that they physically reflect the understandings of this style, the corpse of a Gentle Fist Stylist is considered a manual of the style for the purposes of learning it provided the being examining the body has Essence Sight active and meets the trait minimums for this style.
    Finally, while both the Form Charm and Essence Sight are active, the Martial Artist's sight becomes so refined that she can see entities through a number of solid, opaque barriers equal to their Essence. Meaning stealth users will have a very hard time taking cover.

This charm cannot be learned unless the Character has some charm-based means of acquiring Essence Sight (ie All Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight or one of its analogues). Artifact derived Essence Sight is insufficient for the purposes of truly internalizing the lessons of this style.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 124 posts
Sat 25 Feb 2017
at 06:11
  • msg #9

2e-3e Spell Conversions Link

Here's a link to more Sorcery from earlier editions.  It looks fairly good at a quick glance, but I'll still have to confirm things before a spell is taken from here.

http://forum.theonyxpath.com/f...or-3rd-edition-peach
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 125 posts
Sat 11 Mar 2017
at 21:57
  • msg #10

Crimson Temple Style

Crimson Temple Style

Crimson Temple Style utilizes blood as both a weapon and defense to destroy all foes in their path.  Charms in this style only work on living enemies, or in some rare cases, enemies who, while not alive, still have analogs to blood.

Form Weapons and Armor:  This style may only be used with Unarmed attacks (barring weapons created with Scarlet Sheathe Technique), and may not be used with armor.

Favored Abilities:  Crimson Temple stylists often favor Resistance and Medicine.

Charms:

Pulsing Heart Observation
3m; Scene; Simple
Martial Arts 2, Essence 1
Keywords: Terrestrial
Prereqs: None

This Charm is known only by the martial artist who has gained understanding of the first step to sanguine mastery. He becomes aware of the throbbing flow of life within all beings, mortal, celestial and animal. With a small investment of Essence, he tunes to this harmony of life. All vitality becomes visible, red veins painting themselves in phantoms, hung in midair and superimposed upon their hosts. Additionally, even if it goes unseen, the presence of life is easy to detect, giving the martial artist a dull throbbing sensation strongest towards the direction in question.

The martial artist immediately feels the presence of all living things within his Close range, and cannot be surprised by them. Additionally, he perceives past any non-magical form of stealth automatically, should the subject be living.

Terrestrial: A Terrestrial Exalt does not automatically detect living things within range or see through non-magical stealth, but instead adds his Essence in extra dice to detect them.

Disciple's Sanguine Sigil
4m; Instant; Simple
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Stackable, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs: Pulsing Heart Observation

Calling a spiral of crimson Essence into his palm, the martial artist harnesses the energy, wreathing it about his strike. This Charm may only be used to aid unarmed blows. When he achieves contact, the disciple’s palm of crimson energy explodes into the blow, splashing onto the flesh of the target and rupturing capillaries beneath its skin in a searing wave of agonizing heat. Within moments, a random but haunting blood-red sigil rises to the surface of the target’s skin, leaving a crimson mark which stays for the artist’s permanent Essence in days before fading into a sickly bruise.

It is also possible to leave a Sigil with simple contact rather than a strike.  This means that a decisive hit that deals no damage may still leave a Sigil, and also that a Sigil can be placed stealthily outside of combat typically with a contested Dexterity + Larceny vs. Perception + Awareness roll.

After hitting an opponent with a decisive attack that deals at least 1 level of damage, a Sanguine Sigil is placed on the opponent. While a Sanguine Sigil is on an individual, all withering damage is increased by the Martial Artist's permanent Essence, and all decisive damage is increased by a single level.  Furthermore, all Wound Penalties are increased by 1 per each Sigil.  A Martial Artist can stack up to their Permanent Essence in Sigils on a single target.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalt may only place a single Sigil on any one target.

Mastery:  The Solar Exalted may attempt a Difficulty 2 Gambit to place a Sigil even on opponents with more Hardness than their Initiative.

Blood-Fountain Crush
2m, 2i; Instant, Supplemental
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Mastery
Prereqs: Pulsing Heart Observation

Of vital significance to this style of martial arts is the surveying of the nature of blood in the mortal frame. It is understood that, in due time, the disciple will be entirely familiar with the nature of blood and its gathering points. With this Charm, the stylist delivers a thundering blow to one of these gathering points, and relies on simple physical nature to do the rest. In addition to the pain of this strike – which deals lethal damage – the wound explodes in a spray of gore moments after the stylist has dealt his blow. The Charm’s namesake is obvious, then, as the blood gushes from the wound in a bright red fountain.

Due to the excess bleeding, living beings take one additional level of Lethal damage from a decisive hit.  In addition, the bleeding continues for one more round, causing the victim to bleed out another level of Lethal damage the next round.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalt's strikes bleed out for their Essence in rounds, causing 1 level of Lethal damage each round.

Crimson Temple Form
10m; Scene; Simple
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords: Form, Mastery
Prereqs: Blood-Fountain Crush, Disciple's Sanguine Sigil

After a series of preparatory motions, the artist pulses with light, his anima flooding with deep, roiling red Essence. His eyes also glow the same hue, and his posture takes on a subtle menace that all living things dread. Assumption of this form motivates the humours within the Exalt’s body, using these fluids to guide his motions in a graceful and somewhat terrible way. He moves like liquid, his blows land like thunder, and every wound he deals results in a gruesome red spray.

The Exalt adds +1 to his Evasion, and anyone hit by the Exalt adds 1 to all Wound Penalties.   Finally, whenever the Exalt resets Initiative when their Initiative is at 10 or higher, or rolls Join Battle, they regenerate 1 level of Bashing or Lethal damage.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted gains 1 Initiative anytime an opponent is damaged by bleeding effects such as Blood-Fountain Crush.  This only happens on subsequent rounds from the initial damage.

Special Activation Rules:  A character may reflexively enter into Crimson Temple form after hitting an opponent for 3 or more levels of Lethal decisive damage, or causing their opponent to bleed enough for them to lose a level of decisive damage on the following turn.

Scarlet Sheathe Technique
5m, 1lhl; Scene; Simple
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords: Mastery
Prereqs: Crimson Temple Form

Life’s blood is the frightening focus of this mystic art, and through the combination of Essence and discipline, the Exalt practicing it may supply himself with a weapon that he may flow with as easily as he does his own humours. Steel does not work, nor do any of the five magical materials supply the proper feel and balance. No, the answer to the artist’s weapon problem is simple – the weapon, too, must come from the blood.

By shaping his own blood, the Martial Artist forms a weapon of crystallized blood with which to destroy his enemies.  These weapons have the stats of Artifact weapons, and are typically formed to be Dire Lashes, Dire Chains or sometimes simple Daiklaives, though the exact expression can vary from practitioner to practitioner.  These weapons count as Form weapons for Crimson Temple style, and can be used with all Charms in the style.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalt may activate this Charm as a Reflexive effect upon making a decisive attack that deals at least one level of Lethal damage.  If the Charm is activated in this manner, the decisive attack deals an additional level of Lethal damage as the victim's blood is used to shape the blade.

Tormenting Blood Echo
8m, 1w; Scene; Simple
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords: Uniform, Mastery
Prereqs: Crimson Temple Form

By attuning himself to the pulses of life of those afflicted by a Sanguine Sigil, the Martial Artist becomes able to cause them immediate pain, moving their bodies at the whims of the Martial Artist.  The Martial Artist may attack a person affected by a Sanguine Sigil up to Short Range.  Despite originating from the Sanguine Sigils, these attacks are resolved as normal, though the opponent is at a -2 on their Defense, as the victims can still attempt to defend themselves.  If a Grapple Gambit is attempted, the Control Roll is contested as the Martial Artist's Dexterity + Martial Arts versus the victim's Stamina + Resistance.

Mastery:  The Solar Exalted may attack out to Medium Range without needing to aim.  In addition, all attacks are resolved as if was Grappled.  This means that withering attacks are rolled against Defense 0 in order to find Threshold successes, and decisive attacks just apply damage and then reset the Martial Artist's Initiative.

Magnificent Scarlet Storm
5m then (3i or 1 lhl per +1 Parry); Scene; Simple
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords: Mastery
Prereqs: Crimson Temple Form

With a profound level of focus and strain, the artist flares in a powerful, bright tower of swirling red anima-light. With a howl of pain, wounds open on all major arteries and blood gushes out in controlled streams, and then the wounds seal over – preventing further blood-loss, although the injury remains. This blood is caught in the light of the anima, and hovers in weightless droplets around the artist for a moment, before coming alive and swirling around him in blinding, gory patterns, alternating between snowstorm patterns and a thin, translucent red wall.

Upon activating this Charm, the Martial Artist gains +1 Parry.  The Martial Artist may also gain +1 Parry per 3i or 1 health level spent as a Reflexive action on any defense, to the Exalt's normal die adder cap.  Once spent, these bonuses last until the end of the Martial Artist's action on the following turn.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalt may not spend Initiative or Health Levels to raise their Parry further.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalt automatically raises their Parry whenever they take damage to their Health Track, whether or not the damage was caused by an enemy or was self-inflicted.

Scorching Blood Infliction
10m, 4i, 1 lhl; Instant; Simple
Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Aggravated, Terrestrial, Mastery, Perilous
Prereqs: Scarlet Sheathe Technique, Magnificent Scarlet Storm, Tormenting Blood Echo

With a burst of red Essence, the Martial Artist reaches out to all Sanguine Sigils within Medium Range.  Upon making contact, the Martial Artist burns the Sigils off of their victims, boiling their very blood.  For each Sigil on a victim, they take the Martial Artist's Essence in Aggravated damage, ignoring Hardness.  In addition, all Wound Penalties the victim suffers are doubled for a number of rounds equal to the Martial Artist's Permanent Essence.

The first time any mortal witnesses this Charm, they must make a Willpower roll at a difficulty equal to the number of Sigils consumed (maximum of the Martial Artist's Essence) to resist having an Intimacy of Fear towards the Martial Artist instilled.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial only inflicts 1 Aggravated health level per Sigil, only adds 1 to the victim's Wound Penalties.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted heals 1 level of Bashing or Lethal damage for each Sigil consumed, and may consume Sigils out to Long range.  This is an obvious effect, as the bloody Essence flows to the Martial Artist to repair their wounds.

Special Activation Rules:  This Charm may only be used once per scene unless the Martial Artist places at least 3 Sanguine Sigils and raises their Initiative to 10 or higher.

Red Monarch Shape
- (+5m, 1w); Permanent; Permanent
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs: Scorching Blood Infliction

This is the highest known Charm associated with the Crimson Temple techniques, and it expands the potency of the core Form Charm, to the extent that the disciple may only activate it by continuing the preparation of the Form Charm itself and activating this Charm immediately the turn after the Form itself is activated. The shape of the Exalt becomes entirely sanguine, dissolving into a gory skeletal shape packed beneath a translucent red gel. This Charm improves the Crimson Temple Form in many ways, letting him flow in impossible and grotesque ways – around blows, and even through blows.

Red Monarch Shape is activated at the same time as Crimson Temple Form, and grants an additional +1 Evasion.  This Charm also causes the Martial Artist to heal 1 Bashing or Lethal health level every round, which stacks with any healed from other sources.  Finally, the Martial Artist heals 1 health level for every two levels of lethal decisive damage he inflicts, as the victim's blood is used to repair damage done to the Red Monarch.  Health damage caused by Scorching Blood Infliction does not fuel this healing.

Mortals witnessing this Charm for the first time must make a Willpower roll with a difficulty of the Martial Artist's Essence to resist an Instill action for an Intimacy of Fear towards the Martial Artist.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalt may only maintain this Form for 5 rounds, and they do not heal due to causing Lethal damage to their enemies.  Once out of Red Monarch Shape, a Terrestrial may enter Red Monarch Shape again only after dealing 7 decisive lethal damage, or killing a non-Trivial opponent.

Mastery:  A Solar in Red Monarch Shape may activate Scarlet Sheathe Technique at the same time as Red Monarch Shape.  When activated this way, Scarlet Sheathe Technique has no health level cost.  The Solar may attack out to Short range, and weapons created with Scarlet Sheathe Technique are counted as natural weapons.  The Solar also adds their Martial Arts to their Soak and their Essence to their Hardness.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:50, Sun 06 Sept 2020.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 132 posts
Sat 10 Mar 2018
at 02:13
  • msg #11

Lord of Creation Style

Lord of Creation Style

This style uses unarmed attacks and guns (Prayer Pieces, Plasma Tongue Repeaters and Fire Wands) to dominate and control the battlefield.

Weapons and Armor: Lord of Creation style may be used with light armor and and unarmed attacks/natural weapons, plus ranged weapons, primarily guns (in a modern setting) and their equivalents in the standard setting.  It may be used with bows and crossbows.  In the case of appropriately sized weapons, many Lord of Creation stylists will dual wield.

Complimentary Abilities:  Lord of Creation stylists favor Presence and Performance to assist in demoralizing their opposition.

A Lord of Creation stylist faces no accuracy penalty for using an archery weapon in Close Range when stunting.

Charms:

Master Surveys His Realm
Instant, Supplemental
Cost: 3m
Keywords: Mastery
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1

The Lord of Creation lets his anger be known to any who would oppose him.  This Charm may supplement any attempt to intimidate an opponent or opponents, whether done directly (through an Instill action), or indirectly (through feats of strength or other stunts of prowess).  The martial artist adds his Martial Arts dice to any die roll when intimidating opponents.

Mastery:  Any opponent who gains (or already has) an Intimacy of Fear (or similar context) towards the martial artist takes a penalty to his attack rolls against the martial artist equal to the level of the Intimacy (1, 2 or 3).

The Peasantry Bows to His Will
Instant, Supplemental
Cost: 2m, 2i
Keywords: Uniform, Terrestrial, Mastery
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1

The Lord of Creation is unparalleled in his pursuit of perfection and takes that attitude to the battlefield.  The martial artist gains Double 9s on his attack roll.  This becomes Double 8s if the opponent has an Intimacy of Fear (or similar) towards the martial artist, and this becomes Double 7s if the target is a battle group.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalt may never get Double 7s on the attack roll.

Mastery:  Against a battle group, the martial artist adds one-half the battle group's Size to his accuracy as non-Charm dice.

The Servants Fulfill His Needs
Instant, Reflexive
Cost: 2m
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Prerequisites: Master Surveys His Realm

The Lord of Creation is never without a weapon.  With an imperious gesture – or a quick dash behind cover – the martial artist finds his weapon (or weapons) in hand.  As a Reflexive action, the martial artist summons his weapon to hand, instantly ready, no matter its location.

Terrestrial: When a Terrestrial Exalted uses this Charm, his weapon(s) appear in hand at the beginning of the next round, unless this Charm is used during a Join Battle roll.

Mastery:  A true Lord of Creation adds 3 non-Charm dice to his Join Battle roll when this Charm is used.

He Expends No Effort
Instant, Supplemental
Cost: 3m
Keywords: Uniform, Mastery
Martial Arts 4, Essence 1
Prerequisites: The Peasantry Bows to His Will

The Lord of Creation is never without recourse, and always has ammo on hand.  This Charm supplements a roll to find ammo, adding the martial artist's Essence automatic successes to the roll, and guaranteeing that appropriate ammo will always be available, even in the most outlandish circumstances.

Mastery:  For a Solar Exalted, this Charm's type becomes Permanent, and its cost becomes 0 motes.  The martial artist never seems to run out of ammo, and only needs to reload when it is dramatically appropriate.  Finally, if incorporating a reload into an attack, any stunt dice are doubled, and if the reload is applied to a Defense, the static bonus is increased by one.

Lord of Creation Form
Scene, Simple
Cost: 15 m
Keywords: Form, Terrestrial, Mastery
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Prerequisites: The Servants Fulfill His Needs, He Expends No Effort

The Lord of Creation appears to be invincible on the field of battle.  The martial artist adds the Size of any battle groups he faces plus the number of non-trivial opponents to his Defense, up to a maximum of his Essence.  In addition, if the martial artist's Defense is more than 2 higher than the number of successes rolled on his opponent’s attack, he may redirect the attack to a target within range of the attack (so, a melee attack may only hit another opponent in melee range, barring Charms).  Battle groups may explicitly have attacks redirected back on themselves if the battle group's attack could conceivably hit other members of the group.  Any redirected attack uses the original rolls and any Charms that were applied to it.

Terrestrial:  A Dragon-Blooded may only add up to 3 to his Defense through this Charm, and may only redirect attacks from enemies with lower initiative.

Mastery:  A true Lord of Creation may add up to his Martial Arts to his Defense, and subtracts his Essence from all Onslaught penalties.

Special Activation Rules:  Lord of Creation Form may be entered Reflexively if the martial artist successfully creates an Intimacy of Fear (or similar) in an opponent, or if the martial artist is occupying the same space as a battle group.

None Can Match His Prowess
Instant, Reflexive
Cost:  8m, 1w
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Mastery, Clash
Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Prerequisites: Lord of Creation Form

The Lord of Creation is unflinching in the face of all attacks, and casually swats aside the petty assaults of his inferiors like the buzzing flies that they are.  This Charm allows the martial artist to make a Reflexive Clash against an attack.  If the martial artist succeeds, he may choose to either make his own attack, or to apply the enemy's attack against any enemy (including the attacker) within the martial artist's attack range.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial may only use this Charm once a scene unless he successfully defends against 3 Decisive attacks from non-trivial opponents.  Furthermore, this Clash attacks takes the Terrestrial's action for the round if he has not yet acted, and uses his action for the next round if he already has acted.

Mastery:  The martial artist adds his Essence in automatic successes, and may apply this Charm against even against Unblockable or Undodgeable attacks.

His Subjects Rejoice
Scene, Reflexive
Cost: 5m, 1w
Keywords: Terrestrial
Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Prerequisites: Lord of Creation Form

The Lord of Creation moves freely about his domain.  The martial artist pays no cost in Initiative when disengaging, and adds his Essence in non-Charm dice on any Rush attempts.  In addition, the martial artist gains any Initiative spent by opponents attempting to Disengage, and 1 point of Initiative when an opponent attempts to Rush the martial artist.  Finally, the martial artist gains 1 point of Initiative whenever he is within Close range of a battle group.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted only gains Initiative when the opponent attempts a Disengage action, and may only gain his Essence in Initiative per turn this way.

Joy Follows in His Wake
Permanent
Cost: -
Keywords: Terrestrial
Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Prerequisites: Lord of Creation Form

Every time the Lord of Creation vanquishes a foe, his  subjects rejoice.  Every time the martial artist defeats a non-trivial opponent or causes a point of Magnitude damage to a battle group, he may gain 1 point of Willpower, and a number of Initiative equal to the Essence of the opponent or the original Size of the battle group, whichever his higher, or may take a reflexive aim action at an appropriate opponent.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalt may only gain 1 point of Willpower per scene, and up to his Essence in Initiative per turn.

Destruction Rains Down From His Anger
Scene, Simple
Cost: 10m, 1w
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Prerequisites:  None Can Match His Prowess, His Subjects Rejoice, Joy Follows in His Wake

The wrath of a Lord of Creation is of such fury that its results are only spoken of in hushed tones in the following generations.  All learn to never bring the anger of the Lord of Creation down upon themselves.  Upon activation of this Charm, the martial artist gains an extra attack every round that uses the martial artist's full attack pool.  In addition, the martial artist may apply his attacks to all enemies within range.  If multiple enemies lose Initiative from a withering attack, the martial artist gains an extra point of Initiative for each enemy affected.  The martial artist gains all appropriate Crash bonuses.  Decisive attacks are applied uniformly to all targets.

Terrestrial:  This Charm gains the Perilous Keyword, and deactivates immediately if the Terrestrial is Crashed in combat.  It may not be reactivated until the Terrestrial rises to 15 or higher Initiative.

Mastery:  A true Lord of Creation adds bonus dice on withering attacks to his damage equal to the Size of all battle groups plus the number of opponents he faces, to a maximum of his Martial Arts. On decisive attacks, the martial artist may gain up to his Essence bonus damage.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:01, Fri 08 Mar 2019.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 138 posts
Wed 6 Mar 2019
at 00:19
  • msg #12

Dragon Slayer Style

This style has been bouncing around my head for a while, and I have finally completed it.  It is inspired by Panzer Kunst from Battle Angel Alita, though I have tried to make it more appropriate for Creation.  I expect the Autochthonian version of the style is probably pretty close to the source material, though.

Dragon Slayer Style

Dragon Slayer Style was designed to deal equally with heavily armored warriors, automatons and behemoths.  Using their speed and momentum, the Dragon Slayer uses his or her enemies' own size and strength against them.

Favored Abilities:  Dragon Slayers often have high Athletics and Dodge.

Form Weapons and Armor:  This style may be used with Unarmed attacks, swords (typically slashing or hooked swords), polearms (usually spears or staves), as well as two handed axes and hammers.  This style may be used in any armor that does not have a Mobility Penalty - typically light armor, but Charms and Artifacts may bypass this limit.  This Style may also be used when mounted, with the usual caveats for using Ride with another ability.  All Evasion or mobility bonuses may apply to the martial artist's mount.

A Dragon Slayer may always inflict Lethal damage with a stunt.

Charms:

Slipping Past the Dragon's Maw
Cost: 3m (+1 wp)
Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: None

In order to slay a monster, one must get in range to fight it.  The martial artist rushes in, ready to attack as soon as possible.  This Charm adds the martial artist's Essence to a combat movement roll, typically a Rush action.  Against an opponent with Legendary Size or Impenetrable Armor, the dice added are non-Charm dice.  If the Rush is successful, the martial artist adds +1 Evasion until their next turn, and may spend a point of Willpower to make an immediate attack.

Terrestrial: If a Terrestrial Exalted makes an attack immediately after Rushing, it counts as their Combat Action for the next round.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted treats adds a the higher of (Essence or 3) dice to all combat movement actions until their next turn.

Driving Hammer Crash
Cost: 4m
Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual, Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: Slipping Past the Dragon's Maw

The martial artist throws their whole body into their strike, hitting with a force far greater than what an opponent might expect.  For a Withering attack, the martial artist adds their Dexterity when calculating their damage, and add their Essence to their Overwhelming damage.  On a Decisive attack, the martial artist adds 1 additional die of damage.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted treats this attack as Unexpected if follows a successful Rush.

Avoiding the Dragon's Fangs
Cost: 2m
Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual, Terrestrial, Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: Slipping Past the Dragon's Maw

Against a larger, more powerful foe, being able to escape is just as important as being able to attack.  In order to fight a mountain, one most avoid the avalanche.  Upon landing a successful attack, the martial artist may activate this Charm to launch themselves one range band in any direction, be it forward, to the side, upwards or even down (if appropriate).  With a mount, this is limited to how the mount may move.  For Withering attacks, an attack is considered successful if it inflicts at least one point of damage.  For a Decisive attack, the attack must merely get past the target's Defense.

Terrestrial:  When a Terrestrial Exalted moves away, this counts a Disengage action for the purposes of opposing Charms, though it does not cost the Terrestrial any Initiative.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted gains a point of Initiative equal to any stunt bonus given when they stunt the attack this Charm augments.

Dragon Slayer Form
Cost: 8m
Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form, Mastery
Duration: Scene
Prereqs: Driving Hammer Crash, Avoiding the Dragon's Fangs

Preparing to fight monsters no matter their size, the martial artist braces themselves to dart and weave around the claws and fangs of death itself.  When in Dragon Slayer Form, the martial artist gains +1 Evasion, and adds their Martial Arts to all movement actions.  Against enemies with Legendary Size or Impenetrable Armor, the Martial Artist adds their Essence to their Evasion instead of the normal +1.

Special Activation Rules:  If the martial artist evades an attack by a non-trivial opponent, or starts combat in Close range of an opponent with Legendary Size, they may enter Dragon Slayer Form reflexively.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted also ignores their Essence in Onslaught or Wound Penalties.

Rending the Dragon's Scales
Cost: 3m, 2i, 1w
Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: Dragon Slayer Form

Using any means at their disposal, the Dragon Slayer ruins the protective covering of their prey, whether it is the steel hide of a warstrider, or the armored carapace of a pestletail.  Even the mightiest foes find themselves vulnerable once the Dragon Slayer has struck.  This Charm allows the use of a Difficulty 3-6 Gambit that, if successful, renders a foes armor useless.  The difficulty of the Gambit is set by the type of armor being attacked.  Light Armor or natural soak is Difficulty 3, Medium Armor is Difficulty 4 and Heavy Armor is Difficulty 5.  The difficulty is raised by one if the armor is an Artifact or a beast's Impenetrable Armor.  If successful, mundane armor is destroyed outright, and Artifact armor reduces the Soak and Hardness it provides by 5 and 4 respectively for the rest of the scene, as well as an additional -1 Mobility Penalty.  Against targets with mundane armor or natural soak only (including Impenetrable Armor), this Charm also inflicts a single level of Lethal damage.  A character wearing Artifact armor may attempt a Difficulty 4-6 (based on the type of armor) Intelligence + Craft or Dexterity + Resistance roll to fix their armor.  This takes a full round of combat to do.

A target with Legendary Size and/or Impenetrable Armor loses the benefits of both of those Merits with the completion of a Difficulty 6 Gambit.  This inflicts a -1 Mobility Penalty for the rest of the scene and removes any Hardness the target may have.

This Charm may only be used once per scene, unless reset by causing at least one level of Bashing or Lethal Damage and then moving at least one Range Band away from all non-trivial or battle group opponents.  If this Charm is combo-ed with Driving Hammer Crash, it applies its effects to the Initiative roll.  The cost of Driving Hammer Crash is reduced by 2 motes.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted does not inflict any Mobility Penalties with successful uses of this Charm.

Tendon-Slicing Strike
Cost: 2m, 3i
Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Crippling
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: Dragon Slayer Form

In order to bring down the greatest beasts, they must be brought low piece by piece and limb by limb.  The Dragon Slayer strikes at vulnerable locations, each one slowing down the target more and more.  This is a Difficulty 3 Gambit, which, if successful, causes the target to take an additional -1 Mobility Penalty for the rest of the scene as a Crippling effect.  For mortal targets, these penalties do not go away until the target heals all damage they currently suffer.  For Exalted and similar beings, an Intelligence + Medicine roll may be made at a Difficulty equal to all additional Mobility Penalties the victim is suffering.  Unless modified by Charms, this is a full round action.

If this Charm is combo-ed with Driving Hammer Crash, it applies its effects to the Initiative roll.  The cost of Driving Hammer Crash is reduced by 2 motes.

Piercing Death's Hide
Cost: 6m
Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual, Terrestrial
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: Dragon Slayer Form

A Dragon Slayer learns to take advantage of their opponent's weaknesses.  The slower their opponent, the easier it becomes to finish them.  When this Charm is used to supplement a Withering attack, the martial artist adds the target's current Mobility Penalty dice to their post-Soak damage.  If supplementing a Decisive attack, the martial artist adds their target's current Mobility Penalty as dice on either the damage roll or a Gambit roll.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial may only add up to their Essence in dice to a Decisive damage roll or to supplement a Gambit, and are limited to adding their Martial Arts in dice to a Withering damage roll.

Dancing in the Footsteps of Giants
Cost: 5m, 1w
Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Mastery
Duration: Special
Prereqs: Rending the Dragon's Scales, Tendon-Slicing Strike, Piercing Death's Hide

The Dragon Slayer learns to dance within death's grasp and always be in the perfect place to strike.  To use Dancing in the Footsteps of Giants, the Martial Artist must succeed on a Difficulty 4 Gambit.  If the Initiative roll is successful, the Martial Artist steps within their opponent's guard, and may slip their attacks past their opponent's Defense.  For 1 round, plus 1 round for each additional success on the Initiative roll, the Martial Artist's attacks are considered Unexpected against their target as long as they stay within Close Range.  A victim of this Charm may attempt to Disengage to break the Charm, but even if they succeed in doing so, the Martial Artist gains 2 Initiative on every Disengage attempt.

Against a target with Legendary Size or Impenetrable Armor, the Martial Artist's attacks are considered Ambushes.  A target of that size may attempt to shake off or fling the Martial Artist away with an appropriate attack or a Feat of Strength roll, contested by the Martial Artist's Dexterity + (Dodge or Athletics).  If the Martial Artist fails, this breaks the Charm.

If this Charm is combo-ed with Driving Hammer Crash, it applies its effects to the Initiative roll.  The cost of Driving Hammer Crash is reduced by 2 motes.  This Charm may only be used once per scene, unless the Martial Artist lands a Decisive attack, and then builds back to 15+ Initiative.

Terrestrial:  Attacks made by a Terrestrial Exalted may never be considered Ambushes, nor do they gain Initiative from Disengage attempts.

Caressing the Dragon's Fires
Cost: 7m, 3i, 1w
Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: Dancing in the Footsteps of Giants

The most accomplished Dragon Slayers can slay even the most dangerous of monsters with but a single strike.  Once the beast is made vulnerable, the Dragon Slayer drives in, ripping out the very heart of the beast.  This Charm is a Difficulty 7 Gambit that may only be attempted if the Martial Artist is at 15 or higher Initiative, and, if it is successful, instantly Incapacitates the victim.  The damage is Bashing or Lethal based on the attack or stunt used.  Against Exalted or similar beings, such as spirits, gods or demons, the target adds their Essence to the Difficulty of the Gambit.  If this Charm is combo-ed with Driving Hammer Crash, it applies its effects to the Initiative roll.  The cost of Driving Hammer Crash is reduced to 1 mote.  If the Gambit is not successful it still inflicts Bashing or Lethal damage equal to half of the successes.

This Charm may only be used once per scene, unless the Martial Artist dodges 3 Decisive attacks from non-trivial opponents, and then brings their Initiative to 20 or higher.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may only use this Charm after they have successfully used Rending the Dragon's Scales on a target at least once in the scene and the target is still under that Charm's effects.  A Terrestrial may only inflict up to their Essence damage on a failed use of this Charm.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted may apply Double 10s on the Initiative roll.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:17, Tue 06 June 2023.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 140 posts
Sun 24 Mar 2019
at 19:01
  • msg #13

Gentle Fist Style

Here is my attempt at a version of the Gentle Fist style without the Byakugan integrated into it.

Gentle Fist Style

Gentle Fist style uses an opponent's body against them, either breaking them apart from the inside, or gently causing them to become unable to fight.  Even when used lethally, victims often have no marks on them.

Favored Abilities:  Gentle Fist stylists often favor Awareness and Medicine.

Form Weapons and Armor:  This style may be used with Unarmed attacks, throwing needles (thrown or otherwise), knives and batons.

Note:  The various Gambits in this Style have the following duration, in general.  When inflicted with Bashing damage, the effects end after the Scene.  When Lethal damage is used, these effects only end when the damage is healed (for Exalted, Spirits and similar beings), or take a Difficulty 5 Medicine roll to fix.  All Gambit difficulties are 1 higher against the Undead, including Abyssal and Liminal Exalted.  If the martial artist can read Essence flows (such as using All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight), the difficulty of these Gambits is reduced by 1.

A Gentle Fist stylist may always inflict Lethal damage with a stunt.

Charms:

Gentle Admonition
3m
Instant, Reflexive
Terrestrial, Mastery, Uniform
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Prereqs: None

As their opponent attacks, the martial artist diverts the blow with the gentlest of motions.  For each 1 or 2 in the opponent's attack roll, the martial artist adds one to their Parry, up to a limit of their Essence.  Each additional time this Charm is used in a single turn, the cost is reduced by 1 mote, to a minimum of 1 mote.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may only use their opponent's 1s to add to their Parry.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted may add up to their Martial Arts to their Parry.

Chakra Flare Technique
2m or 4m
Instant, Supplemental
Dual, Mastery
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Prereqs: None

With the slightest touch, a Gentle Fist stylist may hit with incredible force.  When used to supplement a parry, the martial artist gains Initiative equal to the number of 1s on the opponent's attack roll, to a maximum of their Essence.  When used to supplement a withering attack, the martial artist adds their Essence to their post-Soak damage.  Additionally, if they gain more than 3 Initiative from the attack or defense, the opponent is either knocked back a range band or knocked prone.  When supplementing a Decisive attack, the martial artist adds 1 to the Initiative roll.
In addition, this Charm may be used for 4 motes to hide the effects of the attack, delivering an attack with the gentlest of touches.  This adds the Mute keyword to all Gentle Fist charms used at the same time.  The attack is considered Unexpected (or an Ambush if the criteria are met), unless the victim succeeds on a Read Intentions roll versus the martial artist.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted may gain up to the higher of their Essence or 3 Initiative.  Additionally, they may calculate their Guile by using (Dexterity + Martial Arts) when attacking with the 4 mote version of this Charm.

Essence Analysis Method
5m
Simple, Scene
Withering-Only, Mastery
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Prereqs: None

By scrutinizing their opponents, the Gentle Fist stylist figures out their vulnerabilities.  When activating this Charm, the martial artist rolls Perception + Awareness against a difficulty equal to the highest Hardness rating of any present opponent.  This roll may be supplemented with Charms as if it was a normal Perception + Awareness roll.  For each success, the martial artist adds one to their damage before soak.

If the martial artist has any Charms that would allow them to read Essence flows (such as All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight or similar Charms), they add their Essence non-Charm successes on the Awareness roll.  Finally, successes on the Perception + Awareness roll may be added as dice to any Medicine roll related to an examined subject, either to diagnose or to cure.

Special Activation Rules:  This Charm may be activated reflexively when the martial artist activates Gentle Fist Form.

Mastery:  A Solar adds their Essence non-Charm dice on the Perception + Awareness roll.

Gentle Fist Form
8m
Simple, Scene
Form, Mastery
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Prereqs:  Gentle Admonition, Chakra Flare Technique, Essence Analysis Method

The martial artist steps into a stance that both guards their vitals, and allows them to snap off quick attacks.  When in Gentle Fist Form, the martial artist adds +1 to their Defense.  Furthermore, if they have successfully scrutinized an opponent with Essence Analysis Method, the treat their opponent's Defense as if it was one point lower.

Special Activation Rules:  A martial artist may reflexively enter Gentle Fist Form when they activate Essence Analysis Method and gain at least 3 successes on the Perception + Awareness roll or if they successfully apply their Defense against a Decisive attack.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted may treat their Initiative as if it was 3 higher when determining what order they may act against opponents who have been successfully analyzed with Essence Analysis Method.

Essence Shield Prana
4m or 4m, 1+i
Instant, Supplemental
Dual, Terrestrial
Martial Arts 4, Essence 3
Prereqs:  Gentle Fist Form

With greater control over their own Essence, the martial artist may now use their own essence flows as a shield against harm.  This Charm allows the martial Artist to apply their Parry against an unblockable withering or decisive attack.  Additionally, this Charm may be used reflexively to subtract health levels of damage from a successful decisive attack for 4 motes and 1 Initiative per health level avoided.  This may only be used once a scene unless the martial artist successfully applies their Parry or Dodge defense against 3 decisive attacks.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may only use this Charm to apply their Parry to unblockable attacks.

Nerve-Deadening Essence Atemi
3m
Instant, Supplemental
Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Crippling
Martial Arts 4, Essence 3
Prereqs: Gentle Fist Form

With a precise injection of Essence into their opponent's body, a Gentle Fist stylist can cripple or paralyze their opponent, leaving the battle all but over.  This Charm allows the martial artist to use the following Gambits as Crippling effects.

Limb-Numbing Atemi: Difficulty 4:  The martial artist hits their opponent in various pressure points, leaving a limb numb and useless.  If used on an arm, the opponent may not use two-handed weapons, and takes a -1 Penalty to their Parry.  If used on a leg, the opponent may only move at half speed, taking a mobility penalty equal to the martial artist's essence.  If both legs are paralyzed, the opponent may no longer move, and falls prone.

Nerve-Scrambling Neck Strike:  Difficulty 6:  With a precise injection of Essence into their opponent's nervous system, the martial artist renders their opponent all but helpless as none of their limbs move as they should.  The opponent is paralyzed unless they take a full round action to roll either (Intelligence + Medicine or Stamina + Resistance) at a Difficulty equal to the martial artist's (Essence + Martial Arts).  If they are successful, they may move and continue to fight, albeit at a penalty equal to the martial artist's Essence.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial may not use Nerve-Scrambling Neck Strike, and may only use Limb-Numbing Atemi after successfully applying their Defense to an opponent's attack.

Sixty-Fourfold Essence-Sealing Method
10m, 1w
Instant, Simple
Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Mastery, Crippling
Martial Arts 5, Essence 4
Prereqs:  Essence Shield Prana, Nerve-Deadening Essence Atemi

By striking all of their opponent's chakras, the martial artist seals away their ability to use Essence.  For those that can channel Essence, such as Exalted or spirits, this is dangerous.  For those who cannot, this can prove fatal.  This Charm is a Gambit with a Difficulty equal to the target's Permanent Essence.  For each success past this number, the opponent cannot spend Essence for one round, or one hour outside of combat.  In addition, this inflicts a wound penalty for the duration of the effect equal to the martial artist's Essence as a Crippling effect.  If an opponent who cannot channel Essence is hit with this Charm, they must make an immediate Stamina + Resistance roll with a difficulty equal to the higher of the martial artist's Essence or number of threshold successes on the Gambit, or immediately fall unconscious for a the martial artist's Essence hours.

Special Activation Rules:  This Charm may only be used once per scene, unless it is reset by the martial artist crashing a non-Trivial opponent, and then raising their Initiative to 15.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial does not completely block Essence respiration.  Instead, they reduce the number of motes gained every round by their Essence, to a minimum of 1 round.  They also may only inflict up to a -3 Wound Penalty with the Charm.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted inflicts a Wound Penalty equal to the higher of 3 or their Essence.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:48, Sat 10 Dec 2022.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 144 posts
Sat 20 Jul 2019
at 17:04
  • msg #14

Soaring Dragon Style

Here is an attempt at writing up Hiten Mitsurugi Style for Exalted.  Hope you all like it.

Soaring Dragon Style

The Soaring Dragon style is one of incredible speed, with a counter for nearly every attack.  The stylist fights in a constant blur of motion, hard to track, and harder to defend against.  While this style is intended to be extremely lethal, there are tales of practitioners of the style who use blunt swords or attack with their swords still sheathed in an effort to preserve their opponent's lives.

Rumors also state that learning Soaring Dragon Style slows the martial artist's aging, though this has never been verified.

Form Weapons and Armor:  This style may only be used with slashing swords (and their scabbards) and unarmed attacks.  It may not be used in any armor with a mobility penalty.  Despite allowing the use of unarmed attacks, most Soaring Dragon stylists only use the attack Charms in this style with swords.

Favored Abilities:  Soaring Dragon stylists typically favor Athletics and Dodge.

Charms:

Coiled Dragon Stance
Cost: 3m (+ 2i or +1m/1i )
Minimums: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery, Uniform, Clash
Duration: Special
Prereqs: None

One of the most crucial lessons in the Soaring Dragon style is to make sure they are prepared to meet any oncoming attack.  This typically takes the form of sheathing their blade in preparation for a lightning fast draw-and-strike when their opponent attacks.  Upon entering Coiled Dragon Stance, the martial artist taking any further attack actions until this Charm is released.  While in Coiled Dragon Stance, the martial artist does not lose Initiative or take any penalties for delaying their action, nor do they lose Initiative if they do not make an attack during the remainder of the round.  The martial artist then reflexively releases the Charm when attacked to make an attack against their opponent.  This is typically used to make a reflexive Clash attack, but it may be used at any time against an opponent in range.  This Charm grants Double 9s on the attack roll, or Double 8s against an opponent with lower Initiative, and Double 7s against a Crashed opponent.  The martial artist may also remove their scabbard from their belt when activating this Charm for a cost of 2i, but this grants the martial arts the Dual Wielding bonus on the clash attack, as they are able to include the scabbard in the attack.

It is possible for the martial artist to delay past the end of the round when trying to clash an opponent with higher Initiative.  If the martial artist does this, they must pay a 1m/1i cost when releasing this Charm per point of Initiative the opponent has higher than the martial artist.

Attacking with this Charm always counts as the martial artist's attack action in the round.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial may never get Double 7s on the attack roll, and may only spend up to their Martial Arts rating in motes to raise their Initiative against a higher Initiative opponent.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted may spend the mote cost of this Charm while attacking (as if the Charm was Supplemental) and assume Coiled Dragon Stance if the attack is successful.  This does allow the Charm to be triggered again against another attack if it happens in the round.

Whirling Dragon Blade
Cost: 4m
Minimums: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: None

A Soaring Dragon stylist learns to dance around their opponents and use their whole body to enhance their attacks.  By rotating around horizontally or flipping vertically over their opponent as they strike, they enhance the power of the attack immensely.  For withering attacks, the martial artist adds their Athletics rating to their damage prior to calculating soak.  On a decisive attack, the martial artist adds one level of Decisive damage to the result.  If this Charm is used to supplement a Counter Attack the martial artist adds +1 to their Defense (either Parry or Evasion), and adds their Essence dice to the attack roll in a Clash.

When used against a battle group, the martial artist adds the battle group's Size to the post-soak damage roll.

Soaring Dragon Leap
Cost: 3m
Minimums: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform, Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: None

In order to soar like the dragon, one needs both speed and mobility.  These lessons are reflected in the Soaring Dragon Leap.  Though despite the name, this applies to the martial artists ground speed as well, as they dart around the battlefield like the wind itself.  This Charm may be used in a few different ways.  First, it may supplement a move action, allowing the martial artist to cover an extra range band when running or leaping.  Second, it may be used to when the martial artist dodges a strike, adding +1 to their Evasion as the martial artist's speed takes their opponent off guard.  Finally, this Charm allows the martial artist to add their Strength to any Rush or Disengage rolls.  Soaring Dragon Leap may only be used once per turn.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted may use this Charm to supplement multiple actions in a single round.

Humble Dragon's Eye
Cost: 1m
Minimums: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform, Terrestrial, Mastery
Duration: 1 Round
Prereqs: None

The wisdom of the dragon is in some ways far deadlier than its claws.  By seeing and understanding its prey, the dragon may easily avoid its attacks, and make its own far more devastating.  The Soaring Dragon stylist emulates this cunning and wisdom to the detriment of any who oppose them.  When being attacked, the martial artist may roll Perception + Martial Arts against their opponent's Guile, and add any threshold successes to their Defense for the round.  Awareness or Socialize Charms may be used to supplement this roll.  In addition, the martial artist may make the same roll (Perception + Martial Arts vs. Guile) when attacking, and use their threshold successes to either apply penalties to their opponent's Defense or to their opponent's Soak or Hardness.  Against Defense, the martial artist may not apply any more than their own Essence in penalties.  Soak is reduced by 2 per success, and Hardness by 1 per success.  The martial artist may not apply any more successes to their opponent then they have in Martial Arts.  Any bonuses and penalties apply to only a single opponent or battle group, and only apply to the martial artist's own attacks.

If the martial artist succeeds by more than 1 threshold success, they may treat this as a successful Read Intentions roll to discover an Intimacy related to the opponent's fighting techniques or philosophy.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial may only add up to half their Martial Arts + any appropriate specialties to their own Defense, and may only apply up to their Essence in successes as penalties to their opponent's Defense or Soak/Hardness.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted may extend the duration of the Charm to one scene by paying a +2 mote surcharge.  If they do so, all bonuses and penalties remain against opponents for the rest of the scene.  They may activate this Charm as normal against an opponent to try to improve their threshold successes if the opponent displays something new to them.

Soaring Dragon Form
Cost: 8m
Minimums: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form, Terrestrial
Duration: Scene
Prereqs: Coiled Dragon Stance, Whirling Dragon Blade, Soaring Dragon Leap, Humble Dragon's Eye

A Soaring Dragon stylist owns the battlefield, weaving among their enemies and cutting them down like grass before the scythe.  Upon entering Soaring Dragon Form, the martial artist gains +1 Defense, and may make a reflexive attack against any opponent whose own attack fails to beat the martial artist's Defense.  If the martial artist is in Coiled Dragon Stance and does not wish to release that Charm's attack, the martial artist may only use their Evasion and make their reflexive attack Unarmed.

Special Activation Rules:  A martial artist may reflexively enter Soaring Dragon Form upon either succeeding in a Read Intentions roll against a possible opponent, gaining at least 1 threshold success when using Humble Dragon's Eye or succeeding in a Perception + Awareness roll to notice danger.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial may only make a single reflexive attack per round under most circumstances.  The Terrestrial may spend a point of Willpower to make a second reflexive attack in a round, but this takes the Terrestrial's attack action for the next round.

Lashing Tail Strike
Cost: 5m, 1w
Minimums: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: Soaring Dragon Form

By utilizing the incredible speed and power of their strikes, the martial artist may attack an opponent at range, either by sending out a wave of air pressure, or hitting the ground hard enough to launch debris at their opponent.  The martial artist may attack an opponent out to Short Range.  This attack also acts as if the martial artist's weapon had the Smashing tag.  The martial artist may waive the Willpower cost if they are releasing Coiled Dragon Stance when attacking.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial must put so much effort into this strike that they take a -1 Penalty to their Defense until their next turn.

Roaring Dragon Shield
Cost: 3m (+4m)
Minimums: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform, Terrestrial
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: Soaring Dragon Form

Despite the dragon's ferocity, it may only maul what gets within its grasp.  Those who attack at range find themselves, for at least a little while, with an advantage over the dragon.  Yet, even in these circumstances, no dragon is completely defenseless.  By sheathing their sword with godlike speed, the martial artist creates a wave of pressure that knocks away ranged attacks with ease.  When using this Charm to supplement a Parry attempt against a ranged attack, the martial artist is treated as if they have  Heavy Cover.  The martial artist may also pay a 4 mote surcharge to allow them to apply their Defense against an unblockable or undodgeable ranged attack.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial may only be treated as if they have Light Cover when using this Charm.

Wrath of the Nine-Headed Dragon
Cost: 8m, 1w (+4m)
Minimums: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: Lashing Tail Strike, Roaring Dragon Shield

Often thought of as the pinnacle technique of Soaring Dragon Style, this Charm epitomizes the martial art's speed and power.  The martial artist attacks every vital spot on their opponent within the blink of an eye, rendering an opponent nearly helpless to defend themselves.  This Charm is an unblockable attack.  While it may not be combined with Coiled Dragon Stance, Soaring Dragon Leap only costs 1 mote when used with this Charm, and Whirling Dragon Blade's cost is reduced to 2 motes.  This Charm may only be used when the martial artist has 10 or more Initiative, and may only be used once per scene, unless reset by Crashing a non-trivial opponent, and then raising your Initiative to 15 or higher.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted may double up to their Athletics successes on the damage roll, and make the attack undodgeable as well for a 4 mote surcharge.

Flashing Inspiration Draw
Cost: 1w, 1 Lethal HL (+1w)
Minimums: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Clash, Terrestrial, Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: Wrath of the Nine-Headed Dragon

The true secret of Soaring Dragon Style, the Flashing Inspiration Draw is learned when the student must figure out a way to counter the Wrath of the Nine-Headed Dragon.  Faced with an unstoppable attack, the martial artist must learn to strike in the instant between life and death.  The martial artist must be in Coiled Dragon Stance to use this Charm.  While this is technically a Clash attack, it functions slightly differently.  When their opponent attacks, the martial artist makes an immediate surprise attack (which is treated as an ambush unless the opponent succeeds on Perception + Awareness roll with a Difficulty equal to the martial artist's Resolve + Essence, which allows them to treat the attack as if it was just Unexpected) before the Clash actually happens.  If the martial artist succeeds, their opponent never gets the chance to make their strike.  In addition, the martial artist adds their Resolve as automatic successes on the attack roll.

This Charm may only be used in certain circumstances.  The martial artist may use this Charm only when they have more than 15 Initiative or if they are Crashed.  If the Charm is used when the martial artist is Crashed, and they succeed in hitting their opponent, they deal automatic damage equal to their Resolve, reset to base Initiative and then add the successes on a Wits + Awareness roll to their Initiative.

This Charm may only be used once per scene.

On the rare occasions when the martial artist is faced with an opponent capable of defending themselves against the Flashing Inspiration Draw, they may still turn the tables.  If the initial attack is blocked or dodged, or an opponent uses their own Clash attack and wins, the martial artist may use a technique known as the Fangs of the Flying Dragon to make an immediate follow up attack (that may be a Clash against a potential counter attack) which is unblockable and undodgeable and carries over the automatic successes from the first attack.  This costs 1 Willpower to use.

Terrestrial: A Terrestrial's Flashing Inspiration Draw may never be considered an Ambush attack.  Furthermore, in order to use the Fangs of the Flying Dragon, a Terrestrial must pay an additional Lethal Health Level in addition to the Willpower cost.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted treats the automatic attack successes granted by this Charm as a non-Charm bonus, and may add threshold successes as dice on the Decisive damage roll.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:36, Fri 23 Oct 2020.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 145 posts
Mon 23 Dec 2019
at 23:56
  • msg #15

Dragon Blooded Online: War for the Caul Game House Rules

As I do not intend to create an RPOL board for the DB game, I'm going to continue to use this thread for mechanics, custom Martial Arts and similar stuff.  Here is what I have in mind for out upcoming DB game:

1) Characters start at Essence 1, using the rules for new DBs, though they still receive bonus Merits and Specialties based on their background.

2) All Signature Charms are now set at (Ability) 4, Essence 2 for the first purchase, and (Ability) 5, Essence 4 for the second Signature Charm in an Ability

3) To be able to learn an Elemental Dragon Style or permanently ignore Terrestrial restrictions on Martial Arts charms, a Character must have a learned either a Lore or Occult Signature Charm and then purchased (or earned through in-game Story or Quest) a 3 dot Merit: Immaculate Initiate.  Expending Aura will still allow the character to ignore the Terrestrial Keyword for that tick as per normal rules.

4) Aura: All charms with Duration: Aura are considered Scene Length.  If the character drops out of Aura or switches to a different Aura, the Charm is disabled, but will immediately reactivate upon resuming the appropriate Aura, assuming the character kept the Charm's motes committed.  Aura -may- be changed outside the character's actions if desired, but does not have to (even if the character is using Aspected charms).  It -is- possible for Immortal powers or Paths to generate and manipulate Aura, too.

5) All printed Martial Arts are valid to learn (and any future ones automatically are valid as well).  Custom or homebrew Martial Arts must be learned or developed in-game.

6) Player Characters receive an extra two dots of Attributes to represent the Player's own abilities.  These may not be used to raise any Attribute over 3.  If the PC's attribute are satisfactory, these may be converted into Charms on a 1-to-1 basis.

7) Player Characters also receive an extra 5 points of Abilities or Specialties (representing the Player's own skills).  Abilities may not be raised over 3 with these points, though Specialties may be applied to any Ability.

8) Custom Charms are allowed and encouraged, though they obviously must be mostly consistent with printed DB Charms.

A final warning: Dragonblooded are not as accomplished crafters as Celestial Exalted, so gaining 4 and 5 dot Artifacts will be more difficult outside Character Creation.  That said, looting NPCs and bosses can provide some, and it is possible for more powerful Artifacts to be crafted, it's just much more difficult.  All printed Artifacts are (potentially) valid, and Custom Artifacts are still allowed and encouraged.

I think this covers everything.  I'll add more if anything comes to mind.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:51, Wed 25 Dec 2019.
Kuroko
player, 73 posts
Wed 25 Dec 2019
at 14:10
  • msg #16

Dragon Blooded Online: War for the Caul Game House Rules

Merry Christmas everyone.

As you all probably guessed, the World of Darkness world that's being collided with the Dragonblood campaign is simply my Saturday game. I guess that means I could have a dragonblooded show up, too, who knows.

So all my changeling contacts are the ones that have already been introduced in game.


Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
In addition to that there is the Maeghar necromancer, whose physically deformity is that he has six arms, which basically makes him a spider if you add in the legs. He hides the extra ones under clothes. He collects relics from the underworld, with a focus on things made from souls with interesting histories. He is named Arthur Lyons and is a member of the Tal'mahe'Ra.

There is a Black Spiral Dancer Garou, Nephandi willworker, and infernalist Ravnos who have a cult involving breaking free from physical reality by destroying physical reality. Miguel is the werewolf, the nephandi is named Angela, and the Ravnos is named Georgi.



If you want any more details don't be afraid to ask.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:39, Wed 25 Dec 2019.
Qin'ai da Wangzi
player, 47 posts
Wed 15 Jan 2020
at 14:36
  • msg #17

Dragon Blooded Online: War for the Caul Game House Rules

In reply to The All-Seeing Eye (msg # 15):

just curious what year is it in the real world when the game starts?
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 146 posts
Wed 15 Jan 2020
at 21:57
  • msg #18

Dragon Blooded Online: War for the Caul Game House Rules

I was planning for 2060s/2070s, probably the 2070s.  As mentioned, the world will be on the cusp of a number of potentially game-changing advancements in many different fields, on top of the ones necessary for the game to work.

We can nail down some of the specifics during the character creation session.
Kuroko
player, 74 posts
Thu 23 Jan 2020
at 14:26
  • msg #19

Dragon Blooded Online: War for the Caul Game House Rules

Quick question, is there a limit to gaining exp from flaws? Like if you suffer from two seperate flaws in the same session, do you get one or two?
Kuroko
player, 75 posts
Fri 24 Jan 2020
at 12:53
  • msg #20

Dragon Blooded Online: War for the Caul Game House Rules

Is this right?

Changeling Ability: Exalted equivalent

Alertness: Awareness
Athletics: Athletics
Brawl: Brawl
Dodge: Dodge
Empathy: Socialize
Expression: Socialize
Intimidation: Presence
Kenning: Awareness? or possibly Occult?
Streetwise: Larceny
Subterfuge: Socialize
Craft: Crafts
Drive: Ride
Etiquette: Socialize
Firearms: Archery
Leadership: Presence
Melee: Melee
Performance: Performance
Security: Larceny
Stealth: Stealth
Survival: Survival
Academics: Lore
Computer: Lore
Enigmas: Occult

Greymayre: Occult

Investigation: Investigation
Law: Bureaucracy
Linguistics: Linguistics
Medicine: Medicine
Politics: Bureaucracy
Science: Lore

Exalted also has Integrity and Resistance
This message was last edited by the player at 12:57, Fri 24 Jan 2020.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 147 posts
Fri 24 Jan 2020
at 23:02
  • msg #21

Dragon Blooded Online: War for the Caul Game House Rules

That looks right.  Archery/Firearms can be switched out for one another, as can Ride/Drive, and Sail/Pilot.
Qin'ai da Wangzi
player, 48 posts
Mon 27 Jan 2020
at 18:16
  • msg #22

Dragon Blooded Online: War for the Caul Game House Rules

In reply to Kuroko (msg # 16):

I was looking up pirate ships and I read that a skeleton crew would be 4 watches of 20-30 men each or a crew of 80- 120 men.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 148 posts
Mon 27 Jan 2020
at 21:51
  • msg #23

Dragon Blooded Online: War for the Caul Game House Rules

That may be true for ships during the Age of Sail.  Don't forget, Creation tends to more Bronze Age/Swords and Sorcery aesthetics.  That said, If you want the Black Pearl to be larger, like a more stereotypical pirate ship, we can do that*.  Being Artifact 5, we could probably get away with having a Lightning Ballista or Implosion Bow on the ship, but that will have to remain inactive until you get a Hearthstone to properly power it.

Any additional weapons and armaments for the ship will have to be acquired in play, though.

* First Age ships in Creation could easily get a lot more advanced than what typically tools around Creation in the Second Age.
Qin'ai da Wangzi
player, 49 posts
Wed 29 Jan 2020
at 16:46
  • msg #24

The Black Pearl

quote:
Being Artifact 5, we could probably get away with having a Lightning Ballista or Implosion Bow on the ship, but that will have to remain inactive until you get a Hearthstone to properly power it.

Any additional weapons and armaments for the ship will have to be acquired in play, though.


I am fine with that. What kind of hearthstone would a ship have to power it weapons?


I had  several ideas that sounded cool to me. I understand that just because it sounds cool does not mean it doable, the rule of cool not withstanding.
Considering the ship has a black hull and black sails I guess it would have the ability to stealth at night.

Invocation of the Living Ship (Emerald Circle). Outcaste, p. 95. Wakes the spirit of a ship, such that it will sail itself at the sorcerer's command.

What if the Black Pearl had this but it was under the command of the captain not the sorcerers. I was thinking that it would be as intelligent as a smart horse. While the outer portion of the hull is Black Jade the interior is living wood. The ship has the ability to move itself.  It has the ability to grow portions of itself and reabsorb them back into the hull. Say your cabin could grow you a bed at night then during the dayand absorb it back to give you more room during the day. The ship is a living plant that can be healed the same way a tree would through medicine or over time.

The Galley has the ability to make any product that would grow on a plant. So fresh food and vegetables and herbs for medicines can be provided by the ship. I guess this would be  similar to benediction of the living ship signature charm.

It is bigger on the inside (below decks) then the outside (the hull and above decks. The cargo hold has an elsewhere space in it so you can either store cargo in the hold where everyone can see and get it or elsewhere where only authorize people can access it.
I was thinking the crew of the ship would be the:

Captain who get 2x shares of any loot
First Mate 2x
Navigator 2X
Quartermaster 2x
Doctor 2x
Boatswain 1.5
Master Gunner 1.5x
Cooper 1x
Carpenter 1x
Cook 1x
pirate crew 1x
Cabin boy x.5
Powder Monkey x.5

These is also 3 ship cats on board
Adult Male: Sparrow
Adult Female: Duchess
Adolescent Male: Port
Adolescent Female: Star

Another possibility would be for pc to take over certain of the crew roles so they get a share of the loot and are not just passengers.

ps: I realize the above would not be something the ship has out of the gate but possible gain through custom heart stone?

Well over to you Brian for some brainstorming.



_________________________________________________________
This message was last edited by the player at 18:36, Wed 29 Jan 2020.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 149 posts
Wed 29 Jan 2020
at 22:17
  • msg #25

The Black Pearl

Sounds pretty good.  I will say that full functionality will require a Hearthstone, though, and some of more advanced stuff will have to be bought as Evocations.

How about this:

Initial Evocation: Spirit of the Living Vessel (name to be determined, updated as needed).
Cost: - , Duration: Permanent
The Black Pearl has intelligence, equal to that of a smart horse, but professional skill at Sailing, giving it a Die Pool of 5 dice when it is piloting itself.  The Black Pearl's own skills are part of the reason it has enhanced stats.  In addition, the Black Pearl's living wood interior may heal 1 level of Hull damage per day, with the exception of -0 Hull levels.  -0 Levels may be healed as well at the same rate if there is a Hearthstone installed.  The interior is larger than the size of the ship would indicate, and may create incidental items and useful additions in the interior (such as beds) which may be reabsorbed back into the ship when they are no longer useful.

You may also have your choice of a Lightning Ballista or Implosion Bow as well, but those won't be activated until there is a Hearthstone for the ship.

Elsewhere storage should be bought as an Evocation on its own, as should additional weapons, capabilities, or other magical tricks.
Kuroko
player, 76 posts
Mon 3 Feb 2020
at 14:45
  • msg #26

Homebrew Mechanics Thread

In reply to The All-Seeing Eye (msg # 1):

Average banality for reference


https://www.wolfsinger.com/~wyldcards/banality.htm
Kuroko
player, 77 posts
Sat 22 Feb 2020
at 21:07
  • msg #27

Homebrew Mechanics Thread

Kuroko
player, 78 posts
Sun 23 Feb 2020
at 12:24
  • msg #28

Homebrew Mechanics Thread

Question: Can I program my time delayed cantrips? For example, when Pearl is using a decisive attack, Fair is Foul activates and lowers her difficulty by four.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 150 posts
Sun 23 Feb 2020
at 17:12
  • msg #29

Homebrew Mechanics Thread

Based on my reading of those rules, that sounds like something that is intended to be allowed.

To follow up on our discussion on Thursday - successes create re-rolls, either of failures or successes (keeping the new result) depending on the intent of the Soothsay.  I.e. helping a character's Defense would force the enemy to re-roll successes, while assisting an ally's attack would allow them to re-roll a number of failures equal to the successes on the Soothsay roll.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:24, Sat 29 Feb 2020.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 153 posts
Tue 2 Feb 2021
at 23:25
  • msg #30

Lord of the Underworld Style

Here is another gun-fu style from my previous homebrew, now updated for 3e.  As is no doubt obvious, this is an Abyssal counterpart to the more straightforward Lord of Creation style.
____________________

Lord of the Underworld Style

This style uses unarmed attacks and guns (Prayer Pieces, Plasma Tongue Repeaters and Fire Wands) to dominate and control the battlefield.

Weapons and Armor: Lord of the Underworld style may be used with light armor and unarmed attacks/natural weapons, light bladed weapons such as knives, kama and short swords, plus light ranged weapons, primarily pistols (in a modern setting) and their equivalents in the standard setting.  It may be used with bows and crossbows, which can be treated as staves and batons in melee.  In the case of appropriately sized weapons, many Lord of the Underworld stylists will dual wield.

Complimentary Abilities:  Lord of the Underworld stylists favor Athletics and Dodge to assist in demoralizing their opposition.

A Lord of the Underworld stylist faces no accuracy penalty for using an archery weapon in Close Range when stunting, and may also inflict Lethal damage unarmed with a stunt.

Charms:

The Dead Serve Their Master
5m, 1wp; Instant, Simple
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Keywords: Mastery
Prerequisites: None

The dead know their service is eternal.  By channeling the Essence of the lands of the dead, the Lord of the Underworld calls forth his legions.  Activation of this Charm raises a battle group of zombies with a Magnitude equal to the Martial Artists Essence using available corpses within (Essence) Range Bands, starting at Close range.  The Willpower cost is waived if the Martial Artist killed the targets himself.

Mastery: A Solar (or Abyssal) raises a battle group with a Magnitude of 3 or their Essence, whichever is higher.  Further, these zombies move in eerie unison, and therefore have an Average Drill rating.

Servant-Promoting Attack
3m, 1i; Instant, Supplemental
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Keywords: Decisive-Only
Prerequisites: None

Ever merciful, the Lord of the Underworld is even willing to award those who displease him.  The Servant-Promoting Attack adds the Martial Artist’s Permanent Essence to the damage of a Decisive attack, or (Permanent Essence + Martial Arts) against a battle group.  A non-Trivial opponent who is killed with this Charm becomes a Zombie, and is rolled into battle directly.  If a battle group loses a point of Magnitude due to this Charm, the Martial Artist may reflexively Rally to restore Magnitude to an existing zombie battle group under his command.

The Lord’s Fury Has No Bounds
3m; Instant, Supplemental
Martial Arts 3, Essence 2
Keywords: Uniform, Mastery
Prerequisites: Servant-Promoting Attack

The Lord of the Underworld is never delayed long when he decides to act on his anger.  Moving with unnatural speed and grace, the Martial Artist effortlessly bypasses any obstacles in his path.  For the duration of a Move action, the Martial Artist has perfect balance, and may ignore difficult terrain penalties.  As part of a Rush, the Martial Artist adds his Essence in dice.  If this Charm is used on subsequent turns, the Martial Artist may remain balanced in impossible terrain, so long as they keep moving.

Mastery: The Martial Artist does not pay Initiative on his Disengage attempt, and, if successful, gains 1 Initiative if his opponent attempts to Rush him before the end of the next Round.

The Master’s Never-Ending Hatred
– (+2m or 1 lhl); Permanent, Special
Martial Arts 3, Essence 2
Keywords: Terrestrial
Prerequisites: The Dead Serve Their Master

The Lord of the Underworld would never let anything as pitiful as ammunition put a stop to his wrath.  As long as there is ammunition available, the Martial Artist may reload his weapon with a Reflexive action.  In addition, the Martial Artist is assumed to have brought enough ammo for the scene.  If this cannot be justified by the current situation, the Martial Artist may either use his own killing intent (for 2m each time a reload is needed) as ammo, or draw ammo from living or dead tissue.  If a health level is used, the weapon will not need to be reloaded for the rest of the scene.  If the Martial Artist wants to use an enemy’s health to provide ammo, the must succeed on a Difficult 2 Gambit to touch them and draw forth blood and bone.  This may be included as part of an attack (with a success reducing the available Initiative for damage).

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may not attack with their killing intent, nor may they draw health from an enemy for ammo, and then inflict additional damage as part of the same attack.

Lord of the Underworld Form
12m; Simple, Scene
Martial Arts 4, Essence 3
Keywords: Form, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prerequisites: The Lord’s Fury Has No Bounds, The Master’s Never-Ending Hatred

The Lord of the Underworld is relentless as he brings death to those who oppose him.  All opponents who attack him or contest Move (including Rush and Disengage) actions are at a -1 Die Penalty, which is increased to -3 Dice if the opponent has lower Initiative.  In addition, the Martial Artist may make a Reflexive Counterattack against any enemy who attacks him (assuming he can attack that enemy in return).  If this Counterattack is Decisive, the Martial Artist does not reset his Initiative until the end of the round.

Terrestrial: A Terrestrial Exalted may only make one free Counterattack per round.  A second one  consumes the Terrestrial’s action for the next round.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted adds his Essence dice to his attack roll when making his Counterattack.

Special Activation Rules:  A Martial Artist may enter Lord of the Underworld Form as a Reflexive action when they inflict 3 Health Levels of damage to an enemy (including damaging a battle group) or occupy the same space as a battle group.

The Master’s Vengeance
4m, 1w; Instant, Reflexive
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prerequisites: Lord of the Underworld Form

A Lord of the Underworld never hesitates when the time is right for vengeance.  When attacked, the Martial Artist may make a Reflexive Dexterity + Dodge roll with his Essence automatic successes at a difficulty equal to that of his opponent’s attack successes, even if the attack cannot be dodged normally.  If he succeeds, the Martial Artist instantly teleports to a point within Medium Range.  If the Martial Artist has not acted yet this turn, and has the means to do so from his new location, he may immediately attack the opponent who targeted him.  This attack is treated as an Unexpected attack.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may only teleport out to Short Range from his current position.

Mastery: A Solar Exalted treats the bonus successes granted as non-Charm successes.

Nothing May Stop His Fury
6m, 1w; Instant, Simple
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Keywords: Uniform, Mastery, Aggravated
Prerequisites: Lord of the Underworld Form

The Lord of the Underworld laughs at his opponent’s worthless defenses, and his rage bears the essence of death, striking at the very soul.  An attack enhanced by this Charm is dematerialized, ignoring all soak from non-living obstacles (such as most armor), and seems to home in on the unfortunate victim, rendering the attack undodgeable.  It can also hit dematerialized entities, though the Martial Artist is not granted any way to perceive them through this Charm.  This Charm may only be used once per scene unless reset by making three Counterattacks and raising your Initiative to 10 or higher.

Mastery:  At 15+ Initiative, a Solar Exalted may pay an additional Lethal Health Level to make this Charm cause Aggravated damage.

They Forfeit Their Lives for Him
5m + (2m or 2i/HL absorbed); Instant, Supplemental
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial
Prerequisites: Lord of the Underworld Form

All living serve the dead and by extension, death itself, though few realize this truth.  As life is lost, death gains power.  The Lord of the Underworld is aware of this fact, and draws upon this to empower himself.  When using the Charm, the Martial Artist heals health damage at a one to one basis to damage inflicted upon his target.  The Martial Artist may only heal up to his Martial Arts rating health levels per use of this Charm.  This Charm may only be used once per scene, unless reset by incapacitating a non-Trivial opponent.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may only heal up to their Essence health levels in one turn.

Deathlord’s Omnipotence
10m, 1wp, 5i; Scene, Simple
Martial Arts 5, Essence 4
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery, Perilous
Prerequisites: The Master’s Vengeance, Nothing May Stop His Fury, They Forfeit Their Lives for Him

Death is omnipresent, and inevitable.  No matter who you are, there is no escape.  No matter your power, death will claim you.  The Lord of the Underworld learns how to embody this terrible truth.  Upon activation of this Charm, the Martial Artist expands their being, dancing between life and death in an unnerving and deadly manner.  For the duration of this effect, the Martial Artist may teleport to any location within Medium Range with both their Move and Combat actions, assuming that it is a point they could have conceivably reached by normal means, though they may bypass solid objects such as doors and walls as though they were dematerialized.  Due to this effect, the Martial Artist’s attacks ignore any bonuses from cover against opponents within this range.  The Martial Artist also automatically wins any Rush or Disengage unless his opponent has a means of moving at least as far as the Martial Artist.  If the Martial Artist successfully evades against an attack, they may take a Reflexive Move action, using the same rules as above.  The Martial Artist gains +1 Defense, and ignores their Essence in Onslaught penalties.

In addition, the cost for The Lord’s Fury Has No Bounds is reduced to 1 mote, and any attacks triggered by The Master’s Vengeance are now considered Ambushes.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial may only move out to Short Range using this Charm, and may not bypass solid objects.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted ignores the Perilous keyword so long as they make at least one Counterattack per round.  In addition, The Dead Serve Their Master may be activated once per round as a Reflexive action for 1 mote to create a zombie from every corpse within Short Range that the Martial Artist has killed himself.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:58, Wed 03 Feb 2021.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 154 posts
Sun 27 Mar 2022
at 01:15
  • msg #31

Oblivion's Hand Style

I wrote this up way back in the 1st Edition days, and have been thinking about the 3e version for a while.  It's a style all about death and the void, and it's Essence using practitioners, if they are skilled enough, inevitably become Creatures of Darkness.

I give you - Oblivion's Hand Style:
______________________________________________________________________________________

Oblivion's Hand Style

Oblivion's Hand Style brings the grim inevitability of the Void to the battlefield to break down and annihilate all who stand in the way.

Form Weapons and Armor:  This style may only be used with Unarmed attacks, and may not be used with armor.  Its strikes are characterized by a straight-line, brutally efficient approach, focusing on fast punches, knife, spear-hand and palm strikes to vital areas, and quick kicks, punctuated by elbow and knee strikes.  Oblivion's Hand stylists also do not shy away from grappling and strong hits when the openings allow it.  Oblivion’s Hand Stylists may always stunt for their Unarmed attacks to do Lethal damage.

New Keyword
Ritual: A Ritual Charm entails tattooing or scarification, and, when activated, causes a visual effect, equal to a Glowing anima in terms of Stealth penalties caused.  The effect can vary, from the tattoos or scars bleeding glowing blood to faintly luminescent smoke being emitted or just glowing with a baleful light.

Charms:

Ritual Desecration of the Fist
3m, Indefinite, Reflexive
Keywords: Dual, Ritual
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Prerequisites: None

The Oblivion’s Hand stylist must learn the meaning of pain and suffering, and through that lesson, learn how to inflict such trauma on others.  Stylists ritually scar and tattoo their limbs in a painful process that awakens their Essence to the vagaries of pain.  By committing 3 motes, these tattoos shine baleful light with equivalent brightness to a Glowing anima, and cause the same penalties, yet they cause the Martial Artist’s strikes to hit significantly harder, adding the Martial Artist’s Martial Arts rating to their withering damage, and half that value (rounded up) to their decisive damage.  The Martial Artist may also parry Lethal damage without a stunt.


Piercing Void Method
3m, 1i; Instant, Supplemental
Keywords: Dual, Mastery
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Prerequisites: Ritual Desecration of the Fist

The essence of the void tears through all things, and the Oblivion’s Hand stylist learns to exploit this fact in their strikes.  By striking at weak points in flesh or armor, they bypass their opponent’s defenses.  The Martial Artist’s withering attack is treated as Piercing, while a decisive attack may ignore up to the Martial Artist’s Essence in Hardness.

Mastery:  A Solar may ignore up to their Martial Arts skill in Hardness on a decisive attack.


Entropic Tempest Strike
4m, Instant, Supplemental
Keywords: Dual, Terrestrial
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Prerequisites: Ritual Desecration of the Fist

By channeling the destructive essence of the void, the Oblivion's Hand stylist rips at the very core of their victims.  The Martial Artist gains double 9s on withering damage, and may add threshold successes to decisive damage.

Terrestrial: A Terrestrial Exalt may only add up to their Essence in threshold successes to a decisive damage roll.

Oblivion’s Hand Form
10m, Scene, Simple
Keywords: Form, Terrestrial, Counterattack
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Prerequisites: Piercing Void Method, Entropic Tempest Strike

The Martial Artist settles into a guarded stance, hands and feet at the ready to strike at a moment’s notice.  The Martial Artist gains +1 Defense, as also as +1 soak, and withering damage per Ritual charm activated, as well as (Essence + Ritual charms activated) Hardness.

Terrestrial: A Terrestrial’s Counterattack either consumes their action for the round, or, if they have already acted, uses their Combat action for the next round.

Special Activation Rules:  A Martial Artist may reflexively enter Oblivion’s Hand Form upon activating a Ritual charm, or by inflicting 3 or more levels of Lethal damage.

Ritual Desecration of the Heart
5m, 1lHL, Indefinite, Reflexive
Keywords: Mastery, Uniform, Ritual
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Prerequisites: Oblivion’s Hand Form

Through more ritual scarification and tattooing, the stylist further cuts away at the vagaries of life that hold one back.  These tattoos are drawn along the chest and back of the stylist, and when they have Essence channeled into them, provide a number of benefits.  By committing 5 motes and a Lethal Health Level, the Martial Artist adds their Essence rating to any bonus that a Negative intimacy would apply to their Resolve.  The Martial Artist also adds their Martial Arts rating to their Soak and Hardness.

Mastery: A Solar treats the bonus to Resolve as a non-Charm bonus, and may call upon a Negative Intimacy to resist Social Influence multiple times.

Ritual Desecration of the Mind
4m (3m), Indefinite, Reflexive
Keywords: Dual, Mastery, Ritual
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Prerequisites: Oblivion’s Hand Form

Through more ritual scarification and tattooing, this time on the stylist’s head and temples, the stylist learns to give Oblivion its due at all times.  Upon committing 4 motes to the tattoos, the Martial Artist gains Double 9s on withering damage rolls and feats of destruction, and double 10s on decisive damage rolls.  Furthermore, as a reflexive action upon landing a hit in combat, the Martial Artist may spend 3 motes to add (Intimacy) rating dice to the damage roll.  The Intimacy in question must be negative, and must apply to the target.

Mastery:  A Solar treats the bonus to Resolve given by Ritual Desecration of the Heart as a bonus to a negative Intimacy’s rating when determining damage.

All-Consuming Touch of the Void
5m, 1w; Instant, Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Crippling, Mastery
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Prerequisites: Ritual Desecration of the Heart

The touch of an Oblivion’s Hand stylist is death, or at best, its precursor.  As they approach the end of their training, the Martial Artist learns to wither and cripple those who stand in their way.  When using All-Consuming Touch of the Void, the martial artist may forgo doing levels of damage to inflict a Crippling wound on an opponent, ignoring story limits.  Each wound increases the target’s Wound Penalty by 1, even if no damage was done.  These wounds may be healed normally, which also removes the corresponding Wound Penalty.  This attack may be used in Savaging or Slam attacks as well.  When used on a Trivial opponent, this Charm only costs 3 motes, and any appropriate Crippling injury may be inflicted.

Mastery:  A Solar may inflict multiple Crippling wounds on an opponent, if she has damage to spare.  Crippling both arms of a victim in a single attack would require forgoing 10 levels of damage, for example.

Oblivion’s Palm Caress
5m, 1w (+1a), Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only,  Terrestrial
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Prerequisites: Ritual Desecration of the Mind

The reach of Oblivion is infinite.  All will be touched by it in time.  Through this understanding, the stylist expands his reach to similar proportions.  Through an assault of necrotic essence, the Martial Artist makes a decisive attack out to Medium range, ignoring any cover the target may have, barring that made of the Magical Materials.  The Martial Artist may also channel his anima into the attack, causing an explosion of necrotic essence affecting all within Close range of the target.  This is an environmental hazard that has a Difficulty of (Permanent Essence), and damage equal to half of the rolled damage against the original target.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalt may not channel his anima into the attack to expand the area of effect.

Ritual Desecration of the Soul
8 motes (1w), Permanent, Permanent
Keywords: Aggravated, Decisive-Only, Ritual
Martial Arts 5, Essence 4
Prerequisites: All-Consuming Touch of the Void, Oblivion's Palm Caress

Through the scarification of the stylist’s very Essence, the stylist learns the true nature of the Void.  By learning this Charm and sacrificing 8 motes permanently from his Essence pool, the stylist gains the following benefits.  The Martial Artist may now spend a level of anima in place of the Willpower cost with Charms of this Style, or other Void-related Charms, such as those of the Abyssal Exalted, Arcanoi, or Alchemical Voidtech.  The Martial Artist’s Unarmed attacks may now cause Aggravated damage for (Essence) turns at the cost of 1 Willpower, and he also permanently subtracts ½ his Essence rating from any decisive damage he takes.  The Martial Artist also becomes unable to die, unless a certain condition is met.  This condition varies from Stylist to Stylist, but common conditions are his body being burnt to ash, destroyed with acid, decapitation, or even some combinations of conditions.  The Storyteller has a final veto over any condition or conditions set.  This Charm counts as two Ritual Charms for the purposes of Oblivion’s Hand Form.

This charm does not cause an overt anima effect, as the motes are permanently committed.  However, once this Charm has been mastered, an individual’s anima tends to darken in some form.

Finally, the Martial Artist is now considered a Creature of Darkness if he was not one to begin with.

Instant Quietus Requiem
10m, 1w, 3i, Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Aggravated, Terrestrial
Martial Arts 5, Essence 4
Prerequisites: Ritual Desecration of the Soul

Now one with the Essence of death and destruction, the Martial Artist’s merest touch can become fatal to all but the strongest individuals.  The Martial Artist makes a decisive attack which ignores Hardness, inflicts Aggravated damage, and gets double 10s for damage.  If the Martial Artist has a negative Intimacy towards the target, the Martial Artist gains double 9s with Minor intensity, double 8s with Major, and double 7s with a Defining intensity.  This attack adds additional levels of damage equal to the number of Ritual charms the Martial Artist has activated, plus levels equal to the intensity of the highest appropriate negative Intimacy.  The Martial Artist may also instantly slay a Trivial character for a cost of 3 motes.  This Charm may only be used once a scene, unless reset by incapacitating a non-Trivial opponent.

A mortal killed by this Charm rises as a hungry ghost at sundown, while a spirit is slain permanently, as if by Ghost-Eating Technique.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial exalt can only get to double 8s on the damage roll, and only can add up to (Essence) levels of automatic damage.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:04, Tue 29 Mar 2022.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 155 posts
Sat 24 Dec 2022
at 20:48
  • msg #32

Five Falling Butterfiles Style

This is another 1e Style (not made by me, unfortunately) that I am updating to 3e.  This style is an Infernal counterpoint to the Gentle Fist and Oblivion's Hand styles.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Five Falling Butterflies Style

Five Falling Butterflies style utilizes the deceptive power of Hell to make their foes suffer, and then realize the inevitability of their demise before it arrives.

Form Weapons and Armor:  This style may be used with Unarmed attacks and knives of all types and may not be used with armor.  The style is characterized by efficient use of open hand strikes, claw attacks, snapping kicks and fast punches.  Masters of the style are known to use every part of their bodies as weapons.  Attacks augmented by Charms of this style may always be stunted to do Lethal damage.

Note:  All of the <Element> Seal’s Sunders Charms work regardless of the armor the opponent is wearing, and must be done with an Unarmed attack.

Charms:

Eternal Hair's Breadth
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
2m; Instant, Supplemental
Keywords: Dual, Mastery
Prerequisites: None

Seen closely enough, a hair's perimeter is infinite. Is its width, then, not also so? Opening his senses and body to such a possibility, the Martial Artist may be unrestrained in his actions - with the flick of a fingernail he can strike at a foe, with a loosed hair he can entangle a daiklave, and with a jerk of the head he can punch a hole in a steel door.  By using this Charm, the Martial Artist may act when restrained or lacking the appropriate space to make a physical action, suffering no penalties.

Mastery: A Solar may pay an additional 3 motes when using this Charm to add the Smashing or Piercing tag to their attack.

Vying Flesh And Steel
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
4m, 1i; Instant, Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prerequisites: Eternal Hair’s Breadth

A blow strikes both the weapon and the foe equally; to the martial artist, it is simply a question of which relents first.  The martial artist meets the attack head-on, and, reinforced with Essence, striking at the point of greatest weakness.  This is a Reflexive Disarm Gambit used in response to a hand-to-hand attack.  For mundane weapons, the weapon is destroyed, while Artifact weapons are disarmed as normal.  Against an unarmed attack, or with an appropriate stunt against an attacker wielding a Light weapon, the martial artist may instead use a Difficulty 4 gambit to cause 1 level of Lethal damage and Cripple the attacking limb for the scene.  For mortals, the Crippling injury cannot be healed until the damage is.  Exalted may attempt to fix the damage with a Difficulty 4 Miscellaneous action using Wits + Medicine that takes a full round.  This may be flurried at the normal penalties.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may only use this Charm against weapons, not flesh.

Mastery:  A Solar may attempt to destroy weapons made of Essence (such as  Glorious Solar Saber).  The Difficulty of the Gambit is the target’s Permanent Essence.  A weapon destroyed this way may be re-summoned as normal.

Action In Inaction Method
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
7m; Simple, Scene
Keywords: Perilous, Mastery
Prerequisites: Vying Flesh and Steel

The secret of conventional martial arts is in moving with perfect precision. Practitioners of this style see through this - why move, when you can have the world move around you? Letting his attackers strike at him freely, the Infernal allows his opponent to break their own bones, snap off fingers and dislocate legs with the force of their own blows.  For the duration of the Scene, all who attack the martial artist do so at a penalty of the martial artist’s Permanent Essence, while the martial artist gains bonus dice on their attack rolls equal to their Permanent Essence.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted treats the bonus from this Charm as non-Charm dice.

Five Falling Butterflies Form
Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
8m; Simple, Scene
Keywords: Form, Mastery
Prerequisites: Action in Inaction Method

The martial artist slows his actions until almost still, and what flickers of movement he takes become unstoppably deadly - a tug of a finger dislocates an arm, a tap on a shin breaks a leg in two, a pull on a hair scalps someone.  The martial artist gains double 10s on Decisive damage and Gambit Initiative rolls, and double 9s on withering damage rolls, and +1 to his Defense.  In addition, if an attacker misses an attack against the martial artist, they lose 1 Initiative.  This increases to 3 Initiative lost if the attacker had a lower Initiative than the martial artist.  For Decisive attacks, this is in addition to normal lost Initiative.

Mastery: A Solar may elect to damage an enemy who misses an attack, rolling dice equal to the Initiative they would have lost on the attack if the opponent is either Crashed or making a Decisive attack.  This is normally Bashing, but may be made Lethal with a stunt.  This does not affect the martial artist’s Initiative.  The Solar also gains any Initiative the opponent would lose from this Charm.

Special Activation Rules: When the martial artist either successfully executes a Gambit or causes 3+ levels of Lethal damage, they may reflexively enter Five Falling Butterflies Form.

Air’s Seal Sunders
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
5m; Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Crippling, Perilous, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prerequisites: Five Falling Butterflies Form

The martial artist makes the sign of the Air's undoing and reaches a hand around, slapping it against the back of his foe's head. His opponent feels an excruciating ripple of gathering force coarse through his skull and out the other side, at which point his eyes explode.  This is a Difficulty 4 Gambit that renders an opponent blind and deals 1 level of Lethal damage.  For mortals, this is permanent.  Against Exalted and other supernatural beings, their eyes recover when the damage is healed.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may only use this Charm after successfully defending against an opponent’s attack and having 10+ Initiative.

Mastery: A Solar treats this Charm as Supplemental.  The Gambit roll and Initiative cost are paid prior to any damage roll.

Earth’s Seal Sunders
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
5m; Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Perilous, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prerequisites: Five Falling Butterflies Form

The martial artist makes the sign of the Earth's undoing and treads on his opponent's foot. His leg immediately anchors itself deep into the ground, pinioned by overwhelming pressure, and will not come free.  This attack is a Difficulty 5 Gambit, which pins the opponent's foot to a stone, metal or other earthen surface.  The target may not move from that spot without making a full-round Strength+Athletics check requiring a minimum Strength of 5 to break free.  The difficulty of this check is the martial artist’s Permanent Essence.  This may be higher based on the surface the opponent is pinned on.  Stunting while using his Charm could also inflict other penalties on the target based on how they are pinned as well.  If nothing is done, the effect wears off at the end of the Scene.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may only use this Charm after successfully defending against an opponent’s attack and having 10+ Initiative.

Mastery: A Solar treats this Charm as Supplemental.  The Gambit roll and Initiative cost are paid prior to any damage roll.

Fire’s Seal Sunders
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
5m; Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Perilous, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prerequisites: Five Falling Butterflies Form

The martial artist makes the sign of the Fire's undoing and taps upon his opponent's forehead.  This attack is Gambit with a Difficulty equal to the target’s Permanent Essence.  If successful, the target’s Essence lights aflame, burning the opponent even as they use it.  For a number of turns equal to the martial artist’s Permanent Essence, for each turn they spend Essence, they roll dice equal to the higher of their own or the martial artist’s Permanent Essence, taking a level of Lethal damage for each success on the roll.  A target that cannot spend Essence is not spared, however, instead just taking levels of Lethal damage equal to the martial artist’s Permanent Essence each turn.  A trivial opponent is slayed outright, as they burn to death in their own anima, whether they would normally have one or not.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may only use this Charm after successfully defending against an opponent’s attack and having 10+ Initiative.

Mastery: A Solar treats this Charm as Supplemental.  The Gambit roll and Initiative cost are paid prior to any damage roll.

Water’s Seal Sunders
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
5m; Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Crippling, Perilous, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prerequisites: Five Falling Butterflies Form

The Infernal makes the sign of Water's undoing and circles his opponent's lips with a finger. Following its movement, the victim's tongue rolls around her mouth, twists around itself agonizingly and then liquefies into blood.  This is a Difficulty 4 Gambit that renders an opponent unable to speak and deals 1 level of Lethal damage.  For mortals, this is permanent.  Against Exalted and other supernatural beings, their tongue recovers when the damage is healed.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may only use this Charm after successfully defending against an opponent’s attack and having 10+ Initiative.

Mastery: A Solar treats this Charm as Supplemental.  The Gambit roll and Initiative cost are paid prior to any damage roll.

Wood’s Seal Sunders
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
5m; Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Crippling, Perilous, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prerequisites: Five Falling Butterflies Form

The martial artist makes the sign of Wood's undoing and wraps his hand around his opponent's wrist; their foe feels riveting pain as their blood slows to a halt. This is a Gambit with a Difficulty of the target’s Permanent Essence.  If successful, the target is wracked in pain, increasing their Wound Penalty by the martial artist’s Permanent Essence for the duration of the Scene as a Crippling effect.  Mortal victims are instantly Incapacitated, and must be attended to before the end of the Scene or die outright.  Healing this effect is done at a Difficulty of 5 + the martial artist’s Permanent Essence.  This requires either exceptional equipment or magic.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may only use this Charm after successfully defending against an opponent’s attack and having 10+ Initiative.

Mastery: A Solar treats this Charm as Supplemental.  The Gambit roll and Initiative cost are paid prior to any damage roll.

Five Seals Undo Creation
Martial Arts 5, Essence 4
1m, 3i, 1-3a; Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Aggravated, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prerequisites: All five [Element]’s Seal Sunders Charms

Forming all five seals with a flicker of the wrist, the martial artist congeals lines of phosphorescent Essence about him, arcane symbols slowly revolving in odd orbits about one another. Light shifts and twists, and sounds become distorted in his presence. When he strikes, the martial artist looses his twisted anima through the broken symbols to imbue it with the ability to sunder anything it touches. This attack causes Aggravated damage.  The damage roll has Double 9s if 1 level of anima is used, Double 8s if two levels are used, and double 7s if 3 levels of anima are used.  This attack may only be used once a scene unless reset by either causing three Crippling injuries, or incapacitating a non-Trivial opponent.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may never gain double 7s on this roll.

Mastery: A Solar Exalted also gains bonus damage equal to their Permanent Essence.

Fivefold Sigil Staccato
Martial Arts 5, Essence 4
10m, 3i, 1w; Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Aggravated
Prerequisites: Five Seals Undo Creation

The Infernal raps lightly five times upon his foe's chest, each a heartbeat's distance apart and each with his hand showing the sigil of a different undoing.  This attack is a Gambit with a Difficulty equal to (6 + the target’s Permanent Essence).  If successful, the malignant Essence wraps itself around the heart of the victim, bubbling and broiling until it explodes.  This causes a single Level of Aggravated damage, though the real effect is delayed.

A large emblem of many iridescent colors appears at the center of the victim's chest, which flutters and falters unbearably with the strain of what lies within. She may speak, drink or walk slowly, but taking even a single dice action will cause her heart to rupture and explode within her chest immediately afterward. The sigil opens and sprays out gouts of coalesced malice and blood; mortals die a sudden and painful death. Exalted may perform a number of actions equal to their Essence + Stamina.  Exalted (and other supernatural beings) are dealt Aggravated health levels sufficient to reduce the character to Incapacitated, leaving them dying. There is no way of undoing the Fivefold Sigil Staccato once it has been used. Not even perfect soak Charms can stop a character's heart from exploding, although they can negate the Charm by defending against the initial damage.  There are stories of masters of this style slaying their opponent with this Charm, only to be cut down after its use, leaving both duelists dead.

This Charm may only be used once a Story, unless reset by accomplishing a legendary Social goal by use of violence (such as assassination, timely injury, or intimidation), or by killing an opponent that the character has a negative Defining Intimacy towards.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:19, Mon 26 Dec 2022.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 156 posts
Sat 7 Jan 2023
at 23:54
  • msg #33

Lord of the Stars Style

Here is Lord of the Stars style.  It's the Sidereal (or Heavenly, at any rate) counterpart to Lord of Creation and Lord of the Underworld style.  Like those styles, this is all about gun-(and arrow-)fu, and like those styles, allows the use of guns and bows in melee combat.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Lord of the Stars Style

This style uses unarmed attacks and guns (Prayer Pieces, Plasma Tongue Repeaters and Fire Wands) to walk amid the carnage of battle, leaving the stylist’s enemies dead in their wake.

Weapons and Armor: Lord of the Stars style may be used with light armor and unarmed attacks/natural weapons, plus ranged weapons, primarily guns (in a modern setting) and their equivalents in the standard setting.  It may be used with bows and crossbows.  In the case of appropriately sized weapons, many Lord of the Stars stylists will dual wield.  These weapons can be used in melee combat, treated as staves, clubs (or, in the case of pistols, smashfists or kama), as per other Lords styles.

Complimentary Abilities:  Lord of the Stars stylists favor Awareness and Dodge.

A Lord of the Stars stylist faces no accuracy penalty for using an archery weapon in Close Range when stunting.

Charms:

Preternatural Violence Recognition
5m
MA 3, Essence 1
Duration: Scene; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Terrestrial
Prerequisites: None

All violence is but choreographed destruction, and with the right mindset, one can see how it will all unfold.  Upon activating this Charm, the martial artist gains +1 Defense, and ignores penalties from Surprise attacks.  While active, an Ambush attack only gives a -2 penalty to Defense as well.

Terrestrial: A Terrestrial Exalted reduces penalties to his Defense by (Essence/2) rounded up.  This applies to both Surprise attacks and Ambushes.

Ammunition Appropriations Kata
-- (2m or 4m)
MA 3, Essence 1
Duration: Permanent
Keywords: None
Prerequisites: None

A martial artist in tune with fate will always know how much ammunition they will need, and prepare accordingly.  The martial artist may spend to 2 motes reflexively to show that they had the needed ammunition already available when a reload is needed.  If the martial artist also lacks their weapon, 4 motes may be spent, allowing the martial artist to declare how their weapon made it to the scene ready to use.  Finally, if the martial artist’s opponents are attacking similar weapons, the martial artist may activate this Charm to snatch arrows (or other appropriate ammunition) from the air, doubling the stunt bonus to their Defense as well as reloading the martial artist’s weapon.


Broken String Benediction (Improbable Jam)
3m, 1i
MA 3, Essence 1
Duration: Instant; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Terrestrial, Dual
Prerequisites: Preternatural Violence Recognition, Ammunition Appropriations Kata

The Lords of the Stars make a point of knowing all the gods of distant violence.  As such, they learn the proper methods of propitiation to ensure that those weapons will not deign to fire at them.  By making the Sign of the Broken Arrow, the attacker’s weapon breaks.  Bow strings snap, crossbow levers break, and firearms jam.  These are never difficult problems to resolve, but do take time to fix.  This may be done as a Miscellaneous Full Round action. If this is done as part of a flurry, it requires Dexterity + (appropriate combat ability) roll at a Difficulty of the martial artist’s Essence.  Artifact weapons and those made of Essence do not break, but instead are used at a +1 Target Number until they are fixed.  This Charm only works against Archery or Siege weaponry.

In a setting with firearms, this Charm is known as Improbable Jam.

Terrestrial: Terrestrial Exalted may not affect Artifact or Essence weaponry with this Charm.

Lord of the Stars Form
8m
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Duration: Scene; Type: Simple
Keywords: Form, Mastery, Dual
Prerequisites: Broken String Benediction (Improbable Jam)

The Lord of the Stars settles into a stance of awareness.  With Fate guiding him, the Lord of the Stars can walk through the most over-the-top firefight without a scratch.  By being able to see where each attack will go, the Lord of the Stars knows not to be there, while unerringly making their own attacks.  Upon entering Lord of the Stars Form, the martial artist gains +1 Defense, and lowers the Target Number on damage rolls by 1.

Mastery: Solar Exalted treat the Defense bonus as non-Charm.

Special Activation Rules:  A martial artist may reflexively enter Lord of the Stars Form after successfully applying their Defense against an attack.

Star’s Guidance Instinct
3m/-1 TN, 1w
MA 5, Essence 2
Duration: Scene; Type: Simple
Keywords: Terrestrial, Dual
Prerequisites: Lord of the Stars Form

By attuning to the warps and wefts of Fate, the Lord of the Stars knows exactly where to send their shots.  This Charm reduces the Target Number of Martial Arts rolls by 1 per 3 motes for the scene, to a minimum of 4.  The martial artist also adds their Essence in post-Soak damage on Withering attacks, and adds their Essence/2, rounded up, to Decisive damage rolls.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalted may only reduce their Target Number to 5, and adds the Perilous Keyword to this Charm.

Lightning Snap-Shot Prana
4m, 1w
MA 5, Essence 2
Duration: Instant; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Clash, Uniform, Terrestrial
Prerequisites: Lord of the Stars Form

The Lord of the Stars sees what is coming in the course of the battle, and makes adjustments accordingly, much to his enemies’ dismay.  Lightning Snap-Shot Prana creates a reflexive Clash attack.  This attack may be either Withering or Decisive.  The Willpower cost is waived against battle groups or trivial opponents.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalt consumes his action for the round upon use of this Charm, or his action for the next round if he has already acted.

Silent Benediction of Unwilling Eyes
7m
MA 5, Essence 2
Duration: Scene, Type: Simple
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery, Psyche
Prerequisites: Lord of the Stars Form

A Lord of the Stars has no need to care about his enemies’ discomfort in the presence of his weapons.  For many, their eyes just slide off of the weapon, be it bow or gun, and most simply ignore the weapon as it is shot.  Trivial opponents either ignore or rationalize the presence of the stylist’s weapons no matter the situation.  Non-trivial characters do get a chance to realize their danger by making a Perception + Awareness roll at a Difficulty of the stylist's Martial Arts.   Anyone attacked may make this roll after every attack.  Unless the target realizes the danger, these attacks are considered Unexpected.  The results of a stylist's rampage will still be obvious- and if they don't take at least some concealment, people will realize the Martial Artist is /somehow/ associated with the fighting, even if they can't see or hear the gun or bow. Mundane investigation automatically fails to link the two together, and magic investigation has its difficulty raised by the stylist’s Essence.  This is a supernatural effect on the mind, and may be defended against using any magic that protects against Psyche effects.

Terrestrial:  The opponent of a Terrestrial Exalt only faces a Difficulty of the Martial Artist’s Essence.

Mastery:  For a Solar, the effects of this Charm also apply to their unarmed attacks.  As above, the target of the attack may make the roll to perceive the danger after every attack.  However, the Solar may also switch weapons (from bow or gun to unarmed or vice versa) and cause the effect to start all over again.


Waltzing Through Chaos
6m
MA 5, Essence 2
Duration: Instant; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Terrestrial, Uniform
Prerequisites: Lord of the Stars Form

The Lord of the Stars walks through chaos and carnage without slowing, bringing the inevitable end of their target ever closer.  Yet, even the Lords of the Stars are sometimes in danger, though this never stops them.  Waltzing Through Chaos allows the Lord of the Stars to dodge any attack against him, as long as it is able to be dodged at all.  With a stunt, this may even be used against environmental effects or similar hazards.

Terrestrial: A Terrestrial Exalt must also pay 1 Willpower when using this Charm, and adds the Perilous Keyword.

Red Arrow of Destiny (A Bullet With Your Name On It)
10m, 5i, 1w
MA 5, Essence 3
Duration: Instant; Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial
Prerequisites: Star’s Guidance Instinct, Lightning Snap-Shot Prana, Silent Benediction of Unwilling Eyes, Waltzing Through Chaos

The Lord of the Stars knows that some things are meant to be.  For instance, his current arrow (or bullet), from the time of its casting, has always existed to kill his current target.  The martial artist makes a Decisive attack that is unblockable and undodgeable.  Further, the martial artist adds his Essence in dice of damage.  In addition, the attack gains double 10s on the damage roll.  If the target has Wound Penalties or other penalties to their Defense (such as Mobility penalties or those from an Unexpected attack), the attack gains double 9s on damage.  If the target has two or more types of penalties applied to their Defense, the attack gains double 8s.  Finally, if the martial artist knows the target’s true name, it may be inscribed on the arrow or bullet, causing the attack to gain double 7s.

This Charm may only be used at 15 or more Initiative, and can only be used once per story per target.  If this is used against a target and the target survives, the Exalt rolls to gain Limit as if they had encountered their Limit Trigger.

Despite its name, this Charm may be used with Unarmed attacks.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalt may never get double 7s on the damage roll, and instead of gaining Limit when their target survives, they Limit Break at the next dramatically appropriate time.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 157 posts
Tue 31 Jan 2023
at 01:31
  • msg #34

Steel Devil Style, Reworked

I have attempted to rework Steel Devil Style to make it function a bit better.  The main focus is making attacks.  Lots of attacks.
_________________________________________

Steel Devil Style

The Steel Devils are the unquestioned masters of twin blades, staining both battlefields and dueling grounds red with the blood of slain foes. The motions of the style have all the elegance and grace of a ceremonial dance from afar, but those who face the Steel Devil up close see only the impossible speed with which her weapons slice through the air, cutting off every vector of defense and bringing down death with a thousand blows.

Steel Devil Weapons: Steel Devil style can be used with dual wielded blades, almost always matching.  This can vary from knives to one-handed swords.  The style can be used unarmed, but many of the Charms work better with blades. Furthermore, unlike many styles, Steel Devil stylists learn the style with weaponry first, and then graduate to fighting unarmed.  There is also rumors of a variant learned in the north that uses axes.  Legends tell of Manchek Iron-Thew, one of Luna’s Chosen, who,  due to his incredible strength, practiced this style with paired Grand Daiklaives.

Armor: Steel Devil style is compatible with light and medium armor.

Complementary Abilities: Steel Devil stylists focus on Athletics and Dodge to help control distance between themselves and their opponents.

Note: Even if an opponent is ignoring their Onslaught Penalties through Charms like Fivefold Bulwark Stance or Flow Like Blood, the penalties are still there, and may be utilized by various Steel Devil Charms.

Charms:

Naked Fang Draw
Cost: 5m; Minimums: Martial Arts 2, Essence 1
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery
Duration: Instant; Type: Reflexive
Prerequisites: None

The Steel Devil’s blades leap to their hands in an instant, often before their enemies realize the danger they are in.  This Charm adds Essence or 3 successes, whichever is higher to the Martial Artist’s Join Battle roll, and allows them to instantly ready their weapons.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalt adds the lower of Essence or 3 successes on their Join Battle roll.

Mastery: If a Solar wins a Join Battle roll (having a higher Initiative than all enemies), he may make a reflexive attack against an enemy within range.

Double Attack Technique
Cost: 3m, 1i; Minimums: Martial Arts 2, Essence 1
Keywords: Mastery
Duration: Instant; Type: Reflexive
Prerequisites: None

With a blur of speed, the Steel Devil strikes again and again.  Upon making a Withering attack that reduces an opponent’s Initiative from higher than the Martial Artist’s to a lower value, the Martial Artist may make an immediate follow-up attack.  This attack can be Withering or Decisive at the Martial Artist’s choice.  Double Attack Technique may only create a single reflexive attack, and cannot trigger itself without Triple Attack Technique.

Mastery:  A Solar may also make a reflexive attack if he deals at least 3 levels of damage with a Decisive attack.  As with the base Charm, this may be Withering or Decisive at the Martial Artist’s choice.

Steel Devil Strike
Cost: 3m; Minimums: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2
Keywords: Dual, Terrestrial
Duration: Instant: Type: Supplemental
Prerequisites: Double Attack Technique

With blinding speed, the Steel Devil continues to attack, finding and exploiting every hole in his opponent’s defense.  This Charm adds the opponent’s Onslaught Penalty as post-Soak dice of damage on a Withering attack, and half that value as dice of damage to a Decisive attack, rounded up.  Bonus Withering damage is limited to the Martial Artist’s Dexterity, and bonus Decisive damage is limited to the Martial Artist’s Essence.

Terrestrial: A Terrestrial Exalt adds damage dice before Soak is calculated for Withering attacks.

Cross-Blade Catch
Cost: 3m, 1w; Minimums: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2
Keywords: Mastery
Duration: Instant; Type: Reflexive
Prerequisites: Double Attack Technique

The Steel Devil’s primary defense is a rapid, unceasing offense.  The Cross-Blade Catch facilitates this method of fighting.  If the Martial Artist successfully parries an attack from an armed opponent, they may reflexively attempt to Disarm their opponent.  If the opponent is wielding a weapon compatible with a Style the Martial Artist knows, they may take the weapon (and attune it, if it is an Artifact) with a successful Disarm.  If this option is not taken, the weapon is thrown 1 Range Band away in a direction of the Martial Artist’s choice.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalt reduces the Difficulty of the Disarm Gambit by 1 for each point of Defense the attack missed, to a minimum of 1.

Steel Devil Form
Cost: 10m; Minimums: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2
Keywords: Form, Dual, Terrestrial
Duration: Scene; Type: Simple
Prerequisites: Cross-Blade Catch, Steel Devil Strike

The Martial Artist settles into a stance like a coiled spring, blades restlessly moving as the Martial Artist prepares a never-ending offensive.  When in Steel Devil Form, the Martial Artist may double up to their Dexterity 10s on a Decisive damage roll, or up to their Martial Arts in 9s on a Withering damage roll.  In addition, if an opponent is not able to beat the Martial Artist’s Parry when attacking, the Martial Artist may make an immediate Counterattack that may be either Withering or Decisive.

Terrestrial: A Terrestrial Exalt’s counterattack consumes the Martial Artist’s combat action for that turn, or the Martial Artist’s combat action for the next turn if he has already acted.

Special Activation Rules:  A Martial Artist may enter Steel Devil Form reflexively when they make a second attack in a single round.

Seconds Between Strife
Cost: 4m, 1+i; Minimums: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant; Type: Supplemental
Prerequisites: Steel Devil Form

The Steel Devil’s killing blade hums with lethal readiness, carrying her swiftly toward prey.  This Charm supplements a Rush, allowing the Martial Artist to convert up to (Dexterity) Initiative into successes when Rushing.  If the Rush succeeds, the Martial Artist regains the Initiative spent on this Charm.

Triple Attack Technique
Cost: -; Minimums: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent; Type: Permanent
Prerequisites: Steel Devil Form

This Charm functions as a refinement on Double Attack Technique, increasing its speed and ferocity even further.  The Martial Artist may now make one more attack, as long as the second attack fulfills the conditions of Double Attack Technique.  In addition, this allows the Martial Artist to trigger Double Attack Technique or Triple Attack Technique after Crashing or Incapacitating an opponent.

Dual-Slaying Stance
Cost: - (+5m, 1w); Minimums: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery
Duration: Permanent; Type: Permanent
Prerequisites: Steel Devil Form

When activating Steel Devil Form, the Martial Artist may pay a 5 mote, 1 Willpower surcharge to also activate Dual-Slaying Stance, and, in doing so, gaining even more speed with their whirling blades.  This allows the Martial Artist to make an additional attack during his turn.

Terrestrial: For a Terrestrial Exalt, this Charm gains the Perilous keyword.  If Crashed, the Martial Artist loses the benefits of Dual-Slaying Stance, but not Steel Devil Form.  The Martial Artist may reactivate Dual-Slaying Stance once he has recovered from being Crashed as a Simple action, paying the 5 motes and 1 Willpower needed.

Mastery: A Solar Exalt does not reset his Initiative immediately after making a Decisive attack if he still has his attack from Dual-Slaying Stance available.

Iron Lotus Unfurling
Cost: 5m (+1w); Minimums: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Keywords: Terrestrial, Dual
Duration: Instant; Type: Supplemental
Prerequisites: Seconds Between Strife, Triple Attack Technique, Dual-Slaying Stance

The Steel Devil’s attacks become so ferocious and come at such blinding speed that the Devil’s prey has no chance to recover.  If an attack supplemented by this Charm hits an opponent, with or without doing damage, the opponent’s Onslaught Penalty only reduces by half, rounded down, when it would normally be reset.  So, after taking 3 attacks, an opponent’s Onslaught Penalty is reduced to 1 the next round rather than the normal 0.  In addition, if the Martial Artist inflicts at least 3 damage on a Withering attack, or 1 level of damage on a Decisive attack, he may spend 1 Willpower to prevent the target’s Onslaught Penalty from refreshing the next round at all.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalt may not spend Willpower to prevent Onslaught Penalties from refreshing.

Dervish Blade Frenzy
Cost: 10m, 1w; Minimums: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial
Duration: Instant; Type: Simple
Prerequisites: Iron Lotus Unfurling

When the opponent is at their weakest, the Steel Devil strikes, blades whirling in a vortex of unexpectedly serene carnage.  When an opponent is at a -3 or more penalty to his or her Defense from any source (which explicitly includes Onslaught Penalties, even if they are being ignored through magic), the Steel Devil may unleash the Dervish Blade Frenzy.  The Martial Artist makes a number of attacks against the opponent equal to 1+(the target’s Onslaught Penalties at the time of this Charm’s activation), to a maximum of the Martial Artist’s Dexterity, dividing his Initiative among the attacks evenly, rounding up.  All Charms supplementing these attacks only need to be paid for once.

This Charm may only be used once a scene, unless it is reset by the Martial Artist gaining 20+ Initiative over the course of a single round.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial Exalt may only make up to Essence attacks using this Charm.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:45, Sat 20 May 2023.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 158 posts
Wed 31 May 2023
at 20:36
  • msg #35

Lord of Malfeas Style

I've been brainstorming this a while.  Here is the first draft of Lord of Malfeas style, for all your domineering, destructive needs.
_____________________

Lord of Malfeas Style

This style uses unarmed attacks and guns (Prayer Pieces, Plasma Tongue Repeaters and Fire Wands) as they stride through the carnage of battle, destroying all of their enemies.

Weapons and Armor: Lord of Malfeas style may be used with light and medium armor and unarmed attacks/natural weapons, plus ranged weapons, primarily guns (in a modern setting) and their equivalents in the standard setting.  It may be used with bows and crossbows.  In the case of appropriately sized weapons, many Lord of Malfeas stylists will dual wield.  Many Lords of Malfeas have also adapted the style to work with shields.

Complimentary Abilities:  Lord of Malfeas stylists favor Presence and Resistance as the rule over the wreckage of the battlefield..

A Lord of Malfeas stylist faces no accuracy penalty for using an archery weapon in Close Range when stunting.

Notes: Explosive(x, +y) – the Explosive tag delivers 4 dice of Withering damage or 1 die of Decisive damage to all caught in its blast radius.  The attacker does not gain any Initiative lost due to this damage without the use of magic.  Explosive weapons also have a range, typically Close, but larger weapons can have substantially larger ranges.  It is also possible to for more powerful weapons to cause larger amounts of Withering or Decisive damage as well.  Any weapon with a +2 or higher damage bonus (for 6 Withering and 3 Decisive) will instantly Incapacitate any Trivial opponents in the blast radius.

Charms:

Hell’s Resounding Fury
Instant, Supplemental
Cost: 4m
Keywords: Mastery, Dual
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1

The Yozi are known for their anger, and the first thing a Lord of Malfeas stylist learns to do is to channel that anger into their attacks.  If the stylist has an applicable negative Intimacy towards the target, the stylist adds (Intimacy) dice of damage to a Withering attack, or +1 die of damage to a Decisive attack.

Mastery: The dice of damage on Withering attacks are post-Soak, and if the stylist has a Defining negative Intimacy towards their target, they add +2 dice of damage of Decisive attacks.

The City Still Stands
Instant, Reflexive
Cost: 5m, 3i
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1

The Demon City is known for its resilience, even as it crushes whole layers and those within.  The Lord of Malfeas partakes of this strength, and shrugs off hits that would cripple others.  When attacked, the stylist rolls Stamina + Resistance, and generates a phantom -0 Health Level for each success.  These Health Levels are the first ones removed from an attack, and only last the Scene.  At the end of the Scene, if any of these Health Levels remain, the wounds inflicted disappear from them as well.  Also, for the purposes of Lord of Malfeas Form, if only phantom Health Levels are damaged, this counts as if the stylist had taken no damage.

This Charm may only be used once a Scene, unless all of the phantom Health Levels are gone and the stylist then is hit with a Decisive attack and takes no damage from it.

Terrestrial: A Terrestrial Exalt may only add up to their Resistance in phantom Health Levels, and cannot reset the Charm.

Viridian Blight Corona
Instant, Supplemental
Cost: 5m
Keywords: Mastery, Dual
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Prerequisites: Hell’s Resounding Fury

Even small surges of power from the Green Sun ruin those who feel his flames.  By mimicking the flares of Ligier, the Lord of Malfeas burns his foes to the ground.  This Charm doubles up to (Essence) 10s on a Decisive damage roll, or (Essence) 9s on a Withering damage roll.  Further, if at least 1 level of Decisive damage or 3 levels of Withering damage are inflicted, a bonfire of baleful green flames erupts around the target (4L, Difficulty 5), that lasts for (Essence) rounds, damaging all within Close range.

Mastery: A Solar may inflict a weakened form of Green Sun Wasting when damaging a target with either the initial attack or the following flames for the cost of 1 WP.  This uses the stats of Hemorrhagic Fever in the Core Book (page 235), but is not contagious.

Brass Fortress Stance
Scene, Simple
Cost: 5m (+1 WP)
Keywords: Uniform, Mastery
Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Prerequisites: The City Still Stands

Not even the most powerful of weapons leaves any lasting mark on the Demon City, and most are never even noticed.  The Lord of Malfeas channels this uncaring durability as he assumes the Brass Fortress Stance.  When in the Stance, the Lord of Malfeas add his Martial Arts to his Soak, and his Essence to his Hardness.  If the Martial Artist also wields a shield, he is treated as if has the Impenetrable Armor merit, the minimum damage of any Withering attacks by one die, to a minimum of zero dice.

Mastery: A Solar adds 3 or his Essence, whichever is higher to his Hardness, and, and doubles the Soak bonus if in light or no armor.

Lord of Malfeas Form
Scene, Simple
Cost: 10m
Keywords: Form, Terrestrial
Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Prerequisites: Brass Fortress Stance, Viridian Blight Corona

The Lord of Malfeas strides amid the carnage of battle, uncaring and ruthless.  The Martial Artist adopts a proud, domineering stance, and strikes with incredible ferocity.  Upon assuming the Lord of Malfeas Form, the Martial Artist gains the following benefits.  First, each 1 in a damage roll takes away a single successful die, starting 10s and then moving down.  Second, the Martial Artist may add either the Explosive(Close, +0) or Smashing tag on any of his attacks at no penalty.  The tag may be reflexively switched during the Martial Artist’s action for the round, and the Martial Artist never takes damage from his own Explosive attacks.  The Martial Artist may activate Brass Fortress Stance and Sandstorm Wind Stance at the same time as assuming the Lord of Malfeas Form.

Terrestrial: A Terrestrial only causes 1s to re-roll damage dice rather than subtract successes, and the Terrestrial starts with the lowest number on the die and moves up.

Special Activation Rules:  Lord of Malfeas Form may be entered Reflexively if the martial artist successfully creates an Intimacy of Fear (or similar) in an opponent, or if the martial artist takes no damage from a Withering or Decisive attack.

Shadow Eclipses the Sun
Instant, Supplemental
Cost:  8m, 1w
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Mastery
Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Prerequisites: Lord of Malfeas Form

One of the wonders of Malfeas is how the Ebon Dragon occasionally brings night to the Demon City, flying in between Ligier and the layers of the Demon City.  Thus, the Lord of Malfeas contains his attack within a shadowy bolt.  This attack can hit dematerialized beings, though it does not assist the Martial Artist in seeing them.  In addition, this Charm bypasses all armored Soak and Hardness.  The Martial Artist then adds dice of damage equal to the type of armor the target was wearing.  Light Armor gives +1 die, Medium gives +2 dice, and Heavy Armor adds +3 dice of damage.  Artifact Armor adds +2 dice of bonus damage (so 3/4/5 dice of bonus damage).

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial does not add bonus damage if the target is wearing Artifact Armor.

Mastery: A Solar treats a target with magically boosted Soak or Hardness as if they had Light Artifact Armor

The Name of Subjugation
Instant, Simple
Cost: 7m, 1w
Keywords: Terrestrial, Decisive-Only, Psyche
Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Prerequisites: Lord of Malfeas Form

All bow to the Demon City.  If someone does not, the Lord of Malfeas teaches an appropriate lesson.  This Charm warps reality, causes ripples in fate and essence, driving the victim to understand their place in the hierarchy of the world.  This Charm creates a special Gambit, with a base difficulty of the target’s Resolve.  The difficulty goes up by 1 if the target can channel essence (such as spirits or elementals), and by 2 if the target is an Exalted.  If the target is of lesser Essence than the Martial Artist, the difficulty drops by 1, and if the target already has an existing Intimacy that indicates subservience to the Martial Artist, it drops by 2.  If the Gambit is successful, the target gains or strengthens an Intimacy indicating the Martial Artist’s dominance.  The Martial Artist may also elect to give the target a command that must be able to be executed within the Scene.  The severity of the command that the Lord of Malfeas can give is equal to Intimacy related to the Martial Artist’s control (so, Minor Intimacies allow Inconvenient Tasks, Defining Intimacies allow Life-Changing Tasks).  This Charm may only be used once a Scene per target.

Sandstorm Winds Stance
Scene, Simple
Cost: 7m, 3i, 1w
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery
Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Prerequisites: Lord of Malfeas Form

The Endless Desert provides a lesson for all those who would approach the Demon City: Do so at your own peril.  The Lord of Malfeas assumes a stance that brings forth the scouring winds of silvery sand of Cecelyne.  This creates a sandstorm around the Martial Artist that extends out to Short Range.  All enemies caught within must face an environmental hazard with a difficulty of the Martial Artist’s (Essence) that causes 1L/round.  In addition, this sandstorm makes it hard to see, causing all rolls related to vision within the area to face a penalty of (Essence) as well.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial may only create a maximum penalty of -3.  This Charm also gains the Perilous keyword.

Mastery:  A Solar may spend an additional 3 motes to extend the sandstorm out to Medium range.  In addition, the Difficulty and visual penalty use the higher of 3 or the Solar’s Essence.

Viridian Essence Nova
Instant, Simple
Cost: 10m, 5i, 1w
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery, Decisive-Only
Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Prerequisites:  Shadow Eclipses the Sun, The Name of Subjugation, Sandstorm Winds Stance

Malfeas is known for his fury, wiping out whole layers of the demon city, and is known to take enjoyment from those destroyed by Ligier’s brilliant light.  Much to the joy of Malfeas, the Lord of Malfeas demonstrates this lesson upon his foes.  By tapping into and emulating Ligier’s destructive flames, the Lord of Malfeas can break whatever earns his ire.  This Charm can only be used at 15+ Initiative, and the attack is considered (Explosive (Short), +(Essence)).  Each 10 Initiative brings the range out one range band, to a maximum of Long range, and adds +1 to the Explosive damage bonus.  This Charm may be comboed with The Name of Subjugation despite both Charms being simple.  If this Charm is used with Shadow Eclipses the Sun, the range bands covered drop by one (so Close becomes Short, etc), but the damage from Shadow Eclipses the Sun becomes automatic successes.  The target’s armor bonus to damage is also applied to the Explosive damage bonus as well.  Against battle groups, the damage from Explosive has double 10s.  The Lord of Malfeas may exclude their allies and pawns from the effects of the blast should they feel so magnanimous.  Trivial opponents are instantly incapacitated from the explosion.  This Charm may only be used once a Scene, unless reset by Incapacitating a non-Trivial opponent or defeating a battle group.

Terrestrial:  A Terrestrial may only extend the blast out to Medium range, and may only add up to +5 Explosive damage.

Mastery:  A Solar may extend the blast out to Extreme range.  Further, if the Solar is comboing this Charm with Shadow Eclipses the Sun, he may spend 1wp to cause it to cascade, causing additional damage to armored (or incorporeal) targets within the blast radius.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 159 posts
Sat 2 Mar 2024
at 00:13
  • msg #36

Concealing Mist Style

This is a style inspired by Demon Slayer.  It is meant as an alternate (and heretical) alternative to Air Dragon style.
______________________

Concealing Mist Style

Concealing Mist style is a heretical version of Air Dragon Style that uses speed and stealth to take down their opponents, often before they even realize they are being attacked.

Form Weapons and Armor:  Concealing Mist Style uses knives, needles and swords, usually slashing swords.  It can also be used unarmed, favoring slashing and stabbing strikes with hands and feet.  This style is not compatible with armor.

Favored Abilities: Concealing Mist stylists favor Athletics and Stealth to better maneuver and put their opponents off balance.

Charms:

Dance of Elusive Mist
MA 1, Ess 1
4m
Simple, Scene
Keywords: Air, Mastery
Prereqs: None

Like the mists they are emulating, the Concealing Mist stylist is impossible to catch.

While this Charm is active, any attacks against the martial artist must exceed their Defense rather than meeting it.

Aura: In Air Aura, the martial artist also adds +1 to his Defense.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted may activate this Charm as a Reflexive action.


Flowing Mist Slash
MA 1, Ess 1
7m
Reflexive, Instant
Keywords: Air, Mastery
Prereqs: None

As mists suddenly overtake an area, so to does the martial artist.

The martial artist may attack immediately after a successful Rush.

Aura: In Air Aura, the martial artist adds any extra successes on the Rush to the attack roll as non-Charm dice.

Mastery: On a successful Rush, a Solar Exalted adds (Essence or 3, whichever is higher) dice to his attack roll.

Vanishing Haze Method
MA 1, Ess 1
1m, 1i
Reflexive, Instant
Keywords: Air, Aura
Prereqs: None

The martial artist melts away as the mist upon the dawn.

When moving, this Charm allows the martial artist to attempt to enter stealth without facing any of the penalties for using Stealth in combat.

Aura: By expending Air Aura, the martial artist adds their Essence as non-Charm successes when rolling Stealth.

Concealing Mist Form
MA 3, Ess 2
8m
Simple, Scene
Keywords: Air, Form, Aura, Mastery
Prereqs: Dance of Elusive Mist, Flowing Mist Slash, Vanishing Haze Method

The martial artist adopts a low stance, ready to move at a moment’s notice to either strike or dodge.

In Concealing Mist Form, the martial artist gains +1 to his Defense, and adds his Essence to Stealth and Combat Movement (Rush and Disengage) rolls.

Aura:  In Air Aura, the bonus dice on Combat Movement rolls are treated as non-Charm.

Mastery: A Solar Exalted also adds bonus dice to his attack rolls.

Special Activation Rules: If the martial artist successfully applies his Defense against an attack, he may reflexively enter Concealing Mist Form.


Dispersing Vapor Prana
MA 4, Ess 3
10m
Reflexive, Instant
Keywords: Air, Mastery, Decisive-Only
Prereqs: Concealing Mist Form

Even as attacks appear to hit, the martial artist fades away, unharmed and undamaged.

This Charm can be used in response to a Decisive attack, subtracting the martial artist’s Essence + Stealth from the raw damage dealt.  The martial artist seems to disperse into vapor and may then move one range band away in any direction and attempt to enter Stealth, ignoring all penalties and assuming appropriate cover is available.  This Charm is limited to once a scene, unless reset by the martial artist successfully applying his Defense against three attacks.

Aura: The martial artist may expend Air Aura to use this Charm after the attack is rolled.

Mastery: A Solar Exalted may use this Charm after the attack is rolled.

Obscuring Cloud Veil
MA 4, Ess 3
10m, 1w
Simple, Scene
Keywords: Air, Mastery
Prereqs: Concealing Mist Form

The martial artist summons a thick mist, giving cover to his movements and dulling his opponents’ senses.

This Charm creates a cloud of thick mist or fog at a point within the martial artist’s Essence range bands, which expands out to cover a radius of (Essence) range bands by the end of the round.  All who are caught in the mist find their senses dulled, taking a penalty of the martial artist’s Essence, with the exception of the martial artist and his allies.  Even with magic that can pierce such hazards, the mists still provide partial cover.  From inside the mists, the martial artist may move to any other point inside the mists as a move action, and may also use a move action to relocate the center of the cloud.  If magic is used to disperse the mists, they reform the next round as long as this Charm is active.  If the martial artist moves in the cloud, he may attempt to re-establish Stealth without the normal penalties as a reflexive action.

Aura:  In Air Aura, the martial artist is partially dematerialized within the mists, and takes half damage from Decisive attacks.  In addition, the martial artist may expend Air Aura to take an additional move action.

Mastery:  A Solar Exalted may take an additional move action while he is within the mists, and is treated as having full cover from his opponents if they are more than one range band away.

Special Activation Rules:  This Charm may be activated at the same time as Concealing Mist Form.


Enveloping Fog Method
MA 4, Ess 3
3m, 3i
Supplemental, Instant
Keywords: Air, Uniform, Mastery
Prereqs: Concealing Mist Form

The martial artist strikes from surprise with incredible speed and accuracy, piercing his opponent’s defenses before the opponent even realizes the attack has happened.

This Charm can be used to supplement a withering or decisive attack from surprise.  If the attack is Unexpected, the martial artist may double up to his Stealth dice of damage, starting from the dice that rolled 7s and moving up from there.  If the attack is an Ambush, the martial artist may double to double his Stealth in damage dice, again starting from 7s and moving up from there.

Aura:  If the martial artist expends Air Aura, he can also make this attack Smashing, knocking the opponent prone or back a range band if damage is dealt.

Mastery: A Solar Exalted treats the withering version of this attack as Piercing, ignoring 4 points of the opponent’s armored soak.


Rapid Approach of Distant Haze
MA 5, Ess 4
7m, 1w
Simple, Instant
Keywords: Air, Mastery, Uniform
Prereqs: Dispersing Vapor Prana, Obscuring Cloud Veil, Enveloping Fog Method

Mists often arrive with no warning, and so goes the fatal strikes of the martial artist.

This Charm creates a surprise attack.  If used in the first round of combat or when the attack would already be Unexpected, the attack is considered an Ambush.

Aura: The martial artist may expend Air Aura to make this attack an Ambush no matter the conditions or in place of the Willpower cost.

Mastery: On a successful Ambush attack, a Solar Exalted adds his Essence to either post-Soak damage, or his Decisive damage roll.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:56, Sun 03 Mar.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 160 posts
Sat 9 Mar 2024
at 01:03
  • msg #37

Lambent Flame of Annihilation Style

This is my first attempt at a Sidereal Martial Art.  I've been mulling over this one for a while.
________________________________________________________

Lambent Flame of Annihilation Style

Lambent Flame of Annihilation Style is a Sidereal Martial Art focused on applying explosive force and flame to destroy whatever stands in the martial artist's way.  The stereotypical Lambent Flame of Annihilation stylist approaches the style with brutal kicks, punches, and elbow and knee attacks, but there have also been quite a few who use almost gentle open hand strikes and minimal motion to send their opponents reeling.

While the exact story of this style’s inception has never been told, many trace it to an enterprising Sidereal studying the Daystar and the Unconquered Sun himself.

Favored Abilities: Martial Artists who practice Lambent Flame of Annihilation style tend to favor Athletics, Resistance and, very occasionally, Dodge.

Form Weapons and Armor:  Lambent Flame of Annihilation Style uses unarmed attacks, typically straightforward punches and kicks, and incorporating elbow and knee attacks, but can also be practiced in a much more flowing manner using palm strikes and pressure point attacks.  This style is also compatible with impact weapons, such as hammers, clubs, staves, meteor hammers and the like, as well as their artifact equivalents.  It is always compatible with weapons made of the Martial Artist's Essence, whether that is Glorious Solar Saber, the Kiais of a Silver-Voiced Nightingale stylist or similar attacks.  If a Dragonblooded Exalt could ever manage to initiate into Sidereal Martial Arts, Elemental Bolt Attack would be able to be used with this Style.  This style can be used in light armor.

Unarmed attacks can always be stunted to do Lethal damage with Charms of this Style.

The Sutra of The Maiden on Fire

There once was a Maiden
who was always on fire.
Everything she touched burned,
and many ran in terror.
Yet, when she returned to places
once burned down,
she found life.
“Death is part of life,” said she.

Charms:

Lambent Flame Strike
MA 3, Ess 3
3m
Instant, Supplemental
Keywords: Dual
Prereqs: None

The martial artist's strikes light the very air – and their targets – on fire.

The martial artist's attacks become limned with fire, adding Essence damage to Withering attacks.  If used with a Decisive attack and at least one Health Level of damage is inflicted, the target is set on fire until the fire can be extinguished.  The Difficulty to resist damage from the fire is the martial artist's (Martial Arts + Essence), and it inflicts (Essence) dice of Lethal damage.  This Charm can easily be used to set fires.


Heavenly Impact Kata
MA 3, Ess 3
5m
Instant, Supplemental
Keywords: Dual, Enlightenment
Prereqs: None

The martial artist's strikes hit with the force of a falling star.

The martial artist's attacks add Essence to the post-soak damage of Withering attacks.  In addition, a Decisive attack adds up to Essence extra successes from the attack roll to damage.  Finally, the martial artist may make any attack enhanced by this Charm Smashing without penalty.

Enlightenment: A Sidereal is so adept at directing his Essence that the actual attack from this Charm can come from unusual angles, such as perpendicular to a supposedly missed strike, or higher or lower than the actual attack.  This subtracts the Stunt rating of the attack from the opponent’s Defense against the attack.


Internal Combustion Approach
MA 4, Ess 3
8m
Special, Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Enlightenment
Prereqs: Lambent Flame Strike, Heavenly Impact Kata

The martial artist attacks his opponent from the inside, directly injecting Essence into the target, only for there to be an explosion moments later.

This Charm allows the martial artist to apply an explosive packet of Essence into his opponent, only for it to explode later.  After a successful Decisive attack, the martial artist may hold the damage in reserve for up to his Essence in rounds.  For each round the damage is held, the number of rounds held is added to the final damage rolled.  So, delaying the damage for three rounds would add six dice of damage (1 + 2 + 3 rounds).  In addition, the damage gains double 10s and rerolls 1s until they no longer appear.  Finally, the martial artist may forgo damage to inflict Crippling injuries.  As these injuries typically manifest by part (or all) of the target exploding, it takes magic or First Age artifice to heal or repair those Crippling injuries.  Trivial opponents can be automatically incapacitated from this attack.

If this attack is augmented by either Lambent Flame Strike or Divine Fire Stance, these wounds may manifest through burning and fire instead of an explosion at the martial artist's choice.

Enlightenment: A Sidereal may inflict as many Crippling injuries as the damage allows, and may also reduce damage inflicted if he chooses, potentially sparing an opponent a very horrible demise.


Lambent Flame of Annihilation Form
MA 5, Ess 4
20m, 1w
Scene, Simple
Keywords: Form, Dual, Enlightenment
Prereqs: Internal Combustion Approach

The martial artist settles into a surprisingly relaxed stance, yet each movement hints at the incredible forces the martial artist may unleash.

Upon entering Lambent Flame of Annihilation Form, the martial artist gains (Essence + Martial Arts) post-Soak dice of Withering damage.  In addition, the martial artist adds his threshold successes on an attack as dice to the damage of a Decisive attack.  The martial artist may make Smashing attacks without penalty.  If the martial artist successfully applies his Parry to an attack, the sheer force of the defense causes the attacker to lose the martial artist's Essence in dice of Initiative, which the martial artist does not gain.

Enlightenment:  The martial artist gains any Initiative his opponent loses from a failed attack, including that caused by a successful Parry.

Special Activation Rules:  If the martial artist knocks his opponent down or back a range band, he may reflexively enter Lambent Flame of Annihilation Form.

Godspear Emulation Method
MA 5, Ess 4
10m, 3i, 1w
Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Enlightenment
Prereqs: Lambent Flame of Annihilation Form

Emulating the power of the Sun itself, the martial artist strikes with enough force to destroy everything in his path.

The martial artist strikes with such force as to create an unblockable attack that extends out to Long Range.  The martial artist applies half of his Initiative as damage to anyone caught in the blast, rounded up.  Anyone who takes damage from this attack is knocked back or prone at the martial artist's choice.  At Essence 5, the range of the Charm extends to Extreme.

This Charm can only be used once a scene, unless the martial artist incapacitates a non-Trivial opponent and then raises his Initiative back to 15+.

Enlightenment: A Sidereal is only limited by his line of sight when using this Charm.

Divine Fire Stance
MA 5, Ess 4
5m, 1w
Scene, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only
Prereqs: Lambent Flame of Annihilation Form

The martial artist's hands and feet alight with an inner flame, burning away all obstacles.

The martial artist gains double 7s on damage, and may destroy mundane weapons and armor with a Disarm gambit.  If worn armor is destroyed this way, the martial artist may either inflict Essence dice of Lethal damage to the target, or set them on fire as per Lambent Flame Strike.  In addition, the martial artist may perform Feats of Destruction using (Strength or Dexterity) and Martial Arts with a bonus of Essence dice at a Difficulty of the minimum Strength requirement of the feat.  When used with Godspear Emulation Method, Explosive Shockwave Prana or similar area of effect Charms, it tends to leave the terrain in a melted state.

Explosive Shockwave Prana
MA 5, Ess 4
7m, 1w
Instant, Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Enlightenment
Prereqs: Lambent Flame of Annihilation Form

The martial artist releases a tremendous and violent wave of Essence, sending his opponents flying.

A Decisive attack enhanced by this Charm knocks the opponent in any direction a range band for every two Levels of damage dealt in the attack.  This could be up into the air, inflicting falling damage, or just away from the martial artist.  If the target hits something in the scenery before the full distance is traveled, he takes falling damage equal to the remaining number of range bands left.  If this is comboed with Godspear Emulation Method, it can create a cone or a spherical blast radius out to the martial artist's Essence range bands.  The martial artist is immune to any direct effects of his own Charms.

Enlightenment:  A Sidereal may use this Charm reflexively in response to an attack, granting in the Clash keyword, and giving the martial artist a bonus on the Clash equal to his Essence, as he counters an attack with an explosive wave of Essence.  This causes knock-back as per the usual use of the Charm.


Transcendent Flame of Annihilation
MA 5, Ess 5
20m, 1w (or 10m, 1w, 1+a)
Instant, Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Enlightenment
Prereqs: Explosive Shockwave Prana, Divine Fire Stance, Godspear Emulation Method

The martial artist strikes with immeasurable force, effortlessly destroying his target.

Transcendent Flame of Annihilation inflicts Uncountable damage.  The martial artist may instead choose to pay 10 motes, 1w and 1 or more levels of anima to multiply the damage he would roll by (1 + levels of anima).  So, one level of anima would double the number of dice rolled, while 3 would quadruple it.

This Charm is limited to once a story, unless reset by accomplishing a legendary social goal through raw power.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:08, Tue 12 Mar.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 161 posts
Sun 10 Mar 2024
at 23:11
  • msg #38

Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Style

I finally put this together.  I cribbed a lot off of various DB charms, and upped the power appropriately, but I think it came out well.  Here is Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Style.
__________________________________________________

Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Style

Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Style is a Sidereal Martial Art that emulates the Primordials as they shaped Creation.  The elements themselves move to the command of the martial artist as he rebuilds the battlefield to suit his needs, or simply overwhelms his opponent with storms, avalanches, clouds of poison, wildfires or unstoppable waves.

Favored Abilities: Martial Artists who practice Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans style favor Craft, and Resistance or Dodge.

Form Weapons and Armor:  Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Style is not compatible with weapons or armor not created by the style itself.  However, these created weapons can often be compatible with other styles.  The martial art itself uses elements of all five Dragon Styles, from the flowing strikes and grapples of Water Dragon to the fast offense of Fire Dragon, to the hard-hitting and immovable strikes and blocks of Earth Dragon, to the evasive dance of Air Dragon and the resilience of Wood Dragon and switches between approaches as the fight requires.

If a Dragonblooded ever was initiated into Sidereal Martial Arts and learned this style, the Charms of this style would generate Aura appropriate to the element used (i.e. creating a fire would be Fire, an obscuring swirl of leaves or petals would either be Air or Wood, etc).

Charms:

Elemental Harmonization Stance
MA 3, Ess 3
10m, 1w
Simple, Scene
Keywords: Enlightenment
Prereqs: None

The martial artist becomes one with the elements, rendering even the harshest conditions surprisingly comfortable.

The martial artist becomes immune to non-magical environmental effects, including poisons and deprivation.  Against effects created by magic, the martial artist gains his Essence in automatic successes when resisting the effect.  In addition, as the elements become to respond to the martial artist, he may manipulate them in such a manner to allow minor effects, such as creating warmth to heat a drink, a small amount of water to put out a fire, handholds in stone, or similar effects.  If these stunts are incorporated into an action that needs to be rolled, the martial artist gains an additional non-Charm die for each point of the stunt.  Finally, being able to manipulate the elements in this manner makes crafting easier, adding a bonus of the martial artist’s Essence in dice to Crafting rolls.

Enlightenment:  For a Sidereal, the bonuses from this Charm are considered non-Charm, and can extend this Charm’s duration to Indefinite.

Special Activation Rules:  This Charm may be activated reflexively when entering Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Form.

Elemental Armament Method
MA 3, Ess 3
5m, 1w
Simple, Scene
Keywords: None
Prereqs: None

The martial artist reaches out, and forms a weapon from nature itself.

By using this Charm, the martial artist creates a weapon from the elements.  He might pull a tetsubo from the earth, create charkram from air or ice, claws of ice, swords of fire or some other appropriate weapon for his fighting style and personality.  Weapons created by this Charm have Artifact stats and tags like whatever weapon is being emulated.  When learning this Charm, the martial artist picks a weapon, which is what will always be created when the Charm is activated.  Based on the element used when creating the weapon, differing effects are granted, and the martial artist is not restricted to a specific element.

Air: Wind chills the weapon to a deadly cold. An enemy damaged by a decisive attack takes a penalty on physical rolls equal to the martial artist’s Essence until the end of his next turn.

Earth: Bulky stones reinforce the weapon, granting the Smashing tag. If it already has that tag, its smash attacks deal an additional Essence dice of damage.

Fire: Flames wreathe the weapon, granting +(Essence) Overwhelming.

Water: The weapon is fluid and graceful, granting the Flexible and Grappling tags. If it already has at least one of those tags, add Essence bonus dice on the attack roll of grapple gambits.

Wood: Vines or roots twine around the weapon, granting the Disarming tag. If it already has that tag, add Essence bonus dice on the attack roll of disarm gambits.

The martial artist may repurchase this Charm up to Essence times, each time creating a new Artifact weapon.  In addition, Evocations may be purchased for these weapons as well at usual cost.

Special Activation Rules:  This Charm may be activated reflexively when entering Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Form.

Elemental Guardian Raiment
MA 3, Ess 3
4-6m, 1w
Simple, Scene
Keywords: None
Prereqs: None

The martial artist wraps himself in the elements, forming armor to guard against the deadliest attacks.

The martial artist reaches out and pulls an elemental manifestation around himself, forming armor with Artifact stats.  As with Elemental Armament Method, the type of armor chosen is decided when this Charm is learned, though the specific element drawn upon can be chosen whenever the Charm is activated.  By using different elements, differing benefits may be gained as follows:

Air: Air-wreathed armor is nigh weightless, gaining the Buoyant and Silent tags (Exalted, 593). Additionally, its mobility penalty is reduced by the martial artist’s Essence when applied to the martial artist's Evasion. Light armor or clothing instead adds an automatic success on Stealth rolls where moving silently is a factor.

Earth: Earth-wreathed armor gains +(Essence) soak and Hardness.

Fire: Fire-wreathed armor or clothing deals Essence dice of lethal decisive damage, ignoring Hardness, to any enemy who hits the martial artist with an unarmed or natural attack, or who spends a round physically grappling her. His flaming raiment also adds Essence automatic successes on Appearance-based threaten rolls.

Water: Water-wreathed armor is slick and easily hidden, gaining the Concealable tag (Exalted, p. 593) and adding Essence automatic successes on rolls to oppose being grappled, escape physical restraints, or move through tight spaces. Armor that already has the Concealable tag adds an automatic success on disguise rolls, as does water-wreathed clothing.

Wood: Wood-wreathed armor or clothing is adorned with vibrant flowers with fragrant aromas, adding Essence automatic successes on inspire rolls, instill rolls to create Ties of attraction or lust toward the martial artist, and persuade or bargain rolls to seduce characters.

The martial artist may repurchase this Charm up to Essence times, each time creating a new suit of armor.  Evocations may also be purchased for the armor created by this Charm at the usual cost.  The most cost of this Charm is equal to the equivalent attunement cost of the type of armor made.

Special Activation Rules:  This Charm may be activated reflexively when entering Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Form.


Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Form
MA 4, Ess 4
20m, 1w
Simple, Scene
Keywords: Form, Enlightenment
Prereqs: Elemental Harmonization Stance, Elemental Armament Method, Elemental Guardian Raiment

The martial artist moves into a stance that harmonizes with all of nature, adapting both the character of each element, and directing the elements to move as he desires.

Upon entering Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Form, the martial artist may direct and create elemental manifestations out to Essence range bands), gaining Essence non-Charm successes on attack rolls, and appropriate tags (such as Fire for an attack made of fire, or Smashing for an attack with earth).  Furthermore, the martial artist gains Essence dice on Initiative rolls for any Gambits related to the elemental attacks (such as disarms, distract gambits, and custom gambits to do things like immobilize a target or create difficult terrain).  The martial artist may also craft his immediate area, out to Essence range bands, creating cover or obstructions (or even tunnels and similar things) using either Wits+Craft or Dexterity+Martial Arts.  The difficulty of modifying terrain in combat is similar to that of Obedient Ramparts of Earth, and can be done over multiple rounds.  This can include effects based on any element.  The martial artist gains Essence in non-Charm dice when making appropriate craft rolls, such as those to modify the terrain.

Enlightenment:  A Sidereal is able to shift into stances related to the elements, gaining a non-Charm bonus of either Essence dice to rolled actions (this doesn’t stack with the Form bonus to attacking at range, but would apply to a hand-to-hand attack), or adding Essence as a non-Charm bonus to his Defense.  Only one bonus can apply at a time, but the Sidereal can switch between them as a reflexive action once per turn.

Special Activation Rules:  If the martial artist reshapes the battlefield to suit their needs (such as stunting to create an environmental hazard) or takes advantage of the environment to gain an advantage over his opponent, he may reflexively enter Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Form.


Crushing Maw of Pasiap
MA 5, Ess 4
10m, 1w
Simple, Instant
Keywords: Uniform, Enlightenment
Prereqs: Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Form

The martial artist uses earth to immobilize or crush his opponent, smashing his target with boulders or burying them in the dirt.

The martial artist attacks with earth or stone.  If used as a direct attack, the attack uses the stats for a heavy artifact weapon, can attack out to Medium Range, is unblockable and has a bonus of the martial artist's Essence to both attack and damage.  If used to immobilize an opponent, the martial artist may attempt a Grapple gambit out to Long Range, using earth and stone to either bury or cover the opponent.  The martial artist gains a bonus of Essence dice to both the attack roll and Initiative roll.  This is also unblockable.  If the gambit is successful, instead of rolling for control, the difficulty to escape is equal to the martial artist’s Essence plus any extra successes on the Initiative roll.  If the martial artist uses this Charm to attack a target who is already immobilized or otherwise unable to escape the crushing earth, this is treated as if the martial artist was grappling his target.  Willpower only needs to be spent the first time this Charm is used in combat.  The martial artist also benefits from knowing this Charm when making a large scale crafting roll (to change geomancy or make a manse or a similar project), or any crafting project in which being able to move stone would benefit, gaining an additional roll to complete the project, and may speed up crafting time by one step (so a weekly roll would happen once a day, and so on).  This bonus also applies when working with White Jade or Orichalcum.

Enlightenment: A Sidereal can use this Charm out to Long range.


Fiery Breath of Hesiesh
MA 5, Ess 4
10m, 1w (+ 1+a)
Simple, Instant or Special
Keywords: Decisive-Only
Prereqs: Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Form

The martial artist summons forth the flames of Hesiesh, burning all that would stand in his way.

The martial artist creates a firestorm at a point out to Long Range, which extends out Essence range bands.   Many martial artists create this firestorm by exhaling, similar to Breath of the Fire Dragon, but that is not necessary.  The firestorm has a Difficulty of (Martial Arts + Essence) and Lethal damage of Essence dice.  The martial artist may pay 1 or more levels of anima to increase either the Difficulty or the damage of the storm by Essence for each point.  The martial artist may extend the duration of this effect by paying 5 motes each successive round and using his Combat action.  The storm may be moved around with the martial artist's Move action.  If the storm inflicts any damage, the martial artist's Initiative resets to base once the firestorm is finished.  The martial artist also benefits from knowing this Charm while crafting, as long as control over heat and fire would benefit the project.  The martial artist gains an additional roll for appropriate projects, and adds his Essence as an equipment bonus to rolls to complete the project.  This bonus also applies when working with Red Jade.

Watery Grave of Danaa’d
MA 5, Ess 4
7m, 1w
Simple, Scene
Keywords: None
Prereqs: Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Form

The martial artist summons or directs waters to engulf and drown his opponent.

The martial artist attacks with waters, either nearby or created from Essence.  This allows the martial artist to slow down and drag his opponent around.  Once active, the martial artist may direct controlled or created waters as a move action, out to Long Range.  The waters may engulf up to Essence range bands, though the more consolidated they are, the harder they are to resist.  The martial artist may push, pull or drag an opponent with these waters, which may be resisted with a Strength + Athletics or Stamina + Resistance roll, at Difficulty (Martial Arts + Essence + (Essence – range bands covered)).  If a target is moved by the waters, they take the martial artist's Essence in dice of Initiative damage, which the martial artist gains.  Once engulfed, a target may attempt to escape as a Disengage action, using either Dexterity and Dodge as normal or Strength and Athletics.  Whether or not the target is successful, they lose two Initiative, which the martial artist gains.  The martial artist may attempt to drown a target this way, even on land, but this takes his full action for the round, unless the target is already in a body of water.  The difficulty to escape is as above.  When this Charm is active, the martial artist also moves freely underwater, and cannot drown.  The martial artist may also release the essence in this Charm to create an unblockable and undodgeable attack with the water.  The martial artist also benefits from this Charm if he is attempting a crafting project in which control of water would help the project.  This could include things such as geomancy or architecture, but also smaller scale projects as well.  If this would benefit the project, the martial artist gains an additional roll, and lowers the overall Difficulty of the project by his Essence.  This bonus also applies when working with Black Jade or Moonsilver.


Endless Dance of Mela
MA 5, Ess 4
5m, 1w (+ 3i per additional Move action)
Simple, Scene
Keywords: Uniform, Enlightenment
Prereqs: Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Form

The martial artist directs the air, cutting down or ripping through his opponents, all while being buoyed up by the same currents.

The martial artist may attack out to Long Range, using Light Artifact weapon stats, as a martial arts attack.  These attacks may be Cutting or Piercing at the martial artist's choice without penalty.  In addition, the martial artist gains a bonus to all combat movement actions equal to his Essence, and ignores up to his Martial Arts in penalties to his Evasion.  Furthermore, the martial artist may balance on any object as long as he is moving.  Stopping movement on an unsuitable surface requires a Dexterity and Athletics roll for the martial artist to remain, at an appropriate difficulty.  The martial artist may also use the currents of air to make additional movement actions at 3i per action.  This is limited to the martial artist's Essence times in a single round.  The martial artist benefits from knowing this Charm when working on crafting projects in which control of the air would benefit the project, and when working with Blue Jade or Starmetal.  The martial artist gains an additional roll, and ignores up to his Martial Arts in penalties to each crafting roll.

Enlightenment: A Sidereal may attack out to Extreme range with this Charm.


Boundless Vitality of Sextes Jylis
MA 5, Ess 4
10m, 1w
Simple, Scene
Keywords: None
Prereqs: Kaleidoscopic Grasp of Titans Form

The martial artist manipulates life itself, directing vines and branches to harass his opponent, or fortifying himself against injury.

The martial artist may direct plant life in a similar manner to Watery Grave of Danaa’d.  Like that Charm, this can create difficult terrain, and drag, push or pull the martial artist's target at the same difficulties.  The martial artist may use plant life in similar manner to Crushing Maw of Pasiap to immobilize his opponent as well.  In addition, if the target fails to Disengage or is Crashed while bound by plants, the martial artist inflicts a poison with Difficulty (Martial Arts + Essence), Damage Essence Initiative per round (Lethal if Crashed), and a penalty of Essence.  If the martial artist chooses not to control plant life, he may attempt to regenerate from damage he has taken, rolling Essence each round, healing a level of Bashing damage per success, a level of Lethal damage for every two successes, and a level of Aggravated damage or a Crippling wound for every five successes.  The martial artist also benefits from knowing this Charm when working with wood or other living or once-living material, or when working with Green Jade or Soulsteel.  The martial artist gains an additional roll, and rerolls all 1s when making associated craft rolls.


Wrath of the Titans
MA 5, Ess 5
20, 3w, (+ 10m, 1w per additional element)
Simple, Special
Keywords: Perilous, Enlightenment
Prereqs: Crushing May of Pasiap, Fiery Breath of Hesiesh, Watery Grave of Danaa’d, Endless Dance of Mela, Boundless Vitality of Sextes Jylis

The martial artist brings down devastation not seen since the Primordial War, calling nature itself to scour a whole area to nothingness.

The martial artist spends a Dramatic Action reaching out to the elements so that he may bring them down upon those that have earned his wrath.  This buildup of Essence automatically flares his anima to bonfire, and occasionally flares back up to iconic as the elements are brought to heel.  Over the course of an hour, an area with the martial artist's Essence miles radius that is within the martial artist's line of sight is set upon by the designated element or elements.  During this time, the martial artist may not move or take non-reflexive actions except to direct the conflagration, though he may move its location (at a speed of (Essence + Martial Arts) miles in an hour), to another location he can see as long as the storm persists.  Onlookers may calculate how quickly the conflagration approaches both when it is being formed and when it is moving with a difficulty 2 (Int + Occult roll), or difficulty 2 (Int + Lore) roll.  Differing elements can manifest different effects, though the martial artist is not limited to what is available in the area, and could easily call forth a tsunami in the middle of a desert.  The first element called costs either 20 motes and 3 willpower.  Any additional elements being called cost 10 motes and an additional point of willpower.  After the first hour, the martial artist must make a Stamina + Resistance roll every Stamina hours, starting at Difficulty 1, and escalating by one for each roll.  The martial artist is immune to the immediate effects of this Charm, as are any designated allies, but that does not protect them from the aftereffects of the devastation.  These effects do not interfere with each other, allowing tsunamis of liquid fire, volcanic devastation, and other, wilder effects as they all converge.

Air: The sky darkens, pouring down harsh rain or heavy snowfall accompanied by gale-force winds and flashing lightning.
• Precipitation imposes a –2 penalty on all vision- or hearing-based rolls.
• Winds impose a –3 penalty on movement actions, ranged attacks, and similar rolls.
• Airborne characters and trivial opponents treat all movement as difficult terrain.
• Characters exposed to the storm suffer an environmental hazard with difficulty 2, Damage 10L/hour; a failed roll indicates they’ve been struck by lightning.

Earth: The land shakes and grinds horrifically as seismic
tremors shudder through it.
• All characters within range must make a difficulty 3 (Dexterity + Athletics) balance roll or fall into a yawning chasm, suffering falling damage as per a short-range fall (Exalted, p. 232) unless they find a way to mitigate it. Climbing out requires a difficulty 3 ([Dexterity or Strength] + Athletics) roll, although characters may escape by other means, such as Monkey Leap Technique.
• The damage wrought by the earthquake renders the entire area difficult terrain (Exalted, p. 199), and the speed of any long-range travel through the affected area is halved.

Fire: A roaring conflagration engulfs the land, setting the world ablaze.
• All characters suffer a one-time environmental hazard with difficulty 5, Damage 6L.
• Forests, grasslands, wooden structures, and other flammable terrain catches fire and continues to burn with a lesser intensity (difficulty 5, Damage 4L/round) until they’re extinguished or no fuel remains.
• A haze of smoke and ash hangs over the affected area, imposing a –2 penalty on any vision- or scent-based rolls.
Fires created tend to persist once the conflagration is over, assuming the terrain is flammable enough.  These can be put out be appropriate actions, sorcery or other creative actions.

Water: A swirling pillar of water descends from the sky or rises from the sea, before dispersing in all directions as a crushing tidal wave.
• Depending on a character’s proximity to the point of impact, the amount of time they have to prepare for the wave’s impact varies — those within long range are struck by it instantly, without an opportunity to seek cover, while someone miles away from her might have minutes to prepare.
• Characters unable to reach a place of safety before being hit must make a difficulty 5 ([Strength or Stamina] + Athletics) roll to avoid being carried away. If they fail, they’re knocked one range band away from the point of impact per success they failed by. If this movement is interrupted by hitting a barrier, the character takes damage as though he’d suffered a fall from a height equal to the number of range bands of movement prevented.
• Ships caught in this wave suffer ten dice of Hull damage. Captains can roll (Wits + Sail) to avoid the worst of it, subtracting one die of damage per success.
• The blast is also likely to cause mass flooding in valleys and similar areas.

Wood: Gigantic vines burst from the ground, bearing vibrant flowers that bloom with toxic pollen.
• The overgrowth renders the entire area difficult terrain and halves the speed of long-term travel through it, although travelers can potentially bypass this by setting fire to the vines or destroying them through other means.
• Pollen imposes a –3 penalty on scent-based rolls.
• The pollen is also an inhaled poison. The first time a character breathes in the affected area, and after
each hour of exposure thereafter, they must roll against a poison with Damage 1B/minute, Duration
10 minutes, and a –3 penalty. The vines remain until destroyed, but their flowers wilt after the martial artist's Essence hours, rounded up, ending the pollen haze. It can be dispersed earlier by natural
weather, magic, or the creative actions of characters.

This Charm may only be used once a story, unless reset by accomplishing a legendary social goal through crafting, or by creating a 5 dot Artifact.

Enlightenment: When a Sidereal uses this Charm, the initial blast effects repeat (1+Essence) times every hour, with the exception of a Fire effect, which just burns continuously for the duration.  In addition, each element added to the effect increases all difficulties, damage and penalties by one each.  For falling damage, this adds one die to the damage rolls.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:13, Tue 12 Mar.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 162 posts
Wed 13 Mar 2024
at 22:36
  • msg #39

Invisible Mind-Hand Style

Here is Invisible Mind-Hand Style, a telekinesis-focused esoteric martial art.
_________________________________

Invisible Mind-Hand Style

Invisible Mind-Hand Style is rare martial art among the Exalted, and is also one with no basis in mortal techniques.  The martial artist uses his own will to direct his Essence to move objects, attack his opponents and defend himself.

This style can be purchased and learned without the Martial Artist merit.

Form Weapons and Armor:  This style is used with telekinesis, telekinetically controlled objects (like the Arsenal of a Thousand Blades stylist) or similar powers, such as Embracing the Violent Flow for Dragonblooded, or the Infernal Exalted’s Mind-Hand Manipulation Charm.  The Charms of this style are not compatible with unarmed combat, but many Invisible Mind-Hand stylists learn some form of close combat skill.  This style is compatible with all armor.

Until the martial artist learns to mute the effects of the style, all manifestations of power in this style tend to reflect the anima and personality of the stylist.  Some might envelop their target in essence, while others seemingly create solid – if obviously essence – objects such as hands.

Favored Abilities:  Invisible Mind-Hand stylists typically favor Occult and Awareness, and most tend to be highly intelligent.

Charms:


Invocation of Sorcerous Will
MA 1, Ess 1
5m, 1w
Simple, Indefinite
Keywords: None
Prereqs: Terrestrial

The martial artist focuses his will and Essence, allowing him to exert force at a distance.

The martial artist may make attacks and manipulate objects out to Short range.  This has the stats of a Light Artifact weapon, though its damage is based on Intelligence rather than Strength, and the attack is rolled with Intelligence and Occult.  It can perform feats of strength of demolition as if it was the martial artist himself, again using Intelligence instead of Strength.  At Essence 3, the range extends to Medium, and at Essence 5, the range extends to Long.

If the martial artist is also using an appropriate power (such as one of those listed above), he may add his Wits to the attack roll, and Intelligence as dice to damage, as this Charm augments the other.  This also increases the range of the effect if necessary.  These powers use whatever rolls are appropriate for the base Charm.

Terrestrial:  For a Dragonblooded, this charm is identical to a normal unarmed attack.


Shield of the Unbreakable Mind
MA 3, Ess 1
3m
Reflexive, Scene
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs: None

The martial artist creates a wall of essence and force, shielding himself from harm.

This Charm provides the martial artist heavy cover against all attacks he is aware of, with no interference to his own actions.  This bonus does not apply against attacks that are unblockable or undodgeable.

Terrestrial: For a Dragonblooded, this Charm only provides light cover.

Mastery:  The cover created by a Solar Exalted counts as full cover.


Subtleties of Will
MA 4, Ess 2
-- (+2m per Charm affected)
Permanent
Keywords: Terrestrial, Mute
Prereqs: Invocation of Sorcerous Will, Shield of the Unbreakable Mind

The martial artist refines his techniques, rendering his powers much more difficult to perceive.

Upon learning this Charm, the martial artist may pay a 2 mote surcharge when activating any other Charm in the style, reducing the effect from a blatant display of essence to a mere shimmer in the air.  A character can perceive the effects either with a Difficulty 5 Perception + Awareness roll, or with abilities to see dematerialized beings.  At Essence 5, the difficulty increases to 7, and the only magic that can perceive the effects freely are abilities that can see essence flows, such as All-Encompassing Sorcerer’s Sight.  This does not apply to any objects being manipulated, nor powers that have overt effects (such as Embracing the Violent Flow).  Attacks made against targets that cannot perceive the telekinetic attack are considered Unexpected (and possibly an Ambush if conditions warrant it).

Terrestrial: A Dragonblooded does not increase the difficulty past 5, and their telekinetic effects can always be perceived as dematerialized beings.


Invisible Mind-Hand Form
MA 4, Ess 2
10m
Simple, Scene
Keywords: Form, Terrestrial
Prereqs: Subtleties of Will

The martial artist weaves essence around himself, protecting him from harm and allowing him to focus freely to attack his foes.

The martial artist may flurry a Full Defense freely and without penalties with any other Combat action, including attacks.  The martial artist also ignores up to his Wits in penalties to his Defense, and adds his Essence to his Soak and Hardness, which does stack with armor.  Activating this Charm creates an equivalent effect to a burning anima, unless activated with Subtleties of Will.

Terrestrial: A Dragonblooded takes normal penalties when flurrying a Full Defense.


Mental Ascent Focus
MA 5, Ess 3
5m, 1w
Reflexive, Scene
Keywords: Terrestrial
Prereqs: Invisible Mind-Hand Form

The martial artist takes flight through the power of his mind.

The martial artist gains the ability to fly as if he had the 5 dot Wings merit, gained through mental focus and levitation.  The martial artist adds his Essence on all aerial movement and appropriate combat movement rolls, and cannot fly higher than Medium range unless moving towards a target at a higher range band.

Terrestrial:  This Charm is Perilous and ends if the stylist is crashed. He must pay 4 Initiative on each subsequent turn to maintain it.


Mind Shield Fortification Method
MA 5, Ess 3
4m, or 4m, 1w, or 4m, 1+i
Reflexive, Instant
Keywords: Terrestrial, Perilous
Prereqs: Invisible Mind-Hand Form

The martial artist focuses his will, strengthening his shields against any attack.

The martial artist may apply his Parry (using his Mind-Hand) against an unblockable attack for 4 motes.  For 4 motes and 1 willpower, the martial artist may completely parry an attack that does uncountable damage.  If the hazard is environmental or very large scale, the martial artist is protected against any ongoing aftereffects.  Finally, the martial artist may pay 4 motes and 1 Initiative per success removed on the damage roll from a Decisive attack.

Terrestrial: A Terrestrial cannot use this Charm against attacks that do uncountable damage.  A Drgonblooded also pays 2 Initiative per success removed from a Decisive damage roll, and cannot bring his Initiative below 1 from doing so.


Titan-Strangling Death Grip
MA 5, Ess 3
5m, 1w (+5m each round)
Supplemental, Varies
Keywords: Dual, Terrestrial, Mastery
Prereqs: Invisible Mind-Hand Form

The martial artist’s mastery of will and focus allows him to manipulate – or destroy – the largest of objects and foes.

The martial artist’s telekinesis can now be used against targets with Legendary Size, and is treated as if it had Legendary Size itself.  This means that the martial artist’s grapple control rolls can not be contested without appropriate magic.  Furthermore, the martial artist also adds his Willpower in dice of post-Soak withering damage, and adds his Essence dice of damage on decisive damage rolls.  When performing Feats of Strength or Demolition using Invocation of Sorcerous Will (or Charms it is boosting), he adds his Willpower in non-Charm successes on the roll, and also rerolls 10s.

At Essence 4, this Charm may be repurchased, removing the 5 mote per round cost.

Terrestrial: This Charm may not be repurchased.  In addition, a Dragonblooded only adds his Essence in post-Soak withering damage dice.

Mastery:  A Solar rerolls 1s and 10s on damage rolls and Feats of Strength or Demolition.


Imposition of Dominant Will
MA 5, Ess 4
10m, 1w (+5m each round)
Simple, Varies
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Terrestrial, Mastery, Perilous
Prereqs: Mental Ascent Focus, Mind Shield Fortification Method, Titan-Strangling Death Grip

The martial artist reaches out with his mind, and attacks his target directly, bypassing nearly all defenses.

The martial artist telekinetically attacks an opponent he can perceive clearly directly.  This can manifest as anything from strangling and choking to internal organs being crushed or worse.  If the attack is muted with Subtleties of Will, the target might not even realize where the attack is coming from.  This attack is unblockable and undodgeable, and is unrolled unless opposed with magic, and instead of rolling Initiative, the martial artist rolls his Willpower as dice of decisive damage, ignoring Hardness from armor or similar sources.  Even against targets with other sources of Hardness, the martial artist rolls a minimum of Essence dice.  If used with Titan-Strangling Death Grip, the damage bonuses apply normally.  After the martial artist ceases maintaining this Charm, he resets to base Initiative.

This Charm is only usable once per scene.

Terrestrial: This Charm’s base damage is the martial artist’s Essence rather than Willpower.

Mastery:  A Solar rolls his attack normally when activating this Charm, and gains his threshold successes as dice of damage for the following damage roll.
The All-Seeing Eye
GM, 163 posts
Sat 20 Apr 2024
at 16:57
  • msg #40

Verdigris Talon of Entropy Style

Here is Verdigris Talon of Entropy Style, a Sidereal style centered around poison and entropy.
_____________________________________________

Verdigris Talon of Entropy Style

Verdigris Talon of Entropy is a Sidereal Martial Art focused on poison, entropy and disorder.  Its stylists break down their opponents piece by piece, gaining strength the whole time.

Favored Abilities: Martial Artists who practice Verdigris Talon of Entropy favor Medicine, Resistance and Socialize.

Form Weapons and Armor:  Verdigris Talon of Entropy style is used unarmed, or with knives, hand or throwing needles, tiger claws, kama or hook swords, and their artifact equivalents.  The style’s strikes revolve around hooking, clawing and gouging their opponents, often in sensitive areas.  This style is compatible with light armor.

Unarmed strikes can always be stunted to do Lethal damage when enhanced by Charms of this Style.

These poisons can all be delivered outside of combat, using normal rules.

Charms:


Venom-Enhancing Essence Atemi
MA 3, Ess 3
5m
Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only
Prereqs: None

The Sidereal strikes pressure points and meridians on his opponent’s body, using his Essence to either enhance an existing poison, or just to poison the target directly.

When the Martial Artist strikes a poisoned target with this Charm, he forgoes all damage that would be done by the strike, and instead adds each success on his Initiative roll to the Duration of the poison.  If there are multiple poisons in the target’s system, the Martial Artist may divide up the extra Duration as he sees fit.  If the target is not poisoned, or the Martial Artist chooses not to enhance any existing poisons, the target is poisoned with a unique venom that has a damage (Martial Arts) Initiative (Lethal in Crash), and a Duration of (Essence + Successes on the Initiative roll) Rounds, which inflicts a penalty of (Essence).

Special Activation Rules:  Despite being a Simple Charm, this Charm can be comboed with any Martial Arts Charm that inflicts a poison, such as Flexing the Emerald Claw in Black Claw Style, Essence Venom Strike in Snake Style or other, similar Charms.


Cultivation of the Venom of Mind and Body
MA 4, Ess 3
7m
Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Enlightenment
Prereqs: Venom-Enhancing Essence Atemi

The Sidereal learns to use his Essence to break and destroy the minds and bodies of those he targets.

On a decisive attack, the Martial Artist can poison either the mind or body of his opponent, using one of the following two poisons.

Mind-Wrack Venom: Developed from the study of winds and rains of Hegra, the Typhoon of Nightmares, this poison attacks the mind, doing 1 Willpower (Aggravated in Crash) damage with a Duration of (the Martial Artist’s Willpower) turns, and a penalty of -2 to all mental and perception-related tasks, as the target’s mind becomes foggy and his senses become disordered and chaotic.  This poison is resisted with Wits+Integrity rather than Stamina+Resistance, though anti-poison Charms can still be used as normal.

Bone-Spur Growth Toxin: Developed from the study of Metagaos, the All-Hunger Blossom, this toxin drives the body to increased calcified growths along its bones.  The poison has a damage of 3i (Aggravated in Crash), Duration of (Essence) rounds, and a penalty of (Essence + rounds of damage).

Enlightenment: When a Sidereal uses this Charm with Venom-Enhancing Essence Atemi, he can add each of these poisons to that Charm’s effect for a 2 mote surcharge each.


Poisoning the Winds of Fate
MA 4, Ess 3
10m, 1w
Scene, Simple
Keywords: Enlightenment, Mute
Prereqs: Venom-Enhancing Essence Atemi

The Sidereal unleashes a poison on the very winds of fate, causing bad luck for any of his enemies who are close enough.

While this Charm is active, anyone hostile to the Martial Artist or his allies within Medium Range has any ones on his or her die rolls take away successful dice, starting with any 10s and working down.  If this takes away all successes, this is treated as a botch on the roll, and should have appropriate dramatic consequences.  While this will not directly effect this Sidereal or his allies, botches should serve to make any scenes it happens in more interesting.  Charms that reroll 1s neutralize this effect.

At Essence 5, this Charm’s range extends to Long Range, and at Essence 6+, the area of effect extends to Extreme Range.

Enlightenment: A Sidereal also applies this effect to damage rolls made against him or his allies.


Verdigris Talon of Entropy Form
MA 4, Ess 4
15m, 1w
Scene, Simple
Keywords: Form, Dual, Enlightenment
Prereqs: Cultivation of the Venom of Mind and Body, Poisoning the Winds of Fate

The Sidereal adopts an aggressive stance, hands curled into claws, ready to tear his opponents apart.

When in Verdigris Talon of Entropy Form, the Martial Artist gains the following benefits:

The Martial Artist gains any lost Initiative, Health Levels (healing existing damage), or Willpower (which can only be spent on Verdigris Talon of Entropy Charms) due to his poisons.

For every 3 successes on a Withering damage roll or 1 level of Decisive damage from an attack, he can extend the duration of a poison the target is suffering from by one round.

If Poisoning the Winds of Fate is active, the Martial Artist also gains 1 Initiative for each success lost from that Charm’s effect, to a maximum of (Essence) Initiative each round.

The Martial Artist also bypasses up to (Essence) Hardness from his targets.

Special Activation Rules: The martial artist may reflexively enter Verdigris Talon of Entropy Form when either inflicting an opponent with a poison, or when an opponent takes damage from a poison of the Martial Artist.

Enlightenment:  A Sidereal can gain up to Essence -0 Health Levels over his maximum by damaging others with his poisons.  These health levels are the first ones damaged in any attack.  In addition, the Sidereal may gain up to his Essence Willpower over his maximum, that may be spent on any Charms, not just Charms of this Style.


Cultivation of the Venom of the Soul
MA 5, Ess 4
15m, 1w
Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Enlightenment, Shaping (Soul)
Prereqs: Verdigris Talon of Entropy Form

The Sidereal learns to poison the soul, turning love to hate, friends to enemies and a person against the very things he cares about the most.

The Martial Artist gains access to the following poison, and may poison a target with it on a successful Decisive attack.

Malignant Soul-Inversion Toxin: Developed from the study of the liquid shadows of the Ebon Dragon’s gallery of captured and broken souls, this poison is insidious.  Instead of causing damage and penalties, this poison inverts the context of an Intimacy.  A positive Intimacy becomes negative, or vice versa.  This poison has a Duration of the Martial Artist’s Essence days, and is resisted with Wits+Integrity.  If the martial artist knows of a specific Intimacy of this target, he may target that Intimacy, otherwise the toxin starts with a random Intimacy.  Defining Intimacies have priority, otherwise a Major Intimacy will be targeted.  Minor Intimacies are only targeted if no others are available.

This Charm may only be used once per day.

Enlightenment: A Sidereal may apply Malignant Soul-Inversion Toxin with Venom-Enhancing Essence Atemi with a 5 mote, 1 Willpower surcharge.


Curse of the Pattern Spider
MA 5, Ess 4
20m, 1w (1 mote per Size of the group affected or Essence of an individual target committed)
Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Shaping (Fate), Enlightenment
Prereqs: Verdigris Talon of Entropy Form

Mimicking the effects of Pattern Spider Bite, the Sidereal poisons an entire organization, turning it against itself and its leader.

The Martial Artist touches the thread of fate of an organization, and delivers an insidious and virulent poison to the group, affecting the weakest-willed first, and building up to affect even the group’s leaders.

Thread-Eating Spider Venom: This poison acts in a similar manner to Malignant Soul-Inversion Toxin, except it merely exacerbates existing negative character traits, and it spreads over time, before burning itself out against the stronger wills of a group’s leaders.  This has the effect of increasing the time of each project the group works on by one step, and increases the target number of any roll to direct or control the group by its leaders by 1.

The Martial Artist rolls the higher of (Dexterity or Manipulation) + Martial Arts against the Size of the group to be affected.  If a group has more than one thousand members, add one to the Difficulty for each additional thousand members.  For every threshold success, Thread-Eating Spider Venom persists for one month.

Alternatively, the Martial Artist may target a leader of a group, using normal poison delivery methods or a Decisive attack.  The poison delivered causes no damage, has a Duration of (the Martial Artist’s Essence + Willpower) and causes a +1 target number to all of the target’s actions.  This is resisted with Wits + Integrity by the target, or by magic like Destiny-Manifesting Method.

This Charm may only be used once per day.

Enlightenment: A Sidereal can stack uses of this Charm up to Essence times.  Each use increases the target number of affected rolls by 1, to a maximum of 10.  If the target number of a roll is 10, 10s are no longer doubled.  For an organization or group with TN 10 to affect, the group starts tearing itself apart, as petty jealousies and hatreds are frayed to the breaking point.  The exact effects this will have depend on the group and its goals, but this can lead to the loss of dots Influence, Resources, Backing and similar Merits.  After the poison wears off, these dots can be recovered through the rebuilding of the group or organization.


Essence of Final Viridescence
MA 5, Ess 5
20m, 3w, 1AHL
Instant, Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Enlightenment
Prereqs: Cultivation of the Venom of the Soul, Curse of the Pattern Spider

The Sidereal concentrates his essence into a nearly undetectable shard that mimics the poisonous light of Ligier, and delivers a poison so deadly that even the hardiest of Exalted fall before it.

The Martial Artist creates a shard of poisonous Essence that can then be delivered into the target in any number of ways, including a normal Decisive attack, as an aerosol or in food or drink.

Viridescent Finality:  The difficulty to detect this poison is equal to the Martial Artist’s (Essence + the higher of (Martial Arts or Medicine)).  The poison dissolves into the target’s Essence flows, burning them apart slowly from the inside.  The Duration is Indefinite Hours, with a damage of 1 Aggravated.  The penalty increases by one for each level of damage done, and starts at -0.  In addition, this slows any magical healing that might occur by a factor of the Martial Artist’s (Essence + level of penalty inflicted).  Within a time frame of the first (victim’s Essence) hours, the shard can be removed with a Difficulty 7 Medicine roll that inflicts one level of Aggravated damage on the victim.  For each success this roll is failed by, the victim suffers a level of Lethal damage.  After that time frame, this difficulty increased by 1 per point of penalty the victim is suffering from.  Being within Short Range of a victim of Viridescent Finality becomes increasingly deadly.  The victim is the focal point of an environmental hazard that inflicts 5L, with a Difficulty equal to the current penalty of the victim.

The Shard of Viridescent Finality, once created, decays over the span of one month.

Enlightenment:  The Shard of Viridescent Finality does not decay.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:59, Sat 20 Apr.
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