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TECHNIQUES: THE ILLUMINATED ORDER OF THE MARTIAL ARTS

There are hundreds of Martial Arts Styles spread across Creation. Most are taught by only a few masters, and every generation Styles vanish, and new Styles are created. Many soldiers learn at least the basic of the martial arts, although the dedication required for true understanding keeps them out of the hands of most.

The Dynasty of the Scarlet Empire does not allow the unrestricted spreading of martial arts. Instead, only those styles based on emulation of the Elemental Dragons are considered to be acceptable, and even then only to either members of the nobility, or religious monks. A peasant learning the martial arts is demonstrating a desire to rise above his station, and is harshly punished. Attempting to teach martial arts to the peasantry is grounds for execution. However, in the Threshold, many nations have little control over the spread of the martial arts, and the Styles flourish.

The Underpinnings of Enlightenment

The Martial Arts are developped by combining understandings about the primal nature of the world. Learning these things lends a character great destructive power, for it is always easier to destroy than to create. However, the Martial Arts are not exclusively about combat, and those who are skilled in their uses possess many skills.

Every Martial Art is constructed from the inter-relation of five Principles, as follows:

1) Destruction. Each Martial Art is based around one of Archery, Brawl, Melee, or Thrown. This Ability forms the root of the character's fighting prowess, and although other fighting Abilities may appear further, this one is the most commonly used by a given Martial Artist.

2) Body. All Martial Arts require refinement of the body or mind. Each Martial Art is attuned to one of the nine Attributes.

3) Soul. Every Martial Art also requires great spiritual power, and developping that power is one of the most trying tasks of a Martial Art. Most Martial Arts require one of the four Virtues as their Soul Prime, but some require Willpower, and a few require one of the four Vices to be prevalent in the character.

4) Mind. Connecting the three other Principles are the character's other capabilities. This reflects itself as any two Abilities, each of which becomes a Principle. Any Ability may be chosen, as long as it is not the same Ability used for the Destruction Principle. It is rare, although possible, for a second combat Ability to be chosen. Three combat Abilities may NOT be chosen.

In theory, if you combine the same five Principles, you will always reach the same Martial Art. Its name may be changed, but its underlying concepts will not. In addition, if a Martial Art shares enough Principles with another Martial Art, it can be easy for a student to progress along both.

If it seems limiting that there can only be one Martial Art for each combination, remember that this amounts to a grand total of over 86,000 possible Styles that do not use the Vices, plus close to another 70,000 that do. It is unlikely that more than a couple thousand exist in Creation, and they can spread as far or as little as the Storyteller desires.

The Four Tiers of the Martial Arts

Stepping onto the path of the Martial Arts is simple, but carrying that path through is difficult in the extreme. To reflect this, for each Martial Art that a player might learn, they will grow from Student, to Adept, to Master, before finally attaining the Pinnacle.

At each tier, a character learns a Form; the embodiment of the Style. A Form is a Scene-length Charm, always Simple, that provides certain benefits. As a character advances in a Martial Art, the Speed of their Form decreases, and the Form either grows more powerful or requires much less Essence to activate. A character may only have one Form at a time active. She may choose to activate a less-powerful version of her Form in order to fool observers; a Perception + Essence roll (difficulty of 5 - the number of Tiers the character is not using) will allow them to realize she is holding back, but not how far.

Student

The Student Form is the easiest to learn. Nearly anyone can possess the skill to learn it, although its power is relatively limited. It is not uncommon to encounter those who have reached the Student Form of a Martial Art; many guardsmen, soldiers, and noblemen progress this far without too much effort. Once a character has learned the Student Form, she may also learn Student Techniques - these are generally instant-duration, low-cost, and straightforward effects.

All techniques of a Student Form are based around the inter-relation of two of the Five Principles of that Martial Art. If a character knows multiple Student Forms, and they share Principles, she may use any Technique whose Principles are in both Forms as a Technique of both Forms.

Example: Seven Swords Falling is a student of Raging Tiger Style (Brawl, Valor, Strength, Presence, Dodge) and Lashing Tempest Style (Thrown, Valor, Wits, Presence, Dodge). He may use any Technique that uses Presence and Dodge as its Principles as a Student Technique for both Raging Tiger and Lashing Tempest; his other Techniques may only be used for the Style with which they were purchased.

In order to learn the Student Form of a Martial Art, the character must have all of its Principles rated at 2 (which the exception of Willpower, which, if present, must be rated at 4.) Characters may not learn a Student Form without a tutor, unless they are creating it from scratch (see Creating Styles, below). Characters who attempt to develop Student Techniques without a tutor do so at x4 training time, and must pay 12 XP per Technique.

Adept

As a character gains skill, she begins to understand the ways that make her Martial Art more special. Fewer people possess the dedication necessary for the Adept Form, although it is still seen among many officers and skilled warriors and scholars. Characters who learn the Adept Form soon learn Adept Techniques, which have either greater power, or greater duration than their Student counterparts, and which can become increasingly esoteric in nature.

Adept Techniques are based around the inter-relation of three of the Martial Art's five Principles. In order to learn a given Adept Technique, a character must know both the Adept Form AND at least one Student Technique that uses each Principle involved in the Adept Technique. As with Student Techniques, if an Adept Technique shares all three of its Principles with another Form, it may be used as either form. This is, however, less common.

In order to learn the Adept Form of a Martial Art, the character must have all of its Principles rated at 3 (which the exception of Willpower which, if present, must be rated at 6.) In addition, a character must have at least 2 Student Techniques that use the Principles of the Martial Art, and must have the Student Form of that Martial Art. Finally, she must have attained Essence 2. Characters who attempt to self-teach themselves the Adept Form, or who try to develop an Adept Technique, do so at x4 training time and must pay 12 XP per Technique. However, once a character knows the Adept Form, she may self-teach Student Techniques to herself at x2 training time and pay only 11 XP per Technique.

Master

The furthest that most martial artists ever reach, the Master Form requires intimate understanding and exceptional dedication to the Martial Art. Most people, even those who are skilled, are more likely to simply remain at the Adept level in multiple Styles, rather than dedicating themselves as needed to the Principles of a single Style. With the Master Form comes the powerful Master Techniques, which continue to build on the principles of earlier lessons.

Master Techniques are based around the inter-relation of four of the Martial Art's five Principles. In order to learn a given Master Technique, a character must know both the Master Form AND at least one Adept Technique that uses each Principle involved in the Master Technique. As with Student and Adept Techniques, if a Master Technique shares all four of its Principles with another Form, it may be used as either form. Few Styles have this level of inter-connectedness, and this is seen most often in Masters who have founded their own Style.

In order to learn the Master Form of a Martial Art, the character must have all of its Principles rated at 4 (which the exception of Willpower which, if present, must be rated at 7.) In addition, a character must have at least 3 Adept Techniques that use the Principles of the Martial Art, and must have the Adept Form of that Martial Art. Finally, she must have attained Essence 4. Characters who attempt to self-teach themselves the Master Form, or who try to develop an Master Technique, do so at x2 training time and must pay 11 XP per Technique. However, once a character knows the Master Form, she may self-teach Adept Techniques to herself at x2 training time and normal XP cost, and may self-teach Student Techniques as though she had a tutor; the principles of her Style are clear to her.

Pinnacle

Legendary among the circles of the martial arts are those rare breeds who develop the Pinnacle Form of a Martial Art, for they truly understand the concepts that embody their Styles. Those who have the talent to develop a Pinnacle Form often develop two or three Forms that interconnect, as well as Mastering a half-dozen more and having some knowledge of even more beyond that. Pinnacle Techniques are awesome to behold, but too costly to use in most confrontations.

There are very few Pinnacle Techniques for each Style. These Techniques each rely on the inter-connectedness of every one of the Five Principles, and in order to learn them, the character must have mastered Pinnacle Form. Pinnacle Techniques cannot share their Principles with other Styles, and thus cannot be shared.

To learn Pinnacle Form, a character must be a paragon of her Form. All of her Principles must be rated at 5 (Willpower must be rated 10), she must know Master Form and four Master Techniques, with every Principle of her Style used at least once, and she must be Essence 6. Pinnacle Form must be self-taught; tutors are useless. Even then, it is at x4 training time and costs 12 XP. Pinnacle Techniques may be taught by another master or a tutoring manual, if such exists; otherwise, they require x4 training time and 11 XP each. Master Techniques may now be self-taught at x2 training time and no increased cost, and both Adept and Student Techniques may be self-taught as easily as if the character were being tutored.

Combos

Characters may form Combos of their Martial Arts Techniques. They may freely Combo any Technique that has the appropriate keywords, following all of the rules for Combo creation in Exalted: Second Edition, with the following exceptions:

1) The cost of each Combo is equal to 1 bonus point per Technique during character creation, or 1 experience per tier of each Technique in the Combo during experience (1 for Student, 2 for Adept, 3 for Master, 4 for Pinnacle).

2) Characters may add Techniques to their Combos after they are created, at an experience cost equal to the tier of the Technique.

3) No Combo may ever include more than (Essence x2) Techniques; more Techniques are more complicated than a character can manage.

Creating new Styles

A character who develops sufficient skill with a Style may alter it, creating new Styles. It is in this way that most of the Styles of Creation were developped, or rediscovered.

In order to create a Style, a character must possess the Master Form of an existing Martial Art. She may choose a single Principle of that Martial Art and change it to anything else within its category. She then self-teaches herself the Student Form of this new Style; this requires a full month of training and costs 12 XP. The character is then considered to be a Student of the new Style. She may possess enough Student Techniques to immediately self-teach herself Adept Form, in which case she progresses exactly as a new Student of the Style would. Once she reaches Master Form in the new Style, she may alter a different Principle, creating a third Martial Art, and so on.

Example: Studious Lark is a Master of the Faded Moon Style (Perception, Brawl, Temperance, Stealth, Awareness). He chooses to create a new Student Form, and alters Stealth to Presence, renaming it Glowing Moon Style (Perception, Brawl, Temperance, Presence, Awareness). Studious Lark already has three Techniques that combine Perception, Brawl, Temperance, and Awareness, so he easily progresses through the Adept and Master Forms of his new Style, and begins teaching it.

Later, one of Lark's students, Shameless Lu, becomes a master himself, and decides that this style is too passive for him. He creates a new style, Falling Star Style (Perception, Brawl, Valor, Presence, Awareness). He too quickly progresses, and begins teaching his Style in opposition to Lark's. Ultimately, his proves the more popular Style, and Lark departs the land.

Still later, Shameless Lu becomes bored and decides to continue his transformation of the style. He replaces Perception with Strength, creating Diving Eagle Style (Strength, Brawl, Valor, Presence, Awareness). His newest Style bears little resemblance to the Faded Moon Style from which it grew; only Brawl and Awareness remain constant. And that is just how Lu prefers it.

Comments

I think this should make for an interesting system. Thoughts?