Revision as of 06:05, 30 May 2006

Merciless Fiend Style

A Celestial Martial Art by DeadManSeven.

Introduction

Something with lashings of the old ultra-violence. The focus here was making a style that revolved around causing pain, and lots of it. Also, you can never have enough Abyssal-flavoured styles. There's probably some very horrible things you can do with a character who knows both this style and Abyssal Brawl - being designed to hurt things and break people, they should get some bennies for this style that aren't available to other Exalts (apart from those cheating Eclipses, of course).

Background

This style has only recently come into being, developed by the deathknight Prophet of Blasphemous Wisdom, to aid his breaking of the bodies and spirits of enemies. Characters using tiger claws are counted as being unarmed for the purposes of the Charms in this style; Abyssals often use jagged knives, wicked curving hooks, and scythes in addition to claws, but the statistics for all are identical. Also, natural weaponry granted by Abyssal Charms (such as Five Knife Strike, Writhing Blood Chain Technique, and Bone Arsenal Method) does not interfere with using Charms of this style. The Form and all Charms following it cannot be used while wearing armour.

Charms

        Crimson      Searing
          Haze        Pain
              \      Strike
               \    /
                Body-          Terror-
              Breaking        Inciting
               Stance          Visage
                    \         /
                     Merciless
              -------- Fiend --------
             /         Form          \`
            /         /    \          \`
           /     Cruel      Hopeless   \`
          /   Dislocation     Mien      \`
  Salt-in-      Strike    Countenance    Death
   Wound           |           |        Embrace
Observation      Bone-     Heartless     Method
          \    Snapping      Killer      /
           \  Technique      Stance     /
            \        \      /          /
             \        Deadly          / 
              ---- Executioner's -----
                       Grasp

(For a non-ASCII Charm tree, click here.)

Cost: 2 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts: 2

Minimum Essence: 1

Prerequisites: none

Aiming her attack with a flourish, the martial artist obscures her opponent's vision with a gout of blood. For her Essence in turns, her opponent loses one die from all attacks, parries, and Awareness rolls. Multiple uses of this Charm are cumulative (even when making multiple attacks in the same turn), but the total penalty on any pool cannot exceed the character's Essence.

Cost: 3 motes per wound penalty increase

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 3

Minimum Essence: 1

Prerequisites: none

The martial artist learns where best to aim her blows to inflict the maximum amount of pain. Upon damaging an opponent, a character may choose to activate this Charm. Each use raises her opponent's wound penalties, to a maximum of either her Essence or the number of health levels her enemy has lost, whichever is lower. The essence spent to fuel this Charm remains committed until the character wishes to ease her enemy's suffering, at which point her opponent's wound penalties return to normal.

Cost: 5 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 3

Minimum Essence: 2

Prerequisites: Crimson Haze, Searing Pain Strike

The character's killer instinct rises to the surface, attacking the vital points of her opponents with the sole intention of ending life. All her unarmed attacks deal lethal damage.

Cost: 3 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts: 2

Minimum Essence: 1

Prerequisites: none

Upon striking her opponent, the martial artist offers him a glimpse of her true nature. Her face distorts into an unholy expression, clearly belonging to only an evil being. So disturbing is this image that it burns itself into the mind of her enemy, distracting him and filling him with dread. Anyone struck by an attack augmented by Terror-Inciting Visage loses the character's Essence from their initiative for the rest of the scene. This Charm can only be used a number of times against one opponent in a scene equal to the character's Martial Arts rating.

Cost: 6 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 4

Minimum Essence: 2

Prerequisites: Searing Pain Strike, Terror-Inciting Visage

The character is surrounded by a brief flash of dark energy as she activates the Merciless Fiend Form. Her eyes narrow like those of a stalking cat; she no longer sees people before her, only prey. All those who face her do not doubt that they stand before a merciless killer. Any who attempt to attack her find their blows being stopped by the Merciless Fiend's lightning-fast counterstrikes, breaking fists and mauling legs, while she remains unharmed, ready for more bloodshed.

While this Charm is active, all the character's unarmed parries are also considered attacks, with base damage of her Essence. If the character completely parries an attack (removing all successes her enemy rolled), she uses her remaining successes as an attack against that enemy (parries that leave the character with zero dice to attack still deal base damage). Charms that assist parries or attacks may be used to aid the character's parries.

This is a Martial Arts form Charm. Only one Form Charm may be active at any time.

Cost: 6 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 4

Minimum Essence: 3

Prerequisites: Merciless Fiend Form

With a glance, the character notices all the wounds of her opponent, and lands her attacks to maximise the extent of her enemy's injuries. She adds the wound penalties of any opponent in dice to her pool to attack him.

Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 4

Minimum Essence: 2

Prerequisites: Merciless Fiend Form

The martial artist launches herself at an enemy, swift and as unexpected as death itself. She can, without the need for a roll, grab an opponent in a clinch (doing no damage). This is a perfect attack. The martial artist cannot attempt to damage her opponent, and her opponent may not attempt to escape or control the clinch until the next turn (without the use of Charms). This Charm can be used when the character is already controlling a clinch to prevent her opponent from escaping.

Cost: 3 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 2

Prerequisites: Merciless Fiend Form

Striking with deadly accuracy, the martial artist dislocates part of her enemy's body. This has differing effects, depending on where the character chooses to aim her attack. Dislocating a wrist means the opponent loses the use of a hand, usually dropping anything the hand held. They may also suffer an off-hand penalty when using their remaining hand, depending on which hand is rendered useless. With both wrists dislocated, the character cannot attempt tasks involving manual dexterity without an impressive stunt, and loses two dice from all parries. Dislocating an arm causes the opponent to lose two dice from Athletics pools, and one from attack and parry pools. These effects are cumulative if two arms are dislocated. Striking an enemy's knee or ankle halves their movement rate (rounded down). Characters with both their legs impaired can only hobble their Dexterity in yards each turn, and lose two dice from all Dodge rolls.

In order to fix the damage done through this Charm, the character must drive the dislocated part of his body back into place (or have someone else assist him). This process involves inflicting one automatic level of bashing damage per re-aligned joint, and takes up a dice action (although could be reflexive as part of a stunt). While popping a joint back into place can be done in the heat of combat, it is often excruciatingly painful.

This Charm can be performed while controlling a clinch.

Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 3

Prerequisites: Cruel Dislocation Strike

The character's fists blur, connecting with her enemy with a sickening crunch. If the martial artist deals lethal damage equal to or greater than her opponent's Essence, she can reflexively activate this Charm, breaking one of his bones. Each use of Bone-Snapping Technique subtracts one die from the opponent's physical dice pools, and adds one to his wound penalties (both up to a limit of the character's Essence). Effects caused by this Charm will persist as long as the character's injuries remain. Injuries caused when this Charm is activated take twice as long to heal; mortals have very little chance of being able to heal the damage completely without immediate medical attention. This Charm can be used while controlling a clinch.

Cost: 6 motes, 1 health level

Duration: Instant

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 4

Minimum Essence: 3

Prerequisites: Merciless Fiend Form

An enemy meets the eyes of the Merciless Fiend, and loses the will to continue, knowing he cannot best such a terrible foe. Roll the character's Essence; each success subtracts a point of temporary Willpower. The character can't remove more points than her Essence.

Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 3

Prerequisites: Hopeless Mien Countenance

The martial artist takes the life of one of her enemies, and all those that face her witness that she truly a predator to be feared. Their resolve weakens and their blood runs cold, while the Merciless Fiend revels in her carnage.

Upon killing an opponent, the character may activate this Charm, forcing all around her to make a Valor or Conviction roll (player's choice). The successes they roll are now the rating of that Virtue for the rest of the scene. Any temporary points of Virtues above the adjusted rating are lost. Lost points, both permanent and temporary, return at the rate of one per day.

Some particularly strong-willed individuals are instead not disheartened by the character's display, but inspired to face her despite her bestial actions. It is possible for a character watching the martial artist to roll more successes than he has points in the Virtue he rolls: in this case, he gains +1 to his Conviction or Valor, and his temporary rating for that Virtue is restored to full. This effect too fades after a day (though only the additional temporary Virtue point disappears: any others that were regained through this Charm, provided they were not spent over the course of the day, remain). No character can increase his Virtues by more than one point through the effects of this Charm. Characters with a Conviction or Valor rating of one cannot increase their Virtues temporarily, regardless of what they roll.

Any who willingly ally themselves with the character have the choice to look away when this Charm is activated; some observe her destructive nature in the hopes it will inspire them, but most witnessing the use of the Heartless Killer Stance lose their nerve and will just like her enemies.

Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal health level

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental (Reflexive)

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 4

Prerequisites: Salt-In-Wound Observation, Death Embrace Method, Bone-Snapping Technique, Heartless Killer Stance

Holding an enemy prone, the martial artist ends his life in a horrific visceral display, staining her with blood. This Charm can only be used in a clinch. The character's attack deals aggravated damage. If her enemy is killed, she regains either her Essence or number of health levels of damage inflicted in motes of essence, whichever is higher. This Charm can destroy spirits and Fair Folk; mortals and Exalts slain with this Charm cannot have their higher or lower souls become active after their death. Everyone witnessing this death - friend and foe alike - must succeed in a Willpower roll against standard difficulty, or lose those their action for the following turn. Such is the brutality of the Merciless Fiend's attack.

If this Charm is performed on an extra, no roll is needed: the extra simply dies. Also, in this case, the Charm is Reflexive, not Supplemental.

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