Revision as of 17:18, 16 September 2005

Moth and Bonfire Style

• back to Oneironaut, which doesn't actually exist at the moment.
• back to MartialArts.
• back to CelestialMartialArts.

With respect to Rebecca Bergstrom:

The wise fighter fears practitioners of the Moth and Bonfire Style because they are dangerous to attack and impossible not to, making them undefeatable!

This is a primarily combat-focused martial art, but it rewards characters who have high social stats, and some characters may be able to find out-of-combat uses for some of the charms, or ways to use them to stop fights entirely. It is less high-concept than a Sidereal art, but most of its effects are still fairly exotic; it is probably most effective in combination with a more practical style -- I wrote it with a character who practices Violet Bier of Sorrows Style in mind. This style is light on defensive charms and heavy on charms that encourage or force other characters to attack the user, so defensive charms from other trees are more or less a must.

Charms of this style treat attacks with swords and fans as unarmed, and are incompatible with armor. It is Celestial level, but, at the Storyteller's discretion, its charms may be considered both wood and fire aspected for the purposes of Dragon-Blooded; a pair of Terrestrial initiations to accomplish the same thing are forthcoming for people who like that notion but are not using that rule.

I originally posted this style on the RPGnet forum, in this thread. This revision is the product of the advice of FourWillowsWeeping and RPGnet's Similarian, damian4242 and TygerTyger (whose wiki handles, if any, I do not know), and I extend my thanks to all of them.

Charm Diagram

http://www.voidstate.com/perm/tree_mothandbonfire.jpg

Charms

Stoking-the-Embers Meditation</b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min. Martial Arts: 2
Min. Essence: 1
Prerequisite Charms: None

The martial artist learns to control the passions and frustrations of battle, and transmutes them into greater effectiveness on the field. He activates this charm after an attack on him and his defense, if any, are resolved, and receives (Essence) additional dice on his next Martial Arts or Dodge action. The effects of this charm are cumulative with those of other die adders, subject to pool enhancement limits.

False Moon Provocation</b>

<b>Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min. Martial Arts: 3
Min. Essence: 1
Prerequisite Charms: Stoking-the-Embers Meditation

The martial artist abruptly commands all the attention of his target, drawing an attack intended for someone else. It must typically be a hand-to-hand attack, in which case the martial artist must be in hand-to-hand range, but a stunt or other mitigating circumstance such as proximity may enable this charm to 'steal' ranged attacks as well. The stolen attack is considered a moth attack (see below); otherwise, it is resolved in all respects like a normal attack directed at the martial artist, who may respond to it in any or all ways available to him.

Gratitude-Kindling Feint</b>

<b>Cost: 2 motes per die
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Min. Martial Arts: 2
Min. Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Stoking-the-Embers Meditation

Just as his blow connects with an enemy, the martial artist pulls it; having been shown such mercy, the target finds his subsequent attacks against the martial artist enfeebled by pangs of conscience. This charm is invoked after the attack it supplements is soaked; for each two motes committed to the charm, subtract one die from the resulting damage pool. This charm can reduce an attack's damage below ping. For each die so removed, raise the difficulty of the target's attacks on him by one. This difficulty modifier degrades by one every following turn, freeing two motes of the essence committed to the charm per reduction. Multiple applications of Gratitude-Kindling Feint are cumulative, but the total penalty may never exceed (the user's Charisma).

Moth and Bonfire Form</b>

<b>Cost: 4 motes +1 per character, 1 willpower
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 4
Min. Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Gratitude-Kindling Feint, False Moon Provocation

The movements of the Moth and Bonfire Form are ripplingly graceful and beguile the eye. When activating this charm, the user selects at least one other character and commits one mote above the base cost of the charm for each; attacks on these characters suffer a die pool penalty of (user's Appearance) as long as the martial artist is visible to the attacker and has line-of-sight to the warded character. Warded characters who move out of line of sight lose this protection, but regain it as soon as they meet the criterion again. The mote committed for a given ward is immediately freed if that character dies. Because this protection relies on the martial artist calling attention to himself, it cannot be applied to him.

The weapons and extremities of characters attacking the martial artist come away glowing with Essence-fueled heat. Attackers receive a cumulative -1 penalty to future attack pools for every hand-to-hand attack they make that connects with the martial artist, be it successful or parried; attacks that are dodged do not incur this penalty. For every turn in which a character suffering this effect does not attack the Moth and Bonfire stylist hand-to-hand, the penalty decreases by one; if they attack no one at all hand-to-hand, the penalty vanishes entirely.

While under the influence of this charm, the martial artist may deal and parry lethal damage unarmed. Moth and Bonfire Form is incompatible with armor and other form-type charms.

Eyes in Darkness Defense</b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min. Martial Arts: 4
Min. Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Moth and Bonfire Form

Even the opponents who do not approach him directly light up as they near the martial artist. He may activate this charm in response to any hand-to-hand attack he would not ordinarily be sufficiently aware of to defend against at full capability, such as an attack from behind or by an ambusher. This attack becomes a moth attack, and the martial artist is, by definition, fully aware of it, such that he is able to defend against it as though it were any normal attack.

Collapsing Pyre Evasion</b>

<b>Cost: 5 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min. Martial Arts: 4
Min. Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Eyes in Darkness Defense

Searing Essence eddies in the wake of the martial artist's movements. This charm supplements a dodge or parry roll, and may be invoked after the roll has been made. It creates an environmental damage effect which only the attacker who provoked the relevant defense roll suffers. The difficulty to resist this effect is (martial artist's Essence). An attacker who successfully resists suffers damage equal to the extra successes on the defense roll; one who fails the resistance roll suffers damage equal to the total successes on the defense roll. This damage is soaked as normal, but is rolled rather than applied directly, unlike most environmental damage.

Furious Fascination Mudra</b>

<b>Cost: 5 motes
Duration: (Essence x 2) turns
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 4
Min. Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Moth and Bonfire Form

A gesture from the martial artist clouds his target's vision with adoration and rage. This charm is effective only against characters who can see the user. The martal artist rolls his Manipulation + Martial Arts, opposed by the target's Willpower; for each success he rolls, if any, over the target's, the target loses one die on all rolls to defend against attacks from characters other than the martial artist. This Manipulation + Martial Arts roll is a non-damaging attack, and may be enhanced by charms.

Hypnotic Flicker Gesture</b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Furious Fascination Mudra

The martial artist describes a captivating pattern in the air with hand or weapon. The target of this charm must succeed on a Willpower roll of difficulty (Manipulation) or spend a dice action in contemplation of the kata. He may still take multiple actions or use extra action charms; for the purposes of the action consumed, this charm overrides extra action charms that specify what the extra actions they create must be used for. On a botch, the target may take only defensive and reflexive actions until his initiative comes up again, and those only at -(Manipulation) dice.

An Essence-using target who fails the Willpower roll may make a reflexive Wits + Lore roll of standard difficulty to decipher the pattern and absorb one mote of the three used to create it; this roll is not subject to the above penalty. Only one mote can be gained this way per use of the charm. However, the target receives +1 die on this roll for every such roll this charm has caused them to make previously in the scene.

Scorched Wing Dissuasion</b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Moth and Bonfire Form

The martial artist may activate this charm whenever a character who has attacked him earlier in the scene attempts to move out of hand-to-hand range of him. He receives an immediate reflexive attack on that character at his full Martial Arts pool, which is resolved as a counterattack. If the attack deals any damage, only movement created (rather than enhanced) by a charm or the actions of another character (such as knockback, or the martial artist walking away) can move the target out of hand-to-hand range that turn. If the attack connects but deals no damage, the target's wound penalties, if any, are doubled for the purposes of movement for the rest of the turn.

Irresistable Conflagration Stance</b>

<b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Eyes in Darkness Defense, Furious Fascination Mudra, Scorched Wing Dissuasion

Before the moth, surrendering itself, can reach the embers, flames lick up to consume it. For the rest of the scene, enemies within (Essence) yards of the Moth and Bonfire master who take any attack actions in a given turn must succeed at a Temperance roll of difficulty (Charisma / 2, round up) each turn or devote one such action that turn to attacking the martial artist, splitting their die pools or activating charms as necessary if they want to take more than one action. This is called a moth attack. The first attack on him each turn by any opponent in range who was going to attack the martial artist anyway and fails the Temperance roll is also considered a moth attack.

The martial artist's heightened awareness of these moth attacks enters the realm of the supernatural, enabling him to respond to any or all of them, even one created by another charm, with a counterattack at his full Martial Arts pool, which is resolved after the moth attack is declared but before said attack is rolled. In other respects this is treated like a normal counterattack, except that if it kills the moth, the moth attack is never rolled. Characters killed by these counterattacks combust; their souls will not walk as ghosts nor their bodies as zombies.

Comments

Neat style. I like the theme for this one. It's different, but in a cool way. But simple.

• Collapsing Pyre Evasion:What is rolled to resist this. Sta+Resistance? Also: Soaked only by natural soak?

I would change the last paragraph of Irresistable Conflagration Stance to : Moth Attack:Several charms of this style attract attacks to the Martial Artist. These are called moth attacks. The martial artist's heightened awareness of these moth attacks enters the realm of the supernatural, enabling him to respond to any or all of them, even one created by another charm, with a counterattack at his full Martial Arts pool, which is resolved after the moth attack is declared but before said attack is rolled. In other respects this is treated like a normal counterattack, except that if it kills the moth, the moth attack is never rolled. Characters killed by these counterattacks combust; their souls will not walk as ghosts nor their bodies as zombies. Mainly so the defintion is more visually distictive. -FlowsLikeBits

Collapsing Pyre Evasion: The text reads that it supplements a dodge or parry action, so shouldn't it be supplemental. To have it reflexive implies that it could be used even if no active defense were rolled, though I guess keeping it as reflexive makes it easier to combo with other abilities... -Braugi