Latest revision as of 23:27, 8 June 2010

Debate: the Argent Scorpion of Opposition

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Introduction

This Style is conceived as a thought-experiment, inspired by Szilard/MartialArts; what would a Style that has a very long Essence range look like? How would it work? It is, by the very nature of such thought-experiments, very idiosyncratic. This is a Celestial Martial Art.

New Rule: Secrets

The Charms of the Argent Scorpion of Opposition Style are expansible in a limited manner, via Secrets. A Secret is a modification of preexisting techniques; it either upgrades the ability wholesale, alters its fundamental nature in some way, or provides an optional enhancement that can be used at additional cost.

Secrets are not complete Charms, and so they require less study and mystical potential for most characters to develop. Sidereal Exalted express their martial facility in learning secrets with great ease; they pay 2xp to learn a Secret if they favour Martial Arts Charms, and 3 xp otherwise. Solar and Abyssal Exalted pay 3 or 4. Dragon-Blooded pay 4 or 5, and Lunars must pay 8. Unfortunately for Alchemical Exalted, it is not any easier to store a Secret than it is to store a Martial Arts Charm in the Perfect Lotus Matrix; they pay the same cost for Secrets as they do Charms. Mortals are also not sufficiently enlightened to experience any benefit.

In this document, Charm names are bolded and italicised; Secret names are italicised but not bolded. In the stat blocks below, Charms and Secrets are collectively referred to as Techniques. Secrets have the same Trait minima as the Charms they originate from unless they have no Charm prerequisite; then their requirements are stated explicitly.

Secrets which alter the effects of a specific prerequisite Charm are always described as Permanent effects of the Reflexive type; those which can be attached to a number of different Charms have in their stat blocks the necessary information for determining how they interact in Combos.

A Note on Charm Naming

The students' techniques of this Style name a rhetorical figure, and the remainder of their title, optionally combined with the title of a prerequisite, form an instance of that figure and a hint to its effect. The mastery techniques revert to more traditional battlecry names.

The definitions of figures are derived from Silva Rhetoricae.

A Note on Prerequisites

A number of techniques in this Style specify some number of "Style" Charms or Secrets. This indicates Charms or Secrets of the Argent Scorpion of Opposition Style.

New Alchemical Submodule: Petal Add-On

by Will

Purchased as a submodule for the Perfected Lotus Matrix, this device allows Alchemicals to learn the supplemental techniques that are Secrets with greater ease. This submodule costs 6 experience points or 2 bonus points. By implanting a second ring of crystal-holding slots inside the Perfect Lotus Matrix that are solely dedicated to holding the little emerald knowledge-gems, the Alchemical frees up his outer ring for greater mysteries and speeds the learning process. This permanently reduces the cost of purchasing a Secret to 6 experience points or 3 bonus points.

Arms & Armour

The routine form weapon of the Argent Scorpion of Opposition Style is the trident; they are often used in pairs, to imitate the scorpion's claws. The peculiar device called howling tiger paw, a grappling hook affixed to the end of a chain or seven-section staff, is a less popular form weapon, which recalls the creature's stinging tail. Particularly skilled combatants are able to use two tridents in one hand and a howling tiger paw in the second, realising the full panoply of a scorpion's weaponry.

The techniques of the Style are compatible with armour, but not its patterns; this means that non-Instant Charms cannot be activated while the character is armoured, and cease effect instantly if the stylist dons any. Individual Charms do not specify whether they can be used with armour; they all follow this rule.

The Charms

http://photobucket.com/albums/v520/fourwillows/Kungfu/argentscorpion.png

Full graphical tree here: Part One Part Two Part ThreePart Four - Voidstate

So, wow. That looks great! One thing: Antiphrasis and Antitheton's names are both missing their last letter. - willows

Thanks for noticing, Willows. Those are fixed now. - Voidstate

Student Techniques

Antiphrasis: The Nectar of Beauty

Cost: 2 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts: 3

Minimum Essence: 1

Prerequisite Techniques: None

The adept makes an elegant, toxic gesture, aligning the Essence meridians of his hand into a caustic knot. This Charm enhances an unarmed Martial Arts attack, causing it to deliver a non-convulsive toxin. If the attack succeeds, the defender is instantly poisoned, before damage is calculated. The difficulty to resist the poison is 2; it deals 1 HL of bashing damage if resisted, and one-half the adept's Martial Arts score, rounded up, in Health Levels of bashing damage if it is not.

Antitheton: The Venom of Beauty

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Antiphrasis

This improves the adept's usage of Antiphrasis; the difficulty to resist the toxin is 2 or his Essence, whichever is greater.

Cost: 3 or 5 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 3

Minimum Essence: 2

Prerequisite Techniques: Antiphrasis

The martial artist speaks a word so unyielding that it halts an attack. He makes an unarmed Martial Arts parry against an attack, rolling his full defensive pool. Neither his body nor his weapons participate in this parry, but their defensive statistic modifies the parry pool regardless. The attack blocked need not be made against the adept himself, but to defend someone he is not in physical contact with, he must pay 5 motes rather than 3. The beneficiary may be as far away as the adept's Martial Arts × 3 yards. This Charm can defend against attacks that deal lethal or aggravated damage regardless of whether the user has a weapon.

The Form

Scorpion Form

Cost: 5 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 4

Minimum Essence: 2

Prerequisite Techniques: Catacosmesis

Assuming this Form, the adept behaves in a manner reminiscent of the Style's namesake. His scuttling movements add his Essence to his Dexterity for the purposes of calculating movement, and double his dice pool to resist knockdown and knockback; the exercises he has performed to use his hands as well as the creature's heavy claws adds one-half, rounding up, of his Essence to Strength dice pools. This explicitly includes damage rolls.

This is a Martial Arts Form-type Charm and is incompatible with other Forms.

Intermediate Techniques

Sermocinatio: I Remain Unconvinced!

Cost: 1 Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: As the base Charm

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 3

Prerequisite Techniques: Any Style Charm

When the adept learns this Secret, he permanently modifies one of the Instant Charms of this Style. The Charm in question must govern a single Martial Arts action that affects a target. This explicitly includes attacks and parries; the target of the parry is the being making the attack roll. If he rolls any successes on the action, then he may spend 1 Willpower to cause some effect the target is using to cease operation, if that effect creates a physical symbol. Effects that create symbols include Essence weaponry effects such as Glorious Solar Sabre and Refining the Inner Blade, the green script of Transcendent Hatchet of Fate (this Charm is peculiar in that it takes one physical symbol and creates a different one from it), and efficacious gestures such as the dance of Perfection in Life. They do not include effects that empower a preexisting symbol, such as most Sidereal Scripture Charms and the Dragon-Graced Weapon.

The Charm modified in this manner is expanded. This Secret cannot modify Charms that have already been expanded. The prerequisite Charm for this Secret must be unexpanded.

Prodiorthosis: Sharp, Nay, Excruciating Claws

Cost: 1 mote per die

Duration: Instant

Type: As the base Charm

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 3

Prerequisite Techniques: Any Style Charm

When the adept learns this Secret, he permanently modifies one of the Instant Charms of this Style. The Charm in question must govern a single Martial Arts action that affects a target. The adept may spend additional motes, beyond the cost of the Charm itself, to increase his dice pool.

The Charm modified in this manner is expanded. This Secret cannot modify Charms that have already been expanded. The prerequisite Charm for this Secret must be unexpanded.

Cost: 5 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts: 4

Minimum Essence: 3

Prerequisite Techniques: Scorpion Form

With this Charm, the adept makes an unarmed Martial Arts attack. If it is successful, then she clamps her target into a violent kiss, and exhales a toxic fume into his lungs. This poison is latent until activated by vibration; each time he speaks, he suffers from the effects of the Antiphrasis toxin, using his own Traits to calculate its severity. A failed resistance roll always causes at least 2 HL damage, even if the victim's Martial Arts is insufficient.

When the victim directly addresses another being, the poison feeds on his cry for help; add that being's Essence to the difficulty of the poison's resistance roll.

A single use of this Charm causes the victim to suffer poisoning as many times as the adept's permanent Essence.

Hendiadys: Despite the Bitter & Pain

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Anangeon

This enhances the use of Anangeon. The adept gains a new way to use that Charm. He can activate it while dosing himself with a poison; using the Charm in this way costs 3 motes rather than 5. He may consume as many doses as his Essence with one activation of the Charm. As he takes the poison, he suffers whatever convulsive or hallucinatory effects it has, but these subside in half the time. He does not suffer damage. Afterward, the toxin is stored in his body. as long as he keeps the motes to activate the Charm committed. When using Anangeon to enhance an attack, the adept may deliver one dose of the poison stored in his body rather than a dose of the Antiphrasis toxin. If he decommits the motes before delivering all doses of the poison he has stored, he suffers the full effects of those poisons.

It is possible to use this Secret multiple times, in order to store larger amounts of toxin.

Paradiastole: He Is Patient

Cost: 2 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Simple

Prerequisite Techniques: Anangeon

This enhances the use of Anangeon. The adept learns to produce a paralytic toxin, which weakens and slows victims rather than killing them. When he uses Anangeon, he may choose to deliver this venom; the victim must roll his Essence + Resistance in a reflexive test against a difficulty of the adept's Essence; upon failure he loses a dot of Dexterity. Dexterity lost in this manner returns in a number of turns equal to the adept's Essence. It is an effort to produce this venom; delivering it increases the cost of Anangeon by 2 motes.

Oeonismus: O, That I Had Known It Before

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Prodiorthosis, Hendiadys

This enhances the use of Antiphrasis. The Secrets that grant new options to Anangeon can now be used with Antiphrasis as well.

Cost: 3 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 4

Minimum Essence: 3

Prerequisite Techniques: Scorpion Form

Caught between the adept's two ready claws, the opponent is vulnerable. The adept may use this Charm when a target attempts to dodge one of his attacks. He makes an additional attack, at his full offensive pool, against that same target; this unarmed Martial Arts attack is resolved prior to the triggering dodge, and any ill effects caused by this attack's success, such as wound penalties, are explicitly applied against that dodge. This Charm is a counterattack, and cannot be used in response to a dodge that is made to defend against a counterattack.

Hyperbaton: Between With Barb The Man And Sword

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Tmesis

This improves the adept's usage of Tmesis, allowing him to activate the Charm in response to a hand-to-hand attack. He cannot activate it in response to a counterattack. When using Tmesis in this way, the adept may choose to interfere with the attack; after his counterattack has been rolled, he may declare that some quantity of the successes rolled serve as parry successes against the triggering attack, rather than counterattack successes. Using Tmesis in this way qualifies as a parry attempt.

Epitrope: Write Your Own Epic

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Tmesis

This enhances the use of Tmesis. When the adept has successfully delivered a counterattack via that Charm, he may optionally spend 1 Willpower to drain the power from a symbol that the victim has empowered, causing the effect that symbol controls to cease. Effects that depend on empowered symbols include, but are not limited to, the Scriptures and Sutras of various Sidereal magics, certain Linguistics Charms, and any effect that enhances a physical object, such as the Ritual of Elemental Empowerment or Geomantic Conveyance Glyph. The symbol in question must have the victim's Essence committed to it or be in physical contact with him for the adept to drain it.

Skotison: A Failure of Artistry

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Sermocinatio, Epitrope

This enhances the use of Epitrope and Sermocinatio. When either Secret deactivates an effect, the adept can pay the activation cost of that effect to transfer it to himself so that he enjoys its benefits instead.

Cost: 7 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: Extra Actions

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 3

Prerequisite Techniques: 3 Style Secrets requiring Essence 3

The adept imitates the scorpion's fighting strategy, immobilising his adversary with claws and then striking with his poisonous tail. The adept makes as many unarmed Martial Arts attacks as his Essence, all directed toward the same target. For each attack, he may choose to immobilise or poison.

An immobilising attack is a clinch attempt. The adept may make as many of these as he likes, but may only maintain one fewer clinches than weapons he is wielding (arms constitute weapons for this exercise, but legs do not) if he wishes to continue delivering attacks.

A poisoning attack is enhanced as if by use of the Antiphrasis Charm.

Epitheton: Ill-Tempered Sword

Cost: 2x motes, (Willpower)

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 4

Prerequisite Techniques: Any Style Charm

When the adept learns this Secret, he permanently modifies one of the Instant Charms of this Style. The Charm in question must govern unarmed Martial Arts attacks. This Secret can explicitly be used with Supplemental, Simple, Reflexive, and Extra Actions Charms.

When an opponent attacks the adept, he may activate the Charm in question, doubling its mote cost, to reflexively deliver a counteroffensive enhanced by that Charm. The use of this Secret provides a Martial Arts attack at the user's full pool for Supplemental types. The other three types function as they normally do, except that their activation requirements are altered. He is able to move up to Essence × 3 yards in order to close to hand-to-hand distance with the attacker to deliver this counteroffensive. As with other counterattacks, this counteroffensive is resolved after the attack roll and prior to the damage roll of the triggering attack, and it cannot be used in response to an attach generated by other counterattack Charms.

The Charm modified in this manner is expanded. This Secret cannot modify Charms that have already been expanded. The prerequisite Charm for this Secret must be unexpanded. Hereafter, the expanded Charm may be used in Combos as though it were Reflexive, or as a Charm of its original type.

Anamnesis: Prophecies Speak of a Plague of Claws

Cost: 2x motes, +1 Willpower

Duration: One scene

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 4

Prerequisite Techniques: Any Style Charm

When the adept learns this Secret, he permanently modifies one of the Instant Charms of this Style. The Charm in question must govern a single Martial Arts action that affects a target.

When the martial artist uses this Secret, he activates the Charm in question, doubling its mote cost and spending a Willpower point. He spits out a number (his permanent Essence) of exultant scorpions of Essence. These bejewelled creatures vary in morphology dependent on the stylist's mastery of the art; those who have focused on its toxic abilities express long-tailed creatures with glittering stings, while those who bias their learning toward wrestling and groundfighting tend to produce creatures with thick, powerful legs and grossly distended claws. True, complete masters of the Style are able to control the appearance of their servants in every detail, though it is universal that they remain identifiable as scorpions and are no larger than a burly man's hand. The scorpions mill and circle at the adept's feet.

The scorpions work as a team, trading off duties to use the Charm they embody at every opportunity. If the Charm in question is Reflexive, then one will dash to use it when its activation condition applies; if the Charm is Simple or Supplemental, then it will leap into action on the adept's initiative, choosing a target and delivering a single instance of the basic version of that Charm, using the adept's Traits. It may scuttle as far as his Essence × 3 yards to deliver this technique, and subsequently it returns. A given scorpion may only act once per turn, and once it has acted as many times as the adept's Essence, its battle glee fades and it scuttles away, never to be seen again. Once all scorpions have departed, the Charm ends.

The Charm modified in this manner is expanded. This Secret cannot modify Charms that have already been expanded. The prerequisite Charm for this Secret must be unexpanded.

Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 4

Prerequisite Techniques: Thaumasmus

With the next unfurling of his Essence, the adept learns a stance that presents a deceptively enticing worldview. Each turn, on his initiative, his opponents cannot help but draw closer; those who are already no farther away than Essence × 10 yards slip towards the adept, for a distance of as many yards as his Charisma × 3. This does not cost the adversaries any of their own movement for the turn. Beings under the aegis of perfect defences against influence or falsehood are immune to this effect.

Further, on his initiative, the adept may reflexively make an unarmed Martial Arts attack against any adversaries within three yards of him, and against anyone entering this radius while the Charm remains in effect. In the course of a turn, he is able to make a number of attacks of this sort equal to his Essence, and no more than one of these attacks can be delivered to a particular adversary, regardless of how many times that adversary exits and reenters the radius.

Anacoloutha: Extension of Grip

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Aschematiston

This enhances the use of Aschematiston. The radius of attack improves from 3 yards to the adept's Essence in yards.

Charientismus: Come No Closer, I Pray You

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Aschematiston

This enhances the use of Aschematiston. When a victim attempts to dodge one of the reflexive attacks that Charm grants, the martial artist may activate Tmesis without its counting as a Charm use.

Asteismus: It Is So Gentlemanly To Avoid Me Thus

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Charientismus, Epitheton

This enhances the use of Aschematiston and Epitheton. When a victim attempts to dodge one of the reflexive attacks that Charm grants, the martial artist may activate Epitheton without its counting as a Charm use.

Cost: 3 motes, 1 Lethal Health Level

Duration: Instant

Type: Extra Actions

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 4

Prerequisite Techniques: Thaumasmus

He sheds his skin, the scorpion, in order to grow. In the same way, an adept using this Charm transcends his limitations; he sheds his skin, scattering plates of translucent chitin around him. The number of independent actions the adept has this turn is one greater than the number of independent actions he had last turn. These are independent as defined by the Charcoal March of Spiders Form. In addition, these independent actions are improved such that the adept may move with each action.

Despite its Instant duration, this Charm's mote cost remains committed until a turn passes in which the adept does not activate it. At this time the cost is automatically decommitted. The Health Level cost of this Charm cannot be recovered until motes are no longer committed to it.

Chiasmus: The Price of Lengthening Summer

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Mesarchia

This enhances the use of Mesarchia. The Health Level cost of the Charm is not paid until the motes for the Charm are decommitted. This increases the mote cost of that Charm to 5 motes.

Bdelygmia: I Hate Surprises

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Mesarchia

This enhances the use of Mesarchia. It permits that Charm to be activated as though Reflexive, at any point in the turn; however, it may only be activated once per turn. The actions it generates all have the same initiative, the adept's normal initiative, and activating the Charm prior to this allows the adept to defend abortively, but does not enable him to take any action prior to his initiative that he could not take under normal conditions. It also makes that Charm's activation in Combos optional, though it behaves only as an Extra Actions Charm if it is in fact activated.

Enantiosis: They Are Worse Friends Than Enemies

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Bdelygmia, Anamnesis

This enhances the use of Mesarchia and Anamnesis. Whenever the adept is able to take multiple independent actions, he may assign one of those actions to be performed by an Essence scorpion. For the purposes of performing that action, the scorpion is identical to the adept; it benefits from his Charms and draws from the same Traits, Health Levels, Willpower, and mote pools. Scorpions have double the movement speed of the Exalt himself, but must begin and end their action at the martial artist's feet. While a particular scorpion is enacting an action of this kind, and only at that time, it and the adept are connected so that attacking the scorpion injures the martial artist.

The Decorum

Argent Scorpion of Opposition Decorum

Cost: 12 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 4

Prerequisite Techniques: 3 Style Secrets requiring Essence 4

With this form, the adept learns the distilled attitude of hostile debate, and finally steps into the upper realm of supernatural combat. He is able to wield two tridents in one hand and a howling tiger paw in the other without suffering any penalties for using multiple weapons; he may attack or parry freely with all of these.

A warrior who chooses to remain unarmed remains able to fight competitively! Upon adopting this viewpoint, the adept's skin takes on the appearance of beaten silver; he is encased in a jointed carapace. Two silver sutras unroll in his hands, trailing onto the ground. This grants him +15 aggravated, lethal, and bashing soak, and Hardness equal to his Essence + Linguistics. Brilliant filigreed claws extend from his fingernails, improving the quality of his unarmed attacks. He is able to parry lethal attacks bare-handed, and the following modifiers replace the normal modifiers for his unarmed attacks: Spd +3, Acc +6, Dam +4L, Def +1, Rate 6.*

Finally, the adept's silver body constantly rings as he moves, like the sounding of three hundred bells. Beings within an Essence × 20 yards radius of the adept must use writing or Charms to communicate meaningfully; all language is drowned out by the sound. Apart from drowning out speech, the ringing also makes people tense and uncomfortable, which subtracts the martial artist's Essence from affected characters' Social rolls, and raises the difficulty of Virtue checks by 1.

This Charm is not a Martial Arts Form-type Charm. However, it has some of the properties of Forms! It is compatible with Scorpion Form, and it can only be active under conditions which permit the adept to use that Form. From this point onward (all techniques with Essence prerequisite 4 or greater), this is an advanced Style; the Charms cost the same amount of XP as Sidereal Martial Arts do to learn, and the same learning restrictions apply.

•  : For those not using Power Combat, these are the stats of moonsilver short daiklaves.

Mastery Techniques

Silver Tongue Dispatch

Cost: As the base Charm

Duration: As the base Charm

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 5

Prerequisite Techniques: Any Style Charm

When the adept learns this Secret, he permanently modifies one of the non-Instant Charms of this Style.

The adept is never at a loss for words! When he is attacked by an opponent, he may invoke the Charm as though it were Reflexive.

The Charm modified in this manner is expanded. This Secret cannot modify Charms that have already been expanded. The prerequisite Charm for this Secret must be unexpanded.

Restoration-of-the-Manner-of-Warriors Reproof

Cost: +4 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: As the base Charm

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 5

Prerequisite Techniques: Any Style Charm

When the adept learns this Secret, he permanently modifies one of the Instant Charms of this Style. The Charm in question must govern Martial Arts attacks.

The adept takes offence! By stating the objection that inspires his action when he invokes the Charm and spending 4 additional motes, he circumscribes the appropriate responses to it, requiring his opponent to respond according to the etiquette of gentlemanly combatants. The adept chooses an Ability. The Charm is perfectly protected against that Ability; no action taken in response to the Charm, such as a parry or dodge, may use the stated Ability. Opponents are made aware of this restriction by the adept's announcement.

The Charm modified in this manner is expanded. This Secret cannot modify Charms that have already been expanded. The prerequisite Charm for this Secret must be unexpanded.

Cost: 4 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 5

Prerequisite Techniques: Argent Scorpion of Opposition Decorum

With this Charm, the adept smirkingly challenges his adversary to bring on the attack. At the crucial moment, he shines too brightly to be looked at or struck. This is an essential feature of the Charm and not an anima effect! When used with peripheral Essence, the flash still occurs, but the mote expenditure does not contribute to anima display. Roll the character's Appearance + Martial Arts, adding the successes of the roll as a difficulty penalty to an attack.

Since this modifies the difficulty of an attack, it cannot be used after the attack roll.

Superliminal Claw Radiance

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Indisputable Moon Defiance

This enhances the use of Indisputable Moon Defiance. The Charm may be used to apply difficulty penalties to parries, as the adept uses his radiance to overload a defender's perceptions. This can explicitly be used to interfere with parries made against some third party's attacks.

Effulgent Consort Venom

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Indisputable Moon Defiance

This enhances the use of Indisputable Moon Defiance. The adept transforms his brilliance into an energy toxin, imitating the mephitic radiance of Luna which degrades silver into moonsilver; the opponent suffers Health Levels of lethal damage equal to the adept's Essence, or half this amount, rounding down, if he succeeds a difficulty 5 reflexive Stamina + Resistance roll. This is a form of environmental damage rather than an attack. To generate such a flash, the adept must spend 1 Willpower in addition to the Charm's normal cost.

Jaws of Fulgor

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Effulgent Consort Venom, Silver Tongue Dispatch

This enhances the use of Indisputable Moon Defiance and Silver Tongue Dispatch. Whenever he uses one of these techniques, he may use the other without a Combo; this doubles the cost of the second technique. The adept's teeth drip with a brightly-glowing white odium when he uses this ability.

Cost: 3 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 5

Prerequisite Techniques: Argent Scorpion of Opposition Decorum

The adept's hand, or weapon, shines with a terrible white light when making this unarmed Martial Arts attack. In contrast to this brilliance, the rest of the world darkens and is forgotten, and resultantly the defender may not deliver a counterattack in response to this attack. This effect is Essential, and the visual display is only corollary to it; blindness or superior vision on the victim's part have no impact on the Charm's efficacy.

Fourteen-Phase Bell Ringing

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: World Defined in Crescents

This enhances the use of World Defined in Crescents. The adept makes his attack with a metallic gesture which sets a deep reverberation in motion. If the victim suffers damage from the attack, then he is temporarily convinced of a belief of the adept's choice, and will resist all attempts to dissuade him from that belief. While this does not change the Duration of the Charm, the adept must commit the Essence required to activate it if he wishes to prolong the reverberation; if he chooses not to or he decommits the motes, the victim comes to his senses in a number of turns equal to the adept's Essence.

Beekeeper's Fugue

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: World Defined in Crescents

This enhances the use of World Defined in Crescents. The adept may choose to use the moment of focus created by that Charm to awaken one of the vulnerabilities or ambitions that slumber in the victim's heart. He turns it into an obsession! Before the attack is rolled, roll the target's Charisma + Essence at a difficulty of the attacker's Appearance. If the victim fails, then some pressing question or task takes grip on his mind; the attacker's player formulates a challenge pertaining to one among the victim's highest Backgrounds. As long as the adept continues to commit Essence to the Charm, the victim is affected as if by the One Direction Invocation with respect to that challenge, with the exception that he retains and does not wager his name. Victims with no Backgrounds are instead struck with an irresistible desire to acquire one. The challenge must be one that the target has the means and knowledge to surmount. Inflicting this pathology increases the cost of the Charm to 10 motes, 1 Willpower.

Unnervingly Automatic Chin Na

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: Fourteen-Phase Bell Ringing, Restoration-of-the-Manner-of-Warriors Reproof

This enhances the use of World Defined in Crescents and Restoration-of-the-Manner-of-Warriors Reproof. The adept's focus becomes so clear that he performs joint-locks that are simultaneously painful and expressive. These techniques can be used to initiate a clinch or while a clinch is in progress.

Cost: 20 motes, 2 Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 5

Prerequisite Techniques: 3 Style Secrets requiring Essence 5, Mastery of one Celestial Martial Art (all Charms)

With this technique, the martial artist forms a silver-gilt glyph on the palm of his left hand. Displaying the glyph to his opponent, he announces an action that this glyph prohibits. This action can be a mundane action such as "walking three steps" or it can include the use of Abilities. It specifically cannot be an action that normal humans cannot avoid doing under normal conditions, such as "breathing".

Marking a target with the glyph requires a successful Martial Arts attack. This attack adds the adept's Essence in automatic damage successes, as the sigil burns itself into the victim's skin.

A target marked with the glyph knows what will happen if he performs the prohibited action: the glyph will dissolve into a pestilent tarnish that rapidly decays the victim's body. Unless he receives supernatural aid which restores some number of lethal Health Levels within one turn, he dies. Supernaturally-aided medical treatment to the tune of an Intelligence + Medicine roll at a difficulty of the martial artist's Essence will remove the glyph, at the cost of one level of aggravated damage.

Cost: 12 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: Indefinite

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 6

Minimum Essence: 6

Prerequisite Techniques: Scribe Enforces His Dictum

There is a kind of scorpion who, like the orchid spider, has transformed his appearance to resemble a flower; he climbs onto stems after cutting away their blooms to wait for prey to seek nectar in his claws. The martial artist using this Charm has no patience for such a lengthy strategy! When he activates Hunter Dwelling in Peonies, he engulfs the world in a shower of flower petals. They are all of similar appearance, setting a monochromatic stage.

In effect, the adept and some number of Essence-channelling targets in the vicinity are enclosed in a floating world separate from Creation. The maximum number of targets enclosed is twice the martial artist's Essence. Any number of mortals may also be enclosed in the floating world; all beings who are thus transported must be visible to the Exalt when he activates the Charm. Once in the floating world, sorcery is required to escape it prior to the Charm's ceasing function.

The topology of the floating world is labyrinthine; for the victims trapped in it, it requires a Manipulation + Survival roll at standard difficulty to coerce the vegetal storm into allowing the seeker to meet with another person; the difficulty rises to the martial artist's Essence to find a specific person. Regardless, two persons, once they have made rendezvous, can be as distant as one mile apart without losing track of one another.

The martial artist himself may, as a dice action that requires no roll, locate or escape from a person. He finds some strange twist of space to leap into or emerge from, a maneuver requiring him to move 2 × the person in question's Essence. All trapped persons are considered, for the purposes of Charms, to be "within sight" of the adept, regardless of whether they are presently located.

Regardless of the amount of time that appeared to pass within the floating world, no more than one hour passes in Creation, and those victimised by the Charm are deposited randomly within a one-mile area surrounding the location of the Charm's activation. The adept himself can choose to be deposited randomly, or to place himself at any spot he could see from the place where he activated the Charm.

Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: One Scene

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 7

Minimum Essence: 7

Prerequisite Techniques: Hunter Dwelling in Peonies

The martial artist, thumping his chest, causes the sky to ring like a bell, and in the upper airs the outline of a ribcage can be seen. It is because he contains the world! The sky glazes over with a silver carapace.

When he activates this Charm, the martial artist chooses one Ability. In his heart, the world becomes a proving ground for that Ability, and for the purposes of using that Ability, the Attributes of all creatures in sight (regardless of whether the creature itself is visible) are 0. This makes the creatures in question unable to use Charms that depend from that Attribute. Talent becomes worthless, allowing variances of skill to prevail. The adept is explicitly unaffected by this limitation.

Multiple distinct activations of this Charm are not compatible with one another; the adept can change his mind about what Ability he wishes to test, but he cannot test two simultaneously.

Blessing of Earth Plastron

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: World Within a Shell

This enhances the use of World Within A Shell. Rather than making a proving ground for a skill, the adept can seek talent. This sets Abilities to 0 when used with a particular Attribute. Specialties remain unaffected. Otherwise, the effect is identical; the martial artist simply has more options to choose from.

Fist of Analytical Principle

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: World Within a Shell

This enhances the use of World Within A Shell. Rather than making a proving ground for a skill, the adept can examine coldhearted competence. Beings under this effect may not spend Willpower, and their dice pools for Virtue rolls are reduced to 0. Instead of rolling, they receive 10 successes on Willpower rolls, regardless of their Willpower or effects that alter Willpower pools. The adept is explicitly affected by this, contrary to the property of the basic Charm.

Everpresent Sanctuary Guarding Spirit

Cost: 20 motes, 1 permanent Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 6

Minimum Essence: 6

Prerequisite Techniques: Scribe Enforces His Dictum

In the First Age, the goddess Serqet, the scorpion with a woman's head, willed herself into being as the guardian of sacred tombs. This Charm imitates her guardianship. When he activates it, the martial artist embeds a bit of his awareness in a specific place, and binds himself as the guardian of that location. The place can be a fixed location, or it can be something more abstract, such as "my Circle's campsite." When an intruder enters, the adept is instantly transported to that place; he arrives in some reasonably appropriate spot which allows him to confront the intruder. The Charm is intelligent enough to distinguish intruders from those with legitimate business.

When he defeats and ejects an intruder, the adept gains 1 permanent Willpower. This cannot raise his permanent Willpower above 10 + his Essence.

One activation of this Charm is sufficient to guard a place until Calibration. The martial artist may voluntarily end his guardianship of a place prematurely, on any night when the moon is new.

Cost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: One Turn

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 7

Minimum Essence: 7

Prerequisite Techniques: Everpresent Sanctuary Guarding Spirit

Using this Charm, the martial artist gives up any pretence of honest argumentation and attacks a belief. Every unarmed Martial Arts attack he makes this turn affects all creatures in sight who hold this belief, twice.

Innumerable Argument Swarm

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: The Scorpion Will Have None of This

This enhances the use of The Scorpion Will Have None of This. Any Supplemental Charm that the adept uses this turn affects all his attacks; it need only be activated once. This increases the cost of that Supplemental Charm by 1 Willpower.

Perfect Arachnid Reaction Style

Cost: None

Duration: Permanent

Type: Reflexive

Prerequisite Techniques: The Scorpion Will Have None of This

This enhances the use of The Scorpion Will Have None of This. Any Reflexive Charm that the adept uses this turn has its effect take place each time that it is applicable; it need only be activated once. This increases the cost of that Reflexive Charm by 1 Willpower.

Director's Commentary

It is pretty easy to exhaust a theme in, like, eight Charms. That's why the style takes such an abrupt left turn when the Decorum rolls around! It's also a very interesting challenge producing these Secrets that maintain the viability of the Style into the upper Essence levels. The synergies are beautiful and fascinating to craft.

Comments

How does Aschematiston interact with individuals whose movement has been inhibited, through external or Charm-based effect? What about effects which prevent or preclude movement from a certain spot? Tangentially, Mesarchia is astoundingly clever. _Wohksworth

It's forcibly moving the target; if he is unable to move as a failure of his own abilities, then the Charm still moves him, but defences from external position-altering effects will defend against it as normal. Mesarchia makes me really happy. Thanks! - willows

Hmmm... so is the basic strategy here that Exalts can learn a bunch of the Charms and, later, when their Essence has increased (or whatever), go back and learn secrets so that those Charms remain useful? -szilard

Basically. The challenge lies in guaranteeing that all the Charms, or some techniques that obviously depend on them, remain useful and worthwhile all the way to the top. In theory you can zoom right up to the top of the style while learning only a minimal number (9) of the secrets, but if you thoughtfully plan your advancement path through the style from the start, and learn as many secrets as you can, then you should be able to construct (with the independent secrets) a really fearsome and unique combat style. - willows

Okay Shreyas, here's your next challenge after this one: A Martial Art that begins as a Terrestrial Style, incorporates into its structure a Celestial Initiation, and ends as a Celestial Style. Yes, I should be hurt. -szilard

Interesting. I might well do that, since the thesis of this Style is that giant styles are suboptimal, so I need to construct a triptych of interrelated Styles to compare this to. - willows

As it happens, Telgar is talking about doing a Style of this form too, you should leave him a note. - willows

Well, I'm impressed. I would point out that a style where all the charms remain usefull up to the top is harmful to your theisis that giant styles are suboptimal. Still pretty cool though, and I can excuse not having a pinnical in this case :). - FlowsLikeBits. Specific comments:

Haha! Of course it's damaging to my thesis, but I'm not going to design a style that's not as good as it possibly can be and use that as an argument, because of the obvious counterargument, "This is poorly designed and not a good example of the possibility."

Well, you set yourself a high bar. Good luck. :) FlowsLikeBits

Hyperbaton: This is pretty nasty, as it effectively allows you parry the same attack twice at your full pool OR counterattack. Maybe like up to Essence in successes, or something. FLB

Meh. There is nothing in the Charm text that indicates that it doesn't count as a parry attempt when you are using it to parry. I think you are reading in an effect there that isn't really, like, what belongs there! - willows

Well, the original charm is a counterattack. The fact that your splitting some of the counterattack success into a parry seems like you're supplementing the parry, rather than doing a parry action. So this means if you had persistant parry for some reason, you could not use it and Hyperbaton against the same attack? That seems reasonable.

Less drowsy now! I'll discuss with less crabbiness! It's correct that you couldn't use your persistent and Hyperbaton against the same attack without some third effect, because you can't double-dip defences. As far as I can tell this is just, like, the result of parrying at all, and isn't contingent on whether you set out to parry the attack in the first place. That's how I would run it, anyway.

I'd reccomend makeing that explicit, as it seems like your using your counterattack to parry, which seems like it would allow a parry action also. Although if you wanted to allow it to suppliment the parry, 1 mote/die that count againts dice adding limits seems reasonable. FlowsLikeBits

Fair enough! It's explicit. - willows

Mesarchia: For this, do you pay the cost for it each turn? It's a little confusing bc of the commited motes part. If you pay the cost each turn, it seems ok, otherwise it's quite powerful. I'm assuming these are independant, but not fully indepenant actions

Yes, you must activate it anew each turn, and the motes you spent stay committed. What's your distinction between "independent" and "fully independent"? They are actually better actions than those provided by CMoSF because each action has its own movement.

Full Independant==has it's own charm use. Independent=Principal of Motion(can split, but one charm only). I'm guessing the second.

You're correct. It's necessary for The Scorpion Will Have None of This to work properly. - willows

CMoSF actully gives Full Independant actions. I like this effect, sorta like an exponential Hurricane Combat Method -FlowsLikeBits

Argent Scorpion of Opposition Decorum: So, if I understand this correctly, this only works if you are using Scorpion form or no form or an effect that allows multiple forms and you have a free slot...is that right? Seems like a weird way to expresses it. Why not just require the form? FLB

Because that's not how the Charm works.

Ok, but was I right?

Yes. Basically, I didn't want to require a 17-mote commitment, when the stuff the first Form does is pretty uninteresting with regard to the effects in the second half of the Style. - willows

Makes sense there. Hmmm...maybe say "This is a MA form charm. This charm and Scorpion form may be active at the same time, and are only considered to be a single MA form charm by other effects that allow multiple form charms." That seems to be what your going for, at any rate. Ok with me if there is no "form" in the name. -FlowsLikeBits

I think that's a little wordier, and might have unexpected effects with other things that interact with Forms. Hm. - willows

Restoration-of-the-Manner-of-Warriors Reproof: The ability to have an attack that can be either unparryable OR undodgeable should probably cost more than 4 motes. Maybe if you selected the ability when you modified the charm. FLB

I am not sure I agree! You can only rule one out at a time, and at that Essence level, opponents should have credible defensive arrays in either, plus extraneous defences if they are serious combatants. - willows

I suppose. Better question. Can you learn a secret multiple times (and expand different charms each time? Or even learn the same charm again to re-expand it?) The choice ability is really powerful though, as it allows you to mow through slighly weaker opponents by easily picking their weak spot. +4 Seems about right for just one or the other, it's the choice effect that seems a bit much. FLB

I am generally of the opinion that you can't learn Charms more than once unless they have this ability as part of the Charm text, as Ox-Body Technique sets precedent. This is the principle this Style is built on; once you learn an indepedent Secret, you've defined it forever, short of something like Spirit-Flaying Meditation, which doesn't let you keep the old one anyways. - willows

Well, prior to the Secrets, there wasn't any point to it. All the charms where there was a point explicitly alloweded. It seems weird in that it makes it impossible to access all the effects at once...not sure if that's bad or good. Price of innovation I suppose. -FlowsLikeBits

It is a feature, not a bug! The intention is to give different stylists to construct personal versions of the Style that best fit their needs. Unsurprisingly, this is another thing that's damaging to my thesis! Making it possible to access all possible effects, though, would put this squarely in the realm of SMA; there are enough freaky timing effects in the independent Secrets that you could easily set yourself up so you don't actually ever have to make any decisions in combat, because Anamnesis is just using all your Charms for you whenever you need them. - willows

While that would be pretty frikken cool, you have a point -FlowsLikeBits

Effulgent Consort Venom: This is pretty nasty, it should have a mote cost also (2-4) or do dice of damage. FLB

I am not sure why you think that the Willpower added to the cost is not a sufficient increase! - willows

Reconsidering, I suppose you're right. FLB

Fourteen-Phase Bell Ringing: The ability to aquire allies for 3 commited motes by hitting them seems a bit much. FLB

Again? - willows

Sorry about that. Fixed. FLB

You've got a point, though! Now, in my opinion, effects that are this absolute are offset by the fact that they require the attack to be successful, and to deal damage, which gives the opponent two ways to avoid the effect. Are you of the opinion that these two lyers of defence are insufficient? The underlying thinking is that you're not really going to be able to do this with only three motes against any significant opponent. - willows

Well, it seems awful cheap for a supplemental instant death effect. Compare to say, Jumping Spider Strike, which has higher requirements. It's a little woolly in how you define "belief", although The Scorpion Will Have None of This seems to imply that you can mostly define your opponents into having one belief. Assuming the same applies here, this seems to powerful. One could argue that that this doesn't work against opponents that don't have beliefs, but the only thing I can think of that's a real opponent at this essence level is the Kukla, so that doesn't work. It's also nasty in that you could sneak up on people and tap them on the shoulder to make allies, which seems too easy. Maybe say this adds to social rolls against the person that invovle that belief? It does seem weird that the debate effects have no explicit social bonuses - FlowsLikeBits

Instant death effect? Maybe you're thinking of Scribe Enforces His Dictum, which is much like JSS except easier to not die from. And, yes, of course the intent is to allow you to micromanage whom you can bust up with TSWHNOT. I would generally say that it's difficult to make allies with this Charm, because it specifically doesn't remove any preexisting beliefs, just adds another one; this will just freak out people who simultaneously believe, "This man is my best friend," and "It is my calling in life to kill this man, whom I hate." - willows

World Within A Shell: Well, for 50 motes and 5 will power you can win any fight, as there are only 5 combat abilities. And you can do this in one turn! I'd make it last for Essence in turns, or something. The secrets only make this worse, by removing attributes. FLB

Um...who said that you can activate the Charm multiple times to have its effects stack? Buh? - willows

Why wouldn't you be able to? Nothing says it doesn't, and it's a reflexive charm, so one can use it multiple times a turn. FLB

You can't usually stack a Charm on top of itself: once it's activated it can't be activated again while it's still... activated. If there are canon exceptions (though I can't think of any), they should be very explicit. _Wohksworth

I'd say you can't activate twice for the same ability, but there doesn't seem to be a reason you can't do it for multiple ones. -FlowsLikeBits

Yeah, well, made explicit. It's not designer intent! - willows

The Scorpion Will Have None of This - Sorry just noticed this. The secrets for this charm are mostly pointless, as they can't be used without Fully Independant actions(otherwise, you can't activate any supplemental/reflexive charms), and this charm can't be comboed so you can't active this and Mesarchia on the same turn. (Giving Mesarchia Fully Indepent Actions seems to powerful for where it is). I'd just make this an Instant Extra Action charm. - FlowsLikeBits

It works in exactly the same way as Grandmother Spider Mastery, in that it depends completely on your having IA to work in any meaningful way. Mesarchia is a Charm with cumulative upkeep and a Health Level cost, you recall, and this Charm is Essence 7! Extra Actions at this rank are kinda lamex0r. - willows

Personally, I think Fully Independant Actions from an Essence 4 charm is to much, even with the cost. Your right about EA though. I'd make TSWHNoT a Simple Instant(Possibly cannot be comboed with EA if that concerns you...given the secrets, maybe it should...not sure though). This allows it to do it's job, without Mesarchai being insane. You could also make it an area effect like Essence Shattering Typhoon. -FlowsLikeBits, who needs more templates for Ess 7 effects!

Since I disagree that Mesarchia is problematic, I have no need for this. I think we may do best to agree to disagree on this count. - willows

Very clever tree layout (among other things!). Was that intended from the get-go? I've been mulling over the mechanics of a Hunter Dwelling in Peonies-like Charm for a while; I'll have to consider your mechanics whenever I finally revise my Charm. _Wohksworth

Thanks! Yeah, the layout was actually the second reason that the Style is so buggin' long, the first being, well, 7 Essence ranks to fill. HDiP is inspired by Enclosure of Darkened Cinders in theMartialArts/EbonTendrilsOfEntropyStyle (unfinished); I liked the mechanic too much to leave it in an incomplete style. You might find that one more interesting, depending on what you were planning! - willows

It would be nice to know, what Sermocinatio/Epitrope can affect exactly. The created-symbol/empowered-symbol/no-symbol divide is a bit hard for me to apply to existing effects. For example, could Sermocinatio end Defense of Shining Joy or 5FBS (dance,stance=symbol)? Could Epitrope negate Flow like Blood (the user's body becomes symbolic in nature, is empowered)? With some creative interpretation one can see symbols everywhere ... Also do I read this right, that Sermocinatio requires only rolling at least one success on the roll (trivial with an Exalted's dicepool), while Epitrope needs a successful attack? --Dakkareth