Latest revision as of 23:38, 8 June 2010

Change: The Kaleidoscopic Drift of Concepts

A Sidereal Martial Art by DeadManSeven.

Introduction

Change is like the kaleidoscope. You can't focus on just one change, or you miss all the others. Sometimes a change is a subtle injection you barely feel, other times it grips you and refuses to let go. In the end, the change will happen, and you'll probably get hurt trying to resist.

There's probably a lot of ways to use this style that I haven't thought of yet, which is the fun of writing Sidereal styles; they tend to be a lot more multi-faceted than the other tiers of martial arts. They also let you experiment with more out-there Charm effects, which this Style has a couple of, including my take on a Sidereal version of those hypothetical hanging Charms. Also, the song I used for the sutra (Pink Floyd's "Eclipse") was too perfect not to use. I think I could have gotten away with just using the actual lines from the song for the Charm names.

Also, this style features the return of Silent Bells Wisdom!

Background

This style of obvious Sidereal origin sees much use among the members of the Five-score Fellowship, with junior Sidereals making use of the versatile and complex Form, while elders command the subtle mastery the higher tiers demand. Its origins have been lost, although it is known for certain that it pre-dates the Ursurpations, as it appears in a number of martial training manuals from the First Age, many of which mention it was not a style suited well enough to the grandeur and scale of the Solars.

The Kaleidoscopic Drift of Concepts is a subtle art, focusing on minute and nearly imperceptible changes that create obvious and dramatic results. As such, practitioners of this style not only learn to use their fists, but also tiny needles traditionally used in the field of acupuncture. Such needles are specifically treated to be hardened and to conduct and manipulate the flow of essence, and a martial artist with knowledge of this style may hide hundreds of imperceptible needles on her person. Such needles maybe be used while either punching or clinching; they use the same statistics as the respective attacks, but deal -1L damage, and do not include the wielder’s Strength. None of the Charms in this style may be performed while wearing armour.

Charms

   Of  Touch    Of  Charity    Of  Love
   and Sight   and  Rapacity   and Hate
         \           |           /
       Of  Sense     |     Of Guards
     and Sensation   |   and Guardians
            \        |        /     [one complete]
            Kaleidoscopic Drift --- [Martial Arts]
             of  Concepts Form      [   style    ]
            /        |        \`
  Of Creation     Of What   Of Consumption
and Extirpation   Is  Now   and Convention
         /        /     \        \`
Of  Deeds   Of  What   Of  What   Of  Affronts
And Words   Has Been   Will  Be   And Offences
         \        \     /        /
          \       Of  All       /
           ------ Beneath ------
                  The Sun
                     |
                  Of  The
            Inevitable  Eclipse

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

Of Touch and Sight

Cost: 8 motes

Duration: One Turn

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 4

Prerequisites: none

”Touch becomes sight,

The primary sense a human relies on is sight. However, it is not infallible; people may be convinced of seeing actions that never happened, especially over the passage of time. The martial artist twists the perceptions of her enemies, deceiving their eyes and painting before them any colour she likes. Left to continue long enough, her enemies will strike at air and illusions, believing a fantasy that has been created for them.

After the character has successfully avoided a close-range attack (including failed attacks from opponents), she may activate Of Touch and Sight. On the turn that follows the failed attack, and every second turn after, the opponent gains +1 difficulty to attack the character, as his impressions of the actions of the character begin to differ from reality. If the character is successfully attacked, the difficulty to hit her drops to zero, and begins rising again the next turn. The difficulty also returns to normal at the end of the scene.

Cost: 6 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 4

Prerequisites: Of Touch and Sight

memories become obsessions,

A man with an amputated arm can still feel it during a rainstorm. Memories can trigger physical sensations. Senses are mutable. The martial artist can use this knowledge to ease her injuries, perfectly at ease as her body turns numb, and reflect her pain back at her enemies. For the scene, any wound penalties the character suffers from slowly are transferred to her enemies. If an opponent deals any damage, calculate the highest wound penalty. This value is removed them from the character at a rate of one die per turn, at the beginning of the turn following the attack, and inflicted on the enemy that caused them.

(Example: Silent Bells Wisdom is injured when she makes a careless mistake against an Abyssal swordsman, his wicked soulsteel blade causing her four levels of damage. The Abyssal also activates a charm that adds his Essence to enemy wound penalties for a scene, making Silent Bells Wisdom’s highest wound penalty -5. The next turn, Silent Bells Wisdom will be at only -4 dice, and the Abyssal at a penalty of -1.)

Cost: 8 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: One Turn

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 4

Prerequisites: none

love becomes hatred,

Even emotions cannot withstand the ravages of time, shifting from year to year and day to day. The martial artist can accelerate this slow shift of feelings, tapping into the core values of her opponents and using them for her own ends. Every second turn after Of Love and Hate is activated, the character may roll one of her Virtues; if she gains even a single success, she may make use of one temporary Virtue point of the Virtue she rolled belonging to one of her opponents. This stolen Virtue point does not need to be used on the same turn it is gained, but any Virtue points gained through Of Love and Hate disappear at the end of the scene. Failure on the Virtue roll ends the Charm.

Cost: 10 motes

Duration: One Turn

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 4

Prerequisites: Of Love and Hate

distrust becomes support,

A first impression is not the only impression. Relationships are in a constant state of change with each interaction, every phrase slightly shifting the delicate see-saw balance between two people. The wise socialite knows how to pick and choose her phrases, building a trust where previously there was none, all the while readying herself to plant the knife in her rival’s back. This gradual method of change of the martial artists mantra as she activates Of Guards and Guardians; first she will draw the support of her rivals, then she will twist it to crush them.

The character may activate Of Guards and Guardians after she has successfully attacked an opponent (this attack does not need to deal damage). On the following turn, and every second turn thereafter, the character may steal one die from either the opponent’s dodge or parry pool, and add it to her Martial Arts attacking pool. If the opponent successfully avoids an attack afterwards, the dice are restored, and the character’s bonus begins to build again from zero on the turn following the opponent avoiding the character’s attack. The martial artist must also make at least one attack every two turns to gain bonus dice past the first, although failing to do so does not reset her bonus. Stolen dice are returned at the end of the scene.

Cost: 7 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 4

Prerequisites: none

boons become banes,”

Essence is one of the largest reasons for change in Creation; essence-channelling, even more so. From the weakest discipline of thaumaturgy to the highest circle of sorcery, any use of essence will make a change within Creation, both immediately and with effects that echo through time. Studying the flow of essence, the martial artist learns how to reverse the currents it travels on, diverting the free motes towards herself.

The character may absorb the essence from Charms used to power attacks made against her, provided the essence is not committed by her attacker. There is no limit to the amount of essence she may use, but it must be used in the same turn it is gained.

Cost: 15 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 5

Prerequisites: One complete martial arts style (all Charms), Of Sense and Sensation, Of Guards and Guardians, Of Charity and Rapacity

and she demonstrated such.

The student’s command of the style of Change meshes the previous techniques she has learned into a seamless blend, their synergies creating stronger effects than were possible before. She stands calm amid the chaos, her every minute gesture calculated to create long-lasting results. She casually grasps the strands of Fate and twists them to her whim as she embodies Change, her anima glittering like a maddening jewel.

The character may activate any of the five previous Charms in the Kaleidoscopic Drift of Concepts Style without the activation counting towards her Charm use for the turn. Also, the rate at which the bonuses from Of Touch And Sight, Of Sense and Sensation, and Of Guards and Guardians increase is doubled, she may take a point from any Virtue through Of Love and Hate, and may store motes absorbed through Of Charity and Rapacity as peripheral motes for the remainder of the scene.

This is a Martial Arts Form Charm, and cannot be active at the same time as other Form Charms.

Cost: 8 motes

Duration: One Turn

Type: Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 5

Prerequisites: Kaleidoscopic Drift of Concepts Form

The Elder Sutra of Change: The Maiden continued, “Construction becomes abolition,

The differences between the world of the living and the world of the dead are numerous, with as many obvious differences as there are subtle ones. Shadowlands represent the gateways between the two worlds, and echo the journey of a soul from Creation to the Underworld. Meditating on the transitive nature of the Shadowlands, the character learns to realign essences between the living and the dead.

If the character makes a successful attack, her target is considered to be non-living. He regains essence as if he were one of the dead, and is considered to be non-living instead of living for the purpose of Charms and other effects that specify such states. He can still be killed, and can still starve if he does not eat, but he has no reason to breathe other than habit. The character may target herself with this attack. The effect will last for a number of days equal to the martial artist's Essence, at which point the natural essence flow of the individual rights itself and returns to normal. This Charm may also be reapplied to reverse the effect before this duration ends. Those already aligned with the energies of the dead - such as Abyssals, Deathlords, and ghosts - cannot be targetted with this Charm.

Automata, being incapable of shifting between a living and non-living state, are particularly vulnerable against this technique. All attacks aimed against such beings deal aggravated damage.

Cost: 18 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 6

Prerequisites: Of Creation and Extirpation

actions are no more than words;

Often heated speech of things to be done is only so much hot air. Bringing the weight of difference between what may be and what is to bear upon her enemy, the martial artist may force him into total inaction. Upon striking an opponent, both parties roll their Essence ratings. Failure on the martial artist’s effect indicates poor timing on her part, and there is no effect. Success, however, renders her enemy immobile and unable to take non-reflexive actions during the following turn (and even these require a roll of Wits + highest Virtue to use). A tie also incapacitates the target, but only if his initiative is lower than the martial artist’s the next turn. This Charm does not affect beings of a higher Essence than the character.

Cost: 15 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 5

Prerequisites: Kaleidoscopic Drift of Concepts Form

those that gather are consumed

Any sufficiently complex system, given enough time, will be broken down by elements from within. The larger the structure, the more instances there are for error, and the swifter it is shattered. Drawing on this lesson, the martial artist speeds the dissolution among the crowds she faces as opponents, destroying them from within. While making an attack against a single target, the damage before soak is applied to all enemies within [Martial Arts*3] yards.

Cost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Minimum Martial Arts: 6

Minimum Essence: 6

Prerequisites: Of Consumption and Convention

by anger at invisible attacks.”

Perception of threats may create enemies that never existed. Phantom assailants strike the irrational and the mad from empty spaces, further cementing their actuality. The mind creates its own enemies when viewing the world through paranoid eyes. The martial artist may create her own invisible attacks, making her enemies question their own view of the world.

The character throws a number of hair-fine needles equal to her Martial Arts into the air, suffusing them with essence and giving them a life of their own; they will proceed to harry her enemies, nipping at the cracks of their armour, unseen and undetected until the moment they strike. The martial artist may reflexively assign the needles among her enemies; they will act autonomously until given another directive from her. Rolls to parry or dodge an attack from a needle are made at a difficulty of the martial artist’s Essence; however, once attacked or warned, dodging the needles is only difficulty 2. Spotting a needle requires a reflexive Perception + Awareness roll, also at a difficulty of the character’s Essence; once spotted, difficulties to parry or dodge that needle are halved. Once a character has spotted one needle, he is aware of what to look for, and can quickly locate any others in the vicinity. Needles may be destroyed with a successful parry. The needles have a dice pool of [Martial Arts] to hit, deal the character’s Dexterity in damage (with a minimum damage of half her Martial Arts rating, rounded down), and act first against characters not specifically targeting the needles with an initiative-winning effect. This Charm may only be reactivated when all the needles have been destroyed; the martial artist may command the needles to become inert at any time, should she suddenly be in need of a fresh set.

Cost: 15 motes

Duration: One Turn

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 5

Minimum Essence: 5

Prerequisites: Kaleidoscopic Drift of Concepts Form

The Maiden paused: “However, some things are now

One must have total mastery of the now in order to perceive what effects a given change will have. For a single moment, the martial artist gains an unparalleled clarity of her surroundings. Her perception heightens to an inhuman level, anticipating every attack that is aimed her way. She cannot be surprised, and anyone attacking her, regardless of success or failure, receives lethal pre-soak damage equal to the martial artist’s Essence as she strikes key nerve endings during their attacks. This damage is neither an attack nor counter-attack, but is still subject to minimum damage rules.

Cost: 3 motes per roll, 1 Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 6

Minimum Essence: 6

Prerequisites: Of What Is Now

as they always have been

Time is a mutable concept. It alters based upon perception, and moments can be forever preserved in memory. The past is not always past, and will often show a tendency to repeat itself in identifiable cycles. The martial artist may reach moments into the past and bring it forward to the present, while it still remains as a faint imprint on the shape of the world.

The character may recall the results of a dice roll from any time previous in the scene, for a cost of 3 motes per roll. The dice pool the character uses at the point of recall must be identical to the moment she draws her success from. The character may recall up to her [Essence] rolls in a turn; these rolls may be from different points in the past.

(Example: Silent Bells Wisdom wants to recall a phenomenal attack from a moment passed (twelve successes on an attack roll when he channelled her Valor and had stolen two parry dice from her opponent through Of Guards and Guardians). She would have to channel her Valor again and have exactly two extra dice earned from Of Guards and Guardians to recall the successes).

Cost: 12 motes, 1 aggravated health level

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 6

Minimum Essence: 7

Prerequisites: Of What Is Now

and always will be,

Time is in a constant state of change, every moment moving closer to the future and never arriving. Time is one of the ultimate agents of change, as it is constantly in motion, nothing escaping its grasp. With an intimate understanding of Time, the martial artist may store her actions in the nebulous future, jerking them back into the present when she needs them.

The character is able to skip the flow of time, and send the next Martial Arts Charm she uses to some point in the future. Mechanically, this ‘stores’ the Charm until the character is in need of it. Using a stored Charm is reflexive and without cost, but causes the character’s anima banner to flare as if she had spent the same amount of motes as she did powering the Charm when it was first activated. The character may store a number of Charms equal to her Martial Arts rating, and may not store the same Charm more than once. The essence spent on the Charm does not need to be committed unless the Charm lasts longer than a turn.

Cost: 20 motes, 2 Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Minimum Martial Arts: 7

Minimum Essence: 7

Prerequisites: Of Deeds and Words, Of Affronts and Offences, Of What Has Been, Of What Will Be

constant as the Sun.”

The Unconquered Sun is so named because in every conflict he is undefeated. He among all the gods is the embodiment of constancy, indestructible and unchanging. The martial artist, at this point of mastery, may stop changes from occurring entirely, emulating the raw strength of the Unconquered Sun. She is surrounded by a tight aura of golden light as her anima flares in a violent display. Blows are turns away from her skin and corrupting words fail to reach her ears; for a moment in time where she emulates the heart of the sun, she is invincible.

This Charm must be used at the beginning of the turn, before anyone has taken an action. The character begins the next turn in the exact same state she was when this Charm was activated. She does not take damage from attacks, nor suffer from any additional effects that may impair or aid her that she does not create herself. This is a perfect defence against deleterious effects, in the same fashion as Duck Fate. Motes of essence, Willpower, and points of Virtues spent are still lost, but any health levels in a Charm’s cost need not be paid.

Cost: 15 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts: 8

Minimum Essence: 8

Prerequisites: Of All Beneath The Sun

The student asked: “But does not the moon eclipse the sun?”

The greatest change the mortal world knows is the transition between life and death. Leaving the mortal coil invokes fear in many across Creation, for death is an unknowable experience for all but the most wily (or tainted) of beings. No death can leave the world unchanged. Thus, with mastery of the Kaleidoscopic Drift of Concepts, the martial artist gains dominion over the changes that follow in the wake of death.

The martial artist strikes her opponent with deadly accuracy, knowing exactly where to strike to begin his journey among the dead: her attack deals aggravated damage. If her opponent is killed by this blow, there is no chance of him remaining in the Underworld as a ghost, he will have little if any memory of his previous life, and any sort of destiny imprinted on his soul for future incarnations is blown away. The martial artist siphons the essence as it leaves her dying foe’s body, taking it into herself, where it remains for up to for a year and a day. For every dot of permanent Essence her opponent had, the character stores a number of points; she may store a maximum number of points equal to her Essence rating. The effect of storing these points are as follows:

• she increases her natural bashing and lethal soak by one for each point.
• she adds a die to her attack and parry rolls for every two points (or fraction thereof).
• she adds a -0 health level for every three points (or fraction thereof).

Furthermore, the character may reflexively spend points, removing them before the time limit of a year and a day, to generate the following effects:

• convert a point to five motes of peripheral essence.
• heal a single bashing or lethal health level.
• add an automatic success to a Martial Arts roll.

Comments

Beautiful -- just beautiful ^_^ I don't really feel qualified to comment too much on the fine details of the mechanics -- but you've just created my favorite SMA ever.
The imagery is wonderful (and you used Pink Floyd, which just makes it better) ..

... And I love the student getting the final word ^_^ -- Taichara

I'm glad I can please some people with my imagery. Thankyou. :) - DeadManSeven

First off, I'd just like to say that you've got some crazy cool stuff going on here. I do have some questions though:

• Of Touch and Sight-The duration is what I'm confused over here. You indicate that the duration is only one turn, but the effect seems to last over multiple turns. I don't know if it's your intent, but it doesn't even appear to end once the scene is over. So my question is: Do you activate the charm every other round or do you pay the cost once and the charm just does its thing. If this is the case, are the motes committed?

It should probably say it lasts for only a scene, yes. The reason there's a few Charms with a Duration of a Turn but last for longer than that is so they can be pushed forward and kept in reserve with Of What Will Be. The motes are only committed for the Duration of the Charm, unless a Charm specifically says they need to be committed for longer. That's the rule I've always been working off. The reasons this Charm and its sister aren't scene-long is because there's a good chance they'll need to be reactivated a few times through an intense fight, and the essence for that shouldn't be locked down in preserving a scene-long Charm. The idea was to create a heavy flow of essence with these Charms and Of Charity and Rapacity, because of the associations with acupuncture.

• Of Love and Hate and Of Guards and Guardians- Same mechanic question as above.
• Kaleidoscopic Drift of Concepts Form-I like the first part of the form. I'm very partial to form charms which modify the effects of other charms in the style. I'm curious as to how the second benefit, the one that applies to clinches, fits in with your theme. Mind you, being able to make multiple ranged clinches doesn't seem over powered it just feels thematically off.

You know, there was a reason I was going to include clinching a lot more, but I've forgotten why exactly that is. I'll get rid of it and make a Terrestrial lock-and-hold style, or something.

• Of Creation and Extirpation- Again, I'm hitting some confusion over the charms description with its duration. It seems like the alter your state of living effect is indefinite. The way its written, it seems like you spend the motes once and the change is permit, no committement neccessary. If that's the case, why is the charm of non-instant duration? To prevent its use in a combo? I also think that this charm also needs the caveat "Cannot be used against foe's with higher essence." Also, would you say that tattoo'd lunars are immune to this charm?

It is indefinite, yeah. This idea is that if you need a lot of time to do something in the Underworld, you hit yourself and your circlemates, and go and find a shadowland. Using it on other people, though, it doesn't really need a caveat about higher essence, just some way of getting rid of it after a while. Maybe it could last for Essence days or something; that's really annoying to be hit with, but not completely and permanently crippling.

• Of Affronts and Offences- More committment confusion. The needles are animate for the scene or until the Exalt ends the charm. As it's written, the motes are only committed for one turn. Same issue I've had with all your 'one turn' duration charms.

This one could probably stand to be a legit scene-long Charm.

• Of What Is Now-Does the 'counter attack' damage from this charm penetrate hardness?

I would say no, it doesn't. If it doesn't say 'pre-soak damage', it should. I write all my stuff for power combat, so that Charm might be slightly wonky under classic combat, since you're really only just pinging anyone who isn't completely without soak.

• Of What Will Be-I'm assuming that you can unload all stored charms in the same round with this charm. I'm also assuming that you can't store a combo with this charm. Lastly, can you store: a)only charms from this style, b)only martial arts charms, or c) any type of charm?

You can fire off the stored Charms at any point, provided they're Martial Arts Charms. You can't store combos, but you could simulate them, I guess.

• Of All Beneath The Sun-Cool idea, I wonder about applicability. The charm seems pretty clear about damage and other physical effects (poison or disease for example). What about mental or spiritual effects? You say that essence will and virtues are still spent. Can these traits be drained? Getting hit by a soulsteel weapon would drain motes, for example. Finally, it seems like the character only ignores 'negative'effects.For example, they can't take damage, but they can be healed. If this is the case I think they should be immune to both negative and positive effects for a whole turn. It makes sense since they are basically freezing an 'image' of themselves and restoring it.

They should be immune to positive effects, too. It doesn't state it specifically, but anything that isn't spending motes, Willpower, or Virtues of your own volition doesn't change. I'll go tighten up the wording.

• Of The Inevitable Eclipse-Another neat concept for a charm. I think it's a cool pinnacle. For the first three 'permanent' type effects (added soak, bonus dice, etc.), does the martial artist pick which effects he gets based on the number of points he drains, or do all three categories simply apply themselves based on the number of points stored? Also, when spending points for the second set of effects, does this lower the benefits granted by the first set? Lastly, is there a cap to the number of points that can be stored in this fashion?

The three permanent effects are always on, based on how many points are currently stored. So, with 5 points, that's an extra 5/5 soak, +3 dice to attack and parry pools, and 2 -0 health levels. Spending a point removes it from your storage, so it will drop the permanent effects a little bit. You can store up to your Essence in points.

All in all it's a cool concept for a style. I also really like the name. This is just my set of initial responses. I'm sure I'll have something more useful to say once you clear up my initial questions. Great work.- Ambisinister

Thanks for the detailed response. I do try and catch as many mistakes and problems as I can before I post, but I usually miss something. I think I'm getting better, though. I'm glad you liked it, and await any further replies. - DeadManSeven