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Jesters Guild Style

In the style of Terry Pratchet's Discworld. The Ankh-Morpork Jesters Guild combat style. Celestial level. Much ado about slapstick.

1. Sudden Banana Peel Meditation</b> - TedPro

<b>Cost: 2 motes
Duration: One Scene or until triggered
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 1
Min. Essence: 1
Prereqs: None

The Martial Artist casually tosses a slippery, rolling or otherwise unstable or inconvenient object over his shoulder, trusting Essence to guide it where it needs to be. The first enemy to pass close to the location will find that the object is directly underfoot, and must make a Wits + Athletics roll to avoid falling, embarassed. If the target is running or performing some form of fast unbalanced movement, the difficulty is 3. Those who fall must make a Charisma + Presence roll not to Look Ridiculous for the scene.

3. Mocking Shadow Evasion</b> - TedPro

<b>Cost: 4 motes
Duration: Until countered
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 3
Min. Essence: 2
Prereqs: None

The Exalt, a master of motion and parody, sliips behind the target, and, as the target moves, moves around behind the target, while making mocking gestures parodying the target. For the target to successfully turn around and face the Martial Artist (and thereby end the Charm's effects) the poor victim must make a dice action to outmaneuver the Jester, and must defeat the Martial Artist in a contest of Intelligence + Athletics. The Exalt's roll to resist this is reflexive, and if the Exalt ever resists such an attempt successfully, the target Looks Ridiculous for the scene.

While behind the target, the target cannot see the Exalt, but will likely know she is there. Attacks and defenses against the Exalt have a difficulty raised by 2, since the target must reach behind him.

If the Jester loses the Intelligence + Athletics test, targets anyone else with any Charm or Dice Action, or does even a single point of raw damage to the victim, the Charm is ended. The Jester is free to perform attacks which do not cause actual damage, however.

4. Over-Shoulder Chimerical Gambit - TedPro

Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min. Martial Arts: 2
Min. Essence: 2
Prereqs: none

The Exalt takes on an expression of surprise, marvelling and pointing at something behind an opponent. When the Exalt's foe turns to look, the confusion becomes an opportunity for escape or assault. The victim of the Over-Shoulder Chimerical Gambit must make a Wits + Socialize roll, with a diffculty equal to the Exalt's Essence. If this roll is failed, the victim takes a non-cumulative -2 penalty to all dice pools for the remainder of the turn. Furthermore, if the next action the Martial Artist takes is a Dexterity + Martial Arts attack against the same target, which his but does no damage, the target then Looks Ridiculous for the scene.

5. Jester's Guild Form - TedPro

Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 3
Min. Essence: 3
Prereqs: Sudden Banana Peel Meditation, Mocking Shadow Evasion, Over-Shoulder Chimerical Gambit

The Martial Artist's face takes on a bitter mask of comedy, and his movements become a cruel pretense at playful dance. His constant skipping and erratic jigs make him a difficult target, allowing him to add his Martial Arts score to any Dodge attempt. Furthermore, the Jester can add his Martial Arts score to any attempt to trip, disarm, push, pickpocket or otherwise bother a target who Looks Ridiculous, specifically excluding causing damage, and can, as a Dexterity + Martial Arts attack, quickly perform complex actions against a target who Looks Ridiculous which might normally take up to thirty seconds, including unfastening a buckle, untying a knot, uncorking and upending flasks, wrapping a rope around a target, picking a pocket, and so forth. Many such actions will be stunts.

This is a Form-type Charm and is not compatible with armor, weapons, or other Forms.

2. Idiotic Majesty Technique - Darloth

Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 3
Prereqs: Jester's Guild Form

Performing a caper with the solemn and serious face only obtainable by those who are truly master Jesters, the martial artist's calculated anti-poise and masterful nuance of ridiculousness so embarrasses any opponent who simply Looks Ridiculous into aborting their attack. When used reflexively against such an attack, it is reduced explicitly to 0 dice, before any success-converters such as lunar charms. This is a perfect defence which counts as a dodge, and works even on undodgeable effects. Perfect attacks hit with 0 successes, and success -adders-, namely the +Essence typically found with offensive sorcery, still work. In those cases, the attack is assumed to have been made with only those successes.

6. Respect-Dismissing Gesture - szilard

Cost: 4 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min. Martial Arts: 4
Min. Essence: 3
Prereqs: Jester's Guild Form

A true Jester never need respect his betters, or even those who merely present themselves as such. With a mere gesture, the martial artist shatters the effect of a social Charm of greater than instant duration. The martial artist must succeed at a Charisma+Martial Arts roll with a difficulty equal to the charm-user's Essence. This Charm has no effect on Charms that are physically based, such as the social attribute based Shapeshifting Charms used by Lunar Exalted.

8. Stance of the Fool - szilard

Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 3
Prereqs: Idiotic Majesty Technique, Respect-Dismissing Gesture

The Jester adopts a stance that is utterly foolish, and it becomes difficult to take him seriously without Looking Ridiculous. Whenever an opponent attacks a jester using this Charm but fails at the attack or does no damage, she must succeed at a reflexive Charisma+Presence roll at a difficulty equal to the jester's Essence or Look Ridiculous for the remainder of the scene. Moreover, the stance's unpredictable nature provides other benefits. Each round, on his initiative, the jester may choose to add his Essence to a single unarmed martial arts attack or to his Bashing Soak for the remainder of the round, as he rolls with the punches.

7. Killing Joke - BrilliantRain

Cost: 10 motes, 1 willpower, 1 health level
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: Stance of the Fool

This charm is restricted to senior Jesters. The Jesters have, through their research into humor, found a joke so terrible that it makes people want to die. By channeling essence through it in the proper way, this wish can be granted...

To perform the Killing Joke, the Jester need only concentraite a bit and then declaim the joke while simultainously feeding a large amount of essence though it. This takes lots of concentration. The Jester also has to cause his own eardrums to temporarily shut down or risk being killed by his own joke. As the joke is fairly long, every person in hearing range may, by forfiting their dice action for the turn, make a reflexive dex+dodge, diff of the Jester's essence, to put their fingers in their ears and thus avoid hearing the joke. Anyone in earshot who doesn't do this takes the Jester's essence in lethal health levels (non-soakable by armor). Anyone within earshot who Looks Ridiculous must make a Stamina+Endurance roll with the same diff as the dodge roll. If they succed, they take the same damage as any one else who lisened to the joke. If they fail, well there is a reason its called the Killing Joke...

Comments

Nikink, you are weird and your styles are cool. I only read a little of the first book of Discworld, but every slapstick includes this idea. I'm hoping that "Look Ridiculous" becomes a rules construct for this style. -TedPro

Well, there's my attempt at making it so. It -is- insanely cheap, especially for an applicability trumping defence, and I may increase the cost later, but the fact that sorcery at least and several other completely perfect attacks still work hopefully counterbalance it. That, and the fact that your opponent must Look Ridiculous
-- Darloth grins.

Errrr... The mechanics here are confusing, It claims to be a perfect defense but, given the mechanics, it isn't a perfect defense (which means something fairly explicit in Exalted)... but merely reduces the successes to 0 and is usable against undodgeable attacks. -szilard

By Perfect, I mean that there is no way of getting around this charm's effects. An elder lunar cannot declare they are using their Perfect Success Converter charm to hit anyway. It is rather limited, much more so than many... if it helps, I could call it a perfect effect? Only... it's a defense... and inside it's limited applicability, that defense is perfect... Feh. Hope that clarifies things a little.
-- Darloth

How about "This dice-reduction is a perfect effect"? -Ben-San

Feh. It is a day for my double-posting today... sorry. Just pointing out that the rolls to avoid the banana skin are extremely low. Perhaps they should both be raised to difficulty 3 if the exalt in question is running?
-- Darloth

Am I the only one who likes this Style? -- TedPro

It sure looks that way. - willows doesn't intend to give the banana-peel style a chance. I mean, really, wasn't physics-dork dickswinging style pedestrian enough?

Put in a more civil tone, I sure as hell don't want to post Charms for this style, because the mental picture I get from it bores the shit out of me, and worse, it feels out of place in my vision of Creation. If I can't see Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, or Chow Yun Fat doing it, it's a style I don't want to write. - w

Jackie Chan, maybe? :) -TedPro

Not a Chan fan. I prefer my kung fu to be served wuxia-style, with broken hearts and bloody endings. - w

Also, Chan isn't really absurd in this particular style. He's a comedian, but there's solid kung fu under it. Even his drunken-style stuff seems like something he could credibly beat you up with. Banana peels are something else entirely. -Ben-San

This sort of brings up a point, though. What to do when a Relay? -TedPro

Last couple of times it's happened (see the SiderealCharms CharmRelays) some nice person has just given up and posted enough Charms to close it off. - w

I'm sort of approaching this style as an exercize in simulating a genre. Kind of a The Joker meets the Three Stooges style of combat, though I sort of hope it will end with a shocking violent and lethal final Charm, so that, after you've tripped someone and tweaked his nose, you snap his spine. Anyway, I added two more Charms, including a Form Charm, so hopefully we can move on to another Relay soon. -TedPro

Wow. Didn't think it was such a lame idea... I figured there were some Pratchett fans among the wikizens that could really go to town with this style. Ah well. Live'n'learn. Some Charm ideas that I've been too busy lately to actually flesh out :

1. A Charm that adds MA to all Athletics pools (I figured this'd be good for the Form at time of musing)
2. Seven Serious Sounds uttered at a foe to make them look ridiculous
3. Look Ridiculous = -1 dice to all rolls by the Target's allies. A circle of Jesters versus a circle of Bloody-Broken-Hearted-Ending Stylists can climax with the B-B-H-E Circle collapsed in a pile of laughter at each other (and the antics of the Jesters) unable to do anything other than giggle and shake. Note that Looking Ridiculous does not penalise the target (they just get mad) and that no dice pools can be reduced below their Essence rating.
4. Capering Parody = after a foe makes an attack or defense, the Jester adds the number of successes as dice to their defense or attack. Or maybe just treat as a counter attack.
5. Befuddled Tumble = add dice to dodge.
6. A Charm to allow contortion into surprisingly small places.
7. A Charm to add MA to Larceny.
8. Comedy of Errors Attitude = much like Safety-Amongst Enemies except the person actually struck Looks Ridiculous as well.

Ok... just some thoughts... if I had more time on my hands I would actually write 'em up, but I won't have that luxury for at least another week or so, unfortunately. I hope these help inspire others so this lame theme can finish with all due dignity... B-) Nikink

Sorry, I don't know Pratchett well. Add some Charms, Nikink! Those sound like good ones. The only other Charm I was thinking to add was something that knocked or tripped one person into another, making them both roll Wits + Athletics or fall down, and if they both fail making them both Look Ridiculous. -TedPro

As a purely parody style, not intended to ever see the light of day (except possibly in a REALLY SILLY session, this isn't too bad. Also, if Chan hasn't used banana peels, he's used just about everything else (and I'm not too sure about the banana peels thing, either...), fitting in with the text of that charm. Also, the idea of the Joker turned loose in Creation is just wrong enough that I actually LIKE it. ^_^ So, finish this up, and I, at least, will keep it locked away for my April first session, along with ExaltedBeachVolleyball and a few other things I've spotted here, and will probably continue to see. As far as Cheung and the rest, I'm pretty sure I've seen some comedic bits in their work at one point or another. Most of them, anyway. Maybe. Okay I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, but for goodness sake! ExaltedWiki isn't just for the overly-serious types, eh? -Suzume

Hey! Don't get all down in the dumps because just one person (me) doesn't find this theme excessively exciting. Have fun with it! - willows

Sou, sou. Sono toori. -Suzume

I happen to be a Pratchett fan and I'm enjoying this style. I have even come up with somthing that, I think, would make a good final charm. However, it doesn't look like we have gotten to that point yet, so I'll sit on it. Or can I go ahead and post it?
--BrilliantRain

I wouldn't object to moving on. Progress is a little stagnant, and any other additions people think up can certainly be made post-Relay. Wohksworth

BrilliantRain, the reason that we post numbers before Charm names in this relay is that sometimes, it helps to post the Charms out of order; I have posted Forms and ultimates as the first Charm at times. In other words, please post! - willows

Added a nice capper to the style. As one of the Seriphs of Al Khali once put on his last booby trap Laugh this one off . Anyway, should I archive this and give a new topic, or should we see if anyone else wants to put up the last couple?
--BrilliantRain

The thing with this style (Well, a thing with this style) is that there's far more Charms to make someone Look Ridiculous than there is to do something with the trait; by my skimming, someone Looking Ridiculous can be affected by the Form's trick (which is awesome, incidentally), have almost any (even perfect!) attack(s) nullified, and pretty much be killed outright. The latter two effects are terrifying, but that's another point entirely. The style might benefit somewhat if there were some other guidelines to Looking Ridiculous; might I recommend "a character cannot regain Willpower while they Look Ridiculous" and "a character who Looks Ridiculous may regain their composure by attaining X successes through extended simple Stamina+Presence (or some equally unlikely) rolls, and has hit the responsible opponent with an attack, even if does no damage." If someone wanted to write some other more minor Charms, it'd probably help the Style... but I'm not about to volunteer. I'm for moving on now, regardless. _Wohksworth

My suggestion (and these guidelines should probably go at the front of the style) - someone who Looks Ridiculous cannot stunt and is at -2 dice on all social actions. In order to stop Looking Ridiculous, someone may take a full action and make a successful Appearance+Presence roll (at -2 dice). Despite the normal restriction on stunting, the roll to stop Looking Ridiculous may, explicitly, be stunted. -szilard

Urk. Forgot to add the entire second clause of the Charm last night. Must have been distracted. Sorry. -szilard

My suggestion for Looking Ridiculous isn't good enough? B-( *sniff* ... Just kidding. I like the charms done, so far, but as it seems to be a bit of a stumper for a Relay, I reckon BrilliantRain can Archive and post a new theme if he wants. Thanks people! - Nikink

I got the page set up and moved the info over. Last call for new charms before this is declared over!
--BrilliantRain

What type is Stance of the Fool?
--BrilliantRain