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Celestial Lightning Style

It is said among the Immaculates that every soul has the potential to be enlightened. One of the greatest ironies of the Age of Sorrows is that a martial art style has recently been developed to embody this concept - but the style was greated by a Gold Faction Sidereal, and the Immaculates will likely only see it once: as they die.

According to practitioners of the Celestial Lightning Style, alternately referred to as the Path of Empyreal Thunder, enlightenment comes not as a gradual process, but in a single instant, in which the enlightened soul is touched by Relampago, the Celestial Lightning. Every instance of spiritual advancement is marked by this single, mind-opening moment: Exaltation, advancement of Permanent Essence, initiation into a circle of Sorcery, understanding of a higher point on the Path of the Perfected Lotus. Created to mimic those moments by mimicking the lightning itself, the path of the Celestial Lightning is designed to bring the practitioner - and those foolish enough to oppose him - into a greater understanding of Creation itself... though in the case of the opponent, that understanding may be brief indeed. Such is the way of the Celestial Lightning.

Background

Celestial Lightning Style is a relatively recent development. Created by the Gold Faction Sidereal Stone Forest only a few decades ago, to mark his completion of the Bulb of the Perfected Lotus, it has remained thus far in the hands of the Gold Faction and their Solar disciples. As Stone Forest disapproves of the training camps, the style has not yet been added to the training regimen of any of the camps, but as knowledge of the style spreads, that could change. At the moment, only a few of the Solars brought into the Cult of the Illuminated have sought out Stone Forest to serve as their sensei. Somewhat ironically, they have found the style's philosophical basis meshes almost perfectly with their own teachings, which irritates Stone Forest no end.

Training

Training in the path of the Empyreal Thunder focuses on achieving awareness of the touch of Heaven and the enlightenment it brings. Meditation is highly emphasized, as is an understanding of Stone Forest's philosophy of right action and proper timing. To teach timing, student often practice shooting blindly at swaying pendulums, allowing their awareness of the proper timing of an action, revealed by the slightest brush of the Celestial Lightning, to dictate when they loose the shaft. Masters of the style do not miss, ever.

Weapons and Armor

In acknowledgement of the sudden and unexpected nature of the Celestial Lightning, and in conjunction with the constellation of the Quiver, which governs such bursts of insight, the Celestial Lightning Style treats attacks made with any bow, including powerbows, as unarmed attacks for the purposes of Charms in the style. The Celestial Lightning Style is compatible with armor.

Charms

Divine Essence Strike</b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite Charms: None

The first lesson of the path of the Empyreal Thunder is that the Essence of the Heavens flows through all things, and the divine spark is merely the manifestation of that Essence. Upon activating this Charm, the martial artist’s blows surge with lightning, smiting the foes of Heaven.

This Charm, which must be activated before the martial artist’s attack, adds his Permanent Essence to the total of his unarmed damage. This blow may do lethal damage at the martial artist’s option. If this Charm is used with a bow, the divine lightning created by the Charm may be used in place of an arrow – the lightning arrow has a base damage equal to the character’s Permanent Essence. (It may also be used to add to an ordinary arrow’s damage as usual.)

Unportended Illumination Kata

Cost: 6 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 2
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: None

The lightning that strikes down from the Heavens is as swift as it is unexpected. The martial artist rolls two dice for initiative rather than one and adds them together. Charms or other magic that automatically win initiative over the martial artist do not function this turn – all characters using such magic must roll against the martial artist normally.

Twofold Lance of Heaven</b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Extra Action
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Divine Essence Strike

Just as the lightning forks as it approaches the ground, so too does the character’s attack as it approaches its target. Before making an attack, the character chooses two targets that must not be separated by more than the martial artist’s Dexterity in yards. He makes one attack roll and applies the result to each target, both of which defend normally.

Night-Shattering Flare Movement</b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes
Duration: One turn
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Unportended Illumination Kata

The blinding speed of lightning makes it impossible to grasp, and the martial artist attempts to mirror this speed. For the remainder of the turn, any dodge attempt made by the martial artist adds a number of dice equal to his Permanent Essence to the roll, though he must have a dodge action available from some other source - these dice cannot create a dodge action on their own.

Celestial Lightning Form

Cost: 6 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Twofold Lance of Heaven, Night-Shattering Flare Movement

As the character begins this kata, his anima flares with crackling sparks of electricity, and surges of lightning Essence burst from his eyes, palms and feet.

For the remainder of the scene, all the martial artist’s unarmed attacks may do bashing or lethal damage as he chooses. He may reflexively spend a mote of Essence before taking an action to move up to (his Permanent Essence x5) yards in any direction. Obstacles and footing are not hindrances to this movement, as he is as much a streaking bolt of lightning as he is a man. If used before a dodge, the dodge is considered to be a hopping dodge and gains all the benefits thereof.

Finally, the sparking Essence around the character leaps out toward attackers just as lightning strikes the tallest trees in a storm. Whenever the character is the target of a hand-to-hand attack, he may choose to have his anima make a reflexive counterattack against the attacker. This counterattack uses the character’s Martial Arts rating to attack (with no associated Attribute), and does base lethal damage equal to the martial artist’s Permanent Essence. This counterattack occurs simultaneously with the attack, and does not receive any benefits or penalties currently affecting the character himself. Of course, this effect cannot be used against another counterattack effect, and it also cannot be used more times per turn than the martial artist’s Permanent Essence. The character may not launch a second counterattack if he uses Celestial Lightning Form in this fashion.

This is a Form Charm and, as such, is not compatible with other Form Charms. Activating another Form Charm will automatically end the effects of this Charm.

Voice of Heaven Fist</b>

<b>Cost: 4 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Celestial Lightning Form

When the lightning of Heaven strikes, it is more than the illumination it provides that affects its target – it is the thunder, the voice of Heaven, speaking afterward that sometimes has the strongest impact, not only on the target but also on all associated with her.

This Charm calls upon the thunder to strike behind the lightning as the character delivers a powerful blow. After the martial artist makes his unarmed attack, regardless of whether it is successful, all other characters within a number of yards equal to the martial artist’s Permanent Essence – excluding the martial artist himself, but including the original target – must face additional bashing damage equal to twice the attacker’s Permanent Essence. (This effect cannot be blocked, but may be dodged as though it were an attack that received the attacker’s Permanent Essence in successes.) This damage can only be soaked by natural soak, but is considered environmental damage.

Sky-and-Ground Postulant Stance</b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Celestial Lightning Form

Calling upon the power of the Heavens, the character transforms himself into a bolt of lightning that flashes toward – and through – his target quicker than the eye can perceive, leaving the victim disoriented and unable to defend herself against the martial artist’s assault. Upon activating this Charm, the character disappears in a flash of lightning, becoming a streaking bolt of electricity that sears through the target, jolting her with power, before reappearing with another flash and a deafening boom behind the hapless victim. The target must roll Stamina + Resistance with a difficulty equal to the martial artist’s Permanent Essence. If she fails, she is unable to respond to the attack without triggering reflexive magic - neither nonmagical defensive actions nor persistant defenses can defend against this attack. On a success, she merely suffers a dice penalty equal to the martial artist’s Essence on any defensive actions she takes against the attack.

Inevitable Divinity Blow</b>

<b>Cost: 8 motes, 2 Willpower, +2 motes per damage die converted.
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Sky-and-Ground Postulant Stance, Voice of Heaven Fist

Whom Heaven decides to touch cannot be protected, and when Heaven touches them, they cannot deny its power. The character makes an unarmed martial arts attack, adding his Permanent Essence to the Accuracy of the attack. No matter how well the target parries or dodges, as long as the martial artist rolls at least one success, the attack will hit with at least that one success. (Perfect dodges and parries have their usual perfect effects.) If the character hits, he may spend two motes per damage die to convert damage dice rolled to automatic successes. This is done after soak. He may not convert more dice than his Martial Arts rating.

Relentless Enlightenment Storm</b>

<b>Cost: 13 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 health level
Duration: Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Minimum Essence: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Inevitable Divinity Blow

In the midst of a storm, the lightning strikes where it will, without warning and without mercy, and the wisdom granted by Heaven is much the same. Once per turn, as a reflexive action on the character’s regular initiative, he may select a number of targets up to his Martial Arts rating, all of which must be within his usual sprinting distance. He then transforms into a blinding bolt of lightning, flashing from point to point across the battlefield and striking faster than the eye can see. He makes a number of attacks equal to his Permanent Essence – each attack is launched against a randomly determined target among all those selected, though he will not attack the same target twice in a row without attacking every other target in between. (You may roll a die for each target and attack them in descending order, rerolling for ties, or the Storyteller may simply determine an order for each “cycle” of attacks.) If the martial artist chooses at least two targets, these attacks occur with such speed and chaos that the defenders are considered surprised against them unless she has Charms or other magic that negate such (as with Surprise Anticipation Method, for example); as with the Sky-and-Ground Postulant Stance, a surprised character must activate a reflexive Charm to defend against the attack, as neither declared defenses nor persistant defense will function. (It is worth noting that Flow Like Blood will function normally, as it specifically states that it functions against unperceived attacks.) At the end of the attacks, he reappears where he began.

On any turn in which the character uses Relentless Enlightenment Storm, he may not benefit from any extra actions or independent actions. He may still split his dice pool normally, however.

Discussion

I would greatly appreciate any feedback folks can give me on this one. It's my first Celestial style, and I'm still feeling my way - especially toward the end, where I get into the high Essence stuff. Let me know what you think, please!  :) -- Hapushet

First off, let me say I like it. And if you've seen some of my other comments on the wiki, that's saying a lot. Theres's only two things I see slightly off about the style. The first is its over-reliance on the act of 'surprise'. If I recall correctly (and I may not!), the only real effect of being surprised is that you can't use a charm in your defense. If that's the case, some of these are /way/ overpowered, as what you're essentially saying is "You can't even perfect defense this unless you have a combo with SAM". Which is rough. If that's not how surprise works, forget I said anything. The only other one is that your initiative adder that adds 1d10 has two issues. First, it seems expensive. Perhaps 3 motes? Second, it's not clearly worded what happens in the following situation: Three people in a fight. 'A' is the Martial Artist using said charm, B activates Thunderclap rush attack, and C is just some schmuck rolling initiative. The initiative rolled is A-20, B-15, C-40 (he's a Lunar schmuck). This leads to the following conundrum: Since B used Thunderclap Rush, he should go before C. But Since A rolled higher than B, he should go before A. And C definitely is faster than A. So essentially, who wins? It's a circle of dependencies that doesn't resolve well. Perhaps you could even make it two motes (it is only for one turn, right?) and just have it add 1d10 and ignore the 'supercedes other effects' thing. I'm writing just such a charm for a style I'm working on, so of course I think it's balanced... - GregLink

The initiative issue you describe wasn't created by this Charm, though. Other Charms have the rule that perfect initiative effects fail against the character - Secrets of Future Strife, for example. That question remains unanswered, at least in canon, even though there are canon Charms that raise it. Unfortunately, I have no recommendations for the issue. I think the solution lies in editing Thunderclap Rush Attack a little. Maybe if it's changed to say that it forces a single target to lose initiative to the Solar, or if the "single character" bit is removed. - David.

Actually, being surprised means that you only only defend yourself with a reflexive Charm - which prevents persistant usage, as I read it - but it means you can defend yourself if you have something as basic as Reed in the Wind, so I don't think it's overpowered. It might be worth writing that out explicitly, though. As for the initiative thing... well, it's an basically average of +5.5 to your init, but can get up to as high as +10, which is better than any other celestial-level init adder I know of. (It is, of course, still random, so it can bite you in the ass, but...) Between that and the anti-Thunderclap Rush, I thought a high cost was appropriate. And it is pre-Form, too, and should be slightly weak as a result, right? And as for fixing the endless-init-loop... I got nuthin'. I'd be interested in hearing how other people might be handling it, though, since - as David pointed out - the problem goes a lot further than Unportended Illumination Kata (forgive me for the unnecessary repetition, but it's my favorite Charm name from this style <grin>). - Hapushet

I always thought persistents would still apply in the event of surprise, it's just that you can't use a real dice action to come up with one. A better way of phrasing it would be that you must have some way of dodging other than a standard dice action (such as a full dodge). Or perhaps that your response pool starts at zero, and must be created? Or something? - GregLink, who thinks that persistents do just what they say - for example, Flow Like Blood explicitly notes that it dodges things you can't see coming.

Surprise really doesn't do much to Exalted opponents. The only thing it does is force them to use reflexive Charms (which, in my opinion, would include persistent defenses) rather than a held action. More effective against DBs, sure, but against Celestials, not much of an effect. If you want to make your "surprise attack" Charms actually worth much, I think you need to either make them treat the attacks as coming from behind (negating shields, but it still allows most Charm defense), or treat them as unpercieved attacks, negating defenses that don't explicitly work against undetected attacks. This latter effect is more powerful, certainly, and yes, it does negate even Heavenly Guardian Defense unless the character has a Combo with Surprise Anticipation Method, or has some more powerful awareness effect. This effect, though, does have some precedent in canon. If memory serves, there is a Charm in Ebon Shadow Style that does exactly this, and I believe it's immediately after the Form. Another option would be to move away from any "surprise" or "unpercieved" designation and simply impose a dice or difficulty penalty to defense to represent the target being caught flat-footed. Shrouded Claw Attack from Hungry Ghost Style uses this latter method. - David.

What do you think about changing them to say something about "you can only defend against these attacks with effects that specifically say they function against attacks you are not aware of"? I definitely think Relentless Illumination Storm needs a cookie, since it's competing with CMoS Form and so forth, but at the same time, I don't want it to be "Relentless Illumination Storm for the win!" The Hungry Ghost option is intriguing, but I already have something similar in place for the success option of Sky-and-Ground Postulant Stance... presumably failure should be worse. - Hapushet

That's exactly what I was describing as an unpercieved attack. :) That change makes the Charms more worthwhile, but more powerful in certain respects. As I said, a Charm that treats the attack made or supplemented by it as unpercieved by the target is, in certain respects, an HGD-trump. Of course, there are a lot of counters, SAM being the least of these. The Sidereal persistent parry, for example, enables the character to defend against such attacks, as it grants the Sidereal superior situational awareness. I guess ultimately that change would be reasonably balanced. - David.

Neat style, I like the concept. I'm trying to wrap my head around Relentless Enlightenment Storm. Let me see if I've got it right: I can pick a number of targets up to my martial arts rating. I then randomly distribute my permanent essence in 'surprise' attacks against them. I can do this once a round as a reflexive action which costs nothing. If I choose this option, I can't use an extra action charm or benefit from other independant actions (by this I'm guessing you mean actions granted by a Gemstone of Perfect Mobility or the CMoS form.) but I can still split my actions. For example, I could declare a full dodge and stil use RES. I think my only real question is when initally selecting the number of targets, may I only choose one? As the charm reads, that seems like a legitimate course, and I'm not sure if that's your intent.

Regarding the intiative loop, my general resolution method is that whatever action is being supplemented by a charm like TRA takes place immediately before the initiative of the person the charm is effecting. This is the same way I resolve things if a character has actions occuring over mulitple intiative levels (an Abyssal using Writhing Blood Chains and a smashfist in the same round, for example.)If you're supplementing a punch with TRA against someone going on Init 20, then the punch occurs on 21 and any other actions you may have will occur on whatever your normal initiative would be. This method has worked for every situation I've needed to apply it to so far. -Ambisinister

If it helps, Relentless Illumination Storm is pure video game - it's the boss monster with the teleporting, hard-to-defend-against-until-you-learn-the-pattern attack that seems to inevitably appear about two-thirds of the way through any console game. And yeah, you can pick one target. It's against the image I had in my head, but it's legal, and restricting it seemed to unnecessarily weaken the Charm. I can't think of any other extra-action type Charms at the same power level that require multiple targets. There are Terrestrial Charms with that kind of drawback, but no Celestial ones I can think of. - Hapushet

After consideration of the discussion and taking a look at Ebon Shadow Style for comparison, I modified the style. Night-Shattering Flare Movement no longer grants a reflexive dodge without another action, though I dropped the cost to compensate (since it's unComboable as written). Both Sky-and-Ground Postulant Stance and Relentless Enlightenment Storm have clarified text stating explicitly what their "surprise" effects are - I added a Willpower cost and bumped the Essence minimum on SaGPS to place it more in line with the similar effect of Blow-Concealing Gesture Technique. I think it looks pretty good at this point - additional comments? - Hapushet