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BerserkSeraph’s Lunar Brawl Charms

This is the first Charm set for my concept of a revised, Ability-based, Lunar design. In this set, I'd be moving the Lunars to Ability effects both because it allows more logically-designed trees with a minimum of having to go outside one's Caste to be effective, and will hopefully remove the Lunars' utter reliance on DBT to be effective. Tentatively, the limit for Lunar dice-adders will remain Attribute-based, until I get a better suggestion.

This introduces the idea of Transformation Charms - these Charms generally possess a duration but focus on a part of the Lunar's basic makeup - their ability to shapechange. As such, Lunars - and only Lunars - will be able to make 'Shapechanger Combos' - Combos of Transformation Charms that ignore many of the normal limits, allowing a Lunar with the appropriate Combo to cast on a number of his transformational scene-long self-buffs in less time. Such Charms will often have 'designations' or Totems which will replace some of the other limitations - thusly a character who specializes in certain methods of strengthening his body will be able to make more dangerous combos than a generalist.

Please comment!

Grasping Raptor Talons

 Cost: 4 motes
 Type: Simple
 Duration: One Scene
 Min. Brawl: 2
 Min. Essence: 1
 Prerequisites: None

The character’s flexes his fingers and molds his bones into a potent fist or open-handed claw. Such 'Talons' allow the Lunar to strike with the force of steel, and catch blades with his bare hands. The character deals lethal damage with his or her unarmed strikes, may parry lethal damage while unarmed without a stunt, and gains bonus dice to all clinch rolls equal to her Essence or Dexterity, whichever is lower.
This is a Transformation Charm, for Strength Totems.

Jackdaw Avarice Method

 Cost: 3 motes
 Type: Reflexive
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Brawl: 3
 Min. Essence: 2
 Prerequisites: Grasping Raptor Talons

The character snatches his foes' weapons in an iron grip as they bounce off his god-like flesh, wresting them away and forcing the foe to fight the unarmed Lunar on equal terms. The Lunar may activate this charm upon a successful parry (using the Brawl ability) - he may instantly make a reflexive disarm attempt against the parried opponent, should the foe be within the Lunar's reach. Disarmed weapons can be cast aside or kept, as the Lunar desires. If activated in a clinch, this allows the Lunar to instead make a reflexive Larceny attempt to filch another item on the target's person - the item cannot be strapped tightly to the subject (such as armor or a limb). The Larceny attempt gains bonus dice equal to the Lunar's Essence or Wits, whichever is lower.

Crow's Beak Mercy

 Cost: 5 motes + 3 motes per success
 Type: Supplemental
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Brawl: 4
 Min. Essence: 2
 Prerequisites: Grasping Raptor Talons

The character pressess his fingers together as he makes an unarmed strike, driving them in a steepled 'beak' into the body of the opponent - most often plucking out an eye. With the eye, the Lunar takes, in what passes for mercy among the tribes of the Wyld, a fragment of the subject's sorrowful memories. The Lunar activates this charm upon making a Brawl attack. Should the blow hit, the Lunar may convert post-soak damage dice into automatic successes, at the cost of 3 motes per die. The Lunar cannot convert more dice in this method than his Strength.
Should the attack deal damage, the Lunar may force the target to make a reflexive Dexterity + Wits check, with a difficulty of the damage levels dealt. Should the target fail, they lose an eye and may (ST's call) suffer shock. The eye brings with it fragmented memories of misery - the recollection of one sad event in the target's recent past is passed to the Lunar, who may chose to remove the memory for the subject or keep it as bargaining leverage. Most mortals suffer permanent damage from this Charm, while Exalts may regain their vision with time (the other eye strengthening to compensate) or through the use of Charms.

Vulture's Patience Meditation

 Cost: 3 motes
 Type: Reflexive
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Brawl: 4
 Min. Essence: 2
 Prerequisites: Grasping Raptor Talons

Experienced Lunar brawlers know that only those with foolish haste squander their resources on hurried battles - a Lunar who has mastered this Charm has near saintly patience, knowing that the trauma of even their merest blows will eventually stagger and demolish a foe.
The Lunar may activate this charm in two situations - when attacking with an unarmed (Brawl) attack, or the turn after successfully striking and damaging a foe with a Brawl attack. In the first case, the Lunar gains bonus dice to the attack roll equal to the target's wound penalties, counting extra successes twice for the purpose of calculating damage. In the second case, the Lunar's previously-inflicted wound compounds in severity - the Lunar may roll damage dice equal to the health levels inflicted by his Brawl attacks on the subject in the last turn (count damage from separate attacks separately - each instance of 'compounded' damage is soaked as an individual source of damage) - the subject suffers this new damage, which is soaked only with natural soak. Vulture's Patience Meditation will not compound damage dealt by itself, and damage from the compounding can be reduced to a single die with soak (if using PC - this it to prevent a 'secondary flurry' trick where Essence Ping is dealt en masse).

Lurking Hyena Rush

 Cost: 4 motes
 Type: Reflexive
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Brawl: 5
 Min. Essence: 2
 Prerequisites: Vulture's Patience Meditation

Should an opponent leave even the smallest opening for the Lunar brawler to exploit, he takes it - rushing in with brutal speed to strike an off-balance or unaware foe. The Lunar may activate this Charm when an opponent within his reach fails a parry, dodge, or attack roll, for whatever reason. The Lunar may reflexively attack the target with his normal Dexterity + Brawl pool, and any defense against the Rush has applicable wound penalties doubled. The Lunar cannot activate this Charm more times per turn than his Dexterity or Essence, whichever is lower, but may activate it in response to a failed defense against itself. (So if a Lunar hits you, and your dodge fails, he can hit you again with this - and if your dodge fails against this, he can use it again...and so on.)
Ghosts and other creatures of the underworld are particularly vulnerable to this predation - attacks made against animate dead with this Charm deal aggravated damage and can strike dematerialized ghosts. Animate dead with higher Essence than the character are proof against this added trauma, however (So no Aggro on the Thorns behemoth).

Lame Prey Selection

 Cost: 5 motes
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Brawl: 5
 Min. Essence: 3
 Prerequisites: Lurking Hyena Rush

The Lunar scrutinizes his foes, discerning the gaps in their defenses, the flaws in their forms - even the weaknesses of their minds. Armed with this knowledge, a skilled brawler can tear his chosen prey to shreds. The Lunar using this charm must spend a turn observing the movements of the group, then roll Perception + Brawl with a difficulty based on how secretive the group is attempting to be (So a circle of Solars travelling incognito might impose a difficulty of 5, while observing a sworn brotherhood of Dragon-Blooded in combat is a 1). Successes on this roll translate directly to information - a single success grants rough estimates of skill in combat ('He's worse at brawling than you but is a capable swordsman'), three successes grant insight into style and preference ('He uses a spear and tends to counterattack') while five gives uncanny understanding ('He will likely move to protect the woman') - the Lunar can simultaneously observe a number of individuals equal to his Essence with a single application of his Charm, and gains insight into how their combat strategies interact in such a case ('The woman looks weak in the legs but has strong archer's arms - she may use the spearman to harry foes while she strikes from a far').
The Lunar gains bonus dice equal to the successes on his roll to all relevant checks against the subjects (Possibly including social tricks - such as playing on the man's protective feelings for the archer) for one scene or until the subjects deliberately change their normal tactics to confuse the Lunar. Bonus dice from this Charm cannot exceed the Lunar's Perception, however, and count against normal dice-adder caps for actions.

Disruptive Komodo Fang

 Cost: 7 motes, 1 Willpower
 Type: Supplemental
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Brawl: 5
 Min. Essence: 3
 Prerequisites: Vulture's Patience Meditation

The Lunar coalesces a corona of noxious Essence around his fist as he strikes, leaving horrific wounds that fester and decompose - the Essence of the region utterly corrupted by the quicksilver flow of Lunar power. A Brawl attack supplemented with this Charm deals lethal damage if it would not already - if it would, it deals two additional dice of damage. Additionally, should it deal damage, for a number of turns equal to the damage levels dealt the target doubles their wound penalties and must make a reflexive Stamina + Resistance roll against a difficulty of the Lunar's Stamina or spend the turn vomiting and writhing instead of acting. Exalts may reduce this difficulty to the Lunar's Essence, as their immune systems are far more capable of dealing with foreign Essence.
If used against a subject suffering a natural disease, however, the vomiting has a purging effect, clearing infected Essence from the body. Mortals who survive the trauma of the blow will recover from the disease immediately after the Charm's effects finish.

Rapacious Scavenger Haste

 Cost: 11 motes, 1 Willpower
 Type: Reflexive
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Brawl: 5
 Min. Essence: 4
 Prerequisites: Lame Prey Selection, Disruptive Komodo Fang

A bared throat, a lame leg - the slightest weakness spells death in the natural world. So, too, in combat against the Lunar. The Lunar may activate this Charm when an opponent within his reach is successfully dealt damage. He may reflexively attack that target with his normal Dexterity + Brawl pool. This attack deals bonus damage equal to the Lunar's Essence, and halves the subject's soak (If the Lunar is using a Piercing weapon, apply this, not both). Defense dice pools against it are reduced by the number of health levels of damage the target has suffered this turn. The subject must roll Stamina + Resistance against the damage successes or be maimed, suffering a 1 die penalty to all pools for the rest of the scene. This penalty can reduce dice pools below the subject's Essence (if using PC). The Lunar cannot activate this Charm in reaction to itself or Lurking Hyena Rush.
Should the attack damage a normal mortal (read: one without unusual ancestry and unExalted), they die - the ferocious Essence of the blow simply flattens them.

Ox-Felling Fists

 Cost: 3 motes
 Type: Reflexive
 Duration: One Scene
 Min. Brawl: 2
 Min. Essence: 1
 Prerequisites: None

The character toughens his hands to the point where they hit with the force of a mace - even the toughest of foes may be staggered by these tremendous strikes. The character's unarmed Brawl attacks deal +2B damage, he may parry lethal damage without a stunt, and a foe, if damaged by the character's Brawl attacks, must roll Stamina + Resistance against a difficulty of the health levels of damage dealt, or suffer a 1 die penalty to all actions on his next turn. Multiple penalties are cumulative but the overall penalty cannot exceed the Lunar's Strength or Essence, whichever is lower.
This is a Transformation Charm, for Strength Totems. It is slightly incompatible with lethal damage - if the character is using natural weapons, Brawling aids, or Charms to deal lethal damage with their unarmed strikes, they lose the damage-boosting benefits of this Charm, but regain the stunning and parrying properties.

Tyrant Lizard Strike

 Min. Brawl: 3
 Min. Essence: 2
 Prerequisites: Ox-Felling Fists

May be used for parries but not with MA. Otherwise, as in E: The Lunars.

Tortoise-Pulping Hammer

 Cost: 7 motes
 Type: Supplemental
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Brawl: 4
 Min. Essence: 2
 Prerequisites: Tyrant Lizard Strike

The character swings his fist with titanic force, the shock of the blow resonating through armor and coursing down weapons placed in its path - no mere steel can stop a determined Lunar from slaying his opponent.
The unarmed blow supplemented with this Charm ignores armor for the purpose of soak. It cannot be parried with normal weapons. If parried with a weapon made of the Five Magical Materials, it still deals ping damage (as appropriate for your game) as if the target had soaked the damage the blow would have dealt.

Unforgiving Lion's Maw

 Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower. This should cost more. How much more. 
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Brawl: 5
 Min. Essence: 4
 Prerequisites: Tortoise-Pulping Hammer

The character makes a large swipe for the target's throat with an Essence-charged fist. Should the blow connect, it deals horrific damage - mortals struck by the blow almost certainly die instantly, and even Exalts can suffocate as they attempt to breath through the wreckage of their ruined throats.
The Lunar makes a normal Brawl attack with his standard dice pool. The attack's difficulty is the target's Essence. Should the attack hit, in addition to dealing normal damage, the subject suffers great trauma - they must make a reflexive Stamina + Resistance roll, with a difficulty of the Lunar's Strength or Brawl, whichever is lower.
Should they fail, they die instantaneously. UnExalted beings (such as mortals, Fair Folk, and God-Bloods) with less Stamina than the Lunars' Essence do not get a check - their frailer bodies cannot overcome the blows of a truly horrific Lunar's fists. Should they succeed, however, they are not in the clear - if the attack dealt at least three health levels of damage, the subject suffocates for a number of turns equal to the health levels deal, suffering 1 die of unsoakable Bashing damage each turn until they die or stop suffocating.

Earth-Shaking Stride

 Cost: 3 motes
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Brawl: 3
 Min. Essence: 2
 Prerequisites: Ox-Felling Fists

The character moves close to his foe and slams an Essence-charged fist or foot into the ground at his feet, creating a potent localized tremor that casts the unlucky subject to the ground. The Lunar makes a Brawl attack, as normal, which deals no damage but may be parried or dodged as normal. Should it hit, the subject must make a reflexive Dexterity + Athletics roll against the successes the Lunar rolled on the attack (before modifiers for defense) or be knocked down, suffering dice of bashing damage equal to the Lunar's Brawl, which may be soaked as normal. Even if they remain standing, foes are off-balance, suffering a 2 die penalty to all attack and defense rolls for the next turn. Objects targeted with this blow are generally (if nearly equal in height to the Lunar) shaken to pieces - larger objects are disrupted and damaged, and may topple under their own weight if struck in proper locations.

World-Rending Claw

 Cost: 6 motes
 Type: Supplemental
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Brawl: 4
 Min. Essence: 2
 Prerequisites: Earth-Shaking Stride

The Lunar's blow disturbs the air itself, coursing across the ground in great furrows to strike at a foe. The attack supplemented by this Charm is dodged at increased difficulty (increase the difficulty by the Lunar's Essence) and may strike foes up to (Essence x 3) yards away. The Charm's attack leaves visible damage on the ground, and may be used to destroy small objects between the Lunar and a target - or as a novel way of plowing a field.

Stone Fangs Kata

 Cost: 4 motes
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Brawl: 5
 Min. Essence: 2
 Prerequisites: World-Rending Claw

The Lunar slams a fist into the ground, casting shards of stone, pavement, and debris towards a foe. The Lunar makes a Dexterity + Brawl attack (difficulty 3) against a target within (Essence x 15) Yards, with a base lethal damage equal to his Essence.

Mountain-Sundering Style

 Cost: 7 motes per success, 1 Willpower.
 Type: Simple
 Duration: One Scene
 Min. Brawl: 5
 Min. Essence: 3
 Prerequisites: World-Rending Claw

The Lunar tenses his every muscle as he calcifies the flow of his internal energies, centering his brutal energy into a surge of primal destruction of unmatched caliber. As long as this Charm is active, the Lunar's every step causes a small rumble in the ground, his very touch ripples with power - and, should he connect with his charged fists, he does horrific damage. Upon activating this Charm, the Lunar may convert up to his Essence in dice. This dice pool becomes his 'safe pool' - should a Brawl attack attack and deal damage, that many dice of damage (or all dice, if the damage is lower than the character's Essence) are treated as automatic damage successes. They are not rolled and the dice are removed from the damage pool - should the Lunar make the merest touch with his fists, he is assured to cause at least some damage.
This is a Transformation Charm for Strength Totems.

Temple-Toppling Predator

 Cost: 15 motes, 1 Willpower.
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Brawl: 5
 Min. Essence: 5
 Prerequisites: Mountain-Sundering Style, Lame Prey Selection

The manipulation of the flows of Essence and the use of combat skills all hinge on one truth - the understanding of one's own body. While to a certain extent every Exalt is aware of this, it is the Full Moon Lunars who have devised a way of making that elegant machinery foul up. With a single devastating blow, the Lunar renders the foe incapable of using his skills and Charms to the fullest - a weakness that often spells death for the unfortunate victim.
The character makes a Brawl attack, as normal. Should it damage the foe, the Lunar may roll his Strength + Brawl against a difficulty of his foe's Stamina + Essence. For each success on this roll, the target subtracts one die from all combat dice pools for the following turn. The victim must also roll his Stamina + Resistance against a difficulty of the successes rolled each time he wishes to use a combat Charm - if the roll fails, he cannot control his Essence flows properly and cannot use a Charm this turn.
Each turn after the initial blow, the dice penalties and the difficulty of the roll to use Charms decreases by one until the scene ends or the penalty is decreased to 0 dice - whichever occurs first.

comments

I don't think I like the mechanics behind Unforgiving Lion's Maw. It should be dependent upon the defender's Essence much more so than the attacker's (one possibility: Make the difficulty of the attack equal to the defender's Essence). I also dislike the Stamina reduction - I'd just make it do bashing damage that is soakable only with Stamina (and only then on a successful Stamina+Resistance roll) each turn until the victim dies or achieves a number of successes or something. -szilard

I suppose that's fair - I wanted to avoid more rolls, however, so I'll have to think on a better method to simulate the suffocation. I've added some charms - note that a few of them have unusual mystical effects tied in, like Crow's Beak Mercy and Lurking Hyena Rush - I think this adds a little utility AND it emphasizes the knowledge which the Lunars may have lost over time - why would someone have developed these facets of power, sort of thing.

I'm thinking of slightly restructuring the Trees to be more readable (You don't want to see the diagram I was using previously.) and have thought out a couple more charms and moved some around. You can find my two 'planned' Brawl trees at [1] and [2].

Hmmm... you tend to be using a lot of this "Essence or Attribute X, whichever is lower" thing. Any particular reason? I tend to find it a bit awkward. Maybe it is just dwelling on the negative that bothers me. Perhaps if it were "dice equal to Attribute X up to, but not exceeding Essence" (which is equivalent), I would like it better. Perhaps not. I dunno. -szilard, who is babbling.

It's an idea I'm throwing around, but I'm not certain of it - I may just set all of those to Essence, given that that's far more likely to create the cap in any case. The situation that I'm covering for it probably rare enough that it won't come up in any case (Attribute lower than Essence) - I appreciate the help, by the way. I'd hoped to get more response but I guess the idea isn't as intriguing as I thought. I may just port all these to Solar brawl. :D ~ BerserkSeraph

Bunch of comments below. In general, I like the ideas behind a lot of these. My big concern is that the power level seems too high when compared with Solar Charms... and when you realize that the Lunar using these Charms might be using them in DBT with moonsilver claws and ridiculous physical attributes... shudder...

Grasping Raptor Talons - I'd drop the clinch enhancer bit - it is already a scene-length charm that has some extra comboability and has no prereqs.

Jackdaw Avarice Method - it is unclear when this can be activated - when parrying? in a clinch? any time? I suspect the first two. This sort of seems like two separate charms to me. Also, can it be used multiple times in a round in a clinch? It seems sort of odd to allow that... perhaps it ought to be supplemental. I think that would make it much clearer.

Crow's Beak Mercy - This Charm needs to be Simple. Using it should also carry some consequences for the Lunar as he gains the memories - perhaps gaining a point of Limit.

Vulture's Patience Meditation - This should be two Charms. They both ought to be Supplemental.

Lurking Hyena Rush - This is a weird Charm. The way to beat it is, apparently, not to dodge or parry (because then you won't fail).

Lame Prey Selection - The duration should be scene length. There should also be some guidance on what checks are relevant. My suggestion, though, would be to avoid the issue and say that the bonus dice are given once each turn and may be distributed as the Lunar wishes among his rolls that turn in combat. I'd also give him an initiative bonus in that combat.

Disruptive Komodo Fang - why is the difficulty the Lunar's Stamina? Does this have any effect upon gods, elementals, fair folk, ghosts, or undead?

Rapacious Scavenger Haste - does the 1 die maiming penalty count as a wound penalty? I'm not a fan of the auto-kill to normal mortals - if a mortal actually manages to survive the attack, that strikes me as cool and heroic. Why take that away? Also, this Charm might be due for some combo limitations.

Ox-Felling Fists - why is this reflexive rather than simple?

Tortoise-Pulping Hammer - eh. The parrying bit makes little sense to me. I'd just say that if non-5MM weapons are used to parry this attack, they shatter.

Unforgiving Lion's Maw - does this have an effect upon spirits or the undead? why are Fair Folk treated like mortals with respect to it? Perhaps, instead of increasing the cost, this should be a Simple charm.

Earth-Shaking Stride - your comments on attacking objects with this ought to be given mechanics... and note that there are Solar charms that do nothing but damage objects, so this ought not to be as good at that as a comparable-level Solar Charm.

Mountain-Sundering Style - this charm is a bit unclear: "should a Brawl attack attack and deal damage"?? I assume you meant hit and deal damage, but how do you determine if damage is dealt here? Suggestion: The safe dice only apply if the damage dealt in the attack would exceed the target's soak.

Temple-Toppling Predator - this Charm seems to involve an excessive amount of rolling. I'm also unclear why Stamina+Resistance is used to control Essence flows...

Hope this stuff helps. -szilard