Revision as of 09:04, 3 April 2010

Verdant Path of Serpents Style

Balance

By Alienated_One

Background

Here's another Martial Art that I was working on. Bear in mind it ah, coils for a rather long distance.

Student's Sutra of Balance: Once, there was a Maiden,

Charms

Cobra Fang Strike</b>

<b>Cost: 5 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: None

Whose bite carried death both possible

The Exalt's favored method of violence drips with neurotoxin when he activates this Charm, and even a cut may be deadly; roll the Exalt's Martial Arts + Essence versus the target's Stamina + Essence. For every success gained by the Exalt, reduce the target's dice pools by one die. More successes than a mortal's Stamina rating will kill said mortal; in the case of anything else, as well as large beasts, it merely results in extreme pain that knocks the victim out. The penalties assessed by this Charm last for one Scene, and do not require the commitment of Essence.

<b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 health level
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: Cobra Fang Strike

And certain,

Drawing upon the principles of cobra venom and then building upon them, the Exalt can inject venom that can kill even his peers or even betters as readily as cobra or sea snake venom kills mortals. A successful attack transmits the deadly venom, which has a normal difficulty to resist. However, before the addition of dice adders, the victim has no dice to resist its effects. Those envenomated will drop to incapacitated after a number of turns equal to their Stamina, and will die in a like number of turns if they do not receive aid of some kind. If they successfully resist, they take the normal effects of the venom (as per coral snake venom), but the penalty is increased by the Martial Artist's Essence.

<b>Cost: 5 motes
Duration: Martial Arts in turns
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: none

As well as pain both memorable

By drawing upon the necrotic, blood-killing venom of vipers and adders, the martial artist's strikes become capable of transferring a deadly combat ailment. This attack does an amount of Lethal Damage equal to the Exalt's Martial Arts + Essence, which can only be resisted with Stamina. However, this damage is suffered turn after turn, for a number of turns equal to the Exalt's Martial Arts. As a side effect of its blood-destroying path, the venom will preclude the draining of Essence through blood, breath or flesh on the target by Abyssals. Furthermore, Abyssals will suffer the effects of a dosing themselves if they attempt to drink the target's blood or eat his flesh.

<b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 health level
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: Viper Fang Strike

And deadly

Having gained greater understanding of his venom, the martial artist may destroy more than just blood and tissues with his spirit-venom; he may even cause his strikes to slowly eat away and digest automata and undead war machines that have had more than a few limbs replaced by iron prosthetics, as well as any other entity normally impervious to venom. After a successful hit, the venom is not resisted - it simply keeps doing damage equal to the Exalt's Essence in Aggravated damage every turn, for five turns. This damage cannot be soaked by armor. Once again, this ruins and atomizes the Essence in the target's body, making it a much-hated technique amongst deathknights.

<b>Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: none

None that hunted her could catch her,

Shifting in and out of shadow and light, the Exalt employing this technique bends around any one dodge able attack without the need for a roll. This is not a perfect defense.

<b>Cost: 10 motes
Duration: (Essence) turns
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: Unseen Coil Displacement

And none that dared to strike her could do any harm

Concentrating diamond-shaped and like scales from his anima, the Exalted martial artist may gain considerable protection. The scales form a reticulated lattice over his flesh that flow with a soft greenish light and bind his body together with a greater degree of resilience than he would otherwise possess, allowing him to soak anything with his Stamina for the duration of the Charm. This effect is perfect.

<b>Cost: 12 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 5
Min. Essence: 5
Prereqs: Defense of Adamant Scales, Well of Corrosive Decay Venom, Well of Insidious Convulsive Venom, Mastery of another Style (all Charms)

For hers was a timeless imperishability

Hissing sibilant mantras of Balance and enlightenment, the Exalt may shore up any vulnerability of body or spirit. While the Verdant Path of Serpents Form is active, the Exalt's soak is doubled, and he may use this total to soak all forms of damage and effects that acts similar to damage; even aggravated damage, or effects that harm the soul harmlessly bounce off of her resilient spiritual scales. Attacks that do less raw damage than the Exalt's Martial Arts are ignored outright, and attacks that do only one health level of raw damage will instead heal the Exalt according to what kind of damage they inflict (bashing can only heal bashing, etc.). This is a Form-type Charm, and abides by the restrictions of Form-type Charms.

<b>Cost: 15 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One Scene
Type: Supplemental
Min. Martial Arts: 6
Min. Essence: 6
Prereqs: Verdant Path of Serpents Form

Elder Sutra of Balance: The maiden grew before her pursuers and burned them with her venom

The lesser elemental dragons, and indeed almost all dragons are of serpentine shape, and thus a sort of kinship with snakes. This Charm draws upon that relationship and the differences in venom spewed out by dragons, allowing the martial artist to mimic the wrathful weapons of the celestial censors. For the duration of the scene, the Exalt may make an attack with the kind of venom of his choice, drawn from the elements, and make a ranged attack out to 350 yards with said venom. This attack has an Accuracy bonus equal to his Essence and inflicts an amount of damage equal to the Exalt's (Essence times 4)L. It will also ignite things if drawn from the element of fire.

<b>Cost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 6
Min. Essence: 6
Prereqs: Verdant Path of Serpents Form

The mightiest of them struck terrible blows in turn, but the maiden was eternal

Serpents are symbols of longevity and fertility, and thus also of Immortality. While this Charm is a far cry from facilitating absolutely eternal life, it can bring the Exalt using it to instant and total convalescence. A Stamina + Martial Arts roll must be made at normal difficulty; success means that for this turn, no matter how much damage is done, the Exalt is placed at full health and remains there.

<b>Cost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Min. Martial Arts: 6
Min. Essence: 6
Prereqs: Verdant Path of Serpents Form

And her own blows reduced the pursuers to corpses before

Striking one blow, the Exalt shapes and pulls through Essence such that he can slay a target before the use of his venom. The attack hits automatically, with at least one success to determine damage (though it is not perfect, and the dice are still rolled), and requires the victim to make a Difficulty (Exalt's Essence) Stamina + Resistance roll. Failure means instant death; botching means that the subject dies and his soul follows a path into the Exalt's spirit fangs and through them to her spirit, envenomating all of the Exalt's strikes with either the Insidious Convulsive Venom or the Corrosive Decay Venom for an entire scene. Success means that the target merely takes three times the Exalt's Essence in lethal health levels, which ignore soak from armor. Do not roll these health levels; simply apply them, minus applicable Stamina- or Charm- derived soak, to the target's wound track.

<b>Cost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 7
Min. Essence: 7
Prereqs: Fangs of Adamant, Venomous Dragon Kinship

Her venom burned them, and so it spilled out and ate away the souls of those it spattered

The Exalt's use of venom approaches a pinnacle, allowing him to place the fear of the Serpent into even the supposedly immortal and divine. Those who number amongst the gods, demon princes and greatest of elementals or ghosts treat this venom as suitably deadly as a mortal finds that of normal supernatural venom; grave concern derives from the application of 15 health levels of unsoakable aggravated damage and a dice-pool penalty of twice the Exalt's Essence. Those who are not Exalted or the peers of the gods are simply slain outright from even a drop or a miniscule cloud of vapor, and their souls are reduced to their component Essence, never rising as ghosts; the bodies of said creatures are also burned away into clear smoke.

<b>Cost: 1 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 6
Min. Essence: 7
Prereqs: Venomous Dragon Kinship

Who were drawn in closely by her stare

With a simple moment of concentration and the near-total suppression of his eyelids, the Exalt calls forth those whose eyes find his, compelling them to enter combat with him. Those so affected will drop any concealment and approach, though not necessarily with reckless abandon. The Balance learned to activate this Charm is not prone to such hysteric extremes, but it is quite reliable, save against any perfect defenses that might apply.

<b>Cost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower, 3 aggravated health levels
Duration: One turn
Type: Reflexive
Min. Martial Arts: 7
Min. Essence: 7
Prereqs: Timeless Ouroborous Restoration

And who found their blades and their magic powerless

Drawing upon the Loop Without Distinct Beginnings or Ends, baleful sources of injury and their ilk may fall into the Space Between Spaces. All attacks aimed at the Exalt, and any forms of magic that would harm him but are not necessarily forms of attack suffer this fate, being drawn into the infinity of Creation and the Wyld and snuffed out as insignificant. For one turn, this makes the martial artist proof against all of these effects.

<b>Cost: 25 motes, 3 Willpower, 3 aggravated health levels
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Min. Martial Arts: 8
Min. Essence: 8
Prereqs: Eternal Serpent Defense, Hypnotic Eye Prana, Divinity Consuming Venom

Against that which coils at the base of the world

The Exalt's anima takes on the appearance of a greater elemental dragon, swelling considerably and becoming somewhat solid. For the remainder of the scene, the Exalt becomes almost perfectly formidable in combat; no matter what element he may appear to be bonded with, his claws can destroy small gods with a touch, and cities may be devastated with his ravening and thrashing coils. He may make a number of attacks every turn equal twice his Essence, and may travel at great speeds to reach destinations, outracing sound and even, if old and very obscure legends are correct, occasionally the light of the Unconquered Sun. Even deathlords and their Malfean masters, or the Yozis, would be hard pressed to fend the character off without effort.