Difference between revisions of "MartialArts/EbonTendrilsOfEntropyStyle"

Revision as of 09:04, 3 April 2010

The Student's Sutra of Dust:
Once, there was a red-lipped maiden....

Embrace of Ashes (Charlequin)

 Cost: 8 motes, 1 Willpower
 Duration: Instant
 Type: Simple
 Minimum Martial Arts: 5
 Minimum Essence: 4
 Prerequisite Charms: None

...who cast a circle around a crimson flower...

The touch of Ending's Maiden comes to all things, in time. Those who dedicate themselves to the Embrace of Ashes can bring this touch to the things of Creation. The Sidereal must firmly grasp the target of this effect -- to use it in combat, the character must successfully grapple an opponent. The Sidereal then rolls his Stamina + Martial Arts + Permanent Essence. If the target is an animate being with a permanent Essence of 2 or more, she may roll her Stamina + Resistance as an opposed roll. Successes on the Sidereal's roll cause the target to become withered and aged. For each such success, the target loses her topmost health level slot and two points of Soak; she gains the appearance of having aged fifteen years. (For an Exalt, her appearance changes as if she were a mortal who had aged.) Against inanimate objects and mortals, this effect is permanent; against Essence wielders, one success of this effect is healed per week. The Sidereal may choose to freely discard any number of successes after the roll, in order to age someone a specific amount.

An Essence wielder can only be under the effects of one instance of this Charm at once; if the Sidereal uses it on someone already suffering its effects, whichever activation produced more net successes takes precedence, rather than the two effects stacking.

Enclosure of Darkened Cinders (FourWillowsWeeping)

 Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
 Duration: One Scene or Until Released
 Type: Simple
 Minimum Martial Arts: 5
 Minimum Essence: 4
 Prerequisite Charms: Embrace of Ashes

She made it into a house of petals.

Limitation is the first source of confusion. With this Charm, the Discordant creates a limit, so that he may bring things to a collapsing end more gracefully.

He stamps firmly on the ground, and an ebony shockwave spreads out to encircle up to as many Chosen or other Essence-channelling targets as twice the adept's Essence, and any mortals that this area might include. He must be able to see any entities he would like to enclose in the sphere. If there are entities within this circle that the adept would rather exclude, he can use the shockwave to push them away; they roll their Strength + Resistance in a reflexive opposed test against the adept, who has a base pool of 0 and automatic successes equal to his Essence. He may spend 1 mote (uncommitted) per 2 dice to add dice to this pool, to a maximum of Strength + Martial Arts. If the adept succeeds, he pushes the target out of the circle. If the target succeeds, he weathers the shockwave and is included within; he does not count against the limit of entities the adept may deliberately include.

Once the circle reaches this radius, it explodes into an impassable wall of dust. Inside the wall, light is dimmed and animas go dark, replaced by fountains of scarlet petals that flow from the Chosens' mouths, wounds, and eyes. Those trying to pass through the circle suffer terrifying pains and must roll Stamina + Endurance at a difficulty of the adept's Martial Arts to avoid inhaling the cinders and dust that make up the wall; doing so causes one to lose his action for the turn. Only truly spectacular feats of strength, such as the Jumping Spider Strike, can escape this barren prison; it requires an effective Strength + Athletics pool equal to 4 times the adept's Essence to punch through the wall. This has the effect of violently depositing the escapee on the other side, and he automatically suffers the effects of cinder inhalation for ten turns, minus his successes on a reflexive Stamina + Endurance roll. An escapee must break through the wall alone; it is impossible to bring someone with him.

Each turn, the circle contracts, forcing those within it to come closer to one another. The adept controls the rate of contraction; it may be as slow as one yard per turn or as fast as his Essence in yards per turn; alternatively he may stamp his foot again and make a Strength + Martial Arts roll to suppress its expansion for one turn per success; this operation is a dice action. He may voluntarily reduce his successes on this roll. The circle will naturally stop contracting when it would otherwise crush those inside--generally at one yard in radius per Chosen enclosed. When the Essence powering this Charm is released, the dust wall collapses to the earth with a sigh.

Colorless Blood Strike (Quendalon)

 Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower
 Duration: Instant
 Type: Simple
 Minimum Martial Arts: 5
 Minimum Essence: 4
 Prerequisite Charms: None

Until she broke every window and burnt down every wall

The body of any mortal creature is full of life and fire. With this Charm, the Sidereal infuses her victim with the Essence of dust, destroying those elements that allow mortal life to thrive. After a successful unarmed strike, the target must roll Stamina + Resistance against a difficulty of the Sidereal's Essence. If the target fails, his health cannot be restored by any natural means; bleeding cannot be stanched, wounds will not heal, and infection can neither be prevented nor halted. Charms and other magics that accelerate normal healing are likewise stymied; those that cure or heal outright will still function, but at double the normal Essence cost. These effects are permanent for mortals. A target with awakened Essence recovers after a number of days equal to the Sidereal's Essence.

Dissolution of the Flesh (Moxiane)

 Cost: 7 motes, 1 Willpower
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Instant
 Minimum Martial Arts: 5
 Minimum Essence: 4
 Prerequisite Charms: Colorless Blood Strike

...without thinking of those who lived with her.

Everything fades into dust eventually: people, towns and empires all disappear into the immemorial past, and with this Charm the Sidereal can infect a target with this historical fact made into a deadly reality.

The Exalted makes a Martial Arts attack that need only do at least one die of post-soak damage for the Charm to take effect. Mortals are doomed by this Charm, their body immediately begins to dissolve away, as they lose half (round down) the character's permanent Essence from all of their Physical attributes at the moment of the attack and at the start of each turn thereafter - once all three reach 0 then the mortal is gone, even his souls are nothing more than dust.

The Exalted and others with awakened Essence fare somewhat better, the Charm only affects one Attribute (chosen by the Sidereal) at a time, and they are able to resist this effect with a reflexive Stamina + Resistance roll with a difficulty equal to the Sidereal's permanent Essence - each extra success negates the loss of one dot of the Attribute. Again, should all of the victim's Physical attributes reach 0 then they fade away.

Should the target survives the effects of this Charm then any lost dots of Physical attribute return at the rate of one dot per day. A correctly tattooed Lunar Exalted is, by their very nature, immune to this Charm. The effects of Dissolution of the Flesh persist for a number of turns equal to the Sidereal's Martial Arts + Essence after the initial attack.

Tendrils of Decay

 Cost: 8 motes, 1 Willpower
 Type: Simple
 Duration: One scene
 Minimum Martial Arts: 5
 Minimum Essence: 4
 Prerequisite Charms: None

...Farewell, maiden!
Dust is subtle and omnipresent; it flows, shifts, and encroaches despite all efforts to contain it. The Sidereal enacts the horrifying stance of the Lesser Sign of Decay, and empowers himself with that subtle essence. Jet black dust begins to flow from the Sidereal's eyes and mouth, crawling and swirling down his body and extending outward. The dust forms itself into a number of dark, flowing tendrils equal to the Sidereal's Permanent Essence, which hang menacingly around the Sidereal's form. During each turn, the Sidereal may take a single action with each tendril, as long as he does not split his normal action or use any magical effect which grants additional actions. Each tendril has a length equal to (5 x Martial Arts) yards, and may be used to attack foes, or to initiate grapples. All those that are struck by the tendrils feel the relentless press of decay set upon their flesh -- they must soak 2A damage per turn of contact. Similarly, any objects lifted or touched by the tendrils begin to rot and decay rapidly.

However, even the master of entropy must bow to the all-consuming power of the black dust. While under the effects of this Charm, any attacks which strike the Sidereal deal a single automatic level of damage in addition to their normal damage, regardless of the Sidereal's soak.

Ever-Scouring Wind

 Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Instant
 Minimum Martial Arts: 5
 Minimum Essence: 4
 Prerequisite Charms: Tendrils of Decay

Your palace has become the home of flames

Decay scours all things from the face of Creation, regardless of rhyme or reason. Though this Charm summons merely an echo of the Decay that afflicts all things, it is enough to bring an end to many things. The Sidereal stomps one foot down upon the ground, calling upon the Echo of Decay to cut through his foes. A gust of wind bears black, razor-sharp dust away from the Sidereal in every direction. All those, friend or foe, who stand within 100 feet of the Martial Artist feel the sharp sting. Each suffers lethal damage equal to twice the Sidereal's Martial Arts rating, which ignores armor and cannot be blocked or dodged without the use of Charms. In addition, for each target, the Sidereal rolls a number of dice equal to the levels of damage actually dealt to the target by this wind; each success gives the target -1 to all actions taken for a number of turns equal to the Sidereal's Permanent Essence.

Void Behind Eyes Atemi

 Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Instant
 Minimum Martial Arts: 5
 Minimum Essence: 4
 Prerequisite Charms: None

And your children
Sense is the basis of experience; experience is the basis of being. As with all things, sense inevitably dissolves into nothingness. With a single vicious blow, the Sidereal ruthlessly tears at the senses of her target, exposing her to the cold emptiness of decay. The Sidereal makes a Dexterity + Martial Arts attack; however, instead of rolling damage as normal, she rolls her Perception + Permanent Essence, soaked by the opponent's Perception. For each success achieved on this roll beyond the first, the target loses the use of a single sense of the Sidereal's choice. For magical beings with enhanced perceptions, each specific enhanced perception counts as a single sense; this includes the ability of beings with awakened Essence to sense Essence in themselves and their environs. For Exalts and other beings of awakened Essence, this effect lasts for a period equal to 7 days minus their Perception rating; for unfortunate mortals, however, this effect is permanent, leaving them closer than ever to the ultimate end which comes to all things.

This Charm may be used in a clinch, in place of the standard clinch damage, if the Sidereal wins control of the clinch.

Antimnemonic Touch (Moxiane)

 Cost: 7 motes, 1 Willpower
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Martial Arts: 5
 Min. Essence: 4
 Prerequisites: Void Behind Eyes Atemi

The children of dust.

To some savants the memories of men are as a vast library, filled with books and records that detail every moment of their lives. Sometimes these records become lost or misplaced as people forget things, while other people, the blessed or cursed, have such efficient memories that they never forget anything. In the minds of some few philosophers there is a web of memory that connects every being in Creation to every being, to the point that some radical thinkers have said that existence depends on the memories of others. This Charm provides some truth to that statement.

To afflict a being with the Antimnemonic Touch the Sidereal need simply make a Dexterity + Martial Arts roll with a difficulty equal to the permanent Essence of the target, who the Exalted must be able to strike normally. With even one success the entropic effects of this Charm spread through the web of memory that covers Creation, destroying any and all memories that anyone has of the target, including any bureaucratic or written records, and any depictions in art or sculpture. The memories of those touched by this effect are rewritten slightly to make sense of the target's non-appearance, since as far as they are concerned, he never existed. For mortals this effect is permanent, although nothing stops people from making new memories about the target. For beings with Awakened Essence the effect lasts for 7 days minus the target's permanent Essence, down to a minimum of 1 day.

The only beings that are immune to this effect are the user of the Charm itself, and Nara-O of the Hundred Veils, who takes unto himself all records held within Yu-Shan of the afflicted being for the duration of the Charm's effects.

Ebon Tendrils of Entropy Form - (Charlequin)

 Cost: 10 motes
 Type: Simple
 Duration: One scene
 Minimum Martial Arts: 5
 Minimum Essence: 5
 Prerequisite Charms: Dissolution of the Flesh, Enclosure of Darkened Cinders, Ever-Scouring Wind, Antimnemonic Touch

The Essence of Dust is that of inevitability; with time, all things must return to it. Accepting this terrifying truth into her own being, the Sidereal adopts the terrifying and unearthly stance of the Ebon Tendrils Form. Her skin becomes gray and dry, her hair white, her clothing tattered; her body turns to dust. Each gust of wind carries a little of the cold, ashen powder away from her body, bearing it off in all directions.

While under the effects of this form, the character's ashen form is resistant to attacks; the difficulty of any physical attacks against her is increased by her Martial Arts rating. In addition, the character's strikes carry the Essence of decay, rendering physical protections worthless. All the character's attacks bypass armor and parries with physical weapons; any mundane armor or weapons which intercede between a Concluder and her target become decayed and useless.

Limitless Hatred Kiai - (FourWillowsWeeping)

 Cost: 20+ motes, 1 Willpower
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Instant
 Minimum Martial Arts: 5
 Minimum Essence: 5
 Prerequisite Charms: Ebon Tendrils of Entropy Form

sutra line
This Charm teaches that even the senses are illusions that our mind creates, to protect us from the endless, fearful void of truth. The Limitless Hatred Kiai focuses this fear into a motion below perception, and only the mitigating factor of the senses can protect its victims.

The Kiai affects all beings within 5 * permanent Essence yards of the Concluder. Each suffers injury to the tune of 7 levels of aggravated damage, plus 1 per 5 additional motes spent. The martial artist may not buy more additional levels than his permanent Essence. This damage cannot be soaked normally; neither can it be parried or dodged, as it is an environmental effect. It is capable of injuring dematerialised spirits, and even beings with impenetrable or conditional aeges ("can only be wounded by a knife forged from tears of joy").

Instead, it is soaked with the senses—a being with the Essence sense takes dice of damage rather than levels, and for each of a victim's remaining operational senses (counting in the same manner as the Void Behind Eyes Atemi), he reduces the damage pool by one.

Notes for concluding the style

Other charms:

• Two more two-charm paths pre-form: sense deprivation and distance attack/sandstorm.
• Three-five charms post form -- one Ess 6 charm that ruins artifacts.
• Elder Sutra: dust in the wind?

willows says:

I have a vision of a Siderealized Seven Storms Escape Prana - perhaps the adept turns herself into a scouring wind of dust, by which means she can attack the senses of people without their being able to counterattack; this leads into the second sense-deprivation effect, which makes something unsatisfying or even painful to percieve.

Along another branch is an ability to create thorny tendrils of darkness, which break off into wounds when they attack and flower into festering scarlet curses. Perhaps the ability that follows this allows the manipulations of chaos and ill fortune; when an action fails, Entropy snaps it up in its jaws to do the martial artist's dirty work. This should interact well with the Style's already in-place ability to reduce options and dice pools.

I cannot think of a set of elder Charms for this Style, though I think that at least one less overt and malicious entropy-manipulation has a place there. Something tells me that the Diamond Weave of Destiny Style would be a good thing to mine for ideas.