Difference between revisions of "BrigandRansom/WaysOfTheEmptyFist"

Revision as of 20:04, 10 October 2005

(Mostly)Complete Styles

Dawn Fist the Martial Arts style that Dan Tai spontaneously invented during his Exaltation

Check out Trial By Fire for my attempt to playbalance this MA style by pitting it against various other MA styles

Fetal MA Styles

These are very much still works in progress, but then again so is everything I have =)

First Up, a style that is still most definitely a work-in progress. C'mon you people, pony up some commentary!

A style that utilizes inanimate objects around the exalt and telekinesis

Hokay, What I've got in mind visually is very similar to Tai Chi. Fluid movements. Think Jet Li in "Tai Chi Master" (or "Twin Warriors" for those of you who've seen the English Dub). Each Movement in the martial art causes objects around the practitioner to flow and twist, like a high wind is following the movements of the MAist. The only wind generated is by the objects themselves however, the true affects of the MA is the fact that the practitoner's Anima becomes more palpable and capable of affecting the material world. There would be no standard Weapon for this MA, I was thinking that when the practitoner first learns the first charm in the tree, they choose the weapon they want associated with it, including choosing "Improvised Weapon". Also, I like the idea of an Artifact weapon compatible with this, a set of MM Balls that flow around the caster (think the chinese worry balls, about that size. The number weilded byu the practitioner is equal to his essence rating). This could also be more like one-o-dem massive sized prayer-bead necklaces

Here's a few Charm Ideas I was kicking around, not in any particular order

Sun Shines Upon The Realm Style

Tertiary Maelstrom Technique - Rippling Water

The Student is first taught to observe the Pebbles Dropped In Water. Building upon this principle, the student learns how to make his essence ripple, making it both harder to see him and attack as well. The MAist may reflexively purchase dice for any defense action, up to his MA + Essence. These dice may be used to supplement a normal defenseive action, or may be used by themselves to defend against attacks that the MAist is unaware of. Any dice left unused at the end of the round carry over to the next. If the MAists Anima banner is visible it begins to ripple and fracture lightly, like it's being reflected against rippling water.

Hou Bun, the Water That Falls from the Tree is under attack by the Wild hunt. Fortunately, he has the initiative. He activates TMT-RW (purchasing 6 dice) and settles into his closest approximation of the Stance his teacher uses. The Dragon Blooded swings his sword, and Hou Bun's Anima banner ripples even more as it's penetrated by the Jade weapon. DB's Attack - Dex 3, Melee 3. Hou Bun's Defense is Dex 2, Dodge 2 (he's a young student) He adds three of the dice purchased from the charm, giving him 7 defense dice for this (and leaving three for later). He dodges to the side, and the Dragon Blooded tries to follow the target. For a moment he thinks he's struck the young man, but it was merely an afterimage left by the ripple (Hou Bun got 4 Successes, the DB only 3. Hou Bun begins to chuckle at the slow, stumbling DB when he realizes that an arrow has been loosed. He says a quick prayer to prepare himself for the afterlife, but the ripples in his anima banner interfere with the flight of the arrow. It skitches past his shoulder, only causing some minor bleeding instead of being a direct hit (his player decides to roll 2 of the defense dice, and both succeed. However the arrow had three successes to hit. He hangs on to that one die for later, and his anima continues to ripple gently).

(Now, I was thinking that this might be a simple charm, but you can reflexively purchase more dice as long as you still have one remaining or something like that. Dunno yet). Hou Bun cries out from the wound, alerting the other Students.

Unchanging Flow

The Student begins to understand that the interaction of 2 flows changes both, just as 2 pebbles dropped into a pool will make new ripples when they interact. The student may reinforce his own flow, preventing others from changing it as easily. May add MA to virtue or will checks for resisting fear effects and similar such attacks

Tertiary Grounding

Instant Auto-kippup from knockdown

Redirection of Flow

Once the student has achieved this level of enlightenment he gains even more control over his Anima, allowing him to redirect attacks focused on him back towards his opponent. Any successful defense action that uses dice from Tertiary Maelstrom are redirected at the originator. A blade swung downward through the practitioner's anima banner continues down and around, attempting to strike the weilder. Arrows and other physical ranged attacks orbit around the MAist before firing back at the bow or sling from which it was launched.

Form Charm

+MA to init, Stuntless lethal parry, MAist may wield up to essence objects without touching them. Each one of these objects gets it's own action which may be used for attack, parry, ect

Essence Connects us all

Sacrifice all TKed object attacks for a Ranged Clinch attempt

Flow Determines Form

Create weapon from TKed objects

Prescise Flow

Nifty Invisible Crypt-bolt like charm, may carry tked objects with it

A style based on the concept of a Circle of Exalts

Raise Init of entire circle form a circle, add a member, or expel a member 30 seconds out-of-game time to plan tactics with circle members use charms designed for self only on members of the circle form charm: high mobility, steal attack and charm focus, MA init bonus, circle member init matching free defense action used for defending circle member Meditate to give a circle member bonuses Give health levels to a circle member (take their wound Levels onto yourself) trade init with circle member add essence to presence checks for leadership borrow a circle member's ability dots

Spurned Coutier's Sorrowful Poem Style

This bad boy was also spawned spontaneously from the mind of an Exalt (I know, it's a repeating trend, much like the whole "...a strength he/she never knew they posessed..." in my fiction)

Basically, Cynis Sumi the Illustrious Scribe was a Mortal Member of House Cynis. Her parents were very disappointed when Sumi never Exalted, but she did her best to help the House anyways. She married a Dragon Blooded to strengthen political ties, and studied Calligraphy constantly. Eventually her skill with the Brush became reknown across the realm, and she became a Court Calligrapher. Many important Public Proclamations were painted in her Beautiful, flowing hand.

One Day during court, her Husband's Mistress made a comment about how as long as Sumi had been married, it was strange that she had not yet borne a Child. Sumi's knowledge of Politics led her to an immediate realization: this was an attempt to discredit her, possibly to have her marriage annuled. There were 2 options available to her: Say nothing, lose face for both herself and her House, and probably be moved deep out to the country to never be heard form again; or Challenge this Dragon Blooded Mistress. Unfortunately there was no way that Sumi (a Mortal) could even hope to win a fight against a Dragon Blooded, and because of the Comment she couldn't ask anyone to fight for her Honor (except her Husband, who sat there silently). She also realized that even if she died, her house would maintain it's Honor, possibly even gaining some(since the Immaculates would use her death as an example of how Mortals Should Serve). Sumi Drew her weapon, a simple hand-carved wooden sword.

It wasn't so much of a fight as it was a Cat toying with a bird before crushing it. Sumi tried her best, but the DB danced around hre laughing. Finally the DB Mistress grew tired of the game and split Sumi's Wodden sword down the middle, lengthwise. The DB Mistress held her Jade Reaver to Sumi's throat, relishing the moment. She drew back her blade, and swung to decapitate...

...When Sumi parried with her Calligraphy Brush. The Brush itself was an ornate affair, perfectly suited for a court scribe. Instead of the normal laquered wood, the handle was wrapped in a fine braided leather. The bristles themselves were Spun Jade, crafted during the first age. It was a family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation, going to the Firstborn Daughter.

The Jade Reaver bit into the leather, which cut and slowly unraveled... revealing that the handle was forged of Orichalchum. Sumi's Eyes flashed, and the entire court was dumbfounded as she continued the fight with the brush. Every stroke that the DB Mistress took was parried with the back of the brush, and Sumi began slicing the buckles off of her armor with it and using the brush to write things like "Harlot" and "Liar" across her skin as it became visible. Finally the DB Mistress was left naked in the center of the Court, covered in grafitti. That's when the Immaculates present were finally able to get their mouths closed and do something about an Anathema in the middle of court. Haven't quite figured out how Sumi escaped =)

Here's some possible charm ideas for SCSPS:

Upon her Exaltation in the middle of the Dynastic Court, her Dawn-caste nature combined with her years of Studying calligraphy birthed this Martial Arts Style. Unlike similar MA styles, this one relies on the use of a Calligraphy Brush as opposed to a feather quill. This allows for a more solid defense against incoming strikes. This style also requires paper on which to write for many of the effects

• Mark someone as Dishonorable, possibly permanently (social penalties?)
• Remove someone's armor (may take multiple strikes, possibly destroys/damages the armor itself)
• Scroll Defense
• Use Scroll to reflect / redirect ranged weapons
• Create a copy of self out of paint and paper
• Imbue Charm Effects into Scrips
• Flurry of paper, reduce perception checks
• Perfect Communication (force the emotions of the user on the target through poem)
• Blind With Ink
• Brush Defense
• Stuntless Lethal Parry
• Counter - To - Brushstroke

Elementally-Based Solar MAs

This is a little blurb I copied down to a text file a long time ago.... this is as far as I've gotten with it.

Earth Dragon Style = Burning Autumn Sun Form

Fire Dragon Style = Searing Summer Sun Form

Wind Dragon Style = Biting Winter Sun Form

Water Dragon Style = Nourishing Springtime Sun Form

Wood Dragon Style = Frenzied Cycle Calibration Sun Form

Five Dragons Style = Unconquered Sun Style

Iaijutsu?

I'm sure someone has already come up with a MA style like this, but here's what I would wont from an Iaijutsu style

Freely Comboable with Melee Charms, Style Weapons = Reaver Daiklaive, Katana

• Draw or sheathe weapon without an action
• Modify Init tics, maybe something as powerful as being able to modify the init of everyone involved in a combat by your essence rating
• Init matching
• Add presence to strike roll
• Act before others on same init tic (give a half a tic)... or maybe compare virtues if at same tic, higher goes first?
• Add MA to move, add MA to resist knockback / knockdown
• Dice Pools of multiple attackers are reduced by MAists presence when he's dueling a single person
• treat Wooden weapon as if it were a 5MM weapon
• additional Damage if you attack on the same initiative tic
• replace presence with MA + Performance on presence checks (too beefy?)
• Moving Strike, successful attack moves you 1 yard in any direction
• Sheathe parry - To - Counter
• Best defense is a good offense, reflexive action against anyone who moves into range, number of attacks up to essence
• Extra attack successes carry over to another target within range
• Full defense pools versus single target up to essence defense actions

I would think that most of these charms would require the MAist to declare who his "Opponent" is

Peanut Gallery

As for the style based on telekinesis, I love the concept, and if you don't do it, I will. Better yet, make general charms for it in Lore, or Athletics, or perhaps... Lore or Athletics. - GregLink, being a good comment-buddy

The TK MA style I was thinking of would treat improvised weapons as the style's weapon, or possibly anything smaller than your hand. You could do things like making small objects orbit around you (that give you parry attmepts against attacks you don't know are coming), removing successes to strike you (since you opponent can see very well through the cloud of leaves swirling around), and even making attacks with the orbiting objects. Ooh. Maybe the pinnacle charm is a ranged grapple that uses the inanimate objects to clinch a target from a distance. Dirty =) ~BrigandRansom

Forming a weapon out of the inanimate objects would be cool too, especially seeing someone who is apparently unarmed form a blade out of leaves and assassinate somebody. Hmm. Have to give this one more thought ~ BrigandRansom

Alrighty. Comments it is. While some of the charms in the TK style are good, I worry that the style you're working on seems a bit too low in terms of power level. I was expecting something Celestial, with Essence 3, 4 and 5, charms, and I feel like the charms, as written, are more like Essence 2 and 3. Just a thought. Next up - the first three charms in the style all share a mechanic, and apply to different situations. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I'm just mentioning that it really colors the rest of the style, as if 100% of the first three charms you read share a mechanic and 'theme', then one expects that theme to continue, very strongly, throughout the style. As a side note, I'm guessing they're all scene-longs? (In which case, they are Ess 3 charms, not Ess 2, as I noted earlier). I think they're a little expensive per die either way, but that's me. As for the next charm up, the 'virtue booster', I like that. I like it a lot. I agree with your concern that the form and the Extension of the Self charm have some 'issues', in that by this point, you're already 5 charms into the style, and at or past the form, and you're only now really feeling what the 'theme' should be like. In my opinion, simply by reading a form charm, one should have an idea of what imagery the stylist is using in a fight. The way it's written, you've got +init, and +to defense. Doesn't really carry much about 'anima wielding' or 'moving objects' or even 'circular motion'. Instead, those things are all confined to Extension of the Self, above the form charm. My guess, hope, and recommendation would be to add another charm before the form, which allows you to act at a distance. Perhaps a reflexive instant parry, that requires no weapon, as you whip your anima up in a glowing banner to block an attack with sheer force of will? Something that starts to note that these Essence flows that the other 4 charms all manipulated can also be used to purposeful effect outside the body.

The form charm, then, would be all about the mechanics of wielding multiple objects. Perhaps something about "Every turn this form is active, roll Str+MA. Picking up an object to wield, no matter how small, requires one success to be removed from this pool. Larger objects, such as tables (or walls) require more successes, as determined by the lifting chart on page XXX. Once picked up, and object may be moved or wielded until the form charm is dropped, allowing true masters of this style to accumulate a virtual cyclone of ambient objects around them as the fight continues, eventually encasing themselves in a whirling, spinning, and oftentimes attacking shell of random objects" Of course, you'd also need mechanics for how to use said objects to attack or parry, but I'm thinking that the idea that each object gets a single action each round isn't a bad one. All you'd need then is to figure out how well each one attacks/parries, and how much damage they can do (and take).

This frees up the slots after the form to get really interesting, doing intelligent things with objects, such as wielding them as intelligent weapons, disarming your opponent without touching him, and redirecting his attacks to others by 'pushing' them in a direction of your choice. You might even be able to get away with some sort of 'push' charm that lets you attempt knockback and knockdown as you throw the opponent himself across the field. I'm thinking that the pinnacle charm in this style might even end up being some sort of combo attack and parry, where, in a brilliant display of your banner, it suddenly rushes forward as a wall of Essence, attacking either someone or an area, but doing so quite forcefully, causing knockback and knockdown, and disrupting the attacks of anyone in the area of effect. Essentially you roll both an attack and a parry. Apply the attack to every target, and the parry to all attacks, in the range of effect. Mind, these are just ideas, and if they're not the flavor you're going for, by all means, don't use them. I only try to provide both feedback and ideas. - GregLink

Oh I know, and I agree. There's a reason this is my scratch pad, stuff doesn't stay the same here for long. I'll do some revamping today ~ Brig

Hokay, I've done some minor tweaking, but there's still plenty to do. I'm thinking of something along the lines of a "Flow Pool", a handful of dice that are used specifically for this style. Something like... Practitioner makes his own essence resonate, then uses that resonance (not the Death Knight kind) for the effects of the style. Visually...

"Sigung Rain-Fills-The-Rivers steps out of his hut and sees his students protecting the temple. He shouts, and his Anima Banner bursts forth like an unexpected flamedust rocket. The Condor that is his Anima banner is only visible for a moment, before turing into a churning kalidescope of impossibly bright light. The ripples burst forth (he uses some of his ripple dice) picking up the fallen cherry blossoms. Like a dust devil, the blossoms whirl and pitch as he moves his hand about. He gestures his hand like he's stirring a pot of soup, and the blossoms spiral in closer. He whips his hand forward and it's like the blossoms have formed a whip. The whip stretches outward then snaps back, forming a perfect Jian in his hand. "You fools know not what you do..." ~ BrigandRansom