MartialArtsRelay/TornadoOnTheSummit

The Seventeenth Theme is Tornado on the Summit Style.

This is a high level celestial martial art. The charms require personal essence of 4 to 5. Basically two great forces are colliding, each using their own stengths to destroy the other. The mountain brings forth unending strength and resilience. While the storm uses her agility and speed in the battle. The martial artist that created ths style witnessed a battle between two great and powerful elementals and was inspired to create this art. This style utilizes the strenghs of both.

The style is composed of 10 charms. Before the form there are 4 charms, and after the form there are 5 charms. The fifth being a pinnacle charm.

The style weapons for this martial art is any type of one handed axe and shield. Armor is allowed as it acts as a conductor for the electrical essence used in this style.

Thunderbolt Walking - willows

Cost: 5m

Duration: One Scene

Type: Reflexive

Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious

Minima: MA 2, Ess 4

Prereq. Charms: None

The character uses his shield to move across the ground like a thunderbolt, skittering across many points. He adds the value of his shield's defence bonus to the values required to knock him down or back, and to his movement in yards. He gives up its standard defensive benefit in doing so. However, any other benefits, as might be derived from the Magical Material effects of a thunderbolt shield, remain intact.

While he is under the effect of this Charm, the martial artist may spend 1m to move (using his standard movement) without crossing the intervening space; he must be able to see his destination.

The character may deactivate this charm reflexively in order to bring the shield to bear against an attack and double its defensive benefit. Doing so automatically causes the attack to knock him back as though the damage were doubled, but he may choose the direction he is propelled.

Detritus-Scorning Core ~ WillCoon

Cost: 6m

Duration: Scene

Type: Reflexive

Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious (when wounded)

Minima: MA 3, Ess 4

Prereq. Charms: None

When the winds scour the mountainside, when the rains wash away the earth, when the lightning strips the ground bare, all these serve only to uncover stronger stone beneath. Like the mountain in the storm, the martial artist gains strength as his opponent's attacks tear away his frailties.

While this charm is active, the martial artist adds the number of health levels of damage he has taken as a bonus to his natural bashing and lethal soak and to his unarmed attack damage. He may parry and deal lethal damage unarmed if he has taken at least one level of damage. His attacks do piercing damage.

Shocking Avalanche Practicum ~ Madoka

Cost: 5m

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious

Minima: MA 4, Ess 5

Prereq. Charms: Thunderbolt Walking

This charm brings the power of the mountain and storm together, to create an even more powerful attack. The martial artist makes an attack as usual. Except that the raw damage is doubled. Also, after the damage has been dealt, record how many damage successes were rolled. For that many ticks, the target will shed 2 motes each tick as a result of being electrified. The electricity of the attack is coursing through the target's body. Surges of electricity can be seen pulsing in and around the target's body as the charm does it's work.

Mountain Holds Back the Storm - FlowsLikeBits

Cost: 3m

Duration: Till Next Action

Type: Reflexive

Keywords: Combo-OK, Social

Minima: MA 3, Ess 4

Prereq. Charms: Detris Scorning Core

Like a mountain, the charachter may hold back a storm of attacks. This produces a drought(of damage)in the protected area.

Till their next action, onslaught penalties are added to the charachters DV, as well as subtracted. The stronger the attack, the stronger the defence.

Tornado On the Summit Form ~ Madoka

Cost: 5m

Duration: Scene

Type: Simple

Keywords: Obvious

Minima: MA 5, Ess 5

Prereq. Charms: Mountain Holds Back the Storm, Shocking Avalanche Practicum

The ma'st inhales deeply, focusing his body and mind. Centering his energy by becoming one entity, the storm and the mountain as one. Through this form, the ma'st gains benefits related to the mountain and to the storm. First, the ma'ist receives a minimum damage and hardness increase equal to their essence. If they already have a hardness rating, add their essence to their hardness. Through the channeling of the storm, the ma'st becomes more precise and furious. Each attack has the attack roll increased by the ma'ist's essence and the speed of each action reduced by 1.

Lightning Charge Rebuke~ Madoka

Cost: 5m

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious

Minima: MA 5, Ess 5

Prereq. Charms: Tornado on the Summit Form

With this charm, the reflexes of the ma'st becomes superb. The ma'st is able to sense when his opponent will attack and strike first. The electrified blow leaves the target stunned and at a disadvantage. When an opponent attacks the ma'ist, she may make a counter attack immediately. The counter attack roll takes place before the opponent rolls their attack. The motes to activate this charm must be spent and declaration of using this charm must be stated prior to the opponent's attack roll. Roll the counter attack, and if it is successful, the opponent's attack is cancelled. They are struck with this attack and violent waves of electricity enter their body. The electricity attaches itself to the essence of the victim. The ma'st rolls their per+ma (perception to determine how well the essence in the target is perceived by the ma'st) vs the target's essence. For the net successes in actions, the target must pay double the cost in motes to activate any power that requires motes. This is because the electricity of the attack absorbs motes into itself. No benefit is gained by the electricity aborbing motes.

Wary Storm Mother Technique~ Madoka

Cost: 4m, 1w

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental

Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious

Minima: MA 5, Ess 5

Prereq. Charms: Lightening Charge Rebuke

Sometimes it is best to not fight toe to toe with an opponent. Especially if that opponent is skilled in the arts of martial conflict. In such cases, this martial artist may attack from a distance. A nimbus of lightening forms around the ma'ist's axe, or hands if fighting with no weapon. The ma'st may attack from a range of his (ma+essence) x 10 yards. The damage from the attack is the normal base damage + pe + extra successes and is aggravated. Bolts of lightening jump from the ma'ist and strike the opponent, searing their flesh. Once the attack lands true, the opponent must roll to avoid being shocked backward (ma+pe) x 10 yards. Roll as you would for knockback/knockdown.

Scouring Tornado Aegis - Issaru

Cost: 4m, 1w

Duration: Scene

Type: Reflexive

Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious

Minima: MA 5, Ess 5

Prereq. Charms: Tornado on the Sumit Form

During a windstorm the problem often isn't the wind directly, but the objects borne aloft by it. These bit of debris, ripped from the very breast of Creation, become a multitude of deadly weapons for the storms assault. Using this charm the martial artist is surrounded by whirling winds which carries the weapons of war in the same manner a Tornado flings the debris of cities.

This charm may be reflexively activated whenever the user successfully disarms an opponent with a Martial Arts action. Upon activation the weapon so disarmed circles around the martial artist. On subsequet ticks the user may direct any weapon enhanced by this charm to attack or defend, this decision must be made at the begining of the tick, and may not be changed until the begining of the next tick. When for defense a weapon adds one half of its defense rating, rounded down, to the DV of the martial artist until their DV refreshes. When used for attack the martial artist may make one attack with each weapon, using only his Martial Arts in dice for the attack roll with a base damage of [weapon damage + Pemanent Essence]. The weapons used for attacking the target are treated as if the ma'ist was making the attacks himself, for the purposes of determing onslaught penalties to the dv's of the target. Also, the attacks made by the whirling weapons do not decrease the dv's of the martial artist. If an attack or defense under the influence of this charm is successful the martial artist may as a reflexive non-charm action spend one mote to increace either the damage, accuracy, or DV bonus of that specific weapon by 1 to a maximum of [Permanent Essence] in total bonuses to a given weapon. The martial artists can control up to {Permanent Essence} in weapons. To control an amount of weapons in excess of the martial artist's permanent essece, the martial artist must pay 2 motes that are non commited for every additional weapon above his permanent essence. It should be noted however that the weapons have to be either unattended, or disarmed successfully for this charm to make use of them. The weapons used by this charm may be "disarmed" doing so removes that weapon from the charms influence. If all the weapons in use by this charm are "disarmed" the charm is dispelled.

For example: Solar A has a dv of 8. He has five weapons swirling around him. Each has a defense value of 4. The Solar decides to attack with four of them a defend with the other. He is also making 1 attack of his own. For the defense, add half the defense value of the weapon, 2 in this case. Thee new dv is 10 for the Solar The defender now has an onslaught penalty based on defending 5 attacks. The Solar has no attack pool penalty as he is only making 1 attack, and his dv only decreases by 1 because he is only making 1 attack.

Improvised weapons are considered weapons for the pupose of this charm

Volcano Drive - IanPrice

Cost: 10m

Duration: Instant

Type: Simple

Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious

Minima: MA 5, Ess 5

Prereq. Charms: Scouring Tornado Aegis

Sometimes, the storm comes from within the mountain. Like the volcano, this charm takes the form of fiery essence, erupting forth from the martial artist's anima. This charm makes an unarmed attack at (Essence x 20) yards of range, with a bonus to damage of the character's Essence. This damage is lethal, the target is automatically knocked down whether or not the attack hits, and knocked back (Essence) yards for each health level of damage taken when the attack is completely resolved.

This attack is quite solid, creating a fiery boulder which can be dodged and parried normally. Solar Exalted and Fire-aspected Dragon-Blooded pay 2m less for this charm, since their animas already lend themselves to fiery displays.

Unchained Unified Fury - Madoka

Cost: 10m, 1w

Duration: Scene

Type: Simple

Keywords: Obvious

Minima: MA 5, Ess 5

Prereq. Charms: Volcano Drive, Wary Storm Mother Tecnique

In this charm, the ma'ist becomes the perfect expression of these two great elements acting and living as one entity. Mountain and storm essence imbues the ma'ist with immense power. As the mountain is a pillar of puissance and resilience, so becomes the martial artists. Double the ma'ist's strength. The skin of the martial artist becomes incredibly hard. All damage is converted into the category of damage lower than the original. For example, aggravated goes to lethal, lethal to bashing, and there is no affect on bashing. This takes place before soak is considered. As the storm is graceful and lithe, the ma'ist becomes as well. Double the movement rate for the ma'ist and add his permanent essence to his dv's. And finally, as the storm and mountain attack each other in many different ways using the same elements in different forms, the ma'ist captures this idea. When this charm is learned, the ma'ist may permanently from then on, treat his axe and shield (the elements) as unarmed weapons for all martial art styles (the different forms of rock, wind, and lightening).

Feedback

Thanks for setting up the next relay, Nikink. Out of curiosity, Madoka, why is this a celestial martial art rather than a sidereal one? Its Essence prerequisites would seem to strongly suggest the latter...DeathBySurfeit

I'm not Madoka, but I can suggest a possible reason. After all, elder Dragon Blooded can reach Essence 6. If this is a celestial art, then the most advanced Terrestrial students could also learn it. If it were a Perfected Lotus Blossum art, those who start at the Root would never be capable of it. - IanPrice

I always looked at what determines terrestrial, celestial and siderial level martial arts as the power of each charm. To explain better...a permanent essence 3 terrestrial ma charm will not be as powerful as a celestial ma charm that requires the same essence level. This style is for an exalt that is essence 4 or higher that can do celestrial martial arts. If your character is essence 5, why would he want to start out at level 2 and limit the power of the charms? I think the siderial styles tend to be essence 4 or 5 or higher because it takes time to become that good to invent your own siderial style. So the sifu that invented Prismatic Arrangement of Creation Style was probably of a high essence. And with all the time and effort it takes to achieve such a power level, there is no way anyone would invent a style that start at essence 2. Also the character that will use this charm already knows other lower level styles. He is now ready to develop a style of his own, at his power level.Madoka

I think there's a certain rightness in thinking that anyone who bothers to make kung fu at Essence 5 is going to have Sidereal-circle access. I also think that maybe that argument belongs in a Discussion, and Charms belong here. Post some more, people! - willows

I'm not fully comfortable with the crunch of charm design, so any comments or suggestions on power level, cost, prereqs, etc. etc. would be appreciated. ~ WillCoon  :)

I feel like this Charm is doing the sort of "dull core functionality" stuff of a lower-Essence Form; I feel like the "you get injured" trigger should give you some more oomphy thing to do, rather than just attract ping spammers. It's also dependent on an uncontrollable external factor that you don't really ever want to have happening to you, which reduces the value of the charm severely; I wouldn't rely on it for the ability to do something as essential as inflicting real damage. I suggest dumping the soak, parry, and "inflict lethal" effects and improving the damage effect, maybe applying piercing or a minimum damage increase based on wound penalty (quantity of HLs is too much). - willows

Perhaps reduce damage dice after soak and increase minimum unarmed damage dealt by an amount equal to wound penalty? ...DeathBySurfeit

I don't like "reduce damage dice after soak"; that makes the effect far too easy to break, generating perfectly invincible characters with zero effort (off the top of my head, starmetal thunderbolt shield + the non-regenerating Earth and Sky Bargain + Your Favorite sidcharm that calls for HL activation will do it for most opponents, with Death-Parrying Stroke for dire straits). Minimum damage is present for a reason; like the lengths of actions, it should only increase, never decrease. (Yeah, I don't like new jade, from a systems-design standpoint, even though I love it from a "making broken characters" standpoint.) - willows

Well, fair enough. I believed that the new jade and starmetal shield mechanics are there as evidence that the game designers did intend minimum damage to go up as well as down, and I thought the likely subtraction of (under most circumstances) one or two dice wasn't excessive. But each to their own...DeathBySurfeit

I like the idea of making the damage piercing. But that doesn't seem like enough oomf for me. I also like increasing minumum dam by your wound penalty, or by what your wound penalty would be if you felt pain. Madoka

Well, I think length of activations and minimum damage can decrease a little. The problem is you need some sort of universal limits, which isn't in place. Otherwise, people can stack the effects to gain huge bonuses. (I limit speed to 3. FlowsLikeBitsMartialArtsRelay/TornadoOnTheSummit/SpeedFix, below that, rate increases instead. ) Similarly, reducing minimum damage by 1-2 isn't that bad, but it gets nasty in the 3-4 range. -FlowsLikeBits

@Madoka: Do you mean successes on the attack roll or the damage roll? - FLB

I mean damage successes. I'll be sure to update that and be more specific. Madoka

MHBtS: This sorta seems like it should involve War somehow. But I wasn't quite sure how, being an MA charm and all. - FLB

I've had an idea for one, but I don't think it would fit in this cascade anymore. And I'm not familiar enough with 2nd ed mechanics to be confident with the crunch... but I'll add it here and see if anyone can or wants to make a go of it. Mountain-Splitting Thunderbolt Approach, 6m, Combo-Ok, Supplemental, MAMartialArtsRelay/TornadoOnTheSummit/Ess: 5/4. Like an inevitable flash of elemental fury that cannot be swayed from it's path once set, the martial-artist springs forward to land upon the foe with a crackling explosion of righteous judgement. Whle moving inexorably towards their foe, their form is surrounded by a nimbus of electrical energy. The Exalt may make a dash action at no DV penalty and for each Tick of movement since the last attack action, they add their Essence to the damage of their next successful attack. Only the first successful attack gets this bonus, but the martial artist may flurry if they desire. nikink

I like the theme of this charm. However, I feel it may be a bit weak for ma/ess of 4/5. I want to make sure I understand everything. The ma'ist can make a dash with no dv penalty. Also if they move for #(random #) ticks, they can add that # multiplied by their pe to their raw damage? I think the bonus damage should apply to all attacks made that action. Madoka

Essentially, yes. That's it. It encourages a dash action cuz there's no penalty to do so, and that's a speed three action and each subsequent tick allows them to make a standard move, so there's +15 Damage right there. Which is fairly substantial, I thought. Of course they can continue to move or dash-move and continue to increase that multiplier. The idea is they can cover large distances at speeds like a bolt of lightning and then deliver one powerful attack. - nikink

Ah hah, I see...I like the charm more and more. I still think the bonus shouldapply to all attacks. Madoka

For MHBtS..I think the charm you wrote is a really cool charm. I don't think it would fit in this style though. This isn't a cooridinated group fighting style. So I couldn't agree with a charm that only works with a group of people. Don't get me wrong, I like the charm, just not for this style. It would be great for a celestial level of Crimson Pentacle Blade Style or something. Just imagine 2 or 3 ma'ist all using that charm, their dvs would soar through the roof. Good stuff!! Madoka

Hmm...you may have a point. Hows this? -FlowsLikeBits (original preserved here)

Cool...very good. The onslaught penalty...so thats when your opponent is attacking you obviously. So they make 3 attacks, instead of your dv decreasing by 1 for each attack, it increases by 1. In the charm description it says dv penalties are added to the dv as well as subtracted. I am little confused by the "as well as subtracted".

Basicly, it's slick way of canceling onslaugh penalties, as your adding +x + -x. However, if you had another way of canceling the penalties, your DV would actually increase from the onslaught. I don't like the wording either, but couldn't think of a good way of putting it. It encourages "1 big attack", as eroding a mountian takes eons. -FlowsLikeBits

I added a counter attack charm. I've never seen a counter attack charm like this where the counter is before the opponent even makes their attack roll. I say it is plausible because in a real fight, sparring or boxing match, there is plenty of times where the faster person sees a slow punch coming at them, and can land a punch before the original punch is even extended. I learned this first hand last night as my sensei (I train in Jui Jitsu) demonstrated his speed on my rib cage. Everytime I went for a strike, he landed his first. Good thing I am twice his size and his blows don't hurt me too much. Madoka

Quick suggestion - you may want to check the keywords on the Form Charm again...DeathBySurfeit

I agree! A strong understanding of terms is the first step to good mechanics craftsmanship. - willows

Whilst I must confess I haven't been particularly active on this Relay (the theme doesn't conjure up much for me), I would like to point out that in future, you might want to take more notice of Relay etiquette. It's considered bad form to post more than once in a row unless the Relay has been stagnating for a long time (and even then); it makes other contributors feel as though you've taken command of the Relay, and whether you've something in mind for the remainder; hence, the Relays stalls. Skipping levels on artifacts and hearthstones is also a generally bad idea, as it almost invariably leads to a stall - don't ask me why, quantum resonance or something. These rules may seem intricate and arcane - I'm not sure whether they're even physically detailed here - and I certainly understand if inexperience has caused you to overlook them, Madoka. Your posts are definately good to read. Nevertheless, you'll see your contributions better-received and Relays progress faster if show a little self-restraint when posting...DeathBySurfeit

Om the other hand, it's also a good way to dump an unexciting theme, but then I think it's gracious to defer the choice of new theme to somebody else. - willows

I didn't know there was relay-ettiquette. I am sorry for breaking it. Self-restraint, you got it! No skipping levels on hearthstones and artifacts, you got it! I was looking at the other relays, sometimes numbers are listed to the left of the charm names. What do those mean?

You should go into Preferences and set a username so you don't spill your IP all over RecentChanges, btw. The numbers are there because, back in the day, we used to write Martial Arts relays out of order, working outward from the centerpiece Charms. Then they'd be reordered in tree format once the relay was finished. We did this to help retain mechanical cohesion; if you've written enough martial arts, you notice that it's easier to make clean interlocks when you start with Forms and such. - willows

Why don't we do that anymore, exactly? - Hapushet, still sadly waiting for an MA that inspires him to contribute

Mostly poor timing, I think. I always try and come up with a Form for a new theme, but sometimes I don't get there in time. Also not everyone knew about it. - willows

Might it be a good idea to have a veteran contributor write a short page on Relay etiquette, covering basic policies and any Relay-specific rules? It'd certainly help our newer Wikizens submit Charms without disrupting the flow...DeathBySurfeit

I'll draft one up if you like and post it somewhere for discussion. We should also archive these meta-comments somewhere. - willows

Good idea, and I think you're a brilliant candidate for the job. As for the meta-comments, what about a 'prologue' on the bottom of the etiquette page? ...DeathBySurfeit

As there is a blatent lack of interest in this theme, I suggest we develop a new theme. Is anyone in favor of a Moonsilver theme? A style based on the properties of moonsilver. It popped in my head I was just looking at the Lunar book. Unless calling it quits on a theme is bad relay ettiquette...I wouldn't want to upset anyone.Madoka

Well, relay's die. I'd give it a while longer though. I wouldn't pick an actual standard for 'dead', but probably about a week at least. -FlowsLikeBits.

We have 6 more days starting from June 15th. So the last day of waiting will be June 22nd. Madoka

It's ALIVE!!! MUAH HA HA HA (evil laugh)) Madoka

I like your charm Issaru. I picture the ma'st walking and all these swords and spears are whirling around, dicing his enemies, and the ma'ist is just walking. I am concerned about the very small attack pool for the whirling weapons. They only roll ma's to attack. So lets say 5 dice, that isn't going to hit many things. Unless all the attacks made by the whirling weapons are primarily used to bring forth a huge onslaught penalty. So lets say the ma'ist has 5 weapons flying, he sends 3 to attack, then makes his own 2 attacks with his own axe. Does the target suffer a dv penalty based on 5 attacks, or is everything treated as 2 seperate attackers (the whiring weapons and the ma'ist). I personally like it as the dv has penalties as all attacks were one flurry. Madoka

Thanx! The weapons count as if the ma'ist is making the attacks for the purposes of DV penalties to the defender but they don't give the ma'ist DV penalties for making attacks. This was the reason the attack roll was so low. It enables the artist to send in three or four nothing attacks just to set someone up for their "real" attack. I'll edit the text to make this more clear as soon as I can. - Issaru

As a note on the charm I just posted: Graceful Crane Stance would work as a counter to the perfect knockdown/knockback effect of Volcano. If you construe knockdown as a form of attack, then GCS would count as a perfect defense. If you don't, it would be an opposed Essence roll, as per the unstoppable force/immovable object rules. - IanPrice

Volcanos are cool. There is some cool imagery in this charm. A long ranged ma attack with a damage boost. I do think that possibly it could have a little more oomf to it. At essence 5, we need oomf. What oomf it needs I don't know, that is up to you. Madoka

Oomf added. Now it doesn't have to hit you to knock you flat. - IanPrice, who is sure crafty martial artists can get a lot out of a perfect knockdown.

It looks to me as if the style is complete. Some editing here and there as people make their final comments on the charms. I know the person that posts the last charm in the style is suppossed to start a new relay, but I did that last time. Someone else can do it this time. Madoka