Ketrus/MercifulFist
The Merciful Fist school of martial arts embraces the necessity of both power and compassion in the war-torn Age of Sorrows. A style designed for those of strong virtue, the Merciful Fist allows its students to defend themselves without risking the lives of their opponents. Its foundation, built upon understanding others in both the moral and mystical sense, develops into an unerring precision and expertise of their foe's body. While 'soft' by the standards of other, more cut-throat Martial Arts styles, the Merciful Fist is in no way weak.
This style is incompatible with the use of weapons or armor. None of these charms may be used while wearing armor or wielding weapons.
Basic themes are Disengaging, Defense, and Subduing
Swift Resolution Approach
Cost: 2 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 2 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: None
The greatest danger in combat falls upon its weakest participants, and the safest manner in removing them from harm's way is removing them quickly. Through his concern for his lessers, a Practitioner of the Merciful Fist form may use this charm to delay any extras for one turn. The expenditure of essence is instantaneous and must be made before initiative is rolled. The charm automatically delays the initiative of any extra to the tick after the Practitioner's, at no penalty.
Intention-Comprehending Block
Cost: 3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 3 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Feeling the Hidden Heartbeat
Those that truly perceive the actions of their enemies are often proof against them. As magic guides his fingertips, the Practitioner carefully nudges aside even the most deadly and potent of blows with his bare hands. This allows him to parry a lethal attack without taking damage, and he may add a number of bonus dice equalling his Permanent Essence to the attempt.
Additionally, this charm grants insight into his attacker's intentions. As long as the attacker has an intelligence score, the Practitioner divines a very simple, crude idea of why he is being assaulted. This cannot offer in-depthy analysis of motivations or circumstances, but it does allow him to perceive things such as, "he wants me dead", "he's trying to take me in alive", or "he's only following orders." Any opponent who wishes to mask his reasons against this technique must attack at difficulty +1. Doing so does not negate the parrying aspects of this charm, merely the divination.
Merciful Fist Form
Cost: 6 motes Duration: Scene Type: Simple Minimum Martial Arts: 4 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Intention-Comprehending Block
The core intention of this Style is to make sure both sides of any conflict survive. By channeling his essence into this desire, the Practitioner becomes a living exemplar of self-restraint and carefully measured violence. As the Practitioner desires mercy, not martyrdom, use of this form enhances his lethal and bashing soak by his Martial Arts score. He is also able to parry lethal attacks with his bare hands for the rest of the scene.
Additionally, it allows him to make unusually potent strikes with his bare hands. By accepting a +1 difficulty penalty, the Practitioner does lethal damage with his blows that will not kill his opponent. Should the opponent reach the point of damage where he would normally perish, he will instead remain incapacitated. If the opponent ever suffers more Health Levels of standard lethal damage than he has Health Levels, he dies normally.
Open-Palm Rebuking Strike
Cost: 3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts:4 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Merciful Fist Form
Sometimes his enemies may be too swift, strong, or numerous for the Pracitioner to be properly merciful. In these times, this charm aids in granting him a little extra distance between him and his foes. After he is attacked in melee-range combat, the Practitioner using this charm may immediately roll a counterattack at his full Dexterity + Martial Arts pool. Instead of rolling damage, any extra successes are added to the Practitioner's Strength score. The Practitioner may propel his target away from him in any direction, up to a number of yards equalling this sum. The original attack and this counterattack are resolved simultaniously. This charm may not be used on a Solar Counterattack or any other counterattack charm.
If the Practitioner intentionally uses this technique to send his opponent over a cliff or into other obvious mortal peril, he immediately loses one willpower.
Sudden Stampede Method
Cost: 5 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 4 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Open-Palm Rebuking Strike
Disengaging from a battle is not always a peaceful practice. Even when running, sometimes the safest approach is a dangerous one, and this charm takes this philosophy to heart. Immediately after being attacked, the Exalt may sprint along the ground a number of yards equal to his (Strength + Athletics) x 4, in any direction. Any combatant in his way must make an immediate Stamina + Resistance roll of difficulty equalling the Practitioner's Strength, or be knocked back a number of yards equalling the Practitioner's Strength + Athletics. This charm in no way defends from attacks.
This charm is extremely draining in repeated use. Each time this charm is invoked after the first in any given turn, the Practitioner suffers 1 point of Strength damage. This damage counts against his Strength score and pools, and regenerates at a rate of 1 per turn.
Virtuous Negation Technique
Cost: 1 Willpower Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 4 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Merciful Fist Form
Knowing his cause to be true, the Merciful Fist Practitioner channels his faith and moral certainty into a cunning maneuver allowing his future survival. Through raw force of will, he pulls off an uncanny leap or block at the last possible instant. This charm may be used to either parry or dodge an attack, using the sum of the Practitioner's virtues in dice instead of his normal dicepool. It may only be invoked once per attack.
Invoking the Master's Knowing Smile
Cost: 3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 5 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Virtuous Negation Technique
With a clever sidestep, an off-beat comment, or a clever rebuke, the wise and familiar master may utterly foil his student's attacks. So it is with the Practitioner, whose empathy for all things allows him to know their attempts before they are made. This charm may be used after a dodge attempt, but before the attacker's dice roll. Doing so subtracts a number of dice from the attack equal to the Practitioner's Compassion. This effect cannot reduce the attack's dice pool below the attacker's permanent essence, but should a combination of this effect and wound penalties reduce it to 0, the attack is never made.
This charm may be invoked multiple times against a single attack, but never more times than the Practitioner's permanent essence.
Knuckle-Rapping Tap
Cost: 4 motes + 1 mote/die Duration: Instant Type: Simple Minimum Martial Arts: 4 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Merciful Fist Form
Sometimes one must cause pain to avert pain, or use punishment to aid in education. A delicate but powerful maneuver, this charm guides the Exalt's fingers to firmly rap the knuckles of his weapon-wielding foe. The Practitioner makes an attack at +1 difficulty, and can buy extra dice on the attack for the cost of one mote per die. This attack may be parried and dodged as normal. Should the attack hit, it does no damage. Instead, the target must make a Stamina + Resistance roll of difficulty equaling the number of extra successes on the attack. Even if he succeeds, he adds -1 to his wound penalty for the rest of the scene, which may be ignored as normal should the target have charms to affect wound penalties. If he fails, he must make a choice. He can either drop his weapon as a reflexive action, and suffer an additional wound penalty of -1, or he may opt to hold on to his weapon. If he retains his grip, he adds twice the Practitioner's essence to his wound penalty for the rest of the scene.
Apologetic Conclusion Method
Cost: 2 motes / Health Level Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 5 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Knuckle-Rapping Touch
Uttering a heartfelt apology to his opponent, the Merciful Fist Practitioner may increase the damage of a blow after it has already been dealt. After a successful attack has been soaked, but before damage has been rolled, the Practitioner may invoke this charm with a succinct apology to his victim. Every 2 motes the Practitioner spends on this charm is counted as an automatic success for his damage roll, on top of whatever normal damage he may roll. He may not buy more Health Levels of damage than his Wits in this manner.
The apology is a necessary component of this charm. If the Practitioner is unable to communicate, unwilling to do so, or untruthful in his words, the charm has no effect.
Resplendent Fists of Mercy
Cost: 8 motes, 1 willpower Duration: Scene Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 5 Minimum Essence: 4 Prerequisite Charms: Apologetic Conclusion Method, Invoking the Master's Knowing Smile, Sudden Stampede Method
The path of forgiveness is not an easy one. Often, the fight to save one's opponent is longer and harder than the fight to kill. Knowing this, yet following through with his refusal to kill, the Practitioner gains a mighty aid in his cause through this charm. Invoking the Resplendent Fists of Mercy turns the Practitioner into a living Sutra, as characters from his most cherished religious or philosophic texts tattoo themselves into his body through essence. These passages change from Practitioner to Practitioner, and may even change for an individual Practitioner over the course of his life, but one portion of these texts always remains the same. Upon each fist is emblazoned a message writ in burning essence: "DO NO HARM."
For the rest of the scene, the Practitioner's attacks do damage as if he opted to take a difficulty penalty to deal merciful damage while using the Merciful Fist Form, although no difficulty penalty is imposed. Additionaly, his strikes daze and disable his opponents. Every time the Practitioner successfully attacks his opponents, he may cause a stunning effect. Treat this as a secondary source of damage, rolled seperately and after normal damage is rolled. The base damage is equal to the Practitioner's Martial Arts rating, and extra successes count normally. If any Health Levels of damage are rolled, they are instead counted as a -1 penalty per Health Level for the rest of the scene.
