MartialArts/PhoenixStyle
Phoenix Style
By substatique
Charms
Blazing Eye</b>
<b>Cost: 3 Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Min. Martial Arts: 2 Min. Essence: 1 Prereqs: None
The martial artist's right eye flares brightly with the penetrating gaze of the phoenix, adding dice equal to her permanent Essence to one attack roll. This effect also cancels any visibility penalties for that attack. The brief flare is clearly visible from all sides.
Hopping Bird Method</b>
<b>Cost: 4 Duration: One turn Type: Supplemental Min. Martial Arts: 3 Min. Essence: 1 Prereqs: Blazing Eye
A "beginner's version" of Phoenix Form, this charm requires the character to stand on her toes and hop erratically like a small bird. When aborting to defense, if unarmed or using hook swords, the character can make a cascading parry with her Martial Arts ability (a cascading parry is like a full dodge: start at Dexterity + MA and subtract one die from the pool of each successive parry).
This charm is not compatible with the use of armour. Since moving out of the way is an important aspect of this charm, it can only defend against attacks where parrying and dodging are both legal defenses.
Phoenix Form</b>
<b>Cost: 5 Duration: One scene Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Essence: 2 Prereqs: Hopping Bird Method
The character moves like a bird, perched on her toes and holding her arms high like a bird trying to look intimidating. This tense, spring-loaded stance adds the user's MA score to initiative, and her Essence is added to her bashing and lethal soak as she deftly rolls with blows. In addition, the martial artist can make fantastic leaps. She can leap her Strength + her Martial Arts in yards vertically, or twice that amount horizontally, and still make an attack. As a full action, she can leap twice as far. She also adds her MA to all checks of balancing and leaping, and cannot be knocked prone.
This charm is incompatible with the use of armour. Characters cannot use more than one Form-type charm at a time.
Mighty Cry of the Firebird</b>
<b>Cost: 1, 1 willpower Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Essence: 2 Prereqs: Phoenix Form
Invigorated by the eternal resurrection of the mighty phoenix, the character screeches a keening kiai that can be heard at a great distance. Anyone close enough for hand-to-hand combat must make a Valor roll. Those who fail have their action delayed until after the user of the charm, just as if they had lost initiative. They may abort to defend as usual. Those who make the roll act on their normal initiative. A botch on the Valor roll causes the loss of a temporary willpower point as well as the normal effects of failure. This charm is ineffective against opponents with a higher Essence than the user. Anyone who has completed all their actions for the turn is unaffected by this charm.
Invocation of the Soul-Fire</b>
<b>Cost: 3 + 1 per anima banner, 1 willpower Duration: Exalted's essence turn Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Essence: 2 Prereqs: Phoenix Form
This charm causes the flaring of all anima banners within (Essence x 10) yards. The user makes an Essence + Martial Arts roll, which all Exalts within range oppose with their Willpower. Those who fail to gain more successes than the user of the charm find that their anima banners flare as if they had spent 16 peripheral motes, though these motes are not actually expended. The user's anima banner also flares, but she gains no roll to escape it.
This charm affects all types of Exalt. The user may not choose to make only some of the banners flare. If she does not have enough motes to power the charm for all Exalts within range, her motes will be expended but only her own banner will flare. Her motes are expended no matter who wins the opposed roll. The effect of this charm lasts for turns equal to the charm-user's Essence, then fades instantly. Any mortals within range will feel essence flow through them, but will be otherwise unaffected. Whether they are the user or a target, Night castes can negate the effect of this charm on themselves by spending 16 motes.
Tricky Talon Technique</b>
<b>Cost: 5, 1 willpower Duration: Instant Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 2 Prereqs: Phoenix Form
The martial artist shapes her hand into a shape like a claw or beak and makes a swift strike at a vulnerable, unarmoured spot on her opponent. The difficulty of the attack is increased by one, but a successful hit ignores the opponents armour, and can only be soaked with stamina and natural enhancements. This charm is incompatible with weapons, including the hook sword. A character must have Phoenix form active to use this charm.
Flock of One Kata</b>
<b>Cost: 4, 1 willpower Duration: Instant Type: Extra Action Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prereqs: Tricky Talon Technique
Invoking the quick reflexes of a bird, the character rolls her Martial Arts ability and gains an extra action that turn for each success. These extra actions need not be attacks. A character may not split her dice pool during a round in which she uses Flock of One Kata. You must have Phoenix form active to use this charm.
Hand of Flame</b>
<b>Cost: 3 Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Essence: 3 Prereqs: Phoenix Form
One of the character's hands bursts into flame. A successfully hit opponent must soak additional levels of lethal flame damage equal to the user's permanent Essence. This flame damage is a seperate damage pool from the original attack. It ignores armour, and it is aggravated to undead and Abyssal Exalted.
An attack with this charm acts like the touch of a torch, igniting flammable objects. The character may also use this charm outside of combat to ignite objects with a touch.
The flame evoked with this charm will travel up the length of any weapon held by the character, and attacks with weapons will cause the extra levels of flame damage. However, some weapons may be damaged by the fire.
Smoldering Prana</b>
<b>Cost: 6 Duration: Instant Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prereqs: Hand of Flame, Tricky Talon Technique
The character strikes a point on her opponent's body where essence flows come together, and causes the essence that flows through that point to burn painfully. If the victim takes any health levels of damage from the attack, her essence ignites. At the beginning of the next round, she must soak lethal damage dice equal to the number of health levels inflicted the previous round. This lethal damage can be soaked only with stamina. If more damage is done, the victim's essence continues to burn. The damaging effect ends in a round when it does no health levels of damage. As long as the effect continues, the victim gets -1 to all dice pools. Multiple instances of this charm are cumulative. This charm does not have any effect on undead. A character must have Phoenix Form active to use this charm.
Example: Finix uses this charm to hit Captain Beard, dealing 6 damage dice after soak. He rolls 2 successes, dealing 2 health levels to Beard. Beard would normally have a dice penalty of -1 from his wounds, but the penalty is increased to -2. The next round, Beard must soak 2 damage dice (because he suffered 2 health levels of damage the previous round). Beard's 3 stamina gives him a lethal soak of 1, so Finix rolls one die, scoring a success. Beard takes another health level of damage, and remains at -2 wounds. Beard is not a Lunar with natural oversoak, so the charm will do the automatic one die the following round. Finix's player fails to roll a success, so the charm ends and Beard's wound penalty reverts back to -1 that round.
Searing Wings of the Phoenix</b>
<b>Cost: 8 + 1 health level, 1 willpower Duration: One turn Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prereqs: Smoldering Prana, Flock of One Kata
Sweeping her arms in wide arcs, the martial artist evokes wing-like tendrils of fire that extend from her arms to strike targets up to Essence x 2 yards away. She may split her dice pool normally to attack, and gains bonus dice equal to her Essence on her Dexterity + Martial Arts pool. The Searing Wings do lethal damage equal to the character's Essence, plus attack successes. Due to the size and fluidity of the wings of flame, they cannot be parried, and can only be soaked with Stamina. Undead, Deathlords, and Abyssals suffer aggravated damage from this charm. While the Searing Wings are in effect, the character may not make normal attacks, though she may take other actions.
Conflagration Stunt</b>
<b>Cost: 4 + 2 per turn, 1 willpower Duration: Multiple Turns Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prereqs: Searing Wings of the Phoenix
Upon activation of this charm, the character bursts into flame. The flame is fueled entirely by essence, but it crackles and and dances like a real fire. Flammable materials within 5 yards of the character may catch on fire. When activating this charm, the character must decide how many turns it will last and spend 2 motes for each turn. Once activated, its duration cannot be extended except by activating it again.
While it burns, the character is entirely immune to normal fire. Magical fire is considered bashing damage, and it is soaked with a bonus equal to the character's permanent Essence. The fire is so bright that all attacks on the character suffer a dice pool penalty equal to her permanent Essence. Undead will not approach within 5 yards of her. Within 3 yards of the character (hand-to-hand range), the conflagration deals environmental damage (Exalted p. 244) equal to the character's Essence, or Essence + MA on a failed resistance roll. The difficulty of the roll is the character's Essence. This environmental damage is lethal to most, but aggravated to Abyssal Exalts, as well as any undead who are somehow forced into the area.
This charm does not stack with itself. While this charm is active and a while afterwards, the area will smell strongly of sweet spices.
Art of Manifestation</b>
<b>Cost: 10 + 2 health levels, 1 willpower Duration: Special Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 5 Prereqs: Conflagration Stunt
Wings of roaring fire, each three times the character's height, burst forth from the character's back, causing two health levels of lethal damage which cannot be soaked or prevented. While active, the wings add the character's Essence in dice to most Presence rolls, and mortals must succeed a Valor check to attack or speak against the possessor of the imposing wings. The possessor of the wings can fly at a speed of up to (Essence + Martial Arts) x 10 yards per round, or hover in place, but must make a Strength + Endurance roll each round to stay aloft. A failed roll means a fall from the sky, but a character who still has wings can make a Dexterity + Athletics roll to land without injury.
The wings last a number of turns equal to the character's Willpower + Essence. Beyond this time limit, the wings can be maintained at a cost of one temporary Willpower point each turn. For rules on fighting while airborne, see Eagle-Wing Style in the Night Caste Book.
The wings cannot be used to attack directly, except in conjunction with Searing Wings of the Phoenix (q.v.). If that charm is used while Art of Manifestation is active, it gains bonus damage equal to the character's Essence.
The wings are very hot. Ranged attack from behind is impossible except with weapons made of the 5MM (normal arrows and other weapons will be incinerated). Anyone making hand-to-hand attacks from behind will take environmental damage in the same manner as Conflagration Stunt (q.v.). While the wings are manifested, the character trails the Phoenix's characteristic scent: the spices cinnamon, spikenard, and myrrh. Activating this charm indoors has obvious side effects.
