MartialArts/RighteousDevilStyleEdit

• - Back to TerrestrialMartialArts
• - Back to GoldenCat

Righteous Devil Style

Righteous Devils are dispensers of Heaven's divine judgment. Those who walk as Righteous Devils follow a single precept - to burn in celestial flame all who defile those who serve at the feet of unrighteousness!

Righteous Devil Style considers attacks made using Firedust-powered weapons as Unarmed attacks. All Charms in this Style are compatible with armor.

Student Techniques

Lighting Draw Stance
Cost: 1 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 2
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite Charms: None
With this Charm, the martial artist need not have her weapon in hand before Initiative is rolled to use it. Vibrant cobalt lightning crackles and coalesces about her forearm, and in one fluid motion, the Devil readies her firewand and fires. Activating this Charm allows the Devil to draw and ready her weapons with one Reflexive movement that requires no thought and no time. She is able to holster her weapons as fast as she can ready them, going from armed to unarmed and to armed again in fluid, impossible movements whenever she uses this Charm -- this movement is so swift that in social situations it might allow the Devil a surprise attack: roll the Adept's Dexterity+Martial Arts against his opponent's Wits+Awareness to establish surprise in plain sight using this Charm.

Twin Phoenix Fist
Cost: 4 motes, 1 willpower
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite Charms: Lighting Draw Stance
With this Charm the Devil's hands coruscate with burning Essence like twin beating wings - each movement of one synchronized with and empowered by the other!

For the remainder of the Scene the Devil suffers no "off-hand" penalties and lowers her split-action penalties by half her Essence (rounded up) as long as they are evenly distributed between both hands.

Cloud of Ebon Devils
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite Charms: Lighting Draw Stance
Despite the superior damage capabilities of Firedust-based weapons, there are certain drawbacks to using them: the low availability and astronomical price of firedust, just to name a couple. Also, their temperamental nature and need for constant upkeep and repair make them difficult choices for use in the field. But perhaps the biggest difficulty in using firedust-based weapons is that most flamedischarge weapons are single-shot ones -- one must spend time to reload one after each shot. A Righteous Devil can ignore this particular weakness! This Charm allows the Devil to reload his weapon with one Reflexive movement that requires no thought and no time.

Heaven's Kiss Concentration
Cost: 1 mote per 2 die
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite Charms: Lighting Draw Stance
The character draws a breath and concentrates, extending her senses to feel the flow of Essence that unites her, her weapon and her target. In this perfect moment, the Devil fires her strike and the tongue of flame bursting forth seeks out her intended target with knowing assurance. The Devil must choose an oponent and spend one dice action aiming prior to attacking for this Charm to take effect - this Charm specifically allows the Exalt to co-opt actions of Extra Action Charms to aiming. She may then increase the accuracy of her unarmed martial arts attacks by paying one mote per 2 dice added as long as she does not exceed her Dexterity + Martial Arts pool. This Charm can be used against the opponent she has aimed at as many times as she wishes as long as the opponent remains a constant in its position, speed and surroundings: drastic movement, positioning changes or vanishing from sight make this bonus vanish and require the Devil to spend another action aiming before receiving the benefits of this Charm again.

Blossom of Inevitable Demise
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Heaven's Kiss Concentration
As with Heaven's Kiss Concentration the character draws a breath and concentrates upon her opponent, but unlike its predecessor the Devil concentrates not on their position and the relationship between their places in the world, but in their opponent's sins against it! During this action of concentration the character recites her opponent's transgressions against Heaven like a mantra before launching that spirals into a blossoming peony of flame. Each violation of Divine or Secular law the Devil recites add their Severity (see Exalted: The Sidereals page 36: secular offenses are disturbances of a kingdom's laws, balance and important Gods) to the raw damage of a single unarmed martial arts attack. The Devil cannot recite more violations than her Conviction score.

The action used to recite the opponent's crimes can be the same one Heaven's Kiss Concentration uses to aim against the opponent - both are the same in their single-minded focus on their target.

The Form

Righteous Devil Form
Cost: 7 motes
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Blossom of Inevitable Demise, Twin Phoenix Fist, Cloud of Ebon Devils
Enacting this Form, the Righteous Devil takes on an executioner's terrible stillness. Shadows seem to darken about his eyes and render his features gaunt, giving him an imposing, dreadful gaze. He is the fatal answer to the depraved and unjust, the retribution all who would defy Heaven knew must someday come. After activating this Charm, all extras who lay eyes on the martial artist will move unassumingly, as not to draw attention to themselves, yet swiftly for cover, pull their children inside and bolt their doors - whereas all targets of the martial artist within her Essence x 10 yards feel a sense foreboding and are compelled to confront the Righteous Devil: up until a target actually makes eye contact with her she must suceed in a successful reflexive Willpower roll each turn with a difficulty equal to the Devil's Permanent Essence rating or her character moves to confront the martial artist. Characters may spend a point of temporary Willpower to stop this compulsion. Once a target has spent a turn engaged in combat or parley with the Devil she is immune to this effect for the remainder of the scene. Combat with the Righteous Devil is a difficult thing, however - all attacks against the Devil by those compelled to come to their executioner have their Difficulty increased by half the martial artist's Conviction, rounded down.

As long as she enacts the Righteous Devil form the character can reload and draw her weapons as with Lighting Draw Stance and Cloud of Ebon Devils reflexively.

This is a Martial Arts Form-type Charm and is incompatible with other Charms of like type; should the martial artist activate another Form, this one immediately ends.

Mastery Techniques

Phoenix Flies on Golden Wings Attack
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Righteous Devil Form
With this Charm a martial artist can extend the range of his attacks. Upon activating this Charm a halo of gold and cobalt light encircles the tip of the her weapon's barrel. When the character pulls the trigger six golden swan wings, each the length of a woman's forearm, gracefully spiral out of the halo and speed the tongue of flame to its extended target. The player spends 1 mote of Essence to increase the range of her unarmed martial arts attack by (her Essence x5) yards.

Phantom Flamebolt Prana
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Righteous Devil Form
When invoking this Charm, the Celestial martial artist breathes deeply, tapping her inner reservoir of Essence, like bellows stoking a furnace. With each breath, she channels Essence through her weapon, using it as her focus. The Exalt can then fire a bolt of gossamer golden flame from his flamewand rather than needing firedust: so long as he has Essence to fuel it, he need never worry about running out of ammunition again.

Blessing of Righteous Spark Meditation
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Until Dispensed
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Righteous Devil Form
With this Charm, the Righteous Devil can wreathe her weapon in Heaven's righteousness. She meditates and invokes a blessing on her weapon, and when she finishes the evocation gossamer tongues of heatless golden flame writhe along the barrel of her firewand or knuckles, imbuing them with an iridescent cast. The benefits to the weapon are more than merely cosmetic. The player spends 2 motes of Essence for her character to invoke the blessing, which are committed until the Exalt attacks, releasing the charge. Add the Devil's Permanent Essence to the base damage of the firewand or similar weapon when it is next fired and deals Aggravated Damage against a single subset of creatures based on the defining color of the iridescent light upon the barrel of her weapon - Solars leave a Gold light, Chosen of Serenity leave a Blue light, and so on - a Devil starts knowing her own defining color, and can learn other ones at the cost of 1 Experience Point.

• Gold The color of Solars. Damage is Aggravated against Creatures of Darkness and those who disrupt the will of rulers.
• Silver The color of Lunars. Damage is Aggravated against Mutants and those in the throes of madness.
• Saffron The color of Journeys. Damage is Aggravated against Creatures Outside of Fate and those who disrupt Trade.
• Cerulean The color of Serenity. Damage is Aggravated against Creatures Outside of Fate and those who have sinned against love.
• Crimson The color of Mars. Damage is Aggravated against Creatures Outside of Fate and those who have deserted conflict.
• Viridian The color of Secrets. Damage is Aggravated against Creatures Outside of Fate and those who have revealed that which should have been a state secret.
• Violet The color of Endings. Damage is Aggravated against Creatures Outside of Fate and those who have harmed others to live past their time.
• Azure The color of Air. Damage is Aggravated against Creatures of Earth.
• Alabaster The color of Earth. Damage is Aggravated against Creatures of Air.
• Orange The color of Fire. Damage is Aggravated against Creatures of Water.
• Ebon The color of Water. Damage is Aggravated against Creatures of Fire.
• Emerald The color of Wood. Damage is Aggravated against Ghosts and the Undead.

Azure Abacus Meditation
Cost: 5 motes, 1 willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Phoenix Flies on Golden Wings Attack, Blessing of Righteous Spark Meditation, Phantom Flamebolt Prana
The martial artist using this Charm draws a controlled, deep breath and holds it. She extends her senses to perceive the ebb and flow of Essence that permeates the world around her. As she concentrates, the tenuous connections that tie her and her weapon to her target become glaringly apparent to her. At this point, she can close her eyes, for she need not see her target to strike it. Her Caste Mark flares and pulses with the beating of her own heart. At the same moment, a series of notched rings of silvery azure light encircle her target. They are of varying widths, numbering between three and nine in total, and rotate around the target at odd angles, some spinning clockwise, while others spin widdershins. This is the Azure Abacus. In the days of the First Age, this Charm was an artful meditation of the most introspective and intimate — and, some considered, prideful — nature, for it measured, some believed, a soul’s nature, existence and importance in the grand scope of Creation. Unfortunately, in this dark Age, the knowledge of how to glean any pertinent information from such a display is completely lost, even to the martial artist invoking this Charm. If there are any alive who remember how to gauge the delicate nuances of the Azure Abacus, they are not sharing the information.

Upon reaching this harmonious state, the Exalt invoking this Charm fires her weapon, and her shot zeros in on her target, trailing a brilliant comet's tail of flaming Essence. As the fireball closes in on its target, this ancient accounting begins to solve itself. The rings begin to align, starting with the innermost, and quickly rectify themselves a hairsbreadth moment before the martial artist's attack hits. In this perfect moment just before the Exalt's attack strikes the middle of the Abacus, time slows to an immeasurable halt. The martial artist’s target perceives the rectified rings about him shift their shape. A chorus of aquiline, cobalt cherubim, three to nine risers deep and awash in silver and golden flames begin to sing. The melody resonates at a very intimate level with the target, matching the harmonic frequency of his soul. Such a display can be very unsettling to those not prepared for it, and the players of those subjected must make a successful reflexive Willpower roll, difficulty 2, for their characters to do anything other than stare or scream in shocked terror as inescapable retribution comes calling. The martial artist spends 4 motes of Essence and one Willpower. So long as the target stays within the firing range of the martial artist’s weapon, the attack cannot miss. Even if the character can move, the attack is Undodgeable and can only be parried with Charms or other sorts of magic.