MartialArts/GrassSpider
Grass Spider Martial Arts by tk421 on rpg.net
The grass spider is a large predatory arachnid that lives in the near east, generally in the tall grasses of the coast and the grain fields of those territories. Normally the size of house cat, grass spiders have been known to grow as large as large dogs, though very rarely. The beasts live among tall, thick grasses, moving with eerie grace in them, seeming to swim through the fields. Farmers keep special watch for signs of grass spider infestation, denoted by the very subtle whisper of their movements, and attempt to cleanse fields quickly. However, if the infestation is too great, fields are abandoned. Though generally not given to hunting humans, if they grow large enough, grass spiders are powerful enough to do so. Many tales are told about the foolish farmer who ignored the whispering in the fields as it grew louder year by year and one day simply never returned from harvest.
Kamas are the signature weapon for this style.
Kamas could be something like:
Sp +2 Acc +0 Dam +1L Def +2 (for the pair)
Artifact Kamas: (Artifact 2 for the pair)
Sp +3 Acc +2 Dam +4L Def +3
Minimum Requirements: Dex 2 MA 2
Hungry Spider?s Swiftness
Instant
Reflexive
Cost: 2m
Minimum MA: 2
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisites: None
The grass spider moves with starling speed when it is on the hunt. The first step on the path of this style is learning this method of sudden assault. Using this charm, which must be activated before initiative is rolled, adds the user?s MA rating to their initiative total. However, the first action of the user, no matter the situation, MUST be to attack. Taking multiple actions is permissible, but the first action must always be an attack.
Eight Claw Method
Instant
Supplemental
Cost: 1m
Minimum MA: 3
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisites: Hungry Spider?s Swiftness
The claws of the grass spider can not only attack, but defend as well. For a single attack or parry, you may deal or parry Lethal damage unarmed. Note that this charm does not GIVE you an attack or parry, only makes damage for an existing attack Lethal or enables a bare-handed parry to handle Lethal damage.
Sixth Eye Technique
One Scene
Simple
Cost: 3m
Minimum MA: 2
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisites: Hungry Spider?s Swiftness
Like all spiders, the grass spider has many eyes. Users of this martial arts style emulate this and remain always aware. For the scene, you are considered aware of all attacks made against you. Only attacks masked by supernatural means can escape your vigilance.
Dance of the Hidden Hunter
One Scene
Simple
Cost: 4m
Minimum MA: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisites: Sixth Eye Technique, Eight Claw Method
The user now adopts the swift and silent movements of the grass spider through the fields. Add the user?s permanent Essence to Dexterity for the purpose of calculating maximum running distance. In addition, add a number of bonus dice equal to the user?s permanent Essence to Stealth rolls, but only while the user is moving.
Grass Spider Form
One Scene
Simple
Cost: 5m
Minimum MA: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisites: Dance of the Hidden Hunter
With an eerie and angular set of stances, the user aligns his Essence to that of the grass spider and forms an exoskeleton of Essence while maintaining motion. Add permanent Essence to your Bashing and Lethal Soak. Additionally, automatically roll Dexterity + MA at standard difficulty on being knocked down to get up immediately. Armour is not compatible with this form.
Whispers to the Prey
MA in Turns
Reflexive
Cost: 3m
Minimum MA: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisites: Grass Spider Form
Like the silently stalking spider in the fields, the user of the style prevents his target from hearing his approach. For (User?s MA rating) turns, a single designated target cannot hear any sound made by the use. Sound-based perception rolls by this target against the user is at +3 difficulty, and the target must succeed at a challenging roll even to hear the user speaking.
Twin Fang Strike
Extra Action
Instant
Cost: 4m
Minimum MA: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisites: Grass Spider Form
The fangs of the grass spider are terrifying and deadly. With this charm, the user makes two attacks at full pool against a single target. These attacks must be rolled separately and defended against separately.
Sickle Claw Attack
Supplemental
Instant
Cost: 3m
Minimum MA: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisites: Twin Fang Strike, Whispers to the Prey
The claws of dead grass spider are often used by resourceful barbarians and farmers as weapons, for they are very sharp and thin and can pierce deeply past armour. For a single attack, reduce your opponent?s soak from armour by your MA rating. You may not reduce the soak past 0.
Venom of the Field
Simple
Instant
Cost: 5m, 1 HL
Minimum MA: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisites: Sickle Claw Attack
The last and most potent weapon of the adult grass spider is its burning venom, which few animals can survive. Roll a MA attack as normally. If at least one HL of damage is done, the victim is injected with poisoned Essence and must roll Stamina + Resistance, difficulty equal to the user?s Essence. If successful, the victim receives thee dice of Lethal damage, soaked without armour. If his fails, the victim receives six dice of Lethal damage, soaked without armour. In either case, the poison burns through the victim?s body, giving a -3 dice penalty to all physical actions for the scene. This penalty is not cumulative with multiple applications.
Third Elite Fiend:
Virtuous Sparrow was a promising young Bronze-faction Sidereal four hundred years ago. Unfortunately, he was indited in a plot to smuggle Peaches of Immortality out of Yu Shan (though many believed him to be the scapegoat of several more powerful Bronze Faction members). After a brief term of incarceration, which he resented deeply, Virtuous Sparrow was released and given a low-level, long-term infiltration assignment as further punishment. A growing band of outcaste Dragon-Blooded in the Scavenger Lands were disturbing fate by acting as freelance assassins. His mission was to infiltrate and defuse this group, removing the necessity for overt action or painstaking destiny planning to compensate.
Virtuous Sparrow, using Ceasing to Exist Approach, became a "previously forgotten" founding member of the Grass Spider only a hundred years after their inception. Bitter, resentful, and petty-minded, Virtuous Sparrow saw in the fledgling group a chance for his revenge.
Over the next century, he moulded the Grass Spiders from a loose, ineffective band of outcastes into a highly structured, highly ritualized group of killers. With a series of Resplendent Destinies and a hierarchy he had formed to be shrouded secrecy, Virtuous Sparrow managed to keep his identity concealed to all members, perhaps except the other Elite Fiends. He also developed for the group a unique form of Terrestrial Martial Arts which they could use and teach without need for the rigorous training of the Immaculate Order's styles. Though he knows several other, more potent styles, Sparrow has not taught or revealed these to any of the groups members, lest they betray him.
Heaven, of course, knows all about what Virtuous Sparrow is doing. It has been a minor inconvenience for the Bureau of Destiny to re-factor fate due to the existence of the Grass Spiders, but that work has been done. Virtuous Sparrow's superiors know that his place within the Grass Spiders is only a single part in a much larger issue, one piece of a more important game. They patiently wait until the time right to use that piece, or to sacrifice the piece entirely if it suits them.
