MartialArts/AmberHawkInFlamesStyle

Amber Hawk in Flames Style

Immolation

This Style is a structural experiment; it has a variable Form. For this reason, the final line of its Student's Sutra must be discovered anew each time it is learned, for it is different for each wielder.

The Charms of this style treat the slashing sword and the tiger's claw (called the eagle's claw by stylists) as unarmed attacks, and are incompatible with other weapons.

Under my Martial Arts house rules, this Style is Athletics-based.

The Student's Sutra of Immolation: Once there was an egg...

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Hatchling Talon

Cost: 10 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Supplemental

Min. Martial Arts: 5

Min. Essence: 4

Prereq Charms: Any Martial Arts Form Charm

And a child broke out, with fists and beak and wings.

The Exalted twists his fingers into needle-tipped raptor's claws, and lashes out with them. The attack enhanced with this Charm, and any further Martial Arts attacks the Exalt makes this scene, deals lethal damage, and cannot be soaked by Stamina or mundane armour. Mystical armour provides half its ordinary soak. Furthermore, the Exalt is able to parry lethal damage.

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Consuming Plumage

Cost: 10 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Min. Martial Arts: 5

Min. Essence: 4

Prereq Charms: Any Martial Arts Form Charm

In his hunger, he bit at mother's breast

The martial artist's anima takes the shape of a fiery bird, whose incandescent wings sweep over the ground to all sides of him. These wings move sympathetically with the Exalt's actions; when the Exalt makes a Martial Arts attack, all enemies within within (permanent Essence) yards of the primary target also suffer an attack, with the same number of successes; these ancillary attacks are immaterial, and have (Valor) base damage, plus extra successes. Ancillary attacks are not modified by any special effects that apply to the originating attack. (This does in fact mean that you can't combine this Charm with Grandmother Spider Mastery to make infinite attacks in an instant.) This Charm is incompatible with armour.

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Phoenix Bridegroom's Dance

Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower

Duration: Instant

Type: Simple

Min. Martial Arts: 5

Min. Essence: 5

Prereq Charms: Hatchling Talon, Consuming Plumage

Until father brought an army home to feed him.

Using this Charm, the Exalted can move at his full speed (by any means), while attacking, once, anyone within his hand-to-hand attack range as he passes by. His movement need not be in a straight line. He moves so quickly that any counterattack is impossible, and defenders subtract his Dexterity from their defensive pools. This Charm is incompatible with armour.

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Effortless Soaring Eagle Mode

Cost: 5 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Min. Martial Arts: 5

Min. Essence: 4

Prereq Charms: One Martial Arts Form Charm

Soon, the child left the nest of his parents

Cutting his Essence off from the web of places and destinations, the Exalted can fly as per Eagle Wing Style. Furthermore, this disconnection protects him from ranged attacks, which know not where to go, and fly in an aimless orbit past him. Ranged attacks against the Exalted are at a penalty equal to his Martial Arts. He needs to wield a Style-appropriate weapon to channel the Essence patterns properly; if he is disarmed, he floats to the ground at a speed of 20 feet per turn. This Charm is incompatible with armour.

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Soul Refining Strike

Cost: 3 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental (Reflexive)

Min. Martial Arts: 5

Min. Essence: 5

Prereq Charms: Effortless Soaring Eagle Mode

To seek wisdom to brighten his soul.

With this attack, the Exalt burns away the material impurities in his victim's body. The attack has bonus attack and damage dice equal to 2*(the Exalt's Essence - victim's Essence). This Charm can also be used Reflexively to allow the martial artist to defend himself with his purity; he parries with his full defensive pool, and automatically deals dice of unsoakable lethal damage equal to his highest Virtue to the attacker if he is in hand-to-hand range.

This technique is particularly inimical to the dead; these beings suffer twice the amount of damage, after soak.

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Cinnamon {Caste} Pyre

Cost: 10 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Min. Martial Arts: 5

Min. Essence: 6

Prereq Charms: Phoenix Bridegroom's Dance, Soul Refining Strike, one complete Celestial Martial Art (all Charms)

What did he find?

With a vast effort, the Exalted bends his anima into the Terrestrial mode, making its flows course with strange energy. This creates an "anima flux" effect which varies based on the Caste of the user. The Cinnamon Pyre extends (permanent Essence *2) yards out from the user. This Charm is incompatible with armour.

This Charm can be learned multiple times, but the first time it is learned, it must be the version corresponding to the Exalt's Caste; subsequent versions can be other Castes of the Exalt's "type". Eclipse and Moonshadow Exalted can explicitly learn out-of-type versions of this as out-of-type Charms. All the subsequent Charms of this Style require the Exalt to have learned two versions of the Pyre; the combination of Pyres creates the Amber Hawk in Flames Form. Any two versions of Cinnamon {Caste} Pyre can be activated simultaneously to raise the Form, without a Combo; this Form, like other Martial Arts Forms, is incompatible with other Forms and will end if another Form Charm is activated. However, it is possible to spend 10 motes to reflexively "switch" a Pyre that is active in the place of another. While the complete Amber Hawk in Flames Form is active, the Exalt is able to parry immaterial attacks, and adds her two highest Virtues to her Martial Arts attack pools.

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The Elder Sutra of Immolation: Out of ashes crawled a bird, on hands and knees, shaking dust off its tail.

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Conflagration Kata

Cost: 7 motes

Duration: Instant

Type: Reflexive

Min. Martial Arts: 6

Min. Essence: 6

Prereq Charms: Two versions of Cinnamon {Caste} Pyre

To the sun he said, "You are no better than I."

With careless speed, the Exalted slashes an incandescent cut through the air; the arcs of flame spiral out from him, striking every enemy in a straight line (permanent Essence * 3) yards long. Each of these attacks is rolled independently, with the Exalted's normal attack pool; the attacks do a base damage of the Exalt's Essence + Valor, plus extra successes.

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Golden Friends of P'êng

Cost: 20 motes

Duration: One Turn

Type: Simple

Min. Martial Arts: 6

Min. Essence: 7

Prereq Charms: Conflagration Kata

And to the birds, "You wish to be me."

The Exalt leaps into the sky, her silhouette disappearing in the brilliance of the sun or moon, or simply vanishing into the infinity of the sky. Golden birds formed of Essence rain down from the point where she vanished, and attack the enemies below her. The Exalt's player rolls Charisma + Martial Arts + Valor. Each enemy in sight is struck by several of these creatures, suffering a total of (Exalt's permanent Essence) dice of damage plus successes, which can only be soaked by Stamina. This attack cannot be parried or dodged. The Exalt reappears and lands on the place she jumped from on her next initiative.

Any being killed by this attack is incinerated totally, and a phoenix hatchling, a tiny fire elemental, emerges from the ashes. A stylist may spend 1 XP to befriend one of these hatchlings, making it into a one-dot Familiar. An Exalt who knows this Charm may befriend as many phoenix hatchlings as his Essence, in addition to any other Familiars he can have.

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Luminous Reincarnation Strike

Cost: 12 motes, (1 experience point)

Duration: Instant

Type: Simple

Min. Martial Arts: 6

Min. Essence: 6

Prereq Charms: Two versions of Cinnamon {Caste} Pyre

The stars wheeled in their heavens, in their wonderment.

With this Charm, the Exalt burns out his victim's soul, in order for him to be reborn in a more virtuous life. The Exalt makes a normal Martial Arts attack. If it hits, the Exalt's victim must roll his Resistance + Essence at a difficulty of the Exalt's Essence. If he fails, he instantly dies, and his soul is immediately reincarnated in a newborn. If he succeeds, then he suffers the damage of the attack, which is enhanced by (Exalt's Essence) additional damage successes. If the victim reincarnates, the Exalt may choose to spend 1 experience point. If he does so, then he instantly knows the location and identity of the new incarnation, who is fated to become a one-dot Ally of the Exalt in question when he grows to maturity. This Charm permits the user to have additional Allies in the same way that the previous Charm expands Familiar.

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Egg-from-Ashes Technique

Cost: None (12 motes, 1 experience point)

Duration: Permanent

Type: Special

Min. Martial Arts: 6

Min. Essence: 7

Prereq Charms: Luminous Reincarnation Strike

And the moon shed tears of silver and ice.

When the Exalted who knows this Charm dies, his corpse burns to a pile of ash. The next morning, he wakes up in the place he died, alive, with one Health Level; in the process the Charm is wiped from his mind and he must learn it again. He cannot use any Charms with this Charm as a prerequisite until he does so. This Charm's effect is perfect; a character who knows it cannot by any means be permanently killed. Nonetheless it does not prevent a person's final death, though Exalts who have mastered this Charm will naturally relearn the Style, without need of a tutor, when they are reborn, and recall all their other martial knowledge in the same way.

Alternatively, the Exalted can use this as an attack on himself or another; in this form, it is an advanced variant of the Soul Refining Strike. This variation costs 12 motes and 1 XP; the recipient of the attack is burnt away, and in the ashes he reappears; in all ways he is the same as before, except these:

• Age and infirmity are stripped away; if he was an adult or older when recieving this attack, he becomes an adolescent, and any nonmagical wounds, scars, etc. are healed.
• Madness and illness are removed; he is purified of any derangements, Wyld effects, poisons, diseases, and so forth.

This does not restore lost Health Levels, nor will it remove magical markings like a Lunar's Tell or tattoos. It is however not a form of shapeshanging, and will work on a tattooed Lunar.

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Torrent of Stolen Warmth

Cost: 12 motes (0 motes)

Duration: Instant

Type: Supplemental (Simple)

Min. Martial Arts: 6

Min. Essence: 6

Prereq Charms: Two versions of Cinnamon {Caste} Pyre

Soaking up the sunlight and drinking the waters of the moon, the bird said,

This Charm has two uses.

With the first, the Exalted steals the warmth of a victim with his touch; this is a normal Martial Arts attack, but does not deal damage as normal; instead, roll the attack's normal damage pool; for each damage success, the target loses a dot of Stamina. If a victim's Stamina is reduced to 0 by this Charm, he dies. This use costs 12 motes, which are committed until the energy so absorbed is released.

With the second version of this Charm, the committed motes are released as the Exalt creates a simulacrum of flame from the stolen heat; this simulacrum permits him to make a normal Martial Arts attack at anyone he can see, using his Perception rather than Dexterity for the attack roll, and adding any successes beyond the previous victim's Stamina on the damage roll. This simulacrum's attack cannot be blocked or dodged. Its damage cannot be soaked by armour.

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Rivalry of Immortals

Cost: 7 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Reflexive

Min. Martial Arts: 6

Min. Essence: 7

Prereq Charms: Torrent of Stolen Warmth

"Dragons! Gods! I have come for you!"

Phoenix and dragon are forever rivals in the city of the gods. While this Charm is active, the Exalt adds the sum of his Virtues to all parries, attacks, and damage rolls against local gods and elementals, and half the sum of his Virtues to attacks against all other beings. He can also sense and strike gods and elementals even when they are dematerialized.

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Relentless Soul-Fire Crucible

Cost: 20 motes

Duration: One Scene

Type: Simple

Min. Martial Arts: 7

Min. Essence: 7

Prereq Charms: Golden Friends of P'êng, Egg-from-Ashes Technique, Rivalry of Immortals

Then the bird descended to the heavens, where his light filled the Celestial City from horizon to horizon.

The Exalt burns away all the dross and imperfections of his mortal self, temporarily becoming a silhouette of Essence flame. All his Attributes are raised to the same value as his Essence if they are below it. He is an immaterial form of energy, and is only vulnerable to the same kinds of attacks that affect dematerialized gods. Similarly, his attacks cannot be blocked except by defences that specifically ward off spiritual attack. This Charm is incompatible with armour.

This Charm does not affect the Physical Attributes of tattooed Lunars; instead, they simply burn with coronae of blinding intensity.

Under my Lunar house rules, this Charm does not affect the Attributes that a Lunar has a Beastman Transformation Charm governing.

Cinnamon {Caste} Pyre

These are all the versions of Cinnamon {Caste} Pyre that I've had the thought to develop. I welcome assistance with Lunar and Alchemical fluxes.

Solar: These effects are generally Bad Things that happen to other people.

• Dawn: The Exalt burns with crippling splendor. Enemies in his Pyre must make a Valor check each turn; if they fail, they temporarily lose a dot of their highest Dawn Caste Ability. On a botch, an enemy loses a dot of every Dawn Caste Ability. Lost Ability dots return once the victim has a change to rest and collect himself for at least a full day.
• Zenith: Same as the Dawn effect, but applicable only to demons and the undead; a Zenith's Pyre also burns corpses automatically, and does one die of unsoakable lethal damage to undead within it each turn.
• Twilight: Essence flows in the Twilight Pyre become too hot to touch; enemies in the Pyre suffer a die of lethal damage for every two motes of Essence they spend. This damage is soakable only by Stamina.
• Night: The Night Pyre is full of suffocating smoke. Each turn, an enemy in the Pyre must make a Temperance check; failure means that he has inhaled too much smoke, and loses a dot of Stamina temporarily. A botch means he has inhaled enough to poison himself; he loses consciousness and must accumulate 5 successes on Stamina rolls, once per turn, to awaken.
• Eclipse: Oathfire burns around the Eclipse. Those attacking him (regardless of whather they succeed) have an oathbreaker's curse placed upon them; it mandates as many botches as half the Eclipse's Essence, rounding up, and one such curse is incurred per attack. Magical beings may roll their Essence in a reflexive opposed test to resist recieving the curse, but on a botch they recieve one at full strength.

Abyssal: These are dark reflections of the Solar effects.

• Dusk: Identical to Dawn.
• Midnight: Same as the Dawn effect, but applicable only to beings native to Malfeas, little gods, and elementals. Those that die in a Midnight's Pyre automatically rise as zombie extras the next turn, unless their corpses are destroyed.
• Daybreak: Essence flows in the Daybreak Pyre run with agony; each time a being in the Pyre uses a Charm or Combo with a Willpower cost, he must pay twice the Willpower or suffer dice of lethal damage equal to the number of motes spent. This damage is soakable only be Stamina.
• Day: The Day Pyre is a column of cold flame, filled with chilling mists. Each turn, any creature in the Pyre must make a Conviction check; failure means that some of the chill has seeped into his bones, and loses a dot of Dexterity temporarily. A botch means he has suffered frostbite; he becomes paralyzed and must accumulate 5 successes on Dexterity rolls, once per turn, to restore himself to movement.
• Moonshadow: The Moonshadow is a nemesis, one who brings vengeance for promises broken. Any being in the Pyre who attacks the Moonshadow is cursed terribly; the next attack directed toward him has its attack pool doubled and its damage pool increased by half the Moonshadow's Essence, rounding up. Magical beings may roll their Essence in a reflexive opposed test to resist recieving the curse, but on a botch they recieve one at the full strength of the Moonshadow's Essence.

Sidereal: These work for you and your allies.

• Journeys: The Exalt and allies in his Pyre can fly as per Effortless Soaring Eagle Mode; allies must also return to the Pyre once a turn or the effect fails for them.
• Serenity: The Exalt and allies in his Pyre are supernally graceful. They dodge all incoming attacks with a base pool of Performance and automatic successes equal to permanent Essence.
• Battles: The Exalt and allies in his Pyre can attack twice a turn without penalty. The additional attack is considered part of the same action as the first.
• Secrets: Jupiter's Pyre of blinding flame makes all the attacks of the Exalt and allies in his Pyre unexpected.
• Endings: The Endings Pyre celebrates the end of battles; each attack the Exalt and alllies in his Pyre makes drains a point of Willpower from the victim and transfers it to the attacker.

Comments

/AmberCommentsArchive

Hatchling Talon seems exceedingly powerful, for an essence 4 charm, even requiring up to the form in another style. It's more effective at hurting things than aggravated damage, and it's a little vague whether it affects charm-based soaks? It would seem more appropriate for an essence 5 level, maybe post-form.
-- Darloth

Meh. It's not even as good as Five-Jade Fury. - willows

Five-Jade fury is really nice, but is also only 5 turns long. I know that later charms extend its effects, but that's not really important to the direct charm balance, and there's a fairly large difference between 5 turns and an entire scene. You could put up Hatchling's Talon in expectation of a fight (it's only an essence cost) wheras you can't really do this with Five-Jade fury, as it'll likely wear off before the fight actually begins. Does it need to halve magical armour? It could reduce mystical armour by a fixed amount, or possibly increase ping? Finally, it's still unclear whether it reduces the soak of soak-charms at all, presumably only those that count as armour (which is okay, I suppose. I may have slightly over-estimated its effectiveness, as most people relying on stamina will have soak-charms anyway... but that's only a little better.)

In direct comparison with FJF, which, as I say, is a little inappropriate due to duration differences, this charm is purely damage focussed. As such, I'll consider an accuracy success to be equal to a damage success (representing the fact that hitting at all is usually better than doing more damage.)

FJF adds around 3-4 successes to acc, and a varying amount to damage, depending on pools and soak etc. It also has a minor init bonus, and the choice of B or L. Its main advantage is auto-damage and protecting from botching. Converted to dice, it adds around... 12ish? This charm completely nullifies one of the main typical mortal defense strategies for the entire scene (they get no soak, basically) and this even works on underequipped exalts. Against other exalts, it deals piercing damage for the scene, which is a bonus of around 4-8 damage dice. Thus, on the whole, I think it's around the same as FJF, maybe a little worse, but lasts for much longer. Given my examination of its effects, I'm slightly. more willing to live with it now, although I'm still not sure. One other thing that came up is whether it can ignore inanimate object's soaks and/or hardness as well, as that would make sense, and be pretty neat. It still causes horrible, horrible pain to any exalts wearing non-artifact armour.
-- Darloth

I would expect significant soak at this Essence level to come from Charms, not tin cans. It punishes people for using shitty mortal strategies because, as a Sidereal Martial Art, its essence is to casually destroy the mortals without noticing, much like we trample the grass and shrug off the rain. The matter of devouring mortals utterly shouldn't even be a point of discussion. - willows

I contest that, at least at essence 4. It's (in my opinion, of course) the turning-point for mortals mattering. But, anyway, it's not a major point, just a side note. I am considerably more concerned about how well it slices through warstriders, art 3-4 orichalcum plate, and other tools of exalted protection, for those who don't choose charms. Or even armour-charms, such as Glorious Solar Plate. I'd be happier if it inflicted piercing damage specifically, because they you couldn't stack with something -else- that does piercing damage to ignore 3/4 armoured soak.
-- Darloth

The fact that it specifically doesn't pierce is something you should include in your optimisation. That's not an accident. - willows

Now, more elaborately, that response doesn't have the subtext, "So shut up." It's got the subtext, "Stop looking at the Charm as though it were an isolated Charm without relationships and context." It's pretty specifically the only damage-adder in a style with weak, non-piercing weapons that can apply to Exalted opponents. Thus, it's built to reward characters that do do the hard work of optimising to make their weapons piercing with some other effect. -w

Relying on nonmagical armor is sort of a self-punishing behavior at Essence 2, not to mention at higher Essence levels. - David.

Agreed. -w