MartialArts/VagabondStyle
Vagabond Style
By [Peter LaCara]
Background
During the first age, there was a Chosen of Mercury who grew weary of his position as consular and manipulator of the Solars. So, he shirked his duties and fled to become a simple wanderer. He would travel from town to town, doing odd jobs, reading fortunes, and occasionally vanquishing an errant spirit or demon. His peers sneered at him, calling him a deserter, unworthy of his spark of divinity. However, after a century of wandering, the knowledge that he acquired became considerable. He was much more in tune with the needs of the common man, and the plight of the average traveler than his former associates. Combining the wisdom that he gained in his travels with the martial arts training of the Sidereals, he created a new style, one based on luck and intuition. It used a quarterstaff as its base weapon, a plain, unassuming weapon. The style’s reputation began to grow, and some people actually sought out this Chosen of Mercury to glean nuggets of wisdom from him, and to train in the art of this new martial arts style. Eventually, the style became popular among the Chosen of Mercury, and it even gained some followers among the Solars and Lunars. Today, only a few Sidereals still practice the style. Most of the Lunars have forgotten it. However, the Gold Faction has begun teaching it to some of the newly reborn Solars, especially the Night and Eclipse castes.
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff
Spd +0 Acc +0 Dmg +2L Def +2
A practitioner of Vagabond style gains either a free extra attack or an extra parry whenever he uses a quarterstaff. That action cannot be used for a full dodge, or any other non-combat action.
Charms
Silk on Water</b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Min. Martial Arts: 3 Min Essence: 2 Prereqs: None
If one moves not only in one’s own defense, but also in time to the opponent’s defense then one can never be deterred. Flowing with and around an opponent’s defense, the Exalted may negate his essence in successes from their parry or dodge.
Trickster's Escape</b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 3 Min. Dodge: 2 Min Essence: 1 Prereqs: None
The Exalt can dodge an attack directed at him reflexively, using his full Dex+Martial Arts score, except it counts as a dodge, rather than a parry attempt.
Know the Road</b>
<b>Cost: 2 motes Duration: Instant Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 2 Min. Survival: 2 Min Essence: 1 Prereqs: None
When an Exalt comes to a fork in the road, or any other decision in his travels, he may activate this charm to gain instant knowledge of which choice he is supposed to make to get to the destination that he desires. The only problem is, that occasionally, the Maidens take over when a person has a particularly strong destiny, and lead him down the path that he's supposed to go down, rather than the path that he wants to go down. Incidentally, this applies to decisions in life as well, not just travels on the road. Any time that the Exalt is in a situation that he is faced with two equally appealing decisions, this charm will help him choose the right course of action.
Vagabond Form</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: One Scene Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Silk on Water, Trickster's Escape, Know the Road
Luck, it seems, is truly on the Exalt's side during battle. His intuition guides him well. The Exalt may subtract his martial arts from any parry or dodge roll to resist his attacks. He also may subtract his martial arts from any attack roll made against him.
Intuitive Strike</b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes, 1 willpower Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Awareness: 2 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Vagabond Form
Feeling the winds of fate and luck, the Vagabond can sense an attack before it occurs, allowing him to retaliate pre-emptively. The Exalt can "interrupt" an attack, by counter-attacking before it happens. This charm must be activated after the opponent states his attack, but before any dice are rolled. Depending on the outcome of the counter-attack, the opponent may or may not be able to go through with his original attack, and may spend a willpower point to change his original action. Like any counter-attack charm, this cannot be launched in response to another counter-attack, nor can it be countered.
See the Way</b>
<b>Cost: 6 motes, 1 willpower Duration: One scene Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Awareness: 4 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Intuitive Strike
This charm is an improvement upon the limited precognition granted by Intuitive Strike. The charm grants an initiative bonus equal to the Exalt's permanent essence, but that's not it's greatest benefit. The Exalt gains foreknowledge of his opponents' actions. Before each round, the GM must tell the Exalt's character what his opponents' intended actions for the round are. The GM may spend a point of willpower to change their actions later in the round, but for the rest of the scene, the Exalt intuitively knows what his opponents are going to do, and can react accordingly.
Beggar's Defense</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: One scene Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Vagabond Form
The Vagabond can intuitively know how to use any object in his line of sight as a Martial Arts weapon for the rest of the scene. Within reason, the object should have stats similar to one of the basic weapons in the equipment chapter, but the Exalt gets to add his Essence to both the Accuracy and the Defense bonus. Additionally, the Exalt can use tables and other flat surfaces as shields, at the ST’s discretion.
Wandering Blow Technique</b>
<b>Cost: 6 motes, 1 willpower Duration: Instant Type: Extra Action Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Beggar's Defense
The Exalt attacks in such a wild and unpredictable way, that he is actually able to strike his opponent several times in several different places. Hence, it is a Wandering Blow. The Exalt gets an additional number of attacks equal to his essence against the same opponent. He uses the same result for each of his attacks, but each one must be individually parried. If used in a combo, each charm must still be reactivated, and re-rolled as well.
Whim of the Zephyr Technique</b>
<b>Cost: 4 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexice Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min Essence: 2 Prereqs: Vagabond Form
The Vagabond often simply goes where his feet carry him. He just "blows in the wind" so to speak. He can impart this quality to missile attacks directed at him. When he is attacked, the Exalt can reflexively activate this charm. He rolls his Dexterity+Martial Arts as a dodge attempt. If he negates the attack, he may immediately redirect the missle to any target of his choosing, using a die pool equal to his Dex plus any excess successes on the dodge roll.
Tumbleweed Stance</b>
<b>Cost: 7 motes, 1 willpower Duration: One scene Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Whim of the Zephyr Technique
The Vagabond, over time, learns to accept the whims of fate. He has discovered how to "roll with the punches" that life throws at him. This carries over into combat. For the duration of the scene, the Exalt reduces the number of damage successes rolled against him by one.
Unfailing Blow Technique</b>
<b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 willpower Duration: Instant Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min Essence: 4 Prereqs: See the Way, Wandering Blow Technique, Tumbleweed Stance
The Vagabond strikes so unpredictably that his opponent has no way of stopping the attack. No attack or defense is rolled. The Exalt is assumed to have hit with a number of successes equal to his permanent essence. The only thing that can defeat this blow is a perfect defense.
