MartialArts/YieldingWillowStyle
Yielding Willow Style
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Background
A reactive, defensive style, the practitioner of Yielding Willow Style bends and flexes, allowing opponents' blows to miss her by inches, then striking at the gaps they open in their own defences, often with a hold or a throw. Yielding Willow style is compatible with the sai, fighting chain and seven-section-staff. Armour may not be worn with Yielding Willow Style, as it hinders the necessary movements.
Charms
The Wind Blows</b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 2 Min Essence: 1 Prereqs: None
The martial artist learns to anticipate her opponent's blows, the better to avoid them. She may add her Martial Arts skill to her initiative this turn. This Charm may only be activated once per turn.
Bark Bends But Does Not Break</b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 3 Min Essence: 1 Prereqs: The Wind Blows
The martial artist learns to turn the edge of her opponent's blows, even when she cannot avoid them entirely. All damage from one attack is converted, after soak, into bashing damage. This Charm cannot affect aggravated damage.
Yielding Willow Form</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: 1 scene Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min Essence: 2 Prereqs: Bark Bends But Does Not Break
The Exalt empowers herself with Essence, permitting her superhuman flexibility and the ability to better predict her opponents' attacks. For the remainder of the scene, she may add her Martial Arts skill in extra dice to any dodge action, and may add her Martial Arts skill to her initiative.
Strike of the Willow</b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min Essence: 2 Prereqs: Yielding Willow Form
The character takes advantage of an attacking opponent's weakness to counterattack. This Charm may only be used if the character completely dodges a hand-to-hand attack (i.e. negates all of an attacker's successes through a dodge action). The character may immediately make a counter-attack against the attacker, using her Dexterity+Martial Arts dice pool, with extra dice equal to the number of successes (if any) by which the dodge exceeded the attack. The extra dice may not more than double her Dex+MA dice pool. This Charm can be used more than once per round, but not more than once per attack dodged, and may not be used against a counter-attack charm.
Grasping of the Willow Fronds</b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes Duration: Special Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min Essence: 2 Prereqs: Yielding Willow Form
The character makes a hold attack (Exalted, pg 240) against an opponent, rolling Dexterity+Martial Arts. They gain their Martial Arts skill in extra dice to the attack, or if the opponent has already attacked them this round, they gain double their Martial Arts skill in extra dice. These extra dice are kept for all future actions to resist the hold being broken, until the hold is broken or released. The extra dice may not more than double their Attribute + Ability pool.
Willow Unfurls</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Grasping of the Willow Fronds
If the character makes a successful throw attack (Exalted, pg 240), the opponent is thrown twice as far, is automatically knocked down (unless balance is enhanced by Charms or Essence), and the damage becomes lethal.
Willow Binds the Lumberjack</b>
<b>Cost: 6 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Strike of the Willow Branch, Grasping of the Willow Fronds
The character may counter-attack any incoming hand-to-hand attack with a hold attack (Exalted, pg 240) at her full Dexterity+Martial Arts dice pool. This Charm must be declared after the attack roll, but before damage. If the successes on the hold attack exceed those of the incoming attack, then the incoming attack is negated, otherwise the hold and the incoming attack are both resolved as normal.
Flexing of the Willow</b>
<b>Cost: 1 mote per die Duration: One round Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min Essence: 2 Prereqs: Yielding Willow Form
For every mote spent on this Charm, one die of multiple-action penalties is negated for all dodge actions taken in this round. The character may reduce multiple-action penalties to zero, but cannot add dice to the dodge action otherwise. These do not count as extra dice, and are not limited by the dice pool.
Willow Bends Before the Storm</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: One round Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Flexing of the Willow
No dodge actions this round suffer multiple-action penalties. The character must still declare actions normally, and all non-dodge actions take the appropriate multiple-dice penalty for the number of actions declared. If the character aborts to a full dodge, and then activates this Charm, all dodges are taken at the Characters full Dexterity + Dodge.
Willow Guides the Axe</b>
<b>Cost: 10 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min Essence: 4 Prereqs: Willows Binds the Lumberjack, Willow Unfurls, Willow Bends Before the Storm
If the character completely dodges a hand-to-hand attack, then they may redirect the attack against any third party who is in melee range of both the attacker and the character. The attack is resolved as if it had originally been targeted against the third party, keeping the successes rolled on the original attack, with extra successes equal to the number of successes by which the dodge exceeded the attack. Example: A attacks B and gains seven successes on the attack. B rolls 10 successes on the dodge, and activates Willow Guides the Axe to redirect against C. The attack is resolved as if A had attacked C and rolled ten successes.
