SeraphMartialArts

First of all, I assume that Martial Arts is an exception to the rule. If you are an Essence-weilder, your practice of supernatural martial arts is based on your score in the Martial Arts ability, no matter what the rest of your charms are based on. I think most people on the Wiki call that Casteless Martial Arts, but I haven't had a chance to check out the details of that houserule.

The thing I'm most interested in is the compatability of martial arts styles. As in, can you be a practicioner of Snake Style and round out your Charms with a few low-level Violet Bier of Sorrows Style, for example? More importantly, can you combo?

For me, the main limiting factor is style weapon. For the purposes of this discussion, I am considering "unarmed" to be a style weapon. If two styles have the same weapon - or, at least, a weapon in common - you can freely benefit from any number of charms from those styles and use combos made from those charms, so long as you are weilding that weapon. For example, so long as he is fighting with tiger claws or unarmed attacks, a (really eclectic) martial artist can be standing in Water Dragon Form, recieve the benefits of Angry Predator Frenzy Style, and use one of his extra actions to attack with a Consuming Entropy Strike, all without bothering to look at these rules. He can also create a crazy combo consiting of Lunging Phantom Style, Spine-Shattering Attack, Leap from Cloaking Shadows Attack, and Rippling Water Strike.

What about styles where there are no weapons in common, but the martial artist still wants to use his favorite daiklave or serpent-sting-staff or razor claws? In this case, my personal ruling is that unless the flavor or usage of the Charm implied otherwise, the martial artist is limited in the use of charms that enhance any attribute covered by a weapon. Those charms must share a weapon in order to be compatible.

Allow me to give you an example: Saraf is a Chosen of Serenity demon hunter. He is a student of Tiger form, having mastered charms up to the form, and has dabbled in Water Dragon Style, possessing the style's first two charms. Since he is a Sidereal and the style is powerful, he also dabbles in Violet Bier of Sorrows Style; he knows Secrets of Future Strife. Saraf has a pair of enchanted starmetal razor claws that were a gift from his Sifu, and he prefers to weild them whenever possible, especially given his favored opponent's tendancy to have acid or other, similarly unpleasant substances instead of blood.

As of now, Saraf can freely combine all his charms. All of his Water Dragon and Tiger charms are automatically compatible, because both styles permit razor claws. He can also freely use Secrets of Future Strife, because the flavor text of the charm implies that it has to do with Saraf's sensitivity to Fate rather than his martial prowess, and is thus unrelated to his choice of weapons.

As Saraf advances, however, he will find himself more limited. For example, he cannot use Blade of the Battle Maiden while weilding his razor claws, because Blade of the Battle Maiden effectively enhances Accuracy and Defense, statistics related to his choice of weapon. For the same reason, he cannot use Flight of Mercury, which enahnces initiative. However, he can freely use Joy in Adversity Stance with his razor claws.

Frankly, the best course for Saraf and anyone else interested in mixing and matching martial arts styles would probably be to get himself a set of Perfected Kata Bracers, and I'm probably going to go shuffle numbers on his character sheet until he can afford them.

As a closing note, as far as I know, there are no official rules on how to handle this. If anyone knows of any - or has a better idea - please comment below.

Comments

The ability to combine basically all MA effects when barehanded is the reward that martial artists get for fighting barehanded. I think it nerfs them excessively to remove this. - willows

Official rules on how to handle what? I'm not sure I understand what these rules are supposed to address. Is it the question of how Martial Arts interact? If that's the case, then there are rules, even if they aren't printed in one handy quick-reference sidebar. Anyway, this seems like an unnecessary layer of complexity that doesn't really add anything to the game. - David.

The official rules are as follows: Style weapons are treated as unarmed attacks for all Charms in a style, unless the Charm specifically notes (as does, for example, Stillness of Stone in the Earth Dragon style) that the Charm cannot be channeled through a weapon. You can freely Combo any effect which dictates that it be used on unarmed attacks, regardless of style, but it is only legal to use when the weapon used is treated as unarmed by all Charms which dictate this requirement. Thus, Flight of Mercury is perfectly legal to use with any weapon, as it doesn't require unarmed attacks, or even making any Martial Arts actions at all; you can use it when juggling, if you so desire. Blade of the Battle Maiden affects unarmed attacks, so it doesn't influence razor claws, which are not unarmed attacks as far as the Violet Bier of Sorrows is concerned. You could, however, use its bonus if enacting the Blow-Concealing Gesture Technique, provided you used an attack which is considered unarmed for both styles, i.e., a punch or kick. Vargo Teras