WoBOldComments/TheSpear

Revised the Lesser Stance. I moved away from the persistent-parry effect upon considering that most of the Style's users are Sidereals, and since this tree is meant to interact with Sidereal Melee on some level, it seemed silly to have a Charm that was completely outmoded by a Sidereal Melee Charm. I've also touched up Thousand-Echelon Phalanx Style a bit, though I am now a little unsure of that Charm's balance. Comments and criticism are invited. - David.

Just a minor point, but "The Fastest With The Mostest" really doesn't sound very Exaltedy to me, even with the quote thing. - Voidstate

I get that a lot, but I like it too much to change it. Sorry. :) - David.

Lesser Stance of the Spear appears to be roughly equivilant in purpose and power to the sidereal martail arts charm Flickering Moonsilver Approach, at less than half the cost. - Wordman

I really don't see the comparison. Flickering Moonsilver Approach has at least four times the range of the Lesser Stance, and it doesn't interfere with the invocation of Martial Arts Forms, while the Stance has a flat 5-yard range and is incompatible with any Form Charm other than the Fivefold Way of Battles Form. - David.

The stance also lasts longer and applies to both offense and defense. The die bonus of the two are mathematically identical, except for cases where the target does not defend, where the stance is stronger. So, what you are saying is that to take the stance, reduce its duration and other capability, increase the range and use it outside of the form you are most likely going to be using anyway should cost 6 more motes and require two more dots of Essence to learn. Your call, but that seems off to me. Maybe if the stance didn't offer the bonus dice or only applied to offense or defence but not both. Whatever. - Wordman

You're comparing the Lesser Stance to the wrong kinds of Charms. Lesser Stances are basically Celestial-level MA Forms. Compare it to other Celestial-level Form Charms. Maybe you thought the bonus dice applied to all attacks and parries. This wasn't my intent, and I just realized that wasn't entirely clear. - David.

I agree with David. here. Flickering Moonsilver Approach, while it doesn't provide a defensive benefit per se, does subtract a comparable amount of dice to the total added by the stance (FMA subtracts MA (which is 5), this adds probablly 6 (3 to each), but adds less to each individual pool). The 5 yard attack range is unlikely to be significant (unless you take effort to make it so), it being about 1/3 of most combatants combat move. Flickering Moonsilver Approach, with it's at least 20 yard range, offers the very real posibility of attack without retribution, especially if you attack from behind a wall or something. It does admittedly have a longer duration that Flickering Moonsilver Approach, though in most of the fights I've seen, 5 turns may as well be the scene. I find your 'If the target doesn't defend' arguement interesting. If my target isn't defending actively, I'm not sure I actually care about the extra 2-3 dice the Stance provides.

In addtion, as David. says, it is effectively a Form charm. Compare it to Air Dragon Form. That offers +MA to ranged attacks and dodges. Water Dragon Form. +Ess to MA, +MA to soak. charmless soak booster. Crimson Pentacle Blade Form (which is TMA!) offers +Ess to all MA rolls, not just attacks and defences. - Kraken

I re-read the definition of stance and the following clause makes me feel better about the lesser stance: "Stances, though Reflexive in type, may only be invoked on the character's initiative, not before." Though Kraken marginalizes the duration difference, it's actually quite significant. A scene length charm can be invoked before combat begins. Outside of combat, a 5 turn charm lasts for 15 seconds, which means that the only practical way to use it is to spend a combat action to activate it. This is a huge advantage to scene length charms, but one that is completely negated by the stance rule quoted above. With that clause in place, the stance also requires a combat action to activate, so isn't as advantageous. Better. And David is right that I was misunderstanding the bonus dice thing. (As for the 3 extra dice, they have a 78% chance of providing at least one additional success, a 6.4% of providing three additional successes and a 0.1% change of providing 6 additional successes; I'd take 'em.) Carry on. Oh, one more nitpick: there is an official definition of "stance" in the Fair Folk book, used for a completely different purpose. Not sure there is a better word for it, though. Posture? I guess that is used as well. - Wordman

Well, I've been working on a Martial Art using "Stance-type" Charms since before the Fair Folk book was released. The overlapping nomenclature has come to my attention, and I might rename them. Also, Stances do not take an action to invoke. They're just like any other long-duration Reflexive Charm (like, say, Blade of the Battle Maiden) in that respect, the only difference is that you can't activate a Stance before your initiative comes up. That's something else that may change, though. I may make them Simple. The Type for Stances is fairly moot, I think, since the Stances are relatively insignificant individually, their power comes from being able to rapidly switch between them - an ability unique to the Form Charm. Regarding the bonus dice, though, Sidereals can apply those to Melee attacks and parries, if they so desire, and can create Combos between their Melee Charms and the Charms of the Spear.

To explain the intent of the Charm a little better, the increased range isn't meant to give the character an actual ranged attack capability, but to increase the character's threat area. I got the idea from willows, in his own Crimson Panoply of Victory MA. He discussed close-combat attack ranges in one of his Charms, which is what inspired mine. I simplified the wording, perhaps to the detriment of my intent. I am considering revised wordings that make the intent of this clear. The idea is that the character can simply reach farther to hit someone. I may completely abandon that in favor of a small initiative bonus, if anything. - David.

I see where you are going now. If you do make such a change, you might want to phrase it as an increase to Speed, as (at least in power combat) speed is "solely a function of reach". You could, instead, reprhase it as something like "you may close the distance to attack a target within 5 yards, even if you have expended your movement". Also, sorry for my incorrect use of "combat action". I should have said something like "charm activation for the turn". My point was that with a five turn charm, you're pretty much forced to activate it in combat and, without combos, that eats your single allowed charm activation for the turn. Non-stance scene charms can often be revved up before you start rolling initiative. - Wordman

I'm still considering how I approach the intended effect mechanically, it may see revisions, it may just see rewording. As to Speed representing reach ... well, it is a nice idea, but the weapon stats for Power Combat don't bear that out, so I've pretty much dismissed that notion. - David.