MartialArts/ThirteenGoldenDragonsStyle
Contents
Thirteen Golden Dragons Style
By Darloth, with aid from a few people.
Back to MartialArts.
This style is developed as a strange combination using bits of Air Dragon, a smattering of Celestial Monkey and the strange pearl-courtesan style, and watching lots of anime. I believe it makes a very effective 'ninja-magic' style, but one which is quite different from Ebon-Shadow form. It's technically a Solar Animal or Legendary Beast style, but I consider it esoteric enough to go where Celestial Monkey is, so I put it here. It's theme is Multiplicity.
Comments on cost and effectiveness are welcomed, but please see my comments on cost first, as there are already two opinions on costing of certain charms (These will be at the bottom of the page)
Student Techniques
Dragon's Insightful Mind</b>
<b>Cost: None Duration: Permanant Type: Special Min. Martial Arts: 1 Min. Essence: 2 Prereqs: None
This charm gives the character a shard of the insight that greater dragons of all types possess. It may be bought as many times as the character has dots in martial arts, and each time it is purchased, it permanantly adds one to the character's initiative rolls.
Hidden Dragon Bursts from Sunlight</b>
<b>Cost:3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Essence: 3 Prereqs: Dragon's Insightful Mind (only one copy needed)
When this charm is used, the Martial Artist splits into multiple images, each of which attacks the target from a separate direction. Only one of these is a real attack, but unless the target has perfect awareness charms active, it is extremely difficult to tell which is real. The defender must roll Perception + Awareness with a number of auto-successes equal to their Essence against a difficulty equal to the attacker's Martial Arts + Essence. If they fail, then they have blocked the wrong attack, and anything used on that attack (charms, actions, etc) is wasted. However, they may roll again at cumulatively one less difficulty each time the roll again. This continues until they have rolled (and failed) a number of times equal to the attacker's Essence (at which point the defender has blocked all of the fake attacks individually, and thus their next defence automatically blocks the true attack) or they succeed on a roll, at which point whatever they declared applies to the true attack, and the fakes can be safely ignored.
Dragon's Scales Catch the Wind</b>
<b>Cost:1 mote Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Min. Martial Arts: 3 Min. Essence: 1 Prereqs: None
This charm can be used to reduce the difficulty of any disarm attempt to 1, so that all successes rolled on that attempt apply as difficulty for the target's resist roll.
Flexing the Golden Coils</b>
<b>Cost:3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Essence: 2 Prereqs: Dragon's Scales Catch the Wind
This charm can be used only after a successful Martial Arts parry by the martial artist. It lets the martial artist make a reflexive Dex + Martial Arts attack against the person just parried, which acts in all respects as a disarming attempt against them. It can only be used once per parry. It does not provoke a counterattack, but is explicitly usable itself against an incoming counterattack. If it is declared and the essence spent before a parry, that parry may parry lethal damage without a stunt, although if it fails, the essence is otherwise wasted.
One Claw, Thirteen Strikes</b>
<b>Cost:1 mote per penalty reduction Duration: One Turn Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Essence: 2 Prereqs: None
This charm reduces the multiple action penalty for unarmed Martial Arts attacks by 1 per mote spent, up to a maximum reduction equal to the user's Martial Arts score. It applies equally to all Martial Arts attacks in the turn it is used, but does not apply to any other sort of action (calculate the multiple action penalty as normal for those actions.) The user's fists and feet are surrounded with golden essence, and many shadowy afterimages of them strike at different points when they attack, in a manner similar to at least one character in nearly all fighting games.
This charm is explicitly comboable, despite its non-instant duration.
Example: Shining Dragon is attacking some random mook, and wishes to look impressive for reasons known only to himself. He uses this charm, and splits his action 6 times, attacking with 5 and then saving one for a defense. He has a Martial Arts of 5, and spends 5 motes on the charm. Thus, he gets an attack at -1, one at -2, one at -3 and so on down to -5. However, because the last action is a defense, he will have a -11 penalty on the defense.
Note: This charm is -completely- incompatible with weapons or shields in either hand, although any floating shields or shield bracers etc are acceptable. This incompatibilty includes martial arts weaponry, they are not allowed. To use this charm, the practicioner must strike only with his or her fists and feet. (Bites, headbutts and various other bodyparts are not allowed, although claws are positively encouraged for those that have them. Tiger Claws will not suffice, however.)
The Core Teaching
Thirteen Golden Dragons Form</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: one scene Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prereqs: One Claw Thirteen Strikes, Hidden Dragon Bursts from Sunlight, Flexing the Golden Coils
When this charm is invoked, the martial artist is momentarily enveloped in an aura of golden light. An instant later, the light breaks apart and coalesces into Essence/2 (round up) afterimages, which follow the martial artist's movements exactly but are delayed a consecutively longer amount. Although they seem to have no real physical form, attacks made by these afterimages impact fully upon the physical world, and thus hurt just as much as any other attack. Whenever an attack is made by the martial artist, the images repeat that attack with cumulatively one less success. All of these attacks must be defended against separately.
This charm is a Martial Arts form type charm, and cannot be used with any other form charm at the same time. Invoking any other form charm immediately cancels the effects of this one, unless superceded by some weird sidereal fu effect like PAoC form.
Advanced Techniques
Reflected Sunshadow Mirage</b>
<b>Cost: 4 motes per duplicate Duration: one scene Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prereqs: Thirteen Golden Dragons Form
This charm generates up to Essence duplicates of the martial artist, at a cost of 4 motes per duplicate. They possess attributes, skills and specialities, charms, combos and permanant essence scores equal to your own, but not virtues, willpower or essence pools. They look identical to you in every respect, down to wounds suffered, artifacts and equipment held and the visual effects of charms. However, this is all illusory and none of the effects applied to you apply to them in any way. Even the equipment is simply a visual effect, and attacks made by them are counted as unarmed attacks, with the normal damage stats for such attacks. If the duplicates use charms or willpower, this is drawn directly from your pools. Likewise, when they regain essence or willpower for any reason, it is diverted into your own pools. All duplicates always show the same anima banners and wound details as part of this charm, although 'equipment' changes and other visual effects which take place after the start of this charm are not spread amongst the duplicates automatically.
Whilst the charm is in effect you and each duplicate may act independantly of each other with no penalty, but the duplicates may not split their actions nor use Reflected Sunshadow Mirage themselves. They are also not permitted to use sorcery, as such things require the total concentration of a single focussed mind.
In the turn that you activate Reflected Sunshadow Mirage, the duplicates may take no actions nor abort to any defenses. Furthermore, they are counted as having used their charm for the turn.
When a duplicate takes one or more health-levels of damage, they disappear in a burst of luminescent golden sparks.
Many Bright Scales Blind the Unwary</b>
<b>Cost:2 motes, 1 willpower Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prereqs: Reflected Sunshadow Mirage
This charm can be activated when you suffer any type of attack, after attack and defense rolls but before soak and damage. Using this charm instantly swaps your position with any of the Reflected Sunshadow Mirages within Essence x 10 yards in the blink of an eye, and thus you avoid all negative effects associated with the attack and they are inflicted on the duplicate. The duplicate is not permitted any defense rolls (even persistant charm based ones) but can use soak charms if those are available. It is -possible- the duplicate will survive, but very unlikely. (Remember that the duplicates have no armour, and thus rely on natural soak alone before charms) This is a form of perfect defense, in that it always works if there is a viable duplicate within range, and evades perfect attacks (which strike the duplicate instead). You may choose the duplicate you swap with if there is more than one in range.
Thirteen Dragons Strike as One</b>
<b>Cost:7 motes per feint Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prereqs: Reflected Sunshadow Mirage
When making an attack, after successes are rolled, defences are used and soak is applied but before damage is rolled, you may declare it to be a feint. The strike disappears into wisps of golden smoke, and the real threat appears elsewhere. All essence motes and other costs used in defensive or soak charms is wasted. Begin the attack again at the rolling of successes to hit stage. You may use this charm at most Essence times per attack. If it is comboed with other charms, you do -not- need to pay for those charms again, but because of the nature of comboes, you must feint at least once, as this is a supplemental charm not a reflexive one.
= Ultimate Technique
Double Dragon Awakes at Dawn</b>
<b>Cost: 10 motes, 2 willpower Duration: One Scene Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 5 Prereqs: Thirteen Dragons Strike as One, Many Bright Scales Blind the Unwary
When this charm is invoked, the martial artist performs a complex kata and places both of their palms togeather, before rotating them a half turn in opposite directions. As they perform this rotation, they split apart into two.
Unlike the duplicates created by Reflected Sunshadow Mirage, both of these are completely real, and there are effectively two of you until the charm ends. Each of you has a separate essence and willpower pool, and are affected separately by magical effects, although any effects that were used before the duplication carry over to both instances. All equipment is copied, as are attunements, spells and such down to the tinyest detail. There is no limit to the actions each instance can take, they are completely and utterly independant of the other.
This charm ends in two possible ways. Number one, it can be cancelled at any time as per normal, or run out of duration. If this is the case, you choose which duplicate is now the real you, and the other one evaporates into golden mist. You recombine with the lowest temporary essence pools and the highest anima banner of the two. If one of the duplicates is killed, then the charm ends automatically, and you are forced to choose the still living instance. You still end up with the lowest temporary essence pools and the highest anima banner of the two however.
Comments
Firstly, I know that the last effect in this tree is very similar to a charm by Fifth, specifically the Flowing Motion of the Dragon Form from the ChromaticElementsOfDragonsStyle. Please believe me that this effect was thought up completely separately as the ultimate for this tree, which was extrapolated from watching anime (mainly Naruto inspired, much like quite a few things on this wiki) and considering alternate ways of making life difficult for exalted combatants. It's not intended to copy your work at all, but I apologise if it seems similar anyway.
Now, about the costs of this tree, these are the costs that I currently think are fair. My GM, who is much harsher about costs/effects and creation of new charms and such than I am when I run games, has said that various things need to be changed; These changes are listed below:
- Thirteen Golden Dragons Form
- This has cumulatively -2 successes to each echo-strike, not -1
- Reflected Sunshadow Mirage
- You yourself are not allowed to split actions either. We're still quibbling as to whether you should be allowed to make more duplicates on a later turn.
That's it. Hope you enjoyed reading this rather interesting take on what could be done with the exalted rules with a bit of creative interpretation and thought
- Darloth
As you may one day see, I find this style inspiring. The main reason I want it to inspire me, instead of just using it, however, is that I have one, very small problem with it. The pre-Form charms and the post-form charms don't match. In the pre-form charms, there is a focus on speed and disarming defenses. In the post-form charms, there is this really cool multiplicity theme, and I don't quite see where the two interface. -Seraph
Actually, I think you'll find that there are several (well, two or three) multiplicity-based charms pre-form. Then there's the side-section for disarming... and most MAs start with an init booster, and I wanted one in the style. Speed and Multiplicity are not mutually exclusive... it could be argued in at least some of the charms that your speed aids the multiplicity.
-- Darloth
