MartialArts/SpiritHeartStyle
Spirit Heart Style
by Moxiane
Background
The Spirit Heart style was created as a part of the Five-Fold Path to Perfection, a series of Martial Arts styles devised by one of the greatest Solar martial artists of the First Age. Based upon his perceptions of the behaviours of Essence, Spirit Heart style is deals with the manipulation, control and even disruption of the very stuff of Creation. The Spirit Heart style is classed as Celestial-level Martial Arts and can be taught to Dragon-Blooded with a similar training regime to that required for the Immaculate Dragon styles, but only Air-Aspect Terrestrials can advance past the Higher Form Charm, the elemental nature of the Dragon-Blooded is not easily compatible with the structured Essence patterns required for the highest Charms.
The Spirit Heart Style is style is not compatible with the use of any weapons, its effects require the proximity of the user’s own flesh to operate.
Charms
Bleeding-the-Soul Strike
Cost: 4 motes Type: Supplemental Duration: Instant Min. Martial Arts: 2 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisites: None
Essence is the stuff of life, the force behind Creation and the fuel that powers both Exalted and spirits. A student of the Spirit Heart soon learns that an otherwise puissant foe with no reserves of Essence to power his Charms can be dealt with far more easily, and a blow struck with this Charm causes the target to lose Essence instead of blood. The character makes a bare-handed Martial Arts attack that inflicts no damage, but for each health level of damage that the blow would have caused the target instead loses two motes of Essence.
Essence Spark Blow
Cost: 5 motes Type: Simple Duration: Instant Min. Martial Arts: 3 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisites: None
The displays of Essence most often seen across Creation are the loud, flashy displays of the Terrestrial Exalted, or the spectacular light-shows and displays that many Manses create. However, Essence can also be quiet and subtle, and the Spirit Heart allows its students to demonstrate this effect. The Exalted can use his Essence as a weapon against his enemy with a blow that many will not even see. The character makes a Dexterity or Wits + Martial Arts attack at a living target which has a base damage equal to his permanent Essence (extra successes add as normal). This attack may not be parried, only dodged, and the target can only soak the damage with his own permanent Essence. The damage done using this Charm is of the same type as the character’s barehanded attacks.
Flame-of-Creation Attack
Cost: 2 motes + 2 motes per extra 1L damage Type: Simple Duration: 1 scene Min. Martial Arts: 3 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisites: None
By focussing on the Essence within his own body and concentrating it within his hands and feet the Spirit Heart stylist can become a deadly combatant, his blows capable of tearing holes through shields and armour, while turning aside blades and arrows as if they were sticks or rain. For two motes the character’s barehanded attacks inflict Lethal damage on his opponents and he may also parry Lethal attacks without a Stunt. For each further two motes that the character spends on activating this Charm his bare-handed attacks have their base damage increased by one – the character may purchase up to his permanent Essence in dice of extra damage.
Raiton Spirit Method
Cost: 1 mote Type: Reflexive Duration: Instant Min. Martial Arts: 2 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisites: None
The Essence used in Charms and sorceries dissipates into the air itself once it has been used to power the effect required by the Exalt or spirit in question. A student of the Spirit Heart knows this and can learn to salvage some of this spent energy, channelling it through his anima to replenish his own stores of Essence. The character activates this Charm when attacked by an opponent – if the attack was enhanced by any Charm(s) with a Duration of Instant then the character gets half of the Essence spent by his opponent for the attack– refilling his personal Essence pool first.
Foe-Confusing Prana
Cost: 5 motes Type: Reflexive Duration: 1 turn Min. Martial Arts: 3 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisites: None
One of the final techniques that an acolyte of the Spirit Heart learns before mastery is the method of removing his presence from the senses of his enemies. By surrounding himself with a short-lived cloud of disruptive Essence the character is rendered almost invisible to his foes. Even with the intense concentration this Charm requires the disruption only lasts for a few seconds, but this can be enough to give the Exalt a decisive advantage in combat, or allow him to withdraw from a losing battle. Until the Exalted’s next turn all attempts to attack him or to defend against his close combat attacks suffer a dice-pool penalty equal to the permanent Essence of the character. An Exalted using this Charm may not split his dice-pools for multiple actions during that turn.
Spirit Heart Form
Cost: 6 motes Type: Simple Duration: 1 scene Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisites: Bleeding the Soul Strike, Essence Spark Blow, Flame of Creation Attack, Raiton Spirit Method, Foe-Confusing Prana
The Spirit Heart stylist executes a deceptively simple kata, designed to focus Essence into his body and his senses, and then opens his eyes onto the world of the little gods. His skills are also improved, the Essence giving surety to attack and defence. With this Charm active the Exalted can perceive dematerialised gods, elementals and demons, and for a reflexive expenditure of 1 mote may physically interact with them for the remainder of the turn. This is an effect of the Form, and does not count as Charm use. Furthermore, the character may add his permanent Essence in automatic successes to all Martial Arts attacks and blocks that the character makes which must be used as part of a regular Dexterity + Martial Arts pool. A character may have only one Martial Arts Form-type Charm active at a time, and activating any other immediately ends the effects of this one. This Charm is not compatible with the use of armour.
Essence-Replenishing Technique
Cost: 2+ motes, 1 Willpower Type: Simple Duration: 1 scene Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisites: Spirit Heart Form
By using a trick of Essence and anima, the Spirit Heart stylist can create a “loop” of Essence, causing some of the motes he expends when using Charms to be recycled back into his anima. Unfortunately, this effect only works with the particular Essence patterns and flows of the Spirit Heart style. For every two motes that the Exalted commits to this Charm the cost of all other Charms in the Spirit Heart cascade is reduced by one. The reduction may not be greater than the permanent Essence of the character, and cannot reduce the cost in motes of the Charm to less than one.
Soul Entwining Prana
Cost: 7 motes, 1 Willpower Type: Simple Duration: Varies Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prerequisites: Essence Replenishment Technique
Through a precise strike at the centre of his opponent’s anima the Spirit Heart stylist can cause it to resonate with his own, causing his opponent to haemorrhage Essence at the same rate that the character uses it. In order to use this Charm the character makes a normal Dexterity + Martial Arts attack that does no damage, and that may be dodged or parried by the target as normal. If the attack strikes then for a number of turns equal to the extra successes scored every mote that the character uses is matched by one lost from the Essence pools of his opponent (in the case of Exalted opponents the Essence is lost from the personal pool first).
Soul-Fire Bellows Method
Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower Type: Simple Duration: 1 scene Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prerequisites: Essence Replenishment Technique
Building on the principles of the Essence Replenishment Technique, the character can learn to focus his inner self onto his Essence, burning the fuel of his body for great power in the short term. Once this Charm has been activated the character may increase his permanent Essence by up to his Martial Arts. For the duration of the Charm the character’s anima flares as if he had expended 16+ motes of Peripheral Essence. At the end of the scene the character takes a number of dice of Aggravated damage equal to twice the amount his permanent Essence was raised by. This is a cost of the using the Charm and cannot be avoided or offset in any way.
Essence Dazzling Strike
Cost: 4 motes Type: Supplemental Duration: Instant Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisites: Spirit Heart Form
The character breathes sharply into the face of his opponent, exhaling a cloud of glittering Essence that momentarily distracts the target, allowing him to attack unimpeded. A character attacked by an Exalt using this Charm may only defend through the use of Charms or other such effects.
Charm-Dousing Defence Technique
Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower Type: Reflexive Duration: Instant Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prerequisites: Essence Dazzling Strike
The Spirit Heart style teaches the ways of Essence, how to magnify Essence that already exists and how to extinguish it before it reaches full force. This Charm allows the character to unravel the Essence-threads of Charms used on the offensive, providing an insurmountable barrier to those who depend on their Charms. If the character uses this Charm to defend against an attack that has been directly enhanced with the application of Essence then the attack is automatically blocked, even if it would normally be unblockable. If the attack is completely mundane then the character may use his normal Dexterity + Martial Arts pool to parry, with his permanent Essence added in automatic successes.
Aggression-Strikes-Itself Prana
Cost: 10 motes Type: Reflexive Duration: 1 turn Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prerequisites: Essence Dazzling Strike
Through a trick of Essence redirection the character learns how to turn the aggression of his attackers against them, his anima homing in on their offence to strike back. This effect is increased if the attacker uses Charms of his own, the expenditure of Essence giving this Charm further purchase to lash out. For the duration of this Charm anyone attacking the character takes his permanent Essence in dice of Lethal damage that cannot be soaked by armour. If the attacker used a Charm then the damage increases by the minimum permanent Essence requirement of the Charm – this effect is cumulative for Combos. Any damage inflicted is considered to happen simultaneously with the attacker’s strike and does not interfere with the attack in any way. The character may not split his dice pool for multiple actions during the turn that Aggression-Strikes-Itself Prana was used.
Spirit Heart Higher Form
Cost: 8 or 16 motes Type: Simple Duration: 1 scene Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prerequisites: Soul-Entwining Prana, Soul-Fire Bellows Method, Charm-Dousing Defence Technique, Aggression-Strikes-Itself Prana
With the knowledge of this Charm the character’s study of the Spirit Heart is almost complete. His mastery of Essence is such that it will carry his blows for him, as well as strengthening his skin against all assaults, no matter how inimical. After activating Spirit Heart Higher Form the character can make barehanded martial arts attacks against targets up to his permanent Essence in yards away, and he may soak Lethal or Aggravated damage with his full Stamina (if soaking Aggravated damage this Charm’s effects do not extend to any other active soak-boosting methods).
As a Higher Form this Charm is expressly compatible with and requires the activation of Spirit Heart Form to be used itself (the greater cost in motes allows both Charms to be activated simultaneously). A character may have only one Higher Form Charm active at any time, and should he use another Higher Form or activate a different base Form, then it instantly replaces Spirit Heart Higher Form.
Spider-and- Fly Technique
Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower Type: Simple Duration: 1 scene Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prerequisites: Spirit Heart Higher Form
The threads of Essence that the Spirit Heart stylist has learned to manipulate and unravel now become potent weapons in their own right, able to help the character’s friends and hinder his foes, turning the tide of battle quite spectacularly. The threads wrap around his allies, strengthening their skin and speeding their movements, and if looped around his enemies their movements are hindered, attacks held back and defences weakened as the threads tug and pull at their limbs. Upon activating this Charm the character’s initiative, Bashing and Lethal soaks are increased by his permanent Essence, and he may thereafter, as a dice action, attempt to loop a thread around someone within twice his permanent Essence in yards. If targeted at an ally it requires a simple Dexterity + Martial Arts roll to succeed and grants the ally the same benefits as the character got from activating the Charm. If thrown at an enemy the Dexterity + Martial Arts roll has a difficulty equal to the permanent Essence of the target – if the character succeeds then the target suffers a dice pool penalty equal to the character’s permanent Essence to all Dexterity-related tasks. Hurling a thread is an effect of this Charm and does not count as Charm use, and the threads persist until the end of the scene or the thread is broken by the target moving out of range.
Mastery of the Discordant Maelstrom
Cost: 15 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 health level Type: Reflexive Duration: 1 turn Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 5 Prerequisites: Spider-and-Fly Technique
The character’s mastery of the flows and tricks of Essence has now become so potent that he can, for a short time, create a vortex of chaotic Essence so powerful that no other effects can exist within its boundaries. Daiklaves and smashfists become useless lumps of metal, Charms are deactivated and spirits feel the very stuff of life sucked from them. The character executes a complex kata and then unleashes this Charm, creating an area centred on the character and with a radius in yards equal to twice the sum of his Martial Arts & permanent Essence scores. Within this area the following happens: all attuned artefacts become deattuned and any effects from hearthstones in the proper settings end; all persistent Charms, including martial arts Form Charms and defensive Charms such as Flow Like Blood have their effects terminated; no character within this area may attempt to use any Charm or Combo; any dematerialised beings suffer dice of unsoakable Aggravated damage equal to the permanent Essence of the character. This Charm has no effect on sorcery of any level higher than that of mortal practitioners. The character may not split his dice pool for multiple actions on the turn that he uses this Charm.
As one of the pinnacle Charms of the Five-Fold Path to Perfection, Mastery of the Discordant Maelstrom also grants an additional ability to the character who masters its secrets. This ability is a natural function of the knowledge of the Charm, and operates regardless of whether the character is conscious or not. His ability to regain Essence through respiration becomes far stronger, the rate at which it occurs being increased by his permanent Essence per hour.
Comments
This is the style I am least sure of, regarding matters of balance and cost. Also some of the names just plain suck. :) All suggestions gratefully accepted. – Moxiane
Heya. I'm pretty jazzed about your MA styles. We're starting a new set of characters in a group I'm in and my Twilight is taking this style. The ST is willing to deal with in-balance issues as they come up, so I'll keep you posted. My first thoughts about this center around the pinnacle charm. This will sound a bit bizarre, but I think it's too costly and too powerful. Here's how I'd change it:
- Limit it's effects to ending charms of enemies whose essence is not greater than than the character's, maybe pull in the range to just Ess+MA yards, and limit supressing the magic of artifacts of level (character's Ess - 3).
- Drop 10 motes or 1 will off the cost. I don't know of any charm that costs this much that isn't scene long, and I'm not really sure this should have a duration.
Curious to know your thoughts, and to see the sixth style! qaphsiel
- Mastery of the Discordant Maelstrom is meant to be, like the pinnacle Charms of the other four styles, extremely powerful and just as dangerous to use. As written, even your friends have to be careful of you, since at minimum it shuts down everything within 60' of the you - including your own Charms. Effectively its a "combat restart" function, just with everybody ends up being down a lot of motes and without many of their toys.
- The duration is a thematic thing, at each of the other two levels of the Style (pre-Form and pre-Higher Form) there's a Reflexive 1 turn Charm that has a disruptive effect - MotDM is merely the nastiest of them (I also have a thing for Reflexive 1 turn Charms, they lead to fun interactions). In this case, not only does it end any persistent effects but it makes sure that no-one else is using any Charms or attuned artefacts, particularly useful if you're facing warstriders.
- It might be overcosted some, however. Knocking it down to 15m1W1H would probably not be out of line. Thanks for your comments anyway - and I hope you have fun with the style. Lemme know how it works out for you. - Moxiane
- Erp, I misspoke/typed, I meant to say it shouldn't have duration of a scene. I think the turn long duration is just peachy. Another idea that crossed my mind (and also breaks your theme ;-) ) was to have it just disrupt charms but have duration of essence turns. Anyhow... I think my ST overlooked the fact, and I forgot, that the charm does not discrimminate between friend or foe. - Qaphsiel
Another thought/observation. The tree seems a bit weak defensively; FCP is nice, but can't be comboed; CDDT, when used against a mundane attack, has a somewhat steep cost; SaFT is pretty sweet, but does have 13 prereq charms. The problem is I don't see a good way to fix it - I like the existing charms and adding a new one breaks your 15-charm cascade theme. Maybe modify FCP to be combo-able, or scene long or something? - Qaphsiel
- The weaknesses of each of the five styles are there deliberately. Spirit Heart, to put it bluntly, sucks at defence which is something it is meant to (although the Form's auto-success boost isn't to be sniffed at). The five lower styles of the Five-Fold Path to Perfection are meant to operate as a whole, with each style lacking on its own. It is, as they say in computing, not a bug but a feature. :) Besides, provided you're willing to pay with pain, Soul-Fire Bellows Method lets you at least mitigate many of the weaknesses of the Style.
- As to the Charms, CDDT is expensive as hell - and deliberately so. It's a "perfect" defence (Automatic, Perfect and Absolute under the keyword system at Discussions/CharmTerminology), albeit one that only works against enhanced attacks, and those sort of effects are normally outside the scope of CelestialMartialArts. FCP is perhaps overcosted (3-4m is probably a better cost), but pre-Form Charms are generally less efficient than one would expect anyway. The thread-casting ability of SaFT probably shouldn't cost 2m per shot. Upping the cost of the Charm to 10m1W and making the threads free might be a better alternative (you'll still need to throw them, though...) - Moxiane Changes listed above made....
- Okay, after reading the other styles you created, I definitely better understand where you are coming from. It's really a pretty cool set of styles. Now, if I just had a few hundred XP to spend on all of them... alas! Also, I got brave and posted a style of my own and would be honored if you'd take a look and comment on it. It's Northern Hunter Style. Thanks!
