MartialArts/ClaySoldier

Clay Soldier Style – College of Battles Combat Techniques

A style hand-crafted by the Chosen of Battles for Amiliki soldiers and commandos from the College of Battles, the Clay Soldier Style is one of the most commonly known martial arts among the Amiliki and one of growing popularity with outcaste Terrestrial mercenaries. The Clay Soldier Style was inspired by burial traditions of the East, wherein those of wealth and power such as the shoguns of old would be entombed with vast armies of exquisitely crafted terra cotta soldiers. While the intention of these clay warriors was to provide their master with an army to command in the afterlife, there was an undertone of loyalty, dedication, and solidarity to be found in the example of these unmoving watchmen.

Unlike most martial artists to master their craft, Clay Soldiers are not as vessels upon the sea. The strength of the style lay in the unity and coherency of a group and this strongly imprinted reliance upon an organized dynamic makes most Clay Soldiers seek out any form of company. They do not hold themselves to be alone in their wisdom and rarely are inclined to seek out and challenge others to prove the superiority of their art. To the contrary, few in the world are more eager to share their style and see it spread than the Clay Soldiers. At times their enthusiasm can be too great and, as young a style as it is, there are already as many stories of it's misuse as there are heroic legends.

This Style may be used while wearing light armor and medium armor. It's signature weapons are slashing swords, short spears, and target shields. Unlike most other Terrestrial-level Martial Arts, all Charms in this style draw heavily on the Essence of the earth. As a result, only Earth Aspected Terrestrials and the God-Blooded children of earth elementals and earth-alligned detities may use this style at the listed costs. All other characters pay the standard 1 mote elemental surcharge to use any of these Charms.

Malleable Mind Initiation: Student Charms

Sword-and-Shield Oath</b>

 Cost: 1 mote per character, 1 Willpower, 1 Health Level
 Duration: One Story
 Type: Simple
 Min Martial Arts: 2
 Min Essence: 1
 Perquisites: None

Unity is the most basic principle of the Clay Soldier Style. A terra-cotta soldier alone is but a statue to be shattered, but five standing together as one is a wall which cannot be overcome easily. Nearly more ritual than Charm, the Sword-and-Shield Oath binds the Essence of five characters together into a Heroic Heavenly Soldier Fang. Each character must know this Charm and must be present for the binding. Gathering around an overturned shield, they all spill their blood into it together and dip their blades into the mixture, anointing one another upon the breast with the tip of their blades.

All characters must pay the mote and health level costs of the Charm, but only one need actually activate the Charm by expending Willpower. For the remainder of the Story, Fang members gain 1 bonus die to their Valor rolls for every other member of the Fang near them. In addition, they are constantly aware of the health and well being of the other members of the Fang, regardless of the distance separating them. Essence spent on this Charm remains committed until the end of the Story or the Fang dissolves itself willingly.

<b>Body of Clay</b>

 Cost: 3 motes
 Duration: One Scene
 Type: Reflexive
 Min Martial Arts: 3
 Min Essence: 1
 Perquisites: Sword-and-Shield Oath

The armor and shields of terra-cotta warriors are not worn garments, but the very flesh of the eternal guardians. With this Charm, the character weaves Essence through his armor and shield, fusing them to his body like a second skin. For the remainder of the scene, he ignores the mobility penalty inflicted by a target shield and any worn armor and neither can be removed by any means short of dismemberment.

<b>Watchful Brother Reaction</b>

 Cost: 3 motes, 1 Willpower
 Duration: Instant
 Type: Reflexive
 Min Martial Arts: 2
 Min Essence: 2
 Perquisites: Sword-and-Shield Oath

It is said that the spirits invested in terra-cotta warriors are bound so closely together that a blow intended to shatter one will instead only make cracks in another. When this Charm is activated in response to an attack, the character can attempt to split any damage resulting from the attack between the other members of his Fang. When damage is rolled, calculate the successes normally and then divide the successes between each Fang member who participates. For numbers that do not divide evenly, apply the left over damage to the original recipient of the attack.

Example: Willow Anther and her Fang are engaged in a desperate fight against an Outcaste Terrestrial when the Dragon-Blood slips past her shield to strike a blow. Activating Watchful Brother's Reaction, two of her sword-brothers open themselves to share her wound. The Terrestrial strikes hard and deals 10 health levels of damage. Divided between the three Clay Soldiers, two of them take 3 health levels of damage while Willow, the original target of the attack, makes up the difference and takes 4. If all four of Willow's sword-brothers had been willing to share the wound, each member of the Fang would have taken 2 health levels of damage instead.

Sculpted Soul Conception: Form Charm

<b>Clay Soldier Form</b>

 Cost: 5motes
 Duration: One Scene
 Type: Simple
 Min Martial Arts: 4
 Min Essence: 2
 Perquisites: Body of Clay, Watchful Brother Reaction

The martial artist assumes a stiff and impossibly still battle stance, shield thrust out before them and blade slung low behind. Every muscle in their body seems to freeze in place, their face an unmoving mask of determination. After a few moments of standing in this position, the color thickens in their skin and clothing. It grows darker, becoming a red earthen tone. Once this transformation is complete, for the remainder of the scene the character reduces the damage from any source by one health level, applied after the damage is rolled. This effect cannot reduce an attack's damage below one. The stance taken is offensive as well as defensive, allowing the character to employ their shield in a more aggressive fashion, adding a number of dice equal to the difficulty bonus of the shield to all martial arts actions. As other members of the Fang assume the form of the Clay Soldier, their ties of Essence and blood draw them closer together. The color of their bodies soaks into the ground, spreading out towards their allies, until all stand upon a plain of red earth. For each member of the Fang who assumes Clay Soldier Form in sight of one another, the difficulty to inflict knockdown or knockback increases by one.

Hearth Hardened Consciousness: Mastery Charms

<b>Shattered Warrior's Determination</b>

 Cost: 7 motes, 1 Willpower + 1 Willpower per turn
 Duration: Instant
 Type: Reflexive
 Min Martial Arts: 4
 Min Essence: 2
 Perquisites: Clay Soldier Form

Even broken terra cotta warriors continue their vigil. With this Charm, the martial artist will continue to stand and fight no matter how great the damage they receive. Once activated, the character can continue to function for a single turn. They may continue to function by paying an aditional point of Willpower there after, up to a number of turns equal to their Essence. It may only be activated once per scene. Those reduced to or past their Incapacitated health level with bashing damage simply collapse once the effects of this Charm wear off. Those reduced to or past their Incapacitated health level with lethal damage who receive no medical attention before the Charm's effects end instead change in color to dark red. Cracks race their body until they can no longer support their own weight and collapse into a pile of dust and broken clay limbs.

<b>Impassable Gate Principle</b>

 Cost: 4 motes
 Duration: One Scene
 Type: Reflexive
 Min Martial Arts: 4
 Min Essence: 2
 Perquisites: Clay Soldier Form

In the tombs of the great kings of the east, there are places where the ranks of terra cotta warriors stand so thick as to forbid all passage. With this Charm, the Clay Soldier aligns his shield in such as fashion as to deny his enemies the ability to even approach him for assault. Activating this Charm reduces the number of foes who may successfully assault the character at one time by 1.

Once one character in a Fang has activated this Charm, others in the Fang may reflexively spend 4 motes to join him. Each character in the Fang who joins this formation reduces the number of foes that can successfully attack them at once by the number of allies in the formation. Thus, full formation of five cannot be engaged by more than one foe at a time each. This Charm cannot be employed without a shield. Fang members must remain within 10 yards of another Fang member to maintain the accumulative effect.

<b>Foolish Raiders Rebuke</b>

 Cost: 3 motes
 Duration: Instant
 Type: Reflexive
 Min Martial Arts: 4
 Min Essence: 2
 Perquisites: Clay Soldier Form

The mere sight of an army of terra cotta warriors arrayed before them is enough to send most tomb raiders into flight. Yet there are a foolish few who think the clay soldier's harmless and press onwards, only to meet a grisly end upon the countless traps hidden within the unmoving ranks.

Upon a failed unarmed Martial Arts attack, the Clay Soldier may make an immediate follow-up attack employing his shield. This is made at Dexterity + Martial Arts and deals the characters Strength + the shield's difficulty penalty in bashing damage. Damage dealt with this attack is considered double for the purpose of knock-back. It may be dodged or parried as normal.

Other Fang members who have not used their action for that turn and know this Charm may activate it reflexively as well to attack from a different direction. Each Fang member who so engages the target in this fashion reduces the targets movement rate by 1/4th. If all five activate this Charm, the target is trapped on all four sides and above, unable to move at all.

One Face Among One-Hundred Thousand Awareness: Ultimate Charm

<b>Barrier of the Eternal Brotherhood</b>

 Cost: 4 motes
 Duration: One Turn
 Type: Reflexive
 Min Martial Arts: 5
 Min Essence: 3
 Perquisites: Foolish Raiders Rebuke, Impassable Gate Principle, Shattered Warrior's Determination

Bound to his shield, the Clay Soldier draws it through the air, leaving in it's wake a trail of dark red Essence that hardens into an unbreakable shell. Double the difficulty penalty of the character's shield during the same turn this Charm is activated. Additionally, increase the difficulty penalty further, by one point for ever Fang member employing this Charm who remains within 10 yards of at least one other Fang member.

Comments

Changed the mechanics of Watchful Brother Reaction and made a minor addition to Sword-and-Shield Oath, with thanks to David. for suggesting both. Also gave the style ties to Earth-essence ala Jade Mountain, because it seemed to fit, and added short spears as form weapons, because they also seemed to fit. Belated thank yous to both GoldenCat and Kraken for their own feedback on the style. Muchos gracias cat and skwid! ^_^ - Greymane

This looks like a very nice Style indeed! I haven't had the chance to pore through in detail just yet, but two quick questions in the interim: with regards the form shield benefit, presumably we apply the shield penalty vs. melee attacks? Also, the elemental surcharge: are we following 2E rules, and allowing water aspects to avoid elemental surcharges from all different Styles? I'm assuming yes on both counts, but a quick clarification would help...DeathBySurfeit

Yes on the first count and an "I suppose so" on the second. I've very stubbornly refused to look at most of 2E, but if that is what it says water aspects can do, then it would apply here too. - Greymane

I'm not sure your second question makes sense, DeathBySurfeit. The style is fairly clearly 1e, with the lack of keywords, 1 turn durations and other typical 1e effects. While I think Greymane is correct in his interpretation (that if translated, it would use the 2E rule), ill-considered 1e->2e conversions are reposible for some of the really bad charms in 2e. So some care should be used in conversion. - Kraken just adding his own views on the matter

I understand, Kraken. Ill-considered 1e->2e conversions are indeed responsible for some really bad charms. Would any of these make really bad charms in 2e, given action durations and keywords? I don't consider all efforts at adaption to be folly, especially given the solid rules and strong thematics of this style...DeathBySurfeit

I'm glad I'm not the only one bothered by the conversions. Anyway, on reading the style and thinking about Ex2, I don't think there would be issues caused by changing it over. I was just flagging it to suggest that anyone who does do such conversions should really know both rulesets well enough to make a call about something like the attribute bonus. - Kraken who didn't mean to suggest you weren't, and was merely using this as an example.