BogModSMelee
Strike of Ten-thousand Spears
Cost: 5 motes+, 1 willpower Duration: Instant Type: Simple Minimum Melee: 5 Minimum Essence: 4 Prerequisite Charms: Peony Blossum Attack
The solar's blade glows with the light of his anima and he strikes at his foe. At that same moment, a hundred other glowing lines of light strike from a hundred different angles to all strike at once leaving the opponent with almost no chance to escape the cut of the blade or its mystical duplicates.
This charm counts as one attack though it seems to provide many. Upon activating the charm you may make an attack at a target within range. If that fails spend a mote and roll another attack with 3 additional successes on your roll. This isn't actually a second attack, just an effect of this charm. If that fails spend another mote and get an attack at +6 successes and so on and so forth until you hit or choose to stop. You must work your way up one mote at a time.
This charm can be in a combo, and you need not use the charms in the combo for all the attacks making it a sort of guessing game when your attack roll and bonus successes will hit. Charms which must be activated before a roll, such as Excellent Strike must be used and activated before you roll. Should that attack miss you are welcome to use the charm again in a later attack. Charms that can be used after a roll can be used as normal.
The target may make their normal defense rolls to stop this attack. They get only one roll though and that stays as the difficulty for the solar for all the rolls he makes. Charms that allow a person to dodge or parry without a roll but are not explicitly perfect will not work against this charm. This charm is considered a single attack no matter how many rolls are made for purposes of counterattack charms. A single use of an explicitly perfect defense will stop the entire charm though. Charms such as hopping defenses, Impeding the Flow, Duck Fate would all not work. In the case of Avoidance Kata, the charm still allows you to get away but the attack is still rolled and damage dealt. The sidereal appears wherever with the hundred glowing duplicate blades still striking.
Example: Ark, a powerful solar of the dawn caste is attacking a abyssal with this charm. The abyssal has a persistant dodge up, a persistant parry and has Ebon Shadow Form up with an Essence of 3. He activates the charm and makes his attack getting 6 successes after Ebon Shadow Form is considered. The abyssal decides to not Perfectly Parry it for some reason and gets 16 successes. Ark misses. He spends a mote and rolls again. 8 successes this time total, the charm bonus successes cancelling out the Ebon Shadow Form. Still not enough. Another mote. 12 successes are rolled with a total bonus of +3 successes after charm and ESF are taken into account. Another mote and roll gets 16 successes, 6 of which come from the charm, which hits, hitting his foe and doing damage as normal from there. Total cost was 8motes and 1 wp.
Had Strike of Ten-thousand Spears been in a combo he might have decided on any particular attack roll to add in the effects of any of the charms he had. On the turn he rolled 12 successes he may have added in Excellent Strike, Hungry Tiger and whatever else. Had it missed on that roll, the motes and any wp spent would be wasted and if he wanted to use those charms again he would have to respend it on his next roll.
Comments
Not to blow my own horn or anything, but have you seen my melee charms? Charms/DariusSollumanSolarMelee has a cascade that includes this basic effect (Especially Deadly Avalanche) at a much lower requirement and somewhat lesser cost (no Willpower).
What makes this dangerous on par with Protection of Celestial Bliss? DS
I think the difference is this is effectively a perfect attack and you don't need to have to double spend the cost of any combo you use. Considering that though, what would you recommend I change its costs and requirments to? -BogMod
First, I'd have it as a branch off of Peony Blossom Attack, not Iron Whirlwind. I'd say Melee 5/Essence 3, with your current costs, would be appropriate.
Pretty cool idea for a Melee Perfect :) DS
Hmm...requirments seem a little low for a melee perfect as it were. Maybe essence 4 with Peony Blossum Attack as the required charm? - BogMod
The trouble with a Melee Perfect is we have no real basis of comparison, except for an Archery Perfect and a Melee Perfect Defense. Which are Essence 1 and Essence 2, respectively.
However, this (as a Perfect effect) is WAY better than AWD, as it'll have more successes. So, yeah, I can see this as Essence 4. DS
