Elsewhere: The Obsidian Tableaux of Nihility (beta)

Introduction

I've had this sitting on my hard drive for ages, and maybe posting what's finished so far will push me towards completing it. It might also offer some insight into how I build an MA style, but if it doesn't, no loss for me, right? I'll put my comments on the charms in bracketted itallics (like this)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>, and if all goes well with this experiment, I'll end up getting rid of them and replacing them with real text.

Background

(So here I'd either put something about the origin of the style, or about the kinds of people that use it. This part I usually do last, unless I've got a very firm idea of how the style is grounded in Creation. Since this is a Sidereal style, I could probably get away with mentioning the creator of this style and making some allusion to Neitzche.)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>
No weapons are considered in-style for the Obsidian Tableaux of Nihility, as the martial artist must become completely self-reliant to prepare herself for existence in Elsewhere. Similarly, all Charms stemming from One Candle in the Darkness are incompatible with armour, for it will not protect her from the infinity of nothing.

Charms

The Student Sutra of Elsewhere: Once, there was a lost Maiden...MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>
One Candle in the DarknessMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> none

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Permanent

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Special

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 5

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 3

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> none

who waited her whole life,MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

The martial artist must first endure the harshest aspects of Creation, should she wish to progress in the Obsidian Tableaux of Nihility. She travels to the far South and is buried in the sands, enduring the heat and cold and feeling neither. She braves the jungles of the East, surrounded by food but not eating. She sits naked upon the ice floes in the North, and the wind blows around her. She submerges herself in the black Western ocean, and she no longer needs air to breathe. Finally, she waits unsleeping atop the Imperial Mountain, and remains sane during weeks of unflinching silence. When she has completed these tasks, she will be correctly prepared for her journey.
Learning this Charm is a lengthy process, requiring the martial artist to meditate and fast in the extremes of one Element; becoming acclimatised takes her roughly a week. When she feels she is ready, roll Stamina + Martial Arts at a difficulty of eight, minus the number of elements she aligns herself with. Success indicates she has gained enough perspective to fully comprehend what she has experienced, while failure shows she is not ready, and must begin her training again.
Upon learning One Candle in the Darkness, the character no longer needs to eat or breathe. She may sustain her body on essence alone; doing so requires her to realign the flows of essence through her body, briefly entering a trance-like state as energy lines appear on her skin and visibly shift to new paths. While in this state, she is unable to respire essence outside of deep sleep or meditation, and even then she will only regain a single mote per hour. Outside sources (such as manses or hearthstones) will also provide a similarly-reduced essence flow.

Striding the WorldMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> One Turn

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Simple

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 5

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 4

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> One Candle in the Darkness

riding dust and waves,MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

Elsewhere, the infinite plane of nothingness, is connected to Creation at all points. The martial artist is able to force her body into Elsewhere for a brief moment from one spot in Creation, and emerge in another a second later, spanning miles and miles of travel with a single step. This technique is well-known among Sidereals, so much so that a number of members of the Heavenly Bureacracy have developed fine mastery of this Charm with little intent on progressing any further in the style’s teachings.
(This Charm is for moving around Creation - a useful tool for Sidereals pressed for time. Flavour justification is that Elsewhere touches every part of Creation, so you can step into the infinite nothingness for a brief second and emerge somewhere else within finite Creation. Mechanics I was thinking should have a single-stat roll, like Essence or Martial Arts, to determine how well the character places themselves where they want to be - with a lot of successes, it's exact, with a few it's within a couple of minutes to a half-hour of getting there, and completely off-course when they fail. The Charm isn't supposed to be for fine placement (that comes later) - this is just a time-saving device.)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

One-With-Nothing MindMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Instant

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 5

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 4

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Striding the World

searching inside and outMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

(With nothing in your mind, your body takes over and performs perfectly. This allows you to make some kind of Zen-like attack - possibly if the attack is successful, you get a free parry to any attacks aimed at your for the rest of the turn, in addition to getting around environmental penalties for the attack. Alternately, this is for something better than an extra-attack Charm, maybe something that lets you keep attacking until you hit, up to Essence/Martial Arts times?)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

One-With-Nothing HeartMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> One Scene

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 5

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 4

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Striding the World

for what would complete herMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

(This is a Charm that will have ramifications later on in the style. For the flavour, the character opens up their soul and lets a small sliver of Elsewhere reside in it, giving them access to four new virtues. These phantom virtues can be spent similarly to regular virtues, except it takes a health level (probably lethal) instead of Willpower to use them. They also have to interact weirdly with regular virtues - maybe when this Charm is active, regular virtues can't be channeled, and you default to your current number of phantom virtue points instead of total number for virtue rolls? There's also no way of recharging phantom virtues without using Charms further on up the tree, so maybe there's some imagery here about the abyss taking hold.)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

Picking Marthesine’s PocketMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> One Hour

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 5

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 4

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> One-With-Nothing Mind, One-With-Nothing Heart

as nobody would find it for her.MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

(This one's trippy. There's a spirit in Games of Divinity, Madame Marthesine, who's the God of Lost Things. She's an old woman who has a giant sack of stuff that's been lost, and you can make all kinds of unfavourable bargains with her to get something out of the bag. Now, lots of stuff has been lost, right? Too much to carry around in just a bag. So, therefore, Marthesine's bag is a portal to Elsewhere, where all lost things ultimately end up. This Charm lets you borrow something that's been lost. There should be something about the origin of the Charm, the creator's relationship with Marthesine (I imagine it was an uneasy one), and such. The player should have little command over what they find - they'll get what it is they need, even if they don't know it and even if whatever they find looks completely useless. Maybe a roll to determine how immediately obvious the purpose of the object is - failing brings Madame Marthesine on their heads, and they have to pay pennance (ie. lose something important) in order to be able to use this Charm again.)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

Rapturous Void StanceMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> One Scene

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 5

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 4

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> One Candle in the Darkness

The more she looked, the more she desired;MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

(The character makes her enemies stare into the Abyss, and the Abyss stare into them. This should be something like Games of Divinity Form, but less 'It's so pretty...' and more 'I'm scared to watch, yet I cannot turn away.')MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

Ravenous Void StrikeMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Instant

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 5

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 4

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> One Candle in the Darkness

the more she prayed, the more she was rebuked.MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

(An attack that does horrible - horribleMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> - things to the opponent's Willpower. Willpower drain and a temporary reduction of permanent Willpower should suffice. There should also be things in the post-Form Charms that require high Willpower to resist.)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

Clock-Shattering ApproachMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 5

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 4

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Rapturous Void Stance, Ravenous Void Strike

She walked beyond the grasp of Time,MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

(At this point, the character can spend time in Elsewhere, but only for limited purposes. With this Charm, they can designate a set period of time, go Elsewhere, and then return to Creation at the end of the time period stated and have only a single second pass. Yes, it is lifted from Dragonball Z. Probably needs some added bonus other than just saying that training times are dumb, since from what I can understand, nboody really makes much use of them anyway.)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

Dance in the Starless NightMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 5

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 4

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Clock-Shattering Approach

forgetting Time as it forgot her,MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

(This is one of those Charms that seems like it's incredibly powerful, once you figure out how you use it. Another limited-application Elsewhere trip, this time you take someone with you and unravel any astrology or Destiny they have around them. Imagery of the two people in nothingness, and sparks to light being pulled from one person to light the nothingness. The subject is then no longer under the effect of stuff like astrology, Destiny, Dark Fate, Luck (good or bad), etc.. The character using this Charm can then take the extracted destiny and put it somewhere else, giving someone else the effects the subject was under. This will link up with a later Charm (Hearing Any Whisper).)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

Obsidian Tableaux of Nihility FormMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 15 motes

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> One Scene

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Simple

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 5

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 5

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> One complete martial art (all Charms), Picking Marthesine’s Pocket, Dance in the Starless Night

and she was torn from the world.MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

(All I've got here is that you can go back and forth between Creation and Elsewhere, and I already did something like that here. This is also the Charm needed for recharging phantom virtues, but beyond that... suggestions?)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

Hearing Any WhisperMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 6

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 6

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Obsidian Tableaux of Nihility Form

The Elder Sutra of Elsewhere: The Maiden could not fear the world;MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

(We've already established that Elsewhere is connected to every point of Creation, and now the character's attunement to that link is so good, they can listen to every point of the connection, all at once. It's only for a second (or their head would explode), but that second is enough to find interesting information. This is like a much stronger version of the Sidereal Charm where you have a pattern spider to find facts for you, plus it also picks up on astrological things in effect right now (they have a different frequency, I guess), so you can go and steal someone else's hard astrology work and put it towards your own ends.)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

Seeing Only TruthMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Instant

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Supplemental

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 7

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 7

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Hearing Any Whisper

she spoke lies and the world heard truth;MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

(This attack sends people mad. Maybe it's not even an attack, maybe the character just says a word infused with the naked nothingness truth of the Abyss and it turns people insane. It should be especially effective against Fair Folk, who need dreams and illusions even more than regular mortals. Here's a point where Willpower to resist should come in.)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

Holding Many LivesMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 6

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 6

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Obsidian Tableaux of Nihility Form

the world struck her and she was whole.MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

(With this, the character takes attacks aimed at them and sends them through Elsewhere to go and hit something else. It can either be a reflexive all-purpose 'Missed!' defense, or a scene-long effect that just redistributes damage all over the world. Maybe some sort of rider about how the Abyss enjoys pain either way, and so abusing this effect will find a way to leave people important to the character taking blows for them.)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

Saving Every MemoryMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Indefinite

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 7

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 7

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Holding Many Lives

The Maiden thought she was immortalMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

(The character can store their soul in Elsewhere, which makes them effectively immortal - if their body is destroyed, it will regrow and the soul will be placed back into it after a period of time. While the character's soul is missing, they must rely on their phantom virtues, and they're also cold and weird. While they're in Elsewhere, they're mostly normal, being close enough to their soul to function properly.)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

Dousing the CandleMartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>
Cost:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Duration:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Type:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B>

Minimum Martial Arts:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 8

Minimum Essence:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> 8

Prerequisites:MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/B> Seeing Only Truth, Saving Every Memory

but she was only forgotten.MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

(You know the gravity well from The Arrival, that awesome little portable black hole thing that the aliens used as an all-purpose cover-up device? This Charm does that. The character disappears and there's a nothing-shadow where they were, and stuff starts getting sucked into that nothingness. Mechanically, this is like a much more localised version of Essence-Shattering Typhoon, focused inwards instead of outwards. Perhaps this can be maintained for a lot longer, something stupidly cheap like the initial Charm activation + 1 mote per turn to keep it running. There also needs to be a cool way for anyone using this Charm to be killed, some kind of weak point a hero could exploit - perhaps managing to make an essence-fuelled attack through the nothing-shadows severs the connection between the character and Elsewhere, and shuts off their black hole shenanigans.)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I>

Comments

(So, I need comments more than ever on this one, since I'd like to get this finished eventually and I need a bit of a push with it. So, fire away!)MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility/I> - DM7
Comments... first, I like the idea for the style. This is Exalted, you just know that sooner or later someone was going to start playing with everyone's figurative and literal hidey-hole. There seemed to be too many pre-form charms at first, but then I looked back and Citrine Poxes has eight. Clock-Shattering Approach and Striding the World should probably be on the same level, both due to their utility (if, like you implied, many Sidereals would only learn two or three charms in) and due to the fact that if you want Rapturous Void Stance to be anything like the Games of Divinity Form you're talking about a serious step-down in charm power there between levels.
One-With-Nothing Mind sounds okay to me, but I'm really no good at figuring out how to balance attack charms. One-With-Nothing Heart... FrivYeti has done some work on alternate virtues, you might want to look at those. Another suggestion might be to run them more as "grace" structures rather than virtues, if the character is actually taking on a semi-physical/essence shard of whatever from Elsewhere. This option does give you the ability to add on "extra" charms to the Style without compromising it. Just an idea.
For some reason I really have problems with Picking Marthesine’s Pocket. That's Marthesine’s sanctum in her bag, but it is not quite the same as Elsewhere. The Exalted regularly store weapons, artifacts, warstriders and lands in Elsewhere, and I doubt that they'd be willing to share their toys with a spirit, even if they died and the arcane link connecting them to their stuff broke. I've got no ideas for fixing or replacing it, though, unless you want to try calling something directly out of Elsewhere, and have the storyteller give you a dozen chakrams or have a warstrider drop on your opponent... and then you have an arcane link to the owner of said stuff until you put it all back, and they might just figure out you have it....
Ravenous Void Strike seems straightforward enough. Dance in the Starless Night has some complications: astrology is essentially a structured, limited form of sorcery, powerful, true, but limited. Destiny, Dark Fate and Luck are backgrounds or merits - not to mention that if you unravel a necessary Destiny or Dark Fate from someone, who's going to take that place in the Loom of Fate? If you're going to keep this one, you're going to have to figure out ramifications and trade-back options.
Obsidian Tableaux of Nihility Form sounds like a very uber-control-the-battlefield charm (if you can actually see where your going so you don't wind up co-locating with someone's daiklaive), but definitly needs more of a write up before I comment.
Hearing Any Whisper - you might want to include hearing/seeing/knowing about standing sorcery and necromancy spells, but limit the area of effect, thus making it more versitile and less abusive (I mean, just imagine a character in the Scavenger Lands performing the charm and finding out and modifying all the astrological effects in the Imperial City!). I can't think of anything for Seeing Only Truth yet, except that it seems redundant if you have Rapturous Void Stance set up like GODF - I mean, gameplay-wise, how far is madness from completely and utterly addicted and willing to do anything to get your fix?
Holding Many Lives looks like a perfect dodge defense charm, but when and how would the secondary effects kick in? Also remember that Elsewhere, unlike Malfeas, the Wyld or the Underworld, is not conscious or semi-conscious or infinitely maliable. It is infinite, though. One could just "bleed off" the effects of attacks into Elsewhere... or redirect them so that the attacker is hitting himself in the back. Saving Every Memory is scary... but it doesn't feel like a martial arts charm. Not to mention it bypasses the Exalted-shard-Human-souls interaction. It might work as a secret charm for the Style (see Shataina and the Scroll of the Monk outtakes), or if you go the "grace" route, as an upper level affiliated charm.
Dousing the Candle I'm not sure about. I'd need more information to comment, except to say that the low maintenance cost compared to Essence Shattering Typhoon will get the charm abused once a character can get it. You're also going to have to limit the area of effect of the charm (only able to suck up/destroy things within a certain radius) otherwise you're going to start destroying cities if the charm is active too long....

I can't think of anything else to add. I hope these opinions help you decide what you want to do with the style, and good luck with the mechanics. - Glassfane

MartialArts/ObsidianTableauxOfNihility

Contents

Elsewhere: The Obsidian Tableaux of Nihility (beta)

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