MartialArts/FlowingOrbAndTempestStyle
Contents
Flowing Orb And Tempest Style
By Falcon
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This style was moderately inspired walking around in the rain and thinking of MeiRen""'s Falling Rose Petal Style, but I tried to take it in a different direction. That is, underwater. Glub glub glub...
Background
The elaborately named Flowing Orb And Tempest Style was developed shortly after the Usurpation for Dragon-Blooded marines who fought their battles largely on or under the water. It is most easily learned by water aspects, as their innate connection to liquid allows them to more easily master the basic techniques of the style. However, it is far from limited in that regard, and as it functions almost as well on land as in the water practitioners can be found nearly anywhere and with any aspect.
This style is explicitly Water-Aspected.
Weapons and Armor
This style is not compatible with weapons, but can be used with any armour that does not confer a mobility penalty. It is worth noting that because of the nature and practice of Flowing Orb And Tempest style, until they have mastered the form students are in moderate danger of drowning if they insist on fighting in armour.
Charms
Gathering The Dust Of The Sea</b>
<b>Cost: 4 motes, 1 Willpower Duration: Scene Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 3 Min. Essence: 2 Prereqs: None
With a forceful and flowing gesture, the martial artist calls to the water around him and binds it to his service. A globe of droplets whirl into a slowly rotating watery sphere that surrounds him for as long as he chooses to maintain it. This globe is tall enough to fully surround the Exalt and slightly wider than his outstretched arms. There is just enough space for one more person inside, provided they hang on to the martial artist very closely. Composed of slowly moving droplets, it does not obscure vision either way.
To activate this charm requires the presence of about a gallon of water within (Essence x 2) yards. If the martial artist is water aspected and has his anima showing (8+ motes level) the water needed is drawn directly from there.
The globe is too thin to keep out any kind of solid attack, but the essence-laden water can deflect and disperse essence-based attacks and spirits. For spirits, ghosts or any other being of similar type, the difficulty of hitting the Exalt in combat is raised by his permanent Essence. This also applies to attacks using essence-based weapons like those created by Refining the Inner Blade or even Glorious Solar Sabre.
This charm works normally underwater, but is invisible to anyone who cannot read water currents and/or essence patterns.
Any charms which require this charm to be active before they are used will function normally underwater whether this charm is active or not. The exception is Unleashing The Tempest.
Distant Touch</b>
<b>Cost: 1 mote per gesture Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Min. Martial Arts: 2 Min. Essence: 1 Prereqs: None
Just as the ripples cast by a single stone can reach a distant shore, so a student of Flowing Orb And Tempest style learns that the essence that permeates the world can also be made to ripple and affect objects at a distance.
This charm can enhance any kind of directed physical gesture - usually an attack, but also pushes, knocks, caresses, crafting attempts, lockpicking, and so on. However, the cost is per gesture, so while simple things are easy, more complicated actions can rapidly devour one's stores of energy.
Although the Exalt makes the gesture as normal, its effects ripple through the world towards a designated target. The action takes normal effect, but the Exalt's effective strength is reduced by 1 per yard of distance. Once the effective strength reaches 0, the gesture may still be felt as a ghostly touch or gust of wind, at the GM's discretion, but it has no mechanical effect. Parrying this odd manifestation of essence is at +1 difficulty, and may very well count as a surprise attack if the defender does not know his attacker can reach him from over there. This charm may also affect dematerialised spirits, but grants no special ability to detect them.
Note that the Exalt may voluntarily use less than his full strength in order to have the energy dissipate sooner, and that the ripple travels in a straight line and interacts with obstacles in the way such a gesture would normally interact with obstacles. This allows for knocking on doors, parrying attacks directed at allies, and so on.
Underwater, this charm manifests as physical ripples as well as essence ripples. It is no longer difficult to parry, but has twice the range (-1 effective strength per two yards).
Striking The Sea Is Futile</b>
<b>Cost: 1 mote per +2B/+1L Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 3 Min. Essence: 2 Prereqs: Gathering The Dust Of The Sea
This charm only works if Gathering The Dust Of The Sea is active.
Once the martial artist can create his globe of water, he learns how to use it for protection. As an attack comes in, the water condenses and solidifies to slow or stop the blow.
The Exalt activates this charm before damage dice are rolled. Each mote spent boosts his bashing soak by two and his lethal soak by one. He can spend no more motes on a single attack than twice his permanent Essence. Against attacks enhanced by charms and weapons of the five magical materials, the soak provided by this charm is halved (round up).
Underwater, if you know this charm then the globe created by Gathering The Dust Of The Sea automatically provides you with +4B/+2L soak against all attacks without any essence expenditure. Against charm-enhanced or five magical material attacks, this is dropped to +2B/+1L.
Surging Wave Attack</b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Min. Martial Arts: 2 Min. Essence: 2 Prereqs: Gathering The Dust Of The Sea, Distant Touch
This charm only works if Gathering The Dust Of The Sea is active.
The Dragon-Blood forces essence through his sphere of water and makes a martial arts attack. In response, an impossible geyser of water surges forth from his globe to strike an enemy up to his Strength + Essence in yards away. Unlike the attacks possible using Distant Touch, this attack does not lessen in strength until it reaches the limit of its reach. In addition, if an attack enhanced with this charm hits, add the Exalt's Essence to the pre-soak damage for the purposes of determining knockback only. Even if the subject remains where he is, he must make a reflexive Dexterity + Athletics roll to maintain his balance or slip over in the sudden deluge.
The water used for this charm is created ex nihilo by the Dragon-Blood's essence, and remains afterwards. This makes it a useful (if flashy) method of putting out fires, generating drinking water, and so on.
Underwater this charm has no special knockback or knockdown effects, but living opponents hit by it must make a reflexive Stamina + Resistance roll or have the air knocked from their lungs by its impact. The exact effects of this are up to the GM, but drowning is often a sudden problem.
Flowing Orb And Tempest Form</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: Scene Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Essence: 2 Prereqs: Surging Wave Attack, Striking The Sea Is Futile
Performing the liquid motions of a kata, the Exalt attunes his essence to that of water. For the remainder of the scene he will not slip over on any liquid and can move and breathe underwater in a way identical to the anima power of water aspected Dragon-Bloods. If he has Gathering The Dust Of The Sea active, this power extends to allow him to walk on water as if it was land (or not, at his choice). In addition, his bashing and lethal soaks are boosted by his Martial Arts score as his body takes on some of the fluid resiliency of his chosen element.
If the martial artist is water aspected and activates his anima power in addition to this charm, water actively aids his every motion. While underwater he gains his Essence in additional dice on every physical action and in extra levels of bashing and lethal soak.
Churning Whirlpool Throw</b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Essence: 3 Prereqs: Flowing Orb And Tempest Form
This charm only works if Gathering The Dust Of The Sea is active.
By using his essence to accelerate the rotation of his globe of water, the proficient Orb And Tempest martial artist may use its force to aid his attempts to redirect attacks and attackers.
When activated, this charm allows the martial artist to reroll a single martial arts parry attempt (subject to all the usual reroll rules). If the parry enhanced with this charm reduces the attacker's successes to 0, the attacker is projected (the martial artist's Strength + Essence) in yards in a direction of the martial artist's choosing. This throw does no extra damage (except at GM's discretion) but knocks the target down.
Underwater, this charm has no throwing effect but converts a number of dice in the parry attempt equal to the character's Essence into automatic successes.
Tiny Daggers Of The Sea</b>
<b>Cost: 2 motes Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min. Essence: 3 Prereqs: Flowing Orb And Tempest Form
Charging his fingertips with essence, the martial artist lets it empower the water around him with speed, solidity and the will to do harm to living things. Provided that he can sweep his hand or foot through a body of water as he activates this charm, the martial artist can use one of the following effects:
- Use watery talons to do lethal damage instead of bashing with a single martial arts attack.
- Use a sweep of water to parry lethal attacks, including arrows and magical attacks, without a stunt.
- Flick droplets of water at a distant target, enhancing his martial arts attack as if it were a set of thrown shuriken (including range).
If Gathering The Dust Of The Sea is active, the character is always assumed to have water handy to power the effects and the duration of the charm is extended to one turn, allowing the use of all its effects as often as the martial artist wishes for that turn.
Underwater, any attacks enhanced by this charm may be made at a range of up to thirty yards, do lethal damage and halve the target's lethal soak. However, the duration is always Instant, so the cost must be paid for each attack.
Unleashing The Tempest</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower Duration: Instant Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prereqs: Tiny Daggers Of The Sea, Churning Whirlpool Throw
This charm only works if Gathering The Dust Of The Sea is active. Unlike other such charms in this tree, being underwater does not satisfy this prerequisite.
Taking the globe of water that surrounds him, the martial artist performs a series of gathering katas and condenses it into an essence laden ball of super-dense water that spins rapidly between his hands. With a simple act of will, the Exalt may project this globe at any single target within (Essence x 10) yards, requiring a normal Dexterity + Martial Arts + Whatever Specialties attack roll. This attack gains extra dice equal to the martial artist's Essence.
If the attack hits, it does the martial artist's Strength as base bashing damage (or lethal damage vs fire-aligned spirits) and this damage is soakable only with armour. Knockback is automatic, and the distance is one yard for every level of pre-soak damage. The watery attack will immediately douse any flames the target has on him, including fire-aspected anima powers. The target must also roll Stamina + Resistance against a diffculty of half the Exalt's Essence or be stunned (-2 dice pool penalty) for (10 - Wits) rounds. Finally, mortal weapons used to block this attack will likely shatter under the impact whether the parry was successful or not.
When this charm is used, Gathering The Dust Of The Sea ceases to be active (for what should be obvious reasons).
Underwater, the base damage is (Strength x 2), the knockback takes full effect despite any water resistance, and the difficulty to avoid stunning is the martial artist's full Essence.
Comments
I get the sneaking suspicion that this might be slightly overpowered for a Terrestrial tree. What do you think? - Falcon
This Style has very interesting imagery, but I think that its balance is a little akilter. In more detail:
- Gathering
- This is interesting, but I think that such a massive difficulty penalty is inappropriate for the basic Charm of a style. This being TMA, spirits are probably going to be more appropriately scaled antagonists for the users than Exalted, which means that it's basically Snake Form, only cheaper, easier to get cherry-pick, and not a Form. Overall I think that this visual effect is much too mystical and awesome to be TMA, but that's strictly a matter of taste.
- Distant
- This, on the other hand, strikes me as overly weak; the range falls off too steeply, considering that 3 yards is apparently melee range in Exalted (see Hundred Razor Circle). 1 Strength die per Essence yards derives the same effect at the minimal level, but it has greater potential for remaining useful as a combat ability over time.
- Form
- I'd remove the water aspect advantage here; it's good enough that an already versatile style is elementally attuned to them.
- Churning
- This is sweet.
- - willows
I've been inspired to make a Lunar seaman with Wyld-resisting Charms on his ship and crew who uses this style and a Celestial Circle one --Kingfisher Style. Anyone willing to make that, since I'd more'n likely uber-power the style? Form weapons: gaff hooks, harpoons, and other sea-related polearm/spear-like things. Mwehehe. -That Which is Not to be Named
