Blaque/PlayersGuideMartialArts

Player's Guide Martial Arts

Simply put, I'm not happy with these. While the rules on making a Martial Arts stylle, using the weapons, the general philosophy on the Charms, and indoctrination into them were all good and itneresting, the actual example styles in the book had some problems. The end result is that I won't be using them in my games, save for the changes mentioned below. This is sad because a lot of the styles have a major "Good concept, bad execution" thing going with them. Really sad actually.

Anyhow, here's my takes on them:

Crimson Pentacle Blade

Okay, this style is thematically cool. The protocols, the use of a spear, the outfit, all that sorta stuff is cool. But this style has some major agonizing issues that need to be deatl with I think. Mianly, they go as follows:

• Weapons and Shields - The style is WAY too weapon-focused. A bunch of the Charms in it require the use of a shield or weapon. Martial Arts Charms I think should atleast keep with the idea that its based off of an unarmed ability still, and should be useable unarmed.
• Five-Directions Formation Protocol - This Charm doesn't contribute to the pinnacle Charm in the tree. It just goes off to its own thing. This is actually against the whole general MA creation rules mentioned earlier in the same section.

Really, not terribly bad, but these two things show up a lot. While I will still allow this one in my games, if only because its not totally out there, I will keep an eye on things. Mainly, I would suggest Five-Dragon to most players before choosing this one.

Celestial Monkey

This is where the styles start to really break down. WHile this one keeps with the whole "All towards the pinacle" theme, it has soemthings against it that really irritate me.

• Whithering Paw Strike - I'll just note I do like this Charm., but the fact that its simple and costs a willpower instantly kills it. Yay, a disarm that works! Shit, where's my action gone!
• Celestial Monkey Form - While this Form is nifty, I don't htink that should be all it does. It has such limited value, especially with the style capping your Virtues at 3, that it really should atelast havve some combat effectiveness I think beyond being immune to fear effects or Games of Divinity Form. Especailly if you have to be unarmed and unarmored for it.
• Four-Halo Golden Monkey Realignment - This is where things really start to get me. You are telling me that for three additional motes, I get Fivefold Bulwark Stance, AND Whirlwind of Searing Blows for the scene? Ummm, yeah. Simply put, I have nothing against Charms that replicate Melee or Brawl ones all the time. Like Unfolding Retribution Stance, for example, is better then Ready in 8 Directions Stance. But this is a bit overkill in that department I think. You get to parry even if unarmed, don't ahve to move, and it adds damage. That's way too good for Martial Arts I think.
• Celestial Godbody Understanding - AAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!! Okay. I really, really don't like this Charm. What this does is basically flat out make Martial Arts the Ability and Charm set to get. Why? Because why do you need any other Ability for any other weaon in the world? Sure its only for Celestial Mokney stylists, but that's a bit much I think. Especially at the end of a nine-Charm tree. This really killed my liking of the style really.

Its sad really, because the them of the Style is really fun. Ah well. I just hope that they stick to animal styles that act a bit more sane with mechanics, like Tiger and Snake did really.

Dreaming Pearl Courtesan

Oh boy, this one is gonna get interesting. The concept for this Style is really cool. The use of prop weaporny is really spiffy too. Lots of really nifty things about in all honesty. But htings in this start getting really odd, really fast. So here we go.

• Starting Charms - The Style is nifty to this one point. Add to the diff to hit you for an Instant? Okay, about as good as Skin of the Dragon or the Mantis parry Charm. Add soak? Sure, its more restricted then most other Soak-adder Charms. Make fans and sleeves lethalw eapons? Really cool! But then you read...
• Dreaming Pearl Courtesan Form - ... and it all goes to hell really. Okay, I realize the props are useful for the Charm after it. Fine. But damn it, it'd be nice if it was useful for osmething other then the Charms right after it. You can use Snake Form and still be able to have it useful for other htings. This is just odd. And the Social benefits are a bit much. Especially since it, IMHO, straight-up out does a couple other Charms, such as Hot-Eyed Snake Whispering or Harmonious Presence Meditation int he social department of things. For a mote less, you get an Ability instead of Essence added to Socialize (and Presence) rolls. Overall, this Charm fails at the combat effectiveness theme of what a few pages before say a Style has to do.
• Vindictive Concubine's Pillow Book Understanding - Okay, first off, it requires a Socialize Charm to work. Meaning that it flat-out breaks the Martial Arts theme of universiality by having Charms specific to a certain type of Exalted. While I get the idea that its a custom Solar tree, or whatever, I think this is too much. What if Sidereals or hey, Lunars wanted it? THey can't have it. It stomps on the idea of Martial Arts universiality I think. Hell, I barely can see why it needed that Charm, since its a weaker Armor-Penetrating Fang Strike or Essence Fangs and Scales. Its really an overly flowery explanation to not let other sorts of characters take the Charm.
• Invoking the Chimera's Coils - And we're done here. This is where the tree breaks its back I think. One, ir requires another Solar Socialize Charm, forever barring it from people. And it does the following htings that are flat-out funky:
  • It turns you to a supercarp. What this has to do with kung fu I don't know, but its really odd and out of place I think. Its a form of gross shapeshifting on a physical level to boot. Ummm....why is this a Solar Charm? I thought Lunars did that sorta thing.
  • They call it a chimera. Which is funny, 'cause I thought chimera was a term established for something completely different. That being an unCasted Lunar in the Wyld who goes apeshit and becomes Akira-style doom monster or something. Poor use of a term already in use in the setting.
  • Then we get into the mechanics of it. The damage bonuses are boss, true, but it requires a lot of Charms I guess. And the soak ain't too bad. There's a lot better out there in Martial Arts.
  • Now, what sucks is you get perfect Awareness in this Charm. Something that's either an Awareness 6, Essence 6 Solar Charm, or a the top of a Sidereal Martial Arts Tree, which means that at Martial Arts 5, and Essence 4, you are outdoing two other perfect awareness Charms really fast. Oh, and unlike the Sidereal Martial Arts Charm, yo don't even need to roll.
  • And it gives you your Essence in fully-splittable extra actions. Emphasis mine there. SO basically, an Essence 4, Martial Arts 5 Charm, with Social Charms as pre-equisites, a smaller tree as a whole, and which turns you into a supercarp, also gives you more independent actions then Charcoal March of Spiders Form, which only ever give syou three, and a few effects from other Charms, cos tmore per Charma, nd ahd more preequisite Charms. Jeeze, thanks.
  • You can get addicted to it and fly away into the Dreaming. Which came form right field too. Of ocurse, any logical person just spends the Willpower and gets out of the damn form since you aren't in Combat with it for more then a few turns nayhow.

Argh. Things get weirder and weirder with that Style until you get to the top. Talk about the straw that broke the camel's back.

Righteous Devil

This is the style I'm most torn over myself. For one thing, I really love gun fu. Equilibrium, The Matrix, Trigun, and Ghost Dog, Way of the Samurai all came to mind when i was reading this style. But then, the flaws started coming out through it, and I realized that sadly, this style emulated a few of the earlier problems of the other Styles, as well as in the end just not being a Martial Arts tree.

• Weapons and Armor - Okay, trouble starts right here believe it or not. I gotta say, I love the weapons here. We finally got firewand pistols. We finally get really spiffy Artifact firedust weaponry. All that sorta cool stuff. But then you look and realize you can't use this style unarmed. What the hell? Even Wood Dragon and Air Dragon Styles could be used entirely unarmed. Why make a style exclusively usable with a firedust weapon? Why isn't htis Archery, which is designed for this specifically? I know some folks argue "Well, 'cause then you can do kung fu too," but i don't agree with that. Youc ould of just made someone take Martial Arts AND Archery, problem solved. Brawlers who want to use firewands have to too. So why don't Martial Artists?
• Blessing of Righteous Solar Spark - Once again, a Charm that trumps on universiality. I odn't mind these too much to be honest, most of the time. All-Consuming Might of the Fire Dragon is only fully effective for Crimson Dragons. Conclusion-Persuing Approach is really only good for Sidereals, Eclipses, and Moonshadows. But atleast they have an alternate frickin' mechanic besides "Oh yeah, you can learn it but can't use it." Bad show there ol' chap.
• Righteous Devil Form - What the hell is going on writing these Forms? This one is the least combat effective Form Charm in existance. The effect of folks coming towards you isn't even that useful because they can spend Willpower to negate it. I mean, its got awesome visuals, but it doesn't do anything useful. Atleast I can see use for Celestial Monkey Form.
• The pinnacle Charm - Wait, there isn't one. No other Martial Arts style in the game has no pinnacle. Period. And no reason is given for why this one has none. That's just poor writng there.

Update

Okay, so on this one I gave in a bit. I tried ubilidng a Twilight who used this tree as an Archery one and Martial Arts on its own, and it didn't come out to pretty. While it was cool, too many dots were being eaten up for the concept of gun fu, when the fu Charms were under a non-fu Ability. Not good times there, I'll admit. So I guess I'll recant the houseruling of this style.

Really, its just too damned cool to let it fade away. Enough of it has the niftiness that its not overly odd or broken IMHO. Its just that its got way too much exoticness I think. But ah well. The gun funess got me on this one.

There are still some changes I owuld like it to do though. Mainly, as follows:

• Weapons and Armor - Since its not stated specifically, you can use this style in armor. Since that woudl help it a lot. The style also counts melee attacks with things such as the bayonet on firewands, or simply pistol-whipping people as unarmed for the purposes of Charms that might be modifiable. Mainly to give ammoless folks something ot use.
• Blessing of Solar Spark Concentration - The extra Permanant Essence to damage is something ALL users of the style can get. The effects of the aggrivated damage versus creatures of darkness is something only Solars can use though, much like the additional effects of Conclusion-Persuing Approach or All-Consuming Might of the Fire Dragon. This keeps it in-line wiht other Styles out there.
• Righteous Devil Form - In addition to the cinimatic effects, the Charm allows the Exalt to inflict Lethal with her bare hands, so that when you are out of ammo you have something to fall back on. It also adds an Initiative bonus equal to the Exalted's Martial Arts rating. Ranged weapons have problems with that, and a style that forces you to use a ranged weapon or fight unarmed should atleast have that going for it.
• Caress of a Thousand Hells - This is now the Style's pinacle Charm. Its pre-equisites include Azure Abicus Meditation and Dance of the Howling Magma Sprites. It seems to be the most Pinnacle-esque Charm in the style, and it works out I think jsut fine really.

And yeah. Another one gets shot down I guess. Bug go gun fu!

Conclusion

So what do we got? Well:

• One style is restricted.
• Two are pretty much banned in myg ames.
• One is tweaked, but still kept.

Not a good record though. Hopefully, I think we will have a bit of a calming down ont he Martial Arts glut after Aspect Book: Earth. We have more then enough canon style sto work with right now really. So I hope they take a break and use space for other cool things, like Brawl. Or Lunars at all really.

And stuff. Blarg.

Comments

CMoSF is still better because it lets you break the Combo rules. - willows

I don't agree with that. The actual actions are detailed at all really. And it still allows for the multiple activation of simple effects. It never relaly says what sorta actions they are. But in general splitable actions have been independent actions. Look at the Gem of Perfect Mobility. And its still extremely powerful for a Charm of its level. Blaque

The best part about Celestial Godbody Understanding is that it gives you all the charms required to weild a warstrider grand daiklave with no penalty as an MA weapon. Gotta love it. -EndlessChase

Body of War Meditation requires 20 minutes or so to set up. -- CrownedSun

Just looked it over there, and yer right. I guess it ain't that bad. Deleted from marks against Celestial Monkey.

Four-Halo Golden Monkey Realignment .. I dont know what kind of copy of Players Guide you own, but mine says it adds Essence to MA attacks. NOT damage. Also, I dont really see your critique on the last charm, what seems to be wrong with it? You can't combo MA-charms with other abilities and other MA's don't have the same benefit as Celestial Monkey, so it really doesn't do much else but grant the Blissful Sage some enlightenment. --tld