HorsemanDeath/SmithStyle

Smith Style MA

Note to self: Add some fire effects here, too. Dunno where or how. Just do it, cause I told you.

The title is a place-holder for a later, grander name, for my first Martial Arts tree. Feel free to jump in to harrangue, comment, suggest, or otherwise provide feedback. In fact, I'll likely need all the help I can get. ;) Additionally, I like to put comments to myself all over the place. Little mnemonics for later. Also, the odd use of headings is for my own mental benefit. Otherwise, I go tangental. /end_disclaimer

I'll post this to the proper place in the MA area once I have a concrete title. No need creating future dead links.

The focus of the style is that of the smithy: the fire, metal, tools (hammer, tongs, vise, anvil), and man. I've tried to demonstrate some of this in the tree by going three routes after the form charm: defense, offense against live targets, offense against equipment. (Edit: I may be altering this thought path later.)

Hammers are treated as unarmed for use with this style. Practitioners may wear buff jackets as armor.

Intro Charms

Stoking Fury's Forge
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum MA: 1
Minimum Essence: 1
Prereq: None

Increases Initiative by 3 for the current turn.

May place another here between Stoking Fury's Forge and Form Charm.

Hammer on Iron Technique
Cost: 1 mote per die
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum MA: 2
Minimum Essence: 1
Prereq: None

Provides additional damage dice on an attack at a rate of 1 mote per damage die, maximum extra dice equals MA rating. Motes spent before attack is made.

Forge Heart Hands
Cost: Supplemental
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum MA: 2
Minimum Essence: 2

Prereq: Hammer on Iron Technique
Hands glow red-hot, able to burn through metal. Attacks made as piercing damage against worn armor only; natural armor still applies as normal.

Form Charm

Form Charm
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: Scene
Type: Form
Minimum MA: 2
Minimum Essence: 2

Prereq: Stoking Fury's Furnace, Forge Heart Hands
Damage inflicted unarmed changes from bashing to lethal. Add MA score to both basing and lethal soak pools; lethal soak becomes hardness rating against heat and fire damage. Can parry lethal damage barehanded.

The Malleable Steel

Ringing the Anvil
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum MA: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prereq: Form

Make attack roll as normal. Target stunned for [damage-stamina] turns. No damage is otherwise inflicted. 5 or more successes over Stamina should be considered a knock out.

Pre-soak as damage total overdoing it?

Steel Rending Blow
Cost:
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum MA: 3
Minimum Essence: 3
Prereq: Ringing the Anvil

Damage done is applied to weapon, armor, or similar item, not person (including 5MM items).

Is this redundant when considering most smiths of this level would likely have Shattering Grasp from Crafts?

The Burning Forge

Not entrirely happy with this branch. Need to concentrate on damage.

Biting Jaws of the Vise
Cost: 4 motes
Duration: Special
Type: Simple
Minimum MA: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prereq: Form

Increases difficulty to break hold +2. Adds 1 extra damage die per round held, to a maximum of MA score in dice.

What was I going for here? Does this make sense? Thematically appropriate, but useable?

Journeyman's Song of Iron
Cost: 4 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum MA: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prereq: Biting Jaws of the Vise

Two attacks in the same turn on one target. Alternately, may parry up to two attacks from the same target.

Master's Song of Steel
Cost: Special (TBD later)
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum MA: 5
Minimum Essence: 4
Prereq: Journeyman's Song of Iron

May make multiple attacks one or more targets.

The Unassailable Anvil

Skin of Iron Temperment
Cost:
Duration:
Type: Simple
Minimum MA: 3
Minimum Essence: 3
Prereq: Form

Weapons used against practitioner suffer damage, causing lowered stats or breakage. 5MM won't break (?) but will need repair.

Not clear how I'm working this. Scene-long, reflexive, x number of turns, committed essence? I can see this thematically. Sword strikes the smith, shatters on impact from the resilient skin.

Anvil Body Prana
Cost: 1 WP, 10 motes
Duration: Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum MA: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prereq: Ringing the Anvil

User not effected by Ping damage.

Is this way over the top?

Ultimate Charm

Fire Burns the Unwary
Cost:7 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum MA: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prereq: All of the above

Returns pre-soak damage inflicted on user to melee / hand-to-hand attacker. Roll for damage done to opponent as normal.

When the Exalt is struck, sparks fly from the impact, showering the attacker, dealing damage.

Comments

Random idea, for the Form: Soak Lethal with full Bashing soak, Gain Lethal Soak as hardness vs Heat and Fire effects (including environmental, and Fire aspect DB animas, that Dragon Vortex Charm, etc). - Nikink Nice outline btw!

I agree with the theory of hardness against fire/heat, it just seems right. More to my thoughts, though, I'd say the form (and the tree, in general) is missing the high-damage attacks I'd expect from Smithies. The concept of hammering away, bending even metal, seems to me to be a damage-type effect (or at least soak reduction?), not one of increased die pools and soak. - GregLink

Thanks, Nikink! I hadn't even thought about environmental soak against heat and fire. Duh on me. I'll look to include that. There are some pieces that I still feel are missing, but I can't pin down what they are, exactly. Hopefully I'll get some real wording and fluff in here in the next week or so.

Edit response to Greg. As I was reading your input, I was thinking to myself how obvious that should be. Granted, it has been some months sonce I've even looked at this until just this week, so I can't remember what I was thinking when I started this. You've got me quite interested in completing this now. - HorsemanDeath

What about changing the fire-and-stones strike-like charm (second in the list?) to one of damage increasing, rather than die-pool increasing? Or perhaps allowing soak reduction? - Ah, I know! Ignore metallic armor! That's a fun smithy-type effect! As for armor, I'd say be sure to allow at least buff-jackets. The heavy aprons you wear in smithing are similar in size and weight, and I'd think allow a good middle-ground on soak for the practitioner. Reinforced jackets may even be disallowed, at your opinion. As for the general feel of the penultimate charm, I like it a lot, but as you mentioned, it can use a bit of mechanical work. I'd suggest that perhaps you do some sort of effect where an opponent's "over" successes (those beyond required to hit you) turn back on him in some fashion. Provides an interesting strategic advantage, and implies that those who snake right next to you to do the most damaging blows are the ones that take the most damage from it. Perhaps note that "Anytime the martial artist is attacked in hand-to-hand combat, the attacker is hit by thrown sparks. These sparks are treated as a counter-attack effect, and cannot be caused by another counter-attack type effect. This counterattack effect explicitly allows other counter-attack effects, such as Solar Counterattack, to also be used by the Martial artist against the same incoming attack. This counterattack is considered to have a number of attack successes equal to the number of successes scored by the attacker in the initial attack, and do the martial artist's Essence/2 in bashing damage."

Just some random ideas. - GregLink

I do recall using some of the melee charms as the groundwork for the attacks, which would be why a few look familiar. I can completely see the allowance of buff jackets, and ignoring metal armor (at later levels, since the effect is downright nasty against plate-wearing tin-cans like the Dyansts) is brilliant! I'll be sure to include those on the rewrite.

On the penultimate charm, I like your idea of over successes being used. In effect, the opponent's attack is returned on himself in full (pre-soak). Very nice. Beefs it up a bit where I was trying to stay low. (I was designing this in a player's mindeset, not ST. Thus, I tried to stay underpower when possible.) The counterattack effect text had me somewhat confused until I reread it. You've got me thinking that this is almost a second form charm, instead of a reflexive. Perhaps this is the bridge charm to a mastery tree at some later point.

Thanks for the input, Greg. Much to play with there. - HorsemanDeath

Oh, no problem. Thing is, I've always wanted a style similar to this. I can't help but do my best to make it awesome. - GregLink