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Contents
Silken Lash Style Martial Arts (Celestial Style)
By MelWong with help from Moxiane
Background
Relatively rare even in the First Age, Silken Lash Style was, perhaps, disproportionately popular among the Eclipses and Half-Moons of the First Age, as well as finding some use among the Chosen of Venus. Seen primarily as a courtier's and functionary's martial art, this style is very unusual inasmuch as it has no in-style weapons. Rather, practitioners use scarves, long sleeves, or waist-length hair to distract, harrass and otherwise bother opponents. Pre-Form charms are primarily of defensive utility. The Form charm itself lengthens and reinforces the Exalt's hair with silky strands of Essence woven in from their anima, utilizing crowning glory and sheer force of personality as both weapon and shield.
Weapon Use
Silken Lash Style is used entirely unarmed as there are no weapons statistics for sleeves, scarves, and long hair, which aren't used as weapons, but rather, as "flavor" for the Charms' effects. Players using Silken Lash Style are encouraged to involve the above props in their stunts. However, to have learned the pre-Form Charms an Exalt must have hair at least four feet in length, if not more. This stipulation vanishes once the Exalt has mastered the Form Charm. Most Silken Lash stylists still prefer to maintain very long hair even after learning the Form, though.
Charms
Wealth of Braids Meditation</b>
<b>Cost: 2 motes Duration: 1 scene Type: Simple Minimum Martial Arts: 2 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: None
Essence weaves itself into the Exalt's hair and garments, keeping her clothes crumple free and stiffening hair to an extent that it may either weave itself into plaits or be coiffed into elaborate hairstyles with surprising ease. If left loose, not a strand will go out of place. Her posture becomes graceful and haughty, and she adopts the bearing of a queen. If her clothes become dirty while this Charm is still active, a quick brushing off will restore her raiment to its pristine state.
Besides the above effect, this Charm has the added mechanical effect of allowing the Exalt to replace Presence with Martial Arts for the duration of the Charm. If this Charm is used while the Form Charm is still active, she may also add her Essence to all Socialize dice pools.
Silken Brush Deflection</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 3 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Wealth of Braids Meditation
Flicking her hair, a sleeve or a scarf over an opponent's field of vision, the Exalt may subtract up to her Martial Arts in dice from a single attack. She may not reduce her opponent's dice pool below his Permanent Essence.
With Silken Lash Form active she adds her Essence to her MA for purposes of deducting dice from an opponent's dice pool, and may reduce it below his Permanent Essence score. Silken Brush Deflection can only be used once on any given attack. This Charm is incompatible with armor.
Veil of Hair Method</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: 1 scene Type: Simple Minimum Martial Arts: 2 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: None
Finding a needle in a haystack may be a difficult task, but finding a single flower among a field of blossoms is harder still. Following such principles, the Exalt focuses motes of essence to dazzle the eye and mind. All who see her in casual discourse, surrounded by other scintillating personalities, will remember only an impression of supreme tastefulness and style.
Mechanically, this Charm adds the Exalt's Essence in difficulty to attempts to specifically locate them while in social situations, such as parties and banquets. With Silken Lash Form active, the Exalt is able to mask her movements with impossible grace and inestimable elegance, adding her Manipulation to all sleight-of-hand attempts.
Shield of Silken Glory</b>
<b>Cost: 4 motes Duration: 1 scene Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 3 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Veil of Hair Method
The Exalt weaves hardening essence into her hair and garments, stiffening them against impact. For the rest of the scene, the character adds her Essence to her Bashing soak.
With Silken Lash Form active, the Exalt is able to soak Lethal with her Bashing total. This Charm is incompatible with armor.
Silken Lash Form</b>
<b>Cost: 6 motes Duration: 1 scene Type: Simple Minimum Martial Arts: 4 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Silken Brush Deflection, Shield of Silken Glory
When the Exalt activates Silken Lash Form, motes of essence matching the Exalt's anima banner sparkle faintly in the air and gather in a corona about her head. It now becomes impossible to restrain or bind her hair, which lengthens with enfolded Essence extensions. Ribbons, combs and hairpins come loose and tumble to the ground as gossamer strands weave themselves into her tresses from her anima. The strands vanish when the duration of the Charm is over.
Her hair takes on a crackling sheen similar to the Magical Material her type of Exalted attunes to, becoming as strong and limber as a whip. Moreover, the Exalt's hair interposes itself to protect her from attacks, subtracting her Appearance rating from ranged attack rolls against her. Half her Appearance rating, rounded down, is subtracted from hand-to-hand attack rolls against her.
Characters cannot use more than one Form type Charm at a time. This Charm is incompatible with weapons and armor. Charms in the cascade preceding the Form gain additional effects if activated while the Form is up. None of the post-Form Charms may be activated unless Silken Lash Form is up.
The hairwhip has the following statistics:
+3 Speed, +(Manipulation) Accuracy, +(Charisma)B Damage, +0 Defense*
It may be used by a character on foot to attack a mounted opponent without penalty, and may be used to wrap around opponents or objects. Besides the stunt potential in swinging from and pulling objects with one's Essence-augmented hair, it may also be used to perform clinch and hold maneuvers. These are otherwise normal clinches or holds, save that they can only use the character's Martial Arts (rather than Brawl) and that they can be done at a range of up to three yards.
It counts as a form signature weapon for all Charm use.
* For Power Combat users, the statistics of the hairwhip are:
+3 Speed, +(Manipulation) Accuracy, +(Charisma)B Damage, +0 Defense, Rate 3
Braided Whiplash Kata</b>
<b>Cost: 1 mote Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Minimum Martial Arts: 4 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Silken Lash Form
The Exalt whips her head around in a swift, lethal arc, Essence-charged hair trapping and entangling an opponent like a fly in a spider's web. This Charm must be used in conjunction with a clinch attack against a single target while utilizing the hairwhip. It may be a ranged clinch with a range of up to three yards.
The Exalt's hair becomes like supple steel. The clinch does lethal rather than bashing damage. For each turn the clinch and hold is maintained, and this Charm is invoked, the clinch does an additional +1L damage. Stopping the use of this Charm for even a turm will reset the damage of the clinch to normal.
This Charm may only be used if Silken Lash Form is already active, and is not compatible with weapons or armor.
Ribbon Feint Prana</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Martial Arts: 4 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Braided Whiplash Kata
With this Charm, an Exalt can deflect and redirect hand-to-hand attacks directed at her with the smoothness of a twirling ribbon. Clouding herself with beguiling arcs of Essence, she folds her sleeves or hair about the incoming weapon or fist, dragging it off course and turning it upon her foe or his allies.
Roll a normal unarmed parry using Dexterity + Martial Arts for the roll. Should the parry succeed, the attack may then be redirected to a new target. The new target must be within three yards of the Exalt for this Charm to work. Treat the attack as though it had been aimed at the new target all along. The new target can attempt a dodge or parry if he's able to. A character can force an enemy to attack himself.
If the Exalt has Silken Lash Form active, add her leftover successes for the Dexterity + Martial Arts parry roll to the attack roll of the redirected attack.
This Charm is not compatible with weapons or armor.
(Magical Material) Lacquer Invocation</b>
<b>Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower Duration: 1 Scene Type: Simple Minimum Martial Arts: 4 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Silken Lash Form
The Exalt enfolds thin layers of her anima about her hands and head, reinforcing her nails and hair so that they become razor-sharp and imperishable. Her tresses are now shot through with whole locks of hair the color of her Magical Material and her fingernails are covered with long, graceful extensions that end in razor-sharp points. For the duration of the Charm, all unarmed attacks do lethal damage and are piercing. Moreover, the Exalt's unarmed strikes gain the appropriate Magical Material bonuses for their type, cumulative with the effects of Silken Lash Form.
When this Charm's duration ends, the Magical Material hair and nails fall off and disappear in wisps of Essence before they touch the ground, accompanied by a whiff of fragrance associated with the Exalt using it.
This Charm cannot be used unless Silken Lash Form is active. This Charm is not compatible with weapons or armor.
Thicket of Spears Offensive</b>
<b>Cost: 4 motes Duration: Instant Type: Extra Action Minimum Martial Arts: 5 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: (Magical Material) Lacquer Invocation
Whirling on the spot like a dancer in the throes of ecstasy, the Exalt extends her anima through her hair, which crackles and hisses with Essence. Individual locks writhe and whip out at opponents in reach like a nest of roused serpents, each strike limned in the glow of the Exalt's anima.
The Exalt can make a total number of Martial Arts attacks this turn equal to her Essence plus 1, which may be targeted at anyone within three yards of her. Those attacks may only be made with the hairwhip detailed in the entry for Silken Lash Form. This Charm may only be used with Silken Lash Form active. This Charm is incompatible with weapons and armor.
Lassitude of Dawn After Evening</b>
<b>Cost: 6motes, 1 Willpower Duration: Special Type: Simple Minimum Martial Arts: 5 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Ribbon Feint Prana, Thicket of Spears Offensive
At this point of mastery the Exalt knows the secrets of inciting passion at a touch. The Exalt's eyes and mouth glisten wetly and an exotic, musky fragrance lingers about her skin and hair as she performs a langorous kata, filling her body with Essence that resonates to the chord of desire. She transfixes a single target's chakra points using the tips of her nails or essence-stiffened strands of hair, instilling in them an echo of the Essence she holds hot in the chakras of her belly, throat and loins. They are then paralyzed with bliss, gladly forgoing thought and action to simply exist at the note and tenor the Exalt has set for them.
Make a Dexterity + Martial Arts roll at a difficulty of 3. If the roll succeeds, her target is subject to a die penalty of her Martial Arts score minus their Permanent Essence. The effects linger for a number of turns equal to 1 plus any successes left over on the original Dexterity + Martial Arts roll.
When used out of combat, this Charm lasts a scene and allows the Exalt to add her Martial Arts score to all social rolls involving seduction. The effects of the Exalt's touch are exquisitely pleasurable and the reinvigoration induced by the chakra-manipulation has been said to restore potency in weakened men. This Charm is not compatible with weapons or armor.
Cloud of Razors Technique</b>
<b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower Duration: One Scene Type: Simple Minimum Martial Arts: 5 Minimum Essence: 4 Prerequisite Charms: Lassitude of Dawn After Evening
Rearing up with her shoulders thrown back, the Exalt is the very image of an Empress angered. Her hair starts moving independently of her, whirling and floating weightlessly on eddies of Essence as though she were immersed in standing water. The many Essence-strengthened strands of hair seek out bare skin to rend. They slide between armor plates and are impossible to deflect - only by retreating away from the area the Exalt stands in is a person safe.
Anyone standing within 3 yards of the Exalt takes lethal damage equal to her Essence every turn, which cannot be blocked, dodged, or soaked with armor. On the turn this Charm is first activated, anyone within the area of effect gets one chance to dodge out of the way, which they can do by making a dodge attempt against a difficulty equal to the character's permanent Essence and moving outside the area of effect (if they are able to). After the first turn where Cloud of Razors Technique has been activated, anyone wishing to attack the Exalt must do so at range, or suffer the effects of this Charm.
The Cloud of Razors Technique follows the Exalt who invoked it, moving as she moves (as it is rooted to her scalp!) and stopping where she stops.
This Charm may only be used with Silken Lash Form active. Magical Material bonuses granted by (Magical Material) Lacquer Invocation do not stack with the area damage inflicted by this Charm, although they still apply to unarmed Martial Arts. This Charm is incompatible with weapons or armor.
Comments
Excellent Martial Arts tree. - Issaru
Very cool idea and a nice excution. I always liked those anime characters who could control their hair.
--BrilliantRain
grins Just wait until I get some more experience...Muhahahaha...Little Sera will be the most deadly walking Pantene ad in Creation - Dreaming Nymph
- Rock. Deadliest shampoo ad in creation. MelWong
DBSurfeit... I believe I have located the next martial art for Seiyuri...
-- Darloth likes the style as well.
I can see why, and the flavour of the tree is wonderful. However, might I offer some considerations with regards to balance?
- Wealth of Braids Meditation: Essence to Socialise for a scene for two motes? That's a considerable advantage for the price, especially with the other effects of the Charm. Perhaps an increase in cost is in order?
- Agreed. Compare, for instance, to Harmonious Presence Meditation; that Charm's benefits do affect three Abilities, but only in one-on-one interaction and at a cost of six motes. Remember that Martial Arts Charms below the Form are supposed to be less efficient than other Charms with similar prerequisites. - Quendalon
- Silken Brush Deflection: You might wish to lose the element of dropping pools beneath the character's Essence. Not only does this unnecessarily break meta-rules, but it means they have an almost perfect defence only two Charms down the tree (as, being Reflexive, it could be activated multiple times for the same attack).
- I believe this is correct; you can't dodge or parry an attack twice, but this isn't actually a dodge. If it's not supposed to be usable more than once against an attack, you'll need to state this explicitly. Also, the line about reducing pools to zero should go in the second paragraph, since it only applies if you have the Form up. - Quendalon
- Veil of Hair Method: Perhaps adding Essence rather than Manipulation to SoH attempts would be more appropriate to the flavour of the Charm, and more balanced? Or perhaps Manipulation could replace Dexterity as the Attribute the check was based upon.
- Given that this is Martial Arts, shouldn't the Charm have some martial application? - Quendalon
- Shield of Silken Glory: Perhaps too weak an effect, considering the improvements to soak Charms in the Players' Guide? You may wish to replace it with an ability to parry lethal attacks with hair, and move it down the tree.
- Ribbon Feint Prana: The redirected attack: what basic die pool / number of automatic successes does it possess?
- Lassitude of Dawn: The delerium effects are somewhat complex - perhaps it might be simpler to roll Dex + MA agaisnt a difficulty equal to the target's permanent Essence, inflicting a penalty equal to the net successes?
- Cloud of Razors Technique: Do the successes mentioned on the Charm's first activation add to damage? I presume not, but it might want to be clarified....DeathBySurfeit
- Replying to all questions above as best I can - the fluff was all MelWong's, but we worked out the mechanics together. First up, we under-costed the two-phase Charms deliberately because of their dependency on having the Form Charm active for use - in fact much of the style has that clause, but this is just to explain the reasoning. Anyway, specific stuff...
- Wealth of Braids Meditation: I can see the argument here, yeah. Increasing the cost to 3-4m probably wouldn't be out of line, even though it affects two entirely seperate pools.
- Silken Brush Deflection: It can only be used once per any given attack (edit made to that effect) and again it's a two-phase effect - you have to have the Form active to be able to cause an attack to fail. It is quite powerful, it is also quite expensive.
- Veil of Hair Method: Again, it's a two-phase Charm so the SoH boost being dependent on having the Form active let us undercost the effect somewhat - part of the power of MartialArts is cross-Style effects, Silken Lash is very self-contained, so we took that into consideration. As for the combat use of it, while (granted) the social stealth bit is more for staying out of a fight, sleight-of-hand can easily be used in a fight.
- Shield of Silken Glory: Yes, it's kinda weak. It's also pre-Form and in a Style that is far more about not getting hit than it is about being able to take it. The two-phase effect makes up for it, though - giving a decent boost to soak for a relatively low cost.
- Ribbon Feint Prana: The Charm text says that if the attack is redirected it is treated as if it had been aimed at the new target all along. If the attacker gets 7 successes on his roll, and the Silken Lash stylist gets 9 on the "parry" granted by this Charm, then the attack gets directed at a person of the stylist's choice, with the full 7 successes (or 9 if the Form is up).
- Lassitude of Dawn: It's a little complex, but not overly so we thought. There were two fields in play - the power of the effect and the duration of the effect. The flavour text suggested that the power depend on MA vs. Essence, so that's what we did.
- Cloud of Razors Technique: This basically creates a kind of hyper-powered Dragon-Blood anima flux effect - the "successes equal to Essence" thing for those unfortunate enough to be caught in the area-of-effect when the Charm is activated was basically meant to show how difficult it was to get out of the area before getting sliced up. (reworded for clarity).
- Moxiane
Another thing to be aware of with Silken Brush Deflection, it adds a potential third "layer" of defense. Someone can dodge an attack, parry it and use SBD against it. Was that considered when the charm was made up? - bobthepariah
- Well, it's potentially a fourth layer, given the existence of shields. And yeah, it was - hence the high cost. It's useful, sure, but using it against multiple attacks will quickly cause the Exalted to bleed his Essence pools dry. - Moxiane
Good fixes, but a few points I would disagree with:
- The high efficiency starting Charms. You mention having the Form enhancer as a balancing aspect, but they're balanced as low-tree Charms even without the enchancer.
- Having the ability to negate attacks entirely with Silken Brush Deflection. Why is this Charm the exception to the rule? Combined with an artifact shield, you're looking at diepool reductions in the order of 12, for an experienced martial artist, and about 8 for a relative novice. From a pre-Form Charm, too. Additionally, people may exploit the 'reduce below Essence' clause to reduce their diepools using other means, and then 'bumping' with SBD.
- Ribbon Feint Prana, as it has been defined, is considerably more powerful than the strongest redirection Charms, each of which have large prerequisites. The precedent is to allow leftover success to begin the second attack, rather than increasing it above its initial strength (!!). Consider being attacked with 9 successes (ouch): you dodge (likely reflexively, from a scene-long Charm), and then use RFP. If you're talented, you'll negate it with a spare success, meaning your attacker (who doubtless has used a Charm to get so many successes) is struck back with 10 successes. I would seriously suggest you consider alternative mechanics.
I love the concept, flavour and descriptions of the tree, so please excuse me if I'm being too persistent; I'd dearly love to see the Style complete and featured in one of my games...DeathBySurfeit
Preface: I have not read any other comments on this style. I'm kinda feeling snarky today, so I'm going to exaggerate my objections to this Style for my own amusement.
WoBM: I hate it when people start of Martial Arts styles with non-martial Charms. It's so pointless. Given a character with this Style, I would never use this Charm in combat. F.
SBD: Overcosted when the Form is down and drastically undercosted when it's up. Pick one and make it work. C.
VoHM: Another Charm with precisely zero martial application. But it has potential to be expanded in that direction easily. D-.
SoSG: This is expensive enough that it shouldn't need the Form to add to lethal soak. B.
The Form: "Charms in the cascade preceding the Form gain additional effects if activated while the Form is up. None of the post-Form Charms may be activated unless Silken Lash Form is up." is lame. Other than that, this has really cool effects. B.
I'm going to now interpret the rest of the Charms as though they don't depend on the Form because that idea is so lame it makes the bones in my legs turn to dust.
BWK: Cool. A.
RFP: This is the best attack-redirection effect I am aware of anywhere. It certainly trumps Virtuous Negation Defence, as it's actually able to improve attacks! B-.
MMLI: Cool. A.
ToSO: I'd like it better if you could create the hairwhip by using this Charm with an additional cost. B.
Lassitude of Dawn After Evening: This Charm's name is so cool I had to type the whole thing out. A.
CoRT: This seems much too cheap for its effects. C+.
- willows
Aside from stating the obvious (that being that some people don't like anything someone other than themselves or a select group has written) I'd like to point out that not all martial artists are combat warriors. It's great to see a style that reflects that. Dreaming Nymph
It's quite cool for styles to have Charms that have noncombative applications. But it's lame for those same Charms to fail to be useful in combat ever. - willows will acknowledge but not dignify the ad hominem.
Not every style has to be all "Angry Martial Artist Puts Fist Through Face Style" to be effective. Some are more subtle. If I can persuade you not to attack at all by Socialize-ing and Presence-ing you into wanting to hang out and get a beer later, I've won the battle just as well as above stated martial artist. Except I didn't get all tired and sweaty. Smarter move, imo. Dreaming Nymph
Certainly so. But it's not within the purview of a Dawn Ability to do that, nor should it be. - willows
So a Dawn caste is a fighting machine, nothing more? Ever? No other way of resolving a conflict other than bashing it with a sword/fist/foot? How positively dull. Dreaming Nymph
- I like it when you post things like this that are so clear and upfront about how you are misreading other people's statements in order to argue against them. It's completely obvious that Dawn Abilities are only a fifth of the palette a Dawn Caste has to work with; that has absolutely nothing to do with the scope of those individual abilities. - willows
- You mean like you just did? My point is, just as the Dawn Caste abilities are not the only thing that a Dawn caste has to choose from, the same is true for any other caste, they are free to pick martial arts or any other dawn ability, or even have it as a favored ability. (Actually, chances are, every character has one or more of the Dawn abilities, without them, fighting is not really an option.) But if I'm playing any other caste with MA as one of my abilities, shouldn't there be a style that enhances, assists, or maybe even just compliments my inherant abilities? Dreaming Nymph
- No! Bloody no! It can interact with them in a way that is martially effective, and if it works in some other way too, that's just great. This is more-or-less what the floaty props of DPCS do, but that Style is like someone shat on a paper, allowed centipedes on LSD to walk all over it, and then transcribed their digestive waste footprints in the form of martial arts. Martial Arts are just another way to hit someone until he falls down; a way to solve problems with violence. Mantis Style is an excellent example of this! It allows you to control and incapacitate people in such a way that you can deal with them socially, but it is at its heart a school of combat techniques. Putting Charms like Wealth of Braids Meditation in a Martial Art is like putting things like Portentuous Comet Deflecting Mode in Socialize. It doesn't draw on any sensible application of the Ability, not even an abstract Rebeccathink one like a Sidereal Charm, and it clearly performs another Abilty's function.
- Now please explain to me how I misrepresented your comment. You insinuated that I said a Dawn Caste is a fighting machine, and I stated that this was not only not my statement, but also not the case. - willows
- Just because you don't like the style(DPCS) doesn't make it any less valid. It is still canon, and still precedence. Last I checked, the MartialArts page was for anyone with a new idea on an Exalted MA, not the "Only The Styles Willows Likes" page. As to the "Martial Arts are just another way to hit someone until he falls down; a way to solve problems with violence." comment, I know several martial artists that would heartily disagree. If you take it as face value, then sure, its all a bunch of punching, kicking, and trying to look cool while barefoot in a silly white suit. But if that's all that there is, why bother making new ones? There's only so many ways to say "I hit him, he falls down" before it all gets really boring Dreaming Nymph
As a side note, take a look at the shiny new DovesPurityStyle, a completely NON COMBAT MA STYLE. Gotta love it. Dreaming Nymph
- "Unlike most students of Tai Chi, the master of Doves Purity Style also learns many powerful blocks, throws, and other defensive manuveurs."? _JW
Exactly. That's what other Abilities are for. I mean, if I want to play a bureaucrat who's more than just a paper pusher, I sure can give him combat Charms, but they're for damn sure not going to be Bureaucracy Charms. If he's going to swing a sword around, I need to give him Melee Charms, not special Bureaucracy combat Charms designed just for sword-slinging bureaucrats. - Quendalon
These aren't melee charms, however, those are pretty much single purpose, I-swing-a-sword-and-smack-you things. This is a martial arts form, which imo, are pretty much customizable to the martial artist. There has to be a form out there that suits everyone, its a style that should be reflective of its user. What's wrong with a little variety? You say your 7'8" 400 lb. Grand Daiklaive wielding Dawn caste isn't into swinging his silken locks around and wreaking havoc? Pick Another Form. There's billions out there, they don't all have to be the same. Dreaming Nymph
This isn't a question of "All Dawns Must Be Smashy Hulks". The point is that Long-Haired Prettyboy Dawn shouldn't be able to use his Martial Arts ability (Martial meaning "pertaining to battle") for everything. If he can kill with his hair, great, awesome. That's martial. If the munificent glory of his 'do overawes those before him and sends foes cowering, that is weird but still fairly martial. If flowing locks amaze and astound the highest courts and cause them to kneel before his coiffure, that is Socialize or possibly Presence. Make a Presence charm called "Transcendent Overaweing Hairdo" which amazes socially if you want one with no effect in battle. My personal taste allows multi-Ability cascades for weird styles like this, so Transcendent Overaweing Hairdo would be a Presence charm (possibly a cross-splat charm since it is part of a Style) which is prerequisite to charms in this mostly-MA-based cascade. -Ben-San
I dunno, this form really reminds me of Dreaming Pearl Courtesan Style...pretty to look at with the added benefit of martial application. That style (sorry, at work, didn't think to bring the Players Guide, so the specifics are semi-fuzzy) has a charm or two that requires some Solar presence charms, so I can dig what you're saying there. But if I recall correctly, the form of that style basically lets you float props around you, and add your MA to either socialize, presence or both(again, fuzzy details), but not much else. The added kick to the form charm is the charm that comes after it, then you can actually have the floating props attack for you. Now, Wealth of Braids Meditation has that same "add MA dice to decidedly non-MA ability, or use MA for non-martial ability". I didn't write this style, so I can only guess, but it looks like thats where they were going with that, not actually using your MA to be martial, but using it to support the abilities that you may already tend towards if you're picking up this style. I also think that could be where that whole "if you're in form, you get these added bonuses" idea comes from...
btw, I'm truly digging the name "Transcendent Overaweing Hairdo" as a charm name, I may have to actually whip up a charm or two to match... ;o) - Dreaming Nymph
... well, I don't know. I like this style the way it is. Next time I'll keep my stuff to myself. - MelWong
- NO!! You shouldn't! Despite what some folks thought i liked the art mayself, and think you should continue to contribute. The idea while odd was great, and it looks cool in the minds eye (and isn't that what exalted is all about!). So IMHO you should continue to create, and post items of this quality, utility, and just plain coolness. - Issaru
- Ditto. I thought the Martial Art was a lovely idea, and so does one of my players; it was the drive to see it compatible with my game and my fondness for its potential that drove me to post my suggestions. Remember also that there have been multitudes here who have seen your Charms, enjoyed them, drawn inspiration from them and very likely used them, but that haven't commented because they liked it just great as it is.
- A dismissive person, however vocal or scathing, is still just one dismissive person. Suggestions, however critical, are still suggestions. That your Charm has drawn so much attention and formed the centre of such a large debate is a thing of prestige, not of shame. I very much look forward to seeing your future work, if you decide to share it with us ungrateful lot...DeathBySurfeit
- Please don't stop posting!! I love this style just the way it is, and plan on devastating Creation with my mastery of Hair Fu as soon as I a)save up some more XP, and b) get a spare minute in downtime to train. Your ideas are great, and I love fresh new takes on Martial Arts charms. I, uh, also think we're an ungrateful lot. Sorry for arguing... - Dreaming Nymph
Half of the comments here -should- have gone into the debate somewhere else about non-combat martial arts, as they're not specific to this style. Feh... There are too many nice martial arts out there (including this one), that's the problem. Which to pick?
-- Darloth suggests that maybe people could move their unrelated comments at some point?
