Morrigu/BenevolentSongstressStyle

Benevolent Songstress Style

Work In Progress

The Benevolent Songstress style is a terrestrial martial arts style based on the Compassion virtue, one of four I intend to make, flavored to be Infernal styles, as in made by demons primarily for demons and demon-blooded, although as usual anyone can learn these. The theme plays on the warding of Adjordan in the city of Malfeas, the one aspect where demons are true, honest and even somewhat compassionate. The song and music of course ties into the dance.

The themes of the style are warding first, honesty and inner spirit/workings second, and after that some rather less nice ways for the arts and compassion of demons to touch people. A little damage in a style is IMHO needed and I hope I made it thematically fit the bill, so to speak. I know it sounds a little floaty, but it's rather hard to quickly describe the theme beyond "the arts of Malfeas".

The essence requirement is slightly lower because this MA style is a TMA style with god-blooded characters in mind. That means that because this is an MA style made by spirits (who use spirits charms which work by virtue scores) the essence requirement was lowered slightly in favor of adding steps of virtue requirements instead. After all, it was made by the spirits, and someone who's the antithesis of a certain spirit direction should probably not be able to touch such a style at all.

I've been notified this page might be in the wrong place, apparantly you're not supposed to make personal subpages for martial arts? I'm not sure, some clarification would be nice since nobody seems to really know the answer. If someone tells me I promise to move it to the proper location when it's all hashed out and finished.

More on the "warding" aspect, I went with a sort of shield functionality since I prefered that to simply +dodge or +parry, which I'd call more defensive than "warding" per se. I'm not sure if it's a terribly good choice, but thematically it seemed sound.

-- Morrigu

Description

Many negative, horrible things can be found in Malfeas: dread, lies, pain, tortment, unending amounts of wrath, etcetera. But in one aspect of their lives are the demons forthright, honest and even in a way compassionate. This is the song and dance that goes on continuously within the infernal city: the noise that protects all and keeps Adjordan, The Silent Wind at bay. The Benevolent Songstress Style is the embodiement of the artistry of Malfeas, and it can be simultaneously fearsome and beautiful to behold.

The Benevolent Songstress Style is a terrestrial martial arts style originating from the denizens of Malfeas. It does not have a favoured weapon, and is incompatible with armor and shields of any type.

The Charms

Wail of the Infernals
    Cost: 2 motes
    Duration: Instant
    Type: Reflexive
    Minimum Martial Arts: 3
    Minimum Essence: 1
    Minimum Compassion: 2
    Prerequisite Charms: None
    An infernal wail can be quite an unsettling thing, and even to the battle hardened it is at the very least distracting. The character wails at any target as they attack, distracting or unnerving them, increasing their difficulty to hit the intended target by 1 for melee, or 2 for ranged. This difficulty does not stack with and either supercedes or is superceded if the defending character uses a shield. You must declare use of this Charm before the attack is rolled.

Invigorating Whisper Technique
    Cost: 2 motes
    Duration: One turn
    Type: Reflexive
    Minimum Martial Arts: 3
    Minimum Essence: 2
    Prerequisite Charms: Wail of the Infernals
    Although it requires very loud noise to stave off Adjordan, even a whisper if uttered by the proper person can calm an internal storm. Use of this Charm allows the target to stave off the effects of wound penalties for the remainder of the turn. Please note this Charm doesn't actually heal any health levels, and certainly doesn't prevent a character from being incapacitated or getting killed.

Benevolent Songstress Form
    Cost: 6 motes
    Duration: One scene
    Type: Simple
    Minimum Martial Arts: 4
    Minimum Essence: 2
    Minimum Compassion: 3
    Prerequisite Charms: Invigorating Whisper Technique
    The character takes on the posture and demeanor of one of Malfeas' finest artists, her words start flowing more easily and her movements become more fluid. The Benevolent Songstress is a beautiful yet terrible sight, and compells enemies not to strike against her. The character adds half their Compassion score (rounded down) to their difficulty to hit, adds her Martial Arts score to her bashing soak and half her Martial Arts score (rounded down) to her lethal soak.

Compassion Increasing Prana
    Cost: 5 motes, 1 willpower
    Duration: One scene
    Type: Simple
    Minimum Martial Arts: 4
    Minimum Essence: 3
    Prerequisite Charms: Benevolent Songstress Form
    Through use of this prana the character draws on the inner reserves of her nature. She adds 2 to her Compassion score for the remainder of the scene. This bonus is capable of raising the Virtue above 5.

Scalding Song
    Cost: 3 motes
    Duration: Instant
    Type: Simple
    Minimum Martial Arts: 4
    Minimum Essence: 3
    Prerequisite Charms: Compassion Increasing Prana
    The songs of the city of infernals can touch the heart of things, not only for purposes of warding but also for destruction. The character makes a ranged attack using a pool of Performance + Compassion that deals bashing damage and cannot be parried, only dodged. The attack functions as normal however the target may only soak damage with his Stamina.

Performance of the Dark City
    Cost: 6 motes
    Duration: One scene
    Type: Simple
    Minimum Martial Arts: 4
    Minimum Essence: 3
    Prerequisite Charms: Compassion Increasing Prana
    Through the demonic arts of the dance and its sometimes erratic movements the character's actions and motions become unpredictable. For the remainder of the scene the character may add her Compassion score to her Dodge pool, though she may add no more dice than she has points in Dodge.

Soothing Euthanizing Touch
    Cost: 4 motes
    Duration: Instant
    Type: Supplemental
    Minimum Martial Arts: 5
    Minimum Essence: 3
    Prerequisite Charms: Scalding Song
    Death comes swiftly, but it does not always hurt. When used this Charm adds the character's Compassion to their damage, and her attacks deal lethal damage even if she is unarmed. However when the target is struck, they feel no pain. Any additional wound penalties inflicted by this attack may be ignored by the target.

Wrath's Clemency Waltz
    Cost: 3 motes
    Duration: Instant
    Type: Reflexive
    Minimum Martial Arts: 5
    Minimum Essence: 3
    Prerequisite Charms: Performance of the Dark City
    The waltzes of the damned ward many things. When used this Charm allows the character to parry an attack against any target with a pool equal to their Performance + Compassion. This Charm may be used after the attacker rolls their attack but must be used before the defending party makes an attempt at defense. If the character fails their supernatural parry, they take damage instead of the intended target. Apply soak as if the attack had hit its damage, then substract the health levels from the character instead.

Drive Off the Silent Wind
    Cost: 2 motes per target
    Duration: One turn
    Type: Reflexive
    Minimum Martial Arts: 5
    Minimum Essence: 3
    Minimum Compassion: 4
    Prerequisite Charms: Soothing Euthanizing Touch, Wrath's Clemency Waltz
    By channeling 2 motes of Essence for every affected target the character dazzles them with their infernal performance. Targets must roll their prime Virtue against a difficulty equal to half the character's Compassion (rounded down), or spend a Willpower or they may not attack the character at all for the remainder of the turn.

Comments

This is my first try at an MA style at all, let alone TMA. Mostly done because I feel there isn't enough God-blooded material, let alone demon-blooded. Please be gentle with me. :P -- Morrigu