Charms/AlecAustinPhoenixStyle
Phoenix Style
By Alec Austin
Background
This was a style of Martial Arts I made up for a character who never eventually learned MA at all. The principle behind its design was to make a Solar-level Martial Art that required a higher Essence score than the pre-existing styles (Snake, Tiger, & Ebon Shadow), and was more in line with the power of later Martial Arts trees than Snake Form, which I'm really not very fond of, as it comes off as weak, overcosted, and uninteresting compared to the other combat charm trees in the Solar book.
(And yes, I know the last charm will give a lot of people fits. All I can say is, I thought it worked well when an NPC solar used it in our game...)
Phoenix Style treats attacks with Tiger Claws and Wind-Fire Wheels as unarmed attacks. None of the charms of Phoenix Style are compatible with armor that has an inherent mobility penalty before magical material bonuses are applied.
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Charms
Furious Searing Talons</b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes\\ Duration: Instant\\ Type: Supplemental\\ Min. Martial Arts: 2\\ Min. Essence: 2\\ Prereqs: None
By wreathing their hands in fiery talons and striking with the speed of a raptor, the Exalted adds their Essence in dice to an unarmed martial arts attack. By spending an additional mote of essence, the Exalted may make the attack do lethal damage.
Blazing Feather Defense</b>
<b>Cost:Special\\ Duration: One Scene\\ Type: Simple\\ Min. Martial Arts: 3\\ Min. Essence: 2\\ Prereqs: None
By using this charm, an Exalted wreathes themselves in a layer of invisible feathers composed of Essence. Whenever they would injured, these feathers burst into heatless flame, protecting them from some or all of the effects of what would injure them.
A character who uses this Charm gains a number of phantom health levels for the remainder of the scene. When they would suffer damage, these health levels are removed before applying any remaining damage to the character. The cost to use this Charm is 2 motes per phantom health level, + 2 motes for each previous health level gained in the scene, or a total of (P)x(P+1) motes, where P is the number of phantom health levels gained.
Phoenix Form</b>
<b>Cost:8 motes\\ Duration: One Scene\\ Type: Simple\\ Min. Martial Arts: 5\\ Min. Essence: 3\\ Prereqs: Furious Searing Talons, Blazing Feather Defense
A martial artist who is using Phoenix Form burns with a flame that is both colorless and all colors at once. Their body seems to waver from one place to another, and those who seek to injure them suffer terrible burns. For the remainder of the scene, a character who has invoked the Phoenix Form does lethal damage with their unarmed attacks and can parry lethal attacks without a stunt. The difficulty to attack them successfully is raised to their Essence score. In addition, they are immune to damage from fire and heat, and any character struck by their unarmed strikes or otherwise in close proximity with them suffers their Essence in fire damage each turn the contact is maintained.
If the character using Phoenix Form is one of the Solar Exalted, they may spend a point of willpower to cause both their unarmed attacks and their fiery anima to deal aggravated damage to demons and the undead.
This charm is incompatible with armor that is prohibited by Phoenix Form. A character may not normally benefit from the effects of more than one Form-type charm at a time.
Unfolding Fiery Wings</b>
<b>Cost:5 motes\\ Duration: Instant\\ Type: Simple\\ Min. Martial Arts: 5\\ Min. Essence: 3\\ Prereqs: Phoenix Form
A master of phoenix form can call upon the wings of the phoenix to strike their enemies. Fiery essence congeals around their hands and forearms in the shape of wings, and can be used to lash out across great distances. The Exalted picks up to two targets within (their Essence x 5) yards and makes a single martial arts attack against them. If two targets were chosen for the wings, each target takes (Essence x 3) lethal damage if hit, while if both wings were aimed at a single target, they take (Essence x 4) lethal damage. This attack may not be parried without the use of charms.
Ascending Phoenix Strike</b>
<b>Cost:4 motes\\ Duration: One turn\\ Type: Simple\\ Min. Martial Arts: 5\\ Min. Essence: 3\\ Prereqs: Unfolding Fiery Wings
By calling on the power of the phoenix, an Exalted using Phoenix Form can perform feats of incredible athleticism and speed, effectively flying across the battlefield to strike their foes. Blazing wings unfold from the character’s anima, allowing them to run, jump, fly and hover both before and after performing an unarmed swooping attack on an opponent. A character under the effects of this charm can travel up to double their normal sprinting speed in any direction(s), including straight up or down, if there are no solid obstacles in their way. If they make an attack this turn, they gain their Essence in additional damage dice if the attack connects. This charm may only be activated if the Exalted is already in Phoenix Form.
Dust and Ashes Evasion</b>
<b>Cost:2 motes\\ Duration: Instant\\ Type: Reflexive\\ Min. Martial Arts: 5\\ Min. Essence: 3\\ Prereqs: Phoenix Form
An Exalted who has mastered this technique can move out of the way of an attack at the last moment, making a weak strike miss them entirely, and a stronger strike cut merely nick their skin instead of cleaving them in twain. By using this charm, an Exalted adds their Martial arts score to their soak against a single attack. If this would reduce that attack to doing only a token die of damage, do not roll the token die.
Breath of the Next World</b>
<b>Cost:3 motes per +1 difficulty \\ Duration: Instant\\ Type: Reflexive\\ Min. Martial Arts: 5\\ Min. Essence: 3\\ Prereqs: Dust & Ashes Evasion
By stirring up dust and motes of ash into the air around them, the Exalted makes it more difficult for their opponents to anticipate the timing and direction of their unarmed attacks. For every three motes of essence spent, all attempts to parry or dodge their unarmed strikes are at +1 difficulty until the end of the turn. The difficulty cannot be increased by more than the character’s Essence.
Incendiary Heart</b>
<b>Cost:3 motes\\ Duration: Instant\\ Type: Supplemental\\ Min. Martial Arts: 5\\ Min. Essence: 3\\ Prereqs: Phoenix Form
By infusing their fiery anima with power, an Exalt who is using the Phoenix Form may cause their strikes to explode with fiery energy when they connect. In place of doing the usual damage from their blazing anima, any damage dice from an unarmed attack which remain after subtracting soak are matched by dice of fire damage from the character’s anima.
This charm may only be used if the Exalted is already in Phoenix Form, or is a Fire-aspected Dragon-blood with their anima ability active, and must be activated when the attack is declared.
Devastating Firebird Swoop</b>
<b>Cost:8 motes, 1 willpower\\ Duration: One Turn\\ Type: Extra Action\\ Min. Martial Arts: 5\\ Min. Essence: 4\\ Prereqs: Incendiary Heart
An Exalted who has mastered this charm is one of the most deadly creatures in creation. They can unleash a flurry of terrifying fiery attacks and still be ready to defend themselves once their assault is done. Devastating Firebird Swoop grants the character a number of martial arts attacks at their full dice pool equal to their Essence, and for the remainder of the turn they may buy additional dodges or parries at their full dice pool for 1 mote each. This charm may only be activated if the Exalted is already in Phoenix Form.
Explosive Phoenix Rebirth</b>
<b>Cost:None\\ Duration: Permanent\\ Type: Special\\ Min. Martial Arts: 5\\ Min. Essence: 5\\ Prereqs: Ascending Phoenix Strike, Breath of the Next World, Devastating Firebird Swoop
A character who has attained true mastery of Phoenix Style is next to impossible to kill. So long as they possess this charm, when they are about to suffer damage that would drop them below their Incapacitated health level, they explode into an inferno of flame and heat. When the inferno dissipates, the character’s body is reduced to a pile of ashes, which are immediately scattered by a gust of unnatural wind. The character is not dead, however, only transformed; calculate how long it would take the character to heal from being Incapacitated by aggravated damage without the aid of Charms.
The dawn after the character would have fully recovered, the character’s body reforms uninjured within (Essence x 100) miles of where they were ‘killed’, in a place of the storyteller’s choosing. The price of such a rebirth is great, however-- the character’s permanent Willpower and Essence scores are each reduced by one, and they no longer possess this charm. If they are slain before they can learn Explosive Phoenix Rebirth once more, they die much like any other Exalted would.
