MartialArts/FallingRosePetalStyle

(in progress, see update below)

Inspired by the Sidereal's own glorious Paper-Based Bureaucratic Assassin Style, Falling Rose Petal Style uses the principal "Through Weakness, Strength". It allows the Martial artist to turn any collection of small, light, delicate objects - rose petals, leaves, sand, paperwork, et cetera - into deadly weapons.

Attacks made using the Dance of Flitting Death are considered unarmed for the purpose of this style. Also, see the SagaofWarandPeace, which contains two artifact weapons specifically designed to be used with this style. (in progress)

Celestial Level

Dance of Ephemeral Joy</b>

<b>Cost: 2 Motes 
Type: Reflexive 
Length: As long as Essence is Commited.
Prereq: 2 MA, 1 Essence 

The Exalt extends her own form of Essence to embrace Rose Petals, paperwork, or any similiarly light object as part of her own body. The chosen objects swirl, dance, and reform at the Exalt's command. The Dance must stay within Essence x 10 yards of you, but is otherwise limited only by the availblity of small objects in the area. You may manipulate the Dance as a whole, but you have no fine control: Which individual flower petal is where at any given moment is a matter of chance, not choice.
When you take this Charm, you may choose one type of material that you perfer to work with. This has no effect on this Charm, but will become relevant later. You may not choose a material of practical or monetary value, such as firedust or silk. The Dance of Ephemeral Joy will lift such objects if it finds them, but perfers to work with less pragmatic materials.

Soaring Joy Leap</i>

Cost: 2 Motes 
Type: Supplemental 
Duration: Instant 
Prereq: 3 MA, 2 Essence, Dance of Ephemeral Joy 

The Character leaps up and touches a toe lightly upon a rose petal, then leaps again. The Martial Artist "double jumps". This Charm is explicitly permitted to be in a combo with Charms of other abilities.

<i>Rose-Conjuring Trick

Cost: 2 Motes 
Type: Reflexive 
Duration: Instant 
Prereq: 3 MA, 2 Essence, Dance of Ephemeral Joy 

When you first learn this Charm, choose a material that you may use with the Dance of Ephmeral Joy. The Rose Conjuring Trick summons roughly a barrel full of this material, which rains down from the sky. The material does not disappear at end of scene. When you

Falling Rose Petal Form </b>

<b>Cost: 5 Motes 
Type: Simple 
Duration: One Scene 
Prereq: 4 MA, 2 Essence, Rose Petal Strike, Graceful Rose Distraction

Using principals of grace and weakness, the Martial Aritst may eliminate the neccesities of movement and weaponry. The Dance of Ephemeral Joy becomes the Dance of Fleeting Death, with several benefits::
-You may immediatelly activate Dance of Ephemeral Joy and Rose Conjuring Trick for free.
-The Dance of Ephemeral Joy is now a weapon:

Dance of Flitting Death

Accuracy +3

Damage +0L

Rate Infinite

Range: Essence x 10

-You may use either Wits + Martial Arts or Wits + Thrown to attack with the Dance of Flitting Death.

Embrace of Flowers

Cost: 2 Motes 
Type: Supplemental 
Duration: One Scene 
Prereq: 5 MA, 3 Essence, Falling Rose Petal Style 

You may use the Dance of Flitting Death to execute Brawl manuveurs, such as clinches, throws, and so forth. You must spend one die action each turn to maintain clinches or holds.

Maddening Flower Interruption

Cost: 3 motes
Type: Reflexive 
Duration: Instant 
Prereq: 5 MA, 3 Essence, Embrace of Flowers 

Sends the Dance of Ephemeral Joy out to harry an opponent. He loses your Essence in dice from any attack or defense rolls made this turn.

Realm of Delicate Beauty

Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower 
Type: Simple 
Duration: One Scene 
Prereq: 5 MA, 3 Essence, Blossoming Awareness

The entire area out to 100 x Essence in yards fills with the perferred material you chose when learning Dance of Ephemeral Joy. For the rest of the scene, the range of Dance of Ephemeral Joy (and Dance of Flitting Death) extend to Essence x 100 meters.

Comments

Thoughts?

Also, where should I link this? Is there some ueberpage of all the MAs on the wiki? -MeiRen

Hell yeah there is. I've taken care of it for ya, buddy. - DigitalSentience

Nice style... But all the better for the backstory. I look forward to it's completion. Does the Lonely Rose Strike deal one automatic level, or just 1 die of damage? (Also, HGD can still block it... not an issue, just the flavour text is kind of off with that, which is a pity as it's really nice flavour text.)
-- Darloth

Damn - the whole point was to make one attack, just one very weak attack, that none of the powerful defenses in Exalted could touch. Guess I'll have to think about it that one. The attack was one automatic level. And thanks for the complement. -MeiRen

Kudos! You actually FINISHED your style while mine sits, rusting, unlooked at for several weeks by its very own creator. Lo! Pity the style orphaned by its own creator, see how it lanugishes in sorrow, drinking cheap whiskey all day, whilst growing a longer and longer beard... Let us weep for it's fate, for it may never be completed... - Overly Dramatic Jydan

Favored Material: Firedust + Rose-Conjuring Trick = interesting style. The ability to have unlimited amounts of firedust would probably be balanced by having a big 'ol cloud of it floating around you almost all the time. -- JesseLowe (Would allow it but would make the cloud a permanent effect for the character... and have lots of Fire aspects attack her.)

Are there some charms missing? This MA looks really nifty and has a great visual and conceptual style but some of the charms have pre-reqs that aren't listed on this page or referenced elsewhere...- Little_Rat

Awesome, awesome, awesome. And also awesome. I have an image of a character now. I don't know what kind yet - I'm between Solar and some sort of Sidereal - whose item is prayer strips. Can you imagine that? Surrounded by a huge cloud of strips of delicate parchment, all of them covered with small pharses written in flawless calligraphy, all of them deadly... A demon hunter. It would be cool. Anyway, please finish this style up. - the inspired Seraph

I can't really express how cool this is. I'd like to see it when it's done. Yeah, you can have weirdness by picking some bizarre material(gold foil strips). But whatever. I can think of so many cool things that can be done with this. idea:For Lonely Rose Strike: Make it not an attack. That bypasses HGD. ;) -FlowsLikeBits

So, I've been thinking, and I have some ideas to streamline this style a little bit. Here are my alterations:

I would remove Iron Dancer's Endurance and give its functions to Dance of Ephemeral Joy. Iron Dancer's Endurance is otherwise just sort of a speedbump.

I would cheapen Dance of Ephemeral Joy. It's basically an essence sink to keep the style from getting to powerful (ie. you have to activate it before you can use the rest of the style. Period), and I think 3 motes has a better feel than 4, but that's quibbling.

I would increase the cost of Falling Rose Petal Form to 5 motes - the standard cost for a form charm - and buff it up a little. I recommend giving the Dance of Fleeting Death an accuracy bonus equal to the martial artist's permanent Essence, a damage bonus equal to his Martial Arts, and an infinite rate and the same range as before. Also, I would rule that the Dance of Fleeting Death can be used with Thrown Charms but not with other martial arts styles. Otherwise the combo and combat options for this style become really sharply limited. Martial arts should be limited, but the one thing they can do like everything else is combo.

I would switch Maddening Flower Interruption and Embrace of Flowers. For Maddening Flower Interruption, I would make the effect that you reduce your opponent's die pool by your Martial Arts for one action. The charm is still reflexive, and you can still use it on one person multiple times and on multiple people at the same time.

For Embrace of Flowers, I would specify that the charm has a duration of indefinite for the purposes of clinches and that you can use the charm to maintain a clinch on one person while doing other things. That's why it has to be moved up the tree. Imagine someone standing in the center of a whirlwind of flower petals, grappling four or five people at once, while attacking someone else with the storm, or with weapons...

One Thousand Petal Rush needs a cap. I reccomend Martial Arts.

I would specify that Lonely Rose Strike bypasses armor and armor-like effects. Also, I would increase the Essence requirement to 4. Are you sure it deals one level, not one die?

Seraph

Wow, thanks for all the praise! I just came back to the Wiki and this style after a year or so absent. Its looking kind of mechanically naive to me now, much too weak. You're taking a lot of Charms to do things you can do anyway. So I'm trying to rewrite the Charms, with the schtick of controling huge amounts of territory. I envision some Martial Artist looking around at the end of the scene and she's got three guys in holds, is chasing two away, and parrying the attacks of two more.

Cut Charms

One-Thousand Petal Rush

Cost: 1 mote
Type: Extra Action 
Duration: Instant 
Prereq: 5 MA, 3 Essence, Realm of Delicate Beauty 

Even the mightiest sword is but one sword. A flower petal may take comfort in the presence of thousands of its compatriots. The One-Thousand Petal Rush draws on the principal of might through unity, overwhelming the opponent through sheer numbers. For each mote spent on One-Thousand Petal Rush, you may make an attack using your full Wits + Martial Arts or Wits + Thrown pool. You may not split your die pool in a round in which you execute the One-Thousand Petal Rush.

Didn't seem to work mechanically. Cascade of Cutting Terror will give you a similiar visual.

Lonely Rose Strike </b>

<b>Cost:7 motes, 1 Willpower
Type: Simple
Duration: Instant 
Prereq: 5 MA, 3 Essence, One-Thousand Petal Rush, Maddening Flower Interruption

Out of all the many petals flitting through the air, the Exalt focuses on only one: the one most able to wound his foe. He grabs this petal and strikes out. This attack is perfect, unblockable and undodgable: for of the thousands of rose petals, even the mightiest guardian of heaven must let one pass. However, without its comrades, this petal is very weak: the Lonely Rose Strike always deals exactly one level of lethal damage.