Fighting Styles: Exalted Martial Arts
Fighting Styles are a system of attributing unique effects to you through non-Essence means. Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have “Heartless Blow” a fourth dot until he has “Body Blow” a two dot. Examples of the maneuvers and their effects are described below.
Golden Janissary Style [An example of a completely new Fighting Style]
•[The Spark]: Physical conditioning and accuracy allow your character to deliver blows at vulnerable spots on targets. Penalties to hit specific targets are reduced by one. Eg. If you had a -2 wound penalty and had to strike with your fist you would ignore 1 of that -2 and strike at -1.
••[Banking the Flame]: Through conditioning and instinct you can build the flame up to a deafening roar. When using the aim action your DDV raises by 1.
••• [Tempering the Steel]: Your character has hardened his body to physical blows, allowing him to withstand repeated hits with minimal effect. The character has an additional bashing soak equal to his stamina, this soak counts as armor.
•••• [Backdraft]: Focus has honed your skill and endlessly training has given you body a new set of instincts. During Step 8 you may chose, after confirming damage, to spend a willpower and counterattack with a unarmed or Golden Janissary Form Weapon at a -2. If damage is dealt the enemy must make a Stamina+ Resistance check vs a difficulty equal to your strength or be knocked back strength x2 yards. This maneuver may only be done once per scene per dot in Golden Janissary Fighting Style.
••••• [Conflagration]: Your character can unleash a storm of blows against an opponent that burn at slightest movement. The character can supplement his blows with this maneuver to any unarmed or Golden Janissary Form Weapon attacks. If the attack does damage the enemy suffers a -1 for every point of damage dealt until his DV refreshes twice. If damage couldn't be dealt the character still must pay the cost of 1 Willpower and 1 Bashing damage. If this was used in a flurry it applies to all attack in that flurry for an additional Willpower per attack.
Boxing [An example fighting style converted]
• [Body Blow]: Your character can deliver powerful blows that leave opponents reeling and gasping for air. If successes inflicted in a single Natural attack equal or exceed a target’s Stamina, the character inflicts stunning damage. Stunning damage ignores natural and armor soak, but it can be soaked normally with Charms. Each success, instead of dealing damage, on the Post-Soak damage roll imposes a -1 penalty to the target’s dice pools and DV for the next three actions. This is a Crippling effect.
•• [Roll With It]:Your character is trained to instinctively duck and evade an opponent’s blows. Use the higher of your character’s Dexterity or Wits to determine his DDV when dealing with Martial Arts based attacks only (not against Melee attacks without a stunt). If a combination of Martial Arts and Melee based attacks is focused on your character in the same turn, use his normal Defense against both.
••• [Combo]:Your character’s training and experience allow him to devastate opponents with a flurry of rapid blows. He may spend a point of Willpower to increase the Rate of a Natural attack by 1, up to a doubling of the original rate. (All excess is lost) This increased Rate cannot be increased or multiplied by any other effect. DV doesn't refresh the round after this maneuver is used.
•••• [Heartless Blows]:Your character can deliver powerful, accurate blows capable of knocking an opponent unconscious with a single punch. A single Natural Weapon attack that equals or exceeds the target’s Stamina in damage might knock him unconscious. A Stamina + Resistance roll is made for the victim. If it succeeds, he is conscious but he is still effected by Body Blow. If it fails and the number of negative modifiers from Body Blow exceed Stamina + Resistance, he is unconscious for a number of turns equal to the bashing damage already taken.
This maneuver has a unique drawback in that it can't be flurried nor can the character gain the benefits of their Dexterity until their DV refreshes.
••••• [Auto Rhythm]: Your character uses the legendary Auto Rhythm, a keystone stance that enhances the power and speed of attacks by utilizing Kinetic Linking. By spending a Willpower the character enters a stance (you can treat this as a Form Type if you wish but we don't) that allows you to split a number of points equal to your Martial Arts between you Punch's Damage, Defense, and Rate, no choice may be increased more than three. If you have Prodigy [Martial Arts] your Punch Speed is reduced by one.
