FluffySquirrel/FlickeringBlade
This is one of my Melee Styles, for the full rules on how these styles work, go to SolarMelee/FluffySquirrel
Flickering Blade Style
Prerequisite charms: Retrieve the Fallen Weapon, Call the Blade, Summoning the Loyal Steel, Glorious Solar Saber, Excellent Strike, One Weapon Two Blows, Hungry Tiger Technique, Golden Essence Block, Dipping Swallow Defense, Solar Counterattack. Minimum Melee: 5 Minimum Essence: 3
Followers of the Flickering Blade style are very difficult opponents for those caught unaware by their unpredictable weapons. With their ability to easily summon and banish their weaponry, much of an opponent’s defense can be negated, but while they can use their technique to defend equally well, their techniques are by nature instant, and expensive in essence expenditure, meaning they lack the durability and longevity of many other styles.
Loyalty of the Solar Blade
Cost: 2 Motes Duration: Turn Type: Reflexive Minimum Melee: 5 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms:
The character can summon and banish their Glorious Solar Saber as and when they wish for the whole turn. This charm costs 2 motes to activate each turn, and all of the flickering blade charms require this charm to be in effect to be used, making it the true staple of the style.
Parry Evading Phase Blade
Cost: 3 Motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Melee: 5 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Loyalty of the Solar Blade
The character uses her increasing mastery of her solar weapon to phase it in and out of existence when an opponent parries. This charm may be activated when an opponent attempts to parry an attack, and halves their parry pool for the single attack. Loyalty of the Solar Blade must be in effect for this charm to work.
Armour Penetrating Ethereal Blade
Cost: 3 Motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Melee: 5 Minimum Essence: 4 Prerequisite Charms: Loyalty of the Solar Blade, Parry Evading Phase Blade
The character gains further mastery of his blades semi-material nature, enabling him to turn his blade partly ethereal, and slip more easily through the solid material of an opponent’s armour. This charm may be activated when an attack succesfully hits, before soak. The total soak of the enemy is halved, at the cost of halving the damage rating of the solars weapon. Loyalty of the Solar Blade must be in effect for this charm to work.
Unperceivable Path of the Blade
Cost: 3 Motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Melee: 5 Minimum Essence: 4 Prerequisite Charms: Loyalty of the Solar Blade, Parry Evading Phase Blade
The character summons and banishes her weapon in confusing ways as she attacks, leaving her enemies unsure of what the true destination of the blade is. When this charm is activated during an attack, halve the dodge pool of an opponent. Loyalty of the Solar Blade must be in effect for this charm to work.
Conjure the Parry
Cost: 2 Motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Melee: 5 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Loyalty of the Solar Blade
The character gains skill at rapidly banishing and summoning his solar blade in defense, allowing him to parry an attack at full dice pool whenever this charm is activated. Loyalty of the Solar Blade must be in effect for this charm to work.
Bewildering Invisible Parry Technique
Cost: 3 Motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Melee: 5 Minimum Essence: 4 Prerequisite Charms: Loyalty of the Solar Blade, Conjure the Parry
The character can do more than summon her blade to parry an incoming attack, she summons, parries and banishes so fast that it appears the weapon was never there to parry in the first place. The surprise gained from this unexpected parry puts an enemy off severely off balance, and any further attacks from them that turn are at a disadvantage. This charm inflicts a –2 dice pool (this can accumulate) on any remaining attacks from the enemy during the rest of turn. Loyalty of the Solar Blade must be in effect for this charm to work.
One Blade in Two Places
Cost: 5 Motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Melee: 6 Minimum Essence: 5 Prerequisite Charms: Loyalty of the Solar Blade, Conjure the Parry, Bewildering Invisible Parry Technique
The character can summon and banish her blade so incredibly fast, that she can both parry and counter at the same time, her weapon virtually in two places at once. This charm is activated when an opponent attacks, allowing her to parry at dice pool -2, and also counter attack at dice pool -2. Loyalty of the Solar Blade must be in effect for this charm to work.
The Flickering Blade
Cost: 7 Motes, 1 Willpower Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Minimum Melee: 6 Minimum Essence: 5 Prerequisite Charms: Loyalty of the Solar Blade, Parry Evading Phase Blade, Unperceivable Path of the Blade, Armour Penetrating Ethereal Blade.
The character’s blade flickers in and out of existence almost imperceptably as it swings through the air, creating an audible hum as it manages to perfectly displace particles of air with it’s semi-existence. This charm is the ultimate attack of the flickering blade, and halves the dodge pool, parry pool, and soak of an enemy when used during an attack, at no cost to the blades effectiveness. Its costs are great, but this is the true blade all devotees of this style seek to create. Loyalty of the Solar Blade must be in effect for this charm to work as normal.
Comments
it seems as though LotSB would make a better scene-long effect, than an instant since it's used for every charm in this style, wouldn't it? - grypph
It would have yeah, but I wanted to make it so they had to pay for it each turn, just to further fuel the fact that it's not a cheap style to use.. FluffySquirrel
I think the best way to express the effect you want would be to make it either One-Scene or Until Abandoned duration and list the cost as 2 motes per turn. The way you have it written now, every Charm in this style save LotSB is totally useless to anyone without fully independent actions, since it's an unComboable Charm that all of the other Charms lean on. If you want to make this Style really expensive to use, you could just note that LotSB is explicitly Comboable in spite of its duration. I think that might make the style too expensive, though. Also, why is, uh, every Charm here Reflexive? Many of these behave like Supplementals, and I think The Flickering Blade would benefit from being pumped up a bit and made Simple. - David.
