FrivYeti/PCESMA

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Sidereal Martial Arts

Mightiest of the Martial Arts, the Blossom of the Perfected Lotus is the domain of the Sidereal Exalted. In ages past, a select few of their Solar companions learned these Styles, but they are long since dead, and the most lofty of the Arts are now known only to the select few. Some rumors suggest that returning Solars and Abyssals may be learning these styles, but the Sidereals find such a concept too terrifying to contemplate.

General Revisions

Sidereal Martial Arts are complicated styles that can only be developed by the Sidereal Exalted. Without fail, these styles tend to be 7-8 Charms in length, and have Essence requirements ranging from 4 to 5. In addition, every Sidereal Martial Art is associated with a constellation and a Virtue - the constellation provides benefits to those who know them, explaining the Sutra of the Martial Arts, while the related Virtue requires a Sidereal to train her soul to embody a few of the Martial Arts' principles.

All Sidereal Martial Arts are associated with a single Virtue (or Willpower). In order to learn pre-Form Charms of that martial art, a student must have their Virtue at 2. Learning the Form Charm and post-form Charms requires a Virtue of 3, while learning the pinnacle Charm of each style requires a Virtue at 4. In addition, all Sidereal Martial Arts require the character to have an Ability other than Martial Arts rated at 3.

Finally, all Sidereal Martial Arts are related to one of the twenty-five constellations. A Sidereal gains benefits for having a high rating in the related astrological College, as follows:

  • Once the Sidereal reaches the Form Charm of her style, she learns the Student Sutra of the style. As long as she has the associated College rated at 3 or higher, she reduces the cost of all Charms in that style by 1 mote. This is a permanent effect.
  • Once the Sidereal learns every Charm in the tree and masters the style, she learns the Elder Sutra of the style. This can be activated whenever the style's Form Charm is activated at a reflexive cost of 1 Willpower, and reduces the cost of all Charms in that style by half of her related College rating, rounding up. Charms cannot be reduced to below half their original cost, rounding up. The Elder Sutra overrides the Student Sutra when activated.

Theoretically, combining the principles of a Virtue and that of a constellation always produces the same Sidereal Martial Art, such that you are not so much designing a Style as developing one whose terms are unalterable. Some Sidereals have pointed out that an appropriate reshaping of their understanding could uncover entirely new branches of the Sidereal Martial Arts, by replacing the need for Virtues with something else. Exactly what remains to be discussed, but hints have been uncovered as to their existence in styles such as the Quicksilver Hand of Dreams.

Who Can Learn It

  • Sidereals can learn these Charms as the peak of their capabilities. Any Sidereal who has mastered an entire Celestial Martial Arts tree may learn Sidereal trees at a cost of 10 XP if favored, 12 XP if not.
  • Solars and Abyssals are not as naturally attuned to these Styles, but they can learn them. They have the same restrictions and pay the same XP costs as Sidereals. Note that, as Solars and Abyssals cannot develop Colleges, they are unable to take advantage of the Sutras of these martial arts.
  • Powerful Third Circle Demons have their own strange Infernal arts that are superficially similar to Sidereal Martial Arts, and these Charms may be used to approximate those powers. They cannot, however, actually learn the Charm trees listed below.
  • No other force in Creation can learn these effects. This has not stopped attempts from being made, from Lunars trying to design specialized initiations for themselves, through elementals trying to realign their natures with Fate to understand the sutras, to Sidereals attempting to carefully train highly skilled Dragon-Bloods to use their capabilities. These attempts have all failed spectacularly, and usually explosively.

Specific Martial Arts

Due to the near-total changes worked on the Sidereal Martial Arts as a concept, each style listed below has its own page as though it were a new martial art. Such styles are listed by the Caste that is associated with the style's constellation.

Journeys

Serenity

  • Obsidian Shards of Infinity Style [Integrity (The Mast), Conviction]

Battles

  • Scarlet-Patterned Battlefield Style [War (The Shield), Valor]

Secrets

Endings

Esoteric Styles

There are also a few particularly odd, esoteric styles that a few Sidereals have discovered. They include:

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