FrivYeti/ScorpionStyle
Scorpion Style
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Background
The Scorpion Form was devised to be a ritual of power and grace, an emblem of the Dawn Caste and the power of the desert sun. It was designed by the First Age Dawn Caste hero Karatos Aurilias, who designed it around a weapon that he intended to be an emblem of the Dawn Caste as well - one that was wielded in all styles at once, slashing like a scorpion's claws or darting forwards like its long tail. Aurilias's teachings were popular enough to spread, and its use was adapted by a few of the Exalted, but the Scorpion style was always one of the lesser styles of the First Age, despite Aurilias's attempts to have it become the pre-eminant style of the Dawn. In the end, vainly attempting to prove that his style was the pinnacle of Celestial skill, Aurilias attempted to use only it in combat with a powerful behemoth, ignoring its advantages in his drive to show his martial art to be pre-eminant. He did not survive the experience.
Form Weapons
Scorpion Style is designed for the kusari-gama, a weapon formed from a sickle attached to a long chain; mundane kusari-gamas use the stats of a sickle, fighting chain, and throwing hatchet for combat. To effectively use a kusarigama requires a character to have Martial Arts 3, and Thrown must be used for the thrown baton or sickle ends. The style treats both the kusari-gama itself, as well as sickles and fighting chains, as form weapons. It may be used in armour normally.
Charms
Scorpion Pincer Technique
Cost: 2 motes Minimums: Martial Arts 2, Essence 1 Type: Supplemental (Step 7) Keywords: Combo-OK, Crippling, Stackable Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: None
The scorpion's powerful claws immobilize its prey so that it can move in for the kill. This Charm may be activated whenever an unarmed attack successfully hits her opponent. The target of the attack takes a -1 penalty to all physical actions for the duration of the scene. This Charm may apply its penalty over successive attacks, but may not apply more than (Martial Arts) worth of total penalties.
Scuttling Scorpion Defense
Cost: 2 motes Minimums: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1 Type: Reflexive (Step 9) Keywords: Combo-OK Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: None
When faced with danger, scorpions scuttle backwards, out of the path of danger. This Charm may be activated in response to an attack, allowing the character to break a flurry. This Charm allows a character to move (Martial Arts + Essence) yards away from an attacker after the attack resolves, requiring the attacker to pursue or else lose all other attacks in the current flurry. This Charm does not reduce a character's DV, and it may be applied with normal counter-attacks.
Scorpion Form
Cost: 5 motes Minimums: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2 Type: Simple (Speed 5, DV -1) Keywords: Form Duration: One Scene Prerequisite Charms: Scorpion Pincer Technique, Scuttling Scorpion Defense
The character takes on the stance of the scorpion, channeling power through her limbs and fortifying her flesh as the scorpion's carapace. For the duration of the scene, the character adds her Essence to her Bashing and Lethal soak, and to her unarmed raw damage.
Stinger Retaliation Technique
Cost: 4 motes Minimums: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3 Type: Reflexive (Step 9) Keywords: Combo-OK Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Scorpion Form
Upon blocking their target's attack, the character holds her fast for a moment while she delivers a terrible counterstrike. This Charm may be triggered immediately after a successful use of the character's Parry DV. The character may make an immediate counterattack against her attacker, who suffers a penalty to her DVs equal to the Scorpion stylist's Essence score.
Scorpion Armory Attacks</b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes per attack Minimums: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3 Type: Extra Action Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Stinger Retaliation Technique
Scorpions have several weapons, and they will use them all when they are backed into a corner. This Charm allows the character to create a magical flurry, providing multiple attacks against a single target at her full die pool. Each additional attacks costs 3 motes, and the character may not make more than one attack per weapon or limb - the ckusarigama requires use of both arms, but provides three attacks total (one each for the chain, sickle end, and baton end). In the unlikely event that it would be possible, characters may not make more total attacks than their (Martial Arts) rating. The total penalty for the flurry is equal to the highest DV penalty within it.
Stinging Tail Prana
Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower Minimums: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2 Type: Simple (Speed 5) Keywords: Combo-Basic, Poison Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Scorpion Form
The tail of the scorpion holds a deadly poison, and the character's own attacks take on that nature. Provided that the character's unarmed attacks deal at least one die of post-soak damage, her target is affected by a poison with the following traits: Damage (Martial Arts)L, Toxicity (Essence), Penalty -2.
Devastating Stinger Strike
Cost: 5 motes Minimums: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2 Type: Supplemental Keywords: Combo-OK Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Stinging Tail Prana
Focusing all of her essence into a single powerful attack, the character strikes with the power of the scorpion, sliding her stinger past armour to pierce vunerable flesh. This Charm supplements a single Martial Arts attack. If the attack succeeds, the target loses all of their soak from armour.
Unstoppable Pincer Grip
Cost: 5 motes Minimums: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3 Type: Reflexive Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious Duration: One Clinch Prerequisite Charms: Scorpion Form
Once a scorpion clutches its prey, it will never let him go. This Charm may be triggered whenever the character places a target into a clinch or is placed into a clinch. If the target is willing to accept the clinch and attempts to take control of it, the clinch proceeds normally, except that the character deals lethal damage if she controls the clinch. If the target attempts to escape the clinch instead of taking control of it once the clinch begins, they suffer a penalty to their opposed roll equal to the character's Martial Arts rating.
Scorpion's Fatal Sting
Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower Minimums: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4 Type: Simple (Speed 5, DV -1) Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious, Poison Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Unstoppable Pincer Grip, Devastating Stinger Strikes, Scorpion Armoury Attacks
On attaining the pinnacle of the Scorpion Style, the character's body is suffused with deadly Essence, and she may launch overwhelming attacks against her targets. The Scorpion's Fatal Sting is an attack that strikes with incredible speed and accuracy. The attack is unblockable and undodgeable, and if it is successful, the target takes the character's Essence in unsoakable dice of lethal damage in addition to the normal damage of the attack. This damage is dealt entirely seperately from the main attack.
