MartialArts/EasternPredatorStyle

Eastern Predator Style

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This style, often favored by Raptok, can only be learned by Dragon Kings, and in fact rquires mastery of the Shaping Wood Path in order to achieve mastery of the Style as well.

Weapons and Armor

Eastern Predator Style focuses on developing the practitioner's own body, and therefore is not compatible with any weapons but the Dragon King's own claws and bite. Like all Dragon King Martial Arts, though, it is compatible with armor.

Charms

Ravenous Hunter’s Bite</b>

<b>Cost: 2 motes
Duration: 1 turn
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence?: 1
Prerequisite Charms: None

When this Charm is activated, the Dragon King’s body sprouts lethal bone spikes and steel-hard calluses across every conceivable striking surface.

For the turn that this Charm is in effect, any of her natural attacks that deal bashing damage deal lethal damage instead. These attacks may also be used to parry lethal attacks without the use of a stunt. Attacks that already do lethal damage gain an additional die of damage effect.

Unrelenting Stalker Resilience</b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Dragon King may activate this Charm when she is attacked to reflexively alter her body in an attempt to reduce the impact of a blow. Extra layers of bone, muscle and hide appear all over her body just before the attack lands and disappear just as quickly. When activated, the Dragon King adds her Permanent Essence to both her bashing and lethal soak against the attack. This is a considered a form of armor, so it will protect against aggravated damage as well, but is cumulative with the Dragon King’s natural armor and any worn armor as well.

Twist The Branch</b>

<b>Cost: 3 motes/dot
Duration: Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Ravenous Hunter’s Strike, Unrelenting Stalker Resilience

By spending 5 minutes in a meditative ritual and focusing deeply on her physical nature, the Dragon King is able to manipulate the very structure of her body. For every three motes spent, she may transfer one dot of a physical Attribute into another physical Attribute. This will allow her to exceed her normal maximum for the Attributes, but no Attribute may be raised by more than her Permanent Essence through this Charm’s effects.

Eastern Predator Form</b>

<b>Cost: 5 motes
Duration: Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Twist The Branch, Adaptation

The Dragon King gains a natural lethal soak equal to half her Stamina. If she already has a natural lethal soak, such as through being an olchiliké, she gains a lethal soak equal to her entire Stamina instead. In addition, she adds her Permanent Essence to both her natural bashing and lethal soak totals and to any Resistance rolls she makes.

This is a Form Charm and, as such, may not be used with any other Form Charm.

Strength-From-Weakness Prana</b>

<b>Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Eastern Predator Form

The successful predator adapts to obstacles in order to overcome them. The Dragon King has learned this lesson and now looks forward to setbacks as opportunities to improve herself further.

Whenever the Dragon King suffers damage, she may activate this Charm to roll her Martial Arts score (without an associated Attribute). For every success she receives on this roll, she regains one-half her Permanent Essence (rounded up) in motes. This cannot take her over her maximum Essence pool, and she cannot benefit from more successes than her Permanent Essence or the number of Health Levels of damage she suffered, whichever is lower.

Deadly Blossom Pruning Method</b>

<b>Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Eastern Predator Form

Just as the gardener carefully prunes his plants into precisely the form he desires, so too does the Dragon King with her own body. She may focus her shapeshifting abilities entirely onto her natural weaponry and sculpt them to precisely suit her needs. By activating this Charm, the Dragon King may add her Permanent Essence to the Rate of any one of her natural attacks. She may also divide a number of extra points equal to her Martial Arts + Essence between the attack’s Speed, Accuracy, Damage and Defense. No single statistic may be raised by more than her Permanent Essence.

Activating this Charm again on the same attack ends the effect of the first usage, but the Dragon King may enhance multiple natural attacks this way if she chooses to do so.

Deep Root Strike

Cost: 4 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Eastern Predator Form

The hardest earth cannot withstand the patient strength of the elder oak. The Dragon King draws on the limitless power of Wood to gain that same strength. For the duration of the scene, the Dragon King’s unarmed attacks do piercing damage.

Inexorable Tyrant Lizard Fury Meditation</b>

<b>Cost: 10 motes, 2 Willpower
Duration: Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Strength-From-Weakness Prana, Deadly Blossom Pruning Method, Deep Root Strike, Form of the Terrible Ancestors

The heart of every Dragon King carries within it a whirlwind of ferocity, an ancient bonfire of passion that was first kindled with the great primal Dragon Kings of the Ages before the First Age. With this Charm, that passion is unleashed.

For the Charm’s duration, the Dragon King cannot fail Valor rolls unless the roll was provoked by the use of a Charm, Path ability or sorcery. In addition, her body automatically adapts to overcome its failings. On any turn in which an enemy takes an action before the Dragon King, her initiative increases by one for the remainder of the scene. If she attempts a Martial Arts attack that fails, she gains an additional die on all such attacks for the rest of the scene. (She must have had at least a theoretical chance of striking the target in the first place to gain this bonus - the character may not "attack" a target 100 yards away in order to gain it, for example.) If she successfully strikes a target but the target suffers no Health Levels of damage, her unarmed damage increases by one, and if she suffers any damage from another character’s attack her natural armor improves by +1B/+1L; these bonuses, too, last the scene.

The maximum bonus from any of these abilities is equal to the Dragon King’s Martial Arts score. However, at any time during the scene, she may reflexively spend a lethal Health Level to raise the maximum by one for the remainder of the scene. She may spend no more than her Permanent Essence in Health Levels during the scene to pay this cost. The Health Levels are committed while the Charm remains in effect and cannot be healed until it has ended.