MartialArts/FlameDragonStyle

Flame Dragon Style

• by Telgar
• back to TerrestrialMartialArts

Background

A very old Style of Martial Arts, the Flame Dragon Style grew from studies of the most destructive of the elements: Fire. Despite their obvious alignment with the Style, Fire-Aspected Dragon-Blooded rarely practice the Flame Dragon Style, preferring to use their native Charms to create similar effects and because they themselves are largely immune to many of its powers given their Anima. The largest number of practitioners of Flame Dragon Style are mortal worshippers and God-Blooded offspring of Fire-related elementals and gods. Long-time users of Flame Dragon are often totally hairless, their constant exposure to high temperatures and blazing flame having burned the hair from their bodies. Due to their focus on manipulation of their own body heat masters of the style tend to have high body temperatures. The movements of the style are quick, forceful and destructive. Because of its strong focus on offensive techniques the Flame Dragon is especially vulnerable to counter-attacks.

Flame Dragon Style can be used freely with broadswords and reaver daiklaves.

Charms

Breath of Fire</b>

 <b>Cost: 1 mote
 Duration: Instant
 Type: Simple
 Min MA: 2
 Min Essence: 2
 Prerequisites: None

Drawing upon the heat of his own body and fanning it with his breath, an initiate of the Flame Dragon can harvest Fire Essence from within his own body. When activated, this Charm provides the martial artist with a number of motes equal to his Valor + Essence.

Burning Torch Fist</b>

 <b>Cost: 1 mote
 Duration: One turn
 Type: Reflexive
 Min MA: 2
 Min Essence: 2
 Prerequisites: None

Focusing the heat of his body and the environment around his fists or feet the martial artist can ignite his extremities to deliver deadly blows with the power of Fire behind them. The character's blows do Lethal damage for the rest of the turn.

Raging Flames Technique</b>

 <b>Cost: 2 motes
 Duration: Instant
 Type: Supplemental
 Min MA: 3
 Min Essence: 2
 Prerequisites: Breath of Fire, Burning Torch Fist

One of the most basic attacks of the Flame Dragon Stylist, this Charm allows the martial artist to summon a ball of flame and propel it towards his foes as part of a physical attack. Attacks supplemented by this Charm do Lethal Damage and can target enemies at a range of up to the character's Martial Arts + Essence x 2 in yards.

Flame Dragon Form</b>

 <b>Cost: 5 motes
 Duration: One scene
 Type: Simple
 Min MA: 4
 Min Essence: 3
 Prerequisites: Raging Flames Technique

With strong, fast strikes of the fists and feet an adept of the Flame Dragon Style calls forth the power of fire and heat. Nursing the heat of his body into a raging inferno contained only barely by his skin, a character wearing the Flame Dragon Form deals his Essence in damage to any character in physical contact with him for a turn. This power does not stack with the Fire-Aspected Anima Power, though it has an identical effect. Unarmed attacks made by the character have their damage increased by 2.

Dark Eyes Blaze</b>

 <b>Cost: 3 motes, 1 willpower
 Duration: Instant
 Type: Supplemental
 Min MA: 4
 Min Essence: 3
 Prerequisites: Flame Dragon Form

One of the gentlest uses of Flame Dragon Style, the martial artist creates a burst of brilliant light and heat that stuns and blinds his opponent. Some Flame Dragon practitioners use this technique to make quick escapes or throw their opponent off-balance for a final strike. Attacks enhanced by this Charm do no damage, instead a target hit by the attack automatically goes last in the next round of combat and suffers a +2 difficulty penalty to vision related tasks.

Arcing Fire Strike</b>

 <b>Cost: 7 motes, 1 willpower
 Duration: Instant
 Type: Supplemental
 Min MA: 4
 Min Essence: 3
 Prerequisites: Dark Eyes Blaze

Making a sweeping attack directed toward his foes a Flame Dragon adept can launch a blazing arc of fire that will strike multiple opponents. Attacks enhanced by this Charm can have a number of targets equal to the character's Martial Arts score. The attack is rolled once and applied against all targets. This Charm can not be placed in a combo.

Blazing Barrier Defense</b>

 <b>Cost: 5 motes, 1 willpower plus 5 motes per additional turn
 Duration: 1+ turns
 Type: Simple
 Min MA: 5
 Min Essence: 4
 Prerequisites: Arcing Fire Strike

One of the only defensive techniques in Flame Dragon Style this Charm produces a wall of raging fire that can conceal or protect the martial artist at need. The wall can be a straight line, a circle or a curve as desired but its total length can not exceed thrice the character's Martial Arts + Essence in yards. The wall can have a height of half its length if desired but is normally only a few feet taller then the creator. Anyone attempting to pass through the wall of fire takes the martial artist's Martial Arts + Essence in lethal environmental damage from its flames. Attempts to attack anyone beyond the fire wall are at +3 difficulty, as are attempts to determine the location of anyone on its opposite side.
If the martial artist wishes to maintain the Charm for more then one turn he may re-activate it the next turn and waive the Willpower cost so long as he has not allowed the Charm to lapse.

Living Inferno Discipline</b>

 <b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 willpower
 Duration: One scene
 Type: Simple
 Min MA: 5
 Min Essence: 5
 Prerequisites: Blazing Barrier Defense

Awakening the full potential of the Fire within himself, a true master of the Flame Dragon Style becomes a living avatar of fire. His body covers itself in a sheath of burning flames that add his Essence in lethal damage to all his unarmed attacks and increase the difficulty to strike him by 2 due to the difficulty in determining where he and the flames surrounding him begin and end. Because a character using the Living Inferno Discipline is able to draw upon its raging fires instead of his meager normal body heat for a fuel source, the damage of all fire-based attacks produced by the character is increased by his Martial Arts score. This Charm is not a Form-type Charm and is fully compatable with them. The willpower cost of this Charm is committed.

Comments

Breath of Fire looks dangerous. I may be wrong, but I think it needs more restrictions. In combat, it's probably fine, but it reduces total essence recovery time to under a minute (as long as you have at least one mote), as a first-tier charm of a TMA. In some games, this rate of essence recovery makes total sense - but in such cases I would probably make this part of the core mechanics, or a more general universal charm/merit. Perhaps if this essence disappates after a scene, or something, but otherwise, it seems everyone would want to take this. Other than that, I'd like having these basic Terrestrial elemental styles, so I await further developments eagerly. -WillCoon

That might be a concern in some games, but I've never had it come up. If it is a concern, then I suggest the Charm be altered to allow an Essence roll, giving 1 mote per success. However, during non-combat, Essence regen just isn't that important as far as I've seen. And I direct you towards Stone Dragon and Tide Dragon, two other elemental TMAs I've written. - Telgar

Heh... honestly, I've tended to gloss over that side of things a bit too. It just seems to be fairly strongly supported in the canon rules, and could end up being important in battles of attrition and so forth. Personally, if it is a concern, I would probably suggest using it as written in combat, and just giving some flat bonus to mote recovery rates when not in combat. But of course I tend to write rules like that for my own use, where I can assume the combat/noncombat distincton is interpreted in a specific way in accordance with my play style. As for the rest of the style, it looks really cool, and I want to try it out against my poor hapless solars ( ;) ). Just one question, though, not to sound too critical - why do fire-aspects benefit the least from the form? I imagine they are the primary practitioners. -WillCoon, who kinda wants to run one of those no-animas Exalted-based game with these elemental styles...

Fire Aspects don't get double whammy benefit because they don't really need it. And no, they're not the primary users. Non-DB fire-thingies are. - Telgar

Ohh. I see. - WillCoon, -_-;;