MartialArts/GardaStyle
Garda Style
by Szilard
This is a Celestial level martial arts style based upon the Garda Bird, a fire elemental described in Games of Divinity, pp. 65-67.
- Weapons
- The following weapons count as unarmed for the purposes of this style: War fan, Wind-Fire Wheels, and Swords (Glorious Phoenix Stance only)
The Garda Style was created by a Solar Exalt of the First Age to commemorate the Great Garda and to honor the loyalty of the Garda Birds to the Unconquered Sun. The style became a popular one among groups of young Exalts who both felt that they would live forever and benefitted greatly from the ability the style gave them to share their strength.
The style is a primarily offensive one. The Garda Bird is willing to sacrifice its life to kill its opponent. This style emulates that willingness by emphasizing strength through self-sacrifice. As a Garda Stylist becomes increasingly wounded, she becomes more terrible in combat. In the First Age, this led to rumours of their invincibility.
Feather's Unburning Flame</b>
<b>Cost: 1 mote Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 2 Min Essence: 1 Prereqs: None
The Garda may be ever-shrouded in flame, but this flame does harm to nothing without the Garda's wishes. Knowledge of this Charm allows a Garda Stylist to do bashing damage with lethal attacks and to reduce the damage on any of her attacks by up to her Martial Arts in successes after damage dice are rolled. This Charm is specifically compatible with Brawl and Melee attacks and may be placed into combos with both Brawl and Melee Charms.
Swift Strike of the Firebird</b>
<b>Cost: 2 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 2 Min Essence: 2 Prereqs: Feather's Unburning Flame
The Garda Bird has an uncanny lack of concern for its own safety in combat. Practioners of this style learn not to hesitate when attacking. Use of this Charm allows a character to add her Martial Arts rating to her Initiative provided that her first action is an unarmed martial art attack.
Shield of the Flaming Raptor</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: Instant Type: Reflexive Min. Martial Arts: 3 Min Essence: 2 Prereqs: Feather's Unburning Flame
One of the reasons that the Garda Bird can be so unconcerned with its own survival is that it is sheathed in protective flames. Using this charm adds a character's permanent Essence in difficulty to an attack upon the character, as her anima flares in a brilliant display.
If the attack fails, then the martial artist's Essence is treated as dice of damage to an unarmed attacker. If the attacker is armed, the martial artist's anima may damage the weapon. Roll the character's permanent Essence. One success will break a wooden weapon, three successes are enough to break a reinforced wooden weapon, and five successes will break a metal weapon. Exceptional weapons are at +1 difficulty to break, and perfect weapons are at +2 difficulty to break. Weapons that are unbroken may still be damaged and need repair. This effect is powerless against weapons made of adamant or one or more of the five magical materials.
Self-Sacrificing Strike </b>
<b>Cost: 2 motes Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Min. Martial Arts: 3 Min Essence: 2 Prereqs: Swift Strike of the Firebird, Shield of the Flaming Raptor
The Garda Bird tends to be unconcerned with its own safety, due to both its strong natural defenses and its effective immortality. Therefore, the elemental is known for its powerful attacks in which it ignores its own defense. This Charm brings the character's focus to bear on destroying his enemy while giving no thought to himself. This Charm must be activated before a character makes an unarmed attack. If the attack succeeds, the character adds his Permanent Essence in damage dice after soak is applied. This Charm cannot be comboed with reflexive dodges or parries, and a character cannot use split actions for defense in the same turn as this charm is used.
Garda Form</b>
<b>Cost: 5 motes Duration: One Scene Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Self-Sacrificing Strike
Even as it dies, the Garda Bird may slay its enemies. Each health level that the martial artist loses while this Charm is in effect adds one to both the character's accuracy and base damage with unarmed martial arts attacks for the remainder of the scene up to the character's full Dexterity + Martial Arts pool. In addition, any wound penalties suffered by the martial artist apply to attempts to attack the character by others. When this charm is in effect, the character's unarmed attacks do lethal damage and add the character's Martial Arts to Athletics for the purposes of leaping . The Exalted Shards of Celestial Exalts who are killed while using this form carry with them a larger portion of the Exalt's memory and personality than is typical (The Past Life Merit and Throwback Flaw are particularly suitable for those who inherit such shards). This charm is not compatible with armor. This is a form charm. Characters may only use one form charm at a time.
Fiery Union </b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes per Health Level sacrificed, 1 Willpower Duration: One Scene Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts: 5 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Garda Form
The Garda Birds do not reproduce, but may join together to form a new and more powerful entity. Garda stylists who invoke this charm add one to their effective Permanent Essence for each Health Level voluntarily sacrificed by an essence-using ally. If the ally is also a Garda stylist, that ally may add her entire Permanent Essence to the character for the cost of a single Health Level. The character must spend the motes for the number of Health Levels he wishes his allies to sacrifice. His allies then have the option of reflexively sacrificing as many or as few Health Levels as they wish. Motes spent in excess of the Health Levels sacrificed are wasted. Health Levels sacrificed in excess of those allowed by the motes spent are likewise wasted.
Blazing Empress Transformation </b>
<b>Cost: 3 motes per attack Duration: Instant Type: Extra Action Min. Martial Arts: 4 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Garda Form
The Martial Artist's eyes flash silver as she explodes into a burst of attacks. These attacks are all made at the character's full die pool, but they need not be directed at the same target. The character may make a total number of attacks up to her Permanent Essence.
Glorious Phoenix Stance </b>
<b>Cost:none Duration: Permanent Type: Special Min. Martial Arts:5 Min Essence: 4 Prereqs: Fiery Union, Blazing Empress Transformation
The Garda Bird, when pressed, may assume the form of the eight-armed Phoenix, a mighty, flaming bird-warrior armed with sword. Knowledge of this Charm allows the character to use swords with all Charms of this style as unarmed attacks. In addition, when dual-wielding swords as martial arts weapons, this Charm removes off-hand penalties for using two swords at once and allows the character to add the rates of the two swords together. Possession of this Charm allows a character to use Garda form in armor, provided that the armor has no mobility penalty.
Moment of Dying Renewal </b>
<b>Cost:10 motes, 1 willpower Duration: 5 turns Type: Simple Min. Martial Arts:5 Min Essence: 4 Prereqs: Fiery Union, Blazing Empress Transformation
The Garda Bird may sacrifice itself through immolation, often destroying its foes in the process, only to rise anew. This is a meditative dance-like kata that emulates the Garda's ultimate defense. It begins with an explosive blast of Essence that does the martial artist's dice in Permanent Essence of lethal damage that ignores armor to everyone within Essence yards of the martial artist, including the martial artist. The martial artist is unhindered by wound penalties provided that the dance goes uninterrupted. If the martial artist takes damage after the dance begins and fails a Willpower check (difficulty equal to the number of wound levels of damage taken), then the dance ends unsuccessfully. While the dance progresses, the martial artist gains a persistent reflexive dodge against all attacks equal to his Essence, but may undertake no other actions (including reflexive actions). Persistent effects put into place before the dance was begun still apply. Once the dance is completed, the martial artist automatically heals a number of wound levels equal to permanent essence + successes on a martial arts roll.
Many-Armed Phoenix Strike</b>
<b>Cost:10 motes, 1 willpower, 1 Health Level Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Min. Martial Arts:5 Min Essence: 4 Prereqs: Glorious Phoenix Stance, Moment of Dying Renewal
Like the eight-armed Great Garda itself, the character can launch a tremendous assault upon her opponents. A character may activate this Charm when she makes an attack. She makes a single attack roll which may be dodged or parried as if it were a normal attack. If the attack succeeds, it is as if the character had hit the target a number of times equal to her Essence. Successes on the attack roll and the target's soak apply to each of these virtual attacks individually.
comments
- Feather's Unburning Flame
- I would make this a permanent ability. It is certainly not useful enough to justify mote expenditure.
- Hmmm... that's a thought. I was toying with the idea of boosting its power somehow, but I think this is a better idea.
- Self-Sacrificing Strike
- While this idea is cool, I'm not so fond of the execution; what about exchanging defensive pool dice for a damage bonus? The Comboing and defensive splits restriction seems rather draconian, and results in odd circumstances.
- What sort of odd circumstances? I'm not averse to changing it a bit, but I'm not sure that I follow. I should also clarify that the "reflexive defenses" bit should only apply to dodges and parries, not soak boosters or weird things.
- Shield of the Flaming Raptor
- The flavor text of this Charm makes no sense when looked at in the context of the prior Charm.
- I don't know that it makes no sense, but your point is taken. Part of the concern is that I modelled this Charm as a parry, which was something that I found to be unsatisfying. Perhaps extra description would help... I see the action here as a parry/counterattack with the character's anima.
- The Form
- Is the wounds->bonuses bound by a cap? It probably should be.
- :errr... yeah. Attribute + Ability for the attack roll. I'm torn on whether the cap should be the same for damage or if there ought to be no cap for damage (it isn't as though there's no danger involved in raising the bonus).
- Fiery Union
- Needs more explanation of how these HLs are sacrificed--does the donor need to use an action for this, is it reflexive, what?
- Oops. Fixed. I think.
- Moment of Dying Renewal
- How can the kata be interrupted? How does it interact with reflexive and persistent actions?
- Again, oops... and, hopefully, fixed.
- Many-Armed Phoenix Strike
- Should this be Comboable with Extra Actions Charms? It seems weak on its own, but its Combo capability is astounding.
- Sure, it is comboable. Note that, as a supplemental Charm, you'll be shelling out the full price each time you use it in a combo.
- I need to give the rest of it a bit of thought. Thanks for the feedback.
- -Stuart
Updated a bunch of the charms. I decided to go with the addition of usefulness to Feather's Unburning Flame, since I already had a permanent charm in here. I changed Shield of the Flaming Raptor a bit as well (both in mechanics and in Charm order)... and cleaned up some other things. -S
