MartialArts/ThousandWoundsGearStyle

Thousand Wounds Gear Style

http://www.voidstate.com/perm/tree_thousandwoundsgear.jpg

Thousand Wounds Gear Style is compatible with armor, though adherents prefer to wear light, unhindering armor, when armored at all. For the purposes of charms in this style, the martial artist treats attacks made with gyro chakrams and razor gears (their mundane equivalent) as unarmed attacks. When used with these weapons, an Alchemical Exalted may add 1 to the rate of each weapon. This is a Celestial-level Martial Art.

Razor Soul Understanding
Cost:        None
Type:        Permanent
Duration:    Permanent
Minimum MA:  2
Minimum Ess: 1
Prereqs:     None

The first step to mastering one's weapons is to realize that there is no difference between oneself and the weapon. They are the same, and the same elements resonate through both. Upon achieving this mastery, the martial artist may control his weapon with but a thought: it responds as easily as his own limbs. The martial artist may reflexively draw or sheath a form weapon with each hand for the expenditure of a single mote of Essence. This does not count as a Charm use. Learning to think of oneself as no different from the tools one uses is a de-humanizing process. Martial artists who learn this Charm gain a single point of permanent Clarity. This, other than odd machine dreams, is unlikely to have an effect unless the martial artist bears Alchemical Charms.

Cutting Shield Technique
Cost:        4 motes
Type:        Reflexive
Duration:    One scene
Minimum MA:  2
Minimum Ess: 2
Prereqs:     Razor Soul Undersanding

The adept of the Thousand Wounds Gear learns to defend himself actively, not passively, with Essence guiding him. He strikes toward projected attack paths, forcing his opponent to divert. The martial artist may parry lethal damage unarmed. In addition, if he is armed with a form weapon, treat him as if bearing a target shield (or a thunderbolt shield, if he uses an artifact form weapon).

Gnashing Gear Teeth
Cost:        2 motes
Type:        Supplemental
Duration:    Instant
Minimum MA:  3
Minimum Ess: 2
Prereqs:     Razor Soul Undersanding

One of the most terrifying things that can happen to an Autochthonian is to be caught between the teeth of a pair of gears. The damage is tremendous, and the trauma of the gears' teeth is brutal. The martial artist leans to channel this terrible destruction, as she brings her off hand into an attack on the opposite side from her primary attack. To the target, caught between the two, the damage is similarly brutal. Add half the damage bonus of the off-hand weapon to the base damage of this attack (including Strength). If the martial artist is unarmed, add half her Strength score to base damage, but the attack does lethal damage. This attack may be used as a ranged attack, in which case it uses two thrown weapons (but only one rate).

Thousand Wounds Gear Form
Cost:        6 motes
Type:        Simple
Duration:    One scene
Minimum MA:  3
Minimum Ess: 3
Prereqs:     Gnashing Gear Teeth, Cutting Shield Technique

The Exalt assumes the Thousand Wounds Gear Form, his motions echoing those of a spinning gear. He lashes out with arcs of perfect, efficient motion from a motionless core, whirling to meet any attack. He meets each non-ranged attack against him with a reflexive counterattack, using only his Dexterity. This follows all the normal rules for counterattacks. In addition, as he whirls and spins, he can respond to an attack from behind as easily as to one from in front, and attacks from behind him gain no special benefit. This is a Form-type Charm and immediately ends if the martial artist invokes another Form-type Charm.

Many Wound Meditation
Cost:        6 motes
Type:        Simple
Duration:    One minute
Minimum MA:  4
Minimum Ess: 3
Prereqs:     Thousand Wounds Gear Form

Over the course of a minute, the weapons or hands of the martial artist begin to whir and click softly, before dropping to silence. Each weapon (or hand, if unarmed) is imbued with the martial artist's willingness to wound and to kill, his lethality of the moment focused on the foe of the future; only weapons held in the martial artist's hands are so affected, and he cannot hold more than one weapon in each hand during this meditation. Even the lightest touch from a hand or weapon thus empowered is considered a lethal Martial Arts attack, and the martial artist cannot pull his blows. The weapon (or hand) adds the martial artist's Martial Arts score to its accuracy, and his permanent Essence to its damage bonus. This increased lethality is lost after the first successful attack (regardless of whether it does damage), or if the weapon leaves the martial artist's hand for more than a minute; other affected weapons or hands remain charged. The martial artist may also activate this Charm again to remove the effects, a process sometimes known as "unwinding."

Many-Toothed Maw
Cost:        5 motes
Type:        Supplemental
Duration:    Instant
Minimum MA:  4
Minimum Ess: 3
Prereqs:     Many Wounds Meditation

The many teeth of a gear not only destroy what gets in their way, but pull the victim further in, causing even more damage. The martial artist may do the same. If an attack supplemented by this Charm does damage, count the number of health levels inflicted (after they are rolled). The victim suffers that many dice of additional unsoakable aggravated damage.

Razor Soul Wisdom
Cost:        None
Duration:    Permanent
Minimum MA:  4
Minimum Ess: 3
Prereqs:     Thousand Wounds Gear Form

The martial artist's affinity with the deadly tools of his trade increases, as he becomes a tool of death himself. If the martial artist currently has a gyro chakram in the air, he may reflexively spend 1 mote to treat a single attack or parry action as if he were holding the chakram. He may also reflexively, at no cost, direct a gyro chakram in the air to attack a different target on its next action. Each of these effects may be used once per chakram per turn. When using non-artifact form weapons or barehanded, this deadly affinity results in +2 accuracy, but no other effects. Martial artists who learn this Charm gain a single point of permanent Clarity. This, other than odd machine dreams, is unlikely to have an effect unless the martial artist bears Alchemical Charms.

Two Gears as One
Cost:        4 motes, 1 Willpower
Type:        Supplemental
Duration:    Instant
Minimum MA:  5
Minimum Ess: 3
Prereqs:     Razor Soul Wisdom

One of the first lessons any member of the Populat learns is that many hands working on the same task are far more effective than several separate efforts. The martial artist attacks with perfect harmony, the twin attacks meshing like gears to complement each other. As a single action, he attacks the same target twice (using the same multiple-action penalty, if any, for both attacks, and counting twice against the weapon's rate). If the target dodges the first of these attacks (successfully or not), the second attack becomes undodgeable; an attempt to parry the first attack makes the second attack unblockable. A single perfect defense negates both attacks, but any other Charm can only defend against one of the two attacks per use. This offensive requires two weapons when made at range, but can be carried out hand-to-hand with only one.

Spinning Cog Defense
Cost:        4 motes
Type:        Reflexive
Duration:    Instant
Minimum MA:  4
Minimum Ess: 3
Prereqs:     Thousand Wounds Gear Form

A well-made gear, no matter how far it turns or which way it faces, always has a tooth at the ready. For the martial artist who has mastered this Charm, the same can be said. He gains a full parry action, which starts at his full dice pool (and is independent of any non-parry actions taken during the round). This charm may be invoked again to refresh the pool for this parry. These parries do not count against the rate of the weapon.

Industrial Recyling Method
Cost:        3 motes, 1 Willpower
Type:        Reflexive
Duration:    Instant
Minimum MA:  4
Minimum Ess: 3
Prereqs:     Spinning Cog Defense

Even parts made of imperishable materials wear out, and eventually meet their end crushed between massive gears and rollers, recycled into new shapes. The martial artist channels this inevitable crushing power into her parry. She brings two weapons (or both hands) together. If she successfully parries, she has trapped the weapon; her player may roll Martial Arts + the artifact rating of her weapon (or +1, when armed with normal weapons; if different bonuses would apply for each hand, use the lesser of the two). The difficulty is 1 for normal weapons, 3 for exceptional or enchanted weapons, or 5 for artifacts. If this roll succeeds, the attacker's weapon is broken. In order to use this against an artifact, an additional point of temporary Willpower must be spent, and the artifact is not broken, but rendered useless until the end of the scene. Even if the weapon remains unbroken, the spinning teeth of the gears or the nimble hands of the martial artist may yet disarm the foe. Unless the target succeeds at a Wits + (relevant combat Ability) roll at a difficulty equal to the martial artist's permanent Essence, the weapon is snatched and thrown (martial artist's Essence) × 10 yards in a random direction. This Charm augments a parry, and does not provide one.

Thousand Razors Prana
Cost:        7 motes, 1 Willpower
Type:        Simple
Duration:    One scene
Minimum MA:  5
Minimum Ess: 4
Prereqs:     Many-Toothed Maw, Two Gears as One, Industrial Recycling Method

A master of the Thousand Wounds Gear Style moves with fluid and deadly accuracy, a whirlwind of death, a clockwork killer of the finest order, brutally efficient in his movements, reacting with superhuman speed. Add his permanent Essence to the rate of any weapon he wields. Subtract his permanent Essence from all multiple action penalties. No more than a single non-combat action may benefit from this. (For example, this ability does not allow the martial artist to defuse a bomb any faster, though it does allow him to defuse a bomb as normal while effortlessly attacking and parrying.) In addition, the martial artist may counter any ranged attacks against him with a ranged counter-attack using only his Dexterity. This Charm gives the martial artist a point of temporary Clarity each time it is activated.

Comments

Three Themes: Efficiency, Maiming, Defense

Made a few spelling/wording corrections. I like the preform charms, and they all seem reasonable in terms of balance. Perhaps the form should be MA 4? since I think most CMA forms are 4 or 5... The postform ideas also seem pretty sound and I'll comment more when they get some mechanices - Kraken

Form charm seems fine at Ess 3 to me... a dex-only counter isn't brilliant you know. It scythes through mortals... but most exalts will shrug it off, and anyone with a persistant defence up will basically ignore it. (Note to DeathBySurfeit - can Seiyuri learn this at some point? It seems so... appropriate ^_^)
-- Darloth

Efficiency Branch Up. Began Defensive branch, though I'll have to wait until I get home and get to my books for the mechanics on the weaponbreaker. Still pondering something sufficiently evil for the 'maiming' aspect of this MA. - Scrollreader

Neat. I'd look at the CB:Dawn Thrown charms for inspiration, perhapts a version that creates a Essence copy of the weapon, that flys around harrying an opponet, giving penalties. Possible a thrown counterattack(vs ranged attackers) would be cool. - FlowsLikeBits

Added a second clarity charm, also permanant. Moved MWM to wounding, where it fit better. Finished the mechanics on the second parry charm. Fleshed out the pinnacle a bit. Also, a weapon style bonus added. Feedback! -Scrollreader

I just wanted to point out that a Dex only counter can be extremely good for alchemicals. That could, with a starting character be a 12 dice counter. That's maxed out though and I don't think it is really broken. It is fairly effective though. Jaelra

Yep. And that's why it's just about the only bennie in the form. It also, oddly enough, works really well with Lunars, who can get 12+ dex in DBT as a starting char, too. Another advantage for alchies with this form, much like DB free reflexives and the immaculate MA. Still, I think there's potential here for non alchies, if they want it. - Scrollreader

This is cool stuff. - willows

Heartily seconded. - Hulen

One thematic question: how exactly does one ruin an artifact until the end of the scene? I mean, moonsilver daiklaves grow back, I can accept that, but orichalcum? Jade? I understand that you're trying to give the charm an effect against artifact weapons, since after a certain point most foes worth bothering with will have magical material weapons, but it's kind of strange. How does this work? - Seraph

Tentative guess - the weapon's god, being more powerful than normal due to being the god of a great weapon of might and power, wielded by a powerful being, gets to work fixing it between scenes. Or, for soulsteel, the tortured soul grows back. Note that I'm guessing here. - Hulen

I think there is a canon Charm or two with this effect; it might be a fan mechanic but it seems prevalent enough to be canon. Say it knocks the flow of Essence out of whack or something, thus disturbing the balance of attuned motes and making the weapon more unwieldly. No breaking involved; one of the few things harder than damaging a Magical Material is repairing it. _Wohksworth

Fixed some spelling errors, and generally tightened up the language a little, in preparation for the pdf. Also addressed the issue Seraph brought up. Thanks to everybody who voted fr this, and for the other fine MA for the PDF. I was suprised to see how popular this was! - ScrollreaderWho wants to know if he missed anything else, before this goes to press.

I like this a lot. Definitely stealing it. I have one question, though: Is it really necessary to give Alchemicals who max out on this style +2 permanent Clarity? That's a lot, and it seems balanced without that penalty. Or did you just mean non-Alchemical Exalts? And what about non-Exalts who, through some über-madness, manage to achieve the Bulb of the Perfected Lotus? Do they also gain Clarity? --MF

Yeah, it's meant for /anyone/ to gain clarity. Partially this is to offset the effect of some of the permanant effects that let you spend essence and not have it count as a charm. Partially this is because it's 11 charms in depth, and it's pretty potent at what it does. And partially it fits the flavor. many alchemical MA would certainly not have clarity. Like the animal styles, or the like. But this style is all about making you into a 'clockwork killer' which is in the alchemicals book, a term associated with high clarity. You can take this style, and still be normal, though. 2 pts of clarity is not enough to impose any penalties, on it's own, so all you need to worry about is being nice to people for a scene after you use the pinnacle charm. Of course, if you have this style, and tentacles, and crab legs, then yeah, you'll bite some clarity. But then, if you're going that inhuman, well, you're going to get it anyway. - Scrollreader - Who finds the ideal of a Sidereal Sifu with clarity to be amusing, and entirely fitting

Okay, I see your point on the Clarity issue. More questions:

• Does the reflexive counterattack from Thousand Wounds Gear Form apply only to Melee attacks (in which case Melee should be capitalized), or to all hand-to-hand (i.e., non-ranged) attacks?
  • All non-ranged
• On Many Wounds Meditation, does the bonus apply only once per invocation, or once per hand? That is, after the Charm user makes an attack with one hand, does his other hand still have a supercharged attack ready? And what if he has a bandolier of a half-dozen gyro chakrams?
  • Each hand. As he has to hold the weapon to imbue it, this means a limit of 1 gyrochakram per hand. Possibly more than two, for alchemicals or lunars
• Why is the damage inflicted by Many-Toothed Maw unsoakable? That's, I mean, wow--especially for a 4/3 Charm. Maybe the minimum damage rule is enough? Especially in Power Combat.
  • I can't see a situation is which this is even as issue. As it counts only damage /sucesses/ and then rolls them for damage. In order to require more than the minimum damage rule, you could have to have more than 12L after soak to roll, in order to beat 3 level of damage.
• Do the two attacks from Two Gears as One have to be against the same target? Why do they count twice against Rate for ranged attacks, but only once for hand-to-hand attacks? Does the defense against the first attack have to succeed in order to empower the second attack, or does even an attempt to dodge (for example) make the other attack undodgeable? Why is it especially weak against perfect defenses--or did you mean "defenses that trump applicability"?
  • It should take two rate for either type of attack. But it /is/ still a single (if complex) attack, so a single perfect defense would negate it. And no, you don't have to suceed, the attempt is enough.
• Why do normal weapons give +1 instead of +0 on the roll for Industrial Recycling Method?
  • Because +0 is reserved for barehandedness. -- Scrollreader

Also, I applied my l33t m4d copy-editing s|<illz. --MF

Applied l33t m4d copy-editing s|<illz again to integrate Scrollreader's responses to my last set of questions into the main text.

• You still haven't clarified whether Two Gears as One affects only a single target, or can be split between two targets. ( would guess the former, but why guess when I can ask?)
  • Single target. Otherwise it'd be entirely too mean. I throw an attack at you, and if you dodge, your buddy cannot! Mwahahahaha! (I think I'll save that kind of villany for SMA)
• What happens if someone uses Industrial Recycling Method with a weapon in one hand, and the other empty? Best bonus? Worst? Average rounding down (or up)?
  • Worst. The rules might not support it, but damn it, there should be some benefits to dual wielding. Besides, with the Razor Soul charms, you only have yourself to blame, if you can't get your hands on two weapons.

You know I'm only asking all these questions because I love this style and want to use it in my game, right?--MF

• • So you say. So you say ... ScrollreaderWho likes feedback, honest

Edited text to reflect Scrollreader's responses to my last batch of questions. No more questions come to mind right now, so I'm going to go stat out a Moonsilver Caste kung-fu commando or two...yay! --MF

Stametal is better than your silly moonsilver. -- Scrollreader

I have copied the text as it stands now for the MA PDF. Email me if there are any more changes, OK? - Voidstate

Fantastic style, well done! Just got a couple of queries: 1) How come this style, unlike most other celestial level styles, is compatable with armour? 2) Are Razor Gears simply another name for Chakrams, or are they a weapon of your making? If so, any chance of stats? 3) It states in Many Wound Meditation that "the martial artist may also activate this Charm again to remove the effects, a process known as 'unwinding'." Does this mean spending 6 motes to do so? Erm, think that's it, Cheers ~FornClakes.

I believe that Razor Gears is meant in reference to the Gyroscopic Chakrams listed in the Alchies book pg 189. I could be wrong though. / Also, Voidstate? can I get a copy of that pdf? or you could just post it up on your site, which ever is easier. Oh and while I have your attention.. Alchie sheets would just be excellent. :D - Griffon

I think you're looking for the 25 Lotus Petals document, which is on Voidstate's website. It's a list of 25 Wiki-made MA's, all compiled to make your ST cry. - GregLink ( http://www.voidstate.com/rpg/25LotusPetals-ExaltedWikiMartialArtsV1-2.pdf )

Nope, that one has the old MA styles, I was speaking to this one, Thousand Wounds Gear Style, which wasnt included, as it's too new for that file. Unless I'm mistaken and Voidstate has updated it... which he has so I'm a flamin' idiot.. doh! I'll shut up now.. - Griffon

Razor gears are simply the non-artifact versions of gyroscopic chakrams. They use the stats for windfire wheels in hth, and chakrams when thrown. It's compatible with armor, because it's designed that way. Much like the five immaculate styles. And it really fits the alchemical vibe. none the less, I don't see a practictioner in very heavy armor, as it's such a fluid, moving style. And yes, it costs mosts to unwind. Once you use MWM, you've turned your lightest touch into a lethal attack. Without essence, you're likely to break doors and people you touch. - Scrollreader