TheHoverpope/HeavensExhalation
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The Exhalations of Heaven Form
The exhalations of the heavens take many forms, and their only constant is change. The martial artist learning this tree learns to move as the external breath of heaven, the winds, and learns how to affect the internal breath of heaven, the flows of essence inside a body. Martial artists in this style make long, fluid motions that appear to be moving slowly, even when with breathtaking speed, and strike with incredible deftness and precision at their targets. Armor is incompatible with every charm on the tree farther than the form charm, and the in form weapons are acupuncture needles – by default, treat these as weapons with -3 speed, +2 to accuracy, +0 damage, rate 3, and resource 1.
As for power: I think this is a powerful tree, with drawbacks. It sort of needs three abilities to function fully (martial arts, dodge, medicine), its in-form weapon is weak and won't do damage, and the costs are high. So I think it is pretty balanced. Mostly.
Dragon's Cold Kiss
Cost: 2 motes Duration: instant Type: supplemental Min. martial arts: 2 Min Essence: 1 Prereqs: none
The martial artist strikes, and nothing is felt. The target thinks that they have dodged or parried the attack without difficulty, and yet they have been marked. If the martial artist is unarmed, their attack's damage is not noticed without a difficulty 2 perception + awareness check, and the target will not take it into account as to how hurt they are, although wound penalties can still clue them in to their injuries. If the martial artist is using needles, they leave one in the target – blood wells up behind it, and it changes their flow of essence. The target will take one die of lethal damage per turn until the needle is removed, which takes a single success on a dexterity + medicine check. However, the strike cleverly avoids nerves – it is a difficulty 3 perception + awareness check to know that one has been struck, and the needle's damage is likewise not noticeable. The awareness check may be made when the needle is inserted and every time it deals damage. If there is more than one stuck in a target, noticing one is enough to clue you into the location of others, but each requires an action to remove. The exalt can find their essence in suitable locations to strike with this attack on a target.
The Wind Blows Harsh
Cost: 2 motes Duration: instant Type: supplemental Min. martial arts: 2 Min Essence: 1 Prereqs: Dragon's Cold Kiss
The martial artist moves like the wind, darting in and lashing out at the hands of their enemies, striking the points that will cause their muscles to go limp and numb. This charm supplements a disarm attempt; their disarm attempt has no difficulty penalty, does damage as per a normal attack, and the defender is at an additional difficulty penalty to keep hold of their weapon equal to the successes on the damage roll.
Unbalancing Gust Response
Cost: 2 motes Duration: instant Type: reflexive Min. martial arts: 2 Min Essence: 1 Prereqs: The Wind Blows Harsh
The martial artist knows where people expect him to be – and how to use this to his advantage. With confusing movements, trips and flittering dodges, the martial artist throws their opponent off balance. This charm may be activated after a successful dodge, and applies a die penalty of the martial artist's essence to their opponents next combat or athletics action this turn, including potential counterattacks that take place after an attack.
Understand the Flow
Cost: 3 motes Duration: instant Type: reflexive Min. martial arts: 3 Min Essence: 2 Prereqs: Unbalancing Gust Response
The exalt is aware of how the flows of combat affect them, is conscious of the world around them at all times. They may channel this into a moment of preternatural movement, avoiding anything from contacting them and keeping themselves inviolate. The exalt gains a dodge action, with their essence in dice. This is before the power combat addition of essence in dice applies. This can grant them a pool out of nothing. If they are attacked while unawares by a living thing, spirit, or demon, they may make a wits roll at a difficulty of the attacker's essence to activate this charm. If they fail, they are still surprised and the charm does not activate.
The Exhalations of Heaven Form
Cost: 6 motes Duration: instant Type: supplemental Min. martial arts: 3 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Understand the Flow
The first principle of infection is the urge to survive. The exalt is aware of the myriad flows of combat, of the ebb and flow of the air around them, and by sinking into a martial arts pose allows this knowledge to reflexively affect their movements. They attempt to remain inviolate, allowing only the air to touch them.
The exalt receives their martial arts in automatic successes to any dodge attempt. This does not grant a dodge action if they do not have one accessible.
Vengeful Thoughts Enacted
Cost: 6 motes Duration: instant Type: reflexive Min. martial arts: 4 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Exhalations of Heaven Form
The second principle of infection is the twisted motive. The martial artist dances about a battle like a the wind; and yet the wind can bite cruelly when it needs. Usable only after a successful dodge, the martial artist makes a counterattack, adding extra successes on the dodge as dice to their attack roll.
The inhibition of Life's Burdens
Cost: 4 motes Duration: instant Type: supplemental Min. martial arts: 4 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Vengeful Thoughts Enacted
The third principle of infection is the bodily rumor. The martial artist knows the extreme balance with which the body functions. And with this knowledge, they are able to cripple those functions with well placed blows. This charm supplements a martial arts attack. In the attack is truly unarmed, it adds essence in damage dice to the roll. If, however, the martial artist is armed with needles, it's potency is revealed. The martial artist sinks needles into the vital pressure points of their target, and needles of essence form as they are pulled free. The target's body is weighted by fatigue, every movement and thought more strenuous than the last. Every level of damage inflicted is instead changed to a cumulative -1 penalty to all actions, to a maximum penalty of the martial artist's essence + medicine. These penalties are treated as if caused by failed fatigue checks, as the precise strikes of the martial artist cause energy to hemorrhage from the victim.
Steel Realigns the Heaven's Breath
Cost: none Duration: Permanent Type: Special Min. martial arts: 4 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: The Inhibition of Life's Burdens
It is with the only with the most internalized and perfected knowledge of their art that the martial artist may learn this charm, the pinnacle of martial perfection in this style. Once the exalt has learned this, they have truly mastered the art of fighting in the Heaven's Breath style. They may make martial arts attacks using the form weapon at range, with identical stats and a range increment of twenty yards. It is now possible to channel medicine charms through this style's martial arts attacks, and to combo them with charms of this tree. Attacks made with needles become piercing, although this is unlikely to have any effect against any but the most lightly armoured foes.
Steel Realigns The Self
Cost: 7 motes, 1 lethal health level Duration: one hour Type: simple Min. martial arts: 5 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Steel Realigns the Heaven's Breath
By knowledge of essence flows and how they interact with the body, the exalt may make their own essence flow yet more efficiently. The exalt places a needle in his left shoulder, and this speeds the flow of essence to his heart. He places a needle in his right shoulder, and this frees the flow of essence to his lungs. He places a needle at the base of his neck, and this enlarges the flow of essence to his brain. He slides a needle into the base of his spine, and this invigorates the essence flow to his legs. The exalt reduces the cost of all charms in this martial arts tree with the exception of this one as well as medicine charms by two motes and dodge charms by one mote, to a minimum of 0. This requires an intimate knowledge of personal essence flows to do properly, and cannot be performed on another person without access to perfect essence sight. This procedure requires a minute of concentration and the damage dealt cannot be healed until the charm is released. It requires acupuncture needles to be performed; attempting to do so without will raise the damage dealt to two. This charm will lower the cost of scenelength charms being activated, but will not lower the committed essence of extant charms. This charm cannot be stacked with itself.
Wit-Bending Strike
Cost: 2 motes + Duration: instant Type: supplemental Min. martial arts: 5 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: The Inhibition of Life's Burdens
The fourth principle of infection is the waking lie. The martial artist knows that the flows of the body are intricately connected to the soul and the mind which wield it. By altering the way that the essence of the body works, they may alter the way that the soul functions. On a successful strike, the martial artist may raise or lower one of their victim's virtues of their choice by one dot up to their essence in times, at a cost of two motes plus one mote per dot altered. This may be done repeatedly, but cannot lower a virtue below 0 or raise it above 6. This lasts until the end of the scene.
The First Touch of Insidious Terrors
Cost: 7 motes Duration: instant Type: supplemental Min. martial arts: 5 Min Essence: 3 Prereqs: Wit-Bending Strike
The fifth principle of infection is the entrapment of the walking man. With this, the martial artist understands the first five principles of infection, and with them is able to inflict a disease that corrupts from within the soul of the infected being. This is an infectious unarmed martial arts attack, inflicting the first circle disease, Flowing Soul Syndrome, difficulty to treat 3, magical treatment difficulty 1. This disease can rarely be found in nature, usually caused by staring at a thousand things of beauty in quick succession. The disease has differing effects, depending on what the target's highest virtue is.
If the target's lowest virtue is compassion, raise their difficulty to strike another by their compassion. Their upper chest will glow blue, with a radiant corona.
If the target's lowest virtue is conviction, raise their difficulty to resist following orders by their conviction. Their stomach will gain a purple corona.
If the target's lowest virtue is temperance, they are at a die pool penalty equal to their temperance to all actions other than meditation. Their head gains a white corona.
If the target's lowest virtue is valour, raise the difficulty for them to take any non-combat action – including stopping fighting, a willpower roll - by their valour. Their groin gains a red corona.
If multiple virtues are tied for lowest, they suffer all of those effects. If one of their virtues is raised so it is no longer lowest, they still suffer from that virtue's effects, as well as the new lowest. In addition, any change in the virtue's value is immediately reflected in the penalty.
Heaven's Breath Tainted Cruelly
Cost: 12 motes, 1 willpower Duration: instant Type: simple Min. martial arts: 5 Min Essence: 4 Prereqs: Steel Realigns the Self, The First Touch of Insidious Horrors
The practitioner of this form knows full well the power of the alteration of essence flows, and is more than conscious of the delicate ways that they may be changed to help or to hurt. Using this charm is a martial arts attack, unarmed and using the standard pool; on success, it will inflict a first circle spiritual disease on a target. This functions identically to Essence Disrupting Infectious Atemi, except that the difficulty to devise a new disease is increased by 2, as well as the change in type.
The default disease carried by this charm, and the one learned with it automatically, is the Illness of the Graceless Willow. This disease has a difficulty to treat of 6, and a magical treatment difficulty of 3. The victim's strength and appearance are reduced by two, and their limbs grow incredibly thin and many times their usual length. If this lowers their strength to 0 or lower, they are unable to move. Their long, bizarre limbs allow them to move at one and a half times their usual rate, and make melee range attacks at a ten yard distance. They will have immense difficulty entering any confined space.
This disease rarely occurs naturally, and is caused by a habit of being a callous lover.
