Hey folks, I'm posting a series of MA styles with various degrees of 'specialness'. I would appreciate your opinions on all of them.
Leviathan
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Charging Rhino Style:
Level - Celestial
Armor – none
Weapons – Fighting Gauntlets and their artifact counterparts.
Not many sights in nature can match the fearsome charge of an adult rhino, it's mass and single minded determination (Or madness) makes it unstoppable and every straight-thinking hunter will do his best to become hidden, or distant, or both.
Martial artists of this style pride themselves on their renowned determination to prevail at all costs and their fearsomeness in combat.
As persons, these artists are usually stubborn, conservative and relatively emotional.
Rhino's Righteous Anger:
Cost: 2 motes
Type: Reflexive
Duration: Instant
Minimum Essence: 1
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Prerequisite Charms: None
An angry rhino will never cower in the face of danger. By activating this charm, the character can re-roll a single valor check, even one caused by his foes' charms. The second roll always counts. This charm can only be used once per turn.
Blood-shot Eyed Determination:
Cost: 2 motes
Type: Reflexive
Duration: Turn
Minimum Essence: 2
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Prerequisite Charms: None
Once provoked, even pain and damage will not slow a rhino's charge. Ignore all wound penalties for the duration of the turn on which this charm is activated. This charm does not affect penalties caused by things other than damage, and does not work against charms that cause greater penalties.
Rapid Charge Technique:
Cost: 1 motes
Type: Reflexive
Duration: Turn
Minimum Essence: 1
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Prerequisite Charms: None
The speed of a rhino often amazes those who first witness it. In the turn when Rapid Charge technique is activated, the martial artist may move up to his full sprinting speed without losing his action for the turn. Of course, this charm can only be used to attack or otherwise advance towards an enemy, never to flee or even retreat momentarily.
Charging Rhino Form:
Cost: 5 motes
Type: Simple
Duration: Scene
Minimum Essence: 2
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Rapid Charge Technique, Blood-shot Eyed Determination, Rhino's Righteous Anger.
When a martial artist reaches this level of control, he truly internalizes the nature of the rhino in conflict – Unwavering, unstopping and destructive.
The martial artist inflicts lethal damage with his unarmed attacks as well as with weapons that usually cause bashing damage. This is not a choice and in order to pull the strike to bashing damage the martial artist must reduce his attack by 2 successes.
The Rhinos thick hide is also emulated in this form, and the martial artist gains his essence in Lethal soak, bashing soak and hardness.
All attempts to parry the artist's attacks are at a difficulty equal to his martial arts rating (dodges are unaffected). The martial artist can move his full sprinting distance without losing his action. The martial artist adds his essence in dice to all his parry rolls and subtracts his essence from all his dodge rolls when this form is active, this addition does not count towards the charm-dice maximum.
Finally, an artist cannot flee the battle while this form is active, nor can he become fearful and de-activate this form in order to flee without a temperance roll with a difficulty equal to half his essence, rounded down.
Resilient Rhino Hide:
Cost: 6 motes
Type: Simple
Duration: Scene
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Charging Rhino Form
A Rhino's hide can withstand great amounts of damage.
The martial artist's skin hardens and becomes rugged and thick.
For the duration of the scene, he can soak lethal damage with his bashing soak. Also, add his essence to his soaks.
Heavy Hide understanding:
Cost: none
Type: special
Duration: permanent
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Resilient Rhino Hide
The martial artist fully internalizes the rhino's sacrifice, losing his mobility and the ability to dodge his foes for greater protection.
He can use the charms of this style with armor.
While he is using armor, he cannot dodge an incoming attack, unless under the effects of charms that allow him to dodge without giving ground (Seven Shadow Evasion or Flow Like Blood).
Unstoppable Charge of the Rhino:
Cost: 3 Motes, 1 Willpower
Type: Simple
Duration: instant
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Charging Rhino Form
The artist kicks the ground and launches forward, like a rhino in his madness charging to tear his foes apart.
Attacks made with this charm are completely unblockable, and their amazing speed reduces the dodge pool of a foe by the artist's essence rating. Perfect parries like Heavenly Guardian Defense still work, as per the perfect charms rules.
Fearless Rhino Warrior:
Cost: 2 motes, 1 willpower
Type: Reflexive
Duration: instant
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Unstoppable Charge of the Rhino.
An artist in the height of the rhino style is completely fearless, nothing can make him cower. When activating this charm, an artist perfectly succeeds in a single valor check, even if it is generated by magical effects. This is a perfect effect.
Horn-Emulating Punch:
Cost: 1 motes
Type: Supplemental
Duration: Instant
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Charging Rhino Form
The artist channels essence through his form and his attacks strike with amazing power. The successes rolled on the attack roll are doubled for the purposes of calculating damage.
Thrusting Horn Understanding:
Cost: none
Type: special
Duration: permanent
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Horn-Emulating Punch.
A martial artist learns to emulate the devastation a rhino horn causes.
After learning this charm, the martial artist can freely wield short swords (Or their artifact counterparts) when using the charms of this style.
Insistent Aggressor Charge:
Cost: 4 motes, 1 willpower
Type: Extra-action
Duration: Instant
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Horn-Emulating Punch.
A rhino, when his foe still stands, will incessantly keep attacking, never dropping the charge. An artist using this charm moves faster than any human can, charging, spinning around and charging again. The artist can make his essence rating in extra attacks. (Note that all extra actions must be used as attacks.) The artist may not split his dice-pool in a turn they use Insistent Aggressor Charge.
Perfection of the Charging Rhino:
Cost: 6 motes, 1 willpower
Type: Reflexive
Duration: Scene
Minimum Essence: 4
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Insistent Aggressor Charge, Thrusting Horn Understanding, Fearless Rhino Warrior, Heavy Hide understanding.
At the peak of the Charging Rhino Style the artist becomes like a rhino in all things, a true force of nature. Unable to feel fear, the artist automatically succeeds in all valor checks during the scene. Also, emulating the rhino's ability to swing obstacles aside with his horn, an artist using this charm can reflexively parry all attacks against his person, he must be able to perceive the attacks in question and he must attack at least once in a turn to activate this effect.
Opponents who are parried in this fashion are thrown back the character's martial arts in yards and must roll Wits+Athletics at diff 2 to remain upright.
Finally, the artist ignores all damage penalties during the scene in which this charm is active.
The form charm must be active in order to activate Perfection of the Charging Rhino.
Leviathan
--------
Charging Rhino Style:
Level - Celestial
Armor – none
Weapons – Fighting Gauntlets and their artifact counterparts.
Not many sights in nature can match the fearsome charge of an adult rhino, it's mass and single minded determination (Or madness) makes it unstoppable and every straight-thinking hunter will do his best to become hidden, or distant, or both.
Martial artists of this style pride themselves on their renowned determination to prevail at all costs and their fearsomeness in combat.
As persons, these artists are usually stubborn, conservative and relatively emotional.
Rhino's Righteous Anger:
Cost: 2 motes
Type: Reflexive
Duration: Instant
Minimum Essence: 1
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Prerequisite Charms: None
An angry rhino will never cower in the face of danger. By activating this charm, the character can re-roll a single valor check, even one caused by his foes' charms. The second roll always counts. This charm can only be used once per turn.
Blood-shot Eyed Determination:
Cost: 2 motes
Type: Reflexive
Duration: Turn
Minimum Essence: 2
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Prerequisite Charms: None
Once provoked, even pain and damage will not slow a rhino's charge. Ignore all wound penalties for the duration of the turn on which this charm is activated. This charm does not affect penalties caused by things other than damage, and does not work against charms that cause greater penalties.
Rapid Charge Technique:
Cost: 1 motes
Type: Reflexive
Duration: Turn
Minimum Essence: 1
Minimum Martial Arts: 3
Prerequisite Charms: None
The speed of a rhino often amazes those who first witness it. In the turn when Rapid Charge technique is activated, the martial artist may move up to his full sprinting speed without losing his action for the turn. Of course, this charm can only be used to attack or otherwise advance towards an enemy, never to flee or even retreat momentarily.
Charging Rhino Form:
Cost: 5 motes
Type: Simple
Duration: Scene
Minimum Essence: 2
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Rapid Charge Technique, Blood-shot Eyed Determination, Rhino's Righteous Anger.
When a martial artist reaches this level of control, he truly internalizes the nature of the rhino in conflict – Unwavering, unstopping and destructive.
The martial artist inflicts lethal damage with his unarmed attacks as well as with weapons that usually cause bashing damage. This is not a choice and in order to pull the strike to bashing damage the martial artist must reduce his attack by 2 successes.
The Rhinos thick hide is also emulated in this form, and the martial artist gains his essence in Lethal soak, bashing soak and hardness.
All attempts to parry the artist's attacks are at a difficulty equal to his martial arts rating (dodges are unaffected). The martial artist can move his full sprinting distance without losing his action. The martial artist adds his essence in dice to all his parry rolls and subtracts his essence from all his dodge rolls when this form is active, this addition does not count towards the charm-dice maximum.
Finally, an artist cannot flee the battle while this form is active, nor can he become fearful and de-activate this form in order to flee without a temperance roll with a difficulty equal to half his essence, rounded down.
Resilient Rhino Hide:
Cost: 6 motes
Type: Simple
Duration: Scene
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Charging Rhino Form
A Rhino's hide can withstand great amounts of damage.
The martial artist's skin hardens and becomes rugged and thick.
For the duration of the scene, he can soak lethal damage with his bashing soak. Also, add his essence to his soaks.
Heavy Hide understanding:
Cost: none
Type: special
Duration: permanent
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Resilient Rhino Hide
The martial artist fully internalizes the rhino's sacrifice, losing his mobility and the ability to dodge his foes for greater protection.
He can use the charms of this style with armor.
While he is using armor, he cannot dodge an incoming attack, unless under the effects of charms that allow him to dodge without giving ground (Seven Shadow Evasion or Flow Like Blood).
Unstoppable Charge of the Rhino:
Cost: 3 Motes, 1 Willpower
Type: Simple
Duration: instant
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Charging Rhino Form
The artist kicks the ground and launches forward, like a rhino in his madness charging to tear his foes apart.
Attacks made with this charm are completely unblockable, and their amazing speed reduces the dodge pool of a foe by the artist's essence rating. Perfect parries like Heavenly Guardian Defense still work, as per the perfect charms rules.
Fearless Rhino Warrior:
Cost: 2 motes, 1 willpower
Type: Reflexive
Duration: instant
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Unstoppable Charge of the Rhino.
An artist in the height of the rhino style is completely fearless, nothing can make him cower. When activating this charm, an artist perfectly succeeds in a single valor check, even if it is generated by magical effects. This is a perfect effect.
Horn-Emulating Punch:
Cost: 1 motes
Type: Supplemental
Duration: Instant
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Charging Rhino Form
The artist channels essence through his form and his attacks strike with amazing power. The successes rolled on the attack roll are doubled for the purposes of calculating damage.
Thrusting Horn Understanding:
Cost: none
Type: special
Duration: permanent
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Horn-Emulating Punch.
A martial artist learns to emulate the devastation a rhino horn causes.
After learning this charm, the martial artist can freely wield short swords (Or their artifact counterparts) when using the charms of this style.
Insistent Aggressor Charge:
Cost: 4 motes, 1 willpower
Type: Extra-action
Duration: Instant
Minimum Essence: 3
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Horn-Emulating Punch.
A rhino, when his foe still stands, will incessantly keep attacking, never dropping the charge. An artist using this charm moves faster than any human can, charging, spinning around and charging again. The artist can make his essence rating in extra attacks. (Note that all extra actions must be used as attacks.) The artist may not split his dice-pool in a turn they use Insistent Aggressor Charge.
Perfection of the Charging Rhino:
Cost: 6 motes, 1 willpower
Type: Reflexive
Duration: Scene
Minimum Essence: 4
Minimum Martial Arts: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Insistent Aggressor Charge, Thrusting Horn Understanding, Fearless Rhino Warrior, Heavy Hide understanding.
At the peak of the Charging Rhino Style the artist becomes like a rhino in all things, a true force of nature. Unable to feel fear, the artist automatically succeeds in all valor checks during the scene. Also, emulating the rhino's ability to swing obstacles aside with his horn, an artist using this charm can reflexively parry all attacks against his person, he must be able to perceive the attacks in question and he must attack at least once in a turn to activate this effect.
Opponents who are parried in this fashion are thrown back the character's martial arts in yards and must roll Wits+Athletics at diff 2 to remain upright.
Finally, the artist ignores all damage penalties during the scene in which this charm is active.
The form charm must be active in order to activate Perfection of the Charging Rhino.
