Lix Lorn
2011-06-04, 03:35 PM
Mortal Hero Style
Every form of Exalted has its hero style-the natural expression of its essence, as applied to unarmed combat. But it isn't only Exalted that have essence, nor only Exalted that fight.
With intense training, mortals can awaken the power to control their own essence. And with equally intense training, they can learn to perform the supernatural martial arts, the root of the perfected lotus.Those that can do both, but are untrained in any form school of art, and try to utilise their essence regardless, find themselves using unique techniques: Mortal Hero Style.
Mortal Hero Style is a Terrestrial Martial Art, not aligned to any element. It is utterly natural to mortal humans (1), and beings that once were them (2), and they are capable of developing new charms for it. (3)
Mortals need every advantage they can muster. As such, Mortal Hero Style is compatible with all armour, as well as any one weapon, depending on stylist.
The cap for dice added through charms for a mortal is equal to their essence.
(1) For the purposes of this style, I use the word mortal to mean 'human or near human that isn't exalted or an akuma'.
(2) This includes Exalted and Akuma, but does NOT include beings such as gods or demons that once were human.
(3) These expansion charms are generic martial arts charms. Any being that can channel essence can learn them, provided they meet the prerequisites.
New Keyword:
Underdog
A charm with the Underdog keyword has an effect based on how badly they are outclassed, normally based on relative essence levels. The difference between the user’s essence and the highest essence among all opponents involved is called the Essence Cliff. If the being using the Underdog charm has higher essence, Essence Cliff is zero.
However, an additional bonus is added depending on how powerful the foe is in a different sense: Terrestrial beings such as minor gods, Dragonblooded, elementals, and nominally most Fae are one 'tier' above mortals, and Celestial gods and Exalted are one above them. Each tier of difference adds one to the Essence Cliff.
(As a side note, this bonus is gained even if the user has higher essence: An Essence Three Mortal Hero fighting an Essence Two Dragonblooded still gains a Cliff of one due to their tier. This bonus can be negative: A Celestial Exalt using an Underdog charm against a mortal of equal essence has a cliff of negative two.)
http://i56.tinypic.com/4iop00.png
Press Every Option
Cost: 3m, Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1, Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Underdog, Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: None
The Mortal Hero who fights fair is the mortal hero who lies dead on the battlefield. If a Mortal wishes to fight and to survive, he must take every option he has.
The user does not attack directly, but uses trickery and deception to remove his weapons and reduce his defences. He adds the Essence Cliff in dice between he and his target to a single attack roll for a clinch, disarm attack, or any other combat maneuver other than a direct attack. This bonus is not limited by dice caps, but counts towards them.
Pick Your Battles
Cost: -, Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1, Type: Permanent
Keywords: Underdog
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: Press Every Option
Even the greatest mortal heroes of Creation must remember one vital thing-they are mortals. They cannot fight an Exalted on equal footing, and the weakest of fae is a powerful foe. They have to know when to fight and when to flee.
Whenever the user rolls Join Battle, they gain additional dice equal to the Essence Cliff between them and the strongest involved opponent. In addition, whenever they try to escape a battle, they add the Essence Cliff between them and all chasing opponents to their Dexterity for the purpose of determining speed. These bonuses are not limited by dice caps, but count towards them.
Stone-Shattering Strike
Cost: 3m, Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1, Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Underdog, Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: None
If the Mortal Hero wishes to defeat his foe, he must strike as hard as the monster’s he challenges. He ignores hardness equal to half his target’s essence (Or his own essence if the target is an inanimate object, or otherwise has no Essence score), and adds the Essence Cliff between he and his target to the raw damage of his attack. This bonus is not limited by dice caps, but counts towards them.
Storm Weathering Stance
Cost: 3m, Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1, Type: Reflexive (Step 7)
Keywords: Underdog, Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Stone Shattering Strike
Few Mortal Heroes can dream of downing their targets with one strike. This means that, inevitably, the Hero will be struck back. A Hero who isn’t ready to take this is doomed to die in his first battle.
This charm is invoked in response to a single attack. It raises the user’s lethal and bashing soak by the Essence Cliff between them and the attacker. This counts as soak from armor, and stacks with actual armor. This bonus is not limited by dice caps, but counts towards them.
Mortal Hero Form
Cost: 5m, Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 1, Type: Simple
Keywords: Underdog, Form Type
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: Press Every Option, Storm Weathering Stance
When a Mortal Hero survives for a long time, he knows how the greater forces work. How they fight, how they strike. With essence, he boosts his reactions, allowing him to use this knowledge to evade and attack his betters.
The user adds the Essence Cliff between him and his target in bonus dice to his unarmed Martial Arts attacks. He adds one plus the Essence Cliff between he and his attacker to the pools used to determine his DVs. These bonuses are not limited by dice caps, but count towards them.
Those Who Run Away
Cost: 5m, Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 1, Type: Reflexive (Step 1)
Keywords: Underdog, Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Mortal Hero Form
The Mortal Hero knows when he is defeated. Producing a cloud of smoke from his essence, he disorientates those around him and flees.
This charm forms an unnatural mental influence costing one willpower to ignore. Anyone who does not pay the cost ignores the Mortal Hero for the next Essence Cliff ticks, or until he attacks him or one of their allies, whichever comes first.
Appearing the Possum Technique
Cost: 3m+, Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2, Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisites: Those Who Run Away
The Mortal Hero is far stronger than he has the right to be-and that can be his downfall. If his foes realise he’s not a mortal, his death becomes far more likely.
Invoking this charm hides the user’s essence. For each three motes committed to this charm, the Mortal Hero appears to have one less dot of Essence, to a minimum of one. This does not effect their Essence Pools, but it does affect their Essence Cliff, and hide their strength from charms that can see their essence. If their visible essence is reduced to One, an additional cost of three motes can make them appear to be unable of using Essence. Charms that sense essence can see through this, if their user makes a Perception+Awareness roll at Difficulty (Essence Cliff).
In addition, this disguise interferes with essence other than their own. While this charm is active, all charms not normal for mortals, such as other exalted charms, other martial arts, or Akuma charms, suffer a three mote surcharge.
Furiously Eyed Wings Apparition
Cost: 5m, 1wp, Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2, Type: Simple
Keywords: Obvious
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: Appearing the Possum Technique
If the Mortal Hero has to be seen as a threat, he must appear to be something truly dangerous. This charm invokes unnatural mental influence on all those who look at him, costing two willpower to resist. Those who do not pay see the Mortal Hero as a different form of being-a Fae, a god, demon, or an Exalted, depending on what will evoke a strong feeling of awe or fear in them. Obviously, attacks or effects that work on specific types of beings still treat him as an enlightened mortal, and thus will likely cause confusion or defeat the disguise.
Heroism Without Endowment
Cost: 1wp, 1ahl, Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3, Type: Simple
Keywords: Obvious, Underdog
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: Furious Eyes Wings Apparition
There comes a time when all trickery is ended and only power matters. The true Mortal Hero understands this.
With their own blood, they swear to serve a higher power-Creation itself, or the Underworld, or Malfeas. It is not the other party that magnifies their power, but their own belief in themself.
While this charm is active, the user has two special powers. The first allows them to perfectly defend against attacks with a cost of 12m. Each invocation of this ability deals a number of levels of unsoakable bashing damage to the user equal to the Essence Cliff between them and their attacker. This damage is considered a unique flaw of invulnerability. This ability can be used as either a dodge or a parry, but may not dodge the undodgeable or block the unblockable.
The second ability is offensive. The user may make unarmed martial arts attacks at a range of 5(Essence Cliff) yards, with a cost of 2m per attack. This attack can take many forms, depending on the style of the user.
For five motes and one willpower, they may make any unarmed martial arts attack either undodgeable or unblockable.
Every form of Exalted has its hero style-the natural expression of its essence, as applied to unarmed combat. But it isn't only Exalted that have essence, nor only Exalted that fight.
With intense training, mortals can awaken the power to control their own essence. And with equally intense training, they can learn to perform the supernatural martial arts, the root of the perfected lotus.Those that can do both, but are untrained in any form school of art, and try to utilise their essence regardless, find themselves using unique techniques: Mortal Hero Style.
Mortal Hero Style is a Terrestrial Martial Art, not aligned to any element. It is utterly natural to mortal humans (1), and beings that once were them (2), and they are capable of developing new charms for it. (3)
Mortals need every advantage they can muster. As such, Mortal Hero Style is compatible with all armour, as well as any one weapon, depending on stylist.
The cap for dice added through charms for a mortal is equal to their essence.
(1) For the purposes of this style, I use the word mortal to mean 'human or near human that isn't exalted or an akuma'.
(2) This includes Exalted and Akuma, but does NOT include beings such as gods or demons that once were human.
(3) These expansion charms are generic martial arts charms. Any being that can channel essence can learn them, provided they meet the prerequisites.
New Keyword:
Underdog
A charm with the Underdog keyword has an effect based on how badly they are outclassed, normally based on relative essence levels. The difference between the user’s essence and the highest essence among all opponents involved is called the Essence Cliff. If the being using the Underdog charm has higher essence, Essence Cliff is zero.
However, an additional bonus is added depending on how powerful the foe is in a different sense: Terrestrial beings such as minor gods, Dragonblooded, elementals, and nominally most Fae are one 'tier' above mortals, and Celestial gods and Exalted are one above them. Each tier of difference adds one to the Essence Cliff.
(As a side note, this bonus is gained even if the user has higher essence: An Essence Three Mortal Hero fighting an Essence Two Dragonblooded still gains a Cliff of one due to their tier. This bonus can be negative: A Celestial Exalt using an Underdog charm against a mortal of equal essence has a cliff of negative two.)
http://i56.tinypic.com/4iop00.png
Press Every Option
Cost: 3m, Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1, Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Underdog, Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: None
The Mortal Hero who fights fair is the mortal hero who lies dead on the battlefield. If a Mortal wishes to fight and to survive, he must take every option he has.
The user does not attack directly, but uses trickery and deception to remove his weapons and reduce his defences. He adds the Essence Cliff in dice between he and his target to a single attack roll for a clinch, disarm attack, or any other combat maneuver other than a direct attack. This bonus is not limited by dice caps, but counts towards them.
Pick Your Battles
Cost: -, Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1, Type: Permanent
Keywords: Underdog
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: Press Every Option
Even the greatest mortal heroes of Creation must remember one vital thing-they are mortals. They cannot fight an Exalted on equal footing, and the weakest of fae is a powerful foe. They have to know when to fight and when to flee.
Whenever the user rolls Join Battle, they gain additional dice equal to the Essence Cliff between them and the strongest involved opponent. In addition, whenever they try to escape a battle, they add the Essence Cliff between them and all chasing opponents to their Dexterity for the purpose of determining speed. These bonuses are not limited by dice caps, but count towards them.
Stone-Shattering Strike
Cost: 3m, Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1, Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Underdog, Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: None
If the Mortal Hero wishes to defeat his foe, he must strike as hard as the monster’s he challenges. He ignores hardness equal to half his target’s essence (Or his own essence if the target is an inanimate object, or otherwise has no Essence score), and adds the Essence Cliff between he and his target to the raw damage of his attack. This bonus is not limited by dice caps, but counts towards them.
Storm Weathering Stance
Cost: 3m, Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1, Type: Reflexive (Step 7)
Keywords: Underdog, Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Stone Shattering Strike
Few Mortal Heroes can dream of downing their targets with one strike. This means that, inevitably, the Hero will be struck back. A Hero who isn’t ready to take this is doomed to die in his first battle.
This charm is invoked in response to a single attack. It raises the user’s lethal and bashing soak by the Essence Cliff between them and the attacker. This counts as soak from armor, and stacks with actual armor. This bonus is not limited by dice caps, but counts towards them.
Mortal Hero Form
Cost: 5m, Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 1, Type: Simple
Keywords: Underdog, Form Type
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: Press Every Option, Storm Weathering Stance
When a Mortal Hero survives for a long time, he knows how the greater forces work. How they fight, how they strike. With essence, he boosts his reactions, allowing him to use this knowledge to evade and attack his betters.
The user adds the Essence Cliff between him and his target in bonus dice to his unarmed Martial Arts attacks. He adds one plus the Essence Cliff between he and his attacker to the pools used to determine his DVs. These bonuses are not limited by dice caps, but count towards them.
Those Who Run Away
Cost: 5m, Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 1, Type: Reflexive (Step 1)
Keywords: Underdog, Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Mortal Hero Form
The Mortal Hero knows when he is defeated. Producing a cloud of smoke from his essence, he disorientates those around him and flees.
This charm forms an unnatural mental influence costing one willpower to ignore. Anyone who does not pay the cost ignores the Mortal Hero for the next Essence Cliff ticks, or until he attacks him or one of their allies, whichever comes first.
Appearing the Possum Technique
Cost: 3m+, Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2, Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisites: Those Who Run Away
The Mortal Hero is far stronger than he has the right to be-and that can be his downfall. If his foes realise he’s not a mortal, his death becomes far more likely.
Invoking this charm hides the user’s essence. For each three motes committed to this charm, the Mortal Hero appears to have one less dot of Essence, to a minimum of one. This does not effect their Essence Pools, but it does affect their Essence Cliff, and hide their strength from charms that can see their essence. If their visible essence is reduced to One, an additional cost of three motes can make them appear to be unable of using Essence. Charms that sense essence can see through this, if their user makes a Perception+Awareness roll at Difficulty (Essence Cliff).
In addition, this disguise interferes with essence other than their own. While this charm is active, all charms not normal for mortals, such as other exalted charms, other martial arts, or Akuma charms, suffer a three mote surcharge.
Furiously Eyed Wings Apparition
Cost: 5m, 1wp, Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2, Type: Simple
Keywords: Obvious
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: Appearing the Possum Technique
If the Mortal Hero has to be seen as a threat, he must appear to be something truly dangerous. This charm invokes unnatural mental influence on all those who look at him, costing two willpower to resist. Those who do not pay see the Mortal Hero as a different form of being-a Fae, a god, demon, or an Exalted, depending on what will evoke a strong feeling of awe or fear in them. Obviously, attacks or effects that work on specific types of beings still treat him as an enlightened mortal, and thus will likely cause confusion or defeat the disguise.
Heroism Without Endowment
Cost: 1wp, 1ahl, Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3, Type: Simple
Keywords: Obvious, Underdog
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: Furious Eyes Wings Apparition
There comes a time when all trickery is ended and only power matters. The true Mortal Hero understands this.
With their own blood, they swear to serve a higher power-Creation itself, or the Underworld, or Malfeas. It is not the other party that magnifies their power, but their own belief in themself.
While this charm is active, the user has two special powers. The first allows them to perfectly defend against attacks with a cost of 12m. Each invocation of this ability deals a number of levels of unsoakable bashing damage to the user equal to the Essence Cliff between them and their attacker. This damage is considered a unique flaw of invulnerability. This ability can be used as either a dodge or a parry, but may not dodge the undodgeable or block the unblockable.
The second ability is offensive. The user may make unarmed martial arts attacks at a range of 5(Essence Cliff) yards, with a cost of 2m per attack. This attack can take many forms, depending on the style of the user.
For five motes and one willpower, they may make any unarmed martial arts attack either undodgeable or unblockable.