Falling Blossom
Style
Type: Terrestrial
Falling Blossom Style
centers on the ideal of the expendable warrior. Followers of this martial art believe strongly
in something greater than themselves. Willing to sacrifice their lives for
their ideal, their utter disregard for personal survival allows for astonishing
feats of combat.
Because of the high mortality rate, few
practitioners of this style achieve mastery. Paradoxically, those who master
the path of self-sacrifice are too rare to be thrown away. Thus, Falling
Blossom martial artists learn to sell their lives dearly, withholding the
fullness of their technique until the most dire of
circumstances. Generally, this technique is taught to outcaste Dragon-Blooded,
but occasionally, a mortal cultist will achieve a great enough mastery of his own
Essence to learn it. Dragon-Blooded and mortals who serve at Kether Rock disdain the technique, for they believe that a
Solar protects his warriors, his people, not the other way around.
Living Shield Technique
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial
Arts: 2
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite
Charms: None
The life of an Illuminated One is
paramount. This truth is the first principle of the Falling Blossom Style, and
its lessons are hammered into the practitioner with every mantra and sutra. The
first technique Falling Blossom practitioners must master is that of defending
the body of their Shining One, taking arrows and sword blows that were meant
for him or knocking him away from such attacks.
The martial artist may spend 1 mote to
reflexively make himself the target of any attack aimed at his lord so long as
he is within leaping distance (usually five yards, though this distance can be
increased with Charms that increase leaping or sprinting distances). Use of
this Charm does not require an action, and so, the martial artist may dodge or
parry the attack that now targets him using normal rules. This Charm can only
be used to protect a single person. The martial artist must declare whom he will
defend at the beginning of combat, and he can defend only that person for the
remainder of the scene.
Undefended Assault
Method
Cost: 4 motes
Duration: One turn
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Martial
Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite
Charms: Living Shield
Technique
A warrior uncaring for his safety can make
attacks far more effectively than those who restrain themselves with an eye to
their defense. By adopting an aggressive and indefensible posture, the martial
artist can make devastatingly quick and accurate attacks, using offense as his
only defense. Upon the activation of this Charm, the martial artist increases
his initiative by his Martial Arts. In addition, all attacks made during this
turn gain an automatic success. However, the martial artist may not make an
active defense with any part of his action, and all attacks made against him
gain an automatic success for the remainder of the turn. He may still benefit
from defenses purchased from Charms or persistent effects such as Five-Dragon
Blocking Technique or Fivefold Bulwark Stance, but without them, the martial
artist is vulnerable. This Charm must be activated before initiative is rolled.
Dual Scarlet Blossom
Technique
Cost: 1 mote and 1 health level per die, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial
Arts: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Living Shield
Technique
Except where it serves the Illuminated
Ones, the life of a Falling Blossom master means nothing. By learning to tap
into his own life force, the martial artist can enhance the deadliness of his
blows. When activating this Charm, the martial artist pays 1 mote and one
health level for every die of damage he wishes to convert into an automatic health
level of damage inflicted upon his target. The health levels sacrificed by the
martial artist are taken as levels of lethal damage. This damage is an effect
of the Charm and cannot by bypassed or neutralized by Charms or other effects
that reduce damage without negating the effect. This Charm must be activated
after the martial artist’s player has rolled for his attack but before he has rolled
for damage.
Falling Blossom Form
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial
Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Undefended Assault
Method, Dual Scarlet Blossom Technique
The character adopts an aggressive,
dedicated stance as he focuses his entire mind upon the defense and desires of
his divine lord, giving himself over completely to the ideal of victory. For
the remainder of the scene, the character inflicts lethal damage with his
unarmed attacks, and any successful attacks made with a knife convert one health
level of damage to an automatic success. This bonus does not apply to attacks
made with swords or fists. The form Charm is as much a state of mind as it is a
state of Essence and body, and as a result, the character’s burning faith
shields him from terror and fear of death. For the remainder of the scene, the
character may substitute his Conviction for his Valor for any rolls made to
resist effects based on fear or intimidation. Further, the brightness of the
martial artist’s dedication powers his body when it fails him, allowing him to
continue to act after he has been incapacitated. If bashing damage caused the
incapacitation, the martial artist simply ignores his incapacitated state and
may continue to act. If lethal damage caused the incapacitation, the character
will die in a number of turns equal to his Stamina, as usual, but may continue
to act until then. However, the character suffers from the normal wound
penalties the damage has caused (-4 for Incapacitated). Finally, because of the
fervor of the martial artist’s faith, any character killed while in this form
goes instantly to his next incarnation. He leaves behind no ghost, and no hungry
ghost inhabits his corpse. This effect offers only some protection against
necromancy: If any necromantic effect would create a ghost, the martial artist’s
player rolls a resisted Essence roll against the necromancer’s Essence, and
should the roll be successful, the martial artist’s soul is reborn immediately.
Otherwise, he becomes a ghost as dictated by the necromantic effect. A
character cannot use more than one Form-type Charm at a time. Using a Form-type
Charm ends the effects of another Form-type Charm the character was utilizing.
Purity Of Purpose Attack
Cost: 3 motes, 1 Willpower,
1 experience point
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Martial
Arts: 5
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Falling Blossom Form
Once the martial artist has achieved
mastery of the basics of Falling Blossom Style, he learns to dedicate his very
soul to battle. With a willingness to sacrifice anything to achieve victory for
his master, the character can achieve perfection in combat. After activating
the Charm, the character makes an unarmed attack (or an attack with a sword or
knife), his player rolling to attack as normal. So long as the character
achieves a single success, his attack will strike its target, regardless of the
difficulty of the attack. Should the difficulty of the attack, or the targets parry
or dodge successes, reduce the successes to zero, the attack
still does its base damage. Only a perfect defense can stop this attack.
The use of this Charm slowly aligns the
soul of the martial artist closer and closer to the destiny of his master. The
Storyteller should note every experience point spent on the activation of this
Charm. Every 3 experience points spent purchases a point of the Destiny Merit
for the martial artist, though the nature of that destiny is up to the
Storyteller.
As a general guide, the destiny is seldom
pleasant, though it usually provides an opportunity for the martial artist to die
in a manner that proves his dedication and faith.
Strength Of Faith Meditation
Cost: 1 mote per die, 1
Willpower
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial
Arts: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Falling Blossom Form
The faith that drives the martial artist
exceeds the limitations of his mortal frame. By channeling that power through
focused meditations and quick exercises, the character can overcome the
weaknesses of his body. Each mote spent in the activation of this Charm negates
one point of penalty caused by pain or disability of his body, such as wound
penalties or the effects of Charms such as Crippling Pressure-Point Strike.
This Charm will not negate penalties that stem from outside factors, such as environmental
penalties.
Verse Of The Martyr
Cost: 15 motes
Duration: One day
Type: Simple
Minimum Martial
Arts: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Purity of Purpose Attack,
Strength of Faith Meditation
All warriors die, but a master of Falling
Blossom Style chooses how and where he shall die, rather than trusting to the
unpredictability of fate. Dedicating himself utterly to
his goal, the master meditates upon his purpose and writes a 17-syllable poem
that captures the essence of his life, his dedication and his purpose. He
leaves the poem behind as he journeys to his fate, a final message to his loved
ones and friends. For the remainder of the day, his focus is sharpened to
divine proportions, and any time the character channels a Virtue for any roll
that aids his goal, even remotely, his player gains a number of automatic successes
to his roll equal to the channeled Virtue, rather than adding dice. Further,
the Loom of Fate accepts the dying martial artists proposition and realigns
events so that his death is honorable, giving him a chance at success. This has
no mechanical benefits except to encourage the Storyteller to plan events
around the character’s death that suit his sacrifice. However, this supreme
clarity comes at an ultimate price. Fate ensures the death of the character before
the rise of the sun on the next day. Often, this death occurs just as he
predicted within his poem. Should the character manage to cheat death in some
manner, he is broken, a spent and useless weapon without purpose. For the
remainder of his sad life, the failed master may not regain Essence or
Willpower.