Tales of Perpetual Peace/Babbling Stargazer Meng

(a work in progress)

Plays in Tales of Perpetual Peace

Rank: 4th

Archetype: Scholar

Concept: A once-prominent Guardian of Bones disgraced from the organization by his obsession with the Vile Rain Cult. He now sells predictions to the lowest bidder to feed his opium habit.

Vital Stats

Chi Lake River/Aura Chi Threshold with Armor Cultivation Chiv/Mal Joss

13 7 2 13/26/39 18/36/54 34 (20 Kung Fu, 14 SA) 2/1

Awareness (Predictions) Learning (Predictions, Breath) Politics (Predictions) Survival Tactics (Predictions) Wu Wei

10 10 5 5 5 5

Honor Benevolence Righteousness Loyalty Force

4 4 4 5 1

Revenge Individualism Obsession Ruthlessness Ferocity

3 1 4 1 1

Gear

• Light Armor
  • Increase Chi threshold by 5 for damage purposes

• Celestial Sphere Staff
  • +5 Strike, +5 Block
  • You can Flood a die or set of dice from the River as the basis for a Secondary Attack.

Chi Conditions

Opium Addiction (Minor Paired Fire Condition)?

• Hyperactivity: When hopped up on opium, Meng receives an incredible clarity of mind and awareness of the constellations, somehow tapping into a cosmic consciousness. +5 Action Bonus
• Weakness: Without opium infusing his lungs, Meng actually becomes sluggish, his thinking clouded as it is disconnected from the stars. -5 Action Penalty

External Styles

White and Black Stones (Bagua Tower) [9]

Speed Footwork Strike Damage Block Toughness

5 5 10 (15 Staff) 5 5 (10 Staff) 5

Laughs At: White and Black Stones laughs at simple styles and straightforwards styles, whose attacks and defenses are easy to predict. It also laughs at trickery, as it’s razor-keen insight penetrates deception with ease. Fears: White and Black Stones fears the passionate and the mad. With its focus on winning strategy, madmen and fools who fight without tactics or technique can confound this style’s many plans. White and Black Stones also knows that even a momentary delay in formulating a counter-tactic can be lethal, so it fears any circumstance of condition that could inhibit its ability to think clearly.

Thousand Stratagem Master (2) You can use the Learning skill in place of the Tactics skill to evaluate opponent’s external kung-fu styles. You have a +5 bonus to such rolls. Seven Moves Ahead (3) You may use your Learning skill to defend against Disrupt and Disorient marvels and to Break your opponents’ Waves, regardless of circumstance. Reverse the Trap (4) When you Dodge an attack described as best Dodged, or when you Block an attack described and best Blocked, you Laugh At that attack and don’t Fear it.

Internal Styles

Guidance of the Purple Star [6]

1. Future Holds No Secrets

• You do not Fear any attacks this round.

2: Dancing Bones Method

• You have a bonus to +5 Footwork
• If you are acting in accord with a Prediction, the bonus increases to +10, and you may Reply when you Dodge result exceeds an attack by ten or more. If you are acting contrary to a Prediction, you may not employ this technique.

2. Heart-Finding Strike

• You have a +5 bonus to Strike.
• If you are acting in accord with a Prediction, the bonus increases to +10, and you inflict a Rippling roll if your attack exceeds your opponents' defense by 5. If you are acting contrary to a Prediction, you may not employ this technique.

2. Battle-Scholar's Insight

• You may make an Awareness-based Minor Action on your initiative roll to 'predict' a single opponent's offensive approach for the round. If the Minor Action succeeds, the opponent must act in accord with this quasi-prediction or suffer a -10 penalty to all actions on his attack roll.
• The difficulty of this Minor Action is set by the Sage based on the likelihood and the specificity of the prediction. Something the target might do anyway (e.g. target one of his opponents that round over another) is Common [20] difficulty; something that seems tactically dubious but for which you can provide some justification (e.g. 'He forgoes using Dragon Chi this round to demonstrate his superiority!') can be anywhere from Moderate [30] to Legendary [80]; while absurd predictions (e.g. the target attacks his ally, or surrenders at the start of a fight against an evenly matched opponent) are at least Legendary [80], if not Impossible [100].

Loresheets

The Scholar's Life [0]

• Black Market Fortunes
  • 0 Bonus: Once per chapter, you can declare that an NPC has made use of your services, and this either gives you leverage over that NPC, or otherwise makes him or her inclined to help you out. The Wulin Sage has final say over such a declaration in cases where it would be especially unlikely.

Elder and Younger Brother [3 Entanglement]

• Kuo Fen - Older brother, member of Thousand Heavenly Eyes Division

Thousand Heavenly Eyes Division [4 Entanglement]

• 0 Bonus: Once per chapter, you may declare that you have received sensitive information from the Thousand Heavenly Eyes; this information is something that is otherwise held secret, and you have a +5 bonus to any related social actions or Discovery attempts. (This is a Laughs At bonus.)

Guardian of the Bones [2 + 3 Entanglement] [5]

• 3 Status: You are one of the Guardians of the Bones. You serve the Astral Directorate, and work to ensure that the predictions of the Purple Star Sages come to pass.
• 0 Bonus: If you are a member of the Guardians of the Bones, you may purchase the Fatalism loresheet at a -2 discount.
• 0 Treasure: You may purchase a special weapon with a -2D discount.
• 0 Bonus: All Guardians of the Bones are taught the Guidance of the Purple Star internal style; you may learn all techniques in that style, rather than one per level.
• 0 Disadvantage: You have been placed on Probation. You have done something to earn the ire of your superiors; you can be sure they are aware of your every move, and further disappointments may result in more severe sanctions.
• 5 Technique: Shadow of the Tower
  • If you're in the Bagua Tower stance, and use the Heart-Finding Strike technique and are acting in accord with a Prediction, you inflict a Rippling roll if your strike lands.
  • If you're in the Bagua Tower stance and use the Gift of Foresight technique and are acting in accord with a Prediction, opponents must exceed your initiative by 20 in order to break your waves.

The Story of the Three Arts [14]

• 2 Fortune: You have a quality set of equipment for performing Three Arts divination; using it gives you a +5 bonus to making Predictions in this way.

• 2 Secret: Divine Reckoning Expertise
  • 0 Bonus: You have an additional +5 bonus to making Predictions concerning matters of state (war, diplomacy, succession) or similarly large-scale events.

• 2 Secret: Wondrous Doors Expertise
  • 0 Bonus: You have an additional +5 bonus to making Predictions concerning the gain or loss of wealth, fame, or social standing.

• 2 Secret: Great Cycle Expertise
  • 0 Bonus: You have an additional +5 bonus to making Predictions concerning natural phenomena, including agriculture and animal husbandry.

• 0 Bonus: You have the equivalent of 3 Status among Scholars who know of your expertise. If you have expertise in two of the three methods, you have the equivalent of 5 Status; if you have expertise in all three, you have the equivalent of 8 Status.

• 3 Extraordinary Technique: Scholar's Diffidence
  • At your option, you may use Learning as the basis of a Resist roll to defend against Discovery of a Medical, Passion/Inspiration, or Curse/Influence condition, or a Doctor's, Priest's, or Courtier's Secret Arts attack. You should act out a pedantic refutation of the would-be discoverer's logic.