User:Taurus II/Pathwalker Style

Pathwalker Style[edit]

The Pathwalker style is a Terrestrial martial art so far practiced exclusively in a cluster of small communities in the Hundred Kingdoms. Outsiders inquiring about the style are told that it was invented recently by an itinerant Immaculate who, after bringing some stability to the region through his great deeds, taught it to them so they could defend themselves after he had moved on. The fact that many of the style's techniques bear more than a passing resemblance to the Water Dragon Style lends credence to their story.
Weapons and Armor: The Pathwalker style's form weapons are the cestus, fighting gauntlet, staff, and tiger claws. It can be practiced in armors up to medium weight.

Cost: 1m; Mins: Martial Arts 1, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive (Step 1)
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The first lesson learned by Disciples of the Walker's Path is how to evade and block the strikes of the enemy. Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of some of their own accuracy and striking power. A Pathwalker may activate this Charm as he makes an attack roll by committing 1 mote of Essence; he then chooses either his Dodge or Parry DV. For as long as he maintains the commitment, his selected DV increases by 1, but his dice pools for attacking are reduced by 1. Pathwalkers are explicitly permitted to invoke this Charm twice, choosing a different DV each time.

Cost: 3m; Mins: Martial Arts 2, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive (see text)
Keywords: Combo-Basic, Compulsion, Illusion, Social, War
Duration: Until your first action
Prerequisite Charms: Experienced Traveler's Footwork
Pathwalkers know how to make themselves seem unthreatening. Any time the Disciple would roll Join Battle, Join Debate, or Join War, she may reflexively activate this Charm. If her opponents do not succeed on a (Perception + Investigation) roll against a Difficulty of the lower of Pathwalker's Martial Arts or Essence, they do not view her as hostile and will not take any action against her. On her first action, the Pathwalker may make an unexpected attack on any opponent who failed the (Perception + Investigation) roll; this is an explicit exception to the rule that mass combat units can only make unexpected attacks from physical concealment. However, the opportunity created by this Charm lasts only until the first time the Disciple's tick comes up; if she does not take advantage of it then, the opportunity disappears.

Cost: 5m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Form-type, Obvious
Duration: Once scene
Prerequisite Charms: Unthreatening Pilgrim Guise
The Disciples of the Walker's Path seek to emulate their teacher in as many ways as they can, and thankfully, he taught them this Charm, which grants them some measure of his own resilience. A Pathwalker with this Charm active is surrounded by a field of blue, wavering essence crossed by wavy golden lines, like might be caused by small waves in a shallow, sunlit pool of water. This field allows the Pathwalker to soak bashing and lethal damage with his Stamina as if one of the Exalted, and to parry lethal attacks while unarmed.

Cost: --; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Pathwalker Form
This Charm permanently enhances Experienced Traveler's Footwork. Whenever a Disciple activates Experienced Traveler's Footwork, she may commit a number of motes up to her permanent Essence; her Dodge or Parry DV increases by 1 for each mote committed, even as her dice pools to attack decrease by 1 for every mote committed.

Cost: 1m per die; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Pathwalker Form
Summer thunderstorms often seemingly appear out of nowhere to detriment of unwary travelers, and Disciples of the Walker's Path learn to imitate that speed in their own strikes. When making a Martial Arts-based attack, add an extra die to his attack roll for every mote the Pathwalker spends, up to the Pathwalker's permanent Essence.

Cost: 6m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Dancing Through the Rain Technique, Summer Thunderstorm Strike
This Charm functions exactly like Rippling Water Strike (Dragon-Blooded, p. 208), except that it can only be activated if the attack it supplements would strike an animate being, and that instead of a ripple in the air it takes the form of an expanding, spherical field of Essence like the Essence field created by Pathwalker Form.