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< Martial Kata | Martial Arts | Martial Mastery >

General Martial Arts

Index: Style Specialties, Martial Arts Weapons, and Terrestrial Styles.

Martial Arts & Styles

While at first glance the various unarmed combat styles of the Brawl Ability might seem simplistic, the truth of the matter is anything but simple. The first hint of this is the understanding that, with a bit of training, simple brawlers can graduate from things like brass knuckles to weapons like the hook sword. As the understanding of the warrior continues to unfold, and his skill begins to resonate with his other abilities, becoming something more. He becomes a Martial Artist, and in time, he can even awaken his Essence. Some among the Martial Arts World claim that the Exalted were not the first Essence Channelers among humanity, nor were those who practiced Thaumaturgy. It was the Martial Artist that bears that honor, and it was in observation of such Arts that Autochthon was first inspired with the idea of Exaltation that he later presented to the Gods.

The Martial Arts Ability

There are no Brawl Charms. Any Charm-based fighting style is based off a nebulous and ill-defined ability referred to as "Martial Arts". In the simplest of cases, there is little difference between "Brawl" and "Martial Arts". But, with the most esoteric Sidereal Martial Arts Styles, simple mastery of unarmed combat will not allow one to purchase even the simplest and most basic charms of the style.

This is because the Martial Arts rating of an Exalt varies from Style to Style, determined by that styles Complimentary Abilities. In particular, Styles always have a Primary Ability and often have one or a number of Secondary Abilities. A Primary Ability is always one associated with the Dawn Caste, for Martial Arts charms are combative techniques above all else. The Secondary Abilities of a Style can vary greatly, and provide a great deal of breadth to the style.

Schema for Calculating Martial Arts Rating

• Some simple Style's have only a single Primary Ability. In this case, your Martial Arts rating is equal to that ability.
  I.e., Solar Hero Style has Brawl as it's singular Primary Ability. If you have Brawl 5, you also have Martial Arts 5 for that Style.
• Other Style's have two Primary Abilities, which equally share the load. In this case, you calculate your Martial Arts ability twice. When meeting minimum requirements for charms, you use the higher value. However, in order to use a Style with a given ability, you must be able to meet its requirements.
  I.e., Snake Style has both Melee and Brawl as it's Primary Abilities. If you're Brawl is 5, but your Melee is only 2, you'll only be able to use the style's most basic charms with a Melee weapon but are able to attain its full potential with your unarmed attacks.
• Most Celestial Styles have a Primary Ability (or 2), and a single Secondary Ability. To determine your Martial Arts rating with these styles, add both together and divide by two, rounding the value up. This is your effective Martial Arts for purchasing charms in this style.
  I.e., Mantis Style has Brawl as it's Primary Ability, and Athletics as its sole Secondary Ability. If you have Brawl 4 and Athletics 3, your Martial Arts for learning Mantis Style charms is treated as 4.
• Other Style's have more than one Secondary Ability. In these cases, average all Secondary Abilities together (rounding normally) before applying the average to the Primary Ability as above. Some powerful Celestial Styles are like this, and Mastery of a Celestial Style can often add an additional Secondary Ability.
  I.e., Violet Bier of Sorrows Style has Brawl and Melee as it's Primary Abilities. It's secondary Abilities are Dodge, and Integrity. A Sidereal with Brawl 5, Melee 3, Dodge 5 and Integrity 1 has a Martial Arts rating of either 4 (Brawl) or 3 (Melee) with this Style's charms.
• Some Styles, mostly at the Sidereal level of Initiation but the occasional Celestial Style, only have Secondary Abilities (the effective Primary Ability of the Style, and any Weapon Use rules, will be outlined in the Style Writeup). In this case, average all of these together and round down. Any style without a Primary Ability grounding it is considerably harder to learn.
  I.e., Obsidian Shards of Infinity Style uses the following Secondary Abilities: Brawl, Dodge, Lore, Occult. A Sidereal with Brawl 5, Dodge 5, Lore 5 and Occult 4 has a Martial Arts rating of 4 with the charms of this style.

If you have any of a Style's Primary Abilities as Favored Abilities, you treat that Style's charms as Favored. The esoteric styles of the Sidereal Exalted, and any other style that lacks Primary Abilities, are always favored for Sidereals while other Exalted always learn them at an inflated rate.

Mundane Mastery - Style Specialties

Each Martial Arts Style, charm-based or not, is first and foremost a system of physical, mental, and spiritual training intended as preparation for combat. While there is no actual "Martial Arts Ability" to purchase, it is possible to devote one's energy to fully mastering a style. This is where Style Initiations, also called Style Specialties, come into play.

Each Style, both the Charm-based Styles favored by the Exalted and more mundane Style's used by wholly mortal practitioners, has three Style Initiations. The first is the "Student" (+1), then comes "Stylist" (+2) and finally "Mastery" (+3). One's initiation adds its bonus dice to any use of the Style, it's favored weapons and techniques and perhaps one or two related functions. Only one Style Specialty can apply to a given roll, but these dice can stack with Ability, Attribute or Charm-based Specialties to give a maximum of (+6) bonus dice from specialties.

A Style Initiation costs 3xp each (i.e., 9xp for a Mastery), or 4xp if that Style's Primary Abilities are unfavored for the Martial Artist. Sidereals always treat Martial Arts as favored for these (and all other) purposes.

Note, it is possible to gain specialties in Brawl in addition to Style Specialties from Martial Arts. Brawl Specialties include things like "Khatar", "Flying Kicks" or "Multiple Opponents". Style Specialties are instead, "Snake Style" or "Mantis Style". This is no different from stacking specialties in other ways, but is mentioned for absolute clarity.

Brawling Aids and Martial Arts Weapons

There exists a category of weaponry used with Brawl called the "Martial Arts" weapon. Some of these are pure 'Brawling Aids' or 'Clinch Enhancers', and are always and exclusively used with the Brawl ability. Others are more flexible, and can be used with either Melee or Brawl.

Often these weapons have extensive requirements in training before they can be used effectively. Occasionally this includes the use of Style Specialties. In general, any Style Specialty will work to unlock these weapons as long as the Storyteller says yes, even if the Style doesn't technically use that weapon. Remember, however, that only a Style's favored weapons actually gain any bonus from Style Specialties -- even if they're used to meet a given weapon's minimum ability requirements.

Occasionally, a given Style will give another weapon the Martial Arts tag and allow it to be used with one of its Primary Abilities. This is covered in the individual Style Writeup, in it's Charm List, and will be mentioned in the Style's Weapons & Armor section as well. This section also contains all other guidelines that apply to the Style with the use of Weapons or Armor. Most Styles restrict one or both of these in various ways.

Learning Terrestrial Styles

The Terrestrial Styles, or the Root of the Perfected Lotus, are the simplest of all Martial Arts. They're practiced by Little Gods, Elementals, Fair Folk, Dragon-Blooded and even Enlightened Mortals who have sufficiently mastered their Essence. Such Styles are commonly considered weak, but still, Celestial Exalted or even the mighty Solars occasionally stoop to learning such common arts none the less.

One of the benefits of such rudimentary Styles is that their charms are significantly cheaper than those of Celestial Styles.

A Terrestrial Style will generally never go above Essence 3, with the singular exception of Terrestrial Hero Style. It's theoretically possible to learn a Mastery-charm for a Terrestrial Style, as a few dedicated Little Gods can confirm, but most any Dragon-Blooded that interested in the Martial Arts is more interested in the possibility of learning mighty Celestial Styles. Since the ability to progress further up the Perfected Lotus of Understanding is a necessary casualty of mastering a style, Terrestrial Mastery Charms are almost unknown amongst the Dragon-Blooded Host.

Mortals cannot master a style; their mere ability to channel essence and use charms is already far surpassing their usual limits.

Another option available to some, the ability to learn a style solely for the purposes of teaching it to others reduces the cost of the charms by half. This is also possible, if rarely done, with Celestial Styles. The end result of this study of another style has the character knowing a few charms (roughly half of the style, rounded down), and able to teach the style to dedicated students of the Martial Arts.