[PEACH] Raiton Style

[autXautY]

Generals ever seek to win battles and conquer their enemies, soldiers know that at the end of the day, amongst the dead and dying, the only winner is the raiton. This has driven some to emulate the only one who finds worth in a war. These soldiers circle around the outskirts of a battlefield as the raitons circle above, darting in to claim a kill with the same purpose as a carrion-feeder picking out a juicy eyeball. Some lucky ones even had success, living long enough to retire from their duty and open schools that taught their insights into combat.
Thus was born Raiton Style

Weapons: Unarmed, Knives (Only hand-to-hand, not thrown. If you want to throw them use Thrown), War Fans
Armor: None
Other Abilities: Raiton style relies on dodge and athletics to back up its mobility.

Watching Scavenger Attitude
Cost:2m; Mins:Martial Arts 2, Essence 1
Type:Supplemental
Keywords:Mastery
Duration:Instant
Prerequisites:
As the stylist advances and retreats, she keeps her eyes only on her enemy, preparing for the moment to strike.
This allows an aim action to be flurried with a movement action, overriding the usual restrictions on placing an aim action in a flurry and moving on the same turn as an aim action. This aim action may only grant a bonus to attacks using Raiton Style, and under no circumstances may be used to overcome the limitation on attacks at medium range.
Mastery: Ignore the usual flurry penalties.

Distracting Pest Defense
Cost:3m, 1wp; Mins:Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type:Reflexive
Keywords:Terrestrial, Uniform (As defense)/Withering (As attack)
Duration:Instant
Prerequisites:
Make a withering counterattack, after an enemy an enemy declares an attack but before they roll. If it hits, they take a penalty to the attack equal to your extra successes on your attack, maximum (Essence)
Terrestrial: This counts as your action for the round, or for the next round if you have already acted.

Ill Omen Onslaught
Cost:1m; Mins:Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type:Supplemental
Keywords:Mastery, Terrestrial, Uniform, Stackable
Duration:Instant
Prerequisites:
When this onslaught would fade, it does not unless they pay 1i, which you gain. If they choose not to pay this, the onslaught persists until they are willing to pay the initiative.
Mastery: After you use this to supplement an attack, it’s cost is reduced by 1m until your next turn, to a minimum of 0m.
Terrestrial: If an opponent has multiple points of onslaught penalty from this, they may remove all of them with a single payment of 1i.

Raiton Form
Cost:6m; Mins:Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type:Simple
Keywords:Form
Duration:One Scene
Prerequisites:Watching Scavenger Attitude, Distracting Pest Defense, Ill Omen Onslaught
You gain +1 defense, and gain 1 automatic success on all movement actions.
Whenever an enemy opposes one of your movement actions and rolls lower than you, they lose 2i. If they were in crash or are crashed by this, you gain that initiative (if they are crashed by this, you'd gain 7i total for the crash bonus+gaining the initiative they lost).
Special Activation Rules -

Circling Doom Posture
Cost:6m; Mins:Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Type:Supplemental
Keywords:Terrestrial
Duration:Instant
Prerequisites:Raiton Form
The stylist retreats, and her foes take a moment to breathe. Then like bad luck she returns, and no amount of rest leaves her victims ready. This supplements a disengage, doubling 9s. Gain (your successes) initiative, which you lose if you are hit by an attack before your next turn.
Terrestrial: Gain a maximum of (dexterity) initiative.

Raking Talons Fury
Cost:3m, 1wp; Mins:Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Type:Simple
Keywords:Withering-Only, Terrestrial
Duration:Instant
Prerequisites:Raiton Form
Make up to (Dexterity) withering attacks, which may be directed against different or the same targets as you choose. These attacks deal (Essence + Extra Successes) unsoakable damage each.
Terrestrial: Make (Dexterity/2, round up) attacks.

Diving Talon Strike
Cost:3m, 1wp; Mins:Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Type:Simple
Keywords:Decisive-Only, Mastery
Duration:Instant
Prerequisites:Circling Doom Posture
Rush an enemy at up to short range. If you successfully disengaged on or since your last turn, you may rush any enemy you disengaged from at up to medium range. If successful, immediately move into close range of your target and make a decisive attack, which is considered unexpected. Add any extra successes from the attack to damage.
Mastery: Add extra successes on the rush to the attack roll.

Doom-Announcing Shriek
Cost:5m, 1wp; Mins:Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Type:Simple
Keywords:Mastery, Terrestrial
Duration:Instant
Prerequisites:Raking Talons Fury, Diving Talons Strike
Make a (Charisma+Presence) Instill action to instill fear in an enemy. Record the number of extra successes. The next that many of your attacks which hit them deal (Essence) dice of hardness-ignoring lethal damage.
Terrestrial: Your attacks deal only 1 dice of damage.
Mastery: If you have incapacitated an enemy previously in this fight, add (That enemy’s Essence) non-charm dice. Count only the highest-Essence enemy you have incapacitated

[Epitome]

I like the theme and the interplay between the Charms.

One potential problem is Watching Scavenger Attitude. The restriction on aiming and moving is there to prevent battles where one side doesn't get to act at all. By removing it, the stylist automatically wins against any enemy who is slower than them and has no ranged attacks, because the enemy will never be able to get in range of the stylist but the stylist can still attack them. So that's way strong as an Essence 1 spammable Charm that costs 2m.

[autXautY]

I like the theme and the interplay between the Charms.

One potential problem is Watching Scavenger Attitude. The restriction on aiming and moving is there to prevent battles where one side doesn't get to act at all. By removing it, the stylist automatically wins against any enemy who is slower than them and has no ranged attacks, because the enemy will never be able to get in range of the stylist but the stylist can still attack them. So that's way strong as an Essence 1 spammable Charm that costs 2m.

The intent was by limiting it to benefiting raiton-style attacks, it prevents using it to make attacks at medium range (since Raiton Style uses only melee weapons. Well, I guess knives are thrown, so I should possibly clarify it doesn't cover thrown attacks with knives). Possibly it should get more care to prevent some unseen interaction lifting the restriction - possible change "only ration-style attacks" to "this aim can only add dice, and doesn't qualify as an aim action for attacking at medium range"? At that point I might as well make a charm that adds 3 non-charm dice to your next attack, though I do like opening the door to other aim-enhancing charms.

[Epitome]

The intent was by limiting it to benefiting raiton-style attacks, it prevents using it to make attacks at medium range (since Raiton Style uses only melee weapons. Well, I guess knives are thrown, so I should possibly clarify it doesn't cover thrown attacks with knives). Possibly it should get more care to prevent some unseen interaction lifting the restriction - possible change "only ration-style attacks" to "this aim can only add dice, and doesn't qualify as an aim action for attacking at medium range"? At that point I might as well make a charm that adds 3 non-charm dice to your next attack, though I do like opening the door to other aim-enhancing charms.

Ah I see, in between the aiming Charm and the knives I had gotten the impression that the style was meant to be Thrown. Since it's Melee then everything works out. I like how the Charm makes it so your turn is not "wasted" when moving out of range with a melee weapon.

[Beans]

This is interesting!

Ill Omen Onslaught feels a little wonky having no other time limits besides the end of the scene, the enemy paying the initiative tax, or the enemy being removed from the fight. I might give the enemy another way to get off the hook, such as if the stylist is crashed, or if the enemy recovers from crash, etc.

Diving Talon Strike allowing your rush to move you to Close Range of your regardless of distance feels like there might be weird edge cases in there where your enemy managed to get to Long from you since your disengage, which could be a little goofy if you're zooping to Long Range and then making the unexpected attack.

Overall I like the energy the style has.

[autXautY]

This is interesting!

Ill Omen Onslaught feels a little wonky having no other time limits besides the end of the scene, the enemy paying the initiative tax, or the enemy being removed from the fight. I might give the enemy another way to get off the hook, such as if the stylist is crashed, or if the enemy recovers from crash, etc.

Diving Talon Strike allowing your rush to move you to Close Range of your regardless of distance feels like there might be weird edge cases in there where your enemy managed to get to Long from you since your disengage, which could be a little goofy if you're zooping to Long Range and then making the unexpected attack.

Overall I like the energy the style has.

I'm mainly comparing IOO to Falling Hammer Strike, which also has only 3 end conditions (end of scene, being removed from the fight, not being attacked for a round), with the difference being paying initiative is under the victim's control, but always costs something where not being attacked for a round can sometimes happen just from how the fight flows.

Diving Talon Strike probably should have a max range in the special case. The most ridiculous I can think of is disengage from A and B, A follows (reflexive flee to medium from B), B disengages from your ally (at long from B), your ally follows (B flees to Extreme from you). replacing B disengaging with a reflexive move gets them to long without huge silliness. Though, at that point you can just attack A. The only way I can see getting more than medium range from your only enemy is to disengage, have them rush your ally who disengaged in the opposite direction, then move to follow your ally, who moves, so they move, and they end up at long.

I lied. The most ridiculous I can think of is an E10 Celestial Sorcerer casts Travel Without Distance and you rush 100 miles in a turn.