[Exalted] Steamburst Rivet Style

[Revlid]

STEAMBURST RIVET STYLE

In the tight corridors of Autochthonia, pipes run from wall to wall. Sometimes they carry oil, sometimes more esoteric substances, but where the air seems heavy and hot, and the maintenance crew are coated in scalding burns, one can be sure they are filled with the kinetic element of Autochthon, the element of Steam. Cousin to the Thrashing Steam Dragon Style, this martial art simulates one of the many dangers experienced by those who work in and around such pipes; where the pressure of the pipes becomes too great, the rivets that hold it together rattle and shake, finally bursting out of the metal in a spray of steam and sparks. The steam is a danger easily dealt with – simple goggles and leathers will guard against the worst of it. The rivet, on the other hand, will punch through synthetic leather, ricochet off walls to strike past metal plates, and clatter constantly in from all directions, a rain of steel death accompanied by whining klaxons unless quickly neutralized. Thus it is that the teams who monitor these pipes have become adept at monitoring and bleeding off pressure, risking life and limb to rush through ruptured areas to reach poorly-placed valves. This style imitates both the dangers of a ruptured steampipe, and the determination and alertness of those who work with them.
This Terrestrial Martial Arts Style is also known, more fancifully, as Spitting Steel Serpent Style. A similar style exists in Creation, imitating the harvesters of the slumbering cactus, named Succulent Spike Style. This style is aspected toward the element of steam. Alchemical Exalted pay no surcharge when using its Charms.

Weapons And Armour: Steamburst Rivet Style is fully compatible with armour. Its form weapons are short swords or knives, which are generally dual-wielded, imitating the short, sheared-sharp edges of a loose rivet.

DESPERATE NAVIGATION DASH
Cost: 1m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: One Action
Prerequisite Charms: None
The steampipe worker is not stopped – not by steam, nor heat. He dashes through them, navigating by memory and (if a stylist) Essence-enhanced vision. This Charm supplements a dash action. Until the martial artist's DV next refreshes, he ignores all penalties incurred by low visibility caused by fog, smog, smoke, or other gaseous obfuscation. In addition, he reduces the Trauma of all environmental hazards based on heat or gas by one. This reduction is increased to three if he both begins and ends his action outside of the hazard’s area of effect.

PRESSURE-BUILDING TECHNIQUE
Cost: 2m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: One Action
Prerequisite Charms: Desperate Navigation Dash
As pressure builds, the dials move into red, and the foreman slowly raises his hand in readiness. In wartime, the results of a potential overflow are turned toward horrible scalding traps – in the hands of a martial artist, the principle of built-up pressure is more directly deadly. This Charm supplements a single Aim action. Provided that the attack the action enhances is unarmed, the martial artist adds one die to the raw damage of the attack per tick spent aiming, to maximum of (Essence) additional dice.

SAFETY-TO-DANGER UNDERSTANDING
Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisite Charms: Pressure-Building Technique
When all is well, a pipe with many rivets is good, indicating a solid piece of work that will give little trouble. When the lights flash and the klaxons wail, however, those bolts that once promised safety become a terrible danger, steam hissing from between their seams as they rattle and shake. While this Charm is active, the practitioner suffers no off-hand penalties, and he reduces all multiple action dice penalties afflicting him by the number of form weapons he is wielding, to a maximum reduction of -3.

STEAMBURST RIVET FORM
Cost: 5m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Form-Type, Obvious
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisite Charms: Safety-To-Danger Understanding
The Steamburst Riveter darts about, leaping around his opponents and stabbing at them with a multitude of blows that simulate the whipping bolts his mundane profession hopes to avoid. Alchemical practioners often utilize Charms to allow them to walk on walls or the ceiling, truly simulating the omnidirectional assault of a burst steampipe. The martial artist’s unarmed attacks cause lethal damage, and he may parry lethal and ranged attacks unarmed without a stunt. In addition, he may reduce the DV penalty of any flurry he makes while in this Form. If the flurry includes at least one Jump, the DV penalty is reduced by one. If it includes at least one Dash, it is reduced by one. If the flurry includes at least one unarmed attack, it is reduced by one. If at least one action of the flurry is made while the martial artist is on a different plane to his opponent (i.e. upside down or on the walls where they are standing normally, or vice-versa), then it is reduced by one again. The minimum a DV penalty may be reduced to is -1. In addition, Desperate Navigation Dash counts as an innate power, rather than a Charm activation, when used while this Charm is active.

CAUTIOUS ALARUM APPROACH
Cost: 2m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: (Essence) Actions
Prerequisite Charms: Steamburst Rivet Form
As the pipes finally give way, the klaxons begin to scream their warning, and red lights oscillate on every other wall. Even the newest steampiper now knows to be wary, and view every pipe as a potential enemy. While this Charm is active, the martial artist adds (Martial Arts/2) automatic successes to any opposed roll he makes to keep track of a character attempting to re-establish surprise (or otherwise hide after he has become aware of them). In addition, he ignores any DV penalties incurred by being completely surrounded.

RIVET AND RUPTURE PRANA
Cost: 2m (+1wp); Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: One Action
Prerequisite Charms: Cautious Alarum Approach
Quite aside from the violence of a pressure-burst rivet and the crews who service them, the martial artist learns to mimic the rivet itself, anchored thickly into a pipe no matter the angle... but ready to explode outwards once the pressure becomes too great. For the rest of the action, the martial artist may walk or run along any surface that would be capable of bearing his weight if it were beneath him, including walls and ceilings, moving a maximum of (Martial Artist) yards per tick along its surface. He treats whatever surface he is standing on as the floor in all respects, allowing all manner of improbable acrobatics, such as somersaulting off of a wall to land on the ceiling. This Charm may be activated at the peak of a jump, explicitly allowing a martial artist to jump up onto another surface and activate it, clinging to it with impossible ease.
If the martial artist does not take a Move, Dash or Jump action after activating this Charm, then its duration is extended for a further action, at no additional cost, continuing until the martial artist either moves or the scene ends. If this Charm has been active for more than one action, the martial artist may pay one point of temporary Willpower when finally moving off (with any action) to increase the maximum distance of the movement by (Essencex2) yards.

VIOLENT RICOCHET STRIKE
Cost: 1m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive (Step 1)
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Steamburst Rivet Form
As one section of the pipe bursts open, an experienced steampiper crouches in on himself, reducing his profile as much as possible. He is wary of all angles, knowing that rivets will ricochet off the steel walls of Autochthonia like a swarm of angry metal hornets – it matters little which direction they started, for their final trajectory could be very final for anyone in their way. This Charm may be activated in Step 1 of any unarmed attack in a flurry, allowing the martial artist to change the target of the attack to any other character within range. If this attack is not the first in the flurry, and has a different target than the previous attack, then whatever onslaught penalty the previous target would suffer from is immediately transferred to the second target. Further flurried attacks in that tick on the second target will increase the onslaught penalty as normal.

UNFORESEEABLE INCIDENT BLOW
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Violent Ricochet Strikes
No matter whether a steampiper has worked his line one year or thirty, all it takes is one, unforeseeable incident to end his life. This Charm supplements any one unarmed attack, making it unexpected unless the target rolls (Perception+Awareness) at a difficulty of the attacker's (Martial Arts). If the attack is unexpected (whether due to the effects of this Charm or otherwise) then it gains the Piercing tag.

CATASTROPHIC LINE RUPTURE
Cost: 6m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3; Type: Extra Action
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Unforeseeable Incident Blow, Rivet And Rupture Prana
Finally, the whole pipe fails, steam rushing from every seam. Rivets, nuts and bolts fly from their places, punching through flesh and denting metal. All the steampiper can do at this point is run, hoping against hope to reach the end of the line before the over-pressurised steam. This Charm creates a magical flurry, giving the martial artist (Essence) unarmed attacks at his full dice pool, with a DV penalty equal to the single highest DV penalty in the flurry (before other modifiers), and a Speed equal to the single highest. If the martial artist is wielding at least two form weapons, this is increased to (Essence+1) unarmed attacks. In addition, the martial artist must take a free move action between each attack, moving two yards in any direction (obviously, moving too far away to make an unarmed attack against another character will end this flurry prematurely).

[The Tygre]

D-do mine eyes deceive me? Is this new Exalted Martial Arts in the Playground!

[DrakeRaids]

It is indeed! And an excellent one at that. Not sure I can add much mechanics wise, but its fluff is great.

[Lev]

Well, campaign?
Game/Edition?

[DrakeRaids]

Well, campaign?
Game/Edition?

Autochthonia, Exalted, and Second Edition.