Book Of Nasty
Page 3
Akashic
Brotherhood: Martial Artists of the Mind
Eagle's
Graceful descent
(AKA:
how to miss the ground)
forces
3, spirit 2
In most Tradition's opinions, more specifically,
in the younger members of the Western-based ones, the Akashic Brotherhood
has a very quirky appearance; one part Kung Fu (David Carradine younger
days), two parts anime, and the remainder filled with a variety of mystical
insights gleaned from meditative trances, impressive physiques gained from
decades of hard training and practices, and tranquil expressions, signs
of superior wisdom. Or so one thinks, until when the gates to the shrine
are closed, and the last visitors have departed. It is then, and only then,
that the odd Master will be found laughing his heart's content, having
tripped over a tree's root, for the first time in over a hundred years
(hey, if you don't think it's funny, try to clear a full month without
tripping over something... Multiply that (assuming it's possible) by 1,200.
Like I may have said earlier, with age comes wisdom, but also a distorted
sense of humor). This rote allows a fallen master (or, most commonly, an
Adept), to limit his experience as an airborne object, and return his inner
seat of consciousness to a full and upright position. By contemplating
on the nature of the descent, it's measure against one's Self, the potential
outcomes, and the safest measure by which one can safely negotiate oneself
out of the situation, the Brother summons forth the winds blowing through
the Umbra, using them to gently lower him to the ground. May the powers
that be protect the person who uses this rote during a fight with a raging
Tornado-spirit, going all out in the Umbra.
Game
system:
After making a basic assessment of his rather dire
situation, and peeking into the Umbra, the Akashic may then begin the speedy
process of figuring out if he would like to see the Other Side today, or
perhaps wait a while longer. Having decided to stay on this side of the
spirit world, the Brother (or Sister) then harnesses the Umbra's natural
(OK, -super- -natural) winds, and then infuses them into his local area,
atypically, his center of mass, or if he's feeling particularly unwholesome,
his opponent's center of mass, so that they together might bond in the
spiritual oneness of the concrete below. Difficulty is determined by local
weather spirits in the Umbra, and are as difficult to predict as the next
sunny day in Seattle.
Successes are then treated as normal damage (i.e.:
three successes=eight levels of damage. This is to be treated as "Health
Levels Prevented", and compared against the chart for comparable falling
damage.
Example: Bob the Akashic Wonderboy falls off of
his penthouse's balcony, and drops sixty feet to the parking lot below.
Sensing a fatality coming, Bob works his mojo. Rolling his luckiest three
dice, he is rewarded with a whole whopping one success, including a willpower
point. Translation of damage to "prevented damage" is worked out to be:
Seven levels (sixty ft. drop) + Two Levels of "prevented"=five. Ouch. Sucks
to to be Bob, don't it? With luck, maybe his car has a sunroof, because
sixty feet is a long time to think. Well, not really, but it does help
game continuity to offer one -last- roll.
Hint: vulgar, unless you're in a small East Asian
village. Period. This is not the kind of thing you do when falling off
the World Trade Center. Buy a parachute, you cheap shemp, or stick to ground
level..
Be warned, young cement taste-tester; this is
not as fun as it sounds. Sometimes, wind spirits -like- watching you plummet.
Befriending Updraft Jagglings is a very wise notion, Decelleration Trauma
Boy.
Impromptu
Weaponry
(AKA:
Kicking Someone's Ass with a Butter Knife)
Mind
1, Entropy 1, Matter 1, correspondence 1, Forces 1
Finding himself surrounded by the twisted servants
of his nemesis, Kwan Lo also found himself in surroundings conducive to
his inner Self; his hardware store's backroom. Never one to shun hard work,
a good fight, or the chance to lay down the Way to a blockheaded stranger
itching for a scuffle, Kwan Lo spent the next fifteen minutes in a pitched
battle, using his inner sense of calm, near-supernatural intuition, and
keen observation skills in combination with his martial prowess in the
art of Do (and five other fields of specialized close-quarter combat) to
express the rage of his inner self on the twisted bodies of the mighty
Wu Jen Kang Lo (assumed by many to be his one-time Mentor, but seldom spoken
about by any), turning the surrounding room into a veritable arsenal of
deadly weapons, ranging from the obvious nail gun, all the way to the nigh-esoteric
arc welder's glove. Standing amidst the carnage, his rage fully depleted,
Kwan Lo took his battle to the Wu Jen, and mercifully terminated his life,
allowing him a full hour to give his dying words of wisdom; "I never saw
a drywall hammer do -that- before."
Game
system:
By using the first ranks of Matter, Correspondence,
Forces, and Entropy, one melee or missile weapon (of dubious nature) is
revealed, per success. The sphere's primary focus for the rote are:
edges, points, composition, weight, lethality, and maximum range. (if one
sphere is missing, consider a failure [not a botch] to result in finding
a perfect object, like a two-by-four.. connected to a wall] If you ain't
got all the parts, don't try this at home, kids.) The first rank of Mind
is used in it's Multitasking format,
allowing multiple actions (also, one per success, so divide successes rolled
between number of actions, objects and duration). The difficulty for this
ornate (if dubiously Akashic in nature) rote is defined less by it's spheres,
but rather by it's caster's surroundings. A hardware store, for instance,
is a mere 5, while a desolate corn field is a full 9 (how many knives get
dropped in a corn field? Hint: not bloody many) Use discretion: If
your opponent has the ability to Ricochet,
you have just given them an advantage seldom missed by a smart combatant
("Wow, thanks for this great skillet." *WHACK!*).
PS: ask your Storyteller about what the diff./dam.
is on a bicycle, a waffle iron, and a can of paint. Hint: get creative,
Storytellers. This is your time to impress them with Lore: Hardware Stores..
Form
of the Dragon
(AKA:
Wow, I'm a Flamethrower!)
Forces
4, Life 4, Spirit 2, Matter 2, Mind 2, Prime 2
Of all of the names still echoing in the
halls of the greatest dojos on Earth, the name Kwai Lun still brings a
smile to the lips of it's greatest teachers. His memory still stands as
a mark of pride in the once-violent, now-subtle war on the Construct of
Hsiang-Yu, wherein one of the Akashic's greatest minds lay trapped inside
a ten foot sphere, about to be launched into the Deep Umbra, as punishment
for failing to be forthcoming when the call went out for the citizens'
weaponry. Knowing his only fate was that of a dire end, and keeping hope
alive his works would not be in vain, Kwan Lun called forth his Avatar,
the ancient Dragon Kla'atu (of the family Verada, stratum Nektu [or Necktie.
The debate rages still]), and used his body to channel the potent Chi of
his inner Self, battling the Order of Reason's machine-men, his body a
pillar of golden flame, claws of purest jade, scales deflecting cannonballs
as if only moths, and worst of all, his screech leveling walls and armored
foes. When the dust cleared, all that remained standing was a bloody, scalded,
and permanently mute Kwan Lun. The few foes who remained stayed on the
move for the better part of a week, only ceasing to bring in reinforcements
and supplies, retaking the Node at Hsiang-Yu. The Akashic Brotherhood kept
their distance, worried less about the Node (known by many to be a site
of demons on soul harvest runs), but more concerned about losing one of
their own members. His triumphant return was cut short when an drone/assassin
crept into the monastery (no Mind could be detected, as it was only a husk,
programmed by the Iterators) and slew the great and valiant warrior in
his bed. When the body was found dismembered, and the head missing, the
war took a darker turn; this time, there will be no prisoners. Period.
:Game
system:
This is one of the few officially qualified "last
chance" or "Do or Die" rotes taught to members of the Brotherhood, upon
reaching the fourth degree of both Forces and Life. Each success costs
both a permanent point of Willpower, *and* a point of Avatar (showing a
weakening of the Avatar in the battle that ensues), making damned unpopular
with adepts with a grudge, but more common amongst Brothers with a death
wish or Dark Fate/high Destiny. The transformation takes two rounds, with
the first spent on contacting the Avatar, the second on the physical end
of the ordeal. Once the third round begins, the effect goes into action:
+3 to physicals, fireproofing, aggravated claw/bite damage, wings (flight:
30 yds. per round), and one additional attack, per success. Additionally,
the voice goes straight to the supersonic, allowing a constant one damage
per round in a fifteen foot range, crumbling stone alls after three rounds,
glass after one, and people immediately. This also -absolutely- depletes
the mage of -all- Quintessence, and inflicts terrible wounds, tied inseparably
to the damage inflicted. Yes, this usually means deafness, blindness, and
paralysis of the limbs, rendering the mage a permanently disabled person,
but it *does* render one's foes either scared out of their minds, or a
little more wary of pissing off wise old men, carrying a walking stick,
calling people "Grasshopper". Be warned: you asked for it.
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