Graceful Hummingbird Style

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Edition: Second Type: Celestial Martial Arts Style: Graceful Hummingbird Source: HLS

Click Charms:Rooster Greets the Dawn to go this Charm page

Thousands fight and die every day, all across Creation. In victory or defeat, they pass nameless and unremembered. To a Graceful Hummingbird, such anonymity is a fate worse than death, and so he makes every fight memorable. The character begins a match by drawing his weapon and tipping it in salute to astonished opponents, before leaping to the attack. This Charm enhances a Join Battle roll, adding 3 dice to the effort and allowing the character a free, reflexive Draw Weapon action.

Adaptations:

• Characters who know Call the Blade (Exalted, p.191) dazzle opponents with their unexpected chivalry. They enjoy a +2 bonus to their DV until their next action should their Join Battle roll place them behind another character's action, or +2 successes on their first attack if they end up acting before any opponents.
• Characters who know Terrestrial Melee Reinforcement (MoEP: Dragon-Blooded, pp.128-129) enjoy an additional +1 die bonus to their Join Battle roll for each additional character present who invokes Rooster Greets the Dawn at the same time they do.
• Characters who know Subduing the Honored Foe (MoEP: Lunars, p.147) project a disconcerting, feral majesty with their salute, causing opponents to suffer a -2 internal penalty to any simultaneous Join Battle rolls.
• A character who knows Meditation on War (MoEP: Sidereals, p.156) informs both his opponents and destiny of his intention to triumph. His Join Battle roll's target number is lowered by 1, usually to 6.
• Characters who know Blade-Summoning Gesture (MoEP: Abyssals, p.129) terrify opponents with the violence implicit in their mocking salutes. The Abyssal enjoys +3 successes on his next attack.

Edition: Second Type: Celestial Martial Arts Style: Graceful Hummingbird Source: HLS

Click Charms:Cloud-Chasing Advance to go this Charm page

Fate favors the bold and abhors a coward. Making haste, the fighter advances to close with a foe. He scrambles nimbly over any obstacles or barriers, leaping crates and swinging across dangling rigging to close with an opponent in a heartbeat. This Charm allows a character to move (Essence x 5) yards, if doing so would place him within melee range of a selected opponent. Any 'leftover' movement after reaching this adversary is wasted. The character must actually be able to reach his target through normal movement (he could not, for example, pass through the bars of a jail cell to attack a jailor on the far side).

Adaptations:

• Characters who know Iron Raptor Technique (Exalted, p.192) transfer all their momentum into their first cut upon reaching an opponent. This first attack is unblockable.
• Characters who know Dragon-Graced Weapon (MoEP: Dragon-Blooded, pp.155) extend the range of their movement to (Essence x 8) yards if moving through an environment resonant with their element (across the deck of a heaving ship for Water, through a burning building for Fire, a forest for Wood, etc).
• Characters who know Furious Hound Pursuit (MoEP: Lunars, p.152) may continue moving past a target after attacking, using any 'leftover' movement that would have been otherwise wasted.
• Characters who have learned Smiling at the Damned (MoEP: Sidereals, p.156) may pay an additional 2 motes to become dematerialized during their sprint at their chosen target, allowing them to pass through any intervening obstacles. They must still be able to actually perceive their target when they activate the Charm.
• Characters who know Ebon Lightning Prana (MoEP: Abyssals, p.130) rush at their opponents like a black wind, unexpectedly landing inside their defenses. The first attack the Abyssal launches ignores 2 points of the target's DVs.

Edition: Second Type: Celestial Martial Arts Style: Graceful Hummingbird Source: HLS

Click Charms:Graceful Hummingbird Form to go this Charm page

The swordsman goes en garde, legs tensed, blade up and ready for any attack. His nimble footwork allows him to easily cross blades with his foes on any sort of terrain; the swashbuckler suffers no situational penalties to his attacks or defenses due to terrain (such as having or lacking high ground, fighting aboard the deck of a pitching ship, or conducting a fight aboard a massive water-wheel that has broken loose and is rolling downhill through the middle of Nexus). Note that this does not assist in any actual rolls the fencer may need to make to keep his balance in the first place, or any movement penalties for crossing harsh terrain. Additionally, the fencer's well-trained and nimble stance makes his guard nearly impervious, raising his Parry DV by 3.

Edition: Second Type: Celestial Martial Arts Style: Graceful Hummingbird Source: HLS

Click Charms:Dipping Heron Riposte to go this Charm page

The wise swordsman lets his opponent's haste undo him. Stepping back before a thrust, the fencer uses the tip of his blade to guide his enemy's weapon astray, lodging it in a bit of nearby scenery—a wooden beam, a gap between two cobblestones, a nearby crate or windowsill, or whatever else presents itself. This Charm may be invoked in response to an attack capable of inflicting lethal damage that the fencer defends against with his Parry DV. If the swordsman successfully defends against the attack, then the opponent's weapon is trapped. The opponent cannot attack with the weapon until he has freed it with a diceless miscellaneous action (Speed 4, DV -1), nor can he move from that spot unless the weapon has been pulled free or he decides to voluntarily abandon it. This Charm cannot be used in conjunction with any Charm which provides an automatically successful parry—only an imperfect defense allows the flexibility to deploy this technique. The Charm also may not be invoked on the odd occasions when there is nothing nearby to bury the opponent's weapon in, such as when two flying characters are dueling in midair high above the ground.

Adaptations:

• Characters who know Solar Counterattack (Exalted, pp.194) may pay 1 willpower to ensure that their opponent's weapon is successfully buried, even if their parry fails.
• Characters who know Portentous Comet Deflecting Mode (MoEP: Dragon-Blooded, p.156) cause the miscellaneous retrieval action to become (Speed 4, DV -2) if they bury the weapon in a surface resonant with their elemental aspect (a block of ice for Air Aspects, any part of a ship at sea for Water aspects, etc).
• Characters who know Burrowing Devil Strike (MoEP: Lunars, p.145) drive an opponent's weapon especially deep into a nearby surface. The retrieval action becomes Speed 6.
• A character who knows the Fateful Melee Excellency (MoEP: Sidereals, p.127) may trap an opponent's weapon between the strands of fate, allowing this Charm to be used even if there is no appropriate surface nearby to permit it.
• Characters who know Vengeful Riposte (MoEP: Abyssals, p.130) knock aside weapons with terrible force, setting up a wailing vibration in the trapped weapon that bites at the nerves and quivers in the hand. Retrieval actions become (Speed 4, DV -3).

Edition: Second Type: Celestial Martial Arts Style: Graceful Hummingbird Source: HLS

Click Charms:Rose Without Thorns to go this Charm page

The best fights are those remembered, embellished, told and re-told in taverns across Creation. Having more than one surviving witness at the end of things facilitates this. For less philosophical souls, it suffices that disarmed opponents are easier to defeat. This Charm enhances a disarming attempt (see Exalted, p. 158). The character's net attack successes are counted twice for the purpose of the opponent's (Wits + appropriate wielding Ability) resistance roll.

Adaptations:

• If a character knows Hungry Tiger Technique (Exalted, p.190), he may ignore the external penalty on the disarm attempt, and hurls the weapon away one yard for each success by which the victim fails to meet his resistance difficulty, rather than one foot.
• Characters who know Blinding Spark Distraction (MoEP: Dragon-Blooded, p.155) generate a flash of heat within the target weapon when they strike, imposing a -1 external penalty on the resistance roll.
• Characters who know Wasp Sting Blur (MoEP: Lunars, p.154) hurl targeted weapons through the air with awesome force. Rather than traveling one foot for each success by which the victim fails to meet his resistance difficulty, the weapon travels two yards.
• A character who knows Serenity in Blood (MoEP: Sidereals, p.155) knocks the offending weapon on a course that travels momentarily through Elsewhere. Without appropriate Charms such as Summoning the Loyal Steel, it becomes impossible to retrieve the weapon for 3 ticks.
• A swordsman who knows Savage Shade Style (MoEP: Abyssals, p.127) ignores the external penalty on the disarm attempt, and may choose to let a weapon simply drop at an opponent's feet without traveling any distance away, converting the successes that would have sent it flying into dice of piercing lethal damage instead, which are subject to soak as normal.

Edition: Second Type: Celestial Martial Arts Style: Graceful Hummingbird Source: HLS

Click Charms:Haughty Gull Display to go this Charm page

The fencer's weapon dances in the air, flashing about the opponent in a bewildering pattern, seeming not to actually touch him. A moment later his clothing or perhaps bare skin reveals the true measure of the swordsman's skill, revealing that he has carved a message or perhaps personal insignia into his target. Shaken by the realization of the fencer's skill, most opponents have their nerves broken for the rest of the fight. Many surrender on the spot.

The swordsman makes a standard attack roll, with his weapon's Accuracy converted into successes rather than rolled as dice. Should this attack strike, it inflicts no damage, but does present the opportunity to carve some superficially light message, symbol, or other such mark into the target. Opponents so marked suffer a -2 external penalty to all rolls to attack the swordsman for the rest of the scene as an Emotion effect. This may be ignored for one action by spending 1 Willpower, and once a character has spent 3 Willpower in this way he overcomes the effects of this Charm for the rest of the scene.

Adaptations:

• Characters who know Peony Blossom Attack (Exalted, p.191) add the Holy tag to the attack. Creatures of darkness must spend an aggregate total of 5 Willpower to ignore the effects of the Charm for the rest of the scene, rather than 3.
• Characters who know Threshing Floor Technique (MoEP: Dragon-Blooded, p.156) carve in their mark as a searing brand, adding a -1 internal wound penalty to the other effects of the attack until the target's DV has refreshed three times.
• A character who knows Foe-Marking Style (MoEP: Lunars, p.142) sears the experience into his target's mind. Henceforth, whenever the character can see the mark the fencer placed upon him (on a wall, a playbill, marked into the chest of another opponent, etc) he suffers a -1 internal penalty to all actions as an Emotion effect, which can be resisted for a scene for 1 Willpower. These aftereffects end once the character has spent 10 Willpower fighting off the effects and aftereffects of this Charm in total. As an additional benefit, should Haughty Gull Display be placed in a Combo with Foe-Marking Style, the swordsman's mark is permanently branded into his target. So long as the target wears the mark, he suffers the full effects of this Charm in any scene where he attempts to oppose the swordsman, but this effect can be overcome for the rest of the scene for only 1 Willpower.
• Characters who know Orchestration of Mirrored Fates (MoEP: Sidereals, p.155) carve inauspicious symbols into the target's chest, which guide their blades toward the unfortunate so marked. All attacks made at such a target with a proper in-style weapon until he shakes off the Emotion effect weapon have their target number reduced by 1 (typically to 6).
• Characters who know Unfurling Iron Lotus (MoEP: Abyssals, p.128) deeply scar their targets, body mind and soul. Mortals (including ghosts) and natural animals struck by this Charm cannot spend Willpower to resist its effects.

Edition: Second Type: Celestial Martial Arts Style: Graceful Hummingbird Source: HLS

Click Charms:Thousand Angry Beaks to go this Charm page

The fencer leaps to the attack, pressing his advantage with a relentless barrage of cuts and thrusts. The swordsman makes a number of attacks at his full dice pool against one opponent equal to the number of motes spent activating the Charm -1. This magical flurry's total number of attacks cannot exceed the weapon's Rate, and it suffers a DV penalty equal to the combined total of all DV penalties accumulated within the flurry. However, all onslaught penalties leveled by this flurry are doubled in severity (-1 becomes -2, -3 is -6, etc).

Adaptations:

• Characters who know Fivefold Bulwark Stance (Exalted, p.194) enjoy one bonus attack above and beyond what they paid for during activation, even if this would exceed their weapon's Rate.
• Characters who know Ghost-Fire Blade (MoEP: Dragon-Blooded, p.156) trail a haze of smoke behind the tip of their blade as an Obvious effect. This obscuring haze raises their DV by 1 after the total DV penalty of the flurry has otherwise been assessed.
• Characters who know Octopus and Spider Barrage (MoEP: Lunars, p.154) suffer a DV penalty equal to the highest penalty of any attack in the flurry.
• Characters who know Harmony of Blows (MoEP: Sidereals, p.155) tangle fate with the weaving path of their blade. If any attacks in the flurry land, then when the target's DV next refreshes, it refreshes to a value 1 less than its normal total.
• Characters who know Eye of the Tempest (MoEP: Abyssals, p.130) add one automatic success all subsequent attacks in the flurry whenever one of its attacks strikes the target.

Edition: Second Type: Celestial Martial Arts Style: Graceful Hummingbird Source: HLS

Click Charms:Woodpecker Striking Steel to go this Charm page

Stepping into an opponent's attack, the fencer executes a perfect "stop-cut" to the middle of his foe's weapon. While this does nothing to stop an attack already underway, it sets blades vibrating or knocks blunt weapons off-course enough to foul any subsequent blows. Unless the opponent dedicates an unrolled, miscellaneous Speed 5, DV -1 action to bringing his weapon back under control first, its next attack suffers a -3 internal penalty. This Charm's application is unrolled, but takes place in Step 9 as normal, and may be defended against by appropriate automatically successful defenses. Woodpecker Striking Steel's effects are even usable against bare-handed targets, who must shake out the stinging in their striking limb before it will answer their commands properly.

Adaptations:

• Characters who know Fire and Stones Strike (Exalted, p.190) may pay an extra 3m to 'skip' their weapon off of their opponent's, generating a standard counterattack at full dice pool in addition to the normal effects of this Charm.
• Characters who know Refining the Inner Blade (MoEP: Dragon-Blooded, p.156) inflict a -4 internal penalty when they use this Charm against bare-handed opponents.
• Characters who know Ferocious Biting Tooth (MoEP: Lunars, p.142) strengthen this Charm's tremors so that they cannot be brought under control if applied during an opponent's flurry. Additionally, the Charm's effects apply to all remaining attacks in the flurry.
• Characters who know Impeding the Flow (MoEP: Sidereals, p.155) imbue their stop cut with the force of inevitability. A weapon so struck cannot be brought under control; whether swung again in a moment or a millennium, its next strike will bear the Charm's penalty.
• Characters who know Artful Maiming Onslaught (MoEP: Abyssals, p.127) cause mundane weapons to shatter after being used to attack while imbued with this Charm's tremor. Only bringing the weapon under control first can save it.

Edition: Second Type: Celestial Martial Arts Style: Graceful Hummingbird Source: HLS

Click Charms:Jeweled Hummingbird Dance to go this Charm page

In this, the final technique of the Graceful Hummingbird style, the swordsman expresses his flamboyant soul in a storm of ringing steel and felled opponents. He seems everywhere, rushing to and fro, the clash of his blade filling the air. The swashbuckler makes five attacks at his full dice pool, distributed as he sees fit against any opponents within Dashing range of his position when he invokes the Charm. This magical flurry has a DV penalty equal to the highest penalty of any attack within it. Additionally, if attacked during the invocation of the Jeweled Hummingbird Dance, the fencer may pay 2m to launch a counterattack at his full dice pool against his aggressor. This last benefit may be enjoyed only once during the course of the Charm, however.

Adaptations:

• Characters who know Invincible Fury of the Dawn (Exalted, p.191) pay only 1m per counterattack, and may make up to three.
• Characters who know Ringing Anvil Onslaught (MoEP: Dragon-Blooded, pp.156) may invoke up to two counterattacks, if fighting in an environment resonant with their elemental Aspect.
• Characters who know Spreading the Wyld Roots (MoEP: Lunars, p.154) double the range at which they may engage targets with this Charm.
• Characters who knows Perfection of the Visionary Warrior (MoEP: Sidereals, p.156) drive the Essence of the vanquished before them. Regardless of which opponent they are attacking, they apply onslaught penalties as though they had been striking that opponent with every previous attack in the flurry.
• Characters who know Thousand Wounds Feinting (MoEP: Abyssals, p.129) pay only 1m for their counterattack, and make six attacks rather than five.