ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

Akashic magic leans heavily on the principles of the 4 sects, particularly on the ideas of avoidance and redirection. Combat rotes increase the Brotherhood's already formidible martial prowess but they are rarely fatal in their main intent, since the Brotherhood always carries the hope that defeat in battle will be an enlightening experience. While many of these effects may seem vulgar, if they are employed with a Do maneuver, most witnesses will accept them as coincidental, thanks to the stories that have circulated about the powers of martial arts. The Brotherhood discourages the more outrageous stunts of the chop-socky films both because they generate paradox and because they encourage reliance on magic instead of physical ability. Instead, they favor rotes that enhance one's natural abilities and a few of the more rigorous Akashic masters reject the use of combat magic as weakening the discipline necessary for Do.

Diverting the Blow (Forces 2 or 3)

This rote has a long history among the Orange Robes, for whom it forms a basic element of their philosophy. It redirects the energy of an attack, often returning it upon the attacker, who can be made to strike herself.

With Forces 2, the force of the blow is diverted, while with Forces 3, it is returned against the attacker. Each success will counter 2 levels of damage. If the higher level of the rote is used and the damage is completely cancelled, the damage will be done to the attacker.

Yielding Grasp (Forces 2, Prime 2)

By utilizing the principle of yielding force, the doist can turn a target's force against him when grappling, thus increasing her own strength in relationship to his.

Each success effectively boosts the doist's Strength by 1 during grapples and throws. This can be used to immobilize, disarm, or throw a target but not to do damage.

Running Trance (Corr. 3, Life 1, Mind 1)

The Blue Skins of Tibet long ago perfected the technique of lung gom, or the running trance, which they used to cross extreme distances in short periods.

By entering a trance, the mage enables his body to perform impressive feats. Each success halves the time it takes to cross a given distance. The rote is always coincidental, no matter the distance covered, but the terrain covered must be such that a person could physically cross it. For example, bodies of water larger than shallow rivers cannot be crossed with this effect.

Divine Army (Corr. 4, Life 2, Mind 1)

This rote was first used by the Akashic monk Parandasambahava during the Himalayan Wars, when he found himself surrounded by a half-dozen Euthanatos assailants. By co-locating himself, he was able fight them all simultaneously.

Each success scored after the first creates a second version of the mage, able to function independently of the others by virtue of the Mind sphere. However, because they are all the same person, each one suffers the wounds inflicted on any of them and only one magic effect can be cast per round, no matter how many of them there are. This effect is almost always vulgar.

Redirect Emotion (Mind 2)

By Tim Hensiek. Employing the principle that a straight line attack is best met with a circular defense, and applying that principle to the 'direction' of emotions, the Dragon Scale Minxing Yuan learned to avoid conflicts by redirecting the emotions that cause them onto other targets.

This rote shifts the target of an emotion from one thing to another. For example, if a Progenitor has decided to attack Min for putting an end to his experiments on people, she could shift his anger from herself to his lab partner, causing him to attack his comrade instead of her. Strong, unfocused emotions require fewer successes, perhaps 2 to 3, to redirect while subtle feelings or emotions strongly focused on a particular target require 4, 5 or more.

Belly Talking (Mind 2, Life 1)

By Tim Hensiek. Minxing Yuan realized that the principle of devastating one's opponent if one could not avoid combat was facilitated if she had some idea of how dangerous a potential opponent was before she fought him. With this in mind, Min learned how to estimate a person's fighting ability by watching how they moved and how their thoughts flowed, and thus was able to avoid many fights that she could not have won.

This rote gives the doist information on the target's Str, Dex, Stam, Do, Brawl and Melee. A single success tells her if the target has those attributes and abilities. Two successes give the general level [low, medium, high]. Three gives them in terms of the doist's own ratings (lower, higher, the same), while four or more gives the exact level.

Thoughts Like Water (Mind 2)

This common rote has existed for millenia, although its origins are unknown. By assuming a relaxed state of mind in which all things flow naturally, the Brother's mind becomes extremely elusive.

This rote makes it harder for others to detect the Brother's thoughts. All attempts to detect, read, or manipulate his thought have their difficulty increased by 1 per success scored by the Brother.

Elude Senses (Mind 2, Entropy 2)

By Tristan Brandhorst. The young Dragon Scale Little Thunder spent a great deal of time watching martial arts movies about ninjas. Although his mentor chided him for such a frivolous pursuit, Little Thunder was inspired to develop rotes that reproduced some of the abilities of the cinematic ninjas. The most useful such rote involves identifying the weak spots in a security system and them using them. Guards are encouraged to overlook the intruder's presence.

Each success adds one to the difficulty of people to spot the Brother, as long as the Brother is attempting to be inconspicuous.

Defense of the Yielding Mind (Mind 3)

The Orange Robes built this rote off of the principle of the preceding one, and developed a useful form of mental defense. By falling back from a mental assault, the doist pulls her attacker mentally off balance and gains the upper hand in the psychic battle.

This is a form of countermagick against Mind magick. The defender must score at least one more success than the attacker on their magic roles, in which case the attacker is overextended and cannot take another action the next round until the defender has done so.

Enlightening Word (Mind 3)

The Akashic Brotherhood normally uses koans, or riddles, to guide Sleepers to Awakening and the Awakened to Ascension. These koans traditionally take the form of a peculiar question or statement that the subject ponders and learns spiritual truths from. The most famous, of course, is "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" but there are many others. The Blue Skin scholar Li Chao Wu, however, discovered a different use for the koan when he was being stalked by a Euthanatos assassin. Since Li had vowed never to stain himself with combat, he chose a different method to defend himself and when the assassin approached him, he uttered a koan so powerful that the assassin was forced to ponder it for several minutes, allowing Li to make his escape.

The monk must have an Enigmas score at least equal to the target's Meditation score in order to know a koan of sufficient complexity. If successfully cast, the target is effectively stunned for a number of turns equal to his Meditation score, as he attempts to work out the puzzle involved. Note that this rote is most effective against those who are conditioned to such puzzles, and is virtually useless against thugs with no Meditation skill. The effects dissipate if the target is attacked.

Spirit Fist (Spirit 2)

This rote was created by the Yogis, many of whom use some variant of it in their struggles with hostile Umbrood.

This allows the doist to use do strikes on spirits.

Tracing the Path of the Dharmic Wheel (Spirit 3, Time 2)

A rote first perfected by the Blue Skin Putila Khan, who pursued his Ascension across his own past lives. Putila used this rote to learn more about the way he had lived in order to guide his present life. Eventually though, he became careless and lost himself in his own past.

This enables the mage to read a target's past lives, and extract information from them. The difficulty is lowered by 1 for each point of Dream the mage has, while it is raised depending on how far back the mage is going. Mind 2 is sometimes added to allow the mage to directly experience these past lives. A botch causes the mage to be lost in one of the past lives, a state not unlike a Quiet realm.

Tree Falling Alone (Matter 2, Prime 2, sometimes Mind 1, Time 2)

The pious Dragon Scale River Willow once needed to search an office of the New World Order but wished to make certain that she left no evidence that she had done so. She employed the principle that an action unobserved has essentially not happened, and thus ensured that they never realized that she had learned their plans.

This rote is actived before a covert action is attempted. If the action is successfully completed without being observed, then no accidental sign of its occurrence will be left. The Akashic will leave no finger or foot prints or any other similar evidence. With Mind 1, the mage will leave no psychic residue, and with Time 2 she will not register on Postcognitive effects. The mage may employ other effects to ensure that she is not detected, such as invisibility or a field of silence. This rote is almost always coincidental.

Stance of the Perfect Defender (Corr. 1, Entropy 1, Mind 1)

This rote is very common among Dragon Scales, who use it to considerable effect when they are attacked by multiple opponents. By keeping track of the location of all their assailants and maneuvering accordingly, the Scale can prevent them from using their numerical superiority to their advantage.

Each success negates 1 pt of a multiple attacker bonus per success. While this can only be employed when a single mage is being attacked by multiple opponents, if the mage scores well enough, this rote can actual increase the difficulty for multiple attackers, as they get in each other's way.

The Well-Targeted Blow (Entropy 1, Life 1)

Another common rote of the Dragon Scales, this expands the concept of Dim Mak and specially intends to cause severe damage by striking the body's weak points.

Each success lowers the difficulty of the damage role by 1, although it can never drop below 3.

Analyze Fighting Style (Entropy 1, Mind 1)

By Tim Hensiek. By watching how someone fights, the doist is able to identify weaknesses in the target's fighting style, weaknesses which can be used against the target in combat.

Each success can be used to increase the difficulties of the target's roll to hit the doist, or to decrease the roll to hit the target. In order to be able to adequately make use of what he has learned, the doist must have a do of at least 3.

Flycatcher (Entropy 2, Corr. 1, Mind 1)

By Tristan Brandhorst. Little Thunder realized that by concentrating on the precision of his body movements and identifying the most effective use of energy and space, he could achieve considerable success in his attacks.

This rote reduces the difficulty of physical actions that require precision by 1 plus 1 per two successes.

The Touch of Peace (Life 3, Entropy 1)

Many Blue Skins employ this rote to defend themselves without harming their attackers. By striking the target's nerve centers, she can be paralyzed and thus rendered less dangerous.

Each success will physically immobilize the target for 1 turn.

Clip the Raven's Wings (Life 3, Entropy 1)

By Tim Hensiek. This rote employs the Dragon Scale principle of defeating your enemies as quickly as possible, in this case by disabling the target's limbs.

Entropy determines the target's weak points, such as joints, nerve clusters, and so on, and allows the doist to strike to disable. It does one level of damage per success. 1 success will temporarily disable a digit or sensory organ, 2 to 3 successes will render an arm, leg, or internal organ useless, and 4 to 5 successes will paralyze the target or leave them dazed.

Unify Mind and Body (Life 3, Mind 1)

By Tim Hensiek. By unifying the process by which mind and body operate, the doist becomes capable of reacting without conscious thought.

All reflexive actions, including initiative rolls, have their difficulties reduced by 1 by each success after the first. Difficulties may never drop below 3.