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.īy Tim Hensiek. 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. This rote shifts the target of an emotion from one thing to another. 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 effect is almost always vulgar.īy Tim Hensiek. 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. By co-locating himself, he was able fight them all simultaneously.Įach 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. 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. For example, bodies of water larger than shallow rivers cannot be crossed with this effect. The rote is always coincidental, no matter the distance covered, but the terrain covered must be such that a person could physically cross it. Each success halves the time it takes to cross a given distance. 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.īy entering a trance, the mage enables his body to perform impressive feats.
This can be used to immobilize, disarm, or throw a target but not to do damage. If the higher level of the rote is used and the damage is completely cancelled, the damage will be done to the attacker.īy 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.Įach success effectively boosts the doist's Strength by 1 during grapples and throws. Each success will counter 2 levels of damage. With Forces 2, the force of the blow is diverted, while with Forces 3, it is returned against the attacker.
It redirects the energy of an attack, often returning it upon the attacker, who can be made to strike herself. This rote has a long history among the Orange Robes, for whom it forms a basic element of their philosophy. 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.
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.
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. 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. Akashic magic leans heavily on the principles of the 4 sects, particularly on the ideas of avoidance and redirection.