Tangled Fate [Ranma 1/2 / Exalted]

@Grounders10
Two things.
First, Kodachi should have a specialty in Craft for making drugs, because that was one of the things she's known for.
Second, she should probably have a Melee specialty in Rhythmic Gymnastic Tools.
 
@Grounders10
Two things.
First, Kodachi should have a specialty in Craft for making drugs, because that was one of the things she's known for.
Second, she should probably have a Melee specialty in Rhythmic Gymnastic Tools.

Probably because Sasuke, a ninja, is canon reported as being the one who help raising the kuno children.:)

So, yes, Kodachi should have a great deal of Ninjutsu knowledge.;)

Thus poison crafting and specialised weapons (gymnastic) crafting as i remember a razor sharp hoop and other modified Tools/weapons.:cool:

In fact her tendancy to disappear in a rose petal storm seemed to be taken directly from ninjutsu.:ninja:
 
Placeholder until I get around to Codifying Anything Goes Skills. Feel free to suggest or design charms. Anything I like will get added here as official and credit (of course) given.
I suggest not nailing down the individual charms. It's a whole lot of work for questionable benefits. You're not running a game, so you don't have to precisely nail down people's capabilities ahead of time, and with vaguely-defined charms, you can have Ranma do crazy stuff with no justification beyond "yeah, that's something Ranma could do".

Also, keep in mind that 3e Martial Arts don't map very well to Ranmaverse martial arts techniques. Ranma characters pick up individual techniques all the time, but 3e martial arts don't let you do that - you have to train up dots in every style you want charms from, then get all the relevant prerequisite charms, so you can't just skip straight to learning the Shi Shi Hokodan without also becoming well-versed in whatever style it's a part of. (If it's even part of a style; there's not much indication of that in canon.)

That said:

Actually, Ranma probably hasn't learned the entire style. He knows the Saotome school, but not the Tendo school. Mechanically, Anything Goes probably has an oversized charmtree that branches just before the Form charms. This is good news for you! It means you have room for him to pick up lots of new techniques without having to learn an entirely new style.


Moko Kaimon Ha
Cost: 3m Min: Martial Arts 3 Essence ?
Type: Simple
Keyword: Decisive Only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

A dual strike akin to forcing open a door and crashing through. The user spreads his arms apart in an opening motion while simultaneously kicking with one foot.
You can't have an entire style with nothing but decisive charms, and withering charms generally come first. Also, you definitely can't have one-to-one correspondence between named techniques and charms - there aren't nearly enough of the former.

Kijin Raishu Dan (In Progress)
Cost: 2m per blade Min: Martial Arts 5 Essence ?
Type: Simple
Keyword: Decisive Only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Yamasen-Ken Form, Moko Kaimon Ha

Simulating the action of flinging shutters open, the user's movement are so swift that the air itself is forced apart, creating a vacuum of sharp blades of air capable of cutting through even metal.

The Martial Artist makes a Decisive attack on all targets, friend and enemy, in a line out to medium distance. Add 1 dice to your chance to hit for each blade. Add 2 dice to your raw damage for the first blade and 1 dice for each additional blade. The user may create up to Essence x 5 blades per attack. Any object in the path of this ability recieves an additional 12 dice of raw damage. Due to the nature of the blades these attacks cannot be parried except by charms or techniques that explicitly allow the parrying of such attacks. (eg. Heavenly Guardian Defense).

Mastery: At Martial Arts 5, Essence 4 this charm can be rebought to reduce the cost to 1m per blade and essence x 7 blades per attack.
Good god. 10 motes for a full-damage multi-target unblockable medium-range decisive attack with five extra dice to hit and +10 damage? No-ho-ho-ho-ho. Hell no! You don't even get that kind of nonsense from a doom combo, let alone a single charm.
Unless, of course, each blade is a separate attack. In that case, it's even worse, because you can throw an insane number of attacks insanely cheaply and trivially mash your opponent's defense down with onslaught penalties. It would be a "Bulwark Stance or die", except Bulwark Stance doesn't even work because it's unblockable. (And even if it did work you're rolling so damn many attacks a couple of them are probably getting through anyway.)

Kijin-Gun Dai Ranbu
Cost: 15m Min: Martial Arts 5 Essence ?
Type: Simple
Keyword: Decisive Only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Kijin Raichu Dan

The second ultimate technique. Similar to the Demon-God Multiple Strike, with the user spinning to fire off multiple bladees of air at random.

All targets at up to medium range are subject to a Decisive attack of (essence x 2) blades of the Kijin Raishu Dan, both friends and enemies are subject to this attack.

Mastery: Reduce the cost of this charm to 10m and make (essence) blades per target undodgeable.
Even more stupendously overpowered. Unblockable undodgeable attacks are goddamn nitroglycerin - if you're not very, very careful with them, they will blow your game right the hell up. There are only three unblockable undodgeable attacks in the corebook. One is a withering attack that only works on enemies who are already crashed. One is a withering attack with extremely specific requirements. The only decisive among them is Blinding Nova Flare, which requires you to land a difficulty 5 gambit first, so you need to have both your normal initiative pool and your second initiative poll from SPSITV Form at "if I hit you you're fucked" levels, so it usually only works on guys you're already wrecking.

I'd like to reiterate here, that I strongly recommend you not write full-fledged charmtrees for these styles. You don't need to be a good homebrewer to write a good fanfic.
 
@Grounders10
Two things.
First, Kodachi should have a specialty in Craft for making drugs, because that was one of the things she's known for.
Second, she should probably have a Melee specialty in Rhythmic Gymnastic Tools.
Thank you, adding now.

I suggest not nailing down the individual charms. It's a whole lot of work for questionable benefits. You're not running a game, so you don't have to precisely nail down people's capabilities ahead of time, and with vaguely-defined charms, you can have Ranma do crazy stuff with no justification beyond "yeah, that's something Ranma could do".

Also, keep in mind that 3e Martial Arts don't map very well to Ranmaverse martial arts techniques. Ranma characters pick up individual techniques all the time, but 3e martial arts don't let you do that - you have to train up dots in every style you want charms from, then get all the relevant prerequisite charms, so you can't just skip straight to learning the Shi Shi Hokodan without also becoming well-versed in whatever style it's a part of. (If it's even part of a style; there's not much indication of that in canon.)
Thank you for pointing this out and correcting me. This should also be a reminder of why I don't write things when I'm half-asleep in the middle of a lecture. :facepalm: I've gone and changed the post. I've moved it to apocrypha where it belongs, and made a few changes. (on a side note nothing says you can't have a charm tree full of nothing but decisive attacks, its probably very stupid though :V). In all honesty Ranma 1/2 martial arts probably map better with the 2e system where withering/decisive isn't a thing. Lets... lets just consider this a colourful (and probably very bad) essay into the art of homebrew and leave it at that. I'll leave the post as an archive if people want to speculate about what charms might be like.

Now I'm off for sleep... or writing the next chapter since I'm honestly better at that. (Well, better is relative. I usually discard about twice the length of a chapter during writing, draft two here we goooooooooooo!*Really out of it Kitsune*)
 
Still enjoying the story, and the nature of part of the response has rather abruptly reminded me of why I detest the Ranma 1/2 fandom more than most. Lazy overused plot points and conceits are nigh-universal and can be easily avoided by not reading the story, but the incessant need to bitch and moan at stories as a kneejerk reaction is nearly unparalleled. You do you, Grounders, I'm glad just to have an Exalted fic that isn't a campaign journal or yet another "crossover" that gives one character in a different setting an exaltation in the endless follow-the-leader trend that apes the few that did it well.
 
Insomnia's fun. :V

I got the lucky side of it honestly, I have a horrible time trying to fall asleep and my quality can be kind of... all over the place even after I do fall asleep. But both my aunt and my mom average 3 or hours of sleep. So, I got really lucky on that front.
Not insomnia, it's only like 9:30 around here. I'm just blah today. Still trying to do some writing though.

I'm glad just to have an Exalted fic that isn't a campaign journal or yet another "crossover" that gives one character in a different setting an exaltation in the endless follow-the-leader trend that apes the few that did it well.
Well glad I didn't go with one of my other ideas then.:V (Not like there's much for an exalted to do on Ranma 1/2 earth)
 
Well glad I didn't go with one of my other ideas then.:V (Not like there's much for an exalted to do on Ranma 1/2 earth)

There's that (which is fairly broadly applicable), and then there's that Exalted is just really fuckin' weird. Part of why those crosses don't tend to work very often is because authors seem to just treat an exaltation as near-brandless superpowers. Off my head I can only think of one cross of that sort (AGSItV, natch) and one fusion (with Naruto, very old, memory might be hazy re: quality) where there was an appropriate degree of Exalted-ness in the non-Exalted setting. Maybe also count what's-it, that fusion with RWBY, but we haven't seen quite enough of the setting for me to pass judgement. Same deal with that Code Geass/Exalted quest here on SV, both have the immediate trappings but are too early to judge.

Which is a shame, because the Exalted aesthetic is neato, and the dynamics of its universe are fun to read about. Which circles back to why I'm happy about this fic. :V
 
There's that (which is fairly broadly applicable), and then there's that Exalted is just really fuckin' weird. Part of why those crosses don't tend to work very often is because authors seem to just treat an exaltation as near-brandless superpowers. Off my head I can only think of one cross of that sort (AGSItV, natch) and one fusion (with Naruto, very old, memory might be hazy re: quality) where there was an appropriate degree of Exalted-ness in the non-Exalted setting. Maybe also count what's-it, that fusion with RWBY, but we haven't seen quite enough of the setting for me to pass judgement. Same deal with that Code Geass/Exalted quest here on SV, both have the immediate trappings but are too early to judge.

Which is a shame, because the Exalted aesthetic is neato, and the dynamics of its universe are fun to read about. Which circles back to why I'm happy about this fic. :V
I think you are referring to Miracles of Ancient Wonder and Green Sun, Black Shadows on the RWBY and Code Geass fusions respectively.
 
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Thank you, adding now.


Thank you for pointing this out and correcting me. This should also be a reminder of why I don't write things when I'm half-asleep in the middle of a lecture. :facepalm: I've gone and changed the post. I've moved it to apocrypha where it belongs, and made a few changes. (on a side note nothing says you can't have a charm tree full of nothing but decisive attacks, its probably very stupid though :V). In all honesty Ranma 1/2 martial arts probably map better with the 2e system where withering/decisive isn't a thing. Lets... lets just consider this a colourful (and probably very bad) essay into the art of homebrew and leave it at that. I'll leave the post as an archive if people want to speculate about what charms might be like.

Now I'm off for sleep... or writing the next chapter since I'm honestly better at that. (Well, better is relative. I usually discard about twice the length of a chapter during writing, draft two here we goooooooooooo!*Really out of it Kitsune*)

If you consider the actual story regarding Yama sen ken (super destructive, but bringing only woe with massive collatoral damage), and think of the Yama sen ken and the Umi sen ken as branches of Anything Goes, then of course you could have all decisive on that branch. If you also consider that Anything Goes has been developed in a cosmology that doesn't enforce the 'completeness at formulation' of Creation developed martial arts, then it makes sense for it to have a trunk with a lot of branches tacked on, some of them being techniques 'borrowed' from other arts. The questions this opens up are, can Ranma keep tacking on techniques to Anything Goes, and, if Ranma were to _teach_ Anything Goes, would other practitioners see his extensions, and/or be able to extend it themselves.
 
If you consider the actual story regarding Yama sen ken (super destructive, but bringing only woe with massive collatoral damage), and think of the Yama sen ken and the Umi sen ken as branches of Anything Goes, then of course you could have all decisive on that branch. If you also consider that Anything Goes has been developed in a cosmology that doesn't enforce the 'completeness at formulation' of Creation developed martial arts, then it makes sense for it to have a trunk with a lot of branches tacked on, some of them being techniques 'borrowed' from other arts. The questions this opens up are, can Ranma keep tacking on techniques to Anything Goes, and, if Ranma were to _teach_ Anything Goes, would other practitioners see his extensions, and/or be able to extend it themselves.

Technically as a solar, ranma could tack any techniques.:)

In the 2°ed of Exalted, the solar hero style enable a solar to have ANY custom martial arts charms add.;)

If we take anything goes as a pure martial art, it should be taught ONLY if a creation-born being can seize the concept of Ki.:evil:
 
The Ranma fandom has been around for a long time, and a lot of people's tastes have hardened. They know exactly what they want from a fic going in.

I think I'd agree that that's sad, honestly.
For me it's that being stuck the wrong gender is actually one of my phobia's, I have enough imagination that I can sort of imagine how much being in a body I felt isn't right would suck, so reading about someone stuck like that makes me really uncomfortable, Ranma 1/2 is the only gender bending fanfic I read at all due to that, and that's because Ranma can switch back and forth, and so it's not an unending nightmare, as I imagine being stuck in a body not my own would be.

I will give this fic a few chapters more, but if there's not at least progress towards lifting the curse I will have to drop it no matter how good it is, the nightmare fuel just isn't worth it.
 
For me it's that being stuck the wrong gender is actually one of my phobia's, I have enough imagination that I can sort of imagine how much being in a body I felt isn't right would suck, so reading about someone stuck like that makes me really uncomfortable, Ranma 1/2 is the only gender bending fanfic I read at all due to that, and that's because Ranma can switch back and forth, and so it's not an unending nightmare, as I imagine being stuck in a body not my own would be.

I will give this fic a few chapters more, but if there's not at least progress towards lifting the curse I will have to drop it no matter how good it is, the nightmare fuel just isn't worth it.

As a trans women, it is basically my lived experience (well, other than Ranma currently doing a good impression of a trans man). Dysphoria sucks, but it is a long term suck. A lot of us manage to fake it for years or decades before it becomes too much. Ranma has outs, and the attendant euphoria, just around the corner. That it is a bit farther away right now sucks for Ranma, but so often his out is so much easier and so much closer (to pass with a splash of warm water? Super convenient).

Anyways, to cut of the rambling, Ranma works as an allegory for the trans experience. Being temporarily locked as a woman just makes things a bit more literal. This is part of why I love temporary lock fics.
 
For me it's that being stuck the wrong gender is actually one of my phobia's, I have enough imagination that I can sort of imagine how much being in a body I felt isn't right would suck, so reading about someone stuck like that makes me really uncomfortable, Ranma 1/2 is the only gender bending fanfic I read at all due to that, and that's because Ranma can switch back and forth, and so it's not an unending nightmare, as I imagine being stuck in a body not my own would be.

I will give this fic a few chapters more, but if there's not at least progress towards lifting the curse I will have to drop it no matter how good it is, the nightmare fuel just isn't worth it.
For you I'd advise dropping this story. I'll be honest there will be progress, but not in this arc. Arc two will see progress towards it, and it will be resolved by arc 3-4 depending on decisions I'm still working on outlining. As you've seen these aren't going to be short chapters, and we'll only about 25-30% of the way through this arc after the big meeting I'm working on writing right now. I suspect that is a bit too far in the future for you. Its up to you, but keep that timeline in mind.
 
As a trans women, it is basically my lived experience (well, other than Ranma currently doing a good impression of a trans man). Dysphoria sucks, but it is a long term suck. A lot of us manage to fake it for years or decades before it becomes too much. Ranma has outs, and the attendant euphoria, just around the corner. That it is a bit farther away right now sucks for Ranma, but so often his out is so much easier and so much closer (to pass with a splash of warm water? Super convenient).

Anyways, to cut of the rambling, Ranma works as an allegory for the trans experience. Being temporarily locked as a woman just makes things a bit more literal. This is part of why I love temporary lock fics.
But I don't want to know how you feel about it, my imagination is already more than enough to make me uncomfortable, and seeing as transgender issues isn't something I can change, I prefer having as little knowledge about them as possible.

That's generally my life philosophy, I only want to know about bad things, if I have a real ability to help with them.

I understand the need to draw attention to your problems, since there are a lot of jerks that don't respect the fact that your brain and body don't line up, but that don't mean I want to read a descriptive story of how it is, anymore than I want to read a vivid description of how it's to be born with no legs, either would make me uncomfortable and seeing as I can't do anything to change such things, that would only serve to make me feel bad not accomplish anything good for you.
For you I'd advise dropping this story. I'll be honest there will be progress, but not in this arc. Arc two will see progress towards it, and it will be resolved by arc 3-4 depending on decisions I'm still working on outlining. As you've seen these aren't going to be short chapters, and we'll only about 25-30% of the way through this arc after the big meeting I'm working on writing right now. I suspect that is a bit too far in the future for you. Its up to you, but keep that timeline in mind.
I will see how it goes for now since you are making it clear it isn't permanent.
 
Made minor additions to Kodachi's and Lily's bios. Let me know what you think.
 
Made minor additions to Kodachi's and Lily's bios. Let me know what you think.
I can see Kodachi not favoring Martial Arts. I can see her not favoring Craft. I can see her not favoring Medicine. But I can't see all three at the same time. I know that Kodachi is going to do some serious self-reinvention, and it does make sense to give her some caste/favored abilities in things she's currently not very good at but is going to be picking up, but there must be something you can shift around to make room for one of her big three canon traits (crazy poison-using gymnast).

Also, 3e specialties are only one die.

Crafting poisons and crafting medicines are basically the same skill. I'd generalize it to Craft (Pharmacy) or maybe even Craft (Chemistry). Also, seconding that craft cooking seems weird.
 
Are you sure about the cooking 4 for Kodachi? It's maybe fanon, but i think she prefers using a chef to cook her meals than doing it.o_O
I've dropped it a level, 4 was a bit too high. We do, however, have examples of her cooking in canon.

I can see Kodachi not favoring Martial Arts. I can see her not favoring Craft. I can see her not favoring Medicine. But I can't see all three at the same time. I know that Kodachi is going to do some serious self-reinvention, and it does make sense to give her some caste/favored abilities in things she's currently not very good at but is going to be picking up, but there must be something you can shift around to make room for one of her big three canon traits (crazy poison-using gymnast).

Also, 3e specialties are only one die.

Crafting poisons and crafting medicines are basically the same skill. I'd generalize it to Craft (Pharmacy) or maybe even Craft (Chemistry). Also, seconding that craft cooking seems weird.
Dropped investigation, not entirely sure why I had that listed now that I've been thinking about it. Replaced it with medicine, which should go well.
 
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