All right. Now that reality is no longer beating me over the head with a hammer, it’s time to try to get back on track, starting with a Martial Art for Eclipse d20.
Tlantli Ejecatl (Fang of the Wind) (Dex).
Stillness is Death.
Always in motion, Strike and Retreat.
Linger Not within a Foe’s Reach.
The Patterns run Deep, Instinctive.
Before Weapons, Before Armor, Talons Were.
The Ancient Dance, to Rip and Tear and Leap Back.
To Flow like Water before the Storm
Claws like a Cutting Wind
Stillness is Death.
Tlantli Ejecatl isn’t a sophisticated art. You move in, you strike, you move out. You flow smoothly, relying on evasiveness, flexibility, and speed to avoid your opponents strikes, and on open-hand slashing and gouging for your own offense. You focus on hurting opponents enough to take them down if they’re weak or to dissuade them from coming after you if they’re strong. You go for the cheap shot.
You train in Survival, in Athletics*, in Acrobatics, and perhaps in other fields – the better to survive. That is, after all, what the Martial Arts are all about.
* This art is set up for a campaign using a variant – more compact – skills list, rather like the Pathfinder list. Feel free to substitute.
- Requires: Natural Weapons/Claws, at least +1 BAB Specializing in Claws, Movement Rate of 40′+ OR having spent at least two weeks living as a hunting creature with claws or talons.
- Basic Abilities: Defenses 3 (“flowing waters”), Synergy/Survival (“walk of the beasts”), Synergy/Acrobatics (“feather dance”), Synergy/Deception (“forest stillness”), Toughness 3 (“the wild heart)”).
- Advanced and Master Techniques: Mind Like Moon (“predator and prey”), Mobility (“flowing winds”), Spring Attack (“claw dance”), and Combat Reflexes (“cheap shots”).
- Occult Techniques: Inner Strength (“enduring survivor”), Ki Block (“blowing before the wind”), Light Foot (“dance of clouds”), and Vanishing (“one with the hurricane”).
If you want to go toe-to-toe with some monstrosity, or compliment your already-juggernaut like build, this really isn’t the martial art for you; there are plenty of better ways to build that.Tlantli Ejecatl (and similar arts) are best used by characters who don’t stress physical combat – but who can boost their movement rate if necessary to dart in and out and continue making a difference when short of other options.
Filed under: d20, Game Rules Tagged: | Classless d20, d20, d20 Point Buy, Game Rules, Role Playing Game, RPG
