Ardent Pre-release

Description

++Will, +Might

“Don’t think. Feel.”

— — Lee, Enter the Dragon

You are a martial channeler of emotions, transforming your own big feelings into physical power. You are a highly versatile combatant, able to match most opponents no matter their style or numbers, but your playstyle is very resource-intensive while also requiring heavy acting commitment.

Conduits designing a mission for you should try to give you plenty of fights — despite your focus on emotion, you are a combat Class first and foremost. You thrive when you care, given time to build strong feelings, so if the Conduit wants to really challenge you they could try creating complex scenarios that pull you in many emotional directions.

Grounded in the trope of emotion-fueled martial prowess, infused with Wuxia-inspired aesthetics and themes of self-mastery.

Examples from literature and pop culture include:

  • Yang Guo (The Return of the Condor Heroes)
  • Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
  • Steven Universe (eponymous)
  • Princess Peach (Super Princess Peach)
  • Gohan (Dragon Ball Z)
  • Arden Lyn (Star Wars Expanded Universe)

Challenge Level: High

Edition: Advent v2

Public: Yes

Signature Gear

Base Gear

Gut-Punchers

Base

Light combat gloves.

  • Boost owner’s punching power, scaling Low–High with the portrayed intensity of their current emotional state.
  • May negate all damage from a strike with these gloves to trigger a sudden, overwhelming surge of emotion in the target, opposite to what they had previously been expressing (Low Duration, 1x Use per target).
    • Low–High Impact, scaling on negated damage.

Heartsleeves

Base

Ornamental sleeves, changing color to match the owner’s mood; the rest of the garment is mundane.

  • Parries magical attacks (like a gauntlet would a sword).
  • Pitch a Low–Mid Ward against a specific magic thematically related or opposed to the owner’s current mood, scaling on how compellingly you are portraying that mood (Mid Essence Cost, 1x Use per mood).
    • Lasts until mood substantially changes.

Façade

Base

Porcelain half mask.

  • When donned by the owner, they become completely unable to feel a chosen emotion.
    • Whenever this emotion would have been substantially felt, this mask is proportionately damaged. After 2x instances, this may break the mask outright.
    • Upon breaking in this way, the owner must activate an Ability (if able), bypassing any character-sourced Paired Action to do so; that Ability is altered and empowered in a manner thematically befitting the newly-unrepressed emotion, determined via Pitch (Mid Impact).

Elective Gear

Grounding Talisman

Elective

Simple necklace with deep personal value.

Uses
2x
  • Touching this talisman while breathing deeply will lock the owner into an Altered State of levelheaded calm, becoming resistant to being moved, physically or emotionally, by others (High Impact, Low Duration).

Personal Bubble

Elective

Belt with a large gem at the center.

  • Touch the gem to push away all beings within arm’s reach of the owner (Mid Cooldown).
    • Push force scales up to Mid, scaling on how upset the owner is with a given target.
    • A spherical, magical barrier lingers around the owner while they continue to touch the gem, incurring a Mid Cost for each Low Duration it is sustained for (Mid Impact).

Dark Iron Bar

Elective

Absurdly heavy, sword-shaped metal bar, standing as tall as the owner.

Durability Boost
High
  • Successful Defiances made by the owner will incrementally Boost this bar’s lightness and swiftness (both beyond High at maximum), scaling on the Impact of the Defied effect.
  • Deals disproportionate damage to anything used to block or parry its strikes (High Impact).

Abilities

Mood Swing

Greatly magnify a chosen emotion while also Boosting a related Pitched physical capacity.

Essence Cost
Low
Duration
Low
Cooldown
Low

Paired Action: Portray a brief Turning Point of predominantly experiencing the chosen emotion and continue to do so as an Altered State.

  • Boost Impact scales Low–High on how compellingly you portray the Paired Action and Altered State.
    • Pitched physical capacity must thematically match the chosen emotion. (e.g. Anger could Boost strength, sadness could Boost heaviness, or similar.)
    • If you choose the same emotion with your next use of this Ability, Boost Impact is capped at Low.
  • Once the Duration elapses, the chosen emotion may naturally linger but is no longer intensified.

Outburst

Release a magical explosion of repressed emotion.

Essence Cost
Low–High

Paired Action: Gradually portray your character trying to hold back volatile feelings, finally unleashing them as a Turning Point.

  • Essence Cost scales inversely on how long the user has performed the Paired Action for, up to a Mid Duration.
  • Incorporate a martial strike into the culminating Turning Point to direct the magical explosion from that strike in a focused cone.
  • After using this Ability, the user is relaxed for a Mid Duration.

Zen Slap

Parry a single incoming attack with a lightning-fast palm strike.

Essence Cost
Low

Paired Action: Maintain composed concentration while striking with an open hand.

  • Parry effectiveness can also scale beyond High, scaling on the force of the user’s strike. Also provides beyond High Boosts to the speed, accuracy, and toughness of the user’s hand for the purposes of this parry.
  • Alternatively, may strike the target of a Defiance to Boost that Defiance by Low–High, scaling on the force of the strike.
    • The user may target themselves with this, bypassing the need for composed concentration during the Paired Action.
    • Actual harm inflicted by such a slap is capped at Low, no matter the user’s strength.
    • This alternate use case puts this Ability on a Low–High Cooldown, scaling on the Impact of the Defied effect.