Way of the Unbroken Chain
Way of the Unbroken Chain is a weapon skill tree The chain never comes to rest, and neither does the fighter holding it. Blow follows in sequences the hands learn long before the mind catches up to what it just did.
List of Skills
| Skill | Prerequisites | SP Cost | Levels? | Description | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nunchuck Proficiency | 10 SP | None | Training in in nunchucks, two hardwood handles on a short chain. | Required to wield them at all. The forms above it teach the chain to keep time, so that no blow lands on its own. Effects: Landing a nunchuck skill records a beat in your String. A run of beats that spells a kata resolves it, once a round. Each beat held: -11% on your nunchuck damage up to 3. Speed lowers the cost of each beat. A round with no beat recorded breaks the String. A Basic Attack records no beat, and is not softened. | |
| Second Beat | Nunchuck Proficiency | 13 SP | None | The blow lands and the chain is already travelling. Attack with a nunchuck skill and you keep the Bonus Phase every other weapon forfeits, so land as you spend it on a Link. | Effects: Each Link: +4 Recoil. Recoil bleeds off 1 a round. Past your whiff threshold a Link can rebound: strike lost, 6% max health, String breaks, 4 Recoil shed. |
| (Upper Branch) | |||||
| Recoil Control | Second Beat | 8 SP | None | The handle comes back every time. A trained wrist absorbs the returns instead of fighting it. | Effects: Whiff threshold +3. Links build 1 less Recoil. A whiff no longer breaks your String. |
| Stunning Strike | Recoil Control | 3 SP | 3 | Range: 1 Crack a handle flat off a single adjacent target's head. | Effects: Applies Dazed. (1 turn) Full String: applies Dazed (2 turns) instead. |
| Rising Heel | Stunning Strike | 4 SP | 3 | Range: 1 Bring the heel of the handle up under a single adjacent target's jaw on the rise. | Effects: Full String: launches Airborne and roots. (2 turns) Link: cast in the Bonus phase Second Beat recovers. +4 Recoil. |
| Falling Star | Rising Heel | 4 SP | 3 | Range: 1 Swing the chain overhead and drop it on a single adjacent target like a weight cut loose. | Effects: +20% damage vs Airborne. Full String: applies Dazed (1 turn), and grounds an Airborne target. Link: cast in the Bonus phase Second Beat recovers. +4 Recoil. |
| Long String | Falling Star | 9 SP | None | A longer memory. The chain holds more of what you have thrown, so the runs worth spelling stay whole. | Effects: String depth 3 to 5. Long enough for the four-beat katas. Full String riders and the damage falloff still key on 3. |
| (Middle Branch) | |||||
| Low Sweep | Second Beat | 3 SP | 3 | Range: 1 Whip the chain low into a single adjacent target's ankles. | Effects: Full String: roots. (1 turn) |
| Whipcrack | Low Sweep | 3 SP | 3 | Range: 2 Snap the chain out and back before the arm follows. | Effects: Full String: the return stroke lands too, at 50% force. Link: cast in the Bonus phase Second Beat recovers. +4 Recoil. |
| Flurry of Blows | Whipcrack | 3 SP | 3 | Range: 1 Batter a single adjacent target faster then the eye follows. | Effects: Link: cast in the Bonus phase Second Beat recovers. +4 Recoil. |
| (Bottom Branch) | |||||
| Cyclone Spin | Second Beat | 4 SP | 3 | Range: 1 Let the chain out to full length and turn a circle, taking everyone standing in it. | Effects: Full String: knocks every target back a tile. |
| Shoulder Roll | Cyclone Spin | 6 SP | 2 | PRIORITY MOVE - (Resolves first, +50% damage taken) Range: 3 Roll through the swing and come up with the chain still turning, closing in a straight line. | Cannot be used while rooted. Effects: Records a beat without landing a hit. Cannot whiff. Spends your attack of opportunity. Link: cast in the Bonus phase Second Beat recovers. +4 Recoil. |
| Loose Wrists | Shoulder Roll | 8 SP | None | Nothing about a nunchuck fighter is planted. You are moving before the room agrees a fight has started. | Effects: +2 Initiative, +4 Speed. +1 Move Range while a String is running. |
| Crossing Guard | Loose Wrists | 4 SP | 3 | Range: 1 Cross both handles and drive them outward into everything pressed against you. | Effects: Full String: the arc widens by a tile in every direction. |
| (Capstone Skill) | |||||
| Unchained | Flurry of Blows, Long String | 5 SP | 3 | Range: 1 Throw the whole chain out at once, into everything within reach. | Effects: Spends every beat: +X Damage a beat. Ignores String falloff. Clears all Recoil. Needs 2+ beats, and empties your String. |