Kathakali

By Jenny Parr (j.l.parr@bradford.ac.uk) for the Hibakusha Hantu

* Armoured Soul

The first lessons a Hantu is taught are to help her perform without hindrance from pain or fatigue. Only then can she withstand the rigours of training for the higher levels of Kathakali.

By rolling Stamina against a difficulty of 7 when she is first wounded in a fight, the Hantu may cancel out a number of wound penalties equal to the number of successes for the duration of the battle.

** The Untouchable Mist

Dancers of the Kathakali can distract their opponents in hand-to-hand combat by using their fighting skills and amazing acrobatic manoeuvres.

By confusing the opponent by dodging and taunting, the Hantu can reduce the dice pool of her close combat opponent's next action by one for every success on a Manipulation + Athletics against a difficulty of her opponent's Wits +3.

*** Veiling the Swords

Known for their skill rather than Stamina, the Hantu have developed a method to keep their foes at bay while help arrives, or an escape route opens. With a succession of dazzling backflips and somersaults she may forfeit her attacks in order to dodge the opponent's attacks.

By dodging and weaving the Hantu may cancel out any attacks made on her by any one opponent as long as she does no other actions. If this is done for three rounds consecutively, the Hantu must take one wound level due to fatigue. Celerity can be used to dodge multiple opponents but not to attack.

**** Dance of Shadows

The graceful dancing of the Hantu can mesmerise and delight as well as kill and maim. Kathakali teaches subliminal gestures and tones of voice that can be used to place thoughts in the minds of her audience. By hypnotic song and gesture the Hantu is able to plant subconscious thoughts into the mind of her subject (this takes about 5 minutes). On a successful Manipulation + Subterfuge against a difficulty of the target's Wits +3 the subject will act on the suggestion, the number of successes determining the strength of the suggestion and also the length. A weak, easily followed suggestion will last longer than one that goes against the subject's nature. One suggestion may be made for each success on a Charisma + Dancing roll vs Willpower. Only one suggestion will be acted on at a time and if this power, Dominate or Presence is used on the same individual before the suggestion fades, the later command takes precedence.

***** Heart of Fire

When pushed too far, a Hantu can become enraged beyond any normal emotions, becoming a berserker capable of taking down her strongest foes by sheer strength of will and determination.

By wounding herself the Hantu may block out everything but the current combat. One wound is taken and one willpower point is spent as the Hantu takes a round to work herself into a kind of frenzy. She ignores all wound penalties until combat ends and has a target of 3 for initiative rolls. Unlike usual frenzies she can determine friends and foes but will automatically target the most dangerous foe first. She has the opportunity of fighting anyone who gets in her way of her intended target or simply ploughing past them. No other levels of Kathakali may be used during this.

****** Mastery of the Self

By discovering the Mastery of the Self, the Hantu can now control her base instincts while she becomes a berserker. She has the perfect balance between mind and body, capable of the ultimate feats of athletic perfection. The Hantu has discovered perfect body mastery. By spending a willpower point, the difficulty for all Dexterity rolls is reduced by two while she holds perfect concentration. During this time she may block out all wound penalties by making a Willpower roll vs wound penalty + 3. She automatically attacks with an initiative of 10. However if she fails, the wound penalty her concentration is broken and the mastery is broken. The Untouchable Mist and the Dance of Shadows can be used while concentrating but no other levels of Kathakali.