Martial Art Style: Iron Serpent Like a coiling constrictor, crush your opponent with unrelenting force

4
You possess superhuman unarmed combat ability.
Used by Jenny Thorndike, Created by donniecesar.

Short, but sharp claws grow from the widow's fingertips. Her martial arts are an original product of the Widow's relentless martial arts training and her fastly mutating body: the Iron Serpent is a physically demanding style focused on grappling, immobilization, and powerful, precise and disabling strikes. Inspired by the movements of constrictor snakes, this style emphasizes controlled, heavy actions that apply constant pressure, overwhelming opponents with both physical dominance and precision attacks to vulnerable areas. Unlike lighter, quicker martial arts, Iron Serpent relies on wearing down the opponent through relentless holds, chokes, and joint locks, while leveraging surprise strikes to blind spots when the enemy is immobilized.

Key Principles:

Constriction and Immobilization: Practitioners of Iron Serpent should excel in grappling techniques that focus on tightly controlling the opponent's body. Chokes, locks, and body-weight pins are designed to restrict the enemy’s movement and breathing, gradually sapping their energy.

Heavy, Controlled Movements: Every movement in Iron Serpent is deliberate, focusing on using body weight and leverage to apply maximum pressure with minimal energy loss. It relies on solid stances and grounded techniques, designed to prevent easy escapes and maintain constant pressure.

Opportunistic Strikes: Aim to exploit opponents that are restrained, controlled or surprised. Practitioners strike with precision and these strikes, whether punches, elbows, or kicks, target weak points such as joints, ribs, neck, or behind the head, using the enemy’s weakness to avoid retaliation and maximize damage.

Endure, Disable, Overpower: The Iron Serpent style requires great endurance, both physical and mental. It focuses on wearing down the opponent over time, applying slow, constant pressure or chiping but disabling strikes until they can no longer fight back. Practitioners must remain patient, waiting for the right moment to strike with overwhelming force.


You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in unarmed combat.

+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +0 Weapon Damage (instead of -1).

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Overtrained Left Hand.

You may Defend against melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks from any range and Clash with those in range of your Attacks. Attacking materials like steel or spikes will not Damage you unless it has an Effect that does so.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Brutal Strikes: If your attack inflicts a Battle Scar, you may choose which of the appropriate-severity Battle Scars the target suffers. If it causes a less severe Injury, you may inflict a Minor Battle Scar of your choosing.
  • Point Control: Called Shots that you attempt only require a Contested Outcome of 2 for small targets and 4 for tiny targets.
  • Finesse: When Attacking a single being, you may limit the Severity of any Injury you inflict or determine a maximum Wound Level, including Incapacitated. You may also choose to make this Injury properly or improperly stabilized, or to keep it unstabilized.
  • Jiu-Jitsu:When you successfully grapple an opponent, you may choose to also deal damage to them equal to the Contested Outcome on the grapple roll.
  • Precision Strikes: You may use Dexterity instead of Brawn to Attack and Defend. If you would successfully incapacitate a target using Finesse, you may opt to knock them out for one hour instead of having them suffer an Injury.

  • The total damage of a ju-jitsu grapple-attack is equal to your Outcome minus their Outcome. Bonus Damage from the Bonus Damage Parameter does not apply to damage dealt through this Enhancement.
  • Unlike the Ability Brawl, this Effect does not affect small weapons such as knives.

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Improvement from writing up Blow a Candle, Make a Wish spent on improving power: Martial Art Style: Iron Serpent
Revision purchased with:
Improvement from writing up Empress Ekaterina's Hunger spent on improving power: Hands that Reach
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Community Unarmed Mastery Gifts

You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in unarmed combat.

+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +4 Weapon Damage (instead of -1).

You may Defend against melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks from any range and Clash with those in range of your Attacks. Attacking materials like steel or spikes will not Damage you unless it has an Effect that does so.

You also gain the following effects: You also gain the following effects:

  • Any Injury inflicted is considered unstabilized even if its Severity is less than 4. The equipment and roll required to Stabilize it is treated as though it is a minimum of Severity 6.
  • Assassin: If your attack Injures your target, they cannot make a sound, even incidentally, for a single Round. Even the sound of their body and equipment dropping to the ground is silenced.
  • Body Slam: If you move and then make a successful attack against a target with a Brawn rating less than or equal to yours, if your target was closer than the full distance you could have moved, you may knock them back the excess movement distance and choose whether or not to follow them.
  • Brutal Strikes: If your attack inflicts a Battle Scar, you may choose which of the appropriate-severity Battle Scars the target suffers. If it causes a less severe Injury, you may inflict a Minor Battle Scar of your choosing.
  • Point Control: Called Shots that you attempt only require a Contested Outcome of 2 for small targets and 4 for tiny targets.
  • Disarm: If you successfully Defend or Clash with a melee attack, you may take possession your opponent’s weapon or launch if up to 35 feet away.
  • Fight Circle: Only one opponent may engage you at melee range each Round.
  • Flow Like Water: If you win a Clash or successfully prevent an attack by Defending, you may instead redirect the incoming attack to another target within range. If you Defend, the redirected attack uses your positive Outcome after defending, if you Clash it uses the outcome in entirety if you win.
  • Ghost Wrangler: You may grapple incorporeal, liquid, or gaseous entities.
  • Jiu-Jitsu:When you successfully grapple an opponent, you may choose to also deal damage to them equal to the Contested Outcome on the grapple roll.
  • Meat Shield: If you have successfully grappled a target, you may use a Reaction to redirect any incoming attack to them instead of you.
  • One Inch Punch: You may make a full attack against any target you can touch, even if you are restrained. To an observer, you hardly move. In a crowded area, determining that you were the source of an attack requires a Perception + Alertness roll with an Outcome of 4.
  • Transcendence: You may Exert your Mind to Defend against any number of incoming Attacks this Round as a Free Action. While active, you can only Defend against attacks directed at yourself. When Defending against a mob, you do not suffer the Difficulty Penalty, and their Attack does not gain the normal Outcome bonus.

  • If an enemy attacks you at melee range, you may only attack them that Round (unless they are defeated). Likewise, if you attack an enemy at Melee range, only they may attack you that Round (unless your attack defeated that enemy). Essentially, use standard kung-fu movie rules.
  • The total damage of a ju-jitsu grapple-attack is equal to your Outcome minus their Outcome. Bonus Damage from the Bonus Damage Parameter does not apply to damage dealt through this Enhancement.
  • Unlike the Ability Brawl, this Effect does not affect small weapons such as knives.

Spend an Action. Select a target within 300 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless Only appears when you are a magical girl. Roll Intellect + Occult Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling to Dodge or Defend as a Reaction, Difficulty 6.

If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 4.

If the target receives an Injury, they are knocked back 5 * Severity feet.

This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

The way it works is
1. Holster weapon
2. Move to opponent, make attack roll
3. Make second attack roll
4. If one of these misses, suffer drawback of no movement and no positive benefit
5. If both of these hit, suffer drawback of no movement, but choose between if you want to disarm the opponent or reduce their armor value by 2.
Read “disarm” rules for how that works

You gain the following benefits as long as no weapons are held, your next 2 turns must be spent making an attack action with your legs, After the second attack is completed, lose all movement until the end of the next turn, and you are engaged in unarmed combat.

+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, Grappling, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +2 Weapon Damage (instead of -1).

You may Defend against melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks from any range and Clash with those in range of your Attacks. Attacking materials like steel or spikes will not Damage you unless it has an Effect that does so.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Disarm: If you successfully Defend or Clash with a melee attack, you may take possession your opponent’s weapon or launch if up to 35 feet away.
  • Shredder: If you successfully hit your target, the value of any Armor they are wearing is reduced by 2. For material armor, this penalty lasts until it is repaired. For intrinsic armor, it lasts until the end of Combat and any relevant wound is healed.

  • Unlike the Ability Brawl, this Effect does not affect small weapons such as knives.

You gain the following benefits as long as the Host is in his Fallen form, you are wearing this Artifact, and you are engaged in unarmed combat.

+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +0 Weapon Damage (instead of -1).

You may Defend against melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks from any range and Clash with those in range of your Attacks. Attacking materials like steel or spikes will not Damage you unless it has an Effect that does so.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Any Injury inflicted is considered unstabilized even if its Severity is less than 4. The equipment and roll required to Stabilize it is treated as though it is a minimum of Severity 6.
  • Body Slam: If you move and then make a successful attack against a target with a Brawn rating less than or equal to yours, if your target was closer than the full distance you could have moved, you may knock them back the excess movement distance and choose whether or not to follow them.
  • Brutal Strikes: If your attack inflicts a Battle Scar, you may choose which of the appropriate-severity Battle Scars the target suffers. If it causes a less severe Injury, you may inflict a Minor Battle Scar of your choosing.
  • Flow Like Water: If you win a Clash or successfully prevent an attack by Defending, you may instead redirect the incoming attack to another target within range. If you Defend, the redirected attack uses your positive Outcome after defending, if you Clash it uses the outcome in entirety if you win.

  • Unlike the Ability Brawl, this Effect does not affect small weapons such as knives.

You gain the following benefits as long as Must Be Drunk and you are engaged in unarmed combat.

+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +2 Weapon Damage (instead of -1).

You may Defend against melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks from any range and Clash with those in range of your Attacks. Attacking materials like steel or spikes will not Damage you unless it has an Effect that does so.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Disarm: If you successfully Defend or Clash with a melee attack, you may take possession your opponent’s weapon or launch if up to 35 feet away.

  • Unlike the Ability Brawl, this Effect does not affect small weapons such as knives.

Stock Unarmed Mastery Gifts

You gain the following benefits as long as you are in werewolf form, and you are engaged in unarmed combat.

+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +0 Weapon Damage (instead of -1).

You may Defend against melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks from any range and Clash with those in range of your Attacks. Attacking materials like steel or spikes will not Damage you unless it has an Effect that does so.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Brutal Strikes: If your attack inflicts a Battle Scar, you may choose which of the appropriate-severity Battle Scars the target suffers. If it causes a less severe Injury, you may inflict a Minor Battle Scar of your choosing.
  • Jiu-Jitsu:When you successfully grapple an opponent, you may choose to also deal damage to them equal to the Contested Outcome on the grapple roll.

  • The total damage of a ju-jitsu grapple-attack is equal to your Outcome minus their Outcome. Bonus Damage from the Bonus Damage Parameter does not apply to damage dealt through this Enhancement.
  • Unlike the Ability Brawl, this Effect does not affect small weapons such as knives.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are biting and you are engaged in unarmed combat.

+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +2 Weapon Damage (instead of -1).

You may Defend against melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks from any range and Clash with those in range of your Attacks. Attacking materials like steel or spikes will not Damage you unless it has an Effect that does so.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Jiu-Jitsu:When you successfully grapple an opponent, you may choose to also deal damage to them equal to the Contested Outcome on the grapple roll.

  • The total damage of a ju-jitsu grapple-attack is equal to your Outcome minus their Outcome. Bonus Damage from the Bonus Damage Parameter does not apply to damage dealt through this Enhancement.
  • Unlike the Ability Brawl, this Effect does not affect small weapons such as knives.