#Lightness Skill School Collection, 4 Kinds (First New Establishment)

Contents

The core's Lightness Skill has no school at all. This expansion establishes 4 kinds for the first time. The core Licensed Flying-Swallow Tread (2-tier leap, 1-zone flight) / secret art Void Tread (remain aloft for 1 round) is replaced by new maneuvers.

#§ Scent — The Hundred Branches of the Air

Only one who has left the ground sees a new path. Lightness Skill is the realm where the martial arts come closest to fantasy — Taoist internal power, ninjutsu secret transmissions, and Western acrobatics all behold the same sky.

#§ Law — 4 Schools

#16-02-01. Taoist Lightness Skill (道家輕功) — Foreign Style · Chinese Taoism

Cultural origin: the Lightness Skill of Wudang and Qingcheng Mountain Taoist masters. Trained together with internal-power breathing. Only a master who has spent a lifetime in the mountains truly masters it.

Bonus: internal-power breathing — apply the Fighting Spirit License effect to Lightness Skill checks.
Restriction: Taoist-thought tutelage recommended. lethal intent -1.
Licensed: [stance] Cloud-Wandering Step: Energy 1. during the stance, leap +2 tiers, relocation +1 zone (use of the air). (this expansion §5 Movement-Maneuver Balance — meets the 2 balance conditions of occupying the stance slot + the cost of Energy 1 itself.)
Secret art: [Kata] Treading Snow Without Trace: Energy 3. 1 round. can walk on water surfaces/snow for 1 session + tracking -3.
Approach: tutelage under Wudang/Qingcheng Mountain Taoist masters. Play type: mountain Lightness Skill, Taoist flight.

#16-02-02. Japanese Ninjutsu Secret Transmission (忍術秘傳) — Secret Transmission · Japan

The secret Lightness Skill of Iga and Koga. Hard to access for those other than holders of the Iga-ryu core school. Specialized in urban stealth such as wall-climbing and rooftop leaping.

Bonus: urban stealth — in city/structure terrain, evasion +2, Infiltration +2.
Restriction: plains/mountain -1.
Licensed: [stance] Wall Stance: Energy 1. during the stance, can leap 1 zone up a vertical wall. evasion +2 on an adjacent wall.
Secret art: [Kata] Rooftop Phantom Flight: Energy 3. 1 round. for 1 session, pursuer Perception -3 on rooftops/high ground.
Approach: Iga/Koga core school License + Ninjutsu License. Play type: urban stealth, use of high ground.

#16-02-03. Western Acrobat (Western Acrobat) — Foreign Style · Europe

Cultural origin: the tradition of medieval European acrobats, traveling horse shows, and circuses. Begins with feats shown before a crowd, then applied to stealth and combat.

Bonus: acrobatic feats — +1 to Bearing checks (a feat demonstration with an audience).
Restriction: effective only before a crowd. half bonus when alone.
Licensed: [Kata] Spinning Leap: Energy 2. 1-zone relocation + evasion +3 (an acrobatic spin).
Secret art: [Kata] Feat Phantom Strike: Energy 4. 1 round. crowd-sight only. after activation, enemy Intimidation -2 from the crowd's cheers (1 session).
Approach: Nanban (European) origin, foreign Adaptation (Nanban), or acrobat tutelage. Play type: acrobatics, Bearing, stealth.

#16-02-04. Self-Taught Air-Skimming (自己流活空) — Self-Taught Style · origin irrelevant

A Lightness Skill refined by one person with their own body, with no dojo and no tutelage. "If you don't fall 10 times, you can't see it" is the maxim.

Bonus: trial and error — after training Lightness Skill 3 or more times in the same terrain, +1 limited to that terrain (permanent).
Restriction: no academic theory at all. cannot teach other PCs.
Licensed: [aptitude] Self Air-Skimming: familiar terrain only (trained 3+ times). Lightness Skill check +2.
Secret art: [Kata] A Single Leap: Energy 4. 1 round. familiar terrain. leap +3 tiers, 1 session 1 time.
Approach: Self-Taught Style — free. But a history of 5 or more sessions of Lightness Skill attempts recommended. Play type: free trial and error.

#§ Design Perspective

4-school distribution: foreign 2 (Taoist, Western) + secret transmission 1 (Japanese ninjutsu) + self-taught 1.
New Licensed/secret arts: the core Flying-Swallow Tread/Void Tread is replaced by new maneuvers. The core Lightness Skill itself is preserved.
Environmental specialization: mountain (Taoist), city (Japanese ninjutsu), crowd (Western), familiar (self-taught) — each of the 4 schools has a different stage.
Diversity of thought: Taoist internal power / ninjutsu secret transmission / acrobatic feats / self-taught trial and error — even the same skill has completely different thought behind it.

"One who has soared falls. But only one who has mastered how to fall soars again."