#3 Speed Training Methods

Contents

⚠ Not a school. Presumes Speed (速度, maps to Finesse) Master (4 points) or above.

#§ Scent — What Cultivating Speed Means

Speed is not simply moving fast. It is making one's own sword arrive before the enemy's sword arrives. That is the work of the breath, not of muscle.

#§ Law — The 3 Training Methods

#20-03-01. Lightness Skill Mind-Method (輕功心法) — Foreign Training · China

Cultural origin: the orthodox mind-method of Daoist Lightness Skill of Mount Wudang and Mount Qingcheng. A deep foundation of the 16-02-01 Daoist Lightness Skill school. Refined together with the breath.

Approach: Speed Master + the 16-02-01 Daoist Lightness Skill school or instruction under a Daoist + 5 or more sessions of cultivation.

Main effect [aptitude] — Cloud-Wandering Breath:

first-round relocation +2 zones (can preempt in combat). (this expansion §5 movement-maneuver balance — satisfies the 3 balance conditions: training method (presumes Master 4 points or above) + first round only + half effect when there is lethal intent.)
evasion check +1.
when the motive is lethal intent, the effect is halved (Daoist thought).

Achievement narrative: the PC becomes "one lighter than the earth." Yet when swinging the sword, they feel a lack of their own depth. Branching to the Renown Title "Way of Daoist Lightness Skill" is possible.

#20-03-02. Shrinking-the-Earth Method (縮地法) — Personal Transmission · Japan/Joseon

Cultural origin: the shrinking-the-earth method (縮地法) of Japanese Ninjutsu and Joseon Daoism. A mystery that shrinks distance itself. A very narrow lineage — 1 to 1 transmission.

Approach: Speed Master + instruction under a Ninjutsu practitioner or a Daoist + main-class dan 7 or above, or recognition by a master of a stealth lineage.

Main effect [aptitude] — Contraction of Distance:

1 time per 1 session, instantly relocate 1 zone (possible even outside one's own count, out-of-order relocation).
after use, relocation on the next round -1 (recoil).
accompanying NPC rapport -1 (seen as a mystical figure).

Achievement narrative: the PC becomes "one who governs distance." Yet even they do not fully understand the mystery. Rapport with mystic NPCs, distance from rationalist NPCs.

#20-03-03. Fast Breathing Method (急息法) — Self-Taught Cultivation · Universal

Cultural origin: various warriors and athletes refine their own breathing patterns. No dojo. Self-taught.

Approach: Speed Master + 5 or more sessions of breath cultivation.

Main effect [aptitude] — Refined Breath:

first 3 rounds Energy aid B-1 (single-breath limit +1, 5→6) · Qi-Exhaustion exempt.
from the 4th round onward, single-breath limit -1 (5→4) — recoil.
in a protracted combat (10 rounds +), checks -1 (accumulated fatigue of the breath limit).

Achievement narrative: the PC becomes "a master of short, violent combat." Yet a long fight is their own enemy.

#§ Design Perspective

The 3 training-method types: Foreign Training 1 + Personal Transmission 1 + Self-Taught Cultivation 1.
Diversity of thought: Daoist (Lightness Skill) · mystery (Shrinking-the-Earth) · physiology (breath) — 3 different philosophies.
Benefit + cost: all have a limited benefit + a clear cost.

"The one a step faster lives. But only the one a step slower knows deeply."