Country of Origin: Cathay
Dojo: Yarlong Tsangpo (Small)
Founded: 1599 AV

Description: To say that Wu Tsain is a soft martial art is a serious understatement. Not only does it teach the use of the soft, circular defenses, it also completely non-violent. The student thwarts his opponent by confusing and disorienting them with sudden attacks that stop just short of making contact.

This is a relatively new martial art, barely seventy years old. Its founder was a Geomancer who wanted to combine his need to protect himself with the philosophy of his religion. Every stance and motion in the style is analogous to one of the rules of geomancy. Hence, the practitioner prefers to turn his enemy’s energy back upon himself rather than to taint himself with the negative energies of an actual attack.

This same pacifism is the weakness of this style. If an enemy knows his target will not strike back, he may attack without fear of reprisal.

Basic Curriculum: Geomancer, Soft Martial Arts
Knacks: Corps-á-Corps, Disarm (Soft Martial Arts), Exploit Weakness (Wu Tsain), Tagging (Soft Martial Arts), Yield

Revised Swordsman Knack: Yield. Yield consists of a nimble dodge followed up immediately with a body-to-body attack. You first attempt an Active Defense using Footwork against the incoming attack, and then, if the Active Defense is successful, make a Corps-á-Corps attack of your own against the person who just attacked you. When performing a Yield, you receive half the dice from your Footwork Knack (rounded down) for your Active Defense, and half the dice from your Corps-á-Corps Knack (rounded down) for your counterattack. For every Rank in Yield, you may add one Kept Die (+1k1) to either the Active Defense attempt or the Corps-á-Corps attack. These dice are added after you’ve halved the appropriate Knacks.

Apprentice: Apprentices of Wu Tsain learn how to make false attacks that disrupt their enemies’ offensive rhythm. When they make a Tagging attack, in addition to the usual options of discarding one of the opponent’s Drama Dice or gaining a Drama Die of their own, they may increase the opponent’s next Action Die by 1, plus the number of Raises made on the Tagging roll. If this increases the Action Die past 10, it is discarded.

Apprentices receive a free Rank in one of their Swordsman Knacks in lieu of membership in the Swordsman’s Guild.

Journeyman: Journeymen have become even more adept at the art of defense and at turning an enemy’s attack against himself. They may add their Rank in the Yield Knack to any Active Defenses they attempt using Footwork, as well as the Corps-á-Corps portion of a Yield once they have successfully completed the Active Defense.

Master: Masters of Wu Tsain bend like reeds in the face of an attack. Their Rank in the Yield Knack is increased by one. This should increase their Rank in Yield to a six. If for some reason it does not, they may later increase it from five to six by spending 25 XP.

Furthermore, a Master no longer has to make a choice after a successful Tagging attack. He now increases the next Action Die of his opponent, forces him to lose a Drama Die, and gains a temporary Drama Die himself.