Capoeira would be good, except that it'd be hard to visualize/conceptualize in terms of a MUD. I suppose you could go with things like using Jenga as a base move and then chaining moves in quick succession, and as you progress you learn the different base steps. Actually, this fits extremely well with the aforementioned and controversial "Tiger style". It also goes well with the close/far idea, as that's pretty central to Capoeira as well. I like it

However, Dim Mak and Kempo aren't the best known styles either, and both are very deadly (I can attest to this personally). So, a compromise: let me have my "Dragon", and I'll agree to Capoeira as the base for the hard-style. Actually, this would also allow both of the lost cities to have "Unarmed Fighter" classes, as Capoeira is wind-type as far as martial arts go.


All in all,

The only thing I know about Dim Mak is that Robert Rankin's book have a made up Runese style called Dimac.

And I don't see what everyone has against telepathy. If it's just how it's been done before, it doesn't have to be, but I LIKE the idea of messing with people's minds and stuff...it could even fit in with clairsentience, which I also like.

No Kaido, though. We already kinda have athletics and power. And as keeps suggesting to me via PMs, we could always have Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu (I TELL him it's illusions, but will he listen?) or something.

A) Nothing in or about any sort of martial arts has ever been associated with telepathy, as such. And before you say that this is true for our world, but not for Lusternia, think about how every other class is/has been influenced by our world (at least as far as reasonably, physically possible).

Naruto no baka.

C) Who mentioned Kaido? Everybody who has been for some sort of unarmed fighting class in this thread has said ditch Kaido. What I'm talking about is the manipulation of others' power using your own. Basically its an anti-insta-kill measure that can cause some nifty damage if used right, via

AB Aethyr Flare
syntax: Flare X (Where X is both the number of power you wish to use for the ability, and 10X% of the target's current power to burn off and convert to damage. So 10 power use converts 100% of the target's power to damage.)
This is a risky skill because you could potentially use 10 power in order to convert your target's 1 power (if that's all they had at the time the skill is used) to damage, which would kinda suck.


I really think that unarmed combatants of the Fire realm should get a skill to burn off a target's power.... that just makes sense to me, as the nature of Fire.

A ) That doesn't mean it can't be used.

B ) -I- didn't suggest it, -he- did!

C ) I was agreeing with you!

Editied

Hmmm, as far as telepathy goes, maybe adapt (read: improve) it, and give it to the advocates of the harder Capoeira-ish style? They're living in a city of logic, reason, and science: all mental aims. It seems fitting they would gain something of this nature. The only thing is, that class is supposed to -not- be about afflicting. So I don't know how it would fit with the framework we've got going. Ack, eureka!! Severe toning of the afflictions in the skill, more emphasis on other abilities. The skill only gives mental afflictions, whereas the Fire guild's gives lots of afflicts, but only physical ones. Woohoo, another idea incorporated.

Ooo, I like the cross-balancing this brings.
Names for the skills:
Windwalking - Combat style based on the principles of Air, dealing devastating damage.
Inner Eye - Expand your mind through inner contemplation.

Serpentis - Deadly combat pioneered by the ancient Dracnari.
Aethyr - Your enemy's strength shall be his weakness.

Windwalking == High damage, no afflictions.
Inner Eye == Minor afflicting power. More useful for location and long-range communication.

Serpentis == Low damage, designed to incapacitate and then finish off with finishing blows.
Aethyr == Minor damage potential. More useful for enemy power control.

You're going on the assumption telepathy has to be about afflictions. Granted, that's how it was in other IRE, but who says there's not more to it? Actually, telepathy is mental...speaking, so to say...so I suppose I can see where you're coming from. But you could call it psionics, or some original twist thereof, and have it be much more unique.

View above edit.

Personally, if a martial arts/monk class was implemented, I think it would be nice to steer away from the complete hand-to-hand thing. Many forms of martial arts practice using poles/katanas and the like. (Someone can correct me on the 'pole' thing, I'm not actually sure what they're called in martial arts.)

I would personally like to see a martial arts type class that practices using a pole in conjunction with their body.

Something like:


Kaelar thrusts a blunt-tipped pole into your gut, catching you by surprise and knocking the wind out of you.

Kaelar catches you in the chest with a well-placed kick, following up with a quick swing of a blunt-tipped pole at your feet and causing you to stumble to the ground.

Kaelar firmly places one end of a blunt-tipped pole on your chest, preventing you from standing or moving.
stand
As you try to stand, Kaelar applies pressure to a blunt-tipped pole, keeping you pinned where you are.
writhe
-writhing stuff, followed by being able to stand again-

Something just as unlikely as the other suggestions, but at the same time, something I would like to see in an IRE game.

Also, I would still like the idea of combos, but in a different sense than the traditional IRE thing. There would be certain attacks that could be performed in conjunction with other attacks to create a sort of special, taking extra balance time but performing the two at once. For example, once you got a certain kick skill, and the skill to trip someone with your pole, you could do the second thing in the short example above.


EDIT: Just for clarification, I didn't mean all of my example to be done in a combo, but on 3 separate balances

EDIT2: Added some more ideas, and editted about 5 bajillion things that didn't sound right.

Well, there's staves/bos/whatever, just as some names for poles - I'm sure there's other names though. And it might be nice to see them as monk weapons, A ) for an interesting twist, and B ) Because the warriors seem to be going for more knightly weapons - swords, maces, flails, polearms etc. compared to more simple weapons such as a bo.

I believe the technical term is "whackity-bonker." Sometimes a three-sectioned whackity-bonker.

I was going to include this earlier, but got swept up.

I see giving Windwalkers (my name for the class:P) limited weapons skills, more along the lines of blunt damage than edged. Again, no piercing == less afflicting, the hallmark of the class.

Flamebearers don't need weapons. They're designed to use others' weapons against them, though, and to use their own body as a weapon. Besides, the way I'm looking at the class now, giving them even the *remote* possibility of using venoms would be over-powered. As it is they'll need toning.

That's sort of what I/we had in mind. So far, Windwalking functions a bit like Numerology from Aet does, i.e. you have ab's that allow you to use a certain other group of ab's. Example:

Ab Windwalking Jenga
Jenga is the basic position from which all of windwalking is derived. In it the feet are alternated while swaying back and forth.
Syntax: Perform Jenga

Ab Windwalking Spiralkick
Requires: Jenga
From the basic Jenga form, one peforms a back-spinning heel kick to the rythm.
Syntax: spiral

Ab windwalking Return
Requires: Jenga, Spiralkick
Upon completing a spiralkick one has a 30% chance of being able to spin in the opposite direction, landing a second attack to the same bodypart.

Ab windwalking sidekick
Requires: Jenga, Spiralkick, Return
Finishing the Return strike will occasionally set you up for a hard sidekick to the torso. (15% chance)

Ergo,

1000h, 1000m ex-jenga
You sway your body back and forth to an unheard rythm.
1000h, 1000m e-
1000h, 1000m ex-spiral stupidboy head
You spin on the up-tempo, sending your heel crashing into Stupidboy's face!
1000h, 1000m e-
You follow through and reverse direction, kicking the other side of Stupidboy's head!
Stupidboy says, "Ach mein lamen!"
1000h, 1000m e-
Planting your foot as you finish, you send an explosive sidekick to Stupidboy's torso!!
The final blow proves too much for Stupidboy, who dies pitifully.
You have slain Stupidboy.
You console Stupidboy as he falls to the rank of Guttersludge.



.... Something like that. Every successful addition to the combo would keep you off balance, as a drawback. Also, if Stupidboy takes any lessons in Unarmed Combat, not only does he lessen your chances of following through for successive strikes (by blocking), but he also has a chance to counter the attack, dealing 1/10th damage and keeping you off balance for an additional 1/2 the normal balance time. Ie if you got in 2 strikes, but he countered the 3rd, you'd stay off-balance for an additional 2 rounds (Sidekick has a balance of 2 rounds, and each of the others has a balance of 1.) afterwards.

On the upper-end combos (which lead to Powerstrikes that have to be input by the player with decent timing and require lots of balance) getting an attack countered at the end of the chain could be devastating. Let's say a 5 round combo with Powerstrike has a balance of 1,1,2,3,4,(6) and gets countered on the Powerstrike. That's 5 rounds of lag extra at the end of the technique, during which your options are severly limited. I'd say its a decent trade-off. To offset this, Windwalkers would get a skill in Inner Eye which allows them to focus their mind in order to raise success %.

EDIT: Some of you may have noticed that I counted the countered attack balance in the first formula, and not in the second. That's because Powerstrike balance doesn't count toward countered off-balance, but you still lose whatever Power it took to do the technique. Think of it as, "You pull back to focus the energies of the Air around your fist, but when you release Stupidboy grabs your wrist and sends you flying!!" This would cause you to lose the Power, and you'd wind up prone and have to stand;perform jenga;etc

Monastics
Those of the Monastic Archetypes are reknowned for their solitary lifestyle and intensive knowlege of the prime plane, and their abilities to use the mundane with such precision and knowledge to give a supernatural imression in those viewing a Monastic at work.

Monastics possess the following general skills:
Physiphos - The art of melding the thoughts with the body to evoke a level of clarity and power of movement that extends beyond the reach of those who forgo the Monastic life. Even the simple art of walking is relearned with painstaking effort by Monastics to achieve a unified grace.
Meditations - Monastics spend much time in contemplation, and as a result of this their contemplations often have taken on forms which induce an alteration in the aether that flows about them.
Athletics - (see standard warrior archetype)

AB Physiphos

Stepping - PHYSIPHOS STEPPING ON
Such is the concentration of a Monastic that their focus on the very act of walking has enabled them to move their feet without notice so as to reduce the extent to which they become entangled

Blastshout - PHYSIPHOS BLASTSHOUT
Time spent in deep breathing and meditation has increased the lung capacity and breath control to where a loud shout may stun those in the room, and knock them to the floor.

Ironskin - PHYSIPHOS IRONSKIN
Through intensive concentration one may harden their skin to a state where it is hard as iron, protecting the practitioner from cutting damage.

Coilkick - Physiphos Coilkick
One stores latent energy in the body before releasing it all at once in the coilkick, causing a large portion of blunt damage to the target.

Knifehand - Physiphos Knifehand
The knifehand strike is known for its numbing aftereffects. This attack causes mild blunt damage, and nerve effects.

Parry - (same as warrior archetype)

Heelstrike - Physiphos Heelstrike
The penetrating power of striking with the heel of the foot. This attack is designed to strike an opponents chest, depriving them of breath.

Palmstrike - Physiphos Palmstrike
By vibrating the palm at an incredible rate, this blow sends vibrations into the core of an enemy, often causing them to vomit, and lose their appetite.

Darkstep - Physiphos Darkstep
The art of the darkstep allows one to move in total silence, so one is not noticed upon entering or leaving the room.

(other skills)

Physiphos can be specialized into Aethericism and Materialism.
Aethericism deals in aetheric attacks as well as several other techniques related to Aetheric manipulation.
Materialism involves the use of the body to inflict severe wounds on a foe or cause afflictions as a result of bodily harm.

Example of Aethericism and its equivilent Materialsim skill
Aetherline - Aethericism Aetherline
The long process of establishing an aetheric resonance with the target through intense concentration yields as its result a one way link by which the Monastic may use the Aether resonance to attack their victim from anywhere on the same plane. It remains until the victim is no longer on the
same plane as the user. (Requires roughly the same length of time to use as Chasm, during which no action may be performed.)

Haze - Materializm Haze
The act of Hazing causes the Materialist to accelerate their movement to such a point where their physical world appears to blur about themselves and their opponent. The haze seperates the Monastic and their target from the others in the room until either the Monastic or their target is slain, essentially removing any outside influence from the fight. (Similar to illusionists Manse, but both combatants are drawn in until combat has ended. Requires about as much time as focusing body, and noticable only to the target, and not the others in the room until they are drawn into the Haze state.)

Maybe they could be "Time Monks", like from Terry Pratchett's Discworld book Thief of Time. That would be interesting. Crono/s Monks?

Hahah! That book rocked. And it WOULD be interesting. Not that Akraasiel's work isn't extremely good as is. (Needs work, of course, but there you go.)

Makes sense, too. Hallifax and Gaudiguch would have every reason to start training citizens to either ignore or be less affected by time anomalies, just in case something...happens. A higher-level ability would involve ignoring Aeon effects, or disable Aeon when invoked.

For one, Akraasiel's Monks don't have any way of bashing. Unless they can double punch and do about the same amount of damage as a double jab? Kind of like a passive bonus that comes with the skillset.

Although, with Cronos Monks...you'd have to be very imaginitive to come up with thirty odd skills that give aeon, just in different ways. Unless someone can actually offer a good range of time-based-skills.

For the last skill in Materializm, they could just go around doing it to random people, which is bad...
Other than that, all this stuff sounds awsome.