Cupid's Arrow - What Is Love?

[Traskus]

Alternate for Silent Scope.

Love is like a rhino, short-sighted and hasty; if it cannot find a way, it will make a way. It's a powerful motivator. The users of this gun kata understand the progression of the feeling's healthy progression, and tend to be rather sociable even without this kata. Legend speaks that this kata was developed on commission by an eldarin farseer to help her with her own love life.

Charm is the skill for Cupid's Arrow. You need to actually be able to appeal to people for them to like you.

Level 1: Apprentice
Action (Aim): Use Aim actions in trick shots. Any attack-related advantages applied to this trick shot are applied to the attack that benefits from the aim bonus. That attack may not be a trick shot.

(1) Cupid's Arrow: The target must be unaware you're making this attack. If hit, target makes a willpower test with a TN equal to 5*your fellowship. If failed, the target treats someone present of your choice (you, an ally, a bystander, etc.) like it's love at first sight. The chosen person gains a +2k0 bonus to social rolls against the target for the duration of the scene. If they continue to treat the target well, they may just continue to think of them as a friend. Or something more, even.


Level 2: Initiate
(2) Fashioning a Friend: If hit, the target's disposition toward you is improved by one step, so long as they aren't an enemy. This can only be done once per target, ever. Be warned: if it reaches fanatical they might become obsessed...

(-1) Love Bite: Keep your lowest damage dice on this attack.


Level 3: Journeyman
(-1) Skill (Charm): Make a Charm test against the static defense of the target. If it fails, the attack fails.

(2) Enthralling Shot: If hit, the target takes a dice modifier to willpower-based rolls to resist effects equal to your good looks, seductiveness, and/or ugliness for the duration of the scene.


Level 4: Master
(5) A Heart Like Clay: If hit, the target makes a willpower test with a TN equal to 5*your fellowship. If failed, they consider you an ally for the next five rounds. That doesn't make your allies their allies or your enemies their enemies, but they will prioritize protecting you over aiding their allies or hurting yours. This effect ends when you target them for deleterious effects such as attacks (not social attacks, though), nor can you affect them this way again if you do.

(2) Banner of Passion: If hit, the target's rolls to resist or snap out of fear in your presence are modified by your good looks, seductiveness, and/or bad looks for the duration of the scene.


Level 5: Grandmaster
Protective Bond: Allies using the Guardian feat to protect you or dispel a spell targeting you have their parry/focus power test roll modified by your good looks, seductiveness, and/or bad looks.

[Traskus]

Okaaaay, what all is going on and what hit the cutting room floor?

Some of the "good looks" modifiers were originally keyed off of npc dispositions, but that doesn't work well with player character allies. This is most obvious with enthralling shot, which had to change to positive or negative good looks modifiers.
I chose to equate it with silent scope because of the blurb about Livii and Taldeer.

The progression is attraction -> infatuation -> motivation -> devotion -> self-sacrifice. Perhaps not the best way of wording it but I hope the meaning gets across.

Did a quick inventory on what classes work with this and peacekeeper is the best fit. Pair this with omnic crisis (a clay pigeon alt) and you don't even have to worry about damaging the target.
No book of erotic fantasy, but the unity/love clerics, godbound's word of passion, and ars magica's power of love were among research topics.

[Traskus]

Having looked over carnal blossom and flashing flourish, enthralling shot and banner of passion have been made cheaper. Maybe too cheap, but we'll get there when we get there.