You know that YouTube video where the “chi-master” supposedly makes guys flip and fly all over the place until some no-bullshit Marine coldcocks the dude with one punch? Well, a skillfully Awakened martial-artist actually can do that sort of thing. Employing a field of harnessed chi, the master can send objects and organisms flying without actually touching them.

System

System-wise, this is actually a fairly simple feat – Forces 2/ Prime 2, to be exact. Forces alters the physics of gravity and inertia in order to push the targets and redirect their trajectories. Prime creates the “wall of chi” that manifests this Effect.

The field requires one Quintessence point per turn, and a character who’s trying to attack the martial artists (or who’s otherwise being pushed around by him) goes flying unless she makes a Strength or Dexterity roll (difficulty 6) and scores more successes than the mage does with his Arete roll. Strength reflects a character who’s trying to use brute force to keep going, while Dexterity reflects a character who’s trying to use innate grace in order to “ride the push.”

around with chi, that damage is bashing, not lethal, when the target lands. Even so, a good Arete roll could snap someone’s neck on impact, and so this push, while, more merciful than blades, is not exactly harmless.

around with chi, that damage is bashing, not lethal, when the target lands. Even so, a good Arete roll could snap someone’s neck on impact, and so this push, while, more merciful than blades, is not exactly harmless.

A similar feat employs chi to direct winds around the martial artist, confusing opponents and whipping up distractions. Shown to great effect in the “red leaves” sequence of Hero, this feat uses the same Spheres but does not inflict damage.

Aside from realms where strong martial-arts paradigms hold sway over reality, this feat is vulgar if the practitioner is knocking folks around without touching them. Perhaps that explains why the Marine was able to deck the so-called “master” with a single punch: Paradox was having the last laugh after all.