Mathematics is a way of describing the world, and everything that is connected to it. Through the esoteric studies of infinities, numbers, counting, geometries and things even more unusual, the mind becomes focused, strong and able to see things from a perspective few others can share. Those who practice the discipline of Infinite Lotus see that within mathematics' many facets, just like in the petals of a lotus, lies a beautiful harmony, unifying mind, body and soul to produce amazing and powerful effects that few other martial artists can even conceive of, much less understand or use. While learning these things is difficult, for mathematics of the level required to use the maneuvers of the Infinite Lotus is beyond many, those who persevere gain the ability to reshape reality with ever-greater facility. Students of the style spend many hours studying unusual and theoretical mathematical principles, becoming foremost scholars of arithmetic and its many principles. Their meditations, sometimes hours long, require them to contemplate the infinite, the eternal, and things that the mortal mind was not meant to visualise, while at the same time internalising and learning these things at an instinctual level. The unusual, rigid and almost-impossible katas of the Infinite Lotus are based on unusual geometrical or mathematical forms, and their training techniques resemble contortionism, academic practice and martial arts in equal forms. At all levels, unity between the disparate needs of the scholar and the warrior, theory and practice, and the self and the world are stressed, and great awareness of subtle mental and physical shifts and precision is granted. Those who survive this regimen, and have sufficient mental and physical strength and flexibility to complete it, find that the world now responds to their actions. History of the Infinite Lotus The Infinite Lotus, like all disciplines of the Sublime Way, have origins shrouded in mystery. While most of its disciples are not historically-minded, those who know a little of its ways claim that the modrons first taught it to a few select individuals as part of some great plan that only they could know. While the modrons never truly revealed why they revealed the Infinite Lotus, the individuals to whom they revealed it became mighty warrior-scholars, who took on many disciples and attempted to fully understand everything the modrons had placed within their minds. Although they never succeeded before their deaths, their disciples expanded on this knowledge, filling in the gaps and constructing the disciple as it is known today. They became known as the Infinite Lotus Disciples, and while all of them had slightly different interpretations of the teachings, as they were based on sound mathematical logic and principle, they different only in focus, not basic content. After many centuries, Reshar, the great uniter of the Sublime Way, began to walk the earth in his bid to learn more than any other master had before him. Reshar was not a scholarly individual - he lived his life for battle and the improvement of his fighting techniques, and while he was far from illiterate, he placed little hope on, and had little interest in, esoteric forms of knowledge. Thus, when he heard stories of the legendary martial prowess of the Infinite Lotus Disciples, he sought them out to try and learn their ways. However, he found that their emphasis on mathematics, its learning and appreciation, and only then the use of martial arts, were not to his liking. He found it strange how anyone could call themselves a warrior and yet spend so much time amid books and in meditation on concepts which had little relation to life, no matter how amazing their martial arts happened to be. After a year of fruitless efforts, Reshar left in disgust, never incorporating the teachings of Infinite Lotus into his school. When the Temple of the Nine Swords fell, and its students were scattered among the four winds, some found their way to the Infinite Lotus Disciples. While many saw their studies as being excessively focused on esoteric numbers and not enough on fighting, and left in disgust just like Reshar had, a small number of swordsages could see the greater picture of the discipline, and stayed. Applying themselves to its studies, they eventually mastered its complex principles, and gained great power in the martial arts as a result. They later, thanks to their experience with the Temple of the Nine Swords, found ways to teach their brother and sister initiators how to use this rather difficult discipline. Game Mechanics of the Infinite LotusAvailable To: Any Discipline Skill: Autohypnosis (Wis) Discipline Weapons: Chakram, Klein sword, Mobius whip, Para-bow, Swordplane, Tri-dagger Discipline Feat: Vision of the Lotus Special: All save DCs for maneuvers from the Infinite Lotus disciple are calculated as 10 + 1/2 the initiator's initiator level + the initiator's Intelligence modifier. All Infinite Lotus maneuvers are also considered supernatural abilities unless noted otherwise. 1st-Level Maneuvers
2nd-Level Maneuvers
3rd-Level Maneuvers
4th-Level Maneuvers
5th-Level Maneuvers
6th-Level Maneuvers
7th-Level Maneuvers8th-Level Maneuvers
9th-Level Maneuvers
This maneuver has the same effects as limited wish, but it cannot duplicate any spell that has a casting time longer than this maneuver's initiation time. No spell is considered to be on your spell list for this purpose. Additionally, this maneuver inflicts a single negative level on you. This never causes actual level loss, but cannot be removed in any way for a week. Creatures immune to energy drain cannot use this maneuver.
As long as you remain in this stance, whenever you make a d20 roll, roll the d20 twice. Before you find out the results of either outcome, you may choose high or low. If you choose high, nothing additional happens. If you choose low, you gain a flash of insight, in the form of information about an important person, place or object. If your character is currently in pursuit of a specific person, place or object, these insights will always be about that particular person, place or object - otherwise, they are about whatever the GM feels appropriate. The information will be in poetic or unusual form, and cannot be longer than your initiator level in words plus an additional number of words equal to the difference between the two triggering d20 rolls. After this information is gained, the stance ends. Note that the stance will not yield different information about the same person, place or object if it is used more than once. Only gaining a level 'resets' this capability (as the information can now be longer).
While this stance is active, instead of rolling any d20 rolls, you can choose to simply have them count as if you had rolled a 15. If this occurs more than four times in a single round, the stance ends. You can spend a swift action while in this stance to increase this to six times for this round only.
As part of initiating this maneuver, make a single melee attack. If this hits, it deals an additional 1d6 damage, and the target must make a Will save or become confused for 1 round. If the save is successful, the strike deals the additional damage, but not the confusion effect. Creatures immune to mind-affecting abilities are immune to the confusion effect, but not the normal or extra damage.
'There is no higher cardinal'. Those words, spoken by Gautama Chandraprasad, the legendary founder of the Infinite Lotus discipline, are an idea that is simultaneously impossible to prove - and to disprove. A contradiction that eventually drove him mad, this dangerous concept is not introduced to those who learn the discipline at all - it is left for them to independently discover, and ultimately grapple with. Those few who advance far enough to understand its full implications keep it in a locked box inside their mind, for it has the power to unmake reality when channeled properly by one who has mastered the discipline. Those who are struck by someone who holds this bizarre and deadly concept in their mind know its dangerous mathematical reality, and are instantly swallowed up by the universe to prevent its spread. Objects who are struck by this power are simply told by the universe not to exist. As part of initiating this maneuver, make a melee attack. If this hits a creature, that creature must make a Will save or die immediately. Nothing short of miracle, true resurrection or wish can bring them back to life. If this hits an object, that object is immediately destroyed, to a maximum volume of a 10ft-cube per initiator level. Attended objects receive a save, using their user's saving throw bonuses.
The work of the Domestic Tarrasque and the Infinite Lotus couldn't be further apart. However, both are practiced by pragmatic individuals, even if some would consider them both slightly mad. With the complex mathematical arguments against the existence of an object provided by the Infinite Lotus, combined with the raw power of the Domestic Tarrasque's ability to wreck stuff, a technique was created by swordsages that can unmake even very large objects with incredible ease by simply speaking at them. However, the arguments used by the Infinite Lotus Disciples who helped make it are nearly useless against living creatures - you can't share all your secrets, after all. One object within range weighing up to 200 pounds per level and occupying no more than one contiguous 5' cube per level must make a Will save or completely cease to exist. This maneuver is supernatural.
After initiating this maneuver, provided that you make a d20 roll within 1 round, instead of rolling, you can choose to set its result to 10 + 1/2 your initiator level. You can only choose to affect one roll (after which this maneuver has no effect), but this can be any roll you make before your next turn. Setting a roll in this way doesn't require an action.
You can use this counter when you would become affected by a spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. As part of initiating this maneuver, roll 1d20. If this roll comes up prime (i.e. is 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17 or 19), you gain unbeatable spell resistance against that spell or spell-like ability. If you have more ranks in Autohypnosis than the caster level of the origin of this spell or spell-like ability, you may re-roll the 1d20 to determine whether you resist or not.
As part of initiating this maneuver, move 5ft. This movement does not provoke any attacks of opportunity. At the end of this movement, make a melee touch attack. If this hits, the target becomes uncentered. If the target does not have an active stance at the time this is used on them, they instead become flat-footed against the next attack directed at them.
You may use this counter when attacked by a creature within your melee reach. As part of initiating this maneuver, make an Autohypnosischeck. The attacking creature must make a Fortitude save with a DC equal to your check result. If the target passes this save, half of the damage dealt by its attack is distributed to the space around you. Any creature or object adjacent to you is dealt one-tenth of the redirected damage. If the attacking creature fails its save, half of the damage dealt by its attack is redirected to itself.
You may use this counter when a creature attempts to move within 10ft of your current position. The movement can begin outside this area, in which case it may only be activated when the creature's movement would take to within 10ft. The creature's movement immediately stops when within 10ft of you. Additionally, no creature can move within 10ft of you by any means until you move at least 5ft for any reason. This covers both mundane and magical forms of movement (including teleportation). Ranged attacks against you from beyond this barrier lose significant velocity, reducing all damage taken from mundane missile weapons by 15 until you move at least 5ft. Melee weapons that can reach you are not affected, and can attack you normally, as well as magical projectiles. Areas of effect warp around you, treating you as having cover until you move at least 5ft. This maneuver is a supernatural ability.
All invisible objects in the area become visible immediately. They remain visible from then on. Any ability that causes invisibility temporarily (such as the invisibility spell) is ended by this maneuver. Any form of permanent invisibility is suppressed for a number of rounds equal to your initiator level. If any ability tries to make any object that was invisible, but was then made visible by this ability, the ability's user must make a Will save or the ability does nothing.
While you are in this stance, you are subject to a constant endure elements effect. Additionally, you gain energy resistance 5 to all energy types. This improves to energy resistance 10 to all energy types at 11th initiator level. Additionally, while maintaining this stance, you can perform any calculation using the integers (all natural numbers, all negative versions of those numbers, and zero) and arithmetical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) in no more than 6 seconds (1 full round), regardless of the size of the numbers involved with no chance of error. Note this only gives the answer - not its significance. Additionally, the answer to the problem must be an integer - otherwise, the calculation must be done normally (though you instantly know this to be the case).
As part of initiating this maneuver, make a single melee attack. This attack ignores concealment and total concealment regardless of its source. If this attack hits, it deals an additional 3d6 damage. An attack roll of 1, 2, 19 or 20 on this roll is an automatic miss, regardless of other conditions.
As part of initiating this maneuver, make either a single melee weapon attack or a single melee ranged attack. If this attack hits, the target of the attack is dealt an additional 3d6 damage, and must make a Will save or become dazed. While dazed, the target constantly recites numbers, but is allowed to retry this save at the end of each of their turns - a success ends this ability. A creature immune to mind-affecting abilities is still subject to the extra damage from this ability, but not the dazing effect.
As part of initiating this maneuver, make a single melee attack. If this hits, it deals an additional 3d6 damage. The target must make a Will save. If this is failed, their alignment changes to any alignment you choose, provided it is not opposed to your own (good opposes evil, chaos opposes law). Additionally, the target regards you as a trusted ally and friend, in a similar way to a charm monster spell. Note that the additional damage occurs regardless of whether the save passes or fails. The additional effects are permanent. However, an ally of the target within 30ft can attempt to convince it to return to its normal ways with a full-round action. Each ally of the target may only attempt this once. If they do, the target can make another Will save at the same DC to end the additional effects. Furthermore, if the target would lose access to class abilities because of this effect, they may attempt a new save each day by spending a full-round action rethinking their life. Otherwise, the effect lasts permanently, and can only be removed by something which can remove curses. Creatures immune to mind-affecting abilities or charms are immune to the additional effects, but not the normal or extra damage.
When you activate this stance, choose an opponent that you can see. As long as you see this opponent take one action, you have now 'sequenced' that opponent. This action must be completed (i.e. cannot have been countered, interrupted or anything similar) and the results of it must be visible to you in order for this stance to have any benefit. If a sequenced opponent attempts to affect you with any ability that would designate you as a target, or would require an attack roll against you, a save on your part, or for the sequenced opponent to test against your spell resistance, two things happen: firstly, your opponent must roll every d20 required for this action twice and take the worst result; secondly, you may roll every d20 required for this action twice and choose the result you prefer. The sequenced opponent can attempt a Reflex save to negate the effects of this stance, but it applies to only their next action - each subsequent action while they remain sequenced continues to have the same effects applied to it. The user can sequence another opponent, but this requires them to spend a swift action, and observe one of their actions. If this is done, or the stance ends for any reason, any previously-sequenced enemies become unsequenced.
When this stance is activated, all of your speeds increase by 5ft. However, in order to maintain this stance, you must spend at least one move action either moving or using a rush. In subsequent rounds, as long as you continue to spend at least one move action each round either moving or using a rush, your speeds increase by an additional 5ft (+10ft in the second round, +15ft in the third, and so on). Once the bonus speed is +10ft or more, you also gain a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls when charging. However, if you fail to spend a move action either moving or using a rush on any given round, the stance ends at the end of that round. You cannot exceed a speed of 100ft in any movement mode with this ability. Additionally, while maintaining this stance, you can perform any calculation using the natural numbers (all positive, whole numbers not including 0) and arithmetical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) in no more than 6 seconds (1 full round), regardless of the size of the numbers involved with no chance of error. Note this only gives the answer - not its significance. Additionally, the answer to the problem must be a natural number - otherwise, the calculation must be done normally (though you instantly know this to be the case).
While maintaining this stance, you can affect mindless creatures, or creatures immune to mind-affecting abilities, with your mind-affecting abilities as if they weren't mindless or immune. Instead, these creatures receive a +4 bonus on any relevant saves. Additionally, while maintaining this stance, you can perform any calculation using the real numbers (basically all numbers ever that aren't imaginary) and arithmetical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) in no more than 6 seconds (1 full round), regardless of the size of the numbers involved with no chance of error. Note this only gives the answer - not its significance. Additionally, the answer to the problem must be a real number - otherwise, the calculation must be done normally (though you instantly know this to be the case).
One technique taught to more advanced disciples of the Infinite Lotus is that of 'streaming'. This gives them powerful principles which can, with prior logical consideration unique to each individual, be able to assess and work in any environment, regardless of the form that it takes. Although these techniques are applied in a wide variety of ways, one of the simplest is connected to the understanding that there are universal laws which are greater than any particular environment in which they occur. This allows its users to perform some feats that others would consider impossible - such as walking directly through a wall. As part of initiating this maneuver, you can move your base speed. This can be a non-land speed (such as burrow, fly etc) as long as you have such a speed. This movement ignores all intervening terrain, such as rubble, trees or even walls, provided that the destination space is clear. You do not need to know where you are going, but if you end up in a space that cannot hold you, you are shunted back to where you started.
You can use this counter whenever any ability requiring an action begins within range. Note that abilities that begin outside this range, but affect an area or target within that range cannot be affected by this. The creature or object using this ability must make a Will save - if this is failed, the ability is wasted and does nothing, but any limited resources it required are still expended (including its action cost).
While this stance is active, you gain a fly speed of 60ft, with average maneuverability. If you end the stance, or it ends for some other reason, while you are airborne, you remain airborne for the rest of the round, and descend slowly to the ground from a height of up to 1000ft without falling at the beginning of your next round.
One of Zeno's more commonly-known paradoxes attempted to show that you could never get anywhere because you were always closing half of the distance between yourself and where you wanted to be. Since you only ever closed half the distance, you never actually got there as there was always the other half distance to traverse. Half of the distance is still a nice step forward though... You move to the space halfway between your starting position and your target, rounding down to the nearest 5ft. You do not provoke attacks of opportunity for this movement. If you may not move through a space, you stop at the last space you may move through. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||