I think Striking as Water needs to be amended so that the physical resistance reduction is instant / on the blow in question only, not a persistent effect lasting until the end of the turn. This theoretically makes it weaker - but would mean that it works against someone in Earth Stance; and someone in Earth Stance / Striking as Earth is the person when you most need it to work.

This would create a thematic cycle of strength/vulnerability in the elemental Stances/Striking As combinations:

• Your opponent is in Fire Stance / Striking as Fire - you enter Earth Stance / Strike as Earth to negate his improved crits and armour up against his increased successes
• Your opponent is in Earth Stance / Striking as Earth - you enter Water Stance / Strike as Water to bypass his increased armour
• Your opponent is in Water Stance / Striking as Water - you enter Air Stance / Strike as Air, because bypassing your armour doesn't help if he can't hit you in the first place
• Your opponent is in Air Stance / Striking as Air - you enter Fire Stance / Strike as Fire to get the additional successes to hit them, with improved crits.

Thoughts?

That's exactly how NPC version of Striking as Water works. Remember, this game is designed around PVE - player characters using player character tools, and NPC characters using NPC character options and tools. While there is certainly possibility of PVP scenarios, they are probably rather small part of the overall "what will happen at the table".

Note that no single NPC has Resistance rating higher than 5 (even the fearsome Oni - it, instead, has inflated Resilence) and no ability to boost their Resistance.

Makes sense to me. Though as I have discovered, the number of opportunities that you are eligible for on any single check is significant, it might be there is some way to enable both your suggestion and a more expensive lasting effect for when that is appropriate. Gonna have to check my WIP QRF (which is turning into a complex mess, I just wanted a list of all the "normal" opportunities and skill TN examples).

Ideally there would be both the circle as you have described and opposing elements cancelling or creating vulnerablity. But the game is already quite complex, at some point you've got to stop adding ideas.

Good point - thank you. I had been thinking about it from a PC vs PC perspective, and you're right, it's probably not the best model.

45 minutes ago, LuxVeritatis said:

Good point - thank you. I had been thinking about it from a PC vs PC perspective, and you're right, it's probably not the best model.

Why not? Fighting against other clan samurai has always been a major part of the world, if the hida bushi isn't being played by a PC it suddenly uses a different weaker set of abilities?

They get constructed using NPC rules if they are not PCs.

It's important not to think exclusively about 1-v-1 scenarios when considering balance. What you propose would be a pretty massive nerf when you are one of a party of samurai fighting a single tough enemy with lots of armor (bears, Oni, etc.).

6 hours ago, LuxVeritatis said:

I think Striking as Water needs to be amended so that the physical resistance reduction is instant / on the blow in question only, not a persistent effect lasting until the end of the turn. This theoretically makes it weaker - but would mean that it works against someone in Earth Stance; and someone in Earth Stance / Striking as Earth is the person when you most need it to work.

Based on the timing of attacks the effect does happen on the attack that generates the opportunity and until the next round, so you're talking about a strict nerf here.

The proposed rewording would make this effect stop being a persistent effect, and thus work even against opponents in Earth Stance.

The NPC Striking As Water functions exactly like that - it only applies to the current attack, but isn't stopped by Earth Stance! I'm really curious how NPC Striking As Earth is going to look like, because Striking As Fire for example is totally different (NPC Striking As Fire flat out replaces damage of the attack with a Severity 3 + opportunity spent crit)