....With talking about duels and kata, was re-reading the chapter.

One thing jumps out at me:

Earth Stance

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When other characters make Attack action checks and Scheme action checks that target you, they cannot spend * to inflict critical strikes or conditions on you.

Sounds simple.

Coiling Serpent Style:

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*+: Choose one weapon a target has readied; that weapon cannot be used for Attack actions. This effect persists until the end of your next turn.

**+: One target of your action per ** spent this way becomes Immobilized.

I can't inflict Immobilized, because it's a condition, but I can trap your weapon, because whilst it's a persistant effect, it's not a condition. Earth Stance used to say "or persistant effects" but this seems to have been removed.

Spinning Blades Style:

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*+: You must spend * equal to your target’s Vigilance to activate this technique. You use your second readied weapon against one target of your action, inflicting physical damage equal to its base damage. If that target is Dazed, increase this damage by your ranks in the skill you used for the check

Definitely fine; it's causing damage. Some rules lawyers in the beta tried to claim damage as a persistant effect, but it was pointed out that a persistant effect is defined in the rules as something saying "this effect persists until [trigger]"

Breath of Wind Style

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Air *+: One target of your action must resist with a TN 3 Fitness check (Earth 4, Fire 1) or suffer the Disoriented condition and fatigue equal to their shortfall. Increase the TN of the check to resist by 1 per * spent this way.

Crashing Wave Style

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Water *+: One target of your action must resist with a TN 3 Fitness check (Earth 1, Fire 4) or suffer the Bleeding condition and fatigue equal to their shortfall. Increase the TN of the check to resist by 1 per * spent this way.

These two surprised me. They are spending * to inflict conditions - albeit with a check to resist - but it is implicitely implied they work against Earth stance because a variant TN is listed (granted your odds aren't good with crashing water, but that's not the point).

6 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Breath of Wind Style

Crashing Wave Style

These two surprised me. They are spending * to inflict conditions - albeit with a check to resist - but it is implicitely implied they work against Earth stance because a variant TN is listed (granted your odds aren't good with crashing water, but that's not the point).

They're not inflicting a condition, they force the opponent to make a check. The potential condition is the result of the check, not of the opportunities spent. The opponent might even suffer a crit on top of the condition depending on how much fatigue they take.

On the last two, I thought they could trigger the check, not inflict the condition but still inflict Fatigue equal to the shortfall of the check ...

Also, not all enemies benefit from Stance bonuses... minions don’t right? So for them, even in Earth stance, they get the full effects.

1 hour ago, nameless ronin said:

They're  not inflicting a condition, they force the opponent to make a check. The potential condition is t  he result of the check, not of the opportunities spe  nt  . 

I’m not sure I would go with that reading of the effects... pretty much every condition inflicted by a Kata following opportunities spending go through a resistance check on the part of the target (the only exception is the Immobilized condition in Coiling Serpent style, with double opportunity). By that logic, Earth Stance would only be good against CSS and critical strikes? I don’t think so. Even with a check to resist the effect, this is still a condition inflicted via the expenditure of opportunities.

1 hour ago, Franwax said:

I’m not sure I would go with that reading of the effects... pretty much every condition inflicted by a Kata following opportunities spending go through a resistance check on the part of the target (the only exception is the Immobilized condition in Coiling Serpent style, with double opportunity). By that logic, Earth Stance would only be good against CSS and critical strikes? I don’t think so. Even with a check to resist the effect, this is still a condition inflicted via the expenditure of opportunities.

That's possible. It included persistent effect in the beta as well though - I'm never really sure what the intent is when part of a mechanic gets changed, part is kept as is and part could be either way.

3 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

These two surprised me. They are spending * to inflict conditions - albeit with a check to resist - but it is implicitely implied they work against Earth stance because a variant TN is listed (granted your odds aren't good with crashing water, but that's not the point).

That's because you can use those katas outside of conflict, in narrative time, when there is no Earth Stance. This is mostly useful for Coiling Serpent Style, when Immobilizing a guard as part of a failed takedown (Martial Arts (Unarmed) check) can save your infiltration attempt, but putting Disoriented on someone by showing off with your katana might come handy too.

The fatigue-but-not condition is a fair point.