Duelling and honorable combat as an obsession.

Nickname: In the past decade or two, members of the school have begun to refer to the school as a whole as “The Dojo.”

In some sense, violence is the most barbaric act possible. Violence is guided by strength, not justice. Violence will only destroy, never create. Violence disrupts communities and individual lives.

Really, most of the creations of civilization — things like laws, walls, and language — are mostly used to prevent violence.

Strange, then, that civilization is defended and enforced by violence, and that most people who live by violence also maintain some sort of strict civilized code.

Gladiomancy is a school of controlled, lawful, organized violence. Gladiomancers keep to the principles of organization, law and civilization, even at the moment of greatest barbarity.

Gladiomancers gain power through committing acts of violence, but only in a controlled, civilized way. They are duellists, boxers, and tournament fighters. They hone their skills to gain better understanding of civilization.

The school as a whole is internally competitive. Gladiomancers have a ranking system that holds real magical significance. Members of the Dojo (as Gladiomancers have taken to calling themselves) can identify each others’ rank, and get power from increasing their ranking.

Thus, they form a civilization of brutes.

Generate a minor charge: Defeat someone in a formal fight where someone is injured. Of course, if you use magic for the fight, no charge.

Generate a significant charge: Defeat a higher-ranked Gladiomancer. You then take their rank and everyone else gets knocked down one rank. If they refuse to a challenge, you count as winning. Again, if you use magic, you gain no charge.

Generate a major charge: Defeat the highest-ranked Gladiomancer in a fight to the death.

Taboo: You can only physically fight in a conflict where all parties have agreed to at least one rule. You must obey every rule of a fight, both in letter and in spirit.

Notes on charges and fights: A fight only counts is someone takes damage and all participants are trying to win. The rules of a fight can be an elaborate warrior’s code, duelling tradition, or tournament law, or even just an informal agreement like “let’s leave bystanders out of this, okay?” or “just bare fists, no weapons or funny stuff, right?” as long as everyone agrees to it.

Blast: The Gladiomancy blast is a painful one. The Gladiomancer injures himself, and the victim takes the same wound.

Symbolic Tension: Gladiomancy is simultaneously brutal and orderly.

Random Effects: Civilization and violence. Gladiomancy doesn’t have a lot of combat abilities; mostly, the school deals with the trappings of civilization.

Charging Tips: If you are a professional athlete in a field with fighting and injuries, you can probably gain five or six charges per tournament. Otherwise, you are probably limited to one or two charges per weekend.

Starting Charges: 3 minor

Minor formulas

Tournament Eye
1 minor charge
Use this formula while watching someone move around. Determine how good someone is in a fight, including a any supernatural abilities. You also get a basic idea of how they fight. You can still gain a charge after using this formula in a fight, even if it affects the fight indirectly. If the subject is also part of the Dojo, you know their exact rank, and you get your charge back, too.

Poet-Warrior
2 minor charges
Get a +30% shift to a single artistic or expressive skill you possess above 15%, including Charm (but not lie). This can raise your skill above the level of your related attribute. Lasts for a single roll.

Promises
3 minor charges
Sense the three most significant promises (or oaths or vows) a target has sworn, and how well they’ve kept them.

Decorum
3 minor charges
Usable on anyone with a skill like “Etiquette” or “Proper Decorum” of at least 25%, including yourself. If the subject maintains proper etiquette, the subject can ignore the next Stress check they make within a day.

No Defeat
3 minor charges
This is the Dojomancy blast. Injure yourself when you use this; your target takes the same injury, up to the sum of the dice roll. Usable at any distance for no addition charge if you know your target. Using this formula almost always breaks taboo, unless you’ve agreed to a magical fight.

Significant Formulas

Bully
1 significant charge
Give someone a blunt verbal order, short-term or long-term. Until proven otherwise, the subject will believe that if they disobey that order will lead to a violent death, probably at your hands. Fails if the subject has any combat skill (including combat-related Adept or Avatar skills) higher than your Struggle score.

Fair Play
1 significant charge
Usable during a fight with established rules. You and everyone else involved must obey the state rules – trying to break any stated rules causes momentary paralysis and a Rank-8 Isolation check. For an extra significant charge, the fight is also subject to the rules of your most recent previous fight, too — everyone involved knows these rules instinctively.

Victory Ritual
1 significant charge
Permanently gain 3 points to your Body or Speed score, or 5 points to your Struggle skill. Requires a ten-minute ritual of some kind, immediately after a successful fight with another Gladiomancer.

Death Before Dishonor
2 significant charges
This is the Dojomancy blast. Injure yourself when you use this; your target takes the same injury, up to the result of the dice roll. Usable at any distance if you know your target. Using this formula almost always breaks taboo, unless you’ve agreed to a magical fight.

Reveal the Brute
3 significant charges
You turn into a big monster. The exact form of the Brute is different for every Gladiomancer, often showing something about the Gladiomancer’s personality.

You grow two feet in height, gain +50% to your Body score and all Body skills, plus the Menacing Presence skill (Body based) at 50%. You have big sharp claws (or similar weapons) that do +6 damage on Struggle rolls. All wounds you had prior to this formula go away, but you can be harmed normally.

While in this form, you do not understand honor, restraint, rules, friendship, secrecy, or mercy. You will attack anyone who you dislike in any way until they’re all dead, then you’ll leave. Lasts until you next sleep or lose consciousness.

Major Effects
Put your personality and magic into a weapon. Place a permanent law or restriction against someone. Grant your skill at arms to a successor.