Combos: Difference between revisions

From exalted2e
Jump to navigation Jump to search
mNo edit summary
 
Line 1: Line 1:
''Latest Errata:'' Exalts need not spend experience to purchase or create Combos, nor spend [[Willpower]] to activate them. Characters may simultaneously activate as many of their Charms as they desire, so long as the combination of powers activated obeys the rules for creating Combos (for example, characters still may not activate two Simple Charms simultaneously, nor activate another Charm at the same time as a Charm that lacks the [[Charm Keywords|Combo-OK keyword]]).
'''''Latest Errata:''''' Exalts need not spend experience to purchase or create Combos, nor spend [[Willpower]] to activate them. Characters may simultaneously activate as many of their Charms as they desire, so long as the combination of powers activated obeys the rules for creating Combos (for example, characters still may not activate two Simple Charms simultaneously, nor activate another Charm at the same time as a Charm that lacks the [[Charm Keywords|Combo-OK keyword]]).


===General Guidelines===
===General Guidelines===
Line 52: Line 52:
The character must pay the normal cost of the Charms involved, and if she cannot afford to pay the cost of all the non-reflexive Charms in the Combo, then it does not work. Some Combos will have a variable cost. In this case, the character must be able to pay at least the minimum possible cost to activate the Combo.
The character must pay the normal cost of the Charms involved, and if she cannot afford to pay the cost of all the non-reflexive Charms in the Combo, then it does not work. Some Combos will have a variable cost. In this case, the character must be able to pay at least the minimum possible cost to activate the Combo.


=Arianna Explains...Combos!=
=Tips for 2e Combos=


==Relonad==
One thing to keep in mind for Combos is that when the combo is used, ALL simple and supplemental charms HAVE to be paid for and activated. However, Reflexive charms can be applied at your discretion. That means, if you have a combo that has 2 Supplemental charms and 3 Reflexive charms, every time you use that combo you have to pay a minimum of the cost of the 2 Supplemental charms, but can choose to apply the Reflexive charms.


'''TODO: korjattava... tämä olikin 1e-juttu.'''
One thing I know a friend of mine would do is make a combo with their Primary attack charm (which ever skill he was using on the character) + [Relevant ability] Excellency + a Perfect Defense Charm. So when he used the combo, he would pay for his primary attack charm and then get to choose how much he would pay for his Excellency (depending on if he felt he needed the additional dice/successes) and keep his Defense Charm use in reserve in case he got attacked (keep in mind that you only get 1 Charm/Combo use per turn and if you use an attack charm you can't use a defensive charm until after your next turn: but having the defense charm in his combo meant that he was still only using his combo, the 1 combo he got per turn, to react to any attacks).


==Karn-Dethahal==
I'll try to make it simple, going with the changes from scroll of errata, but to clarify: before errata changed it you had to buy combos with experience and the charm that were part of it were fixed. That was important because you had to use all non-reflexive charms when you used the combo, it was all or nothing.


Combos trip up a lot of new players, but they're really easy once you get your head around them. Gather around and pay attention to Arianna, and soon you'll be inventing combos that let you mow down Sidereals by the division[1]! Yay!
Keywords: there are two charm keywords relevant to combos: Combo-Basic and Combo-OK.


There's lots of other good combo guides out there, but we're going to go through this one slowly and carefully to make it as easy as possible.
Combo-OK is the simpler onw, it means you can use this charm in a combo.


Combo-Basic is a bit more complicated: you can use this Charm in a combo, but all other charms on that combo must be reflexive.


::[1] - If you're a Sidereal yourself, you may want to include a reflexive alibi-creating charm.
This comes down to: on you action you can use one single charm that lacks either keyword, one Combo-Basic Charm and any number of Combo-OK reflexive Charms, or a set of Combo-OK Charms.


When you use a set of Combo-OK charms things get more conplicated. From the corebook:


===Are my charms Instant?===
Your combo can only have one Simple Charm.


Take a good look at all the charms you want to combo. Is their [[:Category:Instant_Charms|duration Instant]]? If so, great! If not, you can't combo the charm. Sorry. Try putting your long-duration charms up *before* the battle, since you can't combo them. I recommend having your Eclipse taunt them so you can buff yourself while they're shaking with rage.
You can only have one Extra-Action Charm.


To be absolutely clear: only charms with [[:Category:Instant_Charms|an Instant duration]] can be put in combos.
If you have both a Simple and an Extra-Action cahrms on you combo, you must use the Simple Charm on all actions on the for the flurry created by the Extra-Action charms. That is, if you Extra-Action Charm gives you 2 extra actions on top of your regular one you must use the Simples Charm 3 times.


No, Dace, you CAN'T combo [[Fivefold Bulwark Stance]] with anything. Pay attention!
You can have any number of Supplemental Charms, but they must be used on all your non-reflexive actions. If you have a Simple Charm they must affect that Charm. That Usually means all charms must come from the same ability, but there are exceptions (Thunderbolt Attack Prana is an Athletics Charms thats states on its description that it can bu used with other abilities, for example).


Quick example, let's make Melee Combos:


===How about Reflexive charms?===
[[First (Ability) Excellency—Essence Overwhelming|The First Melee Excelency]] is a Reflexive Charm, so we're free to use it or not on each action that uses Melee on it's dice pool.


[[:Category:Reflexive_Charms|Reflexive charms]] are great. You can put as many reflexive charms as you like in a combo. You don't have to worry which ability they're from - as long as they're Instant, they can go in.
[[Fire and Stones Strike]] is a Supplemental Charm, so it must be used on all our actions, and because of that they must be attacks.


Best of all, when actually using your combo, you can use as many or as few of the reflexive charms in the combo as you like, as often as you like.
[[Iron Whirlwind Attack]] is an Extra-Action Charm.


For example, you could put both Essence Gathering Temper (an Endurance charm that works when you're hit by an attack) and Heavenly Guardian Defence (a Melee charm that parries an attack perfectly) in a combo, because they're both Reflexive. If you're attacked, and you activate the combo or have already activated it earlier in the turn, you can use Heavenly Guardian Defence to parry the attack, let the attack hit you and use Essence Gathering Temper, or neither.
[[Iron Raptor Technique]] is a Simple Charm.


NOTE: If you're a Dragonblooded, don't put Reflexive charms in combo. You can always use Reflexive charms, even if you've activated a combo, so don't waste your XP on putting them into combos!
[[Dipping Swallow Defense]] is a reflexive charm that only benefits defenses.


So a Combo with all this Charms will give me Dex+1 actions (from Iron Whirlwind Attack), all of them must be activations of Iron Raptor Technique, and all of them must be paired with Fire and Stones Strike (at least one mote on it, up to the usua maximum on each activation), and I can, but do not have to, use the First Melee Excellency on each one. At the same time I'm free to use Dipping Swallow Defense and the First Melee Excelency on my defenses, since they are reflexive. And since Defenses are reflexive actions I'm not obligated to use Fire and Stones Technique (not that I could) on them.


==Simple, Supplemental, and Extra Action==
==aescula==
;Can I make a Combo of Supplemental Charms that boost a specific action? IE: attacking or grappling?
:Yep, easily! For instance, Hungry Tiger and a Melee Excellency is totally valid.


<b>That's really easy, Arianna! I guess that means [[:Category:Simple Charms|Simple]], [[:Category:Extra Action Charms|Extra Action]] and [[:Category:Supplemental Charms|Supplemental charms]] are harder...</b>
;Defensive Combos??????????????????????????
:Sure. Most common is to just mix a perfect defense into your combo, and since it's reflexive, can be activated at will after your action, as if you hadn't used a charm.


A little. Unlike Reflexive charms, Simple, Extra Action and Supplemental charms have restrictions on both being put into combo, and on their use once you've activated the combo.
;What Speed is a Combo?
 
:The speed of the slowest part of it, as with any flurry (I think)
'''All Simple, Extra Action and Supplemental charms in a combo must be from the same Ability'''
 
So, for instance, I could have a combo of [[Arrow Storm Technique]] ([[Archery]], Extra Action) and [[Wise Arrow]] (Archery, Supplemental) but not [[Iron Whirlwind]] (Melee, Extra Action) and [[Ferocious Jab]] (Brawl, Supplemental).
 
'''You can only have one Simple charm in a combo, and you MUST use it'''
 
So, if your combo has a Simple charm, and you activate it, you MUST use your action for that turn on the simple charm.
 
'''You can only have one Extra Action charm in a combo, and you MUST use it'''
 
Just like our friend the Simple charm above, if you activate a combo with an Extra Action charm in it, you must use that charm.
 
'''If you have an Extra Action and a Simple charm in the same combo, they MUST be compatible, and you MUST use the Simple charm on each extra action.'''
 
This is one of the trickier ones, so let's have some examples to make it clear, yay!
 
Old Dace is a bit of a fumbler - his silly player didn't buy him enough Dex. So he's worried he might drop his sword *a lot*, and tries to create a combo letting him pick it back up as often as he needs to - [[Retrieve the Fallen Weapon]] (Melee, Simple) and [[Peony-Blossom Attack]] (Melee, Extra Action). Dace CANNOT do this, because the charms don't work together - Retrieve the Fallen Weapon calls a weapon back to his hand, while Peony-Blossom creates extra attacks. Since he can't pick up his sword with the extra actions generated by Peony Blossom, he can't make this combo.
 
Swan is much, much more intelligent than Old Dace, and so his combos work (OK, his example combo in the corebook is totally messed up, but it's not his fault!). He wants to combo [[Essence Venom Strike]] (Martial Arts, Simple) with [[Striking Serpent Speed]] (Martial Arts, Extra Action) - and he can! Since you can use Essence Venom with a Striking Serpent action, this combo is OK. However, if he activates this combo, Swan MUST use Striking Serpent Speed, and he MUST use Essence Venom Strike on each action generated by Striking Serpent Speed. This can get very expensive - I hope Swan kills whoever he hits with that, because he might not have any essence left to defend!
 
 
'''You can have as many Supplemental charms as you like in a combo, but you MUST use them when appropriate'''
 
Unlike Reflexives, where you can use them as much or little as you like in a turn where you've activated a combo including them, with Supplementals you need to use them whenever you can.
 
So, for instance, let's say Old Dace made a combo of [[Excellent Strike]] (Melee, Supplemental) and [[Hungry Tiger Technique]] (Melee, Supplemental). Let's say he's fighting Mnemon (as you do), and activates his combo. He decides to take four actions, attacking twice and saving two defences in case Mnemon doesn't die (stupid tough Earth Aspects). He MUST use both Excellent Strike and Hungry Tiger on both attacks, since the charms supplement attacks. He can still use his defences normally, however, without having to activate the charms, since they don't do anything for defences.
 
To be clear: you MUST use the Supplementals in a combo when you can, but you don't have to take actions that the charms could supplement.
 
Here's a handy tip, though: even if you use a charm multiple times in a turn, you don't have to use it in the same way each time, even if it's part of a combo. So in the example above, Dace could spend 3 motes on Excellent Strike to add 3 dice to the first attack, then spend 6 motes to add 6 dice to the second. This means if you're *really* low on essence, you can spend the minimum amount on variable-cost charms to keep them cheap!
 
 
If you have a Simple or Extra Action charm in a combo, any Supplementals MUST benefit those actions
 
The rules for supplementals get a bit stricter if you have a Simple or Extra Action charm in the combo (or both!). In that case, the Supplemental must work with the Simple or Extra Action charms.
 
For instance, if Dace, clumsy person that he is, wanted to have a combo of [[Excellent Strike]] and [[Retrieve the Fallen Weapon]], he couldn't - Excellent Strike only works with attacks, not picking up your weapon!
 
===What a Combo needs===
 
'''OK...I THINK I can put charms into combo now, though I'd like some examples...is there anything else my combo needs?'''
 
I'm glad you asked, Hypothetical Student! A Combo has two important elements you can't do without:
 
<b>Name</b> - any combo worth the XP you're blowing on it needs a cool name. Charm names are a good inspiration, or you could have the name reflect the reason you made the combo - "Owl-crushing Rain of Blows" for a combo you invented to kill Lilith, for instance!
 
<b>Signature</b> - each combo has a distinct look, which is instantly recognisable to anyone who's seen it before. This can range from a simple cascade of red sparks twisting off your blade, to the entire battlefield being drenched white with sunlight, your attacks appearing as golden caste-marks slamming into your opponent's body, and everything being slightly faded when the glare vanishes. Have fun! Generally you can have any aesthetic you like, so long as it's *roughly* appropriate to the mechanics. Feel free to be flexible with your signature during actual use, but make sure it's alway recognisable.
 
 
===Examples===
 
Let's have those examples, shall we:
 
 
'''A basic combo - Arianna's Unrelenting Lance Storm'''
 
Charms: [[Cascade of Cutting Terror]] (Thrown, Supplemental) + [[Precision of the Striking Raptor]] (Thrown, Supplemental)
 
Signature: Arianna leaps up into the air, and it seems as if the sun sets behind her, each ray of sunlight passing through her hands to become a javelin striking at her enemy.
 
Example of use: On her initiative, Arianna jumps out of the tree, startling the Fire Immaculate menacing Swan. She spends 1 WP to activate [[Unrelenting Lance Storm]], and then makes two thrown attacks (taking normal multiple action penalties). She MUST use both charms on these two attacks, and pays for them normally. On her first attack, she pays 5 motes for Cascade of Cutting Terror, and 5 motes to add 5 dice with Precision of the Striking Raptor. On the second attack, she pays 5 motes for Cascade of Cutting Terror, and 10 motes to add 10 dice with Precision of the Striking Raptor. Result: One dead Fire Aspect! Yay!
 
 
'''An intermediate combo - Dace's All-encompassing Invincible Retribution Stance'''
 
Charms: [[Heavenly Guardian Defence]] (Melee, Reflexive), [[Solar Counterattack]] (Melee, Reflexive), [[Essence Gathering Temper]] (Endurance, Reflexive), [[Iron Whirlwind Attack]] (Melee, Extra Action)
 
Signature: A column of solar fire erupts around Dace as he plants his feet firmly in the ground, spinning his blade around at such speed that all who dare approach are cut down.
 
Example of use: Before his initiative, Dace is attacked by Prince of Shadows, who is using a horrific combo of his own. Dace spends 1WP to activate All-Encompassing Invincible Retribution Stance, and then activates both Heavenly Guardian Defence and Solar Counterattack against each one of Prince of Shadow's deadly blows, keeping himself perfectly safe and inflicting several wounds on his Abyssal foe. This leaves the Solar low on Essence, however, and so when the Abyssal's zombies attack him, he uses neither Heavenly Guardian Defence nor Solar Counterattack, but allows them to hit him, trusting in his armour , and activating Essence Gathering Temper to regain precious Essence from their blows. He is slightly wounded, but gains lots of motes! On his initiative, he MUST use Iron Whirlwind, and does so, butchering the zombies.
 
 
 
===Pay to Play===
 
''''OK, so how do I figure out what a combo costs to use?''''
 
Sometimes combo costs are listed in confusing fashion. Don't be confused!
 
Here's what a combo costs to use: 1 willpower. That's it. You pay your WP, and the combo is activated for the rest of the turn.
 
After that, each activation of a charm in the combo costs what it normally would.
 
 
''''When can I activate my combo? When should I?''''
 
You can activate a combo the first time you use a charm in a turn. For instance, if you're attacked before your initiative, and you have a combo with a defence charm, like [[Dipping Swallow Defence]], you can activate the combo then, and use Dipping Swallow Defence, even if your combo also has many other charms in it. You would then use the other charms later in the turn when your initiative came around. You should probably describe the signature in your stunts throughout the turn. Shouting the name of the charm is strictly optional.
 
Note, however, if you've already used a Charm that turn, you can't later activate a combo, even if the combo includes the charm you used. So if you used Dipping Swallow Defence to defend yourself early in the turn, you can't activate a combo containing Dipping Swallow Defence on your initiative to get access to other charms. You missed your chance, silly!
 
 
''''Help! I killed the Abyssal half way through my combo, but the rules say I still need to use the rest of my Extra Actions for the Simple Charm in the combo!''''
 
That's right! You'll just have to attack rocks and trees and the rest of the scenery.
 
There's no explicit rules for it, but your ST might be nice enough to rule that you don't need to take extra attacks if there's no sensible reason to do so.
 
It's generally considered bad form to attack your friends or their followers just so you don't "waste the combo".
 
 
 
''''Can I combo charms from different Martial Arts styles together?''''
 
Yes, that's one of the best parts of being a Martial Artist! Be careful, though - comboing charms doesn't ease weapon restrictions, so you while you CAN combo [[Armour Penetrating Fang Strike]] (Snake Style) and [[Spine-Shattering Bite]] (Tiger Style), you wouldn't be able to use the combo with [[Tiger Claws]] - you'd have to go bare-handed.
 
 
''''Don't some charms break these rules?''''
 
Yes they do! Examples include [[Leaping Tiger Attack]] and [[Ghost Eating Blow]]. Those charms explicitly state how they break these rules, however, so don't worry about it unless you're using those charms, and then simply follow the rules in their text.
 
 
'''My crazy friend told me you can't take multiple actions ("split your dice pool") while you use a combo - is he crazy?'''
 
He sure is! Actually a lot of people get this idea due to an errant example in the core book. The fact of the matter is, using a combo doesn't stop you from taking multiple actions - CHARMS stop you from doing that, in particular Simple and Extra Action charms. And as we know, if you use a combo with those charms in it, you must use them, and hence can't take multiple actions.
 
You can, however, take multiple actions normally and use a combo with only Reflexive and/or Supplemental charms. Yay!
 
Of course, this means you can't take multiple actions, or abort to a defence, or use your action in any other way, and then activate a combo with an Extra Action or Simple charm in it. If you use such a combo, you MUST reserve your action for those charms.
 
 
===What else should I know?===
*You can only activate one combo per turn
*Even without a combo, you can use a charm as many times as is appropriate in a turn - "One charm per turn" means "You can't use [[Excellent Strike]] and [[Dipping Swallow Defence]]" not "You can't use Dipping Swallow Defence five times".
*Lunars, Fair Folk, Alchemicals and some others have their own combo rules - check their books to be sure when you're making combos for such a character!
 
'''But the corebook example with Swan says...'''
 
::hits Swan with fan "Stupid Swan, confusing those people! Baka!"
 
Please ignore that example. It's quite wrong.
 
 
----
 
Original Author:  Kasumi on RPG.net


You also don't need a Simple charm in there, they can be made of only supplemental charms.


[[Category:Combos]]
[[Category:Combos]]

Latest revision as of 07:05, 25 November 2021

Latest Errata: Exalts need not spend experience to purchase or create Combos, nor spend Willpower to activate them. Characters may simultaneously activate as many of their Charms as they desire, so long as the combination of powers activated obeys the rules for creating Combos (for example, characters still may not activate two Simple Charms simultaneously, nor activate another Charm at the same time as a Charm that lacks the Combo-OK keyword).

General Guidelines

Combos may include only those Charms with the Combo-Basic or Combo-OK keywords. Charms with the Combo-Basic keyword can share a Combo with only reflexive Charms. A Combo can include more than two Charms but it can never include the same Charm more than once. Storytellers are always free to veto the combination of certain Charms, and the Storyteller's decision is final when it comes to defining how a given Combo works.

When a character uses a Combo in battle or in war, there is an unmistakably brilliant display of Essence. Any character present will know that the Exalt is using a Combo the moment she pays the temporary Willpower to activate it. However, the witness will not know the exact nature of the Combo until he has seen it used once. The display of a Combo's activation is very distinctive, and once a character has seen it activated, he will be able to recognize it if he sees it again.

Characters can use Combos in a social conflict or to enhance dramatic actions. This use does not produce a Combo display unless one of the Charms in the Combo is Obvious.

Timing

Combos allow a character to use two, three or more Charms in a given action. Don't worry if this seems like it could get confusing. This section presents a point-by-point description of how the different types of Charms work together in a Combo. There are a lot of rules, but it's not as complex as it looks. Beneath the precise wording and occasional repetition, the core concepts are simple ones.

Simple—a Combo can have only one simple Charm in it.

If there are supplemental Charms in the Combo, the character must use them to supplement the simple Charm.

If there is an extra-action Charm in the Combo, the character must use the simple Charm as every action in the magical flurry. The character must use the simple Charm a number of times equal to the minimum number of actions in the flurry. The simple Charm must be from the same Ability as the extraaction Charm unless one of the Charms explicitly permits the combination, and it must be an appropriate action for every action the magical flurry contains.

Supplemental—There is no limit to the number of supplemental Charms that can be part of a Combo.

If there is a simple Charm in the Combo, the supplemental Charm must be used to benefit it. This means the supplemental Charm must be from the same Ability as the simple Charm unless one of the Charms explicitly permits the combination, and it must be able to benefit the kind of action the simple Charm is.

If there are no simple Charms in the Combo, the supplemental Charm must benefit all of the character's non-reflexive actions. Unless the Charm's description indicates otherwise, supplemental Charms can only benefit uses of the Ability on which they are based.

The supplemental Charm may benefit the character's reflexive actions, including actions given by reflexive and permanent Charms, if it can validly apply to them. Unless the Charm’s description indicates otherwise, supplemental Charms can only benefit uses of the Ability on which they are based.

Reflexive—There is no limit to the number of reflexive Charms that can be part of a Combo.

If there is a simple Charm in the Combo that can validly benefit from the reflexive Charm, the character may use the reflexive Charm to supplement it.

If there is an extra-action Charm in the Combo and one or more actions in the flurry can validly benefit from the reflexive Charm, the character may use the reflexive Charm to supplement it.

If there is neither an extra-action nor a simple Charm in the Combo and the reflexive Charm can validly benefit one or more of the character’s dice actions, the character may use the reflexive Charm to supplement it.

If there is a supplemental Charm in the Combo and the reflexive Charm gives a reflexive action and the supplemental Charm can validly apply to that action, then the supplemental Charm may benefit that action.

The reflexive Charm can be used outside the character's dice actions, as usual. However, the player must state that the Exalt is using a Combo, and which Combo, and must pay the price for the Combo (see below), as soon as the player uses the first Charm for that Combo in a given action—he cannot use a reflexive Charm and then later in the action declare that he actually wishes to use a Combo containing that Charm.

Extra Action—Only one Charm of the extra-action type may be used in a given Combo.

If an extra-action Charm is included in the Combo, then the character must activate it. (You simply wouldn't include it otherwise.)

If there is a simple Charm in the Combo, the character must use the simple Charm as every action in the magical flurry. The character must use the simple Charm a number of times equal to the minimum number of actions in the flurry. The extra action Charm must be from the same Ability as the simple Charm unless one of the Charms explicitly permits the combination, and the simple Charm must be an appropriate action for every action the magical flurry contains.

If there are supplemental Charms in the Combo, they must all benefit all of the actions in the flurry. This means that they must benefit the same kinds of actions that the flurry includes.

If there are reflexive Charms in the Combo, they may be used to benefit any of the actions in the magical flurry.

Permanent—Permanent Charms may not belong to Combos. Characters may use the ongoing benefits of permanent Charms during a Combo.

Paying the Price

The character must pay the normal cost of the Charms involved, and if she cannot afford to pay the cost of all the non-reflexive Charms in the Combo, then it does not work. Some Combos will have a variable cost. In this case, the character must be able to pay at least the minimum possible cost to activate the Combo.

Tips for 2e Combos

Relonad

One thing to keep in mind for Combos is that when the combo is used, ALL simple and supplemental charms HAVE to be paid for and activated. However, Reflexive charms can be applied at your discretion. That means, if you have a combo that has 2 Supplemental charms and 3 Reflexive charms, every time you use that combo you have to pay a minimum of the cost of the 2 Supplemental charms, but can choose to apply the Reflexive charms.

One thing I know a friend of mine would do is make a combo with their Primary attack charm (which ever skill he was using on the character) + [Relevant ability] Excellency + a Perfect Defense Charm. So when he used the combo, he would pay for his primary attack charm and then get to choose how much he would pay for his Excellency (depending on if he felt he needed the additional dice/successes) and keep his Defense Charm use in reserve in case he got attacked (keep in mind that you only get 1 Charm/Combo use per turn and if you use an attack charm you can't use a defensive charm until after your next turn: but having the defense charm in his combo meant that he was still only using his combo, the 1 combo he got per turn, to react to any attacks).

Karn-Dethahal

I'll try to make it simple, going with the changes from scroll of errata, but to clarify: before errata changed it you had to buy combos with experience and the charm that were part of it were fixed. That was important because you had to use all non-reflexive charms when you used the combo, it was all or nothing.

Keywords: there are two charm keywords relevant to combos: Combo-Basic and Combo-OK.

Combo-OK is the simpler onw, it means you can use this charm in a combo.

Combo-Basic is a bit more complicated: you can use this Charm in a combo, but all other charms on that combo must be reflexive.

This comes down to: on you action you can use one single charm that lacks either keyword, one Combo-Basic Charm and any number of Combo-OK reflexive Charms, or a set of Combo-OK Charms.

When you use a set of Combo-OK charms things get more conplicated. From the corebook:

Your combo can only have one Simple Charm.

You can only have one Extra-Action Charm.

If you have both a Simple and an Extra-Action cahrms on you combo, you must use the Simple Charm on all actions on the for the flurry created by the Extra-Action charms. That is, if you Extra-Action Charm gives you 2 extra actions on top of your regular one you must use the Simples Charm 3 times.

You can have any number of Supplemental Charms, but they must be used on all your non-reflexive actions. If you have a Simple Charm they must affect that Charm. That Usually means all charms must come from the same ability, but there are exceptions (Thunderbolt Attack Prana is an Athletics Charms thats states on its description that it can bu used with other abilities, for example).

Quick example, let's make Melee Combos:

The First Melee Excelency is a Reflexive Charm, so we're free to use it or not on each action that uses Melee on it's dice pool.

Fire and Stones Strike is a Supplemental Charm, so it must be used on all our actions, and because of that they must be attacks.

Iron Whirlwind Attack is an Extra-Action Charm.

Iron Raptor Technique is a Simple Charm.

Dipping Swallow Defense is a reflexive charm that only benefits defenses.

So a Combo with all this Charms will give me Dex+1 actions (from Iron Whirlwind Attack), all of them must be activations of Iron Raptor Technique, and all of them must be paired with Fire and Stones Strike (at least one mote on it, up to the usua maximum on each activation), and I can, but do not have to, use the First Melee Excellency on each one. At the same time I'm free to use Dipping Swallow Defense and the First Melee Excelency on my defenses, since they are reflexive. And since Defenses are reflexive actions I'm not obligated to use Fire and Stones Technique (not that I could) on them.

aescula

Can I make a Combo of Supplemental Charms that boost a specific action? IE
attacking or grappling?
Yep, easily! For instance, Hungry Tiger and a Melee Excellency is totally valid.
Defensive Combos??????????????????????????
Sure. Most common is to just mix a perfect defense into your combo, and since it's reflexive, can be activated at will after your action, as if you hadn't used a charm.
What Speed is a Combo?
The speed of the slowest part of it, as with any flurry (I think)

You also don't need a Simple charm in there, they can be made of only supplemental charms.