The cultivation and utilization of Chi, or internal energies, is key to various spiritual disciplines and martial arts in Tianxia. A character with strong Chi can accelerate his healing, better focus his body and mind, and function with increased harmony with his environment. Scholars believe Chi is divided up into various categories based on elements and concepts. Chief among these divisions is yin and yang aligned Chi. Yin Chi is related to darkness, reactionary forces, stillness, and cold. Yang Chi is related to light, proactive forces, aggression, and heat. Yin is also seen as feminine in contrast to the more masculine yang, but both genders are thought to possess yin and yang elements, These two forces serve to complement and strengthen each other, and severe imbalances in yin or yang can cause mental or physical ailments (or stress and consequences). The Chi skill also covers meditation and understanding how spiritual energies affect the body and spirit
Overcome: Chi allows you to overcome any obstacle relating to imbalance of internal forces. It is also used to help a character find focus or introspection amidst chaos, making it useful to work through various distractions. Chi can even overcome the negative effects of poison, disease, or injury, though usually this respite is only temporary and proper treatment must still be received. It can also be used to detect strong or weak Chi in others, overcoming attempts to conceal one’s inner strength.
Create an Advantage: Chi allows you to focus your energies to various advantageous effects for yourself and others. Aspects like Meditative Focus or My Energies are Aligned can be created to aid in various mental and physical activities. Advantages can also be used to complement Kung Fu defenses or attacks, especially when dealing with powerful martial artists whose strength is often as much about powerful Chi as physical might.
Attack: Chi is not generally used for attack, but various Kung Fu Techniques and other special abilities change this.
Defend: Chi can defend against mystical attacks and those relying on Chi as part of the attack, like some Kung Fu Techniques.
Special: Characters with high Chi skills can deal with stress much better than others. At the beginning of a scene any character with a Chi skill of Average or better gets a free attempt to make a special Create an Advantage action to create a Chi Armor advantage. Each invocation can be used to gain a +2 Armor Rating against a successful attack against them. Characters can also use Fate points to invoke Chi Armor once these invocations are gone or use an action during their turn to create an advantage to add new invocations. You cannot do this in addition to making an attack or other action; you need to take an action to center your character’s energies and revitalize their Chi Armor.