Revision as of 02:03, 1 June 2005

Ikselam's Stealth Charms

I made these up after being disappointed by CB: Night's egregious paucity of Stealth Charms. Ever since my days playing Vampire, I've thought that it would be really cool for two super-powerful beings to have a duel out in plain sight, but have no one around them notice. I'd also read several stories featuring beings so unremarkable that they are practically invisible; the one that finally prompted these Charms was in one of the Wild Cards books -- Jokers Wild, I believe.

Of all the Charms I've designed, these are the ones whose prerequisites and costs cause me the most doubt. I believe this is primarily due to the fact that there are so few canonical high-Essence Charms for me to compare with.

• back to SolarStealth.
• back to /Ikselam's Charms.

Ephemeral Passage Technique</b>

 <b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 willpower
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Essence in minutes
 Min. Stealth: 5
 Min. Essence: 4
 Prereqs: Unseen Ghost Walk, Sound and Scent Banishing Attitude

This Charm not only hides the Exalt from sight, but also cloaks him from other senses; hearing, smell, and even touch are all equally useless in detecting his almost immaterial form. Although characters in this state cannot pass through solid objects, they produce virtually no disturbance of the air, and leave no footprints except on the most sensitive surfaces. The charm instantly dissipates if the user moves faster than a walk, or takes any kind of violent action.

Enemies get a reflexive Perception+Awareness roll to spot the character. This operates by the same mechanism as Unseen Ghost Walk: difficulty 1 if the person saw the Exalt disappear or witnessed him perform an action which was not appropriately stealthy, increasing by +1 per turn (to a maximum of 5) that the character remains unnoticed. Searching by an observer whose suspicions have been aroused starts at difficulty 3; searching by one who has no reason to expect an intruder is difficulty 5. Even if detected, all actions against the character are at +2 difficulty.

Flawless Nonentity Concentration</b>

 <b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 willpower
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Essence in hours
 Min. Stealth: 5
 Min. Essence: 4
 Prereqs: Vanishing From Mind's Eye Method

The Exalt who uses this power shucks off all traces of identity. She is ignored by all who look upon her, for she is, to them, literally nobody. Alert sentries will notice nothing amiss as she walks into the area they are guarding; even those actively searching for her will not notice her standing next to them. She can pass easily through raging mobs, as the members of the crowd subconsciously avoid bumping into her.

As long as the character does not obviously interact with her surroundings, she will automatically remain undetected. She can move at speeds up to a fast jog (Dex+6 yds/turn) without fear of detection, as long as she is quiet about it. If she does something noticeable but not blatant, such as quietly opening a door to slip through, wading through knee-deep water, or picking up a small object which is not being actively watched, any witnesses will get a single reflexive Willpower check, made at a difficulty equal to the character's Essence, to register her presence (this is also the case if someone points her out). If she takes an overt action, such as shoving someone, smashing pottery, or raising her voice, she will automatically be noticed (someone grabbing her will also have this effect). In either case, even once detected, she will remain unrecognized until the Charm wears off. (Note: The Night Caste muted-anima ability raises the difficulty of the Willpower check to detect the character by one.)

This Charm is completely ineffective against those whose Essence ratings exceed the character's.

Undetectable Wind Assassin Method</b>

 <b>Cost: 12 motes, 1 willpower
 Type: Simple
 Duration: One scene
 Min. Stealth: 5
 Min. Essence: 5
 Prereqs: Ephemeral Passage Technique, Flawless Nonentity Concentration

Solar Exalted who learn this Charm are among the most terrifying assassins in all of Creation, striking without warning and then fading away as soon as the blow lands.

Once the Charm is in place, the Exalt becomes completely unremarkable, as per Flawless Nonentity Concentration. The same conditions for detection apply; however, anyone who notices him must continue to make Willpower checks (difficulty of the Exalt's Essence) every turn in order to remain cognizant of his presence. These checks occur at the beginning of each turn, before anyone takes their action.

Characters being attacked by someone under the effects of this Charm act as though they are the victims of a successful ambush; they must make a reflexive Wits+Alertness roll to be able to respond. Failure means they may only defend with reflexive Charms; one or two successes means that they are startled and may defend normally, but not attack; and three or more means that they are unsurprised and can react normally. (Note: The Night Caste muted-anima ability raises the difficulty of the surprise check, and the Willpower checks, by one.)

Beings with Essence scores higher than the Exalt's are immune to this Charm.

Veil of Blissful Ignorance</b>

 <b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 willpower, 1 xp
 Type: Simple
 Duration: One scene
 Min. Stealth: 6
 Min. Essence: 6
 Prereqs: Undetectable Wind Assassin Method

An Exalt who knows this Charm is a veritable avatar of silent, invisible death. With it, she can shroud not only herself, but also her victim, from the perceptions of those around her. No matter how great a commotion the fight causes, no one will notice until the Charm expires. Even destruction of scenery, anima flares, or the injury or death of bystanders will not reveal the combatants' whereabouts.

For the remainder of the scene in which Veil of Blissful Ignorance is activated, the character and one other person of her choosing will be completely undetectable to the outside world. Anyone upon whom this Charm is used will instantly become aware of his assailant's presence, even piercing the effects of any magical concealment affecting her. However, to other observers, both the user and the victim will suddenly wink out and be immediately forgotten.

Only those directly attacked by one of the Charm's two subjects will have any hope of actually detecting them. Any victims of such an attack will be automatically surprised; only reflexive defenses which work against unanticipated attacks (such as Surprise Anticipation Method or Reflex Sidestep Technique) can protect them. They must also make a Willpower check, at a difficulty of the Charm user's Essence, on each subsequent turn to stay aware of the combatants. This check occurs at the beginning of each turn, before anyone takes an action. Even if they make the Willpower check, any actions taken against either of the Charm's subjects will be at +2 difficulty.

Bystanders who are not directly attacked must make a Perception+Awareness check, difficulty of the Exalted's Essence, to even realize that anything is going on. This check occurs at the moment the Charm is activated. Characters are entitled to additional checks, at a difficulty of only half the Exalt's Essence, if they are affected by collateral damage -- being splashed by gouts of blood, witnessing furniture splintered by invisible blows, being burned by Terrestrial anima flux, and so forth.

The Charm is broken if the Exalt who activated it stops pursuing her intended victim. She can cut down people who get in the way, smash through doors to follow him, and the like, but if she allows her focus to be shaken, both she and her victim will instantly become fully visible. When the Charm ends, either this way or through its duration expiring, bystanders will instantly become aware of any and all havoc wreaked on the surroundings while the Charm was active.

Beings with an Essence greater than the Exalt's can automatically see through this Charm, but can still be targeted by it.

• back to SolarStealth.
• back to /Ikselam's Charms.

Comments:

What mechanical benefit does Ephemeral Passage actually HAVE upon Unseen Ghost Walk? The detection difficulties are the same, and although it presumably disallows stunts or charms based on other senses... It doesn't make it any more difficult for a plain mortal to detect you. I had always presumed that the only reason said mortals DID get a roll (even a very difficult one) for Unseen Ghost Walk was that they might detect you via another sense. Perhaps you should consider disallowing anyone without sense-magic active from even attempting to roll if they don't know, and up-power the rest slightly as well.
-- Darloth

Having just read the rest of these, however... they're great.
-- Darloth

More importantly, Ephemeral Passage is like having Unseen Ghost Walk and Sound and Scent Banishing Attitude going at the same time, much like Flawless Nonentity Concentration is like having Mental Invisibility and Vanishing From the Mind's Eye going at the same time. If I were to rewrite these today, they'd probably have lower Essence prereqs and different mechanical effects. I think the ideas were pretty decent, but the execution was kind of lacking. _Ikselam