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Contents
Moxiane's Solar Melee Charms
- Back to SolarMelee
- Back to SolarCharms
A much larger chunk of Melee Charms than before – some of which now head off into the heady realms of high Essence. I’ve sorted them into categories now, [##Defensive Defensive], [##Offensive Offensive] and [##Esoterica Esoterica]. All previously posted on RPG.net
[#Defensive]
Defensive Charms
[#ReturningTheArrowTechnique] Returning-the-Arrow Technique
Cost: 1 mote Type: Reflexive Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 3 Min. Essence: 1 Prerequisites: Golden Essence Block
The Exalt has learned to perceive the path of Essence that trails every arrow fired or knife thrown, and can cause the projectile to return back along this path, striking the one who fired it. When the character successfully parries a ranged attack with a largely material component the character can use this Charm to turn it back against the attacker – who must be no further away than 50x the character’s Melee in yards. The returned projectile does damage equal to the base damage of the attack plus extra successes on the parry, by dropping one success the character can instead return the attack to any other target within range. If used in a Combo (or in combination) with a perfect and/or non-rolled parry Charm the returned projectile counts as having extra successes equal to the character's permanent Essence. This Charm cannot be used in response to any other counterattack Charm, or to reflect sorcery of the Terrestrial Circle or higher.
[#MissileDeflectionPrana] Missile Deflection Prana
Cost: 2 motes + 1 mote/die Type: Reflexive Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 4 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisites: Returning-the-Arrow Technique
The Exalt can now allow Essence alone to drive his reactions and his aim, sword-hand lashing out at the cowardice of ranged combat, returning them instantly to strike down those who attack him in this manner. If a ranged attack is made against the character that he could normally parry then he may do so using his permanent Essence in dice plus extra dice, if any, purchased up to the character’s Melee, without using a dice action. The returned shot does damage to its target equal to the base damage of the projectile plus extra successes on the parry, by dropping one success the character can instead return the attack to any other target within range. If this Charm is placed in a Combo with Golden Essence Block and/or Dipping Swallow Defence (or similar Charms) then the cost and effect remains the same, but the character may not purchase extra dice for the parry attempt. If used in a Combo (or in combination) with a perfect and/or non-rolled parry Charm the returned projectile counts as having extra successes equal to the character's permanent Essence. This Charm cannot be used in response to any other counterattack Charm, or to reflect sorcery of the Terrestrial Circle or higher.
[#BoltReflectionStance] Bolt-Reflection Stance
Cost: 3 motes, 1 Willpower Type: Reflexive Duration: 1 scene Min. Melee: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prerequisites: Missile Deflection Prana
The paths of projectiles and the Essence has is now blindingly obvious to the Exalt, and his sword-hand seems to move of its own accord to return them from when they came. For the duration of the scene every parry of a ranged attack that the character makes is considered to be under the effect of Returning-the-Arrow Technique, with all the limitations and provisos of that Charm.
[#AegisOftheBlade] Aegis of the Blade
Cost: 4 motes, 1 Willpower Type: Simple Duration: 1 scene Min. Melee: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prerequisites: Fivefold Bulwark Stance
The Exalted gains an insight into the paths of violence, his reflexes and movements accelerating to the point where he can intercept a sword strike or a buzzing arrow aimed at an ally, as well as himself. The character may now use his parries to block attacks made against any of his allies within his permanent Essence in yards. He may only parry any single attack once, but the target of the attack may also attempt to parry or dodge as normal.
[#IncomparableCelestialSentinelMethod] Incomparable Celestial Sentinel Method
Cost: 12 motes, 2 Willpower Type: Simple Duration: 1 scene Min. Melee: 7 Min. Essence: 7 Prerequisites: Protection of Celestial Bliss
Once an Exalt has gained the power of the Incomparable Celestial Sentinel Method he becomes almost invulnerable, able to stand against a rampaging fetich demon in relative safety, and even weather the power of the Primordials themselves unscathed. The character can instantly parry up to his permanent Essence in attacks per turn. These parries are functionally identical to those provided by Heavenly Guardian Defence. The use of this Charm is incompatible with the use of any Charm which provides a persistent parry effect (such as Fivefold Bulwark Stance or Five-Dragon Blocking Technique), although Charms that provide a persistent dodge effect are unaffected.
[#Offensive]
Offensive Charms
[#UnblinkingLightningStrikePrana] Unblinking Lightning Strike Prana
Cost: 5 motes Type: Reflexive Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prerequisites: Ready in Eight Directions Stance
Allowing his Essence to drive his body, the Exalted can move and strike so rapidly that to blink is to miss the attack, and the first sign of assault is often the gout of blood or the crunch of shattered armour and bone. The character can make a single Melee attack against any eligible target. This attack can be made at any time during a turn, before or after the character’s initiative “tick”, even in response to an attack made against the Exalted (it may not be used in response to Solar Counterattack or any other counterattack Charm, however). This Charm may not be used more times per turn than the character has dots in Dexterity.
[#DiamondRazorTechnique] Diamond Razor Technique
Cost: 3 or 6 motes Type: Supplemental Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 5 Min. Essence: 3 Prerequisites: Fire and Stones Strike
The nature of diamond was long known to the savants of the First Age, its power to cut through almost any material was not improved upon until the discovery of adamant. With this Charm the character emulates this property of diamond, Essence wrapping around the weapon, hardening for a moment to gleam before the flow is struck. The character’s weapon is counts as inflicting Piercing damage (it ignores half, round down, of the armour soak of the target) for the purposes of a single Melee attack. If the weapon being used already inflicts Piercing damage then the character may choose to entirely ignore the armour soak of his victim by paying the greater cost.
[#CrimsonDanceOfTheSteelDervish] Crimson Dance of the Steel Dervish
Cost: 12 motes, 1 Willpower Type: Simple Duration: 1 scene Min. Melee: 5 Min. Essence: 6 Prerequisites: Iron Whirlwind Attack, Fivefold Bulwark Stance, Two Swords Technique
In the lost temples of the Southeast there were priests whose prayers to their gods were performed in the manner of an endless dance, twirling and spinning while wielding two swords. Their dizzying speed and incredible co-ordination were envied by all who saw the performance, but this dance was but a shadow of the Charm it was created to emulate. Starting from the turn after this Charm is used the character’s movement rate and jumping distance are multiplied by half his permanent Essence (round down) and he gains the same number of fully independent Melee actions per turn. These extra actions may be used for any Melee weapon actions the character chooses and are fully splittable, furthermore the character can use multiple Melee Charms (or even Melee Combos) in any single turn without requiring a Combo, although the cost for each must be paid in full. The character’s normal dice action remains unaffected and he may use Charms or Combos on it as normal, with the exception that an Extra Action Charm or Combo may not be used if any of the granted actions have been used in that turn. Similarly, the use of an Extra Action Charm or Combo by the character suppresses the actions granted by Crimson Dance of the Steel Dervish for the duration of the Charm. Finally the Crimson Dance of the Steel Dervish negates the off-hand penalty for using two weapons for the scene.
[#SunlightThroughCloudsAssault] Sunlight through Clouds Assault
Cost: 6 motes Type: Supplemental Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prerequisites: Blazing Solar Bolt
As one ray of sun shining through the clouds above soon becomes many, so do the blows inflicted with this Charm multiply, striking not just the Exalted’s foe, but his fellows also as beams of Solar Essence lance from enemy to enemy, laying them low in droves. The character makes a normal Melee attack at any applicable opponent who may defend as normal. If the attack is successful then a number of other targets up to the character’s Melee in front of the character and within Essence in yards suffer an identical attack. These additional attacks are treated as normal Melee attacks in every way except that the secondary targets may only defend against them with the use of Charms or other magic. Any secondary targets may not have a permanent Essence higher than the opponent originally struck.
[#GloriousSunburstAttack] Glorious Sunburst Attack
Cost: 12 motes, 1 Willpower Type: Simple Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 5 Min. Essence: 5 Prerequisites: Sunlight through Clouds Assault
The character swings his weapon to the eight points of the compass, each strike leaving a line of burning Essence in the air, before thrusting his weapon down into the earth. In that instant the lines of Essence merge and blast outwards in a ring of devastation, striking the Exalted’s enemies while passing harmlessly through his allies. The character rolls his Melee pool, the results of which are applied as an attack against every enemy within twice the character’s permanent Essence in yards. If the Exalted’s anima is not already at this level or greater it flares exactly as if the character had spent 11-15 motes of peripheral Essence.
[#FuriousRadianceOfTheUnconqueredSun] Furious Radiance of the Unconquered Sun
Cost: 15 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 health level Type: Simple Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 6 Min. Essence: 6 Prerequisites: Glorious Sunburst Attack
Executing an intricate weapon kata the character sends forth a prayer to the Unconquered Sun and holds his weapon aloft. From the heavens a beam of blinding sunlight lances down to strike it, before exploding outwards in an incandescent burst so powerful that the light permeates the muscle and flesh of all those within the explosion of Solar Essence. Roll the Exalt’s Dexterity + Melee, after which every enemy within the character’s permanent Essence x 100 yards takes dice of damage equal to the Exalted’s permanent Essence + Willpower + successes on the roll, this damage is soaked normally. This attack may not be dodged and can only be parried with the use of Charms (any weapon not composed of the Five Magical Materials or otherwise noted as being unbreakable fades to dust after being used to defend). Anyone who survives this assault must make a Stamina + Resistance roll with a difficulty equal to the Exalted’s permanent Essence or be blinded for that many days – mortals who fail are permanently afflicted. If the Exalted’s anima is not already at this level or greater it flares exactly as if the character had spent 16+ motes of peripheral Essence.
[#ResplendentSolarBlade] Resplendent Solar Blade
Cost: None Type: Special Duration: Permanent Min. Melee: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prerequisites: Glorious Solar Sabre
The Essence-forged weapon that the character first creates upon learning Glorious Solar Sabre is a powerful weapon in it’s own right – this Charm makes it more so. Every time that the character purchases this Charm his Glorious Solar Sabre is modified in one of the following ways – only the Enhanced option may be taken more than once:
- Doubled
- The Glorious Solar Sabre ripples and splits, granting the character access to a second weapon. It is constructed using the same number of points as the first iteration, but the final profile can be markedly different should the character so desire. For a reflexive expenditure of 5 motes at or any time after activating Glorious Solar Sabre the character can wield both weapons at the same time.
- Enhanced
- The Charm-created weapon gains 5 points that can be split amongst the weapon's attributes of Speed, Accuracy, Damage and Defence at the character's discretion.
- Irresistible
- Any weapon not composed of the Five Magical Materials or otherwise noted as being unbreakable shatters when used to parry an attack made with the Glorious Solar Sabre or when parried by it.
- Keen
- The Glorious Solar Sabre inflicts Piercing damage (it ignores half, rounded down, of the target’s armour soak).
- Nightslayer
- The Charm-created weapon inflicts Aggravated damage on the creatures of darkness, ghosts, demons, etc… (Exalted of all types are specifically excluded from this effect, as are the Deathlords).
- Stonebreaker
- When used against an inanimate object such as a door or wall the raw damage of the attack is doubled.
This Charm can be purchased no more times than the character has dots of Melee.
[#GloriousButcherMethod] Glorious Butcher Method
Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower Type: Supplemental Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prerequisites: Whirlwind of Searing Blows
Focussing the power of the Unconquered Sun into his weapon, the Exalted can strike at his opponent sure in the knowledge that he will inflict grievous injury upon him. Instead of rolling damage after the character makes a successful attack count every die of post-soak damage as an automatic success. Use of this Charm must be declared prior to the attack being rolled and it is only effective on animate objects and beings. This Charm may be placed in a Combo with Brawl or Martial Arts Charms.
[#Esoterica]
Esoterica
[#LethesEmbraceStrike] Lethe’s Embrace Strike
Cost: 6 motes Type: Simple Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 5 Min. Essence: 6 Prerequisites: Glorious Butcher Method
By now the character’s mastery of his weapon is so absolute that he can strikes at the very memories and skills of his enemy, reducing a expert warrior to an unskilled novice with a simple pass of his weapon. The character chooses an Ability (that the target may or may not have) and makes a normal Melee attack against his chosen target, who may dodge but not parry the attack. If the attack is successful roll the character’s Wits + Melee, with each success removing one dot from the chosen Ability. If there are enough successes left over after this to remove the Ability again then the character can reflexively choose to spend a point of Willpower to make the Ability loss permanent, otherwise lost dots return at the rate of one per hour. A character suffering from reduced Ability is treated in all respects as if that were his current score, including removing access to Charms and spells if appropriate.
[#SoulScouringBlow] Soul Scouring Blow
Cost: 7 motes Type: Simple Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 6 Min. Occult: 5 Min. Essence: 6 Prerequisites: Glorious Butcher Method, Power Draining Whisper
With a complex movement and a flick of his weapon along occult lines the Exalted can cause his attacks to damage his enemy in intangible, but no less painful, ways – removing his reserves of willpower and internal fortitude. The character makes a normal Melee attack that may be dodged but not parried and is soaked by the target’s permanent Essence (as well as any soak-boosting Charms). For every health level of damage that the attack would have caused the target loses one of the following (character’s choice for each level): a point of temporary Willpower, a temporary Virtue point, a number of motes equal to the character’s permanent Essence. If there are still levels of damage left over after the target has lost all of the above then the character can spend a point of Willpower to convert them into Aggravated damage which the target suffers normally. This Charm may only be used against animate beings.
[#SpiritSeveringMethod] Spirit-Severing Method
Cost: 13 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 health level Type: Simple Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 7 Min. Occult: 6 Min. Essence: 7 Prerequisites: Soul Scouring Blow
With the power of this Charm the Exalted learns to sever the bonds between his target’s soul and his body and with a sure enough strike can separate the two with a single blow, instantly slaying even the most powerful opponent. The character makes a normal Melee attack against his chosen target against a difficulty of the target’s permanent Essence and which may be dodged but not parried. The player rolls a number of dice equal to the extra successes on this attack roll and for every success on the second roll the target loses one dot of permanent Essence. If this reduces the target’s Essence to 0 or below then the target is instantly slain (this is one of the Charms the Solar Exalted used to slay the Primordials). A character suffering from reduced Essence is treated in all respects as if that were his current score, reducing temporary Essence pools and removing access to Charms and spells. Lost dots of Essence return at the rate of one per day.
[#SpringReturningStrikeMethod] Spring-Returning Strike Method
Cost: 12 motes, 1 Willpower, 3 experience points Type: Simple Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 6 Min. Medicine: 5 Min. Essence: 6 Prerequisites: Glorious Butcher Method
Much as careful pruning of a old bush or tree can reinvigorate it, bringing new growth and life to what was almost dead, so can the master of this Charm cut away the effects of age, slicing away the decades as if they were so many trimmed branches. The elderly and infirm become hale and hearty, reborn as a younger version of themselves, yet retaining their hard-earned knowledge and experience. During the First Age the Solars would use this Charm to greatly extend the lives of their favoured mortal servants. The character rolls his Dexterity + Melee + Essence against a difficulty equal to the target’s current physical age divided by 10 (round down) with an additional +1 modifier for every time that this Charm has been used on the target previously. This Charm is normally used on a willing target, but should they wish to defend themselves they may only do so by dodging. Each extra success reduces the target’s age by 10 years (although the Exalted need not use all of the successes if he does not wish to). A character may not use this Charm on himself.
[#MortalEssenceSculptingExercise] Mortal Essence Sculpting Exercise
Cost: 20 motes, 1 health level, 5 experience points Type: Simple Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 7 Min. Lore: 6 Min. Essence: 7 Prerequisites: Spring-Returning Strike Method
A famed sculptor and philosopher once noted that to make a sculpture of an elephant all one had to do was to take a large block of marble and chip away everything that wasn’t an elephant. This Charm has much the same effect on men, allowing the Exalted to chip away the dross from a person, refining them, making them better able to deal with the harsh realities of the Age of Sorrows. Roll the Exalted’s Dexterity + Melee against a difficulty of 5 which, if successful “improves” the target of the Charm (who must be a mortal). This causes the following things to happen to him (all at the discretion of the Exalted): Up to the Exalted’s Essence in dots of Attributes and Abilities can be moved around and up to two Ability dots can be sacrificed to create two Specialities per dot. If the target of the Charm was an Extra then the Exalted gains his permanent Essence in bonus points which can be spent as per the table on p.116 of the Exalted Player’s Guide and becomes a heroic mortal. If the target was already a heroic mortal then the number of bonus points awarded is doubled. Finally, the use of this Charm creates a magically reinforced loyalty towards the character on the part of the target – while the target retains his former personality, he is now utterly devoted towards the Exalted and will obey almost any order without question. This increases the difficulty of any attempt to later subvert the mortal by the Exalted’s Essence.
Dual-Wielding Charms
These Charms are rewrites of the dual-wielding tree presented in Caste Book: Night, a result of my dual-wielding house-rule which does not play well with the “canon” versions of these Charms.
Dual Slaying Stance
Cost: 1+ motes Type: Supplemental Duration: Instant Min. Melee: 2 Min. Essence: 1 Prerequisites: None
The character guides his hands with Essence, allowing him to fight with weapons in both hands. Every mote spent on this Charm reduces the multiple-action penalties for a single attack or parry performed using Melee by 2. The Exalted may spend no more motes than his permanent Essence on a single activation of this Charm, which can only used when the character has a weapon in each hand. This Charm reduces penalties rather than adding dice and thus is not subject to the normal limit for a Solar dice-adder Charm.
Sun-and-Moon Method
Cost: 4 motes Type: Reflexive Duration: 1 turn Min. Melee: 3 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisites: Dual Slaying Stance
Through harmony with the flows of Essence a character wielding two weapons can become a veritable whirlwind of steel, fluidly switching between attack and defence with an ease that is bewildering. On the turn that Sun-and-Moon Method was activated the character gains a number of attacks or parries equal to his permanent Essence that must be used by the end of the turn – any that were not used are lost. These actions are performed using the character’s full Melee pool and while parries can be performed prior to the character’s initiative “tick” attacks must be used on it or afterwards. The character cannot perform multiple actions on the turn that he used this Charm.
Two Swords Technique
Cost: 5 motes Type: Simple Duration: 1 scene Min. Melee: 4 Min. Essence: 2 Prerequisites: Sun-and-Moon Method
The character allows Essence to guide his hands for him in battle, granting him an unsurpassed puissance when fighting with a weapon in each hand. While this Charm is active the character’s weapon profile is equal to that of his primary weapon with the all of the bonuses to Accuracy, Damage, Defence and Rate from his secondary weapon applied. Should the character abort to parry while using this Charm he can make the normal number of parries (equal to Rate) in a turn, but the dice-pool does not decrease for each one. The effects of the Charm apply only as long as the character is wielding two weapons.
Steel Devil Style
Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower Type: Simple Duration: 1 scene Min. Melee: 5 Min. Essence: 4 Prerequisites: Ready in Eight Directions Stance, Two Swords Technique
The character enfolds himself in Essence, allowing it to guide his actions as he whirls through a breathtakingly graceful whirlwind of deadly blows. So long as he has weapons in both hands, a character who has activated this Charm is an incredibly deadly opponent. Whenever the Exalted is attacked he can reflexively make a parry attempt with his full Melee pool, provided that he is aware of the attack. He may also choose to reflexively counter-attack his attacker, with the same effects and limitations as Solar Counterattack, up to a total number of counter-attacks per turn equal to the character's permanent Essence. The parries and counter-attacks generated by Steel Devil Style can be enhanced with Charms exactly as their Instant duration predecessors can, although the normal restrictions on multiple Charms in a single turn apply. Also, while this Charm is active the character cannot use or benefit from Extra Action Charms or similar effects (such as the Gemstone of Perfect Mobility) granted by Hearthstones, artefacts and the like. Neither may he use Charms that create reflexive parries or counter-attacks. The effects of this Charm persist only while the character is wielding two weapons.
Comments
In general: These seem... kinda weak. You're riding the brake a little hard, I think :)
Does RA actually grant a parry? Or it just bounces an arrow that you have already parried? Also, if the former, why the explicit disallowance of perfect parries?
MDP, same basic questions. Why not allow a full Dex+Melee parry, which will bounce the missle, for 3m? It's a fairly specialized action, so it's not like you're making DSD useless. That, and why not allow more dice be purchased as the Charm stands?
BRS is reasonably alright, but for that cost, I'd frankly want more. The whole Jedi thing is neat and all, but for that price, I could have Five Fold and get an /actual parry/.
I'd see these as a cascade off of Solar Coutnerattack, with MDP granting a full Dex + Melee parries, excess success turning into a counterattack by bouncing the arrow back at whomever sent it, and BRS, and granting a full Dex + Melee parry-counterattack for the scene against missle weapons. DS
- Returning-the-Arrow Technique doesn't grant a parry, it modifies one. The perfect parry thing (which they all share) is my rampant anti-munchkinism and an expansion on the prohibition against using it on TCS. Plus, it's not that weak. If a bloke with a long powerbow gets his arrow back at base damage + character's Strength + extra successes he isn't going to particularly happy about it. :)
- Missile Deflection Prana was done the way it was to not invalidate the RtAT and DSD Combo, while still making placing it and DSD is a Combo worthwhile. Perhaps it is overcosted slightly, and knocking it down to 2m + 1m/d would work better.
- Bolt-Reflection Stance is meant to work in combination with other parries, particularly with FFBS which can make the character a holy terror against missile-equipped units. But, again, I didn't want to invalidate or cheapen FFBS - letting BRS give a full Dex+Melee deflection parry against missile weapons would remove half of the reason to activate FFBS. Again, it might be overcosted somewhat but not that much, since it's a scene-long conditional counterattack, which is not to be sneezed at. - Moxiane
- I'm going to comment that 2 Willpower and some packet of motes for a defensive Combo is a fucking steep cost for a ranged counterattack, even if it perfectly defends you from the attack that triggers it. I know that if I use these Charms, I'll have no compunctions about allowing them to be comboed with perfect defences. - willows
- On a guess, it's more being able to bounce back things that you normally couldn't, than perfection. "I drop a metor on you!" "Well, eat your own metor death Yozi!" - haren
- That is so much cooler than a perfect... but yes, a little frightening. I'd probably leave it at the "Sorcery" rule, or something similar - you can only return an attack that is inherently parriable (that means that you can return, say, an AWD-ed arrow, but not something you need a perfectly applicable parry to defend against, like an avalanche or something.) - willows
- There's something wrong with making a Yozi eat their own meteor death? :)
- If it's really a concern, then it's easy enough to specify 'Can't bounce sorcery'. But if someone throws a rock at me, I should be able to bounce the frigging rock back at them. I don't /care/ if it's a rock the size of the Imperial Mountain- how dare they throw a /rock/ at me! :) DS
- notes the anti-non-perfect defence Combo consensus* :) It would appear that in my eagerness to avoid munchkinism the majority opinion is that I have gone too far - and here was me thinking that they were too powerful. :D OK, new versions are up. I had to put in something about perfect defences - and I think I've got a decent balance this time, you pay for certainty with less potential power. - Moxiane
Well, so you know, I didn't think they were weak. I just had a theory on why you put that proviso in. I think being able to put in a reflexive ranged counter, or scenelong reflexive is very powerful. But, either way, it's good. - haren
- Actually, your theory was more-or-less spot on, haren. Thinking some more on it, though - for 4m+2W flicking back a small mountain seems less ludicrous. They're still works-in-progress at present, but the weakness built into HGD seem to keep these Charms in check.\\
Note: Recosted MDP and BDS as I meant to do earlier, but forgot due to brainfry.
- Just wondering about HGD, but... weakness? - haren
- If HGD is used with a non-FMM weapon against an uber-attack the weapon tends to break. - Moxiane
- laughs* ok ^_^ Kinda wondered what you were thinking, but that wasn't what I expected. Seriously though, not sure how much of a weakness that is for most Solars, considering how Melee sort of protects it's own weaknesses (by providing magical essence blades). But, that's getting into one of my little things. - haren
- Melee has a great many more Charms than the other Abilities, in several independent trees. To have access to both HGD and GSS, you are likely to have made a far bigger investment than the archer with AWD and Immaculate Golden Bow, because you probably bought into the attack tree too, while the archer has ne defense tree to concern himself with. Put on top of that the additional cost of maintaining your holy tongue of solar flame, and you'll realize that the only reason Melee looks like the best Ability is that you pay the most to get access to its complete ability palette. - willows
- I'll admit that, but the fact is, it does protect it's weaknesses, sure you need more xp to get there, but that's offset by the fact that you only need one favored and one ability, rather than Archery and Dodge. - haren
I like the new versions. - willows
- I'm new here, and I hate to be a stick in the mud, as it were, but I have thematic issues with these charms. Parrying with additional sucesses counting toward huting folks is an Abyssal Theme. Solar Counterattack and its descendents all run off of /your/ coolness, not anybody elses failure. Now, I really like the charms (for Abyssals) and would strongly consider using them but, IMO, this is not a Solar mechanic. - Scrollreader
- Welcome to the Wiki! :)
- No problem. I've removed the original header for the page because with the addition of a whole bunch of extra Charms it wasn't relevant anymore, but the effect I was going for with the deflection Charms was that of a Jedi deflecting the shots of his enemies back at them - and Jedi are seriously Solar. :) As a mechanical point, only Missile Deflection Prana can actually create a parry out of nothing - the other two merely modify parries from other sources, giving the character the ability to bounce the shot back.
- Abyssal versions of the deflection Charms would almost certainly be nastier than these because that's how those Oblivion-corrupted Exalts are. But since I'm neither an Abyssal player or GM I'll leave those to others to work on... - Moxiane
- As it happens, Abyssals do already have vengeful parries that are pretty nasty - and relatively easy to obtain. - willows
- Yeah - Vengeful Riposte is quite nasty. It also points out another difference - a VR-enhanced parry strikes with the Abyssal's weapon, whereas the deflection Charms use the attacker's own shots against him. My confidence about their belonging in the Solar realm has been refilled. :) - Moxiane
- Hmm. On further reflection, I'm inclined to revrse my earlier opinion. Somewhat. While I still think this somewhat overlaps the Abyssal theme, conflict between the two is inevitable, considering their common source. And I concur that the Abyssal version of this is probably a lot nastier. Somehow, I overlooked the restriction on using parry dice adders and had a really, really scary scenario in mind. Now that I know that Super Parry pain is still an Abyssal trademark, I feel better. :P
- Also, though I failed to mention it earlier, I really like some of these. The 'enhancer' charms for Glorious Solar Saber in particular. I'm a fan of modeling some thing like charms, that aren't, per se (like Ox-Body, or this, or subsequent version of DBT, or enhanced version of the anima powers). I think I'm going to yoink the idea for Abyssal Resistance and Abyssal Melee, if you don't mind.
ok. I just wanted to point out a crunchy bit. Lone Wolf, a Solar Dawn Caste with Str 5, Dex 5, and Melee 5(no specialties) has access to Excellent Strike[10m], Hungry Tiger Techn.[1m], Diamond Razor Technique[3m], and Glorious Butcher Method[6m,1w]. He's put them all into a combo with Call the Blade[3m]. for 23m and 2W he calls his fallen Grand Daiklaive to his hand and proceeds to make a single heinous attack against his opponent with a 22 Dice pool, reduces Soak by half, Doubles successes before soak, and then converts them all to automatic Damage? that's seriously bent.
i like it. - grypph (someone may want to check my math)
- Yes, it is nasty. Also easily defeated by the simple expenditure of 6m or 3m1W. But if you get hit by that then, yeah, you're very likely dead - which is as it should be. - Moxiane
