Latest revision as of 01:15, 6 April 2010

Balthasar's Melee Charms

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Contamination Cascade

Decay-Inflicting Nimbus

 Cost:  5 motes
 Duration:  One turn
 Type:  Supplemental
 Minimum Melee:  2
 Minimum Essence:  1
 Prerequisites:  None

The Abyssal shrouds his weapon in a glum cloud of dusty fog. Any minor flora and fauna at or near his feet instantly perish and decay into ash. Abyssals using this Charm to aid an attack roll their permanent Essence in lethal damage the turn immediately after the Charmed blows are dealt. Successes equal damage dealt by the instant decay caused by the charmed fog.

Bursting Pestilence Technique

 Cost:  3 motes
 Duration:  Instant
 Type:  Reflexive
 Minimum Melee:  2
 Minimum Essence:  2
 Prerequisites:  Decay-Inflicting Nimbus

This Charm displays itself in a pulse of violently cold pale light, trailing off the Abyssal’s weapon and suffusing a victim’s wounds. Immediately after damage is rolled on a melee attack, the Abyssal also rolls his permanent Essence. Successes equal additional lethal damage dealt, as the cursed wound instantly decomposes and explodes in a sickening cloud of bacteria. This damage cannot be soaked by armor.

Virulent Plague Edge

 Cost:  3 motes per die converted
 Duration:  Instant
 Type:  Supplemental
 Minimum Melee:  3
 Minimum Essence:  3
 Prerequisites:  Bursting Pestilence Method

The Abyssal’s blade is touched by a sickly black shine, which coats the weapon instantly, and spills off of it like oil when it strikes, filling any wound the weapon may make. This Charm enables the Abyssal to spend motes of Essence in order to convert plain melee damage dice into poison damage dice at the rate of three motes of essence per die converted. Poison damage does not affect health levels directly, but instead attacks Athletics, Strength, Dexterity and Stamina in that order, though it lowers none of these below one. Once each of these has been reduced to one, it begins to deplete health levels as well, working as lethal damage after that point. Lost traits return as if they were –0 health levels for Exalted, and are treated as –1 health levels for mortals

Contagion Blade

 Cost:  10 motes, 1 willpower
 Duration:  One week
 Type:  Simple
 Minimum Melee:  5
 Minimum Medicine:  5
 Minimum Essence:  4
 Prerequisites:  Virulent Plague Edge, Rampant Pestilence Method

The Abyssal becomes the instrument of true plagues with this Charm, pouring out the malice of the pits and investing the surface of his weapon with a shadow of the powerful disease known as the Great Contagion. For one week after he is struck by this power, the victim suffers a potentially lethal disease, which is highly contagious after one day of incubation within him. Every day, he must make a successful Stamina + Resistance roll, difficulty 3. Success results in one level of bashing damage suffered, while failure depends on the permanent Essence of the individual. Anything with a permanent Essence of two or higher suffers one level of lethal damage upon a failure, as well as a weeklong, accumulating –1 action penalty to all rolls. Any mortals, or other Essence one beings, which fail the roll, die. Regardless of the outcome, the individual is terribly contagious. Every person who comes into physical contact with the contagious individual must make a Stamina + Resistance roll, difficulty 3, or become infected for a week, themselves. And so the disease is passed on. Merely being as close as in the same chambers as the plague-bearer requires the same roll, except the difficulty at that range is normal. After one week, all traces of the contagion miraculously lift from all infected individuals. Usually, though, the damage has been done already – entire mortal settlements can quickly fall to the power of the Contagion Blade Charm.

Swordplay Cascade

Hypnotic Dance Defense</b>

 <b>Cost:  1 mote per die
 Duration:  Instant
 Type:  Reflexive
 Minimum Melee:  2
 Minimum Essence:  2
 Prerequisites:  Five Shadow Feint

The Abyssal’s motions alternate between whipping fast, snapping gestures and sluggish, dreamy sweeps. Essence spreads along the edge of his weapon in chilly ethereal sighs. He may off-balance attackers with this hypnotic essence-ridden motion. The Abyssal activates this Charm before the incoming attack is rolled, and for every mote of essence spent activating this Charm, the attack suffers an attack penalty of one die.

Unassailable Shade Column

 Cost:  3 motes, 1 willpower
 Duration:  Instant
 Type:  Reflexive
 Minimum Melee:  3
 Minimum Essence:  3
 Prerequisites:  Hypnotic Dance Defense

The Abyssal momentarily flashes brightly amidst a perfectly cylindrical column of shadow descending from the heavens, and then lashes out, striking an incoming weapon precisely. This Charm grants the Abyssal a free parry against the attack. If this parry is successful, the attack botches, the effects of which are left to the Storyteller. The botch should always be serious. In most cases, the Abyssal will turn the attacker’s own weapon against him with the sharp counterstrike, but nonmagical weapons are prone to shattering as well, under this Charm’s duress.

Infinite Blinding Curtain

 Cost:  8 motes, 1 willpower
 Duration:  One scene
 Type:  Simple
 Minimum Melee:  5
 Minimum Essence:  4
 Prerequisites:  Unassailable Shade Column

This Charm manifests in a shadowy corona, which simulates black fire whipping around the Abyssal. Whenever he is struck, this fire rushes up to greet the assailant, and its shadowy chill envelops him before the blow can land. This interference of shadow-fire makes the Abyssal extremely difficult to see, much less hit. For one scene, all attacks made against the Abyssal have an accuracy penalty equal to the Exalt’s permanent Essence.

Entropy Cascade

Rapacious Flaying Edge

 Cost:  2 motes per 1L soak
 Duration:  Instant
 Type:  Supplemental
 Minimum Melee:  3
 Minimum Essence:  2
 Prerequisites:  Savage Shade Style

The Abyssal lashes out with an unforgiving, thirsty blow, infusing his weapon with Essence and sharpening any dull edges to be briefly littered with ravenous serrated blades. For every two motes spent activating this charm, the Abyssal’s weapon ignores 1L of soak, whether or not it is from armor.

Relentless Cleaving Assault

 Cost:  2 motes
 Duration:  Instant
 Type:  Simple
 Minimum Melee:  4
 Minimum Essence:  2
 Prerequisite:  Five Shadow Feint

The Abyssal empowers the momentum of a swing with Essence. Roll to hit as normal; if the Charm’s blow is parried or dodged, the invested Essence reflexively drives another attempt at the attack again the next turn, in addition to any other attacks or Charms in use then. This repeated attack is paid for when this Charm is activated, and subsequent attacks occur at no added expense to the Abyssal. This attack repeats only once.

Hellish Onslaught

 Cost:  5 motes, 1 willpower
 Duration:  One scene
 Type:  Simple
 Minimum Melee:  4
 Minimum Essence:  3
 Prerequisite:  Relentless Cleaving Assault

The Abyssal’s weapon flows with red light, shining in crimson glory, eliciting excruciating cries from its victims. Each kill the Abyssal makes after using this Charm adds one die to his accuracy pool for the remainder of the scene, as well as multiplying the brightness of his weapon, which visibly extracts its power through a show of brilliant Essence being ripped away from the victim’s fatal wounds. The bonus accuracy dice may not accumulate in excess of the Abyssal’s permanent Essence rating. Every time a nonfatal wound is dealt with this weapon, the accumulated accuracy bonus diminishes by one, and the weapon glows a little duller than before.

Unstoppable Executioner Stance

 Cost:  8 motes, 1 willpower
 Duration:  One scene
 Type:  Simple
 Minimum Melee:  5
 Minimum Essence:  3
 Prerequisites:  Hellish Onslaught, Rapacious Flaying Edge

Using this Charm, the Abyssal becomes a pillar of pale red, unholy flames, blossoming out from him like a deep-sea flower. His face contorts in ferocity, and his blows land with thundering, bone-shattering force, and are nearly impossible to block. For the remainder of the scene, subtract the Abyssal’s permanent Essence from all parry rolls made against the Abyssal’s attacks.

Shadows Cascade =

Stabbing Nihil Assault

 Cost:  3 motes
 Duration:  Instant
 Type:  Supplemental
 Minimum Melee:  2
 Minimum Essence:  2
 Prerequisites:  Void Sheathe Technique

Turning to a handy shadow, the Abyssal infuses his weapon with essence, and strikes at it. Up to (the Abyssal’s permanent Essence x 10) yards away, the weapon emerges in another shadow, measuring out the strike there on any individual who may be nearby.

Ten Thousand Stabbing Nihils Assault

 Cost:  10 motes, 1 willpower
 Duration:  Instant
 Type:  Simple
 Minimum Melee:  3
 Minimum Essence:  3
 Prerequisites:  Stabbing Nihil Assault, Unfurling Iron Lotus

This Charm works almost identically to Stabbing Nihil Assault, except that the Abyssal pours a small flood of Essence into the shadows along with his weapon. When it emerges to strike its target, thousands of duplicates stab outward as well. This Charm is not an extra action Charm, but instead doubles the Abyssal’s attack roll after it is totaled together. This Charm may not be placed in a Combo with any extra action Charms.

Phantom Steel Rainfall Strike

 Cost:  4 motes, 1 willpower
 Duration:  Instant
 Type:  Supplemental
 Minimum Melee:  4
 Minimum Essence:  3
 Prerequisites:  Stabbing Nihils Assault, Furious Blade

Amidst a flurry of stabs and cleaves, the Abyssal’s weapon becomes phantasmal and half-real, one of a myriad assortment of flashing weapons – all laying into the victim at once. Hidden in the phantom shadows of other weapons, the real weapon emerges, half-real, to strike at the victim. This strike is also half-phantasmal, though, and slips through any armor, ignoring it for the purposes of soak.

Other

Terminal Spectral Caress

 Cost:  2 motes per die
 Duration:  Instant
 Type:  Supplemental
 Minimum Melee:  4
 Minimum Essence:  3
 Prerequisites:  Savage Shade Style, Five Shadow Feint

The Abyssal contacts the dormant, fatal chilling bite locked within his weapon, and unleashes it in a brilliant display of red and black Essence. For every two motes spent activating this Charm, the Abyssal can convert one die of lethal damage into aggravated damage. The Abyssal may not convert more dice using this Charm than his permanent Essence.

Blind Swordsman Song

 Cost:  4 motes, 1 willpower
 Duration:  Instant
 Type:  Supplemental
 Minimum Melee:  5
 Minimum Essence:  4
 Prerequisites:  Terminal Spectral Caress

The Abyssal lets the innate destructive thirst of his weapon and his Essence guide this Charm. Instead of striking with his blade, he forsakes all his knowledge and skill and lets his deadly necrotic Essence guide him. Roll permanent Essence to make the attack, and then calculate the damage normally. Regardless of the outcome of this roll, the Abyssal using Blind Swordsman Song is considered to have made at least one success. This is a perfect attack, and can only be blocked or dodged by a perfect defense.

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