Revision as of 10:32, 20 November 2005

Ikselam's Awareness Charms

These came about as a side-effect of my efforts to create an iaijutsu tree for /SolarMelee. They are kind of combat-centric.

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Blind Man's Sight</b>

<b>Cost: 4 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Min. Awareness: 5
Min. Essence: 2
Prereqs: Unsurpassed Hearing and Touch Discipline

An Exalted with this power does not need his eyes to see. In fact, he can perceive his surroundings more clearly with his eyes closed, since he will not be deceived by the lies his vision tells him. For the remainder of the scene in which this Charm is activated, the character negates all penalties imposed by blindness, darkness, or poor visibility. In addition, his "sight" extends equally in all directions; he can be ambushed as normal, but no one can sneak up behind him without him noticing.

If at any point during the Charm's duration the character opens his eyes, the effects immediately end. Conditions or powers which produce complete, unbreakable silence will also cause the Charm to fail.

Master's Discerning Eye</b>

<b>Cost: 8 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Min. Awareness: 4
Min. Essence: 3
Prereqs: Surprise Anticipation Method, any one Keen (Sense) Technique

By carefully studying her target's movements and reactions, the Exalted can discern how to most effectively oppose or assist him. Mechanically, this gives the character a number of bonus dice equal to her Awareness on any physical action made in concert with, or opposition to, to the chosen target. Master's Discerning Eye may be activated multiple times in a scene, but must have a different target each time. The total number of dice added to any given action by Master's Discerning Eye may never exceed the character's Awareness score.

When used in combat, the bonus provided by Master's Discerning Eye applies to both attack and defense rolls versus the chosen target. Its bonus is also applicable if the character and the Charm's target are attacking the same person, but only if they attack simultaneously (i.e., on the same initiative).

Example: </i>\\ <i>Yorin and her friend Leaping Gazelle are making their way into a subterranean temple they have discovered in the southern Scavenger Lands. However, when they reach the end of the entry tunnel, they find that the doorway to what must be the main hall has been blocked by a fallen boulder! Gazelle sets her shoulder against the rock and tries to push it away from the entrance, but her not-inconsiderable Strength + Athletics of 8 is insufficient to move it (a difficulty 15 feat of strength, due to its large size and awkward positioning). Yorin lends a hand, but her measly Strength + Athletics of 4 doesn't help at all.

After much cursing and sweating, and a failed attempt to lever the boulder out of the way, Yorin turns on Master's Discerning Eye and asks Gazelle to try again. Yorin closely observes her stance and the rhythm of the muscles flexing under her mahogany skin, and then steps up beside her to help. Sychronizing her efforts with Gazelle's, she adds her five dots of Awareness to her Strength + Athletics pool, pushing the women's combined total up to 8 + 9 = 17 > 15. The boulder rocks back and forth a few times, then rolls away from the doorway.

The two scavengers step around the boulder into the temple's main hall, their animas shedding golden light over the dusty mosaics and crumbling statues. A quick search reveals an orichalcum circlet, sword, and torque resting in a small shrine at the far end of the hall. Yorin picks up the artifacts, but no sooner has she put them in her bag than she and Gazelle hear a rumbling noise from nearby. One of the statues comes to life, opening blazing yellow eyes and striding toward the intruders, its stone fists held at the ready. "THIEVES!" it booms in Old Realm. "HALT OR BE DESTROYED!" The golem is between them and the door; Gazelle draws her axe and Yorin readies her spear.

Yorin's initiative is 18, Gazelle's is 13, and the golem's is 8. Yorin holds her action. When Gazelle's initiative arrives, she splits her action for a parry and an attack, leaping toward the golem with a savage war-cry. Yorin decides to attack simultaneously, splitting her action to hold a dodge. Since they are attacking the same target at the same time, Yorin adds her Awareness to her Dexterity + Melee. The two women's blows land as one, striking sparks from the construct's stony chest and leaving a noticeable crack.

If Yorin had attacked on any other initiative, she would not have gotten the bonus, since her attack would not be occurring simultaneously with Gazelle's. If, on the other hand, she had activated Master's Discerning Eye again with the golem as a target, all of her offensive and defensive rolls versus it would get the bonus; however, she couldn't coordinate her attack with Gazelle's and receive a bonus of twice her Awareness, since Master's Discerning Eye is only allowed to add up to the user's Awareness in dice to any single action.

Instantaneous Reflex Technique</b>

<b>Cost: 1 mote, 1 willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min. Awareness: 5 
Min. Essence: 3
Prereqs: Surprise Anticipation Method, any one Unsurpassed (Sense) Discipline

The world around the Exalted seems to slow to a crawl as his senses snap into superhuman focus, giving him time to react to events that would normally occur too quickly for him to even perceive. He can avoid normal attacks with almost trivial ease, and may even attempt to evade the normally unavoidable. This Charm is used in response to a single incoming attack. Any successes the character rolls on parry or dodge attempts versus that one attack are counted twice. If the attack is unparryable or undodgeable, successes are only counted once, but the normally disallowed defense may be attempted as normal.

Instantaneous Reflex Technique does not provide an action, but its effects do extend to all dodge or parry rolls made against the attack, even those provided by Charms or other magic. Non-artifact weapons used to parry an unblockable attack will almost certainly be destroyed in the process.

Example:</b>\\ The animate statue staggers back under the force of the blows, but then it straightens up and turns its head to look directly at Yorin. Its eyes flare up, and twin beams of solar fire stab out at the scavenger princess! The golem rolls for its attack, which is declared to be parryable but undodgeable. Since Yorin only has a dodge in reserve, she may be in trouble.

Luckily, she knows Instantaneous Reflex Technique. She activates the Charm in response to the eye-beam, allowing her to use her dodge just as if the attack were not undodgeable. She rolls just enough successes to barely avoid the attack; the golem's beam singes off her ponytail, but she is otherwise okay.

If Yorin had held a parry instead of a dodge, she probably would have succeeded much more easily, because use of Instantaneous Reflex Technique would have allowed her to count her parry successes twice versus the golem's attack roll (since the beam was not unblockable).

<b>Cost: variable number of motes, 1 willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Min. Awareness: 5 
Min. Essence: 4
Prereqs: Instantaneous Reflex Technique

The Exalted perceives and reacts to her attacker's motions before her mind even begins to register what she is seeing. This Charm is used in response to multiple attacks launched from the same source, and enables the character to apply a single dodge or parry attempt to two or more of the attacks. The cost is equal to the current number of attacks assigned to the defense action, including the first; it costs 1 mote for the first additional attack, 2 motes for the second, 3 motes for the third, and so on. The character may assign no more additional attacks to a single defense than her permanent Essence score.

Intuitive Defense Method does not provide an action, but its effects do extend to any type of dodge or parry effect, even those provided by Charms or other magic.

Example:</b> Yorin and Gazelle manage to defeat the golem, but as soon as it falls three more statues come to life and start advancing! Not liking those odds, the women grab their loot and dash back out of the room, with Gazelle in the lead. As they run up the entry hall, they come to a trap they bypassed earlier. Gazelle makes her Wits + Athletics roll and nimbly avoids the pressure plates, but Yorin rolls a botch. She not only steps on one of the spring-loaded tiles, the sudden depression causes her to trip and fall. As the floor rises up to meet her, six spears shoot out from the walls. Yorin has a sudden, distressingly clear vision of the shish kebab she ate for dinner last night.

Due to her excited state and her strong desire not to experience kebabhood, Yorin overreacts a little and fires off her Intuitive Defense Method + Seven Shadow Evasion Combo. She pays two Willpower and 22 motes (1+2+3+4=10 for Intuitive Defense, 12 for two activations of Seven Shadow Evasion). The activation of Intuitive Defense Method allows her to apply one defense attempt to five of the spears; she assigns this to the first Seven Shadow Evasion, perfectly dodging all five. The second Seven Shadow Evasion takes her out of the way of the sixth spear. Yorin's body disappears in a sudden burst of shining Essence and miraculously avoids the flying spears, which embed themselves in the stone walls of the passage. Yorin continues her fall and lands safely past the trapped section of floor, her anima flaring brightly. Hearing the golems lumbering up the corridor behind her, she quickly picks herself back up and takes off after Gazelle.

A less extravagant course of action for Yorin would have been to activate Intuitive Defense Method and declare a full dodge (which would probably require at least a small stunt, since she was airborne when the spears came flying at her). For 10 motes and 1 Willpower, she could have rolled her first dodge and applied the result to the first five spears, then rolled her second dodge versus the sixth. Of course, this would carry the danger of her rolling poorly for her first dodge and getting badly skewered.

<b>Cost: 10 motes, 1 willpower
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Min. Awareness: 5
Min. Essence: 3
Prereqs: Surprise Anticipation Method, all three Unsurpassed (Sense) Disciplines

Synchronized with the flow of Essence around him, the Solar gains a perfect awareness of his surroundings and reacts to any event with unbelievable speed. For the remainder of the scene, he cannot be surprised, is considered to be aware of all attacks made against him, and gains an initiative bonus equal to his Awareness + Essence.

This Charm is incompatible with the use of armor.

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Comments

These are some really mechanically creative Charms, particularly Intuitive Defense Method. Instantaneous Reflex Technique worries me, though; as it is currently worded, one could use it to dodge the Godspear of the Five-Metal Shrike or some similarly earthshattering area effect, while I suspect that what you meant was to make it possible to avoid things that mystically disallow you to avoid them. What say you? - FourWillowsWeeping

Sure, you could use it to dodge the Godspear. One of the purposes of this Charm is to allow characters without a Melee focus to avoid unavoidable attacks. The line between "things that are unavoidable because they're MAAAAA-GIC" and "things which are unavoidable because of some mundane consideration" is pretty hazy anyway. That's kind of a cheap rationalization, but it's one I'm comfortable making in this case.\\ _Ikselam

I'm gonna agree, and say that it's always good to have alternatives to HGD. This isn't really that much better, in any way, but is helpful to non-melee monkeys. -- GregLink

I'm gonna ask my ST to let me use Reaction Without Thought... - IanPrice

These are excellent. One question: Intuitive Defense Method seems written specifically to parallel the Extra Action Charm costs from the core book, which makes sense - but perhaps an alternative should be developed for those using the 3m/attack revisions from the PG? Perhaps 2m/extra defense (so 2 total defenses at 2m, 3 defenses at 4m, 4 defenses at 6m, etc), to maintain the defense-is-cheaper-than-offense mentality, as appropriate? -- Hapushet, who is always happy to see excellent Charm design

One gripe, ONE gripe that I just have to complain about: You've not noted that any charms here (Intuitive Defense Method, I'm looking at you) are allowed to be comboed outside of the Awareness tree, but you've done so in your example. Unless a rule changed somewhere and everyone forgot to tell me... - Trithne, who always feels a little behind anyway.