Revision as of 16:50, 17 September 2004

Charm Relay

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Plants

These are High-Essence TerrestrialCharms.

Calling the Oak from the Acorn - Moxiane

 Cost: 8 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 health level
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Archery: 5
 Min. Essence: 5
 Prereqs: Life-Swelling Sap Strike

Every arrow cut from a tree retains forevermore some slight spark of the tree's Essence and, by extension, of the Essence of all trees. The Dragon-Blood who uses this Charm awakens that spark back into life, causing a massive outrush of growth that sends decades rushing by in seconds, and causing a tree to sprout to adulthood at the point of the arrow's impact, cracking stones and sending earth flying as the roots blossom outwards in a heartbeat. When the Charm has run its course there is an adult tree of whatever wood was used to make the arrow that the character fired sprouting from the place the arrow landed. Mechanically this can have several effects:

• When used against fortifications (stone walls, iron-bound gates, etc...) the Exalted's Willpower + Essence + Archery is checked on the Feats of Strength chart. Multiple uses of Calling the Oak from the Acorn are cumulative with each extra application adding the character's Essence again - enough applications of this Charm will break any wall.
• Any undead creature of lesser stature than the Deathlords or the Abyssal Exalted is instantly annihilated upon being struck by this attack. The many segments of a spine-chain collapse into bones and dust, and both the corpse and the animating spirit of a nemessary are destroyed.
• When fired into a large body of men (ie: when using MailAndSteel) it inflicts twice the Exalted's Essence in damage to the unit and causes an immediate Valour roll against a difficulty of 3 or the unit hesitates.

Perhaps ironically for the Realm any Dragon-Blood who displays knowledge of this Charm will never be trusted by their Linowan allies, while the Haltan tree-dwellers consider this Charm a special blessing and treat its user with the reverence reserved for religious personalities.

Original Verdure Attack - FourWillowsWeeping

 Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower
 Type: Reflexive
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Archery: 6 (This is only possible short of Ess 6 by using Specialties as Charm prerequisites)
 Min. Essence: 5
 Prereqs: Calling the Oak from the Acorn

Variations on this theme exist for the other three peripheral Aspects as well; there have been attempts to develop a Terrestrial Martial Arts style that culminates in a similar effect as well, but as yet this has been unsuccessful.

Calling upon the skills that Gaia used to construct the earth, the Terrestrial transforms an elemental into his essential element. Use this Charm when the Terrestrial's Archery attack kills a Wood elemental; a shoot of luminous green Wood Essence follows the arrow's flight path to spear the elemental in his wound again, and transforms the elemental's body into an explosion of frondescence. This suddden germination inflicts the Terrestrial's Archery + applicable Specialties in dice of lethal damage to anything within the elemental's Essence in yards from the centre of the explosion, and when it has run its course, the area emerges overrun with primæval ferns, rushes, and glassy-limbed horsetails, all moist with dew.

(Efflorescence of Essential Conflict) - FourWillowsWeeping

 Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower

 Type: Simple
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Archery: 6
 Min. Essence: 6
 Prereqs: Original Verdure Attack

This is not a third Charm in the Relay, but a continuation of the concept of the prerequisite Charm. It was originally placed in the Comments area.

Building on the principle ofthe Original Verdure Attack, the Efflorescence of Essential Conflict permits the Terrestrial to draw out the Wood principles most inimical to a particular being, by transforming elemental matter. To use this Charm successfully, the Terrestrial must perform an Archery attack against a Wood elemental or a large tree; for the purposes of this attack, he may attack dematerialized elementals. If he attacks a tree, then ignore its soak. The Charm has three different usages:

• Attacking a tree makes it possible to produce a miasma of poison—all living creatures within a number of yards equal to the HLs inflicted by the attack, plus the age of the tree in centuries, are exposed to arrow frog venom (see Exalted, p243). The miasma persists for as many turns as the Terrestrial's Essence; those who remain in the area are affected anew by the toxin each turn. This is specifically a material attack. (For the purposes of adult trees forcibly created by supernatural effects, roll the creator's Essence in heroic dice to determine the tree's effective age in centuries.)
• Striking off a shard of an elemental produces a spiritual toxin with the same effects as the arrow frog venom miasma, with these alterations: For each HL the arrow frog venom would inflict, the sufferer loses 2 motes instead; the roll to resist the toxin is Valor + Resistance; and the attack affects only those beings with awakened Essence, but it is capable of poisoning even dematerialized beings. The radius of the miasma is determined by the HLs the attack inflicts, plus the elemental's Conviction.
• Either source can produce a sudden, convulsive growth of vegetation, which has the same radius as the appropriate venom miasma, and has no effect on living beings, but automatically destroys corporeal undead short of Deathlords and Abyssal Exalted unless their Essence is higher than the Terrestrial's, and forces all ghosts to flee to their nearest Fetter.

Stirring the Verdant Rage Telgar

 Cost: 15 motes, 2 Willpower, 1 Health level
 Type: Simple
 Duration: One Scene
 Min. Survival: 6
 Min. Essence: 6
 Prereqs: Shelter Creation Technique

By spilling some of his own wood-touched blood to across vegetation, a Dragon-Blooded can awaken the rage of the Wood Essence within and rouse the local plantlife to fight on his behalf. Every plant within the Terrestrial's (Essence x 10) yards animates itself and attempts to destroy his enemies. Vines will coil and whip around opponents, tree roots will drag them underground, branches will spear them and even lowly mushrooms will become poisonous and attempt to bring low the Dragon-Blood's foes. Small plants such as mushrooms or rose bushes are treated as cats or (in the case of poisonous ones) arrow frogs. Vines or leafy plants such as kudzu are treated as serpents or octopi. Small trees are treated as horses while large trees use the statistics for Yeddim. Plants of extreme size such as those found in the Far East or Haltan Redwoods may have statistics like those of a Tyrant Lizard or other very large predator.

From Death Springs Life Technique Resplendence

 Cost: 12 motes, 1 Willpower
 Type: Simple
 Duration: One Scene
 Min. Medicine: 5
 Min. Survival: 4
 Min. Essence: 5
 Prereqs: Grievous Wound Alteration Energy

It is nature's way to let the weak die in hostile environments to allow the strong to thrive. Activating this principle with Essence in a creature deceased from natural causes, nature materializes a way to thrive against these very causes as a strange, fruit-bearing plant. The plant grows to man-size in seconds and consumes all but the deceased creature's bones. It's clearly of magical origin, but more so are its fruits, which display characteristics of the environmental hardships they protect against. Fruits protecting against disease seem to be blighted by the disease itself, but although nauseating they offer immunity to the disease to those who eat them. Similarly, a creature perished by cold produces a plants with icy fruits that fully protect against natural cold.

Fruits created with this Charm offer perfect immunity against natural conditions and dangers to all who eat them. Against magical conditions, they increase dice pools and soak to resist them with the Dragon-Blooded's Essence rating. A number of fruits equal to the Essence rating are created by the Charm. They must be consumed within a scene, or they wither with the plant. The dead creature must be dead for no more than a day, and it must be at least man-sized. Several smaller creatures than together are roughly man-sized can also be used, but they must all have died from the same cause.

Razor-Leaf Squall Meditation - (Moxiane)

 Cost: 8 motes, 1 Willpower + 3 motes per extra target
 Type: Simple
 Duration: Instant
 Min. Thrown: 5
 Min. Essence: 5
 Prerequisites: Invisibly Hidden Chakram Method, Wind Weapons

The elder Dragon-blooded show a natural mastery over the elements of Creation that can rival that of the elementals or the gods. With this Charm the Exalt can call forth of flurry of leaves, his Essence rendering them knife-sharp and then hurl them through the air at his foes, shredding their flesh and tearing their clothes. A storm of leaves attacks the Exalt’s chosen foes (the character can attack up to his permanent Essence in targets with a single use of this Charm) – this is resolved with a single Dexterity + Thrown roll with the character’s Essence as an Accuracy bonus, this attack cannot be parried, only dodged. This Charm can only be used within the bounds of a forest or other wooded area, and if the forest is largely broadleaf then the base damage of the attack is 6L, is narrow- or needle-leaved the base damage is only 3L, but the Charm inflicts Piercing damage.

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Comments

Might I suggest that each of the Charms in this relay come from a different Ability. That way it gets to spread itself out some, while more generally useful in game terms. - Moxiane

Heh. So, after saying that I then go ahead and many possibly the most stereotypical effect I could think of. Oh well... ^_^ - Moxiane

So I totally ignored your suggestion because I had a great idea that strings along after yours quite nicely. Don't let that stop anyone else! I also wrote a second Charm, which appears above.- willows

From Death Springs Life Technique seems more like a spell now that I look at it, but meh. I'm not sure if it should be a Survival or Medicine Charm either. Resplendence