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The True Anathema
What if the Immaculate Philosophy were correct? What if Solars and Lunars really WERE horrific demons clothed in human flesh? What manner of dangers might they spread in their wake...?
This variant is almost assuredly only functional in a Dragon-Blooded (or possibly Sidereal) game. It acts to seriously change the way that Solars and Lunars work by making Immaculate propaganda true. It will probably darken the setting, and will definately make things harder on the players. Still, that's half the fun.
In this variant, the baseline is to assume that Immaculates are right about Solars and Lunars. This creates some fun subvariants, explained below.
Solar Anathema
The Solar Anathema Essences are sentient beings, of a sort, that wish to corrupt virtue and become the god-emperors that they once were. They are not in particular alliance with the Yozi, however; instead, they are the bloodthirsty souls that Autochthon created to gain vengeance on his brothers and sisters. The angry Maker didn't care about what happened next; he only wanted to cause misery to those who had brought misery to him. Sol Invictus may have been unaware of the nature of his new Champions, unaware of their existance, or simply uncaring, at the discretion of the individual Storyteller.
Regardless of the reason, Solar Essences corrupt the user's Virtues, turning him into an arrogant tyrant. Upon Anathemization, a Solar loses one of their Virtues. They automatically succeed at any tests of that Virtue they wish to pass, and automatically fail at any tests of that Virtue they wish to lose. However, they must spend a point of Willpower in order to act in a certain manner, defined below. Doing so applies a point of Limit.
Solars lose another Virtue at Essence 4, 6, and 8.
Lost Compassion means that a Solar cannot imagine others as people, and instead treats them as toys, tools, or scenery (based on individual Solars). They must spend Willpower to do anything good for someone that does not also provide a benefit to themselves.
Lost Conviction means that a Solar cannot imagine any cause beyond their own safety and power, and that their worldview is limited to themselves. They must spend Willpower to take actions that help causes or societies without providing a direct benefit to themselves.
Lost Temperance means that a Solar cannot understand why their desires are not paramount. They must spend Willpower in order to refrain from indulging in any behaviour that suits their mood and inclination.
Lost Valor means that a Solar cannot understand why their safety is not paramount. They must spend Willpower in order to risk themselves for anything that does not carry equal promise of reward.
When a Solar reaches Limit Break, she regains Willpower equal to half her Essence, rounded up. She may not spend Willpower in order to act against their lost Virtues for one full day. Solar Anathema cannot declare partial control. It is in this way that they gradually turn their subjects against them, promoting the natural restoration of order.
Solar Peripheral Essence Pools are changed to (Essence x8 + Willpower x2) to reflect this loss of Virtues.
Lunar Anathema
Lunar Essences are dark and brutal things that draw their souls towards destructive and chaotic behaviour. Unlike Solar Essences, they act upon the Willpower of their host, drawing him towards bestial and monstrous behaviour. Autochthon crafted these shards to be the harrying forces of the War, stealing power from the ever-changing moon.
When they Exalt, Lunars must name a situation in which they must act a certain way. This must be an action that goes against societal morals, frequently (but not always) in an animalistic way. Examples: "I must take anything that draws my attention", "I must kill anyone I fight", "I must drink the blood of all I kill", "I must mate with anyone who I desire". These are known as Obsessions. The character's Virtues may not be used to resist such Obsessions, and resisting one requires the expenditure of two Willpower and applies a point of Limit to a Lunar's track. Lunars take a new Obsession at Essence 4, 6, and 8, which adds to their existing ones.
Lunars who Limit Break may not act against their Obsessions for a full day. Furthermore, they regain one Willpower for each Obsession that they fulfill during a Limit Break (only once per Obsession per Limit Break).
Sidereal Anathema
There are three possibilities for the Sidereals:
1) The Sidereals are not Anathema. In this case, they are still quietly helping the Realm, although with the goal of fighting the Anathema. In this case, there will be no Gold or Silver Factions of the Sidereals.
2) There are no Sidereals. Autocthon only created two breeds of Celestial Exalted, and the Dragon-Blooded stand alone. In this case, Gaia and her souls should take a more active stand in defending Creation.
3) The Sidereal Anathema cleverly avoided the Usurpation by aligning themselves with the Dragon-Blooded, and now manipulate the Realm towards its downfall. In this case, all Sidereal Anathema suffer from the Curse of Hubris; a more powerful form of their normal Limit Break.
The Curse of Hubris prevents a Sidereal from passing up a chance to gain power, and harms their ability to realize when they are not able to handle problems. It works as follows:
Essence 2: Sidereals suffer a +1 difficulty to all Virtue Rolls made if succeeding on them requires them to pass up a chance to gain power. They must succeed at a Willpower roll, difficulty 2, to accept that their own plans might be flawed, and must pass a Willpower roll at difficulty 1 to accept that others might be able to lead better than them. If they spend Willpower to pass Virtue Rolls that suffer increased difficulties, they must spend 1 additional Willpower and apply a point of Limit.
Essence 4: Sidereals MUST pass a Virtue roll to avoid a chance to gain power, penalized as above, regardless of circumstance. The difficulty of their Willpower rolls increase to 4 to accept their own flawed plans, and 2 to accept that others might plan or lead better.
Essence 6: Sidereals automatically fail all Virtue rolls made to resist trying to gain power, and must spend the two Willpower. The difficulty of rolls to accept their own flawed plans increases to 6, and to accept that others might plan or lead better increase to 4.
Essence 8: Sidereals must spend 3 Willpower and apply 2 Limit to pass Virtue rolls made to resist trying to gain power, and automatically fail all rolls to accept that their plans are flawed. The difficulty to accept that others might lead better than them increases to 6.
The Sidereal Anathema lurk about Heaven, having snuck into a corrupt and broken power-structure. Their constant infighting about leadership and power kills them far more frequently than any external threat, and they only believe that they control the Realm; in truth, their plans are frequently foiled.
The Abyssal Anathema
The Deathlords have stolen Solar Anathema, turning their power towards Death. Abyssals function exactly as per usual, except that their Virtues cannot cause them to go against the cause of Death. Instead, their Compassion must reflect a desire to kill people for their own good, their Conviction must reflect commitment to the cause of the Void, their Temperance must reflect their ability to restrain their living desires in favour of the purity of Oblivion, and their Valor reflects their knowledge that protection of the self is meaningless. Abyssals who return their Shards to a Solar nature instantly redevelop Solar Virtue damage.
