Tardach/ZenithPresence

Zenith Presence Charms

Wrote these up back when I was playing in a campaign that began a couple months after the core book was released and ran for about 3 years. I was playing a Zenith, and wanted to be able to have prayers, miracles, and faith power accesible to me. These are what my ST and I came up with at the time. Now that I ST some myself, and now we have a more complete view of how heaven and earth both work in Exalted, I'm not sure how appropriate these are, but I thought I'd toss 'em out there and get some feedback on them. Maybe the concepts can be sanded down into something more universally useful.

Soul Calming Attitude

Cost: 10 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Presence: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Majestic Radiant Presence

Through this Charm, the Exalt may burn any number of corpses as per the Zenith caste ability, provided that they are no more than his Permanent Essence in feet apart from each other.

Requiem for the Fallen

Cost: 12 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Presence: 5
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Soul Calming Attitude

While this Charm is active, all corpses within a line of sight of the Exalt’s anima banner are instantly cremated and their spirits hastened on their journey into the afterlife. Any necromancers attempting to raise the dead inside the area of the charm’s effect must make an opposed Wits + Essence roll at a -2 dice penalty if during the day outside a shadowland, or at no penalty if within a shadowland or at night. If two or more Exalts have this charm active in an area, then their successes are combined to oppose each necromantic effort for the rest of the scene.

Solar Weave Technique

Cost: 15 motes, 2 Willpower, 1 Health Level
Duration: Varies
Type: Simple
Minimum Presence: 6
Minimum Lore: 3
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Terrifying Apparition of Glory, Requiem for the Fallen

When activating this charm, the Exalt performs a small miracle. The purpose of the miracle is to show the power of the Unconquered Sun, and cannot be used to damage enemies directly. Causing minor earthquakes, moving the sun backwards in the sky, and affecting the behavior of animals are all good examples of “small” miracles. The nature of each miracle should be evaluated and approved by the Storyteller on a case by case basis. When this charm is activated, make an Essence + Presence roll. Multiply the number of successes by 1000 yards to find the radius of the area of effect. Any part of a shadowland or wyld area inside the area of effect is hallowed and steadied by Solar Weave that blankets the area. The Solar Weave exists for a number of days equal to the successes on an Essence roll, and decays in equal increments from the outside in each day. The minimum duration is the Exalt’s Essence in hours. Inside the Solar Weave, Solar Exalted may add their Essence in dice to Presence, Lore, Awareness, and Socialize rolls, as well as to all combat rolls against any opponent that is not one of the five races of the first age. Any one of the five first age races inside the Solar Weave must succeed a difficulty 2 Conviction roll to not immediately ally with the Solar against a third enemy, if there are any to fight. Such allies of the Solar receive a bonus die to all combat pools. Beings entering the area after the initial activation of the charm may make a willpower roll with a difficulty equal to the Solar’s permanent Essence to ignore the effects of the charm entirely.

Comments

The Solar Weave Technique's cost was changed in the campaign to a permanent WP, because he didn't want me using it that often, and when I did, he'd prefer that it just be some seriously Biblical shit rather than a "small" miracle. It sort of worked, except I had a high WP to reflect the character's strong faith (something that Integrity might cure in 2E) so each miracle I did was costing me like 16XP. Not sure what the best way to describe the effect now, would be... I guess this temporarily yet fundamentally changes the Loom of Fate, similar to the Neighborhood Relocation charm. -Tardach

Have you considered making the charm a "use once" charm? As in - the first time you use it, it goes away? You can learn it as many times as you want (even without ever having used it once, allowing you to 'bank' them), but it gives a nice fixed XP cost for the use of the charm then. - GregLink

You could just make the charm cost XP. That would be, in my opinion, far less messy than a single-use Charm. -- OhJames

I'd disagree there. The "costs XP" case requires the PC to horde XP, that can be nearly insta-burnt, on a whim, for either a charm, or other actual learning. The way I'm looking at it, you still have to spend time learning the charm this way, implying that you can't just whip out a bunch of these unless you've spent a lot of time practicing and meditating (AKA learning the charms ahead of time). I don't know, I just don't like mechanics that use XP as a 'fuel', where XP is nothing more than mechanical support for time spent learning. I mean, hordeing XP from an adventure to fuel these charms seems weak, but the time spent /using/ that XP, to practice charms on a mountaintop, now that's how such a charm is done. I don't know, I think I just hate making PC's horde XP. - GregLink