FourWillowsWeeping/IdeaPile2

!Sphere Rules A spirit can use sphere rules to make it easier for him to learn or perform a Charm; they are naturally more facile at performing narrow tasks related to their spheres than they are at the flexible, wide-application magics that characterise the Exalted. When he learns a Charm, the spirit defines the sphere rules that applies to it; unless some supernatural effect intervenes, or the Charm text explicitly permits it, this is the only version of the Charm he may learn.

There are a number of ways to apply Sphere rules. They can be used to reduce the Virtue, Essence, or Charm prerequisites of a Charm, and to reduce its mote and Willpower activation costs. Exceptional costs such as, but not limited to, Health Levels and experience points cannot be bypassed with sphere rules.

A Charm may have any number of sphere rules that restrict it, but their efficiency is limited. Sphere rules cannot reduce the Trait minima of a Charm below 1, and they cannot eliminate the mote or Willpower component of a Charm's activation cost.

The effects of sphere rules are divided into three general categories. Some rules can be used to obtain more than one effect. In general, the benefits granted by Scourge-based rules are lesser than those granted by Dominion-based counterpart rules, but this is not always the case. Some Charms also contain sphere-based effects that are distinct from sphere rules, such as (De)Materialise.

!!Restriction Rules The following rules represent the god's skill in manipulating his spheres. He can accomplish greater things within them than he can elsewhere. Applying one of these rules to a Charm reduces its mote cost by a varying amount, depending on the amount of rules applied, or simplifies a Charm prerequisite. Specifically, it turns the requisite generic; it does not reduce the number of Charms the spirit must learn prior to learning the new Charm, but they may be any Charms of the appropriate Virtue. Note that when a Charm has multiple Charm prerequisites, a single Restriction rule only makes one of those requisites generic. For instance, a god could learn Endowment without learning the three lesser blessings, but he must know at least three Compassion Charms to do so.

1. You may only affect exemplars of a Sphere with this Charm. Example: Teodozjia can only Essence Bite sacred objects. Venus' Touch of Grace only functions on people who are coveted.
2. Only beings that retain this Sphere as a Dominion or Scourge; i.e. spirits that are mystically aligned in relation to it, can be affected by this Charm. Example: The Unconquered Sun has a little-known variant of Materialise which he calls Pinioning of the Unrighteous in Glory, which he can use to cause spirits of darkness to take material shape.
3. This non-instant Charm's effect is ignored when the affected being performs a specific Scourge action. If the affected ceases to perform this action, the effect resumes. Example: Myeyng Evaporating Pool, a god of light, has a form of Disguise that ceases to function when he steps into shadows.
4. This non-instant Charm's effect only applies to a specific Dominion action. Example: Hanushkawayk, the patron diety of con artists, has a form of Principle of Motion whose extra actions only allow him to make Performance and Larceny rolls.

|| Mote Reduction |||||| ||No. of rules used to decrease mote cost ||   ||Amount of reduction || || 1|| ||1 || || 2|| ||2 || || 3|| ||5 || || 4|| ||10 || || 5|| ||14 || || Each additional rule|| ||+3 ||

!!Confidence Rules The following rules represent the god's comfort in his domain. He is compelled by some impulse of his sphere of influence, or draws power from his surroundings. Applying one of these rules to a Charm reduces its minimum Essence score or its Willpower activation cost by 1.

1. Using this Charm in the absence of your Dominion raises the difficulty of any associated rolls by 2. If there is no roll required when using the Charms normally, then using the Charm in the absence of your Dominion requires a difficulty 3 Essence+Virtue roll. This rule may be chosen multiple times; each additional iteration increases the difficulty by 1. Example: Jorst, the Linowan forest god, finds it much more difficult to Track creatures once they have left the borders of Linowa.
2. You may only use this Charm in an area that's part of your Dominion. Example: The tiny god Melenggan of Three Hills Collapsed Village may only use Hurry Home successfully when he has not strayed too far away from it.
3. You may not affect exemplars of a Sphere with this Charm. Example: Lytek, because of his Darkness Scourge, cannot affect creatures of darkness with Memory Mirror or any of its related Charms.
4. You must use this Charm to generate Dominion-related effects. Example: Agatae may only use Uncanny Prowess in order to appear lofty and inscrutable.
5. Restriction rules 1 & 2 can be used as Confidence rules.

!!Limitation Rules The following rules represent the reflection of a god's spheres in his behaviour. His nature encourages him to act in particular manners, reducing the Virtue minimum of the Charm by 1 per rule.

1. You must use this Charm to support your Dominion.
2. You must use this Charm to attack your Scourge.
3. You may only use this Charm when you are in a situation regarding one of your Spheres that justifies the channelling of the Charm's associated Virtue. Example: Hu Dai Liang may use one version of Materialise only when the honour of one of her armies is called into question on the field. She calls this Charm The Scarlet General Turns the Tide of Battle.
4. Using this Charm in the presence of your Scourge raises the difficulty of any associated rolls by 2. If there is no roll required when using the Charms normally, then using the Charm in the presence of your Scourge requires a difficulty 3 Essence+Virtue roll. This rule may be chosen multiple times; each additional iteration increases the difficulty by 1. Example: Nearly all gilmynes are Scourged by the Saigoth Gates; in their presence, all their Charms are humbled.
5. To use this Charm, you must first perform a Dominion-related action. Example: Wayang in his mediator aspect may only use the various blessings and curses upon mortals between whom he has just resolved a conflict.
6. You cannot use this Charm to perform Scourge-related actions.
7. You may not use this Charm in an area that's part of your Scourge. Example: Isune Kisarer, an elemental of the western salt breeze, finds enclosed spaces abhorrently grounding. She is unable to change her form with Details in a place where the air is still.
8. This Charm's effect is accompanied by a side effect that makes one of your Spheres obvious to observers. Example: Bloody Hands exhibit their murderous aspect in all their Shapechanged forms because of the blood that constantly wells up from their claws.
9. Restriction rules 3 & 4 can be used as Limitation rules.
10. Confidence rules 1 & 2 can be used as Limitation rules.

Comments

Very cool. Stole an idea right out of my head, though my system aimed to modify Charms on effect bases as well--extending the duration or range or effect as well as trading limits for cost and prerequisite reduction. One thing I wanted to do was mechanize permanent Elemental and Demon powers as augmented versions of Spirit Charms. Of course, I never took anything off the drawing board, and only took a short while to actually review canon Demons and Elementals. _Wohksworth