SolarBureaucracy/IsawaBrian
Bountiful Salesman</b>
<b>Cost:1 mote per die Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Minimum Bureaucracy: 1 Minimum Essence: 1 Prerequisite Charms: None
The Exalted takes on a mien of plenty and sophistication, giving him an incredible verve for the art of the deal. For every 1 mote spent activating this Charm, add 1 die to the Solar's Attribute + Bureaucracy pool for the purposes of mercantile endeavors, to a maximum of doubling the initial pool.
In second edition, this Charm is superceded by the first Bureaucracy Excellency.
Heavenly Privilege</b>
<b>Cost:6 motes Duration: Indefinite Type: Simple Minimum Bureaucracy: 3 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Special
As the personal representatives of the Unconquered Sun, Solars were once charged with the responsibility of managing interactions between Heaven and Creation. During the First Age, Solars with sufficient knowledge of bureaucratic processes used their position in Creation to gain rights of entry into Yu Shan. This Charm automatically allows the character full access to Yu Shan as though she was an Eclipse, and also allows the character to spot and enter any hidden gateways. An Eclipse may use this charm for half cost. No matter what form of motes is used to power this Charm, they will always count as peripheral for the purposes of anima banner level. While this Charm is active, the character's anima banner cannot recede below the 4-6 level.
In modern times, this Charm is somewhat dangerous to use, as it marks the Solar quite clearly on the home ground of some of the most powerful enemies of Solars-- the Bronze Faction Sidereals and the gods who have to work with them. In emergencies, however, it does mark the character as an important person, whom it would not be wise to publicly attack. Add 1 to the severity of all offenses against the character, if the crime is committed in public, to a maximum of 5 after all modifications are included. If used in the presence of most Celestial Lions, it will earn the character the protection of said Lion, for as long as the character remains within that being's zone of operations. No Lion will abandon their post, after all. Some may choose to call for support to bodyguard a Solar under obvious threat; others may very well inform the Bronze Faction as soon as the character leaves.
In order to learn this Charm, the Solar must have learned a Transcendent (Ability) Prowess in one of their Caste Abilities.
In Second Edition, this Charm is Obvious, and requires Any Bureaucracy Excellency as well as a Caste Transcendent (Ability) Prowess.
Master of the Prodigious Department</b>
<b>Cost:15 motes, 2 Willpower Duration: One Week Type: Simple Minimum Bureaucracy: 5 Minimum Essence: 4 Prerequisite Charms: Bureau-Rectifying Method, Foul Air of Argument Technique
The Solar surrounds himself with a mantle of authority and mastery. His Essence reaches out, and taps into the ordered nature of bureaucracies to assume control over them, dominating them by the full force of his personality. In addition to being able to alter the bureaucracy's speed as though using Foul Air of Argument Technique or Speed the Wheels, the character may completely control the direction the department is heading, force members to the tasks he desires, and so on. The Exalt must interact with the bureau in question (which can involve no more people than 20 x his permanent Essence) at least an hour a day to maintain control. If two Exalts fight for control of a bureau with this or other Charms (such as someone using Foul Air of Argument or Indolent Official to slow down a bureau that the Solar is speeding), they must make contested Essence rolls for dominance.
Beings with Willpower less than the character's Essence are unable to disobey, although they will not work more than 12 hours a day without good motivation, nor will they engage in self-destructive or directly harmful activities (indirectly harmful actions, such as career-ending investigations of powerful officials, are fine). Beings with Willpower less than twice the character's Essence must succeed on a Willpower roll against the character's permanent Essence to disobey; success immunizes the character to direct commands but not speed-alteration for a week. The target may also make a Conviction roll to avoid following a single command that would otherwise be repugnant to him. Finally, beings with a Willpower greater than twice the Solar's only need succeed on a Conviction roll to avoid being directly commanded for a week, but cannot stop the speed-alteration.
This Charm will not function on a bureau that contains a being with an Essence equal to or greater than the Solar's, unless that being gives permission. Needless to say, using this on departments of the Celestial Bureaucracy will qualify as at least a Severity 3 offense unless the head of the department and her immediate superior give permission.
In Second Edition, this Charm functions slightly differently:
Cost: 15m, 2wp; Mins: Bureaucracy 5, Essence 4; Type: Simple Keywords: Combo-Basic, Servitude, Social Duration: One week
The Solar surrounds himself with a mantle of authority and mastery. His Essence reaches out, and taps into the ordered nature of bureaucracies to assume control over them, dominating them by the full force of his personality. The Solar may seize control over a social unit of a bureaucratic type-- determined by the GM, but almost never including actual armies-- with a Magnitude no greater than his Essence, whose leader (not counting the bonuses from the social unit) has an MDV no greater than the Solar's Bureaucracy. For one week, the Solar maintains complete power over the unit as though he were its leader, and its Loyalty is considered to be 10, rather than the Solar's Willpower. Individual members may throw off this unnatural compulsion by spending 2 willpower for a scene. In addition, the character receives a discount to any Bureaucracy Charms used on the unit in motes equal to his Permanent Essence (minimum cost 0.) This Charm will not function on a bureau that contains a being with an Essence equal to or greater than the Solar's, unless that being gives permission. Needless to say, using this on departments of the Celestial Bureaucracy will qualify as at least a Severity 3 offense unless the head of the department and her immediate superior give permission.
Well-Organized Methodology</b>
<b>Cost:1 mote per die Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Minimum Bureaucracy: 1 Minimum Essence: 1 Prerequisite Charms: None
The Solar taps into the basic order and Creation-harmonizing nature of bureaucracies, giving herself the edge in negotiating, navigating, and controlling them. For every 1 mote spent activating this Charm, add 1 die to the Solar's Attribute + Bureaucracy pool for the purposes of dealing with bureaucracies and bureaucratic organization, to a maximum of doubling the initial pool. In Second Edition, this Charm is superceded by the First Bureaucracy Excellency.
Transcendent Bureaucracy Prowess</b>
<b>Cost:None Duration: Permanent Type: Special Minimum Bureaucracy: 5 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: Irresistible Salesman Spirit, Bureau-Rectifying Technique
The character's mastery of the principles of bureaucracy and economics has become internalized. He simply has a knack for overcoming obstacles, whether of the red tape kind, or of the stubborn barterer variety. Subtract two from the difficulty of all Bureaucracy rolls (minimum difficulty one).
This Charm was inspired by Neph. In second edition, this Charm no longer requires Irresistible Salesmen Spirit, and does require Foul Air of Argument. It reduces by any External Penalties to Bureaucracy rolls 2. Its Prerequisite Charms are all three Bureaucracy Excellencies, Infinite Bureaucracy Mastery, and Essence Bureaucracy Flow.
Lord of the Forms</b>
<b>Cost:None Duration: Permanent Type: Special Minimum Bureaucracy: 5 Minimum Essence: 5 Prerequisite Charms: Transcendent Bureacuracy Prowess
This Charm may only be taken by Eclipse-caste Solars. It is a natural development of their anima powers and relies on the basic universality of their souls and caste. Even characters capable somehow of mimicking the Eclipse caste ability to learn Charms from other entities than Solars may not learn this Charm. This Charm represents the natural bureaucratic talents of the Eclipse Caste developing beyond the norm. As a result, the cost to activate non-Solar Bureaucracy Charms is reduced to normal. The doubled experienced cost to learn such Charms remains. The Eclipse expands the writ granted to her soul over Bureaucratic charms via an extension of her inherent bureaucratic nature. This Charm is only possible because of the Caste-harmony of an Eclipse; similar Charms can be developed for other Eclipse Abilities, but not for Abilities or Attributes that do not correspond to their Caste.
The concept for this Charm was inspired by Brent D. In Second Edition, this Charm reduces the 2-mote surcharge of non-Solar Bureaucracy Charms to 0.
Clever Discussion Discipline</b>
<b>Cost:6 motes Duration: One hour Type: Simple Minimum Bureaucracy: 3 Minimum Essence: 1 Prerequisite Charms: None
By creating an aura of trust and talkativeness around himself, the Solar makes it easier to buy and sell, or to manipulate bureaucrats. People simply find it more comfortable to follow the Exalt's lead on such matters. For the next hour, add the Solar's Essence in dice to all bureaucracy rolls of any kind.
In Second Edition, this Charm is Combo-Basic, and the Duration is reduced to One Scene. Instead of dice, it adds successes. Its minimums are raised to Bureaucracy 5, Essence 3, and it has a prerequisite of Infinite Bureaucracy Mastery.
Heavenly Displeasure Subclause</b>
<b>Cost:None Duration: Permanent Type: Special Minimum Bureaucracy: 4 Minimum Essence: 4 Prerequisite Charms: None
This Charm may only be taken by Eclipse-caste Solars. It is a natural development of their anima powers and relies on their specific position in the Celestial Bureaucracy. Even characters capable somehow of mimicking the Eclipse caste ability to learn Charms from other entities than Solars may not learn this Charm. This alters the natural Eclipse capacity to sanctify a bargain. In addition to the base cost and effects for breaking the deal, the Eclipse may pay 5 motes per die, up to a maximum number of dice equal to the character's permanent Essence.
Upon violating the oath, in addition to the usual botches, the oathbreaker will suffer aggravated health levels of damage that can only be soaked by natural soak equal to the number of dice invested in the contract. This damage takes the form of a burning brand upon the oathbreaker's soul and forehead. This brand clearly marks the character as an oathbreaker, regardless of the means of sensory perception or literacy/lack-of-literacy on the part of an observer, and will burn through any concealment, even the Five Magical Materials! This brand can only be removed by a healing effect that is capable of healing aggravated damage and must be administered by an entity of greater or equal Essence than the Eclipse's own.
The brand effect of this Charm was inspired by Cera L. This Charm is unchanged in Second Edition.
Beatific Fraternity of the Bureaucrats</b>
<b>Cost:8 motes Duration: One Day Type: Simple Minimum Bureaucracy: 5 Minimum Essence: 2 Prerequisite Charms: Bureaucratic Concealment Technique
The character becomes like a friendly member of a brotherhood with any and all bureaucracies he interacts with or are concerned with him. Processes he desires are speeded up; those that would impede the Solar are hindered. Add one die to the bureaucracy rolls of any bureaucratic endeavor done in the character's favor; add the character's Essence to the difficulty of any bureaucratic endeavor that would hinder or harm the character. This is especially efficacious against attempting to hinder the Solar by paperwork
On its own, this Charm will not affect the workings of the Bureau of Destiny, which are too closely protected by the Essence of the Maidens and the Sidereal Exalted. However, if this Charm is activated at the same time that Burning Star Style (see SolarResistance/IsawaBrian) is active on the Solar, remove the one-die bonus to astrological or fate-related effects that serve to detect the character. The Solar's essence-flare will also not disturb the Pattern Spiders, as it is smoothly integrated by the use of this Charm. There is no direct game effect from this latter modification, but the GM should keep it in mind for roleplay purposes.
In Second Edition, this Charm is mostly unchanged. Simply change the effect on negative bureaucratic endeavours to an External Penalty equal to the Lawgiver's permanent Essence.
Golden Palm Procedure</b>
<b>Cost:12 motes, 2 Willpower Duration: One Week Type: Simple Minimum Bureaucracy: 5 Minimum Essence: 4 Prerequisite Charms: Beatific Fraternity of the Bureaucrats, Forgetful Bureau Charm
The Solar's mighty Essence creates a powerful invisible field around her, removing her from the petty concerns of bureaucracy. As long as she maintains Golden Palm Procedure (half of the essence spent on this Charm is funneled directly into Ryzala's pocket, although this is considered a use of Solar privilege, and not bribery), the Exalt is utterly invisible to bureaucracies. Her finances cannot be tracked (which can make dealing with the Guild difficult), paperwork written about her will be lost, and bureaus assigned to investigate her will end up following different suspects. This may make it difficult to impossible for the Solar to access some of her Resources, contacts, and organizations.
Ordinarily, this Charm will not affect the Bureau of Destiny, like Beatific Fraternity of the Bureaucrats. However, if this Charm is activated at the same time that Burning Star Style (see SolarResistance/IsawaBrian) is active on the Solar, the Solar instantly becomes invisible to the Pattern Spiders. For the purposes of astrological or fate-related effects, the character becomes outside of Fate and may not be affected by astrological effects at all. During this time, if the character has the Destiny merit, it will cease to function. Luck and Unluck alike only affect the character at half their usual level, rounded down.
This Charm has the keyword Illusion in Second Edition; it effectively creates the Illusion of the user's non-existence to any relevant bureaucracy. This is a perfect effect; if an automatic attempt to detect the character is used by a relevant bureaucrat, a contested Essence roll as per Irresistible Force Meets Unmovable Object is appropriate.
As A Paper Legion</b>
<b>Cost:3 motes Duration: One scene Type: Supplemental Minimum Bureaucracy: 1 Minimum Essence: 1 Prerequisite Charms: None
The Exalt becomes a whirlwind of efficiency, her Shard tuned to the harmonies and Essence that infuse bureaucracies. By tapping into the universalist structure of the Celestial Bureaucracy, the Solar gains great mastery over lesser bureaucracies and negotiations in general. Add the Solar's Essence in automatic successes to bureaucracy rolls of any kind for the remainder of the scene.
This Charm is superceded by Clever Discussion Discipline in Second Edition.
Hard Work's Reward</b>
<b>Cost:3 motes per success Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental Minimum Bureaucracy: 2 Minimum Essence: 1 Prerequisite Charms: None
The dedication and focus of a Solar can produce powerful results. Whether turned against the slow monster of a bureaucracy or the clever wiles of a merchant, such concentration can give the Solar an edge, whether in financial matters or organizational control. After making a normal Bureaucracy roll, the Solar's player may buy a number of extra successes equal to the original successes rolled plus her character's permanent Essence.
This Charm is superceded by the Second Bureaucracy Excellency in Second Edition.
Comments
Conversions for Second Edition added
