Blaque/ShapeshiftingandtheTell

Shapeshifting and the Tell

The first stop on my little endeavor is the shapeshifting rules. Overall I think these are pretty nice, workable, and whatnot, but there are some things that I think need a bit of clarifying, mainly the Tell and magical animals.

What Counts as Natural

This generally is where I have seen a few debates come up. Basically, if you want to use it as a totem or a normal heart's blood, there can't be anything overly magical or weird about the creature. And if there is, you don't get its magical traits if you shapeshift.

This means that things like furnace rhinos, for example, probably won't work because they are technically a magical animal from its elemental powers. Charms may exist out there based on Finding the Spirit’s Shape, however, which will allow one access to such beings. Sort of like the ones that let you turn into a human and stuff.

As a general rule, without Charms sentient creatures aren't in the list of edible things. While stalkers are very bestial and animal-like, because Dragon Kings are natural Essence-channelers, as well as going sentient and whatnot, counts them in my 'like humans" department. Assume they ahve their own Charm for that too.

The Tell

The current rules for the Tell are sorta, well, wonky. Generally, assume the Tell becomes just more visible, obvious, or covering. Or multiple Tells begin to show if you want. Tells that can be covered will make themselves known somehow, usually through bad luck and whatnot. Cat eyes that are covered with sunglasses will mean that something happens to have the glasses get broken. A tuft of silver hair covered with a hat will grow rapidly to come from under the hat, or the hat will get lost at an inopportune time, and so on.

However, I also wanted to make the Tell a bit harder to detect. As such, I have raised what the levels mean. It goes like follows now:

• No Deadly Beastman Transformation - The Lunar has no visible Tell. While they might start to have hintings, like the their hair getting lighter, or their eyes turning more bluish, these traits don't always manifest between forms. As such, when not in a true form, the Lunar simply has no Tell. If he is in a true form, then the difficulty to spot the Tell is 7, and one can not become familiar with it.
• One or two Deadly Beastman Transformations - As the current rules for no DBT.
• Three to Five Deadly Beastman Transformations - As the official rules for having one or two DBT's.
• Six or more Deadly Beastman Transformations - At thsi point, the Lunar has an easy to detect and unmistakeable Tell. As the official rules for 3-5 DBT's.

The reason I do this is that Lunars are expected to take DBT. Their Charms costing so damned much is because of it. But at the same time, the severity of the Tell as printed makes it so that some concepts get really screwed by taking this Charm. Social Lunars, spies, dauplegangers, and what not get screwed because by taking the Charm that makes you on par with other Exalted, your concept suddenly becomes weakened severely. By the book, one or two DBT's suddenly makes you weaker as a shapeshifter and daupleganger then a Solar or Abyssal because of of the ability for it to be spotted. And a worse straight-up hider sort, because Sidereals have Resplendant effects to do that and Arcane Fate to help. Doing this helps keep Lunars more in line with other Exalts in thier own department, as well as allow them to be more "viably" Celestial in power.

Comments

I think I like where you're going with this, but can you clarify the last paragraph? -- DigitalSentience

Hope this clears it up:) Blaque

Ahh, thank you. Very much so. -- DigitalSentience