FrivYeti/PCESiderealExalts

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Sidereal Exalted

Advisors and teachers of the other Celestials, the Sidereals ultimately fractured over the course that the First Age was taking, and enacted a plan to overthrow and murder the Solar Exalted. Their plan more or less successful, they retreated into the shadows, to quickly guide the course of the Terrestrial Exalted.

General Revisions

• As Celestial Exalted, Sidereals have very long lifespans, but generally have the shortest of any Celestial Exalt - their lives are based not on their physical constitution, but on their connection to the Loom of Fate. Sidereals do not begin to roll for age effects until they reach 1500 years of age. At that time, they must make an Essence roll at difficulty 1. This roll is repeated every twenty years, with the difficulty increasing by 1 each time, and no Virtues, Willpower, or other effects may be used to boost its chances of success unless they specifically say that they can.
• The Great Curse takes hold of Sidereals much like it does the Solars, driving them to hubris and monomania. Every two hundred years that a Lunar lives, she develops a single point of permanent Limit. Every four hundred years, the Willpower reward for entering a Limit Break drops by one. The character cannot have more than nine Permanent Limit, and cannot have her Willpower reward for limit break drop below one.
• In order to reach Essence 6+, a Sidereal Exalt must both follow the age guidelines listed in the Exalted corebook, and fulfill a Motivation. Sidereals may raise their Essence up to a maximum rating of 9.

Sidereals

Sidereals are slightly stranger than other Exalt types; they do not have Caste Powers. Instead, they have access to the Lesser Sign and the Greater Sign. All Lesser Signs normally cost 10 motes to activate; if the Sidereal's anima is active at the 11+ mote level, this cost drops to 5 motes, and if it is active at the 16+ mote level, the cost drops to 1 mote. Greater Signs are far more dangerous; most Sidereals use them with great reluctance, if at all. They require the expenditure of 10 motes and one Willpower, and cause an automatic Pattern Bite (as per taking 10 points of Paradox) which cannot be avoided by any effect, which triggers at the end of the scene. Character mays only activate the Greater Sign once per scene, and activating the Greater Sign is a Simple, Speed 5 action. Both the Lesser and Greater Signs last until the end of the scene.

Multiple Lesser Signs triggered next to each other add the combined Essences of the Sidereals involved to determine the total range of the effect, but are not otherwise modified. The same applies if multiple Greater Signs are triggered.

Chosen of Journeys:</b>

• Lesser Sign Of Mercury: The character, and all allies within (Essence x5) yards, add the character's Essence to her Move, Dash, and Jump rates.
• Greater Sign Of Mercury: The character, and all of her allies within (Essence x10) yards, may immediately teleport to any location within fate that is not warded against teleportation.

<b>Chosen of Serenity:</b>

• Lesser Sign Of Venus: The character, and all allies within (Essence x5) yards, add the character's Essence to their Appearance when determining MDV modifiers due to Appearance.
• Greater Sign Of Venus: All enemies of the Sidereal who are within (Essence x10) yards of her must spend an additional (Essence) motes per action in order to activate any Charms that action, and must pay 1 additional Willpower in order to activate a Combo.

<b>Chosen of Battles:</b>

• Lesser Sign Of Mars: The character, and all allies within (Essence x5) yards, reduce damage dealt to them by 1 die in the post-soak stage.
• Greater Sign Of Mars: The character, and all allies within (Essence x10) yards, may reflexively co-ordinate any attacks made on a given tick against the same target at full effect. This lasts for the duration of the scene.

<b>Chosen of Secrets:</b>

• Lesser Sign Of Jupiter: The character, and all allies within (Essence x5) yards, add the Sidereal's Essence to their MDPV and MDDV scores.
• Greater Sign Of Jupiter: All creatures and locations normally outside of fate that are within (Essence x10) yards of the Sidereal are considered to be inside of fate for the duration of the scene.

<b>Chosen of Saturn:</b>

• Lesser Sign Of Saturn: The character, and all allies within (Essence x5) yards, increase their post-soak damage of any attack that deals post-soak damage by 1 die.
• Greater Sign Of Saturn: All allies of the character who are within (Essence x10) yards of her deal aggravated damage with their attacks for the duration of the scene.

Charm Modifications

• Sidereals pay only 8 XP for favoured Martial Arts Charms, and 10 XP for non-Favoured Martial Arts Charms.
• The Sidereal First Excellency adds up to (Essence + any internal or external penalties the Sidereal is suffering from) dice to a roll. It does not count external penalties from static values such as DVs.
• The Sidereal Second Excellency does not add successes. Instead, the Sidereal may spend 1 mote per point to reduce target numbers of her die pools by 1 each. She may spend up to (Essence +1) motes. A character who would reduce her target number below 3 (at Essence 4+, usually) may instead spend a total five motes and a Willpower to convert the entire diepool to successes. Sidereals may combine the First and Second Excellencies, but add together motes spent on both to determine their Charm caps.
• In addition to their mote-reducer, Sidereals have access to Essence Auspicious as a Fourth Excellency. This is a Permanent Charm that may be purchased only once for each Ability. It permanently reduces the Sidereal's target numbers for a specific Specialty-breadth task within that Ability by 1. It requires Ability 4, Essence 3.

In addition, the Sidereal Charmset is screwy. As such, the following Charm revisions are in place (hang it, it's a long ride):

Journeys

• (Ride) Spirit-Shape Companion: This Charm has no experience cost the first time it is used.
• (Ride) Godly Companion: This Charm has no experience cost the first time it is used.
• (Sail) Walls of Salt And Ash: Resisting this Charm requires one Willpower per action. A creature must spend Willpower equal to the Sidereal's Sail rating to overcome the effect entirely.
• (Survival) Adopting The Untamed Face: This Charm replaces the Illusion keyword with the Compulsion keyword.
• (Survival) Dreaming The Wild Lands: This Charm adds the Shaping and Combo-Basic keywords.
• (Survival) Sky And Rain Mantra: This Charm adds the Fate keyword, and thus can only be used in places touched by the Loom.
• (Survival) Sky Spirit Demand: This Charm replaces the Servitude keyword with an Emotion keyword.
• (Thrown) Life Gets Worse Approach: Botched attacks can be redirected without cost.

Serenity

• (Crafts) Elemental Vision: This Charm permanently reduces the target number of social rolls against all appropriately-elemented beings (elementals, Dragon-Bloods, raksha with Assumptions up, etc) by 1.
• (Crafts) Excellent Implementation of Objectives: This Charm is Combo-OK.
• (Crafts) Destiny-Knitting Entanglement: This Charm has the Fate keyword.
• (Crafts) World-Shaping Artistic Vision: This Charm allows Sidereals to write a small piece of their natures onto the Loom of Fate. Instead of reducing target numbers, it reduces Paradox dice by one when using Ascending or Descending astrology within the chosen limit. This Charm may be purchased three times, but a given astrology roll may only remove one die of Paradox regardless of how many World-Shaping Artistic Visions apply to it. Characters may spend 1 XP to change the specialty that this Charm affects.
• (Crafts) Implicit Construction Methodology: This Charm has two effects. First, it reduces the construction time for objects by one degree (seasons to months, months to weeks, days to hours, etc), which stacks fully with other effects. Secondly, it allows construction to proceed while the Sidereal is not actually present, so long as she leaves the Essence committed and the prayer strip in place.
• (Dodge) Duck Fate: This Charm is restored to its First Edition nature; it can dodge any undesirable effect if its roll succeeds.
• (Dodge) Avoidance Kata: This Charm adds the Shaping keyword.
• (Dodge) Trouble-Reduction Strategy: This Charm adds the Combo-Basic keyword.
• (Dodge) Neighbourhood Relocation Scheme: This Charm adds the Fate keyword.
• (Linguistics) Favourable Inflection Procedure: Resisting the effects of this Charm requires two Willpower.
• (Linguistics) Blue Vervain Binding: Instead of spending 1xp, the character can spend 1 wp to have the effect only last for one scene.
• (Performance) Heart-Brightening Presentation Style: This Charm is removed.
• (Performance) Defense of Shining Joy: The addition of the character's Performance to her Dodge DV counts as bonus dice gained from Charms.
• (Performance) Song of Spirit Persuasion: This Charm requires 4 Willpower to resist, and replaces its Servitude keyword with a Compulsion keyword.
• (Performance) Ice and Fire Binding: Instead of binding elementals to domains, this Charm binds elementals to their Virtues. For one season, the elemental cannot violate one of either the Virtue of Compassion or Temperance (chosen at the time that the Charm is activated). Doing so requires spending two Willpower per action.
• (Performance) Harmonic Completion: The bonuses to the character's DVs are considered bonus successes, and thus do not count towards Charm maximums.
• (Socialize) Shun The Smiling Maiden: The initial target of Shun defends against it as a Shaping attack. Any potential lovers defend against it as an Emotion effect if the initial target does not counteract it.
• (Socialize) Cash And Murder Games: This Charm replaces its Servitude keyword with a Compulsion keyword.
• (Socialize) You And Yours Stance: Any aspect of this Charm can be resisted at a cost of 1 Willpower per action; once four Willpower is spent, a given target is immune to the effect for the scene.
• (Socialize) Fortuitous Fellowship: This Charm replaces the Shaping keyword with a Compulsion keyword. It adds the Combo-Basic keyword.

Battles

• (Archery) Opportune Shot: This Charm reduces the speed of an Archery attack to 3 for 3 motes flat.
• (Archery) Many Missiles Bow: This Charm adds the Shaping keyword.
• (Melee) Meditation On War: This Charm costs 2 motes per die, and has a duration of One Action. Its type changes to Reflexive.
• (Presence) Presence In Absence Technique: If the target's words are in line with the Sidereal's, use the better of their two pools. If the target's goals are not in line with the Sidereal's, the Sidereal's social attack and the target's both take place automatically, and the better social attack is the one that must be resisted.
• (Presence) Loyalty-Sacrificing Sidestep: Once this Charm is activated, the new defender may declare normal Step 2 Charms in Step 5. All effects from Steps 1, 3 and 4 remain in effect.
• (War) Training Mandates: None of these effects require the Training Keyword.
• (War) Essence-Draining Battle Pattern: The increase in enemy unit costs applies to Charms they activate to attack or defend against the Sidereal's unit.
• (War) Demon-Blocking Battle Pattern: Penalties apply only to a single enemy unit. The Sidereal can reflexively change which unit each action.

Secrets

• (Larceny) Name-Pilfering Method: This Charm adds the Shaping keyword.
• (Larceny) Dream Confiscation Approach: This Charm adds the Shaping keyword.
• (Stealth) Soft Presence Practice: This is a Permanent Charm. It allows the Sidereal to spend two additional motes of Essence at any time to cause any further Essence expenditures that action to be halved when calculating anima banners. The two spent motes also halve.
• (Stealth) Walking Outside Fate: Any character that the user of this Charm physically interacts with can perceive her for the duration of the scene, but suffers a -1 external penalty on all affects to target her and can't identify her perfectly (they take a -3 external penalty on attempts to recognize her or remember her features).
• (Stealth) Subordinate Inspiration Technique: This Charm does not make social attacks unexpected, only their source unknown.

Endings

• (Bureaucracy) Icy Hand: Resisting this Charm costs one Willpower per action, and the resister must spend (Sidereal's Essence) in Willpower to throw off the effect completely.
• (Bureaucracy) Underling Invisibility Practice: If the user of this Charm makes herself obvious, through physical attacks at the character, massive physical changes or other, similarly intrusive effects, this Charm comes undone and ceases to function. It may then not be activated again that scene.
• (Integrity) Virtue Essence Replenishment: This Charm is Type: Permanent. The usual rules about not regaining more than 20 motes per action apply to these Charms.
• (Integrity) Preservation of Resolve: This Charm is of Indefinite duration.
• (Martial Arts) Blade of the Battle Maiden: This Charm is now a Sidereal-only Charm that requires Secrets of Future Strife. It may be used with any unarmored Martial Arts attacks and defenses, regardless of form weapons.
• (Martial Arts) Horrific Wreath: This Charm is now a Sidereal-only Charm that requires Violet Bier of Sorrows Form. It may be used with any Martial Arts attacks.
• (Medicine) Peaceable Conclusion: The bracketed costs for this Charm are removed. It gains the Combo-OK keyword.
• (Medicine) Smooth Transition: This Charm's original effects are entirely removed. Against a willing ghost, it sends them immediately into Lethe. Against an unwilling ghost or risen corpse, it creates a Charisma + Medicine roll, at a difficulty of the Essence rating of the ghost or the creator of the undead creature. If she succeeds in a roll against ghosts, the Sidereal removes one dot of Fetters, chosen randomly, per success; a ghost reduced to no Fetters must gain three successes on an immediate Willpower roll or ascend to Lethe. Ghosts may spend one week in the presence of a lost Fetter to restore a dot of it. Against risen corpses, the Sidereal deals one level of unsoakable aggravated damage per success. Smooth Transition has the Combo-Basic keyword.
• (Medicine) Invocation of the Storm-Following Silence: This Charm is a Permanent Charm that modifies Smooth Transition and Peaceable Conclusion. It allows the Sidereal to spend two additional motes and a Willpower to use one of those two Charms against every target within (Essence x10) yards. The Sidereal rolls only once for this effect, and applies the results against each being's Essence separately.
• (Medicine) Deferred Wounds: This Charm allows a Wits + Medicine roll, pushing one level of damage per success into the future. The character can choose to push less than the maximum allowed amount into the future.

Violet Bier of Sorrows

This Martial Arts style is usually guarded by the Sidereals, but there is no penalty for teaching it to others except the disapproval of one's peers.

• Secrets of Future Strife: This Charm permanently adds a character's Essence rating to her Join Battle rolls, as long as she is unarmored. These dice do not count as Charm-granted dice.
• Crimson Palm Counterstrike: This Charm moves to take the place of Blade of the Battle Maiden.
• Flight of Mercury: This Charm costs 2 motes per action, rather than one. It lasts up to (Martial Arts) actions.
• Joy In Adversity Stance: This Charm cannot be used against attacks whose final die pool is lower than the character's modified DV, or attacks that fail to score at least one success.
• Violet Bier of Sorrows Form: Lost Virtue dots also remove Virtue channels. If the character's Essence is equal to or greater than her Martial Arts rating, this Charm increases her minimum damage by one die.

• Life-Severing Blow: This Charm now uses Death-Parrying Stroke as its prerequisite. Automatic successes purchased can't be higher than half the attack's post-soak damage pool, in addition to its other restriction.
• Unobstructed Blow: This Charm now uses Violet Bier of Sorrows Form as its prerequisite. It costs 4 motes and a Willpower.
• Metal Storm: This Charm now uses Unobstructed Blow as its prerequisite.
• Conclusion-Pursuing Approach: This Charm only costs a health level when used as a prayer strip Charm.

Comments

Razafrazan Sidereal Charms.... - FrivYeti