AlchemicalSensoryandSpiritual/OhJames
Immaterial Transfusion Matrix</b> by OhJames
<b>Cost:10 motes Installation Cost: 2 motes Duration: Indefinite Type: Simple Minimum Wits: 4 Minimum Essence: 4 Prerequisite Charms: Transphase Engine
This charm takes the form of a tangled netting of starmetal wire that covers the Alchemical’s torso and connects with the Transphase Engine. When activated, these wires pulse with divine Essence, gathering power for a full three turns. At the end of this period, the Alchemical’s body dematerializes in a flash of light as luminous as the 8-10 level of her anima banner. To regain material form, the Alchemical must spend 10 more motes, but the transfer is instantaneous and has no visual effect.
The Alchemical may remain immaterial for as long as she wishes, with a few restrictions. Firstly, she cannot regain Essence by any means while dematerialized. Secondly, she becomes vulnerable to both spirit and ghost wards, taking into account the human soul that guides her magical body. Thirdly, she actually bleeds Essence into the aether, due to tiny imperfections in the Essence reservoir that cannot be compensated for while immaterial. No penalties accrue for the first week, then she begins to lose one mote per day until she is reduced ten motes, at which point the Matrix activates reflexively, expending those motes and returning the Alchemical to material form, regardless of current position. The Matrix sounds an alarm five minutes before this critical point arrives, allowing the Alchemical to make sure she is in a safe position (not inside a solid object, for example). In addition, the Matrix has built-in failsafes that prevent the Exalt from making a suicidal jump, meaning that the Charm will not activate if her Essence reservoir has fewer than 20 motes in it.
Motes of Peripheral Essence are lost first to this effect, and they do not add to the Alchemical’s anima banner. Upon the installation of this Charm, the Alchemical gains one point of permanent Clarity.
Material-Dematerial Alternator Engine</b> by OhJames
<b>Cost:10 motes, 1 Willpower Installation Cost: 2 motes Duration: One Scene Type: Simple Minimum Wits: 5 Minimum Essence: 5 Prerequisite Charms: Sustained Augmentation of Wits, Immaterial Transfusion Matrix
The Exalt has a pair of intricate, starmetal gears implanted on his temple, connected by sub-dermal wires to the Immaterial Transfusion Matrix. When activated, they begin to spin counter-clockwise, channeling divine Essence throughout the Alchemical’s body. On her initiative tick the next turn, she dematerializes. However, for the reflexive cost of 1 mote, she may command the gears to reverse direction and spin clockwise, at which point she may materialize an arm, leg, or weapon to strike an opponent. If the opponent cannot perceive immaterial beings, they count as surprised for the purposes of resolving this attack. Otherwise, the attack may be dodged or parried normally.
In addition to materializing for the purposes of making an attack, the Alchemical can instead spend 2 motes to fully materialize for one turn, allowing her to perform any actions she could under normal circumstances, such as pick a lock, place false evidence, etc. For the additional cost of 2 motes, the exalt can bring a single item back with her when she dematerializes. The item can be no larger than what the Alchemical could hold in two hands.
Note: an Alchemical may explicitly regain Essence while under the effects of this Charm, such as the bonuses from stunts, etc.
Elsewhere-Penetrating Mechanism</b> by OhJames
<b>Cost:15 motes Installation Cost: 4 motes Duration: Indefinite Type: Simple Minimum Stamina: 5 Minimum Essence: 6 Prerequisite Charms: Sustained Augmentation of Stamina, Material-Dematerial Alternator Engine
The Alchemical’s body is plated with carefully magnetized soulsteel scutes, while a foot-wide disc of orichalcum is fused to one of her appendages. In addition to this, a spike of soulsteel tangled in starmetal wire is drilled into the Exalt’s Transphase Engine.
This Charm allows the Alchemical to step into the cold void of Elsewhere. When activated, the orichalcum disc detaches from its appendage and wires itself into the ground, as the Exalt’s body blurs, distorts, and vanishes. She is placed into suspended animation, hanging Elsewhere, unaware of all activity around her. The orichalcum disc, however, can be programmed to pull its owner back to reality under certain circumstances. It can be programmed to wait for a certain amount of time (up to the Alchemical’s Essence x 3 weeks), for a specified substance within (the Alchemical’s Essence x 5) yards to clear, for a specific person or persons to enter within this same radius, or for any movement within said radius, or for any other circumstance the Storyteller deems appropriate.
Void-Travelling Jump Apparatus</b> by OhJames
<b>Cost:10 motes or 20 motes, 1 Willpower Installation Cost: 4 motes Duration: Instant Type: Simple Minimum Stamina: 6 Minimum Essence: 6 Prerequisite Charms: Elsewhere-Penetrating Mechanism
The scutes on the Alchemical’s body are widened into full plates and carefully bathed in a chemical bath consisting of arcane reagents and powdered jade. In addition, four soulsteel fins are installed onto the Exalt’s back, connected to the Transphase Engine via more starmetal wiring.
This dangerous Charm improves on its predecessor, now allowing the Alchemical to travel through Elsewhere at the speed of thought. Upon activation, the soulsteel fins on the Alchemical’s back are wracked with Essence lightning before she vanishes with a mighty rush of air. The Charm has two modes of use.
For the first mode, roll the Exalt’s Stamina + Endurance, at Difficulty 5. This costs 10 motes. Upon success, she may appear anywhere she desires within (Essence x 5) miles. She must have at least a description of the place she wishes to enter. On a failure, she is dumped at random within 200 yards of her starting spot and suffers a number of levels of aggravated damage equal to the number of successes she failed by. On a botch, the fins crack and warp, dealing 5 levels of aggravated damage and requiring them to be reinstalled in a Vats Complex at no experience cost.
In the second, and safer, mode, the Alchemical may attempt to travel long-distance via the freezing void of Elsewhere. This costs 20 motes and 1 Willpower. Roll Stamina + Endurance, with the difficulty being determined by the projected distance. The Alchemical must have visited the place she wishes to jump to. 10 miles is difficulty 1, 100 is difficulty 2, and so on, up to 100,000 miles being difficulty 5. The penalties for failure are exactly as listed above.
In the first mode, the Alchemical takes five turns to complete the jump. In the second mode, the Alchemical takes one minute per difficulty point to complete the jump, or half that time if the number of successes rolled more than doubles the difficulty.
Perpetual Surveillance Receptor System</b> by OhJames
<b>Cost:None Installation Cost: 5 motes Duration: N/A Type: Permanent (Municipal) Minimum Perception: 8 Minimum Essence: 8 Prerequisite Charms: --
Upon manufacturing this Charm, the metropolis enters a short meditation, lasting a full day, at most. During this period of intense contemplation, she threads a cold matrix of incredibly sensitive soulsteel wires throughout herself, starting in the central Vat Complex and working outward until every tram line, private residence, and factory has at least one wire terminating within its walls. This system serves as a nigh-perfect means of keeping track of a metropolis’ residents, as well as being able to perform awe-inspiring feats of espionage.
Mechanically, the Alchemical is assumed to be aware of everything transpiring within her city limits. This information is stored at the back of her mind, recorded for later perusal. If something arouses the metropolis’ interest, however, she may focus her attention. In this case, the Alchemical must make a Perception + Awareness roll, with the difficulty based upon the subtlety of the occurrences. If successful, she can actively observe one apartment, tram, or section of city no more than 50 feet square. The metropolis can perceive events with all five senses and is aware of them in the immediate present. Nothing is hidden from her; even the quietest whisper registers on her tympanal receptors, back in the Vats Complex.
It is effectively impossible to hide anything from a metropolis with this Charm installed; mortal attempts can be assumed to automatically fail, while exalts suffer a difficulty penalty equal to [the Alchemica's Essence] on all such attempts.
In addition to these effects, Alchemicals may upgrade their Perpetual Surveillance Receptor System with additional submodules. Each of the following cost 6 experience points.
Essence-sight: The Alchemical gains the ability to perceive active Essence flows along with her other senses. She may identify exalts, Charms, spells, and Alchemical protocols within her city limits.
Monitoring Room: The Alchemical creates a small room filled with flickering screens in a secure section of the Vat Complex. Mortal workers can work as surveillance operators, allowing the Alchemical to devote more of her attention to other matters. Mechanically, this allows the Alchemical to reduce the difficulty of the Perception + Awareness roll to focus on a particular spot by two. Should this reduce the difficulty to zero, the roll automatically succeeds.
Comments
Is there any downside to using the 2nd mode of the Void Travelling Jump Apparatus, other than the increased cost (you should explicitly state is costs the 2nd amount) and the willpower? Flavour-text currently almost implies it takes longer(at least to me), although I would imagine still not very long at all.
-- Darloth
The other advantage that the first mode has is that the Alchemical can jump somewhere that she hasn't been to before. Immaterial Transfusion Matrix - it seems like it needs a requirement that the Alchemical cannot use it unless she has at least 20 motes available, or else there is no way for her to re-materialize. Certainly, if the safety protocols require rematerialization before it would otherwise permanently strand the Exalt, they would also prevent a suicidal jump.
-- HeridFel
Fixed and fixed. -- OhJames
