Blaque/LunarCharmChanges

Charm Changes

What follows is a list of Charm Changes. The general structure is similar to that in the Lunar book. Charms that are changed are presented in the order they are listed in the Lunars book. When a Charm isn't on the list, it has not be changed at all from its original writing.

Note that some of the changes are what I assume to be errata. This is because in some parts, math might have been off, or something. I'll say when I have done such things. Also, I will not restate any changes I made in the above clauses.

Shapeshifting

Hide the Cunning Hunter
The duration of this Charm is now Indefinite.

Masking the Brilliant Form
This Charm now costs 3 or 6 motes, 1 willpower. The duration is now Indefinate or One Scene. By committing only three motes, the Lunar reduces the level of her Tell by one. As long as the motes are committed, her Tell will remain one lower. If she commits six motes instead, the Tell is reduced by two, but this will only last for one scene. See the list above for the rules on levels of one's Tell.

Body Enhancement

Regaining Breath Exercise
Every success on the Stamina roll now grants the Lunar's permanent Essence in motes, rather then just one. The amount of total successes able to be gained is the Lunar's Stamina.

Breath-Drinking Executioner Attack
This Charm now costs 5 motes and 1 willpower, its type is now Simple, and its duration is now one scene. Whenever the Lunar Exalted kills someone, the Chosen gains the deceased's (Essence + Willpower) in motes for the remainder of the scene.

Predator Grace Method
This Charm text and cost is the same. Just that when used with Power Combat clinch rules, if the Lunar chooses to use this Charm in a clinch, he must immediatley choose to end the clinch.

Panther Stride Stance
The leaping distances for Full Moons using this Charm seems to be in error based on other rules presented in this book. Jumps affected by the Full Moon anima as well as this Charm are multiplied by four, not five.

Unarmed Combat

Body-Weapon Technique
As written, save that if you can already inflict lethal damage unarmed, be it with Charms, hearthstones, or other effects, add your Essence to the raw damage of the attack. This Charm stacks with all other forms of dice-adders for raw damage when comboed, above and beyond the normal cap. This applies to both all sorts of unarmed attacks, such as sweeps, tackles, and clinches, as well as the standard sorts of things in the Lunar arsenal.

Sinuous Striking Grace
The cost of this Charm is now 1 mote for every 2 initiative ticks purchased. Maximum initiative boost with this Charm is the Lunar's Dexterity x 2.

Coiled Cobra Stance
The Extra Action Charm combo restriction for this Charm is lifted. As it currently is, its too unreliable to be cost-effective enough to use.

Bull-Head Technique
Extra damage dice purchased with this Charm are now 1 mote per die.

Body-Breaking Kata
This Charm now costs 2 motes, instead of 5.

Melee Combat

The Definition of Melee Combat
All Charms in the Melee Combat tree require that the Lunar be armed with a weapon. They effect all armed attacks with the Brawl, Martial Arts, Melee, or Thrown Abilities, so long as an attack other then the Lunar's own natural ones are used.

This makes these Charms much broader then how they were originally written in the Lunar book, and even changes the use of some Charms. This snipped of info is here for the sake of reference.

Striking Mospid Method
The cost of this Charm is now 1 mote for every 2 initiative ticks purchased. Maximum initiative boost with this Charm is the Lunar's Dexterity x 2.

Irresistible Storm Attack
This Charm functions as written, save that the targets must be within the Lunar’s (Dexterity x Essence) in yards. Also, instead of giving up one yard for mote spent by the Lunar, the targets of this flurry of attacks must sacrifice the Lunar’s Essence in yards instead.

Ferocious Biting Sword
This Charm now costs 2 motes, instead of 4. This is to bring it closer ot the Solar Charm Hungry Tiger Technique.

Spinning Blade Attack
This Charm now functions as like Lightning Sword Method.

Lightning Sword Method
This Charm no longer exists.

Ferocious Avalanche Method
This Charm remains instant, but the effects last for the turn. For every mote the Lunar invests into the Charm, she gets an additional die on all armed attacks for the turn, only usable if their opponent attempts to dodge the attack, as the Lunar's weapon is drawn to the movement of her Essence. These dice are rolled after the Dodge attempt, the attack following the pulse of the target's life. This Charm can be used with split dice pools, but cannot be used with Charms that increase an attack's accuracy, nor with Extra Action Charms.

Weapon Fusion Method
With the new definition of Melee Combat Charms, this particular one needs to be reworded. It now allows a Lunar to mix and match their weapons with Abilities often not allowed with them. So hammers with Brawl, tiger forks with thrown, or axes with non-axe Martial Arts.

Stunning Moonsilver Blow
This Charm no longer exists. Any Charms which needed it as a pre-equisite now only require Weapon Fusion Method.

Ranged Combat

Two Target Method
The Lunar makes a ranged attack as normal, which strikes two targets simultaneously. Each person may defend against this attack as appropriate.

Body-Pinning Style
This Charm now requires Wind-Wings Carry Technique instead of Bow-Bending Method, so that it remains useful to all sorts of ranged folks, and not force Throwers to buy an Archery Charm.

Defense

Steel-Paw Style
If the defending Lunar is already capable of parrying lethal damage or ranged attacks, add her Essence to a parry attempt enhanced with this Charm. These parry dice count as bonus dice towards the Lunar’s Dexterity score.

Golden Tiger Block
This Charm is now Reflexive, and can be used to create a pool of successes, or turn the Dexterity dice of a reflexive parry into auto successes.

Wary Swallow Defense
This Charm is now identical to Dipping Swallow Defense, and can even be used after the Lunar has acted for the turn.

Feline Guard Technique
This Charm now grants the Lunar a cascade parry if she chooses to abort her normal dice action. In Power Combat, it provides the Lunar with his full dice pool against all attacks aimed towards him for the rest of the turn if he chooses to abort her action to parry.

Crouching Tiger Stance
This Charm grants the Lunar a parry. The bonus on the parry attempt is equal to the Lunar's Essence, and can not increase the pool more then his Dexterity. The counterattack can be made with any of the Lunar's hand-to-hand Abilities if he so chooses. This Charm still cannot be used after the Lunar's first action.

Bending Before the Storm
This Charm can be used to create a success pool equal to the Lunar's Dexterity, or to convert Dexterity dice of a reflexive Dodge attempt into autosuccesses.

Flowing Body Evasion
This Charm's type is now Reflexive, rather then Simple. It is a truely perfect effect, much like Heavenly Guardian Defense, or Serenity in Blood, and thus, cna dodge the undodgeable.

Invulnerable Moonsilver Carapace
The cost of this Charm is now 16 motes, 2 willpower, and its duration is one scene. It provides 15B/15L and stacks, as normal, as well as inflicts the normal -3 dice pool penalties to Dexterity and Perception. It is a perfect soak and so can not be circumvented by any means.

In addition to this, the Carapace provides 15 hardness. This is not oversoak, and so stacks with any oversoak the Lunar might actually have. Many elder Lunars in Deadly Beastman form with this Charm are terrifying to behold in battle, as thousands of opponents do none but the slightest damage to the Beloved of Luna.

Survival and Healing

Food-Scenting Method, Water-Providing Technique, Sealskin Endurance, and Heat Adapting Method
These are now a single Charm which does either effect of the Lunar's choosing for four motes. The Lunar must choose whihc effect of the former Charms they wish to invoke when using htis Charm. This is to make up for the fact that Lunars, the so-called survivalists, have to use four Charms for what takes a Solar one (Hardship-Surviving Mendicant Spirit).

Ever-Waking Method
This Charm works against magical forms of induced sleep, in the same way that Fortitude of the Aurochs works against magically-induced fatigue.

Perception

Harmony With Reality Technique
This Charm no longer requires Wondrous Lunar Transformation as a prerequisite Charm. Every mote beyond the initial 10 adds five pounds to what the Lunar can take, rather then just one.

Ritual of Lunar Stability
This duration of this Charm is in months, as the Charm summary says, not weeks as the Charm's text suggests.

Interaction and Knowledge

Lion Roar Method
This Charm is resisted with Stamina + Resistance, not Stamina + Endurance.

Crowd-Inciting Method
The duration of this Charm is now one scene.

Crowd-Calming Pronouncement
The duration of this Charm is now one scene.

Spirit

Pulse of the Invisible
This Charm basically grants Essence Sight as of All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight or Tell-Tale Symphony. However, the sense the Lunar experiences it through is touch and scent, rather then sight or hearing.

Comments

I like these. Tiny fixes here and there are definitly what I want to see for lunars. -BogMod

I did it mainly because I think there is a current solid strategy for Lunars that overly changing htings would disrupt. I also don't like to do too many house rules,s ince that's more paperwork I gotta make and more stuff players have to deal with. So I kept the ideas that "Lunars aren't too hot at active defenses", "they have a lot of defense deniers", "they are soak kings", and "you are paying 15/12 xp for this, whether or not you have DBT." Hence this document here:)

Frankly, going about and rearranging Charms, deleting everything, or starting from scratch is way too much work at this point. This right here mainly just is to make them on par with Sidereals. And I think it can be done with as few of changes as possible to be honest.

And stuff. Blaque

I think this is great work. I wish I had more constructive comments, but it's well done. - Morpheus

Hm. Looking over the Melee section surprised me. It includes thrown? That seems to make for some really hardcore thrown combos, and really seems to leave archery in the dust. And I still argue, however futile, that your version of Invulnerable Moonsilver Carapace is a broken. Anything that virtually invalidates such a wide swath of enemies is not an Essence 4 effect. I mean really, what could deal with a lunar with that and the regen gift? Especially if they also happened to pick up any of the healing charms. Even without the regen gift you are going to be virtually immune to those who hit fast and ping and those who hit hard. Really, the only thing that you can do against that is massive combos like Excellent Strike/Hungry Tiger or Cascade of Cutting Terror/Precision. That's a pretty large swath of everything that cannot really hurt that Lunar. As a matter of fact, the only Dragon Blood that could even stand a chance is the Empress. Anyone else, even if they are Essence 7 could not beat that. Well, then again, maybe with some customer charms. At this point I am digressing though. It just doesn't seem like much fun to play against. On par with the ISP or Invulnerable Twilight in my mind.

On the Melee Charms, its more the fact that you can use Thrown with things like battons and knives in hand-to-hand combat. So you don't have to buy Melee and Thrown in order ot use both modes of your knives. It only applies to using Thrown for hand-to-hand things. You have to use the Ranged Charms to use it at any distance. This is why I actually am one to like the Alchemical take on these and have a Close and a Ranged comabt cascade. Close covers anything hand-to-hand, ranged, antyhing with a range increment. This is something I'm taking into account to a future utter redo of Lunar Charms someday.

I've actually had people in some of my games talk about this. I have yet ot actually put the Charm into practice, so I have not seen how devastating it really is. Though, the warstrdier-level hardness might indeed be a bit much. I've also thought on just keeping hte original duration and cost. I admit, sixteen motes for this sorta stuff is sick. I've also thought on making hte hardness not stack with Lunars as well, of course. Once again, it is something I have yet to actually playtest. I did it for now mainly to compensate for a lack of persistant effects for Lunas of any sort (unlike the other three Celestials in the corebook, they have no ability to get stacked persistants.). And having seen damage pools at that Essence level going into the sixties, I don't see it as too bad yet.

Though, I'll take it into account. Thanks a lot for the comments. Blaque

Having a combined hardness and oversoak of 27 is not hard to overcome at all. Very useful against weak exalts, or petty silly dragon blood. Str 5 + fancy shmancy str charms + weapon of any sort + extra successes, no problem. An exalt dealing out 27 hl's of damage is not impressive. Db's have an issue with it, but it can be done with proper planning an interactive charms.

Sorry, I'd disagree. With Str 5 + Increasing Strength Excercise (+4 for an Essence 4 Solar) + Grand Daiklave (+11), a Solar would still need to roll 8 successes above the Lunar's defense to successfully hurt them at all. And that's a pretty tricked out Solar. I would strongly suggest not having the Charm stack with oversoak. Aside from that, though, I like most of the changes. :) FrivYeti

Might I suggest TheMyriadOfShades "A Treatise On Charms". Theories on how exalts use their specific essence and why their charms work the way do. Then I sugget you read his/her (sorry, I do not know your gender) essays on combat. Solars and Abyssals get their stacked defenses, because they are more powerful. Lunars and Siderials are not as powerful as Solars and Abyssals. Siderials get their persistant defenses through martial arts, not through their specific Siderial charms. A lunar can learn martial arts if they want to, but they definately do not need to. A lunars job is to take a hit and keep going, so their Solar mate can survive and power up with scene longs. A perfect body guard one might say. Easily ready for action, doesn't need time to prepare. Goes dbt and ready for a fight, maybe 2 or 3 defensive soak type charms that last a scene. So instead of simply relying on a stacked defense, you have to use strategy and know how to correctly use your charms. If you want to play a Solar, play a Solar. But don't make Lunars into shape shifting Solars. Madoka

Not to be an ass, Madoka. But have you /read/ sidereals? Sidereals /do/ get native persistant defenses. Without MA. (and persistant defenses are a nono in MA anyway). Even alchemicals get a shallow persistant (though broadly applicable). This is not about making Lunars = Solars or Abyssals, it's about making them celestial class combatants. Which they, at the moment, fall short of. - Scrollreader

I made a mistake on the Siderial charms. I have not read that book in a long long time. Last I checked people can make mistakes on this glorious website. Please keep the attitude in check, as it is just inappropriate. There are ma's with persistant defenses. One such style is...Celestial Monkey Style. With all the thousands of ma's in creation, it is plausible to think other stlyes might just have a persistant defense. Even five dragon style has somewhat of a persistant defense, if not persistant dice adder. In my humble opinion, and the opinions of many other exalted enthusiasts I have chatted with, Siderials should not have persistant defenses. Such game imbalances happen when multiple people write charms and books without discussing power level. Please don't get me wrong, the charms are great charms, they just shouldn't be for Sidereals. There is a plateau when Solars and Abyssals pull away from lunars and sidereals in power level. that is suppossed to happen. with their standard charms and abilities Lunars can do very well in a fight against any other celestial exalt. that is if the player knows what they are doing. if you take the best sheet ever created and put a player that has no clue what they are doing at the helm, they will lose the fight, most likely anyway.

p.s. - if you had no attitude and i am making things up, i apologize. i had long day at work and i am snippy. Madoka