DBSInfernalExalted/Investigation

Investigation Charms

The theme for this Charm tree is the distortion of truth.

Burnt Parchment Defence

• Cost: 3 motes
• Duration: Instant
• Type: Supplemental
• Minimum Investigation: 2
• Minimum Essence: 2
• Prerequisite Charms: None

Going over the scene of an incident, an Infernal can identify not just what clues have been left behind, but how to best remove them. The Infernal makes a normal Perception + Investigation check to notice evidence, and records the number of successes: all later attempts to search the scene have their difficulty increased by this number. Burnt Parchment Defence may not be used more than once on the same body of evidence.

Cavorting Shadow Deception

• Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower
• Duration: One scene
• Type: Simple
• Minimum Investigation: 3
• Minimum Essence: 2
• Prerequisite Charms: Burnt Parchment Defence

Taking time to meticulously cover tracks and lay fragments of evidence here and there, the Infernal can lay false trails behind him. The Exalt comes up with an alternative rendition of events, spends one hour laboriously dropping hairs, sifting dust and rearranging props, and makes a Manipulation + Investigation check.

If anybody searching the scene scores fewer successes than the Infernal did, all evidence points toward the Infernal’s rendition of events. If they score equal successes, one piece of contradictory evidence is found. If they score more, they know that the evidence is planted, but still deduct the Infernal’s successes from theirs when trying to decipher the true nature of events. This Charm does not force anyone to agree with the false evidence, but unless they can score more successes than the Exalt all clues point that way.

Lure of Dancing Colours

• Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
• Duration: One hour
• Type: Simple
• Minimum Investigation: 5
• Minimum Essence: 3
• Prerequisite Charms: Cavorting Shadow Deception

Standing at the scene of some event, the Infernal silently meditates upon it, lying over and over to himself about what happened until his self-deception is imbedded into the Essence flow of his surroundings. Anyone inspecting the scene must make an immediate Willpower check against a difficulty equal to the Infernal’s Essence – should they fail, the Infernal’s rendition of events implants itself into their intuition. No amount of contradictory evidence or common sense will convince them otherwise. They will try their hardest to prove those events true, wilfully neglecting clues, espousing wild conjectures and ignoring proper procedures in their bid to prove their false intuition correct. The false imprint on the scene, and the delusions resulting from it, last for a year and a day.

Silver Sheen Style

• Cost: 6 motes
• Duration: One scene
• Type: Simple
• Minimum Investigation: 2
• Minimum Essence: 2
• Prerequisite Charms: Burnt Parchment Defence

Catching his every slip before it happens, an Infernal using this Charm can lie seamlessly for the rest of the scene. Mundane attempts to detect his falsehoods automatically fail, and magically-augmented attempts are worked out as though neither side were employing magic. This Charm has no effect where the Infernal is compelled to respond to a certain number of questions honestly (such as with Irresistible Questioning Technique).

Ruinous Imposition of Honesty

• Cost: 3 motes, 1 Willpower
• Duration: Instant
• Type: Simple
• Minimum Investigation: 4
• Minimum Essence: 2
• Prerequisite Charms: Silver Sheen Style

Loosing his inner madness, the Infernal can confuse the boundaries of truth and deception. If the Infernal can convince someone, by hook or by crook, to admit something that they do not believe is true, they may then activate this Charm. Thereafter, the victim believes their ‘confession’ is true. Only overwhelming evidence to the contrary (Storyteller’s discretion) will disprove this feeling; a belief that the Unconquered Sun is actually red is unlikely to last very long, but the conviction that someone killed another is very difficult to shake. This does not work on creatures with a higher Essence than the Exalt.

Mercurial Witness Attitude

• Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower
• Duration: One scene
• Type: Simple
• Minimum Investigation: 4
• Minimum Essence: 3
• Prerequisite Charms: Silver Sheen Style

Ask a lunatic a question three times in a month, and he will give you three different honest answers. Bringing his powers of self-delusion to the fore, the Infernal can lie to himself for the length of a scene. He fervently and sincerely believes he is telling the truth throughout – no amount of magic can detect any lies or intention to lie. Someone asking extensive enough questions might notice inconsistencies in his argument, but will likely presume madness, confusion or ignorance to be the cause of such.

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Revisited the Charm names for the tree; further suggestions welcome...DeathBySurfeit