Discussions/TransformationCharms

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Transformation Charms

I decided to do up a slew of the Transformation charms in brief scetches to cover what will pass for DBT in the revised Lunars I'm proposing - they'll have rough prerequisite depth estimates, to be determined later when I get a better idea of how the trees will lay out. They'll hopefully be spread relatively well among all Abilities, with Athletics having a disproportionate amount - it will be the trait of really dedicated shapechangers, while others will find themselves more reliant on their Ability's enhancement Charms than inflated Attributes.

There are some standards that will probably be held along most if not all Transformation charms: They're Scene-length and Simple, so when used individually the Lunar may devote a deal of time taking a battle form, or use a Shapechanging Combo to use a handful at once. Most have a Totem assignment - at character creation a Lunar will select his Totem from the list below. When using a charm from his Totem inside a combo, the Lunar gains a nominal break on cost, and the caps for some of his Charms will be higher if they are tied to the Lunar's Totem attributes.

• Example Totems:
  • Strength Totem - Strength, Stamina. (Examples: Bear, Siaka, Yeddim)
  • Cunning Totem - Dexterity, Wits (Examples: Fox, Weasel, Spider)
  • Deceiver Totem - Manipulation, Appearance (Examples: , Chameleon, ??)
  • Mysteries Totem - Perception, Intelligence (Examples: Squid, Serpent, Lizard)
  • Alpha Totem - Charisma, Appearance (Examples: Lion, Wolf, ??)

Shapechanging Combos

...Under construction...

• Will be composed of a brace of Simple Charms
• Costs 1 WP to activate on top of Charms
• can only contain Transformation Charms
  • Can be taken from multiple Ability trees (???) Is this a good idea?
• All costs must be paid - BUT each Charm from Totem category has a 1-mote cost reduction.
• Adding charms to an existing combo is done at a discount in XP cost
• Taking the 'Tell' Background will grant additional BP for use ONLY in gaining Transformation Charms and Combos
• Characters may start with a 2-Charm Shapechanging Combo at no cost.

Example Combo: Aidal Nuah, a Lunar Half-Moon, wishes to create a 'battle form' that offers mobility and benefits his battlefield skills - he creates a combo of the Athletics Transformation Charms 'Soaring Raptor Pinions' and 'Darting Predator Speed', the Awareness transformation Charm 'Enhanced (Sense) Modification', the Archery transformation 'Flourishing Body Quiver', and the Lore charm 'Streaming Insight Methodology'. This Combo, when activated, grants him flight with a pair of moonsilver-and-essence wings, a bonus to initiative, the visual acuity of a bird of prey, the ability to sprout arrows from his body, and a bonus to Perception. The enhanced sense and Streaming Insight charms fall under his Totem, Mysteries, and so he may discount their use by a single mote each when using this Combo, which he names Sky-Parting Heavenly Sniper Kata.

The Charms!

Just the Brawls, so far...

Grasping Raptor Talons

 Cost: 4 motes
 Type: Simple
 Duration: One Scene
 Min. Brawl: 2
 Min. Essence: 1
 Prerequisites: None

The character’s flexes his fingers and molds his bones into a potent fist or open-handed claw. Such 'Talons' allow the Lunar to strike with the force of steel, and catch blades with his bare hands. The character deals lethal damage with his or her unarmed strikes, may parry lethal damage while unarmed without a stunt, and gains bonus dice to all clinch rolls equal to her Essence or Dexterity, whichever is lower.
This is a Transformation Charm, for Strength Totems.

Ox-Felling Fists

 Cost: 3 motes
 Type: Simple
 Duration: One Scene
 Min. Brawl: 2
 Min. Essence: 1
 Prerequisites: None

The character toughens his hands to the point where they hit with the force of a mace - even the toughest of foes may be staggered by these tremendous strikes. The character's unarmed Brawl attacks deal +2B damage, he may parry lethal damage without a stunt, and a foe, if damaged by the character's Brawl attacks, must roll Stamina + Resistance against a difficulty of the health levels of damage dealt, or suffer a 1 die penalty to all actions on his next turn. Multiple penalties are cumulative but the overall penalty cannot exceed the Lunar's Strength or Essence, whichever is lower.
This is a Transformation Charm, for Strength Totems. It is slightly incompatible with lethal damage - if the character is using natural weapons, Brawling aids, or Charms to deal lethal damage with their unarmed strikes, they lose the damage-boosting benefits of this Charm, but regain the stunning and parrying properties.

Mountain-Sundering Style

 Cost: 8 motes per success, 2 Willpower.
 Type: Simple
 Duration: One Scene
 Min. Brawl: 5
 Min. Essence: 3
 Prerequisites: World-Rending Claw (About 4 charms in - there's not much depth to these trees)

The Lunar tenses his every muscle as he calcifies the flow of his internal energies, centering his brutal energy into a surge of primal destruction of unmatched caliber. As long as this Charm is active, the Lunar's every step causes a small rumble in the ground, his very touch ripples with power - and, should he connect with his charged fists, he does horrific damage. Upon activating this Charm, the Lunar may convert up to his Essence in dice. This dice pool becomes his 'safe pool' - should a Brawl attack by the character strike a foe it can damage (One that is not immune to the attack, using a perfect soak charm, etc.) that many dice of damage are treated as automatic damage successes. They are not rolled and the dice are removed from the damage pool - should the Lunar make the merest touch with his fists, he is assured to cause at least some damage. This 'safe pool' cannot add damage - if the blow causes less damage than the 'safe pool', only existing damage dice are converted.
This is a Transformation Charm for Strength Totems.