FourWillowsWeeping/SwordAndBanner

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Because of the Martial Arts removal and the splitting of the Banner's Charm tree, this occurs:

Thanks to Dissolvegirl and haren for all their help with Charm names and effects.

The Banner

The Ability of War contains all preexisting Sidereal Presence Charms except Impose Nature, Force Decision, and Presence in Absence Technique. There are three new Charms, and the tree is restructured:

Scarlet Guidance

Cost: 3 motes per TN reduction

Type: Simple

Duration: One Scene

Min. War: 2

Min. Ess.: 2

Prereq Charms: None

Superimposing a scarlet pattern of threat and influence upon her vision, the Sidereal reduces the TN of War rolls for the scene.

Torch and Pitchfork Army

Cost: 12 motes, 1 Willpower

Type: Simple

Duration: One Battle

Min. War: 3

Min. Ess.: 2

Prereq Charms: Scarlet Guidance

This Charm allows the Sidereal to turn common people into effective soldiers. They may use their highest Craft rating in the place of a Dawn Caste Ability of the Sidereal's choice. In addition, the Sidereal may substitute her War Ability for any Dawn Caste Ability while she is leading troops.

Field-Fouling Battle Pattern

Charmblock as other first-tier Battle Patterns.

Prereq: Essence-Draining Battle Pattern, Torch and Pitchfork Army

The troop movements of this Charm allow the Sidereal's army to agitate the elementals of the region; they respond with storm and tempest, yet the army remains unhindered, while forcing their opponent into more and more disadvantageous positions. An army enacting this Battle Pattern reduces environmental dice pool penalties by the pattern's Perfection, and adds that amount to their dicepool to resist environmental damage. The opposing force adds the pattern's Perfection to their total environmental penalty, and their dicepools to resist invironmental effects are reduced by the same amount.

The Demon-Blocking Battle Patterns has the Field-Fouling Battle Pattern as an added prerequisite.

The Sword

Force Decision and Presence in Absence Technique are Presence Charms. They are members of the Violet Bier of Sorrows.

Impose Nature becomes Depose Nature. The target is overcome by feelings of hopelessness and despair; whenever he triggers his Nature, he loses Willpower instead of gaining it.

New Charms:

Fulfillment Estimation Principle

Cost: None

Type: Special

Duration: Permanent

Min. Presence: 2

Min. Ess.: 2

Prereq Charms: None

Characters with this Charm become more forceful personalities, applying their strength of self in unexpected ways. Each purchase of this Charm creates a circumstance - with the same breadth as a Specialty - during which the Sidereal may always use a Virtue which she chooses when the Charm is bought. The character may purchase this Charm up to four times, applying it to a different Virtue and circumstance each time. There is no cost to use this Charm's effect beyond the standard cost for using a Virtue - it merely extends the Exalt's capabilities.

Violet Maiden's Mantle

Cost: 7 motes, 1 Willpower

Type: Simple

Duration: One Scene

Min. Presence: 3

Min. Ess.: 2

Prereq Charms: None

While under the effects of this Charm, the Sidereal never seems out-of-place. In fact, she defines what is in-place; all expectations shift to match her. If she arrives at a ball wrapped in seaweed and with her ankles tied together with pearls, all the ladies at the ball will long to do the same. The effect of this is that all beings the Sidereal interacts with gain the Follower Nature, which replaces their own. They lose interest in making their own decisions, because of the clearly brilliant and competent presence that has entered upon the stage. Beings with Essence greater than the Sidereal's are unaffected by this change in Nature.

In addition, the difficulty of actions to single out the Sidereal as unusual is raised by her Essence. That is to say, she can be pointed out as an exemplar of fashion and graciousness, but you on't be able to find her by looking for "the lady with weird sparkly eyes"

Convergence of Blame

Cost: 7 motes

Type: Simple

Duration: One Scene

Min. Presence: 4

Min. Ess.: 3

Prereq Charms: Depose Nature, Presence in Absence Technique, Fulfillment Estimation Principle, Violet Maiden's Mantle.

By wearing certain auspicious trappings, the Sidereal can deflect feelings of fault and blame. Her player rolls Manipulation+Presence. For each success, the Sidereal determines one trapping that will assist her in this. Each trapping she wears or acts in accordance with adds 1 to the difficulty of assigning fault to the Sidereal for any action.

Furthermore, if this Charm succeeds in protecting the Sidereal, she may immediately roll Manipulation+Presence at a difficulty of a target's permanent Essence. If she succeeds, then by the end of the scene, the blame will fall onto that target's shoulders. This Charm can only deflect the blame for a particular action once per scene; if the Sidereal experiences double jeopardy through the actions of others, then the Charm will still add its difficulty modifier, but it cannot direct fault onto another target.

Cartography of Accordance Diagram

Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 Health Level

Type: Simple

Duration: One Meeting

Min. Presence: 5

Min. Ess.: 4

Prereq Charms: Force Decision, Convergence of Blame

The Sidereal crushes a Scripture of the Expectant Maiden beneath her foot. Wine-dark dust spreads from there in a great mandala, outlining the decisions that a group of people could choose. Before the convocation this Charm affects ends, the Sidereal may walk to each conclusion, and she may rub it out with her foot. She may rub out as many conclusions as her permanent Essence. A rubbed-out conclusion becomess intolerable to those present, and without the intervention of an outside force they will not choose it if any other conclusions remain. The Charm will manufacture reasons for these decisions to be intolerable, and they will automatically come to the minds of those present. This Charm in no way prevents those affected from changing their minds after the decision has been made and the meeting disbanded, but any evidence it manufactures to make choices intolerable is real. While Essence is committed to the Charm, these conditions are supernaturally enforced.

Comments

So, now the Sword covers Presence, and the Banner covers War? Shouldn't that be the other way around? - Quendalon

Yeah, it really should! If you can suggest a more Swordy layout for the Charm tree...I know! Fixed it up. - willows

Does this mean that the Sword now falls under the Crimson Panoply of Victories, and the Banner under the Violet Bier of Sorrows?\\ _Ikselam

Yes. Maybe that was my original reason to keep the Banner a Battles Ability? I don't know anymore. Anyway, Sidereal trees are easy to rearrange. I'll look at the astrology later today and see what I want to do about it. Thanks for pointing it out. - willows

Cartography of Accordance Diagram is rockin'! And I have to wonder whether someone used it on the Great Prophecy... - Quendalon

I'd be more comfortable with Violet Maiden's Mantle if it didn't affect character of equal Essence to the Sidereal. It just seems wrong for such an effect to be unresistable by the user's peers. Vargo_Teras

It is the general rule for Sidereal mind-controlling effects. I strongly prefer symmetrical systems, and I really think that Sidereals kinda suck if they can't mess with one another in these ways. - willows

Hmm. What happens if two Sidereals of the same Essence show up to a ball with the same Charm, but dressing and behaving in diametrically opposed fashions? I started picturing some kind of bizarre mirror dance as each strives to emulate the other, and those around them are torn in a social whirlpool effect, and then I realized how much Rebecca Borgstrom would approve. Vargo_Teras