FrivYeti/Vices
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The Vices: Virtue Inverted
(Note: The following has been designed for use in my pulp setting, Enlightened. I have not worked through the ramifications of introducing it to mainline Exalted, although you are welcome to if you wish.)
There are those who are hard, lacking in the Virtues that make up a hero. And then there are those who are despicable. People who indulge in behaviours that others find grotesque at best, horrifying at worst. These people can draw a twisted power from their dark natures - an effect reflected by the Vice system.
Developing a Vice
In order to develop a Vice, a character must first either have a Virtue at 1 dot, or reduce a Virtue at 1 dot. Reduction may be done once per session, by roleplaying contrary to a Virtue and spending 1 XP. Great Curse Virtues may not be reduced.
When a character is at 1 dot in a Virtue, she may spend 5 XP, 3 bonus points, or one of her starting Virtue dots in order to create a Vice opposed to that Virtue. The four Vices are Cruelty (Compassion), Treachery (Conviction), Indulgence (Temperance) and Cowardice (Valor). Once purchased, a Vice may be raised as though it were a Virtue.
If a character decides to remove a Vice, dots in a Vice may be removed exactly the same as dots in a Virtue. When the character has reached 1 dot in a Vice, she may spend 5 XP to remove it forever, returning to the Virtue.
Effects of Vices
Vices have three effects on a character:
First, a character with a Vice may never raise her related Virtue above 1. In addition, whenever forced to make a roll for that Virtue, she automatically fails it.
Secondly, Vices may be channeled as though they were Virtues. A character has a number of Vice channels equal to her rating in the Vice, and adds her Vice in dice to the roll. Vices may be channelled when commiting any act that the related Virtue would normally have to be failed in order to do. In addition, a Vice may replace Virtues to determine Essence pools.
Finally, Vices force the character into obscene behaviour. Characters with a Vice rating must fail Vice rolls in order to do anything that their related Virtue would normally aid in; for example, a Cowardice character must fail Cowardice rolls to respond to insults, face danger, or defend others.
As a rule, player characters with Vices are unlikely to be very effective, and have a decent chance of being murdered by their fellows; as such, Vices should be considered carefully in PC play, and unless the PCs are opponents of each other, a character should definately not have more than one Vice. Characters may not begin play with more than two Vices, and if they choose Vices, they must still have one Virtue or Vice rated at 3.
(Note: In Standard Exalted, it is likely that a character with Vices, or a character with more than one Vice, will not be acceptable to Essence Shards. This is left up to the discretion of individual Storytellers).
