LunarHouseRules/LunarLimitBreaks

Rawr. I'm a beast. Rawr.

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Lunar Limit Breaks are pretty uninteresing. They're more or less Solar Limit breaks with animal themes, and all the other phatsplats get keen new systems to demonstrate their particular flavor of the Great Curse, and why not Lunars? So instead I offer this new system, based on the Exalt's Caste.

In the Hands of the Elders

When examining the nature of their Exaltation, the top Elders of of what would later become the Silver Pact became aware of "something" infecting their Essence. It wasn't posing an immediate danger, and the Lunars as a race were on their way to imploding under the effects of the Wyld, so insteadof cutting it out, they simply reworked it into the moral code they were working on at the time, what we would now call the Silver Way. This wouldprovide Lunars with a Lunars who followed the Way were able to keep their Limit in check. Lunars who did not would be more apt to Break.

The general flavor of a Lunar Limit Break is determined by the being's Caste, but each Break is a variation on the Caste theme. One Changing Moon may spend a couple days shapeshifting uncontrollably every time she is startled, another will retain residual features from various animals she has recently shapeshifted into, becoming a patchwork of animal pieces. For some Lunars, every Limit Break is the same, for others, they vary every time. It's unpredictable what will befall the Lunar, just like the Lunar herself. The Limit Themes are as follows:

Full Moons go into Bestial Rages. Their conscious mind submerges into their bestial souls, and they act like the predator they really are. Depending on the totem animal of the Exalt, this sublimation takes different forms. A great cat may stalk and kill something perceived as prey, while a crocodile will lie still and wait for an unsuspecting animal to draw near. Whatever the form, their behavior often results in violence, but not always; some Lunars may be overpowered by an urge to roam or wander.

Changing Moons have Uncontrolled Shapeshifting. They go into hiccups that range their entire Shape Library. In essence, the Storyteller gains control over the character's form for a while.

Lunar player: "I'm sneaking up on my mentor by hiding in a tree and I'm going to prove my worth by jumping out of the tree and surprising him."
Storyteller: *snap* "You're a Yeddim. The tree buckles and snaps under your immense weight, nearly falling on your mentor, who glares at you angrily."
Lunar player: "Crap. I'm going to turn into a cheetah and run away."
Storyteller: "You're going to turn into a fish and flop around uselessly."
Lunar player: "Can I get Initiative by flopping into his face?"
Storyteller: "No."
Lunar player: "I hate you."

It's not quite that frustrating, but it does interfere with just about anything the character tries to do at the time, and it *always* occurs at the least convenient time. If you trust your players, they can assume control over the process, and you can have a merry old time together.

Other variations on this include: Tetsuo-style mutations, turning into amalgams of different animals/humans, using the Changing Moon anima ability at a really inopportune time.

No Moons have Prophetic Trances. They go into these trance-states where the TRUE MEANING of all happenstance becomes clear to them. Portents, harbingers, and signs are everywhere. The good side of this is that it's all true. The bad side is that there is so much of it, they are easily distractable and can't really process it all. Maybe they'll pull something out of it, but mostly they sit around and say, "Whoah."

Variations on this include: hallucinations that interact with the character (like Elvis in True Romance), spontaneously creating new spirits that knowthe character's secrets, mirrors display scenes from the past/future/present.

Comments

> This would provide Lunars with a Lunars who followed the Way were able to keep their Limit in check. Lunars who did not would be more apt to Break.

This is very cool flavor, but doesn't seem to have mechanical backing. Any thoughts on how the Lunar limit system vindicates the Silver Way?

Interesting, why not have the Changing Moons have to roll their essence to transform into what they want without risk? ~ haku

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