SolarMulti/IanPrice
Caste Anima Enhancements
It's been done before, it will be done again - because it's a good idea: charms somehow enhancing the anima abilities of the castes. Here are some ways I'd like to see such a thing.
This first is a charm with common effects for all castes, based on a new mechanic from 2nd edition that I really like.
Glorious Radiance
Cost: - Minimums: Three Caste Abilities at 3 each, Essence 3 Type: Permanent Keywords: None Duration: N/A Prerequisite Charms: Any one Excellency for each of the Caste Abilities satisfying the prerequisites.
When the Essence of the Sun shines forth from His Chosen, His gifts to them are made manifest. This charm brings those glorious gifts about more quickly. The Lawgiver's anima power which activates automatically at the 11-15 mote level of anima flare now activates automatically at the 8-10 mote level instead, remaining active as long as the anima is flared at that level or above. However, if this effect is used, the appearance of the anima flare automatically increases to the 11-15 mote level as soon as the anima power becomes active.
This charm may be purchased again with the following prerequisites to further ease the coming of Solar glory:
Four Caste Abilities at 4 each, Essence 4: The anima power may become active after spending 4-7 motes of peripheral Essence.
All Five Caste Abilities at 5 each, Essence 5: The anima power may be activated after spending even a single mote of peripheral Essence.
In both cases, an Excellency is required from each caste ability used to satisfy the Ability prerequisites. As with the first purchase, any time the anima power is activated early, the display of the character's Anima jumps to the 11-15 mote level for all purposes - including the full totemic 16+ mote flare upon any further peripheral Essence expenditure.
This charm has a unique effect for each caste, but a common theme for all.
Unchained Essence of the (Caste)
Cost: - Minimums: (Caste Abilities) 5, Essence 5 Type: Permanent Keywords: None Duration: N/A Prerequisite Charms: Infinite (Ability) Mastery, (Ability) Essence Flow, all three (Ability) Excellencies - for all Caste Abilities.
Each Caste of the Solar Exalted interacts with the Essence of the world best in a way uniquely suited to its role. This is expressed at a basic level in the Caste Abilities in which all members of the Caste excel with ease, as well as the Anima powers granted by these roles. This charm expresses masterful understanding of those Anima powers through excellence in those Abilities, and thus creates a fusion of the two which unlocks a masterful way of channeling Essence. These new channels are forged through the enlightened will of the Exalt, often tempered by Virtue.
- Dawn: The Bronze Tigers appear fearsome and terrible, and their arts back up their mien with steel and blood. Their unique skill in channeling Essence is to bring together deadly techniques with ease. The Dawn who learns this charm may now spend a Willpower to use up to her Essence in Dawn-Caste charms in a single action; the charms must be used in a fashion which would be legal when making a Combo. If she channels an appropriate Virtue to the situation instead of simply spending a Willpower, she may use any number of legally-Comboable charms in the action.
- Zenith: The High Priests of the Unconquered Sun shine brightest when surrounded by darkness and its foul minions. Whatever the foe and whatever the situation, the Golden Bulls must continue to provide a shining example for their bretheren in the whole of Creation. This Zenith may spend a willpower instead of five motes, or five motes instead of a willpower, when activating any Zenith Caste charm. He may also channel a Virtue (if appropriate) to replace ten motes in the cost of such a charm, or to replace two willpower with the one spent channeling the Virtue.
- Twilight: The Copper Spiders are seekers and teachers of all knowledge and wisdom, protected from harm by the hand of their great God. The shape of all Essence is known to them, and some in the past Age were even said to be able to name individual motes. Through this knowledge of the sameness and difference of all Essence, the Arrows of Heaven shape it all with unmatched alacrity. By spending a temporary willpower, the Twilight who knows this charm may accelerate the use of her charms and sorcery for a scene (or the duration of one charm or sorcery based dramatic action). Any reflexive or supplemental Twilight charm or spell may be activated as an innate ability. Simple Twilight charms or spell actions become reflexive (though they retain their DV penalty). Dramatic actions created by Twilight charms or sorcery are sped up by a factor of (Essence).
- Night: All fear the Iron Wolves, as anyone would fear the unknown but probably dangerous. They are swift and silent, difficult to notice and more difficult to catch. Their prey never escapes them. One with this charm is more darkly terrible than the rest, for she flares with Sun's brightness only long enough to show her quarry the wrath she brings. In seconds, the brightness is gone, leaving no trace save the absence of her victim. the Hidden Sun's anima banner will now decay every action if she neither spends peripheral motes (without muting them) that action nor has spent such motes the action before. Once 11+ peripheral motes have been spent and either were muted (count each 2m spent as 1m when paying double cost to mute the display) or the banner put up by them has fully decayed, the imperceptible veil which mutes the senses of the Night's foes automatically settles over the Exalt and her trail for the rest of the scene so long as she is not displaying any Anima Banner. Finally, she may spend a Willpower to mute an entire action's Essence expenditure without paying double cost, or channel a virtue to instantly mute any existing anima flare.
- Eclipse: A Harmonious Voice is welcomed in councils and at campfires. Disputes are settled with absolute finality when an Eclipse gives his word. In accordance with their duties as harmonizers and makers of great alliances, the Crowned Suns are also allowed to learn from those they entreat, unlocking secrets barred to their fellow Lawgivers. In transcendent understanding of these principles, this Eclipse may now improvise Combos in Debate as a Dawn may in Battle or War, even including Charms from non-Eclipse abilities so long as they have a social keyword (Social, Compulsion, Servitude, Emotion, and some Illusion effects). He may also do so with Sail, Ride, and Bureaucracy charms, each among its own ability only. Finally, the Quicksilver Falcon may create Combos between Attribute or Virtue-based Charms with each other and with Ability-based Charms he knows freely, so long as each Combo would be otherwise legal (treat each Attribute, Virtue, and Ability in the same way as different Abilities are treated in the standard Solar Combo rules).
Cross-Ability Charms
Flashing Blade Feint
Cost: 3m Minimums: Melee 3, Athletics 5, Stealth 4, Essence 3 Type: Reflexive Keywords: Combo-OK Duration: One Scene Prerequisite Charms: One Weapon, Two Blows, Foe-Vaulting Method, Infinite Stealth Mastery
The sunlight inherent in the Exalt's anima flashes from his weapon as he strikes, and may blind his foes for a moment. Indeed, the supple movements of a weapon attacking with this technique are difficult to read even by senses other than sight. Before each attack this scene, the Solar may reflexively roll to re-establish surprise, potentially creating an unexpected attack each time.
Blinking at Dawn
Cost: 5m1w Minimums: Melee 5, Athletics 5, Stealth 5, Essence 4 Type: Supplemental Keywords: Combo-OK Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Flashing Blade Feint
Using this charm, an attack moves faster than light itself. Reduce the Speed of the supplemented attack by (Essence), minimum Speed 1. The attack is undetectable without the use of charms. The (Wits + Awareness) roll for a charm user to detect this attack is difficulty 1, with an external penalty of (Essence).
Excellency Enhancements
(Ability) Unconquered
Cost: - Minimums: (Ability) 5, Essence 5 Type: Permanent Keywords: None Duration: N/A Prerequisite Charms: Infinite (Ability) Mastery, (Ability) Essence Flow, all three (Ability) Excellencies
The Age of Sorrows is a time when the true glory of the Solar Exalted has dimmed even in memory. The power with which the Primordials were cowed, and ultimately bound, has not been seen by any who now live and are known to civilization. Part of the wonder of the Sun's Chosen was their ever-increasing simple excellence. (Ability) Unconquered enhances the Third (Ability) Excellency, allowing its use on a roll which has also been enhanced by the First and/or Second (Ability) Excellencies.
When the Solar reaches Essence 6, (Ability) Unconquered alters the Second (Ability) Excellency so that successes purchased by that charm do not count against the dice bonus limit. However, the Second (Ability) Excellency gains its own limit of half the relevant Attribute + Ability dice pool in successes purchased.
Effortless (Ability)
Cost: - Minimums: (Ability) 5, Essence 5 Type: Permanent Keywords: None Duration: N/A Prerequisite Charms:(Ability) Essence Flow
A Solar's Essence can bind excellence into the core of his being. Solars with this charm may choose whether or not to spend Willpower, channel a Virtue, and/or apply the First or Second Excellency until step 4 if attacking in combat, step 6 if defending in combat, or after the success total for any non-combat action is calculated but before the effects are described. In other words, the same time the Third Excellency or any other re-roll effect could be applied.
Unchanging (Ability) Excellence
Cost: - Minimums: (Ability) 6, Essence 5 Type: Permanent Keywords: None Duration: N/A Prerequisite Charms:(Ability) Essence Flow, Infinite (Ability) Mastery
The puissant essence of the Lawgivers grows tenacious with age. Unchanging (Ability) Excellence grants this tenacity to the Excellency charms of (Ability), allowing (Ability) Essence Flow to be compatible with cost-reducing charms, and Infinite (Ability) Mastery to be compatible with charms causing the Excellencies to be used as innate abilities instead of charms.
(Ability) Essence Potency
Cost: - Minimums: (Ability) 2, Essence 2 Type: Permanent Keywords: None Duration: N/A Prerequisite Charms: Either (Ability) Essence Overwhelming OR (Ability) Essence Triumphant
Centuries of refinement and a natural propensity have made the Dragon-Blooded version of Essence Overwhelming more potent for the motes spent than the version used by all other Essence users. To grossly modify the basic Solar version would similarly take additional centuries of development - yet the Lawgivers are able to accomplish centuries of effort quickly through other means. This charm is such a means; taking it reduces the cost of the prerequisite Excellency by half. This charm may be taken a second time at (Ability) 3, Essence 3 to reduce the cost of the other possibility.
(Ability) Essence Expansion
Cost: - Minimums: (Ability) 4, Essence 4 Type: Permanent Keywords: None Duration: N/A Prerequisite Charms: (Ability) Essence Flow
This charm may be taken up to (Ability + Essence) times, each time expanding the facility of the Exalt's anima with this Ability. The dice pool cap for charms enhancing this Ability increases by 1 with each purchase of this charm.
Essence-Focusing Anima Practices: At Essence 5, for a cost of 5xp, a Lawgiver may expand this charm's effects to increase the dice cap by an amount equal to twice any applicable specialties. This dice cap increase may not exceed the number of times (Ability) Essence Expansion has been purchased for this Ability. (so, if two specialties apply to a roll, this increases the dice cap by up to 4 - but not more than the number of charm purchases, so if the charm was only purchased once it would be +1 dice cap due to the existing specialties)
Comments
SolarMulti/IanPriceOldComments
Ian - I really like these, and don't think they're mechanically unsound. The one I'm most interested in, however, is Essence Potency, which seemingly drops the cost of your 1st or 2nd excellency to half. First off, then, am I reading that correctly? 2 dice per mote (for the 1st) or 1 sux per mote (for the 2nd)? Secondly, how does this interact with Infinite Mastery? It would seem that with three charms (Infinite Mastery, an Excellency, and Potency), you can easily enough start out at Essence 3, throw up the 6 mote version of Infinite Mastery, and get 3 bonus successes on every roll? That's not horrible, I'm just verifying, and all. Finally, then, I also notice you've still got Ess 6, Ability 6 as the prereqs for Unchanging (Ability) Excellence. I'm not sure what I've said about that in the past, but I'm a bit concerned that might be too high. Not much, too high, mind, just a bit. I'm wondering if perhaps Ability 6, Essence 5 might be more suitable. I know that seems inane, but I've seen a houserule-slash-interpretation of the rules that allows specialties to count for purposes of charm purchasing, with the catch that you can only then use such a charm when your specialty applies. I can see such a situation being an interesting one, hence the request. -- GreenLantern
- You're correct about how Essence Potency works. Unchanging Excellence you haven't commented on before, but I can see your logic. In the games I've played in around here, Ability 6, Essence 5 would be doable with the Prodigy merit. I'm not opposed to it running that way, really. It saves the Essence for perfects and the willpower for more important charms, Combos, virtue channeling, etc. - IanPrice
