SolarOccult/Gamlain
This is a charm was from a Permanant Solar Charms Project I've started - makeing up at least two permanant charms for each solar ability. It's been modified here.
Some of the previous ones are probably insane, and it will take me a while to get them all put up. This one has also been modified - it is now indefinite, rather than permanant.
Any comments are welcome.
Eternal <spirit> ward
Cost: 1 mote per 2 dice Type: Special Duration: Untill Released Minimum Occult: 4 Minimum Essence: 3 Prerequisite Charms: All Encompasing Sorcerers Sight, Ghost Eating Technique
Solars deal often with elementals, Small gods and other spirit beings - many of whom are either highly self-serving or outright hostile. Faced with enemies who are normally invisible and capable of striking at anytime and place, most such develop this charm eventually. By subtly hardening his anima against essence and continually holding it in such a state, the Solar wards himself against spirits; Each time this charm is taken, The exalt may use a non-charm simple action to commit 1 mote per 2 dice to add up to his Essence + Occult to soak material attacks and to rolls to resist charms from small gods, Elementals, Demons or ghosts. The motes remain committed for as long as the exalt wishes to enjoy this protection. This charm may be taken multiple times. It's effects do not stack. Each time it is taken it applies to a different form of spirit being.
Comments
Mm. I'm sort of against the idea of Permanent Charms as a rule, as I think the whole 'spending Essence' thing is cool. Especially for Solars. Also, it seems like this should add your Essence, not your Occult, to the Soak and Resistance values.
Maybe split it into two Charms- one that adds your Occult to a single soak against (type) as a reflexive instant for 2m, and one that adds your Essence to your soak and resistance against (type) for a scene, for 6m, with the effects stackable.
Cool idea for a Ghost or Demon Hunter, though. Is it supposed to also add to the Solar's ability to resist magical mind-control / illusionary / possession effects? If so, you might wanna make that explicit.
- I'm actually rather fond of them myself. While spending essence *is* cool, there is a certain amount of implied improvement to Exalts as they age above and beyond higher stats and abilities that only permanant charms really cover. There are also effects that a essence spending non-permanant charm simply cannot usably duplicate, and this is one of them. That and having just one 'charm' that gives a permanant effect, but allowing no other permanants but OX-body - that isn't a charm, it's a mechanic, just like having a 'background' of Generation in vampire. If you're going to have Permanats they should exist for all abilities.
- Oh, I'm not against Permanent Charms on the whole. The effect here just feels... meh. Not right. I've seen some discussion on Permanent Resistance charms to up your base Soak, and... hm. Maybe if it increased these values by a static amount (say, +2 or +3) rather than a variable amount, but could be taken multiple times, it'd be better.
- Probably. At this point, it's pretty clear that my initial attempt at this charm needs work.
- On a 'blowing my own horn' note, however, have you seen my notes for Pattern Charms? Charms that, once established, let you spend motes for an effect without it counting as a Charm for the turn? Something like that might also be cool- a Permanent Charm that you still spend motes to activate when it's getting used.
- That's looking more and more like the sort of thing I'm aiming at here. And yes, those are cool :)
- The Essence/Occult thing, this is actually an issue for me. For a starting solar, Yah, essence is the lower value most of the time - but as you increase in age and power, you eventually wind up with a system that encourages 'essence primary' characters - because so much is mechanically based on adding essence, there's less reason to improve your actual Abilities, and eventually you end up with characters with Essence 7 and occult 4 slinging around occult 7 mojo without bothering to up the skills. Of course, there are other reasons to take the skills up - charm prerequs, mostly - but the over-use of essence as a add-in stat in solar charms bothers me anyway. I don't know - this is something that bothers me about the system that I don't have a real answer for, and while it probably never comes up in play, the dissonance in the otherwise well planned out system bugs me.
- Except, judging from the Sidereal Martial Arts and the Castebooks, not to mention the Core and the other Fatsplats, the Essence and Ability requirements don't usually get more than one step out of synch past Essence 2 or 3. So, someone with Essence 7 and Occult 4 is kinda screwing themselves in terms of what they're actually able to do. Oh, yes, their Essence 4 Charms will work VERY well, no doubt. I'll take my Essence 7 Charms, thanks. :)
- True. It's a matter of design that isn't really a problem in practice, but bugs me in mechanic terms.
- There is actually a good reason why I made this particular one a permanant charm that is reflected in it's notes: It's ment to offer a certain amount of protection against invisible supprise attacks you aren't aware off - so that *in your sleep*, having this when the invisible breath drinking spirit comes around, it will save your life - which no reflexive charm except Suprise Anticipation Method can currently do. I like the mote cost instants you put up there, but on the other hand, sometimes an exalted sorcerer really *should* have access to a constant or semi-constant defense. A compromise might be to just give it a commited mote cost - you comit the motes and have the protection as long as you leave them commited.
- Um. You just said it yourself- that's what SAM does. And Awareness Charms in general. If your reason for designing the Charm is to step on another Charms toes...
- Then I haven't done anything a dozen and more published core charms don't allready do. Every single Damage adder or multiplier, for example, or the various incarnations of social dice adders that all seem to add general 'social dice' reguardless of what ability they're tied to. In this case, it's a passive defense, rather than an active one, that I'm looking for: It won't wake you up to fight the spirit. But the spirit is going to have a harder time doing anything to you in the first place.
- And yeah, it offers bonuses against possesion and invasion, but not illusion, but I'm not sure how to make it more clear than 'all resistance rolls'. - Gamlain
- Hm. What is your percieved difference between Posssesion and Illusion? And resistance is a bad term to use there, as there is a Resistance Ability. Not sure what to replace it with tho. DS
- Yeah, Resistance is a bad term - although I think this is more because the resistance ability isn't applied in these situtations as it perhaps should be. Most of the time such attacks call for a willpower roll - they should probably be calling for stamina or appropriate virtue+resistance - but that's not the way people write charms usually, and that's another rant entirely. Re: Possesion and illusion, my call on it is that possesion is invasive: The spirit tries to take you over, force you to do something or steal energy from you, inhabit your body etc. Illusion is external: It creates a image that isn't real, but looks it. Illusion can't force you to do anything. Fae illusions are exceptionally good - they seem, for all applicable purposes, real without some sort of charm to see through them - but they don't try to subborn your will or drain your essence. A fae trying to Ravage you - that's invasive. A fae useing glamor to create a sword and whack you with it - that's not. In the second case, the damageing action is 'whack you with this sword I just created'. The way the Faerie in exalted work, this line blurs really heavily for them, which is why I didn't include Fair Folk in this charm. Going to think on it and revise it later tonight - Gamlain
Modified the Charm after discussions with DS. Gamlain
Mas better, I think :) You can list the Duration as Until Released, rather than Special (for purposes of clarity), and you might wanna make the 'free-Charm' nature of the activation more obvious (since otherwise it looks just like a Simple charm, and not listing the type is puzzling). And lastly, the cost seems a little high- 2 motes per point of soak? And it's only applicible against a subset of enemies? Even with the added resistance to the Charms of spirits, it seems pricy... DS
- Point. And Defense is susposed to be the strong one, not offence.. Changed to 1 per 2 instead. I thought that might be too cheap, but what you said about a small subset of enemies also applies here, so. :) Gamlain
- Rawk! Okay, this is the awesome version. :) DS
