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View Full Version : Ebon Dragon Charms [Exalted][Infernals]



The Demented One
2009-09-17, 02:30 PM
Catastrophic Revolutionary Prestige
Cost: –
Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Nemesis Self Imagined Anew

The Shadow of All Things upsets social order and law wherever it passes, overthrowing nations and governments for sheer pleasure. This Charm enhances Nemesis Self Imagined Anew, making social groups a valid target for it. The Infernal must be within (Essence) yards of either the social group’s leader or a meeting of at least ten members of the social group in order to target it. The new Motivation the Infernal gains through the Nemesis Self Imagined Anew Charm is an antagonistic opposite of the group’s Policy, and he can gain opposing Intimacies to any that he witnesses displayed by the group. An Infernal with the Soul Crack Exploitation Charm may use it to enhance social attacks against the targeted social group, but Puissance Mimicry Intuition and Black Mirror Shintai Charms cannot be applied against social groups.

Raising the Shadow Parliament
Cost: 3m, 1wp
Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple (6 long ticks)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Compulsion
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Catastrophic Revolutionary Prestige

The Ebon Dragon is loathe to oppose his foes directly–why, when he could just as easily maneuver others into doing the work for him? This Charm reshapes a social group, turning them against another group that has drawn the Infernal’s hatred. The Infernal must have used Nemesis Self Imagined Anew against a social group before he can use this Charm, and must spend several hours preaching opposition to the group to another mass unit of Magnitude 1+. The Infernal rolls (Manipulation + Socialize), with an external penalty of half the leader’s MDV plus half the group’s Magnitude.

If he succeeds, he exerts unnatural mental influence to alter the group’s Policy, causing it to become the same as the antagonistic Motivation he has gained through Nemesis Self Imagined Anew, and causes the group to gain all of the antagonistic Intimacies the Green Sun Prince may have gained through the same Charm. If the Infernal succeeds with a threshold of five successes, he may choose to become the new leader of the group (though this Charm does nothing to ensure he will remain in power). The new Policies and Intimacies last for as long as the opposing group remains in active existence. The group may spend six Loyalty to resist this unnatural influence permanently, or one Loyalty to cast off its new Policy and Intimacies for a single scene.

Rise Against Your Masters
Cost: –
Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Catastrophic Revolutionary Prestige, Selfishness is Power (x2)

The Ebon Dragon sunders the law of Creation and Cecelyne both, driving the ruled to throw off their rulers in bloody, amusing revolution. This Charm enhances Selfishness is Power. Any other character that the Infernal blesses with the Charm gains double the usual stunt dice on any eligible action that attacks or opposes his superiors–defined as anyone with political, cultural, social, or economic authority over the character, or any being whose Essence exceeds the character’s by two or more. The gods, the Celestial Exalted, and the Dragonblooded are always considered superiors to mortal characters. In addition, the recipients of the Infernal’s blessing may spend a point of Willpower to convert all stunt dice they would gain into successes when defying their superiors.

Nemesis-Rearing Abuse
Cost: 10m, 1wp
Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Emotion, Training
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Puissance Mimicry Intuition

How embarrassing it is when one’s nemesis is but an inept incompetent, a hero so weak and powerless as to have no hope against his foe! The Ebon Dragon, ever merciful, takes pleasure in granting his true foes ample chance to renew their strength against him.

The Infernal may use this Charm to train any character that they have invoked Nemesis Self Imagined Anew against. They must perform some villainous action to make that character suffer–he might inflict physical pain with violence or torture, commit emotional or psychological abuse, or simply slaughter the victim’s entire family before his eyes. The victim of this abuse may immediately gain a dot in any Ability as a training effect, to a maximum of 5 dots–and also gains an Intimacy of hatred towards the Infernal. The number of dots the Infernal has in the trained Ability is irrelevant–he does not teach his victim, but inspires such hatred that the victim is able to spontaneously achieve new heights of skill.

An Infernal who has purchased Puissance Mimicry Intuition a second time may also use this Charm to train his foe’s Abilities. An Infernal with the third purchase of Puissance Mimicry Intuition can train foes in Charms, allowing them to learn any Charm that they meet the prerequisites for and could normally learn as a training effect. Infernals with the Black Mirror Shintai Charm gain the ability to train their enemies in Willpower and Virtues. In addition, when invoked by an Infernal who knows the Black Mirror Shintai Charm, the Intimacy of hatred this Charm creates in its victim is magically enforced, incapable of being eroded by any means.

Cunning Rat Caged
Cost: 20m, 1wp
Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple (Dramatic Action)
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cracked Cell Circumvention

The Ebon Dragon is loathe to submit to any restraint, any imprisonment, any boundary–but when faced with a prison he cannot escape, he is willing to feign patience, to play the long game if that is what it takes to escape. This Charm can only be used when the Infernal is bound, held, or imprisoned against his will–and in using it, he comes to understand the nature of his prison. The Infernal rolls his (Manipulation + Socialize), adding a number of dice equal to his Essence, in an attempt to pry secrets or information from his guards or fellow cellmates. The difficulty of this roll is only 1–but if the Infernal’s guards or fellow prisoners are deliberately misleading or uninformative, he suffers an external penalty of -3, and a prison whose architecture and layout is deliberately confusing or deceptive also imposes a -3 external penalty. If there are absolute no contacts the Infernal can gain information from, this Charm automatically fails.

Success on the roll reveals much to the Infernal, all useful details should he plan an escape. He learns the layout of his prison perfectly, knowing every detail of its construction, as well as any interesting secrets such as prisoner-built escape tunnels or secret passages. He also learns the Motivation and Intimacies of every guard and prisoner that he could reasonably have had contact with while in the prison. Heroic characters and Exalts can spend a single point of temporary Willpower to avoid having this discovered. Any external penalties the Infernal would take on social and dramatic actions to manipulate social units within the prison are reduced by an amount equal to his Essence.

A second purchase of this Charm expands its purview even further. Rather than being limited only to prisons, the Infernal may use it against any social group whose Policy or actions oppose his Motivation or Urge. When doing so, he suffers an external penalty of the leader’s (Manipulation + Socialize + Magnitude) divided by two if the Infernal encounters group members who are deliberately misleading or uninformative. Success allows the Infernal to reduce penalties as usual, and causes him to learn the group’s Policy and any Intimacies it may have. He also learns the identity of the group’s leader, as well as any significant figures within it.

Excessively Righteous Atrocity Attitude
Cost: 5m
Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, Emotion
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cracked Cell Circumvention

The Ebon Dragon does not care what others think of him, for he is the author of his own reputation. This Charm can supplement any action that violates a law, cultural taboos, or social norms. As the Infernal invokes this Charm, he rolls (Manipulation + Socialize). Any character with a Dodge MDV less than or equal to the number of successes rolled who witnesses or hears of the action will consider it justified, as a form of unnatural mental influence–perhaps the Infernal broke the letter of the law to preserve its spirit, perhaps he was acting for some greater good, perhaps his dashing charm makes up for his lack of proper manners. Each character fabricates whatever rationalization most pacifies them. If the Infernal exceeds a character’s MDV with a threshold of five successes, that character is so awed that they seek to emulate the Infernal, immediately gaining an Intimacy towards performing the same action. Heroic characters and Exalts may spend two points of Willpower to resist this unnatural mental influence.

Ill Omen Mien
Cost: – (2m, 1wp)
Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Shadow Spite Curse

The Ebon Dragon cheats heroes of all hope of victory, ensuring their doom. This Charm enhances Shadow Spite Curse. Whenever the Infernal invokes it, he may choose to pay 2 motes and one point of temporary Willpower instead of its normal cost. With a maniacal laugh or a dismissive gesture, he causes his enemy to fail utterly, reducing the number of successes from the roll to 0. When used against an attack, this effect occurs in Steps 3 and 4 of attack resolution, though Shadow Spite Curse is invoked in Step 2. When used to negate attacks, this Charm does not suffer the Flaw of the Shadow of All Things; however, some Charms allow attacks to succeed even without rolling successes.

Dark Prophecies Unveiled
Cost: 10m
Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple (Dramatic Action)
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Ill Omen Mien

There is no man that the Ebon Dragon cannot corrupt, no light that he cannot darken, and no plan he cannot confound. The Infernal must invoke this Charm at midnight within Creation, or beneath the shadow of the Ebon Dragon in Malfeas. As his eyes blacken with Primordial Essence, he names a single plan or goal of his foes that he hopes to subvert or prevent, rolling his (Essence + Manipulation) against a difficulty set by how broad and sweeping the plan he hopes to confound is: Difficulty 1 for the goals of a single mortal, 3 for those of a large group, or 5 for those of a city-sized society or culture. The goals of the Exalted are always more difficult to oppose–seeking to confound the plans of a single circle of newly-Exalted Solars might have a difficulty of 5, while opposing Chejop Kejak and the entire hierarchy of Sidereals beneath him would be difficulty 10 at the least. The roll to invoke this Charm is treated as an (Attribute + Ability) roll for purposes of augmenting it with Infernal excellencies.

If the Green Sun Prince succeeds on the roll, he has a dark and fragmented vision of the surest way to achieve his insidious ends...as well as the price he must pay to do so. The cost varies with the scope of the plan the warlock endeavors to oppose, ranging from slight inconveniences–”minor bodily harm,” “the death of your lover,”–to high and onerous costs–”your favor in the eyes of the Yozis,” “your life.” If the character is willing to pay the cost, then his success in undermining the plan is assured. In most cases, the action needed to bring about the conclusion is still played out, with the Storyteller narrating through the scenes leading up to the Infernal’s victory. While the Infernal is assured his success, there may be surprises he did not anticipate, and other storylines or conflicts may intervene. This Charm should not be used simply to bypass potential drama or adventures–the high cost it demands should rarely be favorable compared to the Infernal’s own plotting and conniving.

This Charm is uncannily similar to one used by the Sidereals, Of Things Desired and Feared. Should the two Charms oppose each other, then the character who rolled more successes when invoking the Charm prevails.

Lost in the Dark
Cost: – (+1wp)
Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Ineffable Vanishing Menace (http://wiki.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php?title=Charms:Ineffable_Vanishing_Menace)

The Ebon Dragon was the first night Creation ever knew, a shadow that encompassed all the world. When the Exalted turned against the Titans, this night became a dark hell, a black miasma of shadows that turned heroes against each other in their blindness. This Charm enhances Bloodless Murk Evasion. Whenever the Infernal successfully uses it to dodge an attack, they may spend a point of temporary Willpower. They may redirect the missed attack to any valid target within (Manipulation) yards of them. The attack is redirected to the new target with all its successes and effects.

Spiteful Contradiction Grin
Cost: 3m
Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive (Step 2)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Social
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Brooding Resentment Defense

The Ebon Dragon is ultimately contrary, ever-willing to do whatever is needed to spite his friends and foes alike. This Charm can be invoked in response to any social attack or mental influence, whether natural or unnatural. It completely inverts the nature of the social attack–attempts to build or erode Intimacies instead achieve the opposite effect, and attempts to compel some behavior from the Infernal instead cause him to perform the exact opposite. Against other forms of mental influence, this Charm merely allows the Infernal to perfectly dodge the influence–although the Storyteller may arbitrate a reverse effect for the mental influence to impose on him, if one naturally suggests itself. This Charm suffers from the Flaw of the Shadow of All Things.