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Xefas
2011-02-06, 06:11 PM
Having mostly focused on stranger things, such as Heretical charms, Infernal charms for redeeming Yozi, and even some native Akuma charms, I figured it was about time I settled down and did some good ol' fashion boring charms. So, here ya go. As always, I'll add to it as I make more (I also probably take requests!).

Solar

Night Caste
Improvised Weapon Mastery
Cost: 2m; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisite Charms: None

The world knows its masters in the Lawgivers and, in their hands, everything from the smallest sapling to the largest mountain is a weapon capable of felling the Titans. While this charm is active, the Solar increases the Accuracy rating of all improvised weapons he wields from -3 to 0.

At Essence 3+, this charm's duration becomes indefinite.

Friends As Foam Swords Technique
Cost: - (5m); Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Improvised Weapon Mastery

Solars are the greatest of all Exalts, and even the other Exaltations must know this. In their hands, even the ranks of their fellow Exalted become deadly weapons.

A Solar with this charm may attune to other willing Exalts as if they were artifact improvised weapons in the same way they would any other weapon: by handling and practicing with them for 20 minutes. The attunement cost for another Exalt is 5m. Alternatively, in a moment of spontaneity, the Solar may pay 7m as a Reflexive action that is not considered a charm activation and attune to a willing subject that he is in contact with, though this attunement lasts for only a single scene.

While the Solar is wielding another Exalt as an improvised weapon, they gain the magical material bonus that the Exalt's type is associated with: Orichalcum for Solar, Moonsilver for Lunar, Starmetal for Sidereal, Jade for Terrestrial, and Soulsteel for Abyssal. Alchemicals grant the magical material bonus associated with their Caste, Green Sun Princes are considered to be Vitriol-baptized Orichalcum, and Akuma qualify as their non-tainted equivalent. Attuning to an Exalt that resonates with the "wrong" material, in this case, does not increase the attunement cost.

As is the case in many situations, a Solar's Lunar mate is especially compatible with him. Should the Solar wield his attuned mate as an improvised weapon, they deal lethal damage instead of the normal bashing for improvised weapons.

The kind of symbiosis instated by this charm is just that: symbiotic. When the Solar wields his friends as a weapon, they take no damage from their intentional collision with the enemy when the Solar makes an attack with them. This doesn't grant them full invulnerability, however. Foes may still target and damage the Exalt being wielded by the Solar when he is not actively performing an attack with them.

Zenith Caste
Sun-Body Apotheosis
Cost: 20m, 1wp; Mins: Integrity 7, Essence 7; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious, Native, Holy
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisite Charms: Rising Sun Soul, Should The Sun Not Rise

Within every Solar flows the iconography, the precepts, and symbolisms of the sun. But, for some, metaphor is not enough. When a Solar activates this charm, their possessions are immediately banished to Elsewhere for the duration. Their skin begins to shine with impossible brilliance until the luminescence becomes too great and their physical form melts away altogether. With this, they streak high into the sky, exploding with a thunderous roar audible for miles. In their wake, a new sun looms above.

While in this form, a Solar shines natural sunlight out to (Essence x 100) miles. Within this area, creatures respire Essence as if in Creation, all Holy charms cost 1 less mote to activate (min 1), and the concept of Holy persists for everyone within, regardless of whether the Unconquered Sun is alive or not.

The Solar may fly in this form at double his normal land speed, and he may make unarmed attacks, substituting flares of light for punches and kicks, though he lacks the limbs to make use of weapons or to clinch without a stunt of some kind. Such light-fueled attacks are automatically Holy. The Solar has +30B/30L/15A and Hardness 10 in addition to any natural soak, though they may not benefit from other sources of soak or hardness. In addition, the area within 300 yards of the Solar is considered a Trauma 3 environmental hazard that deals 5L/Action due to heat, pressure, and consuming brilliance. Creatures that rely on sight also take a -2 external penalty to all rolls to attack the Solar, as it is impossible to look directly at him.

The Solar may focus his senses at any single point within the area of his sunlight, changing this location as a Reflexive action once per turn. Where his senses are focused, he perceives things as if his normal body were standing at that point. Within his sunlight, prayers to him are reduced to Difficulty 1, which makes communication easier. The Solar may choose to speak either as he normally would through the location his senses are focused at, or he may choose to issue a thunderous voices that emanates from his Sun-Body and may be heard for (Essence x 5) miles from it.

A second purchase of this charm at Integrity 8+, Essence 8+ increases the duration to Indefinite and extends the range of the Solar's sunlight to (Essence x 1,000) miles. A third purchase at Integrity 9+, Essence 9+ reduces the mote cost to ten and causes the Solar's light to spread to the very boundaries of Creation. They now burn as bright as the Daystar itself. A fourth purchase at Integrity 10, Essence 10 reduces the mote cost to zero and changes the duration to Permanent. The Solar's Human Body separates from his Sun Body (gaining all previously banished possessions). He now exists as both simultaneously. Motes, Willpower, and Virtue Channels are shared between the two bodies, but they may still take actions and activate charms independently, and their Health Levels are tracked separately. The two share an Experience Point pool, and increased traits or learned charms apply to both of them equally. Similarly, the loss of permanent traits effects both bodies. However, if an effect reduces the Solar's permanent Essence, they do not lose this charm (and thus do not lose their Sun Body). It is an inexorable part of their identity now.

If the Solar's Human Body dies, his Sun Body shrivels and blackens before plummeting to the ground in a wretched fireball and subsequently disappearing entirely. If his Sun Body dies, his Human Body shudders for a moment, staring wistfully into the distance as the Solar Exaltation leaves his now-burning corpse where it stands.

Aubade Avatar Recreation
Cost: -; Mins: Integrity 10, Essence 10; Type: -
Keywords: -
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Sun-Body Apotheosis (x4), Final Ray of Light

This charm modifies Sun-Body Apotheosis such that the Solar's Sun-Body can survive even if his Human Body dies, as well as the way in which Final Ray of Light effects the Solar's Human Body. The Solar's Human Body does not reform immediately after death, nor does it lose a dot of permanent Essence. Instead, the body immolates in a blaze of bright light, disappearing with all of its possessions. One week later, as the first rays of dawn pierce the night, the Solar's Sun Body reforms his Human Body at some point in space that his sunlight touches, with all of his possessions intact. A dot of permanent Essence is not lost from this. However, during this week, the Solar's Sun Body cannot make use of Final Ray of Light - killing it ends the Solar completely.

Twilight Caste
Unbound Creativity Dementia
Cost: - (1wp); Mins: Lore 5, Essence 4; Type: -
Keywords: -
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Harmonious Academic Methodology

By taking this charm, the Solar suffers a minor psychotic break such that they find it easier to consider and comprehend the theoretical or the impossible than to dwell on the mundane or realistic. Whenever the Solar decides to begin the training process to learn a charm that he has never witnessed nor that he has a teacher for, he may spend a point of Willpower to halve his training time (effectively counteracting the penalty for not have a teacher). His own psychosis is the only tutor he requires.

A second purchase of this charm allows a Solar to extend this benefit to others. If he is present for the training time, he may provide the benefits of a tutor if the character in question is learning a charm that neither of them have witnessed before. Even though he can't give advice from experience, he can give advice from crazy and that's just as good.

Terrestrial

Earth Aspect
Imperial Seahorse Reversal
Cost: 1m; Mins: Resistance 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Shaping
Duration: One Year
Prerequisite Charms: None

The vast majority of cultures in Creation have a stance of gender equality. And so, it may be very inconvenient for women with highly physical or demanding jobs when they wish to also pursue the creation of a family as a man in the same situation might. Fortunately, for the Exalted, such issues may be resolved easily.

When a Terrestrial with this charm succeeds on the (Stamina + Resistance) roll to become pregnant, they may reflexively activate this charm to shape their lover's internal organs into a makeshift womb, that they then implant the newly fertilized egg into, allowing the surrogate mother to take their place for the one year gestation period that the child of an Exalt undergoes. Upon the completion of the gestation period, this charm provides limited protection to the parent when giving birth, allowing them to naturally release a child without complication do to incompatible anatomy (although standard pain and complication do apply).

A Terrestrial may have as many simultaneous uses of this charm active as they wish, so long as they commit a separate mote to each one. If they are not currently pregnant, and they release a committed mote, the unformed child is shunted briefly through Elsewhere and into their own womb, connecting various vital parts as if they had always been there. Releasing committed motes while they are already pregnant simply aborts the additional children through a chasm into Elsewhere.

While this charm was first popularized in the Realm after the ravages of the Great Contagion, similar charms have been in use by other Exalt types since the First Age, and possibly just as long for spirits of all kinds as well. With their more powerful charms, a Lunar or Infernal version might incorporate automatic protection to the increased physical and psychological risks the carrying of Beastman or Demon-Blood offspring has for the parent.

Vicious Broodmother Instinct
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Integrity 4, Essence 4; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Dynasty
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisite Charms: Unflagging Vengeance Meditation

Who can stand against the fury of a mother dragon protecting her eggs? A dragon who would boil the sea, and crush the mountains, and smother the sky, and thrash her limbs and beat her wings even unto her dying breath to see them safe?

This charm may only be activated in a scene in which the Terrestrial is defending children from harm. This includes defending someone who is pregnant, which could very well be the Terrestrial activating the charm. This only functions if the Terrestrial did not instigate the fight. They must be defending from someone who actively intends to harm the children and has given no other choice. If the Terrestrial has reason to believe the offenders have offered reasonable, sincere surrender terms, or have no intention of directly physically harming the children, then they may not activate this charm.

Once activated, some primal switch flips on in the Terrestrial brain. In that fraction of a second, they explode into a frothing rage, with no other concern but to the safety of their charge. Their anima explodes into the 16+ level, though their anima flux specifically does not harm children for the duration of the charm. They feel neither pity, nor remorse, automatically failing on all Compassion checks, and succeeding on all Valor checks; they will not back down, even if they are clearly outmatched and will certainly die. Each turn, they must be spending at least one action toward murdering all aggressors as violently as is possible in their means.

In exchange, the Dragonblood regains a single mote every tick while Vicious Broodmother Instinct is active.

At the cost of an additional point of Willpower, the Terrestrial that activates this charm may also include up to (Essence x 2) other nearby Terrestrials who are willing to commit to the defense of the children, incensing them with the same effects as if they had also activated this charm.

The Dynasty effect kicks in should the Terrestrial fail in their duty and die in the process. All of the Terrestrial's blood relatives receive a vision upon the next time they sleep, which imparts the Terrestrial's act of heroic sacrifice and, more importantly, the identities of their murderer or murderers. This can only grant as much additional information as the Terrestrial knew. If the Terrestrial knew their name, then that is imparted, if they knew their faces, then those are imparted even if they were wearing masks at the time, if they knew detailed lists of all of their attacker's charm loadouts, then that is also imparted. And so on.

Finally, should a Terrestrial with this charm specifically and maliciously endanger the lives of children at any point (even while this charm is not active), then they lose the ability to activate this charm for a full year.

Infernal

Ebon Dragon
Bacon-in-the-Soap Infliction
Cost: 6m; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Shaping
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisite Charms: Shadow Spite Curse, Damning Petulance Technique

The world conforms to the will of heroes. Essence flocks to those who overachieve, Exaltations bless those that exemplify courage and valiance, and the shinma themselves weave stories such that the heroic acquire the attention and opportunities they require. The Ebon Dragon would tear all of this down. The Creation spawned from his darkest dreams would be a place of oppressive incompetence, cowardice, and insecurity in which those that attempted to achieve something greater than themselves would fail invariably until the last drops of hope in the world had dried up.

By making a successful roll of (Essence + Occult) at a difficulty equal to the target's highest virtue, the Infernal may inflict stupidly bad luck on a victim within (Essence x 10) yards. Once inflicted, if the victim attempts anything impressive or heroic, defined as any action modified by a virtue channel, a spent dot of Willpower, stunt dice, or a charm activation, they must also succeed on an Essence roll or automatically fail to perform that action due to an inexplicable, and often humiliating, contrivance. A Solar using Elegant Dance of Bow and Blade to reflexively draw his daiklaive might find that he has accidentally drawn a rabid badger covered in angry bees that he doesn't quite remember placing in his backpack, or the Perfect of Paragon using a channel of Compassion with his Performance roll to inspire his people to risk their lives in the fight against an oncoming demon horde may find himself with a sudden case of abnormally loud and explosive diarrhea.

Alas, the Ebon Dragon is merely a skulking shadow; a bully; a monster under one's bed. He makes you afraid, and makes you ashamed, but he has no real power. It is his purpose to be defeated, and all it takes is one person to stand up to him before his web of lies comes crumbling down. He has no power to stop a true hero. Actions supplemented by a 3-die stunt or a charm with the Holy keyword are never adversely effected by this charm. Similarly, Bacon-in-the-Soap Infliction fails to effect actions taken by a character that is in physical combat with the person that inflicted them in the first place.

Treachery Within Treachery
Cost: 6m; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Reflexive (Step 2)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Counterattack
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Selfishness Is Power

The Ebon Dragon is the dagger in his own back, and the dagger in yours. He is everything underhanded and unfair. How does one sneak up on a shadow? How do you catch the darkness by surprise? When it comes to sneak attacks, he is always one step ahead.

This charm may be activated to make an unexpected attack become "expected", and make the source of that attack known to the Infernal. In addition, the Ebon Dragon cannot be outdone in treachery! At step 9 of the unexpected attack's resolution, a tenebrous copy of the Infernal appears behind the attacker and performs an unexpected counterattack, before fading away.

Malfeas
Calloused Hands of the Brass Smith
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 3; Type: -
Keywords: -
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Scar-Writ Saga Shield (x2)

Upon acquiring this charm, the Infernal's flesh from the hand to the forearm cracks and splits, finally peeling off to reveal a hard layer of brass-like metal. The Infernal finds that he has lost no manual dexterity from the transition and, furthermore, his limbs now make quite effective weapons. His unarmed punches naturally deal Lethal damage which also gains the Piercing tag versus objects, and he may parry lethal attacks unarmed without a stunt. With further experimentation, he will find that his new arms are also nearly invincible, capable of reaching into molten lava without causing him harm (though this would not protect him if the lava came into contact with the rest of his body).

A second purchase of this charm reveals deeper meaning in its name. Humans require tools. As does the imbecilic Autochthon. Malfeas is above such things. When he desires something, he reaches into the world, tears it asunder, and crushes chunks of it until his will has shaped it into the thing that he desires. With this purchase, the Infernal may do the same. He no longer requires tools for crafting. Rather, he simply grasps the materials required and grinds them in his hands until they conform to his perfect design. This not only provides the benefits of a Master's Workshop, but the Infernal may also use his Essence in place of (the lesser of his Dexterity, Perception, or Intelligence) for designing and crafting small projects or (the lesser of his Perception, or Intelligence) for designing and crafting large projects.

A third purchase imbues the Infernal with an even greater capacity to exert his will over a stubborn universe. When he crafts without tools, the materials bend to his will all the more easily, forming themselves willingly into sleek blades, intricate gears, and tasty meals (Malfeas punches together a great gumbo). He crafts (Essence x 3) times faster than normal, and his hands confer the benefits of a Flawless Workshop; the Solars of the First Age cobbled together vast arrays of mind-bogglingly complex tools and constructed massive Factory Cathedrals to shallowly imitate what the Architects of Creation could do with their bare hands.

Stoic-but-Sensitive Bookish-Type-Infatuating Stance
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: By Pain Reforged, Insignificant Embers Intuition, Beauty Without Malice

On the outside, Malfeas is a mass of calloused layers, eternally bleeding bitterness and seething anger. On the inside, however, he is a beautiful dancer full of hope, shame, and dutiful responsibility.

Brainy chicks eat that stuff up.

This charm supplements any action to help another character who would have a higher dice pool than you on a roll to do Math (with a minimum of at least 5 dice), not counting external things like bonuses from items, stunts, and non-permanent charms. This action could be as simple as picking up something they've dropped, or as dynamic as charging in front of a raging Behemoth to use Defend Other on them.

After performing this action, they have the option to immediately gain a positive intimacy towards you with a connotation of their choice (or upgrade a currently existing intimacy with the following effects). This intimacy forges a magical bond between the two individuals. Firstly, any action to aid you automatically qualifies for a use of a Compassion Channel for them.

Secondly, any influence that would force or convince them to harm or betray you in some way becomes Obvious to their senses, and they may spend one Compassion channel to make doing such things an Unacceptable Order for the rest of the scene.

Finally, when the infatuated character successfully performs a 2 or 3-die stunt on an action to help you with something, framed in the context of using their infatuation to aid them, they may choose to regain one spent Compassion Channel in lieu of any normal stunt rewards.

Explicitly telling an effected character that you return their feelings instantly breaks the effects of this charm over them. Being stoic and unapproachable is what makes you so unspeakably hot.

Impertinence-Mending Hammer
Cost: 0m (20m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Calloused Hands of the Brass Smith

Malfeas sees his broken toys for what they really are. Others claim that they don't work because their wheels have fallen off, or their gears have rusted, or their cords have frayed. He knows that it is simple, impudent laziness.

As part of this charm, the Infernal aims a single solid strike at an object performing at less than its peak efficiency. This strike deals no damage, but rather stirs the Essence pattern of the object. If it is not functioning properly for a simple, easily fixed reason that would take less than an hour to repair with access to a Master's Workshop, then the object springs to life fully repaired instantly, regardless of whether the Infernal had even diagnosed the problem in the first place. Hinges oil themselves, grime burns away, and rust reverses itself as the object attempts to live up to the standards of the Demon Emperor.

If the damages end up being too extensive to fix so simply, but it could conceivable be repaired in (Essence x 3) hours of work, then the Infernal may pay an additional 20 motes and 1 willpower to put some elbow grease into the strike, fixing the broken object anyway. This may apply even to artifacts and manses that require repair or maintenance.

A second purchase at Essence 4+ increasing the number of hours of work the Infernal may pay to instantly repair with a punch to (Essence x 5).

By Illiteracy, Enlightened
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

Malfeas has no dots in Lore. He cannot read. But he does not need to.

This charm supplements any action by the Infernal involving him slamming his head against something containing characters that have some linguistic significance, such as a book or a stone tablet. The Essence released allows the meaning of the words to be jolted from the impact, through the Infernal's skull, and into his brain. Instantly, he knows and understands what was written within the struck item to the extent that he would have had he read it. This bypasses all language barriers in the process.

Due to the speed at which he imbibes information, the Infernal may reduce his training times for learning anything to a scant few minutes, so long as he's learning them from written material.

If a Linguistics Charm or similar effect is present, but reliant on the Infernal reading the text, it does not activate, as he has not actually done any reading.

Subtle Like Nuclear Holocaust
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisite Charms: Crowned With Fury

Malfeas does not hide. Rather, others turn from his magnificence, lest they be consumed. It is in their justified terror that he moves, ostensibly unnoticed.

As part of activating this charm, the Infernal must shout "Ignore Me!". As he does so, his skin ignites with a brilliant green bonfire, shining radiance outward for all to see. Every few seconds, the Infernal must continue to shout "Ignore Me!" as loud as possible. Failing to do so for too long will end the charm prematurely, as the foolish lemmings of the world will become lost without the undeniable decree of their king.

While this charm is active, the Infernal ignores all penalties to attempts at acting stealthy, including ones inflicted by bright light, loud noises, or people looking directly at you. His stealth attempts do not automatically fail for stupid reasons like "Being on an empty stage in front of ten thousand people with a spot light on you.", and any such stealthiness is automatically a viable target for the First Malfeas Excellency.

I'm On A Boat
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Crowned With Fury

Sometimes Malfeas is on a boat. It would seem that, banished from the world, laid low, wrongfully imprisoned and mutilated, that the sea, and the rocks, and the ships have forgotten his dominion over them. They would attempt to keep him from being on a boat. But so long as there is a drop of Essence left in Malfeas, the Devil Tyrant will not concede. He is, in fact, on a boat, and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

Whenever some event would inflict a penalty on the continued operation of a sailing vessel that the Infernal is currently on, they may activate this charm to make the penalty inapplicable so long as he remains upon the vessel in question. In doing so, he must shout at the source of the penalty, some kind of proclamation of his spacial existence upon the boat.

For example, were an iceberg to tear a hole into the side of the Infernal's vessel, he could shout "I'm on this boat, ************!" at the iceberg, and while the boat would still bear a crippling hole on its side, it would not impair the function of the boat so long as the Infernal remained upon it. It would remain buoyant, and maneuver correctly, and so forth.

It is possible for an Infernal to dock a perfectly operational ship, now composed entirely of a half dozen splintered planks and a scrap of torn cloth, held together only by his spite and stubbornness, only to step off of it, and have its remains collapse into nothing.

A second purchase at Essence 4+ allows the Infernal to convince everyone and everything around him that he is on a boat, even if he isn't. This adds an 8 mote surcharge onto the regular cost of this charm, and requires that they be committed. So long as they remain so, the Infernal is, for all intents and purposes, sailing on a Large Yacht (see the Scroll of Kings). He may even store cargo in this mostly fictional vessel, and bring others with him, as his authority convinces them that they too are also on the boat that the Infernal is clearly on as well.

Cecelyne
Demons of Industry Stratagem
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Simple
Keywords: Sorcerous
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Inauspicious Benediction of Endeavor

This charm is the machination of a Malefactor adding to the Endless Desert's charm cascade in preparation for the Reclamation. It must be activated during a lengthy night-time ritual involving willing (though typically ignorant) prayers given by the mortal (or heroic mortal) Leader of an organization that is serving as an anchor for a previous use of the Warlock's "Inauspicious Benediction of Endeavor" charm, and the organization must be bound by a "Hardship" as defined in that charm's text.

At the completion of the ritual, the Leader's soul is hollowed from his body and swept away into a chasm to the Endless Desert. In its place, a dematerialized First Circle Demon of Cecelyne slips through the fissure and inhabits the body instead.

Until this charm is ended, the demon is perfectly disguised in all ways as the sacrificed mortal. Its Fate appears as the mortal's, and it does not even register as a Creature of Darkness when examined with charm technology capable of discerning such. However, its statistics are always determined as the better of the mortal's and demon's, and it has full access to its natural spirit charms. Should the mortal/demon gestalt die, the demon is banished back to the Demon Realm with 0 motes, and one -4 health level, filling the remainder with Aggravated Damage. It may not regain motes until all of its health levels have returned.

Applying Countermagic to the disguised demon banishes it back to the Demon Realm, though no worse for wear, although its mortal-shell-host dies, and the anchoring point for Inauspicious Benediction of Endeavor passes to the next most qualified member of the organization.

Working under a demon, all mortal and heroic mortals in the Organization slowly begin to corrupt themselves. Every week hence is considered a scene developing an intimacy of devotion towards the Yozi, and upon the completion of such an intimacy, they become Creatures of Darkness and Natives of Malfeas. An organization completely composed of such corrupted mortals adds an additional success to the bonus granted by Inauspicious Benediction of Endeavor.

At Essence 6+, on the night of the New Moon, this charm may invest a mortal with a Second Circle Demon of Cecelyne, rather than a First Circle Demon.

At Essence 8+, during Calibration, this charm may invest a mortal with a Third Circle Demon of Cecelyne, rather than a First or Second Circle Demon.

Primal Fury
2011-02-06, 06:39 PM
The first two charms feel like they should be Melee charms, since it doesn't modify what can be lifted and used as a weapon, only what can be used at the Solar's present strength, and Friends as Foam Swords feels too close to World-Breaker Grip (if only in spirit, and not in function).

I don't like Sun-Body Apotheosis. It's too... weird, too Infernal. It turns the Solar into something other than a human, something Solar charms just aren't supposed to do. It seems more appropriate as an Infernal Shintai.

And you need to change that Bacon charm. As is, it allows the Ebon Dragon to bypass his own Greater Imperfection.

Xefas
2011-02-06, 07:13 PM
The first two charms feel like they should be Melee charms, since it doesn't modify what can be lifted and used as a weapon, only what can be used at the Solar's present strength, and...

Except that you can use improvised weapons with Melee, or Thrown, or even Martial Arts if you have Solar, Abyssal, or Infernal Hero Style. It's not exclusively melee, so I figured Athletics was a good compromise, as it's something an improvised-weapon wielder is going to be focused on anyway.

Friends as Foam Swords feels too close to World-Breaker Grip (if only in spirit, and not in function).

I actually meant to specify that your friends don't take damage from you wielding them. Does that make it friendly enough to differentiate it from World-Breaker Grip?

But, then again, the inventor of Infernal Monster Style was a Solar, and Solars already get a mirror of one of Infernal Monster Style's charms. A little bit of thematic overlap seems intended.

I don't like Sun-Body Apotheosis. It's too... weird, too Infernal.

I gotz to work with what I know, man! :smalltongue:

It turns the Solar into something other than a human, something Solar charms just aren't supposed to do. It seems more appropriate as an Infernal Shintai.

This is that whole "existing in two bodies" thing, isn't it?

Y'know, this originally started as a War charm that allowed you to shine down on a battlefield as a tiny miniature sun and direct your troops from an RTS-player type perspective, using beams of light to instantly relay communication between units. Its duration never got past One Scene.

And you need to change that Bacon charm.

There's something I never thought I'd read. :smallbiggrin: And I sincerely hope you never thought you'd type it.

As is, it allows the Ebon Dragon to bypass his own Greater Imperfection.

How so? :smallconfused:

Tengu_temp
2011-02-06, 07:25 PM
A Solar with this charm may attune to other willing Exalts as if they were artifact improvised weapons in the same way they would any other weapon: by handling and practicing with them for 20 minutes. The attunement cost for another Exalt is 5m.


This amused me. Well done.

Weimann
2011-02-06, 07:47 PM
Solar

Improvised Weapon Mastery

This one looks cool. I can see the thought behind putting it in Athletics, but hmm. Maybe Merged?

Friends As Foam Swords Technique

That's... uh. Really cool for one. However, if the ally take on the properties of the Magical Material he resonates with, does he also become indestructable? If so, the charm may be used to work as an exploit for immortality. Maybe expound on what goes for the weaponised ally?

Sun-Body Apotheosis

Aubade Avatar Recreation

You know, stuff like this is stuff that Solars should be able to do. I really think so. They should pull more themes from the Sun as such, not just his perfection of skill. But right now, while awesome, this seems more like a Heretical Infernal's take on emulating the Sun rather than a Solar's.

Unbound Creativity Dementia

Again, great, but the whole insanity thing also reminds me quite a bit of Infernals. It's just a fluff thing; the mechanics are sweet and addresses a utility niche I've not seen filled before. Maybe not insanity but intense meditation on the Ability? That said, the insanity thing isn't terrible, but it seems a bit off-key for a Solar, whose powers generally doesn't come with drawbacks.

Terrestrial

Imperial Seahorse Reversal

Uh. Useful, I guess :smalleek: I'd say it's not exactly Terrestrial so much as Lunar, but they do put a lot of weight in family and succession and it stands to reason they have charms to enhance and ease the procedure. Nice, if a bit squicky, personally.

Infernal

Bacon-in-the-Soap Infliction

This one is great. The only complaint might be that it adds a butt load of rolls, which slows down the same, but really, who doesn't use automated roll algorithms? A bit fiddly, that is all.

Tavar
2011-02-06, 07:57 PM
Well, I think the designers have stated that there's a strong transhumanist element to all of the exalted, Solars included. And that Solar charms stop being 'human, but better' around essence 4.

You might wanna put something about what happens if there are two suns in the sky.

Primal Fury
2011-02-06, 08:17 PM
Except that you can use improvised weapons with Melee, or Thrown, or even Martial Arts if you have Solar, Abyssal, or Infernal Hero Style. It's not exclusively melee, so I figured Athletics was a good compromise, as it's something an improvised-weapon wielder is going to be focused on anyway.
Fair enough.



I actually meant to specify that your friends don't take damage from you wielding them. Does that make it friendly enough to differentiate it from World-Breaker Grip?
That does feel a bit better, yes.



I gotz to work with what I know, man! :smalltongue:
It wouldn't bother me so much if it weren't a physical transformation, though I can't imagine how you'd make such a charm any other way.


Y'know, this originally started as a War charm that allowed you to shine down on a battlefield as a tiny miniature sun and direct your troops from an RTS-player type perspective, using beams of light to instantly relay communication between units. Its duration never got past One Scene.
That actually sounds pretty cool.


How so? :smallconfused:
It causes any roll enhanced by a virtue channel to automatically fail, and Ebbie explicitly cannot use his perfect defense against attacks enhanced with virtue channels, thereby offering a roundabout way of negating his Greater Imperfection. Granted, it's Shaping, and the people you want to use it against will probably have defenses against it anyway, but the possibility is there.

Lix Lorn
2011-02-07, 05:42 AM
I adore Friends as Foam Swords. xD

Rockbird
2011-02-07, 05:49 AM
With regards to Improvised Weapon Mastery, maybe put it in all the combat abilities and give it the Merged keyword?

IcarusWings
2011-02-07, 12:48 PM
I really like Sun-God Apoethosis, but then again, I haven't got around to reading MEP: Infernals yet, so I'm not fussed about any toe-stepping. I really like Friends as Foam Swords too.

Teln
2011-02-07, 05:10 PM
It causes any roll enhanced by a virtue channel to automatically fail, and Ebbie explicitly cannot use his perfect defense against attacks enhanced with virtue channels, thereby offering a roundabout way of negating his Greater Imperfection. Granted, it's Shaping, and the people you want to use it against will probably have defenses against it anyway, but the possibility is there.

No, Ebbie's FoI is that he can't activate any of his perfects against any Holy effects. Check MoEP: Infernals again.


Unless this got changed in Broken-Winged Crane. I still don't have that yet. Stupid college.

Primal Fury
2011-02-07, 06:03 PM
He has his regular imperfection (which is against Holy), but his Greater Imperfection is detailed in Return of the Scarlet Empress, which makes him vulnerable to actions enhanced by virtue channels.

aetherialDawn
2011-02-09, 01:32 PM
(Solars! EDIT: Terrestrials! EDIT: And that's Infernals.)

First: Glee! :smallbiggrin:

Second, actual charms. This is gonna be loooong.
When I start with 'This charm seems [X]' I am ALWAYS referring to it in a purely mechanical sense. I may have problems with the flavor or even with a few specific mechanics, but that first comment is on the overall balance and worth.

The short version of over half the charms below: 'Mechanics are fine, maybe a tiny change, but the flavor needs to be smoothed out or expanded upon.'
Good work!

Solar
-Improvised Weapon Mastery
--This charm seems quite good. 2m for up to +3 accuracy dice, but only on improvised weapons. I would call it a little underpowered really, save that it becomes permanent quickly (Essence 3) and that improvised weapons, for a Solar, is a truly enormous category. I agree that it should be Athletics-available, but only because it is explicity abnormal weapons, not trained weapons. I think it should be possible to qualify with 3 in any of Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown, or Athletics, not just Athletics. It's okay to put one charm in multiple skills!

-Friends as Foam Swords Technique
--This charm seems fine, if a bit on the silly side in most cases. The most 'serious' use that comes to mind immediately for this is picking up your Full Moon Lunar Mate and tossing the bundle of bestial fury at an enemy. If it didn't require the preparation* (keeping it more 'improvised') then I would be happy to place it firmly as a serious charm; sometimes, there is no weapon, and you need a magical one, and this ensures that as long as a Solar isn't alone, there is a Magical-Material weapon close to hand. It should note whether Akuma function as Vitriol-Baptized (their magical material) or as their original magical material, since unlike GSPs the Exaltation itself has not been modified. As with Improvised Weapon Mastery, it should be possible to qualify with any of Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown, or Athletics.

*Perhaps costing 7m and a Speed 3/DV -0 action to attune for a scene, thus making the 'practice' method still worthwhile? Or counting sparring as practice? Swinging someone around for 20 minutes seems too much to me, and I wouldn't want that getting in the way of me throwing my Lunar Mate at a fleeing bad guy...


-Sun-Body Apotheosis
--I'm gonna need time to think on this one. It is a drastic change, to be sure, but I don't think the basic idea is Infernal rather than Solar. I think the easiest change is to make the actual sun the Solar's anima in some fashion, expanded to be like the glory of the Unconquered Sun himself, rather than a proper transformation. No mechanics changes yet, since I need to think, save possibly specifying that killing the Solar shatters the extra sun/his anima and sends his body back down to the ground.

-Aublade Avatar Recreation
--My FIRST opinion on this charm: 'This may seem odd, but ABSOLUTELY NOT! This removes far too many of the vulnerabilities from having TWO bodies. Already the Solar has two fully Exalted bodies, a Sun and a Human, with all his power. The shared mote pools and such does severely impact the split, but this charm gives the player an expendable Essence 10 Solar, even if they have to spend motes for anything that Solar does.'

--On further contemplation, I'm going to say that it's okay, but I have reservations about it. It is an Essence 10 charm, obviously, so simple power is not a concern, only that it is so simple - which was too much for me. However, I then thought of the Unconquered Sun's own perfect defenses, and compared this instead to that - essentially, the Solar has his perfect defense tied up with a second body. Looked at in that fashion, it manages to be 'okay.' I think that it would be nice to note that, as written, it does have a problem... The Sun and Human bodies share health levels, so the implications of the charm contradict the previous, since Apotheosis implies that the Sun and Human live or die together, whereas this implies that they are separate. I would recommend splitting the health levels (Essentially, each body has its own set of the original health levels.) Also specifying that the loss of the Human Body does not harm the Sun Body, save that it now lacks a Human Body. The loss of the Sun Body probably kills the Human Body, and that should also be specified.

-Unbound Creativity Dementia
--This is just fine mechanically. Flavorwise, this is definitely Infernal as it is, in that the insanity leads to the power. I think to make it Solar all you need to do is specify that it is the contemplation which leads to apparent insanity compared to others, and that extending its benefits can seem insane to the recipient, though in hindsight it makes sense. This would fit better with the fact that the charm doesn't have a limit cost, as well - the Solar isn't truly insane, just 'out of touch due to circumstances'.

Only Infernals (and more rarely, Abyssals or Gremlins/Chimeras) get to use insanity for power generally... Everyone else just goes insane anyway as a side effect.

Terrestrial
-Imperial Seahorse Reversal
--This is perfectly fine, with just a few changes I'd recommend. First, I think it only requires Resistance 4, Essence 2 - it's demanding to have a child, but Resistance 5 tends to be for even more demanding things, such as attempted bisection with giant swords. However, especially given that it has to provide protection for the probably-male (it is Exalted, I can't be sure) to have the child, Resistance 3 (that is to say, still normal person) is just not enough.
It should also allow a male Terrestrial to take the charm, save that the 'roles' are reversed (instead of reshaping the lover, it reshapes himself. It still would require an actual pregnancy to occur, since the charm does not create spontaneous egg cells/babies.)
Finally, it should note that the charm has been created since the Usurpation, probably in the Realm but also probably spreading to Lookshy. Pre-Usurpation, there would be far less demand for such a charm, but I can certainly see the Realm making this. It probably is not so much for the convenience of the mother, so much as ensuring the best use of highly pure blood - if you have a female Terrestrial with Breeding 5, then having more children allows you to one-up the other houses in your duty of spreading it.

Infernal
Infernal charms aren't what I would call 'normal', but this is normal for an Infernal charm, so that's fine.
-Bacon-in-the-Soap Infliction
--I think just note that if the subject turns upon the one who activated this charm, then their vengeance rejects the intervention of this charm - the Ebon Dragon acts from the shadows, and so to turn the light onto him strips away his power. Then it's fine, and nicely avoids the indirect cancellation of his Imperfections.

Except it allows two fiends to protect each other... Perhaps it simply doesn't interfere with ANY restriction of an Ebon Dragon charm; the Ebon Dragon is self-defeating, and so any attempt to fix his own weaknesses this way is as doomed to failure as the heroism of the subject, in a sort of tragic double-failure fashion.

Xefas
2011-02-17, 11:08 PM
Alright, I love the amount of feedback these got. Definitely need to do more normal charms in the future. (In fact, I have a new one up already! And it's an Infernal Craft Charm! Yes, I have the hubris! The hubris is mine!)

However, my ability to focus leaves something to be desired. So I'll be responding to some now, and all the others in a second post...soon. I'm not ignoring anyone! I promise. I'm just easily distracted. I meant to respond to everyone several days ago, but instead I made that Terrestrial Martial Art.

And then I was planning to respond again, but instead I finished the first iteration of the mechanics for my Avatar: The Last Airbender RPG.

Easily distracted.


Well, I think the designers have stated that there's a strong transhumanist element to all of the exalted, Solars included. And that Solar charms stop being 'human, but better' around essence 4.

See, I remember reading this, too. Gryffon Durime also referenced this same thing. He said he was going to look for it and send me a link, but I'm guessing he couldn't find it. I've sunk a few hours into scouring the web as well, but to no avail. And now, with the WW forum shift, I'm wondering if I'll ever find that post.


You might wanna put something about what happens if there are two suns in the sky.

Like what?



It causes any roll enhanced by a virtue channel to automatically fail, and Ebbie explicitly cannot use his perfect defense against attacks enhanced with virtue channels, thereby offering a roundabout way of negating his Greater Imperfection. Granted, it's Shaping, and the people you want to use it against will probably have defenses against it anyway, but the possibility is there.

I would think this falls into that same sort of category as "Malfeas can only use his Perfect Defense in cities. And then he has a tree of charms that turns him into a city." or "Kimbery can only use her Perfect Defenses next to the sea. But she has a charm that makes her The Sea." or "Cecelyne can only use her Perfect Defense against people of similar or lower Essence. Her Essence is Max." Only this requires a roll to work, is shaping, and temporary (and would need to be cast individually on each person attacking him).

I guess the sticky part is that we don't know their Greater Imperfections (if that isn't just an Ebon Dragon thing), but the point is that I think there's some leeway in negating an Imperfection in a roundabout way.

If that's not enough justification, what if I made it so that actions supplemented by a Holy charm couldn't be effected?


With regards to Improvised Weapon Mastery, maybe put it in all the combat abilities and give it the Merged keyword?

While this might work, I just think it works more thematically in that, a Melee/Thrown/Martial Artist might be the kind of brawny guy this charm is aimed at. The kind of guy who casually picks up his werewolf buddy and brandishes him like a club. Then again, he might not be. He might be the thin, wiry fencer, or ninja, or whatever. If you have 3 in Athletics, you pretty much have to be muscly.

While the book only gives examples about balance and dexterity having to do with Athletics, the fact is that even if you have bog standard Strength (2), if you have Athletics 3, you can punch through doors and bench-press farm animals. That is the "theme" of person I want to have this charm. That is why I want it to be Athletics.

(Also, as a tangent, I'd much prefer the balance/acrobatics/jumping/speed stuff be rolled into Dodge, and maybe have the Feat of Strength stuff and other trained muscly-ness rolled into Resistance, and then abolish Athletics as an Ability. I could say that about several Exalted abilities, but there you go.)


This amused me. Well done.


I adore Friends as Foam Swords. xD


I really like Sun-God Apoethosis, but then again, I haven't got around to reading MEP: Infernals yet, so I'm not fussed about any toe-stepping. I really like Friends as Foam Swords too.

:smallbiggrin:

Primal Fury
2011-02-17, 11:24 PM
Only this requires a roll to work, is shaping, and temporary (and would need to be cast individually on each person attacking him).
That doesn't help really. If an effect allows you to circumvent an Imperfection in any way, even with all the qualifiers you placed on it, it'll still happen in some instances, and that just doesn't work.


If that's not enough justification, what if I made it so that actions supplemented by a Holy charm couldn't be effected?
I guess. Ebbie does roflstomp CoDs.

aetherialDawn
2011-02-18, 03:02 PM
Infernal Craft Charm!

Infernal Craft Charm! Yay!

(read)

MALFEAS Craft Charm! Double-Yay!

Calloused Hands of the Brass Smith
I have good news, and I have bad news. The good news is that it's a fine charm! The bad news is that two words may need to be replaced.

I think you craft with the least applicable ability, not the greatest, so replacing your greatest applicable attribute does nothing.

That is all, good job.



Almost forgot: The Ebon Dragon should not use a charm to make his defense work, it should be a part of his nature as a whole. And indeed, it is his nature to try and make everyone an utter sociopath who would never learn a holy charm or channel their virtues.

The charm should not enhance the use of the Ebon Dragon's PD directly or indirectly through any interaction charm to charm; it already enhances the PD because it encourages a person to stop being heroic. By the time the cowardly Ebon Dragon comes to say hello, the person should be too broken to even attack and so the charm will have done its work anyway. The Ebon Dragon does not enhance his defenses even by harming another; he never puts himself in danger in the first place. He'll curse you from far away and then wait for you to give up.

Xefas
2011-02-18, 05:00 PM
Part 2!



-Friends as Foam Swords Technique
--This charm seems fine, if a bit on the silly side in most cases. The most 'serious' use that comes to mind immediately for this is picking up your Full Moon Lunar Mate and tossing the bundle of bestial fury at an enemy. If it didn't require the preparation* (keeping it more 'improvised') then I would be happy to place it firmly as a serious charm; sometimes, there is no weapon, and you need a magical one, and this ensures that as long as a Solar isn't alone, there is a Magical-Material weapon close to hand. It should note whether Akuma function as Vitriol-Baptized (their magical material) or as their original magical material, since unlike GSPs the Exaltation itself has not been modified. As with Improvised Weapon Mastery, it should be possible to qualify with any of Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown, or Athletics.

*Perhaps costing 7m and a Speed 3/DV -0 action to attune for a scene, thus making the 'practice' method still worthwhile? Or counting sparring as practice? Swinging someone around for 20 minutes seems too much to me, and I wouldn't want that getting in the way of me throwing my Lunar Mate at a fleeing bad guy...

Alright, I added a line about spontaneous attunement, and clarified Akuma. How does it look now?


-Aublade Avatar Recreation
--On further contemplation, I'm going to say that it's okay, but I have reservations about it. It is an Essence 10 charm, obviously, so simple power is not a concern, only that it is so simple - which was too much for me. However, I then thought of the Unconquered Sun's own perfect defenses, and compared this instead to that - essentially, the Solar has his perfect defense tied up with a second body. Looked at in that fashion, it manages to be 'okay.' I think that it would be nice to note that, as written, it does have a problem... The Sun and Human bodies share health levels, so the implications of the charm contradict the previous, since Apotheosis implies that the Sun and Human live or die together, whereas this implies that they are separate. I would recommend splitting the health levels (Essentially, each body has its own set of the original health levels.) Also specifying that the loss of the Human Body does not harm the Sun Body, save that it now lacks a Human Body. The loss of the Sun Body probably kills the Human Body, and that should also be specified.[/SPOILER]

This was a good catch. I added that Health Levels are tracked separately and put an additional paragraph at the end of Sun-Body Apotheosis, plus added some to the first part of Aubade Avatar Recreation. I hope this clears up the weirdness (which I hadn't noticed until you pointed it out).


-Unbound Creativity Dementia
--This is just fine mechanically. Flavorwise, this is definitely Infernal as it is, in that the insanity leads to the power. I think to make it Solar all you need to do is specify that it is the contemplation which leads to apparent insanity compared to others, and that extending its benefits can seem insane to the recipient, though in hindsight it makes sense. This would fit better with the fact that the charm doesn't have a limit cost, as well - the Solar isn't truly insane, just 'out of touch due to circumstances'.

I think this may be a semantic problem with the word "insane". What you describe is basically what I was going for. "Insane" in the way one might describe Nikola Tesla as "insane". Not really violently, psychotically deranged or mentally handicapped, just "Wow, that guy is kinda...interesting". There are a wide variety of insanities one might have, and the first sentence of the charm describes exactly what this brand of crazy does; no more, no less.

I would classify Epic Zeal of [Virtue] as an even larger example of Solars gaining power from going a little crazy. Being as powerful as Solars are, I think it makes a lot of sense that they eventually start thinking differently than your average joe.


-Imperial Seahorse Reversal
--This is perfectly fine, with just a few changes I'd recommend. First, I think it only requires Resistance 4, Essence 2 - it's demanding to have a child, but Resistance 5 tends to be for even more demanding things, such as attempted bisection with giant swords. However, especially given that it has to provide protection for the probably-male (it is Exalted, I can't be sure) to have the child, Resistance 3 (that is to say, still normal person) is just not enough.
It should also allow a male Terrestrial to take the charm, save that the 'roles' are reversed (instead of reshaping the lover, it reshapes himself. It still would require an actual pregnancy to occur, since the charm does not create spontaneous egg cells/babies.)
Finally, it should note that the charm has been created since the Usurpation, probably in the Realm but also probably spreading to Lookshy. Pre-Usurpation, there would be far less demand for such a charm, but I can certainly see the Realm making this. It probably is not so much for the convenience of the mother, so much as ensuring the best use of highly pure blood - if you have a female Terrestrial with Breeding 5, then having more children allows you to one-up the other houses in your duty of spreading it.

Its funny you should mention the origin of the charm, as I actually wrote a joke-version of it in the first General Exalted Discussion thread with the connotation of it having been invented by the Scarlet Empress who, obviously, had quite a few children but also had this mind-bogglingly massive country to run. No time for morning sickness!

But, yeah, so I added a blurb about its popularity in the Realm. And I reduced the Resistance requirement. I'm a little iffy on having a male version. Someone would have had to invent it, and aside from the obvious problem of finding a Dragonblood man in the Realm's society who would spend the time and XP developing an "I now get to go through childbirth" charm instead of an "I automatically have sex with all the women ever" charm, there's also the fact that it would be just plain less useful. Men can already spread the love, so its uses would be far more niche.



-Bacon-in-the-Soap Infliction
--I think just note that if the subject turns upon the one who activated this charm, then their vengeance rejects the intervention of this charm - the Ebon Dragon acts from the shadows, and so to turn the light onto him strips away his power. Then it's fine, and nicely avoids the indirect cancellation of his Imperfections.

Except it allows two fiends to protect each other... Perhaps it simply doesn't interfere with ANY restriction of an Ebon Dragon charm; the Ebon Dragon is self-defeating, and so any attempt to fix his own weaknesses this way is as doomed to failure as the heroism of the subject, in a sort of tragic double-failure fashion.

I actually...really like this solution. I'll go add an addendum to the charm.



Friends As Foam Swords Technique

That's... uh. Really cool for one. However, if the ally take on the properties of the Magical Material he resonates with, does he also become indestructable? If so, the charm may be used to work as an exploit for immortality. Maybe expound on what goes for the weaponised ally?

I've gone and tried to clarify it a bit.


Unbound Creativity Dementia

Again, great, but the whole insanity thing also reminds me quite a bit of Infernals. It's just a fluff thing; the mechanics are sweet and addresses a utility niche I've not seen filled before. Maybe not insanity but intense meditation on the Ability? That said, the insanity thing isn't terrible, but it seems a bit off-key for a Solar, whose powers generally doesn't come with drawbacks.

Is being insane a drawback? In this case, being insane seems to be solely helpful. Then again, this is the same semantic problem as before. I guess I should say "You evolve your brain, blah blah blah, transhumanist intellect, etc etc". But I like the kind of character ideas just plain ol' "Your crazy!" evokes. Solars should have mad scientists and weird hermits that live on islands and use turtles as symbolism for teaching you how to shoot giant energy beams.

Sometimes "insane" means
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad91/bluejanus/bumi.png

and not

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad91/bluejanus/wallpaper_heath_ledger_the_joker_1.jpg


That doesn't help really. If an effect allows you to circumvent an Imperfection in any way, even with all the qualifiers you placed on it, it'll still happen in some instances, and that just doesn't work.

I changed the last paragraph. How about now?



MALFEAS Craft Charm! Double-Yay!

Calloused Hands of the Brass Smith
I have good news, and I have bad news. The good news is that it's a fine charm! The bad news is that two words may need to be replaced.

I think you craft with the least applicable ability, not the greatest, so replacing your greatest applicable attribute does nothing.

That is all, good job.


Ah, another good catch. That may have just been me getting confused between iterations of the charm. Originally, it got rid of "least of Dex/Per/Int" and replaced it with "greatest of Str/Cha". Then I was like..."Oh wait! Malfeas doesn't have attributes!"

So yeah.

aetherialDawn
2011-02-19, 04:51 PM
All the old charms are good now, in my opinion*. Bacon-in-the-Soap Infliction is now a proper curse, not a combat benefit - you do it not because you want to fight someone, but because you hate them and want to see them brought low. It's very Ebon Dragon, right down to having a lot of weaknesses if you look too closely, but being more effective the longer it's allowed to corrupt someone.

*And I am okay with your explanation of crazy, especially in light of Epic Zeal of [Virtue] and, well, First Age Solars really did have this thing about sacrificing sanity for power.

Vicious Broodmother Instinct
This seems like an interesting idea, but I'm not sure if I can judge it effectively! It turns a pregnant Terrestrial into a murderous monster in direct combat to most Exalted, let alone anyone else, for an entire year. Yet on the other hand, it can be rendered inactive by offering surrender terms, and cannot be used to initiate a fight. As intended, I'm going to come down on the side of this being a good charm, but take my advice with a bit of uncertainty.

I think that this needs to specify that because the charm draws upon primal and emotional fury, such shenanigans, ESPECIALLY preplanned, as bringing children into a war zone and taunting someone into attacking them, or strapping bombs to orphans to force people to attack them (Or to try to disarm the bombs and then have the Terrestrials 'interpret' that as an attack because, well, Solars are demons, demons always want to attack children if they get close) renders the charm unusable. Possibly for a long period of time. Or even causes attempted use to inflict terrible penalties, since there needs to be some reason for the fanatical Wyld Hunt not to try and abuse a charm which would give them so much power against violent Solars. It's a charm based on defending children with unbounded power; I wouldn't be surprised if trying to use it in such a hypocritical fashion might kill the Terrestrial in question as their essence tears itself apart in trying to resolve the contradictions. :smalleek:

Basically, it's huge power for people who don't normally get huge power, but if you can prevent the abuse you've constructed a charm which I would be glad to see give huge power to dragonbloods. I'm okay with a Terrestrial taking down a Solar in this fashion, because the Solar should not have been so stupid as to provoke it. There should be some penalty after the charm ends, though, just because Terrestrials really aren't made to channel that much power.



EDIT: I forgot to mention that those pictures were awesome, and also awesome choices.

Xefas
2011-05-06, 11:18 PM
Alright, I added another paragraph onto the end of Vicious Broodmother Instinct, hopefully preventing some of the chicanery that aetherialDawn mentioned.

I've also added a new Malfeas Charm, "Stoic-but-Sensitive Bookish-Type-Infatuating Stance".

EDIT: Also just added Impertinence-Mending Hammer.
EDIT 2: Added "By Illiteracy, Enlightened" to Malfeas.
EDIT 3: Added two more Malfeas charms.
EDIT 4: Added an Ebon Dragon charm.

Psyborg
2011-05-10, 10:43 AM
I have a request, if that's all right.

I have a (mildly paranoid) Slayer Caste Infernal who's using Viridian Legend Exoskeleton + Tainted Soulsteel Celestial Battle Armor (Oblivion's Panoply & Essence Stride features; the Oblivion's is semi-justified by Demonic Patron 5 and Enemies 4, the Abyssal exalt he stole it from).

I'm looking for a way to conveniently access my armor (or at least the first-purchase VLE without the Celestial Battle Armor fusion) without having to spend seven ticks every combat scene or walk around in it all the time (I have By Torment Immortalized (http://wiki.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php?title=Charms:By_Torment_Immortalized), so I can commit the health level and make it D:Indef), and without betraying Malfeas' trademark lack of subtlety with Elsewhere-storage, etc. Nothing immediate, but something to work towards. I have a couple ideas; if you'd write up any of them (or something different that might accomplish the same end), that'd be awesome:

--A permanent upgrade charm for VLE that allows you to make VLE Reflexive by switching the bashing level to aggravated. This would let me get regular VLE up quickly, and leave the Oblivion's Panoply composite for special occasions.

--A variation that smooths the patterns of brass, ivory, and runes into an animated statue of smooth, polished brass. Still obviously magical, but not obviously anathema-level non-Terrestrial power.

These two get some leeway on the unsubtlety front due to being Heretical.

--A Heretical charm following from Cecelyne's Stone-Flayer Touch?) that switches the armor (regular or composite) to immaterial (1m commitment, reflexive non-Charm-activation to release and switch it back to material). While the armor is immaterial, it's invisible to material senses, but still just as unsubtle as ever (or even more so?) to Essence Sight, immaterial senses, etc., and it only offers protection against immaterial or dually-material attacks. Doesn't work in Malfeas, Yu Shuan, etc- places where the Chasm of the Material doesn't exist.

--A Heretical charm following from Szoreny's Polished Blade Is A Mirror (http://wiki.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php?title=Charms:Polished_Blade_Is_A_Mirror) (from Revlid's Szoreny charmset on the Wiki) that alters the appearance of your VLE to mimic another specific armor you've seen. It has to remain obviously armor, and obviously ornate armor, but that could be anything from white jade superheavy plate to moonsilver chain swathing to a glass hauberk of bells to a flawless reinforced breastplate of engraved and polished ordinary steel. Wouldn't get into a formal event with this one, but could march as a mercenary captain or caravan guard without getting the Wyld Hunt called in. Should probably be D:Indef, with the clause that it breaks if you take the armor off or take lethal damage.
Hopefully some one of these catches your fancy as being worth your time to write up. Ideas I can do, but I've not been playing long enough to have a good head for balance. Thanks in advance.

Xefas
2011-05-10, 02:52 PM
Right, I can do something like that. Although, first, have you looked at the Ebon Dragon's "Loom-Snarling Deception" charm? It can disguise clothing and equipment quite effectively, and it has no prerequisites, so even if you don't have EB favored, it's not a huge XP sink. If you feel like going one farther, Eldritch Secrets Mastery is the ultimate in disguise charms, even capable of altering your anima banner, the essence you use, the fact that you're a Creature of Darkness, and all that kind of thing.

Primal Fury
2011-05-10, 11:18 PM
There is a heretical charm that turns your armor into floating orbs of red and black essence for a scene: Scale-Shedding Solution. I could totally see an upgrade extending the duration.

aetherialDawn
2011-06-04, 01:23 AM
The... The Malfeas charms. They are hilarious and appropriate.

Fixing things? Fixing things is beneath the Demon King! He punches things, and they fix themselves in fear!

Reading? Reading is beneath the Demon King! He punches things, and they give up their information in fear!

Stealth? Stealth is beneath the Demon King! He shouts, and people ignore him instead - in fear!

Boats? Boats are, quite literally, beneath the Demon King! He shouts, and they stay together in fear!

I think that they are a bit unbalanced.*
*If you would like, I'll go through again and try to offer more helpful advice.

Xefas
2011-06-04, 03:50 PM
The... The Malfeas charms. They are hilarious and appropriate.
Glad you like them. :smallbiggrin:

*If you would like, I'll go through again and try to offer more helpful advice.
Of course, of course, if you have the time.

aetherialDawn
2011-06-06, 03:36 PM
As promised, a serious look at the new Malfeas charms. As a bonus, also a serious look at the other Infernal charms.
You may note that I'm not discussing the flavor except insofar as it interacts with the mechanics. This is intentional, since it's a serious look, although I could believe Malfeas to be so self-centered as to not even realize, let alone care, if he seemed silly when he used these charms.

Stoic-but-Sensitive Bookish-Type-Infatuating Stance
I say: Good as-is
Boiling this down to its core,
-It is a dancer-based charm, and so doesn't need malice or overkill (Overwhelming? Yes. Overkill? No.)
-It seems, at first, to be too manipulative to be a Malfeas charm - the fact that you cannot say you return the feelings seems more Ebon Dragon... Except that Malfeas truly is that self-centered. If you admit to returning their feelings, that means you are no longer 'superior' and Malfeas is all about being superior, never merely equal.
-It binds an inferior (Someone else) to their superior (You, always, it's a Malfeas charm) and makes them intensely loyal because they truly desire it - it even uses 'may' for their choice.

This looks like a charm better suited to Malfeas as he was, when the Primordials submitted to him because he was just that awesome. Given that it's a dancer charm, the part of Malfeas least changed, I'd say that's appropriate. Power-wise, it provides 'may' at all steps; if it is overpowered, then it's the ST's own fault, or you used it on another player, which means that by the nature of the charm there's going to be drama available, which will make the game more interesting.

Impertinence-Mending Hammer
I say: Mostly good
Boiling this down to its core
-It functions only against problems caused by 'simple, easily fixed reasons', and specifies the exact time period which it can substitute for as well. Given that it doesn't work against things which have run out of a rare fuel, or are not 'easily fixed', it won't be a problem with the basic charm. Given that it requires a rather obvious permanent effect from its prerequisite (Your arms are made of brass!) it is appropriate that it does not cost anything for this use. The 0m version is good.
-It can perform maintenance on artifacts and manses that could be done in (Essence x3) hours of work - this is too much, I think. Specify that it again works only for 'easily fixed' reasons, leaving out simple because... it's an artifact/manse. It also mustn't be able to supply rare fuels that are actually missing, and I think that it might be best to drop the hours-possible to (Essence x2) - with the repurchase providing (Essence x4) if it's there at all.

By Illiteracy, Enlightened
I say: Good idea, with a side-effect that makes it far, far too powerful.
Boiling this down to its core
-It allows reading in any language, but not writing, speaking, or listening, so it isn't too overly powerful.
-It does not allow the reading of writing which has been specifically encoded; it only crosses language barriers. This is good.
-The reduction of training times is too powerful, really. The infernal might be able to halve his training times, but he still needs practice. I do like things that reduce training times because Green Sun Princes have no time for such things! They have a WORLD to conquer!
-The fact that it bypasses Linguistics charms entirely seems to be too powerful. All those Eclipse letters, made meaningless by some Slayer's forehead-slam for a single mote and an Essence 1 charm. There needs to be a set of restrictions on this power, or at least an essence roll by the original writer to see if their words can carry the effects through meaning alone (Exalt calligraphy is VERY pretty after all.)

Subtle Like Nuclear Holocaust
I say: As it is, this charm is incomplete at best.
Boiling this down to its core,
-This charm has no downside; it allows the infernal to use stealth in any situation, starting at any time, for one scene, at the cost of three motes. If people are capable of remembering the Infernal's passage once he has left it would begin to fix the charm. It needs to have some reason for not using it to be a valid option, especially as it expands the Malfeas Excellency to cover stealth, which it usually does not.

I'm On A Boat
I say: Does anyone even use mundane boats?
Boiling this charm down to its core,
-It looks overpowered. Pay a mote, gain a perfect defense for your ship. I think that it needs to cost (2m, committed) for Artifact sailing vessels, but as far as mundane boats go I see nothing wrong with allowing them to be held together and summoned up with ease and a few motes. It isn't as though it would really stop a determined Exalt to simply not have a boat.
-If you do want this charm to see more reasonable use, however, and you probably do, then you should make the number of motes paid increase by one with each use, like the Perfect Defense from Crane Style. In fact, you could then drop the initial cost to 0m, since it'll even out within two uses. It just needs to allow someone to still assault your boat if they really try - Malfeas WAS defeated and bound, after all.
-Two charm purchases gives you a boat that you store in elsewhere which is self-repairing when you replace it. I'd say that it's underpowered; it's basically a 2 or 3 dot artifact. Alchemicals get those with one charm purchase. The fact that the previous purchase gives you a nice little perfect defense kind of effect for your boat is what makes it still worthwhile.

Treachery Within Treachery
I say: The name seems a bit lacking, but I can't think up anything better. Remove one implied power and it's good.
Comparing this to other charms: One mote is worth making an unexpected attack expected. Another mote is good for paying to find out who did it, though together they're better, so we'll call it three motes for the pair, since you need to know who did an unexpected attack more. A counterattack which functions only against unexpected attacks is worth two motes, but making it unexpected should need more like three motes. Say that the counterattack cannot be further enhanced by charms and I'd say this charm is good.

Demons of Industry Stratagem
I say: I... don't get the name. Sorry. Otherwise, explain how it interacts with other charms a bit better, and give Heroic Mortals a chance (As an Exalt, you'll be enormously more powerful. But they're Heroic, they ought to get a chance.)
The charm should specify if it has any bonuses or penalties when opposed by another charm. I'm not sure what 'charm technology' is - do you just mean artifacts? If so, it's fine.
Heroic mortals need to be able to resist! They're heroic! Now, it shouldn't be easy, simply because they're not going to have a dice pool equalling that of an Exalt... But they ought to have some hope here and there. A bit.
Non-Heroic mortals... Well, maybe it ought to be reversible for a time. But they're not Heroic. They don't get to oppose Charms themselves.

Primal Fury
2011-06-06, 07:27 PM
I like Demons of Industry Stratagem. It provides the Illusion of the Infernal having a "Chosen One" among their flock, and gifting them with immeasurable power. This also serves to keep your worshipers faithful, I think.

I do not like By Illiteracy Enlightened. One of the makers of the world can't read? Simply because he has no dots in Lore? No Yozi has any dots in any abilities thanks to (Yozi) Glory Incarnate. Does that mean She Who Lives In Her Name can't read either?

aetherialDawn
2011-06-06, 11:38 PM
Does that mean She Who Lives In Her Name can't read either?

Yes. Instead, She simply understands intuitively, because the meaning of the system of writing is no different, to her, from the meaning of its system of physical properties.
A She Who Lives in Her Name version would allow an Infernal to consume an object with white fire to learn everything contained (EVERYTHING), and create copies again using the same white fire.

There is a valid point, though, that these charms are not one that Malfeas himself would possess, since he has his own ways. Instead, they're probably made by a GSP to provide a lower-essence emulation of his patron. I don't think that makes them worthless; they're just inherently charms made by a GSP.

Primal Fury
2011-06-07, 12:05 AM
Still doesn't make sense to me, but whatever.

aetherialDawn
2011-06-07, 01:08 AM
I'm saying it makes no sense for Malfeas specifically to have this charm. It is clearly the work of a Slayer; Malfeas does this as part of his (Yozi) Glory Incarnate, but some Slayer was like 'Malfeas doesn't need Lore and I DON'T EITHER!' and made this charm as a lesser, restricted version.

Primal Fury
2011-06-07, 01:32 AM
Does that open up space for every other ability to be modified in a similar way?

aetherialDawn
2011-06-07, 03:37 AM
Not all abilities are equally important to Malfeas-- and especially, they'd all be modified in seperate ways fitting his themes. You might look at this as an answer to the fact that Solars get Lore Excellencies; it's a specialized expression of the themes of Malfeas covered by his Excellency. Speaking of which, considering that... Should it require his excellency? It's basically one particular Perfect Lore Effect (Reading instantly) using Malfeas's imagery.

I think that in the end I have to agree that it's not a charm the game seriously needs. But it's funny, if the immunity to linguistics charms is dealt with it doesn't hurt the system any, and it even fits with the themes of Malfeas. I probably won't take the charm, but it makes me happy to know things like it are possible. I can't defend it on serious grounds, but I'm not sure I need to, because it has other reasons to exist.

EDIT: Also, to actually answer your question simply: Most abilities would be modified, based on the themes of Malfeas. The closest binary answer is 'yes.'