Toccata Charms

Athletics

Graceful Crane Stance

Cost: 3m;
Mins: Athletics 1, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Solar draws Essence through her pores and into her bones, suffusing and lightening her form and steadying her step. For the rest of the scene, she has perfect balance, and can stand or run on things too narrow or weak to support her normally, with no chance of falling or breaking through. She can run on a guy wire, stand on a crumbling parapet, balance on the tip of a pine tree, and perform many similar feats without needing to roll (Dexterity + Athletics).

Lightning Speed

Cost: 3m;
Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Like a flashing bolt, the Exalt streaks toward her goal, trailing streamers of anima. This Charm can be used to enhance a rush action (see p. 197). The Exalt moves with terrific speed—add one automatic success and reroll all 5s and 6s until 5s and 6s fail to appear. Lightning Speed can also be used each interval of a foot race or other test of speed (see p. 197).

Feather Foot Style

Cost: 3m;
Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Until the Exalt stops running
Prerequisite Charms: Graceful Crane Stance, Lightning Speed
Lightening her step and balancing carefully, the Exalt may run across fluid surfaces. She may dash over unstable sur- faces as if they were solid and move over surfaces no thicker than rice paper without breaking through. At full speed, she may also move across lava or other dangerous surfaces without getting hurt. This e ect lasts until the Exalt stops dashing. As long as she is moving at a quick pace, she need not pay the activation cost again.
At Athletics 5, Essence 2+, the Exalt can pause on unstable surfaces without breaking through, changing the duration of this Charm to “one stunt.” She can walk slowly across the surface of a still pond, pause on the crumbling parapet of a castle to give a speech, and so on. This means if she’s using the Charm to dash across the water to reach a boat, then decides to pause on the water’s surface to address the captain, she must use the Charm twice. If the Exalt is still standing on an unstable surface and is unwill- ing or unable to renew Feather Foot Style, she becomes subject to the normal laws of gravity and buoyancy. Also note: while she may safely dash across a caustic or burning surface, standing on top of lava and other dangerous sur- faces will cause harm.

Awareness

Sensory Acuity Prana

Cost: 5m;
Mins: Awareness 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
A breath of Essence seals the five senses into a more perfect form. The Solar’s senses are heightened and attuned to minute motions and sounds, dim and noisy conditions. She can di erentiate between subtle tastes and textures with only the slightest variation. Thus sharpened, it is more di cult for characters to escape her notice, or to deceive her hunting senses. For the rest of the scene, the Exalt’s Awareness rolls benefit from double 9s. If the e ect of any Unsurpassed (Sense) Discipline applies, reroll 6s until they cease to appear. Use of Sensory Acuity Prana comes without the danger of sensory overload; the Charm helps the Solar manage her senses more e ectively.

Larceny

Seasoned Criminal Method

Cost: -;
Mins: Larceny 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Exalt adapts the nature of the iconic criminal, who must one day become a master of her craft. She is a creature of the criminal element; duplicity is in her every word and step. This Charm allows the Solar to invoke and discard a number of special distinctions at her leisure, which allow her to gather information, infiltrate criminal society, and protect her position there. The distinctions are as follows: Familiarity: To a member of a criminal organization, she seems familiar—that is, she can play on a Minor Intimacy to make her target believe she is a criminal with whom to be treated: a member of the organization, a prospect for initiation, etc. Dissonance: Magistrates or other officials seeking to establish her identity su er a -2 penalty to their Bureaucracy and Investigation actions. Persons who do not know her personally but may have spotted her or seen her hanging around the scene of a crime find her unrecognizable and cannot remember doing so. Vulnerability: The Exalt makes herself seem the best possible target for a type of crime dictated by the player. Confidence men will see her as an easy mark, gamblers will seek to engage her with betting gossip or games of chance, thugs will try to mug her, and so forth. This effect has a visual component: thieves are less likely to steal from an Exalt wearing armor and a battle axe, while a serial killer might find a person who wears her hair a certain way irresistible. Receptivity: Similar to vulnerability, interested parties perceive the Exalt as a local player. Rather than prey on her directly, she may be identified as a drug buyer or seller, or a person looking to make a bet, hire a prostitute, or take part in other illicit or seedy activities. Such parties will be interested in providing her with information about where to go and who to talk to.

Martial Arts

Ebon Shadow Style

Nothing But Shadows

Cost: 3m;
Mins: Martial Arts 2, Essence 1;
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only, Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Students of the Ebon Shadow style fade in and out of sight in combat, emerging as if from nowhere to strike before vanishing back into the shadows. When the martial artist takes a Stealth action in combat, she may use Nothing But Shadows to apply a penalty equal to (higher of 3 or her Essence) to the opposed roll of any enemy with a lower Initiative than her, to a maximum of -5. Alternatively, when the martial artist is hit with a decisive attack, she may use Nothing But Shadows to play dead, slowing her heart rate to nearly nothing. This is treated as an attempt to go to ground by faking death, rather than seeking concealment. The usual penalties apply, but the martial artist applies the benefits of this Charm on all rolls she makes to go to ground for free, and also adds any wound penalties she is su ering as bonus dice on all rolls—the more damage she has taken, the more convincing her false death. Mastery: Every 1 that a non-trivial enemy rolls on his (Perception + Awareness) opposing the supplemented action gives the martial artist a point of Initiative, up to a maximum of (Stealth) points per activation.

Seven Points of Weakness Strike

Cost: 4m;
Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mastery, Withering-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Nothing But Shadows,
Pinpointing a seam or flaw in an enemy’s armor, the martial artist strikes through it with the expert precision of a trained assassin. Seven Points of Weakness Strike subtracts (the martial artist’s Stealth) from her enemy’s armored soak. Unexpected attacks double the amount of soak ignored. Mastery: If this Charm reduces an enemy’s armored soak to zero against a withering attack, any remaining points of soak reduction are converted to post-soak damage dice.

Ebon Shadow Form

Cost: 8m;
Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form, Mute
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Nothing But Shadows, Seven Points of Weakness Strike

Sheathing her blade for a brief moment, the swordsman centers her mind and Essence. As she draw her sword once again and enters this form, it is as a lightning bolt of flashing steel, moving with unimaginable speed and control. While in this form, it is customary to sheathe one’s sword after each strike, and draw it anew for each new one—not merely as a show of this style’s formidable speed, but to contain and dissipate the overwhelming buildup of Essence that might erupt beyond the stylist’s control without such restraint. The first time the swordsman uses this Charm in a fight, she rolls her sword into battle with a (Wits + Martial Arts) Join Battle roll, giving it its own Initiative track separate from her own. This does not represent the sword gaining intelligence or agency of its own, but rather, the superior speed of the stylist allowing her to strike twice during each round. When the sword’s turn comes up in Initiative order, the swordsman may choose to make an attack with it, or to delay the action until later in the round. No other actions can be taken (including movement actions), and if the stylist does not choose one of these options, the sword’s turn is wasted. The sword’s Initiative is separate from the swordsman’s own—withering attacks made by one cannot add to the other’s Initiative, and decisive attacks made by one do not reset the other to base Initiative. The base raw damage of decisive attacks made on the sword’s turn cannot exceed the swordsman’s own Initiative, even if the sword’s is higher. When the stylist is dealt Initiative damage, the character who damaged her may choose whether to apply it to her own Initiative or the sword’s, but cannot split the damage across both pools. The sword also loses a point of Initiative at the end of every round it was not used to successfully land an attack. If the sword’s Initiative is reduced to zero, then the stylist is forced out of this form, and cannot reactivate it again for three rounds. When she does, she does not reroll Join Battle, but only sets the sword to base Initiative. If the swordsman leaves this form voluntarily before the end of the fight, note the sword’s current Initiative rating. If it is reactivated later during the scene, the sword’s Initiative is reset to this value, rather than making a new Join Battle roll.
Special activation rules: Whenever the martial artist achieves the highest Join Battle value at the start of a fight, she may reflexively activate Single Point Shining Into the Void Form.
Terrestrial: A Dragon-Blood must pay a point of Willpower each round she wishes to attack twice. Otherwise, she may only make one attack per round, choosing whether to “use” her own Initiative or the sword’s each round.
Mastery: The martial artist gains the following benefits:
• When using the sword’s turn to make a decisive attack, its damage is not capped by the stylist’s own Initiative.
• The sword does not lose Initiative on turns it did not successfully land an attack.
• If the sword’s Initiative is reduced to zero or less, the stylist loses the benefits of this form, but it still remains active. Once three rounds have passed, its benefits resume without the swordsman needing to activate it or pay its cost again. Additionally, if the swordsman crashes an enemy who reduced his sword’s Initiative to zero, then he may immediately roll Join Battle for it again and take an action with it on the same tick, as per the usual rules for Initiative Shifting (p. 194).

Performance

'Thousand Courtesan Ways

Cost: 5m;
Mins: Performance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None

PENDING EDITS

Respect-Commanding Attitude

Cost: 5m;
Mins: Performance 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: One Performance action
Prerequisite Charms: None
The return of the Solars is a miracle never before seen. The universe inclines to hear their voices once again. When this Charm supplements a Performance action of any length, characters are inclined to stop and listen. This does not guarantee that the Lawgiver is persuasive in her arguments, but it does guarantee that her audience listens respectfully to her entire performance. Characters may pay one Willpower to leave the performance, but if they wish to interrupt or attack the Lawgiver, they must pay two Willpower, and may only approach her by blending into her demonstration, capping the actions of each affected character by their individual (Charisma + Performance) ratings until one of them is able to successfully stop her act. This Charm does not function after combat has started, but if activated beforehand, it remains active after Join Battle has been rolled, up until the Solar is forced to stop her performance.

Presence

Harmonious Presence Meditation

Cost: 5m or 7m;
Mins: Presence 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Lawgiver embodies virility, magnetism and grace, empowering her forces of persuasion. For five motes, this Charm grants three bonus dice to all forms of social influence from all Abilities except Stealth. In addition, the cost of all social influence Charms are reduced by one mote, to a minimum of one. The seven mote version of this Charm extends the duration to indefinite.

Occult

Spirit-Detecting Glance

Cost: 3m;
Mins: Occult 1, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Solar can look through the pall of reality to glimpse the realm of spirits beneath. With this Charm, the Solar can see (but not touch) immaterial spirits.

Ancient Tongue Understanding

Cost: 6m;
Mins: Occult 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Exalt expands her knowledge of the realm of spirits to all corners of her mind, shunning knowledge that binds her understanding. While this Charm is in effect, the Lawgiver automatically speaks and understands Old Realm, even if it is not a language she has learned, but loses her ability to comprehend any other language. In addition, the Solar also naturally comprehends other spirit languages as old and strange as Old Realm, languages for which there exists little to no record. While this Charm is in effect, the Solar gains (half her Essence, rounded down, minimum one) automatic successes to all Occult rolls and shaping actions.

Resistance

Ox-Body Technique

Cost: —;
Mins: Resistance 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The bodies of the Exalted are much more durable than those of mere mortals. To help simulate this, an Exalt may buy extra health levels with this Charm. The purchasing choices are based on the character’s Stamina rating:
At Stamina 1 and 2: One -1 and one -2 health level.
3 and 4: One -1 and two -2 health levels.
5: One -0, one -1, and one -2 health level.
The Solar may purchase Ox-Body Technique (Resistance) times. If she increases her Stamina after purchasing Ox-Body Technique, her health levels automatically change to reflect the new rating.

Spells

Invulnerable Skin of Bronze

Cost: 20sm, 1wp
Keywords: None
Duration: One day
The sorcerer suffuses the void between her skin and the surrounding air with Essence, weaving a second skin of shining bronze, supple and flexible as silk but cold and impervious as any metal. The Invulnerable Skin of Bronze gives the sorcerer +6 natural soak and Hardness 6, while rendering her immune to poison delivered through contact. Her metal-armored limbs deal lethal damage and use the traits of medium weapons when she makes unarmed attacks. While her mobility is not normally impaired, she is considered wearing medium armor, which might deny her the use of certain Martial Arts styles or other effects. Her bronze skin is also heavy—she will sink in water or mud, and fragile surfaces won’t support her weight.
In addition, characters with an Essence pool gain access to the following powers while this spell is active:
• Brazen Aegis Rebuke (3m, 1wp; Reflexive; Instant; Counterattack, Decisive-only): Even hardened steel recoils from the Invulnerable Skin of Bronze, ringing off its indestructible surface. After being hit with an attack in close combat, the sorcerer may use this power to counterattack with a disarm gambit. This counterattack is both unblockable and undodgeable.
• Invincible God-Metal Flash (10m, 2a or 3a; Reflexive; Instant; Decisive-only): When even the Invulnerable Skin of Bronze cannot withstand the force of an enemy’s blows, the sorcerer may shed it in a burst of protective Essence. While her anima is at the burning or bonfire level, she may use Invincible God-Metal Flash to reduce the raw damage of a decisive attack by her (Essence + 5), discharging her anima through the spell. The skin of bronze shatters as it absorbs the attack, and the sorcerer cannot cast it again until its original duration has elapsed. Her anima is returned to the dim level.
• Sorcerer’s Impervious Mantle (4m; Reflexive; Instant; Withering-only): The sorcerer’s Essence surges through her armored skin, reducing the minimum damage of a withering attack by one.
A sorcerer who knows Invulnerable Skin of Bronze as her control spell may add her Essence to the soak and Hardness bonus she receives as long as she is unarmored. Even without the spell, her skin takes on a faint bronze tint. She may also add her Essence to her soak when the spell is not in effect.
Distortion (Goal Number: 12): Distorting the spell forces the sorcerer to feel the full weight of her metal skin bearing down on her, imposing a -4 mobility penalty for one scene. If her total mobility penalty exceeds (the higher of her Strength or Athletics), then she loses the ability to take reflexive move actions, and must take a miscellaneous action to cross a range band even under normal circumstances. Distortion also disables all three of the spell’s special powers.