Monday, February 22, 2010

Beam-klaves

The rules presented in the Alchemical Book regarding Beam Weapons seems to be directly lifted from the First Edition Rulebook, therefore it needs to be adopted to 2nd Edition Rules.

Here are the rules regarding Beam-klaves in my game

  • All Slash and Piercing Artifact Melee/Martial Arts weapons have beam-klave equivalents – and the have identical stats except for the modifications below
  • Beam-klaves have artifact ratings 2 dots higher than their standard counter part.
  • Beam-klaves have a minimum repair rating of 2 for small to medium weapons.  Larger weapons will have repair rating of 3, Warstrider size weapons will have repair rating that are much higher.
  • Commitment Cost is 1/2 their counter part, to a min of 3 Motes
  • Commitment Cost of Warstrider Versions are 1 more than standard cost, but cost no motes to activate.
  • When inactive Beam-klaves consist only of the “Handle”.  Attune user can reflexively activate the weapon by expending 5 motes (not committed).  An beam blade of appropriate color shape and size instantly springs into being.  This blade will last for the rest of the scene or when dispelled by its attuned user.  (See Manual of Exalted Powers: Alchemicals Pg. 213 for Beam Color based on Material Descriptions).
  • When Active it Ignites Flammable Objects by Touch
  • Beam-klaves have the same Magical Material Bonus as any other Artifact Weapon.
  • Beam-klaves half the parry DV if the defender blocks with non-magical material.  Unless defense is appropriately stunted the defending weapon is assume to be destroyed should the attack succeed.  This includes natural weapons as well – though in the case of vastly supernatural beings Storyteller would have to use common sense.
  • Beam-klaves have the “Pierce” trait.  Should the standard weapon already have Piercing then the Armor Soak is reduced to 1/3rd as oppose to half.  Adamant Beam-klaves reduces opponent Armor Soak by 1/3rd before applying the –4 Armor Soak material bonus.
  • Beam-klaves loses its special traits and is treated as standard artifact weapon against things that are highly resistant/immune to heat.

 

 

BEAM WEAPONS (ARTIFACT ••• TO •••••)

Original Text (Manual of Exalted Powers – Alchemicals pg 211)

Repair: 2
The signature weapons of the Alchemical Exalted, these intricate cylinders are constructed from magical materials encased in a foot-long shell of reinforced alloys and tipped with a concave crystal disc. Variations on the straight cylinder do exist, but are uncommon and do not affect their function. Slightly curved versions are the most popular variation. Attuning to a beam weapon requires a commitment of three motes, whereupon these devices become light, nimble and easy to wield. Thereafter, when the Exalt pays five motes into his attuned beam weapon, the weapon extrudes a blade of glowing Essence that averages three feet in length. (It lasts for an entire scene.) These blades combine tremendous heat and pure force and are able to set flammable objects alight with but a touch. The color of the blade depends on the magical material used in the artifact’s construction. Orichalcum blades emanate golden-white light that pulses as the blade moves, while moonsilver blades flicker with a pale, silver-blue radiance. Jade blades glow softly in the color of their jade-type, although black jade generates a midnight blue brilliance. Starmetal beam weapons are crimson-hued at rest, and smoothly arc through the spectrum to deep violet as they slash through the air. Soulsteel beam weapons are the deep red-black of dried blood and leave behind curtains of ash in their wake. Adamant beam weapons are the most spectacular. They are barely visible at rest as pale-blue prisms of energy that refract and scatter all other light. But as they cut through the air, they flash intermittently like bolts of lightning and trail azure sparks behind them.


Active beam weapons carry the same traits as their magical material counterparts, and artifact melee and martial arts weapons have beam weapon equivalents. Slayer khatars, fate rings, baneclaws and razor claws always come in pairs, and all beam weapons have an Artifact rating two dots higher than their normal counterparts, including warstrider-sized beam weapons—which cost an extra mote to attune.


In addition to their normal traits, all beam weapons destroy non-magical weapons with which they come into contact, provided there are any successes on a parry on Step Ten of attack events, even if the successes are not sufficient to deflect the attack. Furthermore, all parry successes against beam weapons are halved (rounded down). If natural weapons are used to parry a beam weapon, the character using them suffers two lethal levels of damage and extras have those fists, claws or feet amputated. Also, if a beam weapon successfully strikes a being wearing non-magical armor, the raw damage of the attack is permanently subtracted from both the armor’s bashing and lethal soak values, to a minimum of zero. If both soak values are reduced to zero, the armor is destroyed and provides no further protection. Inanimate targets of roughly the user’s size or smaller also suffer a permanent soak reduction from attacks made against them. If an object’s soak is reduced to zero, it is left appropriately scorched and fractured, but is otherwise damaged normally. Larger objects, such as walls, apply the soak reduction to only the small area that is being attacked rather than to the entire structure. Magical weapons suffer no damage from contact with a beam weapon and may parry them without penalty.
While the most common form of beam weapon is the beamklave, other weapon models are referred to by the same prefaces as beamklaves, so reaper beamklave, reaver beamklave, grand beamcleavers, beamlances, et cetera.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Domnica’s Mantle (Legendary Artifact)

Scroll of Exalts (Pg. 85), Classified as N/A Artifact

This gauzy, iridescent cloak flutters without regard for wind and bears an ornate silver clasp emblazoned with emeralds and arcane glyphs. Upon its wearer’s death, he may reflexively spend one Willpower point as his last action to fray the garment into an abstract paradox that snarls itself into the weave of existence.  The cloak then reforms at a new location determined by unknowable principles. If the wearer’s next life looks hard and long enough, circumstances inevitably arrange for him to find Domnica’s Mantle again, though it is up to him to do what is necessary to reclaim it.

The death of a Celestial Exalt releases her Exaltation, but it ignores the pull of Lytek’s cabinet (or Monstrance or Lillun’s womb) to seek out a suitable host on its own in accordance with Autochthon’s design. Upon the Second Breath of a new Celestial, the personality and memories of the Mantle’s wearer utterly subsume the new incarnation, bypassing the unnecessary formality of Lytek sanctifying the union of Exaltation and soul. The new Celestial fully remembers her last life, restoring her Motivation and Intimacies, but otherwise possesses the traits of her newly Exalted body in addition to a permanent Mentor 5 reflecting the core of her memory. She can draw upon this memory to teach herself any traits she used to possess in any prior incarnation given to Domnica’s Mantle.  The Storyteller may waive experience costs to allow a character who dies mid-series to restore herself and catch up to other protagonists. She still remembers her new body’s life prior to Exaltation and retains that life’s Intimacies, but the experiences seem hazy, like a vivid dream.

For a wearer lacking a Celestial Exaltation, the mantle carries her soul through Lethe to be reborn into a new life that fits whatever criteria the wearer desires, subject to Storyteller approval. This can include location, gender, social status and even supernatural heritage, such as divine blood or an infant destined to be a Dragon-Blood. It is not possible to pick a life that will receive Celestial Exaltation. The new life begins no sooner than a year from the death of the wearer.  At some point in the reincarnation’s adolescence, the personality of the former life reasserts itself with the same mechanical effects as possession by a Celestial Exaltation explained above.

New Charms from Scroll of Exalts

Solar

Resistance

Heroes Never Die

Prerequisite Charms: Durability of Oak Meditation (Exalted, p. 206)

See “Wound-Eating Invulnerability” below.

 

Sail

Omnipresent Admiral of Light

Prerequisite Charms: Salty Dog Method (Exalted, p. 236)

See “Voiceless Admiralty Dread” below.

 

Abyssal

Resistance

Wound-Eating Invulnerability

Cost: —
Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 3;
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Mirror (see below)
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Spirit-Hardened Frame

The prerequisite’s conferred Hardness raises to (Essence + 5), and it may be extended to a duration of one scene by raising the cost to (6m, 1wp). Injuries prevented this way occur and instantly heal as per Wounds Mean Nothing. The Solar Mirror “Heroes Never Die” correspondingly expands Durability of Oak Meditation.

 

Sail

Shambling Crew Enlightenment

Cost: —;
Mins: Sail 3, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Avatar (1)
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Deck-Striding Phantom

Whenever an Abyssal with this Charm is aboard a vessel he owns, all the walking dead onboard who are obedient to the deathknight have Intelligence 2 and a Sail rating equal to the deathknight’s own.

Voiceless Admiralty Dread

Cost: 3m
Mins: Sail 5, Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Mirror (see below)
Duration: Indefinite
Prererequisite Charms: Unhallowed Ghost Ship

While active, the Abyssal intuitively knows the location of all ships he’s personally claimed with Unhallowed Ghost Ship within (Essence rating) miles and can issue reflexive telepathic orders to any or all of them, though this communication is still language dependent. All onboard the vessel hear the words in their mind as if the Abyssal were speaking from just behind them, allowing the ship to carry out orders from afar without distracting the captain from other tasks. Additionally, no relays are needed to prevent communication failure for units composed of crewmembers listening to these orders, leaving room for additional special characters.  The Solar Mirror “Omnipresent Admiral of Light” correspondingly targets ships owned via Ship-Claiming Stance.

 

Thrown

Smoldering Devastation Technique

Cost: —
Mins: Thrown 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Crypt Bolt Attack

A deathknight with this Charm can invoke Crypt Bolt Attack without it counting as a Charm activation, and it costs only one mote if the Exalt used the Charm earlier in the scene. All unexpected attacks made with crypt bolts double their raw damage.

 

Alchemical

Charisma

Hardened Argument Patterning

Cost: — [1m]
Mins: Charisma 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Internal, Social
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Programmed Catechism Rebuttal

When the Alchemical pays one or more points of Willpower to resist mental influence, any attempt to impose the same end result via any further mental influence (or a closely similar result as defined by the Storyteller) suffers a -3 external penalty.

 

Dragon-Blooded

Awareness

Atsiluth’s Omniscience

Cost: 5m, 1wp
Mins: Awareness 5, Essence 4
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: One scene
Prerequisites: Feeling the Dragon’s Bones

This unique Charm allows Vitali Proseria to project all of her senses to observe a single target attuned to the Sea of Mind as though he is beside her. This is a scrying effect that functions over any distance.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Sun King Vestment

Cost: 15m, 1wp
Mins: Lore 4, Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Touch, Holy
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Power-Awarding Prana

[This is a brand new charm]

Not all Lawgiver are content with their mastery over incalculable mortals.  Many have tried to covert the children of greater beings into their service.  This Charm is one such tool.

While Power-Awarding Prana can affect only Beings with Essence of 1, Lawgiver Vestment bestows the glory of the Sun Kings onto beings whose ability to mold reality transcends mortal coil.  It affects beings who do not already have access to Natural Charm Sets and whose Essence is Greater than 1.  Those whose Essence is less than the Solars will also gain a bonus dot

The Solar activates this Charm and commits 15 motes to the Blessed Subject.  This investment of power increasing the subject’s Essence Pool by 15.  The Charm also increases the target’s Effective Essence Attribute by 1, to the max of the Solar’s own Essence Score – 1.  Being a temporary this boost in Essence Attribute does not count towards any possible apotheosis.  This investment of Solar’s innate light also grants the subject access to the Solar Charm Set.  Just like Power-Awarding Prana these new powers are only active for as long as the Solar’s Essence is Committed.

The effect of this Charm is cumulative with that of Power-Awarding Prana, though it is far more effective when combined with Soul-Enlightening Beneficence or Glorious Celestial Invigoration Meditation.

 

Power-Awarding Prana

Cost: 15m, 1wp
Mins: Lore 4, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Touch
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Essence-Lending Method

The Lawgivers share great secrets with their disciples. This
Charm targets an Essence 1 character who cannot channel Essence.

This Charm increases the target’s effective Essence to 2,
allows him an (initially empty) 15-mote pool and the ability
to regain Essence as a Solar Exalt, and it permits him to learn
Solar Charms with the normal training time for 10 experience
points each. The target has access to this increased Essence,
pool and Charms only when actively under the influence of
Power-Awarding Prana (i.e., for only as long as the awarding
Solar’s Essence motes remain committed).

 

Soul-Enlightening Beneficence

Cost: 15m, 1 wp
Min: Lore 4, Essence 3
Type: Simple (Dramatic Action)
Keywords: Enlightening, Obvious, Touch
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Essence-Lending Method

This Charm is a variation on the better known Power-Awarding Prana (see page 568) immediately and permanently blasts open a willing mortal’s doors of perception, opening him to the world’s currents of Essence.  Soul-Enlightening Beneficence requires a short ceremony to steel both donor and recipient for the awesome forces they shall unleash.  The ceremony takes whatever form the participants feel is appropriate to solemnize the event.  Then the mortal and the Exalt simply touch – and the cataract of Essence flooding through the recipient’s soul knocks him out for (5 – his Stamina) hours.  The recipient also trades one permanent dot of Willpower for another point of permanent Essence.  After the character recovers, however, he possesses his own Essence pool.

Like Touch of Divinity, this Charm offers no benefit to beings who already channel Essence.  The donor merely transfers 15 motes of his own Essence.

All types of Celestial (and Abyssal and Infernal) Exalts possess a variation of Soul-Enlightening Beneficence.  The recipient gains an affinity for the source of the Exalt’s power, like that granted by Touch of Divinity, which other Essence-sensing creatures can perceive.