Might And Mobility Charms
Strain
Resistant Chassis Modification
Cost: None
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: N/A
Type: Permanent
Minimum
Stamina: 2
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: None
Through the implantation of armored
plates, reinforcing struts and redundant parts, the Alchemical is made more
resistant to damage. When the Exalt takes this Charm, he may either add two -1
health levels or three -2 health levels. The choice must be declared when the
Charm is installed and cannot be altered without reinstallation. Alchemicals may have this Charm installed as many time as
their permanent Essence.
The larger frames of Essence 6-7
Alchemical Exalted can incorporate more extensive reinforcement, allowing a
choice of three -1 or four -2 health levels per installation of the Charm. The
central cores of Essence 8+ Alchemicals may sustain
even more damage, either four -1 levels or five -2 levels per installation.
Eclipse and Moonshadow
Caste Exalted may not install this Charm.
Pain
Suppression Nodes
Cost: 1mote
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Indefinite
Type: Simple
Minimum
Stamina: 3
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Sustained
Augmentation of Stamina
The Exalt has crystalline amulets
inserted into major nerve clusters, designed to regulate and mute pain signals
as necessary. He remains fully aware of all injuries without suffering
debilitation. When active, this Charm reduces all wound penalties by half the
character’s Stamina, rounded up. Alchemicals with
Essence 6-7 may install a superior variant of this Charm that subtracts their
Stamina from all wound penalties. Essence 8+ Alchemicals
only need a single installation of Pain Suppression Nodes to become completely
immune to all penalties from any physical pain or discomfort.
Subcutaneous/Exoskeletal Armor Plating
Cost: None
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: N/A
Type: Permanent
Minimum
Stamina: 3
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Sustained
Augmentation of Stamina
Depending on the desired configuration,
the Exalt either has a fully articulated mesh of dense plates inserted under
his skin or a carapace riveted onto his flesh. In the former case, each
installation of this Charm adds +2L/+3B to the character’s natural soak, but
this protection remains hidden from notice. External armor adds +3L/+4B per
installation, but this soak counts as armor in every respect and is immediately
obvious. Characters can wear other armor in conjunction with Exoskeletal Armor Plating installations, and the two forms
of protection are cumulative, but Exalted must have all external armor
custom-fitted to accommodate their added bulk. Alchemicals
may install this Charm a maximum number of times equal to their Essence,
regardless of which mode these installations take. Exalted with Essence 6-7 may
support heavier layers of protective plating than their younger and smaller
counterparts, adding +3L/+4B per subcutaneous installation or +4L/+5B per exoskeletal installation. The bulkheads and reactor walls
of Essence 8+ Alchemicals are more durable yet,
affording a natural soak increase of +5L/+6B/+5A per installation. If using
Exalted Power Combat, Essence 6+ versions of this Charm also provide a
cumulative hardness of +1L/+2B for subdermal plates
or +2L/+3B for external armor. Essence 8+ bulkheads have Hardness +3L/+4B/+2A
per installation.
Aegis
Integration System
Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Five minutes
Type: Simple
Minimum
Stamina: 3
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Sustained
Augmentation of Stamina
This Charm is built as a set of subdermal ports arranged beside every major joint. When
activated by an Alchemical wearing armor, screws extend from every port,
pushing against or directly connecting with the protective attire. This process
takes 5 minutes to complete. When finished, the armor becomes as a second skin,
reducing its mobility penalty and fatigue value by 3 each. In order to remove
the armor, the Charm must be activated a second time, causing the screws to
retract over another five-minute period.
Essence Shield
Projector
Cost: Varies
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum
Stamina: 3
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: None
When charged with Essence, a crystal
lattice arranged across the Alchemical’s skin emits a
barrier of pure force like a second skin. This glowing field negates all
possibility of stealth, just like an anima banner display at the 8-10 mote
range. The effect endures for one scene and has a soak of 1B/1L for every mote
spent powering it. Protection afforded by this Charm is considered armor rather
than natural soak, but its flexible, semi-tangible form allows it to function
cumulatively with any physical armor the Exalt wears (or has installed through
Charms). Characters cannot spend more motes providing simultaneous protection
with this Charm than their Stamina + Essence and must also spend 1 Willpower
point the first time they raise the armor in a scene.
In its secondary mode of operation, this
Charm can create a rounded disk of force centered over the back of the Alchemical’s hand. Characters may conjure this disk at the
same time they raise full body armor or as a separate activation. The effect
acts as an actual physical shield, adding +1 to the difficulty of all attacks
against the Exalt for every 2 motes spent, but the sum of all activations
cannot add more than the Alchemical’s Essence to the
difficulty of attacks. Exalted must spend 1 Willpower point the first time they
raise the shield disk in a scene.
(Element)-Inured
Frame
Cost: 5 motes
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: One day
Type: Simple
Minimum
Stamina: 4
Minimum
Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Sustained
Augmentation of Stamina
The Exalt’s
body is highly optimized to endure one of the five natural elements native to
the Machine God, with the specific benefits depending on the variation
installed (each of which is a separate Charm). In most cases, the character
becomes completely immune to certain hostile conditions, unless those
conditions are brought about through magic (including magical weapons). Metal
and crystal permutations provide other benefits as explained below. However,
the Charm expressly defends against the magical extremes of Autochthonia’s
poles. Finally, all of these Charms have the side effect of projecting a bubble
of stable reality out to a radius of two yards from the character. Within that
zone, all beings and objects are immune to the ravages of the Wyld.
Crystal-Inured Frame: Any injurious
contact with a crystal or stone object is converted to bashing damage before
applying soak; any such attacks that have a raw damage less than the Exalt’s natural bashing soak are ignored.
Lightning-Inured Frame: Fire, lightning
and other raw discharges of energy.
Oil-Inured Frame: Acid and other
chemicals.
Metal-Inured Frame: As crystal, but
applied versus injurious contact with metal.
Steam-Inured Frame: Extremes of
temperature or pressure.
Insectile Locomotion
Upgrade
Costs: 2 mote
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Indefinite
Type: Simple
Minimum
Dexterity: 3
Minimum
Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Sustained
Augmentation of Dexterity
The Alchemical’s
humanoid legs have been surgically removed and replaced with a spider-like
thorax, from which large metallic legs extend (Essence x 2 total number of
legs). These must be activated if the character is to move, but remain powered
as long as he commits the required Essence. If the Charm is later removed, the
Exalt may have his organic legs restored through Vat grafting. Installing this
Charm gives an Alchemical a point of permanent Clarity,
and Insectile Locomotion Upgrade cannot be hidden
with an Integrated Artifact Transmogrifier.
Although frighteningly inhuman, the
appendages provided by this Charm carry a number of advantages. First, the
character’s player adds one automatic success to all rolls involving climbing,
maintaining balance or resisting any forms of knockback
or knockdown. Second, the powerful limbs end in claws that can be used as
weapons in conjunction with Brawl, Martial Arts or Melee (as desired), provided
that the character keeps at least three legs on the ground at all times for
support (speed +3, accuracy +1, damage +4L, defense +0). In Exalted Power
Combat, the claws have rate 3. The claws have no fingers and cannot grasp
anything but may be used to pin someone against the floor with a clinch
(requiring the same rolls and concentration as any other clinch). Third, the
legs are extremely strong, adding 2 to the Exalt’s
Strength + Athletics total for the purposes of feats of strength using the
limbs. Fourth, the waist connecting the Charm to the character’s upper torso
can spin freely, allowing for abrupt changes in facing or pivoting to follow circling attackers. No rules govern this ability,
although players may certainly exploit the feature for stunts. Finally, the
Exalt increases his ground speed by an additional 25 percent of normal.
Fortunately, the limbs granted by this Charm are very dexterous and able to
swivel forward and rear, allowing the Exalt to scuttle through passageways as
narrow as he normally could with a humanoid lower body.
Alloyed
Reinforcement Of Flesh
Cost: None
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: N/A
Type: Permanent
Minimum
Strength: 3
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Sustained or Transitory
Augmentation of Strength
The character’s bones are plated in
metal, with reinforcing wires threaded through every muscle for added power.
This adds +1L/+1B to the character’s natural soak. In addition, whenever the
character uses an anima power or Charm to temporarily increase his Strength
rating and performs a feat of strength, all bonus dice/dots are doubled.
Personal
Gravity Manipulation Apparatus
Cost: 2 motes
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum
Strength: 2
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: None
This Charm is housed as a set of
reinforcing components and Essence capacitors in the lower legs. When
activated, the device allows the Alchemical to twist gravity’s pull on his body
in one of two ways. Each mode of the Charm must be activated separately if the
two are to function concurrently.
In the primary mode, the Exalt control
the orientation of “down” in relation to himself. This effect allows the
character to walk or run along any slope as if it were flat ground, including
walls and ceilings (but does not strengthen such surfaces in any way, so they
must be capable of bearing his weight). The realignment of down only extends a
number of feet equal to the Alchemical’s Essence from
the sole’s of the character’s feet. If he jumps too high or is pulled far
enough away from a surface, his gravitational orientation shifts to the default
configuration of the world around him (possibly resulting in falls and injury).
Breaking contact does not end the Charm, however, so
acrobatic Exalted can perform all manner of stunts, such as leaping from a wall
and somersaulting to land safely on the ceiling.
The secondary function of this Charm
allows the Alchemical to reduce his weight to as little as 15 percent of
normal. The character’s movement speed increases by half when he weighs between
50 and 75 percent of normal, and his speed doubles when he weighs 50 percent of
normal or less. Obviously, a lightened Exalt will have difficulty running in
certain circumstances, and Storytellers may require Dexterity + Athletics rolls
when faced with a strong crosswind or other force. Apply the Charm’s speed
multiplier to any knockback distance or similar
effect.
Parabolic Leap Overcharger Device
Cost: 2 motes per turn or 1 mote
Installation
Cost: None
Duration: Varies
Type: Reflexive
Minimum
Strength: 3
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Personal Gravity
Manipulation Apparatus
Expanding the function and design of the
Personal Gravity Manipulation Apparatus with components behind each knee, the
Alchemical gains the ability to defy gravity more spectacularly. Depending on
which mode the Exalt uses, she may levitate or leap great distances in a single
bound.
In the first mode of operation, the
character’s anima trails from the base of her feet in a brilliant contrail that
colors the air behind her. Each turn, she can move up to her Strength in yards
vertically and as much as (Strength x 2) yards horizontally without regard for
gravity. While in midair, she can perform any actions she could do normally and
may adjust her trajectory at will, rising as high as her reserves of Essence
allow. Levitation costs 2 motes per turn of effect and the character may
purchase as many turns of effect as desired with every use of the Charm. If the
duration runs out, the Exalt must immediately renew the effect, or she falls. Alchemicals with this Charm installed may safely descend
from any height simply by activating the Parabolic Leap Overcharger
Device immediately before impact.
The secondary mode of this Charm costs 1
mote and has an instant duration, but the character can only use the effect
once per turn. The Exalt crouches and springs, momentarily dampening gravity in
order to catapult himself extra distance. Such a leap
can carry the Exalt up to (Strength x Essence) yards vertically and as much as
five times that distance horizontally. The Exalt can attack in the same turn as
he leaps but receives no special bonuses for doing so apart from the possible
element of surprise. A common technique for Exalted
wishing to levitate from substantial height is to leap with the secondary mode
of the Charm and then activate the primary mode to begin hovering mid-jump.
Plasma Thruster
Assembly
Costs: 2 motes or 4 motes, 1
Willpower or 10 motes/hour
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant or one hour
Type: Reflexive
Minimum
Strength: 4
Minimum Essence:
3
Prerequisite
Charms: Parabolic Leap Overcharger Device
The Exalt has a pair of heavily shielded
nozzles mounted in the soles of his feet or in a retractable mechanism on his
back. Regardless of their placement, the Charm has the same effect, propelling
the Alchemical through the air at great speed on jets of glowing force. In its
most basic use, the Plasma Thruster Assembly allows the Exalt to cover great
distances in a single burst of acceleration costing 2 motes. The Alchemical may
travel up to (Strength x 50) yards in a straight line as a single movement but
cannot engage this burst more than once per turn.
As an alternative to mere motion, the
Exalt may precisely aim a thruster burst so as to reach and strike an opponent
up to (Strength x 30) yards away in hand-to-hand combat. This use of the Charm
costs 4 motes and 1 point of Willpower, but the force of impact doubles the raw
damage of a single Brawl, Martial Arts or Melee-based attack. If the attack
hits (whether or not it inflicts damage), the victim also suffers immediate
knockdown or knockback unless her player makes a
successful reflexive Dexterity + Athletics roll (difficulty 2).
The final use of this Charm facilitates
long-distance travel, costing 10 motes per hour of flight. The character travels
at speeds up to (Strength x 15) miles per hour and may slow to a speed as low
as (Strength x 10) miles per hour. All maneuvers require a Dexterity +
Athletics roll, with a difficulty set by the Storyteller based on the
complexity of the task. A failure may or may not have catastrophic results
depending on the obstacles that lie in the character’s path, but a botch
invariably leads to painful crash or stalls the Charm for an hour (inflicting
at least 15L damage from impact or subsequent falling damage as appropriate).
Characters must concentrate while flying and cannot fight or perform any other
complex actions without automatically crashing.
Everything one yard beneath or behind
the Exalt at the time he engages any mode of this Charm suffers 5L from the
heat and force of the thrust, and this energy will set
flammable objects afire. The Plasma Thruster Assembly works underwater but
leaves a trail of steam bubbles and an intense pressure wake that can be heard
and tracked for miles.
Fluidic
Costs: 2 motes
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: One day
Type: Simple
Minimum
Strength: 2
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: None
This Charm takes the form of retractable
jet modules set in various points on the Alchemical’s
body. When powered, the device sucks ambient fluids through intake valves and
pumps it out of thrust nozzles at high velocity to aid swimming. As long as
this Charm is active, the Exalt has neutral buoyancy regardless of his actual
weight or the density of the fluid around him. More importantly, he can swim at
his normal running speed and can otherwise act without penalty when under water
or other fluids up to the viscosity of heavy oil.
Electroneural Control Spurs
Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Indefinite
Type: Simple
Minimum
Charisma: 3
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Transitory or Sustained
Augmentation of Charisma
The Exalt has two pairs of retractable
tendrils coiled in ports mounted in his forearms and inner calves. When
activated, the most appropriate pair of these needle-tipped tentacles extend,
plugging into any form of mount the character could direct with the Ride
Ability. Although living mounts are not found in Autochthonia,
the technology of this Charm eerily integrates with beasts of Creation. When
bonding with a living creature, the Electroneural
Control Spurs penetrate the steed’s flanks (inflicting one level of unsoakable bashing damage) and extend myriad threads into
the creature’s nervous system.
Such an animal must be large enough to
bear the Exalt and, if sentient, must consent to the effect or the threads
cannot lock in place. This temporary fusion provides numerous advantages.
First, the steed becomes far more tractable, reducing its control rating by the
Exalt’s Charisma. It will not and cannot throw the
Exalt off, but it won’t automatically follow every order with perfect obedience
unless this Charm reduces the control rating to zero (in which case no rolls
are necessary to control it under stressful conditions such as battle). Second,
the bond of neural synergy heightens the level of coordination possible between
mount and rider, so the Alchemical adds his permanent Essence to his Ride
rating for the purpose of all rolls related the steed. This bonus also raises
the cap on the use of other Abilities while mounted. Third, the physical
connection of the spurs makes the Alchemical virtually impossible to forcibly
dismount. In general, no amount of damage or knockback
pushes the Alchemical from the saddle if it does not also kill the steed.
This connection can prove a liability if
the steed is pushed into a roll or founders. In such cases, the Alchemical must
terminate the Charm and rapidly withdraw the spurs, or else, he risks being
crushed beneath the beast, dragged off a cliff or otherwise subject to whatever
unpleasant fate is appropriate to the circumstance. Also, the Alchemical must
end the Charm if he wishes to dismount for any reason.
If the Alchemical uses his Electroneural Control Spurs to link with an artificial mount,
the effects change slightly. The spurs still plug in but do so through
designated ports or by carefully sliding microfilaments through cracks and
joints rather than damaging the object. Second, artificial steeds are generally
fearless and placid, lacking a control rating. In the unusual case that the
mount somehow has a control rating (such as from possession by a willful
spirit), this rating decreases as noted above. The Alchemical still receives
the bonus to his Ride rating from the link and may actually pilot the steed or
vehicle through the spurs without operating any controls or exerting any of the
normally required movements. Lastly, the physical connection provides the same
strong tether as with a living mount, removing the need for straps or harnesses
in the case of vehicles that normally require them for safe operation (such as warbirds and other small models of skycraft).
This Charm also facilitates a superior
connection to warstriders for Exalted
small enough to fit inside the colossal war machines (rather than fighting as
warstriders like elder Alchemicals
do). In this case, all four spurs extend into the armor, replacing the need for
familiarization or conventional harnesses. This bonding allows the Exalt to
strap in and attune with only a single turn of concentration rather than the
usual five minutes. The cost of attunement also decreases by 5 motes. Most
impressively, the Exalt reduces the mobility penalty and fatigue value of the
armor by his Essence rating.
Universal Pilot
Key
Cost: 14 motes, 1 Willpower
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Indefinite
Type: Simple
Minimum
Charisma: 4
Minimum
Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Electroneural Control Spurs
With this Charm, the Alchemical’s
Electroneural Control Spurs receive a substantial
increase in their degree and range of power. The Exalt can extend a single
tendril and plug it into a larger vehicle or vessel (i.e., one that requires
the Sail Ability to operate). This link allows him to pilot and control the
functions of the craft as if it were an extension of his own body. This Charm
is of no use in piloting actual sailing vessels of the sort used in Creation
during the Second Age, since these ships are purely and primitively mechanical,
lacking any Essence-driven systems with which to bond.
If the Alchemical bonds with a First Age
naval vessel, skycraft or other large vessel powered
by Essence (such as the pneumatic trams that connect the nations of Autochthonia), his body falls into a nearly catatonic
state. He can still perceive the world around him and can speak with
difficulty, but more substantial movement is impossible without ending the
Charm. For the duration of the attunement afforded by the Universal Pilot Key,
the ship is his body. All systems respond to his telepathic control,
allowing him to open or close doors, to switch glow panels on or off, to
communicate through any speaker devices and to perform other basic feats
automatically (to a maximum number of minor actions equal to his Wits rating
per turn without devoting any dice actions to the task). If the vessel normally
requires a commitment of Essence to pilot, that requirement decreases by 10
motes. The Alchemical can pilot the vessel with thought alone, his player
adding the Exalt’s Essence to all Sail rolls.
Finally, the Exalt extends his senses throughout the ship and is able to see
from any vantage point within or facing out of the hull. He can only see from
one vantage point at a time, however, so he cannot monitor the interior without
being blind to what lies ahead or vice versa.
Alchemicals cannot use this Charm to bond with
vessels larger on their widest dimension than (their Charisma x 20) yards. In
the case of particularly long pneumatic trains, the Exalt only needs to control
the lead or rear car and relays extend the control to the rest of the train.
Vessels bigger than this limit require a
team of Alchemicals to operate, with one of the group
designated the captain. Anyone in the crew can operate components of the ship
or perform piloting tasks, but the captain retains primary interface and can
reflexively veto any command from the other crewmates.