Social
Charms
Pattern
Facilitation Module
Cost: 8 motes, 1 Willpower
Installation
Cost: 1 motes
Duration: Indefinite
Type: Simple
Minimum
Charisma: 4
Minimum
Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Transitory and Sustained
Augmentation of Charisma
The Alchemical has an artificial gland
implanted into her brain, which appears as an almost imperceptible bulge on her
skull. When activated, the cluster of preprogramed
synapses and probability distortion nodes releases a pulse of Essence that
rapidly diffuses through the fabric of nearby reality. The Exalt must designate
a policy that an existing organization is currently considering for
implementation (even if most members are opposed to the agenda). At least one
member of that organization must be in the Alchemical’s
presence when she activates the Pattern Facilitation Module (or she must be a
member).
As a result of using this Charm, all
members of the organization with a permanent Willpower less than the Exalt’s Essence immediately come to favor the stated agenda
and will vocally support the plan and seek to convince others to do the same.
Those with a Willpower equal to or up to twice (the Exalt’s
Essence feel predisposed toward the policy but are still not entirely
convinced. They could be swayed either way by evidence or arguments but are
more likely to favor the policy than oppose it. Those with higher Willpower
than this are not swayed in the slightest, but will at least consider the
agenda on its merits rather than their own prejudices. Beings with Essence of 2+
are completely immune to this Charm. If a targeted organization has more valid
targets among its membership than (the Exalt’s
Charisma x 20), the Charm affects up to that number of people, starting with
those who have the lowest Willpower rating and working up.
Repeated use of the Charm on the same
agenda and organization spreads the effect to reach more targets wherever the
prior activation(s) left off. All enchantment wrought by this Charm last until
the designated agenda is officially endorsed or rejected by the leadership of
the organization or until the Exalt chooses to withdraw Essence committed to
the effect. Note that organizations may endorse a plan only to reject it later
if the agenda proves ineffective or leads to problems for the group. For the purposes
of this Charm, an organization may be as informal as a gathered mob or as
tightly hierarchical as a local subbranch of the
Tripartite, but the group must have some common identity in order for the
effect to spread through them. By its nature, Pattern Facilitation Module works
best when targeted to as specific a subset of a group as possible.
Synergy-Promoting
Upgrade
Cost: 1 mote per target
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: One turn
Type: Reflexive
Minimum
Charisma: 2
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: None
The Exalt has a cluster of orichalcum threads tangled around a jade nodule in his
chest, the entire mass of which adjoins his Essence reservoir. When activating
the Charm, the Exalt must specify a single task that could be achieved by the
end of the turn and pays 1 mote per target. He must be aware of targets in
order to affect them and may target himself. The player of every target of the
Charm who directly works toward that objective may add one die to one roll that
furthers the task during the turn (as selected by the player of the character
receiving the bonus). This die is considered a form of artificial specialty
that follows the normal rules for specialties, including maximums. The
Storyteller remains the final arbiter of whether a task is short and defined
enough for this Charm to enchant and whether any roll sufficiently furthers the
task to receive the bonus.
Perfection Of Assembly
Cost: 3 motes, 1 Willpower
Installation
Cost: None
Duration: Indefinite
Type: Simple
Minimums
Charisma: 3
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Synergy-Promoting
Upgrade
This Charm expands and focuses the
Synergy-Promoting Upgrade, allowing the Alchemical to form a hive-mind Assembly
with other Exalted. Forming a hive-mind requires that a minimum of two Alchemicals with this Charm activate it in each other’s
presence. Once the initial bond is formed, other Exalted can join the Assembly
by activating the Charm, but all current members must be present and willing to
accept the newcomer into their group. Characters may use this Charm repeatedly
to join multiple assemblies, but cannot belong to more total hive clusters than
their permanent Essence. No cluster may have more members than the highest
Charisma + Essence of anyone in the group.
Members of an attuned Assembly receive a
number of benefits. First, they are always aware of the direction and distance
of their brethren. Second, an Exalt may gauge the physical well-being of an
Assembly-mate at any time as a simple action, revealing the number of health levels
she has remaining. Most importantly, members can communicate telepathically as
a reflexive power when they are within (Essence x 10) yards of one another. If
two members of the Assembly are not in range of one another but are in mutual
range of a third member, they can relay thoughts through the middle person
(both the relay and the final target hear these messages). Alchemicals
may selectively broadcast thoughts to as few or as many Assembly-mates within
range as desired. This telepathy is projective only and replaces the need for
speech. The power does not in any way allow Exalted to read each other’s minds.
Wards that block scrying also block the power of an
Assembly to locate, analyze or communicate with one another.
Thousandfold Courtesan
Calculations
Cost: 5 mote
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum
Appearance: 3
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Transitory or Sustained
Augmentation of Appearance
The Alchemical has a vast database of
sexual techniques directly stored in the web of her subconscious, as well as
intuitive knowledge of all chakra points and nerve clusters that produce
sensual pleasure. By tapping into the suggestion of this lore and allowing the
subconscious impression of focused sexual intent to infuse her body language
and inflection, the Exalt becomes an object of intense desire. All her player’s
seduction rolls for the scene add a number of automatic successes equal to (the
Alchemical’s Essence - the Essence of the target).
Targets of equal or greater Essence are not unduly awed by the sensuousness of
her presence.
In addition to facilitating seduction,
this Charm aids in the actual act of consummation. Roll the Exalt’s
Appearance + Performance at standard difficulty, adding automatic successes as for
seduction. If the number of successes exceeds the partner’s Willpower, he is so
awed by the experience that he becomes highly suggestible, adding the Exalt’s Essence to the difficulty of all Social, Wits,
Willpower or Virtue rolls made to oppose or resist the will of the Alchemical.
For every full hour that passes, this difficulty increase cumulatively
diminishes by one until it fades completely.
More importantly, the experience is
highly addictive for mortals. Roll the partner’s Temperance (difficulty 2). On
a failure, he will do anything that does not bring himself
or a loved one to harm in order to obtain another intimate encounter. On a
botch, he will do anything for the chance regardless of the cost to self or
others. On a success, he retains composure and feels no addiction, although his
wits remain addled for the next few hours.
If the number of successes on the
Performance roll is greater than the target’s Temperance, the difficulty
increase begins at half the Exalt’s Essence (rounded
up) and decreases normally thereafter, and there is no chance of addiction.
Successes less than or equaling the partner’s Temperance rating achieve nothing
but providing an intensely pleasurable experience.
Emotive
Aesthetics Of The Body Electric
Cost: None
Installation
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: N/A
Type: Permanent
Minimum
Appearance: 4
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Sustained
Augmentation of Appearance
The Exalt’s
body and movements have received exacting calibration, enabling her to
communicate intentions and have a profound impact on others without saying a
word. She may apply Social rolls to others without speaking or obviously doing
anything, provided the target of her roll can perceive her with one of his
senses. She cannot communicate complex thoughts or conduct speech without
words, so she cannot make an eloquent point on a specific matter.
However, she may attempt to seduce or
intimidate others, to attract attention to herself, to make new friends or to
“poison the waters” against an adversary who is also present (by conveying
overwhelming disdain or distaste for him). Her player makes the normal rolls
for these feats but cannot roll more dice for the Social Attribute used than
her character’s Appearance rating. Social feats facilitated by this Charm are extremely
subtle, requiring a reflexive Perception + Socialize roll (difficulty of the Exalt’s Essence) to notice and recognize. If an observer is
the target of an emoted feat, his player should immediately make this roll.
On a failure, the character does not
realize that his feelings have been externally modified, let alone the source.
Anyone else who is present when an Exalt uses her Emotive Aesthetics of the
Body Electric must be directly and deliberately observing her at the time of
the Social roll, or else his player does not get a Perception roll for the
character to notice the effect.
Empathy
Simulation Engine
Cost: 1 mote
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: One Scene
Type: Simple
Minimum
Manipulation: 3
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: None
Though it has its uses, an abundance of
Clarity admittedly makes normal social interactions with mortals difficult.
This Charm mitigates that somewhat, taking the form of a riveted implant in the
neck, from which a web of barbed tendrils emerges and stretches taught along
the skin to reenter the skull at key anchor points. These tendrils are held in
place by means of barbed hooks in the brain itself. Activating this Charm is
extremely painful, though bearably so. For the rest of the scene, the character
reduces his effective Clarity by his Manipulation rating for the purpose of
determining Social penalties. However, he receives no opportunity for a
Compassion roll to reduce Clarity for interacting with mortals during the
scene. Once the duration passes, the false mien of empathy recedes, and the
character’s full Clarity penalties return. In addition, the
Exalt gains a point of Clarity for simulating emotions instead of actually
embracing the human condition.
Transcendent
Brutality Programming
Cost: None
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: N/A
Type: Permanent
Minimum
Manipulation: 4
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Empathy Simulation
Engine
This Charm reverses the function of the
Empathy Simulation Engine, drawing upon the cold detachment of Clarity to make
the Exalt a figure of dread. The Alchemical adds a number of bonus dice equal
to his (Clarity ÷ 2, rounded up) to all intimidation or interrogation-based
Social rolls. This bonus is considered a form of specialty, cumulative with all
other pertinent specialties. Characters temporarily forfeit the bonus awarded
by this Charm whenever they mask Clarity with their Empathy Simulation Engine.
While this Charm is installed, Exalted gain a point of permanent Clarity.
Conceptual
Entropy Module
Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Indefinite
Type: Simple
Minimum
Manipulation: 3
Minimum
Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Transitory or Sustained
Augmentation of Manipulation
The Alchemical has a spiked gland of soulsteel and starmetal wires buried
in his brain. When activated, this Charm generates effects similar to those
produced by a Pattern Facilitation Module. Use the rules for that Charm, with
the following key differences.
First, the character can only attack a
plan under consideration by the organization and make it appear foolish,
unwise, dangerous or otherwise undesirable. He cannot endorse an alternative or
in any way promote a plan.
Second, those who fall completely under
the sway of this Charm (Willpower less than the Exalt’s
Essence) hate the targeted agenda with extreme prejudice and will use force or
even outright violence to oppose that plan. Those with a
Willpower equal to the Exalt’s Essence or as
high as (his Essence + 2) don’t like the plan but may grudgingly be talked into
it if given sufficient evidence to do so. Characters with higher Willpower find
the plan distasteful and will favor viable alternatives but will not hesitate
to pursue the agenda if it is clearly in their best interest to do so. If this
Charm is used to oppose an agenda that is supported with an activation of
Pattern Facilitation Module, the Exalt with the highest Essence wins, and the lesser effect is negated. In the case of a
tie, the Charms cancel, and no adjustment of opinion occurs.
Motivational Vocoder
Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
Installation
Cost: 1mote
Duration: One day
Type: Simple
Minimum
Manipulation: 3
Minimum
Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Transitory or Sustained
Augmentation of Manipulation
This Charm takes the form of a delicate
half torc anchored by a rivet in the throat. With
this device, the Exalt can give orders to a group and impel them to fulfill
that task with greater efficiency. All targets must be present for the
Alchemical to address when the Charm is activated, and targets cannot have a
permanent Essence of 2+. Furthermore, the Exalt cannot affect more targets with
a single activation of this Charm than (her Manipulation x 10). For the rest of
the day, every target adds one bonus die to any action that directly furthers
the assigned task.
This bonus is considered a form of
artificial specialty and is treated like other specialties. At the end of the
day, each character who made use of the bonus loses 1
point of Willpower and adds 1 to the difficulty of his next Conviction roll to
regain Willpower. Successive days spent under the influence of this Charm
cumulatively increase the penalty to a maximum of the target’s Conviction, at
which point he cannot regain Willpower with rest. For every full day that the
character goes without being enchanted by this Charm, the penalty decreases by
one die. Targets reduced to zero temporary Willpower as a result of this Charm
are listless and lose one die from all non-reflexive actions unless those
actions are in immediate accordance with a Motivational Vocoder
directive.
Personality
Override Spike
Costs: 8 motes, 1 Willpower
Installation
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum
Manipulation: 5
Minimum
Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Motivational Vocoder
The Alchemical has a foot-long spike
mounted in an arm or other appendage, which he can retract or extend as a
reflexive action without activating the Charm. This probe is extremely sharp
and slender and may be wielded as a stiletto (damage is piercing, but the spike
otherwise uses the same statistics as a short sword). However, the primary
purpose of the spike is not as a mere weapon, but as an instrument of mind
control. If the Exalt pierces a sentient being of equal or lower permanent
Essence and inflicts any levels damage, he may opt to spend 8 motes and 1
Willpower point to activate this Charm. Outside of combat, the needle may be
inserted more carefully and need not inflict any damage if the victim does not
resist.
Once inserted, the spike releases
hundreds of burrowing microfilaments that rapidly thread their way through
nerve bundles to the spine and up into the brain. As these threads spread out
and begin conducting electrical impulses, both the Alchemical and the victim
lose conscious awareness of the world around them and remain paralyzed for the
rest of the turn (and potentially longer as explained below). Neither character
can take any conscious actions or take any automatic reflexive actions not
permitted while locked in a clinch.
At the beginning of the next turn after
successful injection, make an opposed roll of Essence + Willpower for the Exalt
and the victim. If the victim wins, both she and the Exalt awaken as the
thwarted wires retract back into the spike. The victim instinctively pushes
herself free, causing the spike to slide out of her wound. If the Exalt wins
the contest, record the net successes. Repeat the contested roll at the
beginning of each new turn until the victim wins or the Exalt cumulatively
obtains three net successes. (If a victim offers no resistance, no contested
roll is required.) If the Exalt conquers a victim’s mind, each full turn spent
maintaining the link allows him to inflict one of the following effects as a
simple action. The Exalt can terminate the link and retract the probe at any
time.
• The victim gains or loses a dot from a
Virtue (maximum •••••, minimum •).
• The victim’s Nature changes to
whatever archetype the Exalt desires (usually Follower).
• The victim gains or loses a dot of
permanent Willpower (maximum 8, minimum 0 for mortals, minimum
1 for magical beings). If permanent Willpower is reduced below a victim’s
current pool, any excess of the new rating is lost.
• The victim forgets a specific
contiguous period of memory beginning and ending at points in time selected by
the Exalt. The Alchemical does not know what is erased without other magic and
cannot delete a period of memory greater than five years per turn.
• The victim suffers neural overload and
remains unconscious for the rest of the scene (even after the spike withdraws)
unless violently shaken awake.
• The victim dies as her brain shuts
down (Essence 1 mortals and non-magical beings only).
In mortals, any Trait or memory loss or
Nature change wrought by this Charm is permanent, at least to the degree that
further experience point expenditure and major life circumstances do not
subsequently change them. Any Traits that receive an increase lose one bonus
dot per week. Victims reduced to 0 permanent Willpower are used as slaves in Autochthonia; these wretches are only capable of performing
the most mindless tasks and cannot communicate or vocalize anything beyond a
droning hum.
Exalted and other magical beings are far
more resistant to mental change. They heal one dot of every single diminished
Trait per day, followed by a restoration of their Nature after another day
passes. Bonus dots likewise fade at the rate of one per day. Memories return
more slowly and never completely without some form of magical restoration;
remembering any deleted experience requires some form of prompting and a
Willpower roll (difficulty 1-5 as selected by the Storyteller based on the
subjective importance and emotional significance of the memory; powerful
memories are easier to recall). Once the victim remembers a particular
experience, she needs no prompting or roll to do so thereafter.
Forcibly separating an Alchemical from a
victim while the two are linked through the spike abruptly terminates the
connection (requiring a Strength + Athletics roll, difficulty 2). However, this
is not always the best course of action, since the spike’s filaments cause
internal lacerations as they rip free and retract. The victim suffers three
levels of lethal damage that can only be resisted with her natural soak.
Mind-Ripping
Probe
Cost: None
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: N/A
Type: Permanent
Minimum
Manipulation: 5
Minimum
Essence: 4
Prerequisite
Charms: Personality
Override Spike
With this Charm installed, an Alchemical
can use his Personality Override Spike as a conduit to read a victim’s
memories. He must first break the victim’s will as described for that Charm.
Once this is accomplished, he may perform either of the following feats as a
simple action, just like any other mental modification:
• Ask any one question of the victim
regarding his past experiences. The victim involuntarily answers by showing
vignettes of the most pertinent memories. Specific queries will yield more
specific results. The victim’s player selects what scenes to play, but if she
is too cryptic and vague in her response and the question is straightforward,
the Storyteller may demand that she include more information in her response.
• Search for false or deleted memories.
Roll the Alchemical’s Wits + Awareness at standard
difficulty. Ignore all successes above his own Essence
rating. He finds all falsehoods and deletions created by beings whose permanent
Essence was equal or less than the number of successes rolled at the time of
the alteration. He does not know what the underlying truth actually is unless
he reverses the procedure with Memory Implantation Surge and then studies the
formerly damaged areas with the first use provided by this Charm.
Memory
Implantation Surge
Costs: None
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: N/A
Type: Permanent
Minimum
Manipulation: 5
Minimum
Essence: 4
Prerequisite
Charms: Mind-Ripping Probe
This Charm augments the function of a
Personality
Override Spike, enabling the probe to
insert false memories after breaking a victim’s will. Adjusting memory is
performed like any other mental modification as a simple action.
Roll the Alchemical’s
Manipulation + (Performance, Presence or Lore, whichever is highest) against a
difficulty of the target’s Essence. The number of successes determines the
degree of memory modification that is possible. With one success, the Exalt may
make superficial changes. For instance, “You went directly to the cafeteria
after your shift on that day” (when in truth the subject first stopped by the
bunks to look for her friends). With two successes, he can dictate gross
changes that lack any finesse and may not mesh with associative memory
continuity. For example “You had an uneventful week” (when that was actually
the week that the victim lost her best friend in an industrial accident). If
confronted with contradictory evidence, the victim knows the memories must be
false and can reconstruct what actually happened but still remembers the
falsehoods as if she experienced them. With three successes, the Alchemical may
perform one sweeping change that permeates throughout the victim’s entire
memory. Evidence can prove this memory to be false, but it always feels real.
“You remember nothing of your mother.” Four successes allow for a total rewrite
of a segment of memory up to five years long, filled with as much detail as the
Alchemical desires. Five successes can rewrite a victim’s entire life down to
the smallest detail with as much or as little change as desired. Ordinary
mortals do not naturally recover their original memories on their own but may
have odd and confusing dreams of their true pasts if they are particularly
strong-willed (Willpower 7+). Magical beings can challenge a memory they know
to be false with a Willpower roll (difficulty of the Alchemical’s
Essence). On a botch, they once again believe that the false memory is true and
require new convincing. If successful, the false memory shatters, and the truth
resurfaces.
Memory Implantation Surge can also
remove a programmed falsehood or erased segment of memory, provided the
Alchemical knows that the area of recall is damaged. Such absolute certainty
may be obtained through Mind-Ripping Probe or detective work and contradictory
evidence. Once a damaged portion is fixed, the truth resurfaces and completely
overrides the programmed replacement.