The Warrior
Pattern
(Virtue)-Bolstering
Meditation
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: (Essence + 1) hours
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Warrior clears his mind of
distractions with a chant or yell, hardening his spirit against suffering.
(Virtue)-Bolstering Meditation is actually four separate Charms, one for each
Virtue. Characters who know multiple versions can activate them in conjunction
on the same initiative as if they were a single Charm. Additionally, a Jadeborn who masters all four versions reduces the
activation cost to 2 motes per Charm instead of 3. Characters can only benefit
from one application of each version at a time. Reactivating the Charm before
the effect wears off merely resets the duration.
Compassion: The character adds one bonus die to all
actions intended to protect or rescue an ally from immediate physical danger.
Once per scene, the character may increase this bonus to her Compassion rating
for a single turn.
Conviction: The character subtracts his Conviction rating
from all wound penalties.
Temperance: The character subtracts his Temperance rating
from all environmental penalties.
Valor: The character gains one additional dot
of Valor, plus one for every five allies in line of sight who are also using
the Valor permutation of this Charm. If this results in a Valor rating of 6+,
the character’s Valor remains at five dots, but she becomes truly fearless,
like an automaton. She is incapable of failing Valor rolls and becomes immune
to all magic and penalties based on fear. The character immediately loses
additional Valor if the number of linked allies in range drops below the number
required for the bonus. Valor bonuses gained with this Charm are considered
part of the character’s natural rating.
(Color) Jade Transformation
Cost: 8 motes
Duration: (Essence + 1) hours
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: (Virtue)-Bolstering
Meditation
The Mountain Folk begin and end their
lives entombed in stone. Warriors who learn this Charm may call upon that
heritage, briefly transmuting their bodies into statues of living jade. Five
versions of this Charm exist, one for each color of jade. All versions grant a
natural lethal soak equal to the character’s Stamina and permit characters to
parry lethal attacks unarmed without a stunt. Each version also provides a
unique benefit as listed below.
Characters who know multiple versions of
this Charm may activate multiple versions at the same instant as a single Charm
use. The cost to use any of these Charms is (8 – the number of [Color] Jade
Transformation Charms the character already has active) motes. While Jadeborn can stack multiple versions of this Charm
together, they cannot benefit from more than one application of the same version
at a time. Reactivating a Charm before its effect runs out resets the duration.
Green:
Prerequisites: Compassion-Bolstering
Meditation
The Warrior resonates with the elemental
aspect of wood, regenerating one level of bashing damage every turn and one
level of lethal damage every hour.
Red:
Prerequisites: Valor-Bolstering
Meditation
The character resonates with fire,
gaining total immunity to damage from non-magical fire and extreme heat.
Against magical sources of flame, the character adds his Valor to his lethal
soak. The flickering sparks of Essence also accelerate the character’s
reflexes, adding half his Valor rating to base initiative (rounded up).
Black:
Prerequisites: Temperance-Bolstering
Meditation
By resonating with water, the character
gains flowing quickness and greater freedom of movement. She adds one to her
Dexterity and subtracts her Temperance from the total mobility penalty of any
armor and/or encumbering possessions she carries.
Blue:
Prerequisites: Conviction-Bolstering
Meditation
Through resonance with air, the Warrior
becomes light and deft, subtracting his Conviction from the fatigue ratings for
armor and similarly encumbering possessions. Furthermore, he doubles his usual
leaping distance and halves the actual distance of any fall for the purposes of
determining damage sustained on impact.
White:
Prerequisites: All four
(Virtue)-Bolstering Meditation Charms
Embodying the balance and harmony of
earth, the character adds (the rating of her highest Virtue + Essence) to her
natural bashing and lethal soak values. In addition, her hardened body becomes
a deadly weapon, causing all her unarmed attacks to inflict lethal damage
unless she deliberately pulls her blows. Finally, she cannot be stunned, thrown
or otherwise tackled to the ground, nor can she suffer any other form of knockback or knockdown. This immunity does not extend to
magical effects that induce these conditions, nor does it prevent injuries
associated with unsuccessful maneuvers. For example, a tackle still strikes
with full force even if it cannot knock the character to the ground.
Fivefold Embodiment
Of (Color) Jade
Cost: None
Duration: Permanent
Type: Special
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: (Color) Jade
Transformation Where lesser Warriors may briefly change flesh into enchanted
jade, more powerful veterans can permanently sculpt their bodies into armored
form. For each purchase of this Charm, the Jadeborn
permanently gains the effects of one (Color) Jade Transformation Charm he
already knows. Characters with Fivefold Embodiment of Black Jade consider the
bonus dot of Dexterity part of their natural rating for all purposes, including
raising the Attribute with experience. This effect can raise Dexterity above
normal maximums. Note that the temporary and permanent versions of the same
effect do not stack, so characters with any version of this Charm have no
further use for its prerequisite. Mountain Folk may not learn more versions of
this Charm than their permanent Essence. Eclipse and Moonshadow
Caste Exalted may not learn any versions of this Charm.
Arsenal-Enhancing
Technique
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One day
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Compassion-Bolstering
Meditation
The Warrior carefully and reverently
handles a weapon or suit of armor, reinforcing the object’s pattern with her own
Essence. In addition to cleaning and polishing the item, the magic also
transforms it into exceptional gear. This upgrade provides bonus points that
the Jadeborn may spend to enhance the object. Unless
otherwise noted, these points can only improve the same statistic once. Melee
weapons receive three points that can add to speed, accuracy, damage or
defense. Each point can also subtract one from a minimum. Exceptional bows
receive two bonus points to divide among accuracy, rate and range (which adds
50 yards), but crossbows cannot increase their rate.
Thrown weapons gain three bonus points
to enhance their melee capabilities or distance use (spending a dot on range adds
+10 yards). However, improving a thrown weapon’s melee characteristics does not
increase its ranged characteristics, and vice versa. Exceptional armor adds two
bonus points that can increase soak by +1L/+1B, reduce the mobility penalty by
one or reduce the fatigue value by one. Finally, this Charm can make clothing
more durable, changing it into a type of makeshift armor with 2L/1B soak and no
mobility penalty or fatigue value.
Arsenal-Enhancing Technique normally
lasts for a day, after which the character must renew the magic. Spending 2
experience points makes the enchantment permanent. This Charm can enchant an
already exceptional item to make it a perfect item, in which case the two enhancements
stack with one another. Perfect defensive clothing is comfortable in all but
the most extreme temperatures, in addition to being extremely durable and light
(counts as armor with a soak rating of 3L/2B and no mobility penalty or fatigue
value). Only objects that are permanently exceptional can be made permanently
perfect.
Mountain Folk can enchant artifacts with
this Charm, but they cannot stack a second activation to make the object
perfect or spend experience points to make the enchantment permanent. This
Charm has no effect on perfect equipment, except to clean it.
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: (Essence + 1) hours
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Conviction-Bolstering
Meditation
The Warrior silently concentrates,
crystallizing his mind toward the singular purpose of violence. In this hardened
mental state, the character adds his Essence or half his Conviction rating,
rounded up (whichever is higher), to the dice pools of all attacks and defense
rolls. However, the character’s single-minded focus also subtracts his
Conviction or Essence rating (whichever is higher) from the dice pools of all
Ability rolls not involved with combat.
Rolls that are indirectly connected with
combat (such as movement, hiding for an ambush, etc.) receive no bonus or penalty.
The Storyteller remains the final arbiter of whether an action is indirectly
combat related or not but should give players ample opportunity to justify
associations through clever descriptions (particularly if such descriptions
warrant a stunt bonus). Once activated, Battle Trance Focus must run its
course. Characters may not prematurely deactivate the Charm before its duration
expires. Eclipse and Moonshadow Caste Exalted cannot
learn this Charm.
Precision Onslaught
Method
Cost: 4 motes, 1
Willpower
Duration: (Essence + 1) hours
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Temperance-Bolstering
Meditation
The Warrior adopts a dynamic fighting
stance, allowing her to strike with supernatural economy of motion and exacting
aim. Her blows and missiles find the weak points in armor and flesh alike,
subtracting her Temperance from the soak of any being or object she attacks (to
a minimum of 0 soak). In addition, the Jadeborn
reduces the difficulty of all called shots by one, to a minimum of difficulty
1. For example, characters can inflict bashing damage with lethal weapons as an
attack at standard difficulty.
Charring Magma Blade
Cost: 4 motes
Duration: (Essence + 1) hours
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Valor-Bolstering
Meditation
The Jadeborn
touches his weapon to the ground, absorbing the destructive wrath of the earth’s
blood. A rumble stirs the air as burning Essence erupts from the point of
contact, enveloping the weapon in a bright-orange radiance that quickly cools
into a mottled glow. The energies remain banked and dim, giving off
uncomfortable warmth without setting anything aflame. The power roars to life
whenever the owner strikes a blow, adding his Valor to the base damage and
setting any flammable object alight. Such burning weapons inflict lethal damage
and cannot inflict bashing damage.
As an added benefit, the enchanted
weapon knows its master. If anyone but the weapon’s true owner tries to hold or
wield it, the volcanic Essence inflicts lethal damage equal to the Jadeborn’s Valor every turn. The bearer’s player must also
make a successful reflexive roll of Stamina + Resistance each turn at
difficulty 4, or the character drops the burning weapon in agony.
Normally, this Charm can only enchant
melee weapons. However, characters using a (Color) Jade Transformation Charm, a
Fivefold Embodiment of (Color) Jade Charm or Living Jewel Armor may imbue their
own bodies with smoldering power. This converts the damage of all unarmed
attacks to lethal and adds the character’s Valor as normal. If (Color) Jade
Transformation or Living Jewel Armor wears off and the character has no other
valid Charms active, Charring Magma Blade also ends.
Living Jewel Armor
Cost: 7 motes
Duration: Essence hours
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: White Jade
Transformation
As the character evokes the pattern of
her Essence, a lattice of razor-sharp crystal spikes grows from her flesh and
weaves itself into a spiked exoskeleton. This transformation assimilates any
armor the character is wearing into itself, crystallizing and reweaving the
protection into an extension of her being. Living Jewel Armor has a bashing and
lethal soak of its creator’s permanent Essence, plus the soak rating of any
assimilated armor. It has a mobility penalty and fatigue value each equal to
half the penalty/value of any assimilated armor, rounded up. If the exoskeleton
did not absorb any armor, it has no mobility penalty or fatigue value. As a
final defensive power, the crystal armor partially absorbs and conducts attacks
of raw Essence (i.e., those lacking a physical component, such as Solar Spike,
Elemental Bolt Attack or blasts from a skirmish pike). The armor has double its
usual soak against such attacks and allows the Warrior’s player to roll one die
for every point of soaked damage. Each success restores one mote to the Jadeborn’s pool.
In addition to its defensive powers,
armor created with this Charm serves as a deadly weapon. The lattice of razor
sharp blades adds +1 to the accuracy and +2L to the damage of all unarmed
attacks, including grappling maneuvers. The spikes also act as quills,
inflicting 5L damage to anyone who strikes the character with an unarmed
attack. Finally, the reinforced exoskeleton provides the Warrior with an
additional dot of Strength that is considered part of the character’s natural
rating for the duration of the Charm.
Reforging Travail Of The Veteran
Cost: 1 mote per dot of Essence
Duration: One week
Type: Simple
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Arsenal-Enhancing
Technique
Lesser Warriors augment weapons with
Essence. Enlightened generals build upon this principle to augment soldiers as
weapons, applying Essence and rigorous training to improve their quality.
First, the Warrior gathers the forces she wishes to train, all of whom must
have a permanent Essence of 3 or less. Next, she takes these soldiers to a
secluded area and commits 1 mote for every dot of permanent Essence possessed
by members of the group (or 2 motes per dot for non-Mountain Folk). Trainees study
under the Warrior’s rigorous tutelage for at least 15 hours a day, learning the
crafts and arts of war. For each day that passes, these soldiers gain 1 phantom
experience point. Phantom points are banked separately for those characters who normally keep track of experience totals (i.e., those
controlled by players).
At the end of the week, graduates of the
program must spend the experience points they have earned without regard for
training times. The instructor’s player designates and prioritizes how these
points must be spent. Valid choices for improvement include Valor, Warrior
Pattern Charms, Physical Attributes, Wits or war-related Abilities: Archery, Athletics,
Awareness, Brawl, Craft (War), Dodge, Endurance, Martial Arts, Melee,
Resistance, Stealth, Survival, Thrown. The curriculum must list the prioritized
Traits at the desired value, none of which may exceed the Warrior’s own rating.
Affected characters use phantom experience at the normal cost to raise Traits
as per the list, ignoring all training times. Characters with any actual
experience points banked must first spend these before spending phantom points.
Any phantom points leftover after purchasing the prioritized Traits are lost unless
the Warrior immediately begins another round of teaching with this Charm. This process
repeats with successive weeks of magical training until the teacher stops.
Characters may not train under all applications of this Charm for more than
(their Willpower + Essence) weeks a year. For the purposes of this Charm, a
year spans the time between two Calibrations. Characters who receive normal
experience points must note the number of phantom experience spent. These
characters do not receive any experience awards until they have paid off this
debt in full. They may circumvent standard training times and accumulate as
much experience debt as they are willing and able, so the Charm still provides
considerable benefit. However, the Charm’s primary purpose is to rapidly train
large numbers of Storyteller characters at an accelerated pace.
Great Maker’s Champion
Cost: 20 motes, 2 Willpower
Duration: One scene
Type: Enchantment
Minimum Essence: 5
Prerequisite Charms:
The Enlightened Warrior disseminates
shards of his will and genius through all the forces he commands, integrating
them into a collective engine of war. Ruthlessly and pitilessly efficient, this
machine of formations and blades strikes fear into enemy hearts. This effect extends
a half mile from the character and incorporates all Mountain Folk with a
permanent Essence of 1-3 who regard the Warrior as their military commander
(either directly or through an unbroken chain of relayed command). Affected Jadeborn add one die to all attack and defense rolls, as
well as adding one automatic success to all Valor rolls. All enemies within a
half mile radius of the Warrior who have a permanent Essence of 1 and a Valor of
3 or less suffer a corresponding penalty if they fight the enchanted host,
losing one die from all attacks and defense rolls and increasing the difficulty
of all Valor rolls by 1. If any of these forces actually try to face the
Warrior directly rather than simply engaging his unit, the dice penalties to attacks
increase to a rating of the Jadeborn’s Valor.
Beings may only benefit from (or suffer
from) a single application of this Charm at a time. Those who pass beyond the
range of the effect are not affected, but anyone who enters into the effect
during its duration similarly becomes subject to it. If the Warrior dies, the
Charm immediately ends.
If using the Mail and Steel rules from
the Exalted Players Guide, Great Maker’s Champion improves the Hand-to-Hand
Skill, Ranged Skill and Drill of enchanted units by one dot, as well as adding one
success to all Valor rolls. However, the following conditions must be met for
the Charm to function. First, the Warrior using the Charm must be the unit’s commander
(either directly or through an unbroken chain of command). Second, the unit
must be made exclusively of Mountain Folk with an Essence rating of 1-3. Any
non-Mountain Folk members or Mountain Folk with Essence 4-5 must be designated
as heroes, sorcerers or relays.
Finally, the affected units must be
within a half mile of their commander. Great Maker’s Champion affects all enemy
units who engage in battle with an enchanted unit, provided that such units
have a Valor of 3 or less and an average Essence of 1 (generally those with
Might 0-1, though not always) and are entirely within a half mile of the Jadeborn using the Charm. Affected enemy units lose one dot
each of Hand-to-Hand Skill and Ranged Skill, as well as adding 1 to the
difficulty of all Valor rolls.
Diamond-Shattering
Blow
Cost: 5 motes, 1
Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Essence: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Precision Onslaught
Method
The Enlightened Warrior concentrates,
striking with perfect calm in an instant of destructive clarity. If she strikes
an inanimate object, she adds her Temperance + Essence to the base damage, and
her target receives no soak against the attack. Against an animate target, the
attack ignores and destroys any non-magical armor the victim is wearing, but
adds no extra dice to damage. The attack also shatters any non-magical weapon
used to parry the blow, although the victim’s parry still provides its usual
protection. Mountain Folk may also use this Charm to target an opponent’s
weapon with a called shot at difficulty 3. This blow may be dodged normally. If
the target parries, the attack against the weapon automatically succeeds.
Success destroys any non-magical weapon and sends any magical weapon flying out
of its owner’s grasp as an automatic disarm attempt. Objects destroyed by this
attack spectacularly shatter into hundreds or even thousands of shards.
Beings killed with this Charm perish no
less spectacularly, cleaved in half or even reduced to a spray of pulped bone
and gore, depending on the weapon used.
This Charm has less effect on inanimate
objects of First Age construction or similar mystical durability (i.e., those
that ignore non-magical damage and/or require damage to be rolled). Against
such targets, the Warrior adds Temperance + Essence to damage, but the target’s
full soak applies. However, the target’s soak cannot reduce the damage dice
below the Jadeborn’s Temperance + Essence. If the
character uses this Charm to attack a First Age object with a non-magical
weapon, the weapon shatters in the process of delivering the blow.
By default, this Charm can only augment
armed hand-to-hand attacks. However, characters using a (Color) Jade
Transformation Charm, a Fivefold Embodiment of (Color) Jade Charm or Living
Jewel Armor may use Diamond-Shattering Blow in conjunction with unarmed attacks.
Inescapable Volcano
Stance
Cost: 4 motes, 1
Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Charring Magma
Blade
The Warrior holds perfectly still for
the span of a heartbeat, then launches into a flurry of movement. Upon
activating this Charm, the character adds his Valor to his initiative.
Additionally, if using the Power Combat rules from the Exalted Players Guide,
his hand-to-hand weapons have unlimited rate. Most importantly, the normal
rules for multiple actions do not apply to the character for the turn. Instead,
his first dice action is made at his full pool, with each subsequent action
suffering a cumulative one-die penalty. If the penalty exceeds the dice pool
for an action after all modifiers, that action cannot be attempted. Defensive actions
occur outside of initiative, allowing the Warrior to dodge or parry whenever
needed in response to attacks. He may, in fact, dodge and parry the same attack.
For all other actions, the character must wait until his initiative count or
later. Mountain Folk can only activate this Charm at the beginning of a turn before
initiative is rolled and may not use Inescapable Volcano Stance more than once
per turn.
Warrior Pattern
Mastery
Cost: None
Duration: Permanent
Type: Special
Minimum Essence: 5
Prerequisite Charms: Entire Warrior
Pattern (23 Charms total)
Enlightened Mountain Folk who attain
cumulative mastery of the Warrior Pattern may unlock its final revelation with
this Charm. These ultimate grandmasters of battle see the web of the Pattern
itself and may navigate its interstices more easily or even weave their own
threads. Jadeborn with this Charm subtract 2 motes
from the activation cost for all the 18 subsidiary Warrior Pattern Charms that
require Essence. This cannot reduce the Essence cost of a Charm below 1 mote.
Additionally, Mountain Folk grandmasters can spend a Willpower point to
simultaneously activate as many Warrior Pattern enchantment-type Charms as
desired on a single initiative count. Finally, players of these paragons may
design new Warrior Pattern Charms with Storyteller permission and oversight.
Each of these custom Charms must have one or more of the 23 subsidiary Pattern
Charms as prerequisites, building upon existing themes and motifs of design
(especially in terms of elements and Virtues). Only Jadeborn
with Warrior Pattern Mastery can learn custom Charms for this Pattern.