Awareness
Charms
Sensory Acuity Prana
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum
Awareness: 2
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite
Charms: None
Though the use of this Charm,
the character extends his perception, heightening all five senses. The character can see farther and in less
light, hear softer sounds and distinguish between them more easily and
differentiate various tastes, textures and scents quite easily — he could be a
master chef or perfumer. The basic mechanical effect is to increase the
character’s Awareness by a number of dice equal to his Essence, though there
are obviously many other situations where these senses might come into play —
it’s up to the Storyteller to make a character’s extended perceptions a reality
by increasing the amount of information available to the player. Characters
using this Charm are not any more or less vulnerable to sensory overload than
normal mortals — the extended perceptions include the ability to manage the
sensations more effectively.
Keen (Sense)
Technique
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum
Awareness: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Sensory Acuity Prana
The character channels Essence into one of
his senses, heightening his perceptions to an immense degree. When he purchases
this Charm, the character must choose which sense it affects. Characters may
purchase this Charm more than once in order to gain the ability to heighten
different senses. However, a character may not have more than one sense
heightened at any given time. Generally, this Charm does not add dice to a
character’s pools, but instead,
changes what actions she can undertake at a given
difficulty.
For example, recognizing someone by her
scent is normally difficulty 2 or 3, but a character with Keen Smell and Taste
Technique could do it without a roll. The effects of various Keen (Sense)
Techniques are listed below
• Sight
— The character’s visual acuity is heightened to several
times that of a normal mortal. He can pick out tiny details at 100 yards,
quickly count masses of troops and so on. In fog, dusk and other poor visual
conditions, he can see as well as a normal person in good visual conditions.
• Hearing
and Touch — The character’s hearing and sense of
touch are tremendously increased. The character can easily judge the quality of
fabric and metals with casual inspection, hear animals burrowing beneath the
ground, listen in clearly on conversations through thick doors and perform
other, similar feats.
• Smell
and Taste — The character can detect poisons by
taste and smell and recognize individuals by their scents (even if they are no
longer present). The character may track by scent but is not good at it — add a
+2 bonus to all Survival rolls involving tracking or hunting for food.
This Charm is incompatible with Sensory
Acuity Prana, above. The character can either extend
all her senses or one of them.
Unsurpassed
(Sense) Discipline
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum
Awareness: 5
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Keen (Sense) Technique
The character channels Essence to hone one
of her senses As with Keen (Sense) Technique, above, the
character must choose a sense to be enhanced when she purchases this Charm. The
Charm may be purchased multiple times to cover multiple senses, but the
character may not invoke Unsurpassed (Sense) Discipline and Keen (Sense) Technique at the same time, and only
one sense at a time can be enhanced via the Unsurpassed (Sense) Discipline
Charm. A character can only purchase the Unsurpassed (Sense) Discipline Charm
for a sense for which she has already purchased the Keen (Sense) Technique
Charm. Also, as with Keen (Sense) Technique, this Charm is incompatible with
Sensory Acuity Prana.
• Sight
— The character gains eyes equal to those of the
greatest raptors. In good light, the character can see a fieldmouse
a mile away, pick a face out of a crowded street with a casual glance and
detect the tiniest details and imperfections without effort. In the dark or in
poor visual conditions such as smoke, haze and mist, her senses are diminished,
and she sees only as well as an individual using Keen Sight Technique does in
normal conditions.
• Hearing
and Touch — The character can listen in on a whispered conversation a mile
away in still air or 100 yards away indoors, in windy conditions or in noisy
situations such as a bazaar or coliseum. The character can read by passing her
fingers over a page and feeling the ink beneath her fingertips.
• Smell
and Taste — The character can track by scent
almost as well as a bloodhound, adding his Perception as automatic successes to
all Survival rolls involving tracking or hunting for food. She can distinguish
poisons at a distance by scent alone and can tell how much and how recently
something was poisoned with but a harmless touch of the tongue. She can read an
individual or animal’s actual mood by scent.
Surprise
Anticipation Method
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum
Awareness: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Sensory Acuity Prana
The character develops a preternatural
sense for hazard. Whenever she is about to be placed in immediate danger, her
Surprise Anticipation Method activates. There is no roll — the character simply
becomes aware of immanent danger. This effect costs a mote of Essence and makes
it almost impossible to ambush the character. Storytellers should keep in mind
that Surprise Anticipation Method is an asset, not a liability. Don’t use it as
an excuse to drain the character’s Essence.
Storytellers should also keep in mind that
Surprise Anticipation Method operates by increasing the character’s awareness,
not by precognition or mind reading. It alerts characters to anything they
would perceive as dangerous if they saw it and gave it a quick glance. A
character with Surprise Anticipation Method can occasionally guess wrong about
an individual’s intentions, particularly when on edge. While the character will
detect invisible individuals from subtle environmental clues, she can fall into
carefully concealed pits, and she can be taken by surprise by the unexpected
treachery of a trusted friend. She is not prescient so
much as nearly impossible to catch flat-footed.
Characters may place other Charms in a
Combo with Surprise Anticipation Method. When Surprise Anticipation Method
activates, the character has the option of spending a point of temporary
Willpower and activating the rest of the Charms. However, she must do this immediately
upon the activation of Surprise Anticipation Method. Most Exalted Combo in
defensive Charms since, while Surprise Anticipation Method is generally
reliable, it is hardly infallible. It only takes one accidentally murdered
loved one or terrible diplomatic incident to make an Exalted into a broken or
hunted creature.
Piercing The Night’s Veil Practice
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Awareness: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Sensory Acuity Prana
This Charm allows the user to see in
darkness as if she were in broad daylight. The Exalted needs no light source of
any kind, so long as this Charm is in effect; whether down in the deepest cave
or under a new moon on a cloudy night, she will she with normal clarity and
detail. Charms used to increase her vision will work just like they normally
do; if she uses the Hundred Leagues Sight Procedure after activating this
Charm, she will be able to flawlessly focus on a target dozens of leagues away,
as if in daylight. As with the Sensory Acuity Prana,
the Exalted is not more or less susceptible to bright lights or sudden flashes.
If she enters a torch-lit tent, she will see normally, and if suddenly startled
by the flare of an anima banner, she will be blinded no longer than someone
using his ordinary senses would.
Vision Of The Murky Depths Method
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Awareness: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Keen Sight Technique
The Exalted shifts his vision so that he
can see in water as if in air. For the duration of the Charm, he can adjust his
vision to see in water, in air or to see through them both. While shifted to
see in either water or air, he sees normally. When looking through both (as
when peering over the railing of a vessel to see if there is anything in the
waters below or when looking up onto the deck of a ship from below the water’s
surface to locate a guard), he sees without the distortions and shifting that
normally occurs, but his vision is halved. It takes one turn to change sight
over from water to air or from either to seeing in both.
Hundred Leagues
Sight Procedure
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Awareness: 5
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Unsurpassed Sight Discipline
Whereas, before, the Exalted could extend
his vision out to a mile or more using the Unsurpassed Sight Discipline, with
this Charm, he can see further than even the sharpest-eyed mospid.
The user of this Charm can clearly focus and notice details out to a range
equal to his Essence x 20) miles. Anything within that range can be seen just
as if it were close to hand ― even the furthest objects will appear as if
they were no more than 100 yards or so away. This ability is rarely of use on
land, where terrain ensures that the Exalted will never actually be able to see
that fair, but at see, the information gleaned may prove vital.
Owl-Eye Technique
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One day
Type: Simple
Minimum Awareness:
4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Sensory Acuity Prana
A character who uses this Charm can see in absolute darkness without
penalty. For the next full day, the character can see equally well on a bright
sunny day, on a clear night under the full moon or in a totally lightless cell
10 yards underground. The only sign that a character is using this Charm is
that her eyes become somewhat luminescent in dime light, flashing Solar gold from certain angles. This Charm does not allow
the character to see more easily through fog or smoke, nor does it help her
detect spirits or anyone who has been rendered invisible.
Barrier-Bypassing Senses
Cost: 6 motes
Duration: One
scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Awareness:
5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Unsurpassed (Sense) Discipline
The character can
transcend physical limits and extend her sense past a single barrier. The
character can see, hear, touch, smell or taste anything that is on the other
side of a barrier that is no thicker than the character’s Essence in yards. The
character can observe events on the other side of a closed door, hear a
conversation inside a locked stone cell or feel a powerful artifact locked
inside a safe. The character cannot actually interact with the object, simply
gain sensory impressions.
Eyes Of The Unconquered Sun
Cost: 12 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One
scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Awareness:
6
Minimum Essence: 6
Prerequisite
Charms: Unsurpassed Sight Discipline
This potent Charm
allows the character to pierce all forms of deception and disguise. Everyone
using magical or mundane disguises is seen in their true form, even a Lunar
Exalted whose Tell has not yet been spotted or an Immaculate using Shrouding
the Body and Mind. Everyone who is hiding is revealed to the character’s gaze,
regardless of whether they are using ordinary Stealth or potent invisibility magics, including mind-altering effects such as Mental
Invisibility Technique. Everyone and everything that was deliberately disguised
or hidden can be clearly seen. No known magic can deceive the power of this
Charm ― Eye of the Unconquered Sun is a perfect defense against
invisibility and concealment. When a character uses this Charm, his Caste Mark
glows as if the Exalt’s anima banner were at the
12-15 mote level if it does not already, shattering all illusion and
invisibility Charms and making mundane stealth impossible.