Stealth
Charms
Easily Overlooked
Presence Method
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Stealth: 3
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite
Charms: None
This Charm does not involve hiding so much as
becoming difficult to notice. So long as the character does nothing to stand
out, make herself obvious or become the center of attention, those who are not
actively looking for someone will simply discount her as part of the scenery.
For example, this Charm does not work on alerted guards or those watching over
restricted areas or on those who intend to stop everyone who passes. Likewise,
it cannot conceal a character who is very different from her surroundings; a
tall, short-haired, light-skinned woman in a crowd of short, long-haired,
dark-skinned men is going to stand out too much to benefit from this Charm.
Mental
Invisibility Technique
Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Stealth: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms:
Easily Overlooked Presence
Method
An extension of Easily Overlooked Presence
Method, this Charm bends the minds of those seeing the character. Players whose
characters see the Exalted must make a Willpower roll and gain a number of
successes equal to the Essence of the
This effect ends if the character takes
violent action or if she is pointed out by someone who notices her, either
directly (“Look! Over there!”) or indirectly (Onlookers asking themselves the
question, “Who is the guard swinging an axe at?”).
Vanishing From
Mind’s Eye Method
Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One day
Type: Simple
Minimum Stealth: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Mental Invisibility
Technique
The ultimate mental misdirection — the
character can vanish from all memory. She is no more or less easy to detect
than before, but those who see her will not recognize her because they have no
idea who she is. Essentially, the character sets up a separate history for
herself, starting when the Charm is first invoked and ending when she allows it
to expire. Beings with Essence ratings higher than the character’s are immune
to this effect. Obviously, a character trying to get somewhere she shouldn’t
should have some other Stealth abilities at work since, while she will not be
recognized, guards are still going to stop someone they don’t know. Extended
use of this Charm can cause serious problems for an Exalted who is a ruler, merchant
or other important person, as others will quickly start dividing up the
character’s now-ownerless property.
Invisible Statue
Spirit
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: Until disturbed
Type: Simple
Minimum Stealth: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Easily Overlooked
Presence Method
This Charm allows the Exalted to truly
disappear — no amount of visual searching, however thorough, will detect him,
so long as he remains still. Moving, even in a slow, shuffling walk, is enough
to disturb the effect of this Charm, as is any sort of offensive action.
Characters using Invisible Statue Spirit are not immaterial, they can be
detected by touch or by scent or hearing.
Blurred Form Style
Cost: 8 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Stealth: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Invisible Statue
Spirit
This Charm conceals the Exalted, blurring
her form and allowing her to blend into whatever background she stands against,
vastly improving her Stealth. Players whose characters attempt to spot her when
she is hiding or moving slowly must gain a number of additional successes on
their Perception + Alertness rolls equal to the character’s Essence. If she
attacks from a distance, players of those who see the attack get one free
Perception + Alertness roll at difficulty 1 to spot her for each attack she
makes. If she attacks in hand-to-hand combat, all watching are assumed to
immediately spot her.
Once spotted, her enemies can pick her out
again at will until she escapes from their line of sight for at least several
seconds. While the Exalted has Blurred Form Style active, enemies attacking her
at range do so at a difficulty penalty equal to her Essence score, and those
attacking her in hand-to-hand combat suffer a flat +1 penalty to the difficulty
of their attacks.
Sound And Scent
Banishing Attitude
Cost: 6 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Stealth: 4
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Blurred Form Style
Visual detection is not the only thing an Exalted
must fear. Through the use of this Charm, an Exalted can protect himself from
other forms of detection, as well. While this Charm is active, the character
makes no noise of any sort, nor does anything carried on his person or in his
hands. This effect does not extend beyond his touch — a dropped knife will
still clatter, a knocked-over pot will still shatter. Also, while this Charm is
in effect, the character has (and leaves) no scent of any sort. Tracking beasts
will not detect him or be able to follow him.
Unseen Ghost Walk
Cost: 7 motes, 1
Willpower
Duration: Essence
in minutes
Type: Simple
Minimum Stealth: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Invisible Statue Spirit
This Charm allows
the character to literally vanish from sight. She can become completely
invisible. The only limit to this Charm is the fact that the character must
move slowly and carefully (move no more than six yards per turn) and cannot
engage in any form of combat or perform any other activity that involves rapid
movement. Any such movements instantly disrupt the Charm and render the character
visible. However, the character can walk slowly down a corridor, pour a dram of
poison in someone’s cup or steal a treaty from a table. Characters using Unseen
Ghost Walk are not immaterial. They can be detected normally by touch, scent or
hearing.
Enemies’ players
may attempt a reflexive Perception + Awareness roll each turn for the enemies
to spot the character. If the observer saw the character disappear, noticed the
character last turn or witnessed an action performed by the character, the difficulty
for the check is only 1. However, the difficulty increases by one every turn
that the character remains undetected, to a maximum of 5. If the observer has
some reason to believe that someone is around (a knocked over vase, footprints
in the sand), the difficulty for spotting the character starts at 3 and scales
up. Just looking casually for the invisible Exalted has a difficulty of 5. Even
when spotted, any actions taken against the character are at a +2 difficulty.