Athletics
Charms
Spirit-Draining Ward
Cost: 10 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Occult:
5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Soul-Eating Strike
Opening himself as a conduit to the Void,
the Abyssal spreads his arms, and a maelstrom of flickering shadows billows out
to fill a radius equaling his permanent Essence in yards. This effect remains
centered on the character for the remainder of the scene. While visible in the
material world, the unnatural storm barely raises a light breeze. However, immaterial
spirits within the area of effect suffer battering cold equivalent to an arctic
gale. Against such creatures, this Charm inflicts a number of levels of
aggravated damage equal to the Abyssal's permanent Essence minus the spirit's
permanent Essence. This damage is not rolled. It is simply applied each turn
unless the spirit has a means of soaking aggravated damage. The character
regains 2 motes of Essence for every level of damage inflicted by the ward, up
to his usual maximum.
Spirits killed by this Charm are sucked
into the Void and permanently destroyed. Although this Charm cannot injure
spirits whose Essence rating matches or exceeds the character, the ward still
discomfits them (adding +1 to the difficulty of all actions inside its area of
effect). Materialized spirits are immune to this Charm. Spirits can sense
Exalts who knows this Charm and hate them
for it.
Raiton’s Nimble Perch
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Reflexive
Minimum
Athletics: 1
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite
Charms: None
With this Charm, an Abyssal becomes
preternaturally deft and light. She can balance on objects ordinarily too weak
or delicate to support her without risk of falling or breaking the object. The
deathknights player need never make an Athletics roll for the Abyssal to move gracefully
or keep her footing, except in the most challenging and improbable
circumstances.
Spider Pounce Technique
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Athletics:
1
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite
Charms: Raiton's Nimble Perch
Muscles strengthened beyond human limits,
the Abyssal lunges impossibly far and fast in the blink of an eye. The character
can move (Strength x 3) yards vertically or twice that distance horizontally in
place of a normal movement action. For leaps that are somewhere in between, the
Storyteller determines the character's jumping distance. Characters may attack
on the same turn that they employ this Charm but receive no particular bonus for
doing so (except, possibly, the element of surprise). This Charm can only be
used once per turn.
Autumn Leaf’s Descent
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Athletics: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Spider Pounce
Technique
Further buoying her body with Essence, the
character falls softly and quietly as a feather. The character can fall noiselessly
from any height up to a mile without suffering any damage, so long as he
invokes this Charm before he actually lands. Once the character touches the
ground, the protection expires. Characters under the influence of this Charm
are virtually weightless and can crudely glide—but not fly—on thermals and
updrafts with a successful Dexterity + Athletics roll at difficulty 2 but must
continue to activate the Charm from turn to turn, making it an expensive means
of extended flight. No roll is required if the character wishes to fall
straight down without such maneuvers.
Falling Scythe Attack
Cost: 3 motes, 1
Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Athletics: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Spider Pounce
Technique
The Abyssal springs into the air, adding
deadly momentum to her blow as she descends. Her attack is eerily quiet and
trails shadowy afterimages of the weapon or limb used. The character makes her
attack normally, but the damage is doubled after it is rolled. Characters
cannot move in the same turn that they invoke Falling Scythe Attack, which
precludes it from being placed in a Combo with Charms that involve or require
movement, such as Flickering Image Strike. This Charm can be placed in a
Combo with Spider Pounce Technique in order to extend the range of the
character's jumping attack, but this does not further increase the strike's
damage. This Charm is explicitly permitted to be part of a Combo with Charms of
other Abilities.
Soaring Raptor Prana
Cost: 3 motes, 1
Willpower
Duration: Special
Type: Simple
Minimum Athletics: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Autumn Leafs Descent,
Falling Scythe Attack
Where he could only glide with Autumn
Leafs Descent, an Abyssal with this Charm can truly — if briefly — fly. The
character must spend a full turn in concentration as he floods his being with
Essence. At the end of the turn, he is borne aloft on spectral winds and may
subsequently fly wherever he wishes. These winds cause capes and cloaks to billow
and flutter, giving the illusion of wings if the character is so attired.
Characters may keep this Charm active as long as they continue to spend 2 motes
of Essence each turn, but they fall normally once they stop paying this
reflexive upkeep. All Essence
spent on Soaring Raptor Prana remains committed until the character ceases
flying. While propelled by this Charm, Exalts move (Dexterity x 9) yards per turn
and may attack other aerial combatants normally or assault targets on the
ground using ranged weapons. Alternately, they can swoop and strike as they
pass.
Unless they are swooping, flying
characters can only be attacked with ranged weapons, by other flying/leaping characters
or on the initiative count when they strike a ground based target in close
combat. As usual, characters rolling higher than the Abyssal can delay their
initiative to strike at the necessary moment. Due to the Exalt's speed, individuals
other than his target strike him at a -3 dice penalty unless wielding a long
weapon, such a spear. In such cases, the penalty drops to -1. The Exalt's
target may attack him normally without penalty so long as she times her strike
accordingly.
Shadow Races The Light
Cost: 2+ motes
Duration: One turn
Type: Reflexive
Minimum
Athletics: 3
Minimum Essence:
2
Prerequisite
Charms: Raiton's Nimble Perch
With this Charm, a character may
dramatically increase her speed for short dashes. Upon activation, the Exalt
surges ahead as a muted blur of motion, her features obscured in trailing wisps
of shadow. She may increase her sprinting speed by one factor for every 2 motes
spent, up to a maximum multiplier of her permanent Essence. For example, a
character with an Essence rating of 3 can spend 4 motes to triple her normal
sprinting distance for the turn. As an additional benefit, characters employing
this Charm can run without fear of getting winded or weary.
Flickering Image
Strike
Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplementary
Minimum
Athletics: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Shadow Races the
Light
With this Charm, an Exalt delivers a
single devastating blow as he rushes past an opponent. While executing this
attack, the character is a flickering blur of violence and shadow — his motions
appear broken as if viewed by the light of a pulsing strobe. The character
makes his attack normally, but the damage he inflicts is doubled after it is
rolled.
The Exalt can move up to his normal
sprinting distance without penalty on the same turn he activates this Charm,
although he is not required to do so. He must have relative freedom of motion, however, so restrained characters cannot use this
Charm. Flickering Image Strike is explicitly permitted to be part of Combos
with Charm of other Abilities.
Crouching Gargoyle
Stance
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Special
Type: Reflexive
Minimum
Athletics: 4
Minimum Essence:
2
Prerequisite
Charms: Shadow Races the
Light
The character hunches over and stretches
at inhuman angles, gaining unnatural flexibility and balance for as long as he
maintains this Charm. The Exalt can scuttle or dash along any surface without
regard to gravity, allowing him to scale sheer walls or dance on a ceiling with
equal facility. Alternately, the character may stand motionless at odd angles
or cling to an impossible perch. Storytellers should assign bonuses as
appropriate. While useful, the character's distended limbs and joints reduce
his Appearance by 1, to a minimum rating of zero.
The Exalt must pay 1 mote each turn he
maintains this Charm; this expenditure is reflexive and requires no concentration.
If the character does not pay this upkeep, his body returns to its normal
configuration, and he once again becomes subject to gravity and inertia. All Essence
spent on Crouching Gargoyle Stance remains committed until the Charm expires.
Mist Over Ice
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: Special
Type: Reflexive
Minimum
Athletics: 5
Minimum Essence:
2
Prerequisite
Charms: Shadow Races the
Light
Stepping with the weightless poise of a
ghost, a character with this Charm can tread on water and other fluid surfaces
as easily as solid ground. Her silent footfalls leave no ripples or wake, no
sign to mark her passage as a corporeal being. Although the character can walk
on dangerous liquids such as corrosive slime and magma without sinking, such
landscapes inflict normal injury to the soles of her feet or shoes.
Characters must spend 2 motes each turn
that they maintain Mist Over Ice. This upkeep is
reflexive and does not require significant effort, but the overall
concentration necessary to maintain this Charm adds +1 to the difficulty of all
complex tasks (as decided by the Storyteller). If a character fails to pay this
upkeep, she sinks normally. All Essence spent on this Charm remains committed until
the Exalt stops using Mist Over Ice.
Enhanced (Attribute)
Discipline
Cost: 3/5 motes per dot
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum
Athletics: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: None
Suffusing his flesh and bones with Essence,
the Abyssal briefly elevates his physical prowess to superhuman levels. When he
purchases this Charm, the character must choose whether to heighten agility or
power. This choice determines whether the character increases his Strength or
Dexterity. This Charm cannot be purchased again, so the character must decide
if he wishes to focus on Strength or Dexterity.
For every 3 motes spent, the character
raises his Strength by one dot. For every 5 motes spent, the character
increases his Dexterity by one dot. The character cannot increase an Attribute
by more that his permanent Essence rating.
Infirmity Inflicting
Gesture
Cost: 3 motes per dot, 1
Willpower
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum
Athletics: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Enhanced Strength
Discipline
With this Charm, an Abyssal can sap an
enemy's vigor and leave him briefly enfeebled. The character gestures to any
living target within five yards, and a wave of smothering Essence leaps from
her fingers. Her player makes a Willpower roll against a difficulty equal to
the target's permanent Essence. If the roll is successful, the victim loses 1
dot of Strength for every 3 motes spent. Exalted targets (and other beings
capable of channeling Essence) cannot have their Strength reduced below their permanent
Essence with this Charm. Additionally, magical victims can cancel their
weakness by spending 5 motes per dot, although such resistance requires
concentration and counts as a dice action. This Charm has no effect on targets whose
permanent Essence is higher than the Abyssal's.
Non-magical targets are not so lucky,
however. If their Strength is reduced to zero, they remain at Strength 1 for
the rest of the scene, but they also lose a permanent dot of Strength that can
only be recovered with experience.
This Charm cannot permanently reduce a
victim's Strength below 1.
Strength Stealing
Technique
Cost: 4 motes per dot, plus 1
Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum
Athletics: 5
Minimum Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Infirmity Inflicting
Gesture
With this Charm, an Abyssal can rob a
living victim of her potency and add it to his own might. The character must successfully
strike his target in hand-to-hand combat. Regardless of whether the attack
inflicts damage, the Abyssal's player makes a Willpower roll against the
target's permanent Essence. If the Abyssal's player wins, the victim loses 1
dot of Strength for every 4 motes the Abyssal spent (according to the same
rules as Infirmity Inflicting Gesture). In addition, the character gains 1 dot
of Strength for every 2 dots temporarily taken. This bonus lasts for the rest
of the scene.
The Exalt gains no Strength for reducing a
mortal's rating and cannot more than double his unmodified Strength with this
Charm. Victims regain all lost Strength at the end of the scene unless their
rating has been permanently reduced. This Charm is explicitly permitted to be
part of a Combo with Charms of other Abilities. As with Infirmity Inflicting
Gesture, mortal crippled by the Charm cannot recover except by spending
experience.