Socialize
Charms
Exquisite
Etiquette Style
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Socialize: 2
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Abyssal attunes his mind to the
communal memories of the dead to act with due propriety and decorum.
Characters under the effects of this Charm
become faultlessly — but not officiously — polite. They instinctively know the
appropriate greeting customs or table manners for their situation and never run
the risk of making an unintentional faux pas. This Charm is of paramount
importance when dealing with ancient ghosts whose cultures and customs have
long since fallen to the passing of Ages.
Imprecation Of Ill Manners
Cost: 1 mote per 1 die
Duration: One turn
Type: Reflexive
Minimum Socialize: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Exquisite Etiquette Style
The Abyssal concentrates on a victim in
his line of sight, silently projecting a surge of visceral anger into her
subconscious. For the rest of the turn, the target loses one die from all
Socialize dice pools for every mote spent. This reduction manifests as poor
manners, Freudian slips and other, similar gaffes. It is impossible to
determine that the Charm's target is acting under the influence of a curse
without magical means, although astute observers (Perception + Awareness 4+)
may suspect that something is amiss (Perception + Presence, difficulty
equal to the Abyssal's Essence). Abyssal Exalted normally employ Imprecation of
Ill Manners to sabotage negotiations at a critical juncture or to discredit
rivals.
Loyalty Withering
Technique
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Varies
Type: Simple
Minimum Socialize: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Exquisite Etiquette Style
Caressing a victim's mind with the
corrupting taint of the Void, an Abyssal with this Charm can plant seeds of
doubt in the faithful and erode trust in favor of treachery. The character need
only spend a few minutes talking with her target; her player then rolls
Manipulation + Socialize against a difficulty chosen by the Storyteller. This
difficulty reflects the overall devotion of the target to the selected
individual or cause. If she rolls enough successes, the target becomes
suspicious and hostile toward whomever or whatever the Abyssal desires. This
treacherous dislike lasts a number of hours equal to the deathknight's permanent
Essence. If the Exalt receives more successes than necessary, this duration is
measured in days rather than hours. This Charm has no effect on beings with
a higher Essence rating than the Abyssal.
Heart-Hardening
Method
Cost: 6 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Socialize: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Loyalty Withering Technique
By infecting a target's very soul with
festering Essence, the Abyssal can scour a heart of honor and righteousness.
The Exalt must spend several minutes talking to the target, casting doubt on
the importance of a particular Virtue. Her player then rolls Manipulation +
Socialize, with a difficulty equal to the targeted Virtue. The victim
temporarily loses one dot of the appropriate Virtue for every success in excess
of its rating. If the number of successes exceeds the target's Willpower score,
the target also loses a permanent dot of the Virtue. Whether temporary or
permanent, this Charm cannot reduce a Virtue below a rating of one.
Virtues that are temporarily diminished
return at the rate of one dot per hour. The Abyssal can even use this Charm on
herself, with appropriate successes detracting from the targeted Virtue as
normal. While this rationalization process has its uses — particularly in
situations when scruples are a liability — the Abyssal risks permanent Virtue
loss if she rationalizes too well.
Although a victim ensorcelled by this
Charm retains his Nature, his behavior reflects his new Virtue rating. A
Thrillseeker deprived of his once-considerable Valor will be torn by desires
and a curiosity he can no longer bring himself to express. Likewise, a Survivor
dropped to Compassion 1 will do practically anything to anyone in order to
preserve his existence.
Sin-Sensing
Meditation
Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Socialize: 5
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Heart-Hardening Method
As cynical as they are pragmatic,
characters with this Charm recognize that everyone can be bought. Their
price might not be in jade or jewels — perhaps in a guiltier pleasure, a secret
vice instead — but regardless, there is always something a person cannot resist
or refuse. To have the object of her desire, an individual will betray her
closest friends or worse. Upon activating this Charm, an Abyssal knows
precisely what that object is for his target. He may not have the means of
satisfying the desire in question, particularly if it is nigh impossible to
acquire, but at least, he knows. The Storyteller should decide the nature of a
target's weakness, keeping in mind her Nature and Temperance score. Low
Temperance characters are less disciplined and, thus, have easier wants
to satisfy. High Temperance characters are invariably more difficult and
complicated to satiate. It is always possible that some beatific saint exists
on whom this Charm would have no effect, but no deathknight has ever met such a
person in the decadent Age of Sorrows.
Passion-Unveiling
Glance
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Socialize: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: None
With this Charm, an Abyssal perceives the
flickering aura of emotion and passion overlaying her target. The Abyssal's
player rolls Perception + Socialize. This roll is made at standard difficulty
if the target is not trying to conceal or misrepresent his feelings. Otherwise,
the target's player reflexively rolls Manipulation + Performance to resist. The
amount of information the Abyssal gleans depends on the number of successes
rolled beyond any the target may have garnered. Simple success reveals the
target's most dominant surface emotion. With three successes, the Abyssal can
sense all of a target's surface feelings and gauge their rough proportion to
one another (i.e., strong admiration with a touch of jealousy). Five or more
successes allow the Abyssal to sense all emotions her target currently feels,
as well is giving her a rough sense of the target's permanent Willpower and
Virtue allocation (weak, unremarkable, strong, overpowering, etc.). Regardless
of the successes rolled, this Charm does not provide context. Even if a
deathknight notices coiling tendrils of hatred in a target's aura, she doesn't
automatically know who he hates or why he hates them.
Intimations Of Mortality
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: One day
Type: Simple
Minimum Socialize: 3
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Passion-Unveiling Glance
Some Abyssal Exalted are
particularly adept at seeding the minds of mortals with such doubts about the
true nature of life and death that they come to be obsessed with their own
mortality. A deathknight must speak with a target at least briefly (the
exchange need be only a few sentences), and the Abyssal's player then makes a
Manipulation + Socialize roll with a difficulty of the target's permanent
Essence. If successful, the target becomes depressed and withdrawn, suffering a
+2 difficulty to all Social rolls for the next 24 hours. If this Charm is used
continuously on an unExalted target for more days than her Conviction rating,
her depression blossoms into an actual derangement. Targets thus afflicted
continue to suffer Social penalties even after the Charm wears off.