Sensory And Spiritual Charms
Optical
Enhancement
Cost: None
Installation
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: N/A
Type: Permanent
Minimum
Perception: 3
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Transitory or Sustained
Augmentation of Perception
The Alchemical has a set of implants
expanding his vision. Most of these devices actually fit into or outright
replace one or both of the character’s eyes, except where specifically noted
otherwise. Purchase of this Charm awards two of the following modifications.
Each additional modification costs 3 bonus points or 6 experience points and
requires one hour of refit at the Vats. Players may design new modifications
with Storyteller approval.
Flash Shutters: The Exalt’s
eyes have been treated with semi-opaque lids that automatically deploy in
response to visual overstimulation, blocking the
effect. Characters with the thermal vision upgrade apply this resistance when
exposed to close heat sources, negating the usual penalties imposed by such.
Light-Intensification Filters: The Alchemical’s
eyes have chrome-like plating embedded in the retinas, allowing her to see
clearly in extreme low-light conditions. This submodule
negates all penalties for anything less than absolute darkness, though
intermittent obstructions (such as a forest of pipes or trees) will block open
sight as normal. Unfortunately, the character’s eyes are painfully sensitive to
bright light, such as from open flames, Essence flares and sunlight. When
exposed to bright conditions, the character suffers penalties equal to murky
vision and will be distracted by the pain (add -1 to wound penalties).
Alchemicals with flash shutters installed are
immune to overstimulation effects from bright light
but lose the added range and definition of their vision to probe areas of darkness
while so exposed. Also note that the reflective green sheen of this upgrade may
be spotted by sharp-eyed onlookers in dim lighting (rather than actual
darkness). This requires a successful Perception + Awareness roll (difficulty
4, adjusted by any modifiers deemed appropriate by the Storyteller). Spotting
the eyes spots the character, breaking mundane attempts at stealth, though any
magical obfuscation hides the eyes completely.
Microscopic Lens: The Exalt’s
eyes have the ability to focus on small objects and magnify them in her field
of vision. Each refocus requires a diceless action.
The maximum power of magnification is times (Perception x 10). This upgrade is
primarily narrative in scope. Storytellers should endeavor to provide
appropriate details on any scrutinized object appropriate to the magnification.
Players may draw whatever conclusions they wish based on this information.
Telescopic Lens: With this upgrade installed, the Exalt
can clearly focus his field of vision on distant objects at will or zoom out to
pan and refocus. Each refocus requires a diceless
action. The maximum magnification possible is a factor of (the character’s
Perception x 25). The Storyteller should narrate details as if all scrutinized
objects were as many times closer as the factor used. This decreases the field
of view accordingly, reducing peripheral vision by a like factor. Given the
generally cramped nature of Autochthonia, Alchemicals seldom get the chance to use their lenses at
full magnification. Exalted may not simultaneously use microscopic and
telescopic lenses.
Ultraperipheral Awareness: The Exalt has a cluster of jeweled
receptors set in an arc around his head. These gems do not appear as eyes. Not
only can he can see in a full 360 degrees around him at all times, but the
implanted scanners are especially sensitive to motion. His player should make a
reflexive Perception + Awareness roll at standard difficulty whenever the Exalt
is ambushed or attacked from behind by an opponent his enhanced field of vision
could conceivably see. Thus, invisible or hidden attackers do not prompt this
check. If the roll is successful, the character may defend normally. Note that
a character does not receive the usual benefit of a shield against a rear
attack unless he has time to reposition or pivot. Of course, his rear-facing
vision ensures that he will almost certainly see the attacker coming with
plenty of time to turn and face him.
Thermal Vision: Lenses fitted in the character’s eyes
allow him to see heat in place of conventional light.
Switching between normal and thermal
vision is a reflexive action that does not count as a Charm
activation, but does cost 3 motes. While using this mode, the Exalt cannot
perceive or distinguish colors and surface detail, automatically failing any
tasks that require such ability (such as reading). However, his vision does
provide a number of compensatory benefits. With a successful Perception +
Awareness roll at standard difficulty, he can gauge the temperature of an
object. More importantly, he can navigate in darkness with a clear vision
radius of (Perception x 10) yards and a murky vision radius of (Perception x
20) yards. He can spot flames against a cooler backdrop from a number of miles
away equal to Essence, provided he actually has a direct line of sight. All
heat sources appears to glow while viewed through thermal vision, so
warm-blooded beings stand out against cooler backgrounds (adding one bonus die
as an artificial specialty to notice or attack any thermally highlighted
target). Whenever the Exalt is within (Essence) yards of an intense heat source
with this Charm active, he suffers visibility penalties equal to murky vision
and is rendered completely blind within two yards. Note that Charms and effects
that provide invisibility or visual camouflage operate normally to prevent
detection with thermal vision unless the Storyteller rules otherwise based upon
the stated context and scope of the effect. An Alchemical must have Essence 3
to install this submodule.
Mass-Penetrating Scan: By reflexively spending 3 motes (which
counts as a Charm activation), the Exalt can selectively see through solid
matter for a turn. In this state, the Exalt’s field
of vision narrows to a single tunnel a yard wide outside of which everything is
blurred darkness. No visual feats involving peripheral awareness are possible.
As he stares at an object, he can have that object (or a component thereof)
fade and vanish from view, seeing what lies beyond or within as if the
obstruction wasn’t there. Since the character cannot know what lies on the
other side of a barrier prior to using this enhancement and has such a narrow
vision, he must pan across with his gaze to find anything of note. This
requires a dice action of Perception + Awareness at standard difficulty. Note
that the character’s vision does not perceive details at range any better than
usual unless he also has the telescopic lens upgrade. An Alchemical must have
Essence 4 to install this submodule.
Mobile Sensory
Drone
Costs: 5 motes
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Indefinite
Type: Simple
Minimum
Perception: 4
Minimum
Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Transitory or Sustained
Augmentation of Perception
One of the Exalt’s
eyes has been removed and replaced with an orb that perfectly copies the
appearance and function of the excised organ. When charged with Essence,
however, the artificial eye painlessly detaches itself from its socket and
extends eight flexible tendrils that it uses as legs. An obviously mechanical
eye extends from the back of the socket to fill up the character’s vacant eye
socket so that the Alchemical’s stereoscopic vision
is not interrupted. The automaton has all the character’s senses (including
currently active enhancements from Charms), albeit reconfigured to the
creature’s bizarre anatomy. For example, it tastes with the tip of its
tentacle-legs.
More importantly, the drone is
telepathically controlled by the character and transmits everything it
perceives back to the Exalt’s brain. Note that every
action dictated to the drone requires an action from its controller, with
multiple-action penalties cumulatively accrued for every action taken (either
with the Exalt’s own body or through the drone).
Moreover, the experience of looking through a drone while simultaneously using
normal senses induces vertigo (a one-die penalty to all non-reflexive actions
unless the character is limiting senses to one input feed at a time). A
character may install this Charm more than once in order to have multiple
drones. Those in excess of the Exalt’s number of eyes
are mounted elsewhere on the body and do not appear as eyes so much as
spherical metal rivets. Installations after the first do not require an
installation cost.
By default, a sensory drone has the
following statistics and rules governing its operation:
• Dexterity equals the Alchemical’s Dexterity + Essence.
• Perception and all Abilities equal the
Exalt’s own ratings. The automaton is small enough
that opponents add 2 to the difficulty of all attacks targeting it, and it can
fit through any opening at least an inch in diameter.
• Strength equals 1, and the creature
cannot ever perform feats of strength with a rating higher than the Exalt’s Essence (regardless of the drone’s Athletics
rating).
• Stamina, soak (L/B) and total number
of health levels equal the character’s Essence. For every health level of
damage it suffers, the eye loses one dot of Perception. If it loses all health,
it dissolves into shattered bits of metal and protoplasm.
The drone also self-destructs in this
manner if the commitment of Essence is withdrawn. The socket will manufacture a
replacement drone in one day.
Placing the drone back in the eye socket
ends the Charm and causes the orb to revert back into an eye.
• The automaton’s tentacles end in
needle-thin points. It can attack with these appendages, though not effectively
(speed +0, accuracy +0, damage 1L, defense -2). In Exalted Power Combat, it has
rate 3.
• The creature is twice as fast as the Exalt’s running speed and can scuttle on any surface
(walls, ceilings, etc.) like an insect.
• Wards that block scrying
also block the creature from transmitting images or receiving commands. If it
crosses into such an area, it will rapidly backtrack with single-minded
dedication toward the last known location of its owner in order to reestablish
contact. The drone cannot transmit or receive beyond a range of its creator’s
Essence in miles and will similarly retreat back inside that range if it moves
too far, infallibly guided toward his current location at all times unless
blocked by a ward (in which case it orients on his last known location). Note
that the connection between an Alchemical and a drone serves as an arcane link.
The following submodules
cost 2 bonus points or 6 experience points.
Autonomous: As an alternative to controlling it
directly, the Exalt can give the drone simple orders that it carries out on its
own even when he is not paying attention to it. It has an Intelligence of 1,
plus one dot in any Ability that the Exalt has. It does not have access to the
character’s Abilities when not directly controlled, but its statistics are
otherwise the same. Unless ordered to do otherwise, it will flee if attacked.
Communication: The drone can receive and transmit the
Alchemical’s voice, although it speaks with
noticeable distortion.
Hovering: As an alternative to scuttling, the
drone can actually float or fly on currents of Essence at its usual running
speed. While
hovering, it can either retract its legs or let them hang loose to use as
arms/fingers.
Injection Needle: The drone has a retractable needle in
one of its limbs and an internal reservoir storing one dose of a drug. This
enhancement requires that the Alchemical have the Charm Multifunction
Hypodermic Apparatus installed, and the Exalt must activate it to fill the drone’s
tank. Injection of the stored drug is handled as per that Charm using the
drone’s Dexterity + the character’s Medicine rating as the attack pool. The
drug stored in the drone must be one of those whose template is stored in the
Multifunction Hypodermic Apparatus. A dose administered through a drone’s
injection needle may have a delay added to the base effect through the time
release drug or triggered activation drug formulas.
Playback: The drone records everything it
experiences in a memory crystal. When returned to its socket, the drone’s
memories are immediately added to the Alchemical’s
own mind.
Stealth: The drone is veiled by a sophisticated
adaptive camouflage. Whenever it is still for a full turn, it receives the same
benefits as those provided by the Optical Shroud Charm. If it moves at all, the
protection vanishes, and it must spend a full turn motionless to reestablish
concealment. A drone that is anchored to a surface or object with its tentacles
remains invisible even if its perch moves, provided it does nothing but ride
passively.
Flesh-Burrowing: This particularly gruesome enhancement
allows the drone to surgically slice open a victim and dig in, drawing the
wound closed behind it. This requires an attack roll of the drone’s tentacles
using a roll of Dexterity + the Alchemical’s Medicine
(difficulty 2). If the attack inflicts at least one level of damage, the drone
slithers inside and inserts a tendril into the largest nerve
cluster near the entry point (usually the spine on a mortal victim). From
there on, the drone has none of its own senses, but instead, taps the senses of
the person it is riding.
The drone can extricate itself at any
time using the same burrowing attack to exit. Otherwise, the automaton must be
removed surgically (Dexterity + Medicine at difficulty 3; regardless of success
or failure, the victim suffers one level of lethal damage). Despite this
enhancement’s name, it can be used to place a drone inside a larger automaton
or other being that lacks flesh. An Alchemical must possess Essence 3 to
install this submodule.
Chemical
Analysis System
Costs: 1 mote
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: One hour
Type: Simple
Minimum
Perception: 3
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Transitory or Sustained
Augmentation of Perception
The Exalt has a coiled apparatus screwed
out of sight into his nostrils and a small device that looks like a ball
bearing in the center of his tongue. Using these devices, his sense of taste
and smell extend to superhuman ranges and sensitivities. For the most part,
this Charm is a matter of Storyteller narration. The character can be assumed
to be aware of trace quantities of chemicals in the air, scenting the sour
whiff of acid, the tang of iron, the taste of poison hidden in food or the musk
of subtle pheromones when others sense nothing at all. In general, assume that
the character’s sensitivity is roughly (Perception x 10) times better than
normal with regard to how far away he can detect something or in what
concentrations. This is not an exact science by any stretch, and Storytellers
should probably just assume that the character smells and tastes anything and
everything he is exposed to unless there is a compelling reason to suggest
otherwise.
Tympanal Receptor
Upgrade
Cost: 3 motes
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: One hour
Type: Simple
Minimum
Perception: 3,
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Transitory or Sustained
Augmentation of Perception
This Charm fits into the character’s
ears as invasive cochlear implants covered in hundreds of flexible needles.
When activated, the device vastly improves the range and sensitivity of the
character’s hearing. She can detect ultrasonic and subsonic vibrations and
differentiate the slightest modulation of pitches. For the most part, this
enhancement is a matter for sensory narration, controlled and used by the
Storyteller when relating the scene. In addition, the character adds her
permanent Essence to the dice pool of all Perception rolls based on sound
(including most ambush checks). This bonus is considered an artificial
specialty and may exceed +3, but it is not cumulative with any other applicable
specialties. The character’s hearing and spatial awareness is so keen in this
state that he only suffers the penalty for low-light vision while blind, although
he is no more able to see colors or perform other purely visual feats. The
filters built into this Charm prevent a character from being deafened as a
result of heightened sensitivity but cannot counter effects that induce hyperstimulation.
Deception Recognition
Module
Cost: 2 motes
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Minimum
Perception: 4
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Chemical Analysis
System or Tympanal Receptor Upgrade
This Charm takes the form of a paired
set of metal nodules in front of each ear, just above the jawbone. Depending on
configuration (and the prerequisite Charm selected to build upon), subdermal wires link the devices to the ears or across the
cheeks to the nose. Based on design, the Exalt can either hear the telltale
vibrations and distortions when a scrutinized target speaks a lie or else scent
the biochemical signature produced by willful deception. In either case, roll
the Alchemical’s Perception + (Awareness or
Investigation, whichever is higher) against a difficulty of the target’s
Essence. On a success, the Exalt knows whether the target believes that a
particular statement is true or false. If a target speaks a deliberately
deceptive half-truth (leaving out major details, such that any listener would
almost certainly draw erroneous conclusions), the statement registers as false.
If a statement contains multiple points and any are false, the entire statement
registers as false.
Alchemicals with the microscopic lens upgrade for
their Optical Enhancement Charm may also use this Charm to scrutinize written
text for deception, rolling the dice pool described
above against a difficulty of the author’s Manipulation rating at the time the
text was written.
Characters may only scrutinize text
written in languages they understand.
Interpolative
Situational Analysis Processor
Cost: 4 motes
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Wits: 4
Minimum
Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Transitory and Sustained
Augmentation of Wits
The Exalt has a webbing of internal
cables linking all his sensory organs to an artificial cognitive cluster
embedded in the brain. By activating this Charm, the Alchemical gathers all
sensory data and runs it through a logic filter to identify pertinent details.
Roll the character’s Wits + (Awareness or Investigation, whichever is higher)
at standard difficulty. Each success reveals or recalls one detail about the
environment that is most likely relative to a single line of query. Successes
may also recall details and observations remembered from earlier scenes. This
information is combined with speculative hints as to the connection between the
various details.
For example, an Exalt at a murder scene
could use this Charm with the intention of reconstructing the events of the
crime. Successes on the activation roll might reveal the blood spatter on the
wall, the position of the body and the exact nature of the wounds on the body
(three successes).
In addition to noticing these details
and noting that they are most likely important, the Charm (i.e., the
Storyteller) would provide hints such as “The victim was killed with a single
blow to the neck from the front and never raised her arms to defend herself,
suggesting that the killer was highly skilled or highly lucky. More importantly,
the victim’s lack of resistance implies she knew and trusted the perpetrator or
perhaps that the attacker was invisible.”
Storytellers should endeavor to provide
a range of reasonable explanations and clues with each use of this Charm
(including a mix of truths and plausible red herrings), but the clues alone
should not answer the player’s questions outright without further deduction
outside the scope of the Interpolative Situational Analysis Processor. Note
that this Charm deals with speculation and plausibility. Unless the player
specifies that the character is brainstorming outlandish and off-the-wall
theories and suggests a general direction of speculation, the Storyteller need
only provide clues and ideas that the character would deem likely. If the
actual answer is completely unexpected and hidden by misdirection and false
evidence, this Charm may well provide false suppositions.
Soulgem Detector
Cost: 3 motes
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum
Perception: 2
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Transitory or Sustained
Augmentation of Perception
This Charm is a small stud at the top of
the Exalt’s forehead, with subdermal
wires threaded down through the prongs of her soulgem.
When activated, the character becomes instantly aware of the location of every soulgem within (Perception x 10) yards. She can
automatically determine whether any gem has a soul stored in it or not and
whether the gem is set into a mortal, an Exalt or not currently implanted in
anyone. She cannot evaluate all of this information concurrently for every gem
in range, but must instead focus on a specific gem to gauge its Essence pattern
as a diceless action. Capping a soulgem
in lead makes it invisible to this Charm, but the procedure is highly illegal.
A number of more powerful variants of
this Charm exist. One that requires Perception 3 and Essence 5 increases the
range to (Perception x 100) yards. More powerfully still, a greater variant
requiring Perception 6 and Essence 8 increases the range to (Perception) miles.
Cross-Phase
Scanner
Cost: 2 motes per sense
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum
Perception: 3
Minimum
Essence: 2
Prerequisite
Charms: Transitory or Sustained
Augmentation of Perception
Receptor nodules in the Exalt’s face attune his senses to immaterial energies. For
every 2 motes spent, the character may perceive spirits, sanctum entrances and
other incorporeal beings and effects as if they were solid with one sense. All
such phenomena have a faint but distinctive tone, color or other distortion
that identify them for what they are. The Exalt never mistakes immaterial for
material, and vice versa.
Transphase Engine
Cost: 4 motes
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Wits: 3
Minimum
Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Cross-Phase Scanner
This Charm takes the form of a starmetal sphere adjoining the Alchemical’s
Essence reservoir. When activated for cost of 4 motes, the mechanism spreads an
aura of divine Essence through the character. She remains visible as a
translucent phantom as he is shifted into an incorporeal state for a split
second. This must be done in conjunction with a dice action of instant
duration, whether an attack (in which case the character may strike a dematerialized
being), a dodge (converting the evasion into a limited form of “perfect”
defense against a material attack, provided the attack cannot affect
dematerialized beings), a parry (against immaterial beings only and, therefore,
of extremely limited utility), an athletics maneuver (phasing through a door,
dropping through a floor, etc.) or anything else approved by the Storyteller.
This Charm has integrated mass sensors
as a safety mechanism, preventing it from engaging in the event that the
character would pass through a heavy obstruction (wall, floor, ceiling, etc.)
and fail to fully cross the matter in the split-second interval. Consequently,
a character who performs a running dash at a thick wall will find the
experience embarrassing or outright painful.
God-Ward
Projector
Cost: 30 mote, 2
Willpower
Installation
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum
Charisma: 5
Minimum
Essence: 3
Prerequisite
Charms: Cross-Phase Scanner
This complex mechanism of spinning
dynamos and crystals fits into the center of the Exalt’s
spine. When activated, the Charm emits a spherical shockwave of intangible
glowing Essence that expands to a maximum radius of (the Alchemical’s
Charisma x 5) yards. At its desired width, the bubble crystallizes and fades
from view, remaining visible to dematerialized beings as translucent energy
that is completely impenetrable. In addition to barring passage (regardless of
the spirit’s power), the barrier also blocks spirits on the outside from using
their Charms to affect anyone or anything on the inside unless those beings
have a permanent Essence higher than the Alchemical’s
Charisma. Spirits inside the defined barrier when it hardens can use their
magic and remain in the area normally. If they leave, they experience a slight
tingle as they traverse the perimeter and may not reenter. Materialized spirits
can cross into the sphere without any difficulty, as may any spirit possessing
a host. The ward remains in existence and fixed in its location until the
Alchemical dies or moves outside of it, at which time the field immediately
collapses.