Enchantment

 

Enchantment

Roll: Dexterity + Occult.

Time: Normally one day per dot of effect.

Cost: 3 motes per level of effect, +1 Willpower.

Duration: Varies, but usually long. Even minor talismans will typically last for years, and the greatest feats of enchantment last for decades or even centuries.

There are as many tales of how the first talismans were made as there are enchanters to tell the tale. Many involve some great teacher (alternately a god, a Dragon King or some shadowy power) giving the gift of enchantment to mortals. Others hold that mortals themselves stumbled upon the ability to manipulate the Essence flows in the first talismans and walkaways. Immaculate doctrine holds that enchantment, like all thaumaturgy, was handed to the monks of the Immaculate faith by the Elemental Dragons to be used in service of the Realm.

Enchantment is the production of minor magical items. Known alternately as talismans, charms (but not Charms), lesser artifacts, wonders and a host of other names, these minor items are less potent and impressive that the artifacts used by the Exalted but are no less important. Few soldiers willingly take to the field without a handful of talismans of various kinds — to ward off misfortune, to prevent disease, to turn arrows in flight — and sometimes, a small number of them actually work.

Unfortunately, the world of the charm-seller — a maker of talismans — is full of fraud and trickery. Most talismans are subtle devices, with effects that are hard to evince and easily explained away when they do not work — obviously the reason an arrow-turning amulet didn’t work is that the archer had an amulet of true flight or an arrow inscribed with the runes of the archer-god, or the target was just unlucky. Out of a dozen amulets for sale in a shop, perhaps two will contain some measure of real power. The others may be spent talismans or charms that once had power but have long since decayed into mere frippery, poorly enchanted baubles with no discernable use or frauds perpetrated by con-men posing as enchanters. This does not prevent mortals from stocking up on them, for though many know that most talismans are of little real value, few know how to tell a talisman that works from one that is mere jewelry — and, if one can afford it, why take the chance?

An enchanter does not need to craft the item he is going to enchant — although doing so reduces the difficulty of the task involved by 1 (or by 2 for an item of exceptional quality). Nor does an item to be enchanted need to be of surpassing fineness, beauty or value, merely of at least adequate workmanship. There is a prevalent belief that truly potent magical items reflect the same sort of ostentatious design as greater artifacts, and so, talismans (particularly frauds) are often gaudy things — either from the overuse of expensive materials or excessive amounts of cut glass, gilt, bright enamels and cheap semiprecious stones.

Mementos of auspicious events are commonly enchanted to draw forth any lingering echoes of that happening. Less commonly (but no less efficaciously), remnants left behind by disasters or misfortune are sometimes enchanted to prevent their recurrence. Part of the charcoal-crusted center-beam of a burned house may be salvaged and enchanted as a ward against fire, then installed as the fireplace mantle of a new home, for example.

Benefits derived from a talisman or other device do not stack with benefits from Charms, alchemical potions, sorceries or most other sources (Merits, Wyld mutations or other effects that permanently raise the wearer’s relevant Traits do stack with talismans). Because of their already Essence-infused natures, the Exalted gain little benefit from many types of talismans — specifically, talismans that increase the wearer’s Abilities or Attributes, even if only for a time, operate at only half-strength for the Exalted. So, a belt that raises the wearer’s Strength by 2 for one scene would only raise an Exalt’s Strength by 1. Benefits derived from talismans can raise the user’s Attributes (but not Abilities) beyond 5, at least for a short time.

Devices enchanted with thaumaturgy are inferior to artifacts in every way. Their enchantments are fragile against the workings of Essence — there is no chance that an enchanted item will survive directed Emerald Countermagic and they can often be destroyed merely by being in proximity to such a counterspell. Where artifacts can be multipurpose devices, providing a number of benefits to the user, creations of thaumaturgy are, without exception, single-purpose devices, capable of performing only one task. And where artifacts are often — though not always, particularly the craftings of the Dragon-Blooded Shogunate — timeless devices with apparently infinite duration, most mortal talismans will lose their power within a century, and very few last longer than two. Many will survive no longer than a mortal’s lifetime. Talismans and other enchanted objects typically have a cost equal to the level of Enchantment needed to produce them. Alternately, a mortal character can buy a talisman of any level during character generation by spending one dot from the Artifact Background.

 

• Enchantments of this level are both subtle and weak, and they mostly have to do with enhancing everyday items in some minor fashion. An enchantment at this level can create boots that never wear out, a mail coat that never rusts or a set of surgical tools that are always clean. At best, enchanted devices of this level will negate +1 worth of difficulty due to some situational modifier — ever-clean blades need not worry about infection, for example.

 

•• The thaumaturge’s enchantments can have an impact on the world around him. His charms can negate up to +2 difficulty in situational modifiers (+1 difficulty in combat) or can allow their users to ignore the effects of a single botched roll (the roll is merely treated as a failure, rather than a botch).

 

••• Enchanted weapons or equipment are treated as fine equipment or gain an additional point to add to the weapon’s stats if already an exceptional piece of equipment. Periapts against disease and poison can be produced at this level, as can good luck charms that protect against up to two botches per story

 

•••• The thaumaturge’s enchantments are puissant indeed. While not equal to the weapons created by the Exalted, his enchanted blades are powerful, and his talismans can hold back even powerful threats for a time. His good luck charms can allow the user to ignore three botched rolls per story or to reroll one failed roll per story (not both).

Up to two dice can be added to a dice pool or up to one dot to an Attribute. These bonuses are only good for a single die roll or no more than a minute of time. The thaumaturge can produce walkaways that reduce damage taken by one. Enchanted weapons or equipment are treated as exceptional equipment or gain an additional point to add to the weapon’s stats if already exceptional. Ordinary equipment can be produced from non-standard materials — swords made of glass or wood that are as strong as steel, hammers with heads of gold or lead, etc. These weapons (or other equipment) are identical to normal pieces of equipment, except for their exotic makeup.

 

••••• The thaumaturge’s talismans are renowned throughout Creation. Enchanted weapons or equipment are treated as perfect equipment or gain an additional 2 points to add to the weapon’s stats if already perfect. Up to two dice can be added to a dice pool or up to one dot to an Attribute for up to a minute or effects equal to a level 4 talisman for up to a scene. Weapons can be produced that are unbreakable in the same fashion that daiklaves and other artifact weapons are unbreakable.