Charm Keywords

 

Avatar (Rating)

These Charms draw directly on the power of the Neverborn through the psychic link of their Whispers (Manual of Exalted Power - Abyssal, pg. 100-101). Characters must have the minimum rating in that Background listed in parentheses to purchase or use Avatar Charms. Moreover, the effects and/or use of these Charms are considered outside fate since they disrupt the Tapestry with Primordial Essence. The Neverborn cannot withhold their power from being tapped in this fashion any more than they can prevent powerful necromancy spells from doing the same.

 

Combo-Basic

Exalted can place this Charm in a Combo with reflexive Charms, including the Excellencies. They cannot place this Charm in a Combo with simple Charms, extra action Charms or supplemental Charms.

 

Combo-OK

Exalted can place this Charm in a Combo.

 

Compulsions

This Charm’s special damage is a Compulsion effect. Compulsion effects create intentions. They make someone decide to act in a certain way, such as “I will conquer Thorns” or “I will fall asleep now.”

Compulsions are Mental Influences

 

Counterattack

This Charm is or involves a counterattack — something extra that happens during the course of attack resolution, usually but not always the defender counterattacking the attacker. Characters cannot use counterattacks to respond to other counterattacks, and characters cannot use multiple counterattacks to respond to a single attack unless otherwise stated. Making a counterattack imposes a cumulative counterattack penalty of -1 to your DV until your next action.

[[#Crippling]] 

Crippling

This Charm’s special damage is a Crippling effect.

 

Emotions

This Charm’s special damage is an Emotion effect. Emotion effects create emotions. They inspire love, lust, respect, fear or some other emotion.

Emotions are Mental Influences

 

Form-type

This Charm is a martial arts Form-type Charm. Characters cannot use more than one Martial Arts Form-type Charm at a time. The character must end one Form-type Charm to use another.

 

Holy

This Charm’s special damage is imbued with the judgment of the Unconquered Sun. Such Charms have extra impact when used against creatures of darkness (see Exalted Core Rule Book, p. 192).

 

Illusions

This Charm’s special damage is an Illusion effect. Illusion effects create beliefs. They make characters accept something as true, even if it isn’t.

Illusions are Mental Influences

 

Knockback

This Charm knocks its target backward. Appropriate Charms can resist this effect.

 

Mirror (Charm; Exalted, p. #)

As mockeries1  darker reflection of Solar power, deathknights wield comparably potent Charms arranged in similar structures. Abyssal Mirror Charms list their Solar analogues in parentheses, which always have the same total number of prerequisite Charms and minimum trait requirements. For Eclipse and Moonshadow Castes, a mirror can substitute for its analogue with regard to any prerequisites as if it were the same Charm. This keyword also guides Charm reallocation for redeemed Abyssals or Solars corrupted to darkness.

Note that some Abyssal Charms mirror Solar Charms that are not in general use (i.e., not in the Exalted rulebook itself). In such cases, the Charm description appends a brief description of the Solar analogue. Storytellers can introduce these new Solar Charms to their series — or perhaps a Solar who wants to learn these Charms must seek an Abyssal teacher. At the Storyteller’s option, cross-training Solars and Abyssals can deduce the Mirrors of each others’ Charms. For instance, a Dawn Caste could study with an Abyssal who knows Lightning Clutch of the Raptor (Manual of Exalted Power - Abyssal, pg. 133), and after four days he could learn its Mirror Charm, Deft Hands Deflection. Solars and Abyssals thus become valuable but morally objectionable sources of Charms for the other side to learn.

 

Obvious

Observers can tell that the Exalt is using a Charm, and they have a rough idea of its effects.

  • Obvious permanent Charms are only obvious when actively in use.
  • Sorcery Spells by default has the Obvious Tag

 

Perfect

This charm is considered an Perfect Effect. This is mainly to eliminate ambiguity in regards to the Immovable Object vs Irresistible Force issue

  • If a Charm that just grants success is not Perfect then a Charm that is Perfect that establishes opponent fails will win out.
  • Since this is a Tag added by me, by Default all Standard Charms in the White Wolf Books that prevents failure have the Perfect Tag

 

Poison

This Charm’s special damage is a Poison effect.

 

Servitude

This Charm’s special damage is a Servitude effect. Servitude effects bind someone to a cause. They make the character certain that that cause is worth serving.

Servitude are Mental Influences

 

Shaping

Integrity and Lore Charms treat this Charm’s effects as a Shaping effect.

 

Sickness

This Charm’s special damage is a Sickness effect.

 

Social

This Charm is often used when the character participates in a social conflict. It affects actions on the social time scale.

 

Spectral

This keyword identifies Charms that specifically depend on the metaphysical properties of the Underworld. Although characters can use Spectral Charms beyond the realms of the dead (which are defined as the shadowlands, Underworld and Labyrinth), doing so adds a +1 Willpower surcharge to the activation cost. Once a character activates a Spectral Charm at this increased cost, further Spectral Charms do not require this surcharge until the character’s next action.

  • This has been modified to requiring the +1 Willpower only during the first invocation of that charm in a given scene.
  • Subsequent invocation will only require 2 motes surcharge

 

Stackable

Multiple invocations of this Charm are cumulative — the Solar can use it more than once to increase the bonuses
or penalties the Charm inflicts.

 

Taint

This keyword allows Abyssals to make a Charm’s effect permanent, enabling her to use it without further expended or committed costs. This is not done lightly, however, as the transformation is irreversible and such Charms always carry some kind of drawback. Therefore, for every persistent advantage gained with this keyword, an Abyssal also bears a new curse to compound the doom of his Dark Fate.

Turning a Charm into a permanent Taint also costs bonus points or experience points. The sample costs are based on comparison with Wyld mutations (The Compass of Celestial Directions, Vol. II — The Wyld, p. 144). The more extreme (or useful) the effect of making a Charm permanent is the more points doing so costs.

 

Total Control

Total control effects are a special category of mental influence. The target can no longer take voluntary actions, but can still act as dictated by the specific influence effect exerting total control. Characters can suffer only one total control effect at a time. If a second total control effect is applied, the two effects must make an opposed roll as per "Unstoppable Force, Immovable Object" on page 179.

Total Control are Mental Influences

 

Touch

The Exalt must touch the target to use the Charm. Touching a non-consenting target requires a (Dexterity + Martial Arts) attack.

  • Hardness protects against Touch, one must possess the means to puncture an armor's hardness before the Touch Charm can be used

 

Training

This Charm trains other characters. Characters who receive training and aren’t extras must pay the normal experience cost for any trait increases. If they can’t afford this cost, they go into “experience point debt.” They must pay at least half of all awarded experience points, rounded down, toward this debt until repaid.

 

War

This Charm is often used when the character participates in a war, by means of the Join War action. It affects actions on the war time scale.

  • Charm with this tag can be used in Mass Combat without special limitations
  • Charms without this tag can only be used in Mass Combat with justification
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