Wyld Mutation
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  • Some Wyld induced Derangements and Magical Diseases are found in Manual of Exalted Power - Lunar, Pg. 209-213
  • Some Wyld induced Derangements can be found in The Compass of Celestial Directions Vol II - The Wyld, Pg. 149-151.

Bonus Point Costs

Gain bonus point for Negative mutations, and Deduct Bonus Point for Positive ones

  • 1 for a Pox/Deficiency
  • 2 for an Affliction/Debility
  • 4 for a Blight/Deformity
  • 6 for an Abomination

They cost 2x the amount if purchased via Experience Points

Wyld Exposure Table

Terrain Difficulty Frequency Success Failure Botch
Bordermarches 2 Monthly - Pox Derangement
Middlemarches 3 Weekly Pox Pox, Affliction Derangement
Deep Wyld 5 Daily Affliction Derangement Abomination

Pox and Deficiencies

These are the mildest of Wyld mutations. Creatures with a pox, or even several poxes, are usually able to survive in Creation, and most who suffer from these minor changes avoid the Wyld in hopes of preserving what humanity they have left.

Poxes

  • Blurred Fate (Demonic Mutation): A character with this demonic mutation is so infused with the Essence of Malfeas that he stands at the edge of fate. Add 2 to the difficulty of trying to read the character’s future in the stars of Creation and to the difficulty of tracking the characters’ activities with the Loom of Fate. This benefit only applies to divinatory attempts — the character gains no additional defense against Sidereal astrology effects once the Sidereal has successfully targeted him.
  • Claw/Fangs (choose one): The mutant gains short but sharp claws or fangs. Clawed punches or kicks inflict lethal damage, and a fanged mutant’s bite also delivers lethal damage. Claws can be retractable or hidden under gloves, but fangs are visible whenever the mutant eats or speaks.
  • Elemental Adaptation (Special Pox): The mutant has become adapted to a specific elemental region. Since the Earth Pole is in the center of the Realm, far from the Wyld, there are only four types of elemental adaptations: air, fire, water and wood. Regardless of which version of this mutation a character possesses, her appearance changes to match the environment to which she is adapted, which may include having vines instead of hair (wood), blue skin and webbed hands (water), lightly furred, ice-white skin (air) or a smooth, lightly-scaled hide (fire). A character can possess only one of these adaptations.
    • Air Adaptation: This pox renders the mutant resistant to natural cold. The character can remain comfortable and unharmed walking naked through a freezing blizzard or swimming in icy water (see “Numbing Cold” from the Environmental Effects table on p. 131 of Exalted). Not all characters with this mutation must come from the North: a character changed by the Southern Wyld might develop a flame burning in his heart that protects him against cold.
    • Fire Adaptation: This pox protects the mutant from all natural extremes of hot weather. The character does not require additional water in hot weather. He can remain comfortable and unharmed walking naked under a blazing desert sun (see “Blistering Heat” from the Environmental Effects table on p. 131 of Exalted). This mutation does not protect the character from forest fires, lava or other extreme sources of heat. Not all characters with this mutation need come from the South; a character changed by the Northern Wyld might develop veins of ice in her bones that protect her from heat.
    • Water Adaptation: This pox allows the character to drink salt water without harm. In addition, the character’s skin suffers no harm from continuous immersion in salt or fresh water. While the character cannot breathe water, when underwater, he can hold his breath for four times as long as normal (Stamina x 2 minutes + an additional two minutes per success on a Stamina + Resistance roll). The character also reduces the difficulty of Athletics rolls involving swimming by 1 (to a minimum difficulty of 1) and doubles the character’s swimming speed.
    • Wood Adaptation: This pox grants the character the same resistance to all plant toxins (but not serpent or insect venoms, demonic or alchemical poisons or poisons created by Charms) as all Exalted possess and grants Exalts complete immunity to plant toxins. In addition, the character can move through forests, jungles, and other wooded areas with exceptional ease. The character can climb easily and with great speed — reducing the difficulty of Athletics rolls involving climbing by 1 (to a minimum difficulty of 1) and doubling the character’s climbing speed. The mutant also possess green skin that allows her to make food as plants do: if the character receives water and at least eight hours of sunlight each day, she reduces the difficulty of any Survival or Resistance rolls involving finding food or enduring hunger by 1 (to a minimum of 1).
  • Enhanced Sense (choose one): The mutant’s sense becomes unnaturally acute. The character gains two dice on all Awareness rolls relating to that sense. This pox is physically obvious in unusual eye color or shape, large pointed ears, an elongated nose and so forth.
  • Fur/Feathers/Leaves/Fish scales (chose one): The mutant’s skin changes, and she is now covered in light fur, feathers (players chose colors or patterns), leaves, thin bark or delicate scales. The character gains one die in all Survival pools and does not need to wear clothing to protect her against the elements. This pox also adds 1L/1B to the mutant’s soak. This pox cannot be hidden, but characters with this pox can occasionally be mistaken for Dragon-Blooded.
  • Gatekeeper (Demonic Mutation): The character can intuitively and unerringly sense the quickest route to the infernal desert of Cecelyne with a successful (Wits + Occult) roll. This benefit doesn’t speed the journey across Cecelyne at all; it just shows the quickest route to the edge of the Endless Desert.
  • Hooves: The character’s lower legs are replaced with hooves more appropriate for a horse, a goat, a boar or some other, similar creature. The character adds two bashing damage to his kicks. If the pox is taken a second time, its effects are identical to the Great Hooves affliction.
  • Large: The character grows to an unusual size. He gains one dot each in Strength and Stamina and an additional -0 health level. This pox is still (barely) within normal size range, and the mutant can still pass as a normal (if very large) human. (Taken more than once, this pox becomes a deficiency.)
    • From the Compass of Celestial Directions Vol II - The Wyld) This mutation functions as already written, but if a character gains it multiple times, the Storyteller can either upgrade the mutation to an affliction or blight, or replace it with a deficiency. See Large, Giant and Rotundity.
  • Longevity: The mutant ages half as fast as normal. Characters born with this mutation can expect a lifespan of 100 years + 20 years per point of Stamina (barring violence, disease or accident, of course). Such characters mature at the normal rate, enjoy a long, almost changeless maturity and enter middle age around 80. They age slowly from then on, becoming definitely elderly around age 120. Exalted characters cannot possess this mutation. While this mutation can stack once, a quadrupled lifespan jumps to a blight — and such mutations must be accompanied by obvious physical changes; negative mutations such as Diet combine well with extraordinarily prolonged lifespans.
  • Night Vision: The mutant’s eyes are adapted to see in the dark like a cat or an owl. The mutant can see as easily on a moonless night in a city or a deep forest as ordinary humans can on an open plain or leafless forest on the night of the full moon, and can see as well under the full moon as well as ordinary mortals can in full daylight.
  • Serpentine Tongue: The character’s tongue becomes long and forked like a snake’s, and he unconsciously flicks it out every few minutes. The tongue is remarkably sensitive, and a character with this pox ignores the normal -2 external penalty for fighting invisible opponents.
  • Skin/Hair Color: The mutant’s skin or hair changes to some unusual color or colors: tiger stripes, pure white, blood red and so forth. This is purely a cosmetic change and can usually be hidden by dye, make-up or obscuring clothing.
  • Small: The mutant afflicted with this pox loses about 25 percent of her body mass and height. She loses one dot each in Strength and Stamina as well as a -2 health level. She will also be harder to hit (+1 difficulty). Small mutants can barely pass for normal and are frequently mistaken for children. This pox can be taken multiple times until any Ability reaches 0. Then, the mutant dies. (Taken more than once, this pox becomes a deficiency.)
  • Tail: The character gains a tail. A pox tail is basically cosmetic. It may be scaly, furred, bare like a rat’s or tufted, but the mutant cannot use it to manipulate things, hang from branches or attack. The mutant gains two dice in Athletics pools as the tail aids in balance. The tail can be hidden under clothes.
  • Third Eye: The character has a third eye located on her forehead, just above her other two. The character gains a +1 bonus on all Awareness rolls. The third eye can be concealed normally.
  • Wolf’s Pace: The character’s legs become longer and contain more power. Often, they take on a digitigrade shape similar to that of a dog or deer. Add two to the character’s Dexterity for the purpose of calculating movement during combat, and add two to the character’s Strength for the purposes of jumping distances. The character adds one die to single rolls representing competitive running. In long-term movement (see Exalted, p. 264), the character may move as quickly as a drawn carriage. This mutation may be taken multiple times. Each purchase stacks the mutation’s benefits, but if it is taken more than once it can never be hidden. See Gazelle’s Pace and Cheetah’s Pace.

Deficiencies

  • Allergy: The character develops a new, strong allergy — perhaps to something as normal as fur, but Wyld allergies more often tend toward the odd, such as bronze, animal skin (including cured leather) or salt. Allergies to iron and white jade pop up frequently as well. Smelling the allergen causes sneezes or coughing. Even brief contact with it induces hives and rashes for a scene, inflicting a -1 internal penalty to all actions. Touching the material for more than two actions (consecutive or within a single scene) deals one level of bashing damage for each subsequent contact.
  • Atrophy: The character has been ravaged by the Wyld. Reduce one Attribute by one dot. The atrophied Attribute can never rise above 4, or one less than her current score if the Attribute was over 5. Attempts to use Charms or other magic to raise this Attribute can be made, but the character takes a level of unsoakable lethal damage for every dot above his atrophied maximum the spell raises it. This damage can be healed normally. Atrophy is always visible as withered limbs, malformed craniums or other obvious physical changes.
  • Disgusting Scent: The character perpetually reeks of a foul odor such as rotting meat, raw sewage or simply skunk spray. No amount of cleaning can remove this stench, which inflicts a -2 external penalty on all Social rolls where the target of the roll is able to smell the character.
  • Disturbing Voice: The character’s voice has some strange quality to it that most people find highly disturbing. For example, Ma-Ha-Suchi has this deficiency, which takes the form of a strange “silver bell” quality to his voice. The character suffers a -2 internal penalty on all Social rolls that involve the use of his voice.
  • Hungry: The mutant needs extra food, perhaps to fuel a positive mutation and perhaps due to less efficient digestion. The character must consume 25% more food than normal. Without this, she quickly becomes wan and starts to waste away. Halve the number of days a character with this deficiency can endure hunger before penalties begin to set in, and penalties increase every half-day. The character suffers a -1 internal penalty to all Survival rolls to find sufficient food.
  • Lost Sense: Characters suffering this mutation lose either their sense of hearing, touch or the paired senses of smell and taste. (Blindness is a debility.) This loss usually cannot be repaired, even by the most skilled chirurgeon: the eardrum has become daffodil petal, the constant taste of day-old oatmeal overwhelms all other odors and flavors or the character suffers something equally inexplicable.
  • Mood Swings: The character becomes afflicted with an overwhelming sense of despair and lethargy or bursts of manic energy. The depressed character’s mood is always at its worst during the three nights of the new moon. The mutant’s player must roll Conviction -2 in order for the character to initiate new plans during this time. Manics suffer from extreme fits of joy and distraction. Their symptoms are worst during the nights of the full moon, and their players must roll Temperance – 2 to avoid public fi ts of wild dancing, brawls or other bizarre actions during these times. Taken twice, the victim suffers from both symptoms.
  • Rotundity: The mutant becomes 50% more massive, without gaining height or strength. This deficiency can result from gaining the Large pox twice, or as a deficiency in its own right. The mutant loses one dot of Dexterity outright; the Storyteller may impose a -1 external penalty to some Strength rolls, when the character’s bulk becomes a hindrance (he wastes muscle power just moving his own body). The character does not so much run as waddle: Dash actions move the character only (Dexterity + 4) yards. For what it’s worth, the character’s threshold for knockback or knockdown checks increases to (Stamina + Resistance +2). This deficiency can stack, becoming a debility or deformity.
  • Second Mouth: The character has a second mouth somewhere on his body. This mouth has no abilities other than speech, but its personality is separate from and usually antagonistic to the character. The second mouth is invariably under Storyteller control. When the mouth is closed, it resembles a small scar. Often, the mouth remains silent and closed when the character is around others, preventing him from proving the mouth’s existence. The mouth also speaks with the character’s voice, and it often says things when no one is watching it to get the character into trouble. The mouth has no teeth and cannot attack in any way. Any damage inflicted on the mouth is also inflicted directly on the character.
  • Temperature Sensitivity: The mutant is unusually sensitive to heat or cold (choose one). This increases the difficulty to all Survival rolls by +1 when the character is within one particular extreme of temperature. The mutant also increases the difficulty of all Resistance rolls to avoid damage from either extreme heat or cold, or dangers such as fire or supernatural ice storms by +2.
  • Ugly: The character has been mutated into a repulsive, twisted creature. Reduce Appearance by two dots, and the character cannot raise Appearance above 3 with experience or freebie points. This pox can be hidden by Charms or magic, but these illusions will never be permanent.

Afflictions and Debilities

These mutations can be quite severe and are often difficult to hide. Afflictions are relatively beneficial mutations, while debilities are harmful ones.

Afflictions

  • Chakra Eye: This affliction provides all the benefits of the Third Eye pox but also allows the character to detect dematerialized spirits. To do this, the player rolls (Perception + Awareness) with a difficulty of the spirit’s permanent Essence. However, the eye never blinks, and so attempts to conceal it cause discomfort for the character, inflicting a -1 internal penalty on all actions while the eye remains covered. If the character already has the Third Eye pox, then Chakra Eye can be purchased for only one additional mutation point. If this affliction is purchased a second time, its benefits and drawbacks are identical to the Lidless Demon Eye blight.
  • Chameleon: This mutant can change the color and pattern of her skin to match her surroundings. The mutant’s player adds one die to Survival dice rolls and two dice to any Stealth rolls involving sight.
  • Eyes of Wicked Madness (Demonic Mutation): At will, the character’s eyes dilate to reveal the hideous impossible geometry of Malfeas himself. Players of mortals who gaze into such horror must successfully roll Valor at difficulty 2 or their characters flee in terror. Exalts and other magical beings find this vision distasteful but do not react in fear of it. If this mutation is permanent and cannot be turned off, it is a debility.
  • Exalted Healing: The mutant heals wounds at the same rate as an Exalt, including recovery from crippling wounds. Taken twice, this becomes the Regeneration abomination. Exalts cannot take this affliction.
  • Frog Tongue: The mutant’s tongue becomes very long, prehensile and sticky. If the character’s Strength allows her to lift her own weight, her tongue can be used to haul herself around. Punch and grapple attacks can be made with the tongue at a three-yard range. When she attacks with her tongue, add two dots to the character’s Dexterity and one dot to Strength, reflecting its speed and stickiness. The character’s speech is very slurred and unclear.
  • Gazelle’s Pace: This affliction is equivalent to taking the Wolf’s Pace pox twice. For long distance travel, the character can move overland as quickly as a horse. However, the character cannot possibly hide this mutation — his legs don't look remotely human.
  • Gills: The character has gills and can breathe comfortably underwater. When choosing this mutation, make a roll against the character’s (Stamina - 2). If the roll fails her lungs atrophy, and she cannot survive out of water for more than (Stamina x 5) minutes. After that, she begins to “drown.” If the roll is successful, the mutant is amphibious, functioning equally well both in and out of water. Gills are visible at the neck and shoulders.
  • Great Hooves: The character’s legs turn into hooves per the Hooves pox. These powerful hooves inflict +2 damage to kicks, and all kicking attacks inflict lethal damage.
  • Huge: This mutation is equivalent to taking the Large pox twice. The mutant becomes half again as large as any normal example of his species and has obviously been altered by magic. This mutation adds two dots to the character’s Strength and Stamina and provides one additional -0 and -1 health level.
  • Impossible Joints: This mutation makes all the character’s joints reversible and increases her flexibility overall. She can fold herself up into remarkable positions, often fitting into places most people consider impossible. This mutation adds two dice to appropriate Athletics and Stealth rolls and has many potential non-rolled applications.
  • Inexhaustible: The mutant is an endless wellspring of energy, even when starved and moments from death. He never suffers fatigue (see Exalted, p. 130) from any source, giving the character the ability to run for hours without rest or stand under the hot sun in full armor unbowed.
  • Prehensile Tail: The character gains a functional tail. This agile tail can be used to manipulate objects and is treated in all ways like a third limb but at -2 dots on all Strength rolls and -1 dot on Dexterity. Usually, the tail can be hidden under clothes. Of course, it can’t be used while hidden.
    • [GM Ruling] The Prehensile Tail should also grant the +2 to Athletics Dice Pool bonus of the Tail Pox
  • Short Gestation: Mutants with this trait spend little time in the womb. They go from conception to birth in as little as one to three months. People who get this mutation after birth typically pass it on to their children, so a woman who has it generally spends much less time on a given pregnancy.
  • Scorpion’s Tail: This affliction duplicates the **Tail pox found on page 288 of Exalted. However, whatever the tail’s form, it ends in a sharp pointed barb. The tail is long enough for the character to attack in any direction, but it cannot be concealed absent stunts or Charms. If the Scorpion’s Tail affliction is purchased a second time (or once as a blight), the tail’s attack is considered piercing. Many mutants with this affliction also have the Toxin mutation (see Exalted, p. 289).
  • Talons/Tusks/Horns (choose one): The character sports dangerous talons, tusks, horns or some other hard growth that can be used as a natural weapon, inflicting lethal damage through Martial Arts attacks. Depending on the growths’ locations or natures, treat them as punch or kick attacks that inflict lethal damage two greater than normal (i.e., a “punch” deals two lethal damage, the “kick” five lethal damage.) They remain natural weapons and cannot be disarmed, but they can be cut off with a crippling attack. This mutation cannot be stacked or hidden.
  • Thick Skin: The character’s skin becomes denser and heavier than the Fur/Feathers/Leaves pox. It might be thick and horny like rhinoceros hide, it could be covered in bark and knots or have heavy, crocodilian scales and bony nodules. The character gains 2L/2B soak. If a character gains the Fur/Feathers/Leaves/Scales pox twice, replace it with this affliction.
  • Tiny: This mutation is equivalent to taking the Small mutation twice. The character is smaller than anyone of her race or species should be — half normal size, at most, and a character could be mistaken for a small child. Increase the mutant’s Dexterity by one dot, but reduce her Strength by two and her Stamina by one. Her Move and Dash actions become (Dexterity – 1) and (Dexterity +4) yards, respectively, and the character loses one -1 and one -2 health levels. She also become harder to hit, which levies a -2 external penalty on all attempts to strike her in combat. Immobility reduces the penalty to -1. A Tiny character is too small to use most weapons: add 1 to the effective Strength minimum for any weapon.
  • Toxin: The mutant has a poisonous bite, claw or spittle. If the character has claws or fangs, they are envenomed. If not, she spits her poison. The standard toxin is: (5L/action, 2, –/–, -2). This affliction may be taken more than once. Add one to the Toxicity and the Penalty for every toxic affliction.
  • Wyld Assimilation: The character becomes part of the Wyld. He no longer risks mutation or damage from directly harmful Wyld energies such as frozen fog or the waters of chaos. However, this immunity comes at a price. The character is now a living embodiment of his chosen story and as such, loses the mental and emotional flexibility possessed by both mortals and Exalted. He is also addicted to the Wyld and wants to stay in a region where he can live out his story. The Storyteller must determine what the mutant’s particular story is. If it is a tale of honor and bravery, then the mutant can never act or even consider acting in a cowardly or dishonorable manner. If it is a story of treachery, the character cannot keep a promise for long, even if he has nothing to gain and everything to lose by betrayal. This mutation only happens to characters who were either born and raised in the Wyld or who visit it repeatedly for long periods. Because they are inherently tied to Creation, Exalted characters cannot possess this mutation.

Debilities

  • Blindness: The character’s sight no longer works because his eyes may have become opaque crystal or vanished completely, he could see nothing but the fantastic vision of beauty the Wyld revealed to him, or any other reason. The character suffers all penalties described on p. 152 of Exalted. This is never a medically reparable problem.
  • Diet: The character’s diet is restricted to one type of food. It may be raw flesh or nectar or taro roots, but it must be unusual for her species. Any physical changes necessary to procure said food (long probing tongue, hollow sucking needle or fangs) accompany the mutation. It is difficult to hide this affliction for any length of time. The Storyteller decides if a substitute (honey for nectar) is acceptable or not.
  • Delusions: The mutant believes something that is absolutely not true. She may hear a “secret friend” warning her against treachery from her allies or believe that jade is made from the ground bones of Exalted children. Mild cases are merely annoying, while severe delusions can cut the victim off from reality.
  • Deterioration: One of the character’s Attributes constantly weakens over time to the point of the character’s death if she does not act to strengthen it. Each month, the afflicted Attribute decreases by 1. Only a dedicated regimen of preventative exercise or medicine — lifting weights for Strength, practicing riddles and puzzles for Intelligence, cleansing the skin regularly for Appearance — can alleviate this degeneration. The regimen consumes two full weeks of training time in each month, during which period the character can do little else. After three months at one dot, a character’s deteriorating Attribute drops to zero, at which point almost nothing short of Exalted-level medical aid can return it to one dot. The character is also Incapacitated and losing one Dying health level each month, until dead.
  • Eyes of Wicked Madness (Demonic Mutation): At will, the character’s eyes dilate to reveal the hideous impossible geometry of Malfeas himself. Players of mortals who gaze into such horror must successfully roll Valor at difficulty 2 or their characters flee in terror. Exalts and other magical beings find this vision distasteful but do not react in fear of it. If this mutation is permanent and cannot be turned off, it is a debility.
  • Fragile: The character’s bones are weak, offering less protection than those of a normal human. Perhaps they have become chalk or glass. Half of all bashing damage the character suffers becomes lethal damage instead, as bones fracture.
  • Heart’s Blood Addiction: Only the Lunar Exalted can suffer this debility. The character becomes obsessed with gaining new forms. When the character encounters a new species that is not currently in his heart’s blood library, his player must roll the character’s Temperance. If the roll fails, the Lunar feels compelled to seek out a specimen of the new species and take its heart’s blood. Until he does so, the obsession nags at the Lunar, inflicting a cumulative -1 internal penalty to all rolls for every day he goes without satisfying his hunger. The Lunar can ignore the internal penalty for one scene by spending a point of Willpower.
  • Lame: One of the character’s legs has warped to the point of near-uselessness, or both have become shriveled and weak. A mutant who suffers this debility twice has legs that cannot be used at all and may even have withered and fallen off. See Exalted, p. 152 under “Sample Amputation Effects” for what happens when a character cannot use one or both legs. This mutation cannot be hidden.
  • Slow Healing: The mutant does not recover well from injury. Wounds take a long time to disappear and diseases linger. Double the length of time necessary to heal any given wounds, and increase the difficulty of the treated and untreated morbidities by 1.
  • Wyld Addiction: The mutant is hopelessly addicted to the Wyld, without hope of escaping her dependency. She will not willingly leave the Wyld and is constantly tempted to travel deeper into it. If forced from the Wyld, she loses one point of temporary Willpower every day she is away from it and, at 0 Willpower, will do anything to get back to it.

Blight and Deformities

Severe mutations such as derangement cannot be hidden and can make it difficult for the mutant to survive away from the Wyld that created it. Blights are relatively positive changes and deformities are not.

Blights

Blight Attack Stats

Name Speed Accuracy Damage Defense Rate
Hideous Maw Bite 5 +1 +5L n/a 1
Scorpion’s Tail 5 +2 +2L +2 2
Serpentine Hair 4 +3 +2L +2 4
  • Acidic Pustules: The character’s body is covered with disgusting pustules. Whenever the character suffers damage from a hand-to-hand attack, the pus from these repulsive growths can splash back on the attacker, inflicting acid damage. For every point of damage suffered by the character, regardless of type, roll one die of lethal damage against the attacker and anyone else within five yards, subtracting soak as normal.
    • [GM Ruling] With the way I changed Minimum Damage = Essence rule, this power becomes greatly diminished. I will just retain the Ping Rule for this Specific Mutation
  • Armored Hide: The character’s skin has changed beyond any human norm. She may have an insect-like exoskeleton, heavy mammoth fur or thick plates of hide like a rhinoceros. She gains 4B/4L to her soak, and the hide adds four dice to her player’s Survival rolls. Obviously, this blight cannot be hidden.
  • Cheetah’s Pace: This blight is equivalent to taking the Wolf’s Pace pox three times. For long distance travel, this blight provides the speed of a simple horse relay. The mutation alters a human recipient’s entire body: when running at full speed, including Dash actions, the character must go to all fours. This is not compatible with carrying weapons ready for use, or any other activity that requires hands; when the character stops running, she must spend the normal amount of time to draw weapons or otherwise prepare to use her hands again (typically a Miscellaneous Action or a Join Battle roll, as circumstances warrant).
  • Enlightened Essence: The Wyld tears away the character’s blinders, revealing the truth about Essence and the nature of Creation (and other places). Shamans seek this mutation more than any other when they go power-questing in the Wyld. The character gains an Essence pool equal to his permanent Essence x 10. From then on, he can increase his Essence trait by spending experience points at the normal rate for heroic mortal characters. Only the first third of this pool is accessible unless the character spends a point of Willpower to free up the rest for a scene. Some mortals can learn select spirit Charms, Terrestrial Circle sorcery or supernatural Martial Arts, if they have willing tutors. Exalted characters cannot acquire this mutation, and the process of Exaltation overwhelms and burns away this mutation.
  • Glider: The mutant has a set of gliding wings that allow limited flight. The character can clumsily take to the air and has little ability to maneuver. He flies at (Stamina x 3) yards per action in level flight. Gaining altitude reduces speed to (Stamina) yards per action, while diving allows for speeds up to (Stamina x 10) yards per action. In order to dive, the character’s player must make a successful (Dexterity + Athletics) roll, difficulty (the number of actions of the dive + 1). These wings can be bat-like, feathered or scaly.
  • Hideous Maw: The character has a second mouth somewhere on her body, most commonly on her stomach. This mouth must be used for eating, and the character can no longer eat through her normal mouth. The Hideous Maw is at least one foot wide (and may be larger if the character is a Lunar or otherwise capable of shapeshifting) and ringed with sharp teeth. Some Wyld mutants with this blight also gain the Tentacles blight (Exalted, p. 289), with the tentacles taking the form of viscera exploding from the mutant’s body while the maw is open. The effects are otherwise identical to the Tentacles blight… just more disgusting.
  • Giant: This mutation is equivalent to taking the Large pox three times. The creature grows to twice the size of the tallest normal example of his species. Some Giant animals might be mistaken for larger species of their class (a Giant housecat for a panther, for instance) but most cannot be mistaken for natural creatures. The mutation confers three dots of Strength and Stamina, as well as additional health levels: -0x1, -1x2 and -2x2.
  • Lidless Demon Eye: This blight is identical to the Chakra Eye affliction discussed previously, except that the eye glows with an unearthly green light that makes stealth impossible while the eye is exposed. The Lidless Demon Eye confers all of the benefits and drawbacks of the Chakra Eye except as follows. First, the Lidless Demon Eye can automatically perceive invisible and dematerialized creatures without the need for a roll. Second, the character can detect the use of Essence and magic as if he had used the Charm All-Encompassing Sorcerer’s Sight (see Exalted, p. 222). Finally, attempting to cover the eye sufficiently to conceal its light is quite painful for the character, inflicting a -3 internal penalty on all actions while the light of the Lidless Demon Eye is concealed.
  • Magical Attunement (Demonic Mutation): Prerequisite: Awakened Essence (or otherwise being an Essence-wielder) The character can attune to any sort of magical artifact, manse or demesne at the normal attunement cost for the item or place. However, she never gains any sort of magical material bonus no matter how much Essence she commits.
  • Mark of Infernal Favor (Demonic Mutation): Whether as a birthmark on a Hellspawn or a scar carved into the flesh of an akuma or a Yozi-Kin, the character is marked with an infernal glyph denoting his status as a mortal favored by the Yozis. This mark is normally invisible except to spirits and beings capable of perceiving Essence, but the character can cause it to become visible at will. Sentient demons of the First Circle will typically refrain from harming the bearer of such a mark except in self-defense, but characters with this blight should realize that this deference is merely diplomatic rather than magically enforced. Demons of the Second or Third Circles are not even marginally impressed by the mark, and a wise character will not presume that the mark absolves him of the need to grovel before such powerful beings.
  • Miniscule: The Wyld reduces the character to no more than one-fourth her normal size. Reduce Strength by three dots and Stamina by two (to a minimum of one); the character can only go 1 yard on a Move action and (Dexterity) yards on a Dash. (This does not affect movement rates for flying creatures or characters, however.). The creature loses one -0, one -1 and two -2 health levels, but any attempts to hit her suffer a -4 external penalty due to her size (immobility reduces this to -2). All Stealth rolls gain a +3 bonus. Tools and clothing not made for the character’s specific size impose significant penalties — she cannot use most weapons at all.
  • Prehensile Body Hair: The character’s body hair is long and shaggy, although it does not look like actual fur as in the case of the Fur pox (see Exalted, p. 288). The character can cause hair anywhere on his body to stretch up to one yard and entangle a nearby target. Mechanically, doing so adds 3 to the character’s Strength for purposes of maintaining a grapple. When the character does not manipulate his body hair, he still looks extremely hirsute, and his body hair tends to move on its own randomly; the hair does not stretch beyond its normal length unless the character wishes. The character’s hairy body makes constricting clothing uncomfortable, though, increasing Fatigue and Mobility penalties for armor by +1 each.
  • Quills: The character has sharp quills that can be used in unarmed attacks or launched like darts at opponents. She may grow quills all over her body (and barely pass for human) or in a limited location such as the head or arms. All punches inflict +1L Damage, with an Accuracy +1, Rate 3 and Range (if launched) 15 yards. They also add one die to any parry made by the character, and anyone who attempts to grapple the character takes 3L damage. The more times this blight is taken, the more the damage (only) increases and the more the character’s body is covered with quills.
    • [GM Ruling] Badly worded. Taking this Blight more than once doesn't increase the coverage area, it only increase the damage
  • Serpentine Hair: The character’s hair has been replaced with dozens of writhing snakes. The snakes do not have independent brain function, for each one remains part of the character. However, each snake can extend up to three yards away from the character to strike a target. The snakes' bites are poisonous, using the Traits listed for Coral Snake Venom (see Exalted, p. 131).
  • Tentacles: The mutant has strong tentacles about five yards long. The character gains 1d10/2 tentacles each time he takes this blight. They are strong but they suffer a -3 penalty to Dexterity for any coordinated activity. The character can grapple any target in range, and he may also throw his victim or constrict her at (Strength + 3B) damage per action. Victims can attempt to escape the tentacle’s grasp like any other clinch.
  • Wall Walking: The mutant has unique hands and feet that allow her to cling to even sheer surfaces. She may have sharp, tiny claws, sticky pads or dozens of small spurs. Regardless, her hands and feet will always grow large, with long toes and fingers that are very difficult to hide. She moves at (Dexterity + 8) yards per action at full movement — half that if she wishes to take actions as well. Unusually slick surfaces (ice, glass, First Age buildings) might require a (Dexterity + Athletics) roll for her to stick, but the difficulty should never rise above 2.

Deformities

  • Aura of Power (Demonic Mutation): Prerequisite: Awakened Essence (or otherwise being an Essence wielder), The character acquires an anima not unlike those of the Green Sun Princes. Akuma or Demon-Blooded characters without this deformity may freely spend Essence without drawing too much attention to themselves. Those with an Aura of Power, however, divide their Essence pools into Personal and Peripheral pools, with one-third of their total Essence going into the Peripheral pool (rounded down). When the character spends Peripheral Essence, he produces an anima-type effect at the same rate as a Green Sun Prince (see p. 87). Characters who generate an Aura of Power might have eyes that glow with the unholy light of Ligier or leave behind burning vitriolic footprints. At the totemic level, the aura of an akuma or Demon-Blood might be a billowing cloud of luminescent sulfur and brimstone or an unearthly green flame that blazes into the sky.
  • Creature of Darkness: The Wyld has so infused the poor character that Charms bearing the Holy keyword treat him as a creature of darkness, just as the Fair Folk. The character can never use any Charm or other effect that includes the Holy quality.
    • Demonic Version's Text: The character is affected by wards and talismans that can impede demons and is treated as a creature of darkness by all Charms and magical effects that specifically target creatures of darkness. Akuma automatically gain this deformity, for which they receive no extra bonus points.
  • Decomposing: This horrific disability leaves the mutant trapped in the rotting shell of her body. She will slowly fall apart over a period of months or years. Every week, roll the character’s Stamina. If the roll fails, a random small body part falls off. Decomposition begins with fingers and toes, then noses and ears, but it will move to more critical parts as time goes on. In the Marches and beyond, the character will regenerate one body part per full month spent in the Wyld. Otherwise, she will eventually die.
  • Plague Carrier: The deranged mutant carries a deadly disease. She is immune to the disease but she passes it on to anyone who comes in contact with her. The player of anyone who is exposed to a plague carrier must check against the disease’s Virulence or his character comes down with the illness. The Storyteller determines the disease the character carries. (See pages 350-353 for diseases.)
  • Magical Plague Carrier: This deformity can only be taken by a character who has previously taken the Plague Carrier deformity outlined in Exalted, page 290. Instead of carrying a mundane plague, the character becomes a vector for a magical disease of some kind. Magical diseases seem particularly common among the Wyld-tainted, and many savants think that a mundane disease carried by someone exposed to the Wyld may itself be just as vulnerable to mutation as the creature who suffers from it. A few of the more common magical Wyld diseases are outlined on pages 211-213.
  • Short Life: The mutant ages quickly and has an abnormally short lifespan, though the degree varies. Some mutants age twice as quickly, dying in their 30s or 40s. Extreme cases die of old age only a few years after birth. They reach maturity at similar speed.
  • Surrendering Flesh: The mutant’s body refuses to grow or repair itself as normal. Children who develop this mutation cease to mature. Anyone who suffers it never heals lethal or aggravated damage, and even bashing damage takes five times as long to heal. Only healing magic can repair the character’s wounds, though some rare medicines can give him temporary health. Sweet cordial heals one level of damage and allows the character to heal normally for a month, celestial wine heals one level per glass and three glasses heals three health levels and allows the character to heal as normal for a full year and a day.
  • Walking Blasphemy (Demonic Mutation): Prerequisites: Creature of Darkness, Inheritance 3+; The burning hatred of the Yozis for their betrayers flows through the character’s Essence and reaches out in defiance of her will to strike at the symbols of the Yozis’ ancient enemies. Whenever the character comes within three yards of any object sacred to any god or spirit of Creation, her Essence spontaneously and uncontrollably reaches out to smite it. The character’s player must spend a Willpower point and roll the character’s (Inheritance + Essence) as a reflexive roll. The difficulty of the roll is determined by the holy object’s spiritual significance. Common holy symbols might carry a difficulty of 3 while an orichalcum altar consecrated to the Unconquered Sun might be difficulty 10. Stunt dice may aid this attempt. If the roll succeeds, the item is utterly destroyed, and the character regains the spent Willpower. If the roll fails, the object endures for one action, but the player must continue to roll each action until the object is destroyed or the character runs out of Willpower.
  • Wracking: The character suffers excessive pain whenever he consciously activates a mutation. The retractable claws tear through his skin when he calls upon them, or hawking up a toxin causes his own glands to pulse painfully. Each such use inflicts one level of lethal damage on the character and is accompanied by such terrible pains that he loses two dice from all pools for his next two actions.

Abominations

Mutants with abominations cannot pass as human in any land, and even Wyld barbarians look upon them with fear and revulsion.

  • Awakened Essence (Demonic Mutation): The character gains an Essence pool (assuming he did not already have one). His Essence pool is equal to (Essence x 5) + (Willpower x 2) + (sum of all Virtues). With a suitable tutor, the character can learn sorcery, necromancy and Terrestrial martial arts. An akuma automatically acquires an Awakened Essence at no cost if he did not possess one before his Endowment. The character does not automatically gain the ability to attune to the magical materials (which requires the Magical Attunement blight) or trigger any sort of anima (which results from the Aura of Power deformity).
  • Dragon’s Breath: The mutant develops a form of attack that she may project at nearby enemies from her mouth. The attack may be flame, acid, shards of ice, stinging candy-wasps or whatever else the Wyld inflicted on her. The attack requires a (Dexterity + [Archery, Athletics or Thrown]) roll, has a base damage of (Stamina + Essence)L and a maximum range of 10 yards. The character’s mouth, lungs and internal organs all change shape to accommodate this strange bodily function. Some mutants develop external organs to contain the attack, which may only be used once every 10 actions (as it needs to recharge).
  • Hive: The character is a living host to numerous vermin, whether it is a hive of wasps on her back, flesh-eating beetles that crawl out of her mouth or snakes that live in hollows in her arms. She can control these animals and use them as weapons, spies or companions. If this abomination is taken more than once, the character becomes a hollow shell, consisting entirely of vermin that carry the skin shell about. Whether the character is still truly alive at that point is a question no one is willing to investigate closely.
  • Multiple Limbs/Heads: The mutant has multiple extra arms, legs or heads. One extra set of limbs or one extra head is gained every time this abomination is taken. Multiple heads often have multiple personalities and might not even physically resemble the character. Each set of legs, up to three, adds five yards per action to running speed and one die to resist knockback, knockdown and grappling maneuvers. Multiple arms are identical in Strength and Dexterity to the original set, and the character may flurry with them. When a character splits her dice pool, compute the penalties then reduce them all by one die per set. Minimum penalty is one die. For the purposes of extra actions, a set of tentacles counts the same.
  • Ordination of Lies (Demonic Mutation): Characters with this demonic mutation are masters of deception and add one automatic success to all Social rolls involving subterfuge, misdirection or otherwise concealing the truth.
  • Ordination of Pain (Demonic Mutation): The pain and rage of Malfeas has imprinted itself onto the character’s soul, giving him a preternatural understanding of how to cause pain with the greatest efficiency. The character’s player gains one automatic success to all rolls involving torture and interrogation.
  • Serpent’s Body: The character’s legs fuse and stretch into a long, serpentine body, 15-20 feet long. The character gains a +4 Dexterity bonus only for calculating movement rates. The character also gains a +4 bonus on all grappling-related rolls when he uses his tail to constrict his foe. However, the character suffers a -3 internal penalty on all actions other than movement actions for which legs are essential, most notably jumping.
  • Spider Legs: This abomination causes the character to sprout four enormous spider legs from his back. Its effects resemble the Multiple Limbs abomination (see Exalted, p. 290), except that the spider legs do not confer a -1 reduction in flurry penalties. Instead, the character gains the ability to climb any surface that is not completely frictionless, without any need for a roll. The character may not climb up objects that are not strong enough to support his weight, but he can hang upside down from a ceiling without difficulty. This abomination also grants a +4 bonus to the (Strength + Athletics) pool for determining how far or how high a character can jump, and a character with spider legs can fall a distance equal to twice his vertical jumping distance and land without injury.
  • Stone Body: The character’s entire body becomes some very hard substance — if not through and through, then very nearly so. Whether his body now consists of crystal lattices, carved teak, cooled lava rock, never-melting ice or something stranger, the character loses one dot of Dexterity (minimum 1), but gains one dot of Stamina, +6L/+6B soak and four bonus dice to Survival rolls.
  • Terrifying Mane: The character has a long mane of hair that can move according to her will and can extend up to 10 yards. The character can form multiple hair “tentacles” but is subject to the normal penalty for multiple actions no matter how many tentacles she fashions. These hair tentacles are strong enough to support the character’s weight, easily allowing her to climb walls or brachiate through trees using only her hair to support her. The tentacles have the same Strength and Dexterity as the character herself. When the character does not actively control her hair, it tends to move about on its own, although it does not grow past its normal length unless the character wishes.
  • Wings: Mutants with this ability can fly. They might have huge functional wings or perhaps gas-filled bags of skin. The character flies at two times her normal running speed, ascends at her normal running speed and can dive at 10 times her running speed. She does not need to make checks to pull out of dives.
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