Nope.
Check 2e core pages 145 and 148-150.
It does talk about raw damage and post-soak damage on 145, but there's a very important wording choice that you're ignoring. It's very explicit in that things that affect "post-soak damage" play on step 8. Effects have to modify post-soak damage to count here. You're trying to read "it adds to the damage" and trying to make a claim that if it doesn't say 'raw damage' it must mean 'post-soak damage'.
This is not accurate. Page 148, under Step Seven, has "Effects that modify the raw damage calculation of an attack apply as written." You're trying to say that because this includes the word 'raw', there's a different, undefined sort of 'damage' that doesn't get added here, where it says that things that modify damage calculation are included. It's claiming that things have to say 'raw' damage or they fall into a mysterious void that can get added anywhere that it's convenient for the attacker.
Contrast this with the very last sentence of Step Eight, on page 150. "Apply any effects that increase or reduce post-soak damage to the final value after factoring in minimum and maximum damage as necessary." This is pretty clearly written with the intent of this needing to list that it affects post-soak calculations. It has to at least hint that it's trying to be post-soak for it to apply on Step Eight instead of Step Seven.
This is backwards. One of these is written to point out that it's looking for a very specific language tag, and the other is a broad "here is where you add effects", and it's the inverse of what you're trying to use.
Post-soak damage boosts are rare in 2e; in most cases the most powerful effects are just listed as "unsoakable" instead of affecting things post-soak.
Sometimes Exalted 2e does include that things are included pre-soak, but that's just for convenience and the fact that it was written with an unfortunately uneven quality control.
To clarify, I am
not saying that unless specified "get added anywhere that is convenient for the attacerk".
Rather I am saying that step seven defines two system terms (Raw and Base Damage) and explicitly notes that effects which modify
raw damage (a specific system term) get applied at step 7. So anything which adds to accuracy or increases the base damage of your weapon. (Note: Supplemental charms
usually apply on step 7 per the charm chapter but this is not always true so an effect being supplemental does not mean that it automatically applies here).
Further, Step 10 is when damage is rolled, which is separate from Raw Damage in that it is [Raw Damage - Soak]. Since the steps call out Raw Damage and Damage as separate things, I expect the charms to do the same.
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If I am understanding your position correctly, you are saying that since Step 8 calls out "post-soak" as a modifier of Damage, that we can assume Damage does
not mean post soak unless that descriptor is added?
I can sort of see that, though given the larger context of the paragraph it seems more aimed at clarifying that post-soak damage is modified after minimum/maximum damage effects apply. Still, combined with Fire and Stone Strike setting the precedent of post-soak being explicitly called out in the charm text and my reading making Force of the Mountain stronger than an equivalent Solar charm ( can't remember who mentioned this but I also can't find their post and its late so thank you whoever pointed this out) I do think the evidence leans towards your read being the intended one.
No, it subtracts successes. Three fewer dice on the attack roll is equivalent to one and a half points of DV, assuming default target numbers.
So good news. I apparently new this when I started this analysis (this has been a week or two of on-off work as I do this when I have free time) as my early calculations for "to hit" was [Dice Pool]/2 - DV (with me assuming you always roll average sux). At some point my math becomes (Dice Pool - DV)/2. (I think this comes from a mistake when attempting to streamline the math, since this first comes up when trying to write out the damage calculatioins for steps 7-10 all as one equation and mistankely doing [(Dice Pool + Base Damage - DV - Soak)/2]). And then I carried that mistake forward with my calcs and just ... forgot that DV applied to rolled Sux and not initial pool (there are several areas in E Dragon Style where I
know I look at dice pools vs expected PDs and say that you are going to fail this roll against peer opponents on average because their DV is half your to hit pool and you are getting half your to hit pool in sux when making the attack).
Bad news is I didn't include all my math so I am stil going to have to rewrite quite a bit of this.
Which means I don't have to do as
