Fortuna
Court Astrologonomomancer
I'd just like to note that when we finally figure out SI units for rage, they should totally be Malfeapodes.
On a note of slightly less levity, I spotted Revlid's social revision many, many pages back when I trawled through this thread in the past couple of days. I saw some things I liked, and some things I didn't, so I stole it and changed all the things I didn't like. I thought I'd share my changes, on the off chance that anyone finds them helpful.
WILLPOWER
All characters have a Willpower rating, which represents their determination, drive, and mental fitness. Those with low Willpower are weak-spirited and tend to cave or snap under pressure, while those with high Willpower are self-assured and able to endure dire circumstances without cracking. The average mortal has a Willpower rating somewhere between two and four, while most heroes have a rating between four and seven. Ratings of eight and above are extraordinarily rare, usually reserved for significant supernatural entities like Exalts.
Along with this "permanent" Willpower rating, they also have a pool of Willpower points (or "temporary Willpower"), representing their more immediate mental durability - even the mightiest wills can be ground down by extended trials. Characters cannot have more Willpower points than their Willpower rating. Willpower is distinct from Integrity, which represents a more active self-knowledge and practiced assurance in one's ideals.
Though there are some magic effects that actively drain their victim's Willpower - raksha are infamous for devouring human dreams to fuel their mad glamours - for the most part, Willpower points are expended by the character themselves, to throw off unwanted musings, restrain raging passions, or push themselves to greater heights. Some Charms include Willpower costs, and use of Sorcery can leave characters mentally exhausted.
Similarly, Willpower can be regained in a variety of ways. By far the most common is a full, uninterrupted night's sleep (or at least eight hours of total relaxation, such as successfully meditating or receiving a spa treatment), after which the character restores points equal to the highest rating of those Principles which they have not suppressed since their last such rest. Characters also receive a point of Willpower whenever they make significant progress toward achieving or upholding one of their Principles rated at 3+, to a maximum of their (Willpower / 2) in points per day. Finally, heroic characters may regain a point of Willpower in lieu of any mote reward for a stunt with a rating greater than one dot.
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PRINCIPLES
Every character has Principles, which represent the more prominent aspects of their personality and mindset. They are rated 1-5, just like other traits, in order of the influence they have on that character.
• One-dot Principles are whims; an interest in an attractive stranger or a sudden desire for a certain food
• Two-dot Principles are interests; a friendly coworker or loyalty to a certain brand
• Three-dot Principles are likes; a close friend or a beloved family pet
• Four-dot Principles are loves; a romantic partner or a deeply religious person's faith
• Five-dot Principles are defining motivations; Superman's need to do good or Sauron's drive to conquer Middle Earth
Principles should be clear and snappy summaries of whatever sentiment they represent - a character deeply enamoured with his bride might simply have "My Wife, My Love" as a four-dot Principle, while a mercenary whose life was built around her mastery of fencing might bear a five-dot Principle of "I Walk The Path Of The Sword", and someone who has been forced to monitor screaming children all morning might have a one-dot Principle of "Just Five Minutes Peace". Storytellers should communicate with their players to make sure there is a mutual understanding of what each Principle means, to avoid confusion later on.
This understanding of a Principle should include actions it supports, and actions it does not. The mercenary in the previous example might refuse to wield weapons other than a sword, consider non-martial work to be beneath her, or scorn those lacking in fighting skill. Principles should not be contextual in nature - "I Hate All My Enemies" is inappropriate, though "Never Forgive, Never Forget" or "I Hate All Barbarians" or "There Can Be No Compromise" convey similar ideas while being far more coherent as character traits.
Though the nature of Principles means that broad ones generally provide greater benefit than narrower ones, it is assumed that these will be balanced out by the need to roleplay them. A character with a Principle of "Freedom For All" is expected to work toward that Principle with all the intensity its rating suggests - if they do not, and the player does not respond to reminders, the Storyteller should reduce its rating to reflect its apparent importance. Similarly, while it might seem useful to have a high-rated Principle of "I Am Master Of My Own Destiny", such a character should be played as occupied with maintaining their own independence at any cost, likely to the detriment of their other relationships or ambitions.
Principles are increased and acquired in the same way as they are eroded and lost - through in-character development. A character can trivially pick up a one-dot Principle of interest or infatuation in someone else, before building up to true love over the course of several sessions or an extended period of downtime as a reflection of developments in the game. Players therefore have control over the nature of their characters - provided they actually live up to their statements in-game.
Characters should have no more than (Willpower + Integrity) different personal Principles - their player should remove Principles in excess of this whenever the character sleeps (or roughly at the end of each day, if they do not need to sleep), starting with their lowest-rated ones. Extras should generally have no more than one or two Principles, representing their role in the game. Most characters central to the narrative - such as all player characters - will average at about one or two four-dot Principles, two or three three-dot Principles, a handful of two-dot Principles, and a number of one-dot Principles that vary from scene to scene. Truly heroic characters - well-intentioned and otherwise - often in addition have a five-dot Principle. This should be enough to portray their personality and values without significant omissions.
Since Principles represent the things that drive a character's likely actions and reactions, there are some near-universal examples. With few exceptions, all characters have Principles towards staying alive and comfortable, holding to their cultural ideals, caring for others, preserving their pride and so on. These common Principles do not count against the maximum number of personal Principles a character can hold over time, even if their ratings are unusual - desiring these things is just part of being a person. You should still note them on your character sheet for reference, though. The most common distribution is something like a five-dot Principle toward staying alive, a three-dot Principle toward staying comfortable, a two-or-three-dot Principle toward upholding their cultural mores, and a one-dot Principle for each of the four Virtues of Compassion, Conviction, Temperance and Valour. For calculations elsewhere which depend on Virtue ratings, treat a character's Virtue as being one dot higher when making the calculation. Certain magics are impaired against or fail entirely against these universal Principles.
This flexibility extends to listed Principles. If it becomes apparent mid-scene that your character really ought to have a certain Principle that they currently lack, talk to the Storyteller and amend your sheet. The Principles model the personality, rather than dictating it.
Of course, the Storyteller should reject such changes if they're not actually a response to an honest mistake; they are meant to help players avoid accidentally creating someone they don't want to play, not give them free reign to mutate their character's personality as it becomes convenient. A staunch pacifist cannot retroactively acquire a four-dot Principle of "Blood For The Blood God" just because her player thought it would be useful; instead, such a shift should take place in-character, a change in ideals that is roleplayed over multiple sessions or one large chunk of downtime. Similar restrictions and permissions apply to changing the rating of Principles; generally, barring interference, Principles decay at a rate no greater than one dot per scene. Most long-term principles – ties and ideals rather than emotions or fancies – decay much more slowly, if at all.
Though players are expected to roleplay their character's Principles as a matter of course, they do have some mechanical backing. A character who wishes to take an action (including passive actions like "ignore the cruelty in front of me" or "give up this opportunity") which totally contradicts one or more of their Principles must roll a number of dice equal to the highest rated among those Principles. If he succeeds, he cannot take the action in question – his heart denies his hand. If he still wishes to proceed, he must "suppress" those Principles, by spending a point of Willpower. If the character has contradictory Principles that would force him to roll no matter what he does, that's tough luck on his part.
Suppressed Principles remain so for the rest of the day, and so can be freely acted against, though they still remain important to the character. This represents the mental strain of the character defying their own wishes for whatever reason - a Principle that is consistently suppressed should eventually have its rating reduced, or its context warped to suit whatever circumstances call for the character to hide it. Suppressing a one-dot Principle may even remove it entirely.
Principles that are not suppressed can be channeled to enhance any action (or static value) that directly supports them. Only one Principle can be channeled per action, and each Principle can only be channeled once per scene - though certain effects may "reset" a Principle, allowing them to be channeled again. Channeling costs a point of Willpower, and adds dice equal to the Principle's rating to the pool for that action. A channelled Principle costs two points of Willpower to suppress, not just one.
Example: The Sea-Sultan of the Jagged Isles has a four-dot Principle of "I Alone Rule The Isles", representing his fanatical need for control. When the local Realm ambassador politely requests that certain changes be made to the Isles' trade laws, purely for the benefit of the Scarlet Empire, the Sultan is bitterly aware that his fleet could be sundered by just one of the mighty jadeclad ships the Realm has set to patrol its regional interests.
If he acquiesces, ceding ground to fight another day, he is betraying the aforementioned Principle, and so must fail a four-dice roll (unlikely) or spend a point of Willpower - though he will not need to pay this cost again that day, if he finds himself compromising with other representatives at the trade summit. Alternatively, if he elects to argue the issue, he might spend a point of Willpower to channel that Principle, adding four dice to a Presence roll to emphasize his grip on his domain, or boosting his MDV against the ambassador's veiled intimidation.
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URGES
The Primordials, and certain creatures which partake of their nature, have Principles which are so fundamental to them as to be immutable. These special Principles, known as Urges, are immune to modification, and inflict on their bearers a point of Limit whenever they are suppressed. The Primordials themselves - unchained and Yozi alike - bear five-dot Urges, as do the akuma. The Green Sun Princes bear only four-dot Urges. If an Urge of a being lesser than a Primordial is invalidated - either through completion or through being rendered impossible - the Primordial to whom it ultimately belongs may, after five days have passed, replace it with another of their choosing. Urges otherwise behave as explained elsewhere (most notably in Manual of Exalted Power: The Infernals).
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SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Among the Attributes and Abilities available to characters are those that are primarily useful in a social context; the following section describes how to make use of those skills to persuade, inspire and coerce others. Though others may come in handy, these traits are Charisma (raw force of personality), Manipulation (natural talent for dissembling), Appearance (bearing and poise), Integrity (meditative self-awareness and judgement), Presence (skill at one-to-one persuasion), Performance (prowess at large-scale agitation), Linguistics (flair with working words), and Socialize (understanding of political situations).
Characters who wish to sway others can roll (Charisma or Manipulation or Appearance + Presence or Performance) over the course of five minutes of social interaction, not rolling until the end of the interaction. Generally, social influence will take place as part of the ebb and flow of conversation, and so all influence for a given interval of time should be resolved simultaneously. It is also possible to attempt social influence in combat as a miscellaneous action, although only once per scene, and at half the normal dice pool. Presence is used when interacting with a single character, such as a cozy political chat or a vicious interrogation in a dank cell. Performance is used when interacting with multiple characters, whether priming troops for battle with a mighty speech or charging a whole room with the energy of your dance. Similarly, Charisma is used for honest argument, from the heart, while Manipulation is used for deceptive or incomplete argument and Appearance is used for nonverbal influence through impeccable manners and body language. It is possible to make an attempt at influence with Appearance at the same time as influence with another Attribute.
Successful social influence can do one of the things described below, chosen before making the roll.
• Create or remove a one-dot Principle in the target.
• Encourage the target to act on one of their Principles.
• Alter the nature of one of the target's Principles.
• Improve a supporting Principle or erode a contradictory one in the target.
The chosen effect must be appropriate to the influence's stunt - a speaker is unlikely to inspire lust by discussing the weather (without extensive innuendo, at least), nor lull someone into a sense of security by screaming profanity in their ear. In particular, Appearance is only appropriate for modifying other characters' reactions to the user, or with an appropriate stunt, for inducing emotions in others – other uses require extremely unusual social magic. Influence can be subtle, and Appearance influence often is, but the result must logically follow from what they are actually communicating. The speaker must target specific Principles for encouragement, alteration or removal - if their target possesses no such Principle, their influence falls on deaf (or at least, confused) ears.
Creating or removing a one-dot Principle is simple - the character simply acquires or loses the described Principle. They cannot remove (or regain) them of their own volition for the rest of the scene, and should work the change into their roleplay as usual.
Example: Mikail Edenlund is quietly nursing a drink at a social function, when an agent of the Emerald Hand approaches him. To keep him off-guard, she elects to distract him with desire, rolling (Charisma + Presence) as she breathily introduces herself and spends the next few minutes flirting. If her roll overcomes his Dodge MDV, Mikail gains a one-dot Principle representing his lust for her.
Encouraging a character to act on one of their Principles involves presenting some argument, appeal or lie to drive the target into action. The speaker's player describes some action that falls in line with the chosen Principle, and the target is driven to take that action, just as though they had succeeded on a Principle roll (this means that they may suppress that Principle to avoid doing so).
Example: The bitter rivalry between Tensi Tikigi and his brother is well-known through the Razor Moth Dojo, and eventually their master decides to test them. Calling Tensi to her quarters, she spends some time discussing his future at the dojo, and his prospects relative to his brother. Her provocation succeeds if her roll beats Tensi's MDV, and he must suppress that Principle or challenge his sibling to prove his superiority.
Changing the rating of a Principle involves twisting perceptions, calling problems to attention, or encouraging certain ideas and feelings. The speaker chooses a specific Principle to erode or reinforce, and reduces or increases its rating by one. The target's player should decide whether or not this alters the specifics of that Principle. A Principle can only be eroded if the target has another Principle of the same rating or higher that directly opposes it, or at least two opposing Principles no more than one dot lower. Similarly, a Principle can only be reinforced if the target has sufficient supporting Principles.
Alternatively, the speaker can alter the nature of the targeted Principle, shifting its context to a new one. This requires the same number of supporting or opposing Principles (as appropriate to the nature of the change), but cannot produce a change out of line with the target's general worldview. It fails if the new context contradicts any of the target's Principles rated 3+.
Any influence that would affect an existing Principle can be resisted by spending (threshold successes / 3) points of Willpower, to a minimum of one and a maximum of five.
Example: In preparation for usurping his father, Guay-Lin tries to erode the loyalty of his noble retainer, Sang-Jun. His loyalty is a 3-dot Principle, but he also has a 3-dot Principle representing his compassion for all living things. While discussing other matters of state, Guay-Lin shifts the subject to his father's taste for abusing his subjects. Sang-Jun may close his ears to what goes on in his lord's dungeons, but if Guay-Lin beats his MDV, the conflict between his ideals is sufficiently highlighted to force serious self-examination. He will have to spend Willpower, or reduce his Principle of loyalty by one dot.
To be successful, the successes of an influence roll must beat its target's Defence Value. Unlike physical attacks, mental influence is opposed by a Mental Defence Value, or MDV. If the target elects to ignore, brush off or flatly reject the influence, he uses his "Dodge" MDV, which is half his (Wits + Integrity + Essence), rounded up. If he attempts to refute, belittle or actively defuse the influence, he uses his "Parry" MDV, which is half his (highest two of Manipulation, Charisma and Appearance + Presence), rounded up.
There are two common modifiers for MDVs. The first are normal contextual penalties, such as a lack of sleep or mind-addling drugs. The second are Principles, which have an effect on MDVs described further below.
Principles created, removed or altered by influence should be roleplayed as normal. If a drunkard is persuaded that Hong Zhin McSweeny over in the corner has been badmouthing his ancestry, his intoxicated anger may be only a fleeting one-dot Principle, potentially forgotten by morning, but he still needs to roleplay it, and needs to roll to avoid acting on it if the opportunity for a barfight comes up (indeed, he should be "awarded" bonus dice on the roll for his intoxicated state).
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DETECTING SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Social influence is generally fairly apparent to any observers, even if the motives behind it are obscure. In order to detect social influence, a character must succeed on a reflexive (Perception + Investigation or Socialize) roll. A character who succeeds discerns the target of the influence (if it is Presence-based), which Principle it acts upon, and what effect it seeks to have. For influence based on Manipulation or Charisma, this roll is difficulty 0 by default - a character usually cannot fail to observe such influence, and any character with even a single die need not roll. Influence based on Appearance is difficulty 1 to notice. However, a character who wishes to exercise subtlety can do so by accepting an internal penalty on the social influence roll, up to a maximum of his Socialize. For each point of penalty so accepted, the difficulty to notice the influence rises by one. A character who does not notice influence cannot effectively argue against it, rendering their Parry MDV inapplicable, even if they are engaged in a refutation which would apply. If they are trying to refute that influence, it affects them as well as any other intended targets as usual, although they may apply their Dodge MDV against it.
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REFUTATION
Sometimes a character will wish to prevent an argument from influencing another, for whatever reason. In these cases, the character may attempt refutation in lieu of a Charisma or Manipulation attack. A character who wishes to refute must decide either to engage with a specific speaker using Performance or to advise a specific listener using Presence. In either case, the character is then able to apply their Parry MDV against social influence of the appropriate sort, although if using Performance it is substituted for Presence. If engaging a speaker, the character refutes any number of influence attempts that speaker makes in the interval, while a character advising another refutes any number of influence attempts that would apply to that other character in the interval.
In either case, the successes rolled on a refuted influence attempt are compared first to the character's Parry MDV. If the speaker gets fewer successes, the influence is foiled. If this was a Presence refutation, then the influence may still apply to other characters, but the advising and advised characters may ignore it. If it was a Performance refutation, then all listeners are led by the arguments of the refutation and may ignore the influence attempt.
If the influence gathers more successes than the refuting character's Parry MDV, two things happen. First, that influence affects the character normally, if possible within his Principles. Even if the influence was based on Presence and directed at another character, the refuter, having attempted to engage with it and failed to find sufficient fault to refuse it, is convinced of some appropriate analogue. Second, the influence goes on to affect the original target or targets, albeit with successes reduced by the refuter's Parry MDV. In the event that multiple characters attempt to refute a given influence, resolve first Performance refutations, and then Presence ones. Resolve each as a group, adding the Magnitude of the refuting group to the highest Parry MDV in each group.
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PRINCIPLES AND MDV
Principles are fundamental to character interaction, both in the sense of roleplaying a character's motives, and in the mechanical effects of social skills. In the absence of mind-twisting magic, all social influence is based on creating or manipulating Principles - and even unnatural mental influence has an easier time working its enchantments if the target's Principles incline them toward it.
Characters subject to mental influence of any kind should consult their Principles. If the nature of the influence clashes with one or more of their Principles, they should add the highest rating among the opposing Principles directly to their MDV. If the influence supports one or more of their Principles, they should reduce their MDV by their highest-rated agreeable Principle. Both of these modifiers can apply at once, if a character has Principles that both support and oppose an attempt to influence him.
Even suppressed Principles modify a character's MDV in this way; though they may grit their teeth against injustice and blasphemy, their mind still silently churns. Similarly, appropriate Principles can be channelled to further improve the character's MDV, passive ideals surging up in their breast. Channelled Principles add directly to the character's MDV, but cannot be channelled if they are already improving the MDV.
A five-dot Principle has a further benefit - it allows the character to simply ignore any mental influence that would directly threaten it, provided they have even one point of Willpower remaining (no Willpower is spent - this simply represents their remaining capacity for mental resistance). They treat the influence as an Unacceptable Order. By default, every character is considered to have a five-dot Principle toward staying alive, their basic survival instinct driving them on. Other five-dot Principles are extremely rare, and almost always rooted in magic.
An observer can uncover another character's Principles with a (Wits + Investigation or Socialize) roll, trying to work out just how a given topic relates to them. Principles can only be deciphered to the extent that the scene allows; a Principle that has not so much as been mentioned is undetectable, while a cunning queen might note the twitch of concealed rage on a king's face when his rival is mentioned, and deduce that he fiercely hates him – though not necessarily why. The difficulty of this roll is equal to half the target's (Manipulation + Socialize), rounded up, and one such roll may be made in each interval of interaction, or two such rolls if the observer gives up their opportunity to make a Charisma or Manipulation social influence check. This is reduced by two if the character is channelling their Principle, or is not trying to conceal their reaction, and increased by two if the character avoids actually acting on that Principle.
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SOCIAL UNITS
Often it is most convenient to treat a large number of similar characters as a single entity, rather than resolving each of a cast of thousands individually. This is simple to do. Draw up Principles and traits for a representative member of the group and add the Magnitude of the group to the Parry MDV and to dice pools for influence attempts. A social unit should generally be used to represent at least five or ten individuals, and is almost always composed solely of extras. Obviously, it is impossible to sway a whole group of people using Presence - only Performance is applicable, unless one wishes to single out an individual for influence.
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WRITTEN INFLUENCE
Not all social influence comes in the form of impassioned oratory and cunning argument. The well-penned letter and hateful screed should not be underestimated when considering how to influence one's peers, betters, and inferiors. In general, written influence functions much as social influence in person. One interval of social influence is roughly equivalent to a thousand words, which can be as much as three or four pages or as little as one depending on font, language and style, and takes about five minutes to read. applying its influence to any reader just as though it was spoken. Note that, just like influence applied face to face, the target may need to have appropriate Principles for any influence other than forming a new Principle to apply. Additionally, written influence composed using Presence rather than Performance are intended for a specific character, and at the Storyteller's discretion either halve their dice pool with respect to any other or simply fail to apply. Written influence takes longer to compose - generally, a character with no dots in Linguistics can expect to take two hours to compose a single passable passage. Linguistics 1 lowers this time to an hour and a half, Linguistics 2 to an hour, Linguistics 3 to half an hour, Linguistics 4 to a quarter of an hour and a character with Linguistics 5 can compose influence as quickly as they could speak it.
Characters using this sort of influence, as well as those communicating by more short-form textual media, have no way to apply their mastery of nonverbal cues to the dialogue, and cannot attempt influence with Appearance. However, they may substitute Linguistics instead, representing careful attention to word choice, spelling, grammar, sentence structure and so on. Charms that apply to Appearance influence may be used with respect to Linguistics influence as well, unless otherwise noted, replacing Appearance with Linguistics for all purposes related to the Charm.
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UNNATURAL MENTAL INFLUENCE
The above rules suffice for mere mortal persuasion, but the might of the Exalted surpasses those limitations. Certain Charms may exert unnatural mental influence, or cause ordinary social influence to become unnatural. Unnatural social influence is distinct from natural influence in two ways. First, when it seeks to degrade or enhance a Principle, it does not require supporting or opposing Principles at appropriate ratings as most influence does. Second, unnatural social influence does not require the user to play on any existing Principle. Influence which comes 'out of the blue' may be resisted by paying willpower as normal, and the character's MDVs are modified by the highest applicable Principles as usual, but a character who pays willpower to resist such influence does not suppress any Principle as a result. The unscrupulous among the Exalted Host may choose simply to verbally batter a target into submission, forcing them to spend all their willpower on defending themselves from the mental control of their magics until they must finally submit.
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MATTERS OF FACT
Sometimes, a character isn't interested in changing emotional stances or provoking specific action - at least, not directly. When attempting to convince someone that a statement is true as a simple matter of fact, normally no rolls are required - the listener simply evaluates whether it's reasonable, and decides based on that. However, if necessary, either player can bring this system into play.
First, the player of the speaker makes clear what statement they wish to convey: for example, "I am the Scarlet Empress in disguise" or "There's an army of demons coming to slaughter this village". The listener's player then assigns a difficulty to this statement, ranging from 0 (which means the listener automatically believes it) to 6. Truly absurd statements, at the Storyteller's discretion, may be dismissed out of hand - "You're the Demon City in disguise" or "Actually, I'm a figment of your imagination" are examples. If the listener is implacably hostile to the notion, they may spend a single point of willpower to treat any statement (and any essentially identical ones) as absurd for the scene. In all other cases, it must then be determined whether the speaking character honestly believes what they're putting forth. If they do, then a simple (Charisma + Presence) roll is made against the set difficulty, with a success indicating that the listener believes the statement, and a failure indicating that they do not, believing the speaker to be lying or mistaken at the listening player's option. If they are lying, or being substantially deceptive (at the Storyteller's discretion), then the situation is more complicated; the speaking player must make a (Manipulation + Presence) roll opposed by the listener's (Perception + Investigation), with the listener getting a number of bonus successes equal to the difficulty they assigned. If the speaker equals or exceeds the listener's successes, the listener believes the statement as before. Otherwise, the speaker's deception is detected.
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LIMIT BREAKS AND THE GREAT CURSE
As part of character creation, a Solar or Lunar who suffers from the Great Curse (i.e. all of them, except possibly those Solars cleansed by passage through the Abyssal state) selects any valid Principle. They need not have this Principle already, and like all Principles it should not be contextual. Additionally, the Storyteller should approve this Principle specifically, bearing in mind its uses and appropriateness. This Principle comes into effect when the Exalt enters Limit Break. On reaching ten Limit, the Exalt must choose whether to attempt to control it. A restrained manifestation only causes the selected Principle to manifest in the Exalt's mind and soul at the five dot level, and magically anchors it to be perfectly immune to all alteration and suppression, regardless of the Exalt's will in the matter. The Exalt may not pay willpower to suppress this Principle so long as Limit Break lasts. The chosen Principle becomes a driving force for the character, above almost all other considerations. Uncontrolled, the curse wreaks a greater transformation, consuming all the Exalt's Principles other than the selected one for the duration, and preventing the formation of new ones, in addition to the effects under partial control - the character becomes almost an automaton, driven by this one need above all else. However, an uncontrolled manifestation does restore to the Exalt points of willpower equal to their (Essence + 1) from the sheer catharsis of the experience. These points may exceed the Exalt's permanent Willpower, even going beyond 10. Limit Break generally lasts for one day, but at the Storyteller's discretion particularly incapacitating choices of Principle may allow for Limit Breaks that last only a scene. In addition to the Principle, each character should select one reasonable condition (with Storyteller approval), such as "Witnessing innocents suffer through no fault of their own", "Being tempted by a favourite vice and turning it down", or "Being insulted, belittled or demeaned". Whenever the character experiences this condition for the first time in a scene, they gain a point of Limit.
Sidereal and Dragonblooded Limit Breaks operate similarly, but their natures are more constrained by their Exaltations, and so too is their expression of the curse. Sidereals automatically control their Limit Breaks, and they last one 'episode' - a handful of scenes, or two or three important ones. While the Sidereal's flawed fate is manifest, they bear a five-dot Principle to engender the greatest instances of their caste's purview that they can. Sidereals gain Limit as described in their Manual of Exalted Power. Dragonblooded likewise have less choice in the expression of the Great Curse, choosing a flawed Virtue which raises automatically to five dots for the duration and becomes flavoured by their aspect as described. Like Sidereals, Dragonblooded automatically control their Limit Breaks, gaining no bonus willpower but retaining their other Principles.
If using the alternate Resonance rules from Shards of the Exalted Dream, Abyssal Curses operates exactly as Solar Limit Breaks in all respects.
The Great Curse is secret from all but a bare handful. Lytek, the God of Exaltations knows of it, though he dithers over what to do about it. Jupiter likely knows, but she's not telling. And of course the Neverborn know, for it is they who first laid it down. When the Solars and their Lunar mates struck the blow that first proved a Primordial could be killed, the dying Primordials struck back, cursing their slayers. In that moment, knowing only the impossible agony of their demise, the greatest curse they could conceive of was to make the slaughterers become like themselves. From that time to this day, in each of the Exalted lurks an influence that emerges in times of stress, bringing the single-minded tunnel vision of a Primordial existence to their human souls.
(Adaptation notes: The Virtue Flaws from the core rulebook can easily be represented in this system. For example, "I Can But Weep" (Heart of Tears), "Slaughter Everything" (Berserk Rage), or "The Flesh's Pleasures Above All" (Overindulgence).)
Finally, in conjunction with this fix I intend and recommend to use Appearance for some actual rolls outside social combat too - specifically, disguising oneself more by acting than by artifice is Appearance + Larceny (think the classic trope of completely changing your appearance with a handful of dirt, a shift in posture, and a pile of books), and blending with a crowd is Appearance + Stealth.
All characters have a Willpower rating, which represents their determination, drive, and mental fitness. Those with low Willpower are weak-spirited and tend to cave or snap under pressure, while those with high Willpower are self-assured and able to endure dire circumstances without cracking. The average mortal has a Willpower rating somewhere between two and four, while most heroes have a rating between four and seven. Ratings of eight and above are extraordinarily rare, usually reserved for significant supernatural entities like Exalts.
Along with this "permanent" Willpower rating, they also have a pool of Willpower points (or "temporary Willpower"), representing their more immediate mental durability - even the mightiest wills can be ground down by extended trials. Characters cannot have more Willpower points than their Willpower rating. Willpower is distinct from Integrity, which represents a more active self-knowledge and practiced assurance in one's ideals.
Though there are some magic effects that actively drain their victim's Willpower - raksha are infamous for devouring human dreams to fuel their mad glamours - for the most part, Willpower points are expended by the character themselves, to throw off unwanted musings, restrain raging passions, or push themselves to greater heights. Some Charms include Willpower costs, and use of Sorcery can leave characters mentally exhausted.
Similarly, Willpower can be regained in a variety of ways. By far the most common is a full, uninterrupted night's sleep (or at least eight hours of total relaxation, such as successfully meditating or receiving a spa treatment), after which the character restores points equal to the highest rating of those Principles which they have not suppressed since their last such rest. Characters also receive a point of Willpower whenever they make significant progress toward achieving or upholding one of their Principles rated at 3+, to a maximum of their (Willpower / 2) in points per day. Finally, heroic characters may regain a point of Willpower in lieu of any mote reward for a stunt with a rating greater than one dot.
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PRINCIPLES
Every character has Principles, which represent the more prominent aspects of their personality and mindset. They are rated 1-5, just like other traits, in order of the influence they have on that character.
• One-dot Principles are whims; an interest in an attractive stranger or a sudden desire for a certain food
• Two-dot Principles are interests; a friendly coworker or loyalty to a certain brand
• Three-dot Principles are likes; a close friend or a beloved family pet
• Four-dot Principles are loves; a romantic partner or a deeply religious person's faith
• Five-dot Principles are defining motivations; Superman's need to do good or Sauron's drive to conquer Middle Earth
Principles should be clear and snappy summaries of whatever sentiment they represent - a character deeply enamoured with his bride might simply have "My Wife, My Love" as a four-dot Principle, while a mercenary whose life was built around her mastery of fencing might bear a five-dot Principle of "I Walk The Path Of The Sword", and someone who has been forced to monitor screaming children all morning might have a one-dot Principle of "Just Five Minutes Peace". Storytellers should communicate with their players to make sure there is a mutual understanding of what each Principle means, to avoid confusion later on.
This understanding of a Principle should include actions it supports, and actions it does not. The mercenary in the previous example might refuse to wield weapons other than a sword, consider non-martial work to be beneath her, or scorn those lacking in fighting skill. Principles should not be contextual in nature - "I Hate All My Enemies" is inappropriate, though "Never Forgive, Never Forget" or "I Hate All Barbarians" or "There Can Be No Compromise" convey similar ideas while being far more coherent as character traits.
Though the nature of Principles means that broad ones generally provide greater benefit than narrower ones, it is assumed that these will be balanced out by the need to roleplay them. A character with a Principle of "Freedom For All" is expected to work toward that Principle with all the intensity its rating suggests - if they do not, and the player does not respond to reminders, the Storyteller should reduce its rating to reflect its apparent importance. Similarly, while it might seem useful to have a high-rated Principle of "I Am Master Of My Own Destiny", such a character should be played as occupied with maintaining their own independence at any cost, likely to the detriment of their other relationships or ambitions.
Principles are increased and acquired in the same way as they are eroded and lost - through in-character development. A character can trivially pick up a one-dot Principle of interest or infatuation in someone else, before building up to true love over the course of several sessions or an extended period of downtime as a reflection of developments in the game. Players therefore have control over the nature of their characters - provided they actually live up to their statements in-game.
Characters should have no more than (Willpower + Integrity) different personal Principles - their player should remove Principles in excess of this whenever the character sleeps (or roughly at the end of each day, if they do not need to sleep), starting with their lowest-rated ones. Extras should generally have no more than one or two Principles, representing their role in the game. Most characters central to the narrative - such as all player characters - will average at about one or two four-dot Principles, two or three three-dot Principles, a handful of two-dot Principles, and a number of one-dot Principles that vary from scene to scene. Truly heroic characters - well-intentioned and otherwise - often in addition have a five-dot Principle. This should be enough to portray their personality and values without significant omissions.
Since Principles represent the things that drive a character's likely actions and reactions, there are some near-universal examples. With few exceptions, all characters have Principles towards staying alive and comfortable, holding to their cultural ideals, caring for others, preserving their pride and so on. These common Principles do not count against the maximum number of personal Principles a character can hold over time, even if their ratings are unusual - desiring these things is just part of being a person. You should still note them on your character sheet for reference, though. The most common distribution is something like a five-dot Principle toward staying alive, a three-dot Principle toward staying comfortable, a two-or-three-dot Principle toward upholding their cultural mores, and a one-dot Principle for each of the four Virtues of Compassion, Conviction, Temperance and Valour. For calculations elsewhere which depend on Virtue ratings, treat a character's Virtue as being one dot higher when making the calculation. Certain magics are impaired against or fail entirely against these universal Principles.
This flexibility extends to listed Principles. If it becomes apparent mid-scene that your character really ought to have a certain Principle that they currently lack, talk to the Storyteller and amend your sheet. The Principles model the personality, rather than dictating it.
Of course, the Storyteller should reject such changes if they're not actually a response to an honest mistake; they are meant to help players avoid accidentally creating someone they don't want to play, not give them free reign to mutate their character's personality as it becomes convenient. A staunch pacifist cannot retroactively acquire a four-dot Principle of "Blood For The Blood God" just because her player thought it would be useful; instead, such a shift should take place in-character, a change in ideals that is roleplayed over multiple sessions or one large chunk of downtime. Similar restrictions and permissions apply to changing the rating of Principles; generally, barring interference, Principles decay at a rate no greater than one dot per scene. Most long-term principles – ties and ideals rather than emotions or fancies – decay much more slowly, if at all.
Though players are expected to roleplay their character's Principles as a matter of course, they do have some mechanical backing. A character who wishes to take an action (including passive actions like "ignore the cruelty in front of me" or "give up this opportunity") which totally contradicts one or more of their Principles must roll a number of dice equal to the highest rated among those Principles. If he succeeds, he cannot take the action in question – his heart denies his hand. If he still wishes to proceed, he must "suppress" those Principles, by spending a point of Willpower. If the character has contradictory Principles that would force him to roll no matter what he does, that's tough luck on his part.
Suppressed Principles remain so for the rest of the day, and so can be freely acted against, though they still remain important to the character. This represents the mental strain of the character defying their own wishes for whatever reason - a Principle that is consistently suppressed should eventually have its rating reduced, or its context warped to suit whatever circumstances call for the character to hide it. Suppressing a one-dot Principle may even remove it entirely.
Principles that are not suppressed can be channeled to enhance any action (or static value) that directly supports them. Only one Principle can be channeled per action, and each Principle can only be channeled once per scene - though certain effects may "reset" a Principle, allowing them to be channeled again. Channeling costs a point of Willpower, and adds dice equal to the Principle's rating to the pool for that action. A channelled Principle costs two points of Willpower to suppress, not just one.
Example: The Sea-Sultan of the Jagged Isles has a four-dot Principle of "I Alone Rule The Isles", representing his fanatical need for control. When the local Realm ambassador politely requests that certain changes be made to the Isles' trade laws, purely for the benefit of the Scarlet Empire, the Sultan is bitterly aware that his fleet could be sundered by just one of the mighty jadeclad ships the Realm has set to patrol its regional interests.
If he acquiesces, ceding ground to fight another day, he is betraying the aforementioned Principle, and so must fail a four-dice roll (unlikely) or spend a point of Willpower - though he will not need to pay this cost again that day, if he finds himself compromising with other representatives at the trade summit. Alternatively, if he elects to argue the issue, he might spend a point of Willpower to channel that Principle, adding four dice to a Presence roll to emphasize his grip on his domain, or boosting his MDV against the ambassador's veiled intimidation.
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URGES
The Primordials, and certain creatures which partake of their nature, have Principles which are so fundamental to them as to be immutable. These special Principles, known as Urges, are immune to modification, and inflict on their bearers a point of Limit whenever they are suppressed. The Primordials themselves - unchained and Yozi alike - bear five-dot Urges, as do the akuma. The Green Sun Princes bear only four-dot Urges. If an Urge of a being lesser than a Primordial is invalidated - either through completion or through being rendered impossible - the Primordial to whom it ultimately belongs may, after five days have passed, replace it with another of their choosing. Urges otherwise behave as explained elsewhere (most notably in Manual of Exalted Power: The Infernals).
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SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Among the Attributes and Abilities available to characters are those that are primarily useful in a social context; the following section describes how to make use of those skills to persuade, inspire and coerce others. Though others may come in handy, these traits are Charisma (raw force of personality), Manipulation (natural talent for dissembling), Appearance (bearing and poise), Integrity (meditative self-awareness and judgement), Presence (skill at one-to-one persuasion), Performance (prowess at large-scale agitation), Linguistics (flair with working words), and Socialize (understanding of political situations).
Characters who wish to sway others can roll (Charisma or Manipulation or Appearance + Presence or Performance) over the course of five minutes of social interaction, not rolling until the end of the interaction. Generally, social influence will take place as part of the ebb and flow of conversation, and so all influence for a given interval of time should be resolved simultaneously. It is also possible to attempt social influence in combat as a miscellaneous action, although only once per scene, and at half the normal dice pool. Presence is used when interacting with a single character, such as a cozy political chat or a vicious interrogation in a dank cell. Performance is used when interacting with multiple characters, whether priming troops for battle with a mighty speech or charging a whole room with the energy of your dance. Similarly, Charisma is used for honest argument, from the heart, while Manipulation is used for deceptive or incomplete argument and Appearance is used for nonverbal influence through impeccable manners and body language. It is possible to make an attempt at influence with Appearance at the same time as influence with another Attribute.
Successful social influence can do one of the things described below, chosen before making the roll.
• Create or remove a one-dot Principle in the target.
• Encourage the target to act on one of their Principles.
• Alter the nature of one of the target's Principles.
• Improve a supporting Principle or erode a contradictory one in the target.
The chosen effect must be appropriate to the influence's stunt - a speaker is unlikely to inspire lust by discussing the weather (without extensive innuendo, at least), nor lull someone into a sense of security by screaming profanity in their ear. In particular, Appearance is only appropriate for modifying other characters' reactions to the user, or with an appropriate stunt, for inducing emotions in others – other uses require extremely unusual social magic. Influence can be subtle, and Appearance influence often is, but the result must logically follow from what they are actually communicating. The speaker must target specific Principles for encouragement, alteration or removal - if their target possesses no such Principle, their influence falls on deaf (or at least, confused) ears.
Creating or removing a one-dot Principle is simple - the character simply acquires or loses the described Principle. They cannot remove (or regain) them of their own volition for the rest of the scene, and should work the change into their roleplay as usual.
Example: Mikail Edenlund is quietly nursing a drink at a social function, when an agent of the Emerald Hand approaches him. To keep him off-guard, she elects to distract him with desire, rolling (Charisma + Presence) as she breathily introduces herself and spends the next few minutes flirting. If her roll overcomes his Dodge MDV, Mikail gains a one-dot Principle representing his lust for her.
Encouraging a character to act on one of their Principles involves presenting some argument, appeal or lie to drive the target into action. The speaker's player describes some action that falls in line with the chosen Principle, and the target is driven to take that action, just as though they had succeeded on a Principle roll (this means that they may suppress that Principle to avoid doing so).
Example: The bitter rivalry between Tensi Tikigi and his brother is well-known through the Razor Moth Dojo, and eventually their master decides to test them. Calling Tensi to her quarters, she spends some time discussing his future at the dojo, and his prospects relative to his brother. Her provocation succeeds if her roll beats Tensi's MDV, and he must suppress that Principle or challenge his sibling to prove his superiority.
Changing the rating of a Principle involves twisting perceptions, calling problems to attention, or encouraging certain ideas and feelings. The speaker chooses a specific Principle to erode or reinforce, and reduces or increases its rating by one. The target's player should decide whether or not this alters the specifics of that Principle. A Principle can only be eroded if the target has another Principle of the same rating or higher that directly opposes it, or at least two opposing Principles no more than one dot lower. Similarly, a Principle can only be reinforced if the target has sufficient supporting Principles.
Alternatively, the speaker can alter the nature of the targeted Principle, shifting its context to a new one. This requires the same number of supporting or opposing Principles (as appropriate to the nature of the change), but cannot produce a change out of line with the target's general worldview. It fails if the new context contradicts any of the target's Principles rated 3+.
Any influence that would affect an existing Principle can be resisted by spending (threshold successes / 3) points of Willpower, to a minimum of one and a maximum of five.
Example: In preparation for usurping his father, Guay-Lin tries to erode the loyalty of his noble retainer, Sang-Jun. His loyalty is a 3-dot Principle, but he also has a 3-dot Principle representing his compassion for all living things. While discussing other matters of state, Guay-Lin shifts the subject to his father's taste for abusing his subjects. Sang-Jun may close his ears to what goes on in his lord's dungeons, but if Guay-Lin beats his MDV, the conflict between his ideals is sufficiently highlighted to force serious self-examination. He will have to spend Willpower, or reduce his Principle of loyalty by one dot.
To be successful, the successes of an influence roll must beat its target's Defence Value. Unlike physical attacks, mental influence is opposed by a Mental Defence Value, or MDV. If the target elects to ignore, brush off or flatly reject the influence, he uses his "Dodge" MDV, which is half his (Wits + Integrity + Essence), rounded up. If he attempts to refute, belittle or actively defuse the influence, he uses his "Parry" MDV, which is half his (highest two of Manipulation, Charisma and Appearance + Presence), rounded up.
There are two common modifiers for MDVs. The first are normal contextual penalties, such as a lack of sleep or mind-addling drugs. The second are Principles, which have an effect on MDVs described further below.
Principles created, removed or altered by influence should be roleplayed as normal. If a drunkard is persuaded that Hong Zhin McSweeny over in the corner has been badmouthing his ancestry, his intoxicated anger may be only a fleeting one-dot Principle, potentially forgotten by morning, but he still needs to roleplay it, and needs to roll to avoid acting on it if the opportunity for a barfight comes up (indeed, he should be "awarded" bonus dice on the roll for his intoxicated state).
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DETECTING SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Social influence is generally fairly apparent to any observers, even if the motives behind it are obscure. In order to detect social influence, a character must succeed on a reflexive (Perception + Investigation or Socialize) roll. A character who succeeds discerns the target of the influence (if it is Presence-based), which Principle it acts upon, and what effect it seeks to have. For influence based on Manipulation or Charisma, this roll is difficulty 0 by default - a character usually cannot fail to observe such influence, and any character with even a single die need not roll. Influence based on Appearance is difficulty 1 to notice. However, a character who wishes to exercise subtlety can do so by accepting an internal penalty on the social influence roll, up to a maximum of his Socialize. For each point of penalty so accepted, the difficulty to notice the influence rises by one. A character who does not notice influence cannot effectively argue against it, rendering their Parry MDV inapplicable, even if they are engaged in a refutation which would apply. If they are trying to refute that influence, it affects them as well as any other intended targets as usual, although they may apply their Dodge MDV against it.
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REFUTATION
Sometimes a character will wish to prevent an argument from influencing another, for whatever reason. In these cases, the character may attempt refutation in lieu of a Charisma or Manipulation attack. A character who wishes to refute must decide either to engage with a specific speaker using Performance or to advise a specific listener using Presence. In either case, the character is then able to apply their Parry MDV against social influence of the appropriate sort, although if using Performance it is substituted for Presence. If engaging a speaker, the character refutes any number of influence attempts that speaker makes in the interval, while a character advising another refutes any number of influence attempts that would apply to that other character in the interval.
In either case, the successes rolled on a refuted influence attempt are compared first to the character's Parry MDV. If the speaker gets fewer successes, the influence is foiled. If this was a Presence refutation, then the influence may still apply to other characters, but the advising and advised characters may ignore it. If it was a Performance refutation, then all listeners are led by the arguments of the refutation and may ignore the influence attempt.
If the influence gathers more successes than the refuting character's Parry MDV, two things happen. First, that influence affects the character normally, if possible within his Principles. Even if the influence was based on Presence and directed at another character, the refuter, having attempted to engage with it and failed to find sufficient fault to refuse it, is convinced of some appropriate analogue. Second, the influence goes on to affect the original target or targets, albeit with successes reduced by the refuter's Parry MDV. In the event that multiple characters attempt to refute a given influence, resolve first Performance refutations, and then Presence ones. Resolve each as a group, adding the Magnitude of the refuting group to the highest Parry MDV in each group.
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PRINCIPLES AND MDV
Principles are fundamental to character interaction, both in the sense of roleplaying a character's motives, and in the mechanical effects of social skills. In the absence of mind-twisting magic, all social influence is based on creating or manipulating Principles - and even unnatural mental influence has an easier time working its enchantments if the target's Principles incline them toward it.
Characters subject to mental influence of any kind should consult their Principles. If the nature of the influence clashes with one or more of their Principles, they should add the highest rating among the opposing Principles directly to their MDV. If the influence supports one or more of their Principles, they should reduce their MDV by their highest-rated agreeable Principle. Both of these modifiers can apply at once, if a character has Principles that both support and oppose an attempt to influence him.
Even suppressed Principles modify a character's MDV in this way; though they may grit their teeth against injustice and blasphemy, their mind still silently churns. Similarly, appropriate Principles can be channelled to further improve the character's MDV, passive ideals surging up in their breast. Channelled Principles add directly to the character's MDV, but cannot be channelled if they are already improving the MDV.
A five-dot Principle has a further benefit - it allows the character to simply ignore any mental influence that would directly threaten it, provided they have even one point of Willpower remaining (no Willpower is spent - this simply represents their remaining capacity for mental resistance). They treat the influence as an Unacceptable Order. By default, every character is considered to have a five-dot Principle toward staying alive, their basic survival instinct driving them on. Other five-dot Principles are extremely rare, and almost always rooted in magic.
An observer can uncover another character's Principles with a (Wits + Investigation or Socialize) roll, trying to work out just how a given topic relates to them. Principles can only be deciphered to the extent that the scene allows; a Principle that has not so much as been mentioned is undetectable, while a cunning queen might note the twitch of concealed rage on a king's face when his rival is mentioned, and deduce that he fiercely hates him – though not necessarily why. The difficulty of this roll is equal to half the target's (Manipulation + Socialize), rounded up, and one such roll may be made in each interval of interaction, or two such rolls if the observer gives up their opportunity to make a Charisma or Manipulation social influence check. This is reduced by two if the character is channelling their Principle, or is not trying to conceal their reaction, and increased by two if the character avoids actually acting on that Principle.
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SOCIAL UNITS
Often it is most convenient to treat a large number of similar characters as a single entity, rather than resolving each of a cast of thousands individually. This is simple to do. Draw up Principles and traits for a representative member of the group and add the Magnitude of the group to the Parry MDV and to dice pools for influence attempts. A social unit should generally be used to represent at least five or ten individuals, and is almost always composed solely of extras. Obviously, it is impossible to sway a whole group of people using Presence - only Performance is applicable, unless one wishes to single out an individual for influence.
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WRITTEN INFLUENCE
Not all social influence comes in the form of impassioned oratory and cunning argument. The well-penned letter and hateful screed should not be underestimated when considering how to influence one's peers, betters, and inferiors. In general, written influence functions much as social influence in person. One interval of social influence is roughly equivalent to a thousand words, which can be as much as three or four pages or as little as one depending on font, language and style, and takes about five minutes to read. applying its influence to any reader just as though it was spoken. Note that, just like influence applied face to face, the target may need to have appropriate Principles for any influence other than forming a new Principle to apply. Additionally, written influence composed using Presence rather than Performance are intended for a specific character, and at the Storyteller's discretion either halve their dice pool with respect to any other or simply fail to apply. Written influence takes longer to compose - generally, a character with no dots in Linguistics can expect to take two hours to compose a single passable passage. Linguistics 1 lowers this time to an hour and a half, Linguistics 2 to an hour, Linguistics 3 to half an hour, Linguistics 4 to a quarter of an hour and a character with Linguistics 5 can compose influence as quickly as they could speak it.
Characters using this sort of influence, as well as those communicating by more short-form textual media, have no way to apply their mastery of nonverbal cues to the dialogue, and cannot attempt influence with Appearance. However, they may substitute Linguistics instead, representing careful attention to word choice, spelling, grammar, sentence structure and so on. Charms that apply to Appearance influence may be used with respect to Linguistics influence as well, unless otherwise noted, replacing Appearance with Linguistics for all purposes related to the Charm.
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UNNATURAL MENTAL INFLUENCE
The above rules suffice for mere mortal persuasion, but the might of the Exalted surpasses those limitations. Certain Charms may exert unnatural mental influence, or cause ordinary social influence to become unnatural. Unnatural social influence is distinct from natural influence in two ways. First, when it seeks to degrade or enhance a Principle, it does not require supporting or opposing Principles at appropriate ratings as most influence does. Second, unnatural social influence does not require the user to play on any existing Principle. Influence which comes 'out of the blue' may be resisted by paying willpower as normal, and the character's MDVs are modified by the highest applicable Principles as usual, but a character who pays willpower to resist such influence does not suppress any Principle as a result. The unscrupulous among the Exalted Host may choose simply to verbally batter a target into submission, forcing them to spend all their willpower on defending themselves from the mental control of their magics until they must finally submit.
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MATTERS OF FACT
Sometimes, a character isn't interested in changing emotional stances or provoking specific action - at least, not directly. When attempting to convince someone that a statement is true as a simple matter of fact, normally no rolls are required - the listener simply evaluates whether it's reasonable, and decides based on that. However, if necessary, either player can bring this system into play.
First, the player of the speaker makes clear what statement they wish to convey: for example, "I am the Scarlet Empress in disguise" or "There's an army of demons coming to slaughter this village". The listener's player then assigns a difficulty to this statement, ranging from 0 (which means the listener automatically believes it) to 6. Truly absurd statements, at the Storyteller's discretion, may be dismissed out of hand - "You're the Demon City in disguise" or "Actually, I'm a figment of your imagination" are examples. If the listener is implacably hostile to the notion, they may spend a single point of willpower to treat any statement (and any essentially identical ones) as absurd for the scene. In all other cases, it must then be determined whether the speaking character honestly believes what they're putting forth. If they do, then a simple (Charisma + Presence) roll is made against the set difficulty, with a success indicating that the listener believes the statement, and a failure indicating that they do not, believing the speaker to be lying or mistaken at the listening player's option. If they are lying, or being substantially deceptive (at the Storyteller's discretion), then the situation is more complicated; the speaking player must make a (Manipulation + Presence) roll opposed by the listener's (Perception + Investigation), with the listener getting a number of bonus successes equal to the difficulty they assigned. If the speaker equals or exceeds the listener's successes, the listener believes the statement as before. Otherwise, the speaker's deception is detected.
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LIMIT BREAKS AND THE GREAT CURSE
As part of character creation, a Solar or Lunar who suffers from the Great Curse (i.e. all of them, except possibly those Solars cleansed by passage through the Abyssal state) selects any valid Principle. They need not have this Principle already, and like all Principles it should not be contextual. Additionally, the Storyteller should approve this Principle specifically, bearing in mind its uses and appropriateness. This Principle comes into effect when the Exalt enters Limit Break. On reaching ten Limit, the Exalt must choose whether to attempt to control it. A restrained manifestation only causes the selected Principle to manifest in the Exalt's mind and soul at the five dot level, and magically anchors it to be perfectly immune to all alteration and suppression, regardless of the Exalt's will in the matter. The Exalt may not pay willpower to suppress this Principle so long as Limit Break lasts. The chosen Principle becomes a driving force for the character, above almost all other considerations. Uncontrolled, the curse wreaks a greater transformation, consuming all the Exalt's Principles other than the selected one for the duration, and preventing the formation of new ones, in addition to the effects under partial control - the character becomes almost an automaton, driven by this one need above all else. However, an uncontrolled manifestation does restore to the Exalt points of willpower equal to their (Essence + 1) from the sheer catharsis of the experience. These points may exceed the Exalt's permanent Willpower, even going beyond 10. Limit Break generally lasts for one day, but at the Storyteller's discretion particularly incapacitating choices of Principle may allow for Limit Breaks that last only a scene. In addition to the Principle, each character should select one reasonable condition (with Storyteller approval), such as "Witnessing innocents suffer through no fault of their own", "Being tempted by a favourite vice and turning it down", or "Being insulted, belittled or demeaned". Whenever the character experiences this condition for the first time in a scene, they gain a point of Limit.
Sidereal and Dragonblooded Limit Breaks operate similarly, but their natures are more constrained by their Exaltations, and so too is their expression of the curse. Sidereals automatically control their Limit Breaks, and they last one 'episode' - a handful of scenes, or two or three important ones. While the Sidereal's flawed fate is manifest, they bear a five-dot Principle to engender the greatest instances of their caste's purview that they can. Sidereals gain Limit as described in their Manual of Exalted Power. Dragonblooded likewise have less choice in the expression of the Great Curse, choosing a flawed Virtue which raises automatically to five dots for the duration and becomes flavoured by their aspect as described. Like Sidereals, Dragonblooded automatically control their Limit Breaks, gaining no bonus willpower but retaining their other Principles.
If using the alternate Resonance rules from Shards of the Exalted Dream, Abyssal Curses operates exactly as Solar Limit Breaks in all respects.
The Great Curse is secret from all but a bare handful. Lytek, the God of Exaltations knows of it, though he dithers over what to do about it. Jupiter likely knows, but she's not telling. And of course the Neverborn know, for it is they who first laid it down. When the Solars and their Lunar mates struck the blow that first proved a Primordial could be killed, the dying Primordials struck back, cursing their slayers. In that moment, knowing only the impossible agony of their demise, the greatest curse they could conceive of was to make the slaughterers become like themselves. From that time to this day, in each of the Exalted lurks an influence that emerges in times of stress, bringing the single-minded tunnel vision of a Primordial existence to their human souls.
(Adaptation notes: The Virtue Flaws from the core rulebook can easily be represented in this system. For example, "I Can But Weep" (Heart of Tears), "Slaughter Everything" (Berserk Rage), or "The Flesh's Pleasures Above All" (Overindulgence).)
Finally, in conjunction with this fix I intend and recommend to use Appearance for some actual rolls outside social combat too - specifically, disguising oneself more by acting than by artifice is Appearance + Larceny (think the classic trope of completely changing your appearance with a handful of dirt, a shift in posture, and a pile of books), and blending with a crowd is Appearance + Stealth.
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