General Exalted Thread

[azoicennead]

How big is Creation? And what kind of population does it hold? Because I've heard some insane population figures in just armies on it's own.

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According to some cursory research, WWII had armies numbering in the millions (Germany with 7.8 million in 1945, U.S.A. having 11.5 million in 1945).
The Realm has at least 23 Legions (the 23rd is in Greyfalls, according to CoTD: Scavenger Lands), IIRC, which at full strength have roughly 10 thousand (5k core troops, 2-3k auxiliaries). We'll call it 30 Legions, just for the sake of keeping things smooth. This puts the Realm's full Legion complement (30*10000=) 300,000 troops.
The U.S. Army in 1945 had 5,575,000 troops (according to cursory research; I just wanted to make sure I had the scale right). The numbers above were the entire armed forces of Germany and the U.S.A. Russia had a peace-time military strength of ~1,800,000 troops.

In 1950, the world population was ~2.5 billion people. It's now 7.2 billion.

Do those armies still sound like insane population figures?

 

[Kylar]

Well, going by Wikipedia for global populations for the 1500-1700s, which seems about an appropriate time period all things said and done, Earths population was around 500 million to 600 million. Given Creation is bigger then Earth, particularly in 3e, generally better medical knowledge then IRL, estimates of 1 billion or so are pretty reasonable. 2 billion is stretching it pretty far.

Overall, I'd put it at somewhere between 750 million and 1.5 billion.

 

[Cosar]

Well, going by Wikipedia for global populations for the 1500-1700s, which seems about an appropriate time period all things said and done, Earths population was around 500 million to 600 million. Given Creation is bigger then Earth, particularly in 3e, generally better medical knowledge then IRL, estimates of 1 billion or so are pretty reasonable. 2 billion is stretching it pretty far.

Overall, I'd put it at somewhere between 750 million and 1.5 billion.

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They also have better access to food, on the whole, with several areas being able to get in multiple harvests in a year.

 

[MJ12 Commando]

Exalted should not really be a setting where one guy finds a three thousand-year-old attack helicopter, remembers how to use it through past life convenience, and promptly takes to the skies without ever having to worry about fuel, ammunition or maintenance. Ideally, it should be a setting where one guy inherits an ancient sword with an impractically long, straight blade, made of some impossibly hard metal, and remembers through past life convenience that it was once the wing of a great sycamore-craft that bore him through the sky.

At most, it should be a setting where one guy finds aforesaid helicopter and promptly bends the course of an entire nation around producing metal and fuel refined enough to repair and make semi-effective use of it, while his artisans construct strange and inferior craft of bamboo and bound elementals that accompany it as an honour-guard.

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Wonders of the Lost Age should probably take some inspiration from Numenera-which gets a lot of things wrong, but its treatment of the lost technology is reasonably well done. It should be rare for anything First Age in the Second Age to be used for its original purpose. A Dragonblood Air Aspect carries a powerful weapon that fires gusts of air capable of knocking down armored men, breaking their bones even through the armor-but that 'weapon' was once part of the air conditioning system in a massive First Age citadel, ripped from its power source and now powered by the air-aspected essence of its wielder. An assassin wears color-changing armored garb that lets them blend into shadows-which was cut from a First Age theater's screens, used originally to show motion pictures, and modified by the Shogunate to become camouflage.

An archer uses a First Age "bow" with a device that increases the speed of arrows as they leave the bow-this device originally having been used in First Age pneumatic transport tubes and high-speed railways (or whatever the FA equivalent was) to accelerate the vehicles and capsules.

@EarthScorpion and @Aleph have people using First Age dinnerplates as armor and all that which is the most basic form of that-but I think if you're dealing with First Age relics literally everything should be exotic. More Numenera than Fading Suns. And Wonders of the Lost Age was most definitely Fading Suns, where the technology might be rare and difficult to acquire but scholars knew what it was and what it did and sure most people might think your nano-augmentations are heretical magic but any House noble with a proper education will know that they're just machinery.

Also, Wonders of the Lost Age did not have the Decados Groin Gun so it is 0/10 automatically.

 

[EarthScorpion]

Well, the thing about Kerisgame is that there actually is "technology [that] might be rare and difficult to acquire but scholars knew what it was and what it did".

It's Late Shogunate stuff. The Realm has its painstakingly reconstructed and expensively maintained Shogunate-era shipyard which slowly and expensively produces Late Shogunate cargo ships hulls. These repurposed cargo ship hulls get then used by the Realm in the same way the modern US uses its supercarriers, if a core tactic of supercarriers was declaring "Choo choo, full speed ahead" and ramming wooden boats with a jadesteel hull. And that means the Realm's flagships are scaled like modern cargo ships - they're large enough to have parade grounds built on the deck so the two legions they can carry can train while they're en-route. And since they're repurposed cargo ships, one of their most common Shogunate-era "weapons" is a giant crane which picks up cargo. You know, like other people's boats, and their sentry towers.

In the Kerisgame setting, Late Shogunate gear basically serves the same role as pre-War tech does in Fallout. Educated people know what it is, its general operating principles, and with the right tools and enough skill and the right raw materials, you can slowly and painstakingly make more of things which were originally made in batch lots in factories. Late Shogunate gear is things like auto-loading jadesteel crossbows, servo-boosted jadesteel armour with red jade lenses which let you see in the dark [1] and which has a heavy backpack which has to be loaded up with essence tokens from manses to fuel it, and backpack sized shrines which can be used to send cherubs to communicate with people over long distances.

By contrast, High First Age gear? Ha ha ha. If the Shogunate is pre-War Fallout, the High First Age is the Orokin. Both in the amount of gold bling and in the "So, this works by some way. Somehow". But it is also much, much rarer - and no, not even modern Solars can make High First Age things. Because it took Solars with the entire backing of a Creation-wide infrastructure to build it in the first place, and you don't have that. So tough luck.

Solar Archimedes can still build an army of combat automata! They'll be golems made of bronze, who have to eat plant matter which burns in their stomach, and which carry giant tetsubos, and which have to be given precise instructions because they do exactly what they're told to do without any initiative. They don't get to build Solar Einstein's army of essence-beam-spewing self-aware murderbots who resemble abstract art.

(But on the plus side, Solar Archimedes' constructs can be repaired by forging them a new arm, and then sanctifying and blessing the new arm as it's carefully welded on. Solar Einstein's deathbots require ten man-hours of maintenance with tools you don't have and training you don't have for each hour active. And they don't need to be kept in range of manse broadcasters or else they shut down.)

[1] And also give you glowing red eyes. Yeah, my Late Shogunate has quite a Wolfenstein: The New Order look about it, with the more advanced tech being from earlier periods.

 

[Aleph]

Solar Archimedes can still build an army of combat automata! They'll be golems made of bronze, who have to eat plant matter which burns in their stomach, and which carry giant tetsubos, and which have to be given precise instructions because they do exactly what they're told to do without any initiative. They don't get to build Solar Einstein's army of essence-beam-spewing self-aware murderbots who resemble abstract art.

(But on the plus side, Solar Archimedes' constructs can be repaired by forging them a new arm, and then sanctifying and blessing the new arm as it's carefully welded on. Solar Einstein's deathbots require ten man-hours of maintenance with tools you don't have and training you don't have for each hour active. And they don't need to be kept in range of manse broadcasters or else they shut down.)

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Out of academic interest, where would the marble warriors fall on that scale? Because I'm still kind of inclined to go back for those at some point, if I can think of a good way to get them out without them getting broken or stuck in the traps covering the way in or flensed out of existence by the deathlight guarding the central chamber.

 

[EarthScorpion]

Out of academic interest, where would the marble warriors fall on that scale? Because I'm still kind of inclined to go back for those at some point, if I can think of a good way to get them out without them getting broken or stuck in the traps covering the way in or flensed out of existence by the deathlight guarding the central chamber.

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Keris doesn't know. Since they're tomb guardians, however, you can guarantee that they won't be high end systems because they'll be designed to remain in standby for thousands of years, prepared to go active and murder intruders and hence they'll be more built for stability and not-needing maintenance than raw power.

However, there's a good chance that they'll also be monotasked, and any attempt to do things with them would basically require you to rebuild them completely, because they're made for one task and one task alone. They're tomb guardians, not multirole combat automata.

 

[holyseamces]

Well, the thing about Kerisgame is that there actually is "technology [that] might be rare and difficult to acquire but scholars knew what it was and what it did".

It's Late Shogunate stuff. The Realm has its painstakingly reconstructed and expensively maintained Shogunate-era shipyard which slowly and expensively produces Late Shogunate cargo ships hulls. These repurposed cargo ship hulls get then used by the Realm in the same way the modern US uses its supercarriers, if a core tactic of supercarriers was declaring "Choo choo, full speed ahead" and ramming wooden boats with a jadesteel hull. And that means the Realm's flagships are scaled like modern cargo ships - they're large enough to have parade grounds built on the deck so the two legions they can carry can train while they're en-route. And since they're repurposed cargo ships, one of their most common Shogunate-era "weapons" is a giant crane which picks up cargo. You know, like other people's boats, and their sentry towers.

In the Kerisgame setting, Late Shogunate gear basically serves the same role as pre-War tech does in Fallout. Educated people know what it is, its general operating principles, and with the right tools and enough skill and the right raw materials, you can slowly and painstakingly make more of things which were originally made in batch lots in factories. Late Shogunate gear is things like auto-loading jadesteel crossbows, servo-boosted jadesteel armour with red jade lenses which let you see in the dark [1] and which has a heavy backpack which has to be loaded up with essence tokens from manses to fuel it, and backpack sized shrines which can be used to send cherubs to communicate with people over long distances.

By contrast, High First Age gear? Ha ha ha. If the Shogunate is pre-War Fallout, the High First Age is the Orokin. Both in the amount of gold bling and in the "So, this works by some way. Somehow". But it is also much, much rarer - and no, not even modern Solars can make High First Age things. Because it took Solars with the entire backing of a Creation-wide infrastructure to build it in the first place, and you don't have that. So tough luck.

Solar Archimedes can still build an army of combat automata! They'll be golems made of bronze, who have to eat plant matter which burns in their stomach, and which carry giant tetsubos, and which have to be given precise instructions because they do exactly what they're told to do without any initiative. They don't get to build Solar Einstein's army of essence-beam-spewing self-aware murderbots who resemble abstract art.

(But on the plus side, Solar Archimedes' constructs can be repaired by forging them a new arm, and then sanctifying and blessing the new arm as it's carefully welded on. Solar Einstein's deathbots require ten man-hours of maintenance with tools you don't have and training you don't have for each hour active. And they don't need to be kept in range of manse broadcasters or else they shut down.)

[1] And also give you glowing red eyes. Yeah, my Late Shogunate has quite a Wolfenstein: The New Order look about it, with the more advanced tech being from earlier periods.

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So if FA!Solars are Orokin what does this make the Tenno? DB's?.. thinking about it the Grineer do make pretty good Realm equivalents.

 

[EarthScorpion]

So if FA!Solars are Orokin what does this make the Tenno? DB's?.. thinking about it the Grineer do make pretty good Realm equivalents.

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Prime Warframes are High First Age combat armour. Possibly made for Dragonblooded, possibly made as part of a horrifically unethical experimentation programme to design mooks who are once-mortal artificial-gods (and which maybe was being advocated as a necessary step towards 'designing an Exaltation' by certain Celestials).

 

[Carrnage]

So if FA!Solars are Orokin what does this make the Tenno?

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Eh the Tenno seem like abyssals thematically, godlike superhumans primed for killing and destruction without much window dressing.

 

[Aleph]

However, there's a good chance that they'll also be monotasked, and any attempt to do things with them would basically require you to rebuild them completely, because they're made for one task and one task alone. They're tomb guardians, not multirole combat automata.

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So in other words I'd have to break them down and use their components in building direct replacements?

: 3

 

[Revlid]

Eh the Tenno seem like abyssals thematically, godlike superhumans primed for killing and destruction without much window dressing.

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They're elemental supersoldiers who rebelled against their shining, golden, corrupt masters, overthrowing them only for their whole society to fall into decay. Now they have forgotten their true history, and are guided by a mysterious Lotus manipulator who seeks to restore the world to balance.

 

[holyseamces]

They're elemental supersoldiers who rebelled against their shining, golden, corrupt masters, overthrowing them only for their whole society to fall into decay. Now they have forgotten their true history, and are guided by a mysterious Lotus manipulator who seeks to restore the world to balance.

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Actually the Tenno 'society' haven't decayed yet and there doing pretty good. Hell, they technically haven't lost their purpose: kill shit so that the solar system doesn't go to space and metaphorical hell. Also I would to thank you for making me imagine Chejop Kejak dressed as the Lotus you sick fuck.

 

[EarthScorpion]

Actually the Tenno 'society' haven't decayed yet and there doing pretty good. Hell, they technically haven't lost their purpose: kill shit so that the solar system doesn't go to space and metaphorical hell. Also I would to thank you for making me imagine Chejop Kejak dressed as the Lotus you sick fuck.

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... Tenno society has totally decayed. They're amnesiacs, damaged by cryosleep, who've broken up into loose clans which serve as mercenaries for other powers, killing for pay (and Mods - that's an IC thing, because the Corpus gloated about how easy it was to buy off the Tenno to destroy the first Fomorians).

They also once almost let the Grineer take over the entire system because everyone wanted Detrons, which makes any claims made about "balance" to ring rather hollow.

 

[Irked]

So, I have a mixed-party group that would like to keep running into 3e, with the obvious problem that, uh, only one player actually has any expectation of seeing published Charms in the next year. I'm trying to port some of the 2e effects over to a 3e framework.

To be clear, this is not an attempt to entirely rework, say, Lunars or Infernals to fit any sort of projected 3e sensibilities; I wouldn't know where to begin with that, and it seems likely that any stab in the dark would ultimately be a waste of time. What it is is an attempt to take my players' existing Charms and fit them with 3e-style mechanics that won't break the game or totally disappoint my non-Solar players. The Charms are also rather lacking in flavor text, in places; the focus right now is very much on function over form.

I'd be grateful for any feedback.

Spoiler: Sidereal Charms

Water and Fire Treaty
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 1, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Sidereal touches an instance of one of the five elements: air, earth, fire, water, or wood, and activates this Charm. He subtracts his Resistance from the damage of all environmental hazards that might broadly fall into that category; these categories are intended to be all-encompassing, so a Sidereal immune to all five should be proof against all elemental threats. A Sidereal may maintain several activations of this Charm at once, with every activation after the first costing one mote and one willpower.



Someone Else's Destiny
Cost: 4m; Mins: Resistance 2, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None

When exposed to a poison or disease, the Sidereal may lock its fate away to give to someone else. He suffers no ill effects as long as he keeps his motes committed. The next time he makes a Decisive attack that inflicts at least one level of damage, he may choose to release commitment; if he does, the poison or disease passes to his target as though they had originally been exposed to it. A Sidereal may suspend up to (Essence) poisons and diseases simultaneously.



Shield of Destiny
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-Only; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Someone Else's Destiny

The Sidereal activates this Charm when struck by a Decisive attack. Though destined to be killed, he steals those wounds to give to another. The Sidereal rolls (Dexterity + Resistance) before applying Hardness; each success steals one Initiative from the target and awards it to the Sidereal. This Charm may be used only once per scene, but it can be reset by removing an opponent via a Decisive attack of at least 20 Initiative.



Optimistic Security Practice
Cost: 5m; Mins: Resistance 2, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Sidereal layers his days atop each other, reinforcing his own reality. Increase his soak by (Resistance), or (Essence + Resistance) if he is not wearing armor. If this Charm is activated while in the presence of an enemy, the Sidereal may wrap (Essence or 5, whichever is lower) of his enemy's positive Ties around himself, starting with the strongest. As his foe makes an attack, fate interposes an image of the beloved person or thing. The enemy can choose to either strike through the image, degrading the Intimacy, or hesitate – losing one point of Initiative for Minor Ties, two points for Major Ties, and three points for Defining Ties. A Sidereal may not reactivate this Charm against the same target in a single scene.



Stone Skipping Spirit
Cost: 5m; Mins: Sail 1, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None

Until the Sidereal disembarks from her ship, it does not suffer any penalties or damage from normal environmental conditions: waves, storms, high winds, and so on.



Mirror Shattering Method
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Sail 3, Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: Five days
Prerequisite Charms: Stone Skipping Sleight

The Sidereal casts a handful of salt overboard, and the sea vanishes beneath a sheet of white. The vessel is dematerialized and only faintly visible from Creation, though dematerialized spirits may interact with it normally. Add one to the vessel's speed; it may even sail across dry land, so long as it rematerializes in a sufficiently large body of water, though such feats add two to the difficulty of any navigation rolls required. The journey ends in five days, when the vessel reaches its destination, or when the Sidereal leaves the ship.

It is possible to sail to Yu Shan via this Charm; the trip always requires exactly five days. It may also be possible to sail to Malfeas, the Underworld, or stranger climes, but such feats require intense research and thorough knowledge of the destination. A Sidereal may use this Charm without actually being on a boat, but this requires him to swim on his own for the duration of the Charm.



Icy Hand
Cost: 1m; Mins: Bureaucracy 1, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Sidereal touches a bureaucrat and rolls (Charisma + Bureaucracy) against his target's Resolve. If successful, the bureaucrat is compelled to do his work honestly and to the best of his ability for the next five days. The expenditure of a point of Willpower allows the bureaucrat to ignore this compulsion until the start of the next dawn.



Terminal Sanction
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Bureaucracy 3, Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Icy Hand

The Sidereal challenges an elemental or god at up to Medium range, making a (Charisma + Bureaucracy) roll opposed by the target's Resolve. If he succeeds, the target must materialize, even if he does not have the motes to do so. Should an affected spirit be slain in the current scene, the Sidereal can:
· Destroy it utterly and permanently,
· Bind it to service for a year and a day, as per the spell Summon Elemental.
· Bind it into an artifact with a rating equal to half the Spirit's Essence, with powers chosen by the Storyteller that match the spirit's nature. After a year and a day, the artifact dissolves and the spirit goes free.
· Let the spirit reform in its sanctum, aware of what could have happened to it.

This Charm is also effective against demons of every circle, adding (Sidereal's Essence) non-Charm bonus successes to the initial roll; demons bound by it are treated as if they were bound by sorcery. With a Bureaucracy 4, Essence 3 repurchase, the Sidereal can pay an extra four motes to target up to ten spirits of the same general kind at once. With a final Bureaucracy 5, Essence 4+ repurchase, the Sidereal may target a battle group of Size up to (Essence/2) at once.



Prior Warning
Cost: 6m; Mins: Awareness 1, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: 5 hours
Prerequisite Charms: None

While this Charm is active, the Sidereal receives a sense of danger before the danger itself actually arrives. She reflexively and automatically makes (Perception + Awareness) rolls to notice threats (Essence * 2) minutes before she would ordinarily be able to do so. If this roll succeeds, the Sidereal receives a general feeling of unease – enough to add a single bonus success on the roll to notice the threat when it does arrive, and to ensure that she is not taken completely by surprise as per the rules on ambush.



Efficient Secretary Technique
Cost: 2m; Mins: Investigation 1, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Sidereal spits out a tiny crystal spider, which retrieves any publicly-known piece of objective information.



Impeding the Flow
Cost: 4m; Mins: Melee 2, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Sidereal cancels up to (Melee) points of penalties to his Parry Defense. If he successfully parries while using this Charm, he also steals a point of Initiatve from his opponent.



Absence
Cost: 2m; Mins: Dodge 1, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Sidereal is not where the attack lands. An attack that rolls successes exactly equal to his Evasion, which would normally hit, instead misses. The Sidereal may activate this Charm after an attack is rolled.



Duck Fate
Cost: 10m; Mins: Dodge 3, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Absence

The Sidereal avoids an external danger – any external danger. Attacks, social influences, environmental hazards, and the twisting effects of the Wyld can all be avoided; only unexpected attacks and Pattern Spider Bite cannot be dodged. This effect perfectly dodges any effect without a contest. It may even avoid uncountable recurring damage. This Charm may only be used once per scene.



Avoidance Kata
Cost: 2m; Mins: Dodge 3, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Duck Fate

The Sidereal rolls a Disengage action at a difficulty of (5 + # of previous turns this scene). On a success, he simply vanishes, reappearing somewhere else he might plausibly have gone instead. Witnesses remember the Sidereal being present, but also remember him not being present at all – and they find this contradiction perfectly unremarkable. This Charm may only be used once per scene.



Trouble Reduction Strategy
Cost: 5m; Mins: Dodge 2, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Absence

The Sidereal may protect all allies within Close range as per a Defend Other, but substituting his Evasion for his Parry. Allies so protected may be taken with the Sidereal via Avoidance Kata, but each individual taken along in this way increases the difficulty by 1.



Neighborhood Relocation Scheme
Cost: 15m, 1wp, 1hl; Mins: Dodge 5, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Prayer Strip; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Avoidance Kata, Trouble Reduction Strategy

The Sidereal writes the scripture of the Hunted Maiden on a prayer script, which cinches tight around his waist. He may begin to run – and as he does, he pulls with him an area of creation no more than (Essence) miles in radius. When he deactivates it, the pulled location comes to a stop; those affected by the change remember that the city (or other feature) used to be somewhere else, and also that it has always been here, and do not consider this strange. For every full hour that this Charm remains active, the Sidereal suffers an additional level of bashing damage, which may not be prevented by any means.



Blinding the Boar
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Stealth 1, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None

A Sidereal does not hide; he simply stands where no one happens to look. The Sidereal rolls his (Dexterity + Stealth) and compares the result to the Resolve of all other characters in the scene. Anyone whose Resolve is overcome simply fails to locate the Sidereal, who is always somewhere just out of sight: behind a back, beside a momentary distraction.

An opponent who is aware that the Sidereal (or, at least, that someone) is present may spend two Willpower to disregard this effect. If the Sidereal noticeably interacts with a character – stabbing a guard, say, or failing the Larceny roll to pick his pocket – the character receives this benefit for free. Even then, they find it difficult to concentrate on the Sidereal directly, taking -3 dice to all actions targeting him. Reduce this penalty by one for every subsequent action the Sidereal takes in the scene that targets the character or his allies.



Lotus Eye Tactics
Cost: 3m; Mins: Brawl 1, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Sidereal is instantly aware of all combat abilities his target possesses at an equal or higher level than his own, unless this fact is concealed via some supernatural deception.



Lion Mouse Stratagem
Cost: 3m; Mins: Brawl 1, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Sidereal seems quiet and unassuming; who could possibly suspect him of violence. Add (Essence) dice to all of disguise or impersonation attempts to appear to be an unimposing mortal. When the Sidereal breaks this front, he leaves his opponents reeling, adding (Essence) dice to any Join Battle roll that he initiates. This latter effect functions even if the Sidereal's true nature is known; he appears so still and relaxed that the explosion of violence catches even the best-prepared foe off guard.



Sifu's Useful Fingers
Cost: 3m; Mins: Brawl 1, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None

With five minutes of instruction and demonstration, the Sidereal trains a "shadow finger" – a student of her esoteric arts. For the duration of the Charm's commitment, the shadow finger gains a dot of Brawl (to a maximum of 5) or a relevant specialty. A Sidereal may maintain (Essence x 2) shadow fingers at once. Should any shadow finger be attacked, regardless of distance, the Sidereal is instantly aware of it.



Atop the Shadowed Throne
Cost: 5m; Mins: Brawl 3, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Lotus Eye Tactics, Lion Mouse Stratagem, Sifu's Useful Fingers

While this Charm is active, all shadow fingers at up to Short range are considered to be protecting the Sidereal with a reflexive Defend Other action. Any of the fingers may perform a Distract gambit on behalf of the Sidereal, losing one fewer point of Initiative than would normally be required (though the Sidereal still gains the full normal amount). As a final benefit, any of the shadow fingers may attack dematerialized spirits while the Charm is active – though it conveys no ability to detect such beings! Using this last power requires an expenditure of one mote per attack, though it may be paid by either the Sidereal or the shadow finger.



Clear Eyes Defense
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Brawl 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Counterattack, Withering-Only; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Atop the Shadowed Throne

The Sidereal may respond to any social influence action mid-combat with an immediate counterattack. Resolve the counterattack before resolving the social influence; if the attack succeeds, the influence is automatically unsuccessful.



Shadow Lost in the Court
Cost: 3m; Mins: Brawl 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Atop the Shadowed Throne

The Sidereal may activate this Charm to enhance any attempt to re-establish surprise in the presence of a crowd – a group consisting of at least twenty people, or at least two shadow fingers. With the aid of this Charm, such an environment always allows the possibility of re-establishing surprise; the Charm also removes the usual -3 penalty for such attempts.



Welcoming the Uninvited Guest
Cost: 3m; Mins: Brawl 4, Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Atop the Shadowed Throne

The Sidereal strikes the air, and the vibration carries back the secrets of his enemies. The Sidereal makes a (Dexterity + Martial Arts) roll, opposed by the (Dexterity + Stealth) results of all hidden opponents at up to Short range. Any foe who rolls fewer successes than the Sidereal is revealed to everyone present and may not re-enter stealth on his next round. The Charm similarly reveals dematerialized beings, who remain visible to mundane senses for the remainder of the scene.




Unobstructed Blow
Cost: 4m; Mins: Brawl 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-Only; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Lotus Eye Tactics

This Charm enhances a Brawl- or Martial Arts-based decisive attack. Extra success on the attack roll add to the attack's damage.



Crimson Palm Counterstrike
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Brawl 5, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Clash, Decisive-Only; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Clear Eyes Defense

The Sidereal may make a reflexive Clash attack against an attack directed against him, regardless of his Initiative. This does not count as his action for the turn.



Unnatural Many-Step Stride
Cost: 6m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None

The web of fate connects all things, and the martial artist climbs it as he will. With this Charm active, he can take movement actions to walk into empty air, hanging suspended on nothing at all. At the start of any of his turn, the Sidereal may pay four motes to dematerialize or, if already dematerialized, to resume material form.



Dance of the Hungry Spider
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: One action
Prerequisite Charms: Dance of the Hungry Spider

The martial artist drops into a low, scuttling stance, his limbs bending unnaturally – for a human. He may activate this Charm on his actionto perform a reflexive Rush or Disengage action; in either case, he increases his Evasion by one until the start of his next action. The Sidereal must pay any additional costs of such actions (for instance, the two Initiative for a Disengage) as normal. This Charm may be activated only once per turn.



Maw of Dripping Venom
Cost: 6m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-Only; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

This Charm supplements a decisive attack. If that attack inflicts at least one level of damage, the martial artist infects his target with poisoned Essence. The poison has the following statistics: Damage: (martial artist's Essence) motes/round; Duration: (2 * [levels of damage inflicted]) rounds; Penalty: -0; Vector: damage. Targets hemorrhage motes, starting with personal motes; should a target run completely out of motes while suffering from this poison, he falls unconscious

Given three actions of uninterrupted physical contact with the target, the martial artist can tear out and swallow his soul, killing the target. Doing so to an Exalt or significant supernatural creature fully restores the martial artist's mote pool. If a Celestial Exaltation is swallowed in this way, the martial artist grows ill over the next three days; he then spits up the swallowed Exaltation, suffering six dice of lethal damage that may not be negated in any way.



Rain of Unseen Threads
Cost: 8m, 3a or 8m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Withering-Only; Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None

The martial artist compresses his anima into (Essence) threads of fine, nearly invisible Essence. Each thread has the statistics of a light weapon with the following tags: Lethal, Brawl, Disarming, Flexible, Grappling, Piercing, Reaching. Alternatively, a thread may seize an uncontested weapon or similar-sized object in the moment of its creation. On his action, a Sidereal can choose to attack an opponent at up to Short range with any of his threads, or with any weapon attached to one (provided that he has the strength to wield the weapon normally); doing so counts as his attack action for the turn. He may also choose to perform a withering attack from each of his threads (or their attached weapons), including his normal attack if the target is in range. Doing so overtaxes the threads and ends the Charm prematurely, requiring the Sidereal to rebuild his anima to the Bonfire level before it can be reactivated.

Outside combat, the martial artist may waive the anima cost of this Charm to create more fragile threads: unsuitable for the rapid maneuvers of combat, but effective enough at manipulating objects up to one range band away. The threads are subtle, adding (martial artist's Essence) dice to any (Dexterity + Stealth) roll to hide their actions, but they shatter immediately in the stresses of combat.



Nest of Living Strands
Cost: 1a or 10m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Clash, Decisive-Only; Duration: One action
Prerequisite Charms: Rain of Unseen Threads

The martial artist may only activate this Charm while its prerequisite is active. He pours one level of anima into the threads, which thicken and congeal into something nearly solid. For the rest of the action, the Sidereal benefits from light cover, as the thickening strands tangle incoming attacks. Opponents also find it hard to move in the sticky morass, losing one point of Initiative at the start of every action that they begin at close range to the Sidereal.

Outside combat, this Charm may be activated at a cost of ten motes and one willpower and does not require its prerequisite to be active. Used in this way, the Sidereal vomits up an enormous mass of threads which rapidly congeal; over the course of five minutes, he can shape them into a structure as solid as stone and large enough to build a bridge or simple fortification – or simply to serve as a silken hammock.

Spoiler: Lunar Effects/Charms

Morph Keyword

When activating a Charm, a Lunar may evoke (via a stunt) an animal form he is capable of taking and which he has not yet evoked via a Morph effect in this scene. (Sufficiently similar animals, such as two of the same species, do not qualify as separate animals for this purpose.) The form must relate in some way to the Lunar's proposed action: a tiny insect or nimble monkey for a dodge, say; a ram or gorilla for a powerful blow; a wise owl or investigative ant for a crafting project. Should the Lunar evoke a Morph in this way, the Morph Charm has some additional benefit.





Deadly Beastman Transformation
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Strength 3, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Lunar may shapeshift into a ferocious battle form that is half-man, half-tiger. He adds his Strength to the raw damage of all witheringattacks he makes, his combat movement pool, and his soak. He adds half his Strength (round down) to his Strength for feats of strength, both for the dice pool and determining what feats he may attempt. Wound penalties are halved on attacks and movement rolls, and he heals a single level of damage whenever he resets to base Initiative after making a decisiveattack with 11+ Initiative or recovers from being crashed.



Devastating Ogre Enhancement
Cost: - (+5m); Mins: Strength 5, Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Deadly Beastman Transformation

The Lunar's battle form grows vast and terrible. This Charm upgrades its prerequisite, adding five motes to its cost. Add his Strength again to his soak, and increase his Overwhelming value by (Strength/2, round up). The bonus to his feats of strength increases to his full Strength. He ignores wound penalties.



Humble Mouse Form
Cost: -; Mins: Stamina 2, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Lunar may take forms as small as a mouse.



Emerald Grasshopper Form
Cost: -; Mins: Stamina 3, Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Humble Mouse Form

The Lunar may take forms as small as a housefly.



Internal Form Mastery
Cost: - (1xp); Mins: Wits 3, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Lunar may pay 1xp to unlock a latent ability of any of his forms. With a Wits 5, Essence 2 repurchase of this Charm, he can pay 1xp to unlock a supernatural ability of any of his forms.



Flawless (Attribute) Focus
Cost: 3m; Mins: Attribute 3, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Three (Attribute) Charms

The Lunar may pay three motes to enhance any (Attribute)-based roll with double-9s. At Attribute 4, Essence 2, with seven (Attribute) Charms, she may repurchase this Charm; for five motes, it now grants double-8s. At Attribute 5, Essence 4, with twelve (Attribute) Charms, she may repurchase the Charm a final time; for seven motes, it now grants double-7s.



Impossible (Attribute) Improvement
Cost: 1wp; Mins: Attribute 5, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Flawless (Attribute) Focus (x2)

Once per scene, the Lunar may pay 1wp to gain a free (Attribute) Excellency. If he stunts so as to include a second Attribute in his Excellency, the entire amount is discounted, but the Lunar must possess Impossible (Attribute) Improvement for the Attribute that actually factors into his base pool.



Golden Tiger Stance
Cost: 1m/point; Mins: Dexterity 1, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Morph; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Lunar negates up to (Dexterity) points of penalties to his Evasion or Parry, paying one mote per point. Morph: The Lunar may negate any quantity of penalties.



Wary Swallow Method
Cost: 5m; Mins: Dexterity 2, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Golden Tiger Stance

The Lunar becomes aware of an ambush or surprise attack. Set his Defense to 2 (instead of 0) plus his current wound penalty; if this would be equal to or higher than his normal Defense, he has his normal Defense and may activate other defensive Charms as normal.



Wind-Dancing Method
Cost: 1m, 2i; Mins: Dexterity 2, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Golden Tiger Stance

After successfully avoiding an attack via his Dodge or Parry, the Lunar may activate this Charm to make a reflexive Disengage attempt, which does not count as his movement for the turn. If attacked at range with no adjacent enemies, he may instead move one range band in any applicable direction. Morph: The Lunar's Disengage action is automatically successful.



Flowing Body Evasion
Cost: 7m, 1wp; Mins: Dexterity 3, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Golden Tiger Stance

The Lunar's body flows like quicksilver, and her enemy's attacks pass through her like stones through a rippling pond. The Lunar may automatically dodges one attack without a contest; he may even dodge uncountable recurring damage with a single application. This Charm may be used only once per scene, but it may be reset by activating Wind-Dancing Method three times.



Flowing Body Ascension
Cost: -; Mins: Dexterity 5, Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Flowing Body Ascension

Returning from her quicksilver state, the Lunar retains some of its fluidity. After dodging an attack with Flowing Body Evasion, the Lunar's Evasion and Parry are increased by 2 until the beginning of his next turn.



Wasp-Sting Blur
Cost: 1m/point; Mins: Dexterity 1, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Lunar blurs into action, surprising his foes with his speed. This Charm is activated at the start of a round. For each mote he spends, to a maximum of his (Dexterity), he may act one tick earlier than normal. This does not grant him free Initiative, but it can allow him to Clash with a higher-Initiative opponent. Morph: The Lunar may act up to two ticks earlier for every mote he spends; he still cannot spend more than (Dexterity) motes.



Twin Fang Technique
Cost: 4m; Mins: Dexterity 2, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Wasp-Sting Blur

Having tasted his enemy's blood, the Lunar returns for another bite. On making a successful Withering attack that lowers an enemy from a higher to a lower Initiative, the Lunar may immediately make a second Reflexive attack against that same enemy.



Armor-Forming Technique
Cost: 1m/soak; Mins: Stamina 1, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None

Plates of bony armor erupt from the Lunar's skin. The Lunar commits up to (Stamina) motes; every mote so committed provides one point of Soak (which stacks with Soak from armor) and one point of Hardness (which does not stack with Hardness from armor). This Charm may be reflexively activated when activating Deadly Beastman Transformation.



Bruise-Relief Method
Cost: 4m/level or 2i/level; Mins: Stamina 1, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

Drawing a deep breath, the Lunar recalls her original form – and returns to it, discarding wounds like dreams. He may heal up to (Stamina) levels of bashing damage for a cost of four motes or two Initiative per level. When in Deadly Beastman Transformation, he may activate this Charm reflexively, though he may heal no more than one health level per turn in this way.



Halting the Scarlet Flow
Cost: 4m/level or 2i/level; Mins: Stamina 2, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: One Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Bruise-Relief Method

The Lunar shakes blood from his body like water – and the skin beneath is unbroken. The Lunar may change up to (Stamina) levels of lethal damage an equal number of bashing health levels at a cost of four motes or two Initiative per level; if he desires, he may also reflexively activate Bruise Relief Method to heal any or all of the new bashing levels at the usual cost. When in Deadly Beastman Transformation, the Lunar may activate this Charm reflexively, though he may convert no more than one health level per turn in this way.



Ox-Body Technique
Cost: -; Mins: Stamina 1, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Lunar fortifies his forms with additional health levels. All of the Lunar's forms benefit from this change, which scales according to his (human-form) Stamina:
· Stamina 1-2: Three -2 health levels
· Stamina 3-4: Four -2 health levels
· Stamina 5: Five -2 health levels
If the Lunar later raises his Stamina, past purchases of this Charm immediately improve. The Lunar may purchase this Charm once per dot of Stamina he possesses.



Outworld Forsaking Stance
Cost: -; Mins: Charisma 1, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Holy; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Lunar chooses a single Defining Tie as his ward – a specific person, place, group, or object that he wishes to protect. The target must be recognizable as a discrete unit – "My homeland" or "My Circle" are appropriate, but "Every human in Creation" is not. Any influence that would cause the Lunar to harm his ward is automatically rejected. An opponent may still attempt to cause the Intimacy to decay, but even if she should succeed, she opens only a single scene in which she can compel action against it. At the end of the scene, it automatically returns to its former strength and inviolability.

If a Creature of Darkness should try to compel the Lunar to act against his ward, the Lunar is moved to a terrible protective wrath. He may immediately Join Battle against that enemy, gaining (Essence) successes on the roll as a Holy effect.

At the end of a story, the Lunar may reassign his ward to another Defining Tie. At Essence 3+, he may repurchase this Charm to protect an additional Defining Tie.



Mask of White Jade
Cost: 3m; Mins: Manipulation 1, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

A Lunar's face is just one more shape; how could it betray her intent? The Lunar speaks a single lie and, with perfect control of her facial muscles and nervous ticks, renders undetectable by mundane means. Attempts to pierce her Guile automatically fail; unless assisted by magic, observers see only earnest sincerity. If contested by magic, this Charm rolls (Manipulation + Socialize) to attempt to maintain the deception.



Perfection of the Mockingbird
Cost: 4m; Mins: Manipulation 1, Essence 1; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

This Charm supplements any single action in which the Lunar attempts to emulate another's voice, habit, or appearance. For the duration of that action (which should last no more than a minute or two), the illusion is perfect – no mundane sense can detect a flaw. Against magical attempts to pierce the deception, the Lunar must rely on her normal skill at disguise and impersonation.



Treasure as Trash Misdirection
Cost: 2m; Mins: Manipulation 2, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Lunar causes one single object to appear as if it were a mundane equivalent: a daiklave is a sword, a hearthstone is a bauble, the Lunar's tattoos are simply gaudy markings. Mundane senses cannot pierce the illusion; supernaturally enhanced senses must contend with the Lunar's (Manipulation + Stealth) to detect the truth.



The Spider's Trap Door
Cost: 4m; Mins: Wits 1, Essence 1; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

This Charm supplements any attempt to conceal a physical thing: to conceal the Lunar from animals, to conceal a raiding party in ambush, to hide evidence of a crime, and so on. Doing so still requires the normal allotment of time, but at the end of this process, the object becomes perfectly undetectable to mundane senses. The disguise is less effective against magical senses. At the time of concealment, the Lunar makes a Wits-based roll to hide the thing, with a free full Excellency; her successes on this roll constitute the difficulty to notice the target via magic.


Thieving Magpie Prana
Cost: 3m; Mins: Wits 2, Essence 1; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: The Spider's Trap Door

This Charm supplements any attempt to conceal a physical thing, as per its prerequisite. A concealment attempt that would normally require up to ten minutes of effort instead becomes the work of an instant: the Lunar melts into the trees, her army fades into the underbrush, or a brush of anima sweeps evidence away. This Charm does not inherently make the evidence any more difficult to discover – it simply makes the concealing action more rapid.



Many-Pockets Meditation
Cost: 2m; Mins: Wits 3, Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Thieiving Magpie Prana

Hoisting an object no larger than he can hold with one hand, the Lunar palms it impossibly – and the object vanishes into a pocket of Elsewhere. Until the Lunar drops commitment, the object cannot be found. A character may not hide more than (Essence) objects in this way, and artifacts attuned to other characters may not be stolen in this fashion.



Eye and Fingertip Wisdom
Cost: 2m; Mins: Perception 2, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

With a touch, a Lunar knows all the contents of a sealed container. At Essence 2+, the Lunar may also use this Charm to analyze a structure, learning its full floor plan, including any hidden rooms – though not including the contents of any rooms or the method of accessing a secret chamber. If any magic would prevent this knowledge, the Lunar rolls (Perception + Investigation) in Charm roll-off.



Holistic Knowledge Transmission
Cost: 5m; Mins: Perception 3, Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Eye and Fingertip Wisdom

The Lunar passes a hand over a vessel of recording knowledge, which glows a pale silver. For ten minutes, he allows his Essence to work through the object; then he recalls it, absorbing all information held within the targeted source, regardless of language barriers.



Prey's Skin Disguise
Cost: -; Mins: Appearance 2, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Lunar may now steal the heart's blood of humans.



Compassionate Mirror Nature
Cost: -; Mins: Perception 4, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Prey's Skin Disguise

The Lunar may choose to render his human targets unconscious instead of killing them; a single taste of the target's blood is then enough to steal his shape.



Hide of the Cunning Hunter
Cost: 2m; Mins: Appearance 1, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None

With a moment of concentration, the Lunar hides any tattoos, scars, or other distinguishing marks. This includes the Lunar's moonsilver tattoos, but does not include the Tell. The marks are invisible to mundane senses, though they may still be detected by supernatural perception.



Shifting Penumbra Stance
Cost: 5m; Mins: Appearance 3, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Hide of the Cunning Hunter

The Lunar wraps a sheath of light and power around himself, rolling (Appearance + Presence) with a free full Excellency against the Resolve of all onlookers. Anyone affected cannot tell anything about the Lunar's identity: his appearance, gender, or even what sort of being he is. Onlookers may pay one Willpower to pierce the outer layer of the disguise – sufficient to tell that the character is a rampaging man-beast surrounded by silver fire, for instance, but not sufficient to judge his precise identity.

Spoiler: Infernal Effects/Charms

Hardened Devil Body
Cost: -; Mins: Resistance 1, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Stackable; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Infernal may purchase this Charm once per dot of Resistance she has. Each purchase grants the following bonuses, based on her current Stamina:
· At Stamina 1-2: One -1 and one -2 health level
· At Stamina 3-4: One -1 and two -2 health levels
· At Stamina 5: One -0, one -1, and one -2 health level
Should the Infernal later raise her Stamina, all previous purchases of the Charm are immediately improved.



Wind-Born Stride
Cost: -; Mins: Athletics 1, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Infernal ignores any penalties to her movement actions except those from taking multiple actions. For example, she would ignore any penalties to her Rush or Disengage actions from rough terrain, wounds, etc. This Charm may be purchased a total of (Essence) times; each purchase (including the first) provides one die on all Rush and Disengage actions.



Death-Dealing Journey
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Athletics 2, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Wind-Born Stride

When the Infernal divides her action to take a Rush or Disengage action, the multiple action penalty on her other action is reduced to -1. While this Charm is active, the Infernal's movement actions benefit from double-9s, and she gains a point of Initiative for every 10 rolled on a Movement action. Should a turn pass in which the Infernal does not make a reflexive Rush or Disengage action, this Charm deactivates.



Joy in Violence Approach
Cost: 3m; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Wind-Born Stride

This Charm supplements a Join Battle action, adding an additional number of successes equal to the number of times the Infernal has purchased Wind-Born Stride. As a final benefit, the Infernal regains one Willpower from elation the first time she uses this Charm in a scene – but only as long as she is the one to start the fight.



Thousandfold Typhoon Hand
Cost: 1m; Mins: Athletics 2, Essence 1; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Joy in Violence Approach

This Charm supplements an attack against an opponent at close range; it is explicitly permitted to supplement Abilities other than Athletics, but only at this range. Reroll all 1s on the attack until 1s no longer appear.



Shadow Spite Curse
Cost: 3m per -1; Mins: Larceny 1, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

Upon witnessing another character performing a contestable action at up to Long range, the Infernal may spend up to (Infernal's Essence * 3) motes. For each three motes spent, the target loses one die from the action. An action is contestable if it furthers one of the target's known Intimacies or opposes any of the Infernal's actions that could be enhanced with the Ebon Dragon Excellency.



Loom-Snarling Deception
Cost: 6m; Mins: Larceny 2, Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Infernal makes a disguise roll with double-9s and two automatic successes on the roll. If she succeeds, she reshapes her body's appearance as she chooses. While it must follow the same basic body plan, she can change clothing and gender at no penalty to the disguise roll. The disguise is immune to mundane scrutiny; if contested by superhuman senses, subtract two successes from any attempts to pierce the disguise. The Infernal can also choose to appear as a specific person; if this illusion is pierced, she still appears to physically resemble her target, instead of her actual appearance.



Eldritch Secrets Mastery
Cost: -(5m, 1wp); Mins: Larceny 3, Essence 2; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: -
Prerequisite Charms: Loom-Snarling Deception

This Charm upgrades its prerequisite, replacing its cost and adding (Essence) non-Charm bonus successes to the roll. Neither mundane nor magical senses can pierce the disguise unless the Infernal acts grossly out of character; even then, witnesses suffer -4 dice on the attempt. The Infernal can also mimic supernatural effects, appearing to have the anima of another Exalt or levitating like a god, though these effects are only illusions and have no physical effect.



Witness to Darkness
Cost: -; Mins: Awareness 1, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: -
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Infernal ignores all penalties due to darkness or shadow and can see in pitch blackness as if in bright sunlight. This Charm does not allow her to see through other obstacles, such as fog and smoke. The price of such sensitivity is a -1 penalty to all Awareness actions when in direct sunlight. Should the Infernal suffer crippling damage to her eyes, she may continue to see normally, though Primordial Essence oozes from her empty sockets.

A repurchase at Awareness 2 permanently grants the Infernal (Essence) non-Charm dice on all Manipulation-based social rolls – but at the cost of -(Essence) dice on all of her Charisma-based social rolls. (Her Appearance-based rolls are unaffected.)



Seeing is Blindness
Cost: 3m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Sorcerous, Crippling, Stackable, Decisive-Only; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Witness to Darkness (x2)

This Charm supplements a Decisive attack. If it deals at least three damage, the target is blinded (as per the Crippling effect) for the remainder of the scene, her eyes filling with coal-black Essence. Terrestrial Circle Countermagic can negate this effect.

An Awareness 5, Essence 3 repurchase of the Charm also causes the target to become a Creature of Darkness. While countermagic also removes this second effect, it otherwise persists even after the scene ends.



Nemesis Self Imagined Anew
Cost: 5m; Mins: Socialize 3, Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Witness to Darkness

The Infernal chooses a living being she is aware of at up to Short range and becomes his perfect nemesis. For each Defining Intimacies the target possesses, the Infernal gains a corresponding Defining Intimacy with an inverted context: hate for love, for instance, or an urge to destroy instead of to protect. The Infernal also gains a Defining Tie of Hate for the Charm's target, which cannot be eroded while the Charm remains active; after the Charm ends, the Intimacy remains but may be eroded as usual.

If the Infernal witnesses social interaction with her target that is helped or hindered by one of the target's lesser Intimacies, she is instinctually aware of this fact, but does not inherently know the nature of the Intimacy itself. By committing an additional mote to Nemesis Self Imagined Anew, however, she can immediately gain an inverted version of the observed Intimacy as above.

If some magic would contest knowledge of one or more Intimacies at the time of the Charm's activation, the Infernal opposes it by rolling (Manipulation + Socialize), gaining (Essence) non-Charm successes on the roll. Any Intimacies she fails to discern have no opposite equivalents in the nemesis self.



Soul Crack Exploitation
Cost: 4m; Mins: Socialize 3, Essence 2; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Nemesis Self Imagined Anew

This Charm may enhance any attempt at social influence towards a character the Infernal has mirrored with Nemesis Self Imagined Anew. If the influence preys on a Minor Intimacy, the attempt gains double-9s. If it preys on a Major Intimacy, the attempt gains double-8s. If it preys on a Defining Intimacy, the attempt gains double-7s.

At Socialize 4, Essence 3, the Infernal may repurchase this Charm. By activating it and paying an additional point of Willpower, the Infernal can invert the benefits of any Intimacy opposing her influence. Such an Intimacy is treated instead as if it was supporting the Influence.



Puissance Mimicry Intuition
Cost: 1wp; Mins: Socialize 4, Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable; Duration: Until Calibration
Prerequisite Charms: Nemesis Self Imagined Anew

This Charm may only be activated while its prerequisite is active, and it deactivates immediately if that Charm is terminated. Doing so reveals any Abilities the target has with a higher rating than the Infernal's rating, though it does not actually reveal the rating of those traits. The Infernal may immediately choose any such Ability and temporarily gain one dot in that trait, committing three motes to do so. Subsequent activations can stack additional dots of the same or different traits, up to the Infernal's normal maximums for that trait.

At Socialize 5, Essence 2, this Charm may be repurchased to allow it to mimic Attributes, at a commitment cost of six motes per dot, and permanent Willpower, at a commitment cost of five motes per dot.

At Socialize 5, Essence 3, this Charm may be repurchased to allow the Infernal to copy any Charm with the Eclipse keyword that the Infernal is aware the target possesses, at a commitment cost of six motes. The Infernal must meet any trait requirements for the Charm, but does not need to possess any prerequisite Charms.



Talent Thief Internalization
Cost: -; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: -
Prerequisite Charms: Puissance Mimicry Intuition (x3)

This Charm improves its prerequisite, allowing the Infernal to copy as many traits as she pleases with a single activation, though she must pay the commitment cost for each one. If she has targeted multiple characters with Nemesis Self Imagined Anew, she may simultaneously copy from any or all of them. It also decreases the committed mote cost for Attributes to four motes per dot, and for Abilities to two motes per dot.



Black Mirror Shintai
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Sorcerous; Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Shadow Spite Curse, Seeing is Blindness, Soul Crack Exploitation, Puissance Mimicry Intuition (x3)

Black Mirror Shintai may only be activated targeting a character of equal or lower Essence whom the Infernal is currently mimicking via Nemesis Self Imagined Anew. The target's shadow vanishes, reappearing around the Infernal as a second skin. One turn later, the Infernal emerges as a perfect replica of the target, with all of his traits replaced by the target's as though they had exchanged character sheets. Equipment and clothing do not transfer or change; all ongoing effects targeting the Infernal (except Nemesis Self Imagined Anew and Black Mirror Shintai itself) immediately end. Backgrounds representing internal properties of the target (for instance, gills or ambidexterity) are duplicated, while those external to the target (for instance, Resources or Contacts) are not. For the duration of the effect, the Infernal

The Infernal perfectly succeeds on all attempts to impersonate the target; neither mundane nor magical means can penetrate his deception, though Obsidian Circle Countermagic will terminate the effect.

This Charm ends after one day, breaking all effects on the Infernal as per its activation; it also ends if the Infernal ends his activation of Nemesis Self Imagined Anew. A Socialize 5, Essence 5 repurchase of this Charm extends its duration to Indefinite.



Cracked Cell Circumvention
Cost: 4m; Mins: Dodge 2, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Infernal may activate this Charm to enhance any action she takes to escape from confinement, granting double-7s on that roll.



Laughing Shadow Evasion
Cost: -; Mins: Dodge 4, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Cracked Cell Circumvention

Any time the Infernal successfully dodges, her attacker loses one point of Initiative (in addition to any other Initiative he would normally lose).

At Dodge 5, Essence 2, she may repurchase this Charm; the point of Initiative lost by the opponent on a successful dodge is now granted to the Infernal.



Bloodless Murk Evasion
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Dodge 5, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Laughing Shadow Evasion (x2)

The Infernal perfectly dodges an attack from any source; she may even dodge recurring uncountable damage with a single use. This Charm does not function against attacks with the Holy keyword. Bloodless Murk Evasion may only be used once per scene, but it can be reset by successfully dodging three Decisive attacks.



Mother Sea Mastery
Cost: -; Mins: Sail 1, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None

On learning this Charm, the character permanently gains the following benefits:
· Add (Essence) successes to all attempts to harvest food from liquid or move safely via a liquid medium.
· Ignore all penalties for moving while submerged.
· Add (Essence) dice to any movement actions taken while submerged.
· Neither the character nor any aquatic mount she rides suffers from fatigue from any action assisted by this Charm.



Tidal Renewal Discipline
Cost: -; Mins: Sail 2, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Mother Sea Mastery

This Charm further enhances the Infernal while in the water, as follows:
· She respires an extra mote of Essence an hour as long as she is fully submerged (barring surfacing for air).
· Meditating for (8 – Essence, minimum 1) hours while submerged provides all the benefits of a full night's sleep.
· She can speak Old Realm while submerged, and her words carry through the water as clearly as through air.
· She can pray to any being that knows the First Kimbery Excellency while submerged; as long as her target is also submerged at the time, the prayer will reach its destination.



Factual Determination Analysis
Cost: 3m; Mins: Investigation 2, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Infernal detects knowing lies and half-truths in a single statement – indeed, she can even tell which parts of a statement are true and which are false. Any magic which contests this effect goes into roll-off against the Infernal's (Perception + Investigation), with (Essence) automatic successes on the roll and the opponent's 1s counting as 10s for the Infernal.



Retribution Will Follow
Cost: 1m; Mins: Brawl 2, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Infernal may activate this Charm whenever she suffers one or more levels of damage. Doing so causes her to enter a savage killing frenzy for the remainder of the scene. She is immune to all negative effects from wound penalties, regenerates one additional mote per turn, and may ignore all social influence that would cause her to end her rampage. As a final benefit, she may bleed off a point of Limit at the end of the scene – but only as long as she has killed or maimed an opponent during the fight.



Raging Behemoth Charge
Cost: 3m; Mins: Brawl 3, Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: -; Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Retribution Will Follow

To use this Charm, the Infernal must have suffered an attack from her target within the current scene. She may immediately move a single range band towards her attacker without consuming her movement action, making an attack regardless of her position in the Initiative order. This attack consumes her action for the round. The target of this attack may not defend via a Clash unless using a Charm with the Clash keyword. This Charm may not be used on the same target again unless he once more attacks the Infernal.

At Brawl 5, Essence 3, the Infernal may spend an additional Willpower when activating the Charm. If she does so, her target automatically loses (Essence or 5, whichever is lower) Initiative, which the Infernal gains.



The Infernal Monster
Cost: 6m, 1wp; Mins: Brawl 4, Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: -; Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Raging Behemoth Charge

The Infernal swells impossibly, increasing her mass by 10%. All of her unarmed attacks gain the Piercing tag, and she can parry lethal and ranged attacks without a stunt. For each Decisive attack attack she has made this scene while under the Charm's effect, she gains an additional dot of Strength, though she cannot gain more than (Essence) dots in this way. Each dot so gained also increases her unarmed attacks' Overwhelming value by 1.

Any divination performed within a mile of the transformed Infernal automatically fails, returning only the message, "The monster is here."



God-Smashing Blow
Cost: 3m (+1 wp); Mins: Brawl 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only; Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: The Infernal Monster

This Charm is activated after a successful Decisive attack. The damage roll of this attack benefits from double-10s; if it generates at least one success, the target is knocked prone and loses a point of Initiative, which is awarded to the Infernal when her Initiative resets. The surface beneath the target also suffers the raw damage of the attack, which typically leaves a small crater. If the target is a materialized god or demon of Essence no greater than the Infernal's, the Infernal may pay a point of Willpower to forcibly dematerialize the spirit.



Terrestrial Sorcerous Enlightenment
Cost: -; Mins: Occult 3, Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: -; Duration: -
Prerequisite Charms: None

This Charm functions as per Terrestrial Circle Sorcery, granting a single control spell and a Yozi-appropriate shaping ritual.
· Ebon Dragon Mythos: An Infernal who chooses this Shaping ritual draws power from shadow or darkness. Whenever she begins a scene in shadow heavy enough to qualify as concealment for stealth, she gains three sorcerous motes, which last until the end of the scene. Whenever she takes a Shape Sorcery action while in stealth, she gains an additional sorcerous mote as long as the target is unaware of her. She always receives these benefits while at night during a new moon or during Calibration.

 

[Matsci]

Honestly. when it comes to First age artifacts, I tent to use The Wheel of Time. The artifact that weaves a color changing cloth that lets you blend into the wild is re purposed haute couture cloth. Unbreakable super sharpsharp swords are essentially fencing toys. Devices that let you project into someone's mind to steal their secrets was originally a therapy aid, ect.

 

[uju32]

I also think that this wording suggests a strict continuum of artifacts, where you can always make the same classes of thing, just toggling the settings on durability/upkeep. Thus, if FA Solars could always make imperishable items then they were either lazy or foolish to make things that could perish.

Click to shrink...

Not my intent.

What I was saying is that to Solar craftsmen, maintenance/upkeep might be more of a feature than a bug, as an opportunity to tweak stuff.
Other Solars on the other hand, would be more interested in having something that just works.
Sorta how some guys enjoy tinkering with their PCs, and others just want to turn it on and have it run out of the box.

At least, that might hold true for Solars and their retainers; I make no such claims about the mass of the proletariat.

Yes, and there's a fortunate solution for that.
The way they've been portrayed sucks. Wonders of the Lost Age was a shit book at a thematic level as well as at a mechanical level, because it made the things within neither wondrous nor lost. Hence, it can be discarded casually and things are only improved by doing so.

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:shrug:
I actually like what I've read of WoTLA.
Some of the mechanics may be wonky, but I at least haven't found it lacking on a thematic level.

It's made clear through mechanics and fluff text that First Age Solar artisans could make wondrous artifacts that would never decay or break or corrupt or exhaust themselves. Given that the base setting is one in which Bronze Age tribes pick through the decayed, broken, corrupted and exhausted bones of a lost and wondrous world, this is clearly an issue with the depiction of First Age Solar artisans rather than anything else.

Click to shrink...

Or alternately, as @Kylar pointed out, it could be due to the fact that Creation had fought at least two knockdown drag out wars since the First Age ended, all the good stuff had been exhausted, or deliberately sabotaged to deny it to the enemy.

I mean, the Usurpation was quite a conflict in it's own right, and involved the Dragonbloods trashing stuff to deny it to Solars and vice versa.
Even in it's immediate aftermath, after a few unfortunate incidents, they fragged quite a few things which might conceivably be boobytrapped or which might hold loyalties to it's previous overlords.
Then there was the endless warring of the Shogunate period.
And only then did the Great Contagion and the Balorian Crusade hit.
That's a lot of opportunity for equipment to get trashed, and the expertise for repairing it to vanish.

Assuming it was fixable by non-Solars, of course.

Uh... No?
Regenerating Bashing damage doesn't make Piercing damage any more dangerous than before, nor is Piercing damage somehow a problem for it.
You probably meant Lethal damage.

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Derp.
Yeah, I meant Lethal.

Why? They have a Creation-wide infrastructure to use at their whim.

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This is the class of godking that researched cloning people to replicate their retainers when they die rather than getting used to new ones.
I find it entirely plausible that a significant fraction are not going to be willing to tolerate using other, identical artifacts while their favorite is undergoing routine maintenance, and would influence RnD to that end.

You're also missing the basic point, which is that High First Age stuff should require fucktonnes of maintenance and be an utter bitch to fuel and need constant attention to keep it in working order precisely so as to deny it to players who do not invest heavily in it. Because these sorts of things are unheard of wonders of a lost age, and they are phenomenally powerful, and there is a price attached to that. And that price is that upkeep is a bitch, yo.

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No I'm not.
In the posts that spawned this tangent, I explicitly acknowledged the needs of game balance while pointing out that canon fluff suggests an alternative interpretation is also valid.

 

[Sucal]

This is the class of godking that researched cloning people to replicate their retainers when they die rather than getting used to new ones.
I find it entirely plausible that a significant fraction are not going to be willing to tolerate using other, identical artifacts while their favorite is undergoing routine maintenance, and would influence RnD to that end.

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Your comparing Apples to Pears while also stating that pears can grow from an Apple tree.

Just because they might have the knowledge of Genesis/sorcerous workings to set up 'cloning' facilities that copy the body and train the new self to be a perfect match for the person they will eventually be replacing (could always say its done like Salmissra from the Belgariad... dozens of clones of each retainer are made, with them undergoing painful and grueling training to be able to replicate her appearance, mannerisims and hobbies perfectly. The most viable one gets the job/replaces the retainer and the rest get killed off). doesn't mean they actually have the potential capablitiy of constructing said artifacts.

Even if they did, how the hell is some illiterate barbarian gonna know that his futuristic back scratcher isn't some tool to wipe his ass with/why wouldn't they have all been stolen by the Sidereals already.

 

[uju32]

Your comparing Apples to Pears while also stating that pears can grow from an Apple tree.

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Dude, you completely miss my point.

Someone(s) wilful enough to start an RnD program to clone a dead retainer instead of simply hiring another and having that one trained, and with the funds/influence to do so?
Displays the kind of uncompromising mindset I would expect to find maintenance downtime for personal artifacts as unacceptable.
And that's the kind of attitude that affects general design principles for technology and/or artifacts across the Deliberative.

The reasonable thing, would be using one of several hundred other alternatives while his fave is in the bodyshop.
But (many)Solars are not reasonable.

Even if they did, how the hell is some illiterate barbarian gonna know that his futuristic back scratcher isn't some tool to wipe his ass with/why wouldn't they have all been stolen by the Sidereals already.

Click to shrink...

I don't know where this argument is coming from.
It's not at all related to anything I've said.
You might want to go back and refresh your memory about the subject of the discussion.

 

[EarthScorpion]

Someone(s) wilful enough to start an RnD program to clone a dead retainer instead of simply hiring another and having that one trained, and with the funds/influence to do so?
Displays the kind of uncompromising mindset I would expect to find maintenance downtime for personal artifacts as unacceptable.
And that's the kind of attitude that affects general design principles for technology and/or artifacts across the Deliberative.

Click to shrink...

Great. So what opportunity cost does he want to pay for the reliability and lack of maintenance?

Oh, sorry, those essence thrusters? They'll have to go. They have to be recalibrated after each operation, or accumulated micro-shifts in the thaumodeistic substrate will lead to misalignment. We could make them more reliable, but we'd need to cut down on the weight of the armour. You did insist that it was superheavy plate. That means they're having to carry a lot of weight and you did require that they be embedded in the palms and feet, which caps their size

And the lightning cannon will have to be removed. The adamant focussing lens degrades with extended use, you see. It's only good for two-hundred shots before it has to be removed and undergo a five day purification under sunlight. I'm sorry, sir, but we can't change the laws of essence. The air-essence fouls the adamant, and has to be cleaned in sunlight. There's no two ways about it.

Of course, the stealth field will have to go. It needs to be cleaned in water which has never seen sunlight, only moonlight. I'm sorry, sir, but without the resonance of the Lunar essence that imparts, it simply won't be effective. We can get you an inferior chameleon system if you want, but it won't be able to cloak others.

 

[Irked]

Not my intent.

What I was saying is that to Solar craftsmen, maintenance/upkeep might be more of a feature than a bug, as an opportunity to tweak stuff.
Other Solars on the other hand, would be more interested in having something that just works.
Sorta how some guys enjoy tinkering with their PCs, and others just want to turn it on and have it run out of the box.

Click to shrink...

The argument, I think, is that even the second group of guys are still making some fairly substantial infrastructural assumptions, like, "There will be power for my magical picture box when I connect it to the wall" and "Mysterious messages for my magical picture box work will be projected to it across the aether" and "When my magical picture box burns out another gosh darned cooling fan in six months, I can take it to somebody to have that replaced instead of having to pack it in fresh ice once an hour." How true are any of those things after two apocalypses?

What counted as rugged, no-upkeep devices in the First Age might not anymore.

 

[uju32]

Great. So what opportunity cost does he want to pay for the reliability and lack of maintenance?

Click to shrink...

That really does depend IC on how high performance it is, who designed it, and how skilled the maker was; Autobot supposedly designed and built the first run of CBAs after all.
OOC, how the ST chooses to handle it.
There is enough wiggle room for it to go either way.

What counted as rugged, no-upkeep devices in the First Age might not anymore.

Click to shrink...

That's a fair point in at least some cases.

 

[Carrnage]

Wouldn't the cheap long lasting resilient gear be the lunar gear?

 

[MJ12 Commando]

Great. So what opportunity cost does he want to pay for the reliability and lack of maintenance?

Oh, sorry, those essence thrusters? They'll have to go. They have to be recalibrated after each operation, or accumulated micro-shifts in the thaumodeistic substrate will lead to misalignment. We could make them more reliable, but we'd need to cut down on the weight of the armour. You did insist that it was superheavy plate. That means they're having to carry a lot of weight and you did require that they be embedded in the palms and feet, which caps their size

And the lightning cannon will have to be removed. The adamant focussing lens degrades with extended use, you see. It's only good for two-hundred shots before it has to be removed and undergo a five day purification under sunlight. I'm sorry, sir, but we can't change the laws of essence. The air-essence fouls the adamant, and has to be cleaned in sunlight. There's no two ways about it.

Of course, the stealth field will have to go. It needs to be cleaned in water which has never seen sunlight, only moonlight. I'm sorry, sir, but without the resonance of the Lunar essence that imparts, it simply won't be effective. We can get you an inferior chameleon system if you want, but it won't be able to cloak others.

Click to shrink...

I suspect that there may have been First Age equipment which was designed to run forever without any form of maintenance because it was ceremonial gear, or hostile environment explorational gear, or the like. These things would be considered incomprehensible works of sublime artifice and people wouldn't realize that they're not actually examples of the true might of the First Age. Lookshy might hold off the entire Realm because they have a single First Age-era Explorer Strider-not even a warstrider, an exploration unit intended to allow for long trips into the Wyld-that they taped a few Shogunate essence cannons to. Something like that.

It leads to something like Wonders of the Lost Age being sort of IC-accurate-the scholars of the Second Age believe that the First Age was filled with wondrous no-maintenance artefice because they can't comprehend that the kind of wondrous no-maintenance artifacts they're dealing with... aren't actually the pinnacle of First Age engineering at all, but mere specialist tools.

 

[samdamandias]

So under that model, my artfact that generates a glowing protective field wasn't First Age battle armor, but a combination hard hat and visibility gear? I think that just made it even cooler.

Next you'll be telling me my bow of shooty death was a leaf spring in some god-king's chariot.