sol invictus.indd

SolInvictusBY JOSHUA HALL-BACHNER

CREDITSWritten by: Joshua Hall-BachnerAdditional Material: Shreyas Sampat, JonathanStott, William BurkeEdited by: Charlotte IrrgangArtists: Braden Lamb, Mike Tilly, ShreyasSampatCover: Braden Lamb with Joshua Hall-BachnerCover Template: Melissa UranPlaytesters: William Burke, Daniel de Sousa,John Dearing, Will Haggard, Charlotte Irrgang,Vincent LaBate, Shreyas Sampat, Jonathan Stott(Sol Invictus); Kelly Asprooth-Jackson, Ian Ally-Seals, Ian McBee, Kacey Cohen, Ben Blattberg,Vin LaBate, Ethan Bremner, Braden Lamb (AeonReborn)SPECIAL THANKS#wod, for fervent enthusiasm and extensiveassistance;Kelly and the Vanguard Crew, for years ofexcellent gaming and friendship, and a future ofmany more;Vin and Ross, for living with me during the keyfinal stages;Casey, for everything.Sol Invictus is an unauthorized derivative work of Exalted and its associated line ofsupplements, which are copyright White Wolf Publishing, Inc. Nothing contained hereinreflects the viewpoints of White Wolf Publishing nor should be taken as a challenge toany copyrights or trademarks owned thereby.This text is copyright © 2004 - 2006 Joshua Hall-Bachner. All art within is copyright ©2004, 2005 the artist(s) in question.This work may be freely distributed between invididuals. It may not be made availablefor download or otherwise repackaged for mass distribution without the author’s consent.It may not be exchanged for money under any circumstances.This book purposely avoids reprinting copyrighted material which it references in itstext. Purchase Exalted supplements at your local retailer or dtrpg.com and support WhiteWolf.For questions, comments, and update information contact the author at charlequin@gmail.com.

TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION - 5CHAPTER 1: CHARM DESIGN - 7CHAPTER II: EXTENDED CHARMTREES - 29CHAPTER III: STORYTELLING - 173

INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTIONIn the First Age, the Solar Exalted wielded worldshatteringpower as the rulers of all Creation. TheseExalts slew Primordials, built incredible wonders,and crafted an awe-inspiring society that enduredfor thousands of years.At the beginning of the Age of Sorrows, thereare few -- if any -- Solars who can wield that sortof power. However, it is only a matter of timebefore the Chosen of the Sun unlock the powersof old. When they do, Creation will be shaken toits foundations. Will you be the ones to remakeCreation in your own image?HOW TO USE THIS BOOKThis book is intended to provide you with thenecesssary tools to incorporate high Essence SolarExalted and custom Charms into your game. Eachchapter focuses on a different area, as explainedbelow.Chapter One: Charm Design contains a set ofguidelines and suggestions for designing SolarCharms, providing players and Storytellers with aframework to use for developing their own Charms,as well as describing the framework used to designthe Charms presented in this book.5

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSChapter Two: Expanded Charm Trees contains newSolar Charms for each ability, as well as alterationsto make existing Charms more streamlined andconsistent. These new Charms both expand theexisting trees into currently under-representedareas, and extend them upwards in Essence andAbility minimums. In addition, this section containsdiscussions of the Charm design philosophies foreach individual ability.Chapter Three: Storytelling provides guidelinesand suggestions for incorporating high EssenceCharms into your game, and options for playingSolars at a high power level in Exalted.6

CHAPTER 1 • CHARM DESIGNCHAPTER 1CHARMDESIGNCharms are more that just cool powers — they’rethe ultimate expression of an Exalt’s personalityand thematics. At the same time, they’re part of acomplex interlocking system of abilities. With allthis to keep in mind, it can be challenging to designgood Charms. However, there are underlyingprinciples that all Charms share. This chapterexplores the rules — both mechanical and thematic— for Solar Charms, in order to help you with theprocess of writing your own. Presented below areguidelines for creating Solar Charms, describingboth the thematic and mechanical boundaries ofSolar Charms, along with advice on designing yourown Charms.DESIGNING A CHARMWhen creating new Charms, a player shouldtypically work with her Storyteller to make sure theeffects and balance decisions made are appropriateto the individual game. The following process maybe helpful to players and Storytellers who wish todesign their own Charms.Determine your goals. In basic terms, what do youwant your Charm to do? This should let you knowwhich ability the Charm is most appropriate to(although there are several with areas of overlap.)It’ll also help you get an idea of the power levelyour Charm is likely to have.7

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSWHY ALTER CANON CHARMS?Sol Invictus provides more than three hundrednew Charms for use in a Solar Exalted game. Theutility of this is obvious; however, it also containsmodifications to existing Charms, the appealof which is less obvious. Why offer changes toexisting Charms, when they can cause difficultywith established games?The simple reason: the existing Solar Charmset is,in the author’s view, not entirely balanced.Individual games will vary immensely. Manyplayers have used the Solar Charms as written,without complaint. Some will find certain Charmsoverpowered that others find too weak. Achievingbalance in such matters is difficult at best.Nonetheless, Sol Invictus attempts to producesuch a balance. The changes in this book aim tobalance the utility of both individual Charms andof entire abilities, with the end goal of producingas many viable choices for characters as possible.To aid this process, the Charm guidelines fromthis chapter are used extensively.In order to help explain this process, there areseveral additional sidebars in this chapter whichdiscuss the changes to certain Charms in detail.These sidebars detail the reasons why the Charmcan be seen as over- or under-powered, thenexplain the reasoning behind any specific changes.The goal is to help define the limits of reasonablepower, and help provide additional guidance forplayers creating their own Charms.The author’s hope is that the systematic andthoughtful nature of these changes will be evident,and that the reader will consider them on theirmerits. For some, changing existing Charmswill not be necessary; for these players, the newCharms can be used while ignoring some or all ofthe changes to existing Charms. For others, thesechanges will hopefully improve their games andexpand their options in play.Decide if your charm is in theme. Think about themechanical and flavorful themes of your Charm.Do they fit with the common Charm mechanicsand flavors for the relevant Exalt type? (Both ofthese are discussed in some detail for Solars below.)More specifically, does it fall into any thematiccategories which are generally the purview ofanother Exalt type? Charms which stray slightlyoutside an Exalt’s normal purview are generallyacceptable, but might be less appropriate if theydirectly impinge on someone else’s schtick.Examine existing Charms. Take a look at the Charmswhich already exist in your Charm’s ability. Arethere any Charms which do something similarto yours, only less effectively? If not, are thereany Charms which deal with a similar aspect ofthe ability which could be used as prerequisitesinstead? Pay close attention to the conceptualdistance between the prerequisites you identifyand your Charm — if there’s too much of a jumpin power, you might want to create intermediateCharms between the selected prerequisite and yourCharm.Determine trait prerequisites. In general, the Abilityprerequisite of a Charm should represent howmuch a character needs to “buy in” before usingit — a Charm with a 1-2 rating will be available toalmost any Exalt who’s interested, while one witha 4-5 rating will only be open to the most dedicatedspecialists in its associated Ability. The Essenceprerequisite is a good measure of the Charm’s basicpower level — guidelines for the meaning of SolarEssence prerequisites are presented below.Determine cost. Almost every Charm has a motecost, and many have additional costs as well. Whenselecting a cost for your Charm, pay close attentionto how it ties in with the Charm’s effects. Doesthe cost involve valuable enough resources for aneffect of its power level? Does the Charm’s cost fit8

CHAPTER 1 • CHARM DESIGNthematically with its effects? See below for a morein-depth discussion of Solar Charm costs.Look over the Charm one last time. This is the stagewhere you have to rely on intuition — compareyour completed Charm to other Charms and see if it“feels” right. After applying whatever final tweaksare necessary, your Charm is complete.SOLAR CHARM EFFECTSSolars are in some ways the most flexible of theExalted. Because they have the fewest ties tospecific methodologies and styles, Solar Charmsaren’t limited to a narrow range of special effects;because they represent the pinnacle of basic humanachievement, Solars can perform incredibly wellin any field. There are still limits on what sorts ofpowers the Solar Exalted may develop, however. Ingeneral, their Charms fall into one of the followingcategories.Peerless Skills. By far the majority of Solar Charms arestraightforward extensions of their mortal abilities.These Charms let Solars perform actions that arenatural extensions of human skill in a certain field.Combat skill Charms let a Solar fight faster, harder,and more accurately than normal. Productiveabilities let a Solar create things of inhuman quality.Social skills allow a Solar to influence people beyondwhat the greatest mortal statesman or courtiercould do. As a Solar grows in power, these abilitiesmove further and further beyond what humans arecapable of, but they always derive at some levelfrom the mortal ability.Leadership Effects. Regardless of her Caste, everySolar Exalt is a natural leader — only the style ofthis leadership is shaped by her Caste. As such,Solars of every Caste have access to effects whichallow them to lead and instruct men, or provide forthose they do lead.Some of these effects directly improve the abilitiesof a single person. Effects like Masterful TrainingManual can assist in the normal learning process;other higher-level Charms could reduce trainingtimes, or possibly even XP costs.Yet other Charms temporarily or permanentlyimprove the skills of a group of people. SeveralBureaucracy Charms (which can slow or speedan entire organization) and Performance Charms(which can train, inspire, and survey an entire army)are solid examples. This sort of effect could easilybe generalized to several other abilities, allowing aSolar to inspire and strengthen her followers in anyappropriate ability — Survival, Craft, Investigation,Medicine, Larceny, and Sail would all be viablecandidates.The Supernatural. Some of the Charms available toSolars have effects which are straightforwardlysupernatural. Some of these fall into specificcategories discussed below. Those that do nottend to be the purview of two abilities, Occult andLore.Solar Occult Charms, other than those used toperform Sorcery (discussed below), generally dealwith spirits and the flows of Essence. While theseare supernatural effects to a modern mindset, itshould be kept in mind that Essence is a naturalpart of Creation, and basic Essence manipulationcan be performed by mortals. With this in mind,these Charms can be seen as a natural extension ofmortal thaumaturgy, which can be used to detect,summon, and ward spirits, as well as measureEssence flows.Some Solar Lore Charms are more directlysupernatural in their effects. In general, these effectsstem from Solars’ unsurpassed mastery of Essence.This allows Solars to transfer Essence and otherforms of energy from one person to another, orto enforce their wills directly upon the unshapedEssence of the Wyld. Other supernatural effectswould be allowable as long as they also derivedfrom this mastery of Essence.Solar Fire. Most of the Exalted have powers dealingdirectly with their associated energies and materials;Solars are no exception to this. Therefore, the Solar9

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSExalted can make use of Charms that invoke lightand Solar energy explicitly. Most of the explicitlymagical Solar Charms which aren’t Occult or Lorefall into this category.When they manifest, these Charms tend to focuson a few key qualities of the Sun — its presence, itsbrightness, and its purity. As such, Charms whichuse Solar light to terrify or inspire, to illuminate orblind, or to damage the servants of the Underworldor Malfeas are all acceptable, even if their effectsare explicitly magical in nature. Many of the selfsufficiencyCharms discussed below also use Solarimagery; those Charms generally use an image ofgolden light simply to establish that they are SolarCharms, not because their effects draw in anyparticular way on the qualities of the Sun.(On a related note, there are currently no publishedCharms which explicitly deal with Orichalcum, theSolar Magical Material. Both Lunars and Abyssalshave access to several Charms which allow themto work with or draw greater benefit from theirassociated metals, so it seems likely that Solarscould develop similar Charms dealing withOrichalcum.)WRITING POWERFUL CHARMSIt’s important to make Charms interesting andunique, especially as they grow more powerful— players should feel like each Charm offers thema new opportunity or story hook when they buyit. Finding distinct ways of expanding the sameability can be difficult, though, especially withthe thematic restrictions placed on Solar Charms.Tweaking existing effects can take you a long way,if you choose the right things to change. Here’s alist of factors you can increase and expand uponto make new Charms.Quality. Improve the nature of the Charm’s effects.An attack that dealt bashing might deal lethal oraggravated; one that built decent tools might nowcreate masterworks.Self-Sufficiency. A significant subset of Solar Charmsare designed specifically to keep characters frombeing caught empty-handed. Most commonly,this theme manifests itself in the various “GoldenX” Charms, which allow a Solar to summon thetool or resource he needs out of golden light —be it a sword, a suit of armor, a horse, or evenan entire sailing ship. These Charms are anotherexception that allows for flashy effects — Solarsare so incredible that they never need worry aboutcarrying such objects with them. These Charmsalways take on the trappings of the Sun — brightgolden light, Solar iconography, and so on. Basedon the existing Charms of this sort, these effects areappropriate for almost any Ability, and can producedrastically supernatural effects, at a significant scale— the Sail Charm Glorious Solar Ship being themost extreme example.There are other Solar Charms which pursue selfsufficiencyin a slightly less flashy fashion. Charmsof this sort let a Solar do without some resourcethat is necessary for the task at hand. CraftsmanNeeds No Tools is one good example of this effect;Ignore the Wind’s Course Technique is another.Scale. Increase a Charm’s power by raising howmuch or how many of something it effects: insteadof one target, five or fifty; instead of Essencedamage, (Essence x 2).Scope. Expand what a specific Charm can applyto — extend effects from the self to allies, or frominanimate objects to human beings.Frequency/Length. Make an effect happen moreoften, or improve the duration — move frominstants to turnlongs to scenelongs, or from a weekto a month.Related Concepts. Write a new Charm that addressesan idea that’s related to, but different from,another Charm’s. Glorious Solar Saber is a goodexample; similarly, you could go from a Charmfor deciphering languages to one for inventingthem.10

CHAPTER 1 • CHARM DESIGNThis sort of Charm should also be available withina broad variety of abilities — Solar Charms shouldbe capable of ignoring the need for most physicalresources.Martial Arts and Sorcery. Martial Arts and Sorceryare the two universal forms of magical power inthe world of Exalted — their effects are consistentbetween different varieties of Exalted, and almostany Essence-wielding being can practice themto some degree. Because they are universal, thestandard rules do not apply to them — Solars canproduce explicitly out-of-theme effects through theuse of Sorcery or Martial Arts Charms.Abyssal Mirror Effects. The Abyssal Exalted are thedark mirrors of the Solars, given to darkness anddecay where the Solars stand for light and rebirth.Because the Abyssals are Exalted by the taintedEssences of Solars, their Charms take a similarform, in many cases directly mirroring their Solarcounterparts. Because Exalted: the Abyssals waswritten after the core book, however, there are someAbyssal Charms which would naturally have aSolar equivalent, but currently do not. This ruledoes not apply to all Abyssal Charms — many aretied directly to Abyssals’ destructive natures or totheir unique powers and resonances — but in somecases a Solar Charm is appropriate specificallybecause Abyssals have access to a similar effect.Inappropriate Effects. In general, any effects thatfall outside of these categories are inappropriatefor Solar Charms. Any areas that are specifically11

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSthe purview of other Exalted or Essence wieldersare out of bounds — so powerful shapeshifting,necromantic, elemental, and astrological effects areall inappropriate. Many straightforward magicaleffects are also excluded — no Solar Charm shouldallow dematerialization, teleportation, or duplicatecreation,for example.EFFECT GUIDELINESWhile determining the effect your Charm will have,it’s worthwhile to keep a few points in mind:Is it suffi ciently unique? Not every Charm needsto do something new — many provide simpleeffects, or purposely mirror effects available toother abilities or types of Exalts. However, it’sstill worth examining how much your Charmduplicates other Charms, to avoid redundancy. Ifyour Charm closely resembles another Charm inthe same tree, what makes it worthwhile to havesuch similar Charms? If it duplicates a Charm fromanother ability, ask whether it makes sense for twodifferent abilities to provide such a similar effect.Does it do something useful? Think about whetherthe Charm’s effect is something characters mightget real use out of in a game. Some effects mightseem initially nifty but have little actual utility,whether due to narrowness or inapplicability. Thisis an especially important consideration for combatCharms — it’s easy to write a Charm with a solidconcept but whose mechanics render it less usefulthan other comparable Charms in a real fight.Is it individually exciting? Purchasing a new Charmnormally costs a character two or more sessionsworth of experience points. As such, each newCharm should be exciting and fun for the playerwho just bought it — otherwise, players will steeraway from it unless it serves as a prerequisite forsomething better. There are two common ways forCharms to fall into this trap: repeating an earliereffect with only a slight improvement (the difficultywith the pre-Power Combat armor penalty-reducingCharms) or providing an effect which might beuseful but which is too specific to come up often (aswith many of the Solar Sail Charms.) When it doubt,ask yourself whether you’d be excited by the newpossibilities this Charm opened up if you boughtit after three sessions of saving. If your reaction isapathetic or disappointed, you may want to rethinkyour design.Does it follow the “Rule of Cool”? Finally, you shouldmake sure that your Charm has that intangible senseof coolness. This can arise from many differentsources: new mechanics or interesting new effectscan both contribute, as can built-in plot hooks orawe-inspiring visuals. There are no rules to showyou how to achieve this — you just need to go withyour gut.CHARM MECHANICSEven though individual Charms vary greatly, theireffects tend to be based in a specific set of mechanics.Most Solar Charms draw from the following suiteof tools.Dice Adders: Solars have access to the most powerfuldice adder Charms of any Exalted, adding up toAttribute + Skill dice to a single roll. These Charmsform the bedrock of Solars’ expertise in many areas— they tend to have low prerequisites and be easyto use. Solar dice adders also tend to be extremelystraightforward, without additional effects orconditions. In addition, several non-combat skillshave Charms which add automatic successes torolls; these are generally limited by the Exalt’sPermanent Essence (if they grant a blanket numberof successes) or the naturally-rolled successes (ifthe Solar is buying additional successes.)Extra and Reflexive Actions: Solars are largelyunburdened by the restrictions of having one diceaction per turn, due to their large selection of actiongrantingCharms. These take a variety of forms:Extra Action charms which replace the standarddice action with specialized actions, Reflexivecharms which grant a single action when used,and turn-long or scene-long Charms which grant12

CHAPTER 1 • CHARM DESIGNa pool of specialized actions to use reflexively. Theactions granted in all these cases tend to be specific,although Solars could presumably gain access toIndependent Actions at higher Essence levels.Scenelongs: Solars have access to a large numberof Charm effects which last for an entire scene,granting actions or bonuses for the entire duration.In general, Solars have access to scene-long effectsOVERPOWERED CHARMSA few Solar Charms are overpowered whencompared to their fellows — they change thedynamics of the game too severely, or they reduceoptions by being so clearly superior to otherCharm choices. These Charms have been alteredin Sol Invictus to more closely match their peers.As an example, look at Protection of CelestialBliss, a melee Charm from Castebook: Dawn. Atfirst glance, this Charm may seem reasonable— it does, after all, require Essence 6. But a closerexamination reveals some problems.Using only printed Charms, it is implied thatCelestial Bliss is the only method for Solars toobtain multiple perfect defenses from a singleCharm. However, this capability isn’t reasonablylimited to Essence 6; the guidelines in this chapterestablish that taking an instant effect and increasingit to several times per turn should require no morethan an additional 2 Permanent Essence. (Anexamination of existing high Essence effects likeSidereal Martial Arts Charms should also revealthat more efficient perfect defenses are importantto surviving high Essence combat.)Reducing this Charm to an Essence 4 or 5minimum, however (as the author did, duringthe playtest for Sol Invictus) reveals furtherdifficulties. The “hanging” quality of this Charmdrastically shifts the dynamics of combat. Since aSolar can enter combat with this Charm prepared,she can often ignore defense entirely and openup with a powerful offensive Combo, relying onin most abilities, unless such effects explicitly don’tfit with the philosophy of the other Charms.Perfect Actions: Many Solar Charms have perfecteffects — they simply work. These Charms haveeffects which occur automatically when invoked,without the need for a roll. In some cases, theymerely result in an automatic success; in others,they result in a success surpassing all others — onethese perfect defenses to protect her against anypowerful attacks.Furthermore, as written, the Charm providesa drastic improvement in efficiency comparedto Heavenly Guardian Defense. Celestial Bliss’parries are functionally equivalent to HeavenlyGuardian Defense’s, since both can defend againstunblockable attacks. The former, however, onlycosts 7 motes and 1 Willpower, compared to 15motes and 5 Willpower to achieve the same effectusing the latter. The ability to freely use the CelestialBliss parries in the same turn as other Charmsmakes it even more efficient, since it eliminatesthe need for a Combo. Higher Essence Charmscan improve on the efficiency of less powerfulprerequisites, but an improvement of more than4 Willpower with no upfront cost to ameliorate itis definitely excessive. Because it defends againsteven unblockable attacks, it also makes Charmsthat grant such attacks too inefficient to use.To solve these problems, Sol Invictus splitsCelestial Bliss’ two distinct effects into separateCharms. Celestial Bliss itself now provides onlytwo “hanging” parries — this still gives the Solaraccess to the utility of defenses that don’t requirea Charm use while limiting the effect so it doesn’tcompletely dominate combat. Another charm,Unyielding Adamant Defense, is created thatprovides multiple perfect defenses, but withoutthe “hanging” effect. Both Charms now provideparries that cannot defend against unblockableattacks — this ensures that neither fully supplantsHeavenly Guardian Defense and maintains thethreat of unblockable attacks.13

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSat a level no rolled success can match. Non-combatperfect effects are fairly common, often applying tosmall or simple tasks at lower levels and increasingin scope as their prerequisites increase. Theseeffects allow a Solar to automatically succeed ina single task, or even achieve an incredible resultautomatically. In combat, these effects are moredifficult to obtain, but still available — they allowfor unsurpassable defenses, or attacks that alwaysstrike.Permanent Charms: In the Core Book, the onlyPermanent Charm listed is Ox-Body Technique.However, Permanent Charms have been developedfurther in later books, with Lunars, Abyssals, andSidereals all making use of them. The presence ofCharms like Environmental Hazard-Resisting Pranain Caste Book: Zenith indicates that additionalPermanent Charms are acceptable for Solars aswell. In general, Permanent Charms represent anExalt’s evolution, rather than a specific power — asher skill level increases, her body and mind reshapethemselves to more fully embody a core concept.For Abyssals, this is the Essence of death — eachPermanent Charm makes the Abyssal more deadly,more vampiric, more horrifying. For the Solars,such Charms should transcend human ability.These Charms should provide the ability to ignorehuman limitations, culminating in the eliminationof fundamental weaknesses like the need to sleepand eat, the character’s maximum lifespan, or themaximum for attributes and abilities.ESSENCE PREREQUISITESThe Permanent Essence prerequisite for any Charmserves as a rough guide to that Charm’s power level.At lower Essence levels, Solars have access only tothe most basic of effects. As their mastery of Essenceincreases, they gain the ability to use increasinglypowerful and exotic talents. The following chartsummarizes the approximate power levels of eachEssence rating, drawing on examples of publishedCharms. The lower levels of the chart are drawnalmost entirely from Solar Charms; however, asthe Essence minimums increase, they also drawfrom Abyssal Charms, as well as Immaculate andSidereal Martial Arts, since there are few publishedSolar Charms of those levels.Essence 1: These Charms form the very basis of aSolar Exalt’s power. In combat abilities, Essence 1Charms can be basic dice adders, reflexive actions,or low-level Extra Action Charms like PeonyBlossom Attack. They can provide weak perfecteffects like Seven Shadow Evasion, which requiresyou to foresee the attack and can’t be used afterthe attack roll. Essence 1 Charms can also providevery basic bonuses, like the ranged attack of IronRaptor Technique or the range bonus of AccuracyWithout Distance. For non-combat abilities, Essence1 Charms can provide dice or success adders andotherwise boost the Solar’s competency to the peakof human ability. These effects tend to be very basic,so that they can easily apply to many different usesof the ability. Masterful Performance Exercise isa typical dice adder, while Hardship-SurvivingMendicant Spirit is indicative of the level of effectother Essence 1 Charms can have.Essence 2: Charms of this level are slightly greaterin scope than Essence 1 Charms. In combat abilities,Essence 2 Charms can boost the damage of attacksand add minor side effects, such as the darknessattackingeffect of Edge of Morning Sunlight. Theycan provide basic self-sufficiency effects such asPhantom Arrow Technique and Glorious SolarSaber. Essence 2 Charms can also provide strongerand cheaper Extra Action effects like Arrow StormTechnique or Iron Whirlwind Attack. They canalso grant stronger perfect effects like HeavenlyGuardian Defense, or turn-long extensions ofEssence 1 Charms like Ready in Eight DirectionsStance. In non-combat abilities, Essence 2 Charmsrepresent a step beyond mortal talents. In socialabilities, Charms of this level can affect groups, andbegin to directly dictate the actions of others, as withRespect Commanding Attitude, Speed the Wheels,or Heart Compelling Method. Essence 2 Charmscan generally perform feats just outside the purviewof human skill, as in Unshakeable Bloodhound14

CHAPTER 1 • CHARM DESIGNSIDEREAL MARTIAL ARTSThe Sidereal martial arts published in Exalted:the Sidereals are an excellent source of inspirationfor high Essence Solar Charms. These threestyles make use of several approaches tocreating powerful Charms. Some operate onan increased scope or scale compared to othereffects, while others change the rules of combatin unexpected ways. While Solar Charms won’tbe as unusual and quirky as Sidereal MartialArts, they should convey the same feeling — thatyour character is learning powerful techniquesthat give her new eand exciting capabilities. TheSidereal Charms are also a good watermark forthe power level of your Charms — an Essence5 Solar with a selection of powerful Charmsshould be a significant challenge for a Siderealwho has mastered the Form Charm of a SiderealMartial Art.Technique, Spider-Foot Style, or Stealing FromPlain Sight Spirit. This is also the level at whichCharms begin to interact with Essence directly,as can be seen in Charms like Essence-GatheringTemper and All-Encompassing Sorceror’s Sight.Essence 3: At Essence 3, Charms begin to seriouslyramp up in power level. At Essence 3, Solars gainaccess to persistent defenses like Flow Like Bloodand Fivefold Bulwark Stance. Other combat Charmscan provide more powerful self-sufficient effects(like Fiery Solar Chakram and Glorious Solar Plate)or make attacks that require Charms to defendagainst (like Sun’s Flaming Tongue Attack orBlazing Solar Bolt.) These Charms can also providesignificant power boosts to a single attack (as withCascade of Cutting Terror or Knockout Blow).In social abilities, Essence 3 Charms can affectlarge groups of people and completely reversetheir behavior — see Performance Charms likeRout-Stemming Gesture or Presence Charms likeMemory Reweaving Discipline. In other abilities,Essence 3 Charms can allow the Solar to achieveeffects that enter the level of the impossible —survive in a volcano with Element-Resisting Prana,fix anything with Crack-Mending Technique,become invisible with Sound and Scent BanishingAttitude, or heal with a touch using Anointment ofMiraculous Health. This level also represents thebeginning of outwardly magical effects like WyldShaping Technique and large-scale self-sufficienteffects like Phantom Crew Charm. In general, atthis level Charms can stretch Essence 1 effects outto scene length, or apply several Essence 2 effectsin a single Charm (as in Immunity to EverythingTechnique).Essence 4: At Essence 4 and above the number ofpublished Solar Charms decreases significantly, butconclusions can still be drawn about what Charmsare likely to look like. In combat abilities, Essence 4allows for Charms which perfectly negate incrediblenegative modifiers (like Shot Without DistanceExercise) or damage a character’s Essence or otherfundamental characteristics (like Maw of DrippingVenom or Soul-Cleaving Strike). Charms can boostindividual combat statistics significantly (likeDeadly Starmetal Offensive) or multiple statisticsmoderately (like Angry Predator Frenzy Style).They can affect groups of perhaps 10 people, or dealaggravated damage (both exemplified by TsunamiForce Shout). For social abilities, Charms increasedrastically in scope. They can provide control andcomprehension of an entire army (with Generalof the All-Seeing Sun) or even a kingdom (withIron Tyrant Mien). In other applications, Essence 4Charms allow a Solar to reach well into the realmof impossibility. She can magnify her physicalcapability a thousandfold (as with MountainCrossing Leap Technique), eliminate the negativeeffects of powerful magic on a person (throughOrder-Affirming Blow or Perfect ReconstructionMethod), or disguise oneself as one’s completeopposite (through Solar Impersonation Style). Selfsufficienteffects can reach a massive scale (likeGlorious Solar Ship) or achieve an effect superiorto the real thing (like Soaring Spirit Steed). At thisEssence level, Exalts can directly affect the useof Charms or other Essence-fueled powers, as in15

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSUNDERPOWERED CHARMSQuite a few Solar Charms, as printed, are simplynot as useful as their brethren. For various reasons,there are a number of Solar Charms with effectsthat can’t be found elsewhere, but which arewritten in an underpowered form. In Sol Invictus,these Charms have been improved to expand theirutility. (These changes are very similar in bothconcept and execution to those provided in theExalted Players Guide “Power Combat” rules, butattempt to make more extensive improvementsto the Charms as a whole.)As an example, take Iron Raptor Technique andSandstorm-Wind Attack, both Melee Charmsfrom the corebook. They provide a useful ability— making ranged attacks with Melee. However,neither is strong enough to see significant use.Both are Simple, forcing Solars to use them onlyonce in a turn (barring a Combo). This leavesthe Charms too inefficient to use — Solars willtypically wish to make multiple attacks duringmost turns.In addition, the two Charms are not sufficientlydistinct —Sandstorm Wind Attack has a longerCharm Redirection Technique. In general, Charmsof this level can stretch Essence 2 effects out to scenelength (as with Inexhaustible Bolts of Solar Fire), orapply several Essence 3 effects in a single Charm(as in Steel Devil Style.)Essence 5: At Essence 5, Exalts reach the greatestpower attainable within a mortal lifetime. In combat,Essence 5 Charms can boost a valuable trait by asignificant amount (as with Soul Fire Shaper Form)or any number of traits by a moderate amount(as with Perfection of Earth Body). At Essence 5,Exalts gain access to powerful effects like scenelongIndependent Actions (as granted by Charcoal Marchof Spiders Form). Charms at this level can affectmoderately large groups of people. Alternately, theycan do significant, permanent damage to a singlerange, but otherwise does not offer any significantbenefit over its predecessor. (This is a goodexample of a speedbump, as dicussed in a latersidebar.)To improve these Charms, Sol Invictus first changesIron Raptor Technique from a Simple Charm to aSupplemental. Even with this change the Charmis not tremendously powerful, but it is now usefulenough that a player who wants to make rangedMelee a part of his character concept can do sowithout greatly sacrificing effectiveness.That leaves Sandstorm-Wind Attack. This Charmcould be eliminated, but it’s often more elegantto alter a Charm’s functionality than to eliminateit. In this case, the author opted to add a neweffect related to the existing power: letting theattack strike a distant foe and any other enemiesin between. This gives Sandstorm-Wind Attacka unique ability, and also renders it usefulenough that it can remain Simple. With thesemodifications, these Charms — while still notthe most powerful powers available in Melee —become useful enough to seriously consider for acharacter, instead of weak enough to be dismissedoutright.target’s traits. Defensively, Charms can protectagainst significant effects beyond straightforwardattacks. In social abilities, Essence 5 Charms couldpotentially span a quarter of Creation, or cementcontrol of a large group of people, or utterly enslavethe will of a single person. In other areas, Charms ofthis level can reach greater levels of impossibility,performing feats that significantly extend the scopeof Essence 4 effects. Essence 5 Charms can interferedirectly with the use of Essence (as with Power-Disrupting Whisper). Self-sufficient effects shouldbe able to create large objects with unique qualities,or superb custom examples of smaller objects. Ingeneral, Charms of this level can stretch Essence 3effects out to scene length, or apply several Essence4 effects in a single Charm (as in Four MagicalMaterials Form).16

CHAPTER 1 • CHARM DESIGNEssence 6: In order to attain Essence 6, an Exaltmust survive longer than a mortal lifetime. It isfitting, then, that Essence 6 Charms take an Exalt’scapabilities beyond the limitations of the humanframe. In combat abilities, Essence 6 Charmsreach fearsome levels. Purely offensive Charmscan do literally anything to a single target, frominstantly killing them (Jumping Spider Strike) totransforming them into something entirely new(Pattern Spider Touch). Defensively, they can shieldagainst arbitrary negative effects (with SpiritualPerfection) or preemptively nullify attacks, evenreturning them manyfold (Cannibalistic HeritageTechnique). In scope, Essence 6 Charms can affectnumerous opponents (as with Thumbnail SpiderMarch). In other abilities, Essence 6 Charms canprovide effortless mastery of an ability — perfectlyseeing through all deception with Eye of theUnconquered Sun, observing and controlling everypart of an army with Ideal Battle Knowledge Prana,automatically healing any insanity with Balm ofMerciful Sleep, or keeping out spirits absolutelywith Spirit-Warding Ban. These Charms can applyperfect effects to arbitrarily difficult tasks, andgenerally make them proof against even higherEssence magic. Self-sufficient effects should allowfor the creation of massive, incredibly fantastic, orhighly powerful items. Essence-affecting Charmscan completely shut down Essence expenditure (aswith Power-Disrupting Blow) or use motes fromanother’s pool (as with Water Spider Bite). Essence6 Charms can also extend Essence 4 effects to scenelength or combine multiple Essence 5 effects in asingle Charm.Essence 7: There are few published Essence 7 Charms,but the ones that do exist paint an impressive pictureof their power level. At Essence 7, each Charmhas a truly earth-shattering effect. With ExtendedLife Prana, a Solar can increase her lifespan to5,000 years, rivalling the Sidereals for longevity;with Youth-Restoring Benison, she can return amortal to the flush of youth. The Sidereal MartialArts Charms at this level are similarly terrifying— they can impart Great Contagion-level illnesses,deal aggravated damage to everything within atenth of a mile, or make attacks on every visibletarget. From these examples, it seems that Essence7 combat Charms are able to apply to large scales(like “every visible enemy”) and can apply effectsthat are likely to kill outright any being withouthigh Essence Charms. In non-combat applications,Essence 7 gives an Exalt a godlike ability to utilizetheir abilities — allowing Medicine to heal agingitself, for example. Presumably similarly extremelevels of competence would be possible with highEssence Charms of other abilities.There are currently no examples of Essence 8+Charms for any type of Exalt, so the specifics ofexactly how powerful they are is up to you. Basedon the difference in power level between Essence6 and 7, however, it seems likely that even asingle Essence 8 Charm could change the face ofCreation.CHARM COSTSCharms have a great deal of variation in their cost,ranging from those with miniscule costs to thosethat drain an Exalt’s resources almost dry with asingle use. However, as with most other aspectsof Charm design, there are some standards whichCharm costs tend to follow.With a few exceptions, Charm costs involvespending some combination of the followingresources:Motes of Essence. These, the fundamental units ofEssence, are the basic unit of currency for Charmcosts. Almost every Charm (with a few exceptions)costs motes to activate.Temporary Willpower. Willpower is an importantsecondary cost for many Charms. In general, Charmswith certain effects require a Willpower cost. Perfecteffects generally require Willpower to activate(although a few, like Seven Shadow Evasion, canavoid it through weaknesses like inapplicability).Scenelong effects generally cost a Willpower,though those which only provide several small17

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSbonuses (like many Martial Arts Form Charms)can avoid it. A Willpower cost is also generallyattached to any effect with an unusually powerfuldestructive effect against an opponent, whetherit be mind control, aggravated damage, armorpiercing,or something else. Similarly, defensiveor protective effects tend to require Willpower ifthey have a long duration or protect a large groupor area. In general, a Willpower cost represents anextra “push” by the Exalt using the Charm — itallows a Charm to bypass resistance (either froma foe or from the natural order of things) moreeffectively than simple mote expenditure.A Willpower cost also allows a Charm which meetsnone of the above criteria to be more efficient in itsmote cost, since willpower is a less plentiful resourcethan Essence. A point of temporary willpower canoften substitute for as many as 10 motes of Essencein a Charm’s cost.There are a few Charms which cost more than oneWillpower; typically, these Charms have incrediblypowerful effects, or are powerful and efficient on topof already meeting the conditions for a Willpowercost (as is true of Blade of the Battle Maiden.)Health Levels. Health levels are less common as acost for Solar Charms, but a few techniques do callfor them. Some Charms require for a health level asa more severe version of a Willpower cost — thatis, to limit access to a powerful effect, especiallyone with low prerequisites (Essence Venom Strikeis a good example of this.) For some long-termCharms, health level costs represent a hard limiton the Charm’s duration — for such Charms, thehealth levels will be committed until the Charmis allowed to lapse for a certain recovery period.A health level cost can also serve as an additionalcost on permanent effects which provide useful butnot overwhelmingly powerful benefits — Crack-Mending Technique functions on this principle.Experience. Experience Points are the rarest costfor Charm activation, since their expenditureis truly permanent. In general, Charms with XPcosts provide some permanent benefit to the user,generally in the form of concretely improvedstatistics or other permanent bonuses. The bestexample are familiar Charms, which typically costExperience in exchange for granting the user dotsof the Familiar background. Other Charms whichgrant a permanent benefit to the user might alsocost XP to use.MOTE COSTSDetermining the correct mote cost for a Charmis something of an art; however, the followingguidelines can assist in the process.Dice Adders. The cost of Solar dice adders generallyvaries by purpose. As a general rule, defensiveadders (like Golden Essence Block) cost 1 moteper 2 dice; offensive adders (like Excellent Strike)and other general-purpose dice adders cost 1 moteper die; and social ability adders (like Listener-Swaying Argument) cost 2 motes per die. SuccessbuyingCharms (like Flawless Handiwork Method)typically cost 2-4 motes per success, depending onthe number of successes the character can purchaseand the utility of the Ability the Charm augments.Something that directly adds Essence in dice orsuccesses for a scene will typically cost between 3motes (like Ten Magistrate Eyes) and 6 motes (likeHarmonious Presence Meditation).Other Charms. Typically, Solar Charms fall into oneof several cost brackets.1 mote. Charms in this category (like Fists of IronTechnique, Surprise Anticipation Method, andSummoning the Loyal Steel) are typically thosewhich provide a very small or precise effect. Whilesuch Charms can be useful, they typically do notprovide a large effect. In general, the mote cost ofa 1 mote Charm is intended to give the Exalt freereign to use the Charm as frequently as he likes,since a typical Exalt could use such a Charm 40+times without regaining Essence. In general, thiscost should be applied to any Charm the Storyteller18

CHAPTER 1 • CHARM DESIGNfeels would not be unbalanced if it could be usedfor free.2-4 motes. These Charms tend to be a Solar’s“workhorse” Charms. Charms with a mote costin this bracket typically provide effects which aresignificant but not overwhelming. A basic defense(like Dipping Swallow Defense) or offensive booster(like Fiery Arrow Attack), a moderately usefulturnlong effect (like Feathery Gallop Exercise), ora very basic scenelong effect (like Friendship WithAnimals Approach) would all qualify. A typicalSolar can use an effect in this range 10-20 timeswithout regaining Essence, so a Storyteller shouldexpect a Solar to be able to use such a Charmrepeatedly in a single scene.5-9 motes. Charms within this cost bracket providea fairly significant effect. In any given situation,they’ll tend to shift the balance in favor of theExalt using the Charm. Powerful Instant effects(like Seven Shadow Evasion), significant scenelongcombat effects (like most Martial Arts FormCharms or Fivefold Bulwark Stance), and noncombateffects with a large or lasting effect (likeTouch of Blissful Release or Blurred Form Style)all tend to fall within this range. A typical Solarcan use Charms in this category about 5-8 timeswithout recharging Essence; a Storyteller shouldexpect a character to use them when necessary, butcarefully consider their use.“SPEEDBUMPS”One specifc type of underpowered Charm isthe “speedbump” — a Charms that exist only toslow down a character’s access to more powerfulCharms later in the tree. It’s sometimes desirableto make a Charm more difficult to acquire, butintroducing unnecessary Charms with limitedutility isn’t an ideal way to accomplish it.The question to ask about a Charm is: “If I buy thisCharm, do I ever stop without buying the Charmafter it right away?” Charms whose successorsare simply better or more mote-efficient (withouta drastic increase in prerequisites or cost) wouldqualify. So would Charms that are largely uselessin the first place. These Charms are frustratingto players because they aren’t worth having ontheir own — any points spent to purchase themfeel “wasted.”One Weapon, Two Blows (from the corebookMelee tree) is a perfect example: there is almostnever a reason to buy it alone. It provides aweak effect, and its more flexible successor canduplicate that effect for only 1 more mote. Sincethe prerequisites of the two Charms are so close,there’s very little reason to stop at One Weaponrather than buying the followup Charm as well.When designing a Charm, there are ways to keepa Charm from feeling like a speedbump. If twoCharms have similar effects, and the second ismore powerful, the first will still be useful if it’smore efficient. Similarly, if there’s some smallquality that only the first Charm possesses, thatcan be enough to keep it from becoming useless.(Peony Blossom Attack is less powerful thanIron Whirlwind Attack, but the latter costs aWillpower point to use — which means the firstis still sometimes worth using.)Similarly, a Charm won’t feel like a speedbumpif the Charm that follows it has much higherprerequisites. If an Essence 5 Charm obsoletesan Essence 2 Charm, the latter is still worthbuying — at least, if you don’t have Essence 5.A player can use such a Charm for a long timebefore becoming powerful enough to use the nextCharm in the tree.In general, Sol Invictus makes alterations toany Charms that meet this definition, eithereliminating them or altering their effects to makethem remain useful.19

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUS10-15 motes. Charms costed within this brackethave large, powerful effects. An instant effectcosted in this range (like Essence Venom Strike)will generally provide an effect that will certainlyshift a situation strongly in the Solar’s favor.Charms of this cost level with longer durations(like Terrifying Apparition of Glory) will generallyhave far-reaching consequences. Charms withsignificant effects on large numbers of people (likeHeroism-Encouraging Presence) tend to cost thismuch or more, as will Charms with long-lasting orpermanent effects (like Crack-Mending Discipline).A typical Solar can use Charms in this category only3-4 times without regaining Essence, so their effectsshould be significant enough to make three to fouruses entirely worthwhile.16-20 motes. The most extreme and elaborateCharms within the Solar’s arsenal are costed inthis range. This cost range is typically reserved fortruly earth-shattering effects, those that produceincredible or irrevokable effects. Wyld-ShapingTechnique is the most obvious example of a Charmin this category — a powerful, awe-inspiring effectwith a cost to match. Other Solar Charms in thiscost bracket should approach the scope or utility ofthis Charm. A typical Solar can only use a Charmin this category twice without recharging Essence;with most such Charms, however, twice will beenough.Maximum Cost. No single Charm should cost morethan 20 motes of Essence. While Charms can bepowerful, by their nature they don’t produce thesort of effects which call for that level of Essenceexpenditure — that is typically reserved for Sorcery.Charms which would otherwise call for extremelyhigh mote costs should utilize secondary costs (likeWillpower or health levels) to bring the mote costdown to 20 or below.HIGH-ESSENCE COMBATWhen creating high Essence Charms, specialattention is needed when creating combat Charms.Non-combat Charms are often used in a vacuumand do not interact extensively with one another— they can generally be safely judged withoutcontext. In addition, their effects are often easyto vet for power level without extensive testing.Combat Charms are a different matter. Because theyinteract with one another in many different waysduring fights, combat Charms are more delicate tobalance -- you need to take into account not onlythe power level of the Charm in question, but howit affects the way combat works.DEFENSE! DEFENSE!Defense is very important in Exalted. Attack Charmsare quite noticeable when they’re overpowered orbroken, but defense is actually more important tocombat balance, due to the “defense trumps offense”rule — an overpowered defense Charm can do moreto ruin the fun of combat. The defensive Charms inSol Invictus have been reworked and honed moreextensively than any others, for just this reason. Thespecific philosophy of these defenses is discussedbelow, along with some of the common pitfallsencountered in building high Essence Charms.SOAKPossibly the most controversial defense, soakhas also undergone the biggest change — theintroduction of the “Essence ping” rule in the ExaltedPlayers Guide drastically reduced the effectivenessof soak as characters increased in power. Thischange also left many players questioning exactlywhat role soak was intended to fill under the PowerCombat system.The key element of soak is that it is primarily apassive defense. Every character possesses somesoak automatically, and more can be obtained20

CHAPTER 1 • CHARM DESIGNsimply by wearing armor. Soak is also automaticallyapplied to every incoming attack, requiring noeffort on the part of the person being attacked. Theresult is that soak is both a simpler defense and aless powerful one — its lesser power is a tradeofffor its automatic nature.Charms that grant soak (or which closely resembleit) are an exception to this rule, because they requiresome effort on the part of the player. However, theystill typically provide a more mote-efficient defensethan dodge and parry. Soak can be obtained on ascenelong basis much more easily than persistentdodges or parries, and soak directly subtracts fromdamage, rather than simply attempting to holdback attacks. Therefore, Charms that grant soakshould naturally be somewhat weaker than dodgeor parry defenses.Resistance-based defenses that are not basedon soak can be treated somewhat differently.Adamant Skin Technique is essentially comparableto Seven Shadows Evasion, and should be costedsimilarly.DODGE VS. PARRYAfter soak come the two active defenses: dodge andparry. For other Exalts, the difference is significant;each of the two defenses has a completely distinctset of Charms associated with it, making the choiceof defense an important tactical decision. Solars,however, have significant parallels between theirMelee and Dodge trees.Each of the two defenses has one obvious drawback.Dodge is a narrow ability; it doesn’t provide21

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSoffensive capabilities like Melee does. Melee, onthe other hand, can’t be used unless a weapon isin hand. These two disadvantages are difficult tocompare (Dodge’s is typically a problem duringcharacter creation while Melee’s occurs during play)but they are widely seen as being approximatelyequal, with Melee possibly having an edge.In the corebook, Solar Dodge Charms feature oneother drawback: several of them are required tobe used before the attack is rolled. This is a fairlysignificant drawback, since it requires the playerto select a defense without the benefit of knowingwhich attacks are most dangerous; it becomes evenmore dangerous as characters grow in power and thestakes on each attack rise. With no obvious reasonCHARMS VS. SPELLSThere’s a sometimes thin line in Exalted betweenCharms and spells. Both are individual, singulareffects that are purchased one-by-one; both areeven typically bought for the same price. Bothhave similar costs. At first glance, there’s a greatdeal of similarity between the two.It’s important to maintain a division between thetwo, however. Charms are the fundamental toolsof an Exalt, the abilities that separate her frommortals and which she calls upon for her basicneeds. Spells, even those of the Emerald Circle, arepowerful and dramatic shapings of raw Essence,effects whose every casting should be dramatic.Charms that have overly spell-like effects (whilestill enjoying the benefits of being Charms)weaken the thematic uniqueness of spells whilesimultaneously diluting the flavor of Charms.A few guidelines to stay away from in creatingCharms:Ritualistic preparations. Ritual and long preparationtime are elements of spells, whose massive Essencesometimes requires extensive preparations to beto weaken dodge, this restriction is unnecessary; inSol Invictus, it is removed.A final area of contention between the two is thedistribution of perfect defenses. In the Exaltedcorebook, Dodge receives an expensive perfectdefense that cannot block undodgeable attacks;Melee receives Heavenly Guardian Defense, whichis cheaper (albeit with a Willpower cost) and whichdefends against even unblockable attacks. This canbe read as an implicit statement that Melee shouldhave access to superior defenses. However, theExalted errata mentions that this distinction is notintended to be binding, and that equivalents of eachCharm can be purchased in the other ability. SolInvictus makes this explicit, creating equivalents ofboth Charms for Dodge and Melee. It also extendsshaped properly. Charms, on the other hand, aretypically immediate effects. It’s okay to have somebasic preparations involved (as in Charms likeUnknown Wisdom Epiphany) but the effect ofa Charm should be reasonably immediate anddirect.Variable flavor. Spells are a universal magic, nottied to any specific Exalt’s thematics. As such, theflavor of any given spell can vary widely, intootherwise unexplored areas. (Martial Arts styleshave a similar freedom.) Exalt-specific Charmsneed to hew more closely to a standard theme, sothat each Charm supports the style of the Exaltswho use it.Broad scale, narrow scope. Spells are big and flashy,especially as you move upwards into increasinglystrong circles of sorcery. At the same time, eachspell often has a very narrow utility, serving onlyone very specific purpose. Charms are typicallythe opposite way. Charms that affect hugeswaths of people or things typically do so only bybuilding up from similar but less powerful effects.However, Charms have broader uses — outsideof pure combat effects, most provide capabilitiesthat can be used in a variety of circumstances.22

CHAPTER 1 • CHARM DESIGNthis principle to other key “framework” defenses— if Melee has a “hanging” defense (as it does inProtection of Celestial Bliss) then Dodge shouldalso have one.Outside of the framework Charms, each abilitycan detour slightly into unique defensive tricksthat are not shared by the other. Dodge illustratesthis effectively with Leaping Dodge Method andReflex Sidestep Technique; Melee branches offinto counterattacks. Other Charms of this sort areappropriate for both defenses, as long as any trulyfundamental effects continue to be shared betweenboth.INAPPLICABLE DEFENSESSolars have access to effects like Cascade of CuttingTerror — attack Charms which completely preventa certain type of defense from being used. Solarsare also the only Exalt type to possess applicabledefenses — Charms like Heavenly GuardianDefense that can defend against even unblockableor undodgeable attacks.These Charms play an important role in Solarcombat. Solars can become unable to damagean opponent due to a strong wall of persistentdefenses or a single powerful perfect defense.Undefendable attacks provide the Solar with anace in the hole, helping to bypass such tactics andquickly end the fight (or force it to shift its tactics, atleast.) At the same time, defenses such as HeavenlyGuardian Defense provide insurance against suchattacks, helping maintain the primacy of defensein Exalted.In general, unblockable and undodgeable attacksshouldn’t be available until Essence 3; these effectsare powerful and can’t be easily be defended againstat lower Essence levels. In addition, they can’t beeasily defended against by non-Solars at all; theseeffects can prove a powerful trump card againstlesser-powered foes.Sol Invictus chooses to balance these attacks bygiving Archery access to both unblockable andundodgeable effects, Brawl and Thrown one each,and Melee neither. Melee, with its straightforwardtrees and built-in defense, is arguably the strongestcombat ability and doesn’t need such Charms tosucceed in combat; Archery focuses on precisionand is particularly adept at striking at targets’weaknesses. These levels are chosen to encourage agreater level of overall balance between the combatabilities, but can be adjusted for an individual game—you may find that unblockable Melee attacks poseno threat to balance or fun in your chronicle.PERFECTION AND INVULNERABILITYHaving your huge attack Combo defeated witha single application of the Heavenly GuardianDefense can be frustrating. To counter this, manylayers come up with the idea of an attack thatbypasses perfect defenses. While this might seemlike a fun Charm, it has a detrimental effect oncombat as a whole. Exalted combat is based aroundthe principle that defense trumps offense. Allowingsuch a Charm into the game suddenly reverses thisprinciple — with a single Charm, an attacker canrender his opponent’s strongest defenses useless.To remedy this problem, you might try to create abetter defense, one that defeats even the perfectbeatingattack. But this leads to an even worsesituation. What’s to stop the attacker from generatingyet another attack now, one that bypasses even yourbetter defense? This can go on indefinitely. Not onlydo these Charms engage in an unwinnable armsrace, they quickly stop having any relationshipto events in the game world. Heavenly GuardianDefense works in an obvious way — it’s a defensethat blocks any normal attack. But what does itmean in roleplaying terms to block any attack thatdefeats defenses that can block perfect-trumpingattacks? That way lies madness. It’s far moresensible to cut this line of thinking off immediatelyand maintain the sanctity of perfect defenses.23

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSA similar problem arises with another commonCharm idea: a perfect defense that lasts for an entireturn or scene. This idea has an obvious genesis:rolled reflexive defenses like Dipping SwallowDefense serve as the prerequisites for turnlong andscenelong versions; it seems reasonable that youcould extend a perfect defense in the same way.Such a defense is simply too difficult to penetrate.A single perfect can be overwhelmed by multipleattacks, and a persistent can be beaten by individualpowerful attacks, but a turnlong perfect combinesthe best of both worlds. The only way to reliablydefeat this defense is to create an attack thatbypasses perfection — which, as discussed above,has its own pitfalls.In order to avoid this problem, perfect defenses witha long duration should be avoided. In Sol Invictus,perfect defenses can be obtained in greater numbersat higher Essence levels but not in the unlimitedquantity that rolled defenses are.EXPANDING THE COMBAT GAMEPowerful defenses are just one aspect of highEssence combat. Several other specific factors comeinto play when balancing high Essence Charms thatdeserve discussion.“HEIGHT” VS. “WIDTH”There are two specific routes for expansion inExalted combat that are particularly important:making bigger attacks (“height”) making moreattacks (“width.”) Most Solar offensive Charmsclearly work to improve one or the other, andthe defensive Charms follow suit -- HeavenlyGuardian Defense is a tall defense, and FivefoldBulwark Stance is a wide one. Having both optionsfor expansion makes combat more interesting andcreates difficult choices for characters — is it betterto focus on a few big Combos, or try to whittleopponents down with numerous strikes?By Essence 3, Solars gain access to defensiveCharms which defeat single-minded applicationsof either strategy. Perfect defenses can defeat anysingle attack, no matter how powerful; persistentscan defeat an infinite number of individual attacks.From that point upwards, combat strategies needto expand in both directions. On the offensive,elaborate Combos make multiple powerful attacks.Defensively, Charms like Unyielding AdamantDefense (page XX) grant a measure of width toperfect defenses, while Wind-and-Water Evasion(page XX) improves the height of a persistent.This balance is fragile, though, and it’s possibleto upset it if you don’t carefully balance the twostrategies. New combat Charms should be checkedto ensure they don’t unbalance combat towardsone extreme or the other, letting a player make toomany (or excessively powerful) attacks at too lowa cost.Power Combat brings an important caveat to thetable. The “Essence ping” rule helps tip the balancetowards wide attacks as Exalts rise in Essence— since each attack has the potential to do suchhigh damage even if they’re soaked, characters areencouraged to attack more frequently rather thanwith more powerful attacks. The Charms in SolInvictus are written to account for this factor — athigher Essence prerequisites, wide defenses aremade more powerful than their tall counterparts,while tall attacks are made increasingly deadly. Ifyou’re not playing with the Power Combat rules,you might want to adjust the costs of some combatCharms to compensate.RESOURCE MANAGEMENTResource management is the linchpin of Exaltedcombat. At its core, the combat engine involvestrading and conserving resources — spendingmotes and Willpower while trying to hold ontoyour health levels.For higher Essence combatants, the importanceand complexity of this resource management24

CHAPTER 1 • CHARM DESIGNincreases drastically. There’s a simple reason forthis: a character’s resource needs rise faster than herpool of resources. Temporary Willpower increasesvery rarely, and motes increase by only a smallamount when Essence goes up — while charmsquickly go from costs of 1 or 2 motes up to as manyas 20. For this reason, resource management toolsare increasingly important to powerful Exalts.Stunting is, of course, an important tool for Exaltsof all power levels. Under Power Combat, anExalt who stunts once every turn will generallyrecover 4 motes or 1 Willpower each turn; giventhe standards for a two-die stunt, it is reasonableto expect characters to stunt at least this often (andprevious comments have indicated that canonicalCharms are indeed written with this assumption inplace.) This provides a level of resource recoverysufficient to fund most Charm usage at low Essencelevels.As the Solar increases in power, her need for motesand Willpower will start to outstrip her stuntrecovery. By Essence 3, a character is likely to use6 motes or more in a turn; by Essence 5, most Solarswill spend well over 10 motes and one or moreWillpower during each round of combat. Morepowerful Exalts are also likely to commit muchhigher levels of Essence to powerful atifacts andscenelong Charms. As such, alternate means ofresource replenishment become necessary.The one canonical mote recovery Charm for Solars(Essence-Gathering Temper) provides a goodtemplate for other such effects. Like this Charm,other Charms that regenerate motes or Essenceshould typically appear in an ability without directattack or defense abilities. This helps encouragecharacters to diversify their skillsets, and ensuresthat no combat ability becomes too strong thanksto a powerful resource regeneration effect.Essence-Gathering Temper is near the limit ofmotes regenerated by a single effect; other Charmsprobably shouldn’t exceed its limit, and effects thatprovide motes easily should provide fewer.RULE CLARIFICATIONS FORHIGH ESSENCE COMBATFully Independent Actions. The independent action,introduced in Exalted: the Sidereals with the CharcoalMarch of Spiders Form, is a natural evolution of theExtra Action concept. Instead of receiving a singleaddition dice action, the character receives an entireturn’s action. Charms which grant IndependentActions follow the rules on page 187 of Exalted:The Sidereals.In addition, Charms of the Independent Actiontype have several specific restrictions. Charms ofthis type do not consume the character’s standarddice action unless otherwise specified, though theymust be activated on the character’s initiative.They do count as the character’s Charm use fortheir “standard” action that turn. They may notbe used as part of a Combo. Independent ActionCharms are treated as equivalent to Extra ActionCharms in all circumstances where the latter areforbidden; this includes activating an IndependentAction Charm while you already have access toIndependent Actions from another effect.Finally, initiating a spell, continuing a spell,and casting a spell are each considered a singleIndependent Action for purposes of these Charms.These actions each have a duration of one turn,so they cannot be performed simultaneously —you can’t use Independent Actions to launch aTerrestrial Circle spell on the same turn you beganto prepare it. However, you can use IndependentActions to perform other activities while the spellis being prepared. Therefore, someone with twoIndependent Actions could use one to begin castinga spell while using the other to defend. If she stillhad access to two Independent actions the nextturn, one could be used to unleash the spell whilethe other was used to defend; if not, her entiredice action would be consumed by unleashing thespell.25

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSDamage Levels. Some high-Essence Charms foregorolling damage at all and deal levels of damagedirectly. Unless noted otherwise, damage fromsuch effects can be soaked normally; futhermore,soak subtracts from automatic damage levels beforedamage dice. Thus, if a character with 7L soakreceived an attack which dealt 5 dice and 4 levelsof lethal damage, the attacker would roll 2L.A complement to automatic-damage effects areeffects which remove damage successes, ratherthan dice. Such effects function like the TwilightCaste anima power — they are used after damageis rolled, and subtract directly from the health levelsdealt to the target.26

CHAPTER 1 • CHARM DESIGNCHARM CREATION SUMMARYDETERMINE YOUR GOALS.What do you want your Charm to do?DECIDE IF YOUR CHARM IS IN THEME.Does your Charm fit into a standard Solartheme?Peerless SkillsLeadership EffectsThe SupernaturalSolar FireSelf-sufficiencyMartial Arts and SorceryAbyssal Mirror EffectsDoes your effect follow the guidelines?Is it sufficiently unique?Does it do something useful?Is it individually exciting?Does it follow the “Rule of Cool”?EXAMINE EXISTING CHARMS.Look to other Charms to see whether similareffects exist and use them to help define yourCharm.DETERMINE CHARM PREREQUISITES.Ability prerequisites:Essence prerequisites:Essence 1: Extremely basic toolkit CharmsEssence 2: Feats just outside of human potentialEssence 3: Effects that clearly and decidedly outmatchmortalsEssence 4: Powerful and broad-scope effects on amagical scaleEssence 5: Extensive effects at the limits ofconcievabilityEssence 6: Blatantly impossible and vast effectsEssence 7: Godlike, indescribable powerDETERMINE COST.Motes:1 mote: Basic, precise effects; “unlimited” uses2-4 motes: “Workhorse” effects; 10-20 uses5-9 motes: Significant effects; 5-8 uses10-15 motes: Huge, powerful effects; 3-5 uses16-20 motes: Earth-shattering and important effects,2 usesWillpower:To replace motes (10 motes = 1 Willpower)Scenelong effectsUnusually powerful or applicable Charms“Pushed” effectsLOOK OVER THE CHARM ONE LAST TIME.Double-check what you’ve created and give ita final test1-2 are easily accessible to all Exalts4-5 are only available to those dedicated to the ability27

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESCHAPTER 2EXTENDEDCHARM TREESARCHERYPHILOSOPHYArchery is the default ranged combat ability; assuch, its Solar Charms are fairly straightforwardand direct in their application. It is structured asa ranged mirror of Melee, as the multiple ArcheryCharms with exact Melee equivalents show.Solar Archery Charms are divided into twodistinct subtrees: the tree stemming from WiseArrow, which focuses on accuracy, and the treestemming from Fiery Arrow Attack, which focuseson damage. The first tree expands from a basic diceadder into range-boosting effects and Extra Actions.The second expands into self-sufficient effects andimproved damage boosters. Expansions to the treeshould follow the same basic pattern — individualCharm paths branching off the two central trees, ornew trees for other purposes.The key stylistic elements of Archery Charms aresimplicity and utility. Solar Archery Charms don’tusually provide tricks — they allow you to shootfaster, shoot harder, and shoot better. Any trickinesscomes in with the uses the Solar puts them towards.As they increase in power, Solar Archery Charmsshould focus on these elements, producing more29

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSpowerful and precise effects, without deviating intooverly narrow or unusual effects.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe Abyssal Archery Charms are largely either darkmirrors of existing Solar Charms, or draw explicitlyon the cold, necrotic Essence of the Abyss for theirpowers; as such, most do not have obvious Solarequivalents. Piercing Ghost Barb is an exception,since it illustrates the lack of defense-bypassingCharms in the current Solar tree.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSSight Without Eyes, Exalted. pg. 154. This Charm iseliminated.Accuracy Without Distance, Exalted pg. 154. ThisCharm’s Essence minimum is 2, in keeping withFlawless Archer Discipline. Its Charm prerequisiteis There Is No Wind.There Is No Wind, Exalted pg. 155. This Charmeliminates all difficulty penalties for called shotswithin the Solar’s range.Dazzling Flare Attack, Exalted pg. 156. This Charmcosts 1 mote per damage die to convert damagedice into automatic damage successes, instead ofits listed effect.Solar Spike, Exalted pg. 157. Damage dice equal tothe character’s Permanent Essence are convertedto automatic successes when a Solar Spike strikesa demon or undead creature. This Charm is notincompatible with Charms like Fiery Arrow Attackor Rain of Feathered Death.Inexhaustible Bolts of Solar Fire, Castebook: Dawn pg.71. The damage of these arrows is increased by theSolar’s Essence.Bolt of Fiery Devastation Technique, Castebook: Dawnpg. 71. This Charm’s Archery minimum is reducedto 5 and its Essence minimum reduced to 4. It’s costis reduced to 6 motes, 1 Willpower.NEW CHARMSUNHESITATING ARROW TECHNIQUECost: 4 motesType: ReflexiveDuration: InstantMinimum Archery: 5Minimum Essence: 3Charm Prerequisites: Trance of UnhesitatingSpeedWith a single sudden movement, the Solarstrings an arrow across her bow and releases itmore quickly than a bolt of lightning. Before otherscan even react, the arrow strikes its target. Uponactivating this Charm, the Solar may make a singlereflexive archery attack using her normal Dexterity+ Archery pool. This Charm may be used at any timeduring combat, even before the Solar’s initiative,but it cannot preempt another action — resolve thisattack after any other actions which have alreadybeen declared are resolved.BARRIER-BREACHING ARROWCost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Archery: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Arrow StormTechniqueWorking with exceptional grace and power,the Exalt makes an attack which is unhampered byany obstruction. The character makes a standardDexterity + Archery attack; however, the resultingattack cannot be blocked. In addition, this attackbypasses any cover (including shields) currentlyobstructing the target; the arrow will plungethrough the barrier without losing any power or30

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESaccuracy. Finally, the arrow cannot be stopped byarmor; the target must soak it using only her naturalsoak. Any obstruction made of Magical Materialswill be left undamaged; other materials will retaina small hole where the arrow passed through them.This Charm can be used to strike targets concealedentirely behind an obstruction if the Exalted hasaccess to a method with which to observe them(such as All-Encompassing Sorcerer’s Sight).REVERSAL OF FORTUNE STRIKECost: 4 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Archery: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Arrow StormTechniqueThe character’s mastery of archery has reacheda level at which ranged attacks are no danger toher. When she is the target of any ranged attack31

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSwith a physical component (including boulders,hurled characters, and other unusual missiles) shenocks an arrow to her bow and makes a reflexiveDexterity + Archery roll. If she rolls even a singlesuccess, her arrow successfully deflects the attackaway from herself and towards a new target of herchoice. Immediately apply the attack against thenew target, using the Exalt’s Dexterity + Archeryroll as the attack roll. This technique can evenbe used against incoming missiles which are notstrictly attacks (for example, giant hailstones) orarea attacks; in the latter case, only the portion of theeffect targeting the Exalt is redirected. If this Charmis used against a missile enhanced with Reversal ofFortune Strike or any other counterattack Charm,the missile is harmlessly deflected on a successfulroll, rather than being redirected.LITHE ARCHER DISCIPLINECost: 5 motesDuration: InstantType: Independent ActionMinimum Archery: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Shot Without DistanceExercise, Barrier-Breaching ArrowThrough intense practice with his chosenweapon, the Exalt has become deeply attuned tothe fundamental Essence flows of archery. On theturn he activates this Charm, the character maytake a single Independent Action in addition to hisstandard dice action. All actions taken and Charmsused with this independent action must make useof the Archery ability.Example: Harmonious Jade is facing off against abrotherhood of talented Terrestrial archers. On herinitiative, she activates Lithe Archer Discipline, grantingher an additional Independent Action. She uses herprimary action to move a full turn’s movement. Shethen splits her secondary action five ways, making oneattack at each Terrestrial; she reserves her Charm useso she can use Reversal of Fortune Strike against anyincoming arrows. Harmonious Jade couldn’t choose touse any of her split actions to dodge, since they can onlybe used for Archery actions.DEATH-UNLEASHING METHODCost: 10 motesDuration: InstantType: Independent ActionMinimum Archery: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Lithe ArcherDisciplineThe Exalt and her bow have become one;she has merely to think in order to unleash itswrath upon her foes. On the turn she activatesthis Charm, the character may take a number ofIndependent Actions equal to one-half her Archeryscore, rounded up. All Charms used with theseactions must use the Archery ability; in addition,all offensive actions taken must also use Archery.However, the character may freely use these actionsfor defense.STRIKE WITHOUT EFFORTCost: 3 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Archery: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Accuracy WithoutDistanceThe character has mastered the ability toeffortlessly launch powerful, precise attacks againsther enemies. When activating this Charm, thecharacter adds her Dexterity + Archery in dice toa single Dexterity + Archery roll.HEART-SEEKING MISSILECost: 3 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Archery: 5Minimum Essence: 332

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESPrerequisite Charms: Accuracy WithoutDistanceThrough a sublime understanding of thearrow’s true nature, the character can draw uponthe projectile’s desire to strike home. The attacksupplemented by this Charm cannot be dodged,bending through space to always strike true. Inaddition, if this attack strikes, it will uniformlystrike the target’s most vulnerable spot; double thesuccesses rolled on the damage roll for purposes oflost health levels. This attack is targeted throughmystic principles, and so can affect non-livingtargets like constructs or the undead; however,the additional damage effect is ignored againstinanimate targets.PERFECTED ARCHERY DISCIPLINECost: 7 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: Extra ActionMinimum Archery: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Heart-Seeking Missile,Shot Without Distance ExerciseThe character has fully internalized theprinciples of both speed and accuracy, allowingher to effortlessly strike numerous targets. TheExalt may make a number of attacks equal toher Dexterity, which may be against the same ordifferent targets. Each of these attacks receives33

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSautomatic successes on the attack roll equal to onehalfthe Solar’s permanent Essence, rounded up.TEN THOUSAND LOCUSTS MEDITATIONCost: 1+ motesDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Archery: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Death-UnleashingMethod, Perfected Archery DisciplineThe Solar draws back a single arrow uponher bow; when she lets it loose, it splits in midairinto thousands of identical arrows, each aimed ata different target. The character makes a singleDexterity + Archery roll; this roll is applied as anArchery attack against a number of targets equalto (Permanent Essence x 10) for each mote spentactivating the Charm. Any one target may beselected more than once, though no more times intotal than the Exalt’s Archery rating. Each targetmust defend against this attack separately.ELSEWHERE-HIDDEN BOWCost: 1 moteDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Archery: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Immaculate GoldenBowUsing this Charm, a Solar need not carry hisweapon with him in order to be constantly preparedfor combat. With but a gesture (and the expenditure34

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESof a mote of Essence), the character can banish hisbow and arrows Elsewhere. At any time, he mayactivate this Charm and spend 1 mote in order toreturn his bow directly to his hand. In addition,the character may activate this Charm and spend 1mote to call an arrow from his Elsewhere-banishedquiver directly onto his bowstring, freeing himfrom the need to carry ammunition with him. ThisCharm may only be used on a single bow at anyone time, and it must be one which the character iswell-familiar with, having used previously.DEADLY GLINTS OF SUNLIGHTCost: 1 moteDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Archery: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Immaculate GoldenBow, Solar SpikeThe character has entirely surpassed the needfor weapons, practicing Archery purely with hisown Essence. In one fluid motion, the Exalt tracesthe form of a glorious golden bow into the air withthe fingertips of one hand, while drawing back amote of glittering sunshine with the other, then,lets the attack loose upon an opponent. Attacksmade using this technique have an unlimited Ratean Accuracy equal to the character’s Essence, anddamage as a normal arrow of any type, plus theExalt’s Archery rating. Otherwise, these attacksfunction as basic arrows, though they disappearinto the ether moments after striking.ALL-CONSUMING SOLAR FLARECost: 4 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Archery: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Deadly Glints of Sunlight,Bolt of Fiery Devastation TechniqueThe Exalt channels the furious, vengeful aspectof the Unconquered Sun into her arrow, unleashinga powerful and deadly attack. As she draws backher bow, the tip of her arrow begins to glow; afterbeing fired, the arrowhead becomes white-hot, anda blazing cone of solar fire trails behind it, spanningtwo and a half feet in every direction. The light shedby this attack is equivalent to the 11-15 motes ofperipheral Essence level of anima display for Solars.The Exalt adds dice equal to her Permanent Essenceto this attack. In addition to its base damage, thearrow deals automatic levels of damage equal totwice the Exalt’s Essence. If the target is an undeador demon, this damage is aggravated.HEART-INCINERATING ARROWCost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Archery: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: All-Consuming SolarFlareThe character focuses the heat of a thousandsuns into a pinpoint of Solar Essence within thehead of a single arrow before firing it. Any targetstruck by such an arrow is incinerated from within.The Exalt makes a Dexterity + Archery attack asnormal; however, the arrow deals automatic,unsoakable health levels of aggravated damageequal to twice its raw damage in place of its normaldamage. Any target slain by this attack is consumedutterly in the Solar flames, leaving behind no bodyand no possessions besides items of the MagicalMaterials.BRAWLPHILOSOPHYBrawl is the rough-and-tumble fighter’s combatskill. Unlike Martial Arts, which focuses onelaborate, indirect combat, Brawl is in-your-35

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSface. Unlike Melee, which relies heavily on longtermenhancement effects, Brawl is all about themoment.The basic Solar Brawl tree is based around smallmodular parts — inexpensive, straightforwardInstant Charms which Combo together well. A SolarBrawler who attempts to fight without Comboswill find himself falling severely behind, sincemost of the Charms individually provide little heft.However, the Charms combine in myriad ways tocreate powerful and versatile strategies.Brawl, more than any other combat ability, isoffense-oriented. While individual Brawl Charmscan provide defensive effects, they should do soas part of an offensive maneuver. A Charm whichdid nothing but provide a parry would generallybe inappropriate for Brawl.Brawl is also much more modular and techniqueoriented than other combat abilities. As such, Brawlhas an unusually high complement of powerfuleffects that provide unusual tactical benefits,especially when used in conjunction with otherBrawl Charms.Some of the additional Brawl Charms in Castebook:Dawn integrate poorly with the remainder ofthe tree, both because they increase in EssenceMinimum too quickly and because they don’t fitwell with the principle of basic, Comboable Charms.As such, they are modified below to integrate moreeffectively into the tree.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe Abyssal Brawl tree contains several Charmswhose effects could usefully be mirrored by SolarCharms. The best example is Owl Seizes Mouse,an excellent grappling Charm. Solars do haveDragon Coil Technique to assist in grappling, butare otherwise deficient in that area; they coulduse additional Charms to improve their clinchingability.Solars also lack an inexpensive damage adder forBrawl; Abyssals have access to Scouring ErosionMethod as a second-tier Charm, which implies thatPounding Hammer of Devastation Technique issignificantly overcosted.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSFists of Iron Technique, pg. 157. This Charm addsone-half the character’s Brawl (rounded up) to boththe Accuracy and Damage of the attack.Dragon Coil Technique, Exalted Corebook pg. 158.This Charm has no Charm prerequisites.Crashing Wave Throw, Exalted Corebook pg. 159. ThisCharm’s prerequisite is Dragon Coil Technique.Shockwave Technique, Exalted Corebook pg. 160. ThisCharm’s prerequisite is Blood and Fist Prana.Pounding Hammer of Devastation Technique,Castebook: Dawn pg. 72. This Charm’s Brawlminimum is reduced to 4 and its Essence minimumreduced to 3. Its cost is reduced to 4 motes.Adamantine Fists of Battle, Castebook: Dawn pg. 72.This Charm’s new text is listed in the section “NewCharms.”NEW CHARMSPOUNCING TIGER STRIKECost: 5 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Brawl: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Dragon CoilTechniqueThe Exalt bounds forward with great speed,catching his quarry unaware. A character making36

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESuse of this Charm may move up to his standardsprinting move in the same turn, in order to reachhis target. He then makes a standard Strength orDexterity + Brawl roll to attempt a clinch, whichcannot be blocked or dodged. If the attack succeeds,the Exalt and his target immediately roll for controlof the clinch; however, the Exalt cannot deal damageif he gains control this turn.SCORPION BITE MANEUVERCost: 5 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Brawl: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Pouncing Tiger StrikeWith his opponent held firmly in his arms,there is nothing stopping the Solar from applyinghis full strength to cause brutal, painful injury.The character may activate this Charm uponsuccessfully winning a clinch contest; doing so adds(2 x Permanent Essence) dice of damage for thisclinch. In addition, the damage dealt by this clinchattempt is lethal.SLIPPERY FISH MANEUVERCost: 3 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Brawl: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Pouncing Tiger StrikeThe character’s slippery, twisting movementsmake her impossible to pin down, even for amasterful opponent. Upon activating this Charm,the Exalt deftly slips free of any clinch, leaving heropponent grasping thin air. This Charm can escapeany clinch, even one noted as being explicitlyinescapable; this is a perfect effect.37

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSHUMAN SHIELD ATTITUDECost: 6 motesDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Brawl: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Slippery FishManeuverThe Exalt can use a clinched foe to defendagainst incoming attacks. The character can onlyuse this Charm if he won the most recent attemptto control the clinch. When activated, the charactertwists in order to place his clinched opponent’sbody in front of an incoming attack he is awareof. This attack strikes the clinched foe as if it wereoriginally aimed at her.TEN-FOE GRASPCost: 3 motes to activate, 1 mote to maintainDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Brawl: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Slippery FishManeuverThe character has gained complete and totalcontrol of his body’s strength and agility, and canapply this to his wrestling. When supplementinga clinch attempt with this Charm, he can make thisattempt using even the smallest part of his body— a single finger can apply the pressure needed tohold a foe to the ground. Clinches supplementedby this Charm have a Rate of 5. In any turn whichthis Charm is used, the Exalt may freely take other,non-clinch dice actions, as long as he sets asideactions to do so or has actions granted by Charms.In addition, the character may clinch any number ofopponents simultaneously using this Charm — byholding them in unlikely positions, using the limbsof one to hold another, or otherwise using unlikelymethods to ensnare them.At the beginning of any turn in which a characterwishes to maintain a clinch begun using thisCharm, he must activate this Charm once for eachsuch clinch he wishes to maintain, or release thatopponent.INCORRIGIBLE BEAST STYLECost: 3 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Brawl: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Ten-Foe GraspWhen wrestling, the character bucks andwriggles like a wild riding animal throwing its rider— and he can always translate that motion intosuperior position in a clinch. The Solar automaticallywins a single contest for control of a clinch, evenif his opponent scored more successes on the rollthan he did. If two characters both use effects whichallow them to automatically win control of the sameclinch, ignore both effects and roll as normal.UNWITTING FOE-HAMMERCost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One turnType: SupplementalMinimum Brawl: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Crashing Wave ThrowFor the masterful Solar brawler, a foe is notjust an obstacle to overcome — but also a weapon.The character may activate this Charm on any turnin which she wins control of a clinch. This turn,instead of inflicting damage in the clinch as normal,he may choose to use the clinched opponent as aweapon with which to strike other foes. Such a foehas a damage rating equal to her Stamina (and otherweapon stats equal to 0). If such an attack hits, theclinched foe must soak raw damage equal to thatinflicted upon the target.UNENDING STRUGGLE MEDITATIONCost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower38

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESDuration: InstantType: Extra ActionMinimum Brawl: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Crashing Wave ThrowThe character’s tricky movements make herextremely difficult to pin down in a wrestlingcontest. This Charm must be activated in place ofthe standard beginning-of-turn roll for control ofthe clinch. Instead, the Exalt may make a numberof clinch control attempts equal to his Dexterity,following the rules on page 205 of the ExaltedPlayers Guide. The first attempt receives +1 die;each additional attempt receives an additional diebeyond those previously added.UNERRING FISTSCost: 3 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Brawl: 3Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Ferocious JabThe character channels pure Essence into theirattacks, striking with a determination that drawshis attacks inexorably towards his target. The Exaltadds dice equal to his Strength to a single Dexterity+ Brawl attack, although it cannot be a clinchattempt. This bonus cannot more than double thecharacter’s Dexterity + Brawl pool.39

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSSTONEFIST MEDITATIONCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Brawl: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Unerring FistsThe Exalt’s fists have become permanentlysuffused with Essence, drastically improving herability to fight unarmed. She may choose to deallethal damage with an unarmed attack, and mayparry lethal attacks barehanded, without a stunt.In addition, the the damage value of her unarmedattacks is increased by her Permanent Essence,and the accuracy and defense values are increasedby 2. Finally, all negative modifiers for unarmedattacks are reduced to 0. This Charm does notneed to be activated; it simply enhances the Exalt’scapabilities.ROLLING THUNDER APPROACHCost: 2 motes per attackType: Extra ActionDuration: InstantMinimum Brawl: 5Minimum Essence: 3Charm Prerequisites: Hammer on IronTechniqueHer fists move with unbelievable speed. Herbody bobs and weaves faster than any mortal. Witha sudden burst of speed, the Dawn caste unleashesa flurry of attacks against her foes. For each 2 motesshe spends, the Solar may make a single attackagainst an opponent this turn. These attacks sufferan increased difficulty of 1 for every three attackspurchased.EARTHBOUND STRIKECost: 4 motesType: SupplementalDuration: InstantMinimum Brawl: 5Minimum Essence: 3Charm Prerequisites: Ox-Stunning BlowBringing her fists up above her head, the Solarstrikes downward with a force that makes her targetbeholden to gravity like never before. If an attacksupplemented with this Charm successfully strikes,the target is unable to move for the remainder ofthe turn.SIDESTEP THROW TECHNIQUECost: 5 motesDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Brawl: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Ox-Stunning BlowThe character learns to use an enemy’s ownstrength against him. When subject to a hand-tohandattack that she is aware of, the Exalt sidestepsthe attack and makes a reflexive Dexterity + Brawlroll. Each success on this roll reduces the incomingattack roll by one success. (This is considered aparry for purposes of stacking defenses.) If theExalt rolls any additional successes beyond thoseneeded to reduce the attack to zero successes, shehas successfully grabbed her opponent’s arm (orother extremity) as he passes by her, and can usethe opponent’s own momentum to throw him.The opponent is immediately thrown one yard(as per the effects of Crashing Wave Throw) foreach additional success the Exalt rolled, up to amaximum number of yards equal of the successesrolled on the original attack roll. If the attacker isin some way anchored to the ground, the throwingportion of this Charm has no effect.DEADLY MERCURY STRIKECost: 5 motesDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Brawl: 5Minimum Essence: 440

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESINEVITABLE DESTRUCTION SPIRITCost: 7 motesDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Brawl: 4Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Sidestep ThrowTechniqueThe Exalt has learned that any defense leavesa worse opening elsewhere. When an opponentsuccessfully defends against an attack the Exaltmade (through parrying, dodging, or soaking theattack to zero dice), he may activate this Charmand reflexively attack his target again, doublingthe dicepool of his original attack. (This doubleddicepool may explicitly exceed the cap on Charmaddeddice.) This attack does not benefit fromany supplemental effects applied to the originalattack. This Charm may not be used to repeat acounterattack or any other reflexive attack (such asthose granted by Inevitable Destruction Spirit).TUMULTUOUS FISTS MEDITATIONPrerequisite Charms: Sidestep ThrowTechniqueWhen faced with an opponent’s oncomingblow, the character slides in close, unleashing aquick and deadly blow that will often undo hisopponent’s strike altogether. This Charm must beused in response to an opponent declaring an attackagainst the Exalt. After the opponent’s attack roll,but before damage, the Solar rolls a Dexterity +Brawl counterattack. The damage for this attack isrolled before that of the original attack. In addition,if the counterattack connects and its raw damageis greater than the number of successes rolled onthe original attack (or if the attacker is renderedunconscious or dead by the counterattack) then theopponent’s original strike has no effect; damageand all other effects are prevented. This Charm maynot be used in response to any counterattack.Cost: 5+ motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: Extra ActionMinimum Brawl: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Inevitable DestructionSpiritThe Exalt launches into a rapid-fire fury ofattacks against all nearby foes. The character maymake a single Dexterity + Brawl attack against eachfoe within hand-to-hand range. In addition, theExalt may choose to pay additional motes whenactivating the Charm. For each 5 motes spentbeyond the Charm’s initial cost, each attack madeby this Charm is applied an additional time againsteach target. No attack made by this Charm can beapplied more times than the Exalt’s PermanentEssence.41

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSBLOOD AND FIST PRANACost: 2 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Brawl: 2Minimum Essence: 1Prerequisite Charms: Ferocious JabThe Exalt channels Essence directly into hisstrikes, rendering them more deadly than those ofa mortal pugilist. The character adds damage diceequal to his Permanent Essence to a single Dexterity+ Brawl attack. This Charm may be activated afterthe attack hits, but before damage is rolled.MIGRAINE FORCE ATEMICost: 1 moteType: SupplementalDuration: InstantMinimum Brawl: 3Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Blood and Fist PranaWith a well-placed blow, the Exalt strikesdisorder and uncertainty into her foe’s mind. Ifthe attack supplemented by this blow strikes, thetarget loses a single temporary Willpower.VICIOUS ENCROACHMENT FISTCost: 5 motesType: SupplementalDuration: InstantMinimum Brawl: 4Minimum Essence: 3Charm Prerequisites: Shockwave TechniqueStriking with intense, unbridled might, theSolar’s fists knock aside all barriers and strike trueagainst their target. Any attack supplemented bythis Charm is unblockable. In addition, the strike’sforce sends shockwaves throughout the target’sbody, setting her limbs aflail and rendering herunable to properly fight; for the remainder of thescene, she receives a dice penalty to all physicalactions equal to one-half the Solar’s Brawl, roundeddown. Each turn on the target’s initiative, reducethese penalties by one. Multiple applications of thispenalty stack with one another.IRON TEMPEST STRIKECost: 3 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Brawl: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Shockwave TechniqueThe character’s strikes are forceful enough thatmortal protection provides no safety from them.If the attack supplemented by this Charm hitssuccessfully, it ignores armor; the target may onlyuse her natural soak against it.ADAMANTINE FISTS OF BATTLECost: 5 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Brawl: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Pounding Hammer ofDevastation Technique, Iron Tempest StrikeEssence concentrates around the character’shands, infusing them with great power. Strikessupplemented with this Charm deal automaticlevels of damage equal to twice the character’sPermanent Essence, in addition to their normaldamage. In addition, the Exalt may choose to havethese strikes inflict either lethal or bashing damage,even if using a weapon which normally inflictslethal damage.GOLDEN WARRIOR FISTSCost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Brawl: 6Minimum Essence: 642

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESPrerequisite Charms: Adamantine Fists ofBattleThe Exalt’s fists become entirely suffusedwith Solar Essence; they glow with brilliant light,and cannot be stopped by any force. Any strikesupplemented by this Charm will break throughany physical barrier without slowing (unless it ismade of one of the Five Magical Materials.) Forattacks against nonliving targets, strikes augmentedwith this Charm automatically deal enough damageto punch a fist-sized hole in the object or shatter it(depending on its construction.) When used againstliving opponents, the strike is unblockable andignores all soak and hardness — including bothnatural soak and that gained through Charms.MARTIAL ARTSPHILOSOPHYMartial Arts is a notable exception to the normalrules for Exalted Charms. Because Martial Artsstyles are universal, the idea of “high Essence SolarCharms” doesn’t apply in the same way; all Exaltedtheoretically have access to the same Charms.Furthermore, because each style is a self-contained,unique tree, the philosophy of existing Charms isless relevant to developing new ones. Therefore,instead of presenting extensions to existing Charmtrees, this section presents a complete, high EssenceMartial Arts tree.SOL INVICTUS STYLEIn the days of the First Age, the Solar Exaltedwere the undisputed masters of all Creation. TheSolars bestrode the world like collossi, and all thatthey desired was theirs. Many Solars wished tostudy powerful Martial Arts, but their ability withEssence was insufficiently subtle to create suchstyles of their own accord. As such, the humbleSidereal viziers of the Deliberative were taskedwith creating such styles for the Solars to enjoy.One of the most glorious was Sol Invictus Style,a Martial Art created to honor the Solar Exalted’spatron god and the Virtues he embodies.The Charms of the Greater Sol Invictus Styleincrease the character’s Virtues to superhumanlevels as part of their mechanical effect. This is notpurely a mechanical effect, however; the Exalt mustact in keeping with these increased Virtues duringthe time such Charms are in effect. For Solars, thismay result in points of Limit if they fail a roll orspend a point of Willpower to ignore them.Sol Invictus Style was created by the Sidereals toexplicitly harmonize with Solar animas, in a mannersimilar to how the Five Immaculate Dragon stylesharmonize with Terrestrials. As a result, severalunique benefits accrue to Solar Exalted who havemastered the Sol Invictus Form. Solars who knowthe Form Charm reduce the reduce the mote costto activate Charms of this style by 1 mote perpoint of Permanent Essence above 4. (This benefitcannot reduce the cost of any Charm below 1 mote.)Abyssals who learn this style are instead facedwith a surcharge of 1 mote per point of PermanentEssence above 4. (Using this style may also result inResonance gain for Abyssal characters.) In addition,Solar Exalted who have mastered the Form Charmmay Combo Charms with a One Turn duration fromthis Style as if they were of the Instant duration.A Solar practicing this style may use any weaponsmade of orichalcum as if he were unarmed. It doesnot permit the use of armor. The style is consideredto be a Sidereal Martial Art, even though it doesnot include sutras or other elements of other suchstyles.CHARMSDAWN’S CLEANSING LIGHTCost: 5 motesDuration: One turnType: Reflexive43

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSMinimum Martial Arts: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: NoneAs the Unconquered Sun begins his dailyjourney, he sends the day’s first light out to wipedarkness from the face of Creation; so it is with theDawn Caste, the Chosen Warriors of the Sun.The Exalt is surrounded by the pale aura of therising sun, and her body is tuned perfectly to theduty of combat. For the remainder of the turn, theExalt doubles her Dexterity + Martial Arts dicepool.SHINING SOLAR PILLARCost: 5 motesDuration: One turnType: ReflexiveMinimum Martial Arts: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Dawn’s CleansingLightAt noon, when the Unconquered Sun is at hisapex, he shines his light down eagerly upon everyliving soul and proclaims his might for all to see;so it is with the Zenith Caste, the Chosen Priestsof the Sun.During the turn in which this Charm is activated,the glorious light of the Sun shines out from theExalt’s body so brightly that none can look directlyupon him; even with eyes shut, the solar rays burndeep into an opponent’s eyes. The Exalt may addhis Martial Arts to any social rolls intended toimpress or intimidate while this Charm is active.This light also blunts the force of any blows whichdo strike him; it grants the Exalt +15L/+15B soakfor the turn.Any demons or undead who are within hand-tohandrange of the Exalt during this turn immediatelysuffer dice of Aggravated damage equal to twicehis Permanent Essence.HEAVENLY ARROW MEDITATIONCost: 5 motesDuration: One turnType: ReflexiveMinimum Martial Arts: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Dawn’s CleansingLightWhen the Sun begins his descent from the sky,he looks upon Creation for one last moment beforethe night, learning all he can about its arrangement.So it is with the Twilight Caste, the Chosen Scholarsof the Unconquered Sun.When the Exalt activates this Charm, he takes on thedull red glow of the setting sun. This light illuminatesall that is hidden and strange; while this Charm isactive, the Exalt can see the flow of Essence. Hemay add his Martial Arts in dice to any Perceptionrolls made during the turn, and receives a onesentencedescription of the effects of any Charm,spell, or other magical power used within his rangeof vision. He may see and strike dematerializedspirits as if they were materialized.In addition, the Exalt may make Martial Arts attacksthis turn out to a range of (10 x Permanent Essence)yards, by hurling blood-red bolts of pure Essence.These bolts have a base damage equal to Strength+ Essence and an unlimited rate.HOWL OF THE IRON WOLFCost: 5 motesDuration: One turnType: ReflexiveMinimum Martial Arts: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Dawn’s CleansingLightWhen the Unconquered Sun dips at last belowthe horizon and prepares for the new day, he doeshis work in secret so that none may see the truenature of the preparations he undergoes. So it44

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESis with the Night Caste, the Chosen Spies of theUnconquered Sun.When the Exalt activates this Charm, she isenveloped by the darkness of night. Identify acircular area centered on her and with a radiusequal to her standard movement. For the remainderof the turn, the Exalt may at any time reflexivelymove to any point within that circle, seeming toslip between the very currents of the air to arriveinstantly at her new destination. If she does thisin response to an attack, she may roll Dexterity+ Martial Arts as a dodge, to determine if shesuccessfully moves before the blow lands. She mayuse this movement to attack opponents from behindor otherwise bypass defenses. She may not bypassany impenetrable barriers with it, though she canmove through any barrier she could concievablybypass with a turn’s effort.VISAGE OF THE CROWNED SUNCost: 5 motesDuration: One turnType: ReflexiveMinimum Martial Arts: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Sun’s Shining Pillar,Heavenly Arrow Meditation, Howl of the IronWolfWhen Luna is in perfect alignment with theSun and he stands eclipsed, he enters into truecommunion with his fellow Incarna, and all thingsstand in perfect equality: night and day, sun and45

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSmoon, light and shadow. So it is with the EclipseCaste, Chosen Diplomats of the Sun.When the Exalt activates this Charm, he issilhouetted by a brilliant light shining behind him.While this Charm is active, the character is protectedby the sun’s corona from any harm that would bebrought to him by inhuman or spiritual forces. AnyEssence-wielding beings without human ancestry(including gods, demons, elementals, Fair Folk,behemoths, Dragon Kings, and ghosts, but notExalts, thaumaturgists, beastmen, or God-Blooded)suffer a difficulty on all attacks against the characterequal to his Permanent Essence. Foes with humanancestry suffer an increased difficulty of one-halfthe Exalt’s Essence, rounded down.SOL INVICTUS FORMCost: 10 motesDuration: One SceneType: SimpleMinimum Martial Arts: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Visage of the CrownedSunBy coming to understand the Sun’s magnificencein each of its positions, the Exalt learns to internalizethe power of the Unconquered Sun, mastering thelesser Solar path. The Exalt rapidly traces a katarepresenting the fivefold glory of Sol Invictus inthe air and adopts a stern, convicted stance.While performing the Sol Invictus Form, the Exalttaps into the true perfection that the UnconqueredSun embodies. She adds 5 to her initiative, bashingand lethal soak. She may also reflexively adda number of automatic successes equal to herPermanent Essence to any roll made during acombat; she may do this a number of times eachturn equal to her Permanent Essence.In addition, while performing the Sol InvictusForm, a Solar Exalt may reflexively activate the SolInvictus Style Charm corresponding to her Castefor free, once per turn. This activation costs nomotes and does not count as her Charm activationfor the turn.SOL’S UNDAUNTED LIGHTCost: 5 motesDuration: One turnType: ReflexiveMinimum Martial Arts: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Sol Invictus FormThe Exalt comes to understand the true natureof Valor. For the remainder of the turn, the Exalt’sValor is increased to its normal maximum plus one.She may channel Valor a number of times equal toits increased value this turn without spending apoint of Willpower to do so.In addition, the Exalt may reflexively attack anytarget a number of times this turn equal to herPermanent Essence, using her full Dexterity +Martial Arts pool for each. He may channel Valoron these rolls.SOL’S UNYIELDING LIGHTCost: 5 motesDuration: One turnType: ReflexiveMinimum Martial Arts: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Sol Invictus FormThe Exalt comes to understand the true natureof Conviction. For the remainder of the turn,the Exalt’s Conviction is increased to its normalmaximum plus one. She may channel Convictiona number of times equal to its increased value thisturn without spending a point of Willpower to doso.In addition, the Exalt may both reflexively parryand dodge each attack targeted against him thisturn, using his full Dexterity + Martial Arts pool foreach. He may channel Conviction on these rolls.46

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESSOL’S UNQUENCHABLE LIGHTCost: 5 motesDuration: One turnType: ReflexiveMinimum Martial Arts: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Sol Invictus FormThe Exalt comes to understand the true natureof Compassion. For the remainder of the turn,the Exalt’s Compassion is increased to its normalmaximum plus one. She may channel Compassiona number of times equal to its increased value thisturn without spending a point of Willpower to doso.47

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSIn addition, the Exalt has a healing pool for theturn equal to twice her Martial Arts score. Shemay reflexively spend points from this pool to healherself or anyone else within her Essence in yards,at the following rates: 1 point per 2 bashing levels,1 point per lethal level, 2 points per aggravatedlevel. She may channel Compassion to add twopoints to this pool.SOL’S UNIMPEACHABLE LIGHTCost: 5 motesDuration: One turnType: ReflexiveMinimum Martial Arts: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Sol Invictus FormThe Exalt comes to understand the true natureof Temperance. For the remainder of the turn,the Exalt’s Temperance is increased to its normalmaximum plus one. She may channel Temperancea number of times equal to its increased value thisturn without spending a point of Willpower to doso.In addition, any attacks which strike the Exaltthis turn have their damage reduced by a numberof levels equal to his Martial Arts, after damagehas been rolled. He may channel Temperance toincrease this number by two for a single strike.UNCONQUERABLE SUN STANCECost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One SceneType: SimpleMinimum Martial Arts: 7Minimum Essence: 7Prerequisite Charms: Sol’s Undaunted Light,Sol’s Unyielding Light, Sol’s UnquenchableLight, Sol’s Unimpeachable LightHaving fully internalized the virtues espousedby his patron deity, the Exalt allows his Essenceto fully harmonize with Sol Invictus, therebycoming to physically embody the Incarna. When acharacter activates this Charm, he begins to glowwith the brilliant light of the Sun, casting light asif he had spent 11-15 motes of peripheral Essence.The character manifests arms of pure golden light,enough to bring his total to four, in order to matchthe Unconquered Sun’s glory; these allow theExalt to take four Independent Actions each turn.Furthermore, the Exalt is clad in the glorious andinspiring golden rainment of the UnconqueredSun; due to its inspirational effect, neither he, norany who follow him, can fail Virtue rolls while thisCharm remains in effect, while anyone who wishesto attack him suffers an increased difficulty equalto half the Exalt’s Martial Arts, rounded up, due tohis imposing mien.In addition, each turn the Exalt may freely activateany of the Sol’s Light Charms from this style; theseactivations cost no motes of Essence, and do notcount towards the character’s Charm use for theturn.MELEEPHILOSOPHYMelee is a utilitarian ability. Much like Archery,Solar Melee Charms are designed to functionstraightforwardly, working directly towardsa clear goal. Most Charms perform a fairlystraightforward function, and follow logically fromtheir prerequisites. Following the lead of lowerEssence Charms, several of the more powerfulMelee Charms are mirrors or close relatives ofArchery Charms.Unlike Archery, however, Melee has access to alarge number of scenelong effects. With Charmslike Steel Devil Style at her disposal, a Solar Meleemaster can become incredibly powerful if given achance to activate her Charms.In addition, the overall layout of the Melee tree issignificantly more spartan and direct than even theArchery tree. Most Melee Charms straightforwardly48

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESexpand on the effect of their prerequisites. Forexample, the branch beginning with Hungry TigerTechnique contains increasingly powerful damageboosts; the Charms stemming off Dipping SwallowDefense grant more parry options. Any new MeleeCharms should follow a similar pattern.Melee also has the honor of being by far the mostextensive combat ability. Solar Melee derives fromthree different core trees: an offensive tree basedaround precise and damaging strikes; a defensivetree based around parries and counterattacks; anda utility tree based around weapon retrieval andranged attacks. Most new Melee Charms will branchout of these trees, since they cover the majority ofbasic Melee tasks (though there are exceptions, suchas the dual-wielding tree.)ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe Abyssal Melee tree largely mirrors the effectsof the Solar tree, providing similar offensive,defensive, and utility effects. Those effects whichare new generally consist of vampiric or deathlyeffects that would be inappropriate for Solars, sothere are no obvious Charms to mine for effects.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSOne Weapon, Two Blows, Exalted Corebook pg. 163.This Charm is eliminated.Peony Blossom Attack, Exalted Corebook pg. 163.This Charm’s prerequisite is Excellent Strike.49

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSRetrieve the Fallen Weapon, Exalted Corebook pg.163. This Charm’s type is Reflexive. Activating itrequires a dice action. This Charm can call to thecharacter’s hand any weapon he can see whichis currently unattended, not just weapons shepersonally owns.Call the Blade, Exalted Corebook pg. 163. This Charmis eliminated.Summoning the Loyal Steel, Exalted Corebook pg.164. This Charm’s Essence minimum is 2.Glorious Solar Saber, Exalted Corebook pg. 164.This Charm’s prerequisite is Summoning the LoyalSteel.Iron Raptor Technique, Exalted Corebook pg. 164.This Charm’s type is Supplemental.Sandstorm-Wind Attack, Exalted Corebook pg.165. The attack generated by this Charm hits onetarget and any other foes standing in a straightline between the Exalt and the target. Its cost is 5motes.Bulwark Stance, Exalted Corebook pg. 166. ThisCharm’s type is Reflexive.Heavenly Guardian Stance, Exalted Corebook pg.166. This Charm’s Melee minimum is 5. Its Essenceminimum is 3. Its cost is 4 motes, 1 Willpower.When used against an area-of-effect attack, theSolar may protect other targets within arm’s reachas well as himself.Fivefold Bulwark Stance, Exalted Corebook pg. 167.This Charm’s type is Simple.Protection of Celestial Bliss, Castebook: Dawn pg.74. This Charm’s Essence Minimum is reduced to5. This Charm provides a number of parries equalto one-half the Character’s Melee, rounded down.These parries remain available as long as the Essenceremains committed to the Charm. It may not blockattacks which are explicitly unblockable.Two Swords Technique, Castebook: Night pg. 70. ThisCharm allows the character to use the sum of therate of both his weapons, rather than simply thehigher of the two. If the character aborts to parry,he may parry each attack with his full Dexterity +Melee pool, up to his weapons’ total rate.Steel Devil Style, Castebook: Night pg. 71. ThisCharm’s prerequisites are Fivefold Bulwark Stanceand Ready in Eight Directions Stance. It does notrequire the use of two weapons.NEW CHARMSPERFECTED WARRIOR DISCIPLINECost: 6 motesDuration: InstantType: Independent ActionMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Iron Whirlwind AttackThe Exalt wields her blade masterfully,bringing it to bear with but a thought. On the turnshe activates this Charm, the Exalt may take anIndependent Action in addition to her normal diceaction. All actions taken and Charms used with thisIndependent Action must use the Melee ability.HUNDRED HUNGRY BLADES MEDITATIONCost: 10 motesDuration: InstantType: Independent ActionMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Perfected WarriorDisciplineThe character’s blade moves with a speedand finesse that outstrips even the imagination ofmortals; any who witness him act are left with onlythe faintest impression of steel cutting through theair. During the turn this Charm is activated, theExalted may make a total number of IndependentActions equal to one-half his Melee score, rounded50

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESup. All Simple Charms used with these IndependentActions must use the Melee ability; any attacks madewith these actions must also use the Melee ability,although they may freely be used for defensiveactions.ARMY OF ONE STANCECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Melee: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Hundred Hungry BladesMeditationThe character’s weapon cannot be stilled; itcuts a furious arc around her at every moment.For the remainder of the scene, the character maymake a number of Independent Actions each turnequal to her Melee score. All Simple Charms usedwith these Independent Actions must use the Meleeability. Any attacks made with these actions mustalso use Melee, though other defensive actions maybe taken freely.ILLUMINATING INFERNO STRIKECost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Whirlwind of SearingBlows51

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSThe Exalt’s weapon is suffused with Essence,blazing forth with a blinding, cleansing Solar light.If it strikes, this attack deals aggravated damage tothe target; its base damage is equal to the Exalt’sStrength plus his Permanent Essence, ignoring theweapon’s Damage rating.HEART OF THE SUN STRIKECost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Illuminating InfernoStrikeThe Solar’s weapon is sheathed in white-hotSolar flame, which burns like the very heart ofthe Sun that illuminates Creation. Any opponentstruck with it suffers a number of automaticlevels of lethal damage equal to twice the Exalt’sPermanent Essence, in addition to the attack’snormal damage.UNDAUNTED WEAPON TECHNIQUECost: 2 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Melee: 3Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Excellent Strike52

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESThe Exalt’s weapon strikes true, ignoring allbarriers and illusions that stand in its way. Thestrike supplemented by this Charm ignores allpenalties due to illusion or visibility, as well asthose due to shields or cover.STEEL-DENYING METHODCost: 4 motesType: ReflexiveDuration: InstantMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 3Charm Prerequisites: Undaunted WeaponTechniqueUtilizing the finest level of control, the Solar’smotions allow her to carefully manipulate thelocation of her foe’s weapon. With just the slightestflick of the wrist, it can be sent flying across theroom. When the Solar successfully parries an attackmade upon her with a hand-to-hand weapon, shemay reflexively activate this Charm to perfectlydisarm her opponent.SERPENT STRIKE TECHNIQUECost: 3 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Undaunted WeaponTechniqueThe Exalt’s weapon makes a rapid and deadlystrike upon her foe. When activating this Charm,the character adds Dexterity + Melee in dice to asingle Dexterity + Melee attack.STEEL SYMPHONY STANCECost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Melee: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Serpent StrikeTechniqueThe Exalt’s weapon moves majestically, cuttingcarefully choreographed arcs through the air —and her foes. For the remainder of the scene, thecharacter may add dice equal to her Melee ratingto all Melee attacks.INEVITABLE STRIKECost: 3 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Serpent StrikeTechniqueThe Exalt strikes with incredible precision,launching an attack which is certain to reach itstarget. The character makes a single Melee attackwhich is guaranteed to hit. If the net successes onthis attack are insufficient to hit, whether due toa poor roll or a defense reducing the attacker’ssuccesses, the blow still strikes the target, dealing theweapon’s base damage. This is a perfect attack.INVULNERABLE REDOUBT METHODCost: 6 motesDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Melee: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Dipping SwallowDefenseBringing her weapon to bear with unimaginableforce, the Solar completely deflects a single blow, nomatter how powerful. This Charm perfectly parriesa single attack which the Solar is aware of.FORMIDABLE BLADE DEFENSECost: 3 motesType: ReflexiveDuration: Instant53

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSMinimum Dodge: 5Minimum Essence: 3Charm Prerequisites: Invulnerable RedoubtMethodThe Solar’s weapon swiftly interposes itselfin front of any oncoming blow, bearing a powerstrong enough to withstand any assault. He mayadd a number of successes equal to half of hisDexterity + Melee pool, rounded down, to a singleparry attempt; alternately, he may make a reflexiveparry attempt with the same number of automaticsuccesses.SINGING BLADE BARRIER STANCECost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerType: SimpleDuration: One sceneMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 4Charm Prerequisites: Invulnerable RedoubtMethodSwinging his blade rapidly around himselfin artful, delicate arcs, the Exalt forms a nearlyimpenetrable barrier against all incoming objects.The blade’s quick movement produces an eeriewhistling sound, warning all enemies to stay back.For the remainder of the scene, the Solar may addautomatic successes equal to his Essence to all parryattempts, and may reflexively parry incomingattacks with the same number of automaticsuccesses.UNYIELDING ADAMANT DEFENSECost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One TurnType: ReflexiveMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Heavenly GuardianDefenseAgainst even the mightiest of onslaughts, aSolar can protect himself utterly. His blade blazingwith brilliant sunfire, the Solar may perfectly block anumber of attacks equal to one-half his Melee score(rounded up) at any point during this turn. ThisCharm may not block attacks which are explicitlyunblockable.This Charm may be included in Combos despiteits non-Instant duration.INCARNATE BLADE STANCECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One SceneType: SimpleMinimum Melee: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Unyielding AdamantDefenseThe Exalt’s weapon is her ultimate defense,standing vigilantly between her and anything whichmight bring her harm. For the remainder of thescene, the character may each turn perfectly blocka number of incoming attacks she is aware of equalto her Melee score. This Charm cannot block attackswhich are specifically unblockable, however. Aswith other Solar perfect parries, mundane weaponsmay not survive the parry attempt if used againstsufficiently powerful attacks.ICE AND FIRE ENTWININGCost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Melee: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Steel Devil StyleWith a single fluid motion, the Exalt unleashesa deadly combination — undoing an opponent’sstrike while returning one in kind, so quickly andelegantly that the two actions appear to be one.With this Charm, the character may perfectly parryany one attack. In addition, the character may makea reflexive counterattack against his attacker, whichhe does not roll; rather, it hits automatically with anumber of successes equal to the successes on the54

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESparried attack, regardless of successes rolled on thefoe’s defense. This is also a perfect effect.PERFECT CIRCLE STANCECost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: ReflexiveMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Ready in Eight DirectionsStanceThe character’s weapon cuts immaculate arcsinto air around her, making approaching her adangerous proposition at best. For the rest of thescene, whenever the character is attacked by anopponent within hand-to-hand range, she mayimmediately make a reflexive Dexterity + Meleecounterattack. As with Solar Counterattack, thisattack is rolled after the opponent’s attack butbefore the opponent’s damage, and cannot be madein response to any counterattack. In addition, thecharacter may choose to reflexively attack anyopponent who enters her hand-to-hand range withTWEAKING DEFENSE COSTSBecause of how dangerous attacks can be inExalted, no one factor affects combat balanceas heavily as the cost of defenses. Every combatcharacter buys defensive Charms — if she wantsto live, at least. Even slight changes to their usagecosts can have huge effects on how combat playsout.By default, Exalted makes powerful defense cheapfor Solars. With cheap access to persistent andperfect defenses, Solars are encouraged to quicklyobtain these Charms and to use them extensively.This strengthens the image of Solars as powerful,invulnerable warriors, but at the potential costof cool attacks — defenses are so efficient thatelaborate Combos and strange Charms oftenresult in poor mote economy for their users.Depending on how you want combat to work inyour game, you may want to consider changingthe costs of the key defensive Charms.Cheap DefenseThis approach moves even a little beyond theExalted corebook. This approach results in a gamewhere combat is a drawn-out battle of resourcedepletion, since most attacks will be triviallydefended against. For heavy stunters who aren’tinterested in using a lot of weird attack powers,this approach can work well. (This approach alsomakes Solars much more powerful in relation toother Exalts than they would otherwise be.)Seven Shadows Evasion — 4m. Heavenly GuardianDefense — 3m,1w. Fivefold Bulwark Stance — 4m,1w.Unyielding Adamant Defense — 6m,1w.Moderate DefenseUsing the costs given in Sol Invictus will result ina middle road — spending resources on the attackis still viable, but defense is still strong enough tomake expensive attacks inefficient and potentiallyunwise.Expensive DefenseIncreasing the costs of defense encourages theuse of offensive abilities, including extensiveCombos. This also makes combat significantlymore deadly and emphasizes tactical play, sincecareful rationing of resources is necessary toavoid death. This approach makes it easy for evenpowerful Solars to fall in battle to much weakeropponents, given bad luck or poor strategy.Seven Shadows Evasion — 8m. Heavenly GuardianDefense — 5m,1w. Fivefold Bulwark Stance — 8m,1w.Unyielding Adamant Defense — 8m,2w.55

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSher full Dexterity + Melee pool. This attack is notconsidered a counterattack.VENGEFUL ONSLAUGHTCost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Perfect Circle StanceWhen any enemy dares to strike at the Exalt, hereturns her blow with manyfold vengeance. Whenthe character is the target of a hand-to-hand attack,he may make a number of reflexive Dexterity +Melee counterattacks equal to his PermanentEssence. As with Solar Counterattack, these attacksare rolled after the opponent’s attack but before theopponent’s damage. This Charm cannot be used inresponse to a counterattack of any kind.MAGNIFICENT SUNBLADE STYLECost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Melee: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Glorious Solar SaberThe character’s golden weapon becomes evenmore incredible, making all others appear weakand unimpressive in comparison. The charactermay add additional points equal to her Meleescore to the statistics of her Glorious Solar Saber.In addition, the weapon becomes capable ofaccepting a hearthstone — should the characterhold a hearthstone up to the weapon, it will attachitself as if there were a hearthstone socket.This Charm may only be purchased once perinstance of Glorious Solar Saber; if the characterhas purchased Glorious Solar Saber more thanonce, she must identify which instance this Charmapplies to.UNEQUALLED BLADE ENHANCEMENTCost: 2 motes per point of enhancementDuration: IndefiniteType: ReflexiveMinimum Melee: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Retrieve the FallenWeaponThe Exalt’s weapon is practically an extensionof herself — and with time, she learns to enhance itwith Essence, just as she can her own body. Whenthe Exalt handles her favorite weapon and activatesthis Charm, a surge of golden Essence begins to flowthrough the weapon, charging it with power. Foreach 2 motes the Exalt spends when activating thisCharm, she may increase the weapon’s Accuracy,Damage, Speed, Defense, or Rate by 1, for as long asthe motes remain committed. No more motes maybe spent on this Charm than twice the Exalt’s Meleescore. This Charm can only be used on a singleweapon, generally the Exalt’s favored implementof battle, and it cannot be used on any weapon withan attunement cost.DANCING SCIMITAR TECHNIQUECost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Melee: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Unequalled BladeEnhancementThe Exalt focuses Essence into her chosenweapon, granting it a will of its own. The weaponbegins to float in the air next to the character. Forthe remainder of the scene, each turn the blade actsindependently of the character using her Dexterity+ Melee dice pool. Each turn, it may either make asingle attack, or perform a cascading parry limitedby its Rate. These actions may not be supplementedwith Charms. The weapon may move anywherewithin Essence yards of the character. The character56

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESmay continue to fight as normal using otherweapons.Opponents may attempt to knock the dancingweapon from the air. Attacks made against theweapon are at +2 difficulty, and it may reflexivelydodge with the Exalt’s Melee score. In addition, ithas bashing and lethal soak equal to the character’sMelee score. Any attack which succeeds, and whichdeals three or more levels of damage, knocks theweapon from the air, ending the effects of thisCharm.The Exalt may only place a single weapon inthe air at once using this Charm. At any time, ifthe weapon is within arm’s reach, the Exalt mayreflexively grab the weapon from the air and endthis Charm’s effects.RAIDING THE ROYAL ARSENALCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Melee: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Summoning the LoyalSteelThe Exalt has come to a great understandingof melee weapons, letting him create a personalattachment to several of them. After purchasingthis Charm, the character may develop a personalconnection to a number of weapons equal to his57

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSMelee score, allowing all of these weapons to beused with Summoning The Loyal Steel. The Exaltmay freely choose which weapon to summoneach time he activates the Charm. If he wishes toconnect to a new weapon after already reaching themaximum, he may choose which weapon he willcease his connection to; if that weapon is currentlybanished to Elsewhere, he must retrieve it beforeremoving the connection.HARMONIZING THE BLADECost: 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Melee: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Raiding the RoyalArsenalThe Exalt’s martial progress runs so deeplywithin his being that no weapon is foreign to him.Upon activating this Charm, the character caninstantly attune any weapon made of the MagicalMaterials, entirely bypassing the normal period ofhandling required. He must expend and committhe motes necessary to do so as normal. If theweapon is not orichalcum, he must pay double thecommitment cost and roll as normal if he wishes toreceive the Magical Material bonuses.UNMANNED ARMORY METHODCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Melee: 4Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Raiding the RoyalArsenal, Dancing Scimitar TechniqueWith but a gesture, the Exalt can summon upa retinue of self-willed weapons to protect himself— or to strike down his foes. Upon activating thisCharm, the character summons any number of theweapons he has currently banished to Elsewhereusing Raiding the Royal Arsenal. Each of theseweapons springs into the air and begins to act onits own, as with Dancing Scimitar Technique. Inaddition, the Exalt may reflexively banish any ofthe weapons back to Elsewhere by spending 1 moteat any point while this Charm is active.DEFT RAPTOR METHODCost: 3 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Sandstorm-WindAttackProjecting Essence through her weapon with greatfinesse, the Exalt can perform even the trickiest ofmelee maneuvers at a great distance. Using thisCharm, the character can make disarm attempts,marking attempts, and other called shots at a rangeof up to (10 x Permanent Essence) yards.FLARING HALO TECHNIQUECost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One SceneType: SimpleMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Corona of RadianceBrilliant, burning Solar light surrounds theExalt, flares leaping and crackling around himwith every step. For the remainder of the scene,all attacks against the character are at +1 difficulty,and any characters who attack her without using aweapon suffer dice of lethal damage equal to twiceher Permanent Essence. In addition, it takes onlythe slightest swing of a weapon to tear a flare awayfrom the halo and launch it at an opponent. Thecharacter can make a ranged attack using a flare byrolling Dexterity + Melee; such an attack deals basedamage equal to the character’s Strength + Essence,and has a range of (Permanent Essence x 10) yards.The range on these attacks is absolute; the Exalt58

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESsuffers no penalties for attacks made anywherewithin this range.THOUSAND CYCLONE ATTACKCost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: Extra ActionMinimum Melee: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Blazing Solar Bolt,Flaring Halo TechniqueThe Exalt swings his weapon in one brilliantarc, throwing off an arc of Essence which spreadsout to strike his foes. The character rolls his Dexterity+ Melee; this is applied as a ranged attack againstevery opponent within (Permanent Essence x 10)yards. Each target must defend against this attackseparately.SWORD-DANCER STYLECost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Melee: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Two SwordsTechniqueThe Exalt spins and moves with an uncannyfluidity, her two weapons arcing and cutting swiftlythrough the air. She becomes a deadly force whichno foe can withstand. For the remainder of the scene,whenever the Exalt takes a Melee attack or parryaction as a standard dice action, she receives a freeMelee action. At any time during the same turn, shemay make a reflexive attack or parry action with adicepool equal to the base, unmodified dicepool ofthe original attack or parry.The Exalt only receives this Charm’s effects whilearmed with two Melee weapons; the charactercannot make use of already earned free actionsand cannot gain new ones while holding fewerweapons, though the effects return immediately ifshe rearms herself. In addition, the character mustmaintain the swift, fluid motions of the style; if thecharacter takes no Melee action during any giventurn, the Charm’s effects end immediately. Finally,the character cannot make use of any other combatabilities to attack or block while the Charm is ineffect.THROWNPHILOSOPHYThrown is the least direct combat ability. Becauseits weapons are generally small and weak, Thrownis not the first choice of Exalts who are interestedin dealing obscene damage. Instead, Thrown tendsto downplay the straightforward approach andfocus more on its own unique strengths: stealthand precision. Thrown Charms often grant effectslike superior attacks from cover or precise attacksthat cripple rather than wound. Solar Thrown alsohas a subtheme of affecting weapons in the air —riccocheting off of obstacles or staying in the air toattack again and again.It is still important to deal damage in combat,however, so Thrown also has some Charms to boostits damage potential. The best example is Cascadeof Cutting Terror, which is purposely designed tostrengthen Thrown attacks in compensation forthe weakness of Thrown weapons. This effect isundercosted compared to similar effects in othercombat abilities because of Thrown’s weakness. NewCharms in Thrown can be similarly undercosted ifthey fit a similar bill.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe Abyssal Thrown Charm which stands out isLightning Clutch of the Raptor, which representsa ranged attack parry. There is currently no Solarequivalent, though one would be reasonable.Beyond that, the remaining Abyssal Charms parallelSolar Charms, have explicitly necrotic effects, or59

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSprovide self-sufficiency (along the lines of FierySolar Chakram.)EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSFiery Solar Chakram, Exalted Corebook pg. 169. ThisCharm’s type is Supplemental.Shower of Deadly Blades, Exalted Corebook pg. 169.This Charm’s Essence Minimum is 3, in keepingwith its prerequisite.Ricochet Weapon Technique, Castebook: Dawn pg.74. This Charm costs 1m; it imposes no difficultypenalties on the attack.NEW CHARMSCHAKRAM-SUMMONING TECHNIQUECost: 1 moteDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Thrown: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Returning WeaponConcentrationThe Exalt is never without ammunition, andneed not fear running out. Upon activating thisCharm, the Solar calls a single throwing weapon heknows well to his hand, from wherever it might lie.Similarly, the character may banish a single weaponto Elsewhere by spending a mote while holding it.At any given time, the Solar may have a number ofweapons in Elsewhere equal to his Thrown score.All weapons banished or retrieved by this Charmmust be weapons the Exalt is familiar with and hasused or practiced with before.Duration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Thrown: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Falling Icicle StrikeFrom an unseen vantage point, the Exalt strikeswith deadly accuracy. The Solar makes a Dexterity+ Thrown attack as normal against a single targetwho is unaware of the Solar’s attack. Regardlessof the roll, however, every die produces at leastone success. (Dice which roll 10 still count as twosuccesses.) This Charm is only effective on anattack made from surprise — it has no effect onattacks made against targets aware of the Exalt’spresence.DISFIGURING HATCHET PRANACost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Thrown: 5Minimum Essence: 5ARTERY-SEVERING STRIKECost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower60

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESPrerequisite Charms: Artery-Severing StrikeThe Exalt’s weapon strikes from surprise atthe target’s most vulnerable spots, leaving himcrippled and scarred. The Exalt makes a Dexterity+ Thrown attack as normal against an unawaretarget. If it strikes, however, no damage is rolled;instead, the Exalt reflexively rolls her Dexterity +Thrown against the target’s Stamina + Resistance.For each net success on this roll, the target loses asingle point of Strength, Dexterity, or Appearance,at the Exalt’s choice. If this reduces Strength orDexterity below 1, the target is rendered immobileand cannot act in any physical fashion. Againstmortals, this loss is permanent. Against Exalts, thisdamage recovers at the rate of one point per week.This Charm is only effective when this attack ismade from surprise — it has no effect on targetsaware of the Exalt.SWEET NOTHINGS WHISPERCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Thrown: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Disfiguring HatchetPranaThe Exalt’s mastery of his weapon is absolute;when he strikes to kill, the victim’s last memory isthe sweet whisper of the weapon arcing throughthe air to end her life. The Exalt makes a Dexterity+ Thrown attack against a single unaware target;if the attack strikes, the target dies instantly. Thisattack must be made from surprise; it has no effecton a target who is aware of the character.INTO THIN AIR ATTACKCost: 8 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Thrown: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Mist on Water AttackThe Exalt can slip into thin air, seeming tomomentarily vanish even when engaged directlywith her foes. Upon activating this Charm, thecharacter effortlessly slips behind a single opponentof her choice, and makes a Thrown attack againsthim. The attack supplemented by this Charm istreated as coming from surprise even if the targetwas aware of the Exalt’s presence, due to her suddenchange of location; in addition, this attack strikesfrom behind the opponent, with all the standardeffects of such attacks.CHRYSANTHEMUM MISSILE TECHNIQUECost: 2 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Thrown: 3Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Triple-Distance AttackTechniqueThe character need never be without a suitableweapon, having learned to channel deadly Essenceinto any mundane object. The Solar may use anyobject he can physically throw as a weapon for asingle attack. When he announces the attack, thecharacter must divide (Thrown + 1) points amongstthe Accuracy, Damage, and Rate of the attack; thisdivision applies to all attacks made using thisCharm this turn. This division should follow theproperties of the object being thrown; an oblongvase would be unlikely to have high Accuracy butmight deal reasonable Damage, for instance.PLUCKING THE RIPE PEACH MEDITATIONCost: 2 motesDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Thrown: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Triple-Distance AttackTechniqueWhen faced with incoming missiles, the Exaltcarefully and calmly plucks them from the air,61

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSleaving herself unscathed. When subject to a rangedattack with a physical component, the charactermay roll a Dexterity + Thrown parry; if this reducesthe attack to zero successes, she has successfullycaught the projectile, which she may then do withas she will. This Charm may be used against areaattacks such as the Death of Obsidian Butterflies, inwhich case the Exalt catches only those projectilesaimed specifically at herself.TRAITOROUS AMMUNITION TECHNIQUECost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Thrown: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Plucking the Ripe PeachMeditationThe character’s skill allows him to catchprojectiles aimed at him and launch them back athis attackers. When the Exalt activates this Charm,it completely blocks a single ranged attack thecharacter is aware of, even if that attack could notnormally be blocked. In addition, the charactermay choose to catch the projectile. If he doesso, he captures it within a thin web of Essence,allowing him to hold it regardless of its weightor other dangerous qualities. In addition, thisEssence maintains any magical properties of theprojectile (for example, a Charm-enhanced flame.)The character may continue to hold the projectilefor the remainder of the scene.62

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESAt any point, the Solar may choose to throw anyprojectile he is currently holding which was caughtusing this Charm as a dice action. To do so, he makesa standard Dexterity + Thrown attack roll. Use theoriginal statistics for the attack, except substitutethe Solar’s new attack roll for the original roll.This Charm may be used to block area attacks, inwhich case the Exalt only grabs those projectilesaimed at him, and can only return the attack againsta single opponent. It may be used on any sort ofattack, even those with no physical component; theExalt may find himself gingerly holding globes offire, streams of acid, or other unusual projectiles.HUNDRED GOLDEN KNIVES APPROACHCost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Thrown: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Fiery Solar ChakramThe Exalt has no need for ammunition, callingupon the Essence of the sun to arm herself. Forthe remainder of the scene, whenever the characterwishes to make a Thrown attack, she reflexivelycreates a shining golden weapon of Essence inthe shape of her favored weapon. These Essenceweapons have an Accuracy and Damage equal tothe Exalt’s permanent Essence, an unlimited Rate,and a range of (20 x Permanent Essence) yards.BRILLIANT FALCON ATTACKCost: 8 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Thrown: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Shower of DeadlyBladesWith the simplest flick of her wrist, the Exaltlaunches a shower of fiery Essence at her opponent.The character throws a single Thrown weapon,which splits midair into a number of perfect goldenduplicates equal to the character’s Thrown score.The Exalt rolls a single Dexterity + Thrown attack,which is applied against a single target as a numberof attacks equal to the Solar’s permanent Essence.TEN-HAND TWIRLING CHAKRAM ASSAULTCost: 10 motesDuration: InstantType: Extra ActionMinimum Thrown: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Brilliant Falcon AttackThe Exalt unleashes an incomparable torrentof blades upon his foes. The character makes asingle, twirling motion, releasing a thrown weapon.This weapon splits in midair, splintering into tinyjagged shards which fly out in all directions. Thecharacter makes a single Dexterity + Thrown attackroll; apply this attack once to every foe within theweapon’s normal range.ENDURANCEPHILOSOPHYSolar Endurance Charms have a fairly unique setup;whereas most Solar Charms exist in trees that beginfrom a small set of initial Charms and branch outin a variety of directions, the Endurance trees startwith a large number of base Charms but rarelybranch out. This structure has been consistent inSolar Endurance Charms thus far, so new Charmsshould bear it in mind.The Charms themselves primarily serve to reduceor eliminate the Exalt’s need for basic resources— food, water, air, rest, and even the mysticalresources of Essence and Willpower. (Lore is theproper ability for Charms which directly affect ortransfer Essence and Willpower, but Endurancecan affect their regain.) As the Charms increase inpower, they should grant the Exalt an increasedability to do without all of these needs. Endurance63

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSalso empowers an Exalt to go beyond the limits ofhis basic capabilities for a brief time, by drivinghimself harder than normal, as seen in Charms likeTiger-Warrior’s Endurance. These Charms shouldgrant a character an increasingly great ability totap into his deepest reserves as they increase inpower level.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSBesides Ox-Body Technique, there are six AbyssalEndurance Charms; one is a strictly death-relatedeffect and the others are each parallels of existingSolar Charms; as such, there are no new Charmsto be drawn from this source.However, in Abyssal Survival, the Charm EssenceEngorgement Technique suggests a Solar equivalent.For Abyssals this Charm appears under Survivalbecause it serves as a reservoir of vital Essencewhen operating in Creation; for Solars, however, asimilar effect is more appropriate to Endurance.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSFront-Line Warrior’s Stamina, Exalted Corebookpg. 170. This Charm’s Essence minimum is 2, inkeeping with its Prerequisite.Battle Fury Focus, Exalted Corebook pg. 171. ThisCharm has no prerequisite.Sleep of Death Technique, Castebook: Zenith pg. 72.This Charm’s Endurance Minimum is 3. Its EssenceMinimum is 3.Extended Life Prana, Castebook: Zenith pg. 72.This Charm’s prerequisite is Transcendent Body,below.NEW CHARMS64

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESRADIANT ESSENCE TECHNIQUECost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Endurance: 1Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: NoneWhen the Solar Exalted have a need for deeperreserves of power, they turn to their liege, thesun. Purchasing this Charm grants the Exalt anadditional 10 points of Peripheral Essence, storedin a special Radiant Essence pool. Motes in thispool cannot be recovered through respiration,hearthstones, or Charms; instead, they regenerateat the rate of 2 motes per hour that the Solar spendsin direct sunlight. An Exalt who is inside, or undercloud cover, does not recover these motes.A Solar may purchase this Charm a number oftimes equal to her Permanent Essence.IMMACULATE STAMINA PRANACost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Endurance: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: NoneThe Solar’s body is tough and resistantbeyond that of even the most durable mortal. Themaximum rating of the Solar’s Stamina attributeis increased by one; she may raise it to this newhigher value using Experience. This Charm doesnot need to be activated; it simply improves theExalt’s capabilities.TRANSCENDENT BODYCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Endurance: 565

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSMinimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Tireless Runner’s Stride,Ascetic Monk’s Purification Discipline, Sleepof Death TechniqueThrough the focused application of Essenceflows to his own being, the Exalt has transcendedeven the most basic biological needs. An Exaltwho has learned this Charm no longer needs toeat or drink (although he may do so as normal, ifhe chooses); he will always remain nourished asif eating the highest-quality food. The Exalt neednot sleep, though again he may choose to do so ifhe wishes; he may regain Willpower once per daythrough ten minutes of focused meditation, as ifhe had just awoken from a night’s sleep. The Exaltneed no longer breathe, allowing him to avoid theeffects of harmful gas and journey to airless locales.Finally, the Exalt never becomes weary as a resultof normal endeavors; he can move at as much asa fast jog or perform similarly strenuous activitieswithout becoming at all fatigued or tired. The effectsof this Charm need not be activated; it permanentlyenhances the Exalt’s basic capabilities.DRAGON’S TOUGHNESSCost: 8 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 health levelDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Endurance: 4Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Tiger Warrior’sEndurance66

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESUpon activating this Charm, the Exaltbecomes as tough and endurant as a dragon. Forthe remainder of the day, the character suffers nofatigue and does not need to sleep. The characterregains Essence as if he were sleeping, at a rate of 8motes per hour. In addition, the Character gains anumber of temporary additional health levels equalto his Endurance. Finally, the character suffers nowound penalties for the remainder of the day.The health level paid to activate this Charm iscommitted; it cannot be recovered while theCharm is in effect. Furthermore, in order to healit, the character must first spend a day withoutperforming any significant strenuous feats. If thisCharm is used on consecutive days, an additionalhealth level must be paid for each.WAR GOD’S FORTITUDECost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Endurance: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Dragon’s ToughnessThe Exalt’s endurance is great enough tochallenge the unyielding fortitude of Creation’sfive Gods of War. Upon activating this Charm, thecharacter’s body becomes perfectly solid, able towithstand the most grueling torments thrown atit. For the remainder of the day, the character’sStamina and Health Levels are both doubled. Thecharacter suffers no fatigue or wound penaltieswhile this Charm is in effect, and has no need tosleep. In addition, the character has access to anumber of additional motes of Peripheral Essenceequal to four times his Endurance, and additionalTemporary Willpower equal to his Endurance, bothof which extend their pools beyond the normalmaximum. These points are the first expended, andfade when the Charm’s duration ends. Finally, thecharacter regains Essence at 8 motes an hour evenwhen not completely resting.The health level paid to activate this Charm iscommitted; it cannot be recovered while theCharm is in effect. Furthermore, in order to healit, the character must first spend a day withoutperforming any significant strenuous feats. If thisCharm is used on consecutive days, an additionalHealth Level must be paid for each.DRAGON-LINE BODY MEDITATIONCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Endurance: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Willpower-EnhancingSpiritThe Exalt’s body becomes tapped into thefundamental flows of Essence throughout Creation,learning to gather up such energy through carefulalignment with Essence flows. After learning thisCharm, the character’s Essence regain is doubled— she regains 8 motes per hour while performingrelaxing activities, and 16 motes per hour whileat a state of complete rest. This Charm need notbe activated; it permanently enhances the Exalt’scapabilities.REPOSE-IN-BATTLE APPROACHCost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Endurance: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Dragon-Line BodyMeditationFurthering her attunement to the fundamentalflows of Essence, the character comes to find eventhe drudgery of manual labor or the terrifyingthroes of combat restful. During the day this Charmis active, the character regains Essence at all timesat her at-rest rate, regardless of circumstances; eventhe fiercest battle or the most backbreaking workstill counts as perfect rest.67

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSIRON WILL CONCENTRATIONCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Endurance: 4Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Repose-in-BattleApproachThe character’s force of will is bolstered by herfundamental attunement to the flows of Essence.When the character rolls Conviction to recoverWillpower, she recovers two points of temporaryWillpower for each success rolled. This Charm doesnot need to be activated; it permanently enhancesthe Exalt’s capabilities.SELF-IMMOLATING POWER METHODCost: 1 aggravated health levelDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Endurance: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Iron WillConcentrationThe Exalt has learned to draw upon his deepeststores of Essence, even if it requires destroying hisbody in the process. Upon activating this Charm,the character regains his Endurance in motes ofEssence, or two temporary Willpower.This Charm explicitly ignores the one-Charm-perturnlimit; it may be used in a turn in which anotherCharm has already been activated, and vice versa.It may also be activated on a turn in which thecharacter is preparing to cast a spell.PERFORMANCEPHILOSOPHYPerformance is the ability of raw emotion. Throughtheir performance, characters can evoke love, hate,or anything in between. Solar Performance Charmswork to maximize this power.Performance Charms at low levels tend to focus onthe mechanics of the performance itself — grantingdice bonuses or other improvements to the actual actof performing. As the Charms increase in Essence,however, they become capable of directly affectingthe emotions and thoughts of observers. As theirpower increases, they can inflict increasinglystronger emotions, or affect deeper parts of theobservers — their memories (as with MemoryReweaving Discipline) or their personalities, forexample.In keeping with the Solar thematics, there is asignificant subset of Performance Charms whichdeal specifically with inspiring heroism and leadingmilitarily. These effects grow out of Charms (likeHeroism-Encouraging Presence) which inspireemotions, but as they increase in Essence they candiverge more and more from the basic methodoloyof Performance. (Ideal Battle Knowledge Pranaexemplifies this.) Other Charms could also strayfrom strictly dealing with Performance if they fallinto this same category (or related areas, as withDragon-Soul Enlightening Method.)ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe primary Abyssal Performance Charms whichdo not directly duplicate the effects of Solar Charmsare those which provide attacks — Withering Dirgeand its like. While it might be possible to justifysuch an effect for Solars, such effects would at bestbe tangential. The other Charms, as noted above,are generally equivalent to existing Solar Charms.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSRespect-Commanding Attitude, Exalted Corebook pg.172. This Charm costs 3 motes.68

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESMasterful Performance Exercise, Exalted Corebookpg 174. This Charm functions for all varities ofperformance, including singing or instrumentplaying,dancing, oration, and acting.Graceful Reed Dancing, Castebook: Zenith pg. 76.This Charm is eliminated.Gender-Concealing Meditation, Castebook: Zenithpg. 76. This Charm’s prerequisite is King of MasksTechnique.Husband-Seducing Demon’s Dance, Castebook:Zenith pg. 76. This Charm’s prerequisite is Heart-Compelling Method. This Charm’s effects can bechannelled through music as well as dance.NEW CHARMSIMMACULATE CHARISMA PRANACost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Performance: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: NoneThe Solar’s sociability is unsurpassed amongsteven the great courtiers and performers of Creation.The maximum rating of the Solar’s Charismaattribute is increased by one; she may raise it to thisnew higher value using Experience. This Charm69

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSdoes not need to be activated; it simply improvesthe Exalt’s capabilities.IDENTITY-SHIFTING SONGCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Performance: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Heart-CompellingMethodWith an intricate and subtle performance, theSolar reaches deep within his audience and affects thevery nature of their hearts. The character may makea performance of any kind; when it is concluded,she must roll Manipulation + Performance. Anyaudience members with a Permanent Essence of lessthan or equal to the number of rolled successes havetheir Nature changed to one of the Exalt’s choice.Those who are affected will alter their behaviorin order to match their new nature, and regainWillpower based on it as well. This effect lasts forone day by default; this duration is increased byone day for each success by which the Solar exceedsthe character’s Permanent Essence.This Charm has no effect on characters with aPermanent Essence greater than the Exalt’s.VIRTUOUS COURTIER’S DANCECost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Performance: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Heart-CompellingMethod, Phantom-Conjuring PerformanceThe Solar’s performance reaches deep withinthe hearts of his audience, fanning the flames of theirvirtues — or snuffing them out. The character makeshis performance as normal. Once he has concluded,the Exalt rolls his Manipulation + Performance,against a difficulty of 3. For each success he achievesbeyond the difficulty, he may increase or decrease asingle Virtue of the audience members by one point,to a maximum of 5 or minimum of 1. Those whoare affected will alter their behavior to match theirnew Virtue ratings. This effect lasts at full strengthfor a period of one day; afterwards, the lost Virtuepoints return, or the gained points vanish, at a rateof one point per day.This Charm cannot affect those with a PermanentEssence greater than the Solar’s.PERCEPTION-SHIFTING DANCECost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Performance: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Memory ReweavingDisciplineThrough subtle cues inserted deep within thefabric of a performance, the Solar can leave hisaudience with subtly altered perceptions — causingchanges that will last far beyond the end of theshow. The Solar must craft an intricate performancewhich revolves around a single central theme,which reaches deep into the subconscious mindsof the observers. After the show has concluded, theaudience members find their perceptions of realityshifted to match the themes the Exalt has chosento present.Upon concluding the performance, the Solar rollsManipulation + Performance. The number ofsuccesses indicates how significantly the Exalt canaffect the senses of his audience — one success onlyallows him to make almost unnoticeable changes,while five will let him completely alter the way atarget perceives any given situation. After the roll,the Exalt must select a specific circumstance thatrelates to the theme of the performance, and dictatein what way the audience members’ perceptionswill be altered in that circumstance. This effect lastsfor a period of days equal to the Exalt’s PermanentEssence rating.70

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESThis Charm does not affect people with PermanentEssence greater than the Exalt’s.INSIGHT-CONVEYING PERFORMANCECost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Performance: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Virtuous Courtier’sDanceThrough a deceptively simple yet deepperformance, the Solar grants a flash of insight to heraudience, bringing to them in one sudden momentthe solutions to the intractable problems they face.When beginning her performance, the Solar mustselect a theme — politics, family, romance, or moneywould all be appropriate themes, as would anger,lust, or happiness. Each audience member perceivesthe performance differently, seeing reflected in itone of his own problems — specifically, the mostprevalent problem that shares a connection with thetheme. As the performance continues, the audiencesees it build to a climax in which the solution totheir problems is revealed. As the performanceconcludes, the audience realizes that the correctcourse of action lies before them. Each audiencemember may immediately roll Conviction toregain Willpower, as if he had just received a fullnight’s sleep. In addition, each may now channelConviction on any rolls made while following thecourse of action suggested by the flash of insight.As an alternate use, if the Solar is familiar with aspecific problem that one or more audience membersseek an answer to, she may select a specific insightto grant. This need not be a legitimate insight; it maybe a dead end or a purposely destructive “solution.”In this case, the Solar must roll Manipulation +Performance; only those with a Permanent Essenceless than the number of successes rolled by the Solarare affected by the Charm. In all cases, those witha Permanent Essence greater than the Exalt’s areimmune to the effects of this Charm.INSPIRING DANCE OF MASTERYCost: 20 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Performance: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Insight-ConveyingPerformanceThrough the sublimely enlightening aspects ofher performance, the Solar can actually improve thecapability of her audience in a selected field. TheSolar crafts an exquisite performance which focuseson either a specific skill (for example, thievery) ora specific task (for example, deposing the crueltyrant of one’s home city.) In the former case, theSolar should identify a skill which is as broad asa single Ability, or narrower; in the latter case, heshould pick a task with an unambiguous definitionand a clearcut definition of success. In either case,the Solar’s performance thematically highlights theselected skill or task, symbolically demonstratingit and infusing the demonstration with incrediblepower. Those who observe the performance will findthemselves energized and empowered by it; uponleaving, they will find themselves excelling in thetask at hand. At the conclusion of the performance,the Solar rolls Charisma + Performance; for each71

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSsuccess achieved on this roll, each member of theaudience receives a bonus die on rolls made usingthe selected skill, or with the primary purpose ofcompleting the selected task. This Charm may addno more dice than the Solar’s Performance rating;the effect lasts for a number of days equal to hisPermanent Essence.The dice granted by this Charm count towards thedice adder limit for Exalts, though the number ofdice given by this Charm on its own may exceedan Exalt’s dice cap. For example: Tepet Alira, aDragon-Blooded with Craft 3 and no specialties,witnesses a performance by Sunlit Plateau, dealingwith the elegance of craft, for which the Solar rolls5 successes. For the duration of the effect, TepetAlira may add 5 dice to all Craft rolls she makes;however, she may not use Charms to add any diceto such rolls, since 5 dice already exceeds her diceadder cap.GRACE IN ADVERSITY STYLECost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerType: SimpleDuration: One sceneMinimum Performance: 5Minimum Essence: 3Charm Prerequisites: Phantom-ConjuringPerformanceWith this Charm, the Solar lends an epic,mythic quality to each of her actions. Every step,every movement, is striking and powerful; storieswill be told about it until the end of time. Wheneverthe Exalt is awarded a stunt during this scene, shemay double either the dice awarded or the motesregained.JOY IN DESPAIR METHODCost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerType: SimpleDuration: One sceneMinimum Performance: 5Minimum Essence: 4Charm Prerequisites: Grace in AdversityStyleWhen others conspire to defeat the Solar andthrown down his works to ruin, he remembersthe secret to keeping a warmth in his heart and asmile on his lips. The first time during each turnthat someone in the Solar’s direct presence spendsa point of temporary Willpower on an action thatdirectly opposes his goals, the Exalt may regain apoint of temporary Willpower.PIED PIPER MEDITATIONCost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Performance: 3Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Respect-CommandingAttitudeWith an haunting and enchanting song, theSolar entrances her listeners to follow her wherevershe goes. Anyone with a Willpower less than theExalt’s Permanent Essence becomes rapt withinterest automatically; he can only stand andcontinue to watch the Solar’s performance. If anyother observers have Permanent Essence less thanor equal to the Solar’s, she may roll Charisma +Performance; any observers with a PermanentEssence less than the number of successes rolledare similarly affected. Characters with a PermanentEssence greater than the Solar’s are unaffected.While characters are entranced in this fashion, theywill follow the Solar if she moves away from themat a reasonable pace. They will not attempt to crossobviously impassable or dangerous crossings, butthey will otherwise do anything in their power tofollow the Solar wherever she may lead.THEFT OF FACES TECHNIQUECost: 10+ motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Performance: 572

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESMinimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: King of MasksTechniqueLike the King of Masks Technique, this Charmallows the Exalt to take on the appearance of analternate identity. Unlike the former Charm,however, the Theft of Faces Technique allows thecharacter to take on the mannerisms and appearanceof another individual. This Charm cannot actuallyalter the character’s visual appearance — otherCharms must be used to do that. However, it doesallow the character to perfectly mimic the voice,accent, mannerisms, movements, and other imitableaspects of the target’s physical demeanor. The Exaltmust be familiar with the person she intends toimitate; she need not know him personally, but shemust have observed him sufficiently to have a basicconcept of his mannerisms and habits.As with King of Masks Technique, the characterrolls Intelligence + Performance, adding one successfor each additional mote she spends activating theCharm. Each success requires one Investigationsuccess to dispel, and this Charm cannot producemore total successes than twice the character’sIntelligence + Performance.THOUSAND SKIN APPROACHCost: 5 motesDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Performance: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Theft of FacesTechniqueWith a deeper and more subtle mastery ofcharacterization, the Solar learns how to changehis apparent persona in a mere instant. Simplyshifting his posture, slightly altering the positionof his clothing, or tying back his hair can allowthe Exalt to appear as an entirely different personwithin just moments. At any point at which noone is observing the character, he may make aquick movement and switch between personas.Even the briefest moment of hiding is enough —stepping behind a column or ducking beneath atable is enough. When the character returns, hemay adopt his own natural mannerisms, or thoseof any persona either purchased as permanent ororiginating in a currently active instance of King ofMasks Technique or Theft of Faces Technique.A character who knows this Charm may activateeither of the aforementioned Charms to createadditional background personas on top of the oneactive at any given time. He may have no more totalpersonas active at one time (not counting permanentpersonas) than his Performance rating.PRESENCEPHILOSOPHYPresence is the most internalized of the socialabilities. Where Socialize deals primarily withexternal relationships, Presence works to affectthe character’s own demeanor and style. PresenceCharms can make a character more inspiring, moreimpressive, more fearsome, or more trustworthyseeming; they are limited to only affecting thecharacter’s own social mien, however.Solar Presence Charms primarily focus on theimpressive and awe-inspiring aspects of the ability,in keeping with Solars’ larger-than-life leadershipqualities. However, while they receive less overallfocus, other aspects of one’s demeanor are open formodification — Rose-Lipped Seduction Style is anexcellent example.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThose Abyssal Presence Charms which do notdirectly imitate a Solar equivalent are veryspecifically Abyssal in nature — Skeleton-Summoning Gesture, for example. As such, thereare none that provide a useful basis for new SolarCharms.73

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSEXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSListener-Swaying Argument, Exalted Corebookpg. 175. This Charm can be Comboed freely withSocialize, Bureaucracy, and Performance Charms.Majestic Radiant Presence, Exalted Corebook pg. 175.This Charm is compatible with the Dawn animaability.Rose-Lipped Seduction Style, Castebook: Eclipse pg75. This Charm costs 5 motes; it grants automaticsuccesses rather than dice.NEW CHARMSIMMACULATE APPEARANCE PRANACost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Presence: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: NoneThe Solar’s form is glorious and radiantto behold, beyond even the most stunninglybeautiful portraits of the world’s greatest artists.The maximum rating of the Solar’s Appearanceattribute is increased by one; she may raise it to thisnew higher value using Experience. This Charmdoes not need to be activated; it simply improvesthe Exalt’s capabilities.TRUSTWORTHY COMPANION STANCECost: 3 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Presence: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Harmonious PresenceMeditationWith the correct stance and the right words,the Solar can portray herself as being completelyreliable and trustworthy. For one scene, the Exalt’sdemeanor perfectly reflects her role as a confidanteand a helpful companion when things grow difficult,leading even those inclined to distrust her to tellher their secrets. Characters who interact with hermay need to succeed on Willpower or Temperancechecks to avoid telling her secrets or granting herdesired responsibility.RESPECTED GENERAL’S STANCECost: 8 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Presence: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Trustworthy CompanionStanceStanding assuredly, confidently, even brashly,the Exalt commands the respect of all who seehim. For this scene, any who see the character areovercome with a sense of respect and admirationfor his heroic and noble qualities. Any rolls made todiscredit the character or cast aspersions on him aremade against an additional difficulty equal to hisEssence. In addition, no observer with Willpowerless than the Exalt’s Permanent Essence will beable to believe that the character is anything butperfect — his glorious persona has won them overcompletely.BELOVED VISITOR STANCECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Presence: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Respected General’sStanceThe character stands enticingly, moves appealingly,speaks pleasantly — she is beloved by all who seeher. With this Charm, the Exalt can entrance those74

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESwho surround her. All observers find themselvesadopting a loving, devoted attitude towardsthe character, despite their best wishes. For theremainder of the scene, the character receivesautomatic successes on any Presence rolls designedto impress those observers with a Permanent Essenceless than or equal to her own. These successes areequal to her Charisma + Presence total, minus theWits of the observer.UNEARTHLY COUNTENANCECost: 8 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Presence: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Listener-SwayingArgumentThe Solar’s stride is so confident, her stanceso assured, that any who see her pass by areimmediately struck by her presence. Any personwho sees the Solar from afar during this scenewill be overcome by her intense and stunningaura. Each turn, the character may take a singlereflexive Presence action which is not rolled, butrather receives automatic successes equal to herPermanent Essence. This action applies to allonlookers and may be used either to intimidatethem, or to inspire awe in them, depending on theirprevious knowledge of the Solar and the Exalt’scurrent appearance and carriage.This Charm has no effect on characters withPermanent Essence greater than the Exalt’s.FLAGRANT DENIAL APPROACHCost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerType: ReflexiveDuration: InstantMinimum Presence: 5Minimum Essence: 3Charm Prerequisites: UnearthlyCountenanceWith a voice whose very tenor makesdisobeying unimaginable, the Solar need merelyspeak in order to stay the hands of his foes. TheSolar may reflexively activate this Charm as anycharacter declares a dice action. Speaking forcefully75

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSto the target, the Solar commands him to stay hishand, and he does so — the action is cancelled, andthe dice action that fueled it is lost. If the actioninvolved one or more Charms, the costs for thoseCharms need not be paid. This Charm has no effecton targets with a permanent Essence higher thanthe Solar’s.CENTER OF ATTENTION STANCECost: 6 motesDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Presence: 5Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: UnearthlyCountenanceWhen the Solar enters the room, all eyes turn tomeet him. With this Charm, the Exalt can guaranteethat her entrance will be noted by everyone present.Regardless of other goings on, any onlookers willbe drawn to the Solar, and will find themselvesunable to pay attention to anything else until shehas completed her entrance. This grants the Solarbonus dice equal to her Charisma on any Presenceroll to make a first impression. This Charm may alsobe used to guarantee the Solar a platform to speakor perform in a crowded room — those who arestunned by her entrance will tend to pay attentionto her as she begins to speak, even if they werepreviously engrossed by something else.UNCONQUERED SOLAR MIENCost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Presence: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Terrifying Apparitionof Glory76

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESThe air around the Solar fills with burning,blinding light. Her form seems to grow, her shadowlengthen. Those who look upon her see not herface, but only her shape, silhouetted black beforethe inescapable light of the sun. Any characteropposing the Solar who can see her must roll hisValor against a difficulty equal to half the Solar’sPermanent Essence, rounded up; on a failure, hecannot attack the Solar or enter within 10 feet of himwhile this Charm remains in effect. In addition, anyservants of darkness (walking dead, nemessaries,First Circle demons, etc.) who fail this roll areovercome with pain — they fall to the ground inplace, unable to take any action other than to slowlycrawl away from the character. This Charm doesnot affect anyone with a Permanent Essence greaterthan the Exalt’s.MAJESTY’S BIDDINGCost: 8 motesDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Presence: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Command VoiceThe Solar’s demeanor so perfectly matches theimage of leadership that no one can resist her directcommands. By spending 8 motes, the Exalt cantarget any one person with a Permanent Essenceless than or equal to her own with an irresistableorder. Regardless of the target’s normal intentionsand nature, he must follow the given order to thebest of his ability. This order must be a specific taskwith a set duration or manner of completion —“Serve me forever” is not an acceptable command.The target instinctively understands that they haveno choice but to obey the order, and will do sowithout bitterness or anger, though otherwise theiremotional state is not affected.AURA OF DREADCost: 5 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Presence: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Prey-Freezing GazeProjecting a fearsome and unsettling aura, theSolar ensures that no one comes too near to him.For the scene, the Exalt gives off an unsettling senseof danger, which anyone who sees him will feel.Anyone with a Willpower less than or equal to theExalt’s Permanent Essence cannot enter withinten feet of him due to the horrible fear it causes inthem; anyone whose Willpower is less than or equalto the Solar’s cannot do so without a successfulValor roll. This Charm has no effect if used duringa raging combat, but it can prevent such a combatfrom beginning if no opponents are willing to comeclose enough to attack.UNAPPROACHABLE VISAGECost: 4 motes, 1 WillpowerType: SimpleDuration: One sceneMinimum Presence: 5Minimum Essence: 3Charm Prerequisites: Aura of DreadStanding with a terrifying and unassailabledemeanor, the Solar makes the mere act of attackinghim seem insane and unimaginable to her foes. Eachturn that an opponent wishes to attack the Solar,she must pay 1 point of temporary Willpower todo so. This Charm has no effect on characters withEssence higher than that of the Solar.SHOCKING PRONOUNCEMENT STYLECost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: Essence turnsType: SimpleMinimum Presence: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Prey-Freezing GazeStanding before a crowd of onlookers, the Solarmakes a single pronouncement so startling andunexpected that the crowd can merely stare in shock.77

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSTo use this Charm, the Exalt must have a platformupon which to speak, and the audience must belistening to him. Upon uttering the statement, allonlookers with a Permanent Essence lower thanthe Exalt’s are utterly stunned — they are unable totake any action other than stare in amazement at theSolar and ponder the implications of his statement.This state lasts for a number of turns equal to Exalt’sEssence. During this time, the Exalt can do nothingbut stand and be stared at; any other action breaksthe effect, as does any attack or violent action uponthe enthralled masses. Those stunned by this Charmdo retain their senses while unable to act.TRANSFIXING SOLAR STARECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Presence: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Shocking PronouncementStyleThe Solar’s head is silhouetted by brilliant raysof light shining from behind, while her eyes takeon the golden glow of the sun itself. The powerbehind this stare is so immense that anyone it fallsupon is utterly transfixed to the spot. As long as theSolar continues to stare at an individual target, thattarget cannot move from the spot they are standingupon. Characters with Willpower lower than theSolar’s Permanent Essence are unable to take anyaction at all while thusly transfixed. Those witha Willpower higher than the Solar’s Essence mayroll their Willpower against the Solar’s Essence inorder to take actions, though they still cannot movefrom their spot.Obviously, the Solar can only affect a single targetwith this Charm at one time — if he redirects hisgaze to a new target, the previous target is instantlyfreed. This Charm has no effect on individuals witha Permanent Essence higher than the Solar’s.RESISTANCEPHILOSOPHYThe Resistance ability covers two separate butrelated areas — soaking damage in combat, andprotecting against other things which might directlyharm the character. The largest tree in Resistancecontains soak Charms, explicitly designed to protectthe character from harm during combat. The Solarsoak Charms are generally quite straightforward— they increase a Solar’s soak or hardness directly,with very little subtlety involved. At higher levels,Resistance Charms should grant superior soakeffects and improved (though not invincible)perfect effects.The lesser trees are generally in the same style asthe Endurance trees, following a straight line orjoining together. There are a few such small trees,each protecting the character from somethingdifferent: poison and illness, the effects of alcohol,or physical pain. There is also an armor-summoningtree. These trees should be extended in a fashionsimilar to the Charms already present, althoughsome branching might be appropriate, especiallyin the armor-summoning tree.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe primary example of an Abyssal Charm whichdirectly implies a Solar equivalent in Resistance isVoid-Banished Mail. This Charm allows an Abyssalto place their armor Elsewhere and instantly retrieveit at any time. This is an obvious extension of theSolar armor-donning tree (especially given theparallel to the weapon-retrieving Melee tree). OtherAbyssal Charms, providing effects like poisonedblood and bodily weapons, are too heavily tied tothe Abyssal style to have Solar equivalents.78

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESEXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSPain-Reducing Meditation, Castebook: Zenith pg.74. This Charm does not require Durability of OakMeditation as a prerequisite.Whirlwind Armor-Donning Prana, Exalted Corebookpg. 178. This Charm’s function is that of Hauberk-Summoning Gesture in the Corebook. Its ResistanceMinimum is 2, and its Essence Minimum is 2.Hauberk-Summoning Gesture, Exalted Corebook pg.178. This Charm functions as described below.Spirit Strengthens the Skin, Exalted Corebook pg.176. This Charm is compatible with armor.Adamant Skin Technique, Exalted Corebook pg. 177.This Charm’s cost is 5 motes, 1 Willpower.NEW CHARMSHAUBERK-SUMMONING GESTURECost: 3 motesDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Resistance: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Whirlwind Armor-Donning PranaUsing this Charm, the Exalt may place theirarmor Elsewhere, to retrieve instantly when needed.In order to use this Charm, the character must bewearing her armor, properly fastened and attached.Upon activating the Charm, the armor vanishes in aflash of light, disappearing into Elsewhere. Once thearmor has been banished, the character may activatethis Charm to restore the armor, which appearsinstantly upon the character’s form. A Solar mayonly store a single suit of armor using this Charm.In addition, it only affects armor approximately the79

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSsame size as the Exalt; it may not be used to banishwarstriders.GOLDEN SUN’S SHEATHINGCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Resistance: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Hauberk-SummoningGestureThe Solar Exalted have a deep and abidingconnection to orichalcum, the glorious metal giftedto them by their patron god. By attuning carefullyto the Essence of the metal, the character can makethe armor become like a second skin, as much apart of her body as any other. For the remainderof the scene, a suit of armor made of orichalcumbecomes form-fitted to the character’s body, andmoves fluidly along with her. While this is in effect,the character suffers no penalties from the armor.In addition, the armor is considered to providenatural soak for the purposes of Charms and effectswhich are affected by such. This Charm cannot beused with Warstriders or other armor larger thana normal human.WARSTRIDER-UNLEASHING MANEUVERCost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Resistance: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Hauberk-SummoningGestureThis Charm allows the Exalt to overcome thelimitations of the Hauberk-Summoning Gestureand hide massive magical war machines Elsewhere.In order to activate this Charm, the character mustbe seated within and attuned to a warstrider orother piece of larger-than-human magical armor.If the armor requires hearthstones or reagents to beactive, these must also be in place. Upon spendingthe motes and Willpower, the warstrider (alongwith any weapons it may be holding) vanishesElsewhere, leaving the Exalt standing in its place.At any time, the Solar may activate this Charmagain to return the warstrider; it appears in a flashof golden light, with the Solar encased within.The character may only store a single warstriderElsewhere using this Charm.IMPENETRABLE SUNMAILCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Resistance: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Glorious Solar PlateThe character’s shining armor exceeds allstandards for glory and wonder. The character mayadd her Resistance rating to the bashing and lethalsoak provided by her Glorious Solar Plate, and onehalfher Resistance (rounded up) to the hardnessprovided. In addition, the character’s armor resiststhe armor-bypassing qualities of weaponry: itssoak is not halved as normal when the character isdamaged by piercing weapons.IMPECCABLE SOLAR WAR MACHINECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Resistance: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Glorious Solar PlateWith but a gesture, the character summonsinto being a warstrider made entirely of light. Thisarmor appears around the character, who is instantlyencased within the Solar armor. This warstriderprovides a soak of 20L/20B, and increases thecharacter’s Strength to 12. It suffers fatigue andmobility penalties of -3. Otherwise, this Warstriderfollows the rules for warstriders set out in Savantand Sorcerer.80

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESIRON SOUL APPROACHCost: 3 motes per levelDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Resistance: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Unfailing TortoiseTechniqueChannelling Essence throughout his body, theSolar protects himself against even the most grievousinjury. For each three motes spent activating thisCharm, the Solar prevents a single health level ofdamage from an incoming attack which has alreadybeen rolled.DIAMOND SOUL METHODCost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Resistance: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Iron Soul ApproachThe Solar wraps herself in thick sheets ofprotective Essence, keeping her safe from harm.For the remainder of the scene, the Solar mayreduce the damage of all successful attacks againsther by a number of health levels equal to one-halfher Essence, rounded down, after the damage isrolled.81

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSESSENCE-HARDENED FORMCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Resistance: 3Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Durability of OakMeditationThe character’s Essence begins to flow throughher body, strengthening and hardening it against alldamage. The character’s natural soak is increasedby her Permanent Essence score. This Charm doesnot need to be activated; it simply enhances thecharacter’s natural abilities.STEELSKIN MEDITATIONCost: 4 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Resistance: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Spirit Strengthens theSkinThe Solar’s skin grows as hard as temperedsteel, protecting him from minor assaults. For theremainder of the scene, the Exalt gains hardnessequal to half of his natural soak (rounded down)against all attacks.GEMSTONE SKIN MEDITATIONCost: 5 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Resistance: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Steelskin MeditationThe Solar’s body becomes resistant to eventhe most vicious wounds. For the remainder of thescene, the Exalt may soak aggravated damage usingher bashing soak.IMMOVABLE OBJECTCost: 5 motesDuration: One turnType: ReflexiveMinimum Resistance: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Steelskin MeditationThe Exalt becomes the proverbial immovableobject; no force in Creation can cause her to move82

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESfrom her position. During this turn, as long as thecharacter is standing firmly upon a more or less flatsurface, she cannot be forced to move in any wayfrom her position. She is immune to knockdownand knockback, even when it has a magical source.She is also immune to any attacks which involvemoving the character (such as clinch attempts.)In addition, the character’s physique is strongenough that even incoming objects must make wayfor it. Any attacks dealing bashing damage (evensignificant ones, such as falling boulders) deal theirminimum damage to the character. Finally, anyweapons used to attack the character which dealnet damage less than or equal to her soak shatteragainst her immaculate form.PERFECTED GOLDEN BODYCost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Resistance: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Adamant SkinTechniqueThe Exalt’s skin gains a golden tint, and glintsnoticeably in the sunlight; he has learned to tapinto the fundamental Essence of orichalcum, andchannel it through his body. For the remainerof the scene, all attacks against the Solar have aminimum damage of 1 die, in place of the attacker’sEssence.UNFLINCHING DIAMOND MEDITATIONCost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: ReflexiveMinimum Resistance: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Adamant SkinTechniqueThe Exalt’s skin becomes hardened againsta single source, protecting her against the mostpowerful of blows, the hottest of fires, or the heaviestof crushing weights. When she activates this Charm,the character takes no damage whatsoever from asingle source, be it an attack, a fall, a part of theenvironment, or any other source. In addition, theExalt’s skin remains hardened against that sourceuntil such a time as it ceases dealing damage. Shemay wade through lava or stand amidst a DragonVortex Attack without suffering a single wound,as long as this Charm remains active.This Charm may be Comboed as if it were of theInstant duration.UNIMPEACHABLE FORM METHODOLOGYCost: 8 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: One turnType: ReflexiveMinimum Resistance: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Unflinching DiamondMeditationThe Exalt’s entire body becomes suffused withprotective Essence, ensuring that no harm comesto him. For the remainder of the turn, the Solar isimmune to all physical damage; he can suffer nohealth levels of damage, or the effects of any attackswhich would physically wound or alter his body’sform.FLAWLESS STEEL MEDITATIONCost: 1 mote per levelDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Resistance: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Iron Kettle BodyFor a moment, the Exalt’s body adopts thetoughness and fortitude of finely tempered steel.When struck by a blow, the Exalt may pay motes ofEssence to increase her bashing and lethal soak andhardness against that single blow. For each motespent, the character’s soak and hardness increaseby one for purposes of resisting a single attack. This83

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSCharm may be activated after an attack is rolledand raw damage is calculated, but before soak issubtracted.INNER PURITY MANIFESTATIONCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Resistance: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Immunity to EverythingTechniqueThe Exalt has transcended his vulnerabilityto those things which attack his body from within.A character who knows this Charm is completelyimmune to all poisons and diseases, even magicalpoisons or diseases (like those invoked using theCitrine Poxes of Contagion Style.) This Charm doesnot need to be activated; it enhances the Exalt’snatural capabilities.SURVIVALPHILOSOPHYThe primary purpose of Solar Survival is just that— surviving in even the harshest conditions. TheseCharms provide everything that the characterneeds in the wilderness — food, heat, and shelter,as well as more direct protection against theelements. These Charms can also aid the Exalt inother activities that are primarily useful in a wildsetting — setting camouflage or tracking a quarry,for example. The Survival Charm tree tends toinvolve unbranching progressions which all stemoff of Hardship-Surviving Mendicant Spirit. Eachof these progressions deals with a single aspectof Survival — tracking, for example. Furtherexpansions should follow this pattern, beginningnew branches for new areas of Survival, andexpanding existing branches downward for othereffects.Solar Survival has a secondary tree dealing withanimals. These Charms allow a character to befriendanimals and bind a familiar; they can easily beexpanded to include other animalistic effectsor other effects which deal with the character’sfamiliar.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSEssence Engorgement Technique implies theexistence of a Solar Charm which increases a Solar’sEssence pool — but see Endurance for that Charm.Other Abyssal Survival Charms tend to focusexplicitly on blood-drinking, or provide Abyssalequivalents of existing Solar powers.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSThere are no modifications for Survival Charms.NEW CHARMSMAGNIFICENT CREATURE METHODCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Survival: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Spirit-Tied PetThe character has developed an incrediblyclose bond with her familiar, letting her strengthenthe flow of Essence between the two. The Exaltreceives twice her Permanent Essence in points,which she may distribute amongst her familiar’sStrength, Dexterity, Stamina, and Perception. ThisCharm does not need to be activated; it permanentlyenhances the familiar’s capabilities.84

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESCOMPANION-EMPOWERING METHODCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Survival: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Magnificent CreatureMethodBy further extending the tie of Essence thatruns between herself and her familiar, a Solar cangrant a small portion of her magical ability to hercompanion. When the Solar purchases this Charm,the familiar gains access to a number of personalEssence motes equal to the character’s (PermanentEssence x 4). In addition, the familiar gains accessto one Charm of a non-Permanent duration whichthe Exalt knows. This must be a Charm whichthe familiar meets the ability prerequisites for,generally (though not always) limiting it to theabilities of Brawl, Endurance, Resistance, Survival,Awareness, Athletics, Dodge, or Stealth.The Exalt may purchase this Charm multiple times;each such purchase allows the familiar access toan additional 2 Charms. The Exalt may purchasethis Charm no more times than his PermanentEssence.SUMMON THE BEASTCost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Spirit-Tied PetWherever the Solar travels, he need never bewithout his familiar by his side. Activating thisCharm causes the character’s familiar to appear ina flash of sunlight, instantly by the character’s side,wherever she may have been a moment before. Iffor some reason this would not be possible — forexample, attempting to summon a tyrant lizardfamiliar within a tightly confined cave — the Charmhas no effect.Alternately, the character may activate this Charmwhile standing in a place he considers “home,” withhis familiar by his side. As long as he keeps themotes committed, he may call his familiar to him,or return him home, as a non-rolled dice action.85

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSHEART-TETHERED CREATURECost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Survival: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Summon the BeastThe Solar’s connection to her companionfamiliar has grown so strong that the life of eachis tied intimately to the other — each may takethe wounds of the other upon herself. An Exaltwho knows this Charm can reflexively transferlevels of damage from herself onto her familiar— or do the reverse, accepting the injuries of hercompanion. However, this connection bears itsown risks — whenever the character’s familiar isrendered unconscious, she suffers automatic levelsof bashing damage equal to twice her rating in theFamiliar background, which can be soaked onlywith Stamina; if the familiar is killed, the charactersuffers an identical number of levels of lethaldamage.SHELTER-LOCATING METHODCost: 4 motesDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Hardship-SurvivingMendicant SpiritIn even the bleakest wilderness, a Solar neednot fear for her ability to locate proper shelterfor the night. Using this Charm, the characteris guaranteed to find enough shelter to protectherself and a number of companions equal to herPermanent Essence. The time this will take variesbased on the terrain; it will take anywhere from 5minutes (for a wooded area with numerous rockyoutcroppings and trees) to 2 hours (for a flat, barrentundra.) However, the Solar is guaranteed to eitherfind a prepared shelter, or the materials necessary toconstruct one. The resulting shelter will protect itsinhabitants entirely from precipitation, wind, andother environmental hazards, as well as steeringaway natural predators.WEATHER-IGNORING STANCECost: 3 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One hourType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Storm WardenConcentrationWith this Charm, the character’s resistanceto inclement weather is extended beyondinconvenience, letting the Exalt resist even the mostdeadly climatic events. While this Charm is in effect,even the most powerful winds have no effect on thecharacter’s person — he can stand in the middle of ahurricane as if there were no wind at all. In addition,he is entirely protected from damage resulting fromweather patterns — tremendous hailstones willbounce off the character. This protection extendsto other occurences which closely resemble weather— meteor showers or ashen rain from a volcanoeruption, for example.MISLEADING PATH PRANACost: 7 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Traceless PassageUsing this technique, a Solar can not only hideher movement from those seeking to follow her,but actually lead followers astray with inaccuratemarkings. While this Charm is active, the Solar maychoose what sort of markings appear as her grouppasses, making them appear to indicate any sizeand composition of group which she chooses. Inaddition, the character may choose to create a fakepath which branches off from her real direction ata certain point, leaving the real path invisible. Any86

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREEStracker must succeed at a Wits + Survival roll againsta difficulty of the character’s Permanent Essence,or be misled by the false trail. The tracker may rollagain each hour to determine if he discovers thefalsity of the trail.WILD AMBUSH APPROACHCost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Eye-DeceivingCamouflageUsing his impeccable knowledge of the wilds,the character can hide a great number of allies withinplain sight, using only the tools provided by nature.With this Charm, the character can hide a numberof individuals equal to (Permanent Essence x 5), orobjects with a total diameter of (Permanent Essencex 5) yards. This process takes one hour for every5 people or 5 yards concealed. If the individualsthusly concealed act to surprise any target, theywill automatically do so; without the use of Charmslike the Surprise Anticipation Method, the quarrywill automatically be ambushed.Mundane methods of search will entirely fail todetect those hidden, regardless of the amountof time spent searching. Magical methods mustroll against a difficulty equal to the character’sPermanent Essence to function.HIDDEN CITY MEDITATIONCost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 experiencepointDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 6Minimum Essence: 687

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSPrerequisite Charms: Wild AmbushApproachThe jungle holds many secrets; who knowshow to discover them all? With this powerfulmagic, a Solar Exalt can reshape wild lands aroundeven the greatest objects, hiding them from viewand preventing others from reaching them. Touse this Charm, the character must trace out theborder of the area he wishes to conceal, a processthat takes one day for every mile of said border.The maximum allowable border is equal to thecharacter’s (Permanent Essence x 5) miles. Oncethis area is traced out, the character subtly redirectsthe Essence flows of the region to steer clear, withstartling results. Trees grow up to block any view ofthe target; paths divert and bend around it. Anyonesearching for the hidden area using mundanemeans will automatically fail; those using magicalmethods may determine that something unusual isgoing on, but will still be unable to actually locatethe area without extreme measures.When using this Charm, the character may chooseto create contingencies which allow seekers todiscover the hidden place. Each contingency mustbe a single, clear statement: “I may always enterthis city,” for example, or “Anyone bearing themon of House Nellens may enter.” The charactermay create a number of contingenies equal to hisPermanent Essence.(ELEMENT)-DENYING STYLECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Element-ResistingPranaIn the wilderness, one often finds oneselfbeset by the raw forces of the elements. Using thisCharm, the Solar can inure himself to these effects,eliminating any threat they might pose to her. Whenthe Exalt purchases this Charm, she must select oneof the five elements — Air, Earth, Fire, Water, orWood. While this Charm is in effect, the characteris completely immune to the negative effects ofthe element in question. This allows the characterto ignore all damage dealt by that element, evenmagical damage; in addition, it allows the characterto ignore knockback, trait reduction, poison, andother similar effects related to that element.Air-Denying Style allows the character to walkthrough a hurricane without effort or feelcomfortably warm while walking through a field ofice. Earth-Denying Style would allow the characterto avoid all damage from a sandstorm or a fallingrock. (It cannot protect against metal, however.)Water-Denying Style might protect the characteragainst a burst dam or a powerful whirlpool, whileWood-Denying Style would save the character frompoisonous thorns, wooden clubs, or falling trees.DISTANCE-TRAVERSING CARAVANCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: IndefiniteType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Food-GatheringExerciseThe masterful Exalted outdoorsman can maketravel through even the most unpleasant anddifficult terrain into a straightforward and easyjourney. While this Charm is active, the Solar and upto (Permanent Essence x 10) of his companions findthe difficulties of travel greatly eased. Regardless ofthe terrain their journey passes over, their progressis not slowed — moving across any terrain whichis not completely impassable occurs at the speed oftraversing a flat, featureless plain. In addition, anyjourneyer must merely reach down one hand whiletravelling, and she can pick up something edible— the group may gather enough food and waterfor every member to eat without slowing down.UNHALTING ARMY’S TRAVERSALCost: 20 motes, 2 Willpower88

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Distance-TraversingCaravanOften, a Solar must lead a great quantity offollowers into the wild. An entire army can travelthrough the harshest wilderness with the assistanceof this technique, all without encountering theslightest hardship. While this Charm is active,the travelling needs of as many followers as thecharacter’s Permanent Essence times one thousandwill have all their travelling needs met: they will beable to locate food, water, and basic shelter withoutdifficulty, they will be protected from mundaneelements, and they will be undaunted by rough ordifficult terrain. For the purposes of all Survival rollsmade by the affected followers while this Charmis in effect, use the difficulty of the easiest possibleterrain, rather than that of the terrain actually beingtraversed. In addition, these followers leave nodestruction in their wake; though their progressmay still be tracked, the affected force does onlyminimal damage to any land upon which theymove or camp during this Charm’s duration.IMMACULATE SNARECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: IndefiniteType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Devil-Pit TechniqueWith careful preparation, the Solar hunter maycraft a snare that even the craftiest beast might fallprey to. The Exalt must identify a specific target hewishes to ensnare, and then spend a period of severalhours crafting the snare itself. At the conclusion ofthis construction, the snare will be perfectly placed— the chosen target cannot identify or locate itwithout the use of a perfect awareness effect. Ifthe target triggers the trap, it will automaticallysucceed in capturing her — this is a perfect effect.In addition, the difficulty for all rolls to escape fromthe trap once it has been triggered is increased bythe Exalt’s Permanent Essence.EXCELLENT ORIENTATION METHODCost: 3 motesDuration: Instant89

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Earth’s UnceasingBeaconThis Charm allows a Solar survivalist tolocate her way back to any landmark without fail.Activating it provides the Solar with an impeccableindication of the direction in which lies a singlelocation she has been to before. In addition, theCharm gives a vague estimate of the distance (inorders of magnitude: 1/10th of a mile, 1 mile, 10miles, etc.)PATH-UNWINDING STYLECost: 4 motesDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Excellent OrientationMethodWhen navigating particularly treacherousor confusing terrain, moving directly towards adestination may not always be the quickest wayto reach it. The Solar must identify a specificdestination he wishes to reach; this Charm provideshim with knowledge of which direction he shouldmove from his current direction to reach hisdestination the quickest. The provided path willonly be the quickest if the Solar continues to movein well-chosen directions, however; additionaluses of this Charm may be necessary in order toproperly navigate a particularly treacherous ordifficult region.UNFAILING NAVIGATION METHODCost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Excellent OrientationMethodThe true survivalist never becomes lost, evenin the most confusing and intricate labyrinth.Using this Charm, the Solar can gain an instinctiveknowledge of how to best navigate her currentlocation, allowing her to discover secrets or locateexits with great ease. When the character activatesthe Charm, she becomes subconsciously aware ofthe layout of her current location, extending out toher (Essence x 100) yards. As long as the 8 motesremains committed, the character may at any timechoose a destination within that space and begin tomove towards it; if it exists, she will take a correctroute to find it. This route is not guaranteed to bethe safest (though this Charm will not direct thecharacter down a more dangerous path if an equallygood safe one exists) or the shortest (although it willnot take a deliberately roundabout route); however,it is guaranteed to reach the destination. If no suchplace or object exists within the area, the Charmsimply fails to function, notifying the Exalt of thisfact.PERFECTED TRAVELOGUE DIRECTIONCost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Survival: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Unfailing NavigationMethodWith this Charm, the Exalt needs no map,no directions, no landmarks — he knows exactlywhere to go. Upon activating this Charm, the Exaltgains knowledge of a reasonably efficient methodof reaching any destination, regardless of its placein relation to his current location. This path willnot necessarily be the most efficient, since it willnot always take advantage of all possible shortcuts,nor will it necessarily be entirely safe; however, itwill be realistically passable for the character andhis travelling companions, and it will make nounnecessary detours.90

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESCRAFTPHILOSOPHYSolars are truly peerless craftsmen, having createdthe greatest works humanity has ever seen duringthe First Age. Their Craft Charms aid themimmensely in creating these wonders, providingall the tools needed to create incredible objects withremarkable swiftness.Solar Craft Charms are general in their applicability;they are designed to be used with any of thenumerous crafts a Solar can pursue, though theysometimes favor physical crafts like metal orstoneworking. The Charms branch off in severaldirections — building better objects, strengtheningand purifying them, transforming them into otherthings, and destroying them. All of these areappropriate for Solar Craft, which involves a totalunderstanding of an object’s nature — she whoknows how to make the object also knows how toreshape or destroy it.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSAbyssals are notably poor at the Craft ability,focusing as intensely as they do on the art ofdestruction. As a result, there are no Abyssal CraftCharms which imply Solar equivalents.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSSpiritual Sustenance, Time of Tumult pg. 98.This Charm’s prerequisite is Dust into StoneApproach.Rock-Spinning Technique, Time of Tumult pg. 95. ThisCharm’s prerequisite is Dust into Stone Approach.It can transform any “hard” material such as metal,wood, or stone into cloth.Body-Forging Travail, Castebook: Twilight pg. 69.This Charm’s prerequisite is Impurity-HammeringBlow.NEW CHARMSDUST INTO STONE APPROACHCost: 3 motesDuration: One minuteType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 2Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: NoneFor most craftsmen, a great deal of material goesto waste; anything chipped, carved, or cut away incrafting an object is typically unusable. With thisCharm, a Solar craftsman can shape such remnantsinto a fully usable unit of their original material,turning pebbles into stone, sawdust into wood,or scraps into leather. The character must merelygather together a quantity of such scraps, no morethan five pounds in weight, and channel Essenceinto them for one minute; they will seamlessly meldinto a like-sized object made of material similar inquality to that the scraps originated from.This Charm may alternately be used to join togethertwo larger objects made of the same material, or torepair a cracked or fractured object; in that case, thecost is the same, but there is no limit on the weightof the objects in question.STEEL FEATHER PRANACost: 3 motesDuration: Ten minutesType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 3Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Dust into StoneApproachMuch as Rock-Spinning Technique transformssolid materials into cloth, the Steel Feather Pranagrants solidity to soft and lightweight objects. To use91

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSthis Charm, the character must gather feathers, cloth,flower petals, snow, smoke, or other insubstantialmaterials, then begin to reshape its Essence. The Solarcan affect a cubic meter of material per application.At the conclusion of ten minutes, the material hasbeen granted the toughness of either rock or steel.Objects reshaped into the former can be easily usedas a building material; those rendered into the lattercan be reforged into weapons or armor. Despitetaking on the hardness of the chosen material, thenew material still bears its original appearance; inaddition, it is significantly lighter than regular stoneor metal (though still much heavier than before.)REEDS INTO GOLD MEDITATIONCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Rock-SpinningTechnique, SteelFeather PranaWith her increased knowledge of object’sproperties, the Solar has learned the secret oftransmuting materials into one another. To use thisCharm, the character must begin with a quantityof one material, as well as tools which alow herto work that material and subtly alter its Essence.For each hour she spends, she may transform onecubic foot of this material into a similar material(for example, sandstone into marble.) This time isdoubled for more distantly related materials (say,sandstone into steel) and quadrupled for completelyunrelated materials (say, sandstone into cotton.)This Charm cannot be used to create magicalmaterials of any sort, only mundane materials.92

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESSUBTLE SHAPING KATACost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Rock-SpinningTechniqueThe Solar’s ability to work his chosen materialhas reached truly fantastic levels. His skill allowshim to reshape material into utterly perfect shapes.For the remainder of the scene, the Exalt needsonly to achieve a single success on a Craft roll toproduce an object of the utmost possible quality.For weapons and armor, this explicitly conveysthe Perfect quality (described in the Exalted PlayersGuide). The Solar may also improve any existingobject to make it Perfect with a single success, givenaccess to suitable tools.UNUSUAL CONSTRUCTION METHODCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One taskType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Subtle Shaping KataA talented Solar can construct an object outof incredibly unusual material. With this Charm,the character can craft a single object using anymaterials of her choice. The resulting object doesnot suffer any penalties or flaws as a result of itsmaterial, though it may have an unusual or strikingappearance. The character could construct a swordfrom ice or a wall from reeds that would be inevery way as effective as either built from normalmaterials. The resulting object gains an ability(of power to an Artifact 1) based on its material— a sword of air might make its user unusuallydextrous, or a cape of shadow might make itswearer hard to see.ELEGANT SOLAR TRANSFORMATIONCost: 20 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Subtle Shaping KataBy carefully adjusting the Essence flowswithin an object, the Solar has learned to adjustits properties in almost any way she sees fit. Thecharacter must spend a day working with the object,which can be no larger than 10 x (Craft + PermanentEssence) cubic feet, subtly shifting the tiny lines ofEssence flow that run through all things. This canhave any of the following effects:Weight. Divide the object’s weight by up to thecharacter’s Craft score, or multiply it by up to thecharacter’s Craft score.Hardness. Make the object more or less hard, as faras making cotton as hard as tough wood, or steelas soft as warm clay.Malleability. Make the object incredibly brittle, orextremely shapeable.State. Make a solid into a liquid, a liquid into a solidor gas, or a gas into a liquid.Temperature. Make the object inherently hotter orcooler than its surroundings, by as much as (5 xCraft) degrees.Appearance. Change the object’s color or pattern;make a shiny object dull or the reverse.Further applications of this Charm to the sameobject are bound by the initial characteristics of thematerial — an object reduced to 1/5th its originalweight could be increased up as far as 5 times itsoriginal weight by a second application, but couldnot be decreased further. This Charm may not beused on any of the Magical Materials.93

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSDESTRUCTIVE VIBRATION ATEMIFORM-PRESERVING METHODCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Stability-ConferringEstablishmentReworking the Essence of an object to forma nearly impenetrable shield, the Solar protects asingle object from change or modification. The Solarmust spend a period of ten minutes working closelywith the object; at the end of this period, it gains aremarkable stability of form. An object so treatedcannot be reshaped or modified by any force, beit Wyld energy, Craft Charms, or raw muscle. Anobject affected by this Charm can still be destroyed,given a sufficiently powerful effort. However,more subtle force has no effect on it — it cannot bechipped or molded into a smaller shape.Cost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Edifice-SmashingStrikeEven the most carefully crafted work of men’shands has some weak point — and no object isstronger than its weakest part. A well-learnedSolar can pinpoint these weak spots and use themto destroy objects — even priming them to shatterat opportune times. The character must be able toexamine the structure for thirty minutes, carefullyattempting to locate the most vulnerable point.The character can then apply Essence to that spotin order to cause it to break. Once he does so, hemay set a single condition upon which the Essencewithin that point will ripple through the object,shattering it — for example, “whenever exactlythree people are touching the object.” When thestated condition occurs, the object instantly takeslevels of damage equal to four times the character’sPermanent Essence.If the condition set by this Charm is reached butthe damage is insufficient to destroy the object,further occurrences of the condition will not triggeradditional damage. Any one object may only beunder the effect of one instance of this Charm atone time.INCOMPARABLE DURABILITY METHODCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Durability-EnhancingTechniqueWith this Charm, the Solar can grant thetoughness of the Magical Materials to any smallobject. The Exalt must select a single object, no94

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESgreater in size than his Permanent Essence in cubicfeet. He must then spend an entire day carefullyweaving increasingly fine webs of Essence into thestructure of the object, stabilizing and reinforcing it.At the end of the day, the object has permanentlyattained a level of durability normally reservedfor the Five Magical Materials — only the mostpowerful attacks will damage it.INDESTRUCTIBLE CONSTRUCTION STYLECost: 20 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Incomparable DurabilityMethodUsing this technique, a Solar can make anobject literally indestructible, beyond the abilityof anything but Solar Circle Sorcery and the actsof the Incarna to destroy — for a limited time.The character must survey the object he wishesto reinforce, carefully examining each and everyfacet and surface it possesses; this process takes onehour for any object of 100 cubic feet or less, and anadditional hour for each additional 200 cubic feet.At the end of this process, the material becomescompletely indestructible, until the next dawn ornext dusk, whichever is later.MATERIAL-CONJURING GESTURECost: 5 motesDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Craftsman Needs NoToolsMoving beyond the ability to work withouttools, the Solar craftsman now transcends eventhe necessesity of raw materials with which towork. With a gesture, the character can summoninto being raw materials for a project out of rawsunlight. The character may summon materialsworth up to Resources 2 with a single activation.The Solar may spend 1 Willpower point and anadditionalAny material conjured using this Charm bears aslight solar glow and surreal quality which marks itas a project of magical creation. For materials wherethis is relevant, this effect extends to smell, taste,and sound as well; anyone experiencing such anobject with any sense will be struck with a surreal,unnatural feeling.FORM-REWORKING GESTURECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One hourType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Durability-EnhancingTechniqueUsing this Charm, a Solar can restore anycrafted object to its original component parts orunworked state, allowing him to remake it anew.The character must select a single object, of no morethan (5 x Permanent Essence) cubic feet; over thecourse of an hour, he slowly and meticulouslyseparates it into its component parts, undoes thenormally irreversible transformations performedon it, and otherwise winds back the clock on itsconstruction. At the conclusion of the hour, thecharacter is left with the raw materials that wentinto the object’s construction, just as they werebefore the object was made — a basket into reeds;a loaf of bread into flour and water. The amountof deconstruction possible is based on how muchwas done by an object’s maker — if one person (orteam of people) extracted metal from ore and thenforged it into a sword, the Exalt could restore theore; if the smith worked from metal another hadrefined, one application of this Charm could onlyreturn to the raw metal.The use of this Charm cannot add more materialto an object; if a piece of stone were carved into95

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSa statue, this Charm could not restore it to anuntouched stone unless the character had access tothe stone fragments that were chipped away.SUBTLE UNDOING METHODCost: 3 motesDuration: One turnType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Form-ReworkingGestureWith this Charm, the character can slowly rollback the creative process on a small part of a work,allowing herself to alter or redo it. The character needmerely select an area of the object (no larger than asquare foot of surface area) and run her hand overit gently; this act restores that area to any previousstate it possessed in the process of creation. Thismay even be used to achieve seemingly impossibleeffects; for example, a Solar could cut a box open,do work on the inside, then restore the outside toits pre-cut state.SUDDEN CREATION METHODCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Material-ConjuringGestureAt a pinnacle of her mundane craftsmanship,the Solar who has mastered this Charm need nolonger dedicate great quantities of time to theperformance of her craft. The Solar may specify anyone mundane crafting task she wishes to performwhen she activates this Charm, and rolls (Attribute)+ Craft as normal. If the roll is a success, the Solarcompletes the task instantly: she must still haveaccess to tools and raw materials, but the task itselftakes no time to complete.If this Charm is instead applied to an act of magicalcrafting (such as the creation of an Artifact orManse) it instead allows the Exalt to make a singleroll towards the extended roll needed for success,without spending the necessary time to do so.NIMBLE ASSISTANT ENDOWMENTCost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Craft: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Crack-MendingTechnique,Material-Conjuring GestureLending some of his own Essence to an assistant,the Solar unlocks the potential for exquisite creationwithin her. The Exalt selects a single individualwith a Permanent Essence less than his own andinfuses her with power, drastically improving hercrafting abilities. The Solar must commit 1 mote forthe season to maintain this person’s abilities.For the remainder of the season, that charactermay add dice to all Craft rolls equal to the Solar’sCraft rating. In addition, this character worksmore swiftly than normal, performing Craft tasksin 75% of the normal time. If this character assistsin the creation of an Artifact or Manse, increaseher effective Difficulty modifier by two — thus, amortal assistant would provide a -2 modifier, whilea Dragon-Blooded would provide a -5.INVESTIGATIONPHILOSOPHYSolar Investigation Charms primarily function inone of two areas — drawing information out ofpeople, or drawing it out of objects. Charms inthe former category, like Irresistible QuestioningTechnique, allow the Solar to gather informationabout people’s actions, desires, and motivations,96

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESeven if they would normally never give suchinformation up. As such Charms increase in power,they should let the Solar gather ever more detailedor well-hidden information.Charms of the second variety, like Crafty ObservationMethod, primarily provide information aboutevents, rather than people. These Charms allow aSolar to gather information about an occurrence byexamining physical evidence, or figure out what anobject has been used for. These Charms can increasetheir scope in a variety of directions — grantingmore information, looking back further in time, orrequiring less material to work with, for example.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe first-tier Abyssal Charm Excellent InquisitorAttitude provides a dice-adding effect which is notpresent in the Solar tree; however, Ten MagistrateEyes’ success-adder effect is a reasonable equivalent.Other Abyssal Investigation Charms largelyeither duplicate existing Solar Charms, or providespecifically Abyssal effects (such as aiding in tortureor gathering information from the dead.)EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSHawk Aloft Gaze, Castebook: Twilight pg. 70. ThisCharm’s prerequisite is Ten Magistrate Eyes.NEW CHARMSIMMACULATE WITS PRANACost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Investigation: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: NoneThe Solar thinks quickly on her feet, able tooutwit even the cleverest mortals. The maximumrating of the Solar’s Wits attribute is increasedby one; she may raise it to this new higher valueusing Experience. This Charm does not needto be activated; it simply improves the Exalt’scapabilities.CONCEALMENT-SHATTERING REVELATIONCost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Investigation: 5Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Hawk Aloft GazeOften, that which is revealed will tell anobserver far less than that which is hidden. Withthis technique, a character can instantly spot objectswhich have been deliberately hidden. When thisCharm is activated, the Exalt surveys the areaaround him; any object that has been purposelydisguised or hidden will become instantly visibleto him, if it was mundanely disguised. If magicwas used to hide something, the character insteadreceives automatic successes equal to his PermanentEssence to his roll to detect the hidden object.This Charm does not aid in locating individualswho are hiding, unless they do so by using a hiddendoor or other mundane object.HAYSTACK-NEEDLE APPROACHCost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Investigation: 5Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Hawk Aloft GazeSometimes, a Solar will know exactly what sheis looking for, but be unable to find it amongst theclutter that surrounds it. With this Charm, that is nolonger a problem. The character must designate anarea no bigger than a square her Permanent Essencein yards wide, and a specific object she is looking97

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSfor. If that object is within the area, the characterwill find it with mere moments of searching.In order to find an object with this Charm, thecharacter must be able to specify exactly the objectshe is looking for, so that there can be no confusion.Looking for “the knife used to kill the king in thisroom yesterday” would generally be appropriate,but “a knife” or “a clue” would not.FOOT-GUIDING INTUITIONCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Investigation: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Hawk Aloft GazeBefore one can begin investigating, one mustfirst know where to look. Using this Charm, a Solarcan intuit what location is likely to prove the mostimmediately fruitful in her current investigation.Using this Charm, the character begins walking orotherwise travelling aimlessly — only to find herselfin an ideal location to continue her investigation.Note that this Charm will not necessarily lead thecharacter to the location with the most informationabout her quarry, but rather the location whichis best suited to aiding in the current stage ofher investigation. An Exalt seeking informationabout a Deathlord’s plans might find that thegreatest amount of information is deep withinsaid Deathlord’s citadel — but the site of a recentattack upon the living might prove to be a morereasonable place to begin looking.OWNER-LOCATING METHODCost: 4 motesDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Investigation: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Crafty ObservationMethodIn the process of an investigation, one willoften encounter an object whose owner one needsto identify; this Charm was developed for just sucha purpose. In order to use this Charm, the charactermust handle the object for several moments; doingso allows him to determine the identity of theobject’s most recent owner. In addition, he maymake a Wits + Investigation roll with a difficultyequal to the owner’s Permanent Essence; on asuccess, the Solar learns the approximate distance,within an order of magnitude, that the owner isfrom his current location: 1/10th of a mile, 1 mile,10 miles, 100 miles, and so on.HISTORY-EXTRACTING GLANCECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One hourType: SimpleMinimum Investigation: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Death Revealing-Method, Owner-Locating MethodAn Exalt in the Age of Sorrows is regularlyfaced with objects bearing a distinguished andunusual history; with this technique, a Twilightcan read this history from an object as if it were anopen book. The character must study and examinethe object for one hour; at the conclusion of thattime, she must roll Intelligence + Investigation.The number of successes on this roll determineshow far into the object’s history the character canreach — one success might only reach back a fewyears, while seven successes would reach to thedepths of the First Age. For the period dictated bythe successes on this roll, the character receives anaccounting of the object’s history — where it went,who owned it, and what notable events it played apart in. This history won’t provide an accounting ofany events the object was merely present for — itmust have been actively involved for the Solar toreceive any information.98

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESRESPLENDENT ITEM-READING METHODCost: 2 motesDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Investigation: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: History-ExtractingGlanceAny object is an open book to a characterwith this Charm. Upon activating this Charm, thecharacter can instantly learn any one fact about anobject of his choice. She must phrase her request inorder to exactly specify what she wishes to know:“what is this object used for?” would produce ananswer as vague as the question, for example. ThisCharm cannot reveal information that is entirelytangential to the object (like “What did this object’sprevious owner do for a living when he owned it?”)but anything directly related to an event the objectparticipated in or was present for is legitimate.CONNECTION-REVEALING METHODCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Investigation: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Unknown WisdomEpiphanyOften, an investigator will find himself facedwith two people or objects that they know must beconnected somehow — but the nature of that linkcontinually evades his notice. With this Charm,a Solar can zero in on such a connection. Whenactivating the Charm, the character must selecttwo things or people he wishes to determine aconnection between. He must then roll Intelligence+ Investigation. On a successful roll, the characterlearns of the most immediate connection betweenthe two things or people; the more successes rolled,99

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSthe more detailed the description of this connectionis.INTENTION-GLEANING STYLECost: 5 motesDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Investigation: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Guilt-Finding InquisitorMethodWith this Charm, a Solar can determineexactly what a suspicious individual’s intentionsand plans are without even speaking to him. Thecharacter must select an individual target whomshe can look directly at. If the target’s PermanentEssence is lower than or equal to the Solar’s, theplayer receives a basic description of what thetarget’s current intentions are. This will provideinformation about any short-term plans, but won’tprovide detail about anything more than two orthree steps removed from current actions. Forexample, this Charm might detect a spy’s intentionof slipping past a border patrol to reach the capitalcity, but not his plan of assassinating a noble there,or the intended repercussions of that act.CONSPIRACY-REVEALING PRANACost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Investigation: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Intention-GleaningStyleBy reading deeply into the behavior of amember, the Solar can discern the scope and motiveof a secretive conspiracy. To use this Charm, thecharacter must spend at least one day observing aperson he suspects is a member of a conspiracy orsecret organization. He may choose to also examineanyone he suspects of being a confederate of hisprimary suspect. After doing so, the character makesa Wits + Investigation roll, adding one die for eachobserved confederate who is actually a memberof the group. With one success, the charactercan confirm the existence of the conspiracy andwhich observed individuals are members; withthree successes, he can determine the scope of thegroup, as well as whether any other individual henames is involved; at five successes, he can trackdown members he has not previously encountered.Furthermore, one success will give him a one ortwo word summation of the conspiracy’s purpose;three successes will grant a fairly specific outline asto its purpose; five will provide information aboutits specific plans as well.UNSPOKEN WORDS EXTRACTIONCost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Investigation: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Irresistible QuestioningTechniqueOften what is not said in a conversation is moreimportant than what is — a cagey Solar, however,can hear both. For the remainder of the scene,the Exalt can hear the careful omissions and deftevasions of anyone he speaks to as if they werespoken aloud. Any information someone purposelyavoids or fails to mention in a conversation with theSolar would qualify. However, this Charm cannotprovide information about a subject that the targetsimply does not think to bring up; it only penetratespurposeful dissimulation.THOUGHT-PLUMBING APPROACHCost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Investigation: 5Minimum Essence: 5100

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESPrerequisite Charms: Unspoken WordsExtraction, Intention-Gleaning StyleWith this Charm, no element of a quarry’sthoughts are hidden from the Solar. The charactermust be able to speak freely to the target, whomust be conscious and able to respond; the Exaltmust then interrogate him for a scene. At the endof that time, the Exalt learns any information shewishes to know about the interogatee’s mentalstate — what he remembers, what he wants, hisreasoning for his actions and so on. The personbeing interrogated will have no direct knowledgethat the Exalt acquired this information from themthrough magic.This Charm has no effect on targets whosePermanent Essence is greater than the character’s.LOREPHILOSOPHYThe Lore ability serves two purposes: it representsboth the collection of obscure, intellectual knowledgeabout numerous fields, and the direct manipulationof Essence. (This is not the same as Occult, whichdeals with specific applications of magic.) TheSolar Lore Charms presented in the corebook focuson the latter category, falling into two trees: onedealing with the Wyld, and the other allowing thetransference and manipulation of Essence. Each ofthese is fairly specialized in its application, but bothtrees have room for expansion at higher levels.101However, currently the first aspect of Lore isunder-represented in Solar Charms. Castebook:Night provides a poison-related tree that fallsinto this category, but it branches off of Chaos-

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSRepelling Pattern, an unrelated Charm. There arealso no pre-existing Charms dealing with tactics,arcane knowledge, or learning, among other fields.Therefore, below is an additional Lore tree whichdeals explicitly with matters of knowledge andlearning, which the poison tree and other Charmsrelated to specific fields of knowledge can stemfrom.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe primary Abyssal Charm relevant here is CryptBolt. This Charm allows an Abyssal to create andthrow bolts of damaging necrotic energy. Currently,there is no Sun-based equivalent in the Solar tree.Such a Charm (and other Charms which descendfrom it) have been added for two reasons: first, theredoesn’t seem to be a convincing reason why Solarscouldn’t develop such a Charm (especially sincethey have access to bolt effects in other abilities);and second, it fills a useful role as a basic “magical”attack for sorcerers to use.The other Abyssal Lore Charms generally mirrorthe existing Solar Wyld-shaping and EssencemodifyingCharms, and thus do not require directmirrors.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSBrewing Venom Technique, Castebook: Night pg.71. This Charm’s Prerequisite is Forgotten SecretsTechnique.Sorcery-Conferring Contemplation, Castebook:Twilight pg. 72. This Charm’s Lore minimum is 5.Its Essence minimum is 5.Lore-Scanning Method, Castebook: Twilight pg. 71.This Charm is a Lore Charm; its prerequisite isForgotten Secrets Technique.NEW CHARMSIMMACULATE INTELLIGENCE PRANACost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Lore: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: NoneThe Solar’s mind works at a level that surpassesthe thoughts and ponderings of even the greatestmortal savants. The maximum rating of the Solar’sIntelligence attribute is increased by one; she mayraise it to this new higher value using Experience.This Charm does not need to be activated; it simplyimproves the Exalt’s capabilities.PATTERN-IMPOSING METHODCost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Wyld-ShapingTechniqueWhen faced with enemies who use the fluidityof the Wyld as a weapon, the Solar can eliminatethat advantage by bringing temporary stability tothe Wyld’s chaos. Upon activating this Charm, thearea surrounding the character for (2 x PermanentEssence) yards becomes crystallized and ordered.Any improbable objects within the area return totheir nearest realistic state. Anyone within thatspace suffers no negative effects such as mutationor Wyld addiction for the duration of this Charm.In addition, all attempts to consciously direct Wyldenergies within the region — including the use ofCharms like Wyld-Shaping Technique and Fair Folkpowers — suffers an additional difficulty equal tothe character’s permanent Essence.102

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESWYLD-CLEANSING TECHNIQUECost: 20 motes, 2 Willpower, 2 lethal healthlevelsDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Earth-Firming MethodWith this Charm, an Exalt can entirely eliminatethe taint of the Wyld from an area, returning it tostability. In order to use it, the Solar must pace outthe border of the space which he wishes to restore— whose border can be no longer than 100 yardsper dot of Permanent Essence. Once the border ismarked, the Exalt must enter a meditative state,which lasts a number of hours determined by theintensity of the Wyld energies — one hour forBordermarches, five for Middlemarches, and ten forDeep Wyld. At the conclusion of this meditation,the area is suffused with golden light, and theWyld energy is removed entirely. From that pointonward, the space in question has the stability ofCreation, although it can be reclaimed by the Wyldin the normal fashion. This Charm may be used tocreate pockets of stability within the Wyld itself,or to expand the borders of Creation proper, aswell as to cleanse isolated Wyld zones; however,additional magics may be necessary to prevent theareas being recovered from rapidly returning to aWyld state.103

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSMultiple Solars may activate this Charm in concert,in which case their allotted border lengths are addedtogether, allowing them to stabilize increasinglylarger Wyld zones.RESOLVE-INFLAMING METHODCost: 1+ WillpowerDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Lore: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Will-BolsteringMethodUsing this Charm, the Exalt can tap into herpersonal drive in order to fuel the Essence costsof her Charms. Upon activating this Charm, thecharacter spends any number of Willpower points.For each point spent, she recovers a number ofmotes of Essence equal to her Lore rating.CHARM-STEALING PRANACost: 20 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: ReflexiveMinimum Lore: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Power-AwardingPranaWith this Charm, the Solar can temporarilytransfer a Charm she witnesses being used from itscontroller to herself. Upon witnessing a Charm beingactivated by another magical being, the charactermakes an Intelligence + Lore roll, contested by thetarget’s Willpower. If she succeeds on this roll,the target loses access to the Charm; he cannotactivate it, and any currently active iterations ofit fail. Meanwhile, the character using Charm-Stealing Prana may use the stolen Charm as if shehad learned it, even if she could not normally learnthat Charm. Both of these effects persist until theend of the current scene.104

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESBLOOD-ENLIGHTENING METHODCost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 experiencepointDuration: One hourType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Power-AwardingPranaThe Solar’s power is so great that a touch caninfuse some small portion of it into the blood of amortal. Using this Charm, the Solar lays her handupon the body of a mortal — any human with anEssence rating of 1 — and begins to concentrate.As she does so, her anima begins to flare at the 16+mote level, and the light it produces begins to flowalong her arm, into the target. As it does so, themortal’s blood begins to glow with an increasinglybright Solar light, shining out through his skin.The process is painful but purifying, burning outall imperfections and flaws in the mortal’s frame.At the end of this process, which takes as long asan hour, the mortal is mortal no longer — he hasbecome a Solar Half-Caste with an Inheritancerating equal to one-half the Solar’s PermanentEssence, rounded up. This process is likely, thoughby no means guaranteed, to produce progeny with atemperament well-suited to the Solar’s purposes.SUN BOLTCost: 1 mote per 2L damageDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 2Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: NoneThe character forms a bolt of bright, shiningSolar Essence to throw at a foe. Objects struck bythis bolt shatter or turn to ash in the face of theSun’s powerful light. The Exalt makes a Dexterity+ Athletics or Thrown roll to attack, with anAccuracy bonus equal to his Permanent Essence.This attack deals 2L damage for each mote spenton activating it; the Exalt can spend no more motesthan his Stamina + Lore. The Bolt has a range of(10 x permanent Essence) in yards. When usedagainst demons or the undead, this Charm dealsaggravated damage.SUNFLARE STANCECost: 1 mote per 1L damageDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 3Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Sun BoltThe character traces the form of a radiant solarflare into the air surrounding himself; as he doesso, it bursts into brilliant flame. For the remainderof the scene, the Solar is surrounded by a halo offlaming sunlight. Any character who comes withinthree feet of the Exalt takes 1L each turn for eachmote spent activating this Charm. The charactermay spend no more motes on this Charm in onescene than her Lore rating.SUN SHOWER ATTACKCost: 3 motes per 1L damageDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 4Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Sunflare StanceWith but a gesture, the Exalt summons boltsof deadly sunlight from the sky to fall upon herfoes. The character makes a single Dexterity + Loreroll; each foe within (Essence x 10) yards is subjectto an unblockable attack from the brilliant rays oflight. These attacks deal 1L for each 3 motes spentactivating the Charm, plus extra successes on theattack roll.HEART OF THE SUN MEDITATIONCost: 4 mote per 1ADuration: Instant105

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Sun Shower AttackThe Exalt focuses the Essence of the sun’s veryheart in between his hands, then violently releasesit into the world. From the spot where the Solarstands, a globe of white-hot Solar light expandsout to (50 x Essence) yards. Every creature withinthat globe (except the Exalt) is subject to 1 level ofaggravated damage for each 4 motes spent activatingthis Charm; the character can purchase no morelevels of damage than his Stamina + Lore.LORE-UNEARTHING METHODCost: 4 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Lore: 2Minimum Essence: 1Prerequisite Charms: NoneThe Exalt can find obscure bits of knowledgein a fraction of the time a mortal would take. Whenattempting to locate a specific piece of informationwithin a collection (a library, a stack of papers,ancient temple inscriptions, etc.) the character isguaranteed to find the information quickly if itis present at all. The character rolls Wits + Lore;she finds the information she seeks within sixtyminutes, minus five minutes for each success rolled.Note that this does not provide any knowledgethe character would not otherwise have; it will notallow a character to translate a document she wouldnormally be unable to read, for example.FORGOTTEN SECRETS TECHNIQUECost: 1 mote per dieDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Lore: 2Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Lore-UnearthingMethod106

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESThe Exalt is a savant of the ancient, the obscure,and the arcane. When delving into such matters,the character is able to produce incredible insightsand discoveries. The Exalt may add one die toany Perception + Lore or Intelligence + Lore rollinvolving secrets or arcane knowledge for eachmote spent activating the Charm; this bonus cannotmore than double the Exalt’s Perception + Lore orIntelligence + Lore pool.KNOWLEDGE-LOCATING GLANCECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Forgotten SecretsTechniqueWith this Charm, the character need neversearch fruitlessly for an obscure piece of knowledge.When he activates this Charm, the character namesa specific piece of information he wishes to learn.This must be phrased to carefully specify exactlywhat fact the Solar wishes to learn — for example,“The name of the First Age Solar who is buriedin this tomb.” The Solar must then meditate onthe matter for one hour. Afterwards, he learns theclosest location where that information is located.The information may be in any form — includinga form which the character cannot understand, oreven in the memories of a living being. In addition,the Charm does not indicate the easiest to reachlocation, merely the closest; it also does not provideany information about barriers or difficultiesstanding between the knowledge sought and thecharacter.VIRTUOUS DECISION APPROACHCost: 5 motesDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 3Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Forgotten SecretsTechniqueWhen faced with a difficult choice, one istypically forced to make a decision using onlyone’s own intuition as a guide. With the aid ofthis technique, however, a Solar can make wiseand virtuous decisions even in the face of greatadversity. The character may activate this Charmwhen making a decision of any sort. Uponconsidering the matter, she immediately has a senseof which possible choice is wiser. This decision isbased solely on knowledge she currently has accessto — this Charm cannot render a decision basedon entirely unexpected information, though it canuse the Solar’s existing knowledge to infer theprobability of unforeseen events.ALL-ENCOMPASSING KNOWLEDGE PRANACost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 3Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Forgotten SecretsTechniqueThe character can draw upon a vast storehouseof knowledge to summon up information relevant inany situation. Upon activating this Charm, the Exaltselects a field of specialized, learned knowledgewhich she has no knowledge of. (Examplesmight include agriculture, astrology, geomancy,mathematics, or sorcery.) For the remainder of thescene, the Solar has all the knowledge necessaryto have a solid, competent understanding of thefield in question. She may substitute Intelligence+ Lore for the standard dicepool in any roll shemakes using that field of knowledge this turn.Note that this Charm only provides intellectualknowledge — it could provide the knowledge offencing maneuvers but not the ability to performthem, for example.107

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSSAVANT NEEDS NO TUTOR APPROACHCost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Forgotten SecretsTechniqueThe Exalt’s inherent mastery of knowledgeallows him to ignore the need for a tutor altogether.The Exalt selects a single Trait or Charm he wishesto raise or purchase with experience. (This cannotbe any sort of especially rare knowledge, such as aspell, an obscure Martial Art, or a Charm learnedusing the Eclipse anima ability.) The training timeneeded to raise or purchase that Trait or Charm isreduced by one step — months to weeks, weeksto days, days to hours. In addition, the penalty forlacking a tutor is eliminated.EXCELLENT INSTRUCTOR TECHNIQUECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Forgotten SecretsTechniqueThrough the use of this Charm, the Exalt canconvey any information he knows to studentsin a masterful and effective manner. The Solaractivates this Charm when beginning the processof instructing students in a subject the character isknowledgeable about. The training time necessaryfor these students to purchase ratings in the traitbeing taught is reduced by half. In addition, thesestudents receive bonus dice equal to the character’sEssence towards all rolls involved in learningand internalizing the knowledge imparted by theExalt.DETAILED FACT PROVISIONCost: 12 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Excellent InstructorTechniqueThis Charm allows a Solar to communicateinformation rapidly to a subject, in a mere instant.The Solar identifies a body of facts or statementsshe wishes to convey to the subject; within seconds,all of it is known by the target. Though the effectis instantaneous, the target internalizes theknowledge as if the Solar carefully explained it toher in detail. This Charm provides no improvedmemory or attention span to the recipient; he willforget the information as easily as if he had learnedit through normal means. It also cannot increasethe subject’s ability ratings, although an Exalt canprovide tutelage through this technique.ORICHALCUM-LOCATING DIVINATIONCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One hourType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Forgotten SecretsTechniqueThe Solar Exalted have a close attunementto the Essence flows of their associated MagicalMaterial. Using this Charm, a Solar can use thatattunement to locate quantities of the metal. Uponactivating this Charm, the character must spendone hour meditating and attuning his anima tothe vibrations of orichalcum; upon doing so, helearns the location and approximate size of thenearest significant quantity of the Material within(Permanent Essence x 100) miles.108

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESOBSERVANT GENERAL’S MEDITATIONCost: 8 motesDuration: SpecialType: SupplementalMinimum Lore: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Forgotten SecretsTechniqueThe character can craft brilliant strategies toachieve any goal. When invoking this Charm, thecharacter chooses a single goal she wishes to achieve,and decides which resources she intends to use inachieving it. She then must spend a number of daysdevising a strategy to achieve her ends equal to (10minus her Permanent Essence.) At the end of thistime, the Solar rolls Intelligence + Lore. For eachsuccess she achieves on this roll, she adds a numberof points to a floating pool equal to her PermanentEssence. For the duration of the endeavor, the Solarmay reflexively spend these points; each pointadds an automatic success to a single roll made inpursuit of the goal by the Solar or any ally of herswho is following the stated strategy. The Solar mayspend no more points than her Permanent Essenceon any one roll. This Charm’s duration ends whenthe points are exhausted, the goal is achieved, orthe Solar chooses to allow it to lapse.A Solar may only have a single instance of thisCharm active at any given time. In addition,any given goal may only be approached with asingle strategy at once; therefore, no undertakingcan benefit from more than one instance of thisCharm.UNFAILING STRATEGY TECHNIQUECost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Observant General’sMeditationThe character’s ability to analyze a situationand apply strategic insight to it is unmatched in all109

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSCreation. Using this Charm, a character can crafta truly immaculate strategy for any undertaking.When activating this Charm, the character selects anendeavor he wishes to undertake and identifies allrelevant knowledge and information he possesses,as well as any assumptions he explicitly wishes tomake. He then spends a number of hours craftinga plan equal to (10 minus his Permanent Essence.)At the end of this time, the character has a planwhich is perfect given its assumptions — giventhe knowledge and assumptions identified by thecharacter when activating the Charm, he producesthe best possible strategy to achieve his goal.Note that a perfect strategy does not guaranteesuccess in the endeavor. Any failure by theparticipants to enact the strategy correctly maylead to failure. In addition, factors which were notexplicitly taken into account may interfere withthe execution of the plan. Finally, even the bestpossible strategy may not ensure success — insome situations, a character may at best be able tominimize his defeat.ARTIFACT-ANALYZING METHODCost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Forgotten SecretsTechniqueThe Exalt has a magical affinity with artifactsand other magical devices, allowing her to discovertheir inner workings and origins with a carefulexamination. The character examines an artifactfor at least one hour. At the end of that time, shemakes an Intelligence + Lore roll; she adds one dieto this roll for each hour she examined the artifact,to a maximum of her Lore in dice. This roll is at adifficulty equal to the artifact’s rating (or 6 if it isN/A). If this roll is successful, the character candetermine the artifact’s purpose, how it functions,and how it was constructed. This will provide theSolar with the information necessary to duplicateit, allowing the Exalt to create a duplicate as if shewere working from a detailed schematic (althoughit does not grant any skills necessary to actuallycraft another such artifact.)BRILLIANT ARCHITECT APPROACHCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Artifact-AnalyzingMethodBuilding or maintaining magical devicesrequires a great deal of intellectual rigor at everystage. Those who wish to be master artificers orgeomancers must be well-learned, seasoned inthe occultic arts, and a capable craftsman besides.Using this Charm, a Solar can improve his facultiesin every aspect of such crafting. This Charm mustbe activated as the Exalt prepares to begin a tasksuch as crafting an artifact, maintaining a First Ageweapon, or building a Manse. For the duration ofthe task, the Exalt’s effective ratings in Occult, Lore,and the relevant Craft ability are increased by onehalfhis Permanent Essence score, rounded up. Thisbonus applies only to rolls made for purposes ofthe specific task identified during the Charm’sactivation, as well as for meeting prerequisites ofthe same project .MACHINES OF THE NEW DAWNTECHNIQUECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Artifact-AnalyzingMethodThrough a careful understanding of the flowsof Essence through magical devices, the characterbecomes remarkably capable at working with them.110

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESFor the remainder of the scene after activating thisCharm, the Exalt may add a number of automaticsuccesses equal to his Permanent Essence to anyIntelligence + Lore roll to repair or use a magicaldevice.DEUS EX MACHINA MEDITATIONCost: 20 motes, 2 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Lore: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Machines of the NewDawnTechniqueWith the understanding of this powerfultechnique, a Solar is truly the master of artifice.Upon activating this Charm, the character becomesperfectly capable of using a single magical device.First, the character may both attune to the artifactand gain all Material bonuses for the standard cost,regardless of its Magical Material composition. Inaddition, all barriers preventing the character fromusing the artifact are removed. If the artifact requiresspecial knowledge to activate, the character gainsthis knowledge (though this does not guarantee thecharacter can use it well, only granting the mostbasic knowledge necessary to cause the artifact tofunction.) If the artifact requires any rolls to activate,the character automatically succeeds on these.Finally, the character may use the artifact even if itis normally limited to members of another species,caste, or Exalt type, and regardless of whether thelimitation is physical or magical.MEDICINEPHILOSOPHYSolar Medicine begins with medicine in its mostbasic form: healing the body. Low-Essence MedicineCharms begin with effects that heal the body ofminor wounds and diseases, increasing in poweras they move up in Essence. Low Essence MedicineCharms can also provide basic utility for physicians— Charms like Flawless Diagnosis Technique whichsimply aid in the process of mundane doctoring.As Solar Medicine Charms increase in Essence,they can expand in three directions. One is toheal increasingly quickly or well, the directionwhich charms like Healing Trance Meditation andAnointment of Miraculous Health take. Another isto heal greater numbers of people — a possibilitywhich currently extant Charms don’t explore.Finally, there are Charms which expand the typeof healing possible. Solar Charms rapidly branchout into repairing poison, addiction, mental illness— even the process of aging. The higher the Essencelevel of the Charms, the more unusual and difficultthe problems they should be able to repair.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe Abyssal Medicine Charms lean heavily towardsdistinctly entropic effects — healing disease atthe cost of inflicting horrific wounds, or inflictingplagues. As a result, none of the Abyssal Charmsseem like viable candidates for conversion intoSolar effects.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSBody-Mending Meditation, Exalted Corebook pg.188. This Charm can be used to heal others. Oneapplication allows the Charm to affect a number ofpatients equal to the Exalt’s Medicine rating. TheExalt must be able to tend the patients for them toreceive the benefits of this Charm.Ailment-Rectifying Method, Exalted Corebook pg.188. This Charm’s prerequisite is Contagion-Curing Touch. Its Medicine minimum is 5. ItsEssence minimum is 3. Its cost is 6 motes perlevel, 1 Willpower. Its duration is One day. Overthe course of one day, it allows the character toreduce the Virulence level of a disease affecting111

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSup to (Medicine x Permanent Essence) people byone level per 6 motes spent, up to a total numberof levels equal to Permanent Essence.Contagion-Curing Touch, Exalted Corebook pg. 189.This Charm’s prerequisite is Flawless DiagnosisTechnique. The Exalt may use it on himself.Touch of Blissful Release, Exalted Corebook pg.189. This Charm reduces wound penalties bythe character’s Permanent Essence. The penaltycaused by the Charm is equal to (4 - PermanentEssence), and applies only to actions which requiregreat physical coordination or intense, continuousintellectual activity.Grevious Injury Recovery Method, Exalted Corebookpg. 190. This Charm’s prerequisite is Self-HealingBody. Its Duration is Permanent. Its Type isSpecial. Its Essence and Medicine minimums are3. It multiplies the Exalt’s natural healing rate forlethal damage by 10.Wound-Mending Care Technique, Exalted Corebookpg. 190. This Charm’s prerequisite is Body-MendingMeditation. The Solar may use it on himself.Anointment of Miraculous Health, Exalted Corebookpg. 190. This Charm’s Medicine minimum is 5. Itsprerequisites are Ailment-Rectifying Method andHealing Trance Meditation.Addiction-Cleansing Touch, Castebook: Twilight pg.72. This Charm’s Medicine minimum is 5.Venom Anodyne Method, Castebook: Night pg. 72.This Charm’s prerequisite is Self-Healing Body.Body Purifying Technique, Castebook: Night pg. 72.This Charm does not require Venom AnodyneMethod as a prerequisite.Bodily Regeneration Prana, Exalted Corebook pg.191. This Charm’s prerequisite is Grevious InjuryRecovery Method. Its Duration is Permanent. ItsType is Special. Its Essence minimum is 4. Thecharacter may heal Aggravated damage naturally,as if it were lethal damage. He may also regeneratelost limbs and other body parts, as if each were theequivalent of 2 aggravated health levels.Healing Trance Meditation, Exalted Corebook pg.191. This Charm’s prerequisite is Wound-MendingCare Technique.Merciful Balm of Sleep, Castebook: Twilight pg.73. This Charm’s prerequisite is Mind-EasingTechnique.Youth-Restoring Benison, Castebook: Twilight pg.73. This Charm’s prerequisite is Age-DefyingInfusion.NEW CHARMSSELF-HEALING BODYCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Medicine: 2Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: NoneThe character’s inherent ability to heal issupercharged with Essence, allowing her to recoverfrom small injuries with incredible swiftness. Thecharacter’s healing rate for bashing damage isincreased to 10 times its normal rate.INFECTIOUS CURE METHODCost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 experiencepointDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Medicine: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Ailment-RectifyingMethodA great Solar physician can turn the methodsof disease back upon itself, using the principlesof infection to cure disease rather than cause it.112

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESIn order to use this Charm, the Solar must haveaccess to a sample of the disease he wishes to cure— for example, the ability to examine a victim,living or dead. He then must make an Intelligence+ Medicine roll against a difficulty equal to thedisease’s (Virulence - 1, to a minimum of 1).If the roll is successful, the Solar has created ananti-plague — a cure which spreads as if it werea disease itself. The ability of the cure to spread,and the vectors by which it does, are equivalentto those of the disease it cures. Anyone who isinfected with the disease who contracts the curemust roll Stamina + Resistance; on a success, thedisease begins to recede at a speed equivalent toits original onset. Anyone who is not infected withthe disease may also roll Stamina + Resistance; ona success, they become immune to the disease inquestion and cannot be infected with it.This cure continues to spread until the Exalt stopscommitting the motes for this Charm, at whichpoint its immunizing effects linger but it is nolonger communicable.STABILIZING TOUCH METHODCost: 2 motesDuration: SpecialType: SupplementalMinimum Medicine: 3Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Body MendingMeditationOften, a healer is faced with more patientsthan she can possibly treat in the time she hasavailable. With this Charm, however, a Solarcan guarantee that all her patients survive to betreated. The character need merely touch a patient113

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSand commit 2 motes of Essence — as long as thatEssence remains committed, the patient’s conditionwill remain stable. As long as the patient remainsin a state of rest, and no one else inflicts any furtherharm upon him, his injuries will become no moresevere, though further injuries may still be inflictedupon him.PAIN-ERADICATING METHODCost: 10 motesDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Medicine: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Touch of BlissfulReleaseThe Solar’s touch can bring reprieve to eventhe most pain-wracked of the ill. Activating thisCharm allows the character to ease all the pain beingsuffered by a single individual — including herself— for a day. All wound penalties that character issuffering, even those inflicted through magic, areeased for the remainder of the day. Note that anindividual may find himself in danger of injuringhimself if he attempts to perform any strenuousor difficult actions while under the effect of thisCharm, since it suppresses the body’s natural painwarning system.WOUND-INFLICTING TOUCHCost: 10 motesDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Medicine: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Unhealing WoundInflictionMuch as an experienced Solar can bring healingwith but a touch, so too can he bring harm. Withthis Charm, a simple touch can inflict a deep, vitalwound. To use this technique, the Solar must placehis hand firmly upon the target. To accomplish thisin combat, the character must make a successfulunarmed attack at +1 difficulty. Doing so inflictsa number of automatic levels of lethal damageequal to the character’s Permanent Essence. If thisCharm is used as part of an attack in combat, thisdamage is in place of the attack’s normal damage.This damage cannot be soaked.This Charm may explicitly be part of a Combo withCharms of other abilities.BODY-RESTORING MEDITATIONCost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 experiencepointDuration: One hourType: SimpleMinimum Medicine: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Body PurifyingTechniqueSome wounds time does not heal. To those whohave been crippled, scarred, or maimed, the healingtouch of the Solar Exalted may be the only hope ofever regaining their capabilities. Using this Charm,the Solar can heal even such horrific injuries. TheExalt must carefully examine the target’s body andinfuse it with healing Essence, allowing it to slowlyreshape itself into its ideal form. This process takesapproximately one hour. When it concludes, thetarget may be cured of any permanent paralysis orother physical damage, or any lost points of physicalattributes. Each additional point of healing in thisfashion requires the expenditure of an experiencepoint, which either the Solar or the target maypay.AGE-DEFYING INFUSIONCost: 15 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 experiencepointDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Medicine: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Body-RestoringMeditation114

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESThe slow, onward march of time is inevitable— except to the Chosen of the Sun. With this Charm,the character can stave off the aging of a mortal for ayear. The Solar need merely lay his hands upon thetarget and fill him with youthful Essence, spendingthe motes, Willpower, and experience necessary.For a period of one year after the activation ofthis Charm, the target will not age in any way,remaining instead at their current age. At the endof that yearlong period, their aging will resume asnormal, from the point at which it stopped.Once a character has had this Charm used uponhim once by a certain Exalt, a bond of Essenceis forged between the two. Once the initial yearhas expired, the Exalt can renew the effects ofthis Charm by activating it and paying 15 motesand 1 Willpower — no expenditure of additionalexperience is necessary.MIND-EASING TECHNIQUECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Medicine: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Healing TranceMeditationWith this Charm, the Exalt can ease the painand suffering of one who is mentally ill. To use thisCharm, the Solar must speak carefully and calmlyto one suffering from mental illness for a period offive minutes for each derangement that individualis suffering from. At the conclusion of that time, theveil of illness lifts and the ill character is immune tothe effects of madness for the remainder of the day.At the end of that time, the madness will return.However, characters may attempt to treat thismadness through more conventional means whilethe individual is under the effects of this Charm.This Charm cannot suppress the effects of the GreatCurse.SOUL-UNBINDING TOUCHCost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 experiencepointDuration: One hourType: SimpleMinimum Medicine: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Mind-EasingTechniqueThe Solar who focuses on healing the mindas well as the body can work wonders upon thosewho suffer. With this Charm, she can even rescuea character from effects that would enslave hismind. In order to use the Soul-Unbinding Touch,the target must be willing, or forcefully restrained;the character must touch his head, and enter into adeep meditation for an hour, during which time sheexplores deep within the patient’s subconscious. Atthe end of this time, any effects which have altered,controlled, or bound the mind of the target fallaway, even those with permanent durations. A sideeffect of this is that any memories of actions takenagainst the character’s will begin to fade away,disappearing completely within a year.THRONG-CURING METHODCost: 15 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Medicine: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Anointment ofMiraculous HealthOne Exalted healer alone is enough to turna group of green nurses into a brilliant team ofsurgeons and physicians. This Charm allows acharacter to channel his healing energies through hissubordinates, greatly increasing their ability to healthe sick and wounded. While this Charm is active,the character may activate any Medicine Charmhe knows and grant it to a number of subordinatesequal to his Medicine rating; each of them can then115

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSuse it, without paying its cost, as if they were theSolar. This effect lasts for the remainder of the day;each such subordinate may use a granted Charm anumber of times equal to half the Solar’s PermanentEssence, rounded up. If these uses are not all madeby the end of the day, they are wasted. In addition,if any of these subordinates wander further thanPermanent Essence miles from the Exalt, the effectimmediately ends.Subordinates who are empowered through thisCharm must have a Medicine rating equal to theEssence Minimum of a given Charm in order togain access to it.HEALING THE MASSES APPROACHCost: 20 motes, 2 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Medicine: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Throng-CuringMethodA true master of Solar healing can drafta veritable army of doctors to help him in hiscompassionate mission, upon just a moment’snotice. Using this technique, the Solar can empowera number of subordinates equal to her (Medicine xPermanent Essence) to use her Medicine Charms,as per Throng-Curing Method.OCCULTPHILOSOPHYThe distinction between Lore and Occult issubtle, but important. Lore deals with the directmanipulation of Essence as a source of power —letting Exalts move it around, or use it in its rawform to attack. Occult, however, deals with Essencein use — in spirits, in talismans, in manses or inthe stars.Specifically, Occult is the thaumaturgical ability;it represents knowledge of the natural magicalprocesses which abound in Creation. Solar OccultCharms, therefore, should be capable of branchinginto any field which thaumaturgy deals with. Theexisting Solar Occult Charms deal primarily withthe binding and attacking of spirits — an elementof thaumaturgy — but there are others which couldbe represented as well. Geomancy is an obviouschoice.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe Abyssal Exalted possess Shadowlands andLabyrinth Circle Necromancy, Charms which areexplicitly available to the Solar Exalted. Otherwise,the Abyssal Occult Charms mirror the effectsalready available to Solars.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSSpirit-Cutting Attack, Exalted Corebook pg. 192.This Charm’s duration is One Scene, its Type isSimple, and its cost is 3 motes.Power-Draining Whisper, Castebook: Twilight pg.73. This Charm’s Occult minimum is 5. Its Essenceminimum is 4. Its prerequisite is Magic-SupressingTouch.Power-Disrupting Blow, Castebook: Twilight pg.74. This Charm’s Occult minimum is 5. It does notrequire All-Encompassing Sorcerer’s Sight as aprerequisite.NEW CHARMSDEMESNE-FINDING METHODCost: 5 motesDuration: One sceneType: Simple116

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESMinimum Occult: 2Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: NoneThe Exalt is attuned to the geomanticvibrations of the land around him; with a moment’sconcentration, he taps into the energy of the dragonlines running through the ground under his feet.Upon activating this Charm, the character discoversthe location of the nearest demesne within a numberof miles equal to (10 x Permanent Essence), as wellas its rating, its aspect, and whether it is cappedby a Manse.DEMESNE-CONVERTING PRANACost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Occult: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Demesne-FindingMethodThis Charm’s sole purpose is to assist a Solarin the process of converting a demense of anotheraspect into a Solar demesne. When a Solar standswithin a demesne she is attuned to and uses thisCharm, it is counted as one successful Charm usetowards altering the demesne’s aspect for each pointof Permanent Essence the character possesses.DEMESNE-FORMING APPROACHCost: 20 motes, 2 Willpower, 3 experiencepointsDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Occult: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Demesne-ConvertingPranaBy channelling vast quantities of Solar Essenceinto the land below his feet, the character causes theformation of a Solar-aspected demesne. In order touse this Charm, the character must select a regionto convert, and prepare it by committing 20 motesinto the land itself. Then the character must sitat the center of the region and enter into a deepmeditative trance. During this trance, the Exalt mayfreely spend motes of Essence on reshaping theenergy of the selected area. The Exalt may end thetrance at will, at which point the demesne beginsto form. The level of the forming demesne is equalto the number of motes spent, divided by 100; itforms at a rate of one level per week. The demesneis always Solar aspected.If this Charm is used to create a demesne in withinfive miles of an existing demesne, one or the otherwill gain dominance, depending on their relativestrengths; the weaker demesne will lose one level117

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSeach month until it disappears entirely, while thestronger demesne will gain one level for every twolost by the weaker one, to a maximum of 5.MAJESTIC DRAGON LINE APPROACHCost: 6 motesDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Occult: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Demesne-FindingMethodUsing this Charm, the Solar gains an immaculateknowledge of the flows of Essence through a region,granting him a thorough picture of local geomanticenergies. For the duration of a single geomantictask, the character receives a number of automaticsuccesses on all Occult rolls related to geomancyequal to his permanent Essence.MANSE-ANALYZING MEDITATIONCost: 6 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Occult: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Demesne-FindingMethod118

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESThe character can analyze the flows of Essencethrough a manse down to a minute level of detail.In order to use this Charm, the character must beable to spend a scene (generally around 20 minutes)within the manse, walking into different rooms andcarefully examining the architecture and layout.Upon completing this examination, the Solar learnsthe following information: the rating of the manse,the rating of the demesne it caps, the nature ofany secondary or aesthetic effects produced usingexcess Essence, the number of people attuned to themanse, and the basic effects of the hearthstone.MANSE-REDESIGNING METHODCost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 experiencepointDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Occult: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Manse-AnalyzingMeditationUsing this Charm, a Solar can channel theEssence of a demesne itself into reshaping the mansewhich caps it. Upon activating this Charm, thecharacter places the hearthstone upon its Manse’sformation plate, and begins to channel its Essenceinto the surrounding structure. The character thenrolls as normal to alter the design of the manse;however, all difficulties on these rolls are reducedby half the character’s Occult rating, rounded up.In addition, the alteration requires no outsidematerials, and is completed within two days perlevel of the demesne. The Solar must stay within thehearthstone formation chamber to direct this energyfor the Charm’s duration, or it fails, though she caneat, sleep, and perform other non-strenuous actionswhile doing so. Upon the Charm’s completion, theoriginal hearthstone has become the hearthstone forthe manse’s new design; no time is required for anew hearthstone to form.HEARTHSTONE-DRAINING METHODCost: 3 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Occult: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Demesne-FindingMethodUsing this Charm, a Solar can draw moreheavily upon the Essence provided by a manse sheis attuned to, although at a cost. Upon activatingthis Charm, the rate of Essence regeneration of asingle hearthstone the character is attuned to isdoubled for the Charm’s duration. The Exalt maymaintain this Charm for a number of hours equalto her Occult rating. However, for each hour thisCharm is active, the effective level of the manse isreduced by 1 once the Charm is ended. This penaltydisappears at the rate of one level per day.BODY-SETTING TECHNIQUECost: 4 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: IndefiniteType: SimpleMinimum Occult: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Hearthstone-DrainingMethodWith this technique, the Solar does not needan artifact with a hearthstone slot in order to gainthe full benefits from an attuned hearthstone. Thecharacter simply places a hearthstone from a manseanywhere on her skin and activates this Charm. Thehearthstone attaches itself to the character, as if itwere a part of her body. While this Charm remainsactive, the character gains the special ability of thehearthstone, just as if it were placed in an artifact’shearthstone socket. In addition, the characterregains motes from the hearthstone as if its mansewere one level higher. The character may end thisCharm at any time, at which point the gem easilydetaches from her skin.119

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSESSENCE-ABSORBING METHODCost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerType: SimpleDuration: One sceneMinimum Occult: 5Minimum Essence: 3Charm Prerequisites: Magic-SuppressingTouchThe Solar adopts an elaborate arcane stance,activating special Essence points in her aura inorder to create sympathetic Essence patterns. Whileshe remains in this stance, the use of Essence bythose who strike her only feeds her own reserves.While this Charm is active, whenever Essence isspent to make or supplement an attack against theExalt, she regains a number of motes equal to halfthose spent on the attack, rounded down.BESTIARY SIGHT TECHNIQUECost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Occult: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: All-EncompassingSorcerer’s SightThe Solar opens his eyes to the unique flowsof Essence within each being, learning their subtleintricacies and elaborate patterns. Upon activatingthis Charm, he begins to see these patterns withinthose beings around him. For the remainder of thescene, the Exalt can accurately identify the nature ofcreatures through the nature of their Essence flows.This allows him to determine the species of ananimal, as well as the nature of any Wyld mutationsor persistent enchantments upon it. It also lets thecharacter distinguish between different varietiesof Essence wielder, allowing him to determine thecaste and variety of an Exalt, the lineage of a God-Blood, and so on.SPELLBOUND SIGHT TECHNIQUECost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Occult: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: All-EncompassingSorcerer’s SightThe Exalt’s vision expands to encompasseven the most minute changes in Essence flows.For the remainder of the scene, the character cansee the smallest and most subtle uses of Essencein the surrounding area. She can determine thePermanent Essence rating of any creature shelooks at. In addition, she instantly knows wheneveranyone within visual range spends Essence, andhow many motes. Finally, she can gather the basiceffect of any Charm or spell activated within herpresence, or with a continuous effect that is activein her presence. The Storyteller should providethe character with a one-sentence description ofthe Charm or spell’s effects. This last effect doesnot apply to Charms of Permanent duration —these Charms represent fundamental changes toa creature’s being, rather than the presence of astanding enchantment.EYES OF THE SAVANTCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Occult: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Bestiary Sight Technique,Spellbound Sight TechniqueThe Exalt’s eyes become permanently suffusedwith Essence, opening them up to the spiritualworld. At all times, the character’s vision providesthe benefits of All-Encompassing Sorcerer’s Sight,Bestiary Sight Technique, and Spellbound SightTechnique. This Charm does not need to beactivated; it permanently enhances the Exalt’scapabilities.120

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESDEMON-SMITING HAMMERCost: 10 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Occult: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Ghost-EatingTechniqueThe Solar Exalted were the foremost championsof the gods in their war against the Primordials andtheir demonic servants. This Charm was one of theirdeadliest weapons in that war. An attack made withthis Charm against a spirit always strikes true — itcannot be blocked or dodged. If the attack strikes,the damage it deals is unsoakable. This Charm cansupplement an attack made with any ability, andcan explicitly be included in Combos with Charmsof other abilities.MAGIC-SUPPRESSING TOUCHCost: 3 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Occult: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: All-EncompassingSorcerer’s SightWith a careful gesture, the Solar stirs up theflows of Essence which make up a Charm beingactivated, causing great difficulty for its wielder.To use this Charm, the character must be withinhis Permanent Essence in yards of the characterusing the targeted Charm. The Solar rolls Wits +Occult, opposed by his target’s Permanent Essence.For each net success on this roll, the target mustspend an additional 2 motes to activate the Charm,or allow it to dissipate without effect. The targetstill must pay any standard costs for the Charm,121

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUShowever. Note that if this Charm is used againsta Reflexive Charm, the target may immediatelyreactivate that Charm.CHARM-ANNULLING STRIKECost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Occult: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Magic-SuppressingTouchThe Solar directly cuts apart the weave ofEssence at the heart of an enemy’s Charm, negatingits effects. Upon activating this Charm, the characterchooses one of the following: either a singleCharm which another character is in the processof activating, or a single Charm of non-instantduration which another character is currently underthe effects of. She then makes a Wits + Occult roll,opposed by the target’s Permanent Essence. Witheven a single net success, the Charm is annulledand has no effect; the target must still pay all costsassociated with its use, however.POWER-SHIELDING SPHERECost: 15 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Occult: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Power-DisruptingBlowThe character’s mastery of Essence is greatenough to protect himself entirely from its negativeeffects. To activate this Charm, the character mustdelineate an approximately circular area aroundhimself, which can be no more than his PermanentEssence in yards wide. Normally the character mustdraw this circle in chalk or otherwise spend a turnpreparing it, although the use of a tied rope or otherprop might speed the process. Once the circle iscomplete, it becomes inviolate to Essence. No spellor Charm can affect the user or anyone else withinthe sphere (Charms with a duration are cancelled,although spells with a duration are not.) Thosestanding within the circle cannot activate spells orCharms of their own. In addition, hearthstones andartifacts stop functioning within the circle, althoughthey suffer no permanent damage.In order to maintain this Charm, the Solar mustpay an additional 1 Willpower after his Essence inturns have passed, or the effect ends.ATHLETICSPHILOSOPHYAthletics represents a character’s talent in allmatters of physical activity. As such, it is perhapsthe Ability most closely tied to Attributes — feats ofAthletics are generally feats of Strength or Dexterity.As such, Solar Athletics Charms generally provideeffects that improve the feats a Solar can performwith one or the other Attribute.For improving their Strength, Solars have a smalland extremely direct tree, focused entirely onboosting one’s ability to lift and break things withsheer force. The Dexterity tree is broader, coveringeffects that affect a Solar’s balance, speed, andjumping distance, as well as providing athleticallyenhancedattack Charms. Further development ofthis tree would largely stem from this portion of thetree, leading to increasingly impossible movementsand stronger attack boosts.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe foremost Athletics Charm available to Abyssalswhich Solars have no equivalent of is EnhancedDexterity Discipline. Since Athletics deals more orless equivalently with Strength and Dexterity, thisseems like a viable conversion.122

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESAbyssals also have access to a Charm which allowsthem to fall slowly, but this is less thematicallyappropriate for Solars than Abyssals. Solars dohave access to Charm-powered flight, which leavestheir basic capabilities at a comparable level.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSMonkey Leap Technique, Exalted Corebook pg. 193.This Charm has no prerequisite.Racing Hare Method, Exalted Corebook pg. 195.This Charm does not require Spider-Foot Style asa prerequisite.Cloud-Foot Style, Castebook: Night pg. 73. ThisCharm’s Essence minimum is 3. In addition to thelisted effects, this Charm also allows the characterto continue moving in a single direction without asurface to walk on as long as she reaches somethingsolid by the beginning of the next turn. Thus, acharacter could run across a chasm as if there werea bridge, or run straight up a hanging rope andcontinue moving upwards, as long as she reachedanother foothold by the end of the turn.NEW CHARMSIMMACULATE (ATTRIBUTE) PRANACost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Athletics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: NoneThe Solar’s physique transcends human perfection,bringing the her into the possession of a trulygodlike body. When the Exalt purchases this Charm,123

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSshe selects Strength or Dexterity. The maximumrating of the chosen attribute is increased by one;she may raise it to this new higher value usingExperience. This Charm may be purchased oncefor each of the two attributes. This Charm does notneed to be activated; it simply improves the Exalt’scapabilities.INCREASING DEXTERITY EXERCISECost: 5 motes per dotDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Athletics: 3Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: NoneThis Charm allows the Exalt to becomepreternaturally dextrous for a short time. Foreach 5 motes the character expends, her Dexterityis increased by one dot for the remainder of thescene. The character cannot increase her Dexterityby more dots than her permanent Essence score.If a character purchases this Charm, she cannotpurchase Increasing Strength Exercise, and acharacter who knows Increasing Strength Exercisecannot purchase this Charm.UNEARTHLY GRACE MEDITATIONCost: 5 motesDuration: One sceneType: Simple124

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESMinimum Athletics: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Graceful Crane StanceThe Solar’s body is the very embodimentof grace and beauty, bending and stretching inimpeccably fluid motions. For the remainder of thescene, the character may add automatic successesequal to his Permanent Essence to any Dexterity +Athletics roll which involves fluid or quick motion.This Charm cannot augment any roll which servesas part of an attack.FLUID ALACRITY STYLECost: 6 motesDuration: InstantType: Extra ActionMinimum Athletics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Unearthly GraceMeditationMoving with an unimaginable swiftness,the Solar is little more than a blur of motion toany who perceive her. This turn, the charactermay take a number of Extra Actions equal to hisPermanent Essence. The character may use theseactions to move his standard sprinting distanceeach; otherwise, each must be used to performa Dexterity + Athletics action. The character isexplicitly allowed to split his standard dice actionas normal during a turn in which this Charm isused, and to Combo this Charm with Charms ofother abilities.FREEDOM OF EXQUISITE MOTIONCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Athletics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Unearthly GraceMeditationThe Exalt’s nimbleness and dexterity aresecond to none; even when doing multiple thingsat once, the Solar is able to perform each with graceand elegance. The character’s penalties for takingmultiple actions are reduced by one. This Charmdoes not need to be activated; it simply improvesthe Exalt’s capabilities.UNPARALELLED ELEGANCE SPIRITCost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: Extra ActionMinimum Athletics: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Fluid Alacrity StyleThe Solar weaves through space with aperfection unknown to mere mortals, making everymotion a part of a beauteous and deadly dance. Thecharacter receives a number of actions this turn equalto one-half her Dexterity, rounded up; these actionsmay be split in the same way that a standard actionmay be. However, during this turn, the charactermay take only intensely physical actions. Thecharacter may attack, dodge, run, leap, or otherwisemove; however, actions may not be devoted todetailed or fine movement, or social or mental tasks.This Charm may be Comboed with Charms of otherAbilities, as long as they provide or supplementpurely physical actions.SKY-BODY STYLECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Athletics: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Cloud-Foot Style, Eagle-Wing StyleWith this Charm, the Exalt can freely movethrough empty space. For the remainder of thescene, the character may move in any direction asif she were walking on solid ground; in addition,she may stand, sit, or otherwise remain still uponthin air. While this Charm is active, the characterwill not fall or otherwise lose her position in the125

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSair unless she actively chooses to do so, or becomesunconscious.SWIFT CHEETAH STRIDECost: 8 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Athletics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Racing Hare MethodThe character infuses her legs with swiftEssence, granting her a fleetness of foot unheardof amonsgt even the greatest sprinters. For onescene after this Charm is activated, the charactermultiplies her normal speed by her PermanentEssence.HUNDRED-BEAR METHODCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Athletics: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Ten Ox MeditationFocusing Essence through her muscles, thecharacter becomes strong beyond imagining. Forthe remainder of the scene, the character maytake automatic successes equal to her TemporaryWillpower on any roll to boost her Strength forpurposes of athletic feats, and may do so withoutspending a point of Willpower.STRENGTH OF THOUSANDSCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Athletics: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Hundred-Bear MethodThe Solar’s ability to channel Essence throughhis muscles has reached its zenith. With this Charm,the Solar may automatically succeed at lifting orcrushing a single object, regardless of its weight126

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESor soak. The Solar may carry, swing, or throwany object he lifts in this fashion (use his normalStrength for purposes of any attacks), although hestill needs leverage to do so — he might not be ableto carry or throw a large building, for example,without lifting it from near its center.CREATION-SPANNING VAULTCost: 20 motes, 2 WillpowerDuration: One hourType: SimpleMinimum Athletics: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Mountain-CrossingLeap MethodThis Charm empowers a character to maketruly stupendous leaps, propelling him over vastdistances. The character merely leaps far intothe air, rising high into the air. This leap takesapproximately an hour, in which time the charactercan move up to 100 miles per dot of PermanentEssence, moving a minimum of 100 miles. As withMountain-Crossing Leap Method, any use of flighteffects ends the protective effects of this Charm,and the Exalt must roll to land successfully.WINDBLOWN LEAP APPROACHCost: 5 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Athletics: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Foe-Vaulting StyleThe character’s ability to precisely leap offeven a precarious or uneven surface is drasticallyincreased. For the remainder of the scene, thecharacter need merely place a foot briefly upona surface — which need not be horizontal — andpush off to be accurately propelled in a directionof his choice. This allows the character to performstandard jump actions from even the slightestfooting without penalty. In addition, it grants thecharacter a single reflexive jump action each turn,which can be used to leap off of anything — eventhe air itself. Otherwise, all leaps made by thecharacter using this Charm follow the normal rulesfor such maneuvers.INESCAPABLE SWORD DANCECost: 1 moteType: ReflexiveDuration: InstantMinimum Athletics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Charm Prerequisites: Foe-Vaulting StyleThe Exalt’s nimbleness makes every moment ofcombat into an elegant dance. As the Solar’s partnermoves, he moves with her. A character may activatethis Charm whenever a foe engaged in combatmoves away from him; he may reflexively movean equivalent distance to follow the opponent. ThisCharm provides no other movement effects — ifthe Solar follows a target into the sky, he will haveto contend with the results of beginning the nextturn in mid-air.RIVER’S DEPTHS APPROACHCost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One hourType: SimpleMinimum Athletics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Swift Water PranaWith this Charm, the character is even more athome within the water than upon dry land. Whilethis Charm is active, the character can move in wateras easily as she could upon land, never needingto roll to avoid being swept away by currents orwaves. In addition, she may swim at a speed equalto her standard land movement speed times herPermanent Essence. Finally, the character need notbreathe at all while underwater — as long as thisCharm remains active. Its effects wear off after anhour, at which point the character must reactivateit if she wishes to continue reaping its benefits.127

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSAWARENESSPHILOSOPHYMuch as Athletics is tied intimately to Strength andDexterity, Awareness is the Ability which hewsclosely to Perception. The Charms available to Solarsin this Ability all follow from this association, servingto improve the Exalt’s senses to a superhumandegree. The core of the Charm tree are the SensoryAcuity Prana and Unsurpassed (Sense) TechniqueCharms, which serve to increase a Solar’s senses toincreasingly powerful levels. Secondary techniquesbranch off of this trunk at the Charm appropriateto their own power level, providing more specificimprovements to individual senses.In the published Charms, Solar Awareness focusesalmost entirely on sight. This is understandable— sight is in many ways the most useful sense,and certainly the one people are most consciousof on a moment-to-moment basis. However, thereis nothing preventing Awareness Charms fromspecifically enhancing hearing, touch, or eventaste.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe only Abyssal Awareness Charm without adirect Solar equivalent is Sense-Eroding Technique,clearly an Abyssal-specific entropic effect.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSPiercing the Night’s Veil Practice, Savage Seas pg. 114.This Charm’s prerequisite is Owl-Eye Technique.Its Awareness minimum is 5. Its Essence minimumis 3. In addition to its listed function, it allows theuser to see through fog, mist, blowing sand, ormagically created darkness, as well as through anyvisual impediments within two inches of the user’seyes, such as blindfolds or helmets.Keen (Sense) Technique, Exalted Corebook pg. 196.These Charms are eliminated.Vision of the Murky Depths Method, Savage Seas pg.114. This Charm’s prerequisite is Sensory AcuityPrana.Unsurpassed (Sense) Technique, Exalted Corebook pg.196. The prerequisite for these Charms is SensoryAcuity Prana.Hundred Leagues Sight Procedure, Savage Seas pg.115. This Charm’s Essence minimum is 3.Eye of the Unconquered Sun, Castebook: Night pg.75. This Charm’s prerequisite is Distance-SpanningSight Meditation.NEW CHARMSIMMACULATE PERCEPTION PRANACost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Awareness: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: NoneThe Solar’s ability to perceive the world aroundhim surpasses that of even the most perceptivemortal. The maximum rating of the Solar’sPerception attribute is increased by one; she mayraise it to this new higher value using Experience.This Charm does not need to be activated; it simplyimproves the Exalt’s capabilities.EYES OF SAFETY METHODOLOGYCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Awareness: 5128

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESMinimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Surprise AnticipationMethodThe Solar has finely tuned her senses, carefullytraining them to pick up on the slightest disturbancethat might indicate the onset of danger. Wheneverdanger threatens the character, whether throughintelligent action or forces of nature, the characterwill receive a warning ten seconds in advance —enough time to quickly prepare. This also functionsagainst anything which is intended to surprisethe Exalt, even if it poses no actual danger. Thisis a perfect defense against surprise; it makes thecharacter completely immune to ambushes.INATTENTIVE AWARENESS METHODOLOGYCost: 8 motesDuration: VariesType: ReflexiveMinimum Awareness: 3Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Sensory Acuity PranaWith this Charm, a Solar can observe asituation with great alacrity even while seemingto be inattentive or even unconscious. The charactercan reflexively activate this Charm when enteringinto a state that would normally render him unableto properly observe the world around him —becoming drunk, falling asleep, or being renderedunconscious or incapacitated, for example. For theduration of that state, the character can observethe world around him as if he were completelyunaffected. He still cannot move or otherwise shrugoff the effects of his condition, and he cannot movehis vantage point from where it would normallybe, but otherwise can observe the situation aroundhimself as if he were fully aware, without anyoneelse present realizing.129

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSVIBRATION-SENSING MEDITATIONCost: 5 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Awareness: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Unsurpassed Hearingand Touch TechniqueThe character’s hearing is so finely attunedthat she can sense the slightest vibration anywherearound herself. For the remainder of the scene, thecharacter can use her enhanced hearing to preciselylocate objects. The Solar is aware of the preciselocation of every object within 100 yards in everydirection; this allows her to act without penalty ifher vision is impaired. This sense, while excellentfor locating objects, provides no detail as to light orcolor, and cannot detect intangible objects, or anyform of energy.ANALYTIC (SENSE) METHODCost: 5 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Awareness: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Unsurpassed Hearingand Touch Technique or Unsurpassed Smelland Taste MeditationThe character’s senses are so finely tunedthat she can determine anything she wishes aboutthe makeup of objects, simply through sensingthem. This Charm takes two forms, Analytic TasteMethod and Analytic Touch Method, depending onthe prerequisite used. Using the former, the Exaltcan determine precisely the ingredients used in anypreparation she tastes, along with the recipe usedto prepare it and a basic description of its effects.This works on food and drink as well as alchemicaldraughts, poisons, and drugs, magical or mundane.Using the latter, the Exalt can determine the exactmaterial makeup and the basic assembly process ofan object by touching it. If she can hold the object,she can determine its exact weight as well as itsbasic internal structure. For either Charm, theseeffects last for an entire scene; the Exalt may analyzeas many objects as she wishes during this time.SCENT OF HOME METHODCost: 5 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Awareness: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Unsurpassed Smell andTaste MeditationThe Solar’s sense of smell is so finely tuned thathe can identify people and places solely throughtheir unique scents. For the remainder of the scene,the character can identify any being within 100yards solely through their scent if the characterhas ever been in the presence of that being before.In addition, the character can perfectly identify anylocation through its unique smell if he has ever beento that location before.EYE OF CREATIONCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One minuteType: SimpleMinimum Awareness: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Hundred Leagues SightProcedureUsing this Charm, the Solar’s senses literallyextend to the boundaries of Creation. For a singleminute after activating this Charm, the charactercan see an object anywhere in Creation as if it werewithin 100 yards of his current location. This Charmdoes not allow the character to see through anybarriers or otherwise observe things that would beblocked by direct sight; it only eliminates the effectof distance upon sight.130

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESDISTANCE-SPANNING SENSE MEDITATIONCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Awareness: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Barrier-BypassingSensesUsing this technique, the Solar can project hissenses out of his body and into a distant location,allowing him to see, smell, and hear things from faraway. To activate this Charm, the character mustenter a meditative trance, at which time his sensesleave his body and become capable of travellingfreely. The character may relocate his senses toanywhere within (10 * Permanent Essence) miles.If he is familiar with the location, he may relocateimmediately; otherwise, his disembodied sensesmove at a rate equal to ten times the Solar’s normalmovement rate.While using this Charm, the Solar is only aware ofhis body inasmuch as his disembodied senses canin one way or another detect it. If he is attackedwhile in this meditative state, the Charm’s effectsend instantly.UNEQUALLED PERIPHERAL PERCEPTIONCost: 10 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Awareness: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Barrier-BypassingSensesThe Solar’s vision is extended in everydirection, granting him unparalleled sight. For theremainder of the scene, the Solar can see in everydirection, including up and down, from his currentposition, out to a distance of (100 x PermanentEssence) yards. In addition, the Solar may chooseto reflexively ignore any object within that range,allowing him to see anything which it obscures.TOTAL AWARENESS APPROACHCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Awareness: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Unequalled PeripheralPerceptionWith this Charm, the Solar’s perception of thearea around her becomes total; no detail can escapeher. For the remainder of the scene after activatingthis Charm, the character can simultaneouslyperceive everything which occurs within a radiusof Permanent Essence miles. Within that sphere, thecharacter is aware of the precise positioning andmovement of all objects, as well as their appearance,even if entirely concealed or surrounded by otherobjects. She can also hear every sound made withinthat range clearly and without distortion.DODGEPHILOSOPHYSolar Dodge is a fairly minimal and straightforwardability. It has only six published Charms, all ofwhich hew closely to its central purpose — avoidingattacks. Even the most unusual Dodge Charm,Leaping Dodge Method, simply avoids a slightlydifferent category of attacks. New Dodge Charmsshould maintain a fairly strong focus on directlyavoiding harm, rather than branching out too farinto esoteric directions.The Solar Dodge tree is closely parallel to the SolarMelee parry tree in its effects — each provides adice-adder, a reflexive defense, a perfect defense,and a scenelong defense of similar design. However,in all of the Charms there are subtle differences— such as the inapplicability of Seven ShadowEvasion — and each tree branches off in severaldirections that the other does not. These differenes131

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSwill become magnified as the two abiliies increasein Essence.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe Abyssal Dodge tree is almost a mirror of theSolar Dodge tree, with five of its six Charms havingalmost identical effects to the Solar Charms (or theirentropic equivalents). The Charm Flowing EvasionAssault implies the possibility of Charms whichprovide an additional benefit on top of dodging,however.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSReed in the Wind, Exalted Corebook pg. 197. ThisCharm can be used after the attack roll.Shadow Over Water, Exalted Corebook pg. 198. ThisCharm can be used after the attack roll.Seven Shadows Evasion, Exalted Corebook pg. 198.This Charm can be used after the attack roll.NEW CHARMSSCATTERED SUNLIGHT ATTITUDECost: 4 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Dodge: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Seven ShadowEvasionConfronted with an incoming attack, thecharacter’s body breaks into thousands of minisculemotes of sunlight to avoid the blow. Using thisCharm, the Exalt may evade any one attack shecan perceive, even if it is normally undodgeable.Upon transforming, the character can reflexivelymove away from the source of the damage ather full movement rate, after which she returnsto her human form. If this Charm was used tododge an attack with an area of effect which thecharacter would still be subject to, however, shemust reactivate this Charm each turn to remainin sunlight form until she can successfully movebeyond the attack’s boundaries; if she cannot affordto do so, she suffers the full effects of the attack.While made of sunlight, the character can take noaction besides movement.WIND-AND-WATER EVASIONCost: 3 motesType: ReflexiveDuration: InstantMinimum Dodge: 5Minimum Essence: 3Charm Prerequisites: Reflex SidestepTechniqueMoving with uninhibited grace, the Solar deftlymaneuvers his body around the arc of an incomingblow, allowing it to pass by harmlessly withouteven needing to alter his position. When the Solaractivates this Charm, he may add a number ofsuccesses equal to half of his Dexterity + Dodgepool, rounded down, to a single dodge attempt;alternately, he may make a reflexive dodge attemptwith the same number of automatic successes.SHIMMERING MIRAGE STANCECost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerType: SimpleDuration: One sceneMinimum Dodge: 5Minimum Essence: 4Charm Prerequisites: Wind-and-WaterEvasionUnshackled by mundane limits, the Solaradopts a pose that allows her body to move andshift at will. As her foes advance upon her position,she effortlessly flows her body around their blows,leaving her unharmed. For the remainder of thescene, she may add a number of automatic successes132

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESequal to her Essence to all dodge attempts; she mayalso reflexively dodge any incoming attack with anequal number of automatic successes.INTANGIBLE SMOKE DEFENSECost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One turnType: ReflexiveMinimum Dodge: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Scattered SunlightAttitudeFlowing and moving like the very air itself,the Solar becomes utterly intangible to incomingattacks. At any point this turn, the Solar mayreflexively, perfectly dodge a number of incomingattakcs equal to one-half her Dodge, rounded up.This charm may be placed in a Combo despite itsnon-Instant duration.PENUMBRA STANCECost: 7 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: ReflexiveMinimum Dodge: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Intangible SmokeDefenseThe Exalt’s body is wrapped entirely inshadows, rendering even the most powerful attacks133

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSharmless. Once this Charm is activated, the Solar’sbody becomes shadowy and intangible. At anytime, she may reflexively, perfectly dodge a singleattack which she is aware of; she may do this anumber of times equal to one-half his Dodge rating,rounded down.A character may only have a single iterationof Penumbra Stance active at any one time; he maynot activate the Charm again until all of the hangingdodges have been used.WIND THROUGH WILLOWS APPROACHCost: 5 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: ReflexiveMinimum Dodge: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Seven ShadowEvasionThe motions of the character become so finelytuned and precise that any attack from a distancebecomes utterly harmless to her; when fired upon,she artfully darts away. For the remainder of thescene, any attacks made upon the character usingprojectiles, whether physical or energetic, missautomatically. This is not a perfect effect — attackswhich automatically hit regardless of the attackroll bypass this protection. In addition, it cannotdodge attacks which could not normally be dodged.Attacks with an area of effect also bypass it if theyconsist of a solid area of damaging material largerthan the Exalt, although they do not if they consistof a cloud of smaller projectiles.BODY OF EVENING MISTCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Dodge: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Flow Like BloodThe Essence of wispy, intangible mistpermeates the Solar’s entire body, guiding her134

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESmotions in all circumstances. The character mayreflexively dodge any incoming attacks, even thoseshe is unaware of, with a pool equal to her Dodgescore, plus appropriate specialties. This pool doesreceive bonus dice equal to the Exalt’s Essence asnormal for Dodge rolls, but does not benefit fromany other continuous effects which add dice orsuccesses to Dodge pools. This Charm does notneed to be activated; it simply enhances the Exalt’scapabilities.UNAPPROACHABLE SELF KATACost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Dodge: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Flow Like Blood, WindThrough Willows ApproachFor a moment, the character is utterly beyondthe reach of any harm that might come to him. Uponactivating this Charm, the character successfullyavoids the direct negative consequences of any oneaction he is aware of that is intended to cause himharm. This can be an attack, a mind control attempt,or any other targeted, harmful action. However,this Charm can only be used to avoid effects in thepresent — an action which will only have negativerepercussions much later cannot be dodged, andeffects which are continuous will simply strike thecharacter again after he has dodged them once.SHADOW OF NIGHT KATACost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: ReflexiveMinimum Dodge: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Unapproachable SelfKataWithout making a single move, the Solarbecomes as insubstantial as night itself, becomingutterly immune to the attacks of those assaultingher. Upon activating this Charm, the characterchooses any number of opponents he is currentlyfacing. For as long as this Charm remains active,the character is completely immune to all attacksand damaging effects originating directly with anyopponent selected in this fashion. However, whileso immune, the character cannot directly affectany selected opponent with attacks or damagingeffects himself; he is in every way insubstantial tothem. Either can still affect the other with indirecteffects, however — for example, caving in theroof on the other’s head. The character using thisCharm can add or remove a single target from theprotection granted by this Charm as a non-rolleddice action.LARCENYPHILOSOPHYSolar Larceny covers a variety of areas, all fallingunder the broad rubric of “illicit behavior.” This canrange from directly criminal behavior like stealingor forming criminal organizations, to actionswhich merely imply illicitness, such as pickinglocks. Larceny also covers physical deception,encompassing activities like legerdemain anddisguise. Solar Larceny Charms should stay withinthese categories, although their expressions canvary quite a bit.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSAbyssal Larceny contains one Charm whichdirectly mentions a possible Solar equivalent:Solar Impersonation Style. Other Charms withpotential for Solar mirrors include Evidence-ErasingMethod (or other effects dealing with evidence ofcriminal activity) and Artful Conjuration Trick(or other effects dealing with legerdemain andmisdirection.)135

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSEXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSThere are no modifications for the LarcenyCharms.NEW CHARMSESSENCE OF THIEVERY METHODCost: 1 mote per dieDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Larceny: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Flawless PickpocketingTechniqueAt its core, larceny is the taking of things thatone does not own. With this Charm, the Solar assertsher mastery of that act. For a cost of 1 mote perdie, the character may add dice to any Larceny rollinvolved in tricking someone or stealing somethingwhich belongs to another. The dice added cannotmore than double the relevant Attribute + Larcenypool.MOUNTAIN-THIEVING METHODCost: 20 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Larceny: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Magpie’s InvisibleTalonWith this Charm, a Solar can steal even immenseobjects from within plain sight of their keepers. Inorder to use this Charm, the character must be ableto somehow obscure the object she wishes to steal,obscuring it behind a curtain or screen, shrouding136

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESit in darkness, or otherwise hiding it from view.Regardless of the means used to do this, the Solarmust spend one minute doing so for each ten cubicfeet of volume the object posesses. The Solar mustalso have a location prepared to move the objectto which is no more than his Permanent Essencein miles distant. Once the preparation is complete,anyone who removes the covering will find theobject missing, having been moved secretly to thehiding place.BARRIER-BREACHING HANDSCost: 6 motesDuration: One turnType: SimpleMinimum Larceny: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Lock-Opening TouchIn some cases, the obstacles barring a Solarfrom his quarry will resist even thorough attemptsat bypassing them. In these circumstances,the character’s best bet is simply to ignore theimpediment. Using this technique, the Exalt mayreach through any physical barrier and pull anyobjects on the other side through. Only the Solar’sarms may pass through the barrier. If the characterdoes not remove his hands by the end of the turn, hemust spend the motes to activate this Charm againon the following turn, or be forcibly ejected.BLOCKADE-THWARTING APPROACHCost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Larceny: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Door-EvadingTechniqueEven the greatest walls are no barrier to adetermined Exalt. This Charm allows the characterto pass through a single wall or obstruction nothicker than her Permanent Essence in feet as ifit did not exist. The Exalt must simply place herhand upon the surface of the barrier, then walkthrough it.WARD-ESCHEWING STRIDECost: 20 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Larceny: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Blockade-ThwartingApproachBypassing even the most powerful magicalbarriers is possible for the canny Solar. With thisCharm, the character may pass through a singleward or magical barrier which would otherwiseprevent her entry to (or exit from) a location. Hemust simply place his hand up to the border ofthe ward, then walk through it. Using this Charmdoes not defeat or remove any such ward it is usedagainst; it merely allows the Exalt to bypass it.SUBTLE LEGERDEMAIN STYLECost: 2 motesDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Larceny: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Seasoned CriminalMethodSolars of the Night caste are inhumanly skilledin presdigitation as much as in the more unsavoryelements of larceny. Using this technique, a Solarcan perform a single sleight of hand or act oflegerdemain, even a tremendously impressive one,without making a roll. Alternately, the Solar mayperform a task which appears to be sleight of hand,but is actually impossible, such as having a coin inher belt pouch appear in her hand; for such tasks,the character should roll Dexterity + Larceny.EVIDENCE-SHROUDING STYLECost: 5 motes137

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Larceny: 5Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Subtle LegerdemainStyleActually taking the item is the easy part ofthievery — leaving no trace behind is the truechallenge. With this Charm, however, Solars ofthe Night Caste can guarantee that no one willdiscover their identity through the traces left atthe scene of a crime. During the scene in whichthis Charm is activate, the character leaves behindno physical trace of his presence. Furthermore,anyone investigating any action the character takesduring this scene will be unable to draw any usefulconclusions without the use of investigative magic.If the character committed an assassination, forexample, the nature of the murder weapon wouldbe rendered inobvious to anyone investigating thematter.EVIDENCE DISTORTING ATEMICost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Larceny: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Evidence-ShroudingStyleGoing beyond the effects of the previousCharm, the Evidence Distorting Atemi allows aSolar to actively distort the evidence left behind inher wake. During the scene in which the characteractivates this Charm, any actions he takes will leavebehind misleading and inaccurate physical traces— hair of the wrong color, footprints leading inillogical directions, and other such diversions. Thenature of the Exalt’s true actions is buried under theweight of false evidence. Any character attemptingto draw conclusions from this evidence adds theExalt’s Permanent Essence to the difficulty of anyrolls to do so, even when using magical means ofinvestigation.OBJECT-CONCEALING METHODCost: 3 motesDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Larceny: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Subtle LegerdemainStyleOften, the most effective way to steal an objectis to hide it right where you stole it from in the firstplace. With this Charm, a Solar can do just thatwith great ease, carefully making even an extremelynoticeable object blend into the natural decor of anarea. The character must spend at least one minuteconcealing the object, which can be no larger thana cube his Essence in feet wide; he then rolls Wits+ Larceny. Anyone looking to discover the hiddenobject must roll against a difficulty equal to theSolar’s Permanent Essence, plus successes on theWits + Larceny roll.CONSPIRACY OF SHADOWS METHODCost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Larceny: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Inescapable Shadow ofthe SunA Solar who wishes to make secretive plans withoutthe knowledge of his enemies has no better tool thanthis Charm. When forming a conspiracy or secretorganization of any type, the Solar may activatethis Charm, committing both the motes and thehealth level in the cost. Until the Solar releases thiscommittment, the difficulty of any rolls made tounearth or discover his conspiracy or organizationis increased by his Permanent Essence.PRINCE OF THIEVES APPROACHCost: 15 motes, 1 Willpower138

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Larceny: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Conspiracy of ShadowsMethodThe men working under a great crimelord arehis hands, his eyes, and his ears. With this Charm, aSolar may use his organization to act at a distance,performing great acts of thievery without the needto be physically present. During the day in whichthis Charm is used, the character may use LarcenyCharms to assist the actions of members of hisorganization, as if he himself were performing thecriminal actions. The character must know whathis minions are doing in order to assist them withCharms — he would need to know that a minionwas currently attempting to open a lock in order toprovide aid with Lock-Opening Touch. Any personaided with this Charm must have been a dedicatedmember of the Solar’s organization for at least onemonth (or the entire lifetime of the organization, ifit is less than a month old) in order to receive thesebenefits.THOUSAND FACES METHODCost: 20 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Larceny: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Perfect MirrorThe true master of disguise, it is said, must beable to perfectly imitate a thousand faces before hisskill is complete. This Charm grants that skill andmore to the Solar who uses it. When it is activated,the character must design an appearance he wishesto take on; it can involve significant changes to theExalt’s appearance, and can create an appearanceof a gender, size, or body type which differssignificantly from the character’s. While this Charm139

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSis in effect, the disguise is perfect; all observers willsee the disguise as the Solar’s true face, and if thedisguise is intended to imitate another individual,anyone who sees the Solar will see him as theimitated individual.At any time while this Charm is active, the Solar mayalter his disguise and replace it with a new one byspending five minutes to craft a new appearance.ABYSSAL IMPERSONATION STYLECost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Larceny: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Perfect MirrorBy clouding her anima with the Essence of herown inevitable death, a Solar can shift her animadisplay to resemble a deathknight, the posessersof the Black Exaltation. While this Charm is ineffect, the Solar’s anima banner and caste markdisplay as if she were of the equivalent Abyssalcaste (Dawn becomes Dusk, and so on.) Her animaability remains that of her real caste, however.When this Charm is activated, the character mustselect whether to become inhumanly beautifulor repulsive; while it is active, her Appearance iseither reduced or increased to the minimum ormaximum, respectively, specified in Exalted: theAbyssals. Midnight caste Abyssals with a PermanentEssence greater than the character’s will see theSolar’s genuine banner, rather than the false one.ANIMA-MASKING KATACost: 15 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Larceny: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Abyssal ImpersonationStyleWith subtle manipulations of the Essenceflowing through her body, the Solar can alter theappearance of her anima banner in a variety of ways.Using this Charm, the character crafts her animainto a temporary new shape, altering its appearanceand characteristics. If the character wishes only toalter the icon displayed, the color scheme of theanima banner, or which Solar caste her caste markrepresents, she may do so automatically, withouta roll. Altering her anima to resemble a differenttype of Exalt requires a successful Intelligence +Larceny roll at difficulty 3. Finally, the charactermay double the minimum mote expenditures forthe levels of anima banner display with a successfulroll against difficulty 5. Whichever effect is selected,it lasts for the remainder of the day. As withAbyssal Impersonation Style, this Charm does notalter the character’s anima power, only the banner’sappearance.STEALTHPHILOSOPHYSolar Stealth is straightforward and to-the-point,providing useful effects in a fairly small tree. Aswith many Solar abilities, the Charms for Stealthfocus heavily on the core elements of the ability— in this case, not being seen or heard. Those whichvary from this basic task do so primarily in wayswhich support the standard roles of the Night caste— performing secretive actions, remaining safe fromcombatants, or covering one’s tracks. New StealthCharms should follow this lead, either improvingthe ability to hide directly or detouring slightly intoother related fields of deceit and trickery.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe Abyssal Stealth Charms suggest a variety ofdirections to expand Solar Stealth. Abyssals gainaccess to a limited Stealth dice adder in ShadowCloak Technique, allowing a character to hide140

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESwhile in motion. The branch of Charms leadingto Stifled Cry Exercise suggests that Sound andScent Banishing Attitude can be extended to greatereffect. Finally, Unseen Wisp Method provides true,unlimited invisibility at the Essence 4 mark.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSInvisible Statue Spirit, Exalted Corebook pg. 202.This Charm has no prerequisite.Blurred Form Style, Exalted Corebook pg. 202. ThisCharm grants the user a number of automaticsuccesses equal to her Permanent Essence to allStealth rolls, as long as she takes no drasticallyovert action (like initiating combat or walking intoplain sight.) She may move at any speed.Sound and Scent Banishing Attitude, Exalted Corebookpg. 203. This Charm’s prerequisite is InvisibleStatue Spirit.NEW CHARMSUNNOTICEABLE MOTE STYLECost: 2 motes per turnDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Stealth: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Blurred Form StyleUsing this Charm, a Solar can go truly unseenby his foes. For a number of turns equal to half themotes spent activating the Charm, only the slightestplay of sunlit motes reveals the Solar’s location.While under this effect, the Solar cannot be detectedwhile hiding without the aid of non-visual senses ormagic. Targeted ranged attacks will generally missthe character without special assistance, and anyhand-to-hand attacks suffer an increased difficultyequal to the character’s Permanent Essence.ABSENCE-IN-PRESENCE TECHNIQUECost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: One scene141

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSType: SimpleMinimum Stealth: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Unnoticeable MoteStyleThe Solar wraps herself in a cloud of obscuringEssence, rendering herself undetectable by eventhe most perceptive observers. While this Charm isactive, no other character can detect the Exalt withany sense, even those which have been magicallyenhanced. People in the Exalt’s presence can stillobserve the effects of her actions — for example, ifshe opens a door, those present will see the dooropen. However, those present cannot discern thatsomeone is present from these events — when thedoor opens, for example, observers will assumethat the wind blew it open, or that another personopened it. If the Solar takes any action to directlyharm another person, this Charm’s effect endsinstantly.SUN-BEHIND-CLOUDS METHODCost: 2 motes per dieDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Stealth: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Blurred Form StyleUpon activating this Charm, the charactercloaks himself with what surrounds him, just asjust as the sun cloaks itself behind the clouds. Forthe remainder of the scene, the character receivesone bonus die to all Stealth rolls for each twomotes spent activating this Charm; he can add nomore dice than his (Permanent Essence x 2). Thisbonus functions only while the Solar is in closeproximity to objects which he can hide amongst;if any observer looks at the Solar while he is in theopen, this Charm’s effects end immediately.SPIRIT OF NIGHT METHODCost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Stealth: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Unseen Ghost WalkFor the remainder of the scene, the charactercan move through even the most heavily watchedarea without drawing attention to himself. Whenthis Charm is active, the Solar’s presence will becompletely missed by all observers, as long ashe continues moving determinedly towards adestination. Stopping for any significant length oftime will end the effects of this Charm, as will takingany violent action. The Solar may freely changedestinations, or pace back and forth (as long as hedoes so over a significant area) without ending theCharm’s effects, however.SILENT MIST APPROACHCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Stealth: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Sound and ScentBanishing AttitudeUsing this technique, a Solar can banish soundentirely from his vicinity, allowing him to performillicit acts without notice. For the remainder of thescene after this Charm is activated, nothing withinPermanent Essence yards of the character makesany sound whatsoever. In addition, anyone otherthan the character who is within this range cannothear anything, whether the noise originates withinthe sphere or outside it. While this Charm is ineffect, the Solar may reflexively spend 3 motes totemporarily deactivate or reactivate the effect, orto halve its radius; this does not count as a Charmactivation.UNNOTICEABLE MOTION TECHNIQUECost: 6 motesDuration: One sceneType: Simple142

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESMinimum Stealth: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Mental InvisibilityTechniqueWith this Charm, a Solar can hide small actionsfrom others, allowing him to perform potentiallyundesirable actions in plain sight. While this Charmis in effect, the character may choose to have anyaction he takes while remaining in the same placego unnoticed by observers; those watching himwill see him at rest. For example, the Exalt couldpour a vial of poison into a companion’s drink, butthe other person would only see the Solar sittingmotionless.Alternately, the Solar can hide motion on a largerscale from observers. If the Solar begins movingfrom a standstill and does not accelerate above aslow crawl, observers will see the Solar continue tostand in his original location. He can continue tospeak, in which case observers will hear his speechcoming from his original location. If the Solar beginsmoving more quickly, observers will immediatelynotice the deception, though if the Exalt has alreadymoved beyond their range of vision they may notknow where he has gone.BOTTOMLESS WELL OF MEMORY STYLECost: 15 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Stealth: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Vanishing From Mind’sEye TechniqueA Solar who has mastered the art of hidingcan recover even from being detected. Using thisCharm, she can erase all memory of her presence ina given place. Upon activating this Charm, anyonewho witnessed the Solar being present duringthe course of the previous scene forgets entirely.Characters with a Permanent Essence greater thanthe Solar’s can make a contested Permanent Essenceroll with the Exalt in order to be unaffected; allothers suffer the memory loss automatically. Thismemory loss is very specific; characters affectedwill retain their memory of other events whichoccurred during the scene, modifying them onlyas much as is necessary to eliminate any traceof the Solar’s presence. If there is clear physicalevidence that another person was present, affectedcharacters will remember someone who does notmatch the Solar’s description; otherwise, they willnot remember anyone at all. A guard whom theExalt defeated in battle might remember an entirelydifferent looking assailant; someone who observedthe Solar meeting with an ally might remember theconfederate coming to the place alone. The Solarmay except from this effect a number of observersequal to her Permanent Essence.BUREAUCRACYPHILOSOPHYSolar Bureaucracy Charms divide into twocategories: those that work directly with bureaucraticorganizations, and those which aid in the buyingand selling of goods.The Charms of the former category tend to operateon a fairly broad scale — Solar Bureaucracy Charmscan directly affect the workings of even hugeorganizations, producing immeasurable benefitsor widespread havoc. Because Bureaucracy is theability which specifically focuses on dealing withlarge groups, these Charms can extend beyondwhat is normal for the scope of Charms — as longas they still focus on a single bureau or group, theseCharms can often function on a truly vast numberof individuals.The Charms in the latter category focus exclusivelyon the financial aspect of the ability. Charms in thisarea make a Solar into a masterful businessman.They can improve the Exalt’s knowledge in financialdealings as well as her ability to interact sociallywith business partners or potential customers. As143

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSthey increase in power, the Solar will grow beyondsimply the level of a master mortal salesman, andgain the ability to accomplish seemingly impossibledeeds in acquiring or selling goods.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSCorruption-Sensing Scrutiny allows an Abyssalto determine the degree to which an individualbureaucrat is corruptible, an effect a Solar couldeasily duplicate (with a slightly different flavor.)Regime-Toppling Insinuation allows an Abyssalto directly attack a leader’s capability to lead,something Solars might be able to reverse. AndIron Tyrant Mien lets an Abyssal rule a huge areathrough terror — implying the existence of a lesscorrupt Solar equivalent.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSConsumer-Evaluating Glance, Exalted Corebook pg.203. This Charm will grant the Exalt a reasonablyaccurate idea of the absolute highest price the buyercan be persuaded to pay for a particular item.Bureau-Rectifying Method, Exalted Corebook pg.205. This Charm also guarantees that any attemptby the Exalt to push for an investigation will be assuccessful as is reasonable given his position; hewill suffer no organizational resistance, whetherintentional or unintentional.144

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESNEW CHARMSBARGAIN-HUNTING APPROACHCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One hourType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Insightful BuyerTechniqueWith this Charm, the Exalt can purchase itemsfor far less than their normal purchase cost, throughcareful exploitation of various avenues. To use thisCharm, the character must identify a specific itemhe wishes to purchase. This can be as specific orgeneral as she wishes — “the necklace currentlybeing worn by the gentleman I am looking at” and“some large quantity of fresh vegetables” wouldboth be allowed. The character must spend anhour per dot of Resources in the object’s value,searching for circumstances that will reduce thecost — other vendors who will undercut the currentseller, seeming flaws that reduce the object’svalue, or current events which drastically alter theworth of the sought-after quantity, for example.The character then rolls Wits + Bureaucracy. Eachsuccess subtracts 10% from the cost of the item, toa limit of 90%.Note that this Charm cannot assist the characterin acquiring an object which is flatly not for sale;it can only reduce the cost of an item that could bepurchased or bartered for, even if the price askedis unreasonable.145

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSVALUE-ADDING MEDITATIONCost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Consumer-EvaluatingGlanceBy carefully seeding rumors and otherwiseworking to adjust the demand for something, theSolar can cause the value of a specific object orquantity to change drastically. The character mustchoose a type of object, substance, or service whichis sold in a broad market, though it can be as rareor common as she desires. She must then spenda period of one day seeding stories and eventswhich will impact this price. At the conclusion ofthis time, she rolls her Wits + Bureaucracy. She mayadd one die to this roll for each additional day shespends, to a maximum of her Bureaucracy score.For each success, she can increase or decrease theoverall market value of the chosen good by 5%. Thisalteration will remain for a period of at least twoweeks. After that time, the price will tend to moveback to its “normal” value, though circumstancesmay cause the altered value to remain in place.TREND-PREDICTING GLANCECost: 12 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Irresistible SalesmanSpiritBy observing the subtle fluctuations of amarket, the Solar learns to predict its behavior farin advance. The character must spend a single daygathering evidence about the current status of themarket in question. Afterwards, he rolls his Wits +Bureaucracy. A single success allows him to predictthe price of the object over the next day; eachadditional success doubles the period which theExalt can predict. Note that this does not allow theExalt to know precisely the timing of fluctuationson the object’s price, only the general trends.PURCHASE-DIVINING STANCECost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: Three daysType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Bargain-HuntingApproachFollowing the subtle currents of bureaucraticEssence, the Exalt can discover even well-hiddenplaces to buy or sell goods and services efficiently.The Solar must spend one day making carefullychosen inquiries and actions, then observing theireffects on the markets she has the closest access to.By doing so, she can begin to divine the existenceof other markets and potential buyers and sellers,even if she has no means of finding out about themotherwise. By doing so, she can discover the existenceand location of potential buyers or sellers she mightnot otherwise discover. The character must select ageographical radius when she activates the Charm;upon its completion, she learns the location of thesingle buyer for her selected product within thatradius who will purchase it for the greatest price, orthe single seller who will provide it for the least.VIRTUOUS BUREAUCRAT LOCATIONMETHODCost: 3 motesDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 2Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Deft Official’s WayExamining the aura and demeanor of abureaucrat or other member of a hierarchicalorganization, the Solar learns how virtuous theperson is in serving her bureau. If the target servesher organization valiantly, the Solar perceives her146

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESas glowing with a bright yellow light; however,the greater the potential for someone to betrayor misuse their organization, the darker this aurabecomes. Anyone who has actively betrayed orharmed the group to which she owes her allegiancewill show an active black mark upon this aura,cluing the Exalt in to the deception, though not itsspecific nature.NEW FACE CREATIONCost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: BureaucraticConcealment TechniqueBy altering the records of a bureaucracy, theSolar is able to create a new identity for himself oranother. The character must spend an hour settingsubtle Essence flows into place surrounding thebureau being targeted. At the end of this time,any records which exist regarding the characterchosen become altered to describe a new identityof the Solar’s choice. Members of the bureau mayremember the original information about the target,but any records and evidence will point to thetarget’s new identity.SEAL OF DEATH PRANACost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Foul Air of ArgumentTechniqueThrough elaborate webs of red tape andcarefully chosen actions, the Solar can create animpediment that will prevent any individualbureaucratic action from taking place. She mustidentify a single item which is currently in processin the targeted organization; for as long as the Solarkeeps 10 motes committed, this process simplycannot move forward. Any attempts to advancethe process will encounter increasingly elaboratesetbacks, policy disagreements, or other problemsthat will simply allow no progress. Once the Essenceis freed, however, the process may begin to moveagain at its normal speed.INFORMATION-FREEING ACTIONCost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Speed the WheelsTugging gently on the strings that moveinformation through a bureau, the Solar causes adesired fact to wing its way to her. When usingthis Charm, the Exalt must identify a specific pieceof information she wishes to learn (for example,“the name of this month’s largest donor to theImmaculate Order.”) Upon doing so, the piece ofdesired information begins to make its way throughthe affected bureaucracy towards the character,through whatever method is necessary. This processmay require as many as seven days, depending onthe Solar’s relationship to the targeted bureaucracyand the level of secrecy of the information.LEADER-REINFORCING METHODCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One weekType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Speed the WheelsThe Solar invests Essence into the leadershipof a specific individual who is in a position ofpower within some organization. As a result, thetarget gains a level of security and respect in hisposition that far exceeds what he might otherwiseexpect. For the period in which this Charm is ineffect, subordinates will grant a consistent respect147

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSand trust to the leader, refusing to second-guesshis decisions or motives without great cause todo so. This leader receives a number of automaticsuccesses equal to the Solar’s Permanent Essencewhenever he rolls to improve his image amongstthose who work under him, or to reverse a past orfuture negative turn in his position.FALSE ORDERS APPROACHCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Bureau-RectifyingMethodWith this Charm, the Solar can give any memberof a group or organization incredibly believablefalse orders from a superior. To do so, the Solarmust know the identity of someone in a position tocommand his targets (though he need only knowenough to positively identify the orders’ sourceto the targets.) He must then produce a vaguelybelievable vehicle for these orders — a messenger,a note, or some other viable source. As long as themessenger falls even slightly within the realm ofbelievability, and the orders themselves do notfly completely in the face of the imitated leader’sstandard behavior, the recipients will not suspectin any way that the orders are false. If the targetsconfer with others at a later time, they may be ableto determine that the orders were never given;however, they will still remember nothing unusualabout the circumstances of receiving them.RULE-ALTERING ATEMICost: 15 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Bureau-RectifyingMethodEvery bureau, organization, or group has itsown unique rules; through the use of Essence, aSolar can alter these to match her own needs. Touse this Charm, the character must roll Wits +Bureaucracy against a difficulty determined by thesize of the affected organization: 1 for any groupof 10 or fewer people, and +1 for each additionalfactor of 10 (so that 100 people would be difficulty 2,1000 would be difficulty 3, and so on.) The numberof successes determines the degree to which therules may be altered — one success can changeprocedural matters or insignificant rules, while fiveis sufficient to rewrite any aspect of the laws in anyway the Exalt chooses.Those people who are currently members of theorganization will remember that the previous rulesexisted; however, they will suddenly understandinstinctively that the rules have changed and thatthe new rules are valid. They may choose to goagainst them, just as they might any rule, but thosewho are inclined to follow rules will most likelyfollow the newly created laws, even if they areconfused as to their origin.GLORIOUS RULERSHIP STYLECost: 12 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One weekType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Leader-ReinforcingMethodWith this Charm, the Exalt can set himselfup as a ruler loved and adored by his public. Inorder to use it, the character must possess somesort of leadership position, although it can be overa group of any size. Any followers who possess aWillpower score lower than or equal to the Solar’sPermanent Essence are unable to even considerthe notion that the Exalt might be flawed — theysee him as being the ideal leader in all ways, andwould never consider turning against him. Those148

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESand its current plans. At the end of this time, thecharacter rolls Wits + Bureaucracy. Successes onthis roll may be used to modify the mandate of theorganization, as perceived by other bureaus andsociety at large. One success can add or remove asingle minor aspect of the mandate — for example,making the Immaculate Order responsible forcataloging and reporting on all spirits within theRealm. Five successes can add or remove a singleextremely major aspect of the mandate — forexample, giving House Tepet command of allthe Realm’s Legions. Note that all changes in thisfashion must be related somehow to the existingduties of the group, though this Charm may beused to add intermediate duties which serve as abridge to a seemingly unrelated responsibility.with Willpower less than or equal to the character’sWillpower will still think well of the characterin general, but they may choose to turn againsthis leadership. If they do so, however, all rolls toconvince others to turn against the Solar increasein difficulty by the Exalt’s Essence. Any individualswhose Willpower exceeds the Solar’s are immune,however, as are any Essence wielders.Note that this Charm does not affect anyone who isnot actually under the Solar’s influence; foreignersor members of other groups can still attempt to turnthe Solar’s subjects against him.MANDATE-SHIFTING EXERCISECost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Rule-Altering AtemiWith this Charm, the Exalt can alter the actualrole of a specific bureaucracy or organization withinCreation. In order to use it, she must first spend aweek examining the specific nature of the groupshe wishes to influence, learning about its historyOnce this Charm is used, anyone who has dealingswith the organization will recognize its new dutiesas being normal. They may object to these duties,and may argue or fight against them, but theywill still act as if they are a previously acceptedpart of the group’s duties, rather than a newpresumption. This Charm’s effect lasts as long asthe Solar maintains the committed Essence; if hekeeps it committed for a season, the effect becomespermanent, though its result can still be alteredthrough mundane means.TEN BUREAU AWARENESSCost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Bureaucracy: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Mandate-ShiftingExerciseThis Charm allows the Solar to gain a completeand unequalled knowledge of the workings ofany organization, and to alter its functioning on adetailed level. To activate this Charm, the charactermust immerse herself in the bureaucracy for oneweek — either by serving as a member, engagingits services repeatedly, or extensively observing149

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSthe effects of its actions. At the conclusion of thisperiod, the character gains an instinctual knowledgeof the group’s every operation — he knows whatinformation flows through which people, whatduties are assigned and whether they are performedsatisfactorily, and so on. This awareness continuesas long as the character continues to commit themotes and health level in the cost of the Charm.While receiving this benefit, the character can alsochoose to alter these flows, in several fashions. Hemay stop the flow of information between twopeople, or create one where it previously did notexist. He may also slow or speed the work beingdone in any specific portion of the bureaucracy byas much as 5% times his Permanent Essence. All ofthese effects also continue only as long as the motesand health level remain committed.LINGUISTICSPHILOSOPHYSolar Linguistics deals with language in both itswritten and spoken forms. A significant numberof existing Charms simply serve the purpose ofimproving mundane capabilities in creating orassimilating language — Whirlwind Brush Method,Swift Sage’s Eye, and Flawless Forgery Techniqueall allow masterful performance in a mundanearea of linguistic work. Other Charms serve toimprove communication — Poetic ExpressionStyle, for instance. Both areas are ripe for furtherexpansion.Many other Linguistics Charms focus on the conceptof a secondary level of existing communication— whether to convey a secret message, as Letter-Within-A-Letter Technique does, or to manipulatelisteners, as Twisted Words Technique does. NewCharms could expand either facet, either improvingcovert communication or expanding the breadth ofeffects the Solar’s speech can have.Among the existing Charms, only one — ExcellentEmissary’s Tongue from Castebook: Eclipse —actually deals directly with language differences;however, other Charms could build off thisfoundation to expand a Solar’s ability to understandand use different languages.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe Abyssal Charm Words Beneath A Whisperallows an Exalt to communicate directly withsomeone through telepathy, bypassing spokencommunication altogether; this is a reasonableeffect for Solar Linguistics to emulate. The CharmScathing Cynic Attitude provides protection againstinfluence through speech or text; this effect toocould be emulated by Solar Charms, although mostlikely using somewhat different mechanics. Finally,a variant of Blood Inscription Technique couldserve as a Solar self-sufficiency effect. Otherwise,the Abyssal Charms largely emulate Solar effectsor act in explicitly entropic ways that would beinappropriate to emulate.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSUnbreakable Fascination Method, Exalted Corebookpg. 207. This Charm does not require PoeticExpression Style as a prerequisite.Masterful Training Manual, Castebook: Eclipse pg.73. This Charm does not require Twisted WordsTechnique as a prerequisite.Subtle Speech Method, Castebook: Eclipse pg. 73.This Charm does not require Letter-Within-a-LetterTechnique as a prerequisite.Lore-Scanning Method, Castebook: Twilight pg. 71.This Charm is a Lore Charm. Its prerequisite isForgotten Secrets Technique.150

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESNEW CHARMSLISTENER’S REMEMBRANCE TECHNIQUECost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Perfect RecollectionDisciplineThe Solar’s speech is so perfect, his deliveryso exquisite, that those who hear it are utterlyincapable of forgetting the experience. When heuses this Charm, the Solar selects a number oflisteners no greater than his Permanent Essence;those people will remember the Solar’s speechperfectly, no matter its subject or nature. Any suchlistener can repeat it precisely if asked, includingthe delivery (inasmuch as the listener’s speakingability allows her to do so.) This Charm can beapplied to no more than a few minutes of speechat any given time, and it can only cause any givenindividual to remember one speech at a time — ifit is used on the same listener again, the previousinformation will fade from her mind.GLYPH-COMPREHENDING PRANACost: 3 motesDuration: IndefiniteType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 4Minimum Essence: 2151

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSPrerequisite Charms: Excellent Emissary’sTongueA document written in even the strangestlanguage will prove no challenge to a dedicatedmember of the Eclipse Caste. With this Charm, acharacter need merely study a document writtenin any language for approximately an hour inorder to gain the ability to write in that tongue. Aswith Excellent Emissary’s Tongue, the effects lastuntil the character releases the committed motesof Essence.Note that this Charm only grants knowledge of thespecific system of writing used in the documentwhich the Exalt examines. If the character reada series of Lunar clawmarks recording a text inRiverspeak, for example, he would still be unableto write Riverspeak using Realm characters.MARK OF TONGUES METHODCost: 5 motesDuration: IndefiniteType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Excellent Emissary’sTongueIn many circumstances, the unique eccentricitiesof one’s voice or writing style will serve to identifyone to those who know what to look for. With thisCharm, however, an Exalt can disguise such traces,altering her mannerisms as she sees fit. When thecharacter activates this Charm, she must select anaccent or a style of writing she wishes to emulate.This emulation is perfect against any mundanedetection methods; no mortal will determine thather accent or writing style is an affectation. ThisCharm may also be used to create specific changesto one’s vocal or writing style — higher or lowerpitch, greater fludity of strokes, and so on. TheSolar must succeed at an Intelligence + Linguisticsroll to successfully emulate the style of a specificperson.LANGUAGE-CREATING GESTURECost: 10+ motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: IndefiniteType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Glyph-ComprehendingPranaThe Solar practitioner of this Charm can createa new language out of Essence itself, gaining theability to speak and write it fluently. This languagehas whatever traits its creator desires, in terms ofwriting style, grammatical structure, and so on;those features which the Exalt does not define aredetermined by the Storyteller. In addition, the Exaltmay commit an additional mote for each additionaltarget he wishes to know the language. For as longas the Exalt keeps the Essence committed, he andany other targets will retain this perfect fluencywith the language.When this Charm’s effects end, the Exalt or anyother target may choose to pay 3xp to permanentlyretain the knowledge of the created language.ONE SPEAKER, MANY TONGUESCost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Mark of TonguesMethodThe masterful Solar orator can convey hismessage to all listeners, regardless of linguisticbarriers. For the remainder of the scene, anyonewho hears the Exalt speak will understand thewords in their own native language, even if thecharacter has never heard that language before.If a barrier exists to accurate translation into thetarget language, the subject will understand theintended inflections and implications even if theydo not exactly match the words used in his nativelanguage.152

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESWhile this Charm is active, the Solar may choose tospecifically prevent any statement she makes frombeing understood in this fashion, though she mustdo so universally — she may not select specificindividuals to understand while others cannot.BLESSED UNDERSTANDINGCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: One Speaker, ManyTongues, Language-Creating GestureThe Solar has internalized the deep universaltruths that underlie every language. An Exalt whoknows this Charm can understand any languageinstantly, even if she has never been exposed toit before. This applies both to spoken and writtenlanguage. This Charm does not grant any abilityto speak or write other languages, however; thecharacter could copy or recite a document or speechfrom memory and verify its meaning, but composingnew text still requires an actual knowledge of thespecific language.This Charm does not need to be activated; it simplyenhances the Exalt’s capabilities.THOUSAND-FACET WORDS TECHNIQUECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Letter-Within-a-LetterTechniqueExpanding upon the Letter-Within-a-LetterTechnique, the Solar crafts a document which holdsa different messages for different recipients. TheSolar must first scribe the text which will appearas the default to most who read the document.Then, he must go through again and write eachadditional text, which fades into invisibility as it iswritten. While writing each such alternative, thecharacter must specify a category of individualswho will perceive that message, which may bevague or specific as he chooses (“the current Mouthof Peace,” “Exalts,” and “Swift Waters, who livesnear the Firewander district in Nexus” would allbe acceptable choices.) There is no limit to howmany alternate texts may be embedded in a singledocument, though the Solar must go through theprocess again to create each one.Other Linguistics Charms may explicitly be usedto affect a specific writing created with this Charm,without affecting others encoded within the samedocument.SELF-AUTHORING TEXT STYLECost: 20 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Thousand-Facet WordsTechniqueInvesting a portion of her own Essence into adocument, the Solar creates a text which can growand change with the passage of time. She must spendthe normal length of time authoring the originaldocument; then, she must annotate portions whichshe wishes to update themselves, using a specialgolden ink. Once this process is completed, the goldfades into the page, becoming nearly invisible. Foras long as the Solar keeps three motes committed toit, the book will change and update itself. The bookmay alter itself to incorporate either knowledgewhich the author or the reader possesses whichis not currently reflected in the text. For example,the character might create a travel diary whichautomatically records the character’s travels. TheCharm may also cause the text to change basedon predefined triggers — for example, the authormight create a textbook which tailors its lessons tothe specific needs of the student. In all cases, thenewly written text appears in the style which theExalt would normally write.153

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSAs an alternative, the Solar may pay a singleexperience point to allow the book to functionwithout an Essence committment.ARTFUL ORATION STANCECost: 3 motes per successDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Linguistics: 2Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Sagacious Reading ofIntentUsing Essence to complement his naturaltalents, the Exalt speaks eloquently and withoutflaw. For each 3 motes spent activating this Charm,the character may purchase a single success onany Linguistics roll involving delivering elegantor articulate speech. The character may purchaseno more successes than his Permanent Essencescore.IMPENETRABLE CYPHER APPROACHCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: IndefiniteType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Subtle Speech MethodUsing this Charm, a Solar may create a code orcypher which only those she selects may understand.When using this Charm, the character must specifya spoken or written code, and identify a numberof companions who will be able to understand it;no more others may be selected than the Exalt’sPermanent Essence. As long as the Essence remainscommitted to this Charm, the Solar and any alliesshe selected may speak or write in the code, securein the knowledge that prying eyes will be unableto penetrate it. Although those who observe it willgenerally be able to determine that an encoding isbeing used, the specific details are nearly impossible154

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESto draw out. This Charm serves as a perfect defenseagainst mortal attempts to break the cypher, andeven magical effects suffer an increase in difficultyequal to the character’s Permanent Essence.WORDS OF SUNLIGHT STYLECost: 3 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: IndefiniteType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Subtle Speech MethodLike beams of sunlight through the air, theSolar may project her words directly to another,without any others hearing them. In order to usethis Charm, the character must have a direct lineof sight to the person she wishes to communicatewith. For the duration of this Charm, the charactermay telepathically converse with the target. Eachmay hear clearly any thoughts the other explicitlychooses to convey, but not any others. If the Solarspeaks in this fashion to an unsuspecting target,he can determine that the speech is coming fromanother, although he may be unable to determinefrom whom.SPEECHLESS LEADERSHIP STYLECost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: IndefiniteType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Words of SunlightStyleEven without trying, the Solar Exalted naturallygravitate towards positions of leadership — thevery nature of their Essences drive them to lead,and others to follow. With this Charm, such a Solarcan remain in constant communication with hissubordinates, allowing him to remain constantlyin command of his charges. When activating thisCharm, the character must gather his subordinates— who may number no more than his PermanentEssence times five — together within fifty feetof himself. Upon spending the 15 motes, theExalt establishes a telepathic connection to eachsubordinate which functions similarly to Wordsof Sunlight Style. The character may hold silentconversations with any of the followers chosen,though they may not communicate with oneanother in this fashion. These conversations are stilllimited by the character’s ability to focus — holdingmultiple mental conversations at once will be noeasier than it would to speak to severeal people atonce, face-to-face.The Solar may use this Charm to communicate withhis followers at a distance of up to his PermanentEssence in miles — unlike Words of Sunlight Style,it does not require a line of sight.STYLE-FORGING APPROACHCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Twisted WordsTechniqueExpanding upon the Flawless ForgeryTechnique, this Charm allows the Solar to forge notjust specific works, but specific styles. To use thisCharm, the character must have an example of awork created by the person whose style she wishesto mimic; when she begins work on a project of herown, she can craft it to copy that style precisely.It will use exactly the word choices or types ofbrushstrokes the chosen author might have used;to any casual investigation it will appear as a workcreated by the copied individual, and any magicalattempts to unmask it suffer an increased Difficultyequal to the Solar’s Permanent Essence.HARDENED EAR APPROACHCost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: Simple155

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Twisted WordsTechniqueClosing his ears and hardening his heartagainst another’s words, the Solar ensures thathe will not be swayed by passionate entreaties.Before using this effect, the Solar should identifya topic about which he is unwilling to be swayed.For the rest of the scene, no speech or text can alterthis conviction — even the clearest evidence offalsehood will leave the Exalt unmoved. This is aperfect defense against social effects. Note that thiseffect works even against speech the Solar wouldbe wise to heed — trusted allies will have no moreluck than hated enemies in changing the character’sdecision. In addition, this effect cannot be endedearly — once active, it must remain in place for theremainder of the scene.SUBLIMINAL THOUGHT TECHNIQUECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: SpecialType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Unbreakable FascinationMethodWhile holding a normal conversation withsomeone, the Solar can introduce an almostunnoticeable suggestion — one that will lead thelistener towards the Exalt’s desired course of action.To use this Charm, the Exalt must converse withhis target for at least 5 minutes for each point ofPermanent Essence the latter has. During this time,the Solar inserts a subtle instruction into his speech,which takes the form of a command no longer thanthe character’s Permanent Essence in sentences. Hemust then roll his Wits + Linguistics + PermanentEssence in a contested roll against the target’sWillpower + Permanent Essence. On a failure, theCharm has no effect; on a botch, the target becomesaware of the Solar’s intentions. However, if theSolar achieves any net successes on the roll, thetarget internalizes the suggestion. For the durationof the effect, the target must always act to followthe suggestion whenever the opportunity presentsitself.Periodically, the target may roll Willpower againsta difficulty of the Solar’s Permanent Essence toshake off the effect. With one net success on theSolar’s roll, the victim may do so twice per day;each additional success by the Solar multiplies thetime needed between attempts by two.CROWD-SWAYING APPROACHCost: 20 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Linguistics: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Subliminal ThoughtTechniqueA masterful Solar orator need not use thewords she speaks to convince her audience; thoseshe does not can do so even more effectively. Whilespeaking to a crowd, the Solar inserts a singlecommand into her speech; those listening willnot consciously hear this command, but will bedeeply affected nonetheless. Each listener rolls hisWillpower, against a difficulty equal to the Solar’sPermanent Essence minus his own. Any who failthis roll are compelled for the remainder of the dayto carry out the Solar’s command, whenever theopportunity to do so presents itself. This Charmdoes not affect characters with a Permanent Essencegreater than that of the Exalt.RIDEPHILOSOPHYSolar Ride covers all aspects of horsemanship (andbeyond). The basic Solar Ride tree moves in a fewdifferent directions — one branch provides selfsufficienteffects (negating the need for a physicalsteed at all), while other parts improve a mount’s156

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESEXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSagility, durability, and speed. In general, Solar RideCharms focus on improving the capabilities of themount, although a few (like Flawless PartnershipMeditation) can improve those of the rider aswell.One element which the Ride Charms in the corebookdo not address in great depth is the possibility ofnon-horse mounts. While the Ride ability can beused with mounts of any sort, the Charms are namedand detailed in such a way as to heavily imply thathorses are the normal mount for a Solar. Given thegenre which Exalted emulates, however, it seemslikely that many Solars would ride somethingaltogether stranger and more unique. Given this,the Charm alterations below are intended to morestrongly encourage non-standard mounts.Another area that Solar Ride currently fails toaddress is Charms that specifically aid in mountedcombat. Therefore, a tree of mounted combatCharms is also included below.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThe Abyssal tree contains two Charms which aidan Exalt in taming an animal and making it into anew mount. While Solar versions of these Charmswould differ in tone (since the Abyssal Charmsare heavily flavored towards domination) it seemsreasonable for Solars to possess similar Charms.Master Horseman’s Eye, Exalted Corebook pg. 207.This Charm is known as Masterful Rider’s Eye.It costs 3 motes. In addition to the listed effects,it can determine what riders the steed will take— by name if they are known to the Exalt. It alsoprovides the Exalt with a knowledge of the animal’sControl Rating and a basic understanding of whattechniques will assist in the taming process —reducing the difficulty on rolls to tame the animalby the character’s Permanent Essence.Horse-Summoning Whistle, Exalted Corebook pg.207. This Charm is known as Steed-SummoningWhistle. It has no Charm prerequisite.Phantom Steed, Exalted Corebook pg. 208. Whenthis Charm is purchased, the character must definethe statistics of their mount. She divides 8 + (2 xPermanent Essence) points each among the steed’sPhysical Attributes, its Athletics, Awareness, Brawl,Dodge, and Intimidation abilities, and the Speed,Accuracy, and Damage of its primary attack. Thesteed appears golden and immaculate, but maytake the form of any real or imagined creatureof the appropriate size — often the Exalt’s totemanimal.Soaring Spirit Steed, Castebook: Eclipse pg. 76. ThisCharm’s Duration is Permanent. Its Type is Simple.Its has no cost. When purchased, it allows the user’sPhantom Steed to fly at its normal movementrate.Spirit-Steadying Assurances, Exalted Corebook pg.208. This Charm has no prerequisite. This Charm’sduration is one day. It makes the steed immune toValor rolls.Flawless Partnership Meditation, Exalted Corebookpg. 209. This Charm’s Essence minimum is 2. ThisCharm grants the Exalt an additional Essence diceon all Ride rolls.157

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSHorse-Healing Technique, Exalted Corebook pg.209. This Charm is known as Mount-HealingTechnique.Flashing Thunderbolt Steed, Exalted Corebook pg.209. This Charm’s prerequisite is Spirit-SteadyingAssurances. Its cost is 5 motes, 1 Willpower. ItsDuration is one day. Its Ride minimum is 4. ItsEssence minimum is 2.While it is in effect, thecharacter’s steed suffers no fatigue and can moveat double its maximum speed without stopping forfood, drink, or rest.Wind-Racing Essence Infusion, Castebook: Eclipse,Pg. 76. This Charm’s prerequisite is FlashingThunderbolt Steed.NEW CHARMSUNDAUNTED CHARGER TECHNIQUECost: 2 motesDuration: InstantType: SupplementalMinimum Ride: 2Minimum Essence: 1Prerequisite Charms: NoneThe character has learned to fight with greatefficacy from the back of a mount. Upon activatingthis Charm, the Solar adds his Ride rating in diceto a single attack. This attack must be made fromthe back of a mount which is currently in motion atat least half its maximum speed. This Charm mayexplicitly be included in Combos with Charms ofother abilities.The character’s mount is so swift that she isupon her enemy before there is a chance to respond.The character using this Charm automatically winsinitiative over a single opponent she can reachwithin a turn’s movement. This Charm may onlybe used when the character is mounted, and duringa turn in which she moves at least half her mount’smaximum speed.WINDSWEPT PLAINS EVASIONCost: 5 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Ride: 4Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Undaunted ChargerTechniqueThe character’s mount moves through thebattlefield with a preternatural swiftness, allowing itto deftly avoid the Exalt’s foes. For the remainder ofthe scene, the character’s mount may dodge attacksdirected at itself or the Solar using the character’sSWIFT SPIRIT TECHNIQUECost: 4 motesDuration: InstantType: ReflexiveMinimum Ride: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Undaunted ChargerTechnique158

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESDexterity + Ride rating. It may only do so whilethe character is mounted, and only during a turnin which it is moving at least half of its maximumspeed.DELIVERANCE OF PAIN MEDITATIONCost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Ride: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Windswept PlainsEvasionThe character rides with the air of vengeanceabout him, and strikes with great force against hisfoes. When using this Charm, the character must bemounted and his mount must move at its maximumspeed during the turn. Upon reaching his foe, hedelivers a powerful strike. This attack deals anadditional two dice of damage for each ten yardsthe character moved before delivering the strike,up to a maximum of twice the Exalt’s Dexterity +Ride + Permanent Essence.This Charm may explicitly be included in Comboswith Charms of other abilities.GOLDEN BARDING TECHNIQUECost: 4 motesDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Ride: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Undaunted ChargerTechniqueUpon activating this Charm, barding of goldenlight springs into being upon the Solar’s chosenmount. For the remainder of the scene, this armorgrants the Solar’s mount additional bashing andlethal soak equal to the character’s Ride rating.IRON STEED APPROACHCost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Ride: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Golden BardingTechniqueWhile this Charm is in effect, the character’ssteed has nothing in Creation to fear. For the next fiveturns, the Exalt’s mount is completely indestructible.It suffers no damage from any source, and does notgrow tired or fatigued. This Charm does not protectthe steed against damage levels paid to use Charmsor artifacts, or levels transferred directly by magic,only damage inflicted by external sources.TAMING THE RESTLESS STEEDCost: 3 motes per point of Control Rating, 1WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Ride: 4Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Masterful Rider’s EyeThrough detailed knowledge of a desiredmount’s temperament, the Exalt can convince anyanimal to become her steed. To use this Charm, thecharacter must study the animal for a scene, whilespeaking to it and letting it grow accustomed tothe Exalt’s presence. At the end of that scene, theExalt activates the Charm, spending 3 motes foreach point of the intended steed’s control rating,and rolls Charisma + Ride. Each success on this rollreduces the animal’s Control Rating with regard tothe Exalt by a single point. If it would reduce it tozero, the steed becomes permanently fond of thecharacter, adding two dice to all Ride rolls madewhile riding that mount.This Charm may be used on any animal that couldconcievably be trained to serve as a mount, although159

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSthe Exalt must have an Essence of 3 or greater touse it on exotic animals.PERFECTED STEED OF LIGHTCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Ride: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Phantom SteedThe character’s spiritual mount becomesincredible almost beyond imagining; no mortalsteed can even begin to compare. The characterreceives an additional number of points equal to herRide rating that she may distribute to each of thecategories defined by Phantom Steed. In addition,the character may select one of the followingproperties which her steed possesses:* Racing the Wind. Once per day, the character’sphantom steed can double its running speed for asingle scene.* Leap of Faith. The steed’s jumping distance isincreased to 1.5 times its normal rating.* Beast of Burden. The character’s steed can carrytwice the weight it could normally carry.AQUATIC SPIRIT STEEDCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpeciaerMinimum Ride: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Phantom SteedWith the purchase of this Charm, the character’sspiritual steed becomes capable of flawless aquaticmovement. The mount summoned using thePhantom Steed Charm can now move freely throughwater or other liquid environments at its standardmovement rate. This does not automatically providethe Exalt with the ability to exist underwater; hemust have prepared separately. This Charm doesnot need to be activated; it simply enhances theExalt’s capabilities.GLORIOUS SOLAR CAVALRYCost: 20 motes, 2 Willpower160

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Ride: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Perfected Steed ofLightThe Solar brings a horn to her lips and blowsa clarion call. Out of the distance, a thundering ofhooves answers. With this Charm, the character cansummon up steeds of Essence for an entire regimentof cavalry. When activated, this Charm summonsfifty phantom steeds for each dot of PermanentEssence the character possesses. These steeds arefunctionally identical to the Exalt’s Phantom Steed,without the benefits of Perfected Steed of Light. Thesteeds will accept any riders the Exalt designates asacceptable, and follow their commands exactly.TEN THOUSAND HOOVES APPROACHCost: 20 motes, 2 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Ride: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Glorious Solar CavalryThe Solar’s soldiers shall never again want forconveyance. Upon activating this Charm, the Solarsummons into being a number of golden phantomsteeds for his soldiers to ride equal to 500 times hisPermanent Essence. Each of these steeds has thestatistics of a common warhorse, although they cantake any appearance the Exalt desires. These steedswill accept any riders the Exalt deems acceptable,and follow their commands exactly.PHANTOM WINGS PRANACost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Ride: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Bridge of CloudsTechniqueUpon activating this Charm, the character’smount grows brilliant golden wings of Essence.For the remainder of the day, the steed may fly atits normal movement rate.SPIRIT FINS PRANACost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Ride: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Bridge of CloudsTechniqueUpon activating this Charm, the character’smount develops brilliant golden fins and gills.For the remainder of the day, the steed canswim through water or other liquid at its normalmovement rate, and can breathe while in any fluidmedium. This does not provide any protection tothe Exalt, however.PERFECTED RIDING METHODCost: 4 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Ride: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Flawless PartnershipMeditationThe Exalt’s bond with his steed is increased tothe most fundamental instinctual level; each knowsexactly what the other will do at every moment. Forthe remainder of the scene, the character cannot bedismounted by anything short of the mount’s death.In addition, he may be mounted on his steed in anyposition he desires — even the slightest toeholdor a single finger on the reins is enough to remainatop his mount. Thus, a character using this Charmcan stand steady atop his mount’s back, hang byone hand from a flying mount’s foot, or otherwise161

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSposition himself precariously with no danger offalling.GALLOPING THUNDER CAVALRYCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Ride: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Wind-Racing EssenceInfusionWith this technique, the Solar can speed notjust her own mounted movement, but that of anentire cavalry regiment. For the remainder ofthe day, a number of riders equal to (PermanentEssence x 10) who are travelling with the Solar havetheir maximum speed doubled. All of these ridersmust continue to journey in a group with the Solaror those who break away from the group lose thebenefit of the effect.TEN-LEAGUE STRIDECost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Ride: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Wind-Racing EssenceInfusionUpon activating this Charm, the character’ssteed becomes as swift as the fastest wind. For theremainder of the day, the mount can move at (5 xPermanent Essence) times its normal movementrate, even through the most difficult and dangerousterrain. The health level cost of this Charm iscommitted, and cannot be regained while the Charmis in effect; if this Charm is activated on successivedays, an additional health level is committed foreach such day, and none can be regained until aday is spent without using this Charm.SAILPHILOSOPHYMuch like Ride, the Sail ability covers both theactual process of sailing a ship and many peripheraltasks related to it. As a result, Solar Sail Charmsare similarly varied — covering tasks like weatherprediction and navigation in addition to the basictasks of manning a ship. In general, Solar SailCharms fall into a few categories: self-sufficienteffects, Charms that protect the ship, and Charmsthat assist in captaining. Solar Sail Charms generallydo not assist with the most basic mechanical tasksof running a ship; Solars tend to be the leaders ofsailing men, rather than serving amongst theirranks.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThere are several Abyssal Charms which representabilities which Solar Sail could benefit frommirroring. First is Crew Sustaining Technique,which allows an Abyssal to maintain a ship’s crewwithout food or rest. Another is Unsinkable DerelictPreservation, which can protect a ship entirely fromdamage.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSSalty Dog Method, Exalted Corebook pg. 209. Whilethis Charm is active, the character does not needto roll to stay standing even after a collision. Inaddition, the character may add his PermanentEssence to all Sail rolls made during the day.Perfect Reckoning Technique, Exalted Corebook pg.210. This Charm provides the character with theeffects of Depth-Plumbing Intuition and Seekingthe Earth’s Bounty Method in addition to its listedeffects.162

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESDepth-Plumbing Intuition, Exalted Corebook pg. 210.This Charm is eliminated.Seeking the Earth’s Bounty Method, Savage Seas pg.115. This Charm is eliminated.Weather-Anticipating Intuition, Exalted Corebook pg.210. This Charm provides the character with instantinformation at any time a magical effect would alterthe weather in the vicinity of the character.Wind-Defying Course Technique, Exalted Corebookpg. 210. This Charm’s prerequisite is Ignore theWind’s Course Technique. Its Sail minimum is 5. ItsEssence minimum is 3. Its cost is 15 motes. It allowsthe Solar to not just ignore the direction of the wind,but actively exceed it. While this Charm is active,the Solar’s vessel’s Speed is increased by two dots,and its Maneuverability penalty is reduced by 2.Ignore the Wind’s Course Technique, Savage Seas pg.115. This Charm’s prerequisite is Salty Dog Method.Its Sail Minimum is 4.Storm-Weathering Essence Infusion, Exalted Corebookpg. 211. This Charm’s name is Ship-PreservingEssence Infusion. In addition to its listed effects,it provides the effects of Mast’s Unbreakable WillPrana and Fire’s Kiss Resistance Prana.Mast’s Unbreakable Will Prana, Savage Seas pg. 115.This Charm is eliminated.Fire’s Kiss Resistance Prana, Savage Seas pg. 115. ThisCharm is eliminated.Harden the Hull Practice, Savage Seas pg. 115. ThisCharm’s prerequisite is Ignore the Wind’s CourseTechnique. The limit on soak purchased withthis Charm is the character’s (Sail x PermanentEssence.)Hull-Preserving Technique, Exalted Corebook pg.211. This Charm’s prerequisite is Harden the HullPractice. Its cost is 6 motes, 1 Willpower. ThisCharm is a perfect defense for a ship against anyone impact that would damage it.Glorious Solar Ship, Castebook: Eclipse pg. 77.For those using the Savage Seas ship system,the summoned ship’s statistics are derived asfollows. It can carry a rig of the Solar’s choice. Itsmaneuverability penalty is equal to (5 - PermanentEssence); thus, for a Solar with Essence 3, the penaltywill be -2. Its Speed is equal to Permanent Essence.It can carry as many people as its length in feet; itrequires a minimum crew of one-tenth that number.Its soak is (2 x Permanent Essence), and its HealthLevels are equal to (4 x Permanent Essence)/(8 xPermanent Essence). The ship’s appearance maybe freely determined by the Exalt, as long as it ismade of brilliant Solar light.NEW CHARMSSWIFT JOURNEY SPIRITCost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Sail: 3Minimum Essence: 2Prerequisite Charms: Salty Dog MethodUsing this Charm, a Solar can guarantee thatany sea journey will prove to be swift. The charactermay use this Charm while onboard a vessel of anytype; for the remainder of the day, that ship’s speedis multiplied one-half the character’s (PermanentEssence + 1), rounded up.FOUR WINDS FLEET APPROACHCost: 20 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Sail: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Swift Journey SpiritFor a great Solar Admiral, it is vital that hisships be able to reach anywhere in Creation swiftlyin order to take action. With this Charm, a Solarcan apply the benefit of Swift Journey Spirit to a163

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSnumber of vessels equal to twice his PermanentEssence.INCOMPARABLE NAVIGATION TECHNIQUECost: 10 motesDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Sail: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Perfect ReckoningTechniqueSolar sailors need never fear becoming lost onthe open sea, nor being unable to find a desiredport of call. When the Solar wishes to journeyto a specific location by vessel, she may activatethis Charm; for as long as she keeps 10 motescommitted, she will always know exactly whereand how to sail in order to reach her destinationmost quickly and efficiently. This destination canbe a specific place (like “Chiaroscuro”) or a type ofplace (like “the nearest island where I can gatherfood.”) In addition, while this Charm is active, theExalt knows the exact geography of the local waters;she is aware of any land forms, reefs, shallows, orother notable features within (Permanent Essencex 5) miles.UNSINKABLE SHIP MEDITATIONCost: 20 motes, 2 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Sail: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Hull-PreservingTechniqueWith this Charm, a Solar can clad her vesselin brilliant golden light which protects it from all164

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESharm. For the remainder of the scene, the vessel thecharacter is aboard cannot be damaged in any way— by weapons, weather, or any other force. TheSolar must remain onboard and focus his energyon maintaining the ship, to the exclusion of otherphysical actions.This effect does not repair any damage the vesselmay have already suffered; it merely preventsadditional damage from being inflicted. This Charmalso does not protect the ship from being boardedor protect the crew from harm in any way.UNSINKABLE FLEET APPROACHCost: 20 motes, 2 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Sail: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Unsinkable ShipMeditationUsing this technique, the Solar can protect asmall fleet of ships from damage. While this Charmis active, a number of vessels equal to twice theSolar’s permanent Essence may each perfectlyresist a single attack each turn. As with UnsinkableShip Meditation, this does not prevent boarding orprotect the ships’ crews in any way.VESSEL-REPAIRING MEDITATIONCost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 lethal healthlevelDuration: Three long turnsType: SimpleMinimum Sail: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Harden the HullPracticeOften, a Solar will find herself aboard a shipwhich has taken damage that puts it in dangerof sinking. For mortals, the only option in suchsituations is to abandon ship. The Exalt, however,can actually repair damage to a ship, even whileit remains in the water. To use this Charm, thecharacter must be able to come in contact witha damaged portion of the ship directly, whetherfrom the inside or outside. Over the course of threelong turns (or about five minutes of real time) thecharacter uses whatever materials she can find topatch up the ship. A single use of this Charm canrepair a number of Health Levels of damage tothe ship equal to twice the character’s Sail rating;alternately, it can repair destroyed rigging or abroken or destroyed mast.SHIP-RESTORING APPROACHCost: 20 motes, 1 Willpower, 1 experiencepointDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Sail: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Vessel-RepairingMeditationUsing this technique, a Solar can restore anyship to a pristine and sailable condition, even thegreatest vessels of the First Age. In order to usethis Charm, the Solar must be able to move freelyaround whatever remains of the vessel — generally,this will require the Solar to place the ship up onblocks upon land, although the ability to hold hisbreath might allow him to do so while the ship wasafloat or even sunk. Over the course of a day, theSolar uses whatever raw materials are availableto repair and patch the vessel; at the end of theday, it has been restored to its original functionality(although its appearance will vary based on thematerials used to repair it.)UNEQUALLED SOLAR VESSELCost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Sail: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Glorious Solar Ship165

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSWith this Charm, the Solar’s sunlit vesselbecomes truly a thing of ultimate majesty. Forpurposes of calculating the statistics of the shipsummoned with Glorious Solar Ship, the character’sPermanent Essence is increased by his Sail rating.This Charm does not need to be activated; it simplyenhances the Exalt’s capabilities.SUN-DRENCHED AIRSHIP STYLECost: 20 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Sail: 5Minimum Essence: 5Prerequisite Charms: Glorious Solar ShipUsing this technique, a Solar can summoninto being a glorious airship composed entirely ofbrilliant sunlight. This ship’s statistics are derivedin the same fashion as the Charm Glorious SolarShip; the only exception is that the Airship maymove through the air at its normal speed, and doesnot require wind propulsion. This airship may havewhatever appearance the Exalt desires, save that itis made of golden light. Much like with GloriousSolar Ship, this ship requires a crew be providedin order to function.FLEET OF SOL INVICTUSCost: 20 motes, 2 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Sail: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Glorious Solar ShipWith this Charm, any Solar can stand withthe great Admirals of the First Age. Activating thisCharm summons up a number of Solar vessels equalto twice the character’s Sail rating. The flagship ofthis fleet is equivalent in every way to the Solar’sGlorious Solar Ship; the other vessels follow thislead, but subtract 2 from the character’s PermanentEssence for purposes of calculating statistics, anddo not benefit from Unequalled Solar Vessel.SOCIALIZEPHILOSOPHYSocialize is the most extroverted of the socialabilities. Where Presence deals with the character’spersonal bearing and demeanor, and Performancewith direct influence, Socialize focuses on therelationships of others. Socialize Charms let acharacter gather all manner of information aboutthe desires and relationships of others, as well asaffect other people’s social standing. These effectscan work on the Solar as well — letting him redefinehis own position within a social group or improvehis knowledge of how to fit into one. However, allof these Charms primarily affect social standing— effects which actually alter the character’s mienare primarily the realm of Presence, and thosewhich alter other people’s opinions are generallyPerformance.As Socialize Charms increase in Essence, they canhave effects which are either broader or deeper— dealing with larger groups of people or havinga greater effect on one in particular. At higherlevels, they can be expected to unearth someone’sdeepest secrets, or map out the dynamics of themost complicated group.ABYSSAL EQUIVALENTSThose Abyssal Socialize Charms which do notduplicate existing Solar Charms carry entropiceffects which would be inappropriate for Solarduplication.EXISTING CHARMMODIFICATIONSKnowing the Soul’s Price, Exalted Corebook pg. 211.This Charm does not require Mastery of SmallManners as a prerequisite.166

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESGraceful Deflection Technique, Castebook: Eclipsepg. 77. This Charm does not require Wise-EyedCourtier Method as a prerequisite.Venomous Rumors Technique, Exalted Corebook pg.212. This Charm does not require Understandingthe Court as a prerequisite.Exalted Accolades, Castebook: Eclipse pg. 78. ThisCharm’s prerequisite is Knowing the Soul’s Price.NEW CHARMSIMMACULATE MANIPULATION PRANACost: NoneDuration: PermanentType: SpecialMinimum Socialize: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: NoneThe Solar’s tongue is subtle and crafty, surpassingeven the most careful schemers and manipulators ofthe mortal world. The maximum rating of the Solar’sManipulation attribute is increased by one; she mayraise it to this new higher value using Experience.This Charm does not need to be activated; it simplyimproves the Exalt’s capabilities.OLD FRIEND’S CHERISHED RETURNCost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Socialize: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Welcome GuestMethodWhen encountering someone for the first time,the Solar can ensure that he will be received as ifhe were a friend or acquaintance from long ago— one the target has forgotten, perhaps, but onewho deserves a warm welcome and a lowering ofinhibitions nonetheless. The character need merelyselect an individual he has not met before, whohas a Permanent Essence less than or equal to theSolar’s. From the moment of meeting, the targetwill assume the Exalt is someone from her past whoshould be brought back into her life, even at herown inconvenience. Note that this does not preventthe target from altering her opinion — if the Solartakes advantage of the generosity and hospitalityprompted by this Charm, she will quickly earn thetarget’s ire.CIRCLE OF FRIENDS STYLECost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: VariesType: SimpleMinimum Socialize: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Welcome GuestMethodUsing this Charm, a Solar can insert herself intoa group of friends or other tightly-knit social order asif she were a long-time member. After gaining somefoothold, no matter how slight, within the groupto be affected, the Solar must roll Manipulation +Socialize. On one success, her position shifts overthe next month; each additional success reduces thetime needed by half. Once this duration has expired,the Solar will be treated like a central member of thegroup: included in all events, trusted with sensitiveinformation, and deferred to in important manners.As with Old Friend’s Cherished Return, this Charmonly acquires this position, not maintains it. TheSolar’s actions could possibly result in a loss of trustor a complete rejection from the group.This Charm cannot grant the Solar a hierarchicalposition or one which requires specific bureaucraticaction to achieve; it only increases the trust andaffection felt by fellow members towards theExalt.INVISIBLE SOCIALITE STANCECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One eventType: Simple167

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESMinimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Venomous RumorsTechniqueThe most masterful manipulators know thateven the closest friends can become sworn enemiesif only the correct seed is planted. By engineeringa powerful falling out, the Solar can drasticallyharm the relationship between two people. Whenthis Charm is used, the Storyteller should rankthe strength of the relationship on a scale of 0 to10, where 10 is the strongest possible positiverelationship, 0 the strongest negative relationship,and 5 apathy or disregard. The Solar must rollher Manipulation + Socialize; for each success,the relationship decreases one step on this scale.This will manifest itself in the form of a dramaticfight or falling out of some kind, generally over aninsignificant quantity. If neither party does anythingto further antagonize the other, the relationship willrepair itself at a rate of one step per week; however,it is likely that many targets will take actions thatwill cement their new antagonism.This Charm does not affect people with a PermanentEssence score greater than the Exalt’s. Any specificpair of individuals may only be under the effects ofone instance of this Charm at any given time.HEARTSWELLING AMBROSIA STYLECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Socialize: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Exalted AccoladesThrough careful coordination of coincidenceand circumstance, the Solar matchmaker can bringany two people together in the bonds of brotherhoodor love. As with Heartbreaking Venom Atemi, theStoryteller should rank the relationship of the twotargets on a scale of 0 to 10. The Solar must thenroll Manipulation + Socialize. For each success onthis roll, the relationship of the two is increased byone step on that scale. For those who are neutralor only mildly dismissive of one another, this willgenerally manifest itself in the form of a chancemeeting, coincidence, or sudden discovery whichgives each person a new and different view of theother. For targets who are actively antagonistictowards one another, they will often discover factswhich counter their negative opinion of the other,or otherwise encounter an event which drasticallychanges their viewpoints. If neither takes any actionto maintain this newfound relationship, it willdegrade to its original state at a rate of one stepper week; however, many recipients will activelydevelop the relationship themselves after the initialchange.This Charm does not affect people with a PermanentEssence score greater than the Exalt’s. Any specificpair of individuals may only be under the effects ofone instance of this Charm at any given time.SHIFTING THE SOUL’S PATHCost: 3 motesDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Socialize: 6Minimum Essence: 6Prerequisite Charms: Heartbreaking VenomAtemi, Heartswelling Ambrosia StyleTugging the strings of a target’s social lifelike she would those of a marionette, the Solardefly manipulates the target’s relationships in anyfashion she sees fit. Whenever the Solar uses thisCharm on a target, she may choose to move eitherone specific relationship, or all relationships he isa part of, up or down a single step in the zero toten scale described above. This will manifest itselfimmediately, with no obvious cause, and last forthe remainder of the day. No one relationship maysuffer the effects of more activations of this Charmthan the Solar’s Permanent Essence.LOVERS AND FRIENDS APPROACHCost: 6 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: Simple169

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSMinimum Socialize: 5Minimum Essence: 3Prerequisite Charms: Understanding theCourtThe relationships one forms with one’s friends,partners, and lovers define the way one lives one’slife. By carefully observing a character’s dailyactions, the Solar can piece together a detailed mapof these connections. The Exalt must observe thetarget for a single day, paying close attention to hissocial interactions. At the conclusion of this day, sherolls her Perception + Socialize. For each success,she learns the identity of the next most importantrelationship the target posesses, and the specificnature of that relationship — its strength, its type,and the strong emotions currently associated withit. This Charm can catalogue negative relationshipsas well as positive ones — a nemesis or hated rivalwill register as easily as a lover or close friend.FRIEND OF A FRIEND STYLECost: 10 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One dayType: SimpleMinimum Socialize: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Lovers and FriendsApproachEach person is the center of their own individualsocial web, connecting them to increasingly distantpeople. By following these delicate strands, theSolar can determine the relationships that extendfrom a single person. As with Lovers and FriendsApproach, the Solar must spend a day observingthe target’s social activities. At the end of this day,he must roll Perception + Socialize. A single successprovides him with the identity of every personwhom the target has a significant relationship with,as well as the overall strength of that relationship —though not its nature or what emotional significance170

CHAPTER 2 • EXTENDED CHARM TREESit carries. For each additional success, the Solarrepeats this process for each person identified inthis fashion; he may extend the chart to as manylevels as he has dots of Permanent Essence.HEART’S SECRETS EXTRACTIONCost: 15 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: InstantType: SimpleMinimum Socialize: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Reading the HeartDelving deep into the psyche of the target,the Solar draws out her deepest emotions anddesires. When the Exalt uses this Charm, he gains aknowledge of the target’s complete emotional stateat the current time. This provides no insight intothe target’s general behavior, but does tell the Solaranything he might wish to know about how theselected person is feeling at the moment. In addition,the Exalt may roll Perception + Manipulation againsta difficulty equal to the target’s Permanent Essence.For each success on this roll, the character may learna single deeply held emotional secret of the target.This can be any hidden desire, unspoken shame, orother emotion the character wishes for others notto know of; the Solar will learn what emotion it isas well as what situation it is related to, though nota factual account of the exact details. This Charmhas no effect on anyone with a Permanent Essencegreater than the Solar’s.EMOTION-CLOUDING MASKCost: 8 motes, 1 WillpowerDuration: One sceneType: SimpleMinimum Socialize: 5Minimum Essence: 4Prerequisite Charms: Masterful DissimulationMethodShrouding her emotions in a deep cloud ofmist, the Solar projects instead a false version ofher emotional state. To anyone observing the Exaltduring this scene, even someone using Charms tomeasure her emotions, will witness a set of emotionsdictated at the time the Charm was enacted, ratherthan the character’s actual emotional state. TheExalt can use this to remain outwardly calm whileconfronted with maddening words, or to imitaterighteous anger at a topic that truly causes him joy.Those who possess a Permanent Essence greaterthan the Exalt’s can see through this deception,however.171

INTRODUCTIONCHAPTER 3STORYTELLINGA GAME OF POWERSExalted is a game of powerful, world-shatteringheroes. Even a beginning Exalted character canraze mountains and overthrow empires. However,some players may be interested in an even morepowerful game, with elder Exalts and incrediblehigh-Essence powers. The advice in this section isintended to help you run just such a game, withsuggestions and guidelines for such play.WHAT IS A “HIGH ESSENCEGAME”?The definition of “high-Essence game” is inherentlyvague and slippery. As mentioned above, evenstarting-level Exalts are quite potent, and Exaltsof the same Essence level can differ drasticallyin capability. Generally, however, the scope andnature of a game changes as the characters increasetheir Permanent Essence. Following are guidelinesfor games with different Essence ratings. Note thatthese are only approximations — it’s quite possibleto run games with characters who fall into morethan one category, and many games won’t fit173

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSperfectly with the descriptions below. Still, thesedescriptions can give you some idea of what toexpect from a game with a certain power level.ESSENCE 1-2At a low Essence rating, your game will operateon a straightforward level. This is the level ofplay that the Exalted corebook is tuned to provideimmediately upon beginning play. Exalts at thisstage are working almost entirely within the realmof human ability — Charms at these levels tend toaid Exalts in performing tasks the greatest humanscould accomplish, rather than opening up newcapabilities. These Exalts are still stretching theirmuscles, discovering the power inherent in theirnew condition and learning how to channel itproperly. Such characters are likely to be involvedlargely in local events, and to deal largely withsmall-scale opponents — local politicians, minorcult leaders, regional gods, other new Exalts, andso on. They’re unlikely to get involved in worldspanningplots, travel beyond the borders ofCreation, or become too deeply enmeshed in thecomplicated politics of Essence wielders in the Ageof Sorrows. Mortals can still pose a threat to Exaltsof this level. Thematically, games at this powerlevel are likely to revolve heavily around personalissues — for Solars, for example, escaping fromthe Wyld Hunt, recovering artifacts of previousincarnations, and dealing with the massive changesin the character’s life.ESSENCE 3-4At Essence 3, Exalts move past the boundaries ofhuman capability. At this level, an Exalt’s skills havesurpassed the perfect-human level of lower-EssenceCharms, and begun to explore the unique andesoteric realm available only to Essence wielders.It’s no coincidence that sorcery first becomesavailable to Exalts at Essence 3 — it highlights theimportance of the Essence 3 threshold. For an Exaltof this level, the power and flexibility of Charms isenough to render mortals unthreatening. Demons,Fair Folk, better-established Exalts, and othervarious monstrosities are much better foes. Suchgames will rarely have a scope much smaller than ametropolis or small nation-state, given how easy it isfor an Essence 3 Exalt to found or conquer one. Thecharacters are likely to become important figuresin local politics, and will be drawn into whateverschemes and events are occurring in their vicinity.The looming problems of Creation will begin tobe more relevant as well — such characters willbegin to clash with world-spanning players likethe Realm or the Deathlords, and begin to considerhow to neutralize them. Thematically, such gameswill often focus on the question of “how?” — whatdirection will the characters take to accomplishtheir goals? These games can also focus on therepercussions of character’s actions, putting theExalts’ new importance into sharp focus. Resourcecollection will often feature heavily in such games—most Exalts will need a tremendous quanitity ofallies, artifacts, favors, and raw materials in order toaccomplish the deeds they set out to do, and Exaltsof this level are well-suited to gathering them.This is the highest level of play supportedby the Exalted corebook and the hardcoversupplements.ESSENCE 5-6Exalts who have reached Essence 5 can operateon the scale of entire nations. At this level, Solarshave access to the Adamant Circle of Sorcery,letting them level cities or build new ones withbut a few minute’s effort. At this level, it’s mostlyother Exalts, demons, and spirits who will providea suitable challenge. Mortals in any quantity canprovide no significant opposition. A character thispowerful will have established herself as a force tobe reckoned with in a selected niche, whether asthe leader of a vast criminal empire, the benevolentruler of a nation-state, or simply as the most fearedwarrior in all of Creation. In addition, most suchExalts will have a truly staggering collection ofresources to draw upon in any undertaking. Atthis point, the relevant question begins to shift174

CHAPTER 3 • STORYTELLINGfrom “how?” to “what?” Once they’ve gatheredthe resources they need and come into godlikepower, all that’s left for the characters is the matterof actually accomplishing their world-spanningdesires. Games at this level are likely to heavilyinvolve a broad variety of Creation’s most powerfulentities — any actions the characters undertake arelikely to drawESSENCE 7-8At this point, there are few things in Creation thatcan stand before an Exalt. Deathlords, powerfulbehemoths, Demons of the Third Circle, the highestfunctionaries of the Celestial Bureaucracy, and themore powerful First Age surivors are the only realcompetition for such a character. The scope of agame featuring characters at this power level willmost likely span all of Creation and well beyond.The characters can solve almost any problem they’refaced with in the mortal world — all that’s left todo is address the greatest metaphysical challenges.Of course, this will bring the characters into directconflict with anyone and everyone with a plan forCreation. Games at this level are going to be playedfor high stakes, between the most powerful beingsin the world — and with everyone else as pawns.The advice in this section focuses on running gamesin the latter two brackets — the first two are wellsupported by the Storytelling advice in the Exaltedcorebook and various hardback supplements.TYPES OF HIGH-POWEREDGAMESA Storyteller can incorporate high Essencecharacters into her game in quite a few ways.Basic advancement within an ongoing game mayeventually produce quite powerful characters, ifthe game continues long enough. Alternately, aStoryteller might advance a game’s timeline forwardto when the characters are more experienced, oreven begin a new game with already powerful PCs.The sections below discuss some of the specificconcerns that different types of high-poweredgames can produce.ADVANCING TO HIGH ESSENCE LEVELSSome players’ Exalted games can last a long time.There are games of Exalted running today that havebeen running since the game’s release. In that time,players’ characters will grow quite powerful. Somegroups may choose to give out small experienceawards in order to keep power levels low, orretire PCs once they become too powerful. Others,however, will want to play the same heroes as theyreach incredible levels of power.For many groups, this will be the least problematicmethod of reaching high Essence play. Becauseplayers began playing these characters at lowerpower levels, they should be quite comfortable withtheir personalities and quirks by the time they reachEssence 5. And since their characters will be slowlyincreasing in power, it’ll be much easier to becomeaccustomed to the characters’ abilities.The disadvantage of this approach lies in how longit takes — games can often collapse due to shiftingcommittments or loss of interest. Some games mightbe better suited by an epic (but lower powered)finale than the long process of moving into highEssence play.BEGINNING WITH HIGH-ESSENCECHARACTERSIn some cases, a Storyteller might begin a gamewith high-powered characters. There are a varietyof reasons to do so — your characters might beLunar elders, or a circle of First Age Solars whosomehow survived the Usurpation and havehidden in temporal stasis until the current day.However, beginning a game with high Essencecharacters presents a number of unique problems.These problems can occur even in an ongoinggame, but slow advancement will generally give175

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSthe Storyteller a chance to correct them; beginning agame with high-Essence characters brings all thesepotential problems to the fore at once.Firstly, it can prove difficult to create a balancedand compatible party at this level. Creating veryexperienced characters is already more difficultthan creating starting characters. When severalplayers are doing so in concert, it can be difficultto integrate these characters with one another.This pitfall is most obvious in regard to combatcapability. For normal starting Exalted characters,the range in possible combat skill — from completelyineffectual to highly skilled — is reasonably small.In most games, simply nudging players towardsthe low or high end of fighting ability is enough tokeep all the PCs within a reasonable range of oneanother. For more powerful characters, this balanceis harder to create because the scale is larger. Evena character with 500 experience points can still bea poor fighter, but he might also be a masterful,world-shaking combatant — or anywhere inbetween. As a Storyteller, you should pay closeattention to the combat capability of your PCs, andwork to ensure that they do not diverge too greatlyfrom one another.A similar problem can occur with characterbackgrounds. It’s pretty simple to bring a groupof starting PCs together — often they will be nearthe beginning of their adventuring careers, and willhave hooks which can easily lead them to becomeinvolved with one another. However, the historiesof higher-powered characters will be far moreelaborate. Reaching Essence 6 requires a characterto have lived at least 100 years — and she is likelyto have had a great deal of excitement in that time.Trying to create backgrounds of this scope formultiple characters, all of whom are intended towork together, can be quite challenging. There’sno easy solution — the Storyteller simply needsto work closely with all of her players to create acompatible group of PCs.Once play begins, some players might havedifficulty getting into character. Many playerschoose to establish their characterization duringplay, rather than deciding on their character’smotivations beforehand. This is an entirely validapproach, but beginning with old and powerfuladvanced characters can make it more difficult.Starting characters with only a brief backstory oftenhave enough wiggle room that their personalitiescan emerge over time. However, experiencedcharacters tend to require an elaborate backgrounddescribing the nature of their past adventures. Ifyou have players who seem intimidated by this,or who you think might run into trouble, it mightbe wise to run a session or two where the settingtakes a backseat— allow the players to leave theirbackgrounds vague to start and fill it in afterplaying through a session in which backgroundisn’t important.Despite the potential pitfalls, beginning a gamewith powerful Exalts has its own rewards as well.A game like this allows a group to enjoy playingvery powerful characters without taking the timeto build up to it through play. In addition, it givesthe Storyteller an excellent setup for a variety ofnarrative tricks — flashback sessions or purposelyvague background elements which are filled in ata later date, for example.FLASHING FORWARDAnother method combines the two previous stylesby taking existing PCs and leaping forward in timeto a period in which they are far older and moreexperienced. This approach can circumvent manyof the problems discussed above: it gives players achance to get used to their characters at a low powerlevel while still reducing the real time it takes tobegin a high-powered game.However, it’s worth thinking carefully about afew things before proceeding. Unless you knowyour players very well, you shouldn’t attempt thiswithout asking their permission — some may notbe interested in high powered play, while others176

CHAPTER 3 • STORYTELLINGmay feel cheated out of control over their charactersduring the long downtime. In addition, be sureyou’re ready for a massive change in the style ofgame you’re running when you take this route —ideas that would’ve served as an enjoyable sessionbefore the change may be insignificant or out ofplace afterwards. You should make sure you’recompletely satisfied with what you and yourplayers have done at lower power levels beforeimplementing it, because once you do, there’s nogoing back.THE INTERLUDEIf you’re already running a game and want to tryout high Essence characters without altering yournormal characters, an interlude may be in order.For a small number of sessions, have your playersput their normal characters on hold andpick up characters createdespecially for the occasion.This can provide you with anumber of opportunities. Mostobviously, it lets you and yourplayers try out a high-poweredgame without permanentlychanging your normal game.It can also offer other benefitsas well: an opportunity foryour players to stretch theirroleplaying muscles and playsomething new, a chanceto look at your version ofCreation from a differentfaction’s perspective, and anopportunity to run sessionswith potentially deadlyor far-reaching effectson the characters without riskingplayer favorites in the process. Thedownsides to this approach are prettyminor. Players might lose interest ifthey’re strongly invested in theirstandard characters, but generally there’s little riskto trying this out.ELEMENTS OF THE GAMEIn a general sense, playing a high-powered gameisn’t much different from playing any other: allthe basic assumptions remain the same. This holdsespecially true for an experienced Exalted Storyteller,who has probably gotten quite good at having funwith characters who can accomplish incrediblefeats. Even so, it can prove difficult to challengecharacters who stand so far beyond normal humanskill. Just the sheer scope of a powerful game canmake things difficult for the Storyteller. Everythingin a high-powered game is bigger,more complicated, more specific,and more epic. Keeping theseelements in mind will help your game avoidthe doldrums and maintain excitementweek after week.CHALLENGESFinding ways tochallenge a groupof high poweredcharacters can bedifficult — when youcan do almost anything,what can possiblypose a threat? Craftingworthwhile oppositionfor high-powered PCsis difficult, but it can bedone. A few categoriesyou might consider include:Combat Encounters. The moststraightforward method ofchallenging your players, thecombat encounter is still aperfectly viable challengefor high-poweredplay. The Exalted177

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUScombat system changes in a number of fundamentalways as it scales up, but it does continue to functionwell at Essence ratings of 4 to 6. Combat dynamicsdo differ significantly for characters at this powerlevel. Mortals are non-threatening in basically anyquantity; even armies are really nothing for thecharacters to worry about. When fighting foes of asimilar power level, fights are likely to lean muchfurther to one extreme or the other than with lessexperienced characters — the prevalence of perfecteffects, stacked defenses, and other such effects leadto situations in which characters often leave combateither unscratched or dead. Many high-Essencecombat techniques can have significant collateraldamage as well — be prepared for intense andpotentially destructive fights.Social Encounters. Using social encounters as achallenge for high powered PCs can prove quitedifficult. Unlike with combat, the system for socialconflict in Exalted is extremely abstract and hasfew defined rules or maneuvers; even the mostcomplicated situations typically come down to asingle opposed roll. Given the level of power thatsocially-focused Exalts can wield, many socialsituations will rapidly turn into a one-sided affair.You can attempt to work around this in a few ways:by making the use of social Charms difficult, orby placing your characters up against foes strongenough to resist their abilities, for example. Ingeneral, you’ll want to be careful with usingthese sorts of encounters against characters withsignificant social abilities.Mysteries. Throwing mysteries at your playerscan have a problem similar to that posed by socialencounters — their powers are just too goodat unravelling them. Even cleverly constructedmysteries quickly fold before the investigativepower of Solar Exalts, who can glean a person’ssecret motivations, determine an object’s completehistory, or follow a light-footed foe to the endsof Creation. As a result, using mysteries can beextremely difficult. In general, if a story revolvesaround the players having difficulty discoveringa particular piece of information, it won’t workwell for high-powered characters — they justhave access to too many powerful tools. It is stillpossible to use mysteries in such a game, however.One method is to use a large series of interlinkedmysteries. Players may be able to solve each smallconundrum with ease, but discovering how they fittogether and following the trail from one mysteryto another can be entertaining in itself. Alternately,you can attempt to craft a mystery around the bestcourse of action for players to take — a strategicmystery, if you will. Since such a mystery doesn’trevolve around factual matters in the same way asa more traditional one, Charm-based investigationwill not defeat it quite so easily.Powerful and Mysterious Opponents. One way tochallenge powerful characters should be obvious:introduce a more powerful villain. The trick is findinga way to do so that isn’t unfair to the players. Usingan untouchable villain, or one who is protectedby Storyteller fiat, rapidly leads to unhappy anddissatisfied players. This doesn’t mean that youshould avoid using brilliant masterminds and aweinspiringgenerals as opponents, though, merelythat it requires a subtler touch. Probably the mostsuccessful way to avoid this is to put the villain ata distance, then build a significant quest arounddefeating him. A villain who can easily defeatthe PCs who he frequently encounters in faceto-faceconflict will quickly grow frustrating andbothersome. However, one who the PCs deal withprimarily through intermediaries or in situationswhich do not allow for direct conflict can be muchmore interesting. Once you’ve got such a character,it’s easy to build a sizeable quest around defeatinghim — whether through gathering resources,discovering secret weaknesses, or slowly chippingaway at his infrastructure. Many archetypal Exaltedstories — a Circle of Solars defeating a Deathlord,for example — follow exactly this pattern.Recurring Villains. This point ties in closely withthe previous one. For low-powered characters, theStoryteller can often introduce new, disposablevillains on a regular basis — there is amplejustification for almost any Exalt to have numerous178

CHAPTER 3 • STORYTELLINGworthy foes, and it’s easy for PCs to defeat theirenemies in ways that guarantee they’ll never proveto be trouble again. This is harder to do with a highpoweredgame — the justification for why thereare enough powerful beings who can continuallychallenge the characters grows rapidly thin.Often, the solution is to create foes who the PCscan encounter repeatedly, providing a matchingchallenge without requiring a constant stream ofexplanations or bigger and bigger threats. Suchfoes need not be absolute villains — one might bea not-quite-friendly rival or a mysterious figurewho sometimes works for good, sometimes forill. Using such recurring foes lets the characters(and the players) become emotionally investedin opposing them, and provides ready-madeopponents in circumstances where the PCs needa real challenge.Moral Quandaries. Regardless of how powerful yourPCs are, they aren’t going to possess a flawlessinsight into difficult ethical decisions. By facingyour players with moral challenges that haveno correct solution, you can produce interestingsessions and provide players with excellent fodderfor in-depth roleplaying.An advantage of these sorts of challenges is thatthey actually become easier to use as your PCsincrease in power. Once characters become capableof performing almost any feat, they can no longerclaim that the ethical solution to a problem istoo difficult to implement. Powerful characterscan easily find themselves faced with extremelyunlikely quandaries simply because they have thepower to address them.Another advantage is that Exalted is tailor-madeto utilize moral difficulties in play. If your playersfollow their characters’ Virtue ratings during play,and you provide suitable situations, moral conflictsare almost certain to arise — and Virtues provideboth an excellent way to measure these conflicts,and a strong mechanical incentive to play themout.The use of moral challenges in a game ties in prettyclosely to the use of themes, which is elaboratedon below.Non-threats. Sometimes your best option is simplyto put your players up against foes that don’tactually pose a threat. At first, this might sound likea ridiculous idea — where’s the fun in oppositionwhich you’re certain to beat? However, often agame session can be quite enjoyable even if there’sabsolutely no threat of failure. A hint of this canalready be seen in normal Exalted play, when youput players up against hordes of extras or in socialsituations against mortal opposition. Often the funof a game of Exalted doesn’t come from the challengeand threat of defeat, but simply from the experience— the elaborate stunts and descriptions, the choiceof skills, and the opportunity to roleplay can all bequite enjoyable. Keep this in mind when planningsessions — with a setup that allows characters toshow off their skills and make amusing quips, evena session with absolutely no chance of failure canbe a successGAME CONTROLThe issue of who “controls” the game becomesextremely important in a high Essence game ofExalted. In a Storyteller-driven game, the plot islargely dictated by the Storyteller’s decisions. Inmany such games, he will prepare the details ofa session or even multiple sessions in advance,and will generally determine the gist of the story’sadvancement. In a player-driven game, the actionsof the PCs or the out-of-game desires of the playersare what determine the direction which play takes— often veering away significantly from what theStoryteller might have expected.Players who are more interested in how theircharacters react to different situations or theexcitement of the moment might prefer Storytellerdrivengames, letting them ignore long-term plansand focus on moment-to-moment play. Those whoare heavily invested in their characters’ plans and179

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSwho want to have total control of their actions mightfind a Storyteller-driven game stifling, and want tosee the events of the game legitimately change dueto their characters’ actions. There’s nothing wrongwith either style of play. As PCs increase in power,however, it does become much more difficult torun a Storyteller-driven game — when characterscan alter the political landscape of Creation with amoment’s effort, getting them to follow any sort ofpredetermined route is a fool’s errand.One possibility for those who enjoy Storytellerdrivengames is to build a game around a seriesof vignettes — self-contained sessions with apredetermined beginning and a set range of play.Each such session would begin with players alreadyin the thick of a challenging situation, with littleattention paid to the specifics of how they becameinvolved; it would conclude with few sizeableimplications for the PCs’ futures, regardless of howthe situation was resolved. Periods of downtime arebasically glossed over — they are merely assumedto place PCs in position for the next session’sevents. This model should sound familiar — it’sessentially the one used in the majority of Americantelevision dramas. Used well, it can allow playersto enjoy playing their high-powered characterswithout having to take the responsibility of drivingthe game. If the Storyteller chooses, she can evenincorporate a few elements of player-driven plotinto the game — for example, by running a “sequel”session that expands upon the conclusion of anearlier game (much like a television show mightbring back a fan favorite villain or return to explorea plotline from an earlier season.)Those who enjoy player-driven games, however,should be perfectly at home with a high-poweredgame. In such a chronicle, players can do whateverthey want — almost any avenue is open to them.In high-Essence Exalted, a chronicle of years canrevolve entirely around a single epic quest orundertaking chosen by the characters.THEMESMany Storytellers make a conscious effort to workexplicit themes or motifs into their game, in theform of descriptions or recurring events in thegame that all refer back to one specific idea. Likein any form of art, the depth and breadth of theseconcepts can vary tremendously — they can be assimple as something like “fighting can’t solve allproblems” or as complex as an elaborate meditationon the states of mankind’s evolution; as serious asa story of inevitable tragedy due to a personalityflaw or as lighthearted as “watch out when theDjala are underfoot.” Many games introducerecurring themes naturally, but some Storytellerswill purposely inject them or even frame entirechronicles with them.It’s useful to think about the themes in any game— whether you choose to incorporate any or not— but for a high-powered game it becomes moreimportant than ever. A game with starting-levelcharacters can easily get by without any overarchingtheme — simply taking a “street-level” approachand dealing with the daily impact of character’sactions or the latest one-shot adventure hook. Formore powerful characters, however, it’s increasinglydifficult to avoid — as your freedom to act and yourmoral culpability increase, the need for a thematicframework to justify and explain your ethicaldecisions becomes greater and greater.Some tips on making use of overt themes in yourgames:Check with the players first. It’s easy to bring a gameto a crashing halt by having players run headfirstinto a thematic restriction they didn’t realizewas present. While a Storyteller’s focused tale ofrevenge and depravity might make for an excellentgame, it will just lead to hurt feelings if the playersare expecting something more light-hearted andjovial.Create characters with theme in mind. If you intend torun a game with a significant thematic element, make180

CHAPTER 3 • STORYTELLINGsure to implement it from the very first part of play— character creation. By working with your playersto create characters with your intended themes inmind, you can make sure they’ll be well suited to theevents of the game. If you’re looking to run a gameabout redemption, for example, you might wantcharacters with a dark or painful background — oralternately, those with unblemished backgroundsbut the potential to sin, if you’re looking to exploretheir downfall during play. This will make it fareasier to draw your characters into situations whichdeal with your chosen theme.Decide how omnipresent the theme will be. There’s alot of room for variation here. One game mightmaintain a running theme as merely a backgroundelement, something for interested players to pick upon and for others to ignore; another might be drivenentirely by pursuing the theme, with every eventand character built specifically to address it. Eitherapproach, or any in between, is perfectly fine — butit’s worth thinking about which you’ll be takingbefore you begin. If you want your theme to beconstantly visible, you’ll need to carefully examinehow every plot and character you introduce tiesinto it.Find different ways of interjecting your theme. To use atheme most effectively, you’ll need to include it inyour game in a number of different ways. Simplyconfronting players with explicit statements of thetheme will rapidly become tiring; more subtletyis called for, especially over a sufficiently longstory. As such, the Storyteller would be wellserved by coming up with alternate methods ofintroducing it. You can insert NPC conflicts whichmirror (or better yet, reverse) those the PCs areinvolved in. You can create societal conflicts thatreflect them on a personal level. You can use thenames and appearances of NPCs, the decorationsof the locations the characters visit, and other smallelements of play to subtly reinforce your theme.You can even introduce minor elements whosethematic resonance only becomes clear after a greatdeal of time. Doing these sorts of things takes thepressure off of the primary storyline to carry thefull burden of your theme, while allowing you toreinforce it frequently.FINISHING UPUltimately, the most important thing in any gameis to make sure that you and your players areenjoying yourselves. Regardless of what adviceON CANONIn a high-powered game, it’s worth thinkingexplicitly about the approach you’ll be takingto “canonical” Exalted material. As charactersincrease in power level and their adventuresincrease in scope, the amount of world detailwhich will be brought in increases as well. Forlower-power games, this is generally not muchof an issue -- players will often limit themselvesto a geographical area and use only certainaspects of the game setting. Altering the settingto fit your needs isn’t particularly difficult inthis situation -- it’s often easy to briefly describeany important deviations before the gamebegins.With a high-powered game, this might not proveso straightforward. Characters with Essence of4 or higher are likely to be involved in Creationspanningadventures -- journeying to all fivecorners of the world, becoming involved withevery type of Exalted and every major faction,and dealing with epic problems like the GreatCurse. As a result, games set at a high powerlevel are likely to involve a much larger portionof the setting than lower-powered games.Because of this, a Storyteller is often advisedto think carefully about just which elements ofcanon she intends to change before beginningplay -- otherwise, she might accidentally writeherself into a corner.181

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSyou follow and what decisions you make in yourgame, remember that you and your players are allthere to enjoy creating a story together with friends.Try to keep this fact in mind whenever a conflictarises and you’ll find it much easier to approachconstructively.THE SOLARSHIGH-ESSENCE SOLAR EXALTEDAs Solars become more powerful, there are severalqualities that come to the fore.Epic Heroism. Solars don’t always start out quiteso heroic. A look at Havesh the Vanisher fromCastebook: Night provides a perfect example of this:even with the immense power that comes withSolar Exaltation, some characters will fail to liveup to their potential. The Unconquered Sun doesnot Exalt people lightly, however; he simply takesa long-term view. As a Solar’s long life continues,he’ll find himself inexorably drawn into larger-thanlifeevents, whether he wants to be or not; any Solarwho has reached higher Essence levels is certain tobe wrapped up in important happenings. As a Solarincreases in power, he will inevitably find himselfbecoming an epic hero — a champion of his virtues,a warrior for those he loves or respects, a scholar ofthings beyond the ken of mankind. His every actionbecomes something of legend — the character’sability to do anything mundane or uninterestingbegins to vanish. As time passes, the character canonly become yet larger than life — either throughhis deeds, or his death.Distance from humanity. The more powerful a Solarbecomes, the further she distances herself frommere mortals. Already the very nature of the SolarExaltation puts a vast gulf between the recipientand her fellow humans — her drastically increasedcapability puts her on a different level. With time,that gulf will only widen, as the Solar begins torecognize the impact of her longer lifespan andsuperhuman ability. A character can work to fightthis, but it will be a difficult fight — it is almostinevitable that the concerns of mere mortals willbegin to seem insignificant to one who can jugglemountains.The Great Curse. The Great Curse does not actuallybecome stronger as Solars increase in power — itfunctions the same way as it does for the newlyExalted. However, the impact it has can increasedrastically. As a Solar becomes stronger, theopportunities to gain Limit will almost certainlyincrease, for two reasons. Firstly, he will encountermore difficult situations. But more importantly,greater power will allow more ambiguous andconflicted moral situations to appear. The flipside isthat the more powerful a Solar is, the more terriblethe results when he limit breaks. A character whocould previously only threaten those in his nearbyenvirons with Deliberate Cruelty might nowrule over an entire nation. The distancing effectof power has a big effect on this as well — as theSolar becomes more detached from the concernsof mortals, the ease with which he can justify hisoutbursts to himself increases. A high-poweredgame should generally play up the impact of theGreat Curse beyond even normal levels — it’s likelyto become an increasingly heavy weight around thecharacter’s neck, or else an increasingly strong pulltowards corruption.STORIESListed below are a number of common plotlines thata group of powerful Solars can explore, along witha brief discussion of each. There are thousands ofstories that can be told with Solar Exalted charactersof any power level; the ones described below arein no way the totality of available ideas. However,these are plots that are likely to crop up.Founding a nation. With time, many if not most SolarExalts will begin looking to rule over a land of theirown. This is quite understandable — Solars are bornto be leaders. There are as many ways to accomplish182

CHAPTER 3 • STORYTELLINGthe goal as there are Solars — force of arms, subtlemanipulations, impersonation, magical coercion,becoming the power behind a throne — the list goeson and on. Accomplishing this goal can easily formthe basis of a significant chronicle, as well, as theSolar gathers resources, scopes out the competition,and finally makes her strike. In addition, it makes agreat springboard to many other plotlines as well— including several discussed below.Building an empire. For certain Solars, a singlenation just isn’t enough. Some characters mayhave conquest in their eyes, and decide to buildand lead a huge army to conquest on a massivescale. This is an excellent opportunity — not onlydoes it provide you with an excellent knowledgeof what opponents the characters will face, it alsogrants you the opportunity to throw all kinds ofunexpected complications in the players’ way. Along campaign of conquest can generate a greatdeal of play just during the planning stage —gathering allies, locating materiel, and making upa plan of attack. Once the combat begins, beyondthe basic excitement of the conquest itself, there arenumerous surprises you can introduce — surprisealliances, sudden magical discoveries by opposingforces, or unexpected new forces joining the battle.(Fair folk, demonic hordes, and the vanguard ofan Autochthonian invasion force all work well forthis.) With a little work, you can keep such a plotsurprising and tense all the way up to the finalbattle.Conquering the Realm. A very specific sort of empirebuilding,the lion’s share of Solar conquest gameswill end with the aim of conquering the Realm itself.The reasons are obvious — it’s the richest nation inCreation, it’s the only world power likely to havethe resources necessary to defeat a well-establishedSolar empire, and, most personally, it’s run by abunch of conceited upstarts who slaughtered theSolars and robbed them of their birthright. All of theadvice listed for a general conquest campaign goesdouble here. An entire chronicle can revolve aroundconquering the Realm — with the number of alliesit can field and the sheer power of its forces, anySolar army will have to fight many, many battlesto draw near to the Realm itself. The PCs should beprepared to face foes beyond anything they wouldencounter when fighting against any other forcein Creation. The Realm has access to warstriders,Thousand-Forged Dragons, and numerous otherFirst Age weapons, and even in its current dividedstate would be certain to field them against anythreat of a great enough magnitude. In addition,the threat of the Imperial Defenses should hangover the PCs’ heads at all times — if anyone elsegains access to them, or the Empress returns, evena tremendous Solar-led army will find itself rapidlyoutmatched. Even with all these risks, though, therewards are more than worthwhile — ruling theRealm is clearly the first step toward restoring Solarrulership of all of Creation and the glories of theFirst Age.Defeating a Deathlord. Deathlords are built into theExalted setting as the perfect long-term, powerfulvillains. Their agenda of Oblivion makes sure they’llbe opposed to the long-term desires of almostany Solar; their power makes them incrediblythreatening, while their unique weaknesses keepthem from becoming untouchable. As such, a longgame can easily revolve around defeating one.The challenge posed by a Deathlord is obvious— each has the personal power of an Essence7+ Solar, access to the endless knowledge of theMalfeans, a potential retinue of millions of ghosts,zombies, and other servitors, personal access toExalted champions, and a storehouse of artifactsthat is second to none. However, the players arelikely to encounter these threats gradually — theDeathlords’ ability to operate in Creation directlyis limited, and each has numerous plans to devoteresources towards; thus, players are likely to havesmall encounters with their servants well before theyenter into full-scale conflict. By carefully playing upthis evolution, you can draw such a conflict out overa long time, letting players defeat the Deathlord’sindividual schemes at first and slowly build up toan all-out assault on his Underworld citadel.183

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSRebuilding the Solar Deliberative. Many Solars willseek to return to the “proper” working of things— with the Solar Exalted the undisputed rulersof Creation. For some, this will require building aconsensus of the Solars as a whole, drawing themall together to form a new Solar Deliberative whichcan issue its pronouncements to the corners of theworld. This may prove far more difficult than itmight first appear, however. There are hundredsof Solars in Creation — and unlike in the FirstAge, each has been brought up with a differentheritage, homeland, and view about what’s bestfor Creation. Trying to get the Solars, who vary asmuch as humanity itself, to agree even to disagreemight prove to be more than the PCs can handle.To accomplish this goal, they’d best be prepared totravel across the face of Creation, and get involvedin some fairly significant negotiations with a varietyof bizarre and eccentric characters. Having a baseof operations and something that might pass fora recognized mandate probably couldn’t hurteither.Acquiring an unimaginably powerful artifact. InCreation, there are some objects that providenearly unimaginable power to their possessors.The Sword of Ice. The Mantle of Brigid. The Eyeof Autochthon. These and more are artifacts thatpromise their wielders the ability to accomplish anygoal or achieve any victory. Of course, as a result,finding and acquiring them will be that muchmore difficult. Many such artifacts are lost to themists of time, with only rumors of their existenceto lead hunters towards them. Others are only toowell known in the Second Age — and wrestingthem from their owners would be a challenge initself. Still, a significant plot can revolve aroundresearching the location of a fabled object, questingafter it, and defeating whatever forces stand in theway of the characters acquiring it.Restoring the glories of the First Age. Many looklongingly at the past, bitterly regretting the vastloss of knowledge and power that occurred in theUsurpation. For the Solars, however, the abilityto reverse that loss is available. With the poweravailable to them, Solar Exalted can learn to buildthe wonders of the First Age again, restore thosethat have broken or failed, and usher Creation intoa new era of paradise. This is an excellent long-termgoal for PCs — it’s something that can serve as thebasis for a large number of individual adventureswithout necessarily dominating the chronicleas a whole. Questing for damaged artifacts, losttomes, or First Age mentors can make for excellentgames.Journeying to other worlds. The world of Exaltedis larger than just Creation — numerous otherworlds lie beyond its borders, waiting for theintrepid adventurer. For characters who begin togrow complacent about adventuring in Creation,a trip to Autochthonia, the Underworld, Yu-Shanor Malfeas may very well be in order. Each of theseworlds has its own unique logic and its own specialdangers, ready to harm the unwary Exalt. Forcharacters used to operating in a familiar millieu,the unusual rules of these alternate worlds canprove to be an unending source of interest. Thereasons for characters to journey to these worlds arealmost endless — seeking out a powerful treasureor a wary foe, seeking lost information, or lookingto rescue a friend, for example.Defeating an all-out invasion from Malfeas. The timehas come: after millennia of seeking to test thelimits of their prison, the Yozi have finally decidedto win their freedom from the vile, hated beingswho imprisoned them so long ago. There is almostnothing that could pose a greater threat than thearmies of Malfeas, hordes of horrific demons withpowerful Infernal Exalts at their head, pouringinto Creation to tear it asunder and pave the wayfor their masters to return. For Solars, this wouldrepresent the greatest possible challenge to theirrule over Creation — and the greatest opportunityfor heroism they might ever encounter. This storywould need to be built up over a great deal of time— carefully introducing the Yozi and their minionsas long-running, epic villains and preparing theplayers to battle them. All the advice given abovefor running games of conquest suddenly turns on its184

CHAPTER 3 • STORYTELLINGear, as the PCs instead have to fight a desperate warof survival against unbelievable odds. Alternately,the characters may not have a prayer to actuallystop the invasion itself, leaving them with nooption but to make a desperate, suicidal strike intoMalfeas itself.... Regardless of the approach taken, itshould be dangerous, terrifying, and leave the PCsin almost certain doubt of their ability to succeed— making their ultimate victory that much moreincredible.Curing the Great Curse. If ever there were an epicquest, curing the Great Curse would be it. It’squite possible that as long as the Great Curseexists, anything built by the Exalted is doomed tocollapse into blood and ruin. If the PCs want toavoid that doom, the only solution is to find a wayto overcome the Curse. The first step, of course, ismerely to realize that the Curse even exists — afact known only to two individuals in the entireworld as of the canonical starting date. Even oncethe players can discover that, the method of curingit is likely to involve a truly incredible feat. It mayrequire the Malfeans to be somehow given theirfinal death — or to find a way to enter Lethe andbe reborn. It may require the redemption of everyliving Exalt — or their violent deaths. Regardless ofthe specifics, it is certain to require great sacrifice bythose who seek to undo it — and all the while, theCurse itself will be dogging their heels, striving toundo all their good work and tear Creation asunder.Only time can tell if your PCs are up to this task, butshould they manage it, the world is open to them— their greatest restriction gone.Attacking Yu-Shan. This is probably the ultimatechallenge for a group of Solars. It is not difficultfor a group of Exalts to grow dissatisfied with thestate of heavenly governance over the course ofa long chronicle — the Incarna ignore the plightof Creation in order to devote their time to theGames of Divinity. When a group of PCs hasaccomplished all there is to do in Creation and stillfinds existence dissatisfying, righting the wrongsof heaven becomes the only thing left to do. Forsome, it might involve only (only) journeying to thePleasure Dome and forcing the Incarna to do theirjobs; for others, the only option might be to slaytheir progenitors and assume control themselves,symbolically completing the circle of betrayal thatled to their creation in the first place. It will be amonumental task, to be sure — the Incarna, whilevulnerable, are almost certainly some of the mostpowerful beings in the world of Exalted, short ofonly the Yozi. This is certainly a campaign-endingplotline, and one that needs to be built up carefullyfar in advance in order to give it the resonance itneeds to succeed; however, if done well, it canprovide the ultimate epic conclusion to a long andhard-fought Solar game.An Unexpected Challenge. You can always challengeyour Solar PCs with utterly unexpected problems.Perhaps the Primordials created other races besidesthe Dragon Kings, and now these ancient evilsawaken and thirst for revenge. Perhaps a group ofrenegade spirits discover the process of Exaltation,and set the PCs up against an army of unusualExalts. If your players enjoy surprises, elaboratedeviations from canon like these might prove to beextremely popular. Going this route with your highEssence game can give you a remarkable degree offreedom, though some players may not be interestedin a game that veers so far from standard Exalted.OPTIONAL RULESBACKGROUNDS ABOVE 5Magical power is not the only sort which is availableto the Exalted. As Princes of the Earth, the trustedsoldiers, advisors, and leaders of Creation, theExalted have access to immense temporal poweras well. The default Background ratings for Exaltedcharacters are based on the assumption that PCsare not beginning play as central members of anypowerful organization; though they may have thepower to bring any nation to heel, they are assumedto start in a fairly “average” situation. However,some Storytellers and players may be inteserested in185

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSgames in which the PCs begin play as people of greatinfluence and power within existing societies — forexample, a game in which the PCs are the foundersof the Realm’s Great Houses, or an alternate settingin which the all-powerful Solar Deliberative fightsoff enemies from outside Creation. To help reflectthis, a Storyteller may choose to make availableBackgrounds with ratings greater than 5. Note thatthis rule does not require characters to possessEssence ratings of 6 or greater — while magicalpower may often assist in gaining political power,it is not an absolute prerequisite for it.These Backgrounds are intended as a purelyoptional rule. As such, the Storyteller should selecta maximum allowable rating before play begins, inorder to suit the intended position of the characters.Note that in such a game, most PCs will generallybe expected to possess one or more Backgroundsat such a higher level; the Storyteller will want toprovide additional Background points at charactercreation, and waive the rule capping Backgroundsat 3 dots before spending bonus points, to permitthis.ALLIESThe scale for Allies continues upward usingthe same progression. As a general guideline,each point of Allies either purchases a new allyabout equivalent to a powerful heroic mortal, orincreases the approximate Essence rating of anally by 1. Therefore, Allies ••• might purchase asingle reasonably strong Celestial Exalt, or threecompetent God-Bloods; Allies ••••• •• wouldprovide a powerful First Age Lunar, or a wellconnectedElemental Dragon.ARTIFACTIn general, high-ranked artifacts follow the patternsestablished for artifacts of levels 1-5. Weapons,armor, and artifacts which boost statistics will do soat rates extrapolated from existing artifacts. Existingartifacts with drawbacks can also be increased toabove five dots by removing these penalties — forexample, an artifact which requires maintenancecan be purchased without that requirement for anadditional dot. Sample artifacts for ratings 6 - 10follow:••••• • — A Royal Warstrider which requires nomaintenance.••••• •• — Thousand-Forged Dragon.••••• ••• — The Mantle of Brigid.••••• •••• — The Five-Metal Shrike.••••• ••••• — The Eye of Autchthon.BACKINGTo determine the effect of a high Backing trait, takeyour position within the organization and add thescope of the organization.• — A low-ranking member.•• — A slightly elevated position.••• — A mid-level rank.•••• — A high position.••••• — The upper echelons of leadership.••••• • — The absolute and unquestionedleader.••••• •• — Leader of multiple relatedorganizations.+ x — A reasonably-sized group: a kingdom or theCult of the Illuminated, for example.+ • — A large group, generally spanning the faceof Creation, such as the Guild.+ •• — A sizeable and powerful faction, on theorder of the entire Realm.+ ••• — Heaven, Malfeas, the Underworld, etc.CONTACTSEach dot of Contacts beyond 5 grants a majorcontact in an additional area.CULTWhen gauging a character’s cult rating, assume thatCult • represents a small cult, localized within asmall village; Cult ••••• represents the worship186

CHAPTER 3 • STORYTELLINGof a small nation; and Cult ••••• •••••• wouldrepresent a Creation-spanning religion of greatinfluence, such as the Immaculate Order. Increasethis rating by +• if the cult is unusually devoted,+•• if every member is dedicated to frequentprayer, and +••• if the cult consists entirely ofrabid zealots.••••• • — Regain a point of temporary Willpowerevery 3 hours; regain 8 motes of Essence eachhour.••••• •• — Regain a point of temporary Willpowerevery 2 hours; regain 10 motes of Essence eachhour.••••• ••• — Regain a point of temporaryWillpower and 12 motes of Essence each hour.••••• •••• — Regain two points of temporaryWillpower and 14 motes of Essence each hour.••••• ••••• — Regain three points of temporaryWillpower and 16 motes of Essence each hour.FAMILIARTo determine the rating of the character’s familiar,determine the creature’s basic nature and addpoints for any special connection the charactershares with it.• — An animal without significant combatcapabilities — a cat, a hawk, or a lizard, forexample.•• — An animal with significant combat capabilities— like a tiger or a dire wolf.••• — An animal with extraordinary capabilities— say, a tyrant lizard or a dire elephant.+ • — Any two of:- The familiar is as intelligent as a child.- The familiar grants the Exalt an additional 5motes of Essence.- The Exalt can share the familiar’s senses.- The familiar can communicate telepathicallywith the Exalt.+ • — The familiar is as intelligent as an adulthuman.+ •• — The familiar has an Intelligence rating of4-5 dots.+ • - The familiar has access to up to 2 Charmsor equivalent magical powers. This may be addedmultiple times.As a general guideline, a Familiar should haveeight dots of attributes and five dots of abilitiesfor each dot of its base form (before modifiers areapplied.)FOLLOWERS••••• • — 500 followers.••••• •• — 2000 followers.••••• ••• — 10,000 followers.••••• •••• — 50,000 followers.••••• ••••• — 250,000 followers.These ratings apply to powerful, unique followerswho are not treated as Extras; move one additionalstep up the chart for followers who are extras.A Followers rating of ••••• ••••• provides1,000,000 extras.MANSERatings in Manse higher than 5 either translate intopoints towards an additional Manse (for example,Manse ••••• •• could represent one 5-point andone 2-point Manse), to additional stones producedby the same manse (for example, a Manse ••••• •could produce two 3-dot hearthstones), or a Mansewith increasingly powerful secondary effects —each additional dot can add a single major sideeffect.MENTORAdditional dots in Mentor represent an increasinglypowerful mentor:••••• • — A powerful and influential mentor whois likely to significantly shape world events in thecoming years. Example: Mnemon.••••• •• — A mentor who numbers among thehighest rungs of power in Creation and beyond.Your mentor is certainly heavily involved insignificant current events. Example: Lilith.187

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUS••••• ••• — Your mentor is a key central figure inthe current events of at least one cardinal directionof Creation. Her actions can reshape the course ofhistory with ease. Example: the Lover Clad in theRainment of Tears.••••• •••• — One of the eldest and most powerfulbeings in the world serves as your direct teacher.This being likely remembers the days before thePrimordial War and has access to almost anythingyou might possibly desire. Example: ChejopKejak.••••• ••••• — A Celestial Incarna or Primordialserves as your direct mentor.RESOURCESResources greater than 5 generally follow the samerules as for lower ratings. If you use the currencysystem from Manacle and Coin, higher ratingsrepresent the following quantities:••••• • — 40 to 60 talents a year••••• •• — 100 to 200 talents a year••••• ••• — 300 to 500 talents a year••••• •••• — 700 to 1000 talents a year••••• ••••• — more than 1200 talents a yearALTERNATE ANIMA POWERSThe inherent powers of the Solar Exalted take threeforms. Each caste has a great power they can drawupon in times of need. Each caste has a uniquecapability inherent in their peerless Essence flows.And each caste has a special privilege grantedthem by the ancient laws and pacts of the CelestialBureaucracy.DAWNInherent Excellence: Every Motion Kata. Warriorswithout peer, the Ascending Suns need no tiresometraining to perform complex Essence-fueledmaneuvers -- they naturally master the knackof flowing from one supernatural motion to thenext. A Dawn Caste Solar may reflexively spend1 Willpower to allow them to use two Charms inone turn. They may not use a Combo on a turn inwhich they use this power.Supreme Power: Master of the Spoils of War. Allweapons and armor are as one to the Children ofthe Dawn -- worthy tools and rightful property.A Dawn Caste Solar may reflexively spend theattunement cost of a weapon or piece of armor he istouching, plus 2 motes, to immediately attune thatitem to him for the scene. The item in question maynot be attuned to anybody else. He need not paythe double attunement cost for items of a magicalmaterial other than orichalcum, and he gains thespecial benefits of such magical materials as if hewere the appropriate Exalt type. For the remainderof the scene, the item is considered his for all effectsthat reference ownership.Divine Privilege: Tiger-Generals of Heaven’s Armies.The Swords of Heaven are the appointed andrightful leaders of the armies of Creation; Heaven’simmemorial laws of conscription prevent theirsoldiers from lacking vigor in their service. When aDawn Caste Solar leads an army into battle, ancientmartial pacts prevent any Creation-tied creatures inhis army from routing, slacking, or surrendering.To properly fulfill his responsibility as a general,the Dawn Caste must be a known Dawn Caste Solarin sole command of the army, in direct combat withhis enemies, in control of his faculties and aware ofhis surroundings -- as long as these conditions aretrue, his soldiers will fight to the last man.ZENITHInherent Excellence: Golden Heart of Righteousness.The purest leaders of the Solar Exalted, theResplendent Suns exemplify the power of a strongheart, even to the point of unconsciously reinforcingtheir efforts with Essence when the need is greatest.When a Zenith Caste Solar channels a Virtue,instead of receiving an additional number of diceequal to his Virtue, he receives additional automaticsuccesses on the roll equal to his Virtue.188

CHAPTER 3 • STORYTELLINGSupreme Power: Invincible Armor of Faith. ThePillars of the Sun have the strength to endureany opposition in the name of their cause. Whensuffering health levels of damage, a Zenith CasteSolar may spend 5 motes and roll his permanentEssence. Each success subtracts one health levelfrom the damage he would take.Divine Privilege: Anointed Priests of the UnconqueredSun. Each Zenith Caste Solar is a full-fledged priestof the Unconquered Sun, with the rights, powersand responsibilities pertaining thereunto. Theyintrinsically know all the rituals and sacramentsof worship, and can call down the fire of the Sunto burn a dead body by spending 1 mote. Theyare aware of the proper addresses and prayersfor all gods, and gain the full benefits of theirpriesthood whenever they seek divine guidanceor assistance. Furthermore, they alone of the SolarExalted are vouchsafed a personal experience of theUnconquered Sun upon their Exaltation, the betterto spread the word of their divine benefactor.TWILIGHTInherent Excellence: Essence-Directing Will. TheDescending Suns weave the flows of Essence withan offhand elegance, producing with the merestenergy effects others must channel immense powerto create. Each turn, a Twilight Caste Solar mayreduce the combined costs of Charms he usesthat turn by a number of motes equal to half herpermanent Essence, rounded down. No individualcharm may cost less than 1 mote. Constant flowsrequire constant attention; reducing the committedcost of a Charm reduces the effect of this anima powerby an equivalent amount until the commitment isreleased.Supreme Power: Thought Becomes Action. Appliedknowledge is the cornerstone of the Twilight Caste;their peerless sagacity allows them to accomplishany design with a minimum of effort. Once a day,by spending 5 motes, a Twilight Caste Solar maycomplete in one turn any non-opposed task thatwould normally take no longer than a day -- theinformation she needs is already within her mind,the tools she has at hand can easily be made idealfor the job, and the work necessary is performedin a few simple motions. This effect does not andcannot actually speed up the Twilight’s movementor actions; it merely allows them to see the bestway to accomplish a certain goal. As an example,if this were used to deliver a message to a nearbytown, in a few seconds, it would be there. It’s up tothe player to optionally describe some mechanism,such as catapult, flock of birds, or pneumatic tube,that did the job.Divine Privilege: Inquisitor-Kings of the CelestialHierarchy. The Children of Twilight are taskedwith the responsibility of gathering, sorting, andproviding all the knowledge under Heaven. Inpursuit of this sacred duty, they may enjoin anymember of the Celestial Hierarchy to aid them bydisgorging their hard-won information. Once ascene, a Twilight Caste Solar may ask a question intheir official capacity as a Twilight of any memberof the Celestial Bureaucracy; the person asked mustanswer to the best of their ability.NIGHTInherent Excellence: Noon at Midnight Display. Thisis the corebook Night caste anima-suppressionability, except that the cost is 2 motes, rather thandoubling the motes being spent.Supreme Power: Unbroken Twig Step. This is thecorebook Night caste perception-dulling ability,except that the cost is 5 motes, rather than 10, andthe difficulty penalty is equal to half the Night’spermanent Essence rounded up.Divine Privilege: Thrice-Bound Agents of the GodsUnderground. The Daggers of Heaven occupy anintentionally undistinguished but essential role inHeaven: the secret police. Since their ability to servein this position would be compromised by a freeflow of information, injunctions laid upon Heavenallow them to keep their activities to themselveswhen they deem it necessary. No servant of the189

EXALTED • SOL INVICTUSCelestial Bureaucracy, including unwitting pawns,may knowingly ask a Night Caste Solar to revealany information about themselves or their actionsexcept for the immediate superior of the Night Castein question, unless the Night Caste deems it fitting;should an unworthy soul attempt interrogationof whatever sort, the Will of Heaven stops theirtongues and ties their hands.ECLIPSEInherent Excellence: Ten-Thousand-Times-MaskedSoul. This is the corebook Eclipse caste ability tolearn charms of other supernatural, except that thecost is 2 extra xp and 2 extra motes, rather thandoubling both.Supreme Power: God-King Bound Contract. This isthe corebook Eclipse caste oath-sanctifying ability,except that the cost is 5 motes rather than 10.Divine Privilege: Crowned and RecognizedAmbassadors Under Heaven. This is the corebookEclipse caste diplomatic immunity ability.190

SERVANTS OF SOLINVICTUSThe Solar Exalted have only recentlyreturned to Creation, and they are stillyoung in their power. But once, theyruled over all they could see, and theirmight stretched to heaven itself. Now,as they rediscover the power theyhave forgotten, the Solars are poisedto reshape Creation however they seefit. how will you use this newfoundpotential — will you save the world,or damn it?CHOSEN OF THEUNCONQUERED SUNThis book details the unequalledmight of the Solar Exalted. It revisesthe Solar Charm trees, streamliningthem, expanding them to covernew areas, and extending them upto Essence 6! It also includes adviceand guidelines for creating your ownCharms, drawn from the examples ofpreviously published Charms. Finally,it includes storytelling advice for usinghigh Essence Charms in play.