sol invictus.indd

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