sol invictus.indd

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