Charms every exalt should have

The following are the main charms that make you a Chosen of the gods, rather than some chump with a daiklaive. Obviously some are higher priority than others, depending on character concept. This list is pitched at a First Age ideal of Exaltation - these are charms without which you would hardly fit into Exalted society. Most Solars in the Age of Sorrows are likely to fall short of that ideal.

Ability minima are listed, so you have something to aim for. Essence minima are excluded; it's assumed all Exalts always want more Essence. If you aim to cover all these angles as a starting character your 10 starting charms will be all used up, but you will be a tough, canny, and charismatic Chosen of the gods.

The first section is full of essential charms for perceiving and interacting with the supernatural world into which you have been exalted. The second section is combat-focused, and may be slightly less relevant to an intrigue-based campaign. However, The Chosen are the warriors of the gods, and skimping on combat prowess will always invite a swift doom.

Essential charms
These charms (and spells) cover some essential aspect of living as an Exalt - protection from common hazards, access to the world of magic, and basic political savvy. They are low in their trees and generally have lenient Ability requirements. Most of these seem to me the sort of thing that just comes naturally with being Chosen, and functioning as a Prince of the Earth will be much more difficult without (at least) access to (something like) these effects.

Integrity-Protecting Prana (199, Integrity 1) - mutation is for mortals. So is: being destroyed when River Phoenix deploys his Chaosblade power.

Respect Commanding Attitude (202, Performance 3) - every crowd is a tough crowd.

Immunity to Everything Technique (208, Resistance 5) - the Resistance requirement is pretty hefty, but dying of poison or disease is weeeak.

Hardship-Surviving Mendicant Spirit (210, Survival 3) - only the most effete of Exalts has to wear special outdoor clothes.

Immanent Solar Glory (218, Lore 5) - if you don't want Lore 5 and this charm, plainly you weren't paying attention in Exalt school.

Terrestrial Circle Sorcery (220, Occult 3) - do you want to be illiterate too? Perhaps blind, deaf, and dumb?

Spirit-Detecting Glance (221, Occult 2) - do you w... oh damn, already used the 'blind' burn. Necessary to avoid blundering around oblivious to all those gods. Also the only prereq for...

All-Encompassing Sorceror's Sight (222, Occult 5) - ok, maybe later in your career, but if you don't have this you will always be missing the obvious.

Sagacious Reading of Intent (233, Linguistics 1) - too awesome to pass up, it must be standard for any serious Chosen.

Mastery of Small Manners (239, Socialize 2) - either this or Sagacious Reading of Intent is necessary for basic social interaction. Lacking both makes you an oaf.

Emerald Countermagic (253, Terrestrial Circle Sorcery) - for basic sorcerous literacy, and for the same reason you take any other defensive charm.

Infallible Messenger (254, Terrestrial Circle Sorcery) - look at it this way: do you own a cellphone?

Stormwind Rider (254, Terrestrial Circle Sorcery) - One of the best modes of travel in the game. Because travelling without an army is for scrubs.

Summon Elemental (254, Terrestrial Circle Sorcery) - Either this or Demon of the First Circle makes for a spectacular swiss army knife, and as demon-summoning draws the taint of the Yozi there's no rush to go after the one that's more likely to fuck you over.

Easily-Overlooked Gems
These charms are not so much essential as damn good, but so far off the beaten path that only obsessive rules-readers will notice them. Follow the references for details on how much ass you're secretly allowed to kick.

Armor-Shattering Strike (Glories of the Most High: the Unconquered Sun, 20) - does what it says on the label, plus some.

Upgrades to perfect defences (GotMH: tUS: 23) - your combo tax just got even smaller. Tou should never include an upgraded perfect defense in a combo, because its equivalent little buddy is cheaper.

Glory to the Most High (GotMH: tUS: 25) - LOL. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.

Final Ray of Light (GotMH: tUS: 25) - respawn y/n? Y!

Armored in Righteousness Stance (GotMH: tUS: 27) - lets you boost soak while armored. Kinda a ripoff that it's not included in the base charm, but the 1E hangover was still fading when Core was written.

Enduring Mountain Method (GotMH: tUS: 28) - Makes Unbreakable Warrior's Mastery useable. Again, should have been in the original charm's effects.

Swallowing the Sun (GotMH: tUS:32) - snuffs your anima banner.

Deft Hand Deflection (Abyssals, 133) - The first of many Solar charms hidden away in the form of Abyssal Mirrors, this charm is a perfect defence against ranged attacks, and carries no flaw of invulnerability.

Face the Light (Ab: 141) - a beefier Respect-Commanding Attitude that works on combat too. Inescapable justice for all!

You Can be More (Ab: 143) - attention Sean! ATTENSEAN. Instantly creates an Intimacy, and once you reach Essence 4 you can make mortals into heroes. Social and military units made entirely of heroes are about twice as good as ones with extras.

Mind Yields to Glory (Ab: 143) - attention Jason! ATTENJASON. Buffs Hypnotic Tongue Technique, making it... buff. Increases duration to one month, decreases mote cost, and increases resistance cost.

Perfect Poise Stance (Ab: 165) - negate all falling damage.

Oceanic Omiscience Intuition (Ab: 179) - RADAR.

Heartfelt Honorific Opportunity (Ab: 181) - ATTENJASON. Makes your Manipulation-based social attack unexpected - that means their MDV is reduced to zero before charms.

Wound-Mending Purity Stance (Lords of Creation, 60) - Scene-long regeneration. Especially great as we are using Shawn's preferred damage rules.

Glorious Halo of the Builder's Grace (LoC: 60) - I suspect this is a gratuitously broken charm. Your armour gains +50 soak and Hardness?!?!1? Even if it only applies to non-equipment objects and structures, this charm provides your fortress with immunity to mundane siege weapons.

Terrestrial Edification Program (LoC: 61) - ATTENSEAN. Permanent upgrade to Harmonious Academic Methodology. Can raise mortals' Essence to 2, teach thaumaturgy and sorcery.

Unparalled Acumen Meditation (LoC: 63) - indefinite Graceful Crane Stance, Monkey Leap Technique, Foe-Vaulting Method, Lightning Speed, Spider-Foot Style, Feather-Foot Style and Increasing Strength Exercise.

Hooding the Solar Lantern (LoC: 64) - makes your anima flare less.

Page 76 Recommends
Ox-Body Technique (208, Resistance 1) - it's ok. I'm inclined to agree that it should be free. Despite what some say, it will keep you alive longer, especially in a campaign where we won't have to worry about 40/20A, P, O undodgeable attacks too often.

Reflexive defenses - you need these to get perfect defenses anyway. Start with one tree; add a second later if you're very combat-focussed. Dodge is best all-round.

Body-Mending Meditation (208, Resistance 1) - unless you like your character doing nothing. This isn't Dungeons and Dragons!

Generic Types
Exalts without something in each of these categories have a major vulnerability that will eventually get them killed. They only get invited to parties so other Chosen can laugh at them and speculate how they're gonna get pasted.

Perfect defense (Heavenly Guardian Defense - 193, Melee 4; Adamant Skin Technique - 207, Resistance 5; Seven Shadow Evasion - 227, Dodge 4) - 7SE is arguably the best, costing fewer motes and having only one prerequisite charm. AST, however, is step 7 and therefore can theoretically be used less often. It also carries no notes about unexpected attacks. On the other hand, if you get hit by a nasty crippling effect or mote drain then AST does nothing to defend. HGD has the advantage of being based on an attack ability, but you do need your weapon out to use it, making it the poor cousin of the other two. On the other hand, it carries the benefit of being usable to defend other characters without stunting and can be used as an innate ability at essence 5. Finally, the vulnerability to surprise attacks can be negated by including Call the Blade in your generic defensive combo.

Scene-long defense (Fivefold Bulwark Stance - 194, Melee 5; Flow Like blood - 227, Dodge 5) - The subtly different effects mean that a really combat-focussed Exalt will want both of these. 5fBS has fewer prereqs, but FLB's prereqs are better overall. Take whichever fits your progression best. I hypothesise a scene-long Resistance charm, building off Iron Kettle Body, that gives you a Hardness equal to your natural soak, or reduces the post-soak damage of all attacks by your Essence. Something to bring Resistance in line with the other defensive trees.

Surprise negator (Surprise Anticipation Method - 226, Awareness 5; Reflex Sidestep Technique - 227, Dodge 3) - unless you like being ambushed to death. RST is in the Dodge tree, which is starting to look like a must-have for everyone, while SAM is the classic, and more flexible in its application.

Flurry Breaker (Leaping Dodge Method - 227, Dodge 3) - It's worth noting that this is the only one Solars get, and as it's not an exceptional flurry breaker (still better than Abysmals though) you will probably want to combo it with something from the jump multiplier branch of the Athletics tree in order to not get killed to death by arrows. This all leads to...

Generic Defensive Combo! Seven Shadow Evasion + Reflex Sidestep Technique + Leaping Dodge Method + Soaring Crane Leap. Lets you perfectly defend against any attack and then if you want you can leap [Strength + Dodge] x 15 yards away. Other combos may suffice at minimum, but this is the most flexible and solid defense.

External Penalties and You
Or: An aside by a very bored young man who recently realised that Evidence-Discerning Method isn't the be-all and end-all of this type of charm, it's just the most broadly applicable one.

There are three types of external penalty reducer available to the Solars. Because these charms are one of the few methods of increasing your chances of success without having your efforts frustrated by running up against the charm dice bonus cap, they are very important purchases if you really like succeeding at everything you do unless you're facing a perfect. Which I think most people will agree is rather nice.

Of course, none of the charms have a big label saying:, so if you don't have an obsessive level of interest in the Exalted charm and ruleset, you may have missed them. Additionally, their functioning isn't exactly transparent. They each function vastly differently, and understanding when to use which charm (and the reasons for buying each different one) can be quite helfpul.

Evidence-Discerning Method (Investigation 4, Essence 1, Exalted:Core p213):

This widely applicable charm builds a personality profile of a target based on gathered evidence.

This charm is the generic external penalty reducer, and it is by far the most applicable of the three. Most Exalts will want to get this, unless they belong to the Chungian school of thought and just sit around punching other Celestial Exalts in the face in one on one fights all day. It reduces external penalties on dramatic, social and mass combat actions you take against the target. Again, mass combat. If you need further explanation why this is awesome, bear in mind that enemy DVs are a form of external penalty!

Now, the disadvantages. Well, there aren't many. In terms of raw cost, it requires 5 motes committed which you probably don't want to get back until the end of the story. Reclaiming these motes ends the effect, and you cannot re-apply the charm unless the story ends or you have gathered significant evidence which would allow for a dramatic reconception of the target's personality. Additionally, you need to gather evidence about the target's personality in order to use this charm, and any evidence that is misleading or simply not available to you when you use this charm applies an external penalty to the roll to generate a profile. This means that there is significant legwork involved in setting up this charm, and so you only really want to use it on significant antagonists. On the other hand, you can simply accept the lack of evidence and then when you find more evidence you get to reroll the charm. So doing all the legwork is not exactly obligatory.

As a final note, you do not need to interact with the target while using this charm, you must simply have material evidence of their personality available to you. Finally, it takes only 5 minutes to build this profile. Because of all these reasons, this is the most applicable charm of the three and therefore the one most Exalts will get the most use out of.

Understanding the Court (Socialize 5, Essence 3, Exalted:Core p239)

Man, I can't be bothered going into tons of detail. I thought this charm was dreadful but it actually isn't, I just misread.

Dramatic action (so you can't do it while hiding behind a fern or something wacky like that, you actually have to talk to people and they may well c wut u did thar)
 * Costs a bucket full of motes BUT you don't have to commit anything (anima flare! but cheap as free once the initial effort is expended)
 * Debatable: the Duration is Instant, but it also states in the body that it lasts only as long as the committed Essence. One of those entries is wrong, and it tends to be the summary rather than the body --McLeith 03:52, December 27, 2009 (UTC)
 * Gotta use it in front of everyone you want it to apply to, anyone that is missing applies an external penalty. (anima flare! in a social setting!
 * In other words, those three mean that you probably have to flare your anima in a social setting in front of a ton of people who don't necessarily like you all that much to use it. As an Essence 3 charm, you need a Willpower of at least 8 to use it without flaring your anima beyond the 1-3 mote level . If the cost is committed, this will unfortunately eat all of your personal Essence.
 * Same limitations on reapplying it.
 * Applies to tons of people at once
 * Only applies to social and dramatic actions. (you'll still want E-DM if you want to do any foightan')
 * These latter three concerns mean that this charm is very useful IF you want to understand the court! It is vastly less applicable than E-DM but it is also vastly more powerful in the far more limited scope it has.