Custom charms

Spirit-Tied Pet
This charm doesn't really work under the backgrounds with XP ruleset. As such, it should be amalgamated into the effects of Bestial Traits Technique. Because they both have very similar costs and thematics. To compare the costs under the current system, charms vs background purchase:

One dot familiar: 17xp vs 3xp

Five dot familiar: 21xp vs 15xp

Of course, if you consider Friendship with Animals Approach to be a worthwhile charm on its own merits and arguably a prime requirement for getting a familiar through roleplaying, then the costs are 9xp and 13xp. Which means there is still no benefit to taking this Solar charm unless you buy a 5 dot familiar. You could argue that getting repeat customer discounts on switching familiars is a useful benefit, but the likelihood of any Exalt abandoning his immortal animal familiar because he wants a new one are pretty low if you're roleplaying the background anywhere near correctly.

Adding the power to Bestial Traits Technique is quite fair I think, because Bestial Traits Technique pretty much *would* cause you to gain a familiar. I mean, it involves one on one supernatural training with an animal until it becomes one of the most powerful specimens of its kind in existence. If that's not roleplaying grounds for it becoming a familiar I don't know what is. Adding the Familiar discount from Spirit Tied Pet to that charm is just fair compensation for the fact that if you have that charm you pretty much have to have a familiar for it to be worthwhile (because spending 8xp on the charm and then a week and 2wp training a single mortal animal to go up one dot is not really a fair deal).

Status: Proposed

Strength in Swiftness Method
Cost: 4m Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3 Simple

Keywords: Combo-OK

Duration: Indefinite

Prerequisite Charms: Thunderclap Rush Attack

Lawgivers in their battle fury move at the speed of light and may strike a thousand times in the blink of an eye. When a Solar activates this charm, they must designate a weapon usable with Solar Hero style. When a character employing this charm performs a flurry consisting solely of attacks with this weapon, each attack suffers a multiple action penalty equal only to its number in the progression; i.e., the first attack suffers a -1, the second suffers a -2 and so on. Additionally, if the weapon is used as a pair the Solar may activate Thunderclap Rush Attack to strike once with each weapon.

Rationale: This looks pretty powerful, but in reality it's not. It has one major advantage: Allowing Solars to use non-magical flurries without being gimptastic. It also makes Thunderclap Rush Attack into an actually useful charm. The reason behind the first effect is that even with a maxed out attack pool, Solars cannot make more than 5 attacks in a regular flurry. This means that there is no advantage for dual wielding, you can just pick up an Orichalcum Daiklave and happily swing away with your 5 attacks and no special penalty. Obviously, this means that characters who pick up Tiger Claws or the like are insane! That's dumb, because dual-wielding is awesome and should have a mechanical bonus instead of just "lol you paid extra artifact rating and lost access to a shield for no reason." The effect that makes it actually viable to dual-wield is based on the bonus that Fire Dragon practitioners get constant access to for just putting one charm into that style, so it is intentionally underpowered to commit 4 motes to get the same effect! I had originally considered making it a constant effect bonus for buying the charm, but a) constantly active charms are more of an Infernal thing than a Solar thing and b) a charm which serves no purpose other than "makes dual wielding viable" would be kind of boring?

Status: Approved --ShawnPoulsen 06:58, December 17, 2009 (UTC)

Solar Shockwave Strike
Cost: 2m Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2 Type: Supplemental

Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious

Duration: Instant

Prerequisite Charms: Sledgehammer Fist Punch (Core, 242)

Solars with this charm learn to use their rage as a weapon to strike down their enemies. If an attack supplemented with this charm successfully inflicts damage upon its target, everyone but the Solar within 10 feet of the target suffers dice of bashing damage equal to the number of health levels inflicted on the primary target. This damage ignores soak provided by armour. The Solar may spend Essence to make the Charm ignore her companions and friends. For each mote spent, the shockwave ignores one creature.

Rationale: This is directly stolen from Water Dragon Style, and is a logical inclusion in the Solar Hero expansion tree. I'm just fitting it in here because I thought the charm was awesome and also because lately I have grown enamoured with writing Solar Hero expansion charms. This version of the charm is slightly more powerful than the Water Dragon charm, since it is a Solar native charm with harder prerequisites than the WDS charm.

Status: Approved with edits --ShawnPoulsen 06:58, December 17, 2009 (UTC)

Faithful Servant Elevation
Cost: 1m Mins: Lore 5, Essence 4 Type: Reflexive

Keywords: None.

Duration: one season

Prerequisite Charms: Immanent Solar Glory

From humanity the Exalted rose, and to humanity their souls will be reborn. From humanity the Exalted draw some of their most devoted servants. The Lawgivers attract scores, hundreds, thousands of worshipful followers, and it is perhaps this unconditional leadership that is their greatest strength. This charm extends the Solar anima into a chosen mortal, slowly infusing them with life as the sun might a plant. Such mortals are empowered to better serve their masters.

While the mote remains committed to Faithful Servant Elevation, he target is immune to wound-infection, and all such existing infections halt their progress and clear up over the course of a day. If the mote remains committed for the entirety of one season (that is, from at least the start of the season to the finish; spreading the time over multiple partial seasons is inauspicious) the mortal gains the Longevity pox. Non-Extras must pay for this Merit normally.

Use of this charm on a target that already has the Longevity pox (such as from a prior application of Faithful Servant Elevation) grants the Longevity blight, quadrupling their natural lifespan.

This charm may be invoked on many targets simultaneously. All targets must be either within touch range of the Solar at the time of activation, or tied to the Solar through descent, the Followers background or a similar hierarchical relationship.

Commentary: I sorta imagine a whole lot of charms coming off Immanent Solar Glory, dealing in more detail with the Solar means of governing mortals. This charm is designed to keep valued mortals alive longer, whether they're personal favourites or possessed of valuable skills.

It is quite cheap, but they are just mortals. Using it on many people ties up significant amounts of essence for a long time, which I think is appropriate. I imagine it as the start of a cascade granting effects like turning Extras into Heroic Mortals, giving them an intuitive sense of the Solar's wishes, stuff like that. --119.224.25.178 02:15, November 19, 2009 (UTC)
 * It should probably come from Essence-Lending Method, because that's where the rest of this style of charm is. Immanent Solar Glory doesn't really make sense as the startpoint for a charm tree since it's not really a charm, more a "pay XP for peripheral essence" thing. Admittedly, they use Ox-Body Technique as a prerequisite for another charm so I guess it's not strictly required that the prerequisite have any actual flavour. Otherwise excellencies would never be prerequisites! Hah! Anyway, Essence-Lending Method still makes a good deal more sense. Also, you do realise that you can already perform the effects of this charm with the essence 4 upgrade to Wyld Shaping Technique, and that making extras into (ENLIGHTENED!) heroic mortals can be achieved with the Solar charm Soul-Enlightening Benificence (Scroll of the Monk, p18)? Oh, forgot to mention, intuitive sense for Solar's wishes is more in line with Bureaucracy, Presence or Performance, and I'm pretty sure there's a charm that does exactly that in Glories of the Most High --VictorW 01:30, December 7, 2009 (UTC)

Virtue Inspiring Prayer Pattern
Cost: 10m, 2wp Mins: Performance 5, Essence 4 Type: Simple (Dramatic Action)

Keywords: Combo-OK, Training, Shaping

Duration: One week

Prerequisite Charms: Memory-Reweaving Discipline

This charm involves formulating prayers that can alter the nature of a god. This action requires five or more hours of prayer in a given week to bear fruit. At the beginning of each week of prayer, the Solar chooses a trait to increase - Willpower or any of the Virtues, to a maximum of the Solar's own rating. With a successful final prayer at the end of the week, this increased trait is offered to the spirit. The spirit may choose to accept or reject the offered trait but if they accept it then the Solar may also influence which charms and abilities will result from the increased virtue. However, these new charms and abilities take the regular amount of time to crystallise and any improvements gained through this charm must make sense for the Spirit's portfolio and themes.

Status: Proposed, largely irrelevant due to high prerequisites.

Inspirational Visionary Stance
Cost: 8m, 1wp Mins: Performance 5, Essence 3 Type: Simple

Keywords: Combo-Basic, Social, Servitude

Duration: Indefinite

Prerequisite Charms: Husband-Seducing Demon Dance

The player rolls (Charisma + Performance) against the target's Dodge Mental Defense Value, and adds her Essence in extra successes. If this roll succeeds, the target gains the Solar's Motivation in addition to his own. Both are equally strong and are equally valid for the purposes of social combat and regaining Willpower. This state of dual Motivation lasts for as long as the Solar keeps the essence committed. The target can spend a point of Willpower to ignore the urges of the Solar's Motivation in favour of the target's own for one day, during which time the Solar's Motivation is no longer valid for social combat or regaining Willpower. If the target pushes the Solar's Motivation aside a number of times equal to the Solar's Essence, the Charm's effect ends.

Rationale: Based entirely on a Sidereal Presence charm that has no prerequisites and costs only 3m (!!) to use. I thought it was a pretty cool idea, so I figured a substantially toned-down version could fit happily into the Solar Performance tree to make up for the lack of effects other than "grant an Intimacy" in that tree. TODO: Add fluff text!

Status: Proposed

Righteous Solar Judgment Style
This is an "expansion style" for Solar Hero style. Whilst Solar Hero Style focuses on the grace, speed and power of the Sun's Chosen, this style instead focuses on the shining virtues that the paragons of the sun can bring to bear. It is a high essence style intended for Solar only use, and requires considerable investment before an Exalt can even begin to access its power. However, the powers that a Righteous Solar Judge can bring to bear are immense and benefit greatly from the Solar's own virtuous nature.

Righteous Solar Judgment Form
Cost: Virtue Channel Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4 Type: Simple

Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious

Duration: Indefinite

Prerequisite Charms: Solar Shockwave Strike, Strength in Swiftness Method, Inevitable Victory Meditation, Enemy-Castigating Solar Judgment, At least one Epic Zeal of Virtue.

When a Solar pronounces judgment upon their enemy, that enemy must bring all they can to bear to survive. Those that do not must hide forever from the Sun's light. A Solar must channel a virtue which is enhanced with Epic Zeal in order to activate this form charm. They then choose a target they can see, and that target immediately knows that they have angered an Avatar of the Sun's cleansing light and must repent.

They may repent at any point after the activation of this charm by approaching the Righteous Solar and begging forgiveness. Should the Righteous Solar accept their plea, they instantly develop intimacies of love and respect towards both the Solar and the Unconquered Sun. Additionally, their motivation changes if it was previously antithetical to the causes of the Righteous Solar or the Unconquered Sun. Should the Righteous Solar decide that their crimes are too great and they must be struck down then the repentant soul proceeds straight to reincarnation, their soul's accounting for this lifetime complete.

If they choose not to do this, they are faced with two choices: to flee, or attempt to strike down the righteous solar in glorious battle. They must spend one willpower per action if they wish to take any action which significantly distances them from fighting with the Solar, for as long as they are within the sight of the Righteous Solar Judge. If they do not spend the willpower then they may not use flurry breakers or other escape charms, and their perfect defenses are treated as having the Invulnerability Flaw of Valor targeted at the Righteous Solar in addition to any other flaw normally possessed. If they manage to escape this Righteous Solar Judgment, then the duty of executing justice passes to all honorable and righteous Lawgivers, who receive all the benefits of this charm against the target until the target chooses the path of repentance.

Rationale: This is blatantly powerful, something that only PCs would be heroic enough to come up with. I'm writing it up because it's the direction I see Radiant Emerald heading in, but I seriously doubt she'll ever get enough XP to actually make it all the way up here. Further charms past the form are just icing on the cake really, I guess some of them could be dropped down beneath the charm's form style. Probably would need some reshuffling if it was ever going to see play, anyway.

Triumphant Heart Judgment
Cost: 1m Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4 Type: Reflexive

Keywords: Combo-OK

Duration: One tick

Prerequisite charms: Righteous Solar Judgment Form, Epic Zeal of Compassion

The compassionate heart of Solars serves to highlight the frailty of mind in any individual that chooses to anger them. When an enemy tagged with Righteous Judgment uses a charm to attack or defend against the Righteous Solar, the Solar may activate this charm. This causes the enemy to overextend their efforts, desperately attempting to prove to themselves that their cause is right and virtuous. The enemy must roll Conviction and spend an extra mote per success. If the Righteous Solar used a compassion channel or a stunt drawing on their own righteousness, these add dice or successes to the enemy's roll as well. Motes expended in this manner go directly to the Righteous Solar. The Righteous Solar may not regain more motes than (Wits + Martial Arts) x2 per action with this charm.

Rationale: Scary shit, but not hugely powerful. Well, I mean, yes, it is powerful. But effects like this are actually pretty common, and readily available via SMA. This just takes those kinds of charms and pumps them up slightly while also upping the prerequisites massively.

Even Hand Judgment
Cost: 5m Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4 Type: Reflexive (Step 10)

Keywords: Combo-OK

Duration: Instant

Prerequisite Charms: Righteous Solar Judgment Form, Epic Zeal of Temperance

The temperate and unbiased hand of Solars highlights the foolishness of destructive behaviour, and forces enemies to doubt their own callous nature. When a Solar successfully strikes an enemy tagged with Righteous Judgment, they may activate this charm to force the target to temporarily consider the effect that their anger has on others. The enemy must roll Valor and spend two willpower on a success. If the Righteous Solar used a stunt drawing on their own righteousness to hit, this adds dice to the roll. If the Righteous Solar used a temperance channel then the target must spend two willpower in addition to rolling Valor. Enemies reduced to zero willpower through use of this charm will inevitably choose to repent on the spot.

Rationale: Also scary? I think this one is less scary because it requires hitting, but otoh there aren't many charms in the game that give a similar effect. Note that Charms such as Elusive Dream Defense and Righteous Lion Defense struggle to protect against this mental influence because it is the result of internal turmoil, and so would require an intimacy like "not listening to my own feelings." Spirit-Maintaining Maneuver works fine, though.