Nosson wrote:That was a very good read, The Commissar. I hope you make one for the rest of the characters, I am very interested in what they would be.
I'll definitely try, although it will be more difficult. Shizune went over well, because she has the drive to Exalt. But I'll see what I can do.
Edit: Ok, I will be making Hisao. He will be a Solar Eclipse caste, which is the diplomat for the Solar Exalted. He seems to be the one who would want to unite people across their rivalry (such as with Shizune and Lilly). I was thinking of making his opposite (Infernal Slayer Caste), but that would be silly.
Essence 3 Solar Exalted - Eclipse Caste
Motivation: To unite the school together in peace, and bridging and erasing all rivalry between everyone
Strength 2; Dexterity 4; Stamina 1 (duh); Charisma 5; Manipulation 2; Appearance 4; Perception 4; Intelligence 4; Wits 4
Willpower: 7
Virtues: Valor 3; Conviction 3; Compassion 5; Temperance 3
Limit Break: Compassion Flaw:
Compassionate Martyrdom
Overcome with the need to alleviate the suffering he
witnesses, the character throws himself into helping the
victims in the most direct and dramatic fashion possible. If
the character’s Limit Breaks while watching an overseer beat
slaves, he stands before the whip, allowing blows meant for
others to fall upon him instead. The character will not resort
to violence unless he is attacked or is already in combat.
Partial Control: If the character attempts to control the
Limit Break, he must still immediately and directly aid those
who are suffering. However, he can choose to do so more effectively—
including by killing the brutal overseer and freeing
the slaves in the above example.
Duration: One scene in combat or one day otherwise
Limit Break Condition: The character witnesses innocents
suffering through no fault of their own.
Abilities: 5 Bureaucracy; 2 Linguistics (Sign Language); 5 Socialize; 3 Integrity; 5 Performance; 4 Presence; 3 Awareness; 2 Investigation; 2 Resistance (seems to have lived through 2 episodes of heart attacks); Athletics 2 (is exercising)
Intimacies: 3 for all the girls, 1 for Kenji, 2 for Ideal of Peace
Charms:
First (Ability) Excellency: Essence Overwhelming - Performance; Bureaucracy; Socialize
Second (Ability) Excellency: Essence Triumphant - Bureaucracy; Socialize; Presence
Third (Ability) Excellency: Essence Resurgent - Bureaucracy; Socialize: Exalted with this Charm recover smoothly from failure
Righteous Lion Defense (Ideal of Peace): To the Solar Exalted, “death” and “surrender” are almost
the same thing. This Charm helps a character hold fast to her
fundamental Intimacies in the face of temptation. The player picks
one of the character’s Intimacies when purchasing this Charm.
For the purposes of this Solar Charm, this loyalty must be to an
ideal.
Stubborn Boar Defense - Solar Exalted in Limit Break cannot temper their glory with
wisdom. This Charm causes the character to treat all directives
from unnatural mental influence as unacceptable orders while
in Limit Break.
Respect Commanding Attitude - Others listen when the Lawgivers speak. In ancient days,
they commanded the attention of Primordials, beasts and gods.
This Charm involves a performance or oration, and the Solar’s
player rolls (an appropriate Social Attribute + Performance) when
invoking Respect Commanding Attitude.
Phantom-Conjuring Performance - Essence enhances the Solar’s arts. This Charm allows the
Solar to create ghostly images, Essence flares, ethereal music and
strange sensory effects when using a Performance Excellency or
Presence Excellency.
Heart-Compelling Method - The Solar Exalted rise above the common through their
understanding of others’ desires. This Charm supplements a
Performance-based roll to rouse emotion in others.
Husband-Seducing Demon Dance - In answer to the call of the Solar Exalted, in ancient
times, people gave up their homes and families and marched
to war. Some Lawgivers gave speeches and shone with the sun’s
radiance, but others called their servants with beauty—piping,
dancing or playing at the harp, wordlessly and terribly calling
their soldiers to their deaths.
The Solar gives a performance, her player rolling ([Charisma
or Manipulation] + Performance) and adding her Appearance in
bonus dice. This Charm exerts unnatural mental influence on all
who witness it. Characters with Mental DV less than the Solar’s
successes must spend two Willpower or fall instantly in love either
with the Solar or something the Solar represents. This effect does
not depend on gender or sexual preference. Targets incapable of
sexual attraction to the Solar suffer starry-eyed infatuation or
dedication to the Solar’s cause rather than romantic desire.
Hypnotic Tongue Technique - It is hard for mortals to resist the shining glory of the Solar
Exalted. This Charm exerts unnatural mental influence to create
a Compulsion effect.
Enemy-Castigating Solar Judgment - The Solar ignites her spirit with the Essence of the Unconquered
Sun. This Charm can enhance a physical attack. This
Charm makes the attack Holy and causes the attack to inflict
aggravated damage against creatures of darkness.
This Charm can also enhance social attacks that create
guilt, shame or fear, or where the Exalt uses a stunt to draw on
these emotions. It makes the attack Holy. This Charm makes
creatures of darkness treat the social attack as unnatural mental
influence that costs one Willpower to resist. This Charm also
halves the creature’s base MDVs against the attack.
Judge's Ear Technique - The Lawgivers are
the guardians of truth.
This Charm allows the character to recognize as lies all deliberate
lies presented to her. The character can also recognize
the deliberate use of half-truths, though doing so does not
tell her which part of the statement is true.
Speed the Wheels - The Lawgivers bring order and destroy corruption. The Solar
speeds the process of a bureaucracy.
Bureau-Rectifying Method - The Lawgivers govern wisely. This Charm supplements an
organizational effort that the Solar leads—a dramatic action
taken by a bureaucratic, mercantile or governmental organization.
Indolent Official Charm - The enemies of the Solar Exalted are creatures of vice. The
Lawgivers exploit their venality and allow them to defeat themselves.
This Charm empowers the natural indolence of others.
Foul Air of Argument Technique - Those who oppose the Lawgivers often break down under the
burden of their own failings. This Charm supplements a deliberate
attempt by the Solar to sabotage an organization’s operation.
Wise-Eyed Courtier Method - The Solar reshapes the beliefs of a society.
Taboo Inflicting Diatribe - The Solar furiously condemns or supports some behavior,
encouraging an entire society to accept or reject it.
Venomous Whispers Technique - The Solar convinces society at large to reject a given
individual or group. The Solar must touch an individual target
or interact with the targeted group. This Charm is an unnatural
Socialize-based social attack to undermine the target’s position.
Understanding the Court - The Lawgivers understand how people interact. This Charm
is an attempt to survey the power relationships in a given social
environment. The character builds an accurate profile of the
people and relationships involved, which the Storyteller can
detail as desired.
Mastery of Small Manners - The Solar attunes herself to the patterns of human interaction.
This Charm makes her responses to social situations
so natural and appropriate that in social combat she treats all
enemy groups as one point of Magnitude smaller than they are
(to a minimum of 0.) It also increases her effective Appearance
by one dot. When in doubt, other characters will be more apt
to do small favors and provide hospitality than not. Finally,
this Charm ensures that the character understands the basic
motivations of everyone present in the scene, as if her player
had rolled three successes on a mundane Investigation roll to
estimate each person’s motives.
Gathering the Congregation - The glory of the Lawgivers inspires mortals to awe. The Exalt
attempts to persuade everyone who can hear him to organize in his
service, his player rolling (Charisma + [Performance or Socialize]).
This Charm organizes all characters whom the Exalt successfully
persuades into a social group under the Exalt’s direction. The group
dissolves if the Exalt abandons it for more than a day.
You Can be More - The Solar
Mirror to Broken Heart Triumph enhances (Charisma +
Presence)-based attacks to build or repair Intimacies that the
Lawgiver shares with her target. Success enables the Solar
to achieve the desired effect instantly. With Essence 4+, a
mortal’s Motivation may be “attacked” in order to confer
a new and more heroic Motivation (chosen by the mortal’s
player). Mortals are explicitly not forced to resist this effect.
Success also transforms an extra into a heroic mortal.
Anima Effects: When an Eclipse Caste Solar is party or
witness to an oath, he may use his anima to sanctify it. The
character must shake hands to seal the agreement or touch
the hands of those who are party to it. In response, his anima
burns brightly, swirling with the words and runes by which
Heaven gave him the right to arbitrate such matters. Those
who break such an oath (including the Exalt himself) suffer
a terrible curse.
The Exalt spends 10 motes of Essence and a point of
Willpower to sanctify the oath. Those who break it will
suffer terrible luck from their oathbreaking. A number of
times equal to the Exalt’s Essence at the time he witnesses
or agrees to the oath, the oathbreaker will horribly botch a
critical action. When this happens is up to the Storyteller, but
it is always at the worst possible moment. The Exalted need
not even be alive when the curse takes effect—he sanctifi es
the oath, but Heaven enforces it. This sanctifi cation may be
invoked without cost once the Solar spends 11-15 motes of
Peripheral Essence.
In addition, Eclipses are protected by ancient pacts with
the spirit world, the demon princes and the Fair Folk. Crowned
Suns and their companions who are on legitimate business
with those beings may not be attacked without just cause
(though they may be goaded into attacking and nullifying
the oaths). Such creatures must honor the rules of hospitality.
Such beings may pretend to be uncompelled, but ultimately,
they cannot attack members of an embassy unless they can
provoke the characters into breaking the peace.
Finally, the Eclipse Caste Solars are talented generalists.
Provided they have a tutor, they may learn the Charms of
other types of Exalted, spirits or the Fair Folk. These Charms
cost double the normal experience of Favored Charms to
learn (usually 16 points). In addition, these Charms cost an
additional 2 motes to use. Eclipse Caste characters may not
start the game knowing non-Solar Charms without Storyteller
permission.
And there we go.