Dawn Solution

By now the story is an old one.

The Solar Exalted were brought into existence to fulfill a purpose. They were the ultimate weapons of the gods, built to overpower and even slay the titans. They were forged first and foremost for this purpose.

Telling then, that in a set of five Castes, one amongst them would embody all the principles of combat.

Above and beyond the rest of the Lawgivers, Solars of the Dawn Caste were made for one thing: war. Combat is their imperative, conflict is their instinct, and killing is their birthright. In all the universe there has never been a more perfect or efficient martial design.

Some may see the Dawn Caste as being more limited than the other Castes of the Sun’s Chosen.

A Night or Zenith can easily take up a daiklave or lead an army, while trusting in his own native abilities to be the judgmental eye of the Unconquered Sun, or the spiritual pharos of Creation’s people. Similarly, a Twilight can expect to become a master sorcerer, or a genius forging wonders from the raw potential of his illimitable imagination, while an Eclipse may travel the world, enforcing order on lawless lands. For all the Castes, it would seem that being a master warrior was a given, and so the Dawn Caste suffered under a premise which any Caste of Lawgiver could accomplish out of hand.

But this view is mistaken.

For it is the Dawns alone who exemplify all the tenets of combat fusion—the principles of fighting which make the Solar Exalted supreme. Where at a glance one might see five redundant theatres of combat ability, the Solars see one cohesive military form: a single, merged combat ability which creates the ultimate fighter.

Solars of the Dawn Caste do not approach Archery, Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown, or even War as five separate forms of combat. Rather they experience them as one flowing, interconnected martial form which they may master. This mastery is not beyond the scope of the other Lawgivers, but it is the Bronze Tigers who most easily, quickly, and readily move through the five martial abilities, blending every aspect into a fighting style which makes them the premiere slayers amongst the Solar Exalted.

Solars of the Dawn Caste are relentless. The enemies of Creation do not sleep and are without number, but the Swords of Heaven do not quail. They thrive on conflict. They live in strife. For them there is no other way.

Yet, as the Caste which is more heavily driven in a single direction than any other, the Dawn Caste may still seem limited. It is for this reason that they were made to exemplify all tenets of combat—even the ones which exceed their own native abilities—so that they might vary in form and function, extending into principle abilities which were not centered around the act of war. The Dawn emphasis on combat knows no Caste lines. It knows no difference in abilities. It seeks only to extend into that which creates the perfect battle form.

This is the heart and soul of the Dawn Solution.

New Keywords
Keyword: Martial: Charms with this Keyword may also be used with or applied to the listed Abilities when the Solar’s rating in those Abilities meets the Charm’s minimum Ability rating.

Keyword: Martial-ready: This Keyword replicates all the effects of the Martial keyword. In addition, the Solar may use the Charm with or apply its benefits to any of the listed Abilities that he has as a Caste or Favored Ability, even if their ratings are lower than the Charm’s minimum Ability requirement.

Keyword: Merged: Charms with this Keyword exist in more than one Ability. Buying this Charm in any of the Abilities it exists in means the character also has that Charm in all other Abilities it exists in.

Keyword: Enhanced: This Charm denotes ‘hero style’ Charms which grant an enhanced benefit when used by the Exalt type they belong to (for example, Solar Hero style Charms used by a Solar).

Keyword: Overdrive: Charms with this Keyword create a temporary pool of Peripheral Essence, which can only be filled by terms outlined in the text of the Charm. Motes in these pools may only be used to activate offensive Charms with a duration of One action or less. Charms whose mote cost are paid for entirely from a character’s Overdrive pool do not count as Charm activations. Other restrictions may be present in the text of the Charm. Motes gathered into the pools created by Overdrive Charms dissipate at the end of the scene, barring additional Charms to prolong their existence. Temporary mote pools created by the Overdrive keyword share their motes and stack together to determine the storage capacity of the overall pool. This Overdrive pool may store no more than 25 motes, regardless of the size of the pool generated by individual Charms with the Overdrive keyword.

Charm Concept: Overdrive

Overdrive Charms which have a mote-regain limit imposed in the Charm's text expand this cap to meet the total size of the character's Overdrive pool based on their collective Overdrive Charms, up to a cap of 25 motes. For example, a character with a 25-mote collective Overdrive pool may use Essence-Gathering Temper to stock 25 motes in this pool, even though Essence-Gathering Temper itself only produces a ten-mote Overdrive pool. The same is true of Certain Victory Formulation and other Overdrive Charms.

Keyword: Dawn: Solars of the Dawn Caste may buy Charms with this Keyword for eight experience points, even if they do not Favor the Ability the Charm is located in.