Presence Charm

 You Can Be More 

Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Presence 4, Essence 3; Type: Supplemental; Keywords: Combo-OK, Emotion, Mirror, Social; Duration: Instant; Prerequisite Charms: Hypnotic Tongue Technique

Zenith philosophers debate whether it is more effective to fortify what someone loves or to strengthen the love itself. This Charm enhances any (Charisma + Presence)-based social attack aimed at building a positive Intimacy. If the attempt succeeds, it becomes unnatural mental influence that requires two Willpower to resist; the target’s spending the Willpower prevents any further use of the Charm on that target during the scene.

If an Solar has Essence 4+, he may use this Charm to attack a mortal’s Motivation rather than an Intimacy. If successful, the target’s player must spend Willpower to resist (if possible) or else choose a new heroic Motivation for the character, though not necessarily one that is helpful to the Solar. Thus, a simple peasant tending his farm might become an idealistic rebel, dissuaded from domestic duty to crusade on some cause's behalf. An extra remade in this way becomes a heroic mortal, capable of ataining Solar or Lunar Exaltation. Mortals may choose not to resist this effect.

 Minds Yield to Glory 

Cost: —; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 3; Type: Permanent; Keywords: Mirror; Duration: N/A; Prerequisite Charms: Hypnotic Tongue Technique

This Charm expands its prerequisite, increasing its duration to one month. If the Solar has Essence 4+, he can make the cost five Willpower to resist when the first opportunity to fulfill the order arises (in lieu of one Willpower per day), after which the Charm ends.

Finally, if the Lawgiver has Essence 5+, the mote cost to activate Hypnotic Tongue Technique is only the target’s Essence rating instead of 10m.

Listener-Swaying Argument

Cost: 5m; Mins: Presence 3, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive Keywords: Combo-OK, Illusion, Social Duration: One scene Prerequisite Charms: Any Presence Excellency

Locked in debate, the Solar's words fall so sweetly upon the ears of listeners that those of her opponent become harsh and discordant in comparison; such tonal inflections render the content of the conversation irrelevant. While this Charm is active, third-party observers to any debate the Solar engages in believe the Lawgiver to have decisively won the argument, regardless of the merit of her words (or lack thereof). Where possible, this is achieved by subtle introduction of bias. The observer glosses over the Solar's flaws and strictly judges his opponent’s words and delivery. Against more rational opponents or those using objective criteria, Listener-Swaying Argument induces outright hallucinations—whatever is necessary for the witness to believe in the Solar's victory.

The unnatural mental influence imposed by Listener-Swaying Argument affects all observers with a Dodge MDV lower than the Solar’s ([higher of Charisma or Appearance] + Essence), and costs 2wp to resist at the time of activation. Characters can also correct memories clouded by this Charm, but only with external prompting to remember the debate or a personally compelling reason approved by the Storyteller. The victim must pay three Willpower to fix each scene of damaged memory.

Sun and Moon Method

Cost: 1m; Mins: Presence 3, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive (Step 1); Keywords: Obvious, Emotion, Touch; Duration: Indefinite Prerequisite Charms: Presence Excellency - Presence Mastery

This Charm is the result of Solar paranoia in the High First Age. When alone with one another, certain Solars referred to it by an alternate title, “Lunar-Taming Leash.” With a touch, the Lawgiver infuses his Essence into the link constructed into his Lunar mate’s Exaltation, vastly strengthening it. The Lunar gains the benefits (and drawbacks) of a five-dot rating in the Solar Bond Background. This unnatural mental influence remains in effect until five Willpower is spent at one time to remove it.

In the event that a Solar’s Lunar mate is not available, he may touch himself and activate the Charm instead. Doing so grants the Solar an infal-lible sense of the direction in which his mate can be found, even if he has never met the Lunar in question before. If the Lunar is in another realm of existence, the Charm leads the Lawgiver to the nearest point of entry to that realm.

Soul-Spanning Bridge Relay

Cost: —; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 5; Type: Permanent; Keywords: Obvious; Duration: Permanent; Prerequisite Charms: Sun and Moon Method

The authority of a Lawgiver with this Charm is inescapable. The Solar is capable of making social attacks against her Lunar mate while he is under the effects of this Charm’s prerequisite, enhanced by any desired Presence or Performance Charms, regardless of the distance separating them. This communication is one-way. The Solar cannot sense her mate’s state of mind or read his thoughts. Though the Solar’s player always dictates use of this Charm, characters sometimes use Soul-Spanning Bridge Method unconsciously, imposing their idle thoughts and desires on their mate unintentionally.

Despite numerous attempts throughout the First Age, no Lunar has ever been able to design Charms permitting him to exercise power over his Solar mate through their spiritual bond.

Servant-Uplifting Affirmation

Cost: —; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 4; Type: Permanent; Keywords: None; Duration: Permanent; Prerequisite Charms: Underling Promoting Touch

This Charm permanently upgrades its prerequisite. The Solar no longer needs to commit Essence to sustain Underling Promoting Touch when applying it to un-Exalted humans or to Dragon Kings.

At Essence 6+ the Solar may enjoy this benefit when applying Underling Promoting Touch to other Exalted, but doing so automatically creates an Intimacy of loyalty in the recipient. Exalted targets may reject the benefits of the Charm and the Intimacy at no cost, if desired.

Terrible Sun King Condemnation

Cost: 15m, 1wp; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 4; Type: Supplemental; Keywords: Combo-basic, Obvious, Holy, Social, Shaping; Duration: Instant; Prerequisite Charms: Enemy-Castigating Solar Judgment

As the Chosen of the Unconquered Sun, the Solar Exalted are empowered on behalf of their patron to determine Creation’s true enemies, even if they walk in the guise of the righteous. This Charm may enhance a Presence-based social attack to condemn, castigate or otherwise revile a subject as an enemy of Creation, making that social attack undodgeable.

The target may not ignore the Solar’s righteous tirade, but only attempt to counter-argue his own case against the Lawgiver’s judgment. If the attack succeeds, the target has a one-time opportunity to spend two Willpower to resist (or one Willpower if the target is Exalted). Failure to do so bestows upon the target the creature of darkness mutation. The day dims slightly as he is permanently marked as an enemy of Creation.

Mind-Blanking Rebuke

Cost: 5m; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 4; Type: Simple (Speed 6 Long ticks, DV -1); Keywords: Combo-OK, Compulsion, Obvious, Mirror, Social; Duration: Instant; Prerequisite Charms: Majestic Radiant Presence

The Lawgiver issues a powerful admonition against a target, forbidding him from taking a certain action. The Solar’s player makes a (Charisma + Presence) social attack against the target’s Dodge MDV; if successful, he may forbid the target from performing an act of his choice for the duration of the scene. This ban may be no wider than the scope of a single Ability or Charm, at the Storyteller’s discretion. Examples of forbidden actions include “dodging my attacks,” “attacking me with your daiklave,” “picking any locks,” or “using Seven Shadow Evasion.” The Lawgiver cannot prevent the target from resisting Mind-Blanking Rebuke, or forbid any necessary life function (“do not breathe” is not a valid ban).

This unnatural mental influence may be resisted for one action by spending a point of Willpower, and the target becomes immune to the Charm’s effects for the rest of the scene once he has spent 3 Willpower resisting it.

Searing After-Image Passion

Cost: -; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 5; Type: Permanent; Keywords: Mirror; Duration: Permanent; Prerequisite Charms: Enemy-Castigating Solar Judgment

The Lawgiver personifies one blazing ideal, choosing an emotion, one of her Intimacies or her Motivation. When she makes social attacks inspiring or furthering her passion, targets must spend and additional two Willpower points to resist. The Solar must choose one passion at a time but the player may spend one experience point to switch this Charm to a new one.

This Charm may not force a target to spend more than 5 Willpower to resist a single instance of mental influence.

Eternal Empress of Love Attitude

Cost: 5m, 1wp. Mins: Presence 6, Essence 6; Type: Simple; Keywords: Combo-Basic, Emotion,Compulsion, Mirror; Duration: Indefinite; Prerequisite Charms: Authority-Radiating Stance

All characters in existence who possess a positive Intimacy toward the Lawgiver find that they cannot intentionally raise a hand against her while this Charm is active. This unnatural mental influence forces characters who wish to deliberately take some action they believe will bring harm to the Solar (be it physical, emotional, political or even financial) to spend one Willpower per action to do so. Spending three Willpower in this fashion within the course of a single scene negates the effects of Eternal Empress of Love Attitude for the rest of the scene, but the only way for a target to permanently escape the effect of the Charm is to remove her positive Intimacy for the Charm’s user.

A second purchase of this Charm at Presence 7+, Essence 7+ renders mortals incapable of spending Willpower to resist the Charm.

Hastening Night's End

Cost: 10m; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 4; Type: Simple (One dramatic action); Keywords: Combo-OK, Emotion, Obvious; Duration: Instant; Prerequisite Charms: Husband-Seducing Demon Dance

A touch, a kind word, a moment of intimacy—through such gestures the Solar Exalted may straighten that which is bent and mend that which is broken. This Charm’s activation requires at least one hour of personal interaction, which may take a wide variety of forms. Patiently listening to a subject while they explain what ails them, sitting together to watch the sun rise or set, or an evening of lovemaking would all qualify. This Charm has two effects. First, the Solar may target and remove one derangement from the target’s mind, regardless of whether it was inflicted by Charms, sorcery, the Wyld, or the simple stresses of life (if any effect contests this, the Solar adds his Presence in automatic successes to the roll-off).

Second, the Solar forges in the target an Intimacy to a specific memory in the target’s life of which she is aware. So long as this Intimacy endures, the target may not reacquire the derangement the Solar cured, nor may that memory be in any way tampered with, altered, poisoned, removed, or corrupted. Hastening Night’s End may be resisted for a cost of 0 Willpower—the Charm will only help those who wish to be helped.