Humble Mortal’s Guise
Cost: None Type: Permanent
Duration: Permanent
Keywords: Anima
Mins: Larceny 2, Essence 1 Prereqs: None
While developing his anima grants the Dragonblooded great power it does slowly render him more and more inhuman, a fact that becomes increasingly difficult to hide if that becomes necessary. Those who wish to pass among mortals without detection must learn this technique for suppressing their Exalted nature.
To use this power the character’s anima must not be flaring at any level. He then spends one Willpower and his anima marking and aspect marking slowly recede over the course of five minutes. Once this process is completed nothing short of All-Encompassing Sorcerer’s Sight will reveal the Exalt as a Dragonblooded. He can pass as a mortal for as long as he wishes. However, if he spends even a single mote of peripheral Essence his aspect marking return in a rush of elemental energy that is similar to an iconic anima flare in terms of visibility to those nearby. This power also ceases to function if the character evokes any Charms with the Elemental keyword.
Naked Thief Style
Cost: None Type: Permanent
Duration: Permanent
Keywords: Anima
Mins: Larceny 3, Essence 2 Prereqs: (Any) Larceny Excellency
Even the most skilled thief will find his work ten times more difficult if he lacks the tools of the trade. Via use of this power the Dragonblooded learns to forge small and versatile tools from his anima, solidifying them and using them to pick locks, pry doors, forge documents and so on.
The character may spend 1m to eliminate one point of external penalty on any one Larceny roll. If the roll would normally be impossible without tools, then the character may use this power to attempt it as if the penalty would be -5.
Note that repeated use of this Charm on a single job might be counterproductive, as the Essence spent to fuel it must come from the character’s peripheral Essence pool.
Gender-Concealing Meditation
Cost: None Type: Permanent
Duration: Permanent
Keywords: Anima, Illusion
Mins: Larceny 3, Essence 2 Prereqs: None
The Dragonblooded who learns this Charm can use their anima to create a sheath of Essence over their body. This power takes one hour and one willpower to activate, during which time the Dragonblooded’s anima slowly pulses around his body as he works the illusion. When it is finished, he will appear to everyone else as a member of the opposite gender. This is an Illusion effect that takes two willpower to see through for the scene. Unless the willpower is spent no amount of interaction will reveal the character’s true gender, not even intimate contact as the magic will subtly rewrite perceptions to make other’s senses match the illusion.
If used as part of a standard Disguise roll to conceal the Dragonblooded’s identity nobody may attempt to pierce the disguise unless they first spend the two willpower to see through the magic, meaning the attempt will be automatically successful most of the time. This power does not aid the Dragonblooded in disguising himself as a specific individual.
(Type) Mantle Meditation
Cost: None Type: Permanent
Duration: Permanent
Keywords: Anima, Illusion
Mins: Larceny 4, Essence 3 Prereqs: Humble Mortal’s Guise, Naked Thief Style, Gender-Concealing Meditation
By concentrating and manipulating his anima and internal Essence the Dragonblooded may now not just pass himself off as mortal or another gender, he may pass himself off as an entirely different type of being. Using this power takes one hour and two willpower to activate. After the hour the character’s anima and aspect marking have shifted, marking him as an entirely different type of being.
This power works like a standard attempt to disguise himself, ignoring any penalties due to the number of Anima powers the character has. It enhances this roll with an Illusion effect, forcing anyone who wishes to pierce the disguise to spend two willpower to see through the Illusion before they can make any roll.
This Charm is actually a cluster of several similar and related Charms. Infernal Mantle Meditation disguises the Dragonblooded as a demon, akuma or some other creature of Malfeas. Necrotic Mantle Meditation disguises the character as a ghost or nemissary. Wyld Mantle Meditation disguises the character as a commoner or noble Fair Folk. Elemental mantle Meditation disguises the character as an elemental. Other versions of this Charm exist, or could potentially exist, for various other purposes. For example, it might be possible to develop a version which disguised the Dragonblooded as an elemental native to a land where Oil, Smoke, Lightning, Steam, Metal and Crystal formed the elemental structure of the world.
Observer Awareness Prana
Cost: 1m Type: Reflexive
Duration: Instant
Keywords: None
Mins: Larceny 3, Essence 2 Prereqs: (Any) Larceny Excellency
The Exalt concentrates for a split second, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. When he opens his eyes, he is instantly aware of anyone who is paying special attention to him. He instantly knows if anyone is observing him, and if they are within his Essence x 10yrds he knows approximately where they are. If they are outside that range, this Charm just reveals that someone is watching the character. This Charm also instantly detects if the character has been tagged with Still Pond Reflection or any similar effect.
This Charm must be consciously activated.
Eye of the Expert Intruder
Cost: 6m Type: Simple (Speed 3, DV -0)
Duration: Indefinite
Keywords: None
Mins: Larceny 4, Essence 2 Prereqs: Observer Awareness Prana
To use this charm the character must enter or observe a specific location. This location can be no larger than a single building or complex of interconnected buildings such as a university or military base. It cannot effect an entire city. Once activated the character quickly gains an intuitive sense of the area. He gains a +1 die specialty to all Larceny and Stealth rolls while in the area. He also may make intuitive leaps of knowledge regarding the layout of the location, such as attempting to guess where secret rooms are or what the guard routes may be. Such guesses would usually require rolls and should only be allowed with suitable stunts.
Nameless Thug Approach
Cost: 5m Type: Simple
Duration: Indefinite
Keywords: Illusion
Mins: Larceny 4, Essence 3 Prereqs: Eye of the Expert Intruder
The character who uses this Charm must locate an organization which consists of a large number of virtually interchangeable members, such as an army, bureaucracy or a criminal enterprise. He activates this Charm and everyone, both in and out of the organization, just assumes he is another nameless thug among the hordes of other thugs. So long as he does nothing to reveal his Exalted nature this magic will persist. The character is also obligated to act the part to maintain it, typically meaning he must obey orders. Seeing through this Illusion cost three willpower points. This Charm does nothing to provide any skills the character might need to blend in.
False Identity Meditation
Cost: 7m, 1wp (+1xp) Type: Simple (Dramatic Action)
Duration: Indefinite
Keywords: Illusion, Combo-Basic
Mins: Larceny 5, Essence 3 Prereqs: Nameless Thug Approach
For the Dragonblooded who needs to go into deep cover he can risk no slips of the tongue and must often resist the magical interrogations of his enemies. This Charm allows the Dragonblooded to create a false identity which will fool the person most familiar with him… himself.
This Charm creates an Illusion effect that targets the Exalt who uses the Charm. He creates a set of false memories, going into as much detail as he wishes, altering it from his own past or keeping it the same as much as he wants to. Once he creates these memories, he pulls them over his own mind, sealing his true self away deep inside and presenting a false front to everyone else.
When activated the player rolls Manipulation + Larceny, subtracting an external penalty equal to his own Intelligence. If he succeeds, he may create any number of false memories to overlay his own. He can even change his entire personality, altering his Motivation and Intimacies as he pleases. Any mundane or magical attempts to learn the character’s motivations or read his thoughts and memories will only discover the false memories. The Exalt receives a number of bonuses successes on any Irresistible Force, Immovable Object roll-offs equal to his permanent Essence.
The character can spend one Willpower to recall his true memories for the scene, or three willpower to terminate the Charm and remember all his true memories. Unless he spends the willpower, the character will not even be aware this Charm is active and thus will not be able to terminate it willingly. Once this Charm ceases to function the memories created by it vanish. It is virtually impossible to create exactly the same set of memories again (a -2 external penalty to all relevant rolls). A character can spend 1xp to make the false identity and memories semi-permanent. He can cease maintaining the magic, allowing him to turn the false memories on or off with the expenditure of two willpower. Such permanent false identities do not register as magical, they are real memories stored in the normal fashion.
This Charm can be used after a successful use of Plumbing the Depths, allowing the Exalt to incorporate another person’s memories into his false identity.
Memory Extracting Gesture
Cost: 5m,2wp Type: Simple (Dramatic Action)
Duration: Instant
Keywords: Obvious
Mins: Larceny 5, Essence 4 Prereqs: False Identity Meditation
Through use of this Charm an Exalt can remove his own memories. he simple reaches up, selects the memories he no longer has need for, and plucks them from his head. They manifest as many-colored streamers of liquid Essence. He then compacts them into a gem the size of a Hearthstone. So long as he can see the memory hearthstone or has it on his person, he can continue to recall the memories. If he takes his eyes off the gem or leaves it somewhere the memories vanish instantly from his mind.
Any attempt to retrieve these memories automatically fails. The memories simply do not exist within the Exalt’s mind to be retrieved. The player can use this Charm to eliminate Intimacies or even his Motivation if enough of his memory is removed. He can even forget Charms, ability dots or anything else he wants. The only way to retrieve the memories is for the Exalt to hold the gem and use this Charm again to replace the memories within his head. The gem itself is vaguely magical, but only the Exalt who used this Charm can read the memories in it.
This Charm was developed during the closing years of the First Age, supposedly to aid in increasing cases of battlefield trauma among Dragonblooded. It was eventually put towards a much more sinister purpose.
Blatant Thief Style
Cost: 5m, 1wp Type: Supplemental
Duration: Instant
Keywords: Illusion, Combo-OK
Mins: Larceny 4, Essence 2 Prereqs: Observer Awareness Prana
From being aware of any observers the Exalt learns to deceive them. This Charm supplements any Larceny based action. It creates an Unnatural Mental Influence, provided the character succeeds at the task. This creates an Illusion that the character did not just perform the action. It costs two willpower to ignore this Illusion. Exactly how this Charm manifests depends on the situation and the observer. A pickpocket in a crowd might activate this Charm, meaning his mark and everybody else in the crowd might not notice the action until later. A performer on stage may use it to unlock a set of manacles without being noticed doing so and so on.
Gentle Assassin’s Blow
Cost: 3m, 1wp Type: Supplemental
Duration: Instant
Keywords: Combo-Basic, Illusion
Mins: Larceny 5, Essence 3 Prereqs: Blatant Thief Style
This Charm supplements any one physical attack. The Exalt rolls Manipulation + Larceny against the target’s Dodge MDV. If he succeeds the victim believes that he has been struck by the attack. Resolve the rest of the attack as if it were a successful Unexpected Attack, rolling and applying damage. However, the attack did not actually connect, and the damage is an illusion. The opponent suffers wound penalties and can even be knocked unconscious by these blows. An opponent can resist this one willpower for every “imaginary” health level of damage the attack inflicted. Once a character has resisted this Charm once, he is immune to it for the rest of the scene.