Exalted Ontology
Charm
Charm type
A Charm type effectively identifies when a Charm may be used. They are of special importance when constructing Comboes.
Charm subtype
A Charm subtype more explicitly identifies when a Charm may be used than a CharmType.
Charm Exalt type
A Charm Exalt type effectively identifies the type of Essence-user allowed to learn this Charm (excepting Eclipse Caste Solars).
Charm keyword
A Charm keyword qualifies the Charm in some way (e.g. it is Obvious, Combo-OK, etc.).
Charm Ability
Denotes the ability that a Charm falls under.
Ability Property
Charm Stat Class
The class of all classes of charm stats used as the basis for charms (e.g. exalt:CharmAbility, exalt:CharmAttribute).
Stat Property Class
The class of all classes of charm stats used as the basis for properties (e.g. exalt:AbilityProperty, exalt:AttributeProperty).
Solar Charm
Generic Excellency
A generic Excellency is not a Charm onto itself, but is a template of an Excellency charm.
Generic Excellency-Enhancing Charm
A generic Excellency-enhancing Charm is not a Charm onto itself, but is a template of an Excellency-enhancing charm.
Reflexive
This Charm isn't part of the character's action.
Combo-OK
Exalted can place this Charm in a Combo.
Simple
The Charm is the character's action.
Permanent
Permanent Charms permanently enhance the character's capabilities.
Charm Duration
Charm Caste type
A Charm Caste type identifies the caste of Essence-user naturally allowed to learn this Charm as a favored charm.
Dawn Caste
Excellency
Excellency-Enhancing Charm
A Charm which is not an Excellency, but which enhances it.
Supplemental
The Charm enhances the character's action.
Obvious
Observers can tell that the Exalt is using a Charm, and they have a rough idea of its effects. Obvious permanent Charms are only obvious when actively in use.
Knockback
This Charm knocks its target backward. Appropriate Charms can resist this effect.
Extra Action
Extra action Charms are Charm-based flurries.
Combo-Basic
Exalted can place this Charm in a Combo with reflexive Charms, including the Excellencies. They cannot place this Charm in a Combo with simple Charms, extra action Charms or supplemental Charms.
Crippling
This Charm's special damage is a Crippling effect.
Holy
This Charm's special damage is imbued with the judgment of the Unconquered Sun. Such Charms have extra impact when used against creatures of darkness.
Counterattack
This Charm is or involves a counterattack—something extra that happens during the course of an attack resolution, usually but not always the defender counterattacking the attacker. Characters cannot use counterattacks to respond to other counterattacks, and characters cannot use multiple counterattacks to respond to a single attack unless otherwise stated. Making a counterattack imposes a cumulative counterattack penalty of -1 to your DV until your next action.
Charm Cost
Partial Charm Cost
The class of parts of the cost of a Charm (e.g. Essence motes or Willpower).
Essence Mote Cost
A partial cost of a Charm in motes of Essence.
Willpower Cost
A partial cost of a Charm in Willpower.
Charm Cost Quantum Property
The class of all owl:DatatypeProperties that are also quanta by which an exalt:PartialCharmCost may be measured.
War
This Charm is often used when the character participates in a war, by means of the Join War action. It affects actions on the war time scale.
Social
This Charm is often used when the character participates in a social conflict. It affects actions on the social time scale.
Dramatic Action
The Charm is tied to a single action that usually takes a long time.
Touch
The Exalt must touch the target to use the Charm. Touching a non-consenting target requires a (Dexterity + Martial Arts) attack.
Training
This Charm trains other characters. Characters who receive training and aren't extras must pay the normal experience point cost for any trait increases. If they can't afford this cost, they go into "experience point debt." They must pay at least half of all awarded experience points, rounded down, toward this debt until repaid.
Zenith Caste
Stackable
Multiple invocations of this Charm are cumulative—the Solar can use it more than once to increase the bonuses or penalties the Charm inflicts.
Compulsion
This Charm's special damage is a Compulsion effect.
Emotion
This Charm's special damage is an Emotion effect.
Illusion
This Charm's special damage is an Illusion effect.
Servitude
This Charm's special damage is a Servitude effect.
Experience Point Cost
A partial cost of a Charm in experience points.
Twilight Caste
Shaping
Integrity and Lore Charms treat this Charm's effects as a Shaping effect.
Night Caste
An abstract charm is not in and of itself a charm, but describes a set of closely related charms (e.g. Keen (Sense) Technique and Unsurpassed (Sense) Discipline).
Eclipse Caste
Health Level Cost
A partial cost of a Charm in health levels.
Supernatural Martial Arts
Charm Martial Arts Style
Denotes the martial arts style that a Charm falls under.
Form-type
This Charm is a martial arts Form-type Charm. Characters cannot use more than one Martial Arts Form-type Charm at a time. The character must end one Form-type Charm to use another.
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.
Mirror
Martial-ready
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. 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.
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.
Enhanced
This keyword 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).
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. Training these Charms takes as much time as training a Caste or Favored Charm.
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, but must obey normal Combo rules if used in conjunction with other Charms. 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.
Native
None
A special Charm keyword class used to amend Charms via errata.ttl by removing all CharmKeyword classes from the Charm.
ability property
Relates a CharmAbility to the corresponding AbilityProperty.
charm stat class
Relates a CharmExaltType to the CharmStatClass used by charms of that CharmExaltType.
name
cost
The cost to invoke a Charm.
Essence motes
The number of motes of Essence that are part of the cost of a Charm.
per die
The cost of a Charm (Essence motes, Willpower, etc.) as measured per die.
(Ability)
The minimum ability required to claim an excellency.
Essence
May be used to denote the Essence needed for a Charm, the Essence for which a Charm cost may apply, or the current Essence score of a character.
step for attacker
The step on which an attacker may invoke a Reflexive Charm.
step for defender
The step on which an defender may invoke a Reflexive Charm.
step
The step on which a character may invoke a Reflexive Charm.
charm duration
incompatible with
Denotes a charm with which the subject Charm is incompatible (i.e. The subject Charm may not be used at the same time as the incompatible Charm)
tagline
Charm descriptions often lead off with some pithy one sentence tagline.
description
defined by
The pages on which the given thing is defined.
per success
The cost of a Charm (Essence motes, Willpower, etc.) as measured per success.
per invocation
The cost of a Charm (Essence motes, Willpower, etc.) as measured per invocation.
per effectiveness level
The cost of a Charm (Essence motes, Willpower, etc.) as measured per additional effectiveness level (e.g. per mote reduction for Infinite (Ability) Mastery).
willpower
The cost of a Charm in Willpower or the current base Willpower of a character.
prerequisite Charm
base Charm
Archery
May be used to denote the minimum Archery score for a charm or the current Archery score a character has.
per attack
The cost of a Charm (Essence motes, Willpower, etc.) as measured per attack.
speed
per duplicate
The cost of a Charm (Essence motes, Willpower, etc.) as measured per duplicate.
Martial Arts
May be used to denote the minimum Martial Arts score for a charm or the current Martial Arts score a character has.
Melee
May be used to denote the minimum Melee score for a charm or the current Melee score a character has.
minimum
The minimum value of some quantity.
maximum
The maximum value of some quantity.
Thrown
May be used to denote the minimum Thrown score for a charm or the current Thrown score a character has.
per action
The cost of a Charm (Essence motes, Willpower, etc.) as measured per action.
May be used to denote the minimum War score for a charm or the current War score a character has.
speed (in long ticks)
Integrity
May be used to denote the minimum Integrity score for a charm or the current Integrity score a character has.
per 1wp
The cost of a Charm (Essence motes, Willpower, etc.) as measured per willpower point.
Performance
May be used to denote the minimum Performance score for a charm or the current Performance score a character has.
Presence
May be used to denote the minimum Presence score for a charm or the current Presence score a character has.
Resistance
May be used to denote the minimum Resistance score for a charm or the current Resistance score a character has.
per fatigue/mobility reduction
The cost of a Charm (Essence motes, Willpower, etc.) as measured per fatigue/mobility reduction.
per pre-soak damage die removed
The cost of a Charm (Essence motes, Willpower, etc.) as measured per pre-soak damage die removed.
Survival
May be used to denote the minimum Survival score for a charm or the current Survival score a character has.
experience points
The number of experience points that are part of the cost of a Charm.
Craft
May be used to denote the minimum Craft score for a charm or the current Craft score a character has (note that this is subclassed for each Craft ability sub-type).
Investigation
May be used to denote the minimum Investigation score for a charm or the current Investigation score a character has.
Lore
May be used to denote the minimum Lore score for a charm or the current Lore score a character has.
per Essence
The cost of a Charm (Essence motes, Willpower, etc.) as measured per Essence.
Medicine
May be used to denote the minimum Medicine score for a charm or the current Medicine score a character has.
Occult
May be used to denote the minimum Occult score for a charm or the current Occult score a character has.
Athletics
May be used to denote the minimum Athletics score for a charm or the current Athletics score a character has.
per point
The cost of a Charm (Essence motes, Willpower, etc.) as measured per point of some other stat.
Awareness
May be used to denote the minimum Awareness score for a charm or the current Awareness score a character has.
Dodge
May be used to denote the minimum Dodge score for a charm or the current Dodge score a character has.
Larceny
May be used to denote the minimum Larceny score for a charm or the current Larceny score a character has.
Stealth
May be used to denote the minimum Stealth score for a charm or the current Stealth score a character has.
Bureaucracy
May be used to denote the minimum Bureaucracy score for a charm or the current Bureaucracy score a character has.
Linguistics
May be used to denote the minimum Linguistics score for a charm or the current Linguistics score a character has.
Ride
May be used to denote the minimum Ride score for a charm or the current Ride score a character has.
Sail
May be used to denote the minimum Sail score for a charm or the current Sail score a character has.
health levels
The number of health levels that are part of the cost of a Charm.
Socialize
May be used to denote the minimum Socialize score for a charm or the current Socialize score a character has.
Martial Ability
An Ability with which a Charm may be used when the Solar's rating in the ability meets the Charm's minimum Ability rating. The presence of this property implies the presence of the Martial keyword.
Mirror Charm
The corresponding charm in another Exalt's Charm tree. Eclipse Caste Solars may substitute Solar Mirror Charms for Abyssal Charm prerequisites when purchasing a foreign Charm. Similarly, Moonshadow Caste Abyssals may substitute Abyssal Mirror Charms for Solar Charm prerequisites. The presence of this property implies the presence of the Mirror keyword.
Martial description
An additional comment which applies to use of this Charm according to the Martial keyword.
Martial-ready Ability
An Ability with which a Charm may be used when the Solar's rating in the ability meets the Charm's minimum Ability rating. In addition, the Solar may use the Charm with, or apply its benefits to any of the listed Abilites that he has as a Caste or Favored Ability, even if their ratings are lower than the Charm's minimum Ability requirement. The presence of this property implies the presence of the Martial-ready keyword.
merged Charm
A corresponding Charm in another Ability. Purchasing this Charm means that the character also has all of the corresponding merged Charms in other abilities. The presence of this property implies the presence of the Merged keyword.
enhancement
An enhanced benefit for an Exalt belonging to the appropriate Exalt type. The presence of this property implies the presence of the Enhanced keyword.
Martial-ready description
An additional comment which applies to use of this Charm according to the Martial-ready keyword.
Instant
One scene
Indefinite
One action
Until next action
Varies
One week
One day
Instant (Story)
Solar's Charisma in days
One story
Until the day ends
One hour
Solar's Essence in hours
Until the character sleeps
Until DV refreshes (Essence) times
First (Ability) Excellency— Essence Overwhelming
Lawgivers with this Charm are known for their moments of brilliance.
Lawgivers with this Charm are known for their moments of brilliance. The Exalt's player can invoke this Charm when making a roll based on the relevant Ability. This Charm then adds one die to that roll for each mote spent. This Charm is the paradigmatic dice adder. The rule that Solars are prohibited from increasing a dice pool by more than their (Attribute + Ability) almost always refers to the purchase of dice through the use of this Charm. Characters can also use this Charm to enhance unrolled uses of the relevant Ability, usually to increase a Defense Value, for example, by increasing (Dexterity + Dodge) to protect against a physical attack. When enhancing static values, her player rolls one die for each mote spent on the First Excellency. Each success increases her effective (Attribute + Ability) rating for the task by two. Therefore, each success on the First Excellency roll increases an applicable static value by one. Characters cannot use this or other Excellencies or dice-adding Charms to "create" actions. For example, if a character attacks on tick 3 and will attack again on tick 8, she cannot buy dice for an attack on tick 4 that only exists because she used the Excellency to conjure dice for it. A character who uses this or other reflexive Charms to add to an attack can also use it to enhance her defense until the next tick when she acts, but she must spend Essence for each separate roll she wishes to modify. This Charm can be part of a Combo or used together with the Second Excellency, but it is incompatible with the Third Excellency. It can never be used on the same roll as the Third Excellency.
Second (Ability) Excellency— Essence Triumphant
Solar Exalted with this Charm are known for their unwavering perfection.
Solar Exalted with this Charm are known for their unwavering perfection. The Exalt's player can invoke this Charm when making a roll based on the relevant Ability. The Exalt then spends up to (Attribute + Ability) in motes. This Charm adds one success to a roll for every two motes spent. Each success purchased with Essence Triumphant is the equivalent of purchasing two dice with the First Excellency or some other dice adder. Therefore, if a Solar had a (Dexterity + Melee) total of 8, he could purchase up to four successes with the Second Excellency. Any magical effects that hinge on the character buying dice will then react as if the character had just bought eight (Dexterity + Melee) dice. The character could not add dice from the effects of other Charms because he has reached his maximum of eight by purchasing the four successes. The Exalt can also use this Charm to enhance unrolled uses of the relevant Ability. Each two motes spent increases his effective (Attribute + Ability) rating for one task by two. This means that every two motes spent on this Excellency increase a static value like a DV by one. The First Excellency is thus considerably more efficient for increasing static values than the Second Excellency, but not reliably so. This Charm can be Comboed or used together with the First Excellency, but it is incompatible with the Third Excellency, and it can never be used on the same roll as the Third Excellency.
Third (Ability) Excellency— Essence Resurgent
Exalted with this Charm recover smoothly from failure.
Exalted with this Charm recover smoothly from failure. An Exalt's player can invoke this Charm after making a roll based on the relevant Ability. This Charm allows her player to make the roll again, using the new result if the Exalt prefers it. The Exalt can also use this Charm to enhance static values derived from the relevant Ability. Doing so increases the character's effective (Attribute + Ability) rating for one task by the Ability rating. This means that the Essence Resurgent Excellency increases an applicable DV by half the relevant Ability.
Infinite (Ability) Mastery
The Solar Exalted are infinite wells of talent.
The Solar Exalted are infinite wells of talent. Each two motes committed to this Charm reduces the mote cost for the first three (Ability) Excellencies by one, to a minimum of 0. Exalted with Essence 3 can spend up to six motes on this Charm, while Exalted with Essence 4+ can spend as many motes as they like. Example: A character with Infinite Melee Mastery, a Melee of 4, a Dexterity of 4 and an Essence of 3 could commit up to six motes to the Charm. This would reduce the cost of any given Melee Excellency by three motes. While the character is technically using a Charm for the purposes of Combos, she could gain up to three bonus dice from the First Excellency on any action using Melee at a cost of 0 motes. She could buy one success with the Second Excellency at no cost in motes or reduce the cost of the Third Excellency to one mote. She could also gain one die with the First Excellency if the First and Second Excellencies were together in a Combo she had activated (see p. 244). Any additional effect—adding more dice or more success—would cost the normal price. So, the example character could purchase up to eight bonus dice using the First Excellency and apply a three-mote discount to the total cost, so buying the maximum eight dice would cost five motes. Apply the discount to the total expenditure on Excellencies relating to a given roll. A character who spends motes on the Comboed effects of the First and Second Excellencies does not receive the discount for the use of both Excellencies on a given roll. If the example character activated a Combo and spent four motes to buy two successes on a roll with the Second Excellency and four motes to buy four dice using the First Excellency, the cost would be five motes ([4 + 4] - [3 for the six motes committed to the Infinite Melee Mastery]). This Charm and the relevant discount are incompatible with any effect that invokes the effects of Excellencies as innate powers rather than as Charms. A character must have the Excellency in order to invoke it at a discount through the use of this Charm.
(Ability) Essence Flow
The Essence of the Solar Exalted flows through them and brings their intentions and their actions into perfect harmony.
The Essence of the Solar Exalted flows through them and brings their intentions and their actions into perfect harmony. Purchasing this Charm allows the Solar to invoke the First, Second and Third Excellencies for the relevant Ability as innate powers rather than Charms. This means that the character can use them even with a Combo that does not contain them or when she has already used a Charm for an action. However, she cannot use them out of place on the order of combat actions (see p. 145), nor may she apply the same Charm repeatedly to a single roll. The character must abide by the dice pool maximums as normal. For instance, if a character has a (Dexterity + Melee) of 8, and the player buys four dice through the First Excellency, the player could not use the Second Excellency to buy more than two successes, even if one of those Excellencies was invoked as a natural ability. The Third Excellency remains incompatible with the first two, even if some or all of them are invoke as natural Abilities. The effects are the effects of a Charm used by the character in all ways, save that they can be used with other Charms from the Ability without being placed in a Combo. (See p. 244 for the Combo rules.) The character must first buy the relevant Excellency to use it with this Charm, but he need not buy this Charm for each Excellency. This Charm is incompatible with any effect that reduces the mote cost of the first three Excellencies. Characters using these Charms as innate powers cannot benefit from any discount.
Glories of the Most High: The Unconquered Sun