Auspicious First Meeting Attitude
Cost: 1m Type: Reflexive
Duration: Instant
Keywords: Combo-OK
Mins: Socialize 2, Essence 1 Prereqs: None
For the Dragonblooded, society is everything. They are social creatures by nature. Just as fire merges with fire and water with water, Dragonblooded naturally belong. So it is that the first time he encounters a social group or person, the Dragonblooded always find a way to fit in.
This Charm can only be used the first time a Dragonblooded meets someone. If used, it has two major effects. First it informs the Dragonblooded of the person’s attitude towards him. He can instantly tell if the person likes him, doesn’t like him or is indifferent to him or what have you. This effect occurs regardless of mundane attempts to conceal attitudes and prompts the usual roll-off in the case of supernatural attempts to conceal motivations.
Secondly, it informs the Dragonblooded in a general sense of what he can do to improve the target’s attitude towards him. This sense is not overly specific but more of a guideline. For instance, a Dragonblooded may sense that flattery will appeal to his host, or determine that the host needs aid or would prefer solitude at the moment.
The effects of this Charm can (and should) be used to justify two-die stunts throughout the rest of the social encounter.
Smoothing-Over-The-Past Technique
Cost: None Type: Permanent
Duration: Permanent
Keywords: None
Mins: Socialize 4, Essence 2 Prereqs: Third Socialize Excellency, Auspicious First Meeting Attitude
For the Dragonblooded, as with any society made up mainly of soldiers, politeness is mandatory. Insults, whether intentional or not, have a tendency to lead to bloodshed. The less violent of the Dynasty prefer to adroitly sidestep such minefields, clearing up social gaffes and faux pas committed by their less cultured brethren.
This Charm allows a Dragonblooded to smoothly break into a conversation, delicately rephrasing an ally’s last few sentences to “fix” them. This allows the Dragonblooded to use his Third Socialize Excellency to affect a Presence or Performance roll just made by an ally, or to affect an ally’s Parry MDV based on Presence or Performance. The Dragonblooded must be in a position to overhear the conversation and able to speak up immediately.
Aside from the fact they can use the Third Socialize Excellency to affect Presence and Performance, this Charm does not alter how the excellency works or timing rules, it simply allows the Dragonblooded to target somebody other than himself with the Charm.
Smothering The Flame
Cost: 3m Type: Reflexive (Step 2)
Duration: One Scene
Keywords: Combo-OK
Mins: Socialise 3, Essence 2 Prereqs: (Any) Socialize Excellency
For a soldier, beautiful distractions can be a disaster. Using this Charm, a character can repress such natural diffidence from his person. For the rest of the scene, the character ignores Appearance for the purposes of Social DVs.
Sweeten The Tap
Cost: None Type: Permanent
Duration: Permanent
Keywords: Anima, Cooperative, Emotion
Mins: Socialize 3, Essence 2 Prereqs: None
Like all soldiers, when a Dragonblooded decides to indulge they indulge to excess. This Charm allows a Dragonblooded to bring everyone else along for the ride. By spreading the natural warmth of his anima through the food and drink, he creates an effect similar to intoxication. While this Charm is often used on alcohol it need not be, any consumable non-toxic substance can benefit from this Charm, from trail rations to peyote.
Anybody who consumes the food or drink will feel warm and pleasant. They will be naturally inclined to let their guard down and more likely to open up to strangers. While this effect resembles intoxication, it is not a drug: the effect is maintained as a magical Essence-fuelled Emotion. Anyone who consumes the food has their Temperance reduced by one for every 2m the Dragonblooded spends when activating this power, to a minimum of Temperance 1. This Charm cannot reduce a Virtue below the limits imposed by the Great Curse.
Normally a Dragonblooded can affect only enough food and drink for a social unit of Magnitude 1. If he wishes to affect more he must do so in turns. Multiple Dragonblooded can use this Charm cooperatively, increasing the magnitude of the unit affected to equal the number of Dragonblooded involved. All participants must spend the same number of motes.
It should be noted that use of this Charm is quite common and accepted among Dragonblooded societies. In the Realm, it is considered terribly rude to take offense at anything said by another Dynast who is under the effects of this Charm.
Wary Yellow Dog Attitude
Cost: None Type: Permanent
Duration: Permanent
Keywords: Anima
Mins: Socialize 4, Essence 3 Prereqs: Sweeten The Tap
Dragonblooded train themselves to always be on the lookout for danger. Even the most sophisticated party can include assassins holding daggers at your back. This Charm trains the Exalt’s anima to defend him from unexpected dangers, but only so long as he is not truly expecting it.
The Dragonblooded gains a special Parry DV, calculated as (Appearance + Socialize + Essence)/2. He may evoke this Parry DV at the cost of one mote of peripheral Essence, but only against Unexpected Attacks and only if he has not already made a Join Battle roll this scene. The Dragonblooded can use Socialize Excellencies to improve this Parry DV.
Worldly Court Understanding
Cost: 5m Type: Simple
Duration: Indefinite
Keywords: Elemental
Mins: Socialize 3, Essence 3 Prereqs: Auspicious First Meeting Attitude
This Charm was developed after the Usurpation. Before then, there was no need for it as the elemental courts were well-controlled and spirits respected Dragonblooded; if not so much as their Celestial lords, then because they understood that the Dragonblooded spoke for the Deliberative in most matters.
After the Usurpation, gods and elementals lost much of their respect and fear of the Dragonblooded. Those elementals and spirits closely tied to the five elements could not entirely renounce their respect for the Dragonblooded. Closely tied to Gaia and the Five Elemental Dragons, it was possible for the Dragonblooded to compel respect if it was not offered.
So long as this Charm is active, no elemental or spirit associated with the character’s aspect can engage in violence against the user except in self-defence. Those who willingly violate this prohibition suffer as if they had attacked an Eclipse Caste who had evoked his diplomatic immunity.
Note that this Charm only guarantees non-violence. It does not compel spirits to permit you into their homes, nor does it guarantee they will listen to you. Some consider the Immaculate practice of peaceful vigils to have originated around the same time this Charm was developed. Such speculation is frowned upon.
Spirited Retort
Cost: 5m Type: Reflexive (Step 9)
Duration: Instant
Keywords: Combo-OK, Counterattack
Mins: Socialize 4, Essence 3 Prereqs: Smoothing Over The Past Technique
So long as he meets his opponent’s argument head-on, the Exalt can twist his words back upon him with unnatural flair and brilliance. This Charm allows the Dragonblooded to make either a Presence or Performance-based social counterattack, provided he uses his Parry MDV against the opponent’s social attack.
Innuendo Of The Scorched Earth
Cost: 5m Type: Simple
Duration: Instant
Keywords: Combo-Basic
Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 3 Prereqs: Spirited Retort
The Exalt passionately makes an argument towards one purpose, while actually supporting the opposite idea. His rhetoric is so overblown and excessive that he ends up pushing the audience towards his actual position. Resolve this as a normal social attack, but it is considered Unexpected as the audience’s attention is focused in the wrong direction. Any such social attack must use Manipulation, not Charisma, as its base attribute.
Anybody listening can make a Perception + Socialize roll with an external penalty equal to the Dragonblooded’s Essence. If they succeed, they see through the Charm to its true meaning. This occurs during Step 2 of resolution and those who succeed on the roll can apply their mental DVs normally.
This Charm is explicitly permitted to be placed in combos with Charms of other abilities.
Brother-Against-Brother Insinuation
Cost: 3m, 1wp Type: Supplemental
Duration: Instant
Keywords: Combo-OK
Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 3 Prereqs: Innuendo Of The Scorched Earth
This Charm supplements a social attack made against a social unit with a magnitude of one or more. The Dragonblooded phrases his words and guides the conversation such that any attempt to deny him comes across as short-sighted, petty and rude. Those who hear it will find their faith in their leadership crumbling. Provided he successfully makes the attack, if the leader spends loyalty to resist the argument, he loses an additional number of loyalty points equal to the Dragonblooded’s Essence.
This Charm is explicitly permitted to be placed in combos with Charms of other abilities.