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**norraba** · 08-20-2017, 03:51 PM

Craft Rules

Projects
Craft represents the ability to create from materials already in existence. Distinct from the abilities granted by Wyld Shaping or Sorcerous workings, which allow creation form nothing, Crafting is always a product of equivalent exchange within creation, and the crafter’s ability to perform this role is represented in the form of Projects that she can begin, work on, and complete through the employment of Time and Resources, Special Materials, and Inspiration.

These Projects are separated into five categories, as follows

Basic Projects
The simplest of tasks that the Crafter can complete which still require time and training, They require no Special Materials and very little Time and Resources, but they still provide the crafter with a sense of accomplishment and Inspiration upon their completion.
- Ex: Making a chair, shoeing a horse, cooking a meal, or forging basic tools

Major Projects
These are significant endeavors within a Crafter’s trade, which can be resolved with a single roll or an extended roll. This is the level of crafting at which the Time and Resources of a crafts endeavors begins to be tracked, as a result granting an even greater reward of Inspiration, and even though they do not usually require Special Materials, Major Projects are capable of being Masterworks, at which point they will require some form of special ingredients and take on greater than normal capabilities.
- Ex: Forging weapons and armor, preparing a banquet, or sculpting a statue

Superior Projects
Works of this nature represent both the peak of mundane crafting and the beginning of crafting the supernatural, and are split accordingly:
- Superior Large Mundane Projects:
  The quintessence of mortal crafting, they represent multiple Projects abstracted into a single one and use the component of Scale to track their progress. These works do not normally require Special Materials, although they can be Masterworks at which point they would require them, and they represent a significant investment of Time and Resources even for a member of the Exalted, with the Inspiration that they gain from it being even greater still.
  - Ex: Building a ship, constructing a mansion, or erecting a city
- Superior Supernatural Projects:
  The Exalted raised the First Age on the backs of their Crafters, and works of this nature are only the start of what those works entailed, and represent a heavy investment of Special Materials, Time and Resources, and an equal return on the Inspiration that propels them to greater heights of craft. These works can be Artifacts Rating (•• to •••••) or Manses Rating (••• or •••••), or other more peculiar Supernatural Projects which employ esoteric skills such as Craft Genesis. and are capable of being works of First Age Artifice, and and employing the measurement of Scale.

Legendary Projects
These projects represent feats of Supernatural Crafting that go beyond the limits of the five point scale that represent the true resurrection of lost wonders of the First Age, Capable of being First Age Artifice, and something only the Solar Exalted can attempt.

Additionally there is a crafting project that is not a project at all, but something that anyone can do with little to no training with regards to crafting, such as folding a paper plane, fletching an arrow, or the work done by common (not skilled) laborers wrt Major Architecture projects. Works that fall into this non project category require no roll and reap no physical reward other than the works that results from the completion of the project, although they can still benefit from the social function of the first of the three basic crafting objectives.

On Masterworks and First Age Artifice

Masterworks and First Age Artifice are not themselves projects on their own, but rather advanced levels of certain projects that can be performed to enhance them beyond their normal levels.

Masterworks
OriginallyMasterworks were an attempt by mortal artisans during the first age to mimic the mastery demonstrated by the crafters of supernatural projects, however in the Second Age and the Age of Sorrows the benefit of such works made them increasingly popular.

Being unable to work essence in the way that that Sorcerers and Exalts could, mortals instead relied upon naturally occurring magical properties of creation in hopes of bestowing magical properties of the desired effect upon their works, with essence wielders being able to ensure such effects.

Both Major Projects and Large Mundane Projects can be either a level one, two, or three masterwork, although mortals are only capable of creating level one and two masterworks, in which case a number of Exotic Ingredients equivalent to the level of the project would be needed for the work to proceed, and they would gain a desired or related magical quality for each ingredient as well as the following properties.
- Level One Projects:
  Superior crafts that provides +1 bonus for mundane efforts, causes attempts to break or bypass to suffer a +1 difficulty, and requires less maintenance.
- Level Two Projects:
  Specialized crafts that that provide a +2 bonus for mundane efforts by, causes attempts to break of bypass to suffer a +2 difficulty, and only requires maintenance after use in extreme circumstances (fighting a flaming hot Ifrit with a rapier).
- Level Three Projects:
  Sublime tools. Provide a +1 tool bonus for a specific Supernatural Project causes attempts to break of bypass to suffer a +3 difficulty, and only requires maintenance when it breaks, though still depletes normally (candles still burn down).
First Age Artifice
First Age Artifice represents the wonder of the First Age, when Solar crafters pushed the realm of supernatural projects to their limits, resulting in the infrastructure that allowed for that time to exist. In the Age of Sorrows, very few examples of this still exist and even fewer function, and the creating of such a thing anew would be a feat challenging for even the greatest of the current solar artisans.

Elements Of Crafting

Crafting Slots

Special Materials

Special Materials are separated into two categories, the first being your standard magical materials of Orichalcum, Starmetal, Moonsilver, Soulsteel, Jade, and the more esoteric Adamant, and the other being Exotic Ingredients. The inclusion of elements from both groups is determined by the Touchstone(s) of the artifact.

Touchstones:
A Touchstone is a word or short phrase embodying an aspect of the Supernatural Project’s or Masterwork’s story or power. Touchstones are a foundation upon which to build the fluff and crunch of a wonder. Supernatural Projects or Masterworks generally have Touchstones equal to their Rating/Scale or less. Volcano Cutter would have “lava” as a Touchstone; Beloved Adorei would have “devotion.”

The look, theme, personality, and powers of an Artifact should be inspired by its Touchstones, and the Magical Materials and Exotic Ingredients should be chosen to match their desired effect based on these Touchstones.

Supernatural Project have Magical Material slots equal to their rating and Masterworks have a number of Magical Material slots equivalent to their Masterwork Level; those slots should be filled with Magical Materials related to the Projects Touchstones. Story Tellers decide the number of slots for Legendary Projects.

A project may be conceived and advanced to the end of the Preparation phase without Magical Materials, but execution may not begin until the correct Magical Materials are available. This represents the character exploring the nature of the wonder while searching for the correct pieces.
Magical Materials:
The five magical materials are the most mystical potent substances known to the Craftsman and Savants of Creation, and almost universally form the basis for artifact creation. Magical Materials are what separates an artifact from a mundane Masterwork, and the dominant Magical material not only has an enormous impact on the resulting work, but also who has the greatest potential to attune to it and extract its own hidden potential through evocations.

Although not all things crafted from Magical Materials are artifacts, all Artifacts are crafted, at least in part, from Magical Materials. Details on the effects of the five magical materials can be found on page 612 of the core book.
Exotic Ingredients:
There are two types of exotic ingredients: unique and replicable. Replicable doesn’t mean common, simply that more than one of them could exist in Creation. Replicable components often fill one EC slot. Unique components fill more than one slot. The perfect Unique component might fill all of the EC slots for a five-dot Artifact, other than the slot filled by it’s Magical Material.

Harvesting Speacial Materials
None of this deals with the real issue of harvesting Magical Materials or generating ideas for exotic ingredients and inserting them into the game. Let’s expand our toolbox.

Introducing a Fact (page 237): A player may roll to Introduce a fact regarding the disposition of Special Materials. This roll has a difficulty of (Supernatural Project Rating or Masterwork Level +2, Legendary Projects count as 6 for this purpose). The fact is a story hook for acquiring the Materials. At the ST’s discretion, multiple Special Materials may be declared with a single fact. “There is an ancient tomb in this forest, avoided by locals and travellers alike. It is the tomb of Ancev, a Necromancer; he imbued his Hand and Eye with strange power and was said to have stores of Orichalcum and Jade.”
Moment of Inspiration: This functions as introducing a Fact as above, with Wits+Craft. The Crafter, in a moment of inspiration, sees something of use in his grand design. This roll may be made once per story per slotted Artifact. It is possible in this case for the Exotic Ingredients to be immediately available. Having slain the Deathknight and her terrifying steed, Jisara realizes the creature’s blood would be of use in her vampiric chakram.
Pure Awesome: Once per story, when a PC does something exceptionally cool that awes the players (a level three stunt), a physical impression of that event remains in the world to be harvested. This event scored at least (Artifact rating+3, Legendaries count as 6) successes.
Workings and WST: A Sorcerer/Shaper may craft Special Materials. Different levels of Artifact require different levels of Working: 1-3, Terrestrial. 4-5, Celestial. Legendary: Solar. Shapers need to succeed at the roll two phases earlier than it would take to create the Artifact. XP for the Working/Shaping may come from whomever benefits the most from the Artifact or be split amongst characters.
Assistance: At the ST’s discretion, the assistance of a powerful being such as a god or Demon may count as an Exotic Ingredient.

Bargaining: Sometimes NPCs have what you need.

Farming & Husbanding: There are beings with the will and patience to cultivate Exotic Ingredients in some capacity. That could include the PCs. Cultivation includes rare starting resources, several rolls at relatively high difficulty, and a big dose of patience.

Sidebar: Shall I forge thee from a summer’s day?
Exalted often gives abstract examples for ECs, which can trip up STs and players. How do I fold a Demon’s love for a long-dead peasant woman into my Essence Glider wings? Suggestions:

Allow a cool stunt to “capture” the item: The Crafter listens to the Demon’s description of the fair maid, drawing her on his sketchpad. Then he catches one of the spirit’s perfect crystal tears on the finished product.
Don’t require physicality at all: Maybe the Crafter braves Malfeas to find the fiend, and convince him to open up and tell his story. Having heard it, the Crafter’s soul contains what he needs.
Use a place: The Crafter does the final quenching for the Wings in the very spot the Demon stood when he beheld his love.
WST: It can be a cop-out, but demanding the Wyld become the Thing can work.
Working: Same as above, perhaps self-defeating as the character has to invent the Working, too.

Crafting Experience

Characters earn crafting experience for successfully completing crafting projects, which can then be spent to provide interesting effects to the process of crafting, as well as gain further abilities through charms. There are four types of crafting experience:

Silver experience points (SXP) are primarily earned from completing basic projects, and can be spent to downgrade the dice goal of Major Project extended rolls at a rate of 10 to 1, or to purchase additional Major Crafting Slots.
Gold experience points (GXP) are primarily earned from completing major projects, and can be spent to downgrade the dice goal Superior extended dice rolls at a rate of 5 to 1, or to purchase additional Superior Crafting Slots.
White experience points (WXP) are primarily earned from completing superior projects, and can be spent to downgrade the dice goal of Legendary extended dice rolls at a rate of 3 to 1 or to purchase a Legendary Crafting Slots

Additionally a crafter may freely convert one kind of CXP to another kind with the conversion being represented as:

Craft Point Conversion Scale
	Upgrading	Downgrading
SXP	5 to 1	N/A
GXP	10 to 1	1 to 3
WXP	N/A	1 to 7

Crafting experience points can’t normally be used to buy traits such as Attributes, Charms, and the like—they’re only useful for further crafting and, with certain charms, enhancing the craft tree.
When a character finishes a crafting project, there are three basic objectives to be aware of. For each of these objectives a character triggers, he is eligible to earn a crafting experience reward. These rewards stack—if a character triggers only one objective, he is rewarded once, while if he triggers all four with his crafting project, he gets rewarded three times. The exact values awarded depend on the sort of project undertaken.

When finishing your project causes another character to gain or strengthen an Intimacy toward you (for example, a Solar craftsman strengthening a young soldier’s armor on the eve of battle, producing a minor Intimacy of gratitude in the man), you gain crafting experience. (Story Tellers are encouraged to employ this ability liberally to produce more in game effects for the crafters works)
When finishing your project produces a clear in-game gain for your character, such as a monetary payment, or a new Merit like Allies or Contacts, you gain crafting experience.
(Story tellers are encouraged to allow this goal to act as justification for projects to increase story based merits)
When finishing your project upholds, furthers, or protects one of your character’s Intimacies, you gain crafting experience.
(Story tellers are encouraged to employ this ability in the same way as the first basic project for similar effect.)
When finishing your project represents a unique feat for yourself, either crafting something for the first time, or crafting it in a new way, you gain crafting experience.
(Story tellers should use this basic goal as a baseline when determining effects related to the crafters increase in skill as it pertains to unlocking certain aspects of the Craft Tree)

Additionally, crafters may earn crafting experience at the end of a story. At the end of a story, characters gain 5 SXP for each Craft Ability rated at 3+ that was used to complete a project during the story, 5 SXP and 3 GXP for every rated at 5+ that was used to complete a project during the story, 5 SXP, 3 GXP, and 1 WXP per artifact successfully created during the story, and 5 WXP for any Legendary projects completed.

Beginning A Project

Basic Project
Beginning a Basic Project is a minor thing that does not require the tracking of Time And Resources (Slots) or any Special Materials, needing only appropriate tools, mundane materials, and Craft Ability. These tool and materials are usually of a minor cost and easily attainable, unless extenuating circumstances exist which cause them to be otherwise.
Major Project
Beginning a Major Project is a substantial undertaking that requires the tracking of Time And Resources (Slots) and potentially Special Materials, if it is a Masterwork, and Inspiration, If all of the crafters Slots are currently occupied.

Normally, the crafter only needs to have the appropriate tools, mundane materials, and the right Craft Ability, with these tools and material often representing a significant cost which can potentially be difficult to come by.

If all of the crafters Slots are currently occupied with other major projects, then the crafter may purchase additional temporary Slots for 5 Silver Points, with these slots disappearing upon the completion of the major project.

If the Major Project is to be a Masterwork then the crafter will also need the appropriate Special Materials, determined by the Masterwork’s Touchstone, before the project may begin.
Superior Large Mundane Project
Beginning a Large Mundane Project is similar to beginning a Major Project in that it requires the tracking go Time And Resources (Slots) and potentially Special Materials, if it is a Masterwork, and Inspiration, If all of the crafters Slots are currently occupied. Additionally when a crafter undertakes a Large Mundane Project, they must account for Scale.

Normally, the crafter only needs to have the appropriate tools, sufficient mundane materials, the necessary Craft Abilities, and an adequate labor force per the Scale of the project, with the expense of these ranging from significant, to exorbitant depending on the Scale of the Project.

If all of the crafter’s Superior Large Mundane Slots are currently occupied with other Projects then the crafter may convert one of their Permanent Major Slots to a Temporary Superior Large Mundane Slot by spending a number of Gold Points equal to the Scale of the Project. All such created slots revert to their normal state upon completion of the project.

If the Large Mundane Project is to be a Masterwork then the crafter will also need the appropriate Special Materials, determined by the Masterwork’s Touchstone, before the project may begin.
Superior Supernatural Project
Beginning a Superior Supernatural Project is an incredibly substantial undertaking that requires the tracking of Time And Resources, Special Materials, and potentially Inspiration, If all of the crafter’s Slots are currently occupied. Such Projects may also need to track Scale, at the Story Teller’s discretion, with examples of projects requiring this being War-Striders. Further if the Supernatural Project is to be a work of First Age Artifice then further requirements will exist

Normally the crafter needs to be capable of manipulating Essence, have at least Lore 3, Occult 3, a relevant Craft Ability at at-least 4 and then purchase dots of the relevant Supernatural Craft ability (Craft Artifact, Craft Genesis, Craft Geomancy, etc..) at the level of the desired item. In addition, all Supernatural Projects require high quality tools, and significant amounts of Special Materials, determined by the Projects Touchstones, before the project can begin.

Concerning Scale, most Supernatural Projects, such as an Artifact Daiclave, are no larger than a Major Project, and require no tracking of scale, while others such as Manses have a very simple conversion, be the level of Scale equivalent to their Rating, while other Supernatural Projects being more difficult to categorize and being up to the discretion of the Story Teller. In any case, when Scale is required the crafter must also have an appropriate labor force before beginning.

If all of the crafter’s Supernatural Slots are currently occupied with other Projects then the crafter may convert one of their Permanent Major Slots to a Temporary Supernatural Slot by spending a number of Gold Points equal to the Rating + Scale of the Project. All such created slots revert to their normal state upon completion of the project.

If the Project is an example of First Age Artifice, then the Crafter need to also be capable of performing sorcerous workings before they begin.
Legendary Project
Beginning a Legendary Project is always an effort to create something of an N/A rating that is tremendous in both power and size which requires the tracking of Time And Resources, Special Materials, Inspiration, and Scale.

In addition to the requirements of Superior Supernatural crafting, attempting a legendary project requires Lore 5, Occult 5, Supernatural Craft (Craft Artifact, Craft Genesis, Craft Geomancy, etc..) 5, a relevant mundane Craft at 5, and an even greater volume and potency of Special Materials, determined by the projects Touchstone, and mystical prodigies, in the form of a supernatural labor force, to meet both the N/A Rating and the N/A Scale of the Project before the crafter can begin.

Once the project is ready to begin, the character spends five white experience points to create a legendary crafting slot by merging a Large Mundane Superior Slot and an Supernatural Superior Slot. Once a legendary project ends in success or failure, the slot vanishes, reverting back to its previous forms.

If the Legendary Project is going to be an example of First Age Artifice then the Crafter and and a Scale 2 portion of their Labor Force must be capable of performing Sorcerous Workings before the Project begins.

Sidebar: On Projects And Time

Finishing A Project

Basic Projects
Finishing a Basic Project is similarly a minor thing that requires a period of work, determined by the Story Teller, ranging from minuets to hours but never longer than a day, and is always resolved in a single (Atribute + Ability) roll against a difficulty set by the Storyteller according to the usual rules for establishing an action’s difficulty (p. 185).
Major Projects
Finishing a Major Project requires a period of work determined by the Story Teller, usually ranging from several hours to several days—occasionally, a major project might even require weeks of labor. Once the character is ready to finish the project, she makes an (Attribute + [Appropriate Craft]) roll against a difficulty set by the Storyteller. If the construction would take long than a day then it is considered an extended action, with goal number and interval determined by the Story Teller (p.189) but with no terminus, and can benefit from the use of silver points to downgrade the goal number. If this roll fails, the character can try again after a small amount of additional work to bring the project back on-track, if desired.
A Masterwork Major Project is always an Extended Role with a base difficulty determined by the level of the Masterwork +1 and a minimum goal number of ( Masterwork Level X 5) as the crafter attempts to coax the naturally occurring properties of the Exotic Ingredients, as determined by the Masterworks Touchstone, to the desired effect.

Superior Large Mundane Projects
Finishing a Superior project of any kind is no meager feat, even when it is of a mundane nature, and for a mortal craftsman such an endeavor might represent the epitome of their life’s work, which can only be accomplished with the aid of their labor force.

Due to the Scale that such a project represents its progress is separated into two tracks, the work accomplished by the crafter and the work accomplished by the crafters Laborforce.

The Work of the crafter, as Project foreman is an extended roll, measured in Intervals, with a set Goal and Difficulty, but no Terminus. At each Interval the crafter makes a (Attribute + Ability) roll until such a time that they have met the Project goal.

Difficulty, Interval, and Goal for each level of Scale is shown below:

Scale	Difficulty	Interval	Goal
•	2	A Day/ Four Times Per Session	15
••	3	A Week/ Twice Per Session	25
•••	4	One Month/ Once Per Session	35
••••	5	Two Months/Twice Per Story	45
•••••	5	One Season/ Once Per Story	55
N/A	?	?	?

The work of the Laborforce is carried out along a separate parallel track and is measured as only a passage of time with no rolls, represented as Duration. A Crafter needs a Laborforce comprised of Scale unskilled labor and Scale-1 of Skilled Labor (Powerful beings or Workings may count as multiple laborers for these purposes.), and may decrease the Duration period by one level by increasing the Laborforce by one level, and vice versa as shown below:

Scale	Duration	Labor	Examples
•	A Week	A Dozen	A spacious house, several sturdy huts, a sailboat, equip a Scale (25 soldiers).
••	A Month	Fifty	A sprawling compound or mansion, a warship, equip a Talon (125 soldiers).
•••	A Season	One-Hundred	An Emperor’s palace, a small fleet of warships, a great trade galley, equip a Wing (250 soldiers).
••••	A Year	One-Thousand Or More	A mid-sized city, a frightening war or trade fleet, equip a Dragon (500 soldiers).
•••••	Years	Five-Thousand Or More	The Imperial Palace, the White Sea Dam, Whitewall, equip a Legion(5000 soldiers).
n/a	?	?	?

The project is only completed when both the objectives of the crafter and the Laborforce are met. However, if the crafter meets their Goal number prior to the Laborforce completing their construction then they may consider their part of the process completed, freeing up their Large Mundane Slot for other construction as their Labor Force completes their work.

A Masterwork Large Mundane Project is always an Extended Role with an added difficulty of (Masterwork Level) and an added goal number of (Masterwork Level X 5) as the crafter attempts to coax the naturally occurring properties of the Exotic Ingredients, as determined by the Masterworks Touchstone, to the desired effect.

Superior Supernatural Projects
Creating Supernatural Projects is an intensely demanding art, part craftsmanship, part spiritual communion. The character not only labors through the work-intensive task of shaping and tempering the magical materials, she also coaxes the works spirit into being and forges its Essence to suit her vision. As such, artifacts require a minimum time spent laboring over their construction before they are complete. The work of the crafter is an extended roll with Difficulty, Interval, and Goal determined by the Projects Rating shown in the following:

Rating	Difficulty	Interval	Goal
••	3	Two Weeks/ Twice Per Session	25
•••	4	One Month/ Once Per Session	30
••••	5	Two Months/ Twice Per Story	40
•••••	5	One Season/ Once Per Story	50
N/A	?	?	?

On each interval the crafter roll (Attribute + [Lower of Craft (Artifact, Geomancy, Genesis, etc..) or the highest-rated most appropriate mundane Craft skill she possesses]). The crafter continues to roll at each Interval until they complete the project, it ends in failure, or they reach the projects Terminus. A botch can potentially ruin the project immediately, while failure to complete the artifact before the terminus means that the Project’s Spirit has failed to kindle, its Essence has not aligned, and that the artifact cannot be created—the character must scrap the project and start over.

If the story teller determines that the project is large enough to incorporate Scale then the crafter must also assemble a Laborforce of the appropriate size, with its entire complement of being Skilled Laborers with a portion of those laborer, Determined by the Story Teller, to be capable of manipulating essence.

Additionally if the project is an example of First Age Artifice then at each Project Interval in which the crafter rolls to craft or repair such an artifact must generally be preceded by a sorcerous project (p. 483) to design key components or replacements for damaged parts (the Storyteller may opt to waive this requirement for very basic repairs). The most standard example is to use sorcery to craft a slate of solidified Essence which can be carved or fused into circuit-like channels, conductors for the artifact’s subtle miracles. Crafting or repairing an artifact rated 2 or 3 requires Terrestrial Circle workings, 4 and 5 require at least one Celestial Circle working in addition to Terrestrial Circle workings, and an N/A example of First Age artifice requires at least one Solar Circle working and multiple Celestial Circle workings.

When determining the Terminus of a Project the crafter starts with a base Terminus of 2 which can be increased by a combination of Workshops, Materials, and Other miscellaneous resources.

Workshop
- 1 rolls for a basic workshop, with all the standard tools. A character using Craftsman Needs No Tools has this level of workshop for most projects. However, manses and extremely large Artifacts may require large numbers of laborers as part of the “workshop”.
- 2 rolls for a master’s workshop, which contains a high-quality example of every tool a normal craftsman in the field would ever want.
- 3 rolls for a supernaturally excellent workshop. These are rare in Creation, but a few Dynasts and gods and other stranger things have them.
Materials
- 2 rolls for having a bit of magical material.
- 3 rolls for having some magical material and a few thematically appropriate wondrous ingredients.
- 4 rolls for having plenty of magical materials and at least one genuinely impressive wondrous ingredient.
- 5 rolls for having an embarrassing surplus of suitable ingredients.
Other
- +1 roll for working with a master assistant or a team of competent workers.
- +2 rolls for working with supernaturally excellent help.
- +1 roll for taking four times as much time as is standard.
- +2 rolls for taking twenty times as much time as is standard.
- +1 roll for having an Ability related to the Artifact at 5, or at 3 with a relevant specialty.
- +1 roll for having a Charm, spell, anima power, or other magical ability that’s related to the Artifact.
If you lose access to something that increases your terminus while working on an Artifact, you may either put the project on hold until you replace it or just accept the reduced terminus. If you use up all of your rolls, all is not lost. Ask the ST what you have to do to earn another roll. Chances are it won’t be easy.

Legendary Projects
Attempting to finish a Legendary Project, normally and when it is an example of First Age Artifice, works like attempting to finish a Supernatural superior project, with the following exceptions that the Difficulty, Interval, Goal, and Labor Force and Duration are determined by the Story Teller, and can not be hurried by Thousand Forge Hands or Flawless Example, however it can still benefit by spending White Points to downgrade the Goal number.

Project Rewards

Repairs

Repair works largely the same as creation—repairing a simple tool is a basic project, while re-forging a broken sword is a major project. Repairing Supernatural creations such as Artifacts or Manses, similarly, requires a superior or legendary project.

A key difference between repairing and the creation of Supernatural Projects however is that in the process of creating the project the crafter kindles the spirit of the project, which maintains its integrity, whereas Supernatural projects already posses this killed spirit which has fallen into disrepair due to either neglect of its maintenance or by deliberate action, and has thus lost the ability to maintain itself. For this reason the repair of Supernatural projects is more a matter of repairing the Spirit of the object rather than the physical structure itself, therefore never requires a Labor Force regardless of the Scale of the project. Also, depending on how badly damaged the item is, the Storyteller may opt to set the goal number lower than if the character were forging it anew. The Storyteller may also significantly reduce the minimum time spent working on repairs, again based on the severity of the damage. Unlike standard superior or legendary projects, artifact repairs have no terminus.

Repairing damage to structures such as a ship requires a series of major projects, as the character repairs

Damaged rooms or elements of the vessel one by one. Such repairs generally require hours or days of work. When dealing with ships, a single major project is sufficient to restore one lost hull point.
Repair Rewards
Repairing items generally requires a smaller investment of time and materials than making them anew, and as such, offers smaller rewards.

A basic repair project awards one silver point per basic objective triggered.
A major repair project grants one gold point per basic objective triggered.
Repairing a broken artifact with a superior repair project awards (Artifact’s rating - 1) white experience points.
Repairing a broken N/A artifact with a legendary repair project grants no crafting experience points—the reward for such endeavor is restoring the Essence and power of a lost wonder of the ages.

Complications

Most of the time, when a character Crafts something, the only obstacle is the dice roll. However, when characters undertake large or noteworthy projects, such as building a warship or constructing a Wrackstaff, the process is complex enough that something might get in the way.

Complications exist to spice up the Crafting narrative, and give other PCs a supporting role in the process of making the important fixtures of your game (Manses, Artifacts, equipment for armies, etc).

This subsystem can’t create ideas for a ST, nor replace a ST’s judgment. STs should only use this system when it helps them, and when they feel confident they have ideas to work with. While the Ex3 Leadership section (page 226) is more a framework than a rules section, it has good ideas on how to handle this. This system is also more of a framework for your table’s story ideas, rather than a procedural set of rules.

Nuts and Bolts

Generally, it’s only worth applying a system for Complications to large, narratively important undertakings. As such, this system is built with the intent to support Projects with extended rolls (Large, Superior, Legendary). I suggest an ad hoc story complication for Major and Basic Projects, if it’s appropriate.

There are two types of Complications: Inconveniences and Prohibitions.

Inconvenience

An Inconvenience will reduce the effectiveness of the Crafter and/or their workforce, but will not prevent the Project from being proceeding. Examples include a slow supply chain for Manse construction materials, angry river gods who decree shipwrights must worship them three hours out of every day, and a meddlesome spirit misplacing tools and supplies while the Twilight is forging a Daiklave.

Note the term Inconvenience doesn’t mean the problem is minor, simply that the Project can proceed.

Mechanically, Inconveniences should do one of a few things;
Increase the Interval.
Increase the difficulty of the roll.
Necessitate increased Resource expenditure
Reduce the Terminus (representing a particularly dangerous problem in some cases).
Since Inconveniences can mathematically endanger the completion of a Project, the Crafter can stop work on the Project, accumulate no Time component, and deal with the issue. Alternatively, another character can deal with the issue while they continue to work on the Project. This is a fine time to bring in a PC other than the Crafter, particularly if that PC stands to benefit from the item in question. If the Crafter is making a new ship for the Eclipse’s budding navy, then he has motivation to handle the river gods.

An Inconvenience is resolved (and the mechanical penalty removed) when the narrative circumstances are cleared up, and not before. The Zenith may have secured faster delivery time for building materials from the local Guild Factor, but that doesn’t cause the goods already in transit to arrive immediately.
Prohibitions

Prohibitions prevent the Project from being worked on at all. The Time component is not incremented, and the Crafter may not make rolls or apply charms to the Project. Examples of Prohibitions include angry river gods destroying ships as they are built, raiders occupying a Manse construction site, or a mischievous Lunar stealing a half-finished Daiklave.

It’s generally easy to tell when Prohibitions have been narratively resolved. The Daiklave is stolen or ransomed back, the gods are beaten into submission, etc.

Using Complications

Generally, STs should use Complications to provide interesting twists and turns in the narrative of Craft. This is particularly useful when the narrative is defined by the Project itself. For example, if the PCs need to finish building their warship to sail against some marauding pirates, then the Crafter can Craft while other PCs remove Complications.

However, STs should also be sensitive to their players. If they are eager to engage the pirates, tossing issues into the mix might not be fun. If it’s not fun, don’t do it. Regardless of the size and scope of the Project, only include Complications when it adds to the fun and the story.

Complications shouldn’t be used to prevent a Project from ever being completed. STs, if you don’t want something in your game, just say no to the players building it.

A Personal Note On Evocations

**norraba** · 08-20-2017, 03:52 PM

Craft Charms:

Power Tree/ The God Forge Within

Thousand Forge Hands
Cost: -; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keyword: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Crafters hands flow with the Essence of a thousand craftsmen; her urge is legion and her well is bottomless. When the crafter begins a Supernatural Superior or Legendary project their work is propelled to greater speeds. This charm lets you decrease the time between craft intervals for Supernatural projects of rating •• to •••• by a factor of 3 and by a factor of 2 for rating projects of ••••• and N/A.

When constructing a Superior Large Project, or supernatural projects that require scale it allows them to act as a scale •••• skilled Labor Force on their own.

Experiential Conjuring Of The Void
Cost: 4m (committed); Mins: Craft 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Salient
Duration: one day
Prerequisite Charms: Thousand Forge Hands
Through tapping the elemental, refined forces of her own experience, the Solar may access the most pristine and formless center of her own Essence, from which true understanding may be derived. The crafter begins to contemplate the fate of the fallen crafters of creation, and concludes what they too concluded as they almost fell into the void, that the greatest perfection is in nothingness. By committing 4 moments at the beginning of each day, the crafter may give the Mute tag to all of her craft charms, allowing for the legend of her craft to grow, but the person behind the legend to remain a mystery, elevating it to true perfection.

First Movement Of The Demiurge
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 4
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Experiential Conjuring of The Void, Breach Healing Method
The Solar’s genius inspires her to greater heights, making her aware of patterns and possibilities of creation unforeseen by mortals. and allows them to implement their own. Starting to understand the unseen nature behind the universe and perceive the creators behind the creators of the world, or rather the principles of reality that brought them into existence, the crafter starts to embody one of those principles themselves.

With each purchase of this charm, the solar chooses a principle to embody based on her intimacies (whether that be a principle of slavery is unthinkable, a principle or nature should be more pronounced, etc…), making them a beacon of that principle. This creates a growing area of influence around the solar, which increases in size by a (mile/purchase each year) at a cost of 5 white xp per increase. Anyone standing within the area of influence gain a non-charm dice bonus to their craft, occult, lore, and medicine roles equal to the number of times the charm has been purchased similar to the effect of Breach Healing Method, and Creation itself becomes capable of performing projects within the area of influence in order to alter itself and anyone who resides within the affected area for longer than a season. These projects can take the form of social attacks, sorcerous workings, supernatural craft projects, or any other project that the solar can conceive of in order to make her principle a reality within the region.

Creation can perform a number of projects simultaneously equal to the number of principles the Solar embodies, with each project taking a season to complete and costing the crafter who controls the area of influence 5 white XP to complete.

The area of influence starts at where the crafter first purchased the charm and continues until such a time that the she spends a year and a day outside of affected area, with a new Area of influence starting where she is on that day. The changes that creation made to itself and its inhabitants do not dissipate at this time, however they do not maintain themselves after this point either.

This Charm can be purchased essence times.

Exigenenisis Of The Distilled Form
Cost: 25sxp, 15gxp, 10wxp, 1 essence (committed); Mins: Craft 5, Essence 5
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: one year
Prerequisite Charms: First Movement Of The Demiurge
After emulating the Neverborn in their adoration of the void, and becoming like unto the principles of the universe, the path that the solar will traverse can take her only further towards the heavens. By planting a seed of her own essence within a mortal retainer aligned with the solars principles, as determined by the charm First Movement Of The Demiurge, they can cultivate them into a being similar to themselves in ability, if not in power. The mortal retainer is forever changed, becoming enlightened at essence one and a mote pool of their own, and the ability to increase their essence and learn all of the solars craft charms as well as Wyld shaping and terrestrial circle sorcery once they meet the required minimums. During the year the seed is planted the mortal retainer has access to the solar’s craft, lore, and occult charms, other than those governing sorcery, that she currently knows and is able to access herself, and the solar is similarly weakened becoming one essence lower until the year has passed and the mortal retainer has grown their own spark, keeping in mind that while the solar is lowered in essence they can not access any of the charms whose minimums they no longer meet, at which point the solar returns to normal and the retainer looses any charms that they have not taken the time to learn themselves during the period, although they still retain the ability to learn them in the future. This charm will never grant the retainer the same level of prodigious power as the solar, nor will they natively have any charms outside of the branches of craft, lore, and occult or the prodigious life that their master possesses, but they will be substantially more powerful than any mortal alive and enjoy, or rue, a life that outstrips their kin in years by the hundreds.
The solar may only perform one instance of this charm at a time and may never have more than (essence -1) such empowered retainers.
Some charms are beyond even the solars chosen, chief among them Exigenisis of the Distilled Form, but also others at the Story Teller’s discretion.

All mortal retainers sho are the target of this charm count as Master Assistant ••••

Crack Mending Technique
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Thousand Forge Hands
Crack-Mending Technique depicts a Lawgiver whose talent and touch is such that she can repair even impossibly destroyed things. This Charm can’t restore things that were completely unmade (for example, by powerful sorcery, digestion in a behemoth’s gullet, or immersion in molten rock) but it can remake extremely damaged things like shattered crystal, burnt paper, splintered wood and twisted metal. As the Solar works with the remains of a broken or destroyed object, she may slowly piece it together with word, touch, and Essence over the course of (10 - Essence) hours. If used while under the effect of Craftsman Needs No Tools, this time is reduced to minutes or seconds, and eliminates both the need for tools and in many cases for materials. This Charm can restore magical objects but not metaphorical concepts: it cannot mend a broken heart, nor can it put the magic back into a First Age construct whose magic has fled or faded away. This Charm may lower the difficulty of repairing Artifacts that are fragmented or shattered, while also making such a repair possible, but otherwise does not remove the material requirements or affect the goal number

Breach Healing Method
Cost: 7m; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One task
Prerequisite Charms: Crack Mending Technique
With the return of the Solar Exalted comes the return of old magic. The power of the Sun’s Essence flows in Creation once more. With this Charm, the Solar establishes a field of (Essence * 2) yards in radius, in which the Essence of the world is quickened with Solar power, where old things come alive again, and truly wondrous things may happen. Anyone standing in this field and assisting the crafter gains a non-Charm dice bonus to their Craft, Lore, Occult, and Medicine rolls equal to the Solar’s Essence. In addition, repair and Medicine rolls are made at one less difficulty. The Solar must be attempting to repair an object or treat an injury to use this Charm, and its effect lasts until her work is finished. Characters who stand within the circle of the Solar’s influence see her work with greater clarity and understanding.

Realizing The Form Supernal
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Breach-Healing Method
The First Age was raised by the hands of the Solar Exalted, and they alone can restore its lost glories, and the moment the Solar touches the damaged Artifact its spirit begins to kindle anew and begin the process of repairing its damaged form, When using Breach-Healing Method to repair an Artifact, the Solar may use this Charm to lower the repair difficulty by one. and reduce the goal number to repair by her (Intelligence * Essence)—the Artifact is physically seen to partially reform, its shattered parts flying together in her hands. This can fully restore certain objects but can not completely restore artifacts with a rating of 4 or higher without a roll. This Charm may be used once per story, but may be reset by completing an Artifact repair without it.

Flawless Handiwork Method
Cost: 6m; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Thousand Forge Hands
The Crafter capitalizes on her own genius. Her hands and Essence flow in tune with the spirit of her craft, turning even the shoddiest materials into sublime masterworks. This charm supplements a harvesting action, allowing them to maintain the life of any living substance that they collect, and allow them to cultivate it in a different environment other than their native one. examples would be harvesting a flower that grows only in the essence filled environment of an eastern defense and being able to grow it in a garden in the souther direction, or collecting eggs from a spider that gives birth only in the underworld and hatching them and raising them in the realm.

Summit Piercing Touch
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Suplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Flawless Handiwork Method
Through diligence, effort, and connectedness to the Essence of her art, the Solar learns to adapt the unfathomable least wonders of the cosmos to the trades which she has mastered. This charm supplements the crafters efforts to distill magical materials allowing them to turn gold into orichalcum, souls into soul still, process raw jade, star metal, or moon silver with a superior project.

Spirit Gathering Industry
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Flawless Handiwork Method
Crafting supernatural works requires an extreme commitment of one’s own spiritual energy. Husbanding her resources, the Exalt’s Essence becomes more readily powerful when she rises to the task. The craftsman senses are permanently enhanced for works of craft genesis, allowing them to perceive within living flora and fauna the traits that they desire to cultivate and those they wish to quell allowing them to create an entirely new organism, over the period of only a few generations, rather than hundreds.

This charm reduces the time between reproduction cycles for flora and fauna to no longer than a season, and allows the solar to identify (Project Rating) traits to either enhance or dispose of at each interval of the project or introduce independently, with intervals being at one season for all project levels. Works of craft genesis undertaken using this charm can never fail in their entirety, although it does not assure the finished product is what the solar designed, it will always yield a result in at least some way similar to what they desired.

Clay And Breath Practice
Cost: 5m;10m;20; (+1;2;3xp);
Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Agnostic, Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisites: Spirit Gathering Industry

The Solar Crafter’s will is legion, and for her even the work that would take mortals a thousand years is accomplished in what seems like a matter of moments by her reckoning. Taking a moment to concentrate, she touches a sculpture or inanimate clockwork automaton, no larger than a dog, and feels 10,000 feelings simultaneously, directed towards the sculpture, kindling the spirit of the being in the same way that the spirit of The Stone Grandmother kindled over hundreds of years by hundreds of people. An animal created in this fashion behaves in all all ways similar to a normal animal, except that it can understand its creators speech, it reliably obeys its creator’s instructions, and it looks obviously artificial, lasting only as long as the solar keeps her motes committed.
The solar may spend several hours in the activation of this charm and the creation of the animal, spending 1xp during the process rather than committing the motes, in order to make this automaton permanent, and animals created in this fashion become familiars to her. When the automaton dies the xp cost is returned to the solar crafter.

At essence 4 the solar may repurchase this charm to allow them to commit an additional 5 motes to animate human shaped automatons, or animals larger than a dog but no larger than a draft horse, both of which possess intelligence and can talk, with a personality and intimacies based on the solar crafters own. Human automatons made in this way use similar statistics to those listed for The Stone Grandmother while animals created in this way use the stats for a San-beast. Making a human or a large animal permanent in this way instead requires a a full day activating the charm and spending 2 xp rather than committing 10 motes.

At essence 5 the solar may repurchase this charm for a second time to allow them to commit an additional 10 motes to animate a human colossus or an animal of incredible size such as a Yedim or a Tyrant Lizard. Making a colossus or huge animal permanent requires the solar to spend a week in the activation of the charm and spend 3xp rather than committing motes

Flawless Example
Cost: 5m, 1wp,; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Supernatural
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Thousand Forge Hands
The crafter, reaching into the bottomless wellspring of their excellence, finishes work on a project which is perfect in every way. This charm supplements the roll to create a project, whether it be an elaborate jar, common tools, or building schematics, infusing it with supernatural clarity. Any character with a related Craft specialty may examine the created project to gain 1 success on any roll made that day to create a similar item. If they attempt to recreate the item exactly, this bonus increases to two successes. If the project is examined by a Labor Force, instead the force is treated as if they were one Scale higher or if they are Unskilled they may be treated as Skilled. If a character examines the object ever day for a month, he may purchase a 1 dot merit which provides the same bonuses as examining this object. Dice from this merit still count as dice added from a charm, and although the crafter may benefit from the extra successes generated by observing her own work, she may not benefit from upgrading herself as a Labor Force.

Efficiency Tree/ The Fecund Master

Horizon Unveiling Insight
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
As the Solar works deeper into the soul of her craft, she unlocks wisps and flashes of greater wonders, ancient genius, and dim visions of a lost age. Upon purchasing this charm the solar gains two permanent major project slots and one project superior project slot of either type, and at the end of each story the solar gains (major slots x 2) silver points and (major slots) gold points. This charm may be purchased essence times.

Burning The Midnight Oil
Cost: -; Mins: Craft 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: none
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Horizon Unveiling Insight
Sleep no longer is a barrier to the pursuits of the Solar's art, as she learns how to turn getting a night's rest into yet another project on her creative docket. By committing a crafting slot, the chooses to one of two options. The first being that they enter into a state of lucid dreaming while they sleep allowing them to continue working on crafts as if in the planning portion of their work while gaining the full benefits of sleep, in which case the slot committed must be the same level or higher than the project they are working on. The second being that they become unaffected by a need for sleep, allowing her to stay awake without fatigue penalty and slowing them to continue the physical aspect of crafting for as long as the slot is occupied, or a period of one week, whichever comes first, although she might still appear visibly fatigued and in need of rest.

This heightened sense of motivation grants the Exalt an additional bonus depending on which function she has committed her slots to, with lucid dreaming granting them an additional gold point and (Essence + 2) silver points for every Craft Ability she has rated at 5 after waking from a night of lucid dreaming, and fatigueless insomnia granting her non - Charm success to all Craft rolls for projects which can occupy a committed slot or lower. The Exalt can commit up to (Essence) slots in this fashion. However, this enhanced motivation also makes it impossible for the Solar to feel at ease when she could be doing work. Sleeping while this slots are committed to this function will not allow her to regain Willpower, nor can she regain motes at the full rate of ten motes per hour from resting.

The Exalt can end either effect at any time by paying the craft points necessary to create a temporary version of each of the committed slots used to activate this Charm. Once all slots are no longer occupied, the Exalt cannot use this Charm again until she gets a normal full night's rest.

Vice Miracle Technique
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Summit-Piercing Touch
The Solar crafter is constantly giving form to the wonders that live inside her mind. A Lawgiver with this Charm is particularly fecund: once per season she may produce a completely finished two dot Artifact of the player’s choosing (or design). The Solar need not pay gold points to complete the project; the Artifact is already complete; the Storyteller should treat this as a piece of work she designed and completed in the margins of all her other projects, using expertise and efficiency to complete a wonder as an unspoken side project. The Solar earns no craft points for producing Artifacts in such a manner. However, if the player produces this Artifact in response to a problem, a question, or otherwise introduces their new invention as part of a socially-driven stunt that makes their character seem like a miraculous wonder-worker, she earns five gold points. At Essence 5+, this Charm can be used to produce a two or three dot Artifact.

Special Activation Rules: This Charm can only be used by a character who has already constructed at least one Artifact rated two or higher, and is in the process of building at least one other.

Efficient Craftsman Technique
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Horizon Unveiling Insight

The Solar’s efforts fleet and flash before her eyes, bringing her closer to an ineffable truth. This charm grants the solar the ability to spend silver points as if they were motes, on a 1 to 1 basis, when performing charms in the craft tree. This can not be used to substitute for committed motes.

Essence Forging Kata
Cost: 2m per mote, 1wp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Efficient Craftsman Technique
The Solar channels the inspiration she has garnered from past crafts through her hands and tools to make the final product of her work a matter of legend. Powering this Charm requires a dramatic action lasting at least five minutes, in which the Exalt meditates on future tasks, steadies her mind, feels the weight of her tools, readies her forge for the day, and other similar preparatory actions. While this Charm is active, every two motes committed reduces the cost of craft excellencies by 1.

Mind Expanding Meditation
Cost: 1sxp per cap increase, 1wp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Essence-Forging Kata
The Lawgiver is a master of her trade, and uses the work she pours into her craft to inspire her towards new and greater achievements. This Charm may be invoked before an (Attribute + Craft) roll, allowing the Solar to raise her dice cap at a rate of one silver point per die, to a limit of her current Craft rating.

Supreme Celestial Focus
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 4, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Horizon Unveiling Instinct X2
The Solar expands her mind and awakens her flesh, unlocking the brilliance that sings in her Essence. This Charm allows the Exalt to spend Gold Points as XP in order to raise craft abilities to five dots.

Arete Shifting Prana
Cost: — Mins: Craft 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Supreme Celestial Focus
The Lawgiver may glean knowledge from her existing mastery and use it as the foundation for new works.
This charm reduces the experience/GXP cost of craft ability dots by half and Upon purchasing this Charm, the Solar may gain an addition craft ability at rating 5 for every rating they have at 5 or above.
A Solar with at least 12 mundane Craft abilities may repurchase this Charm to trade their Mundane Craft abilities for a universal mundane craft abilities that applies to all uses of the Craft skill. If they lose more than 12 specialties this way, they recover the gap retroactively.

Divine Transcendence Of Craft
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Supreme Perfection of Craft
The Solar expands her mind, body, and spirit to encompass the drain of more difficult tasks. This Charm instantly grants the Solar three white points and a permanent legendary slot when purchased, and five additional white points at the end of each story, This charm can be purchased essence times.

Spirit Stoking Elevation
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 5
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Dragon Soul Emergence
This Charm allows the Solar to spend white experience points as experience points for the purpose of purchasing craft charms at a rate of 5WXP;1 XP, and to further replace the experience points costs of certain Charms with an expenditure of white points at a rate of 5wxp:1xp. This Charm supports the costs of Lore Charms such as Flowing Mind Prana and Wyld-Shaping Technique, and hypothetical Charms with experience costs in Occult or Medicine. However, it does not cover experience costs from sorcerous projects or from the Charms of other Abilities. Upon purchasing this charm the solar may retroactively recover experience spent on craft charms by exchanging it for White Points.

The Utility Tree/ The Eclectic Engineer

Craftsman Needs No Tools
Cost: 6m; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: One task
Prerequisite Charms: None
A Solar who has mastered this Charm can work directly with her chosen material, shaping it with hands, breath, and voice. Without the need for tools or a workshop, the Exalt can start basic and major projects as soon as she has the proper ingredients, and can complete such works with blazing speed, often in just minutes or seconds.

This Charm supplements an attempt to build or repair something, allowing the Solar to work without tools or a workshop. If used to create or repair an Artifact or manse, it counts as a basic workshop and doesn't let the Solar work any faster than normal. If used on a mundane project, this Charm reduces the time required by two increments on the following chart:
Decades <-> Years <-> Months <-> Weeks <-> Days <-> Hours <-> Minutes <-> Seconds
Reduce the cost of this Charm by 2m if using it with tools that would be sufficient to complete the project normally.

Durability Enhancing Prana
Cost: 5m; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Craftsman Needs No Tools
The Solar touches an object no larger than (Essence + 2) yards in radius, rendering it virtually indestructible for the rest of the scene. It cannot be broken or damaged without magic, and any attempt to break or damage it with magic has its difficulty increased by (Essence + 1).

The Solar’s keen understanding of an object allows her treat it with skill and Essence, greatly increasing its durability. The Exalt may temper a blade, reinforce a door, or make a sail fireproof or nearly impenetrable to mundane attacks. She may make an inscription in marble that will not fade even after a hundred years of wind and rain.
Objects permanently enhanced this way increase the difficulty of any attempt to damage or break them by (Essence + 1), but they're not permanently immune to mundane attack and they suffer from normal wear and tear at about one hundredth of the normal rate.

Chaos Resistance Prana
Cost: 5m; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Object-Strengthening Touch
The Solar can reinforce an object so that the Wyld cannot touch it. The Lawgiver spends up to an hour treating an object no more than (Essence) yards in radius. If the object is worn or wielded, it protects itself and the wielder/ wearer from the twisting effects of the Wyld. This protection is limited: in the bordermarches a character can go (Solar’s Essence) days without ill effect. This resistance is halved in the middlemarches, and reduced to hours in the deep Wyld. If the character only has partial protection—say a caravan guard wielding only a treated pike— then this protection is reduced to hours and minutes respectively. Chaos-Resistance Preparation can also be used to treat objects, and like and labeled objects traveling in auspicious arrays stack their protections, allowing groups of treated objects to survive Wyld journeys with the same benefits of a character wearing multiple treated items. At Essence 3+, the Exalt may pay fifteen motes, one Willpower to use this Charm on the project scale (p. 239), working for (10 - Stamina) hours to cover a considerable number of goods and vehicles or arms and armor. She may protect the hull of a small trade ship, as well as its rigging and sails, and need not protect the cargo or provisions below decks, or she may protect several wagons, single-handedly preparing a small caravan for a trip through chaos-tainted lands.

The Art Of Permanence
Cost: 6m, 1wxp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Chaos-Resistance Preparation
This Charm supplements an attempt to create or repair something. If it succeeds, the object will endure forever. The Wyld will never twist it and it will only ever be damaged by overwhelming traumatic events like explosions and avalanches. If it naturally consumes itself when used, like a candle, it will somehow last forever anyway. In addition, the object will be indelibly marked by the Solar's touch. The Solar will always recognize it as their own work, even after dying and reincarnating, and if they claim responsibility for it others will instinctively know the claim to be true. The Solar may also spend 1m when creating or repairing something without this Charm, to eternally mark it as their own work. This Charm may not be used to enhance food, medicine, or chemicals.

Shattering Grasp
Cost: 6m; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
Duration: One task
Prerequisite Charms: Craftsman Needs No Tools
An Exalt with this charm knows the strengths and weaknesses of her chosen materials and may rend them down with a mixture of light precise touches and ranging blows, which suffuse the substance with her essence and tear them apart to their base most usable components. She may rend apart stone with her bare hands, destroy a door by crossing it with her palms, and may disassemble a steel portcullis instantly with the tap of her fingertips. the two former examples represent basic tasks while the later represents a major project, both of which happen instantaneously, where as a performing this upon a superior large mundane project would be the same as performing this charm numerous times for several major projects.
Additionally, although the charm does not normally effect supernatural works, who's spirit maintains their integrity, a craftsman may make a stunt while using this charm in order to attempt to do so, disrupting the spirit of an artifact and preventing it from maintaining itself for a period of (Extra Successes) minutes, at which time the artifact is inoperable.
Disassembly does not accrue the Exalt any craft points, though if she uses the rent material to build new objects or to repair the ones she has damaged, she may earn craft points accordingly.

Time Heals Nothing
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Shattering Grasp
The Lawgiver can press aside the veil of time to deliver the world from its ravages, or to further them. This charm upgrades the prerequisite, increasing the time of disruption for the spirit from (Extra Successes) minutes to hours, at which point the crafter may perform a Gambit, with the difficulty determined by the level of the artifact, to damage its spirit permanently, preventing it from maintaining itself and functioning until it is repaired. If the craftsman is using this charm on mundane projects, it also increases the effect, allowing her to reduce the effected objects to no more than dust if she desires, rather than to its base components.

Red Anvils Fall
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 4, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Craftsman Needs No Tools
The Solar is permanently attuned to the Essence of her workmanship, making her instinctively aware of how her creativity moves the Essence of the world. Whenever a solar completes a project, rather than receiving an inspiration reward in the form of craft points, she may instead commit those points to the crafted item, giving her the ability to at any time make a (Craft+Perception) roll to determine the crafted items location, its bearer, what it is being used for, and how it is influencing creation.

Chains Fall Away
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Red Anvils Ringing

It is not always prudent for the works that a crafter creates to remain in creation, and in truth they are sometimes a burden forming a gripping chain upon her soul. After performing a (Perception + Craft) roll to determine the effect that her works are having on creation, she may immediately recall the craft xp she committed to the item upon its creation, causing it to turn to dust as she is renewed with greater inspiration to craft even greater works.

Unerring Eye Of The Journeyman
Cost: 5m; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Craftsman Needs No Tools

Only those who know the works of their peers can strive to surpass them. This Charm is an action where the Exalt examines a non-supernatural crafted object, allowing the Lawgiver to introduce a fact (Exalted, p. 237) about the item, such as who is its creator, how it was made, any peculiarities of its style, and so on, so long as the Exalt has had experience with handling or creating the kind of item in question. In the case of an item needing repair, this might lower the difficulty of a basic or major repair project by one. This charm also allows the Exalt to identify mundane counterfeits without the need of a roll so long as she has some prior experience with genuine examples of those items.

Master Craftsmans’s Eye
Cost: 3+m; Mins: Craft 4, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Agnostic
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Unerring Eye Of The Journeyman

This Charm allows the Solar to assess a a supernatural crafted item reflexively. If the Solar receives at least three successes, they immediately recognize the work of anyone who they've met or seen the work of before, and know the name of the item if it has one. If the Solar receives at least five successes, they receive some insight into the nature of the creator and gain at least a loose understanding of any magical properties the item may have.

Undoubted Sign Of The Master
Cost: 2sxp, 2gxp, or 2wxp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Unerring Eye of the Journeyman

With unmatched insight of the fundamentals of what is desired and appreciated with her art, the Lawgiver imposes a new interpretation of it all her own. The Exalt can pay two appropriate craft experience points when first rolling to for a project (basic projects require no expenditure). If she does so, the completed item bares some mark, stylistic flourish, or other sign of workmanship that makes the completed object unmistakably her doing. Anyone even slightly familiar with her or her works related to the Craft Ability used, whether handling them personally or through rumors of their distinctive qualities, will instantly recognizes the completed item as a genuine product of her labors. If he has ever personally seen or interacted with one of her works, he can also forever tell a counterfeit from an authentic item, at a glance knowing whether something was created by her hand or a simple knockoff

Dragon Soul Transfusion
Cost: 10 Motes; 1wp (committed) Mins: Craft: 5 Essence: 3
Type:
Keywords:
Prerequisits: Craftsman Needs No Tools

Nothing is beyond the ken of the Exalted Crafter, even elevating mundane objects beyond their means, by transfusing them with the essence of the spirits of creation. This actions represents the Crafter seizing control of a spirit (Demon, Ghost, Rakasha, God, Elemental using the rules for binding a spirit listed under summon first circle demon core book page 473) and binding their essence into an object for 1 year and 1 day or until released, whichever comes first, transforming the object into a masterwork, with an added difficulty to the binding determined by the level of the masterwork the crafter is trying to make, for the period of the binding, however rather than an undetermined magical effect like with natural masterworks, master works made through such a binding have access to a number of the spirits charms determined by the level of the masterwork. as it is not an artifact, the masterwork requires no atonement and the crafter may lend or give it to others, at which point they may take responsibility for the wp commitment to keep the spirit bound.

The binding is broken when the masterwork is broken, The crafter ends thier WP comitment, or a time period of 1 year and a day pass.
Words As Workshop Method
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute, Stackable
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Craftsman Needs No Tools
The Solar speaks the implements of her trade into existence. Upon using this Charm, the Exalt describes Artifact tools she needs to complete the present task, be it one of Craft, Lore, Medicine, Occult, or Investigation. The Essence of the world shapes itself into an artifact matching her description, with powers and active Evocations commensurate to the Exalt’s description, which the story teller finds to be within reason.
The Exalt may use said Artifacts without paying an attunement cost, but if she wishes to lend them out, the borrower must pay an attunement cost in order to use them. Such Artifacts can be as simple or complex as needed, and may even have personalities. With each use of this Charm, the Solar may describe up to (Essence) tools, but the Storyteller should be aware of diminishing returns; the overall effectiveness should be based on the player’s stunts and descriptions.
In any case, these Artifact assistants possess such esoteric capabilities as the ability to listen for a daiklave’s heartbeat, to holding a patient’s soul in place while the Solar performs continual, complex surgery to fix horrific injury, and provide a static dice bonus equivalent to the level of the stunt used to describe them into existence.
Using Craftsman Needs No Tools with appropriate created Artifacts may allow the Exalt to work on superior or legendary Artifact projects at inopportune moments, with a stunt. Artifacts created by this Charm vanish in a blaze of Essence as soon as the Exalt is finished using them.

Painted Truth Prana/ Philosophy Carved In Stone
Cost: 10m, 1wp;
Mins: Craft 5, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Agnostic
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Craftsman Needs No Tools; a specialty in painting, sculpture, or some other form of visual art

This Charm supplements an attempt to create visual art. If the attempt succeeds, the Solar may roll (Charisma or Manipulation + Craft) as a social influence roll that targets anyone who takes some time to examine the artwork. If the Solar wishes to play on an Intimacy with their art, they must name it as they work. Apart from that, they may deliver any form of social influence in this way. The influential nature of artwork created this way is obvious. Everyone can tell what the message is as long as they're familiar with the relevant characters and concepts. The social influence effect lasts as long as it remains relevant; a painting that instills sadness will remain effective as long as it's intact, but a sculpture that portrays Chejop Kejak as a bumbling fool will lose its effectiveness when Chejop Kejak is dead and nobody remembers what he looked like.

Attention Demanding Artwork
Cost: 4m;
Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Agnostic
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Painted Truth Prana/Philosophy Carved In Stone

This Charm supplements an attempt to create visual art. If the attempt succeeds, the Solar may roll (Charisma or Manipulation + Craft). Anyone whose Resolve is less than half the Solar's successes is unable to walk past the artwork without stopping to examine it unless they've already done so. In addition, anyone whose Resolve is less than the Solar's successes is unable to destroy the artwork or allow it to be destroyed. Spending 1 willpower allows a character to ignore the art or an attempt to destroy it, while spending 3 willpower allows a character to deliberately destroy the artwork. If this Charm is activated alongside its prerequisite, the Solar rolls only once. If multiple pieces of art enhanced with this Charm are present in a scene, a character may resist the effects of them all by spending willpower once.

Miraculous Map Maker Method
Cost: 6m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Agnostic
Duration: Instant or Indefinite
Prerequisites: Craftsman Needs No Tools; a specialty in mapmaking

This Charm supplements an attempt to draw a map. If the attempt is successful, the map has details ten times as fine as it normally would. More supernaturally, the map changes as the area depicted does. A destroyed city disappears, a renamed mountain is relabeled. The map never loses its accuracy over time, though it's sometimes slow to update. The speed of the changes depends on how close the map is to its subject: a map of Creation stored in Nexus will quickly account for a change to Nexus's name, but it might take a while for it to note the sinking of an island in the far West. The effectiveness of this Charm depends on the accuracy of the information provided. A false map will update falsely, preserving its errors. However, a Solar using this Charm has a near-perfect sense for the consistency of the geographical information they're working with. Tricking them into drawing a false map has a difficulty of their Perception + Craft. A Solar may activate this Charm with Indefinite duration to draw a map of an area while exploring it. This removes all penalties for drawing on the move, and gives the Solar or their guide(s) an automatic success on all navigation rolls. With a Craft 4+ Essence 3+ repurchase, maps enhanced with this Charm are improved in the following ways: -As long as the map is in the territory that it depicts, a small mark appears on it showing the map's location. A "you are here" mark. -As long as the map is in the territory that it depicts, it shows the local weather. This ability is limited by distance: a map of Creation, if held in Lookshy, will not show rain on the Blessed Isle. -The map is so perfectly clear that absolutely anyone can understand it. No matter how many complex concepts the Solar depicts, the map is always clearly understandable. -The map may depict an innately unpalatable area like the Wyld or the Labyrinth or the world-body of a Primordial. Somehow, whatever spatial inconsistencies the area possesses are perfectly explained by the map.

Omniscient Surveyor Method
Cost: 15m; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 4
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Agnostic
Duration: Until the map is finished
Prerequisites: Miraculous Mapmaker Method x2

This Charm allows the Solar to draw a map of an area they know nothing about. The Solar rolls Perception + Craft, and obtains information based on the result. One success gives the knowledge of an ordinary person from the area, three successes gives the knowledge of an educated and well traveled person from the area, and five successes gives the knowledge of an extremely competent professional cartographer from the area. Further successes reveal forgotten secrets, or expands the map to include more information than any single mortal could know about the area. The effectiveness of this Charm depends on how mysterious the area is. Five successes can tell a Solar everything they need to know about an ordinary city, but if used on the Labyrinth it will only reveal a small area. This Charm never gives false information, and the information it leaves out is never particularly misleading. Knowledge acquired by this Charm flows directly from the universe into the map the Solar is drawing, and never touches the Solar's conscious mind. This Charm may only be used once per story per area.

Glorious Solar Chef
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Agnostic
Duration: One day
Prerequisites: Craftsman Needs No Tools; A specialty in cooking, baking, or something similar

This Charm supplements an attempt to make food. If the attempt succeeds, it allows the Solar to make an attempt to inspire happiness with (Charisma + Craft), targeting everyone who eats what they've made. Anyone other than the Solar who's affected by this regains a point of willpower, up to a limit of half their normal maximum, once per day. With a suitable stunt, the Solar may attempt to inspire something other than happiness with this Charm. Those affected by attempts to instill other emotions may or may not regain willpower, at the ST's discretion. Normally this Charm may only enhance enough food to feed five people. At Essence 2+, the Solar may spend an extra 3m to enhance enough food for a few dozen, and at Essence 3+ they may spend an extra 6m to enhance enough food for hundreds.

Consumption Demanding Cuisine
Cost: 4m; Mins: Craft 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Agnostic
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Glorious Solar Chef

This Charm supplements an attempt to make food. If the attempt succeeds, the Solar rolls (Charisma + Craft) and for as long as the food remains fresh anyone whose Resolve is overcome by the Solar's roll is compelled to eat the Solar's creation as soon as they see or smell it. Resisting this influence costs 2wp. If the food belongs to someone else, is full of broken glass, contains human flesh, is probably poisoned, or is otherwise obviously dangerous or unethical to eat, characters get +2 to their Resolve to avoid eating it and need only spend 1wp to resist the influence. If this Charm is activated alongside its prerequisite, use a single roll for both. A character who resists a use of this Charm is immune to it for the rest of the day.

Mind Shattering Cullinary Perfection
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Agnostic
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Glorious Solar Chef

This Charm supplements an attempt to make food. If the attempt is successful, the resulting food is delicious enough to turn a man into a babbling mess. The Solar rolls (Charisma + Craft) and compares their result to the Resolve of anyone who eats it. Any character whose Resolve is overcome must spend 2wp or be rendered insensate by the sheer perfection of the Solar's cooking (or baking, or whatever). Such a character gains a Defining Intimacy reflecting joy, admiration for the Solar, love of whatever food they ate, or something similar. He can take no useful action unless attacked. At the end of the hour, the Intimacy is reduced to the Major level and he may act normally once again. At the end of the day, it becomes Minor, and from then on it's a normal Intimacy. If this Charm is activated alongside its prerequisite and/or Consumption-Demanding Cuisine, use a single roll for both/all.

The Capstone Tree/ The Summation Of Craft

**norraba** · 08-20-2017, 03:52 PM

Crafting Martial Arts

Metaphrast Of Creation Style

Still working on concepts, but ill give this bit away, the martial art is going to be based on craft geomancy with the idea that the craft martial artist will alter the field of battle into one that is advantageous for them, which is why i chose the name metaphrase of creation style, as a metaphrast is someone who translates a literary work from one form to another, the metaphrast of creation stylist will be someone who translates one form of creation into another.

The capstone of the martial art may or may not turn the martial artist into a miniature version of lap

sources of inspiration:

I am using this quote from Vance to help me plan this out:

From Vance:
When you start writing a martial art, figure out what its unique strategy and M.O. for winning a fight is. Snake style is about being swift and deadly, and so pushes you to build up the highest Initiative possible. Tiger style wants you to chase down your enemies and savagely brutalize them. White Reaper is strongest when you're outnumbered. Dreaming Pearl Courtesan is fairly weak, unless you're having a pleasant cup of tea/a pleasant night with your intended victim, in which case it becomes absolutely brutal. This strategy will basically give you a scaffold for building the style's Charms and the synergies between them.

The Essence 1, pre-form Charms of a style tend to be fairly robust, workhorse-like techniques that don't require a lot of tactical set-up to use, but that are at their best when pursuing the style's strategy. In general, the goal is for a character who's learned all the Essence 1 Charms to actually feel like a Snake stylist, or a Tiger stylist, or whatever, without needing to go Supernal Martial Arts and pick up all the high Essence Charms. These also tend to have the Mastery keyword to bring them up closer to the power level of Solar Charms, for similar reasons.

Form Charms are the strategic centerpiece of your style. They provide useful bonuses on their own, but their real power tends to be the synergy they have with other Charms of the style. Ebon Shadow Form, for example, lets you drain Initiative from opponents when you go into stealth and rewards you for landing sneak attacks. If a style has a mechanical "gimmick," like Crane style's reliance on counterattacks or Single Point's multiple attacks, they tend to live in the form. I try to keep them at Essence 1, to solidify the feeling of being an X stylist, but more powerful ones sometimes go up to Essence 2.

After the form, you find effects that are more powerful, but that require you to play to the style's strategy. While they tend to be standalone effects, they should have strong synergies with the pre-form charms and with each other, and you need to take the synergistic effect into account when balancing them.They branch out of the form—Tiger, for example, has an offensive cascade, a grappling-focused cascade, and a stealth-focused cascade. The divisions don't have to be that cut-and-dry mechanical—I'd just go with a progression that feels like it makes sense to you. They eventually converge in a capstone effect, usually at Essence 3, that is the most powerful signature move of the style.

Some common types of capstone Charms are finishing moves that let you pay off the tactical set-up you've done throughout the fight with a deadly blow (Essence Venom Strike, Heart-Ripping Claw, Blinding Nova Flare) or powerful upgrades to the style's form (Angry Predator Frenzy, Snow Follows Winter, Invoking the Chimera's Coils), but feel free to go nuts creatively and find something cool that fits your style. These very often have both the Terrestrial and Mastery keywords.

The Mastery keyword, in general, is good for spicing up Charms that look pretty balanced on their own, but that might pale a little in comparison to the power a Solar normally gets out of her Charms.

The Terrestrial keyword is used to weaken or restrict effects that are potentially overpowered in the hands of the Dragon-Blooded, compared to their native Charms. Obviously, that's kinda hard to assess without their hardback being out yet. As a rule of thumb, things like extra attacks, area of effect attacks, uncapped or very high decisive damage boosts, anything that lets you do decisive damage without using your own Initiative, etc., are the kind of things that should send up red flags.

Once you've written a style, or if you get stuck, throw together a character with the style's Charms and playtest them against a couple of quick character enemies from the book. It's a good way to get a feel for how it all actually comes together, and is vital for catching unbalanced stuff.

Based on that these are the notes i have so far

Metaphrast of Creation Style

Metaphrast of Creation Style is an unarmed martial arts style that centers on feeling the flow of essence both within the stylist and creation itself, and then manipulating that flow in order to rewrite creation, and more specifically the field of battle, in a way that is to the stylists advantage. Through careful self reflection and meditation, the stylist begins to understand their own essence, and the gentle push and pull that it has on the very fabric that binds creation itself, the Dragon Lines. Although today knowledge of the Dragon Lines is little more than esoteric knowledge, known only to or speculated upon by the most astute of scholars, when the style was originally developed by the Solar Craftsman Al-Khadir, it was referred to as the Dragon’s Shepard Style, a moniker that was also bestowed upon him by his closest of students.

Metaphrast Weapons: Metaphrast of Creation stylists employ a number of weapons designed to keep enemies at a distance such as staves and spears, but can also be used with crafting tools or unarmed attacks. Mortal practitioners employ smooth circular movements that allow them to dance across the battle field between opponents and objects in the terrain, making the battle field work for them. (Think Baguazhang/Air bending)
Practitioners of this martial art who have attained enlightenment, or started off as Essence-Users, employ a specialized attack in which the stylist learns to manipulate the energy within themselves in order to effect the energy around them, transforming creation itself into their weapon, however they may still use the form weapons of the style as a means to channel the attack. These stylists also employ the circular motions of their mortal contemporaries, however they also incorporate low powerful stances and thrusting forms and fast circular hand movements into their forms as a means of channeling creation. (Think Hung Gar/Earth bending and Northern Shaolin/Fire bending)

Writer’s note: in trying to determine how to make this martial art feasible as something that mortals could do in its normal form I began looking up actual martial arts, specifically ones that matched the celestial martial arts goal of controlling the field of battle, and i arrived quite unknowingly to Baguazhang style which seemed like a perfect fit, only realizing afterwards that it was the martial arts that inspired the air bending style in the animation Avatar the last air bender. I had perviously looked up the martial art that inspired earth bending since that was the one I perceived as being most connected to what the celestial martial art could do, but since it was an external kung-fu style (one that dealt with outside power rather than internal understanding) I realized that it neither matched what I was trying to do physically with its practice, or thematically with the description of the martial art in the introduction.
Still wanting to find a way to incorporate it after discovering the connection of Baguazhang to air bending style, and not wanting to just rip the earth bending aesthetic and say it was done with air bending moves, I began to think of it as an internal power (Baguazhang) versus external power (Hung Gar and Northern Shaolin).
In this way the incorporation of what is effectively earth bending and fire bending forms into the celestial martial art represents the transition of the martial artist from seeking internal power through enlightenment to the outward expression of that power in a physical form

Breath of the Dragon Architect

Cost: —; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Mastery; Terrestrial
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Metaphrast is not a translator of books nor language, stooped over their desk in darkly lit rooms, but a translator of concepts, and their greatest strength is in their ability to make their vision a reality on the field of battle.
This charm allows the martial artist to express their Breath by controlling their internal energy in order to manipulate the energy of creation around them, allowing them to attack by creating architectural structures up to short range band away as the physical manifestation of that manipulation.
Expressions of the stylists Breath carry the traits of a mundane light melee weapon with the bashing, improvised, and melee tags, save that she rolls it’s attacks with Martial Arts (Metaphrast of Creation Style) rather than Melee, and the raw damage is calculated with using the constructs hardness, where hardness is determined by the stylists level in the craft architecture ability, rather than the stylists strength. The Martial Artist may supplement the expression of her Breath with the craft charms similar to durability enhancing method and object strengthening touch, with the increase in durability as described in the charms also yielding an equal increase in the structures hardness.
If the martial artist has craft architecture at 3 or higher then the expressions of their Breath drops the Improvised tag.

Terrestrial: This charm gains the slow tag

Mastery: The Martial Artist’s expression of their Breath creates constructs that carry the traits of a light artifact weapon and loose the improvised tag.

Writer's Notes: When it is said that this charm allows the Martial Artist to create architectural structures in order to attack, this does not necessarily mean that they are attacking their opponents with buildings, even though they are doing that of sorts, it is widely open to the interpretation of your specific Metaphrast on how she is going to express her individual Breath. She may very well have a whole building emerge from in front of their enemy to bludgeon him, or in the case of later charms entrap him, or to allow her to have cover and/or escape, but they could also just as easily create the same effect by creating a stone pillar, which could look like anything from a roman column to a seemingly natural formation like the Lena Pillars found on the banks of the Lena River in far eastern Siberia.
Ultimately the shape that the structures generated by the style take will depend on the personal aesthetic of the metaphrase in question, with their proximity to the desired effect being determined by the metaphrases level of craft architecture.

Writer's Notes 2: The structures are generated from creations substance, which means any kind of substance that is natural, and can easily be held together in a solid form, battles on sand might result in structures of glass, on water might form ice, in the air might form surprisingly solid clouds? this is also something that is up to the players imagination and the Story Teller's consent

Unnamed Charm 1

Cost: ? ; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Suplemental
Keywords: mastery
Duration: ?
Prerequisite Charms: Breath of the Dragon Architect

this charm will supplement an expression of their stylist breath, allowing her to extend her range to medium and to give her attacks the piercing tag. and allows them to use the breath to grapple/disarm her opponent with the breath

mastery: grapple or disarm gambits may be taken against essence number of opponents

AN: as can probably be guessed by not even having a name yet this is less than even a rough draft and may not be representative of the direction i decide to ultimately go with this

Unnamed Charm 2

Cost: ? ; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1
Type: supplemental?
Keywords: ?
Duration: ?
Prerequisite Charms: UNC1

this one is going to supplement a dodge or withdraw action, haven't worked it out yet

AN: also very rough draft

Unnamed Charm 3

Cost: ? ; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1
Type: reflexive
Keywords:
Duration: instant
Prerequisite Charms: UNC1

this one is going to be able to create cover or destroy cover, basically whenever you or an ally is being attacked you can reflexively create cover, or whenever an enemy takes cover you can reflexively destroy it

AN: this one is actually the most thought out of these four but I need to refine it a lot. Probably going to add a mastery or terrestrial to it, honestly all these need something.

Metaphrast of Creation Form

Cost: ? ; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Type: form
Keywords: Mastery; Terrestrial
Duration: scene
Prerequisite Charms: UNC 2 and 3

The martial artist embodies the dragon lines of creation themselves, taking the stance of the serpent of creation, she enforces her will upon the shape of creation.

Upon adopting the metaphrast of creation form the martial artist immediately becomes aware of aware of the lay lines of creation that control its structure and they tremble at that awareness. This causes an area of effect attack that strikes all characters and structures in a radius of (essence range bands) of the martial artist and transforming the area into difficult terrain. The martial artist rolls (martial arts+dexterity+essence) against affected characters dodge dv and affected structures hardness, knocking prone all characters who are hit and toppling all structures who's hardness are overcome. This effect reoccurs every round that the martial artist remains in metaphrast of creation form.

Mastery: the martial artist and her constructs are immune to area of effect attack and its attacks. She light across the surface of the most difficult terrain created in this fashion as if it were nothing and her constructs are as a bastion of stability in a sea of chaos.

Additionally while in this form, the Metaphrast gains a keener connection to their constructs, marking them as an extension of themselves. This connection takes the form of lidless stone eyes etched into the surface of her constructs allowing making them her form weapon and allowing her to make awareness and attack rolls through her constructs against targets within short range band of them, with attacks made in this way

Terrestrial: the martial artists link of awareness takes the form of a lidless eye that becomes physically etched into the surface of her constructs, which can be destroyed through a gambit, removing her connection to the constructs and as a result her ability to make awareness and attack rolls through them.

Unnamed Charm 4

Cost: ? ; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Type: permanent
Keywords: ?
Duration: permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Metaphrast of Creation Form

thought about this while skimming through the book looking for something on difficult terrain, basically this is going to have some fluff about creation loving the metaphrast and rising up to protect it, reducing potential damage from falling or hazardous terrain by a level i have not determined

AN: super rough draft

Nursing the Dragon's Rhythms

Cost: ?; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Type: ?
Keywords: ?
Duration: ?
Prerequisite Charms: Unnamed Charm 4

this charm is going to represent manipulating the dragon lines in a way to create a new form of natural phenomena in the region of the battle field

Labyrinth of the Dragon's Path

Cost: ?; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Type: ?
Keywords: ?
Duration: ?
Prerequisite Charms: Unnamed Charm 4

this is going to create a literal maze on the battle field under the stylists control, which is capable of separating battle groups on its creation, there will be a mastery ability that allows the solar martial artist to change the maze after it is made

Square Turtle's Alignment

Cost: ?; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Type: ?
Keywords: ?
Duration: ?
Prerequisite Charms: Labyrinth of the Dragon's Path

thought of this after someone brought up the legend of the square shelled turtle after seeing the first charm in the tree, this one will represent the arrangement of the maze in the perfect alignment, making it so that it provides bonuses to the stylist and penalties to the opponent, to ensure the stylists victory

Harnessing the Dragon's Roar

Cost: ?; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Type: ?
Keywords: ?
Duration: ?
Prerequisite Charms: Unnamed Charm 4

This one takes control of naturally occurring phenomena that already exist, the difference between this one and the dragon rhythms is essentially that the rhythms would allow you to make a new caldera like the one under gem, this one would let you take that caldera, or tornado, or hurricane etc... and bring it to you, or where your enemy is.

The Shepard Beckons

Cost: ?; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4
Type: ?
Keywords: ?
Duration: ?
Prerequisite Charms: Harnessing the Dragon's Roar; Square Turtle's Alignment, Nursing the Dragon's Rhythms

this honestly just makes the stylist seem like an elemental pole so a bunch of elementals show up and form a battle group or chaos, will decide later

Translation of the Breath

Cost: ?; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4
Type: ?
Keywords: ?
Duration: ?
Prerequisite Charms: The Shepard Beckons

This charm allows the master stylist to awaken the breath of a mortal practitioner (only one student per purchase of this charm), for stylists with the terrestrial tag this will allow them to use the charms of this martial art as if they had the mastery tag.

**norraba** · 08-20-2017, 03:53 PM

craft merits

Master Assistant

**norraba** · 08-20-2017, 03:53 PM

Adversaries

The Stone Grandmother

The face of the stone statue in the square by my house in Chiaroscuro had once born the visage of a young woman, the likeness of the sculptor’s own daughter made to look like a celestial being for all time. Time not been kind to her however, altering that countenance, and some would say that the statue had fallen into disrepair. Its wings that once reached for the heavens in a brilliance of gleaming metal had drooped from the Sols heat and now draped across her shoulders like a shawl. The once smooth stone had been pockmarked and eroded by the wind and the rain, making it look wrinkled. the once brilliant white orbs that had served as her eyes had fallen out long ago and children used them as marbles to play games at her feet.

The peoples love for her did not diminish with her aging however, it just took on a new for as she went from being seen as an goddess by the residents from centuries past to the neighborhoods cherished grandmother. People would often sit with the stone grandmother and share their stories of the day, even I did from time to time, and i could almost swear i saw her smile out of the corner of my eye at those moments.

Then one night while walking home from the statue, I was attacked by a man with a Flamepiece. I thought my life was over when i heard the shot go off, but a metal wing was stretched out before me and a towering figure with glowing red eyes stood next to me and said, “No one hurts my grandchildren in this neighborhood”

The kindling of the spirit in the supernatural works of the Exalted known as artifacts is not the only way for objects to become possessed of a life of their own, with the process capable of happening as naturally occurring phenomena, one occurrence being listed in the exalted core book on page 500. The Stone Grandmother in another example of an Independent Sapient Automata, similar to the statue of Tahanki Shant. Little is known about how it occurs naturally, only that in the grandmothers case, when large quantities of mortals anthropomorphized her for long periods of time their collective psychic energies directed at the statue created within it a life and soul of its own.
Whether this happened due to some innate capacity within the grandmother, either form her position, her material, or if it is replicable, or has been replicated in other areas, is unknown, but hypothetically their is no reason to assume that any repeated encounter with such a being would be as similarly friendly as it is for the grandmothers pages, as the spark that gave her life was inarguably tied to the feelings directed towards, her, and a living statue brought to life by more negative feelings may be found to be quite malevolent.

There is no way to provide quick character stats for every form of Independent Sapient Automata as they may be as varied in form and size as a human colossus and a stone squirrel, but the stats for the stone grandmother are below.
Essence: 1; Willpower: 5; Join Battle: 8 dice Health Levels: -0x4/-1x4/-2x2/-4x2/Incap.
Actions: Appear Inanimate: 10 dice; Feats of Strength: 12 dice (may attempt Strength 7 feats); Threaten: 7 dice Appearance 3, Resolve 5 (see Automaton), Guile 4
Combat Attack (Wing slash): 8 dice (Damage 16, minimum 2) Attack (Unarmed): 10 dice (Damage 14) Attack (Grapple): 6 dice (10 dice to control) Combat Movement: 6 dice Evasion 1, Parry 4 Soak/Hardness: 13/7
Special Attacks
Colossus Strike: The automaton may make a powerful but slow-moving blow, devastating enemies but leaving itself vulnerable to attack. It may double 9s on a decisive attack, but takes a -2 penalty to Defense until its next turn.
Snarling Guardian Attack (Latent): Whenever an enemy attacks the grandmothers chosen family while it is protecting them with a defend other action, she may respond with a decisive counterattack. It may use this counterattack to make a disarm or distract gambit.
Merits
Automaton: Automatons are immune to poison and disease, and have no need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. As a general rule, they treat all social influence as unacceptable, unless following the orders of their master or faced with magic such as the Dawn Caste anima power. Automaton battle groups have perfect morale. Independent sapient automata, such as the statue of The Stone Grandmother, are exceptions, but usually remain immune to fear.

The Revenant Puppeteer

Background: In the time prior to the usurpation, there was a twilight crafter who was particularly prodigious in his crafting of wonders for his fellow exalted, however as great as his genius was, his apathy towards the effects that his works could cause was equally so. There was no particular maliciousness within him that caused him to hurt others, simply a total lack of regard for the value of any life other than his own, and a perception of the whole of creation as if it were one of his lab experiments. Often this would lead him to deliberately creating works that could cause even greater strife for the sole purpose of seeing what would happen when he did, resulting in a great deal of suffering for anyone who had the misfortune of crossing paths with his creations.

This all ended quite abruptly however when he was slain not by an enemy but by a former friend. A sidereal who shared no allegiances with the bronze faction, and had even argued the gold factions side in rehabilitating the solar exalted, came to seek vengeance on the twilight after one of his experiments killed the sidereal's wife. Had he wished it, the twilight could have transferred into one of his last remaining Dual Magnus Automaton not destroyed by his Sidereal assassin, but a scant 25 to 100 years was not enough for the twilight and they desired a life of renewed glory, for which they could begin their work anew. It was for this reason that they had previously devised the heretical charm Sacrilegious Consumption Of The Chosen Disciple, and as they approached the precipice of death they made use of it, consuming the mind of one of their enlightened retainers, for whom they had as much consideration as they did the rest of humanity, and transferring their consciousness to the now empty body of the disciple.

Originally the now former twilight had intended to use artifacts that they had constructed to locate the new host of their twilight exaltation and then to transfer their consciousness from the useful, yet limited, body of his disciple to the start over from the beginning, but their death had immediately proceeded the usurpation and that spark had been trapped within the Jade Prison. Stymied in their efforts, and not knowing how long they could hold out in their current body, the Revenant chose to place themselves into a stasis chamber, set to revive them once they it picked up a sufficient resurgence of the solar exalted, at which point they will rise from near death state and seek out the appropriate solar in order to seize their body for themselves.

Image:

Intimacies:

Secrets: Although the stasis has prevented the aging of his host body, it has weakened the connection between his consciousness and the host, and if the connection grows too faint he risks dissipating into nothingness. For this reason his need is desperate, and he needs to find a new host in which to transfer his consciousness into as quickly as possible, and although the body of his former exaltations current host would be preferred, he is getting desperate enough to make due with what he can secure as quickly as possible, with the intent of gaining what he truly desires when he is more able.

Merits

Amulet of Transferance

charms:
If the Revenant is still within the body of his former disciple then they have any solar craft, lore, and occult charms and terrestrial circle sorcery spells that the story teller deems appropriate

ill write up the rest of this later

(Moved this charm here as it makes more sense as a unique solar craft charm for this adversary, they would not have access to it if they are still in the body of their former moretal retainer, however if they should ever succeed in transferring their consciousness into another solar then they would be able to purchase it again and begin the cycle all over again.)

Sacrilegious Cannibalism Of The Chosen Disciple
Cost: 20m; 20 Wxp ; 5 WP Mins: Craft 5, Essence 6
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisites: Dual Magnus Prana, Exigenisis Of The Distilled Form

There was a Solar crafter once, who’s apathy towards his fellow man was equalled only by his determination to escape death, a man for whom an extra century of life was not enough, and the value for which they say their own loyal attendants to be less than nothing. Pushing the bounds of what should be possible, they found a way to preserve that they considered to be the core of their being, more than their soul or their exaltation, the later they viewed as necessary for someone unconcerned with seeing the other side of death, and the other something that they can recover at a later point.
This charm givers the exalt the ability to graft their consciousness onto the bodies of one of their retainers enlightened through Exigenisis Of The Distilled Form. The process consumes the retainers own mind, making them an empty vessel in which the solars mind can inhabit unchallenged, giving the former solar exalt access to all the physical attributes, charms and abilities, and essence that their former disciple attained during their own life, while maintaining their own willpower, intelligence, perception, wits, charisma, and manipulation attributes, as well as all of their own intimacies. They may in this way live out the rest of the former disciples lifespan, be it days, months, years, or centuries.

The Sliver Of Past Brilliance

**HerrTenko** · 08-21-2017, 12:01 PM

This looks very interesting. I like that you've gone through a lot of thinking about what those who came before you did, as well as how the original system works, and exposed your thought process in designing your own. Your goals seem rather appealing to me, as I too enjoyed some of the generally-disliked parts of the Crafting system. A slightly less cumbersome, more open alternative that still attempts to retain the feel and ideas of the original to make them more enjoyable would be very welcome. I'll be sure to take a look and let you know what I think.

**norraba** · 08-27-2017, 03:04 PM

Originally posted by HerrTenko View Post

This looks very interesting. I like that you've gone through a lot of thinking about what those who came before you did, as well as how the original system works, and exposed your thought process in designing your own. Your goals seem rather appealing to me, as I too enjoyed some of the generally-disliked parts of the Crafting system. A slightly less cumbersome, more open alternative that still attempts to retain the feel and ideas of the original to make them more enjoyable would be very welcome. I'll be sure to take a look and let you know what I think.

this is really encouraging, ive hit a slump with this ever since i started up work again, but i want to keep working on it ot make it better, next thing im looking forward to is adding bridge charms from other trees for the more eclectic craft abilities in order to justify any of thier features that might seem too much on the periphery of craft

**Gaara** · 08-30-2017, 10:30 AM

I really love what you did with Craft. Some of the charms are really cool and the idea of the martial arts is brilliant. I'm really looking forward to read what you will write about that

**Mockery** · 08-30-2017, 05:10 PM

So on the whole I agree with what you're trying to do here. But there are some bits I don't care for. Some of it is I just think we've got different goals out of Craft, so some complaints would amount to telling you to stop having fun.

I'll limit myself to a few things:

The Cannibalism charm is the biggest offender, because if you removed it from the Craft tree and presented it on its own, there's nothing in it that makes me feel like it belongs there; it's the sort progression of concept that's more appropriate to 2e Yozi trees, not Solar ones.

The other big one is the implementation of Chains Fall Away as you've got it. I really feel like one's works being used in ways you wouldn't foresee, possibly in ways you wouldn't want, is as much part of the themes as other "no backsies" rules.

I could absolutely see a Solar Crafter having a sense of foreboding if one of her workings betrays a Defining Intimacy. And I can also see, "I made this, it's my duty to unmake it." I just really don't like the part where that can be done casually from afar.

(Also I don't think Brass Scales Falling is in list of charms you have here even as Red Anvils Ringing has it as a prerequisite.)

**norraba** · 08-30-2017, 05:37 PM

Originally posted by Mockery View Post

So on the whole I agree with what you're trying to do here. But there are some bits I don't care for. Some of it is I just think we've got different goals out of Craft, so some complaints would amount to telling you to stop having fun.

I'll limit myself to a few things:

The Cannibalism charm is the biggest offender, because if you removed it from the Craft tree and presented it on its own, there's nothing in it that makes me feel like it belongs there; it's the sort progression of concept that's more appropriate to 2e Yozi trees, not Solar ones.

The other big one is the implementation of Chains Fall Away as you've got it. I really feel like one's works being used in ways you wouldn't foresee, possibly in ways you wouldn't want, is as much part of the themes as other "no backsies" rules.

I could absolutely see a Solar Crafter having a sense of foreboding if one of her workings betrays a Defining Intimacy. And I can also see, "I made this, it's my duty to unmake it." I just really don't like the part where that can be done casually from afar.

(Also I don't think Brass Scales Falling is in list of charms you have here even as Red Anvils Ringing has it as a prerequisite.)

I think it's a fair assessment for the canibalism charm, I originally did not intend to write the charm but someone sugested something similar to it after reading my rewrite of exigenisis of the distilled form, so I tried writing it up and then got the idea for the adversary after it.

If anything I would likely take it out of the charm tree as a whole and present it as a unique essence 6 charm created by that specific adversary based on their personality, which I think is more fitting.

As for the chains fall away, that's fair, and honestly i like the charm very much but I can see altering it a bit to make it more difficult to destroy what you've created, although not to get rid of it completely, if you have suggestion of how you would make t more difficult I would love to hear them.

As for red anvils falling prerequisite, that is a typo.

update: fixed the typo and have moves cannibalism of the chosen disciple from the solar tree as a whole to the write up for the individual antagonist, making it a unique solar craft charm that fits their aesthetic rather than solars in general.

**Mockery** · 09-01-2017, 04:45 PM

So if I were to try to rework what you have...

I'll warn you in advance, I just really, really don't like the core effect of your version of Chains Fall Away. So this is going to diverge pretty heavily, and since you've said you like what you have you can freely ignore everything that follows. I also haven't really hammered this out into charm shapes yet.

Okay, starting with Red Anvils Ringing, I would rather say that anything you make (possibly tie this Undoubted sign of the Master) into is kind of bound to you passively, and rather than actively checking on it your character has just a general feel, with less active info. I'm honestly not 100% sure how to mechanically put it, whether as a cult or as a periodic extra point to wp from sleep as you know what you've done is making a difference.

If someone is using what you've created in a way that goes against a Defining Intimacy of yours (Upgrading to Major at E3, Minor with a repurchase at E6), no matter what, you know. Rolls to investigate this, track the offender down, etc, benefit from the Intimacy bonus.

Actually destroying or reclaiming your works is a matter left to other Craft charms or your mundane abilities, but as an affirmation of the offended Major or Defining Intimacy, doing so should net you Expression Solar XP.

I prefer this narrative, for a few reasons. I've already named one, but I also feel like this provides stronger plot hooks for the player and is more likely to get their circle involved.

**norraba** · 09-01-2017, 05:58 PM

I like the direction you are going in, changes it from being a quick fix to something you have to work towards and decide if you can live with it existing or not, I think I might make moves in this direction, maybe keep it where major and basic projects can be destroyed at will but have superior and up require the extra effort as you sugested.

I don't know how to implement a reward of solar xp since I don't recall any charms that actually reward solar xp, or I might just not have read them, I like the prospect since the charm effect is basically reaffirming the solar as a crafter and what they think their crafts should be used for so if you can give me any advice on how to implement this effect I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks for the advice it has really helped.

**Demac** · 09-02-2017, 08:35 PM

I like what you're doing. I found myself in the same position you did a few months back and did a rewrite of the craft system myself so I know it's quite a bit of work. When I did my craft rewrite, I was pretty focused on a concept I refer to as pacing. Which is to say, I was focused on the average number of rolls it would take a player to generate the resources needed to create artifact (where I assumed the artifact would take 6 intervals to create).

Did you do any similar tests on your system?

**Mockery** · 09-02-2017, 09:40 PM

Originally posted by norraba View Post

I don't know how to implement a reward of solar xp since I don't recall any charms that actually reward solar xp, or I might just not have read them, I like the prospect since the charm effect is basically reaffirming the solar as a crafter and what they think their crafts should be used for so if you can give me any advice on how to implement this effect I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks for the advice it has really helped.

I wasn't thinking the charm would necessarily grant Solar XP as an effect of itself, so much as the act of hunting down one who had misused your tools put you in a good position to earn Solar XP; those first two options of Expression Bonus (core p. 177) leap to mind.

And you're welcome!

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