Commanded to Fly

Cost: 6m; Mins: Manipulation 5, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive (Step 9)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Counterattack, Social
Duration: Varies
Prerequisite Charms: Mask of White Jade, Labyrinth of the Beast

Lunar Exalted use whatever means necessary to escape unwanted mental influence. This Charm exerts unnatural mental influence on the Lunar. The character invokes the Charm as a counterattack, then makes an attack on herself. Her player rolls (Manipulation + Presence) against the Lunar's own Dodge Mental Defense Value (-1 for the counterattack). She may not "throw" the defense—her mental argument must truly convince herself. If it succeeds, the character successfully amends the foreign unnatural influence with additional commands that are impossible for her. Usually, these riders are as outlandishly impossible as the Lunar can make them.

Example: A Solar uses the Hypnotic Tongue Technique to compel Seven Devils Clever to climb a building and report on what she sees there. Successfully using Commanded to Fly, the Lunar amends the command to become "climb a building using only your teeth and report." It may not be truly impossible, but it is implausible enough for Seven Devils Clever now to ignore the unnatural mental influence without spending Willpower.

This resistance lasts only as long as the character leaves the Essence committed. Should she release the Essence while the unnatural influence the Charm amends remains active, she becomes subject again to the compulsion or the need to spend Willpower.