Finding the Needle's Eye

Cost: 2m or 3m; Mins: Dexterity 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive (Step 2)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Fury-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Any Dexterity Excellency

The Lunar stops a ranged attack before it nears him. Invoked when the character is the target of a ranged attack, the Lunar forfeits his Defense Value to make an active attack in return to deflect or destroy the incoming attack. He might bat a chakram out of the air with his sword or fire one arrow to smash another. The player rolls (Dexterity + relevant Ability) at difficulty (attacker's Dexterity).

If the attack strikes the projectile, resolve damage. The damage may be enough to destroy the projectile outright—arrows are particularly fragile—completely negating the incoming attack. Assuming the projectile survives, each die of the Lunar’s raw damage still reduces the incoming attack's damage by one die. The force of this defense can disrupt even projectiles that cannot be "destroyed," such as gouts of flame from firewands and blasts of Essence.

At Essence 3 or higher, a character may spend three motes on this Charm to defend another character against ranged attacks, if he himself has some way to attack at the proper range.