Lunar Exalted
List of All Lunar Exalted Charms | List of All Lunar Exalted Knacks | Knacks by Group
Who Are the Lunars?
Can Animals Exalt?
No.
The Lunar Exalted are the Stewards of Creation. When they fought against the forebears of the gods during the Primordial War, this was perhaps most clear. Preparing for the war, Luna forged her Chosen with an eye toward defending the Essence of the world, since it was inextricably tied to her Primordial lover Gaia. The Silver Lady realized that the fighting might destroy the very Creation they hoped to gain, and she endeavored to instill a persistent defense against this possibility within the hearts of her Exalted.
The Lawgivers sought to co-opt this role later in the later First Age, but they did not completely succeed. Some Lunars never completely accepted Solar rule, and even those who did often resisted Solar domination better than the rest of Creation. Most Children of the Moon still considered their stewardship to extend from Luna, however much the Solars might have manipulated the Lunars to the contrary.
In the Time of Tumult, the claims of stewardship are as varied as the Lunars themselves. Raksi has become queen of the ruined City of Sorcerers and custodian of the priceless Book of Three Circles. Tamuz leads a handful of tribes in the South and secretly considers the mighty Delzahn of Chiaroscuro his personal ward. Younger Lunars, such as Seven Devils Clever, might initially protect a single crime-ridden neighborhood in Nexus, but the goals of the Exalted cannot stay so small for long.
Many of the eldest Lunars feel some degree of duty to defend the entire world against the omnipresent threat of dissolution by the Wyld and invasion by the Fair Folk. As such, the Lunars claim vast territories at the edges of Creation or near unstable Bordermarches. Younger Lunars often try to act in a similar role, if only because the Silver Pact encourages its members to join in defense against the Wyld. Nonetheless, the Pact has never managed to unite every one of the Children of the Moon, and Lunar Exalted can be found in nearly any quarter of the world. From the dismal swamps of the Southwest to the halls of the Haslanti Oligarchs, the Silver Lady's Chosen win renown as mighty warriors or remain unknown due to their cunning. Only the Blessed Isle remains free of their presence, for smart young Lunars are quick to leave if they can, and foolish ones perish at the hands of the Wyld Hunt.
Castes (Short)
Each Lunar begins without any caste at all. Those known as the Casteless spend their Exalted lives shifting from one castelike state to the next as surely as the eternal phases of the moon. Given their close connections to the Wyld, this is a dangerous state of being in the Time of Tumult. Most Moon Chosen eventually meet elder Lunars who convince them to accept the Wyld-suppressing tattoos and fix their caste. Once branded, the Lunar gains protection from the Wyld and becomes a member of the Full Moon, Changing Moon or No Moon Caste.
- Full Moon: Deadly warriors who survive via speed and strength.
- Changing Moon: Cunning agents who survive through guile and subtlety.
- Caste Attributes: Charisma, Manipulation and Appearance.
- Anima Powers: May appear as a person known to the Lunar for one scene. Gains Essence dice to actions assisted by trustworthiness of chosen image.
- No Moon: Wise mystics who survive due to their intellect and ancient lore.
- Caste Attributes: Perception, Intelligence and Wits.
- Anima Powers: May reduce the mote cost of all Occult-related actions (whether Charm or spell) taken for the remainder of the scene. Also gains an obscuring aura of shadows.
Charms
Luna's power ebbs and flows over the course of the month, waxing to a crescendo of physical might at the full moon and waning into the mysteries of the moonless skies. Each cycle is a mere eyeblink to the ageless Incarnae and no more than a heartbeat to the long-lived Exalted. Appropriately, the fiercest Charms of the Lunar Exalted flare brightly and then die out. Short in duration, they have intense strength while they last.
Nature of the Beast
For the Lunar Exalted, Charms are not techniques learned through training but extensions of their natural capabilities. In short: Lunar Charms are based on Attributes instead of Abilities. Each Charm has a minimum Attribute requirement, and the Charm cascades are divided by Attribute. They still have prerequisite Charms as normal, but many Lunar Charm trees are shorter than those of the other Exalted.
Note that some Charms exist in more than one place in the chapter. Two Charms that have the same name and the same effects are the same Charm, and they function as prerequisites for any Charms that name them as prerequisites.
Just as Attributes are significantly broader and more expansive than Abilities, so are the Lunars Attribute-based Charms. This does not mean they are inherently more powerful (though some are quite effective), but it does mean that they come with fewer inherent boundaries. The Dexterity Excellency can be used with any Dexterity-based roll; and while other Dexterity Charms may not be so flexible, they are still less confining than Melee- or Martial Arts-based Charms. A Strength Charm that increases damage can apply to any attack, and a Dexterity Charm that decreases attack Speed works for Thrown, Archery and any other attack Ability.
Lunar Combos
Attribute-based Charms make Lunar Combos flexible. They cannot be separated based on Ability, or even by Attribute. Instead, the Charms make it clear what kind of action they supplement or create. For the most part, Combos of Lunar Charms follow the same rules as for others: no more than one extra action or simple Charm, as many supplemental and reflexive Charms as desired and so on. But there is no requirement that extra action, simple or supplemental Charms must come from the same Attribute to be Comboed with each other.
Example: Sharp-Beaked Octopus Barrage is an extra action Dexterity Charm. It may be included in a Combo with the simple Strength Charm Hibernation of the Dog, even though the two come from different Attributes and neither explicitly states that that is okay. But it is, because Sharp-Beaked Octopus Barrage provides extra actions that are all attacks, and Hibernation of the Dog is a single attack.
Some Charms can supplement more than one sort of action. When such a Charm is put in a Combo with a simple or extra action Charm, it often restricts the way the more flexible Charm can be used. By the Combo rules, a supplemental Charm Comboed with a simple Charm must be used to supplement the simple Charm—if alternative uses of the supplementing Charm do not work with the simple Charm, those uses cannot be activated as part of the Combo.
Example: The character instead Combos Sharp-Beaked Octopus Barrage with Tearing Claw Atemi, which supplements either an attack against an inanimate object or a feat of strength. Because the actions created by Sharp-Beaked Octopus Barrage must be attacks (feats of strength do not qualify), Tearing Claw Atemi cannot be used to supplement feats of strength when used inside the Combo. (For that matter, the extra attacks given by Sharp-Beaked Octopus Barrage cannot be used to attack animate objects because of Tearing Claw Atemi's restriction.)
Combos including Lunar Charms can get even more confusing when Eclipse or Moonshadow Caste Exalted learn Lunar Charms. For the most part, a Lunar Charm can Combo with any other Charm, so long as the Charms can function together according to Combo rules. Comboing Sharp-Beaked Octopus Barrage with Ox-Stunning Blow is fine—but requires that all the attacks be Martial Arts attacks. A Combo with Fire and Stones Strike is also possible, but all the extra attacks would have to be Melee-based.
Eclipses and Moonshadows may learn the Lunar Excellencies, but may not use them to add more than (Attribute) dice individually. Even while using Lunar Charms, characters may not exceed their normal maximum dice from Charms. A Solar using the First Dexterity and Melee Excellencies still cannot add more than (Attribute + Ability) dice to an action.
See Combos for more details.
Charm Limitations
Just as the Solar Exalted have a limit to their majesty, so do the Stewards. Since their Charms extend their natural potential rather than their training, a Lunar cannot increase his dice pools by more than (the relevant Attribute). No combination of Charms can increase a Lunar Exalt's dice pools by more than that amount. As is normal, Charms that add automatic successes or remove penalties do not count as increases to a dice pool unless otherwise noted.
Apply this limit to static values and increase them just as the Solars do. See Charms and Pools for more details.
Charm Conflict
When the effects of two Charms conflict with each other, the players involved roll dice to determine whose Charm functions properly. The players generally roll the relevant (Attribute + Ability) or, if there is no clear Attribute, (Essence + Ability). Lunar Charms, based on Attributes as they are, go the other way round. A Lunar's player rolls (Attribute + Ability) or, if there is no clear Ability, (Attribute + Essence).
See Also
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