Selfishness Is Power

Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Shaping
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Witness to Darkness

The Ebon Dragon's nature is to serve himself, first, foremost and generally exclusively. To the degree that anyone else profits from interaction with him, it is only because he profits more. The closest he comes to benevolence is allowing others to enjoy the crumbs of his victory or in giving what he does not wish to keep. The Infernal enchants his ego to guide and empower his behavior. Through this awareness, he can automatically judge the benefits of doing anything, provided he has any chance of arriving at that conclusion as a result of gaining a threshold of five on a successful roll using any Ability.

Additionally, whenever the character takes an action that directly helps himself at the expense of others, the stunt rating of the action increases by one as though it resonated with the character's Motivation. This can explicitly grant a one-point stunt to an action than did not qualify for a stunt. However, the character is considered a creature of darkness for the duration of the effect if not already. This status abates when the Charm ends. Taking an action that grants more benefit to others than himself drains three motes from the Infernal, while an action that helps others in any significant way without offering some reward drains 10 motes. This drain goes into effect only if the action succeeds. Selfishness Is Power can't be deactivated prior to running its full duration, so it must be used carefully.

A second purchase of this Charm allows its effects to be bestowed on someone else as a Touch effect, paying four motes. The Infernal must maintain a separate commitment for each being empowered this way. Mortals gain the same artificial stunt bonus, but actions that would drain three motes drain one Willpower instead, while 10-mote actions inflict three levels of unsoakable lethal damage to the character as punishment for imprudent generosity. Damage inflicted this way attacks the life force directly without wounding the body in any way diagnosable by mundane medicine. Characters receive no warning ahead of these punishments, but the Charm becomes Obvious to them without revealing its source as soon as any punishment takes place. If desired, the effect can be Obvious to the target (and no one else) from the beginning. Otherwise, mortal extras can only hope that they do something to lose Willpower before kindness kills them. An activation that targets someone else may be terminated at will.

A third purchase of this Charm at Essence 4+ permits (but does not force) the Infernal to place a more durable enchantment on others with Indefinite duration. Such magic is Sorcerous and explicitly vulnerable to Emerald Countermagic. Damage from the extended curse is bashing and will never reduce the victim below Incapacitated. Leaders of social or martial units enchanted this way consider benefit to themselves, not the organization as extensions of themselves.