Master and Commander Method

Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Sail 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Template:Apocryphal, Template:Pilot
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Implacable Sea Wolf Spirit

During a pitched naval battle, the Solar's skills are test¬ed to their utmost. Her sense of her ship and the flow of battle become the avenue for a critical apotheosis of Solar, ship, and skill. In a single moment of transfigur¬ing brilliance, the Lawgiver merges with her vessel and crew, moving them through open air, phasing them from one position to another in order to escape destruction and to unleash an attack of their own. To use this Charm, the Exalt activates it and becomes keen¬ly aware of every flaw in her opponents' movements. The Solar's player begins to track all 1s and 2s rolled by enemy captains in the scene. When 15 of these have been accrued, they can be "spent" as special momentum to trigger this Charm's unique stratagem, in which the ship teleports out of the way of a broadside maneuver (Exalted, p. 245) or other successful attack, phasing her ship out and in at a new position at the same relative distance from the enemy vessel. This counts as an uncontested positioning stratagem (Exalted, p. 245) — roll the Solar's Wits + Sail and convert the result to momentum. In addition, this momentum can be paid to roll an immediate Broadside attack against the attacking enemy. Master and Commander Method can be used in one scene per story, and within that scene as many times as the Solar can charge it. An Essence 4+ repurchase also allows the Solar to count her enemy's 3s in order to use it. It can be reset by overcoming a major enemy while sailing under some penalty that cannot be easily recti¬fied through the use of the Solar's current Sail Charms.

On Master and Commander Method The backer wanted a Charm that was as close as possible to the Picard Maneuver from Star Trek, which involves flying your starship at an attacking starship using warp speed to confuse ship sensors and create an illusion of being in two places at once, allowing the phasing ship to launch an unexpected salvo against the confused ves¬sel. The main reason this is apocryphal is because Solar Charms tend to depict one single action and this depicts several. The Solar teleporting her ship and crew over a short distance is a legal effect if it is reasonably hard to do, but this Charm requires the completion of multiple actions that stretches the limits of how Solar magic func¬tions, and it might make the Charm feel like more of an actor than the Solar. As stated in the core rules on page 250, Charms don't "do" anything. Charms reflect the actions of the Solar. A Solar's action can entail wholly supernatural expansions of the Ability, but their skill must always be present. Like all other characters in Exalted, Solars are limited to specific actions per round. When a Charm depicts multiple complicated actions being completed that are usually left as round to round interactions of the rules and Storytelling, it starts to mark out the Charm as more of an actor than the Solar. Just remember this is a very apocryphal Charm and you should be wary of treating Solar mechanics this way. Backer: Scott "The Hanged Man" McNabb Corpany