Nameless Crow

From Spiders

Contents 1 Description 2 Abilities and Skills 2.1 Attributes 2.2 Skills 2.3 Essence, Willpower, and Virtues 2.4 Colleges 2.5 Background 2.6 Inventory and Equipment 2.7 Acquaintances and Allies 2.8 Special Acquaintances 3 Charms and Spells 3.1 Charms 3.2 Spells 4 Destinies 4.1 Active Destinies 5 Experience Log 6 Notes 6.1 Future Plans 6.2 Legal Defenses 6.3 Spell Notes 6.4 Notes for Other Players 6.5 Interoffice Memos

Description

Nixon with charisma? My God--- I could rule the universe! ---Richard Nixon, Futurama

(This is just a sketch. The basic character is the same as in the previous campaign, but I'm going to scale the visibility of a few character traits up or down to reflect the personalities and goals of the new PCs.)

Motivation: Put all Essence use in Creation under the mandate of Heaven.

Minor Goals: Get a promotion. Nuke the nascent Gold Faction from orbit. Try to get a leader in the Bronze Faction who isn't a desiccated old man with a stupid name who botched the Faction's plot. Figure out what to do about the giant talking spider attached to me. Assemble Voltron. Use Voltron to take over purge save the world (although it seems to be doing fine so far).

Intimacies: Executing his job and duties for the Division of Secrets and Heaven. Ruining Azure Rose. Checkers Checkers II, the white fluffy cat that's de rigueur for a certain type of villain.

Abilities and Skills

Attributes

Strength	2	Charisma	2	Perception	2
Dexterity	5	Manipulation	5	Intelligence	4
Stamina	1	Appearance	4	Wits	3

Skills

Journeys		Serenity		Battles		Secrets		Endings
Resistance	0	Craft [Fate]	2	Archery	0	Investigation	3	Awareness	2
Ride	0	Dodge	1	Athletics	0	Larceny	4	Bureaucracy	5
Sail	0	Linguistics	2	Melee	2	Lore	5	Integrity	2
Survival	0	Performance	5	Presence	5	Occult	4	Martial Arts	5
Thrown	0	Socialize	3	War	0	Stealth	5	Medicine	0

Languages: Old Realm, High Realm, Flametongue

Essence, Willpower, and Virtues

Essence and Willpower Permanent Essence 5 Personal Essence 17 Peripheral Essence 47 Permanent Willpower 7

Virtues Compassion 1 Conviction 4 Temperance 3 Valor 2

Colleges

Sign	Rank	Cost	Effect
Corpse	2	1e	Ignore the effects of one successful social attack
		3e+1p	Remove all the target's dots of Willpower beyond his Conviction
		3e+3p	Consider a soul for Terrestrial Exaltation; must be conducted shortly after death
Key	1	1e	Make sleep, food, and water unnecessary when preparing for a Lore or Bureaucracy roll
		(1e+1p)/week	Lower the diffculty by 1 when dealing with characters whose Temperance is less than the user's Intelligence
		1e+3p	Arrange for a Calibration Gate to be at the current location
Sorcerer	1	1e	Reflexively block any attack that lowers permanent Essence or causes him to lose memory or access to spels, Charms, Combos, or Abilities (except for pattern bite of the weakening effect of his Greater Sign)
		1e/scene	Gain +3 dice to all social rolls with un-Exalted when playing the role of an Exalt
		1e+	Spend n Endurance to add n bonus dice when performing an astrology roll with multiple Sidereals involved
Sword	1	1e+1p	After seeing a Martial Arts charm the user can learn in without a tutor (provided he meets the other prerequisites) up to a year and a day later
		1e	Apply full DV to any incoming attack, provided no Charm, Virtue, Willpower, etc. are then used to raise the DV further
		3e+1p	Slay a mortal instantly or within five days. Cause an Exalted to be irrevocably slain when reduced to Incapacitated or below. The effects lasts indefinitely for Terrestrial Exalted but only for a year and a day for Celestial Exalted.
Treasure	3	1e/season	The user is instantly aware of any mortal astrology reading about him and can give it any desired outcome
		1e	Add Essence to a Lore or Bureaucracy roll if the opponent's Lore is at most his own
		1e/month	Add Essence to Presence or Socialize rolls if user's Lore is higher than the opponent's Intelligence

Background

Artifact	5	(This space intentionally left blank.)
Backing	5	Bureau of Secrets
	3	Bronze Faction
	0	Convention on Fire
	0	Convention on Essence Wielders
Celestial Manse	4	The Place Where There Is No Light, run by Engine of Ineluctable Progress
		Gem of Grace (+2 dice to Charisma and Manipulation rolls if the target can see the user)
Salary	3	Resources 4 in Heaven, 5 in Creation (Crow does have backing 3 in the Bronze Faction)
Sifu	1	Dragonstar (though I haven't decided on which form(s) will be available yet)

Crow also runs the subdivision on Embarrassing Secrets in Creation. He would, of course, never abuse the privileges of his office.

Inventory and Equipment

• Perfect greatsword
• Perfect reinforced buff jacket
• Perfect PowerPoint projector (+2 to Performance)
• Perfect etiquette guide (+2 to Bureaucracy)
• Perfect yet another thing (+something to something)
• Perfect wife (x3)
• Collapsible pipe organ, a huge instrument that neatly folds into a cube 20 cm on each side through clever technology that the Bureau of Secrets would prefer that you not inspect too closely. [Nameless Crow needs a musical instrument for some of his performance charms. This one seemed appropriate.]

Greatsword:

Speed	Accuracy	Damage	Defense	Rate	Minimums	Cost	Tags
6	+3	+8L/2	-1	2	Str 2	4	Two-handed, overwhelming, reach

Reinforced buff jacket:

Soak	Mobility	Fatigue	Cost	Tags
+5L/8B	0	0	4	-

A pair of Excellent sais:

Speed	Accuracy	Damage	Defense	Rate	Minimums	Cost	Tags
5	+1 = 11	+3L = 5	+2 = 5	3	OK	4	D, M

Acquaintances and Allies

• Julia. A sculptor who moved from Chiaroscuro to the Realm. Made the crystal simulacrum of the Blessed Isle pointed out by Chejop Kejak. Skilled at glass-blowing, and has recently branched out into other media. Assumed a position on Nameless Crow's staff, periodically executing commissions for the Bureau of Secrets.
• Doldrum. An elemental summoned by Nameless Crow via Ice and Fire Binding (using Harmonic Completion to do it himself) and sworn to "seek the joy, health, and pleasure" of the domain $domain. (I'm not sure what $domain is yet, since I'm not sure exactly how this Charm works.) Its character sheet is at DoldrumCharacterSheet.
• Magma Kraken: Inflicts partial fire damage: Targets immune to heat and fire halve any damage taken, after soak. The tentacles never dodge or parry; they have 10L soak and are immune to bashing damage. Ten levels of damage destroy a particular tentacle, but existing tentacles regenerate any damage at the beginning of every action. [That particular tentacle's action, presumably, not every combat participant's.] When attacking, they have Strength 10, Dexterity 4, and Martial Arts 4.

  Attack	Speed	Accuracy	Damage	Parry DV	Rate	Tags
  Tentacle Strike	6	8	(15 + caster's Essence)L	-	1	N, R
  Tentacle Clinch (initiate)	6	8	(15 + caster's Essence)L	-	1	N, R
  Tentacle Clinch (maintain)	6	16	(15 + caster's Essence)L	-	1	C, N, R

Special Acquaintances

• Miss Mountshaft (3-dot acquaintance goddess): An expert on magic and essence flow with the Bureau of Journeys. [I'm not taking the blame for this one.]
• Happy Ending (3-dot acquaintance goddess): A former assassin with the Bureau of Endings adept at tactical combat and strategy.
• Kitty Galore (3-dot acquaintance goddess): Crow's former personal secretary and an expert on bureaucracy. Since the Bureau of Secrets is a clandestine intelligence organization, there are certain unwritten rules it follows. Each agent must have a cryptonym following the Rainbow Trout convention: an animal name and a completely unrelated adjective. (Nameless Crow, having been raised in Heaven by the Bureau of Secrets, has a real name that adheres to that convention. He was also raised to be ISO-9000 compliant.) Furthermore, all female employees must have Attractiveness 4 or greater and have a name that's a double entendre of some sort. "Kitty Galore" was a compromise with HR.

Charms and Spells

Charms

Charm	Cost	Skill	Type	Duration	Effects	Keywords
Avoiding the Truth Technique	3m	Larceny	Supplemental	Instant	If Larceny + (social roll) exceeds the target's Dodge MDV, then he believes the statement the caster just made to be a lie.	Conviction, Fate, Illusion
Auspicious Prospects for Secrets	1m	Investigation	Simple	Instant	Indicates whether an action under consideration will be advantageous. On a successful (Intelligence + Investigation) roll, generates a new quest or plot thread.	Combo-Basic
Black Shards Fall Like Ice	10m	Obsidian	Simple	Instant	Unparryable 15L piercing damage in an area of radius 5#Essence yards centered at most 25#Essence yards away. Undodged success add to damage as normal.	Combo-Basic, Illusion, Obvious, Pantsless
Defense of Shining Joy	5m, 1wp	Performance	Simple (Spd 5, DV - 1)	One scene	Replaces Dodge in Dodge DV calculations by Dodge + Performance. Can use either Performance or Dodge Excellencies to increase Dodge DV. The Dodge DV ignores onslaught penalties and reduces the DV penalties of the user's actions by 1.	-
Efficient Secretary	2m	Investigation	Simple	One misc. action	Provides answers to simple, factual questions	-
Fateful Performance Excellency	1m, [1wp]	Performance	Reflexive	Instant	Decrease the target number of a roll by n < 4, or spend 4m + 1wp to make every die an automatic success	-
Faultless Ceremony	1m	Performance	Simple	One week	Perform a ceremony, and roll (Charisma + Performance + Essence) versus (8 - resources spent). If successful, the participants receive a miscellaneous +1 bonus on relevant dice rolls and a general blessing on related events [presumably like an astrological blessing]	Combo-Basic, Fate, Compassion, Sucks
Force Decision	4m	Presence	Simple	Instant	Perfect social attack adding an Unnatural mental influence to make a particular decision. Costs 2 wp to overcome. Some restrictions apply.	Compulsion, Fate
Harmonic Completion	16m, 1wp, 1lhl	Performance	Simple	Five days	Automatic free Fateful Performance Excellency on all rolls, including ones in charms. Gives every audience an intimacy toward the user when performing. Increases Dodge DV and MDV by 5. Blinds the user.	Emotion, Prayer-strip
Heart-Brightening Presentation Style	2m	Performance	Permanent	Instant	Apply any Bureaucracy, Performance, Presence, or Socialize Excellency to a roll involving any of those four skills	-
Ice and Fire Binding	10m	Performance	Simple (one hour)	One season	Sign a song for an hour, and roll Int + Performance with difficulty 9. Additional Sidereals can reduce the difficulty by 1, down to a minimum of 5. If successful, an elemental is summoned of Essence <= user's Essence and is bound to seek the joy, health, and pleasure of a particular Domain assigned by the Sidereal with Mangitude <= user's Essence	Combo-Basic, Maiden, Mandate, Servitude
Impose Motivation	3m	Presence	Simple	Indefinite	Roll (Charisma + Presence) + #Essence autosuccsses against victim's Dodge MDV; if successful, victim gains Sidereal's motvation. Costs 1 wp to suppress for a day. Cancelled if the victim suppresses it #Essence times.	Combo-Basic, Fate, Servitude, Touch
Impeding the Flow	3m	Melee	Reflexive	Instant	Reduces an incoming attack to zero successes	Combo-OK
Methodology of Secrets	5m	Lore	Reflexive	Until sleeping	Adds a single specialty that confers a +3 bonus to one Skill and a +1 to the other twenty-four, as well as a bonus on effect dice in an astrological roll equal to the bonus for the corresponding skill.	-
The Mirror Does Not Lie	10m, 1wp	Obsidian	Reflexive (Step 3)	One scene	When this charm is active, the caster can deflects any attacks, including social and mass combat attacks, onto another target different from that original attacker. Only the caster and original attacker realize the latter's true intent. This charm fails against attacks that are unseen by everyone, including the attacker and caster.	Combo-Basic, Illusion, Pantsless
Obsidian Shards of Infinity Form	10m	Obsidian	Simple	One scene	After activating this form, the caster can reflexively spend 1m and instantly teleport within #Essence yards. He has taken no damage, and his player may roll (see p.155 of the core book) to surprise the enemy. If someone stands ready to attack the reappearing Sidereal before the next tick, that attack cannot be evaded through this charm. The caster can also spend 1m to recover one of a pair of identical weapons. For each action while using this form, roll one die. On a 1, the Storyteller lies about the opponent's action or the results of the caster's action. The truth is revealed on the character's next action.	Form-type, Illusion, Obvious, Pantsless
Perfection in Life	5m	Performance	Simple	One scene	Give a performance and roll (Charisma + Performance) against the highest Dodge MDV among the audience. If successful, every member of the audience receives a temporary willpower point (which may cause them to exceed their ostensible maximum).	Combo-Basic, Fate, Compassion
Reaching Through the Mirror	8m/target	Obsidian	Simple	One scene	All reflective surfaces around the target show it, and the caster can attack the target via its reflections. Such attacks or undodgable and carry a -2 penalty to parry. As the mirror breaks (or the equivalent), the damage becomes lethal and the target's soak is halved.	Combo-Basic, Illusion, Obvious, Pantsless
Ripple in the Silvered Glass	6m, 1wp	Obsidian	Reflexive (Step 5)	Instant	Posit an alternative to an attack (e.g., a botch). The target may reflexive spend a point of Willpower to roll (Wits + Awareness) versus the caster's (Essence + Martial Arts), or just Martial Arts if the target is mentally unstable or insane. With one success, the original attack misses but fails to botch. With three success, the attack succeeds. The perfect defense also applies to non-sentient things and to attacks (even otherwise unnoticed ones) launched through a reflective surface.	Combo-OK, Illusion, Pantsless
Second Presence Excellency	[2m]+	Performance	Reflexive	Instant	Add at most Essence/2 successes to a roll, or increase a static DV by up to Essence/2	Combo-OK
Shattering the Balance	8m, 1wp	Obsidian	Supplmental	Instant	Roll a normal martial attacks against the target's max(Dodge MDV, Parry MDV). If successful, the target's mind picks up a psychosis of the caster's choosing.	Combo-OK, Compulsion, Illusion, Pantsless, Sickness
Sidereal Shell Games	1wp, 1m, [2m]+	Larceny	Simple	One scene	Roll (Wits + Larceny); if successful, drain #Essence dots from the victim to the user from the victim's innate bashing or lethal soak, damage dice from all attacks, or dice from a specific pool. Some restrictions apply.	-
Soft Presence Technique	2m	Stealth	Supplemental	One action	Each mote of Essence only contributes 1/2 to anima flare	-
Song of Spirit Persuasion	5m+1wp	Performance	Simple	Instant	Sing to a god or elemental, and roll (Manipulation + Performance) versus the target's Dodge MDV. If the roll succeeds, then the target becomes an Ally of the user and gains an Intimacy to that effect. Effects expire at the end of the story.	Combo-Basic, Servitude
Third Performance Excellency	3m	Presence	Reflexive	Instant	Reroll a Performance roll, or increase a static DV by Performance/2	Combo-OK
Thought-Swiping Distraction	5m, 1wp	Larceny	Simple	Instant	Make eye contact with a target and swipe his surface thoughts	Fate
Walking Outside Fate	5m, 1wp	Stealth	Simple	Indefinite	Step outside fate; -2 to rolls to be affected	Fate

Spells

Spell	Cost	Target	Description	Reference
Magma Kraken	35m	Area	Five ticks after the Cast Sorcery action, tentacles of lava erupt from the ground in an circle at most 50 yards wide and at most 500 yards away. Anyone in the affected area has to make a reflexive (Dexterity + Athletics) roll to avoid being knock prone. The sorcerer can use a Control Tentacle action (Spd 6, DV -1) to direct a tentacle to strike, clinch, or perform another simple task. The tentacle acts on the sorcerer's action (regardless of its last action) and uses the sorcerer's Wits + Martial Arts to attack, at a -1 internal pernalty per 50 yards between it and the sorcerer. The sorcerer can only take defensive actions while controlling a tentacle, and must roll to maintain concentration if struck. The tentacles last for a scene and harden into obsidian afterward.	WToS, pp. 76--77
Threefold Binding of the Heart	30m	One being	The sorcerer makes a magical social attack. If the target is a mortal, it automatically succeeds; otherwise, the sorcerer makes a (Manipulation + Occult) roll against the target's Dodge MDV with #Essence bonus automatic successes. If successful, the target is under an unnatural mental influence that creats a Compulsion effect (a powerful Intimacy toward the sorcerer), an Emotion effect (love, not necessarily the bad-touch variety), and a Servitude effect. The victim falls madly in love with the sorcerer (again, not necessarily in the bad-touch way), which may be obvious to onlookers. If given a sufficiently compelling reason, he can spend one point of willpower to resist a direct command or three to resist control for a scene. Breaking the Intimacy requires a number of successful social attacks equal to the caster's Occult + Essence, and one such attack is negated after each day. On the subject's birthday, she makes an unmodified, reflexive (Wits + Integrity) roll with difficulty equal to the caster's Essence to break the spell.	WToS, p.84
Whirlwind of Fate	20m	self	The caster names a goal and rolls (Intelligence + Occult). Each success adds two to a pool of bonus successes, which the caster can then use on any roll (not necessarily his own, and including damage rolls) toward accomplishing that goal. The maximum number of these successes that can be added to a single action is #Essence, but they stack with other bonus dice and successes. The pool lasts for #Essence hours; afterward, if the goal is not accomplished, she suffers an internal penalty equal to the number of remaining successes in the pool until the goal is realized or the next sunrise.	WTos, p.86

Crow's Sorcery Trials

Destinies

Active Destinies

Moving Paper Fantasy, A former Journeys Sidereal who was declared ronin in a bureaucratic coup in the Heavenly Bureaucracy. She wanders Creation plotting revenge on her enemies, searching for a way to restore her previous status, and helping mortals solve their problems.

Sign	Scope	Duration	Endurance
Corpse	self (RD)	1 season	15

Numinous Salamander, a high-ranking Sidereal in the Division of Secrets in charge of security in and around the Loom.

Sign	Scope	Duration	Endurance
Sorcerer	self (RD)	1 season	17

Blissful Idiot Blessing (-1 difficulty on each relevant roll): Defend the Crowbot and its monopoly on Fate.

Sign	Scope	Duration	Frequency
Key	self	1 season	constant

Hound-Chases-Rabbit Blessing (+1 WP for each successful, relevant roll): Defend the Crowbot and its monopoly on Fate.

Sign	Scope	Duration	Frequency
Treasure	self	1 season	constant

Artless Prodigy Blessing (-1 to the target number on each relevant roll): Defend the Crowbot and its monopoly on Fate by any means necessary.

Sign	Scope	Duration	Frequency
Sword	self	1 season	constant

Total Paradox: 0

Experience Log

Current Unspent XP: 4

Purchase	XP Cost
Essence 2 -> 3	18
Strength 1 -> 2	4
Fateful Performance Excellency	10
Walking Outside Fate	10
Sidereal Shell Games	10
XP Award from Run 1	+30
Essence 3 -> 4	27
Integrity 1 -> 2	4
XP Award from Run 2	+5
Bureaucracy 2 -> 3	3
XP Award from Run 3	+30
Corpse 1 -> 2	3
Faultless Ceremony	10
Perfection in Life	10
Song of Spirit Persuasion	10
XP Award from Runs 4-6	+40
Defense of Shining Joy	10
Ice and Fire Binding	10
Harmonic Completion	10
Occult 3 -> 4	5
XP Award from Runs 7-9	+15
XP Award from Run 10	+30
Terrestrial Sorcery	10
Celestial Sorcerery	10
Magma Kraken	10
Threefold Binding of the Heart	10
Whirlwind of Fate	10
XP Award from Runs 11-13	+15
XP Award from Runs 14-16	+15
Backing: Bureau of Secrets 3 -> 4	3
Essence 4 -> 5	36
XP Award from Run 17-25	+45
Bureaucracy 3 -> 5	12
XP Award from Runs 26-27	+35
Martial Arts 2 -> 5	15
Manse 3 -> 4	6
Ripple in the Silvered Glass	10
Reaching Through the Mirror	10
Black Shards Fall Like Ice	10
Shattering the Balance	10
Obsidian Shards of Infinity	10
The Mirror Does Not Lie	10
Secrets of Future Strife	10
Total XP Spent	346

Notes

Future Plans

Crow is set up to be a sorcerer; he already has Essence 4, Occult is a favored skill, and his manse reduces training times for spells. The current plan for Crow's XP is:

• Cantata of Empty Voices (about 12L damage to all sentient beings in a huge radius around the caster)
• Second-circle demon summoning. (Honestly, I'm a bit reluctant to pick this up because Owen did such an awesome job with it in the previous campaign.)
• Incomparable Body Arsenal (10L/10B hardness, +10L/10B soak.)
• Fateful Occult Excellency and a combo of it with Whirlwind of Fate
• Rune of Singular Hate (I can't actually get this one, but it is so freaking awesome. It lowers all stats by, on average, half. "Stats" include things like skills, attributes, dots of Willpower, and dots of Permanent Essence.)

Legal Defenses

While Nameless Crow is selflessly devoted to promoting law and order in accordance with the Mandate of Heaven, some entites who don't share the big-picture, 30,000-ft. view of fate he enjoys as a Sidereal may consider some of his actions to be less than perfectly legal. Since my memory is not as good as his, I've noted some legal defenses here to a few of his most ostensibly egregious actions.

• Assaulting Final Accord of Owls with Mice: (a) The Solar willingly and deliberately violated and renounced her diplomatic immunity by assaulting the party at the party; (b) Any treaties involving Heaven became null and void after the Usurpation, there being no Solars to uphold them; (c) There is no evidence to suggest that Nameless Crow's intentions were damaging to the Solar, any extant treaties, or the Heavenly Order; (d) Respect my authority.
• Assaulting the pet Solar of the Perfect of Paragon: (a) Serving a mortal is a direct violation of the Mandate of Heaven; (b) There were no reasonable alternatives in resolving the situation; (c) By pledging fealty to a mortal, the Solar renounced its citizenship in Heaven and all of its concomitant legal rights; (d) Nameless Crow did not kill the Solar; (e) Nameless Crow did not cast the banishment spell, nor did he enjoin its use; (f) Nameless Crow can't be held liable for something the ground, a separate and independent legal entity, did; (g) Respect my authority.
• Assaulting Walks-With-Moon: (a) It wasn't assault, since the Lunar was unaware of Crow's presence before, during, and after the event; (b) The Lunar is completely unaware of Crow's involvement in the matter, and therefore has no legal standing to present a charge; (c) The Lunar initiated the confronation, and all of Nameless Crow's actions were simply self-defense; (d) The Lunar had declared that it was responsible for chasing the Fae from outside Creation into Chiaroscuro; (e) The Lunar had declared its intention of eating the Fae's heart and thereby acquiring its Creation-warping powers; (f) The Lunar had declared its intention of leaving the Fae in the Chiaroscuro so that other Lunar could also eat the Fae's heart and thereby acquire its powers; (g) Respect my authority.

Nameless Crow, having a legal background, would also like to inform Ruby Hawk that "occupant" is not a legal term of art and only applies to land held in fee simple, not allodial land. In addition, being a Sidereal, he enjoys diplomatic immunity, his conversations are protected by both executive privilege and priest-penitent privilege, and his accusers have no standing for filing any motions or suits against him. He is therefore not legally bound to honor the summons. As the court involved is a fairy court where playing cards carry weapons, flamingos serve as croquet mallets, and car drives you, he doesn't expect that the legal details are actually that important; but it's nice to know that one is right.

Spell Notes

• Whirlwind of Fate appears to stack exponentially with itself: It involves an (Intelligence + Occult) roll to which the bonus pool can be applied; those bonus successes are effectively doubled; and "improve the outcome of Whirlwind of Fate" seems like a perfectly legitimate goal. Only #Essence successes can be applied to a single roll, but it seems like I should cast this twice whenever I use it.
• I contend that Cantata of Empty Voices (which is the next charm/spell I plan to pick up), Threefold Binding of the Heart, and a few of the unavailable but incredibly awesome Solar Circle spells constitute war crimes, and that they should have an effective Virtue: Conviction tag attached.

Notes for Other Players

• Crow can add +10 effect dice to an astrology roll in which he participates. This might be useful to other party members.
• Crow can give +5 effect points (successes, not dice) to anyone else's astrology effect, even when he's completely uninvolved. This might be useful to other party members.

Interoffice Memos

Nameless Crow's Secret Blog