New Charm Keyword: Tenet
Even among the Yozi, Cyprian is known for the zeal with which he pursues his goals and agendas. The first time that a character purchases any Charm with this Keyword, she must select a number of Tenets equal to half of her highest-rated Virtue, rounding up. Each Tenet is a core aspect of the character's personal philosophy, defined in a single sentence. Examples include, "The Yozi are the rightful rulers of Creation", "Death is preferable to dishonour", or "Heresy should be punished by death". Each Tenet should be connected deeply to the character who takes it. By themselves, Tenets behave as additional Intimacies for the purpose of social combat, except that they cannot be removed. Instead, characters may change one Tenet once per story by spending (highest Virtue) scenes acting against it, and spending 1 XP as though changing her Motivation. Magic targets Tenets as though they were Motivations, and they may not be altered by nonmagical social attacks.

Imperfection of the Resonant Liturgy
Cyprian is bold, calling others to worship him and standing out proudly in favor of his ideals at every opportunity - it is against his nature to be silent and unnoticed. Charms that bear the Imperfection of the Resonant Chorus may not be used if the character is silent or hidden - choosing to use such a Charm ends all stealth-based actions and effects on the character, and announces her presence to everyone within 100 yards. Furthermore, if a magical force compels total silence from the character, Charms bearing this Imperfection may still not be used.

Ironically, some savants of Malfeas have noted that Adorjan, who Cyprian loves, is uniquely suited to maim or destroy him. Whether he loves her because of or in spite of this is not known.

##

First Cyprian Excellency
Cost: 1 mote per die; Mins: Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Litany of Faith is righteous, believing above all else in the triumph of Truth over adversity. He is inspiring even to his enemies, dogmatic and driven in his own choices, and pushes his opponents and allies to schismatic devotion to their own ideals.

Characters may apply this Charm to any action that is focused on the character's philosophic goals, or on any action designed to encourage or force others to stand up for their beliefs The Cyprian Excellency may not be used for any attempt to spread chaos or doubt without offering a clear, superior path to the one being attacked, nor may it be used on actions whose outcomes solely benefit an individual (for example, defending oneself in a random brawl is not allowed, nor is saving someone's life simply because they are in danger, but defending oneself during a war or a battle with your cause or nation's fate living or dying with you is perfectly acceptable, as is saving someone because doing so will turn their village to your worship).


Sorcerous Initiation of Cyprian
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Sorcerous
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: First Cyprian Excellency
Cyprian inspires and demands reverence, if not always obedience. Spells that obviously enhance social attacks or force others to love or reverence do not cost Willpower. This does not cover summoning spells that summon mindless creatures or creatures that do not love the caster, or spells that force obedience (unless they do so entirely through love). Valid spells include Commanding Presence of Fire, Curse of Slavish Humility, The Sacred Tongue, Slave-Spawn Summons, Silent Words of Dreams and Nightmares, Summoning the Minions of the Eyeless Face, Threefold Binding of the Heart, Unity of Dreams, and Unity of the Closed Fist. Cyprian cannot cast spells that spread chaos as their primary effect or take total control of a target, such as Paralysing Contradiction, Shadowy Simulacrums of Smoke, Sorcerer's Irresistible Puppetry, Hideous Confusion of Tongues, Insidious Tendrils of Hate, Summoning the Heart of Darkness, or Winds of Confusion.

Cyprian Mythos Exultant
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: First Cyprian Excellency
Cyprian has an endless store of faith in the rightness of his actions. When an action enhanced by a Cyprian Excellency succeeds, the character may recover a spent Virtue channel of any sort in place of a Willpower reward.

~~

Principles Before Preference
Cost: None; Mins: Essence 1; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Permanent, Tenet
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
When defending your principles, no price is too high to pay. Whenever a character with this Charm channels a Virtue on a die roll that supports one of her Tenets, she adds one automatic success to the roll. In addition, once per day the character may channel a Virtue in defense of one of her Tenets without spending Willpower or a Virtue channel. Finally, whenever the character must roll to supress a Virtue to take an action that supports one of her Tenets, she removes two dice from the Virtue roll (this applies only to the roll itself, not to determining if a roll is needed).

However, such dedication to the character's philosophy comes at a price. The character may never channel Virtues on actions that oppose any of her Tenets. Furthermore, whenever the character attempts to supress one of her Virtues in order to take an action that opposes any of her Tenets, she adds two dice to the Virtue roll.

If an action the character attempts supports one or more Tenets and opposes another one or more, this Charm has no effect either way - Virtues are rolled normally.


Purpose-Reinforcement Prana
Cost: 6 motes; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Social, Tenet
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Principles Before Preference
Cyprian's ideals are everything to him, and no force can sway his judgment for any length of time. This Charm may be activated whenever the character is required to spend Willpower to resist mental influence of any sort. For every Tenet the character possesses that the mental influence is not in support of, the character is considered to have spent one point of Willpower, up to a maximum of (Essence) Tenets. This counts towards the amount of Willpower required to end Charms, and to render yourself immune to further social attacks in social combat.


A Dozen Paths To Glory
Cost: None; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Permanent, Tenet
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: First Cyprian Excellency, Principles Before Preference
Faith is a complex thing, and cannot be broken down as easily as many people believe. Upon purchasing this Charm, the character comes to understand this, refining and improving on her philosophy. Upon purchasing this Charm, the character chooses three additional Tenets, which behave exactly as her original ones do. In addition, she now treats her Tenets as Virtues for the purpose of social combat, rather than as Intimacies. Finally, she may channel Virtues to support her Tenets by spending 2 motes instead of a Willpower if she so chooses.

However, this Charm further restricts the character's options. Whenever she wishes to act against one of her Tenets, she must roll her Essence. If the roll succeeds, she must spend a point of Willpower as though supressing a Virtue. If two of her Tenets contradict, she must roll Essence for each one and follow the one with more successes (or spend a Willpower to supress it).

This Charm may be purchased again at Essence 6. Doing so increases the number of additional Tenets that this Charm grants from 3 to (Essence), and allows her to list all of her Tenets in order of importance. If a lesser Tenet contradicts a greater one, she automatically must follow or suppress the greater one. This also enhances Principles Before Practice, causing it to only consider the most important Tenet when determining bonuses and penalties. However, she must now spend a Willpower to attempt to suppress a Tenet, and another if her suppression roll fails.


Inspirational Being Stance
Cost: 5 motes; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Emotion, Obvious
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
Whether angered, or simply wishing to make a point, the character channels the raw Primordial divinity of her patron. Upon activation of this Charm, the character is surrounded by a raw display of power, usually in the form of prismatic sprays of Essence and harmonic choirs, which renders stealth impossible. However, the display fills onlookers with the certainty that they are watching a being of power, and inflicts a reluctance to attack. Any character who wishes to attack or approach the character suffers a penalty to the roll equal to (5 - her Conviction). This penalty also applies to the targets' MDVs against social attacks. Targets may spend one Willpower per action to ignore this penalty; once they spend 3 Willpower, they are immune to this Charm for the scene. Alternately, targets who can justify it based on the situation may channel any Virtue rated at 3+ (for the usual one Willpower) to end the Charm's effects on them immediately.


Above The Masses
Cost: 3 motes; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: One Action
Prerequisite Charms: Inspirational Being Stance
The slings and arrows of the masses are as nothing to Cyprian, who treats such angered attempts to slay him as merely another form of worship. So it is with the character. Upon activation of this Charm, her form blurs and shifts, twisting in several directions at once to respond to each attack that is directed towards her without regard for the others. As long as this Charm is active, the character takes no penalties from onslaught or coordinated attack penalties.

At Essence 3, the character may spend an additional 3 motes and a Willpower when activating this Charm, extending its duration to One Scene.

At Essence 4, this Charm may be purchased a second time. If so, the character may spend an extra 2 motes when activating it in order to transform penalties from onslaught or coordinated attacks into DV bonuses.


Eye For Faith's Fetters
Cost: 3 motes; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Inspirational Being Stance
To the keen eye of the Liturgy, the faintest trace of prayer leaves a mark that can be easily studied. Upon activation of this Charm, the character gains the same ability. For the duration of the scene, he can automatically tell when looking at anyone what their Cult rating is, as well as knowing how many formal prayers or worships they have taken part in during the last week. By focusing on a character and taking a Miscellaneous action to study them, the character can learn quite a bit more. If studying a character with Cult, the Charm user learns what their Cult rating is, and what emotional context they are worshipped to in (such as 'hero worship', 'reverent awe', or 'matter-of-fact business'). If studying a character who has taken part in a worship, the Charm user learns exactly when the targets' worships took place, any sacrifices made as part of the worship, and the emotional context of the prayer. They also learn the name of the being worshipped, although only the name that the worshipper knows the being as. Finally, if the prayer was answered with a magical effect, they learn the full effect of that response.

This Charm automatically succeeds. However, if a target is using magic to conceal their true identities, it will also conceal any Cult rating or prayers they have made as part of their true person. In such situations, Eye For Faith's Fetters does not apply any bonus to the resulting Charm roll-off.


Faith Shines Forth
Cost: 4 motes, 1 Willpower; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Social, Emotion, Tenet
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Eye For Faith's Fetters
Organized religions can develop new philosophies in a moment, leading to schisms and new holy writ as they wrestle with their theology. Using this Charm, the character promotes such a schism. The character may target any social group with Magnitude 1+. She chooses any Magnitude worth of that social group (choosing individual members if she wishes), and rolls ([Charisma or Manipulation] + Socialize). Subtract an external penalty equal to the Magnitude of the group being targeted, plus half the MDV of the group's leader. If the roll is successful, a splinter faction forms.

The character chooses one of her Tenets, which may not be in opposition to the Policy of the splinter faction. The splinter faction adds this Tenet to their Policy. In addition, they will automatically choose a new leader from their new group. Splinter units must spend one Loyalty per day to act against their adopted Tenet or to join any social group that does not include it. When they have spent 10 Loyalty in this manner, the Tenet subsides (although many splinter groups retain the Tenet as general policy if it does not conflict with their natures).


Feeling Worship's Strands
Cost: None; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Eye For Faith's Fetters
It is a simple thing to sense flowing power. It is a harder thing to follow it, but for Cyprian, such a difficulty is no difficulty at all. This Charm permanently enhances Eye Of Faith's Fetters. While that Charm is active, the character may commit three additional motes whenever she is looking at someone with a Cult rating or who has performed a prayer towards an individual in the last week. This allows her to follow the strands of Essence flowing between them and their cult or beneficiaries, tracking them to their source.

This acts as a form of supernatural tracking. When used on someone with a Cult rating, it allows the Infernal to unerringly follow the thread to the nearest cultist of that person. When used on a worshipper, it allows the Infernal to unerringly follow the thread to the object of worship. The power lasts for a full week of tracking, but requires Eye For Faith's Fetters to remain active for the entire duration. This is a perfect effect; if opposed by supernatural concealment, it applies (Essence) successes to the ensuing Charm roll-off.

Note that the Infernal may not study themselves. However, they may study any of their allies if said allies can learn a proper worship ceremony to any given target, and follow that thread.


Subordination Of Purpose
Cost: 3 motes, 1 Willpower or 1 mote; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Shaping
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Eye For Faith's Fetters
Worship is a beautiful thing. It grants hope, strength and love to those who believe. But Cyprian intended it for the purpose of power, and that power can be stolen.

This Charm has two uses. First, the character may use this Charm while in the presence of any being in order to usurp their Cult for her own purposes. She must roll (Essence + Performance) at a difficulty of her target's Essence rating. For every two net successes, she steals one dot of Cult from her target. These stolen dots provide the character with a new Cult rating of equal value. A character with multiple Cults does not stack their benefits; however, if her two highest Cults are at the same rating, she treats her effective Cult as one dot higher than this (maximum 5). The character may, however, steal Cults from as many beings as she wishes.

The second purpose of this Charm interrupts prayers. This mode costs only one mote, and must be activated while at a worship ceremony to any being. The character rolls (Charisma + Essence), at a difficulty of the worshipped being's Essence rating. If she is successful, every net success provides her with one mote for every Resources dot sacrificed at the worship (maximum five net successes). A failed ceremony provides only half this many motes. In addition, the prayer completely fails to reach its intended target, regardless of whether it succeeded or not.


Friendship Falls To Duty
Cost: 5 motes; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Emotion
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisite Charms: Faith Shines Forth
Every true devotee knows that no friendship, however strong, is as important as their faith in their cause. The character takes advantage of this to incite close friends and allies to seeek their own pathways to success, ignoring each others' achievements.

The character may target up to (Essence x2) individuals, or a single social or mass combat unit with a Magnitude of up to (Essence). She must roll her (Charisma + Socialize + Essence) against the targets' MDVs. In the case of a social unit, use the leader's MDV plus half the unit's Magnitude. If the character is successful, the group dissolves as a cohesive whole - although they may still have respect and friendship to one another, they cannot work together towards a common goal.

Against individuals, this power has two effects. First, all affected individuals do not consider each other to be 'allies' for the purpose of any Charms or effects that affect or do not affect allies. Secondly, any attempt to organize the individuals tactically (such as organizing co-ordinated attacks or aiding each others' rolls) suffers an external penalty equal to the Infernal's Essence rating. Any affected individual may spend one Willpower per action to ignore both of these effects; once someone spends four Willpower, they are immune to the effects for the duration of the scene.

Against social units, this effect causes mass confusion and lack of co-ordination, causing the unit's effective Magnitude to be reduced by the Infernal's Essence (to a minimum of 0) when calculating bonuses and penalties from Magnitude. A unit's leader may spend one Loyalty per action to ignore this penalty, up to four Loyalty in a scene to become immune.

Finally, mass combat units are still present, but become disorganized and self-focused. They reduce their Drill rating by the Infernal's Essence rating, to a minimum of 0. Mass combat units may spend one Willpower per action to resist this effect, up to four Willpower over the course of a scene.


Unworthy Soul Struck Down
Cost: 3 motes; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Supplemental (Step 1)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Inspirational Being Stance
Compared to the power of the soul, the mind is as nothing. The character angles her blow through reality, striking at her opponent through the raw power of the soul, and allowing only the soul to defend against her. This Charm may enhance any physical attack. If the attack is successful, it ignores all armor soak and Stamina-based soak on the target. However, the target adds her highest MDV to any sources of natural magical soak she has to determine her soak.


Fury Of The Faithful
Cost: 5 motes; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, Tenet
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Unworthy Soul Struck Down
When witnessing events that go against the faith, a true believer is overcome by holy fury. This Charm may be activated to enhance an attack whenever the character is attacking someone whose current actions, behaviour, or state are directly opposed to one or more of the character's Tenets. If the attack strikes successfully, it increases its raw damage by the number of Tenets violated, and its minimum damage by half that level (to a maximum of double its original minimum damage). Furthermore, the damage becomes Aggravated in Step 10.


Hidden Facets Of Truth
Cost: 3 motes, 1 Willpower; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Emotion, Tenet
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Purpose-Reinforcement Prana
With reflection, a cunning philosopher can find the truth at the heart of all things. The character applies this principle to the world around her, seeing her enemies' truths as her own, if only for a moment. The character may activate this Charm at any time, provided that she is currently being affected by unnatural mental influence. When she does so, she immediately transforms the action that the influence compels her to do into a Tenet, with all of the advantages and disadvantages that this brings. New ideas are less important than core ideals, however, and so the character may completely ignore the unnatural mental influence whenever it conflicts directly with one of her normal Tenets.

The character may activate this Charm repeatedly, for each influence affecting her. All unnatural mental influence is treated as an equally-valid Tenet when contesting each other. If the character possesses A Dozen Paths To Glory, she may rank her unnatural mental influences against each other, but all must rank below her normal Tenets.


Reach Your Potential
Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Compulsion, Training, Tenet
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Remember Your Purpose
Focusing her will, the character pushes a target to achieve their true capabilities, regardless of whether they wish to gain such enlightenment. The character may use this Charm against any target who can hear her voice. If the target is willing, no roll is required; otherwise, the character must roll her (Charisma + Presence + Essence) against the target's MDV.

Upon a successful activation, the character grants the target a Tenet, which may be anything the character wishes. Only targets with one or no Tenets can be affected in this manner. Such Tenets remain until the end of the story, at which time the target may spend 1 XP to retain them permanently. Alternately, the character may train the target in the specialty "While Defending My Tenet" for any Ability or Virtue. These specialties cost the usual 3 XP each. A given Virtue may only have one specialty of this kind.

If the character knows the Charm Voices of the Meek, she may use this Charm without it counting as a Charm activation on anyone who successfully prays to her.


Remember Your Purpose
Cost: 3 motes; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Compulsion
Duration: One Day
Prerequisite Charms: Principles Before Preference
Above all else, Cyprian demands that those he interacts with have the mental and spiritual fortitude to hold to their beliefs, no matter what occurs. The character targets any being that he is capable of interacting with, and reminds them of this, rolling (Charisma + Presence or Performance + Essence) against the target's MDV. If the mental attack succeeds, the target becomes a slave to her passions. For the duration of the Charm, she must always spend one Willpower to fail Virtue rolls, and she must spend 1 Willpower per scene to avoid acting in favor of her Motivation when given the opportunity, or 2 Willpower to act against it (even if the long-term benefits of doing so would be greater). Targets who spend a total of 5 Willpower over the course of the day end the Charm.

At Essence 5, the character may spend 1 Willpower to increase the duration of this Charm to (Essence) days.

This Charm may be purchased a second time at Essence 4. If the character does so, she may spend 1 Willpower and up to (Essence) additional motes when activating the Charm in order to have it affect a number of people with a Magnitude equal to the additional motes spent. Each person applies their MDV individually against the character's roll, with no bonus for group size or leadership. Individuals spending enough Willpower to end the effect end it only on themselves.


Swords Fall Before Truth
Cost: 4 motes; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, Emotion
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Unworthy Soul Struck Down, Above The Masses
When the character raises her weapon to strike, those that she is striking recognize that their defeat is inevitable and surrender to the impending inevitable. This Charm inflicts unnatural mental influence on the subject of the character's attack. Unless the target spends a Willpower to resist the effect, it becomes unblockable and undodgeable. There is no limit to how much Willpower must be spent in a scene resisting this effect.

At Essence 4+, the character may spend an additional Willpower to have this Charm affect every attack in a flurry. In such a case, a target spending a total of three Willpower may shrug off the effect for every attack in the flurry.


The Righteous Triumph
Cost: 3 motes; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Emotion
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Remember Your Purpose
The true nature of righteousness is to be displayed, for if you are quiet in your faith none can see your glory. This Charm may be used on any target capable of hearing the Infernal's words, and who the Infernal can perceive. Upon activation of this Charm, the target receives one additional Virtue channel, which she may use to channel any of her Virtues rated at 3+. However, she may only use this additional channel to defend her Motivation or one of her Intimacies (or, if she has them, her Tenets). The channel remains until spent. Once a character uses their free channel, they may not receive another one for at least a day.

At Essence 4, the character may spend an additional four motes and a Willpower when activating this Charm to have it apply to a social unit with a Magnitude no greater than the Infernal's Essence rating.

If the character knows the Charm Voices of the Meek, she may use this Charm without it counting as a Charm activation on anyone who successfully prays to her.


Truth Is Eternal
Cost: 4 motes; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Above The Masses
Mere wounds have no power compared to the raw chorus of the Resonant Liturgy. This Charm may be used in response to any attack of which the character is aware. It acts as a perfect parry against that attack, even if the attack is unblockable. To observes, the character parries with the raw force of her certainty, letting off a burst of sound and light that takes whatever form the character sees fit. This Charm bears the Imperfection of the Resonant Liturgy. This Charm may never be used against attacks aimed at other people, even if the character somehow makes herself the target of the attack.

At Essence 4, the character may purchase this Charm a second time. Doing so allows her to spend 1 Willpower when activating the Charm to extend its duration to one tick. If so, the character may extend the duration to one action by increasing its total cost to 8 motes and a Willpower once she reaches Essence 5.


United In Dedication
Cost: None; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Emotion
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Reach Your Potential
The prayers of the faithful are songs of beauty to Cyprian, and he answers them with dedication. This Charm permanently enhances the Infernal, and affects anyone who asks him for help or who acknowledges him as a guide or mentor. For one month after seeking the Infernal's aid or declaring their support, any affected target doubles his MDV bonuses and penalties for Intimacies, Virtues, and Motivation. This is considered to be unnatural mental influence that cannot be resisted with Willpower, and does not count towards Charm die pool maximums.

Furthermore, when taking actions that run directly contrary to any of those traits, targets take an internal penalty of -1 for violating Intimacies, -2 for violating Virtues, or -3 for violating Motivation. These penalties do not stack - use only the largest. On the other hand, when the target channels their Virtues, they add a +1 die bonus to their rolls, and when they channel Virtues in support of their Motivation (or Tenets) they gain a +2 die bonus. Both penalties and bonuses are unnatural Emotion effects that can be resisted for one action by spending a Willpower, and count towards Charm maximums.

This power does not affect any being with a Cult rating - those who are worshipped cannot benefit from their own worship. The Infernal cannot turn the power off or choose who is affected - anyone who behaves appropriately gains all bonuses and penalties. Finally, if the Infernal knows the Charm Voices of the Meek, this Charm automatically affects anyone who takes part in a worship ceremony presided over by a successful prayer to the character. Again, this is not an optional effect.


Voices of the Meek
Cost: None; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Faith Shines Forth
A true bastion of faith must be able to hear the voices of the faithful. Upon learning this Charm, the character automatically develops a new thaumaturgy ritual, which allows those who learn it to pray to her as per the rules for the Beckon God rituals in the Art of Spirit Beckoning. This ritual can be learned by anyone for 1 XP, or for free by any Adept of the Art of Spirit Beckoning. The character can hear the prayers of any being who worships properly, and can respond if she so chooses. In addition, many of Cyprian's Charms may be used on someone who properly enacts this worship ritual.