Exalted – Lunar Essence Arts I

Shapeshifting Refinement Knack: Dominions of the Earth’s Heart

Prerequisites: Essence 3, Stamina 4, Hybrid Body Re-Arrangement, Changing Plumage Mastery, and Internal Form Mastery.

 A lunar with this knack may delicately adjust the internal details of his or her current form to channel the essence of a demesne. Whenever the user is in a currently-uncapped demesne, he or she may spend a point of willpower (which is considered committed until this ability is deactivated), roll (Per + Occ) against a difficulty equal to the (Level of the Demesne +2), and cap the demesne with their presence. Over the next six ticks the user’s body begins to act as a living, mobile, manse. If the (Per + Occ) roll was successful, the user is in full control of spending their new supply of manse construction points. If not, the game master gets to spend half of them (rounded down). While the user cannot take any drawbacks other than reducing the level of the hearthstone he or she creates (which happens instantly), they gain (Essence/2) extra Manse Construction Points and the powers of Living Manse and Zone of Influence at no cost. They do not require any kind of control system, any defensive manse capabilities may act out to the edge of the zone, and the only form of “power failure” that limits them is the user’s death.

Sadly, some powers are off-limits. These include Geomantic Nexus, Archive, Divine Observatory, Ebon Dragnet, Integrated Utility Artifacts, Puzzle Manse, Shadowland, Soul Prison, Alternate Locations, Gate of Auspicious Passage, Inauspicious Citadel, Indestructible, Otherworld Gate, Outside Worlds Within, Sentient, Synergistic Overmind and – of course – anything requiring maintenance.

Thus if Striding Waters, an Essence-4 Lunar Exalt with this knack, happens to be in a Fire Demesne ***, invokes this knack, and doesn’t want to bother with much of a heartstone (lets say he wants a Memorial Iron Stone *) he gets 6 (Demesne Rating x 2) + 2 (his essence/2) + 2 (hearthstone levels given up) = 10 manse construction points to spend.

If he takes Masters Workshop or Workshop Manse (Say, for Craft Fire, Weed, and Earth), he – and anyone in the immediate area he cares to assist – gets crafting checks as if they were in such a workshop. If he takes Emerald Circle Feedback, he can suppress Thaumaturgy and Terrestrial Circle Sorcery within his or her range. If he takes Provider, he can will the area to supply food. He can create an Ultra-Deadly Trap within the area, use Fire Dragons Will to manipulate flame, or perform many other tricks.

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