Rites of Change & Will

Oathsworn Kinsman of the Storms

The whims of the fleeting winds are as ever-changing as the tides of the oceans.
But as with those deepest fathoms, secrets are borne along with them as they are herded along by the Great Windtamer Bears.
Hundreds of barely sentient elemental spirits flutter along in great swarms, whispering and cackling the secrets of the world to those that would listen.
But to anyone who seeks out the wisdom of the strongest of wind-spirits, the winds that carry forth the storms, there is a bargain to be made.
As sibling of the tempests of Creation, the initiate learns the names and words of a world unseen, and gains the needed insight to wield sorcery.
However, woe befalls the ungrateful sister. Curses fall upon the neglectful brother. And if spurned, the winds are not easily appeased, and thunder will mark the beginning of a falsefaced bastards end.

Shaping Rituals of the Storm

Gales of Potency
The sorcerer may draw power from the forces of wind, rain, and storm, gaining two sorcerous motes each turn she takes while exposed to a thunderstorm, heavy winds, or other harsh weather. Rain showers or light gusts still offer some power, allowing her to gain (Essence) motes at the start of the scene but not on any subsequent turns.
Taking damage from a weather-based environmental hazard gives her five motes per level of damage. These motes last for the duration of the scene

Storm’s Bounty
The sorcerer gains sorcerous motes when using a stunt to incorporate a storm into a shaping action. If the storm is mere rains and winds, gain motes equal to the stunt’s rating.
If the storm represents an environmental hazard, the stunt garners (stunt+3) motes instead. She may only gain these motes once per scene. Her control spell is not subject to the scene limitation.

Fury of the Tempest
Upon gaining or acting on an Intimacy of hostility, anger, or sorrow, the sorcerer may reflexively add sorcerous motes equal to the value of the Intimacy to a shaping action. This expressly allows the sorcerer to maintain an ongoing shaping action while engaging in other actions. She may only draw on one such Intimacy per day with this ritual. Her control spell is exempt from this limitation, but the ritual may only grant up to 10 motes per scene.

Sorcerous Merits

  • Kin to the Winds - (⚫) -
    • Minor positive tie (per storyteller discretion) with Air elementals, and gods and spirits associated with storms, clouds, or the sky, with spirits of increasing power being progressively less impressed.
  • Words as Storms - (⚫⚫) -
    • From the cauldron of storms within her soul, the Sorcerer exhales an eddy of air current, that carries with it a dense fog; this might be used to enable stunts in which the fog obscures sight or disorients enemies.
    • More importantly, the air currents can develop surprising speeds and force, and be used to make attacks with a (Intelligence + Occult) roll, and the traits of a light mundane weapon, with the bashing, mounted, and thrown (medium) tags, attacks of which reduce the cost for a knockdown gambit by 1.
  • Mark of Clouds - (⚫⚫) -
    • Tattoo-like markings of clouds, and air currents, manifest on the characters skin, allowing her to develop Evocations that deal with the control of the winds, clouds, fog, and at higher Essence scores, entire weather patterns, such as summoning violent thunderstorms.
  • Tempest Harvesting - (⚫⚫⚫⚫) -
    • The sorcerer is able to draw creative inspiration from whispers and howls of the wind, the shapes of clouds, or the rhythms of falling rain.
    • She gains 2sxp at the start of any journeys or when stunting how the weather is inspiring her creation.
    • The sorcerer may instead utilize especially forceful weather conditions (downpours, driving gales, thunderstorms) as a Means toward sorcerous workings.
  • Voice of Thunder - (⚫⚫) -
    • When you will it, your voice booms with palpable force.
    • The sorcerer gains double 9s on all rolls where both volume and majesty would prove valuable, such as issuing orders in battle or performing before a large audience.
    • She may also stunt usage of this talent to startle or deafen foes within Short range, but allies will also be at risk.
    • The sorcerer may make herself intelligibly heard by those at Long range, and even those farther away may hear battle-cries or incoherent shouts.
    • Use of this ability can prove taxing, especially if used repeatedly or for extended periods.

Thanks goes out to Gargoyle of the Ex3 forums who came up with half of the merits and the two shaping rituals. You da man!


Flame of the Prime Kiln

You hold a spark of the Primal Fire, an everlasting fire of sorcery fashioned by the Exalted in an age long past. This flame is embedded in your soul, bound into your very being; it appears in the palm of your hand whenever you will it, allowing you to work your sorcery through it. The power of this flame is eternal; you may pass it onto another, losing it in the process - but if you die with it it will sit within the shell of your body, awaiting a mind that can see and claim it for itself.

Shaping Rituals

The flame is a bonfire of the soul, all passions and memories serving at its kindling. By drawing upon its power, the sorcerer consumes his sense of self until he blurs into the line of all those who have held the flame before. Once per scene, she may ‘burn’ one her Major or Defining Intimacies that is directly applicable to her current situation; the Intimacy is suppressed until she next awakens from a full night’s rest, and she gains a number of sorcerous motes equal to the Intimacy’s rating which last for the rest of the scene. Additionally, once per story, the sorcerer may draw a Defining Intimacy from the flame held by one of its prior holders; the Storyteller chooses that Intimacy and the character’s behavior should reflect that attachment. In exchange, the user gains 5 sorcerous motes which, like the Intimacy, last for the rest of the day.

The primal fire consumes the flesh and reweaves into a more fitting vessel. Living bodies instinctively resist this intrusion, and sorcerers often feel the ache of burns and ulcers; but it is possible to give in to that warping power. Once per scene, the sorcerer may suffer up to (Essence) aggravated lethal damage, gaining a number of sorcerous motes equal to (1 + number of health levels lost + highest wound penalty inflicted). These motes last for the day (or until the wounds are healed, whichever comes sooner). Once per story, the sorcerer may accept a cosmetic mutation inflicted by the flame, whether it be a hand with charcoal-like skin or eyes that glow with fire or similar effects; depending on how visible, off-putting and dramatic the mutation is, it should be defined as Minor, Major or Defining, and the sorcerer accordingly receives 4, 6 or 8 sorcerous motes which last for the rest of the story.

When the sorcerer takes the first shape sorcery action to begin casting a spell and stunts it with a description of how she casts the spell through the flame or draws on its power, she gains (stunt rating + 2) sorcerous motes towards completing this spell. This benefit can only be received once per scene. Stunts to enhance the sorcerer’s control spell do not count against the once per scene limit.

Special rules: It is possible for a sorcerer to slay another holder of the flame, absorbing their spark within their own to add to their power. In doing so, the sorcerer accepts a Major or Defining Intimacy held by their victim (at the victim’s player’s discretion), and gains another shaping ritual. Accordingly, more shaping rituals than the three above may be designed for sorcerers of sufficient power.

Sorcerous Merits

Crucible of Flesh (Merit ● to ●●●●●): The sorcerer has extensively studied the twisting and weaving power of the prime flame, and learned to use it to burn flesh and cast it anew. She adds her rating in that Merit to the extended roll of any Sorcerous Working that aims at mutating a living being (including herself) or at giving them new powers, provided the changes follow the following themes or aesthetics: great size, extremes of beautiful or terrifying appearance, fire, magma, volcanic glass, smoke, ash.

The Burning Grasp (Merit ●●): Conjuring the flame from her palm, the sorcerer may wield it as a weapon, stoking, expanding and directing it, conjuring orbs and lances of fire to consume her opponents. This Merit is identical to The Burning Name (Exalted, p. 468), save in its aesthetics.

Suzerain of Endless Flame (Merit ●●): This Merit is identical to the Merit of the same name found on p. 468 of Exalted.

First Sin of Fire (Merit ●●●●●, Story): This Merit may only be taken at character creation (or acquired in-story, at which point it has no cost); it represents a character who has already slain another holder of the flame. The player and storyteller should come up with an appropriate Major or Defining Intimacy inherited from them, and the player may choose a second shaping ritual appropriate to his prime fire.

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