I’ve been given a trio of previews for Agents of Heaven, the Sidereals Companion for Exalted 3rd Edition. Enjoy!
Flying Guillotine
Cost: 12sm, 1wp
Keywords: Decisive-only, Perilous
Duration: Instant or One scene
The sorcerer makes the Sign of the Hooded Headsman and gathers her Essence into a three-foot-wide circle of razor edges. It hovers in the air, spinning ominously and dangling a long silver chain.
The sorcerer directs the Flying Guillotine to make a decisive attack with (Intelligence + Occult) against a target within medium range, rolling (Initiative + Essence) damage dice. If she knows Flying Guillotine style she can use her Martial Arts in place of her Occult. If her target doesn’t accept a crippling injury (Exalted, p. 201) representing a body part severed by the blade, she doubles 9s on the damage roll.
Alternatively, the sorcerer can maintain the Guillotine until it is needed. The weapon hovers beside her for the rest of the scene or until after she makes its spell attack.
Control: The sorcerer also adds the dice from aiming the spell attack to her damage roll. With a dull mechanical whine, she can summon a sliver of the Guillotine’s blade to assist her with tasks like cutting wood, sparking fire from stone, amputating limbs, and the like. This provides an exceptional equipment bonus (Exalted, p. 580). It can’t enhance attacks.
Distortion (10): The Guillotine is weighed down with leaden sloth, skipping and bouncing across the ground instead of hovering. The sorcerer suffers a –2 penalty on attacks using the Flying Guillotine and its range is reduced to medium.
Flying Guillotine Style
One of the rare sorcerous martial arts, Flying Guillotine style is an ancient and terrifying assassination art that utilizes its eponymous weapon to maim and decapitate enemies. To most martial artists in the Second Age it’s simply a legend. Young students are cowed by their masters with frightening tales of devil-sages using the Flying Guillotine to massacre disobedient and unrighteous schools. Yet those few that encounter Flying Guillotine style in person quickly find its reputation is well-earned.
Those sorcerers who seek to master the Flying Guillotine must prove themselves worthy of its fearsome powers first. It yields to neither fools nor cowards: sorcerers must meditate upon the mysteries of the Hooded Headsmen, claim the heads of mighty demons, survive lethal training grounds, and similar to learn this style. Consequently, few masters exist; those that do are loathe to teach new students, for fear of what they might unleash. Practitioners take it upon themselves to hunt those who use the Flying Guillotine’s terrible power recklessly, such as the
Modern-day masters include Amilar Ujizane, a wizened Lookshyan sorcerer-exorcist; cruel Dhirwa-Ten, Knight of the Spire, preeminent among the souls of the demon-temple Suntarankal; and a handful of Sidereals including Nayalu Eika, Chosen of Secrets. Practitioners will hunt their peers when they grow monstrous and abuse the Flying Guillotine’s power, like the rogue Ys sorcerer-prince Virata of the Wan Light, who has mantled her flying keep with dozens of heads.
Flying Guillotine weapons: This style’s Charms can exclusively be used with the Flying Guillotine after casting its spell (p. XX). Stylists count the Flying Guillotine as a chakram for purposes of compatibility with other martial arts. It can’t be practiced unarmed.
Armor: This style is compatible with light armor.
Complementary Abilities: Occult is required to summon this style’s signature weapon.
Sorcerous Martial Arts
Martial Arts developed to complement the use of a particular spell are rare even among Exalted sorcerers, blurring the line between spells, Charms, and Evocations. They typically involve the use of a sorcerous weapon like the Flying Guillotine or Blood Lash (Lunars, pp. 311−312), or transformations like Incomparable Body Arsenal (Exalted, p.477). Like other styles they have their own Ability, which requires the Martial Artist Merit (Exalted, p. 163) and knowledge of the associated spell to learn.
Sorcerous Martial Arts Charms can be purchased at the same cost as spells. They typically begin with a Form Charm, with the style’s spell as its only prerequisite, and have fewer Charms than normal Martial Arts.
Flying Guillotine Form
Cost: 10m (+5m or 5sm); Mins: Martial Arts 1, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Form
Duration: One scene
Prerequisites: Flying Guillotine
With a whispered prayer to the Hooded Headsman, the sorcerer sets the Flying Guillotine to spinning eagerly through the air above her with a horrible metallic whine.
The stylist gains the following benefits:
- She can maintain the Flying Guillotine as a medium thrown artifact with the Lethal, Martial Arts, and Thrown (Medium) tags. Her attacks use (Intelligence + [Martial Arts or Occult]). She can also parry with it as if it were a close-range weapon, using Intelligence instead of Dexterity.
- Crippling effects that target her limbs and the like don’t apply to Flying Guillotine attacks.
- Disarming her doesn’t knock the Flying Guillotine from the air; instead, it counts as distorting the spell until the attacker’s next turn or the stylist escapes crash.
- Instead of making a normal decisive attack, she can use her action to make the spell attack described under Flying Guillotine. After doing so, the spell and Flying Guillotine Form end unless she spends five motes or five sorcerous motes to recall the Guillotine to her.
Special activation rules: When the stylist successfully casts Flying Guillotine, she may reflexively enter this Form.
Unstoppable Execution Attack
Cost: 6m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Flying Guillotine Form
Contemptuous of lesser weapons, the sorcerer commands the Flying Guillotine to wrap its chain around and remove that which opposes its advance.
When an enemy attempts to block the stylist’s decisive or withering attack with a weapon, she can reflexively make a disarm gambit against him before rolling. This can even target weapons with the Worn tag (Exalted, p. 586). Success shatters a mundane weapon or disarms an artifact, adds up to (Intelligence) gambit attack roll extra successes to the original attack, and renders the original attack unblockable.
Blood Whirl Carnage
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Flying Guillotine Form
The sorcerer spins the Flying Guillotine in a wide and screaming circle until it blurs, spraying its victims’ blood and gore in all directions.
The stylist makes a single decisive attack against up to (lower of Martial Arts or Occult) enemies within medium range. She divides her Initiative equally among them, rounded up, and adds (Essence/2, rounded up) dice of damage to each attack. If an enemy doesn’t accept a crippling injury, she also doubles 10s on the damage roll against them. Against battle groups, the stylist rolls her full Initiative and doubles 10s on the damage roll.
Trivial characters within short range of the stylist are hit automatically and suffer her full Initiative in damage, not counting against the target limit.
Mastery: The stylist adds (Essence) dice of damage.
Dreaded Headhunter Focus
Cost: 4m, 1i; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only, Mastery, Perilous, Terrestrial
Duration: One scene
Prerequisites: Unstoppable Execution Attack, Blood Whirl Carnage
Making the Superior Sign of the Hooded Headsman against her foe, the sorcerer directs the Flying Guillotine’s full attention against a single unfortunate victim.
If the stylist deals any damage with the Flying Guillotine’s decisive spell attack, the Guillotine attunes itself to the taste of her enemy’s blood. For the rest of the scene or until the target is incapacitated, when attacking him the stylist rerolls (Essence) failed attack roll dice and ignores Defense bonuses from cover. She can attack enemies behind full cover, the Guillotine finding or creating an opening, although they receive +3 non-Charm Defense. However, she suffers a −3 penalty when attacking any other enemy.
Mastery: This Charm can be used reflexively against enemies suffering wound penalties.
Terrestrial: The stylist’s attack must deal 3+ damage to trigger this Charm.
Fatal Flying Guillotine
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Mastery, Terrestrial
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Dreaded Headhunter Focus
The sorcerer unleashes the ultimate technique of the Flying Guillotine: the weapon opens in flight and closes around its victim’s neck like a collar, slicing inward with its spinning blades and decapitating him instantly.
To use this Charm, the stylist must have Initiative 10+. She makes a gambit against a target affected by Dreaded Headhunter Focus. The difficulty of the gambit is the enemy’s (base Defense + Stamina), minimum 6. Success kills the target immediately via decapitation, and the Flying Guillotine carries it back to the stylist. Targets who can survive decapitation or have no head instead suffer an appropriately severe crippling injury.
Mastery: Wound and crippling penalties reduce the gambit’s difficulty, but can’t reduce it below 6.
Terrestrial: This Charm can only be used against crashed targets.
Reset: Once per scene.
The Bureau of Destiny’s Division Styles
Each Division of the Bureau of Destiny maintains a school of its own signature martial art, with lineages unbroken back to the dawn of history. Many Sidereals also learn the styles of other Divisions, and frequently gods learn their Division’s styles as well. Among sagacious martial artists, they’re considered heavenly arts — signs that Heaven may be watching, or that its presence lingers in a place or person.
While schools of these styles exist across Creation, they are rare, esoteric and small. Whatever their source or age, they all usually derive from the past presence of Bureau of Destiny agents.
Cerulean Lute of Harmony Style
Cerulean Lute of Harmony style is a pacifist’s art, focused on carefully and quickly ending fights with minimal harm to anyone. Students cultivate restraint, patience, and compassion as part of learning its techniques, with many experiencing profound changes in their perspective because of this. They strive to avoid violence, but when combat erupts are ready to defend their allies and contain their opponents.
Across Creation, this style is practiced by monks, idealists, and artists. In sun-burnt Korshala, members of the royal harem traditionally learn this style to honor how an ancient queen’s nameless paramour saved her life with it. The vagrant siren-priests of Venus Noctis wander Creation’s streets nocturnally, employing this style to protect young lovers. A grappling-focused offshoot, called Loving Embrace style, is practiced by certain Immaculate missionaries in the West.
Cerulean Lute of Harmony weapons: Stylists fight defensively, striking with pushing strikes, heel-steps, and hand-traps that open opponents’ guards. It uses batons, parasols, and war fans, typically wielded in combination. Appropriately sized string instruments such as ouds or lutes count as batons.
Armor: This style isn’t compatible with armor.
Complementary Abilities: This style’s social prowess benefits from having at least one of Performance, Presence, or Socialize.
Umbrellas
Umbrellas and parasols with metal sewn into them can be used to deflect blows and bludgeon, or slash if blades are sewn into their rim. Artifact umbrellas are called razor parasols, and deal Lethal damage.
Medium (Accuracy +2, Damage +7, Defense +1, Overwhelming 1)
Tags: Lethal or Bashing, Melee, Concealable, Disarming, Shield
Prelude-to-Folly Admonition
Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Cautioning against the futility of violence, the martial artist unnerves her opponents with carefully chosen words before they err.
The stylist makes a special influence roll with (Social Attribute + Martial Arts) against the Resolve of one or more characters to warn them against fighting her, ignoring the multiple target penalty. If they then initiate hostilities this scene, they suffer a penalty on their Join Battle roll and attacks in the first round equal to (1 + extra successes, maximum 5). This can’t be resisted with Willpower.
She can use this Charm in combat at the end of turns in which she hasn’t attacked, rolling against the base Resolve of within short range and causing him to lose (1 + extra successes, maximum 5) Initiative on success. If this crashes him, she gains the Initiative Break as though it was a withering attack. This doesn’t count as an attack for the purpose of Cerulean Lute Charms.
Mastery: The stylist can Join Battle using (Social Attribute + Martial Arts) if violence ensues after using this Charm.
Unstringing the Lute
Cost: 3m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Perilous, Terrestrial, Withering-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Prelude-to-Folly Admonition
The martial artist strips away her enemy’s ability to inflict harm with disorienting and unbalancing blows.
The stylist penalizes the raw damage of the target’s next withering attack this scene by one for every success on her withering damage roll, maximum −(Dexterity + Essence) penalty.
Terrestrial: This can only target lower-Initiative enemies.
Violence Turned Aside
Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mastery, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Prelude-to-Folly Admonition
The martial artist denies the cycle of violence further perpetuation, entrapping her enemy’s limbs in her guard.
The stylist gains +1 Defense, or +2 if this is the first round of combat or she didn’t attack on her last turn. Successfully defending against a close-range attack imposes a −2 penalty on her opponent’s next attack roll.
Mastery: Defending by three or more successes increases the penalty to −3.
Weeping Maiden Strike
Cost: 3m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Prelude-To-Folly Admonition
The martial artist strikes with the passion of one determined to end a fight as fast as possible, growing fiercer as opponents force her hand.
The stylist adds a die of post-soak withering or decisive damage. She also adds (Strength/2, rounded up) further dice of withering damage and doubles 10s on a decisive damage roll, if the target initiated hostilities and this is the first round of combat, or if he’s attacked since her last turn.
Cerulean Lute of Harmony Form
Cost: 8m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Unstringing the Lute, Violence Turned Aside, Weeping Maiden Strike
The martial artist assumes an open stance of perfect alignment with the world, radiating the love Venus has for all things.
The stylist gains the following benefits:
- She gains +(Dexterity) soak.
- She can use Prelude-to-Folly Admonition on her turn in combat even if she attacked that round. If she didn’t attack, its cost is reduced by two motes.
- She halves all penalties to her Defense, rounded down, and waives the Initiative cost of the full defense action.
- Opponents are treated as having a Minor Tie of respect to her, recognizing both her desire for peace and readiness to fight. This always supports the special influence of Prelude-to-Folly Admonition.
Special activation rules: When the stylist penalizes a target’s withering damage by four or more with Unstringing the Lute, she may reflexively enter this Form.
Sandal on the Blade
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only, Terrestrial
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cerulean Lute of Harmony Form
Dangerous weapons and belligerent opponents are dealt with the same way: slammed into the ground beneath the martial artist’s foot.
The stylist counterattacks with a disarm gambit or damaging decisive attack. If she successfully disarms her opponent, she traps his weapon underfoot; he must succeed on a ([Dexterity or Strength] + Athletics) roll against her attack roll while from close range before he can ready it again. If she deals decisive damage, she knocks him prone and raises the difficulty of rising from prone to 4 while within close range of him.
Using this Charm doesn’t count as attacking for the purposes of other Cerulean Lute Charms.
Terrestrial: This counts as the stylist’s attack for the round.
Aura of Harmony
Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Duration: As long as she performs
Prerequisite Charms: Sandal on the Blade
The martial artist sways gently back and forth as she begins to perform, her Essence making the air shimmer as it shrouds her allies protectively.
The stylist begins performing a song, dance, or oratory on her turn. While performing, she can only take non-attack actions or counterattack. Crashing her ends this effect.
She and allies within medium range gain (higher of Essence or 3) soak and Hardness, and ignore one point of onslaught penalty. If she deals damage with Prelude-to-Folly Admonition, she may award an ally +1 Initiative, or grant them her Initiative Break for crashing an enemy with it.
Special activation rules: This Charm can be activated reflexively upon entering Cerulean Lute of Harmony Form.
Peaceful Intervention Rebuke
Cost: —(+3m); Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Decisive-only, Terrestrial
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Aura of Harmony
When violence runs unchecked to harm her allies, the martial artist intervenes with extreme prejudice.
This Charm enhances a decisive counterattack, allowing her to respond to an attack against any ally within close range even if she normally couldn’t. If the original attack dealt decisive damage, the stylist adds her attack roll extra successes as dice of damage, up to a maximum of levels of damage her ally suffered. She can’t use this Charm if the attack’s target uses a Clash or Counterattack Charm of his own.
Terrestrial: The maximum bonus damage is (stylist’s Essence).
Reset: Once per scene, unless reset by crashing an enemy who’s inflicted wound penalties on her allies.
Animus-Extinguishing Palm
Cost: 7m, 3i, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Clash, Decisive-only, Mastery, Terrestrial
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Peaceful Intervention Rebuke
The martial artist stops unleashes a pulse of shimmering blue Essence from her hand, dousing her opponent’s killing intent to bring a moment of serenity to the battlefield, that they might search for a peaceful resolution together.
The stylist clashes an attack made against herself or an ally within short range, or a ranged attack from within long range. 1s on the enemy’s attack roll add dice of decisive damage. Success knocks him prone.
The damage roll doubles as an instill roll, imparting a temporary Major Principle of pacifism. This can’t be eroded until the scene’s end, when it becomes a Minor Intimacy.
If the Intimacy was instilled, a brief pause in combat ensues as all characters stand down momentarily. Each major character present may make a social influence action if they wish, potentially ending hostilities. Any character may reignite hostilities after this, but for the enemy to do so he must enter a Decision Point and cite a relevant Major or Defining Intimacy to keep fighting, then pay two Willpower. He can resume hostilities if another party restarts combat, but must still pay the Willpower cost.
At the end of the scene, all damage inflicted by this Charm evaporates, a manifestation of the stylist’s lack of killing intent. It can never lethally incapacitate a character.
Mastery: The imposed Intimacy doesn’t weaken for one week.
Terrestrial: This counts as the stylist’s attack for the round, or for the next round if she’s already attacked.
Reset: Once per scene.
