Merits:Obsolete

This section holds Merits that are only appropriate with the previous system for Charms.

Beacon (*)
Prerequisite: Not supernatural, Morality 7+. Available at character creation only.

Beacons are those possessed of a strong Inner Light. They have a strong sense of hope, idealism, or optimism, a solid sense of morality or ethics, and a concern for the well-being of others. Beacons gain a +1 bonus on degeneration rolls to avoid morality loss. Because of their optimism and Inner Light, Beacons find it easier to hold onto their ideals. Beacons also have a very mild Echo. While normally not strong enough to give a bonus, when a Beacon spends Willpower on a Social roll to interact with other mortals, she gains +4 on dice instead of +3.

Beacons may learn more than one Orison Merit, up to their Resolve.

Drawbacks: Like the Hopeful, Beacons are vulnerable to Sensitivity. Beacons roll one die for Sensitivity.

If Beacons have dots in Shadows, they can travel to the Dreamlands, though lacking Wisps, they must spend 1 Willpower point to open a Crawlspace entrance; and lacking regalia, they are exposed to the Gales as long as they remain there. For rolls involving the Dreamlands, a Beacon has an effective Inner Light of 0 - they roll Empathy + Shadows to find a Crawlspace entrance, and Intelligence + Empathy to locate memories in Crawlspace. Any progress made toward spontaneous discovery of the Dreamlands is lost if the Beacon loses his last remaining dot in Shadows before finding the entrance.

Special: The Inner Light of the Beacon is fragile and easily crushed. If a Beacon ever loses her optimism or idealism, she loses the Beacon merit. In addition, a Beacon whose Morality drops below 7 loses the Beacon merit. A Beacon who knows more than one Orison and loses the Merit must pick one of his Orisons, and loses all the rest.

If a Beacon becomes a Sworn or a Princess, the Beacon merit is lost. In this case, his Inner Light has developed into a stronger state where it is not so easily crushed. He keeps all Orisons he has learned.

Bequest (***+)
You command an object that has been brought forth from the Dreamlands. It carries some mystical power that you may invoke, but it also has a purpose to fulfill, and requires you to carry out a duty to release its charms.

A Bequest's power invariably functions only when triggered, usually with a command or simple gesture. It also invariably requires spending Wisps, and the most potent Bequests call for Willpower from their user as well. Fortunately, Bequests also have their own store of Wisps, dedicated to its power; thus even mortals can use a Bequest, if they know its trigger. A Princess may use the Bequest's Wisps to power it, or her own. Each Bequest stores a maximum of 10 Wisps. When these Wisps are spent, the Bequest's owner can replenish them by performing a mundane task, of the same order as a Princess' Sacred Oath tasks (and using the same rules) that aligns with the Bequest's purpose.

Bringing a Bequest into the mundane world requires, first, questing for it in the Dreamlands; and second, finding or making a vessel for it in the mundane world. Thus every Bequest, like the Princesses, has two appearances: the ordinary one of the mundane object, and the glorious one of the Dreamlands item. When no Wisps are available to fuel the Bequest's power (that is, when its last stored Wisp is spent, and it isn't in a transformed Princess' hands) the Bequest reverts to its mundane form; when it is successfully used (Wisps are spent to fuel it) the Bequest assumes its glorious form.

The cost of a Bequest varies depending on its power. Compare what it does to the powers of the Charms: the Charm dots needed for an equivalent ability, plus 2, is the number of Merit dots needed to purchase the Bequest. If you lose the Bequest in play, you lose the Merit dots spent on it.

A transformed Princess holding a Bequest in mundane form may roll her Inner Light to recognize that the item is a Bequest. She can deduce the trigger by careful examination; this is an extended action, rolling Intelligence + Inner Light with a target number equal to twice the Bequest's cost in Merit dots.

Orison (* - ***)
Prerequisite: A mortal may take one Orison Merit. A Beacon may take up to his Resolve Orison Merits. A Sworn or Princess may take any number of Orison Merits.

Whereas a Charm is a way to focus the power of one's own Inner Light to make an effect on the world, an Orison is an invocation of a power outside oneself, beseeching the Light of Hope itself to intervene on your behalf. The Orisons are not nearly as powerful as true Charms, since the Light of Hope is weakened and dampened, and the power of the magic is somewhat unfocused and has a tendency to dissipate over the sympathetic distance. Still, Orisons are quite useful despite this: they can be used regardless of Transformation, they are much easier to learn than full-fledged Charms, and they may be taught to mortals.

Dots purchased in an Orison merit allow access to magical powers, at a rate of one per dot, much like the Fighting Style merits. Each power is a prerequisite for the next. The common Orisons, which are linked with the Charms, run up to 3 dots; more esoteric Orisons may exist that grant 4- and 5-dot powers.

Regalia (*+)
As part of your transformation, you summon a useful item -- often, but not always, a weapon. The Regalia appears on your person when you transform, and vanishes when you return to the mundane state. Other than that, it acts like a normal object, so you can drop it, give it to someone else, or have it taken away. Each piece of Regalia is used with one dice pool, and you must choose the Attribute and Skill governing that piece when you first take the merit. You may buy multiple instances of Regalia, to represent multiple pieces, each applying to a different dice pool.

By default, a piece of Regalia has a Size of 2 and a Durability of 2, and gives a +2 equipment bonus to the governing dice pool. If the Regalia is attacked and destroyed, you lose the Merit dots spent on it. If it is only damaged, you may repair it by spending Wisps; each point of Structure restored takes 1 Wisp and 1 hour's sustained effort.

Dots in Regalia can give equipment bonuses to the governing dice pool, add Size or Durability to the piece, or add some special qualities to it. You may also reduce the cost of the Regalia by adding drawbacks, though you cannot reduce the cost to less than 1 dot.

Regalia designed as weapons do lethal damage by default, and can have further special qualities and drawbacks.

Sworn (****)
Prerequisite: Not supernatural

The Sworn are mortals who know of the Princesses' mission, and have taken an oath to one of the Queens, promising to fulfill it. Their loyalty connects them to the Light, and allows them to draw on it for a modicum of power. To become Sworn, a mortal declares himself in a ritual conducted by a speaker of the Royal Tongue; the initiate pays a Willpower dot (which can be bought back with 8 experience points) and his preceptor spends a Willpower point. From then on the initiate is Sworn to the Queen the preceptor follows. The ritual requires the full and witting consent of both parties.

Sworn gain a pool of Wisps, holding a number of Wisps equal to their Resolve + Presence. They may spend these Wisps on Practical Magic, exactly as the Princesses following the Queen they're sworn to do. Sworn may also learn an unlimited number of Orisons and spend their Wisps to activate them. To regain Wisps, Sworn may accept them from Princesses who follow the same Queen, or they can fulfill a Sacred Oath. A Sworn's Sacred Oaths are identical to the Oaths of his preceptor -- pick one of the Callings and use its Oaths.

Drawback: The Sworn are vulnerable to Sensitivity, rolling 1 die when exposed.