Charm:Connect

Connect Charms trace and use the connections between people, or make and break such connections. Only Graces have affinity for them.

=One-dot Charms=

Animal Magnetism (•)

 * Favor (Animal Ken)
 * Action: Permanent

The Noble becomes a friend to birds and beasts when she transforms; through a combination of smell, sound, or visual cues, the animals take her for one of their own.

Upgrade: Trusted (Legno ••)
No matter how strange, exotic or frightened the animal, a Noble knows how to deal with it safely. She can reduce penalties to an Animal Ken roll by up to her dots in Legno.

Upgrade: Primal (Tempesta ••)
Animals instinctively recognize their betters, and a Noble can seize upon that instinct. When the Noble tries to frighten an animal into obedience or flight, the animal’s dice pool to contest the Noble takes a penalty equal to her Tempesta.

Beginner's Luck (•)

 * Action: Instant
 * Dice pool: Intelligence + Dexterity
 * Cost: 1 Wisp
 * Duration: 1 roll

If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing badly. When the Princess assists in an instant teamwork action, she may activate this Charm instead of rolling the relevant dice pool. Each success on the activation roll becomes a bonus die for the primary actor. The Princess can also use Beginner’s Luck for 1 roll in an extended teamwork action. Any bonuses or penalties on the relevant dice pool also apply to the activation roll, and a dramatic failure penalizes the primary actor’s roll as usual.

Upgrade: Enduring

 * Cost: +1 Wisp

When assisting in an extended teamwork action, all the Princess’ rolls are Intelligence + Dexterity instead of the relevant dice pool.

Upgrade: Guided
Do not apply penalties on the dice pool to the activation roll.

Upgrade: Twinned

 * Cost: +1 Wisp

When the Princess activates the Charm, she also rolls the relevant dice pool, and adds successes from both that roll and the Charm. The pools are separate; any bonuses and penalties apply to both.

Fair Welcome (•)

 * Action: Instant
 * Dice pool: Manipulation + Socialize
 * Cost: 1 Wisp
 * Duration: 1 day or 1 week

The Noble can strike up a conversation with nearly anyone she meets, and learn many things from an hour of polite talk.
 * Dramatic Failure: The Noble becomes convinced that everyone she meets disapproves of her. She gains the Nervous Condition, lasting until she fails in or abandons a social maneuver.
 * Failure: The Noble gains no new acquaintances from the Charm.
 * Success: The Noble adds 1 dot to her Contacts, naming a group with members she can currently see for the new dot. She can gather information from that group for 1 day, following the normal rules for information from Contacts.
 * Exceptional Success: The Noble can gather information from the group for 1 week.

Upgrade: Friendly

 * Modified by Commonalty
 * Cost: +1 Wisp
 * Duration: until resolved

The Noble may befriend a specific organization, applying the Commonalty modifier, when she knowingly meets one of its members. Succeeding with the Charm gives her the Connected Condition [CofD 288] with the targeted organization, instead of a Contacts dot.

Illuminatus (•)

 * Favor (Politics)
 * Action: Permanent

When the Noble transforms, the secrets of the wealthy and powerful in her community cannot be hidden from her.

Upgrade: Inspirational (Fuoco ••)
When an organization the Noble knows well is dispirited, she stirs up zeal for the cause. She may spend 1 Wisp after one scene or hour spent encouraging its members, to remove one level of the Discontented Condition from that organization.

Upgrade: Influential (Terra ••)
Organizations shift their policies when the Noble drops a word in the right ear. When beginning a social maneuver with an organization, she may spend 1 Wisp to open one Door without a roll.

Laying Down The Line (•)

 * Action: Extended, 1/minute/roll, threshold = Sanctuary
 * Dice pool: Resolve + Larceny
 * Cost: 1 Wisp
 * Duration: variable

A Noble is a creature of divisions; between Light and Dark, Transformed and mundane, Hope and despair. Drawing a line on the ground, she separates one area from another, and so becomes aware of anything that breaks that line. The Charm is used on an area with a boundary - natural (c.f. a stream), legal (c.f. a property line), spiritual (c.f. Consecrated ground) or just marked out for the purpose (c.f. a chalk line, string run along posts). The boundary must, however, be physically marked in some way, and the Noble must walk its whole length while activating the Charm.

The Charm has a special duration. On a boundary marked out so the Charm can be used on it, it lasts one scene. If used on an existing boundary, the duration is increased to one day. If used on the edge of Consecrated ground the Charm lasts as long as the Consecrated Condition does. Also, if the physical mark showing the boundary is destroyed at any point along the boundary the Charm ends.

When the Noble reaches the threshold, until the Charm ends she knows reflexively whenever an unauthorized person is trespassing in the protected area, no matter where she might be at the time. She will also know when the Charm ends, and why. Who is authorized to enter the area depends on the local laws; the Noble will not notice the entry of the area’s owner, or of police with a search warrant.

Upgrade: Illuminated

 * Cost: +1 Wisp

Reaching out, the Noble sketches the bounded area in her mind, painting the delineation in liquid light. She does not require a physical mark for the boundary, and destroying a boundary mark (if present) does not end the Charm. However, the boundary is, to transformed Princesses, creatures of the Darkness, and any being that can see magic, a glowing line, thus telling them that there is something supernatural going on.

Upgrade: Unnatural
The Noble calls on a higher law when she walks the bounds. She may redefine who is authorized to set foot within the protected area, excluding any character who fulfills one of these conditions: a supernatural being (as in, not a mundane human); a Light-touched character; or a creature of the Darkness. The Noble may choose only one of these - she cannot set a boundary to warn her when Light-touched and Dark creatures cross it.

An area protected by an Unnatural boundary will not alert the Noble to intrusions that violate local laws. However, an area can be protected by multiple instances of this Charm, as long as each instance detects a different group. Using the Charm on an area already enclosed, wholly or partly, takes a -1 penalty for each instance already in effect.

Upgrade: Sheltered (Lacrima •)

 * Requires Unnatural

The subjects of the Queen of Tears often want to be warned of the approach of her ancient enemy. The Noble can set the area to warn her when a follower of Storms is in it: Nobles, Sworn, Stormwracked and Goalenu.

Upgrade: Righteous (Tempesta •)

 * Requires Unnatural

The soldiers of the Seraphic General often want to be warned of the approach of her ancient enemy. The Noble can set the area to warn her when a follower of Tears is in it: Nobles, Sworn, and citizens of Alhambra.

The Naked City (•)

 * Favor (Streetwise)
 * Action: Permanent

When the Noble transforms, she easily evades the nets and snares laid by the authorities, and those who live outside the law know her for a friend.

Upgrade: Bargaining (Aria ••)
If the Noble needs something that can’t be bought openly, a touch of magic leads her to the right dealer. When she wants to procure illegal equipment or services [CofD 277-279] she may spend 1 Wisp to reduce the time needed to find what she wants; one week is cut to one day, one day to one hour.

Upgrade: Listening (Terra ••)
There are eight million stories in the naked city, and the Noble can hear them all. When she uses Streetwise to find information, she may spend 1 Wisp to reroll her dice pool after seeing the results, though she must keep the second roll. During an investigation, if the Noble uses Streetwise to uncover a Clue [CofD 79] she may spend 1 Wisp to add an extra element to the Clue.

Open Heart (•)

 * Favor (Empathy)
 * Action: Permanent

When the Noble transforms, she radiates kindliness and trustworthiness; those she meets take her as a natural confidant.

Upgrade: Distant (Acqua ••)
The Noble’s knowledge of people allows her to predict their actions while they are absent. She may use Empathy to extrapolate what someone known to her is doing or has done while out of her sight, as an instant action. She takes a Sympathy penalty on this roll, and may apply Acqua to it. The Storyteller gives the Noble’s player one clue to her target’s behavior for each success.

Upgrade: Startling (Aria ••)
The Noble easily sees when people are on the edge of violence. She may use Empathy to read the emotions of all the people around her as an instant action, and may apply Aria to the roll; if she succeeds, and anyone present starts a fight, she adds her successes to her Initiative. The Noble can’t do this after a fight starts - she needs a few moments of calm to look for signs.

Upgrade: Deep (Terra ••)
The Noble can read people’s desires, hopes and fears as easily as most people can read faces. When she uses Empathy to understand a person, she may apply Terra and spend a Wisp to turn her successes on the roll into bonus dice for all Persuasion attempts on that person for the rest of the scene.

Mercury's Blessing (•, Acqua •)

 * Action: Instant
 * Dice pool: Intelligence + Expression
 * Cost: 1 Wisp
 * Duration: 1 scene

With a touch of the hand and a look in the eye, the Noble may converse with anyone in the world. She touches her target to activate the Charm.
 * Dramatic Failure: The Noble’s speech and writing become incoherent. She takes the Stumbling Condition, applied to a Social Skill other than Animal Ken or Empathy, and lasting for the rest of the scene.
 * Failure: The Noble learns no new language from the Charm.
 * Success: The Noble acquires a basic understanding of the target’s native language until the Charm ends, as if she had a dot in the Multilingual Merit for it [CofD 46].
 * Exceptional Success: The Nobles speaks her new language felicitously, charming her audience. She gains a +1 bonus to Expression dice pools when speaking the target’s native language.

Mercury’s Blessing may be used more than once in a scene, but only to acquire more languages; the Charm does not improve fluency with languages a Noble already knows.

Upgrade: Fluent
On a successful activation, the Noble becomes fully fluent in the target’s language, as if she had the Language Merit [CofD 45] for it. She may use the Charm to increase her fluency in languages she knows from the Multilingual Merit.

Upgrade: Lasting

 * Cost: +1 Wisp
 * Duration: 1 day

The Noble’s magical fluency persists for a full day from the moment she gained it.

Upgrade: Literate (Acqua ••)
The Noble can converse with the absent, if they have left a record of their thoughts. She may apply the Charm to a written text in a language she doesn’t know; if successful, she understands the language that text is written in until the Charm ends. Audio recordings are also valid targets for the Charm. The Noble must read a text or listen to a recording to use the Charm on it.

Upgrade: Overflowing (Acqua ••)
If a person speaks more than one language, the Noble can learn them all. For each success rolled, up to her Acqua, the Noble gains a basic understanding of one language her target knows and she does not. If she doesn’t speak the target’s native language, she must learn that one. If the target has both the Language and Multilingual Merits, she learns the languages from Language before those from Multilingual. If she applies Fluent, she become as fluent in all the languages she learns as the target is.

Upgrade: Teaching (Acqua •••)
The Noble can use the Charm in reverse, granting her target the ability to speak a language she knows. =Two-dot Charms=

Cherish (••)

 * Action: Instant and resisted
 * Dice pool: Wits + Occult - target’s Composure
 * Cost: 1 Wisp
 * Duration: indefinite

A person she’s met, a place she’s been - these fix themselves in a Noble’s heart, to be recalled later. The Noble uses this Charm on a target within sight, to grant herself temporary sympathy to it.
 * Dramatic Failure: The Noble cannot use any Charm through a sympathetic connection to the target until she sees it again.
 * Failure: The Charm has no effect.
 * Success: The Noble gains the Cherishing Condition in its standard form with respect to the target, improving her sympathetic connection by one step for each activation success (to a minimum of Sensory.)
 * Exceptional Success: The connection lasts for several Charms, though it frays each time the Noble uses it. The Noble gains the strong form of the Cherishing Condition.

The Right Word (••)

 * Action: Instant and contested
 * Dice pool: Manipulation + Persuasion vs. Composure + Supernatural Tolerance
 * Cost: 1 Wisp
 * Duration: lasting

The Noble can read the hearts of those she meets, discovering what they most desire and what she can do to help them reach it. At the start of a social maneuver with a person, the Noble may activate this Charm.
 * Dramatic Failure: The Noble is led to believe the target has an Aspiration which is, in fact, repugnant to him. If she offers to help him achieve the spurious goal, add one Door to her social maneuver and lower the impression by one step.
 * Failure: The Noble learns nothing of her target’s desires. The social maneuver proceeds normally.
 * Success: The Noble learns one of the target’s current Aspirations in the course of her first attempt to open a Door. She may appeal to that Aspiration after the first attempt resolves, whether it succeeds or fails. If the target has a Vocation, or any other trait similar to Aspirations, the Noble can discover it instead of an Aspiration.
 * Exceptional Success: The Noble learns two of the target’s Aspirations (or Vocations, or similar traits) as she tries to open her first Door.

Upgrade: Convincing

 * Cost: +1 Wisp

The Noble knows just how to appeal to her target’s wishes. When she appeals to an Aspiration revealed by the Charm during the social maneuver she used it, she opens two Doors instead of one.

Upgrade: Collective

 * Modified by Commonalty

The Noble can discover Aspirations of an organization when she begins a social maneuver on it. Her roll to activate takes the Commonalty penalty for the organization’s officers.

Upgrade: Charismatic (Fuoco ••)

 * Requires Convincing
 * Cost: +1 Willpower

A Hero’s charisma sweeps those she meets into her wake. After she appeals to an Aspiration revealed by the Charm during the social maneuver she used it, the Noble may reduce the penalty for forcing the remaining Doors by her Fuoco, to a minimum of -0.

Upgrade: Amicable (Terra ••)

 * Cost: +1 Wisp

By offering aid, the Noble establishes herself as trustworthy. After she appeals to an Aspiration revealed by the Charm during the social maneuver she used it, the Noble improves her impression by one step as well as opening a Door.

You’re Only in Trouble if you Get Caught (••, Aria •••)

 * Action: Instant
 * Dice pool: Intelligence + Composure
 * Cost: 1 Willpower
 * Duration: lasting

Sometimes, one must learn to lose, to give up, and, to put it bluntly, to run away. By using magic taught by the Queen of Thieves a Knave may escape from her past, and those who would use it to track her down with magic. Each activation success reduces the Noble’s sympathetic connection to a chosen subject by one degree. If she gets enough successes to reduce a connection to Unknown, she breaks it altogether.

In addition, the Charm counteracts any hostile attempt to alter the Noble’s emotional state (such as certain fear-causing Caligines, the Vampire Disciples of Majesty and Nightmare, and certain applications of the Mind Arcanum, to name but a few). If more successes are rolled on the activation of the Charm than the hostile power, it is rendered ineffectual.

Upgrade: Partners in Crime (Aria ••••)

 * Cost: + 1 Wisp

The Noble may use the Charm on a person she can speak to. The target must give their consent for such a thing to occur, although it need not be knowing; they can express a desire to no longer be scared by a childhood memory, if only in passing.

Upgrade: Band of Thieves (Aria •••••)

 * Requires Partners in Crime
 * Modified by Commonalty
 * Cost: + 2 Wisps

The Noble may use the Charm on members of an organization who can hear her, applying the Commonalty modifier. Only those members who consent to the change are affected.

Love Conquers All (••, Fuoco ••)

 * Action: Instant
 * Dice pool: Presence + Empathy, modified by Sympathy
 * Cost: 1 Wisp
 * Duration: 1 scene

When two people who love each other are together, there is very little that can stand in their way. But lovers can’t be together all the time, and of course many will face hardships without their beloved to help them. To a Noble, this distance doesn’t matter. She knows she’s never alone and has her beloved to help her.

Before rolling to activate the Charm, the Noble chooses a dice pool: either an Attribute and Skill, or a pair of Attributes. The Charm may not be used when the Noble is under its effects.
 * Dramatic Failure: Thinking of the beloved distracts the Noble and hinders her in her tasks. She takes a -2 penalty whenever she uses the dice pool she meant to enhance for the rest of the scene.
 * Failure: The beloved is spiritually present, but can’t help.
 * Success: The beloved sends aid to the Noble through their sympathetic link. The Noble gains the Blessed Condition, with 2 banked dice for each activation success. These dice may be added to actions using the chosen dice pool. The Condition ends, taking any unused dice with it, at the end of the scene.
 * Exceptional Success: The Noble chooses a second dice pool; dice from the Blessed Condition may be added to actions that use either pool.

Upgrade: Mutual (Fuoco •••)
The Noble’s beloved can get whatever help he needs, all he needs to do is ask. Both the Noble and her beloved may use the dice from the Blessed Condition.

Beast Speaker (••, Legno •)

 * Action: Instant
 * Dice pool: Intelligence + Animal Ken
 * Cost: 1 Wisp
 * Duration: 1 scene

The Noble can speak to any animal, and understand its replies.
 * Dramatic Failure: The Noble cannot understand the targeted animal; all Animal Ken rolls involving it are reduced to a chance die for the rest of the scene.
 * Failure: The animal does not understand the Noble, and behaves as it normally would.
 * Success: The animal, and any other animal of the same species, understands what the Noble says to it, and will answer questions to the best of its ability, until the Charm ends.
 * Exceptional Success: The animal is well-disposed towards the Noble - it will volunteer information and is easily persuaded to help her out. Her rolls to influence the animal gain a +2 bonus until the Charm ends.

=Three-dot Charms=

Ivory Gate (•••)

 * Action: Instant
 * Dice pool: Manipulation + Socialize
 * Cost: 2 Wisps
 * Duration: 1 night’s sleep

The Noble binds her mind to another; when they next fall asleep they will share their dreams. The Charm grants both the gift of lucid dreaming for the night and clear memories the morning after. To open an Ivory Gate a Noble needs permission from the target, and the pair must sleep close enough to touch.

Once open, an Ivory Gate allows the dreamers to share a journey through Crawlspace. The dreamer with the better impression level leads the journey, and the Doors are set from her traits. Either dreamer may open Doors by herself, or the dreamers may use teamwork actions to do so. If the dreamers don’t make it through Crawlspace before one wakes up, either may resume the journey the next night, but travel separately unless the Noble uses Ivory Gate again.

Another, fairly obscure, use of an Ivory Gate is to invoke it on oneself. This might seem a waste of good Wisps, but it’s useful when the Charm is made into a Bequest, for then it lets a Beacon or Sworn travel in the Dreamlands whenever they wish to. Also, while a Noble is within her own Crawlspace and under the effects of a self-applied invocation of Ivory Gate, she will be able to navigate from her Crawlspace into a regular dream (and yes, she can bring others too but they don’t benefit from lucidity or clear memories unless Ivory Gate is invoked upon them). An expensive but effective cure for insomnia.

Upgrade: Distant

 * Modified by Sympathy

The Noble opens an Ivory Gate from afar, applying the Sympathy modifier. The next time both she and the target are asleep at the same time, both will dream of being together in the target’s current location, looking for a Crawlspace entrance. The Noble must have prior permission from the target to use the Charm.

Upgrade: Horn Gate (Specchio ••)
The Noble calls the soul of an unsuspecting dreamer, and creates a gate into his dream without his consent. To apply Horn Gate the Noble must be in the Dreamlands. The Charm creates a Crawlspace passage for the target to her current location, with Doors set from the target’s traits. Both the Noble and the target may open Doors as usual, though they can’t use teamwork; both start with an excellent impression. Once the Crawlspace is open, the Noble and any Dreamlander who happens along (such as Amanojaku looking for a host) can walk freely into the target’s dreaming mind, and the target can go - or be taken - to the Dreamlands. Note that unless the Noble applies Distant her physical body still needs to be next to her target.

Whispers from Afar (•••)

 * Action: Instant
 * Dice pool: Wits + Socialize, modified by Sympathy
 * Cost: 2 Wisps
 * Duration: 1 scene

What need is there of speech between you and those you love? The Noble uses this Charm to communicate with another person; if he is not present, the Sympathy modifier applies. If the target has Wisps, he can share the activation cost; both the Noble and the target spend 1 Wisp, and the target does so reflexively.
 * Dramatic Failure: For the duration, the Noble imagines the voice of her target is speaking to her; what it says is what she generally expects him to say, but it chooses the most distracting moments to speak. She takes a -2 penalty on all Wits-based rolls.
 * Failure: The Charm has no effect.
 * Success: The Noble can speak directly to the mind of her target, without using her voice, and the target can reply the same way. The Charm conveys only sounds that the Noble and the target could actually speak; so, for example, if one thinks in a language the other doesn’t know, he hears the words but cannot understand them. On the other hand, anything said is heard as clearly as if the two of them stood together in a quiet room. The first time someone is the target of this Charm, he must roll Resolve + Composure to learn how to speak through the link (and, possibly, to persuade himself that he isn’t imagining the voice in his head.)
 * Exceptional Success: In addition, by concentrating the Noble and the target can share a memory. The one who has the memory makes a memory roll [CofD 30] to recall it; whatever she recalls passes over the link, and the other makes a memory roll to retain the information. This takes an instant action from both characters.

Upgrade: Party

 * Cost: 1 Wisp/person

The Noble creates a channel of voiceless speech among several people. She can speak to any or all of the targets’ minds, and they can speak to her and each other in the same way. A target who has Wisps can pay her part of the cost.

Upgrade: Borrowing (Aria ••)
The Charm’s link between minds carries sensations. Anyone in the link can make a Perception roll at a -2 penalty to borrow the senses of another person in the link for a brief moment, seeing what the other sees and hearing what she hears in that moment.

Up in Smoke (•••, Aria •••)

 * Action: Instant
 * Dice pool: Dexterity + Larceny, modified by Sympathy
 * Cost: 1 Wisp
 * Duration: lasting

The Noble summons and banishes objects in puffs of colored smoke. She can move an object of Size up to her successes between her current location and a place she knows of; the Sympathy modifier applies to the other place, not to the object, so she can’t summon an object that’s been moved since she last saw it. Also, to send an object somewhere the Noble has to be carrying it, and when she takes an object it ends up in her hands; the Charm can’t be used on anything the Noble can’t lift.

Upgrade: Shuffled

 * Cost: +1 Wisp

The Noble can take an object from one distant place and send it to another with one activation. Apply theworse of the Sympathy modifiers for the two locations.

Upgrade: Treasured (Aria ••••)
The Noble can summon an object to herself, no matter where it has been moved; apply the Sympathy modifier for the object itself. She still cannot send objects to another place without a connection to the place.

Hymn to Orpheus (•••, Legno ••)

 * Action: Instant and resisted


 * Dice pool: Presence + Expression - targets’ Composure
 * Cost: 2 Wisps
 * Duration: concentration

In the myths, the songs of Orpheus were so beautiful that all the natural world came to hear them. The Noble can, in a small way, emulate him. When she has a natural animal within sight, she sings or plays music pleasing to it, and all the animals of the same species who hear the song gather together to listen. The Charm ensures that the music can be heard anywhere within 100 times her successes in yards; natural acoustics may carry the song further, at the Storyteller’s discretion. (Note that while only animals of the same kind as the target are certain to come, anyone and anything with ears can follow the music if they like.) Once they arrive, the summoned animals will stand or lie near the Noble, quietly listening, as long as she performs; when she stops, the Charm ends and the beasts revert to their normal behavior in the following turn.

Upgrade: Calling (Legno •••)

 * Modified by Sympathy

The Noble may perform for an animal that is not within sight, provided she knows it well. Apply the Sympathy modifier to the chosen target; animals of that species will come to hear her.

Ferryman's Shroud (•••, Lacrima •)

 * Action: Instant
 * Dice pool: Composure + Athletics
 * Cost: 2 Wisps, Sensitivity check
 * Duration: lasting

The Queen of Tears has granted the Noble the freedom of her city. To use this Charm, the Noble must be in complete darkness; light bright enough to see by, from any source, makes the Charm fail.
 * Dramatic Failure: The Noble touches the Dark World through her magic instead of Alhambra. The Sensitivity check for the Charm adds 2 dice, and the Noble cannot use the Charm again for one full day.
 * Failure: The Noble stays where she is.
 * Success: The darkness the Noble stands in thickens to an utter negation of light for an instant; then the ground vanishes and she falls, splashing into the black salt lake of Alhambra. The Charm is generally considerate enough to drop her near a shore, where she can reach dry land in a single turn. It doesn’t, however, have to leave her in a specific place within the city; she may have to walk an hour or two to reach the district she wanted.
 * Exceptional Success: The Noble appears in Alhambra, at the nearest shore to the place she wants to be.

The Charm will not take anyone back from Alhambra - the Queen of Tears does not wish anyone to leave her who has not proven their fidelity to the true Kingdom.

As an incidental benefit, those who learn this Charm can light lamps in Alhambra as its citizens do.

Upgrade: Driven

 * Cost: +1 Wisp/every 5 points of Size above 5

The Noble can drive a vehicle into Alhambra, carrying along all its contents. She takes a penalty on the activation roll of -2 for 5 points of the vehicle’s Size exceeding 5; that is, a Size 10 vehicle takes a -2 penalty, a Size 15 vehicle takes -4, and so on. As with the basic effect, the vehicle must be in darkness to travel, and will arrive over water; most Hopeful using this Charm travel in boats.

Upgrade: Returning (Lacrima •••)

 * Modified by Sympathy

The Noble may use the Charm to travel from Alhambra to a place she knows well; apply the Sympathy modifier for the destination. As with the basic Charm, the upgrade only works in complete darkness (and in Alhambra that carries risk; see the rules in that section.) On the other hand, activating the Charm to leave Alhambra never triggers a Sensitivity check.

=Four-dot Charms=

The Nick of Time (Connect ••••)

 * Action: Full turn
 * Dice pool: Intelligence + Persuasion
 * Cost: 3 Wisps, 1 Willpower
 * Duration: lasting

When all seems lost, the Noble reaches across time to send out a call for aid, and bends fate to guide her allies swiftly to her side.
 * Dramatic Failure: The Noble feels a sudden crushing sense of abandonment. She must make a compromise roll, at a -3 penalty.
 * Failure: The Noble cannot reach any of her friends.
 * Success: The Noble may use any of her Social Merits that represent her relationships with other people to call for help with her current troubles, even if it’s physically impossible for her to reach them - distance, lack of a phone, and imprisonment are no obstacle to her need. Messages from her travel back in time, if necessary, to find her friends and allies, and fate ensures that anyone she calls will reach her with aid before the current scene ends. These magically supported calls count as normal uses of the Merits for the current session; if the Noble has used up her favors from an Allies Merit, for example, the Charm won’t give her more.


 * Furthermore, the Noble can reach out to NPCs she has encountered before during the campaign who were well-disposed to her and, if the Storyteller agrees, declare that they have been guided by fate to a place where they can and will help her out during the current scene. That warrior lodge of Darkspawn hunters the Noble met in the uncharted heart of the Amazon rainforest? Turns out they knew an international secret society of monster hunters who can arrange transportation and they’ll show up in the heart of London ready to fight. The chef she saved from bankruptcy? Well an army marches on its stomach. The Charm cannot do the impossible, but it is very powerful magic and can accomplish the improbable.


 * The extent of the help that previously encountered NPCs are ready to provide is limited; they count as a single temporary Allies Merit with a rating equal to the Noble’s activation successes. The Merit vanishes at the end of the session, whether used or not.
 * Exceptional Success: The extra successes are their own reward.

Mirror Walk (••••, Specchio ••)

 * Action: Instant
 * Dice pool: Dexterity + Athletics, modified by Sympathy
 * Cost: 3 Wisps
 * Duration: lasting

A simple trick but a very useful one. The Noble targets two mirrors before stepping into one and out the other. Both mirrors must be large enough for her to fit through. Sympathy is measured to the mirror she will step out of.

The Charm cannot cross between realms. This may not be used to gain either egress or entrance to Alhambra, nor may it be used to exit or leave the hisil of the shapeshifters, the twisted thorn-world of the fae-folk, or any other such hidden place. However, should a Noble find herself in any of these alternate worlds, it may be used for transit within them.
 * Dramatic Failure: The Noble enters the mirror, but gets lost. She rolls Wits + Composure each turn after using the Charm; when she succeeds, she emerges from the mirror she left.
 * Failure: Nothing happens.
 * Success: The Noble transports herself to the target mirror.
 * Exceptional Success: When the Noble emerges, she may immediately move up to her Speed, even if she had to move to reach the mirror she left.

Upgrade: Leading

 * Cost: +1 Wisp per additional person

The Noble can now lead others through mirrors. Each extra person or 5 Size points of equipment costs an additional Wisp.

Upgrade: Searching (Specchio •••)

 * Cost: +1 Willpower

The Noble can use a sympathetic connection to a person, place or object to find a mirror near them, then step out of that mirror, applying the Sympathy modifier for the connection. She arrives at the nearest mirror to the target that’s large enough to pass through, if there is one within (Inner Light x50) yards; if there isn’t the Charm fails.

Upgrade: Umbral (Specchio ••••)
Everything within a Tainted area gains a double in the Dark World, if it’s left in place long enough; in one sense, the Dark World is itself a mirror. A mistress of the magic of reflections can find mirrors inside that world-spanning mirror. If a mirror has been left within a Tainted area for at least a day, and is large enough to be a valid target for the Charm, the Noble may use it to pass to the equivalent point in the Tainted area’s image in the Dark World, or vice versa. The first activation of the Charm for this purpose on any given mirror takes a Sympathy penalty of Described, as the Noble has never seen the actual mirror she’s going to. The Charm will not take a Noble to or from any part of the Dark World but the image of the area the target mirror is in.

Charms of Entwined Destiny (••••, Invocation •••)

 * Action: Extended, 30 minutes/roll, threshold = Noble’s Willpower
 * Dice pool: Manipulation + Occult, modified by Sympathy
 * Cost: 2 Wisps, 1 Willpower
 * Duration: 1 month

In a lengthy ceremony, invoking all she knows of him, the Noble weaves the thread of her fate into another’s, becoming an exemplar in his life of one of the Radiant Queens. Each Queen teaches a different version of this Charm, with her favored Invocation as a prerequisite; these versions must be learned as separate Charms.

When she reaches the threshold, the Noble gains a form of the Entwined Destiny Merit with the target until the Charm ends, with all the benefits and drawbacks of that Merit. The five versions of the Charm each confer a different form of Entwined Destiny: Conditions gained from failed rolls should complicate the Noble’s relations with the target. If the Noble fails to activate the Charm, she cannot use it on the target again for 1 week.
 * Better Living Through Education (Acqua): Mentor. The Noble gains Willpower when she has taught the target something important, and reaches a breaking point if she passes up an opportunity to educate.
 * Manic Pixie Dust (Aria): Gadfly. The Noble gains Willpower when she exposes the target to unusual situations (for him) or alters the pattern of his life in a benign fashion, and reaches a breaking point if she ignores a chance to do so. Doing the target permanent harm does not fall under the Destiny.
 * Red String of Fate (Fuoco): Lover. The Noble gains Willpower when she has furthered the target’s love for her, and reaches a breaking point if she misses a chance to do so. The love in question need not be erotic or marital, but it must involve mutual affection and trust.
 * Under Ursa’s Star (Legno): Guardian. The Noble gains Willpower when she rescues the target from harm, and reaches a breaking point if he is harmed when she is present.
 * Great Expectations (Terra): Sponsor. The Noble gains Willpower when her target’s social standing improves, and reaches a breaking point if she lets a chance to help him rise go by.

Upgrade: Proxy (Invocation ••••)
The Noble can weave the thread of another person’s life. The threshold for doing so is the Willpower of the person being given an Entwined Destiny, and the Sympathy modifier is either the Noble’s connection to that person, or to the Destiny’s subject, whichever is worse. If the person being given a Destiny is not willing to accept the role the Charm gives him, the Charm fails.

Upgrade: Taut

 * Cost: +1 Wisp

The thread that ties the Noble to her target pulls them together. The Noble and her target are linked by an Intimate sympathetic connection, regardless of the connection they had before. Their original level of Sympathy returns when the Charm ends.

The Old Allegiance •••• (Lacrima •••)

 * Action: Extended, 30 minutes/roll, threshold = target’s Willpower
 * Dice pool: Presence + Intimidation, modified by Sympathy
 * Cost: 2 Wisps, 1 Willpower
 * Duration: 1 month

It is right and proper, the Last Empress teaches, for the Nobility to reward those who serve the Light, and punish those who refuse to serve. In a lengthy ceremony, invoking all she knows of him, the Noble weaves the thread of another person’s fate, calling him to assist her in her labors.

When the Noble reaches the threshold, the target’s fate makes him a loyal servant of her Nation, if she has one, until the Charm ends. In a fashion similar to the Entwined Destiny Merit, the target gains Willpower when his actions serve the Nation’s interests, and reaches a breaking point when he flouts them to serve another goal. When the Noble does not have a Nation, the target’s destiny instead pushes him to serve Alhambra and the Queen of Tears; he gains Willpower when his actions further Alhambra’s survival and reaches a breaking point when he could have helped the Last Empress but declines to do so.

Unlike the Radiant Queens’ Charms of Entwined Destiny, it is perfectly possible to use The Old Allegiance on an unwilling target. It is however a compromise to do so, with a -3 penalty to the roll. Further breaking point rolls may be called for if the Noble takes advantage of people she has woven a destiny for. As a general rule, it doesn’t count as consent if they’re only saying it as a result of an artificial destiny.

Upgrade: Collective (Lacrima ••••)

 * Modified by Commonality
 * Cost: +1 Willpower

The Noble may bind many members of an organization to her goals at once. When she reaches the threshold, all the members of the target organization who see her are affected. The Charm is modified by Commonalty of the target organization, instead of by Sympathy; the threshold is the highest Willpower of those present who can be affected.

Ultimate Fidelity (••••, Tempesta •••)

 * Action: Extended, 1 minute/roll, threshold = 11 - Belief
 * Dice pool: Resolve + Occult
 * Cost: 1 Willpower dot
 * Duration: indefinite

The original Sworn Guard and the One-Who-Became-Storms swore this oath when they stood before the gates of the last city of the Kingdom, alone against the hordes of the Darkness. And they retain it. The Alhambrans know nothing of it; why would those treacherous curs know anything about loyalty or devotion? This was an oath of the Army of the Kingdom, not the soft weaklings who betrayed it from within. Outside observers suspect that the Goalenu Ban may have evolved from this Charm, baked into their very essence by their death in its service.

When using the Charm, the Noble chooses one of her Aspirations to elevate into her Cause. The Aspiration must not be a trivial or simple goal; for example, “Kill the six-fingered man who killed my father” is a valid target, while “Buy some milk from the shops” is almost certainly not. The Noble repeats her Aspiration over and over again, drumming the words until they become all-consuming. The Charm is complete when the scars blossom across her chest, spelling out the Cause for all who would see. The Noble gains an Entwined Destiny Merit aimed at advancing the Cause; finding a list of men with six fingers, finding which one he is, finding where he lives, watching his routines, breaking into his house, and attacking him would all be actions which would benefit from this. In addition, the Noble cannot be dissuaded; she doubles her appropriate Resistance Attribute against any attempts, whether mundane or supernatural, to prevent her from fulfilling the Cause. This covers things like torture, which would double Stamina, just as much as Composure might be used against magical mind-control or mundane persuasions.

However, the Cause consumes those who have willingly sworn it. When faced with a choice between advancing or fulfilling the Cause, or taking another action, the Noble rolls Resolve + Composure. If she fails, she may perform the other action; otherwise she must continue with the Cause, and ignore the other situation, even if it would seem to be more important to an objective observer. This obsession replaces the normal drawback of the Merit; the Noble doesn’t suffer a penalty to her actions if she does manage to set the Cause aside.

Once the Cause has been accomplished, the Noble regains the Willpower dot lost when swearing to it. If it becomes impossible to attain the Cause for any reason (say, the six-fingered man dies before they can get their revenge), not only does she not regain the Willpower dot, she must roll Resolve + Composure, with each success inflicting one point of resistant aggravated damage, as her soul tears itself apart in coruscating flames that erupt from her mouth and burn at the tongue that swore an oath it could not uphold.

Upgrade: Proxy (Tempesta ••••)

 * Cost: 2 Wisps from the Noble, 1 Willpower dot from the target

The Noble may use the Charm to seal another person to a Cause. The target is affected as if he had cast it himself.

Standing on a Pedestal (••••, Specchio •••)

 * Action: Extended, 30 minutes/roll, threshold = target’s Willpower
 * Dice pool: Presence + Persuasion, modified by Sympathy
 * Cost: 2 Wisps, 1 Willpower
 * Duration: 1 month

In a lengthy ceremony, invoking all she knows of him, the Noble weaves the thread of another person’s fate into hers, giving him opportunities to prove himself worthy of her.

When she reaches the threshold, the target gains the Entwined Destiny Merit with her until the Charm ends, with all the benefits and drawbacks of that Merit. The target’s Entwined Destiny makes him a seeker for the Noble’s approval; she can choose what kind of favor he is destined to seek. He may be a romantic suitor, and fulfill the destiny when he earns a sign of her affections. He may seek her social favor, and fulfill the destiny when she compliments him on his apparel, or invites him to a party. He may even seek her intellectual favor, and fulfill the destiny when she publicly approves of an idea he had. The general rule is that the target gains Willpower when the Noble chooses to bestow a sign of her approval upon him, and reaches a breaking point when he refuses an opportunity to seek the Noble’s favor. He does not suffer when he makes a genuine attempt, regardless of how the Noble reacts.

Unlike the Radiant Queens’ Charms of Entwined Destiny, it is perfectly possible to use Standing on a Pedestal on an unwilling target. It is however a compromise to do so, with a -3 penalty to the roll. (It is not a compromise to use the Charm on targets who already desire the Noble’s favor.) Further breaking point rolls may be called for if the Noble takes advantage of people she has woven a destiny for. As a general rule, it doesn’t count as consent if they’re only saying it as a result of an artificial destiny.

Upgrade: Collective (Specchio ••••)

 * Cost: +1 Willpower

The Noble may bind many favor-seekers to herself at once, if they are all present; the Charm is modified by Commonalty of the target group, instead of by Sympathy.

Upgrade: Taut

 * Modified by Commonalty
 * Cost: +1 Wisp

The thread that ties the Noble to her target pulls them together. The Noble and her target are linked by an Intimate sympathetic connection, regardless of the connection they had before. Their original level of Sympathy returns when the Charm ends.

If the Noble applies Collective and Taut, she becomes a member of the target group for the purposes of Commonalty Charms, instead of improving her Sympathy with any of them.

=Five-dot Charms=

All the World's a Stage (•••••, Aria ••••)

 * Avatar (Spades)
 * Action: Instant
 * Dice pool: Manipulation + Expression
 * Cost: 3 Wisps, 1 Willpower
 * Duration: 1 scene

The Queen of Spades' avatar is a subtle spirit, influencing the actors on the stage without being an actor herself; the stage manager isn’t part of the play, after all, even if she makes it all happen. If all the world’s a stage, then no one should notice the theatre's manager, right?


 * Dramatic Failure: The Noble thinks the Charm worked. Initially she takes the Insensate Tilt [CofD 285] and spends her time giggling to herself; if brought out of that, she replaces it with the Drugged Tilt [CofD 281] as if under a generic narcotic. Both Tilts expire when the scene ends, returning her to sobriety.
 * Failure: A gust from nowhere swirls around the Noble, leaving her disheveled. In a scintillating gust, the Noble’s body dissolves, flaking away into the air with a soft chuckle. Blue and white streamers track the motion of her wind-body, weaving in and out in the breeze with a soft radiance which glows brighter the faster she moves. If she is still, she’s almost invisible, only noticeable by the chill feel of the air and the breeze that stirs the area. While in this state, the following abilities and changes to the Noble's status apply:
 * • She is in the state of Twilight, and may not be harmed by anything which cannot reach into this realm.
 * • Likewise, she cannot interact with the mortal world, except by using a Charm or a power that normally allows touching things in Twilight.
 * • While stationary, she is almost completely invisible (-5 to Perception rolls to notice her). When she moves, others may make an unmodified Perception roll to notice her, and if she runs, they add her Inner Light to that roll; but she cannot be identified.
 * Success: However, these benefits are secondary to the main purpose of the Charm. Until the Charm ends, the Noble has a pool of floating bonuses available to her, which can store one bonus for each dot of her Aria. This pool begins empty, and as an instant action, the Noble may roll a dice pool of any Finesse Attribute + Aria and keep the result as a bonus. She can apply stored bonuses reflexively to any action undertaken by someone she can see, either adding or subtracting dice as she pleases; once applied, a bonus is used up. The Noble resolidifies when the Charm expires, and any unspent bonuses are lost.
 * Exceptional Success: The Noble may store two extra bonuses in her pool.