Aegis (Obsolete Charm)

You conjure a shield to protect yourself or your allies from harm. Champions and Menders have an affinity for Aegis.

Unlike most Charms, Aegis does not have a separate effect for each rank. Instead it provides two powers that scale with dots purchased in the Charm.

Barrier Jacket
Cost: none Dice Pool: none Duration: Permanent Effect: At your transformation, you may choose to be clothed in armor. This magical protection has an Armor rating equal to your dots in Aegis. At Aegis 2 or less, the armor covers most of your body but may otherwise look just like your normal transformed costume; at Aegis 3 or more, the armor is obviously designed for protection, and clearly distinct from normal clothing. If you are transformed, you can switch between armor and your normal costume as a reflexive action by spending a Wisp, or by succeeding on a transformation roll.

At Aegis 3, you may choose to make the armor bulletproof, but you take a penalty of -1 to your Speed and Defense. At Aegis 5, you may make the armor downgrade lethal damage from any source to bashing damage, but take a penalty of -2 to your Speed and Defense. You can switch between armor with either of these qualities and armor without them just as you do between armor and your normal costume.

Bubble Shield
Cost: 1 Wisp Dice Pool: none Action: Instant Effect: You manifest a protective shield around a circular area of radius equal to Aegis yards. You may create the shield around any space within sight, unless that space contains an enemy, or a person for whom your Sympathy is worse than Known. (That is, yourself, your friends, objects, animals, and nothing at all, may be enclosed; human bystanders and people you're fighting may not.)

The shield has a Structure of 3 x Aegis and a Durability of 0. Any attempt to enter or leave the area it encloses must break the shield. Any attack from outside on those inside, or vice versa, applies its damage to breaking the shield first; only damage exceeding what's needed to break the shield passes through to the intended target. At your next action, the shield vanishes, unless you immediately use Bubble Shield again to enclose the same area. If you do renew a shield, all damage done to it in the last turn is instantly repaired.

Orison
There is only one Aegis Orison, a Merit ranging from 1 to 3 dots. For each dot you take in it, while you carry the emblem you may apply your full Defense modifier to one more close combat attack in a round; your Defense does not diminish until you have taken (Aegis Orison + 1) attacks.