Examine the Hourglass
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Bureaucracy: 1
Minimum Arete: 1
Prerequisite Charms: None
The mage can measure the flow of time flawlessly, determining the year, date, and time within fractions of a second. Spend 1 additional mote to have this Charm last until the end of the scene, allowing the mage to accurately calculate intervals, synchronize actions to events, and so forth.
Bean-Counting Savant
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: 1 scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Bureaucracy: 2
Minimum Arete: 1
Prerequisite Charms: None
The mage may count, add, multiply, divide, or perform any other mathematical function of which she is normally capable instantly and without error without requiring an abacus, paper, or other means of keeping track of such calculations.
Weighing Eyes
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Bureaucracy: 2
Minimum Arete: 1
Prerequisite Charms: Bean-Counting Savant
The mage can accurately gauge the weight of any object she touches. Spend 1 additional mote to have this Charm last until the end of the scene.
Knowledgeable Consumer
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Bureaucracy: 3
Minimum Arete: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Weighing Eyes
Whether the mage intuitively recognizes an item's value or has a knack for finding a merchant's soft spot, this Charm's effect is the same, granting her 2 dice on any Bureaucracy roll to haggle with a seller over a single item. This Charm may be purchased more than once, with each additional application adding 2 more dice, but the total bonus from all applications of this Charm cannot exceed the mage's Arete or Bureaucracy, whichever is lower. Spend 1 additional mote to have this Charm last until the end of the scene.
Find Seller
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Special
Type: Simple
Minimum Bureaucracy: 4
Minimum Arete: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Examine the Hourglass, Knowledgeable Consumer
The mage's skill or good fortune leads him to someone willing to sell him an item or service he desires if it is available within his Arete or Bureaucracy in miles, whichever is lower. Depending on the value and scarcity of the item or service sought, the price might be higher than the mage might be willing to pay, but the Charm will always find the nearest negotiable item or service, if it is in range. The mage must search ([Resources value of the item x 3] - [Arete or Burueaucracy, whichever is lower]) hours before finding the desired item or service, to a minimum of 1 hour. This item may not be used to find magical devices of any kind, including First Age wonders or Hearthstones, nor can it be used to find wholely abstract goods, such as youth, beauty, or the next masterpiece of an artist.
Tinker's Intuition
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Bureaucracy: 3
Minimum Arete: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Weighing Eyes
Whether the mage is capable of deducing what a customer needs, can estimate a budget by clothing and accent, or simply knows how to laud an item's good qualities, the effect of this Charm is the same, granting her 2 dice on any Bureaucracy roll to haggle with a buyer over a single item. This Charm may be purchased more than once, with additional applications adding 2 more dice, but the total bonus from all applications of this Charm cannot exceed the mage's Arete or Bureaucracy, whichever is lower. Spend 1 additional mote to have this Charm's effects last until the end of the scene.
Hide the Flaws
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: 1 scene
Type: Simple
Minimum Bureaucracy: 4
Minimum Essence: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Tinker's Intuition
The mage may pass off merchandise as being of higher quality than it actually is. Roll a resisted Arete + Bureaucracy check against the victim's Perception + Bureaucracy. Each success the mage scores more than the victim results in an automatic success on Bureaucracy checks to haggle with the victim. If the victim achieves more successes than the mage, she sees through the facade and acts accordingly. The victim will, in all likelihood, eventually recognize the deception, so it is wise for the mage to be somewhere else.
Find Buyer
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Special
Type: Simple
Minimum Bureaucracy: 4
Minimum Arete: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Tinker's Intuition
The mage's skill or good fortune leads him to someone willing to buy an item or service he wishes to sell if its Resource value is equal to or less than his Arete or Bureaucracy, whichever is lower. Depending on the value of the item or service to be sold and the number of potential buyers in the area, the price might be lower than the mage might be willing to sell it for, but the Charm will always find the nearest willing buyer, if one normally inclined to purchase an item of that nature is within the mage's Arete or Bureaucracy in miles, whichever is lower. The mage must wander in an active search for a buyer for ([Resources value of the item x 3] - [Arete or Burueaucracy, whichever is lower]) hours before finding a buyer, to a minimum of 1 hour.
Middle-Man's Secret
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum Bureaucracy: 5
Minimum Arete: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Find Seller, Find Buyer
The mage, when offered an item at a certain price, is immediately aware of the current location of the customer within her Arete or Bureaucracy in miles, whichever is lower, who is willing to purchase that item for a price high enough to turn a profit. This Charm grants 1 automatic success on any Bureaucracy roll to haggle with the potential buyer. This Charm may be purchased more than once, with additional applications granting 1 more automatic success, but the total number of successes it grants cannot exceed the mage's Arete or Bureaucracy, whichever is lower. This does not grant additional dice. It merely assures that a certain number of dice on a relavent Bureaucracy check will be successes. Spend 2 additional motes to have this Charm's effects last until the end of the scene.
Sense Social Climate
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Long
Minimum Bureaucracy: 3
Minimum Arete: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Bean-Counting Savant
After spending 24 hours in strict meditation, the mage can get a sense of whether or not all humans (including Exalts) within the mage's Arete or Bureaucracy in miles, whichever is lower, are happy. This is calculated according to a percentage of how many people are happy versus how many are not. The radius of this Charm's effects can be used to gauge a smaller area, but cannot calculate with any accuracy below a one mile diameter. This Charm may be purchased more than once, to a maximum number of times equal to the mage's Arete or Bureaucracy, whichever is lower. At 2 applications, happiness is calculated on a five-point scale (delighted, happy, content, unhappy, miserable). At 3 applications, the mage may also gain a sense nuances, such as whether an unhappy community is on the verge of rebellion. At 4 applications, the mage can judge the primary causes of distress in a community. At 5 applications, the mage will recognize a general course of action that will to escalate or ease the tensions of those in the area. Additional applications increase the mage's options and grant greater insight as to the depth of their probable impact upon the community.
Non-Intrusive Polling Method
Cost: 3 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Long
Minimum Bureaucracy: 4
Minimum Arete: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Sense Social Climate
After spending 24 hours in strict meditation, the mage may ask one question of the masses at large, provided they are within the mage's Arete or Bureaucracy in miles. The question must be one the average citizen would willingly answer honestly if asked by a stranger, or the accuracy of this Charm will be compromised. The mage will be aware of the most common answer. This radius of this Charm's effects can be shrunk until it spans as little as a circle with a diameter of one mile. This Charm may be purchased more than once, to a maximum number of times equal to the mage's Arete or Bureaucracy, whichever is lower. At 2 applications, the mage receives the three most common answers in order from the highest percentage to the lowest. At 3 applications, the mage receives the three most common answers and the percentage of people who would have answered that way. At 4 applications, the mage receives a breakdown by percentage of the most common 5 answers. At 5 applications, the breakdown by percentage of the most common 10 answers. Each additional application after the 5 increases the number of answers reported by 10. Regardless of the number of answers received, no response appearing less than 1 percent of the time will be returned, nor will a response given by fewer than 10 people. Note that exceptionally suspicious or hostile communities will give less accurate answers than areas where the people are generally comfortable speaking their minds.
Hated Auditor Technique
Cost: 4 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Long
Minimum Bureaucracy: 5
Minimum Arete: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Weighing Eyes, Non-Intrusive Polling Method
By examining the grounds and buildings of an estate for three full hours, the mage can calculate the approximate wealth of its owner. This will not calculate the worth of individual objects, only of entire properties. This Charm provides the character's player with the Resources value of the estate. This Charm may be purchased more than once, to a maximum number of times equal to the mage's Arete or Bureaucracy, whichever is lower. At 2 applicatons, the mage can discern fine details that betray whether the money is old (inherited) or new. At 3 applications, the mage can see through attempts to conceal or feign wealth, foiling attempts to conceal the estate's actual value. At 4 applications, the mage can assess the value of the estate in a only 2 hours. At 5 applications, the mage can assess the estate's value in one hour. For each application after the fifth, the mage can assess one other property owned by the estate's owner of which the mage is aware. At eight or more applications, the mage can assess even properties of which the mage is not aware.
Fillibuster
Cost: 1 mote
Duration: One task
Type: Supplemental
Minimum Bureacracy: 2
Minimum Arete: 2
Prerequisite Charms: None
By fortune, skill, or connections, the mage manipulates a bureaucracy, granting her 2 dice on Bureaucracy checks to expedite or delay a task. This Charm may be purchased more than once, with each additional application adding 2 more dice, but the mage cannot add more dice from all applications of this Charm than her Arete or Bureaucracy, whichever is lower.
Lost in the Shuffle
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: One document
Type: Simple
Minimum Bureaucracy: 3
Minimum Arete: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Reading the Hourglass, Fillibuster
By fortune, skill, or connections, the mage eliminates a record, missive, or order from the target bureaucracy, making it more difficult to study, incriminate, or follow her or an associate, or making it more difficult for an enemy to recieve permission for a task. Roll an Arete or Bureacracy check, whichever is lower. The difficulty to destroy a pertinent document varies by its profile and apparent importance. Destroying a letter mentioning a mysterious figure in an inn's common room or a form requesting the renewel of a craftsman's license would be difficulty 1. Eliminating the city watch's written description of a cat burglar or the tax record for an unremarkable merchant would be difficulty 3. Destroying a request for reinforcements a hundred miles away from the bureaucracy or the incriminating journal of an infamous pirate would require 5 successes. The document must actually exist, though the mage may target a document that he is reasonably certain exists ("the watch's file concerning the robbery at the Prefect's Manse last week," for example). This Charm cannot target the same document twice, though if a new copy of the document is drawn up after the first is destroyed, the Charm may target the copy. The number of pages destroyed by a single use of this Charm cannot exceed (Arete x 2) or (Bureaucracy x 2) pages, whichever is lower. This Charm only affects bureaucrats who do not have a stake in the individuals whose records are being eliminated, such as a city watch that must deal with several murders and thefts each year or a company of soldiers that has better things to do than track down deserters. If the courier who brought the request for reinforcements wonders about the delay and goes to the Satrap to inform him of the situation, this Charm cannot prevent the flow of information.
Official's Darling
Cost: 2 motes
Duration: One document
Type: Simple
Minimum Bureaucracy: 3
Minimum Arete: 2
Prerequisite Charms: Reading the Hourglass, Fillibuster
By fortune, skill, or connections, the mage brings a record, missive, or order to the attention of a target bureaucracy, making it more likely it will act on the information presented in the document. Roll an Arete or Bureaucracy check, whichever is lower. The difficulty varies according to the document's profile and apparent importance. Shuffling a letter that casually mentions the location of a pirate king's lair to the top of the pile would be a difficulty of 1. Drawing attention to the tax record of a minor merchant that reveals her efforts to conceal her true income would be difficulty 3. Guaranteeing a bureaucrat will notice that the signature at the bottom of a certificate of credit doesn't quite match that of the person whose signature is supposed to be on the certificate would be difficulty 5. This Charm cannot target the same document more than once a month.
Object Lesson
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: Special
Type: Simple
Minimum Bureacracy: 5
Minimum Arete: 3
Prerequisite Charms: Lost in the Shuffle, Official's Darling
By fortune, skill, or connections, a bureaucracy decides to crack down on a victim of the mage touches or successfully strikes. For a number of days equal to the mage's Arete or Bureaucracy, whichever is lower, the victim is watched by all authorities for the tiniest sign of indescretion. Tax records are audited. Identification papers are scrutinized. Cargo ships are boarded. Not only is this inconvenient, but if the victim is found guilty of even the smallest crime, the entire bureaucratic engine comes down as hard as the local law allows on her.
