Cost: 1m/2L
Minimums: Lore 2, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Cooperative, Elemental, Obvious, Leader
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
“Dragon's Claw”
Sometimes referred to as “the Dragon’s Claw,” this Charm permits a Dragon-Blood to fire a bolt of elemental energy appropriate to his aspect from his hand toward a target. The bolt is targeted with (Dexterity + Athletics) or (Dexterity + Archery), whichever is preferred, with an Accuracy bonus equal to the Dragon-Blood’s Essence and a range of (Essence x 20) yards. The bolt inflicts 2L per mote spent up to a maximum number of motes equal to the Dragon-Blood’s Stamina. The bolt also has an elemental aspect and triggers the following elemental effects: Air buffets the target, subtracting two dice from her next action. Earth triggers a tremor beneath the target’s feet, forcing her player to roll (Dexterity + Athletics), difficulty 4, to keep the character from falling. Fire sets the target ablaze for a single action (+4L to the attacker’s damage pool). Water fills the target’s lungs with seawater, adding three ticks before her next action due to violent coughing. Wood exposes the target to a plant toxin, requiring a reflexive (Stamina + Resistance) roll, with a difficulty equal to (the Dragon-Blood’s Essence), to avoid suffering a -1 penalty on all actions for the remainder of the scene.
Multiple Dragon-Bloods who know this Charm can combine their powers to generate a bolt of exceptional power. One Exalt (usually the one with the best attack pool or the one with the highest Stamina rating) must serve as the focus, with his (Dexterity + [Athletics or Archery]) used to determine the base attack pool. Additionally, the Stamina of the focus determines the maximum number of motes that each participant can spend, with the total number of motes spent determining the base damage pool. In other words, if the focus has a Stamina of 4, then no participant can expend more than four motes to fuel the bolt. The Accuracy bonus of the attack is based on the Essence of the focus but gains a +1 bonus per additional participant. The range of the attack is equal to (the combined Essence of all participants x 20) yards. Finally, the elemental side effects of each separate aspect who aids in this Charm are inflicted upon the target. If multiple Dragon-Blooded of the same aspect aid in this Charm, however, their special elemental effect is applied only once. Therefore, if an Earth Aspect, two Fire Aspects and a Water Aspect combine to fire a single bolt, the player of the target — if successfully hit — must roll to avoid falling and will be delayed an additional three ticks before his next action due to the seawater, but only four dice are added to the damage pool due to fire damage, rather than eight.
Regardless of the specific elemental version learned, this Charm is always considered to be an Air-aspected Charm for purposes of determining whether the one-mote surcharge for out-of-aspect Charms applies, and Dragon-Blooded can only learn the version associated with their aspects.
Manual of Exalted Power - The Dragon-Blooded, p133
Errata: Additional purchases of this Charm enable evocation of elements other than the Terrestrial’s aspect, but each activation can only express one known element. The bolt may also be aimed with Thrown. Characters can always enhance a bolt’s accuracy with Lore Excellencies (or Athletics Excellencies, if using that Ability). If using Archery or Thrown, the character can enhance it as normal for an attack using the Ability and may place Elemental Bolt Attack in a Combo with Charms of that Ability. The accuracy bonus for Cooperative use of the Charm does not count against Charm dice bonus limits; the only limit is the number of Dragon-Blooded who may be gathered together to unleash the fury of the elements. Any special character can contribute to a Cooperative activation, even heroes and relays.
Scroll of Errata, p 14