Exalted Lite/Knacks

Knacks

Knacks are a kind of mini-merit. They negate the difficulty penalty for certain situations. For various reasons, the Storyteller may apply a difficulty penalty because a situation is abnormal or otherwise difficult, and knacks overcome these - at least those not imposed by Charms. Characters may have a number of knacks equal to their permanent Essence score.

• [[../Celestial|Celestial]] Exalted (Abyssals, Chimerae, Lunars, Solars and Sidereals) may not purchase knacks, because they are already considered to have all of them, due to supreme competance. This doesn't necessarily mean that the character is, say, double-jointed, but rather, she might as well be.

What follows are some example knacks. The effect they supress is in parentthesis.

• Agile (Balancing on narrow surfaces, etc)
• Ambidextrous (Using a weapon in your off hand)
• Double-Jointed (Being partially restrained)
• Eyes Behind Head (Attacked by two people on same tic)
• Four Legs (While Prone)
• Graceful Step (While moving through bad terrain such as scree, thorns, shallow water, etc)
• Hear with Skin (While Deafened or Deaf)
• Intuition (Comprehending Shogunate Technology)
• Iron Fists (Parrying a weapon bare-handed)
• Jack of All Trades (When using an Attribute you have no ranks in but are somehow still rolling (channel Virtue, etc)
• Pain Tolerance (Losing over half of your health levels)
• Merciful (Dealing bashing damage instead of lethal)
• Natural Beauty (Look good while being dirty!)
• Nuisance Handling (Ignore extra mobs in physical combat)
• Quick Feet (When dodging a second time before your action)
• Quick Recovery (When parrying a second time before your action)
• Reach (Ignore small height differences, such as on stairs, on horse, etc)
• See with Ears (While dazzled, glare in eyes, etc - but not full blindness)
• Steel Fists (Dealing lethal damage with bare hands)
• Sure Foot (While on an unstable surface - includes 'sea legs')
• Unflappable (Extra crowds in Social Combat)
• Unshakable (While stunned)

And so on. There are a few complications that such bonuses cannot overcome, even for the Celestial Exalted. The most common examples would be:

• Blindness imposes a +6 Difficulty penalty, +5 with See With Ears. If also deaf, it becomes +12.
• First Age, Autocthonian, or Underworld Technology and comprehending it can apply a +1-+10 difficulty penalty, which only the Past Lives, Soul Memory, or Whispers backgrounds negate.
• Massive Numbers If more than two people are making a coordinated attack on, Eyes Behind Head only reduces difficulty penalty by 1.
• Onslaught Quick Feet and Quick Recovery only reduce the penalty by 1 (between them).
• Severe Restraint Fully submerged, operating with legs tied together, or an arm tied behind your back, etc. will often impose additional difficulties.
• Severe Range or Height Difference Where it is still possible to attack but for one reason or another (gravity?) it is extremely difficult to do so.
• Strong Extras - can impose a Difficulty penalty up to their permanent Essence, +1 if the character lacks the Nuisance Handling / Unflappable Knacks.