TEXT: 1
  The MandaTe of heaven
  
  2
  by Zach bush
  
  3
  The MandaTe of heaven
  crediTs
  Author: Zach Bush
  Comic Scripter: Carl Bowen
  Developers: John Chambers and Geoffrey C. Grabowski
  Editor: Scribendi.com
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  Artists: Andrew Hepworth, Imaginary Friends Studio (with 
  ARF, Sam Basri, Fiduciose, Junkman and Scabrouspencil), 
  UDON (with Ryan Odagawa) and Melissa Uran
  Cover Art: Imaginary Friends Studio (with ARF and Sam 
  Basri)
  Book Design: Brian Glass
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  4
  
  5
  The MandaTe of heaven
  THE MANDATE 
  OF HEAVEN
  The Game of Statecraft may have few rewards when 
  compared to the Games of Divinity, but Creation’s rulers 
  have nevertheless played the Game of Statecraft since before 
  the First Age. The Shogunate-era manuals known as The 
  Harmonious Triptych Accords are thought of as definitive works 
  codifying most matters of state under a single broad phi-
  losophy. Commissioned by the mad, self-styled god-emperor 
  Nohuba Felan the Punctilious Bastard, savants consider the 
  10-volume set a masterpiece, if somewhat long-winded. Its 
  contents are attributed to a team of transcribers elaborating 
  upon the (supposedly) divine words of Nohuba Felan, who 
  is said to have uttered them in the throes of self-induced 
  epileptic trances. Fragments of the philosophy’s aphorisms 
  have antecedents in surviving First Age materials, leading 
  some savants to question exactly how much originated from 
  the god-emperor’s trances.
  The Realm’s Dragon-Blooded children study a stream-
  lined derivative in secondary schools known as The One 
  Hundred Fifty-Six Score and Five Maxims of Assiduous Concor-
  dance. This set of three scrolls contains no illustrations beyond 
  functional diagrams and replaces Shogunate-era models of 
  statecraft with more recent examples from the Realm, but 
  the underlying philosophy and terminology is unaffected. 
  The Assiduous Maxims, as they are sometimes known, also 
  remove all mention of Nohuba Felan and attribute the divine 
  adages to Mela, the Immaculate Dragon of Air.
  Both texts reduce all levels of interaction between com-
  munal groups to broad applications of political, martial and 
  social power. The texts define the necessity of legitimization 
  as a requirement for the many to accede to the leadership 
  of the few. Finally, the works outline the responsibilities of 
  leadership at all levels of society.
  The Assiduous Maxims are, by far, the most common 
  of the two and can be purchased for Resources •• on the 
  Blessed Isle and in most civilized locations in the Threshold. 
  The Harmonious Triptych Accords are banned for sale on the 
  Blessed Isle without an Immaculate-certified expurgation 
  of the illustrated plates, and the set’s rarity finds a common 
  
  6
  asking price at Resources •••+ depending on the quality 
  of the copy. The only functional difference is the Accords’ 
  extensive accounts of Shogunate-era politics.
  definiTions
  An individual societal group is referred to as a domin-
  ion, and a dominion’s populace is its society. Both are used 
  regardless of size. A dominion and its society can be a village 
  of a dozen families or an empire that spans the length and 
  breadth of Creation.
  Dominions take action to gain advantage over their 
  neighbors. Interaction between dominions typically lasts 
  months or years, so actions are measured in seasons, years 
  or decades.
  Events are random, often detrimental, occurrences that 
  affect dominions. During play, another player or the Story-
  teller selects your dominion’s events to keep them random.
  GaininG The MandaTe
  A typical Mandate of Heaven game assumes players 
  control the direction of dominions. The players have limited 
  influence on opposing dominions through the selection of 
  events, so they can flesh out (or avoid) plot points. In this 
  way, players help to decide the overall direction of the game, 
  which lets the Storyteller focus on story elements interest-
  ing to them.
  Note that this is player-directed, not necessarily character-
  directed. The players themselves guide the series’ direction 
  to help create the game in which they want to play. Players 
  interested in their characters actually running dominions 
  should see “Characters Running Dominions” on p. 13.
  Here are some suggested ways for players and Storytellers 
  to use the Mandate of Heaven in play.
  LiMiTed PLay
  The most common use of the Mandate of Heaven occurs 
  during any downtime between sessions that lasts at least a 
  few months. At the end of an Exalted session, the players 
  direct a single turn of the dominion in which they will 
  next begin play. The dominion sheet is either provided by 
  the Storyteller or filled out ahead of time according to the 
  WhaT exacTLy is This?
  The Mandate of Heaven lets Storytellers and 
  players explore the philosophy of rule presented by 
  The Assiduous Maxims. It is also a plot generator de-
  scribing the rise and fall of nations in Exalted. Players 
  and Storytellers interested in directing nations can 
  use this “Exalted mini-game” during downtime to 
  develop the direction of a series. Although you can 
  use the Mandate of Heaven to develop plots, it is by 
  no means the only way to do so.
  
  7
  The MandaTe of heaven
  Storyteller’s restrictions. This should take 10 to 20 minutes 
  to play at the session’s end.
  The players direct this dominion’s actions, typically in-
  teracting with one or occasionally two dominions controlled 
  by the Storyteller. The Storyteller dominions should be no 
  more than 1 Magnitude higher than the players’ dominion. 
  When directing actions or events, the players are encour-
  aged to use stunts to describe exactly what causes the events 
  to occur. 
  At the end of the turn, the Storyteller incorporates the 
  turn’s outcome into his notes for the next session. When 
  the characters next enter regular Exalted play, the effects 
  of the Mandate of Heaven turn should tie into the next 
  session in some way — perhaps the dominion’s army lost a 
  crushing battle or the new minister of trade’s repudiation 
  of exorbitant tariffs on goods from a neighboring city-state 
  allows the characters to more easily purchase firedust. En-
  terprising Storytellers can use the results to craft the next 
  few sessions of play by focusing on the elements that most 
  interest the players.
  seasonaL MaP
  Similar to limited play, the seasonal map style has the 
  players and Storyteller direct a single turn for the three-month 
  season. The Storyteller uses this as a general indication of 
  what major events will occur during this span of time and 
  keys the story arcs to the progress of the season. The players 
  and Storyteller play the next turn at the beginning of the 
  next season. If possible, the Storyteller should time the end 
  of a season to coincide with a story award (see “Experience,” 
  on p. 272 of Exalted ).
  exTended PLay
  This is a more complex form of limited play that in-
  volves longer periods of downtime. Extended play typically 
  occurs in blocks of five turns, with each lasting a season or 
  year. This can take a few hours to complete, so Storytellers 
  and players should expect to devote roughly half a session 
  to extended play.
  All players can direct one dominion, or they can split 
  into groups of at least two players per dominion. (In this case, 
  the players’ dominions are not necessarily on the same side.) 
  Generally, the players will create the dominion before play. 
  The Storyteller should direct no more than three dominions, and 
  only one of them should be 2 Magnitude greater than the largest 
  player dominion. Characters in extended play can take advan-
  tage of long-term experience awards (see Exalted p. 275).
  PLoT deveLoPMenT
  If players have no interest in directing dominions, Sto-
  rytellers can still generate plot hooks and create backgrounds 
  for areas through which the characters travel. This can help 
  provide a thumbnail summary or develop a region’s compli-
  cated history. If two city-states war for 30 years, how does 
  that affect their societies? Are neighboring regions secretly 
  backing the war for their own benefit? Is one city-state in 
  danger of open rebellion after decades of seeing its sons and 
  daughters ground into dust for reasons even its leaders have 
  forgotten? Storytellers can use the rules for background 
  dominions (see p. 12) and incorporate the outcome into 
  Exalted sessions.
  doMinion creaTion
  Every dominion has Traits similar to those of a charac-
  ter. The dominions important to your Exalted game track 
  these Traits on a special form of character sheet (see p. 32). 
  It may help you to think of dominions as characters, with 
  their societies responsible for the individual goals, flaws and 
  interactions as their personalities.
  MaGniTude
  Magnitude represents a combination of a dominion’s 
  relative landmass, population, influence and overall prestige. 
  Magnitude is an abstract estimate of a dominion’s capability 
  rather than a literal interpretation of square miles. Generally, 
  a dominion with larger Magnitude than its suggested size is a 
  dominion on the rise, capable of great conquest or expansion. 
  Dominions with smaller Magnitudes than their relative sizes 
  are failing states in danger of dissolution, whether through 
  internal social upheaval or external force of arms.
  Magnitude limits a dominion’s Traits and determines 
  how often it can act. Dominions gain Attribute ranks, Abil-
  ity dots, Virtue dots and bonus points as their Magnitudes 
  increase. Increasing or decreasing in Magnitude is a major 
  event that can shake the very foundation of a dominion, 
  for good or for ill.
  One rule of thumb is to assume that each rating of 
  Magnitude is composed of roughly five to 10 dominions, 
  each at (Magnitude - 1). For example, a single Magnitude 
  5 territory could have anywhere between five and 10 city-
  states of Magnitude 4. Smaller dominions within cities can 
  be tracked as wards and boroughs or as individual neighbor-
  absTracTion, noT siMuLaTion
  The Mandate of Heaven does not attempt to 
  simulate every possible interaction between sovereign 
  nations. Instead, the Mandate of Heaven abstracts the 
  general happenings between the players’ dominion 
  and any who oppose them, whether their opponents 
  try to do so with invading armies, back-room diplo-
  macy or a clash of philosophy.
  There is no attempt made to track specific 
  national resources or to chart the order of battle for 
  neighboring lands. The Storyteller and players use 
  this abstraction to their advantage by figuring out 
  exactly what the changing numbers mean within 
  the context of the game.
  
  8
  hoods. Please note that “five to 10” is a general estimate, so 
  don’t feel pressured to constrain yourself if you need some 
  wiggle room.
  Magnitude 0 dominions are effectively non-entities. 
  They are small villages, fading towns, dwindling tribes, areas 
  with many displaced squatters and refugees, cities blasted 
  by natural disaster/outbreaks of Contagion or something 
  along those lines. These dominions are incapable of taking 
  action, but they are included because they can be absorbed 
  by dominions larger than themselves and can resist external 
  forces attempting to affect them.
  aTTribuTes
  Every dominion has three Attributes: Military, Culture 
  and Government. Dominion Attributes are combined with a 
  related Ability or Virtue when a dominion takes an action. 
  High Attributes indicate a dominion’s stronger points, while 
  low Attributes reveal an area in which the dominion is particu-
  larly lacking. Certain actions (described below) can bolster 
  Attributes with temporary bonuses, allowing dominions to 
  compensate for weak areas or emphasize strong ones.
  Military
  The Military Attribute represents a dominion’s martial 
  capability, organization and quality. This Attribute does not 
  necessarily correlate to army size. A dominion with a low 
  Military could have a massive army of green conscripts with 
  inferior equipment, serving under dozens of bickering gener-
  als concerned with their own prestige. High Military could 
  mean tiger warriors operating in dense jungle if they had a 
  vast logistical network of loyal villagers supporting highly 
  mobile lightning raids into neighboring territories.
  Culture
  The Culture Attribute corresponds to a dominion’s 
  social impact, influence and history. This Attribute is also a 
  measure of how influential a society can be upon surrounding 
  dominions. Low Culture could mean that a dominion has 
  particularly forgettable or backward traditions looked down 
  upon by others or that the dominion is a relatively new com-
  munity that follows another dominion’s lead when it comes to 
  accepted social customs. High Culture means that a dominion 
  is known throughout the region (or perhaps Creation!) for 
  a unique, much-desired, greatly feared or incredibly bizarre 
  aspect of that dominion’s society.
  Government
  The Government Attribute symbolizes a dominion’s 
  governmental efficiency, complexity and integrity. This 
  Attribute is also a measure of how effectively a dominion 
  can lead its own society. A dominion with low Government 
  might have internal issues such as warring rebel factions 
  or suffer from repeated disasters, be an impotent lackey-
  state that decides policy as required by its benefactor or 
  possess a sustained lack of confidence in its leaders. Such 
  a dominion will generally find providing more than rudi-
  mentary needs for its society difficult. High Government 
  indicates a great capability to get things done, whether 
  providing for society, enforcing laws, utilizing resources 
  or dealing with neighboring dominions. The level of po-
  litical intrigue and outright espionage does not exactly 
  correspond to the Government rating, for large numbers 
  of political stratagems can pull a dominion apart as much 
  as they can hold it together.
  sTarTinG aTTribuTes
  Attributes are rolled with Abilities when dominions 
  take actions and combined with Virtues to serve as a 
  base difficulty for actions targeting the dominion. Each 
  Attribute begins at one dot, and a dominion receives one 
  additional dot to divide among its Attributes for each rank 
  in Magnitude. These additional dots may never raise a do-
  minion Attribute higher than 5 during dominion creation. 
  In addition,  dots may not be gained during an increase 
  in Magnitude. Actions may increase an Attribute to no 
  more than twice its base rating, but may never reduce an 
  Attribute below 0.
  Once the Attribute is selected, draw a vertical line to 
  the right of each Attribute’s highest dot on the dominion 
  sheet. This line should extend through the second row of 
  Attribute dots. Because actions can cause Attributes to 
  grow or shrink, the line indicates the point at which At-
  tribute dots gained from actions cycle to the second row, 
  Magnitude 
  Equivalent 
  Example
   
  0 
  Village/Minor Tribe/City Block 
  —
   
  1 
  Town/Tribe/Neighborhood 
  The Plaza
   
  2 
  Large Town/Major Tribe/City Borough 
  —
   
  3 
  City/Tribal Alliance 
  Great Forks/Ten Tribes
   
  4 
  City-State 
  Paragon, Lookshy
   
  5 
  Territory/Major City-State 
  Nexus
   
  6 
  Nation/Region 
  Realm Prefecture/The Scavenger Lands
   
  7 
  Large Nation 
  Scarlet Empire
   
  8 
  Empire 
  Shogunate
   
  9 
  Colossal Empire 
  Old Realm
  
  9
  The MandaTe of heaven
  as well as indicating the maximum Attribute rating on 
  the second row. Move the line only when base Attributes 
  increase or decrease due to a change in Magnitude.
  Example: Beau wants to create a Magnitude 4 city-state 
  named Fury of the Bear located in the Northern Threshold. Every 
  dominion starts with a Military 1, Culture 1 and Government 1, 
  but she has four additional dots to spread among these Attributes. 
  She decides her dominion is a Realm tributary that, beyond a 
  lackluster militia, relies entirely upon the legions for its defense 
  (Military +0). Its people are known throughout Creation for their 
  elaborate artwork, consisting of beautiful abstract patterns and color 
  combinations, and the Realm frequently imports Furian artisans 
  because the Immaculate monks don’t proclaim their aniconic mu-
  rals, weavings, sculpture and carvings as blasphemous (Culture 
  +3). Although the dominion is run mostly by hereditary families 
  who pass more laws related to paint color than zoning regulations, 
  its legislature is competent enough to enact nonaggression pacts 
  with neighboring dominions (Government +1). Fury of the Bear’s 
  Attributes are now Military 1, Culture 4, Government 2. She 
  draws a vertical line to the right of each Attribute’s highest dot to 
  indicate the Attribute’s current maximum.
  abiLiTies
   Dominion Abilities are often rolled with a related 
  Attribute when dominions take actions. Consider Abilities 
  a dominion’s resources, representing a cross section of the 
  society’s aptitudes, supplies, manpower and capability to use 
  them to the dominion’s advantage. The following 10 Abilities 
  are used in the Mandate of Heaven.
  Starting Ability points are determined by a dominion’s 
  Magnitude, as illustrated by the following table. Dominion 
  Abilities begin at 0, and at no point can a dominion Ability 
  be increased above 5 or the dominion’s Magnitude, whichever 
  is lower. Mark Abilities with solid dots.
  Example: Beau’s Magnitude 4 dominion allows her 19 dots 
  to distribute among Abilities. The dominion’s Magnitude prevents 
  her from increasing any Ability above 4. After Beau spends 
  points, Fury of the Bear begins with Awareness 2, Bureaucracy 
  3, Craft 4, Integrity 2, Occult 1, Performance 3, Presence 2 
  and War 2.
  sPeciaLTies
  Dominion specialties represent specific talents to be 
  found within a dominion’s society. They provide bonuses to 
  Abilities when the Storyteller deems the specialties relevant. 
  Players looking to utilize dominion specialties can more easily 
  do so by working them into stunt descriptions. Specialties 
  are never used during events.
  No more than three specialties may be purchased 
  for any one Ability, though the same specialty may be 
  selected up to three times. Specialties are purchased with 
  bonus points provided during dominion creation, acquired 
  during a reallocation of bonus points or received upon a 
  Magnitude change.
  See the table above for suggested specialties. If the Sto-
  ryteller allows, players may create their own, but they must 
  follow some guidelines. Specialties can never be so general 
  that they can be added to any Ability roll, and they cannot 
  be named for specific dominion Traits or actions. As always, 
  the Storyteller has the final say.
  Example: Beau selects three specialties for Bureaucracy: 
  Well-Placed Bribe +1 and Red Tape +2. If her Storyteller felt 
  that either or both came into play during one of Fury of the Bear’s 
  long turns, Beau would receive the individual (or combined) 
  bonuses listed for each.
  virTues
  A dominion’s Virtues summarize the attitudes of its 
  society and are identical in name to character Virtues. Do-
  Magnitude 
  Abilities
   
  0 
   
  0
   
  1 
   
  5
   
  2 
   
  10
   
  3 
   
  15
   
  4 
   
  19
   
  5 
   
  23
   
  6 
   
  27
   
  7 
   
  30
   
  8 
   
  33
   
  9 
   
  36
  Dominion Abilities 
  Specialties
  Awareness 
  Blackmail Official, Foment Cor-
  ruption, Superior Diplomats
  Bureaucracy 
  Form Committee, Red Tape, 
  Well-Placed Bribe
  Craft 
  Intellectual Movement, Public 
  Works, Rally Artisans
  Integrity 
  Religious Edict, Secret Police, 
  Tight-Knit Heritage
  Investigation 
  Conduct Interviews, Due Dili-
  gence, Witch Hunt
  Occult 
  Binding Agreement, Savant 
  Academy, Supernatural Eti-
  quette
  Performance 
  Fool the Populace, Rousing 
  Rhetoric, Sabre-Rattling
  Presence 
  Imperious Demands, Organized 
  Crime, Religious Conversions
  Stealth 
  Agents Provocateurs, Calculated 
  Assassination, Sabotage
  War 
  Forcing an Engagement, Massive 
  Cavalry Screen, Slash & Burn 
  Tactics
  
  10
  minion Virtues measure what a society holds important and 
  how strongly a dominion’s society will deliberate about an 
  issue. High Virtues help resist external forces of change, but 
  also make it harder for a dominion to alter its own makeup. 
  Low Virtues allow easy internal change, but other dominions 
  may take advantage as well.
  A Virtue combined with an Attribute forms the difficulty 
  a dominion must exceed with an (Attribute + Ability) roll. 
  If a dominion does not meet an action’s Ability minimum, a 
  Virtue can be rolled with an Attribute when a dominion takes 
  an action, but doing so can increase the dominion’s Limit. 
  See Step Two of “Dominion Conflict” below (p. 16).
  Starting dominion Virtues begin at one dot apiece and 
  receive additional dots depending upon Magnitude. There is 
  no restriction as to how these Virtues may be spent. No Virtue 
  can begin above five dots without special circumstances (see 
  “Supernatural Dominions” below). Use the following table 
  to determine the pool of starting Virtue points.
  Example: Beau’s Magnitude 4 dominion receives seven dots of 
  Virtues to distribute. Fury of the Bear begins with a starting Com-
  passion 1, Conviction 1, Temperance 1 and Valor 1. Beau decides 
  her city-state composed of skilled artisans is full of disparate passions 
  and philosophies regarding the righteousness and justice of a society 
  (Compassion +3), but the people generally lack the motivation to 
  back up their beliefs with practice (Conviction +1). The society mostly 
  believes there is no way to affect the disagreeable state of the world 
  and doesn’t usually act on its radical notions, preferring to explain 
  misfortune away as a necessary inevitability that could not have 
  been averted (Temperance +3). However, the dominion frequently 
  runs to the Realm for help when there is even a hint of bandits in the 
  area (Valor +0). Fury of the Bear’s Virtues are now Compassion 
  4, Conviction 2, Temperance 4 and Valor 1.
  virTue fLaW
  The highest of the dominion’s four Virtues gains a 
  Virtue Flaw, which is distinctly different from that suffered 
  by Exalts. Although dominions do not bear the stigma of 
  the Great Curse, the defining Virtue of a society can be a 
  mixed blessing. A Valorous society will have a much harder 
  time accepting a ceasefire from an invading enemy, while a 
  Compassionate society should find it difficult to turn away 
  hordes of refugees fleeing from a beastman army. While it is 
  not impossible for a nation to act in opposition of its Virtue, 
  doing so can cause unrest and unhappiness.
  Circle the associated Virtue to indicate which one bears 
  the Flaw. If, for whatever reason, this Virtue is exceeded by 
  Magnitude 
  Virtue Dots
   
  0-1 
   
  5
   
  2-3 
   
  6
   
  4-5 
   
  7
   
  6-7 
   
  8
   
  8-9 
   
  9
  
  11
  The MandaTe of heaven
  another, reassign the Flaw to the dominion’s new highest 
  Virtue. Otherwise, Flaws cannot change.
  Replacing a minimum Ability with your Flawed Virtue 
  or canceling an event that targets your Flawed Virtue causes 
  you to roll the Virtue and increase Limit by the number of 
  successes. However, allowing an event targeting your Flawed 
  Virtue to occur allows you to roll the Virtue and reduce Limit 
  by the number of successes.
  Example: Fury of the Bear has a Compassion 4 and Temper-
  ance 4. Beau decides Furians are known more for their romantic 
  ideals than for their stubbornness, sometimes allowing their zeal 
  to get the better of them, enacting laws actually detrimental to 
  their society (Compassion Virtue Flaw). Should Beau increase 
  Temperance at a later point, Temperance will automatically 
  become Fury of the Bear’s Virtue Flaw.
  LiMiT
  A dominion’s Limit is the stress its society undergoes 
  as the dominion acts in opposition to its society’s desires. 
  To some degree, Limit measures a society’s unrest and 
  unhappiness. A dominion ending its turn with a Limit of 
  10 undergoes a Limit Break during the dominion’s next 
  turn. Limit Breaks are times of tumult that can easily re-
  sult in riots, rebellion or even loss of Magnitude. When a 
  dominion suffers a Limit Break, the player of an opposing 
  dominion or the Storyteller directs the dominion along a 
  path of self-destruction. The dominion’s player has limited 
  ability to counteract these actions, but it could easily be 
  too little, too late.
  However, a Limit Break can be incredibly cathartic for 
  a society, immediately reducing the dominion’s Limit to 
  0. The dominion gains temporary Willpower equal to the 
  Flawed Virtue, even if doing so exceeds the Willpower total 
  or causes temporary Willpower to rise above 10. 
  Dominions begin with a Limit equal to (Magnitude 
  - lowest Virtue). Alternatively, a Storyteller may prefer 
  to randomly assign Limit by rolling 1d10 and subtracting 
  3, to prevent a dominion from beginning on the edge of a 
  Limit Break condition. In such case, treat negative results 
  as 0 Limit.
  Example: Fury of the Bear’s Magnitude 4 and Valor 1 (its 
  lowest Virtue) means the dominion begins with a Limit of 3. 
  If Beau does not manage her dominion’s Limit, 7 more points 
  will provoke a Limit Break.
  WiLLPoWer
  A dominion’s Willpower epitomizes the society’s capabil-
  ity to endure great hardship. Dominion Willpower also stands 
  for the society’s capacity to undergo fundamental changes 
  to the society’s makeup. Starting Willpower is equal to the 
  dominion’s two highest Virtues and can be increased with bo-
  nus points. Willpower does not increase if the Virtues change 
  after play begins, and can never be increased above 10.
  A dominion begins with points of temporary Will-
  power equal to the permanent Willpower rating. Temporary 
  Willpower is spent to activate actions with a Willpower 
  requirement. Temporary Willpower can never be increased 
  above its permanent Willpower rating unless as a direct 
  result of a Limit Break. If a dominion does not have enough 
  temporary Willpower to perform an action, the dominion 
  cannot take that action. A dominion ending its turn with 
  0 temporary Willpower immediately gains 1 point of Limit, 
  potentially provoking a Limit Break.
  A dominion may spend 1 point of temporary Willpower 
  for an automatic success on any roll at any time prior to 
  the Storyteller describing the results. Dominions can force 
  stable societies to enact rapid changes. The dominion chan-
  nels temporary Willpower through one of the Virtues for a 
  number of extra dice on the action roll equal to the Virtue 
  rating. The dominion may do so as often as it wants, but 
  the Limit cannot exceed the highest Virtue rating prior to 
  spending Willpower. Channeling Willpower through Virtues 
  adds Limit equal to half the Virtue rating (rounded up) or 
  the full Flawed Virtue rating.
  Example: Beau’s dominion has a Compassion 4 and Tem-
  perance 4. Unless she increases these ranks with bonus points 
  during dominion creation, Fury of the Bear will begin with 
  Willpower 8.
  bonus PoinTs
  Dominions receive an allotment of bonus points during 
  dominion creation equal to 5 per rank of Magnitude. If a do-
  minion increases or decreases in Magnitude, the dominion’s 
  bonus point total changes accordingly. Bonus point dots are 
  considered to be part of the Trait’s permanent rating and do 
  not allow a dominion Trait to exceed its maximum rating.
  Unlike characters, dominions can reconstitute spent 
  bonus points by taking actions that “remove” bonus point-
  increased Traits, freeing up bonus points to be concentrated 
  elsewhere. Dominions should track available and total bonus 
  points to determine what can be reused. Specialties can 
  only be purchased with bonus points, which makes tracking 
  them easy. Other Traits can be tracked by marking a large 
  X through the dot. Bonus point dots are placed to the right 
  of permanent Trait dots. Bonus points captured by other 
  dominions recover slowly every turn.
  Dominions may also gain external bonus points from 
  various sources. A dominion may never have more than 
  (Magnitude x 3) external bonus points, as, beyond a certain 
  point, a dominion does not have the logistics to effectively 
  doMinion bonus PoinTs
  Trait 
  Cost
  Ability 
   4
  Specialty 
   1
  Virtue 
   7
  Willpower 
   6
  
  12
  manage the resources. External bonus points are tracked 
  separately from available bonus points. Circle any specialties 
  purchased in this manner to indicate they use external bonus 
  points. Other Traits can be tracked by marking a single slash 
  — such as / — through the dot. Record external bonus point 
  dots to the right of standard bonus point dots and permanent 
  Trait dots. External bonus points that aren’t spent degrade 
  slowly every turn.
  Example: At Magnitude 4, Beau has 20 bonus points 
  with which to play. She spends 7 bonus points to increase her 
  dominion’s Conviction from 2 to 3. She marks her Conviction 
  Trait like this: 
  Whatever your group decides, make sure everybody involved 
  feels they have a say.
  When the dominion receives additional permanent 
  dots to spend due to a Magnitude change, player dominions 
  must first spend bonus points into that Trait as a dominion 
  action. Once the bonus points are successfully spent, the 
  dominion immediately converts the bonus point dot into 
  a permanent dot and immediately returns the bonus points 
  to the available pool. This subsequent conversion does not 
  take an action to perform. Dominions that plan ahead may 
  immediately convert any Trait with preexisting bonus points 
  already spent. No single Trait may be raised more than one 
  dot this way in a single turn.
  rivaL doMinions
  A rival dominion is any Storyteller-directed dominion 
  that has the potential to directly affect player dominions, 
  typically neighboring or regional dominions important to the 
  story. These dominions are out for their own interests, which 
  may or may not coincide with those of player dominions. 
  While all rival dominions are not necessarily opponents to 
  player dominions, each has the potential to become one.
  Determine Magnitude to assign starting Traits. Distribute 
  the dominion’s Attributes, Abilities, Virtues, Willpower and 
  starting Limit. Rival dominions track temporary Willpower, 
  Limit and Ability modifiers. Note long-term actions, such 
  as diplomatic ties or backing. Rival dominions directly op-
  posing player dominions should track bonus points, while 
  rival dominions not yet engaged with player dominions do 
  not need to do so (unless the Storyteller can handle the 
  additional bookkeeping). As soon as the rival dominion 
  begins to directly oppose a player dominion, the Storyteller 
  immediately spends all bonus points as desired prior to any 
  dominion actions taking place. However, the rival dominions 
  can never purchase specialties with bonus points and may 
  never use stunts. 
  Rival dominions increase Traits when their Magnitudes 
  increase or with actions that allow them to spend bonus points. 
  They gain bonus points during Magnitude increases.
  backGround doMinions
  The simplest form of dominions are those that the 
  Storyteller tracks to determine long-term changes to an area 
  and develop narrative direction. These are simple thumbnails 
  intended for a few quick rolls of the dice to direct the course 
  of background events, never interacting with a player’s do-
  minion in any capacity. Background dominions can provide 
  backing to rival dominions. Background dominions select 
  Magnitude and distribute Attributes, Abilities and Virtues. 
  Bonus points (and, therefore, specialties) are not used. Back-
  ground dominions are generally best suited for year-long or 
  decade-long ticks, with the outcome of these dominions’ 
  interactions unfolding over the course of the time period.
  Background dominions increase Traits when their 
  Magnitudes increase. Background dominions simply add 
  She spent 3 bonus points for Bureaucracy specialties earlier 
  and now decides to spend 4 points to increase Military from 1 to 
  2 and her remaining 6 points to increase her Willpower from 8 
  to 9. With everything spent, Beau is now ready to unleash Fury 
  of the Bear upon her Exalted game.
  doMinion TyPes
  There are three types of dominions, each with different 
  levels of complexity.
  PLayer doMinions
  Player-directed dominions are the most important 
  within your game and have the most options available. The 
  players themselves are, with Storyteller guidance, directing 
  a dominion. It is their piece of Creation for them to create, 
  expand or destroy as they will. This can happen even if 
  their characters are wanderers tooling around the area. (For 
  dominions where characters call the shots, see below.)
  When at all possible, players should create dominions 
  in which they are invested. Players who direct a preexist-
  ing dominion work with the Storyteller to get a feel for its 
  society, using this to justify the Trait ratings. The Storyteller 
  provides the Magnitude rating and, in some cases, general 
  restrictions such as “low Culture” or “must have a Valor of 
  4 or higher,” but players should ultimately decide upon the 
  bulk of the dominion’s Traits.
  The Magnitude provides players with the starting Traits. 
  Select the dominion’s Attributes, Abilities, specialties, 
  Virtues, Willpower and starting Limit. Spend bonus points 
  as desired. Players must track the often-changing temporary 
  Willpower, Limit and Ability modifiers. Keep track of any 
  ongoing actions, such as diplomatic ties or backing. Play-
  ers typically direct dominions beginning with Magnitude 
  between 3 and 5.
  Players may select one person to handle everything 
  related to the Mandate of Heaven or come to a group con-
  sensus. If there are more players interested than there are 
  actions available and each insists on personally directing 
  an action, the fairest way is to rotate the order of players. 
  
  13
  The MandaTe of heaven
  dots as they become available. Background dominions do 
  not gain bonus points during Magnitude increases and may 
  never use stunts. 
  characTers runninG doMinions
  Although players choose which actions a dominion will 
  take, characters with appropriate qualifications have the 
  capability to direct actions. The Assiduous Maxims refer to 
  savants and sorcerers as those who pluck the zither strings of 
  society, and the Mandate of Heaven allows such characters 
  greater control over their dominions.
  Savants tangentially affect a dominion’s direction 
  and often do so behind the scenes. Unless blatantly at-
  tempting to influence the dominion, only fellow savants 
  and sorcerers paying attention to the political structure 
  recognize savants for what they are. Savants possess a 
  minimum of 8 in any two Backgrounds. A savant may 
  replace her dominion’s Ability with her own for one ac-
  tion per turn. The character’s Ability must meet Ability 
  minimums even if the dominion’s Ability does not. Doing 
  so adds 2 to the action difficulty, but the savant may stunt 
  the action. A savant may also use Excellency Charms if 
  she possesses them.
  suPernaTuraL doMinions
  Any dominion type can be considered supernatu-
  ral if a two-thirds majority of its society isn’t human, 
  excluding personality-sapped slaves of the raksha, 
  automata and the like. All types of Exalted, God- and 
  other “-Blooded” varieties, beastmen and mortals are 
  human or near-human. Dragon Kings, Mountain Folk 
  and undead are considered mostly supernatural. Fair 
  Folk, spirits and elementals are fully supernatural. If 
  there is question as to the makeup of the society, it is 
  always the Storyteller’s call.
  The society determines bonus Virtue dots as well 
  as the maximum Virtue rank during dominion creation. 
  For example, a Magnitude 1 spirit dominion would begin 
  play with seven dots to add to Virtues and can increase 
  Virtues no higher than seven ranks.
   
  Starting  
  Max Virtue 
  Society 
  Virtues 
  Rating
  Human/Near-Human  +0 
   
  5
  Mostly Supernatural 
   +1 
   
  6
  Supernatural 
   +2 
   
  7
  
  14
  Sorcerers openly affect a dominion’s direction. Anyone 
  who actively follows a dominion’s current political structure 
  recognizes a sorcerer for what he is. Sorcerers have a com-
  bined total of 11 in three or fewer of the Allies, Backing, 
  Followers, Influence and Resources Backgrounds. (The Cult 
  Background applies in dominions that share the same religion 
  as that of the sorcerer.) A sorcerer may replace a dominion’s 
  Ability with his own as a savant can, but may do so for two 
  actions per turn at +0 difficulty. A sorcerer may also Excel-
  lency Charms or Charms with the Mandate keyword if he 
  possesses them.
  It is strongly recommended that only the players’ char-
  acters have the capability to become savants and sorcerers. 
  If used, Storyteller savants and sorcerers should not be 
  able to perform stunts. There should be no more than one 
  Storyteller character per player savant and sorcerer, and the 
  Storyteller should have no more than one per dominion. 
  Storytellers often begin with higher Magnitude dominions 
  opposing player dominions, so limiting this resource helps 
  provide balance. Storytellers who ignore this should be 
  very careful not to marginalize player dominions with 
  overwhelming opposition.
  LeGiTiMacy
  Sorcerers may seek to gain legitimacy by attaining rank 
  within a dominion’s power structure. While anyone can give 
  themselves a title, a legitimate sorcerer actually commands 
  the fear and respect of the dominion’s society. Legitimate 
  sorcerers are known by anyone with passing familiarity of 
  the dominion and its politics. While not necessarily the 
  dominion’s leader, a legitimate sorcerer has great influence 
  upon the direction of the dominion.
  A legitimate sorcerer may also do each of the following 
  once per turn:
  • 
  Replace a dominion’s Virtue with his Virtue for one 
  action. This alters the difficulty of any action targeting 
  your dominion, including events or your own actions. 
  This is considered reflexive and may be done after a 
  dominion declares the action but before the action is 
  rolled. If the target Virtue is the dominion’s Flawed 
  Virtue, increase Limit by 1.
  • 
  Spend his Willpower instead of the dominion’s Will-
  power on any dominion action. This is considered 
  reflexive.
  • 
  Reduce Limit by 1 for every 10 Essence spent (or 1 
  Limit per 2 Willpower for characters incapable of 
  spending Essence). Doing this takes one dominion 
  action.
  Only one legitimate sorcerer may exist per dominion 
  at any one time, and gaining legitimacy is very difficult. 
  ([The highest Social Attribute] + [character Virtue match-
  ing dominion’s Flawed Virtue]) of all contenders must be 
  rolled against a difficulty of (the dominion’s Magnitude 
  + Willpower). The contender who exceeds the difficulty 
  by the most successes gains legitimacy for this turn. If 
  any contender ties for highest number of successes, the 
  character with the most favorable difficulty modifier wins. 
  Should that number be the same, neither can prove legiti-
  macy and the character with the next highest number of 
  successes gains it. If none succeed, nobody has legitimacy 
  this turn.
  The following modifiers can alter the difficulty:
  These modifiers may be altered depending on the 
  dominion. For example, in the Realm, a Dragon-Blood 
  might have a -3 difficulty modifier while all other Exalt 
  types have a +3, due to society’s inclination to view other 
  Exalted as demons.
  Who’s in charGe?
  Cooperative savants and sorcerers can coordinate the 
  direction of actions, but characters at odds in the same do-
  minion may occasionally attempt to direct the same action. In 
  such cases, legitimate sorcerers trump sorcerers and sorcerers 
  trump savants. If multiple characters of the same rank are 
  able and desire to direct the next action, the player of each 
  Modifier 
  difficuLTy
  Character . . . *
  Is new to dominion this turn 
  +1
  Has spent 5+ turns in dominion 
  -1
  Has spent 10+ turns in dominion 
  -2
  Has lived entire life in dominion 
  -3
  Character is a . . . *
  Solar/Abyssal 
  -4
  Lunar/Sidereal/Raksha 
  -3
  Dragon-Blood/Spirit 
  -2
  God-Blood/Heroic Mortal 
  -1
  Character possesses . . . **
  Accords or Assiduous Maxims 
  -1
  Backgrounds of ••••+  
     known by society 
  -1 (each)
  Character’s Charms include . . . **
  Any social Excellency 
  -1
  8+ social Charms 
  -1
  Any social Charm with Essence  
     minimum of 3+ 
  -1
  Any combat Charm with Essence  
     minimum of 3+ 
  -1
  Dominion . . . **
  Underwent a Limit Break last turn 
  -2
  Underwent a Limit Break two to  
     five turns ago 
  -1
  Changed Magnitude last turn 
  -1
  Possesses any Limit 
  +(Limit/2) 
   
  (round up)
  * Select one.
  ** Select each one that applies.
  
  15
  The MandaTe of heaven
  character rolls a legitimacy check. The character with the 
  highest number of successes (or the closest to the difficulty 
  if below) takes the action.
  Ability) to determine the size of the dice pool before adding 
  Charm dice. The pool size follows standard Charm limita-
  tions for the character’s Exalted type. Solar Exalted can 
  no more than double the pool of (dominion Attribute + 
  character Ability).
  Characters with non-Solar Attribute-based Charms can 
  only double the dominion’s Attribute. Social, Mental and 
  Physical Attribute-based Charms correspond to Culture, 
  Government and Military, respectively. A player of a char-
  acter with Virtue-based Charms can add up to the character’s 
  Virtue to the (Attribute + Ability) roll, but this increases 
  the action’s Limit cost by 1. Regardless of the Charm bonus, 
  the dominion’s Trait is always used for purposes of action 
  minimums and dice pools.
  Savants and sorcerers regain 5 motes of Essence after 
  each of their dominion’s events and regain Essence during 
  actions with stunts. Savants and sorcerers can regain Will-
  power through two- or three-die stunts, and both regain 
  1 point of temporary Willpower whenever the dominion 
  regains Willpower. Characters next begin play with the 
  Essence and temporary Willpower totals acquired during 
  Mandate of Heaven play.
  MandaTe of heaven charMs
  The following Solar Charms from the Exalted core-
  book are appropriate for use with the Mandate of Heaven 
  and should be assumed to possess the Mandate keyword 
  as described in these rules. This and future supplements 
  will include the Mandate keyword to point out which 
  Charms are usable to aid in dominion actions.
  Bureau-Rectifying Method: This Charm supplements 
  an organizational effort that the Solar leads — a do-
  minion action taken by a bureaucratic, mercantile or 
  governmental organization. For example, the Solar could 
  lead a dominion’s effort to build a network of roads, 
  reducing the penalties imposed by bandits, uncleared 
  wilderness and reluctant labor.
  Immanent Solar Glory: Each hour spent inspiring the 
  people or performing administrative tasks allows the Solar 
  to recover motes equal to the dominion Magnitude.
  Infinite Wisdom Well: See below.
  Insightful Buyer Technique: This Charm may also 
  supplement a dominion action to buy, sell or trade 
  something wisely.
  Taboo Inflicting Diatribe: A character can use this 
  Charm as a dominion action, in which case her player 
  may roll the Solar’s (Charisma or Manipulation + So-
  cialize) instead of a dominion dice pool for appropriate 
  actions. The character must pay the cost for this Charm 
  and any other Charms Comboed with it at the begin-
  ning of her next played-out scene.
  Wise-Eyed Courtier Method: A character can use this 
  Charm as a dominion action. This uses the same rules 
  as for Taboo Inflicting Diatribe.
  Wyld-Shaping Technique: To forge a stable society 
  from chaos, the Solar must first create and populate 
  the land. She may then spend this Charm’s successes 
  to buy dominion Traits (see p. 7) on a one-for-one 
  basis. She cannot use Wyld-Shaping Technique to 
  increase the dominion’s Traits beyond the maximum 
  for its Magnitude.
  Also of use is the Solar Circle spell Benediction 
  of Archgenesis, as it increases the Culture of any 
  dominions in the region of its effect by one dot and 
  increases the typical Compassion of extras from that 
  region by one dot.
  charM GuideLines
  Savants and sorcerers can use Excellencies to enhance 
  their chances of success when guiding a dominion’s actions. 
  Sorcerers can also use Charms with the Mandate keyword. 
  Savants and sorcerers add (dominion Attribute + character 
  infiniTe WisdoM WeLL
  Cost: 1 Limit, 1 Willpower; Mins: Lore 5, Essence 1; 
  Type: Simple (Dominion Action)
  Keywords: Combo-OK, Mandate
  Duration: Instant
  Prerequisite Charms: Any Lore Excellency
  The savants of the Sun understand the rise and fall 
  of empire. This Charm is a dominion action (see p. 17) 
  to install spies in a target kingdom. This Charm uses 
  the normal rules, but the character’s understanding of 
  historical imperatives reduces the action’s Limit cost 
  and allows her to gain superior insight from the spies’ 
  reports — the difficulty reduction from the installation 
  of spies lasts for five dominion actions rather than three. 
  The Exalt must pay 10 motes to fuel this Charm at the 
  beginning of her next played-out scene.
  sTunTs
  Savants and sorcerers can increase their chances of suc-
  cess by performing stunts. To do so, players describe how the 
  dominion goes about the action or their characters’ involve-
  ment in seeing it through, and the Storyteller determines 
  whether it counts as a stunt. Note that this is available only 
  to savants and sorcerers whose characters are directing an 
  action, not to standard dominion actions.
  Use the standard stunt rules (see Exalted, p. 123) to 
  determine whether a dominion can add one, two or three 
  dice. The character performing the stunt regains Essence 
  and Willpower as normal depending on the stunt’s outcome. 
  
  16
  A stunt does not allow a dominion to perform actions if 
  the dominion does not initially meet the minimums or 
  allow the dominion to target dominions of Magnitude 
  higher than normally allowed. The same failure insurance 
  of stunts applies here, meaning that a character directing 
  the action will not be unduly penalized no matter how 
  poorly the dominion fares in its action. Characters cannot 
  be “killed offscreen” through stunt failure.
  PLoT GeneraTion
  At the discretion of the players and Storyteller, any 
  character performing a stunt can, once per turn, spend 30 
  motes of Essence and 3 Willpower to turn the stunt into an 
  Exalted session. (Characters incapable of Essence expenditure 
  may spend 5 Willpower instead.) The character will next 
  begin play with the reduced Essence and Willpower ratings 
  unless they are recovered over the course of Mandate of 
  Heaven play. 
  The characters should play through a scene or a session 
  determined by the stunt itself. The Storyteller may improvise 
  on the spot or take the suggested idea and expand it for the 
  next Exalted session. While the session might not be exactly 
  what the player had in mind, it should tie into the stunt in 
  some manner.
  Meeting the goal indicates that the characters accom-
  plishes the action. Roll (dominion Attribute + character 
  Ability) as normal and add one automatic success per stunt 
  die awarded. Even if the roll fails, the characters’ successful 
  efforts adjust the failed roll up to the minimum difficulty 
  required for success.
  Characters failing to meet the goal does not neces-
  sarily mean the action fails. As long as the characters did 
  not catastrophically botch the session, the dominion itself 
  still gets a chance to roll without the benefits of the stunt 
  bonus or a character directing the action. Success indicates 
  the dominion as a whole was able to accomplish the action 
  through more conventional means despite the characters’ 
  personal failure.
  It is possible to run an entire series using this form of 
  plot generation. This lets the players actively determine the 
  course of the series while providing their Storyteller with a 
  framework for the kinds of sessions they want to get out of 
  the game. One session per turn is the standard, but you may 
  change that to fit the pace of your group.
  keePinG Track of iT aLL
  Mandate of Heaven requires a small amount of book-
  keeping in order to work, but much less than that required 
  for characters. Use a blank dominion sheet (see p. 32) or 
  create your own to keep track of the numbers. You can use 
  beads or coins to track Limit and Willpower as you would 
  motes of Essence.
  doMinion confLicT
  Whether through social interaction, diplomacy or 
  force of arms, dominions inevitably come into conflict 
  with each other.
  Turn LenGTh
   The Storyteller determines the length of the turn before 
  play. Season-long turns last for three months, and Creation’s 
  15-month year means there are five seasons per year. Sea-
  son-long turns are the default style of play. Year-long turns 
  provide an extended interlude usable by Storytellers and 
  players less concerned with month-by-month events. The 
  largest unit of time is a decade-long turn. This is generally 
  used by the Storyteller to quickly develop lengthy periods 
  of background for dominions and to elaborate upon their 
  interactions. Players interested in incredibly extended pe-
  riods of downtime, perhaps in connection with long-term 
  experience awards (see Exalted, p. 275), can also benefit 
  from decade-long turns.
  Turn length affects the difficulty of all actions. For 
  example, if the difficulty of an action was 5 during a month-
  long tick, it would be reduced to a 2 during a decade-long 
  tick. The modified action difficulty can never, under any 
  circumstance, be reduced below 1.
  Dominions taking actions that affect other nations are 
  restricted by the opposing dominion’s Magnitude. There is 
  only so much a dominion can affect in a short period, while, 
  over the course of time, a dominion can have a much greater 
  oPTion: coMPeTenT doMinions
  By default, Mandate of Heaven dominions are 
  “fresh” — for example, none begin with diplomatic 
  ties or temporary Attribute bonuses. To better simulate 
  the feeling of dominions in motion, rival and player 
  dominions can take a number of actions prior to the 
  start of play. Each dominion may take ([Government 
  + Temperance] ÷ 2) actions (rounded up). Do not roll 
  Initiative or include events. If there are no savants 
  or sorcerers at the start of play, the Storyteller should 
  direct these free turns for player dominions. New 
  rival or player dominions introduced into an ongoing 
  Mandate of Heaven game should also receive these 
  free actions before entering play.
  Dominions with three or fewer actions must take 
  Constructive actions. Dominions with four or more 
  actions may use Constructive or Diplomatic actions, 
  but they are limited to positive actions (such as form-
  ing trade rights or alliances). If any free action would 
  increase the Limit of any dominion to 10 or above, 
  your dominion cannot take that action. It is not pos-
  sible to alter Magnitude with free actions.
  
  17
  The MandaTe of heaven
  affect upon its neighbors. A dominion looking to affect an 
  opponent with a Magnitude rating exceeding this threshold 
  must instead affect a smaller part of the whole.
  and specialties do not count toward Ability minimums. 
  Actions lasting for multiple turns are not canceled if the 
  dominion’s Attribute or Ability is subsequently reduced 
  below the action’s minimums.
  If the action requires a roll, check for any modifiers that 
  may apply to the action (see p. 20), and then roll (dominion 
  Attribute + Ability + modifiers). The difficulty is (the target 
  dominion’s Attribute + Virtue + modifiers), as determined 
  by the action. The target dominion adds these numbers 
  together and does not roll them. A dominion defaults to 
  Mouse Calms the Nest Pacification if its player cannot decide 
  which action to select.
  If the dominion has enough actions remaining, it may 
  take up to three actions, but must then move to Step Three 
  to select an event. If any unused actions remain at the end 
  of Step Three, the dominion returns to Step Two and takes 
  them after the event occurs. Step Two and Step Three repeat 
  in this manner until no actions or events remain. Events cycle 
  in this manner so dominions with greater Magnitude have a 
  greater chance to react to the events during a turn.
  Savants and sorcerers may supercede an action to use 
  Charms and stunts. Savants may replace dominion Abilities 
  with their own, if the character’s Ability is higher. Sorcerers 
  may replace dominion Abilities with their own even if the 
  dominion’s Ability is higher than the character’s Ability.
  Example: Fury of the Bear is Magnitude 4. The dominion 
  takes four actions and undergoes two events per turn. Beau takes 
  three actions before Fury of the Bear proceeds to Step Three and 
  undergoes the dominion’s first event. She returns to Step Two 
  and takes the fourth action, then returns to Step Three for the 
  second event. 
  sTeP Three: choose evenTs
  Dominions simulate strife and internal disorder with 
  events. Any dominion beginning Step Three with a Limit of 
  1 or greater must undergo an event, and any dominion com-
  pleting this step with a Limit of 10 automatically undergoes a 
  Limit Break during the dominion’s next full turn. The player 
  who acted before you selects an event for your dominion, as 
  long as the event does not cost any Willpower. (The player 
  of the last dominion in the turn selects the first dominion’s 
  events.) No player may select his own events. If a player (such 
  as the Storyteller) controls multiple dominions, the events 
  are selected by the previous players on the list.
  The person selecting your events does so without look-
  ing at your dominion Traits. Once the events are selected, 
  Example: During a season-long turn, Gem (Magnitude 4) 
  could only affect Magnitude 5 dominions, but during a decade-
  long turn, Gem could affect dominions up to Magnitude 7. In a 
  season-long turn, Gem can’t directly affect the Realm (Magnitude 
  7), but can oppose the Lap (Magnitude 4), a tributary state with 
  Realm backing. During a decade-long turn, Gem could attempt 
  to directly affect the Realm — assuming the Realm did not crush 
  Gem for its insolence.
  sTeP one: roLL iniTiaTive
  The players of all dominions roll (Government + Tem-
  perance) at the beginning of play to determine the initiative 
  order. The Storyteller records the number of successes and 
  ranks the dominions from most successes to least. In the 
  event of a tie, the dominion with the highest Temperance 
  among the tied dominions goes first. If there is still a tie, the 
  players of the affected dominions should reroll until they can 
  determine the order among themselves.
  Example: Beau rolls four successes for Fury of the Bear. The 
  Storyteller rolls two successes for the rival dominion of Western 
  Motalev and four successes for the rival dominion of Twelve 
  Corners. Because Fury of the Bear and Twelve Corners tied, 
  Beau and the Storyteller check to see which dominion has the 
  higher Temperance. Fury of the Bear’s Temperance is 4, beating 
  Twelve Corners’ Temperance of 2. Beau’s Fury of the Bear acts 
  first, Twelve Corners acts second, and Western Motalev acts 
  third during this turn.
  sTeP TWo: doMinion acTions
  A dominion takes a number of actions on its turn equal 
  to its Magnitude. The Magnitude also determines the number 
  of events per turn.
  Select an action you want the dominion to perform, and 
  make sure it can pay the action cost. If the dominion can-
  not pay the cost, the dominion cannot perform the action. 
  Next, check to see that the dominion meets the Attribute 
  and Ability minimums, if any. Attributes use their current 
  rating (not their base rating) when calculating minimums, 
   
  Action 
  Opponent 
  Type 
   Difficulty* 
  Magnitude**
  Season 
  +0 
  +1
  Year 
  -1 
  +2
  Decade 
  -3 
  +3
   
  * Applies for all actions taken by all dominions. The 
  action difficulty can never be reduced below 1.
  ** Add this number to your dominion’s Magnitude 
  to determine the largest opposing dominion you can 
  directly affect with dominion actions.
  Magnitude 
  Events
   
  0 
  0
   
  1-3 
  1
   
  4-6 
  2
   
  7-9 
  3
  
  18
  check to see if your dominion meets the action’s (Attribute + 
  Ability) minimums. If not, the event does not occur. Events 
  are never directed by characters. This means that Charms 
  and stunts cannot be used for events.
  the dominion containing the event’s effects, but at great 
  distress to the dominion’s society. Alternatively, the player 
  can allow the event to occur, and doing so reduces the 
  dominion’s Limit by 1. If the defending Virtue bears the 
  dominion’s Virtue Flaw, roll the Virtue and reduce Limit 
  by that amount. Though often detrimental in the long run, 
  events that are allowed to occur can appease a society by 
  following the natural order of things. The Limit reduc-
  tion does not apply if the selected event could not meet 
  Attribute or Ability minimums. Players who plan ahead 
  and have actions to spare can choose Dragon’s Open-Eyed 
  Slumber Technique to cancel the next event.
  Should the event proceed, roll (dominion Attribute 
  + Ability + modifiers). Because events happen in spite of 
  a dominion’s leadership rather than because of it, the -2 
  difficulty modifier for targeting your own dominion does 
  not apply.
  If you have any actions remaining after the event, 
  return to Step Two. Otherwise, the next dominion in the 
  turn order begins Step Two. Once all dominions act, each 
  proceeds to Step Four.
  hey, sToP LookinG aT My sheeT!
  Keeping other players guessing as to whether an 
  event occurs is not intended to cause fights among 
  players. If there is any question regarding a dominion’s 
  current Trait minimums, the Storyteller may check to 
  confirm the event is not possible. Should anybody find 
  this unacceptable, allow everybody to look openly at 
  dominion Traits prior to selecting events, and ignore 
  the additional benefits provided by spies.
  If the event meets the minimums, the dominion’s player 
  has two options. Spending 2 Limit on the spot cancels the 
  event before it occurs. If the defending Virtue also bears 
  the dominion’s Virtue Flaw, roll the Virtue and increase 
  Limit by (1 + the number of successes). This represents 
  
  19
  The MandaTe of heaven
  Example: After taking Fury of the Bear’s three actions 
  during Step Two, Beau begins her first event during Step Three. 
  Because she acts first in the turn, there is no previous player, so 
  the dominion that will act last selects her event. Her Storyteller 
  controls Western Motalev, the last dominion in the turn order, 
  and he selects Mouse Burns the Grain for Fury of the Bear. This 
  event requires a dominion to have Culture 1 and Investigation 1. 
  Fury of the Bear currently has no ranks in Investigation so the 
  event does not happen. Because no event actually occurred, Fury 
  of the Bear does not have the option to reduce its Limit by 1.
  Beau returns to Step Two and resolves her fourth and final 
  action before returning to Step Three for her second event. This 
  time, her Storyteller selects Mouse Gnaws Bear Reduction. 
  Checking the minimums, Beau sees that she exceeds them by far. 
  She will need to roll (Culture 4 + Performance 3) against (her 
  dominion’s Military 1 + Valor 1), and if she meets the difficulty of 
  2, her Military will be reduced from 1 to 0. She decides to spend 
  2 Limit on the spot to cancel the event before rolling.
  During Twelve Corners’ turn, Beau is the previous player, 
  so she will select its events. However, on Western Motalev’s turn, 
  the previous dominion to act is Twelve Corners, directed by the 
  Storyteller. Because no player may select her own events, Beau 
  also selects Western Motalev’s events.
  sTeP four: recovery
  Once all dominions complete their actions, the 
  dominions have the chance to recover. All dominions auto-
  matically reduce Limit by 1, except for those about to undergo 
  a Limit Break. Each dominion also has the chance to regain 
  1 point of temporary Willpower if it is currently less than the 
  total Willpower. Roll the dominion’s highest Virtue with the 
  difficulty equal to current temporary Willpower. If the roll 
  succeeds, increase the dominion’s temporary Willpower by 
  1. This noticeably favors dominions that have spent a lot of 
  temporary Willpower. Savants and sorcerers regain Essence 
  and Willpower as explained above (see p. 15).
  Some actions and modifiers end after a certain number 
  of turns. Reduce all durations by 1. If the duration is reduced 
  to 0, it expires. 
  Reduce unspent external bonus points by 2. Total bonus 
  points reduced through raids return at a rate of 3 per turn. 
  This is a natural economic recovery over time and is not 
  “transferred” from the raiding dominion.
  Example: Both Beau and her Storyteller reduce their do-
  minions’ Limit by 1. Twelve Corners’ and Western Motalev’s 
  temporary Willpower ratings are at maximum, but Fury of the 
  Bear is down to 6 out of 8. Beau rolls her highest Virtue (four 
  dice) against a difficulty of 6 and receives a 5, 7, 0 and 0 — five 
  successes, one shy of the target. Had she rolled one more success, 
  Fury of the Bear would have increased its temporary Willpower 
  by 1 this turn. When Step Four finishes, the turn ends.
  LiMiT breaks
  When a dominion undergoes a Limit Break, the dominion 
  endures a fundamental breakdown of its society. This could 
  be represented by a particularly brutal famine, insurgent 
  fighting, severe political scandals, a sudden and unplanned 
  change of leadership, a nearby supernatural menace, natural 
  disasters or worse. A dominion’s populace recalling the rough 
  times usually thinks of the Limit Breaks.
  A Limit Break is confirmed when a dominion completes 
  an event with a Limit of 10. Once the Limit Break is con-
  firmed, Limit is fixed at 10 until the Limit Break ends. Until 
  then, ignore Limit cost for actions, and ignore all changes 
  to Limit until after the Limit Break ends.
  During the next full turn, the dominion undergoes events 
  in place of its actions, and takes action when the dominion 
  would normally endure events. As with any event, the op-
  posing player is restricted to actions that cost no Willpower. 
  The dominion’s player can perform any action available, as 
  usual. After this turn, the Limit Break ends.
  Dominions can only lose Magnitude during a Limit 
  Break. If a dominion attempts to increase in Magnitude 
  and confirms a Limit Break during the subsequent turn, the 
  dominion immediately returns to its previous Magnitude. The 
  dominion cannot attempt to increase Magnitude again until 
  at least one full turn after the Limit Break ends.
  Thankfully, the bad times are usually followed by a ca-
  thartic recovery. After a Limit Break, the dominion’s Limit 
  drops to 0, and the dominion regains a number of temporary 
  Willpower equal to its highest Virtue. Temporary Willpower 
  regained this way can exceed the maximum Willpower or 
  the total number of Willpower boxes.
  Example: A few turns later, Fury of the Bear ends its first 
  event with a Limit of 10. Beau finishes up this turn as usual, 
  . . . buT can i bLoW uP ciTies?
  The Mandate of Heaven offers a look at the slow 
  course of history and the interactions between domin-
  ions that can last generations. So, can the Storyteller 
  or the characters blow up Gem during standard Exalted 
  play without first taking the correct combination of 
  dominion actions?
  Of course! If the explosion happens in play, Gem 
  becomes a smoking crater. The dominion won’t ex-
  ist as a Mandate of Heaven participant unless the 
  Storyteller wants squatters to move into the area 
  and form a Magnitude 0 or 1 dominion in its ruins. 
  While it is certainly possible to get the same result 
  through dominion actions, actual play always trumps 
  this system.
  The Storyteller is the ultimate arbiter of how such 
  events affect Mandate of Heaven statistics. Generally, 
  the easiest way to handle massive “onscreen” changes 
  to a dominion is a complete redesign with a different 
  starting Magnitude. Storytellers should take great care 
  when applying this advice to player dominions.
  
  20
  although Limit is now fixed at 10 and she can ignore Limit costs 
  for all actions. She does what she can to prepare for the next turn, 
  when Fury of the Bear undergoes four events and takes two actions. 
  This means her Storyteller selects three events, followed by Beau 
  taking her first action. He then chooses the fourth event, which 
  is followed by her second action. However, Beau still does not 
  need to worry about Limit cost for any event or action. During 
  Step Four of this turn, she reduces her Limit to 0 and increases 
  her temporary Willpower of 6 by 4, Fury of the Bear’s highest 
  Virtue. She now has 10 temporary Willpower even though Fury 
  of the Bear’s permanent Willpower is 8.
  exTended doWnTiMes
  Storytellers have the option of running extended down-
  times between series. Turns that occur in blocks of five or 
  fewer work best for extended downtime. Season-long turns 
  are best used when there is around one year of downtime, 
  year-long turns work better with about five years of down-
  time and decade-long turns are best with roughly 50 years 
  of downtime. It is possible to go beyond this if desired, but 
  much can happen over the span of five turns.
  You may “mix-and-match” different types of turns if 
  downtime does not last for a nice round number of decades, 
  years and seasons. Always start with greater turn lengths 
  before dealing with the lesser. If you don’t care to get so 
  exact, you can round up any period of time to the next larg-
  est turn length.
  Example: Beau’s Storyteller advances the story by 55 years 
  and nine months between series. They can play out five decade-
  long turns, five year-long turns and three season-long turns before 
  downtime ends. If this is too involved, they can just play out six 
  decade-long turns before resuming play.
  doMinion acTions
  The Harmonious Triptych Accords recount many tech-
  niques by which rulers syncretize order from chaos to form 
  dominion. The most extensively noted techniques are com-
  piled here in the form of dominion actions that describe the 
  methods, effects and perils of statecraft.
  Actions may be performed by any dominion that meets 
  the minimum requirements. Each action contains the fol-
  lowing information:
  Cost: Increase the acting dominion’s Limit by the listed 
  amount, and if required, mark off temporary Willpower boxes 
  by the listed amount.
  If the dominion cannot meet the Willpower requirements 
  or the Limit would exceed 10, the dominion cannot perform 
  the action. Mark off boxes of temporary Willpower with a 
  single slash. Willpower (but not Limit) can be committed, 
  in which case you should mark off the temporary Willpower 
  with an X. Committed Willpower cannot be regained until 
  the action duration runs out or its effects otherwise cease 
  to exist.
  Mins: The dominion must possess at least this rank in the 
  Attribute and Ability when selecting actions, or the dominion 
  cannot perform the action. However, if the dominion meets 
  Attribute requirements, it can replace a required Ability 
  with a Virtue as long as the Virtue exceeds the Ability re-
  quirement by 1 or more. Doing so adds 1 Willpower to the 
  action cost. The extra Willpower is committed as well if the 
  action requires it. Increase the Limit by 1 if the Virtue rolled 
  matches the acting dominion’s Virtue Flaw. The dominion 
  may not do this as part of an event.
  difficuLTy Modifiers
  aLL acTions 
  difficuLTy*
  Turn Length
  Season 
  +0
  Year 
  -1
  Decade 
  -3
  Majority of your subjects are . . .
  Human/Near-Human 
  +0
  Somewhat Supernatural 
  +1
  Highly Supernatural/Alien 
  +2
  Character’s Political Status is . . .
  Savant 
  +2
  Sorcerer 
  +0
  * Applies for all actions taken by all dominions. Dif-
  ficulty can never be reduced below 1.
  exTernaL acTions 
  difficuLTy
  Target dominion is . . . *
  Currently backing you  
  +2
  Supernatural non-ally 
  +1
  Human/near-human non-ally 
  +0
  Ally/backed by you 
  -1
  Your dominion 
  -2
  Target Dominion’s defenses
     include . . . **
  Infiltration by your spies 
  -1 to -3
  Supernatural defenses 
  +1 to +3
  Supernatural alliance with  
     non-allied dominion 
  +2
  * Select one.
  ** These are cumulative. Do not apply the modifier 
  more than once per condition.
  Label 
  Cost 
  Example
  # lim 
  Limit 
  (3 lim for 3 Limit)
  # wp 
  Willpower 
  (1wp for 1 temporary
   
   
  Willpower)
  # wp (c) committed Willpower (2wp (c) to commit
   
   
  2 temporary Will-  
   
   
  power)
  
  21
  The MandaTe of heaven
  Dif: The base difficulty of most actions is always (the target 
  dominion’s Attribute + Virtue + modifiers). Some actions do 
  not have a target difficulty but must meet other conditions 
  to be selected. For any action with no listed difficulty, refer 
  to the action description for details.
  Keywords: The list of keyword qualities possessed by the 
  action. These rules use the following keywords to describe 
  qualities of an action.
  Ally: This action can only be used with an allied dominion.
  At Peace: This action can only be performed if you are cur-
  rently at peace with the target dominion.
  At War: This action can only be performed if you are cur-
  rently at war with the target dominion.
  Binding: If you break this treaty, your dominion will suffer 
  repercussions for a period of time.
  Espionage: This action may only be performed if you currently 
  have spies installed in the target dominion.
  External: The dominion targets another dominion with this 
  action.
  Internal: The dominion targets itself with this action. Use 
  (the dominion’s own Attribute + Virtue + modifiers total) 
  as the difficulty.
  Non-Ally: This action cannot be used with an allied do-
  minion.
  Activation: The activation time determines how often a 
  dominion can perform an action. Instant actions can be per-
  formed as often as needed. Season, Year and Decade actions 
  can only be successfully performed once per time period 
  indicated. Unless otherwise noted in the action descrip-
  tion, a dominion that fails an action may retry as often as 
  the dominion has actions remaining. If the turn length is 
  greater than the action’s activation time, the action behaves 
  as an Instant. 
  Example: During year-long turns, an action with a season-
  long activation time functions as an Instant and may be performed 
  as often per turn as needed. Actions with a year-long activation 
  time may only be successfully performed once per turn, and 
  decade-long activation times may be successfully performed once 
  every 10 turns.
  Duration: The number of turns that the action lasts. Write 
  this number in the space next to the Trait or diplomatic action. 
  During Step Four, all durations are reduced by 1. Any durations 
  reduced to 0 expire and do not exist at the beginning of the next 
  turn. An action performed again before a duration expires resets 
  the duration to its original number.
  Traits with (d) after the turns degrade over time. When the 
  duration reaches 0, reduce the Trait rating by 1. If the Trait still 
  has dots, reset the duration. See “Attribute Degradation” below 
  for a special case. 
  To simplify bookkeeping, the duration is in turns rather than 
  tied to the activation time. An action that lasts three season-long 
  turns will also last three decade-long turns or two year-long and 
  one season-long turns.
  consTrucTive acTions
  Constructive actions involve dominions attempting to 
  improve themselves or to fix internal problems.
  TarGeTinG yourseLf
  Targeting your own dominion with an internal 
  action is always at -2 difficulty. This does not apply to 
  events, which simply happen to your dominion.
  bear sTarTLes Mouse aPProPriaTion
  Cost: 1 lim; Mins: Military 1, Presence 2; Dif: Culture + 
  Temperance
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Season Duration: 3 turns (d)
  The dominion seeks to expand its troop capacity, improve 
  equipment quality, build fixed defenses or otherwise improve 
  its Military Attribute. 
  Roll (Military + Presence) against your dominion’s 
  (Culture + Temperance). Success increases the Military 
  rating by 1. Your Military rating can never be higher than 
  double the base rating.
  TiGer confounds bear LeGisLaTion
  Cost: 1 lim; Mins: Government 1, Bureaucracy 2; Dif: 
  Military + Compassion
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Season Duration: 3 turns (d)
  Increasing the efficiency and efficacy of a dominion’s 
  civil leadership can come by many means, but the result is 
  an increased Government Attribute.
  Roll (Government + Bureaucracy) against your 
  dominion’s (Military + Compassion). Success increases the 
  Government rating by 1. Your Government rating can never 
  be higher than double the base rating.
  Mouse defies TiGer accuLTuraTion
  Cost: 1 lim; Mins: Culture 1, Craft 2; Dif: Government + 
  Compassion
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Season Duration: 3 turns (d)
  Civic improvements, religious movements, artistic 
  sophistication and many other refinements augment a 
  dominion’s Culture Attribute.
  Roll (Culture + Craft) against your dominion’s (Govern-
  ment + Compassion). Success increases the Culture rating 
  by 1. Your Culture rating can never be higher than double 
  the base rating.
  
  22
  draGon Tends iTs cLaWs PreservaTion
  Cost: 1 lim; Mins: –; Dif: –
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Instant Duration: 4
  The hard-fought improvements to a dominion can be eas-
  ily maintained, if its society has the forethought to do so.
  Attributes beyond their base rating eventually degrade, 
  but a dominion can extend this with some effort. This action 
  can be performed for any improved Attributes with a current 
  duration of 1. Doing so resets each Attribute’s duration to 4. 
  Dominions cannot perform this action unless the duration 
  rating is 1.
  draGon’s oPen-eyed sLuMber Technique
  Cost: 1 wp; Mins: –; Dif: –
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Instant Duration: –
  With forethought and drive, dominions can avoid the 
  ill effects brought upon by events.
  A dominion performing this action cancels the next 
  event. Events that have already occurred cannot be “undone” 
  by this action — it is preventative only. Dominions cannot 
  “pre-spend” this action for successive events or perform it 
  again if the upcoming event is already canceled.
  aTTribuTe deGradaTion
  Attributes above the base rating degrade over time. 
  Reduce an Attribute by 1 if there are any dots above 
  the base rating when the action expires. If the Attribute 
  still exceeds the base rating, reset the duration. An 
  Attribute reduced to the base rating or below (due to 
  events, conquest actions or any reason), immediately 
  sets the duration to 0 and does not further reduce the 
  Attribute. You can maintain Attributes with Dragon 
  Tends Its Claws Preservation.
  Changes to an Attribute’s base rating can affect 
  dots above the base. If the base rating decreases, dots 
  in excess of double the new rating are immediately lost, 
  and the duration resets to 3. Base rating increases do 
  not affect excess Attribute dots.
  Example: Fury of the Bear’s base Government rating is 
  4, and the dominion currently has a Government rating of 
  6. In Step Four at the end of Beau’s third turn, the duration 
  reaches 0. Because her Government rating exceeds its base 
  rating, she reduces Government by 1 and resets the duration 
  to 3. Fury of the Bear now has a Government rating of 5 
  for three more turns. Had she used Dragon Tends Its Claws 
  Preservation before Step Four of this turn, she would have 
  reset the Government duration to 4 and would still have a 
  Government rating of 6.
  
  23
  The MandaTe of heaven
  Mouse caLMs The nesT PacificaTion
  Cost: –; Mins: Culture 1, Integrity 1; Dif: Culture + Com-
  passion
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Instant  Duration: –
  Societies that have been pressed too heavily by their 
  leadership may calm their hysterics with reason and atten-
  tion to order.
  Roll (Culture + Integrity) against your dominion’s (Cul-
  ture + Compassion). Reduce Limit by 1 for every success.
  TiGer esTeeMs Mouse PeTiTion
  Cost: 1 lim; Mins: Culture 1, Performance 1; Dif: 
  Government + Conviction
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Year  Duration: –
  Festivals, celebrations and other forms of recreation can 
  restore a society’s drive.
  Roll (Culture + Performance) against your dominion’s 
  (Government + Conviction). Regain 1 point of temporary 
  Willpower for the first success, and 1 point for every two 
  additional successes.
  diLiGenT MinisTer’s aTTenuaTion Technique
  Cost: 1 lim; Mins: –; Dif: –
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Instant  Duration: –
  A dominion in a state of turmoil may restore order with 
  the diligence of its leadership.
  If the dominion’s Attribute is currently below its base 
  rating, the dominion may spend 1 Limit to increase the 
  Attribute by 1.
  draGon sPreads WinGs exPansion
  Cost: 5 lim, [Magnitude] wp; Mins: –; Dif: –
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Decade  
  Duration: –
  The Assiduous Maxims assert that dominions must 
  keep pace with their societies or else the dominions will 
  be outgrown. 
  Spend 5 Limit and your dominion’s Magnitude rating of 
  Willpower to increase your dominion’s Magnitude. Although 
  this action has a decade activation time before another Mag-
  nitude increase is possible, a reduction of Magnitude before 
  this time invalidates the decade-long wait. Additionally, 
  the dominion cannot increase Magnitude within five turns 
  of any Magnitude reduction or a failed attempt to increase 
  Magnitude. If the dominion suffers a Limit Break in the 
  same turn as a Magnitude increase, the action automatically 
  fails. Otherwise, raise the Magnitude by 1 during Step Four 
  of this turn.
  There is an unpredictability to growth. The last player to 
  select your event may move one Attribute dot, two Ability 
  dots and one Virtue dot to other related Traits unless you 
  spend 1 Limit to prevent this. After this “reshuffling,” use 
  the additional points provided in the Magnitude increase 
  to boost your dominion’s Abilities, Attributes and Virtues. 
  New bonus points are not initially spent and are added to 
  the pool of available points.
  draGon rearranGes scaLes Maneuver
  Cost: –; Mins: –; Dif: –
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Season  Duration: –
  Altering a society’s course is possible only if the society’s 
  leadership provides focus and the zeal for change.
  Dominions with bonus points tied up in Traits can re-
  cover these to the available or external pools, but no more 
  than (Temperance x 3) points per action. Additionally, the 
  dominion may spend up to (Compassion x 3) available or 
  external bonus points in any manner the dominion sees fit. 
  Be sure to track where you spend bonus points so you can 
  more easily use this action. You are not required to spend 
  bonus points at the same time they are recovered.
  MeTicuLous acTuary’s 
  disburseMenT recTificaTion
  Cost: 1 lim; Mins: –; Dif: –
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Season  Duration: –
  Redistributing a society’s resources must never be done 
  lightly, but thorough officials can accomplish this by taking 
  great care in their predictions.
  You may alter one Ability dot per Magnitude rating. An 
  Ability can be reduced by any amount but may be raised no 
  more than (Compassion) dots per action. No Ability rank 
  may exceed its Magnitude.
  Example: Fury of the Bear (Magnitude 4) can move around 
  as many as four dots of Abilities per action, but the dominion 
  may raise no Ability higher than 4. Luckily, Fury of the Bear’s 
  Compassion 4 allows Beau to improve an Ability from 0 to 4 
  with a single action. If Fury of the Bear had a Compassion 2, 
  Beau would need to use two actions (potentially delayed by the 
  activation time) to raise an Ability from 0 to 4.
  arTificer’s ceLesTiaL forTificaTion
  Cost: 3 lim, 1 wp (c); Mins: Military 4, Occult 3; Dif: 
  Culture + Temperance
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Year  
  Duration: 6
  A dominion can create or acquire supernatural 
  defenses to keep it strong, such as warstriders, raksha cata-
  phractoi or a legion of mercenary undead. A dominion’s 
  Supernatural Defense rating indicates the overall preva-
  lence in the defense plans of the dominion and could 
  represent outside supernatural forces working for the 
  dominion, a plethora of First Age military artifacts or a 
  “secret weapon” of some kind. For smaller dominions, the 
  rating may signify a band of artifact-bearing champions 
  
  24
  available at the society’s beck and call, a fleet of warships 
  outfitted with implosion bows or a sorcerous effect that 
  bolsters the dominion’s defenses. 
  Roll (Military + Occult) against your dominion’s (Cul-
  ture + Temperance). Success increases your Supernatural 
  Defense rating by 1, to a maximum of 3. Supernatural Defense 
  adds to the difficulty of any Military-based external action 
  that targets your dominion. The Storyteller may allow half 
  of this rating (rounded up) to apply as a bonus to your Mili-
  tary-based diplomatic actions.
  Only the first successful use of this action requires you 
  to commit Willpower. Successive uses spend Willpower as 
  normal. The committed Willpower is removed when your do-
  minion no longer possesses a Supernatural Defense rating.
  seLf-desTrucTive
  Typically caused by events, these actions reduce a 
  dominion’s Traits due to a variety of internal problems. 
  However, a dominion’s leadership can pursue a self-destruc-
  tive path when explicitly attempting to run the dominion 
  into the ground.
  Mouse GnaWs bear reducTion
  Cost: –; Mins: Culture 1, Performance 1; Dif: Military + 
  Valor
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Season  Duration: –
  Societies that argue to diminish the apparatus of war 
  may find themselves incapable of their own defense.
  Roll (Culture + Performance) against your dominion’s 
  (Military + Valor). If successful, reduce the dominion’s Mili-
  tary rating by 1. This does not reduce the base rating, which 
  can only be altered with a Magnitude change.
  bear coerces TiGer MisaPProPriaTion
  Cost: –; Mins: Military 1, Bureaucracy 1; Dif: Government 
  + Temperance
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Season  Duration: –
  An uneven emphasis on the tools of war can mire any 
  leadership in the bog of procedure.
  Roll (Military + Bureaucracy) against your dominion’s 
  (Government + Temperance). If successful, reduce the 
  dominion’s Government rating by 1. This does not reduce 
  the base rating, which can only be altered with a Magni-
  tude change.
  TiGer crushes Mouse reGuLaTion
  Cost: –; Mins: Government 1, Presence 1; Dif: Culture + 
  Compassion
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Season  Duration: –
  Civil leadership can stifle a society’s enthusiasm with 
  an overabundance of law.
  Roll (Government + Presence) against your dominion’s 
  (Culture + Compassion). If successful, reduce the dominion’s 
  Culture rating by 1. This does not reduce the base rating, 
  which can only be altered with a Magnitude change.
  Mouse burns The Grain
  Cost: –; Mins: Culture 1, Investigation 1; Dif: Government 
  + Conviction
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Instant  Duration: –
  A society that stares too closely at itself will find alarm 
  in the necessary compromises of leadership.
  Roll (Culture + Investigation) against your dominion’s 
  (Government + Conviction). Increase the dominion’s 
  Limit by 1 for the first success and 1 for every additional 
  two successes.
  draGon devours TaiL recession
  Cost: –; Mins: –; Dif: –
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Decade  
  Duration: –
  The Assiduous Maxims also declare that dominions 
  outpaced by their societies will shrivel and decay.
  This action can only be performed during a Limit Break, 
  whether as a dominion action or as a random event. This 
  action can only be attempted once per Limit Break, although 
  there is no restriction as to how often Limit Breaks can oc-
  cur. If this action is successful, a decade must pass before the 
  dominion may suffer a further Magnitude reduction.
  Roll (the dominion’s highest Attribute + Flawed Virtue) 
  with a difficulty equal to (the dominion’s Willpower). If 
  successful, the dominion suffers a Magnitude reduction of 1 
  during Step Four of the Limit Break. This decrease reduces 
  Attributes, Abilities, Virtues and bonus points, which are 
  removed by the player who selected this action. If there are 
  not enough available bonus points to reduce, the opposing 
  player may reduce any Traits gained with bonus points, convert 
  them to available bonus points and subtract the remainder 
  from the available bonus point total.
  Thankfully, the dominion’s player can use the chaos 
  of the Magnitude reduction to redistribute up to one At-
  tribute, two Abilities and one Virtue after the Traits have 
  been reduced but before the next turn.
  coveTous MaGisTraTe PrevaricaTion
  Cost: –; Mins: –; Dif: –
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Season  Duration: –
  Corruption in a society’s heart can dull the society’s 
  most capable assets.
  The dominion reclaims up to ([Magnitude x 3] - [Tem-
  perance]) bonus points (minimum 1). The player selecting 
  the event declares the two areas from which you should 
  remove bonus points (i.e., Abilities, specialties, Virtues 
  and Willpower). External bonus points in these two areas 
  
  25
  The MandaTe of heaven
  are always recovered first. Next, return Traits boosted with 
  bonus points to your available bonus point pool. If points 
  still remain for you to reclaim, move to the other two 
  areas. Within the scope of those limitations, you choose 
  what to reclaim.
  conquesT
  All conquest actions involve blatant confrontation 
  with another dominion. Activation time for conquest ac-
  tions refers to a single dominion. This means you may target 
  multiple dominions per turn with the same conquest action, 
  regardless of activation time.
  furious bear’s inTense assauLT
  Cost: 2 lim, 1 wp; Mins: Military 2, War 3; Dif: Military 
  + Valor
  Keywords: At War, External
  Activation: Season  Duration: –
  Dominions incapable of accord through words must do 
  so with violence.
  Roll (Military + War) against the target dominion’s 
  (Military + Valor). The dominion reduces Military by 1 for 
  the first success, and 1 for each three additional successes. 
  Under these conditions, there is some form of direct military 
  engagement, whether fighting legions, guerilla warfare or 
  war at sea.
  WiLy TiGer eMuLaTes serPenT Maneuver
  Cost: 2 lim, 1 wp; Mins: Government 2, Stealth 3; Dif: 
  Government + Temperance
  Keywords: External, Not Ally
  Activation: Season  Duration: –
  A war of words can harm a dominion as much as an 
  invading legion. 
  Roll (Government + Stealth) against the target domin-
  ion’s (Government + Temperance). The target dominion 
  reduces Government by 1 for the first success, and 1 for every 
  three additional successes. The target dominion experiences 
  governmental turbulence at your hands, such as severe legal 
  repercussions, loss of political credibility or raids upon its 
  economic resources.
  sTurdier Mouse Persuasion
  Cost: 2 lim, 1 wp; Mins: Culture 2, Integrity 3; Dif: Culture 
  + Compassion
  Keywords: At Peace, External
  Activation: Season  Duration: –
  The stoutest society is no match for those of weaker 
  hearts.
  Roll (Culture + Integrity) against the target dominion’s 
  (Culture + Compassion). The target dominion reduces 
  Culture by 1 for the first success, and 1 for every three ad-
  ditional successes. At your direction, the target dominion’s 
  populace is negatively influenced by external factors, such 
  as the introduction of ideologies contradictory to the domi-
  nant culture, extensive black marketeering or an influx of 
  foreign religion.
  serPenT TainTs The WeLL disruPTion
  Cost: 1 lim, 1 wp; Mins: Government 2, Stealth 2; Dif: 
  Culture + Temperance
  Keywords: Espionage, External
  Activation: Season  Duration: –
  Roll (Government + Stealth) against the target 
  dominion’s (Culture + Temperance). The target do-
  minion receives 1 Limit for the first success, and 1 for 
  every two successes thereafter. This assumes some form 
  of active espionage designed to reduce the faith of the 
  target dominion’s people in its leaders, whether through 
  propaganda or active insurgencies.
  bear’s TerrifyinG roar deMonsTraTion
  Cost: 2 lim, 2 wp; Mins: Military 2, Presence 3; Dif: Gov-
  ernment + Conviction
  Keywords: External, Not Ally
  Activation: Season  Duration: 3
  Through sabre-rattling and a display of martial power, 
  a dominion can force another to pay it tribute. This action 
  can only target dominions of equal or smaller Magnitude 
  with Attributes exceeding their base ratings.
  Roll (Military + Presence) against the target dominion’s 
  (Government + Conviction). For the first success and for every 
  three successes thereafter, reduce one Attribute dot of your 
  choice from the target dominion and increase your dominion’s 
  matching Attribute by that amount. You cannot reduce the 
  target dominion’s Attributes below their base ratings, and 
  your dominion’s maximum Attribute ratings apply.
  raPacious bear incursion
  Cost: 2 lim, 1 wp; Mins: Military 3, War 3; Dif: Military 
  + Conviction
  Keywords: At War, Espionage, External
  Activation: Season  Duration: –
  Martial conquest of another dominion can reap con-
  siderable assets.
  Roll (Military + War) against the target dominion’s 
  (Military + Conviction). The target dominion reduces the 
  available and total bonus points by 1 for each success. If the 
  number of successes exceeds the number of available bonus 
  points, the dominion’s player selects any Trait increased by 
  bonus points and returns the points to the appropriate pool. 
  Remaining successes recover the newly available points at 
  the rate of 1 bonus point per two successes.
  Increase your external bonus point pool by the captured 
  amount as long as you do not exceed the pool’s (Magnitude 
  x 3) maximum. You cannot capture the target dominion’s 
  external bonus points, but the dominion also reduces its 
  external pool by the captured amount.
  The target dominion’s available and total bonus points 
  recover during Step Four at a rate of 3 per turn until the 
  
  26
  total bonus points return to their (Magnitude x 5) max. 
  This natural recovery occurs regardless of how many exter-
  nal bonus points you retain and is not reduced from your 
  external bonus points. Step Four explains how external 
  bonus points are lost.
  GLuTTonous bear encircLeMenT
  Cost: 4 lim, 3 wp; Mins: Military 4, War 3; Dif: Military 
  + Valor
  Keywords: At War, Espionage, External
  Activation: Decade  
  Duration: –
  Dominions dwindling in status may be absorbed by 
  their betters.
  The target dominion must have a smaller Magnitude 
  than your dominion’s Magnitude. The target dominion must 
  be undergoing a Limit Break this turn, and must have lost 
  Magnitude within the past three turns.
  Roll (Military + War) against the target dominion’s 
  (Military + Valor). Each success transfers 1 temporary Will-
  power from the target dominion to your own, even if doing 
  so exceeds your dominion’s permanent Willpower rating. 
  Your dominion may only gain temporary Willpower that the 
  target dominion possesses, no matter how many successes 
  you roll. If the target dominion’s temporary Willpower is 
  reduced to 0 (or the target dominion had no temporary 
  Willpower to begin with), your dominion does not gain any 
  temporary Willpower, but may absorb the dominion into 
  your own. Doing so effectively removes that dominion as a 
  Mandate of Heaven participant. If the dominion is only 1 
  Magnitude below yours, you may also immediately perform 
  Dragon Spreads Wings Expansion as a free action, as long 
  as you can afford the cost.
  Should your dominion confirm a Limit Break this turn, 
  this action is nullified. The target dominion immediately 
  resolves the effects of a Rapacious Bear Incursion against 
  you as though the dominion received (target dominion’s 
  Magnitude) successes. The target dominion’s player may also 
  direct your actions during the Limit Break, if desired.
  serPenT sTaLks The reeds insinuaTion
  Cost: 1 lim, 1 wp; Mins: Government 4, Awareness 3; 
  Dif: Government + Valor
  Keywords: External
  Activation: Season  Duration: 5
  The Harmonious Triptych Accords frequently revile those 
  who would betray their society, yet fills a volume on this 
  action’s most efficacious use.
  Roll (Government + Awareness) against the target 
  dominion’s (Government + Valor). Success increases 
  the Spy rating by 1 within the target dominion. Actions 
  with the External tag you perform against this dominion 
  reduce their difficulty by the Spy rating. You can have 
  up to three dots of Spy per dominion. You must have 
  spies in a target dominion to perform any action with 
  the Espionage tag.
  Additionally, once per turn, you may reduce your Spy 
  rating by 1 to learn some of its Traits. The target dominion’s 
  player reveals a single Attribute, Ability and Virtue to you 
  as well as temporary Willpower and current Limit. This is 
  considered reflexive and does not count as an action. The 
  player only needs to reveal this to you.
  MonGoose hunTs serPenT inquisiTion
  Cost: 1 lim; Mins: Government 2, Investigation 3; Dif: 
  Government + Conviction
  Keywords: External
  Activation: Season  Duration: –
  A dominion unaware of what its neighbors plot becomes 
  the target of their ill will.
  Uncover enemy agents within your own dominion 
  by rolling (Government + Investigation) against a target 
  dominion’s (Government + Conviction). Reduce the target 
  dominion’s Spy rating for your own dominion by 1 for the 
  first success and 1 for every three additional successes. The 
  target dominion must reduce the Spy rating by this amount 
  but does not need to inform you how many dots are left or 
  whether the target dominion had a rating before you took 
  the action.
  diPLoMaTic
  Diplomatic actions (also known as “treaties”) determine 
  how a dominion can or can’t proceed with many external 
  actions directed against other dominions. Activation time for 
  diplomatic actions refers to a single dominion. This means 
  you may target multiple dominions per turn with the same 
  diplomatic action regardless of activation time.
  Whenever a dominion enacts a treaty, those affected 
  note the details on the dominion sheet. Record the treaty 
  type and any duration, and circle it if the other dominion 
  proposed the treaty. 
  sorcerer’s inscruTabLe disenGaGeMenT
  Cost: 2 lim, 1 wp; Mins: Government 2, Bureaucracy 2; Dif: 
  Culture + Temperance
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Season  Duration: –
  A dominion that finds itself in less than beneficial en-
  tanglements may extricate itself with great care.
  You may formally cancel treaties prior to their natural 
  expiration. Roll (Government + Bureaucracy) against your 
  own dominion’s (Culture + Temperance). For the first 
  success, and every two successes thereafter, your dominion 
  may prematurely end one treaty it holds with any domin-
  ion. This is the only way to get out of any treaty with the 
  Binding keyword without suffering difficulty penalties for 
  breaking the treaty.
  All treaties affected reduce the duration to 1, but remain 
  Binding until they expire. If your dominion performs any 
  actions before then that breaks any of those treaties, your 
  dominion suffers consequences as usual.
  
  27
  The MandaTe of heaven
  savanT’s Pernicious Treachery
  Cost: 1 lim, 1 wp; Mins: Government 3, Performance 3; 
  Dif: Culture + Valor
  Keywords: Internal
  Activation: Instant  Duration: 5
  Occasionally, dominions must quickly loose themselves 
  from constricting covenants, but doing so creates ill will that 
  does not go away.
  Your dominion may immediately break any treaty it holds 
  with any another dominion. Roll (Government + Perfor-
  mance) against your own dominion’s (Culture + Valor). For 
  every success, you may break one treaty with one dominion 
  and any of its allies. This takes effect immediately.
  Mark the broken treaties with a large X over the treaty 
  broken. The duration listed for this event indicates how 
  many turns before you may erase each X. Until that time, 
  you will have repercussions upon all diplomatic interactions 
  with all dominions.
  TiGer Looses bear decLaraTion
  Cost: 3+ lim, 1 wp; Mins: Government 2, War 2; Dif: 
  Culture + Compassion
  Keywords: At Peace, Internal
  Activation: Instant  Duration: –
  diPLoMaTic acTions onLy difficuLTy
  You are canceling diplomacy
     proposed by . . . *
  Your dominion to an ally 
  +2
  An allied dominion  
  +1
  Your dominion to a non-ally 
  +0
  A non-allied dominion 
  -1
  A non-allied dominion at war 
     with your ally 
   
  -2
  During the past five turns,  
   
   
     your dominion has . . . **
  Broken a trade agreement with 
     any dominion  
   
  +1
  Broken a nonaggression pact 
     with any dominion  
  +1
  Broken an alliance with 
     any dominion  
   
  +1
  Broken a nonaggression pact 
     with target dominion  
  +1
  Broken an alliance with 
     target dominion   
  +1
  Declared war upon target 
     dominion  
   
  +1
  * Select one.
  ** These are cumulative. Do not apply the modifier 
  more than once per condition.
  
  28
  Before one dominion may put the full weight of its society 
  toward the destruction of another, the dominion must first 
  find legitimate cause for war.
  Declaring war allows you take any action with the At 
  War keyword on up to (Valor / 2, rounded up) dominions. 
  This action also immediately breaks any treaties you have 
  with those dominions per the effects of Savant’s Pernicious 
  Treachery. For each treaty broken in this manner, your do-
  minion receives 1 Limit in addition to the action cost. The 
  only diplomatic action you may perform while At War with 
  a dominion is Tiger Fetters Bear Concession. You may not 
  redeclare war upon a target dominion if you are currently 
  At War with that dominion.
  Roll (Government + War) against your own dominion’s 
  (Culture + Compassion) to determine whether or not you 
  can gather enough internal support to declare war. Success 
  indicates your dominion is now at war, which increases the 
  target dominion’s Limit by 1 and allows the target domin-
  ion to perform actions with the At War keyword upon you. 
  However, the target dominion receives -1 Limit for each 
  treaty broken with that dominion.
  Elaborate networks of alliances and nonaggression 
  treaties can have some unexpected or strange consequences 
  when war is declared. In such a case, work outward from 
  the initial dominions declaring war to determine where the 
  other dominions stand. Refer to Savant’s Serene Coalition 
  for more details.
  TiGer feTTers bear concession
  Cost: 1 lim, 1 wp; Mins: Government 1, Presence 1; Dif: 
  Military + Valor
  Keywords: At War, External
  Activation: Instant  Duration: –
  War grinds societies more efficiently than the enemy, 
  making peace an appealing alternative.
  Roll your dominion’s (Government + Presence) against 
  the target dominion’s (Military + Valor). The number of 
  successes indicated below determines the outcome. If you 
  receive any successes, your dominion is At Peace with the 
  target dominion. Any allies pulled into war on your side 
  of the conflict may immediately choose to extend the 
  result to their own dominions free, adding an automatic 
  two successes to whatever you rolled. If unhappy with 
  your results, allies may remain At War or attempt Tiger 
  Fetters Bear Concession themselves on their own actions. 
  If you are now At Peace but your allies elect to continue 
  fighting, you are not pulled back into war with the target 
  dominion unless you (or an ally that chose to sue for peace 
  with the target dominion) performs another Tiger Fetters 
  Bear Concession.
  Breakdown in Negotiations — No successes
  Your efforts are rebuffed by the target dominion. You 
  may attempt again later.
  Unconditional Surrender — One or two successes
  You automatically confirm a Limit Break, which your 
  dominion undergoes next turn, and the target dominion’s 
  player selects your events.
  Conditional Surrender — Three or four successes
  The target dominion immediately resolves a free Rapa-
  cious Bear Incursion against your dominion as though the 
  target dominion received (target dominion’s Magnitude) 
  successes. Additionally, the target dominion’s player selects 
  your dominion’s next action as though it were an event.
  Ceasefire — Five or more successes
  The dominions mutually end the conflict. You must 
  perform this action with any other dominions that choose 
  to remain at war with your dominion.
  TiGer WeLcoMes Mouse enTiceMenT
  Cost: 1 lim, 1 wp; Mins: Government 2, Awareness 2; Dif: 
  Culture + Temperance
  Keywords: At Peace, Binding, External
  Activation: Year  
  Duration: Indefinite
  The right for dominions to trade implies stability between 
  them, all the while boosting the society’s treasury.
  Roll (Government + Awareness) against the target 
  dominion’s (Culture + Temperance). If successful, both 
  dominions record establishment of trade rights.
  Each dominion increases external bonus points by (do-
  minions’ lowest Magnitude) as long as this does not exceed 
  the external bonus point maximum. Step Four explains how 
  external bonus points are lost.
  Either dominion may perform this action again over 
  time to improve trade. The activation time only applies to 
  one dominion. It is possible for the other dominion to im-
  mediately perform the same action for added benefit.
  TWo TiGers circLe covenanT
  Cost: 2 lim, 2 wp; Mins: Government 2, Performance 3; 
  Dif: Government + Conviction
  Keywords: At Peace, Binding, External
  Activation: Season  Duration: 5
  Nonaggression pacts exist to delay conflict between 
  rivals or to forestall potential invasion.
  Roll (Government + Performance) against the target 
  dominion’s (Government + Conviction). If successful, the 
  dominions involved now have a nonaggression treaty. They 
  may not use Tiger Looses Bear Declaration alone to cancel the 
  treaty, but must first perform Savant’s Pernicious Treachery 
  or Sorcerer’s Inscrutable Disengagement.
  If your dominion possess a nonaggression treaty with a 
  dominion and war breaks out between the target dominion 
  and your ally, you are not considered At War with the tar-
  get dominion. However, due to the pressure from your ally, 
  your dominion will not regain Limit during Step Four until 
  the war ends or the nonaggression treaty expires, whether 
  doing so happens naturally or is broken/cancelled by any 
  party involved.
  
  29
  The MandaTe of heaven
  savanT’s serene coaLiTion
  Cost: 3 lim, 1 wp (c); Mins: Government 4, Investigation 
  3; Dif: Culture + Valor
  Keywords: At Peace, Binding, External, Non-Ally
  Activation: Year  
  Duration: 5
  Allies stand by your dominion in times of tumult, but 
  you must be prepared to do the same.
  Creating an alliance with a dominion allows you to share 
  resources and come to each other’s aid. Your dominion may 
  not ally with any dominion At War with your dominion, if 
  any of its allies are currently At War with your dominion, 
  if your dominion and the dominion are already allies or if 
  either dominion broke a treaty with the other during the past 
  five turns. Your dominion must have trade rights and nonag-
  gression treaties with a dominion for at least one turn before 
  attempting to form an alliance. Allying with a dominion 
  requires your dominion to commit Willpower until the alli-
  ance has ended. Your dominion can have as many alliances 
  as (its Magnitude ÷ 2), rounded up. There must no more than 
  a 3 Magnitude difference between allied dominions.
  Roll (Government + Investigation) against the 
  target dominion’s (Culture + Valor). Allies gain the 
  following benefits:
  _ 
  Allies find it easier to perform actions upon one 
  another, reducing all difficulties by 1.
  _ 
  A nonaggression treaty is considered indefinite 
  while allied, and its duration resets to 5 upon the alliance’s 
  natural expiration. 
  _ 
  Dominions performing Tiger Shelters Cub Patronage 
  on allies initially produce 1 less Limit in the target dominion 
  and do not produce 1 Limit on a turn-by-turn basis.
  _ 
  A dominion may forego its action to help an ally 
  reduce Limit. The allied dominion performs an automatic 
  Mouse Calms the Nest Pacification. 
  Dominions that go to war force the hand of their allies, 
  which must decide where they stand in the matter. If your 
  ally goes to war with another dominion, your dominion must 
  either cancel or break the alliance before the first event of 
  your next full turn. Otherwise, you are automatically At War 
  with the dominion (at no cost). 
  However, until that time, you are not considered to be 
  At War and cannot perform such actions unless you select the 
  Tiger Looses Bear Declaration on your own. If your dominion 
  is allied with two or more dominions that declare war upon 
  each other, you suffer 1 Limit at the beginning of each turn 
  in which the war continues. However, you are not required 
  to choose sides. You still retain the benefits of alliance with 
  both dominions.
  sorcerer’s invioLaTe PacT
  Cost: 4 lim, 2 wp (c); Mins: Government 5, Occult 3; Dif: 
  Culture + Temperance
  Keywords: At Peace, Binding, External, Non-Ally
  Activation: Year  
  Duration: 5
  A powerful ally blunts the greed of your neighbors, but 
  can also turn away their aid.
  Though functionally identical to Savant’s Serene Coali-
  tion, this action must be used if a target dominion’s society is 
  considered Mostly Supernatural or Supernatural. See Savant’s 
  Serene Coalition for details regarding alliances.
  This type of alliance provides a +2 difficulty for all 
  external actions that target your dominion, excluding the 
  other dominion in the alliance. While you may have multiple 
  alliances of this kind, the bonus is only counted once.
  Only the initial use of this action requires you to com-
  mit Willpower. Successive uses for additional alliances spend 
  Willpower instead of committing it. The committed Will-
  power is removed when your dominion no longer possesses 
  any alliances with such a dominion.
  eMissary’s necessiTous endorseMenT
  Cost: 1 lim, 1 wp; Mins: Government 3, Bureaucracy 3; Dif: 
  Government + Conviction
  Keywords: At Peace, External
  Activation: Instant  Duration: 5
  Dominions happy with their diplomatic ties should do 
  all they can to maintain them.
  Roll (Government + Bureaucracy) against the target 
  dominion’s (Government + Conviction). Each success allows 
  your dominion to renew one existing treaty with the target 
  dominion due to expire within the next three turns, whether 
  or not you were the one to initiate the treaty. However, the 
  treaty to be renewed expires immediately if you can’t meet 
  its minimums. Each treaty renewed resets its duration to 5.
  TiGer sheLTers cub PaTronaGe
  Cost: 2 lim, 1 wp (c); Mins: Government 4, Craft 3; Dif: 
  Government + Valor
  Keywords: At Peace, Binding, External
  Activation: Year  
  Duration: 6
  A society that is not too proud to accept aid may garner 
  benefit in spite of kowtowing’s discontent.
  Your dominion can provide backing to dominions of 
  lesser Magnitude, but no more than 3 below your own. Your 
  dominion must have trade rights, a nonaggression pact or an 
  alliance with a dominion to provide backing.
  Roll (Government + Craft) against the target dominion’s 
  (Government + Valor). Success means your dominion now 
  backs the target dominion. Figure out the difference in 
  Magnitude between your dominions. The target dominion 
  immediately increases its Attribute ratings and its Limit by 
  this amount. The target dominion may only increase an At-
  tribute if yours is currently higher. You may also donate up 
  to (your dominion’s Magnitude) available bonus points. The 
  target dominion adds the amount to its external bonus point 
  pool if this does not exceed its (Magnitude x 3) maximum. 
  The target dominion increases Limit by 1 for each turn in 
  which your dominion provide backing.
  
  30
  You may spend an action to cancel backing to the domin-
  ion prior to the treaty’s expiration without the repercussions 
  of Savant’s Pernicious Treachery. Backing is immediately 
  cancelled if you undergo a Limit Break, should the target 
  dominion successfully perform Cub Absconds Litter Refusal 
  or when your dominion no longer has trade rights, a nonag-
  gression pact or an alliance with the target dominion.
  cub absconds LiTTer refusaL
  Cost: 1 lim, 1 wp; Mins: Government 3, Integrity 3; Dif: 
  Military + Compassion
  Keywords: External, At Peace
  Activation: Instant  Duration: –
  All children must one day leave their parents or grow 
  stunted under their cloying care.
  You may forcibly end the backing that the target domin-
  ion currently provides to your dominion. Roll (Government 
  + Integrity) against the backing dominion’s (Military + 
  Compassion). Any successes reduces the duration of the 
  treaty to 1. The target dominion may not attempt Tiger 
  Shelters Cub Patronage until the next turn.
  ParenT/chiLd reLaTionshiP
  Dominions that are lesser regions, cities or tribes 
  within a greater dominion (such as an Imperial pre-
  fecture within the Realm or one of the Ten Tribes) 
  gain the effects of backing free. Each parent dominion 
  provides free backing to dominions 1 Magnitude less. 
  Each child dominion is, in turn, a parent of its own, 
  provide backing to dominions 1 Magnitude less, and 
  so on. A child dominion does not increase Limit due 
  to the backing, and the backing’s duration is indefinite. 
  Because a child dominion is actually a part of the par-
  ent dominion, they cannot perform external actions 
  upon each other.
  Child dominions often come into play when you 
  want to target a dominion with a Magnitude that is 
  currently too high for your dominion to oppose. In this 
  case, your dominion can oppose a child dominion with 
  backing provided by the parent dominion.
  
  31
  The MandaTe of heaven
  
  32
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Storyteller [multi]/Exalted/Exalted 2nd Edition/6 Other Sourcebooks/Exalted 2e - Mandate of Heaven [WWXXXXX].pdf