Download: Complete Colossus Rules PDF

The Colossus Transformation

The Exalted of Creation find enlightenment through introspection and study of their own nature. While this inward focus is certainly a key part of an Alchemical’s advancement, the simple reality is that their transformation is at least as much physical as spiritual. The transition from Champion to Colossus is, in itself, considerably more meaningful to an Alchemical than to the Chosen of the Gods, and the obvious superficial differences are only the outward expression of that evolution.

A Champion’s upgrade to the ranks of the Colossi takes place in a vats complex provided by his sponsor state, in a refitting process which requires months to complete. During this process the Champion’s body is stripped away and rendered down into exotic components to be used in the construction of his new form. His essence reservoir and sections of his nervous system are preserved, sealed inside a nearly indestructible vessel of his associated magical material with his soul gem affixed, and it is this module that will serve as the core of the Exalt’s being for an eternity thereafter.

The module is then installed into the first of the Alchemical’s Colossus Charms – an artifact-body of epic scale and power, in the form of his first Transfiguration Charm, constructed at great expense in anticipation of the character’s ascent. The details of this form are always particular to the Alchemical himself – many are humanoid in form, though other more radically different body plans are not uncommon where needed – but while a Colossus might wear several forms in his long life, each is uniquely his own and cannot be worn by another.

Beyond the traits specific to his choice of transfigurations, all such charms render a Colossus physically tougher and more isolated from injury than their flesh and blood counterparts. Without the physical needs of his body to contend for an Alchemical’s essence, his new form also enables him to devote more of his personal power to the operation of Charms and other magic. These and other benefits are captured in the Colossus’s Transfiguration Charms, but all Colossi also gain the following benefits upon the completion of the upgrade to Essence 6:

• The Colossus gains a single Transfiguration Charm at no extra cost to himself
• The Colossus no longer needs eat or drink, nor indeed is he able to do so at all

Sidebars

Updated Alchemical Charms

The operation of Alchemical Charms presented in Manual of Exalted Power: Alchemicals and elsewhere is largely unchanged for Colossi. In many cases Charms which describe alterations to specific portions of a Champion’s anatomy take on a significantly different physical form when installed for use by a Colossus, but these changes are ultimately superficial in nature, and the Charms function almost universally in the same capacity they did earlier in an Exalt’s life.

Many Charms do offer additional or expanded benefits for a Colossus however, as befits the greater power of so elder and enlightened a being. In some cases this takes the form of additional or modified effects, but most commonly it is expressed in the form of high Essence submodules which expand upon themes and nature of the Colossal condition. These additional features are described below.

New Alchemical Charms

While many Alchemical Charms grow with the Exalted who use them, the heart of the transformation from Champion to Colossus lies not in expanding upon what an Alchemical can already do, but in the entirely new capabilities enabled by his new-found size and power.

Colossal Apostates

Submodules

Charms