Just leave autocthonia
#Exalted
tulip folio
I'm also 99% sure I can't connect to the Underworld/Labyrinth but the book doesn't clarify how that would work so I just didn't take those necromancy spells.
upper stratus
to elaborate on this i mean specifically for sorcerer/necromancers cause some spells cost 2wp rather than 1 and it's perfectly possible your spells are gonna end up getting interrupted and then you won't get your refund so you want a healthy big willpower pool to compensate
tulip folio
Being an Ori caste I get to recover less willpower if I want. XD
upper stratus
why
tulip folio
Whenever I do an action that would recover me willpower, I can instead trade it for a chunk of sorcery motes
upper stratus
sweet
tulip folio
Forged in Righteousness (Permanent): When the Alchemical gains Willpower from upholding a Major or Defining Principle, she may exchange it for (Intimacy + 5) motes. A sorcerer may gain sorcerous motes instead. This also raises her anima to bonfire.
So if I go 'Nope, not letting you hurt these mortals', I can get an influx of sorcery motes
tulip folio
I really like the anima abilities I have.
Commanding Authority (5m; Supplemental; Instant): The Alchemical adds (higher of Essence or 3) non-Charm dice on a persuade roll that leverages a positive Tie to herself or a community she serves. Once per day, she can retry a failed persuade roll without resetting it
I'm just so wholesome.
upper stratus
hm yum non-charm dice
tulip folio
Though if I ever have to deal with a situation where somehow I can't leverage 'HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT COMMUNITY?' a lot of my charms don't work so good. XD
upper stratus
thankfully, you live in a society
bleak hazel
```
Forged in Righteousness (Permanent): When the Alchemical gains Willpower fro...
I wish I could teach an Alchemical Sidereal Martial Arts because there's this wonderful efficiency upgrade available for that in Prismatic Arrangement of Creation
(normally I hate the idea of anyone else learning SMAs, but the beep boops are cool, they can stay)
tulip folio
Hahahah
bleak hazel
I have this prismatic setup planned based around being ludicrously mote efficient, although I'm not sure if it works
Soulfire Form (as posted, plus a couple other bonuses), + Ways of Exaltation and pretending to be a Full Moon lunar
which gives me +3 dice on dex rolls at bonfire + 2 resting parry at same, so I can full excellency anything for 3-4 motes
tulip folio
I am also rereading The Red Star to get in the right mood for my beep boop going Full Proletariat Patriotism.
bleak hazel
and just keep smashing away at full power while trading init in for more juice, assuming I can actually land enough hits to have spare init to trade
the hard part is not folding when the Solar rocks up and presses all the flurry buttons before I can run them out, since I can't wear armour
tulip folio
It seems like the general problem most builds run into is 'And Then A Solar Appears'
Red Star has airships that feel very Autobot City (Not to mention being soviet inspired fantasy).
Skyfurnaces
bleak hazel
It seems like the general problem most builds run into is 'And Then A Solar Appe...
yeah, Solars (and Abyssals, kind of) have combat trees that are Just Better Than Yours, and even if you can jump through the hoops to negate their meaner tricks they can often just crush you with sheer dice
building a whiteroom high essence Sid or Lunar who can take an equivalent Solar Melee specialist in a fight some decent percentage of the time is a fun challenge, although I'm not sure it's possible if they do the sensible thing and diversify into Resistance and Dodge
not something you should need to do in a game, thankfully
tulip folio
Even from within an isolator tunnel, you can feel it when the ventral furnaces blast.
First the rumble, then the quake, then the moan of steel as every bolt tries to break loose from the pressure. The temperature alarms scream past redline. For the crew, there is nothing to do but wait and pray. We all know the possibilities...we all know that if a blast tank ruptures, the ship will be our coffin.
When I was on infantry support duty I once had an opportunity to witness a burn at ground level. The initial thing to hit you is a wave of heat and smoke, as if you are standing on the brink of hell itself. Then comes the stench, the smell of accelerant and ashes is not something one soon forgets.
(This is part of me having Red Star on the brain for inspiration when working with my Alch)
bleak hazel
meanwhile I'm just thinking about Sids, who have absolutely zero heavy industry vibes
are there still rolls for Alchemicals just going full Metropolis or does it cap out at Colossi?
(also, what are the Colossus rules)
tulip folio
Currently just Colossi as they don't have rules for going past essence 5.
But they have said they'll provide a few examples of metropolis charms in the finished book, just for 'stuff your friendly city can do to help'
bleak hazel
I have a very funny mental image of a Sid who is on the sorcerous phone book of each of the few Metropoli in creation because he knows Neighborhood Relocation Scheme and can serve as a kind of metaphysical moving van
he has that one chariot that you can use with NRS, Oedanol's Wheel, and a lot of free time
tulip folio
(also, what are the Colossus rules)
The Alchemical gains Legendary Size, granting benefits against smaller enemies.
• Their attacks don’t inflict onslaught penalties. (Magically inflicted onslaught penalties still apply.)
• Their withering attacks can’t reduce her below Initiative 1 unless they have 10+ post-soak damage dice. They still award the full amount of Initiative damage rolled.
• Their decisive attacks can’t deal more than (Strength + 3) levels of damage. Levels of damage added directly by magic don’t count against this.
• They can’t grapple her or resist her grapple controls without applicable magic.
• Their smash attacks can’t knock her back. She’s more difficult to knock back with magic(Exalted, p. 274).
The Alchemical can also take a devastating action on each of her turns, reflexively attacking a battle group or all trivial enemies within weapon range. She can reflexively use Simple Charms that create attacks to do so. This doesn’t count as her attack for the round.
Submodules:
Colossus Warfare Tactics (3xp): The Alchemical can use her devastating actions against Legendary Size enemies.
Enemy Acceleration Protocol (3xp): The Alchemical can forgo two rounds of grapple control to use her devastating action to throw or slam a grappled enemy.
So you get a lot of 'small people can't hurt me without help' as well as 'I can an Extra Action each turn I can use purely to fuck up battlegroups or other giants'
bleak hazel
most of that comes standard with Legendary Size, but most people can't just glue themselves into legendary size all the time
only Lunars
Abyssals only get that stuff with max level necromancy where they can go THIS ISN'T EVEN MY FINAL FORM and turn into a shoggoth
tulip folio
There is a follow up charm that also adds 'Oh and you can go back to normal size whenever you want'
bleak hazel
Sids don't get it at all, but can instead hand a friend a letter that turns them into an elemental dragon
tulip folio
As you just shunt 90% of yourself into Elsewhere.
tulip folio
Yeah
Metropolis isn't currently in the book because 'it's above E5 and the game isn't really set up for that right now'
Which is...honestly, entirely reasonable.
tulip folio
Reset: 'Once per day'
Oh good, because I'd want to cause incalculable damage to a dear friend more often than that.
Alchemicals: "This does not please the Community Robot."
bleak hazel
the dragonification surgery was a success(???)
the funny thing is that if you want a dragon you can phone one with an Essence 2 bureaucracy charm without any of those consequences
it's just a highly important Heavenly functionary and might sue you for calling it out for trivial matters
tulip folio
As opposed to the mortal, who has no such recourse. XD
bleak hazel
sidereals!
the alchemicals might get on slightly better with Sid Integrity, which is the "sacrifice all personal attachments for The Job" tree
tulip folio
...and now I'm imagining a Beuro-Spec Eclipse turning up doing 'Now, I might just be a solar lawyer...' over this abuse of mortals.
bleak hazel
"I am willing to take on a whole new set of morals as long as they don't agree with you"
upper stratus
As opposed to the mortal, who has no such recourse. XD
look we don't have any time for that fancy 'protecting mortals' morals tomfoolery
bleak hazel
(funniest perfect defence in the game, easily)
that one only has two prerequisite charms and they're both decent, whenever I make a Murder Sid I'm tempted to take Brawl just to get those three
upper stratus
in retrospect i kinda regret making my sid a martial arts mcgee instead of a brawl user
bleak hazel
current sidgame has my sid, who is a melee master, and Cherry the brawlsid as buddy cops
the contrast is very funny
he just swords a lot, she picks up a guy and threatens his buddy with instant death if he doesn't let her beat the hell out of him
upper stratus
the melee and brawl vibes are so different
the patient and wise swordmaster vs Mars' Dirtiest Fighter
bleak hazel
Sid Melee is obi-wan kenobi, yeah
just imagining the perfect defence fight where the Solar uses Seven Shadow Evasion to perfectly dodge between the molecules that make up his opponent's sword blade while the Sid just points at someone walking past and they fall over into a perfect Yamcha pose
not sure if Lunars have a Perfect in their charmset, I haven't gone through all of it
tulip folio
I don't think Alchemicals have any perfects.
They do get a lot of 'Oy, oy! I saw you trying to Do Damage and decided I needed 10 extra soak' though
bleak hazel
sids have to do that kind of thing strangely, yeah
instead of a "don artifact armour" charm they have this thing
tulip folio
Alchs have a fantastic Defend Other upgrade (Of course they do)
Where you can defend any number of characters in short range, or long range with an upgrade and a bonus WP.
Including against AOE attacks
bleak hazel
an Essence 4 sid can actually get that Hardness up to 13, which is pretty nuts
14 at E5
upper stratus
wait how
tulip folio
...christ, that's nearly as good as the stamina capstone for alchs XD
bleak hazel
what's that one?
upper stratus
...christ, that's nearly as good as the stamina capstone for alchs XD
i mean this combines multiple high end charms
bleak hazel
(I should really just back Alchems already to get the draft, but they're not super my thing)
yeah, this is two different E4 charms, and it still has the Bane hole in it
really good basic defensive suite, though
tulip folio
Essence Shield Projector. Scene-Long 10+Stamina Hardness but it turns off if you take any damage from a decisive attack or get crashed.
So it's 17-18 hardness (As it requires 7 stamina to get)
bleak hazel
Solars have "fuck you I have 20 hardness + more buffs" as their Resistance capstone, Sids have this buried in some random Sidereal Martial Art
so theoretically 17 hardness w/ benefits, but in practice nobody's going to know the capstone of one Sidereal Martial Art while being in a form from another, that would just be nuts
bleak hazel
yeah, that's more fragile but also hot damn that's cheap
especially since it's essence three
tulip folio
Alchemicals oddly don't have many E4 or E5 charms.
They mostly cap out at E3 + Huge Stat Requirement
tulip folio
Alchemicals have like...4-5? Though they have some submodule upgrades that require E4-5
bleak hazel
I suppose the big limit on that is that it's Simple so it will eat your round
tulip folio
Essence 4+ for alchs gives them 'Vanish like a non-manifested spirit'
Via the Transphase Engine
Or Unseen Deathblow Calibration.
Which treats an attack against a crashed enemy as an Ambush Attack (Which is presumably good)
bleak hazel
that is insanely ridiculously good
tulip folio
I'm guessing why it's 10 motes, 1 WP and 1/scene then. XD
bleak hazel
Ambush means "autohits as if target's defence was 0, they can't defend against it unless they use one of a fairly short list of ambush ameliorator charms"
tulip folio
tulip folio
Basicly it means 'use your full stat value'
Augmented
Augmented Charms include bonus dots of Attributes from Transpuissant (Attribute) Upgrade in calculations that use the Alchemical’s Attributes — including dots over 5. This doesn’t affect rolls or static values, only things like gaining (Stamina) motes. An Augmented Charm’s submodules also share this effect. Some submodules are Augmented separately from their Charm.
ah, got you
tulip folio
So Alpha Strike Module cares about your full Dex 6-8, not just the 4 Normal Dots you have
bleak hazel
here's the Solar ambush negator, as you can see it's not perfect and your strike will probably still be pretty mean
because they can't press any of their other defence boosters unless you really fuck up the roll
(strangely this charm is stronger the worse you are at dodging, it's one of the strangest ones)
tulip folio
The Alchemical one I think might actually be stronger than the Solar one for ambush negation
Though it requires different stats.
As it's not in 'be good at dodging' charms
bleak hazel
ah, that's very similar to the Sid one, yeah
the main downside is that you have to roll, so they might get you anyway
(although the Solar one doesn't give you defend normally unless they botch their attack, which is probably less likely than you beating them with the awareness roll)
tulip folio
It's also got a funny upgrade that makes it free if you knew you were going to get ambushed because of their 'Understand the consequences of my own actions' charm.
upper stratus
what's internal tag do
tulip folio
'If I insult him, a sniper will shoot me. GOOD THING I KNEW ABOUT THAT'
Internal is 'there is no visible sign you have the charm'
tulip folio
As alchemical charms can otherwise be identified with a good perception and craft roll.
As you go 'Hey, this fucker's got jet engines, I bet he can fly'
upper stratus
imagining normal person from creation with decent metalworking craft seeing an alchemical and going 'looks like they got integrated pulse lasers on their wrists boss.'
tulip folio
Hah, it's not an easy one and it does have an increased difficulty if you don't know the charm exists.
bleak escarp
the pain of being a lunar fan when everybody's jumping on the hot new sidereals/alchemicals...
tulip folio
Sorry 😛
But well, the GM's favourite splat is alchemicals and this is getting him into 3e XD
bleak escarp
Fair!
bleak hazel
sids are my all-time favourite, I admit I'm not great at selling Lunars
they don't really grab me
velvet raft
Love alchs for being By the People, Of the People, For the People
(And then navigating all of the potential problems that arise from that
spring lynx
do alchs still turn into cities in 3e
next delta
Having not checked the primary text and going off what devs said awhile ago about their plans, I believe it is at least not mandatory
prisma sun
I feel like I can sell Lunars
You are an ancient and venerable natural wonder. You stand on the edge of the world's grandest civilization and deny it to go any further. You are a visceral predator who's prey are shapes and faces. You are the world's most versatile warrior, able to adapt to any circumstance. You can Just Play Great Grey Wolf Sif with a buster sword.
dense verge
that is a compelling pitch
bleak escarp
I admit I'm kind of a weird guy to pitch Lunars since I'm still deeply fond of TAW
prisma sun
i have once again uncovered a stupid flurry combo
to weaponize fall damage
Sidreal throw Charm that lets you swap positions with someone if you hit them with a thrown weapon up to any range
one that lets you attack at extreme range
one that lets you use 2 charms in one turn
Spider Launch Power
Swap someone below you from extreme range then bounce right back up to kick them in the face
bleak hazel
what do you need the second Simple charm for, jumping spider kick?
prisma sun
yeah
bleak hazel
works if you can slowly climb up to extreme range above the battlefield
prisma sun
or start there
bleak hazel
almost certainly an instant kill if you can land it, yeah
fall damage is a tiny bit nuts in this game
Heaven Thunder Hammer is a nuts E1 charm precisely because it just lets you generate enough fall damage to gib an average human from a standing start
prisma sun
Actually I just realized the first attack that swaps isn't a Simple charm
this can be crazier
one moment
tulip folio
so
The GM has convinced me to keep an artifact weapon with a suggestion on my necromancer's bonus for said artifact weapon.
Unlike most Beam Weapons, this one isn't Concealable...but in exchange it can be either a Wrackstaff or a Grimscythe, depending on how the Beam Weapon is activated.
And I am finding it difficult to resist this suggestion. XD
prisma sun
Fuck it make it easy, Maw of Dripping Venom
bleak hazel
why bother with Emerald Gyre Form?
just hit 'em with the swap and spend the rest of your build figuring out how to get to space in an efficient manner
prisma sun
True
bleak hazel
moving upwards is easy, you just need to be really fast
unlike Solars you can't just move twice per round
sadly you can't use Dance of the Hungry Spider to climb faster unless your enemy is also up in the sky
and there's no standard movement action that approximates the usual TTRPG "run" where you just move twice
I don't think most GMs would let you send a summoned demon or something up to Extreme Range beforehand so you can Jumping Spider Strike it
tulip folio
'The air elemental is In The Air, of course'
prisma sun
Grandmother Style Mastery DOES mean you only need to be in Long Range to send someone up Extreme Range
bleak hazel
Sids can be disgustingly quick if they have to be but mostly via a series of flash steps that are solely used to do incredible flying kicks
prisma sun
but that's unlikely to be viable
bleak hazel
yeah, does take your required Essence up from 3 to 5
might have to search the normal trees for schmovement
well, Athletics can get you two range bands up by blowing up the ground, but that takes your movement
bleak hazel
if you leap to range band 2, get attacked to trigger Dance of the Hungry Spider to move up to Long and then move up and swap on your next turn it works, but there's got to be a way to go faster here
ah, Oadenol's Wheel
artifact chariot
that does need Gyre form though
bounce up to long range in your chariot, manually ride it higher and then throw a knife, I guess?
and then somehow you wait until start of next turn and then crash down like Radahn anyway
not entirely sure how the logistics of this works
prisma sun
So it would be
Start on the ground
leap into the sky with chariot
leap into the sky AGAIN with stone launch (you're now at like Extreme+1)
hit them with a thrown weapon
switch places
spider launch
bleak hazel
both chariot and stone launches are Simple, and I think you have to have something to blow up to use the latter, but you do just have a move action still
Chariot up, move up one more band to Extreme, throw knife with second Simple action, swap, how do you get the third action to jumpkick?
bleak hazel
you don't really need the jump kick here
tulip folio
On the sid front: How good are sids in 3e at being just...brutal beatsticks? Pondering that old sid character of mine, who wasn't fantastic at the 'ninja' part of 'fate ninja' but ran on 'I can't be spotted if everyone is dead' more than other sids (And to be fair, she was mostly assigned to Shadowland Stuff, nobody complains if she just murders every single zombie she encounters).
bleak hazel
you can already fly because you're in a flying chariot
just fly up with your cool relic, hit them with the swapsies and then go on with your surprisingly affordable E3 battle plan
no SMA forms needed
bleak hazel
On the sid front: How good are sids in 3e at being just...brutal beatsticks? Pon...
Sids can get more big brain than any other character when it comes to high essence combat because of the sheer number of trees they can combine
prisma sun
I will be honest
bleak hazel
between their combat trees, Versatile charms, SMAs, SMA Enlightenment and regular martial arts there's so much stuff that you can bludgeon into compatibility
prisma sun
Aesthetically I like the web plan more
bleak hazel
fair
as for raw power, both Lunars and Solaroids can throw more dice than you more aggressively, so you need to be a gremlin about it
you do have access to excellent gremlinry however
and while your melee tree cannot match Solar Melee it's a pretty even scrap aganst a Lunar
tulip folio
between their combat trees, Versatile charms, SMAs, SMA Enlightenment and regula...
Fair. Back in 2e she ran on Dark Messiah, First Pulse and a few other 'Look, just put a boot in him while he's down' martial arts.
prisma sun
Okay so
bleak hazel
Dark Messiah is now sadly not one you can just steal but I can suggest Sid Brawl + other MAs
Sid Brawl has the only remaining perfect defence and it's hilarious
tulip folio
That's 'Yamcha some guy', right?
tulip folio
I also noticed with that one they don't need to be a trivial character you like.
bleak hazel
yeah, it's an exceptional assassination charm exclusively against people who don't matter
which is very Sidereal
tulip folio
'I have memorized the names of all the random mortals who work for the solar who keeps messing with me'
bleak hazel
Sid Melee has some solid action-economy adds to your martial arts combat if you want to be vanilla about it
I'm currently building a Clash setup based around reflexive aim for +3 non-charm dice and clashing with dual-wielded swords for another +2 two sword bonus
trying to proc this a lot
under no circumstances will you be able to headbutt a similarly experienced dedicated combat solar to death straight up
they are too cracked and their trees are too unbalanced
got to go in with the prep time
bleak hazel
big prophecy on them to make them hate life, which Endings has on call
summon some demons
etc.
bleak hazel
bit expensive on the commitment but you can say "slain by me, in three days, on the ship Aurora" when you slap this down and all of a sudden he has a terrible time for the duration of that fight if you can reliably do that
prisma sun
and lets me do something extremely silly
bleak hazel
Sids are big on fulfilling their own prophecies
tulip folio
under no circumstances will you be able to headbutt a similarly experienced dedi...
That's fair. Just pondering that old character of mine who didn't quite get a full game for her. She was good at: Murder, Paperwork, Tea Parties, Being Fucking Terrifying.
bleak hazel
basically Solaroids just get any given effect 1-2 essence levels before you do and probably in a stronger version, so while you can make a build purpose constructed to hold off Solar Melee, it's probably going to fold if they take a brief foray into Athletics and Brawl to get a bunch of equally cracked and cheap stuff that you need specialist E3 charms to counter
prisma sun
So
bleak hazel
That's fair. Just pondering that old character of mine who didn't quite get a fu...
can I interest you in the Division of Battles
prisma sun
start in mid-air
spider jump
Murder an entire army by attacking everyone at extreme range with the Spider March
bleak hazel
the Sid equivalent of Glorious Solar Sabre instead reflexively makes an artifact weapon out of anything you grab, which is actually extremely good
battles Sids get to be John Wickius and kill people with a pair of chopsticks that have suddenly started hitting like paired artifact knives
tulip folio
This does seem amazing.
bleak hazel
Solars and Lunars need a whole round to do their big sword transformation sequence with Glorious Solar Sabre/Claws of the Silver Moon
sids just grab a stick and break it over someone's head in one fluid motion
tulip folio
Fantastic. Yeah she was an Endings but I imagine All Sids are good at beating people down with martial arts in 3e. XD
bleak hazel
every Sid gets martial arts for free, favoured
you can take battles charms too, they'll just be very slightly more expensive
so you pay 2xp more for improv artifact weapons than the equivalent Battles sid would
spring lynx
do they still have the lore reason for that being "the maidens won't let us invent charms, so we had to get Real Fucking Good At Punching to compensate"
bleak hazel
you can actually sweet-talk the maidens this edition and get new charms but it's a lot more difficult than Solars just helicoptering a sword over their heads and inventing four new spin attacks
spring lynx
so less "they just won't let us" and more "it's way less of a pain in the ass to Punch Gooder"
bleak hazel
you need to actually go talk to your Maiden and do her various quests, yeah
I am personally a huge fan of the Endings spread these days, they have many bangers
Bureaucracy has Icy Hand, which is amazing with the 3e intimacies system
hardened Defining Principle, E1 charm
handshake of lock the fuck in
it's niche but man is it fun when you can get someone really shady to officially sign a bit of paper saying they won't betray you and will reward you handsomely, then shake on it
tulip folio
oof
bleak hazel
the comparison here is that all Sid trees other than maybe the combat ones tend to be collections of discrete tricks, whereas the Lunar tree will have 15 charms in a row that make you throw more and more dice and get more and more perks on, say, making people love you
spring lynx
it's niche but man is it fun when you can get someone really shady to officially...
see, i don't really know if that would work with Icy Hand
bleak hazel
so they will be better at that than you ever will if they use all their giant stack of +numbers charms
spring lynx
unless that contract constitutes Official Duties
bleak hazel
it did for the incredibly corrupt tax officer I just about managed to tag with it, it was great
like many Sid charms you have to carefully maneuver reality into a position where your highly specific I Win button actually triggers
tulip folio
o.O
tulip folio
Sidereal getting chased by the wyld hunt because all his soldiers forgot he's in charge and they just saw him turn into a bird
bleak hazel
Sid Awareness is an incredibly strong grab-bag tree that combines your usual don't-get-jumped charms with shapeshifting, absurdly powerful invisible armour with an achilles heel built in, crime scene analysis and a little bit of prophecy, it's great stuff
dense verge
o.O
this one is a perfect fit for the character i translated over to exalted as an endings sid. i'd pretty much made her as one from first principles on accident in her home game
bleak hazel
this is my personal favourite Awareness charm because it encourages you to be an idiot
dense verge
combining with the essence disguiser on Prismatic to go "How do you do, fellow Lunars?"
bleak hazel
me walking towards my prophecied demise: "well, nothing else can kill me, so I may as well make it fair...."
bleak hazel
it's very strong
free willpower refill is pretty neat even if you just had this on while the terrifying monster under the bed attacked
means you can go all out
prisma sun
combining with the essence disguiser on Prismatic to go "How do you do, fellow L...
There's a charm that makes lunars have a minor tie towards you instantly
bleak hazel
the Essence Disguiser is actually an incredible combat button when used to cosplay a full moon which I find very entertaining
tulip folio
I like the 'go be a dumbass, get a bonus' clause.
bleak hazel
5 motes committed to give you a 3 mote discount on all your dex roll excellencies and a 4 mote discount on parry boosting for as long as you hold it
tulip folio
Damn, that's good
bleak hazel
Sids are already juice-efficient in fights, so if you can find a murder kitty best friend you can become even more so
spring lynx
you know what's a cool-ass charm
heartless maiden trance
just Become Davy Jones
average Mast Enjoyer
bleak hazel
you also have possession just available at E3
this is classic Bad Touch in that if you land this you basically autowin the fight becuase you can get your enemy to jump up and down wasting all his motes
but it is extremely tricky to land
if you can reliably slam a difficulty 7-10 gambit on a guy it's not particularly unlikely that you could just kill 'em
tulip folio
Al, the classic 'Walk about carrying a clipboard and everyone will ignore you'
bleak hazel
love that one
get so much use out of it with my indentured servant resplendent destiny
spring lynx
ah yes, the stance of the sweeper
bleak hazel
chop wood, carry (poisoned) water
prisma sun
I should read the beuracracy tree
tulip folio
...okay, this would be perfect for that sid I was talking about.
bleak hazel
the ultimate Sid move is Breathing On The Black Mirror, which is "I don't care how much nonsense you've got built up, I have enough initiative, I Win"
such a glow up on the previous edition's version of Obsidian Shards
the 3e version serves primarily as "put the Heavenly Guardian Defence away, there's a good lad" and secondarily as a great collaborative storytelling exercise
tulip folio
I love how Sid Beuro has a charm that is just 'call boss' as you just Get A Dragon, with the assumption that they'll be annoyed over having to come save your ass.
bleak hazel
it also basically mote taps an E2 Sidereal in one shot, assuming you have been doing some stuff perilous enough to warrant the dragon showing up immediately beforehand
"I tap out, go my incredibly high-ranking scarab"
tulip folio
'This is now Someone Else's Problem'
Sid vs Alch social seems the ultimate 'I'm too jaded for this' and 'I'm too earnest to ignore' showdown. XD
bleak hazel
sid social is very weird compared to everyone elses'
tulip folio
I'm right now looking in Sid Integrity, which is very full of 'i'm am grumpy and jaded and sad'
bleak hazel
Sid Integrity is very strong, but their ability to throw instill rolls is concentrated into a handful of very powerful but very specific charms and they don't get that many of the Lunar/Solar standard "here's a billion dice for FEAR ME/LOVE ME" pickups
luckily, Cash and Murder Games remains terrifying
bleak hazel
I'm right now looking in Sid Integrity, which is very full of 'i'm am grumpy and...
nah, it's "I'm grumpy and jaded and I wouldn't miss it for the world", that's why the first charm is Until Hope's End
at least until you pop the capstone, anyway
tulip folio
Oath of the sword is very funny
'What if instead of listening to you, I got shot in the face'
bleak hazel
that one's great because it just lets you be a cultivation novel bad guy
coughing up blood and continuing to be pointlessly aggressive towards the protagonist
bleak hazel
I was recently bet £35 that I couldn't finish I Shall Seal The Heavens, which is a very formulaic cultivation novel that is far too long, and I have at least managed to find a total knockoff of a Solar Exalt among the many boring bad guys
tulip folio
coughing up blood and continuing to be pointlessly aggressive towards the protag...
there is a great temptation to just spew out blood when someone tries to be nice to me.
bleak hazel
prisma sun
Not the entire world!!!!!
bleak hazel
Why does it have the absolute most generic name
it's the crushing handshake from your overbearing boss that makes you worried and sweaty because you've been Doing Crimes, that's why
bleak hazel
Not the entire world!!!!!
supposedly the protagonist has become about five bazillion times more powerful over the last 1400 chapters but the rhetoric has barely changed so it's very hard to tell
tulip folio
...awww...
bleak hazel
I was sad I couldn't fit Medicine in this build because I really like all the Due To The Dead charms
prisma sun
Aw that is very cute
prisma sun
I love how Sid Beuro has a charm that is just 'call boss' as you just Get A Drag...
Also
"I'm losing? No bitch WE losing"
tulip folio
I also like the medicine charm where you point to an abyssal and go 'he's with me' and fate goes 'cool, I guess he's not a creature of darkness any more'
bleak hazel
Sids and Deebs both have these charms that make them feel very enmeshed in at least some kind of support structure, it's great
Sids can summon boss dragon, deebs can calm arguments with other deebs and do combo attacks and such
bleak hazel
Have you seen the best ride charm yet?
There's one that lets you ride anything regardless of size
go my flea
prisma sun
I have
tulip folio
Dead Man's Stand is really situational but man, The Vibes.
prisma sun
I was considering a song bird as my Sid's mount
but the spider stuff hits the same vibes
bleak hazel
Dead Man's Stand is really situational but man, The Vibes.
I can't remember that one
tulip folio
I can't remember that one
You delay all physical damage until the end of the scene.
prisma sun
Sidreal Tax Collector and Auditor who rides a Thunder Lizard who focues entirely around feats of destruction and beaurcracy
cannot fight
tulip folio
prisma sun
just serves to serve gods their papers
tulip folio
bleak hazel
That last clause is so wonderfully Sid
spring lynx
can't sids get a pattern spider as a familiar
bleak hazel
Yep, they're really quite powerful
prisma sun
3 dots
bleak hazel
You can also have a much smaller magic spider with the first investigation charm, it's very useful because it's the web browser for Spider Google
you can ask it any factual question about something that's public knowledge somewhere and it'll answer
When my Sid feels safe he spends a lot of his motes before bed on that charm
free data
spring lynx
yeah no, they're fucking nerds off the clock
bleak hazel
Where's the one of the tachikoma with Anti-Oedipus
that was an amazing philosophy joke
prisma sun
my headcanon is that all pattern spiders have this cutsey voice now
tulip folio
...man, wrackstaffs don't have many tags compared to a lot of other weapons. XD
spring lynx
it's a big-ass stick, does it really need many tags
tulip folio
...I'm surprised it lacks 'two handed' at least.
upper stratus
dual wielding wrack staffs
bleak hazel
Dual wielding everything that can be dual wielded is surprisingly worth it for the clash bonus
I do like clashing
tulip folio
London Calling is pretty good
spring lynx
you know what else isn't two-handed
a motherfucking goremaul
actually it looks like none of the non-heavy artifact weapons are two-handed
tulip folio
https://i.imgur.com/E7cPCCZ.png
this isn't a charm, it's a physics exploit
spring lynx
sids can somehow use presence to not only purge themselves of poison, but then inflict that poison on someone else
prisma sun
There's a lot of Sid charms that make the strat to routinely poison yourself
tulip folio
Alcohol is a poison!
'Shit, time for work. Let me just hand my hangover to someone else'
valid summit
(Bilious the oh god of hangovers)
prisma sun
Sidreal drunken master is a vibe
ah
found the "Lunars love me" charm
it's the literal first Survival one
spring lynx
There's a lot of Sid charms that make the strat to routinely poison yourself
Big-D Method
tulip folio
found the "Lunars love me" charm
'Aren't we literally supposed to be at war?'
spring lynx
"what's your point?"
prisma sun
Another Combo found
Hoist an entire army up into the air
Wait holy shit
someone was asking "what's the point of stealing someone's name"
tulip folio
https://i.imgur.com/oIXjbUU.png
I like how this work for going 'Hey, Dipshit'
quiet garnet
Really excited for the Abyssal release soon....but the Alchemicals are also looking pretty good.
tulip folio
Mantle of the Old Laws (•••): Ghosts perceive the character as a keeper of the Old Laws, which she may leverage as a Minor Tie of trust and respect. Once per session, she may declare her title or deeds to treat this as a Major Tie instead. If she willingly betrays an undead being, she loses the benefits of this Merit until she undertakes a life-changing task (Exalted, p. 216) to demonstrate her contrition or rededication.
This looks really good
bleak hazel
I love that one, very tempted to have my Sid grab that when he has some spare XP
tulip folio
I tinkered with my stuff and grabbed it for my Necromancer Alch. It was either that or Whispers and Whispers seems like...a lot. XD
I think my only uncertainly is 'what is a ghost, technically'
upper stratus
is tehre any stuff about ghost lore and the old law int hne aclh book? cause old laws are pretty underworld specific
tulip folio
Like it's overall a pretty simple question but then you get 'Are Hungry Ghosts Ghosts, are Deathlords ghosts?'
bleak hazel
yes and yes
tulip folio
is tehre any stuff about ghost lore and the old law int hne aclh book? cause old...
Diddly! Though there's a lot with undead in general (And it's all going to bite my character in the ass).
Necromancy in Autobot City is seen as the territory of Apostates.
upper stratus
I think my only uncertainly is 'what is a ghost, technically'
it's actually pretty straightforward most of the time tbh
tulip folio
Oh yeah, I just wasn't 100% sure if it was 'Ghost(Inclusive of Bigger, Cooler ghosts that have a more prominant name)' or not
upper stratus
though there will also be ones that have like a mindless trait which means no social influence unless you have something to bypass it
upper stratus
nice
dawn/dusks castes can threaten mindless stuff as an anima thing and abyssals have a presence charm for it
tulip folio
Though fluffwise that charm is less 'I am good at talking' and more Hackervoice "I'm in."
I don't have it yet but Alchs also get 'It costs +1 WP to cite intimacies that oppose Clarity against me', with the 1 WP cost of that charm being entirely removed if you're Talking To Automatons or other people with Clarity (So Alchemicals)
This is the alchemical 'I can influence mindless automatons' one
upper stratus
how's clarity work in this one. i should probably just back to get the draft but i don't care about alchs tthat much since they were introduced
tulip folio
how's clarity work in this one. i should probably just back to get the draft but...
Honestly, it's pretty basic.
The book notes they're free of the Great Curse, so clarity is Mostly Neutral/They can't Limit Break.
Clarity also grants an Alchemical a non-Charm bonus on mental rolls involving memory, analytical deduction, or dispassionate self-control. This doesn’t apply on rolls involving sorcery or crafting artifacts or manses.
However, Clarity also inflicts a penalty on influence rolls, except for those based on fear. This penalty also applies on read intentions rolls to discern or understand the emotion of others. These penalties don’t apply on interactions with Clarity 3+ Alchemicals, machine spirits, or automatons — instead, they’re converted to a bonus.
Clarity 0-2: No effect.
Clarity 3-5: The Alchemical gains +1 die on appropriate mental rolls and a −1 penalty on appropriate social rolls. Minor Intimacies that oppose Clarity are suppressed unless they directly aid or oppose the Alchemical in accomplishing her present goals or provide a regular material benefit or hindrance to her. The Alchemical can avoid having a Tie suppressed by shifting its emotional context to one that doesn’t oppose Clarity.
Clarity 6-8: The mental bonus increases to +2 and the social penalty increases to −2. Major Intimacies that oppose Clarity are reduced by one step, as above. Minor Intimacies that align with Clarity count as Major.
Clarity 9-10: The mental bonus increases to +3 and the social penalty increases to −3. Defining Intimacies are reduced by one step, as above, while Major Intimacies are suppressed entirely. Minor and Major Intimacies that align with Clarity count as one step higher.
The big thing is that they suppress more and more emotional intimacies as they go higher up.
You gain clarity when you choose Logical Decisions over Your Emotional Ties and lose clarity when you do the opposite.
You also gain it if you start going stir crazy without human contact.
And lose it if you're a social butterfly, not just talking to people but really engaging with their lives as people.
Also: Man, whispers is a lot mechanically for a relatively cheap bonus.
bleak hazel
the irritatingly expensive thing about Whispers is that it costs a willpower to pop it
upper stratus
Also: Man, whispers is a *lot* mechanically for a relatively cheap bonus.
me when i pop the downside
tulip folio
Hahahah
It looked a bit overcomplex for me to take, even if the downside seemed Fun.
chilly sluice
It's very useful for doing necromancy
tulip folio
Due to the Bonus Necromancy Motes?
chilly sluice
The extra sorcerous motes yeah
upper stratus
yea being able to just whip up sorcerous motes without any conditions (beyond the wp cost) like that is very valuable
couple motes short? snap. spell completes this round actually
bleak hazel
I have a Daybreak Abyssal cooking and it's very tempting to just slam 4-dot Whispers on there so I can use it for more juice
upper stratus
there's a neat charm that expands how much you can do with whispers too
bleak hazel
between the Daybreak anima power that lets you shotgun 6 motes, 3 more from Whispers and a few more from a shaping ritual you can get incredible combat casting
upper stratus
and a couple of charms that get stronger if you have it
bleak hazel
it would be cool to be able to reliably throw out Birth of Sanity's Sorrow at E5
by the power of greyskull
but that would require some real shaping ritual stacking
even just Daybreak power + Whispers can reliably cast anything under Void Circle
tulip folio
yea being able to just whip up sorcerous motes without any conditions (beyond th...
It is tempting. Between my rituals and whispers I'd be able to dump like...6 + Successes on a roll with my best stat and my best skill. sorcerous motes down before any actual 'casting' happens.
upper stratus
tbf if you're in autochtonia i think whispers isn't available to you?
tulip folio
There is one place but for an Autobot it's likely Worse Than Usual.
upper stratus
you have to go to the labyrinth if you're not an abyssal
go in there
into the labyrinth
tulip folio
Yeah, she'd have to do something Very Bad and Very Drastic to justify having it.
So perhaps best not 😛
There is one 'font of dead titan's power' to commune with in Autobot City.
upper stratus
elaborate on that
tulip folio
...and that's the Blight Zones, the locations where Autocthun is actively dying and rotting.
upper stratus
oh right. cause autochton is a dying titan
tulip folio
Yep. It's also a radioactive hellscape that not even alchemicals can survive without their very souls rotting away, replaced with entropic voids.
So...perhaps best not.
I think I'll just stick my my wholesome ghost talking.
As right now her necromantic vibe is 'I'm an advocate for all of the city's people, including the dead' more than 'I WILL END THIS ROTTEN WORLD AND WATCH THE SUN DIE IN MY HANDS.'
upper stratus
what sun
tulip folio
I dunno, I'll find one.
upper stratus
iki do they ever use the word 'primordial(s)' to refer to autochton or his buddies
upper stratus
poggers
they seemed to be avoiding using the word primordials in the other books
which wa the chief thing they were called in 2e
i was wondering if they'd continue doing it when alchemicals book finally forces them to put one front and center
tulip folio
'Here is auto-kun. He's...a thing...'
upper stratus
every time you call him auto-kun another part of him rots away
bleak hazel
does Autochthonia still have the little monument that Big A made to his murdered siblings?
it was a cute sidebar somewhere in 2nd that I cannot seem to find, so there's no reason for them to have bothered to include it in 3e, but they might have
upper stratus
honestly so funny they keep giving atlernate charm names for in creation
for the alchemicals martial arts
bleak hazel
Live Wire goes insane
tulip folio
Live Wire goes *insane*
Still getting a hang of 3e mechanics, what makes livewire so insane?
bleak hazel
it's specifically good for the things I want my martial arts to do because I'm building Sidereals, so it would be less nuts for Solars or whatever, but it gives you a non-charm bonus to clash attacks and easy access to dual-wielded light artifact weapons w/ boosted damage, which means Sids love them because their normal big limit is a small attack dice pool
non-charm dice helps with that, and bigger damage helps with the downside of the light weapons they generally favour for their higher accuracy
it's also compatible with all armour, which is very rare for martial arts
the only significant downside is that it's quite hard to get into the Form, which is what makes it a little bit tricky to use it for the high Essence sidereal super combo stuff
tulip folio
...does exalted have rules in any of the splats yet for grenades or other such things? I've noticed that the alch book mentions the stuff that they use to make grenades but not...the grenades themselves.
Perpetual flame is one of the more horrific weapons the Octet has experimented with. It’s a particularly dangerous liquid kept in sealed crystal spheres, made through a dangerous and intricate process that requires rare vapors harvested from uninhabitable chambers. The danger of the process and the expense of creating it safely has prevented true mass manufacture.
Not as far as I'm aware
expendable weaponry of any kind is mostly limited to extremely generous ammo checks for ranged weapons and a couple of Abyssal spells that give you seven named knives that you expend by chucking them
prisma sun
Would be in Arms of the chosen or the lookshy book
coral wraith
```
Perpetual flame is one of the more horrific weapons the Octet has experiment...
Welcome back Phosphex, we didn't miss you
tulip folio
I suppose you could treat grenades as like 'Thrown weapons with the flame tag' or something.
tulip folio
Welcome back Phosphex, we didn't miss you
The rules for it as an enviromental hazard are horrifying.
coral wraith
Do go on
tulip folio
When ignited, its intensely hot flame is an environmental hazard with difficulty 5, Damage 4L/round.
Oh dear
bleak hazel
Isn't that a normal bonfire?
tulip folio
Oh and if you get hurt by it, you are now also the enviromental hazard.
bleak hazel
Pretty great for something you can just throw out, admittedly
tulip folio
Removing it requires a thorough. active washing while submerged. It’s easy to remove with a few minutes of simple scrubbing while underwater, but removing it quickly requires a difficulty 3 roll with (Strength + Athletics) or (Wits + Survival).
Flame blooded Dynast about to pull the most devious lick of all time
tulip folio
Pretty great for something you can just throw out, admittedly
It's resources 4 for a big barrel of it, if you want to solve problems like Donkey Kong.
next delta
I would like to know who could spend the few minutes of washing while it does 4L/turn
tulip folio
Well, it doesn't burn while you're underwater.
next delta
Oh, that's nice
prisma sun
Also a db or Lunar could purposefully set themselves on fire
spring lynx
because as we all know, ninjas cannot catch you if you are on fire
valid summit
I still remember one of the Exalted devs describing Hesiesh as the fable Chejop had thought of where "once upon a time there was a Fire Aspect who didn't solve his problems by screaming and charging at them while on fire."
prisma sun
if I am immune to fire damage in an RPG I will immediately factor "setting myself on fire" into all of my plans
valid summit
and that is one of the reasons that Chejop Kejak drinks
tulip folio
The Last Harvest's First Reaping
Orichalcum and Soulsteel Beamstaff/Beamscythe
The Last Harvest's First Reaping pre-dates human life in Autochthonia. The core of the weapon is an ancient Orichalcum Wrackstaff, forged before the War in Heaven by Autochthon himself, to arm the first generation of Solar Exalted with. It itself was the weapon of a farmer, studded with green jade. In the millenia since the Exodus, it has passed hands many times; and been changed by those hands, too. It is said that once it fell into Apostate hands, and a beam-system was wrought on it of Soulsteel. Or that the beam system was made on commission for Ku, who wielded this weapon against a mighty gremlim that was once the divine minister's own son. Few know the truth, but the weapon now breathes both life and death.
Rules: This weapon lacks Concealable, unlike most Beam weapons. However, it is a Wrackstaff even when Essence Core Ignition has not been activated. When Essence Core Ignition is used, the user can immediately transform it into a Beamscythe for the duration of the charm.
How's this seem for an Alchemical Artifact Weapon? The GM set up the rules but a friend helped with the fluff.
warped ore
I'm not entirely sure how multi-material artifacts would work
tulip folio
The GM's thoughts was 'If you're resonant with either, you're resonant with this item', since unlike 2e there's no innate bonus to particular metals.
warped ore
Got it, so either flavour of solaroid (or Soulsteel/Orichalcum alchemical) would be resonant
prisma sun
I'm not entirely sure how multi-material artifacts would work
Some artifacts have multiple bits of different materials
the resonance comes from the "part what does the magic"
like Stormcaller is Orichalchum because it's blade is that, however the sheathe that you can bludgeon people with is White Jade.
prisma sun
```
The Last Harvest's First Reaping
Orichalcum and Soulsteel Beamstaff/Beamscy...
This is sick tho
tulip folio
This is sick tho
Woo, glad you like it. It's going to be a 5* artifact so 'Big History' seemed fitting for it.
Right now pondering a basic 'Hey, all artifacts get a small bonus on top of evocation stuff' for artifact armour themed around 'Holiness' and 'Ghosts'. It's the robes of an advocate for the dead (Reinforced Buff Coat).
bleak hazel
two artifacts, one 5-dot at character creation is a lot, damn
tulip folio
To be fair, Alchs get 5 bonus dots for that purpose.
For artifacts, backing or resources
But yeah, that's fair. I might get more resources of backing instead of a Second Artifact.
bleak hazel
two artifacts is not incredibly unusual, it's just that there's normally a GM-approval-only clause on anything above four-dot
the core-book 5-dots are both "you fucking die" tier so I can see why
Volcano Cutter, as might be expected, spawns volcanos
tulip folio
nods
In this case the GM has approved the item (In particular, they came up with the rules for it being a Wrackstaff + Scythe)
Honestly, the armour I care less about and it's more just 'I would like that extra prot, for not dying purposes'. XD
bleak hazel
I am still trying to massage the whiteroom build of my max-rank murder sidereal to fit in heavy artifact armour, I can see the appeal
alternatively I just need to get to 20 or so soak without it because the benefits of Big Soak are diminishing once you get past the point of handling artifact weapon damage + extra successes
tulip folio
I do really like the bonus that Beam weapons have. Makes it a better parrying weapon.
bleak hazel
what is that bonus?
(telling myself I can totally get away with a Sidereal Beamklave Enjoyer without just being Obi-Wan Kenobi right now)
tulip folio
When you successfully parry you can spend 2i to destroy a non-magical weapon or deal 2 automatic decisive dice to an unarmed attacker, ignoring hardness.
bleak hazel
oh that is neat
although most big dangerous people will be rocking around with magic something
tulip folio
Yeah, it's not perfect but it's a nice bonus.
And it comes with a small grabbag of other ones.
bleak hazel
what's the Alch equivalent of the usual celestial fists-of-fury move that gives you an artifact weapon?
Glorious Solar Sabre/Claws of the Silver Moon/Auspicious Instrument for Strife
tulip folio
The wielder activates the beamklave, allowing her to wield it as an artifact weapon. It has the following effects:
• Attacks with it ignore three points of soak and Hardness.
• When the wielder succeeds on a disarm gambit against a non-magical weapon, she can reflexively pay two Initiative to destroy it.
• The wielder can also pay two Initiative to destroy a non-magical weapon after successfully blocking an attack made with it if she attacker failed by two or more successes. (This doesn’t affect weapons that use projectiles). Against an unarmed attack, she can instead inflict two dice of decisive damage, which ignore Hardness.
• The wielder adds two automatic successes on feats of demolition when using the weapon to destroy objects and scenery (Exalted, p .229). She can complete feats to destroy objects or cause similar personal-scale damage instantly.
• The ignited beam weapon emits light comparable to a glowing anima banner
Aka: 'Do lightsaber things'
bleak hazel
oh wow, forget parry bonus, that anti-soak/hardness clause is nuts
especially for flurry attacks
tulip folio
what's the Alch equivalent of the usual celestial fists-of-fury move that gives ...
Ah, here it is. Integrated Arsenal!
bleak hazel
it's not the biggest number but it is just a solid passive
tulip folio
Integrated Arsenal System
Cost: 2m; Mins: Strength 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None
Space-folding storage assemblies in the Alchemical’s limbs allow for nigh-unlimited weapon storage.
The Alchemical readies a weapon from an integrated arsenal, deploying it from a port in her hand or arms. She can manifest any type of mundane weapon, although integrated weapons can’t be used to make Thrown attacks unless they launch a separate projectile. Integrated weapons can’t be disarmed. They often have an industrial motif — whips made of lashing cables, fist-mounted drills for khatars, and the like. They’re always made of metal, stone, or similar inorganic materials.
The Alchemical can stack multiple uses of this Charm to deploy multiple weapons.
Submodules
Custom Gear Arsenal (3xp; Strength 3): The Alchemical chooses two types of weapons. She waives this Charm’s cost when she uses it to deploy one of those weapons. She can repurchase this submodule any number of times.
Material Synthesis Wave Emitter (6xp; Strength 4, Essence 2) (2m): The Alchemical can pay two motes to grant artifact traits to a weapon she’s chosen for Custom Gear Arsenal until the start of her next turn. She can awaken Evocations from her arsenal by repurchasing this submodule, which are compatible with any weapon chosen for Custom Gear Arsenal. These Evocations express the Alchemical’s personality and the themes of her Caste and her Caste material.
It lets you make Any Mundane Weapon, with an upgrade to Make Them Artifacts.
There's also a Dexterity one that gives you a Laser Cannon
bleak hazel
actually slightly cheaper than everyone else's' charms for the same thing because the submodule costs less than 8xp
and it's not a WP to cast
downside is that you have to keep slamming the artifact button
tulip folio
Essence Pulse Cannon
Cost: 3m; Mins: Dexterity 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Transpuissant Dexterity Upgrade
The Alchemical has a cannon mounted on her forearm or shoulder, charged by banks of Essence capacitors implanted beneath her skin.
The Alchemical makes a withering or decisive Archery attack with the Essence Pulse Cannon, including gambits. The has the following traits:
• Long range.
• The Accuracy of an artifact Archery weapon (Close −1; Short +5; Medium +3; Long +1; Extreme −1).
• Damage 10L. It uses her Essence instead of her Strength for the attack’s raw damage.
• The Mounted and One-Handed tags.
• Its Essence blasts can’t be blocked without a stunt.
While the Essence Pulse Cannon is in use, its emitter jewels glow with flickering energy and a low electric hum pulses it. Attacking with it impairs stealth like a glowing anima (p. XX) until the end of the Alchemical’s next turn.
The Laser Cannon one
Which has an entire fucking page of submodules you can buy
Gimme a moment
Submodules
Concussive Shockwave Pulse (6xp): The cannon gains the Smashing tag (Exalted, p. 586), though it can’t knock enemies further than medium range from the Alchemical. She can spend motes as though they were Initiative to make smash attacks. She may optionally deal bashing damage instead of lethal.
Discrete Arsenal Installation (3xp): The cannon is reconfigured into a miniaturized version, housed in the Alchemical’s eyes or a retractable lens on the palm of her hand. This Charm gains the Internal keyword and doesn’t impede stealth while in use.
Focused Beam Lens (6xp): The cannon gains the Piercing tag (Exalted, p. 586). The Alchemical can spend motes as though they were Initiative to make piercing attacks.
Interceptor Spark Emitter (6xp): When the Alchemical uses a Simple or Reflexive Charm to make an attack, she can use Essence Pulse Cannon reflexively to make it.
Pattern Disruptor (6xp): The cannon doubles 10s on decisive damage rolls and deals aggravated damage.
Precision Targeting Reticule (6xp): The cannon projects a thin ray of light from a crystalline nodule toaid in targeting. Aiming adds an additional non-Charm die on attacks with it.
Supercharged Capacitor Array (6xp; Essence 2): The Alchemical may pay a one-Willpower surcharge and commit this Charm’s mote cost to extend its duration to one scene, letting her make Essence Pulse Cannon attacks for free. This doesn’t apply to surcharges from other submodules.
Essence Pulse Detonation (6xp; Dexterity 5, Essence 2) (+3m, 1wp): When the Alchemical makes a decisive attack, she may pay a three-mote, one Willpower surcharge to fire a blast that extends out to medium range from her target. She makes one attack roll against everyone within range — friend or foe — and divides her Initiative evenly among all hit characters, rounded up. This ignores Hardness.
Siege Devastator Mode (6xp; Essence 3, Essence Pulse Detonation, Supercharged Capacitor Array) (+5m): The Alchemical may pay a five-mote surcharge when she uses Supercharged Capacitor Array to expand her Essence Pulse Cannon into a siege weapon before attacking (Arms of the Chosen, p. 127). Its sheer heft provides her with heavy cover. The Alchemical needs no assistance to operate it, and can still roll (Dexterity + Archery) to attack with it.
I wasn't god damn kidding about the submodules
With the last two being 'Fuck it, I have a BFG in my arm'
bleak hazel
so what you're saying is that you could do a perfectly good Star Wars campaign with nothing but Alchemicals and Sidereals, because Sids have a "close your eyes, trust your feelings, parry anything" theme to their melee tree
tulip folio
Alchemical Appearance Tree: "I am fluent in over 10,000 methods of communication and like 1,000 of them are sex."
Yeah, the Alch social tree still has a lot of those charms. Likely because 'thousandfold courtesan calculations' is the single most memorably named 2e alch social charm.
bleak hazel
Solars still have Thousand Courtesan Ways, which I feel is just the same charm translated out of binary
does Siege Devastator Mode upgrade the damage?
because if it does, hot damn
tulip folio
Yep
tulip folio
So you can Siege Devestator + Essence Pulse Detonation to go 'Nice army you had there'
bleak hazel
why oh why does the Great Maker not allow my sidereal to implant one of these and royally abuse the Sid reflexive aim charm
tulip folio
There's also a very cute Alch charm that fits with how earnest they are in Charisma that I really like.
Radiant Emblem of Integrity
As long as the Alchemical speaks only the complete truth, her honest is obviously apparent to all who hear her. If she uses Radiant Iconography Array to create an accurate depiction of something she’s witnessed in the past, its veracity is likewise authenticated to all observers.
Once per session, the Alchemical may regain one Willpower when she tells the truth when lying would be easier.
I adore that because Sidereals have the exact opposite
they have "say whatever you like, everyone will absolutely 100% believe you are lying through your teeth"
tulip folio
Hahahah, fantastic.
bleak hazel
I really want to have an Alch and a Sid in the same campaign now
tulip folio
They've also got a nice Social Parry
bleak hazel
community bot has extremely odd experience getting used to yu-shan
tulip folio
Where when someone makes a social attack, you can pay 6m to make your own. If you win, the social attack is negated.
It's good for helping allies.
bleak hazel
pays not to refer to them as "social attacks" but that's a neat one
I find it pays to stress that this is just normal high-stakes conversation because you get a lot of new players going "she used a social charm on me, that's like mind control, get 'er!"
(this is justified against Sids, because sometimes they do do that, but they won't tell you)
tulip folio
Fair, I'll use the Propaganda Interdiction Signal against Social Interaction 😛
bleak hazel
also a great charm name
please tell me they have at least one that lets them blast The Body Electric
upper stratus
got a nice charm on my sid from dodge that lets me give an ally a full reroll if they fuck up social influence which is nice cause it's not too good at social otherwise
bleak hazel
oh yeah big fan of that
the only ability I really wish I could have on my Sid but currently don't is Dodge, because he's a parry enjoyer anyway and I couldn't find the Fav slot for it
Sid Dodge is super versatile
tulip folio
They've got an entire series of 'Fun Propaganda Songs' for one of their capstones for charisma.
Where you can't do anything non-reflexive but you give allies non-charm bonuses on things.
bleak hazel
huh, alchs are less versatile than Lunars within their castes
Lunars get to pick 2 of 3 attributes as caste and then two freeform as Favoured
tulip folio
Perfected Harmony Amplifier
Upon purchasing this Charm, the Alchemical’s player chooses one of its submodules. Each submodule provides a supernatural song that the Alchemical can sing or play while using this Charm, benefiting listeners who hear it. She can’t take non-reflexive actions during this performance.
Submodules
Battle Anthem of the Alchemical Exalted (6xp): Allies add a non-Charm die on attack rolls, which is converted to a non-Charm success if their attack benefits from an ally’s distract gambit or if their target has a −3 onslaught penalty or higher. If they take a defend other action, they gain +1 non-Charm Parry for purposes of defending their ward. Allied battle groups increase the attack roll bonus to (Essence) nonCharm dice, and also add that many dice on rout checks.
Loyalty-Affirming Anthem (6xp): Allies double the Resolve bonus from positive Ties to communities they belong to or fellow group members, as well as Principles related to cooperation, belonging, solidarity, patriotism, or other positive aspects of group membership. Once per scene, they may reduce the Willpower cost to resist such influence by one. They also gain +2 non-Charm Resolve against influence that would weaken such Intimacies or create or strengthen opposing Intimacies, and against any Psyche effect.
Strife-Soothing Harmony (6xp): All characters — both allies and enemies — add (Alchemical’s Charisma/2, rounded up) non-Charm dice on influence rolls meant to foster peace, avert conflict, or negotiate an end to hostilities. They suffer a penalty in the same amount on Join Battle rolls and attack rolls.
Thousand Work Shifts Ballad (6xp): Allies ignore penalties from fatigue, deprivation, or harsh environments, and add (Alchemical’s Charisma/2, rounded up) non-Charm dice on Stamina and Strength rolls. This doesn’t benefit attacks or other hostile actions.
Polyphonic Resonance Emitter (6xp; Essence 4, any two submodules) (+2wp): The Alchemical can pay a two-Willpower surcharge to combine the effects of two different songs.
economy trick is you buy unfavored ability dots with your starter 28 spread and then pick em as one of your first 15 charms
that's what i did with presence, a house of battles and a hpuse of secrets charm respectively
bleak hazel
yeah Vigil has some of that going on, but I just found I could get so much more stuff in by completely ignoring dodge since if I went for dodge it would have been all the way to 5 for Avoidance Kata anyway
for some reason the Alchs, despite being Serious Exalts, sometimes come off as very... cute and cheerful
somehow more light-hearted despite living in metal hell
might be all the group cohesion stuff
upper stratus
gotta keep your chin up somehow
tulip folio
I also love Surging Loyalty Dynamo as another 'social parry' one. When someone's targeted by an influence action, you can allow them to entirely voluntarily (You can't force them to say yes) accept a community-minded intimacy that would oppose the influence.
'Have you considered that you love and respect our community?'
'...damn, the robot's right'
tulip folio
for some reason the Alchs, despite being Serious Exalts, sometimes come off as v...
At their best, they are. At their worst they can be very 'Stasi'
tulip folio
I think they had a copy-paste error (Elsewhere it mentions 'if you're part of the eight cities')
bleak hazel
to be fair, Zombie Robot would be a pretty sick "alchemical in creation" backstory
repaired as some kind of Eye and Seven Despairs mad science scheme
upper stratus
thank you for the narrative juice new eye and seven despair
velvet raft
if I am immune to fire damage in an RPG I will immediately factor "setting mysel...
It prevents ninjas from catching you
tulip folio
Like one of the groups that they have listed as oppostion to the alchemicals are...the One Tier Movement. Who are people who want...equality.
upper stratus
velvet raft
who got their legend of korra in my autochthon
bleak hazel
In the present day, Nurad has begun experimenting with the use of state-sanctioned cults to empower its Champions.
Alchemicals - IRL Charop
tulip folio
The One Tier Movement
Members of the One Tier movement envision a society based not around caste, but around merit and skill.
One Tierists believe the Populat should be socially and politically equal to the Tripartite, including implementing representation in Tripartie Assembly. Some even argue for dissolving Tripartite Assemblies entirely and ruling by popular vote. Some advocate for slowly changing hearts and minds, or conducting experimental pilot programs in smaller towns to see what unseen issues will spring up. Some call for work stoppages to show the Populat’s power in numbers, while others argue that such a large-scale change can only be achieved through violent revolution.
One Tierist cells meet in secret and approach new recruits with caution, but they’ve drawn in several influential adherents, leaning on clade connections to bring Tripartite members and high-ranking Populat into the fold. While it’s proven advantageous, not all favor it, as it risks the Tripartite becoming aware of the movement — though many suspect it already knows. Cells disband quickly if a member is under scrutiny, though some have had success with bribing corrupt officials to look the other way.
The clade system has proven the One Tierists’ greatest asset. Clades tend to rally around members, shielding them from prying regulators and preceptors, allowing them to act free of surveillance. One particular cell has its sights on recruiting plutarchs and adjudicators from its members’ clades, in the hopes of changing laws from within.
Communist Robots: "Oh no, we've encountered the mythical Leftist Infighting with the One Tier Movement."
bleak hazel
the bit about clockwork familiars makes me wonder if you could somehow finagle a Pattern Spider into there
"yeah, I just found him, he keeps asking after Luke Skywalker but he makes really good hammocks"
spring lynx
last i checked, autocthonia had a pattern spider population because he invented them
tulip folio
One of the Apostates in the book is an Alchemical who's on the One Tier Movement's side...but the book does make it clear that he's kinda...objectively in the right. He's an apostate not by choice and is only staying one because his former circlemate is such a big, important figure that he's gone 'I'll work with the apocolypse cultists if it lets me take him down'.
'How did you end up the enemy of other alchemicals?'
'Well my circlemate got too copbrained and I had to stop him beating protestors with combat charms, then he called me a rat and told everyone I was an apostate'
bleak hazel
the Starmetal anima power makes my Sid jealous of the robo-sids
reroll 1s would help my life out so much
tulip folio
was the circlemate orichalcum or soulsteel
Ori, the apostate is soulsteel.
bleak hazel
Refracted Glory from Adamant also allows some nonsense combos
there's at least one martial arts form in Prismatic Arrangement of Creation that triggers when you instantly go from dim to bonfire, so the Adamant Caste can hit the Sidereal with the kaleidoscope button and they can instantly lock into their final form (tm)
because of how Prismatic works I assume this turns the battleield into an instant rave scene
dense verge
imagining the great logistical difficulties in a sid using prismatic to imitate an alchemical's anima wondering how they can sell the rest of it
bleak hazel
given the way Sid stuff generally works, I imagine they just put on a cartoon tin man mask, vaguely shuffle around like they're doing the robot and call it a Resplendent Destiny
everyone buys this
also ooh, Inspiring Guidance is legendary for Sids
going to break the Great Seal just to get hold of adamant caste tin men to boost the hell out of the Fivefold Fellowship
I also really want to see an Alch embedded in Yu-Shan as its home city/community
dense verge
given the way Sid stuff generally works, I imagine they just put on a cartoon ti...
this evens out to the tin man in the wizard of oz
Also!
tulip folio
The capstone of the Nerd Robot tree is...a lot.
dense verge
Good news the devs put an in for Alchemicals in Creation in 3e last i remember
tulip folio
They do!
dense verge
Auto just left some prototypes buried around like bionicles
tulip folio
That in is 'Primus finished them before the war against the primordials was over'
So there's a few labs here and there that have some early ones lying about.
And they might just Fallout Vault Dweller their way out one day
dense verge
does the draft have sidebars about those guys or is that just elsewhere still
tulip folio
does the draft have sidebars about those guys or is that just elsewhere still
The final fluff bit at the end of the book is a story about one.
bleak hazel
interestingly, E1 alchemicals have the same dice limit as deebs
tulip folio
Which has bits like '...what is this strange furry creature...oh, a wolf! Why do I know what a wolf is?'
bleak hazel
so you could run them in the same party for a short-ish campaign that never hits E3+ where they start fairly decisively outscaling them
tulip folio
'I wonder if I can be friends with a wolf'
dense verge
wolf alchemical, protector of wolf
tulip folio
Ineffable Godhead Conduit
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 7, Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One story
Prerequisites: Prescient Leadership Protocols
The Alchemical chooses a specific, concrete outcome that she wishes to achieve, creating a complex, self updating mental model of the vast web of cause and effect at play. This requires time spent analyzing the situation, contemplating possibilities, and conducting research. This takes only a scene for small projects on a personal scale, like “find my way to Kadmek’s sanctum” or “ensure Miska Jol becomes a lector.” It can take hours or days for objectives with a larger scale or that involve the activities of large groups, like “reform my metropolis’ Olgotary.” or “rout the invading Estasian forces.”
Once per session, when the Alchemical is about to undertake a course of action, her player can declare that she stands at a critical inflection point for her agenda, and that success will significantly further her aims. No matter how disconnected her action might seem from her goal, her calculations have confirmed it. The course of action must always carry some meaningful risk or difficulty: following a rogue machine spirit through a dangerous cavern, making a public speech that will anger a corrupt official, and the like.
If the Alchemical’s action is rolled, she adds a free full Excellency, perfecting her approach through nearfuture calculations. This can enhance rolls with any Attribute. If she’s successful in her course of action, the far-reaching consequences of her victory advance her agenda. The Alchemical’s player and the Storyteller should work together to make a dramatic edit representing this unforeseen advantage, introducing an opportunity or advantage that provides meaningful progress: a shortcut through dangerous territory, valuable intelligence about an enemy’s position, a trove of valuable evidence, or the like.
The greater the scope of the Alchemical’s action, the greater the scale of the consequences — defeating an army would advance the Alchemical’s goals on a much greater scale than landing a single attack. Likewise, the more ambitious her objective, the more modest her progress. If she seeks to reform the Ologotary within a metropolis, her success will provide more meaningful progress toward accomplishing that goal than if she tried to do so on a national level
The Capstone for Nerd Alchemicals is 'Hello, I'm going to Insert My Own Plot into the game'
bleak hazel
it's a Baby Sid Prophecy, that's really neat
except way less expensive and easier to use
tulip folio
I also love the 'I'm not listening!' social defence. Where you decide someone is too convincing and just encrypt knowledge of the language they're using.
And now that you can't understand them, you're not going to be convinced (Getting the +2 Non-Die Resolve bonus that 'not sharing a tongue' involves)
bleak hazel
OK, this is pretty easy
plan Heavenly Robot Cops is a go
one Sidereal, one Alchemical, one Celestial Lion
together they fight crime
tulip folio
Yeah, it seems overall like they went out of their way to make alchemicals less Supply Line Dependent.
bleak hazel
craft (geomancy) is a bit of a pain to get, granted
you need craft (architecture) at 5 to take it
tulip folio
Like the refitting process can now be done with just 'Your dear friend, who's a skilled engineer' and 'Spare Parts'.
Vats are the easy way to do it though.
bleak hazel
and it mostly just lets you do Manse Things, unlike Craft (Artifacts)
still, it's an easy project, your teammate is probably only going to need to sink the ability dots in and bulldoze it with excellencies rather than needing a full craft build
tulip folio
So, on that topic: The Heavenly Robot would be pretty good at heavenly stuff.
Theurgic Override Matrix
Cost: 5m; Mins: Intelligence 2, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Augmented
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
Holy crystals inscribed with prayers to the Machine God glint with light across the Alchemical’s body, proclaiming her authority as Chosen of the Great Maker.
Upon purchasing this Charm, the Alchemical chooses two of its submodules, rendering it compatible with certain types of supernatural beings.
Using this Charm adds (Intelligence/2, rounded up) non-Charm dice on influence rolls against compatible beings, as long as the influence expresses the Alchemical’s authority or power as Autochthon’s Chosen. She also gains +1 Resolve and Guile against them.
Custodian of the Grand Design (3xp): Embedded adamant crystals make this Charm compatible with machine spirits and automata.
Divine Servitor Interface (3xp): Etched with starmetal circuitry, this Charm becomes compatible with gods.
Entropic Pattern Analysis (3xp): Outlined with moonsilver, this Charm becomes compatible with fae.
Subroutine Daemon Interface (3xp): An inlay of Essence-tarnished orichalcum makes this Charm compatible with demons.
Trans-Elemental Calibration (3xp): A five-jade plating makes this Charm compatible with elementals.
Void Attunement Protocol (3xp): Needle-thin spikes of soulsteel make this Charm compatible with the undead.
Celestial Overseer Concordat (3xp, any one submodule): Affected beings can’t initiate hostilities against the Alchemical or her companions and must hear her out when she speaks. They must pay one Willpower to ignore her, or two Willpower to initiate hostilities. This protection is lost against all characters if the Alchemical or her companions give offense to the being or initiate hostilities themselves.
They can get social stuff that expressly works on gods
By virtue of going 'Hey, remember who made me?'
bleak hazel
yeah, that's a robit version of the standard Occult kit, except non-charm dice instead of a Minor tie you can leverage
rock solid sidegrade since it's wider-ranging and Concordat is a lot cheaper than the charm that you usually use to do that with other Exalts
ah, Transpuissant dice are charm dice if they go over 5, I was wondering how that would work
tulip folio
Yep. So my Int 6 Alchemical has 5 normal dice and 1 charm dice automatically.
While her 5 stamina is 5 normal dice despite one of them being Transpuissant
It gives you a higher 'resting' value without increasing the total value for the excellency.
Do other exalts share their anti-shaping effect with allies around them?
Not sure if that's a normal thing or a 'community exalt' thing
bleak hazel
depends on the effect, since there are five billion anti-wyld charms and they are all balance differently
tulip folio
That's fair.
bleak hazel
but if it's generic "fuck anything with a shaping keyword" protection for everyone that's probably an alch thing, yeah
tulip folio
Thermionic Orthodoxy Array
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One hour
Prerequisite Charms: None
An array of glowing vacuum tubes slide out of ports in the Alchemical’s back and shoulders, shielding her with the stability of the Machine God.
The Alchemical is immune to any environmental Shaping effects that would alter her body, mind, or equipment. She instinctively senses such perils in time to use this Charm, and can use it even while asleep or incapacitated.
If the Alchemical renews this Charm at the end of its duration, she waives its Willpower cost.
Submodules
Axiomatic Regulator (3xp): While using this Charm, each installation of Transpuissant Intelligence Upgrade adds +1 non-Charm Resolve or a non-Charm success on rolls to resist Shaping effects used by other characters.
Order-Asserting Emanation (6xp) (+5m): The Alchemical can pay a five-mote surcharge to extend this Charm’s protection to everything within short range, including the terrain.
The sharable one is Enviromental Shaping.
bleak hazel
Solars have an anti-magic charm they can apply by punching people but it's worded in terrible natural language that makes it really hard to tell what it actually affects
tulip folio
The 'works on anything with the shaping keyword' forces an opposed WP (With non-charm successes equal to your ranks in Transpussiant Intelligence) to negate it.
bleak hazel
hah, Geomantic Essence Grid doesn't have the "no OP hearthstones" clause that every other "put a rock in your head" charm does
your GM is allowed to slap you if you try to install the Gem of Incomparable Wellness though
tulip folio
What's that one do? That's the 'you can't die' one iirc?
bleak hazel
yeah, you are immortal until you unattune the rock
there are Sid and Lunar charms that let you socket hearthstones in yourself or summon them in place of your caste mark, and both of those have a "you cannot use this on the immortality rock" clause
tulip folio
Likely an oversight but a funny one.
bleak hazel
you'd have to incapacitate the Alchemical and then chisel the rock out of the socket
tulip folio
Alchemical: "I've found a way to survive the solar melee!"
bleak hazel
they rev up their engine and produce a giant cloud of smoke, when it clears they're lying almost completely dead on the ground
(with their rock)
tulip folio
Clearly you combine it with the charm that lets people think you are dead but actually puts you in a super fast healing coma.
bleak hazel
Perfected Style Matrix is wild, since now you don't need any combat charms in your charm slots
Ninja Robot meta
an 8xp charm is cheaper than the MA merit normally is, too
tulip folio
Yeah, the limitation is it's a permanent charm slot locked off.
Still, does mean that you likely want it.
As it's saving net charm slots
bleak hazel
Elsewhere Compression Mode only lasting one scene is very funny
"hang on a minute"
Alchemical walks outside, undergoes Akira transformation, shrinks back down again
"OK, now I can go to the banquet"
they also get the MIB neuralizer
even more things that work great with Sids
tulip folio
...man, how salty would a sid be about being the one to walk out of a situation without their memories...
'Hey, you don't do this to me, I do this to you!'
bleak hazel
they're probably used to it at this point, judging from the number of times Sidereals have avoidance kataed out of meetings with each other in my current campaign
(we have had one conversation four separate times)
tulip folio
'Oh man, there's a powerpoint...' avoidance kata
bleak hazel
I know they should be a lot like Lunars because they are both Attribute exalts, but the basic structure of "here are a bunch of charms that give you varying numbers of non-charm dice, they all combine" is very Lunar
Electric Fervor Inspiration is extremely strong
tulip folio
What does resetting rolls...do?
bleak hazel
you can just do them again
normally each kind of influence is 1/scene, with a few caveats
tulip folio
Ah, I see.
bleak hazel
so you can't Inspire and then Inspire again, or Read Intentions the same thing twice
Autonomous Assault Processors is a solar-tier flurry, very neat
and Transfinite Ultraviolence Drive is nuts, holy shit
old-style 2e shrikes
tulip folio
Presumably why it's literally the single most difficult they can make a charm to be.
bleak hazel
although it does require a turn to charge and if I read Omnitactical Processing Core correctly you do need to buy the upgrade to Wither with it
tulip folio
Essence 5, Dex 5, 3 purchases of improved dex
bleak hazel
which is fair enough because extra free withering attacks is just a huge action econ boost
if it had withering base you could just Sandevistan your way through entire encounters
you probably still can
tulip folio
I will freely admit I'm new enough to 3e I have no clue if the charms I picked are good but they looked cool. XD
bleak hazel
OK, although I'm not seeing a Heavenly Guardian Defence equivalent these guys may be able to throw down with Solars, especially at higher levels
TUD is just that good
also I now have new first age gear to make with Craftgar, wonderful
white veil style with a lightsabre
upper stratus
does that work. is that a form weapon
bleak hazel
you can make any weapon that cuts or pierces into a beam weapon
beamneedle
also solves my problem of "how do I make this 5-dot artifact needle not pathetic for non-assassination gaming", I just let it summon a big hardlight spear when I want to Fight Big
tulip folio
Since you're actively looking at the charms/get them better than me, do you have any particular thoughts on any of these?
Intelligence: Transpuissant Intelligence Upgrade, Lightning Archive Processor, Logic-Engineering Lobe(Abstract Abacus Implant, Eidetic Processing Core), Man-Machine Weaving Engine, Theurgic Essence Capacitor
Appearance: Patriotism-Provoking Display
Charisma: Transpuissant Charisma Upgrade, Unimpeachable Emissary Programming, Central Command Beacon, Fear Override Device
Stamina: Transpuissant Stamina Upgrade(Hardened Body Fortification), Strain-Resistant Chassis Modification
Wits: Unwavering Champion Protocol
It's for my Social/Squad Leader/Sorcerer one. Not much of a personal combatant but she's talky and magic-y.
upper stratus
i mean transpuissant intelligence upgrade is just straightforwardly good cause you're gonna be rolling that intelligence
bleak hazel
Abstract Abacus Implant and Eidetic Processing Core are kind of niche, with big intelligence you probably handle maths and memory just fine for 90% of uses not involving Siddies
tulip folio
The big thing is that my magic ritual is Magic Math
bleak hazel
Machine Learning Algorithm is very good if want to do some big necromancy energy at any point, those takea lot of training
ah
OK, yeah, if that applies then maybe swap out Eidetic Processing for MLA
upper stratus
The big thing is that my magic ritual is Magic Math
if you get consistent double 9s on shape sorcerer cause of how your initiation works that'd be fucking freak shit
what's the wording on that
tulip folio
Infinite Theorem Recitation: The sorcerer retreats into meticulous calculations, repeating a litany of esoteric formulae and ineffable proofs. After spending eight hours performing these calculations, she rolls (Intelligence + Lore), banking sorcerous motes equal to her successes. She need not perform all eight hours of study consecutively. These sorcerous motes last until the end of the story or her next use of this ritual. The sorcerous mote can add a non-Charm die on the roll by doubling the amount of time required. She can additional non-Charm die by doubling that time, and so on, up to a maximum of five dice after 256 hours.
I wasn't thinking shape
upper stratus
right just for the shaping ritual then
tulip folio
So much as 'the thing that give me my pool of sorcerous motes to spend'
bleak hazel
yeah that's pretty big
worth half a charm at least
but I really would get MLA because then you can just learn new rituals in like a night
tulip folio
That's fair!
bleak hazel
bonk bad game, no breaking the XP economy
solid craft tree, nothing insane but they're solidly just below Solars and Abyssals in the making shit capacity, with a much more comprehensible set of abilities
upper stratus
oh goodness gracious no
bleak hazel
not sure if they can do First Age - it seems plausible at E5
I hate Great Maker's Panoply though
what if craftbot had dozens more XP points than the rest of the party
upper stratus
yea don't care for that
tulip folio
not sure if they can do First Age - it seems plausible at E5
I mean, I'd hope so. They've got an express carveout about being able to do it/it's kinda the basis of their setting's tech. XD
bleak hazel
Since you're actively looking at the charms/get them better than me, do you have...
OK, went through this lot - seems good honestly, although I had to mentally adjust myself into Lunar Mode because I'm used to Siddies, who have a lot less dice tricks and more buttons that just Do A Thing because their dice limit is the size of an amoeba
tulip folio
Fear Override Drive and Central Command Beacon seemed like a good start for 'Lead Squads'.
upper stratus
hmm yum dice trick pre-built into my excellency. yummy. less dice trick charm more fun trick
bleak hazel
so I was thinking "man, this is a lot of double 9s and not a lot of bespoke capability" before I realised that that's what everyone elses' trees look like at E1 and I'm the weird one
bleak hazel
I mean, I'd hope so. They've got an express carveout about being able to do it/i...
it's the 200 success Artifact N/A stuff that I'm not sure if they can reach, they can definitely do artifact 2-5 with the first age tag
I can probably sim it with Wise Artificer's Insight, give me a minute to exercise the brain cells
cap on attribute upgrades is 3, right?
so Int 8 total
tulip folio
Yeah
bleak hazel
OK, looks like they will really struggle to get Artifact N/A
basically a 0% chance you manage it
anything else though is fairly straightforward
tulip folio
Ooof, that's a bit sad considering they're Primus' primordials but the craft system sounds like it was basicly designed for solars and everyone else is just living in it. XD
upper stratus
who's primus
bleak hazel
you don't even need the capstone charm that gives you +1 terminus, you can easily bang out 5-dot projects in 5 months at E3 with Int 8 + the first three craft charms + all the submodules
tulip folio
who's primus
The god of Transformers, I'm jokingly referring to Autochthon because I can't consistently spell his name. XD
bleak hazel
fourth craft charm takes it up from about 85% chance of success to damn-near-guaranteed
upper stratus
oh lmao
bleak hazel
this does mean that Aeon-Forging Crucible Core does approximately nothing
because a good craft spec alchemical has gone well past needing +1 terminus on their superior projects by the time they hit E4
(not a problem unique to them, both Solars and Abyssals have the same charm and it is just as pointless)
upper stratus
tbh i imagine narratively the alchemicals making n/a level artifacts are probably the ones that have become cities
tulip folio
I guess I'll just have to assume that the 'Make N/A stuff' is in the Never Getting Written Metropolis-tier charms. XD
bleak hazel
we'll get the Metropolis charms in the same supplement that gives us the next three essence levels of Sidereal Martial Arts that used to exist
show me the Border of Kaleidoscopic Logic, devs
I want to throw people into the Uno dimension
upper stratus
im actually more excited for the 4 extra bureau styles than the new SMAs at this point
wise ocean
I should make a crafter just to get artifact n/a Pythagoras's C-Finder.
bleak hazel
ATTENTION CITIZENS. WE ARE BEING ATTACKED BY A HORDE OF GREMLINS. THE PERFECTED MARTIAL MICRONEEDLE INSTRUCTION DRONES HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED. YOU WILL KNOW KUNG FU. MAY THE GREAT MAKER HAVE MERCY ON THEIR BLIGHTED SOULS, FOR THE POPULAT OF RIFIPE WILL NOT."
People in another server are discussing the concept of a Metropolis that is extremely skilled in Throne Shadow style, the martial art that sids really like that is all about appointing flunkies for you to make attacks through.
wise ocean
I should make a crafter just to get artifact n/a Pythagoras's C-Finder.
Point laser pointer at someone, Yu-Shan Heavenly Light Beam Obliteration
bleak hazel
I should make a crafter just to get artifact n/a Pythagoras's C-Finder.
pretty sure that's just the Realm Defence Grid but requiring a laser designator
isn't it Euclid's C-Finder?
there's a running joke that a lot of the Sid charms are "orbital laser cannons", stuff they can just drop on you without risking themselves at all
it would be funny to literally give them an orbital laser cannon
upper stratus
they should put a sid in charge of the realm defense grid. it'll be funny
wise ocean
isn't it Euclid's C-Finder?
Yes, but I didn't want to look it up and went "pythagorean theorem yeah?"
bleak hazel
they should put a sid in charge of the realm defense grid. it'll be funny
CK is the Mouth of Peace's secretary, they basically are already
wise ocean
it would be funny to *literally* give them an orbital laser cannon
Bureaucracy+Craft sid whose entire combat investment is Celestial Laser Cannon Style
bleak hazel
Sids can't make N/A either, Plot Device Tier is pretty strictly Solaroid only
wise ocean
Damn.
It's not nearly as funny to have the orbital weaponry of heaven as a Solar, though.
bleak hazel
this is why Crimson Rain, Augur of Fell Tidings is my craft character
abyssal doom laser is much funnier
interestingly, if I remember correctly Sidereals actually struggle to make 5-dot artifacts until they hit E5, at which point they become the only exalt type other than a basically-unusable Solar build that can just spawn 5-dot artifacts out of nowhere
wise ocean
"it is the world that is inspired, not the Sidereal" is kind of metal.
bleak hazel
the only downside here is that if you use this on a 5-dot you have to keep the cost tied up for an entire month, which really stings
or a year for a big manse
wise ocean
On the Abyssal note: you can't have an orbital weapons system come out of the ground, it just doesn't fit
Even if "necrolaser" sounds cool
bleak hazel
summon the fucked up sun of the underworld into Creation to bring death upon your foes
willpower isn't committed to charms, so I suppose committing 10 motes for a month to make a 5-dot is pretty sexy
tulip folio
brb, stealing the Dragonblooded '+1 Tier of Sorcery' hat so I can use Summon Third Circle Demon to Call My Minister.
bleak hazel
there's a hat for that?
tulip folio
Though I'm not sure if that hat still exists in 3e
upper stratus
i think it's a mantle now
bleak hazel
I think it's built into Mnemon now, since she just has Second Circle Demon on her sheet
upper stratus
yea good ol mnemon has it
tulip folio
Likely to stop 'Steal Mnemon's hat' being so common a plan for exalts who can't get the tier of sorcery they want.
bleak hazel
now that I think about it the cracked part of ICM might be the one day three-dot
it's very Siddy, the Sid craft tree is all about doing a bit of crafting on the side in an inexpensive manner while mostly using craft to get big mundane bonuses
tulip folio
...man, now I'm reminded that Soaring Dream had 'Give Mnemmon a hug' in her list of plans. That would have gone so badly but Dream did think that nothing she planned could ever go wrong. XD
bleak hazel
oh hey I found the One Prosocial Sidereal Charm
it lets you turn the "my craft brings all the girls to the yard" charm into "give me a job"
tulip folio
Ah yes, exactly what Sids need.
wise ocean
Likely to stop 'Steal Mnemon's hat' being so common a plan for exalts who can't ...
The "steal mnemon's hat" heist movie game would be very fun, however.
bleak hazel
I do like that the iconic Night caste shows up in the deeb book to assassinate meme-mom and gets absolutely rocked
"surprise demon"
very clearly put there to indicate that Deebs are not in fact chumps
tulip folio
Is the iconic night caste not a clever person?
Like no insult to them but 'most famous demon binder and sorcerer in the realm has big-ass-demons on retainer' feels like 'thing they perhaps should have considered'. XD
bleak hazel
tulip folio
...lady, Mnemon had you on even footing before 'The thing she is famously good at', I'm not sure what your plan was. XD
bleak hazel
not the first solar to think the dragon-bloods didn't have any game and get rolled for it, to be fair
wise ocean
"I will be able to kill her in one hit" - 
upper stratus
very clearly put there to indicate that Deebs are not in fact chumps
it's so refreshing, old deeb short fiction stuff would see them get fodderized in their own damn books
bleak hazel
Mnemon is probably the scariest deeb in the book, admittedly
there are more on her level but the second circles really swing it
dense verge
each of the house heads is good
tulip folio
I also feel like they un-bastarded Mnemon a bit since 2e.
Like, they didn't outright make her a Good Person or something
dense verge
also berit exists, sulking in exile as an outside bet for realm war
tulip folio
But there's a lot less 'She is full of mummy issues and vitriol and nothing else'
velvet raft
The god of Transformers, I'm jokingly referring to Autochthon because I can't co...
One of his old fandom nicknames was autobot
bleak hazel
Cathak Cainan is interesting but his QC sheet is pretty tightly focused on being a melee deeb and melee deebs are less scary relative to Celestials than social/nerd deebs are
upper stratus
2e books if you had 'character that is an enemy of solars' they'd often be depicted as like a moustache twirling villain that kicks puppies as their favorite hobby
tulip folio
I remember 2e had this wretched story about one of her servants where it was 'Hey, I've noticed I've become emotionally close to you. Time for you to Die Horribly because emotions other than mummy issues and hatred are a weakness'
bleak hazel
it is far simpler to just roll More Dice at Cainan than it is to handle Mnemon and her big pile of carefully arranged sorcerous nonsense
prisma sun
oh hey I found the One Prosocial Sidereal Charm
Most of the Prosocial charms are in Performance weirdly enough
Also it's really weird
I saw some people in a general "is Exalted dying?" thread complain that the lore is "sanitized" now
velvet raft
Because it’s got less absurdly overplayed grotesquerie?
tulip folio
So far it mostly seems they've sanded off some of the 'edge for the sake of edge'
Not sanitized.
bleak hazel
many people are very grumpy at 3e for allowing people who aren't Solars to do things, in addition to the relaxation of "white wolf did a white wolf"
I am actually interested to see what their take on Infernals is
tulip folio
...I'll admit, I'm very lukewarm on them so far.
velvet raft
Yeah this is sounding a lot like People Who Think Lilith Was A Good Addition To The Lore
bleak hazel
I never liked them much because their trees were deliberately written to be obnoxious to use, but they had some fun vibes
velvet raft
I never liked them much because their trees were *deliberately* written to be ob...
I did really like the excellencies not being tied to particular skills
tulip folio
The idea of making the more genericly 'rebellion' rather than 'people who had a chance to be great heroes but their own personal failings cut them down' really spoke to me in the old Abyssals.
bleak hazel
I did really like the excellencies not being tied to particular skills
that part was cool, the bit where all your important basics were spread across four different yozi with different prereqs was not
Malfeas did have a pretty sweet tree though
velvet raft
Yeah
bleak hazel
big fan of green sun rock and roll
prisma sun
found the thread
https://www.reddit.com/r/exalted/comments/1gpbbd0/are_people_becoming_less_interested_in_exalted_as/
velvet raft
Malfeas did have a pretty sweet tree
tulip folio
Like I'll read over what they put out but I must admit, most of what I've seen about 3e Infernals seems to lack...any of the spark of what I liked about them.
prisma sun
Personally I feel like it's "Onyx Path has 0 marketing budget and also there's now competion"
bleak hazel
I know my circles buy a lot less hobby books than they used to
dense verge
I am actually interested to see what their take on Infernals is
Hellish Revolutionary/Insurrectionist drawn from people who've been screwed over in life hooks me, from the things in Crucible of Legend and Essence
bleak hazel
the kickstarters are also doing about as well as they ever did
dense verge
theyre like solars, but with a cool drive to change society instead of sitting around glowing. also they have the job offer of demon king if they take it
tulip folio
It's sorta like how I can recognise that Demon: The Descent was pretty cool but I also can't stand it because I wanted an update/redo of Demon: The Fallen. XD
prisma sun
I have had this discussion so much but I have absolutely no idea how you update Demon the Fallen to the modern day
tulip folio
New Infernals might be cool but they're really starting from a bad position as far as my opinion is concerned because I loved so much of the weird bits of 2e Infernals.
prisma sun
without it being unrecognizable to the people who like it and appealing to everyone else who wasn't already one of 10 demon fans
velvet raft
I know my circles *buy* a lot less hobby books than they used to
Yeah like … I don’t buy 100 dollars of TTRPG books a month like when I was 16
The White Wolf book mill is gone
tulip folio
3e Infernals feel very 'So we want a Do Over on Solars, as they had issues' in everything I've read.
bleak hazel
Hellish Revolutionary/Insurrectionist drawn from people who've been screwed over...
the Essence writeup did make me slightly concerned that the 3e Infernals would get the Morally Righteous Underdog hat, but they managed to do a pretty good job with Lunars so I'm willing to wait and see
Abyssals work best when they're leaning into the death knight evil overlord vibes and Infernals work best when every single thing they do is accompanied by some kind of power chord, which is hard to do when they're nice
prisma sun
I think the main change to Infernals is that the Yozis aren't about to break out and destroy Creation
dense verge
infernals are wario
tulip folio
I loved, so much, the ways 2e Infernals shed limit. XD
bleak hazel
(I also liked the old Exaltation condition for wannabe Infernals was "failing decisively at trying to do something awesome", it made them a great contrast to Solars in a way that "getting fucked over in life" kinda doesn't)
tulip folio
I think the big part of 2e Infernal failure that worked so well for me is that it wasn't 'Sorry, luck wasn't on your side'. It was 'You had a chance but your own moral weaknesses and failures messed it up'.
It's not 'this was an impossible task/the dice fell the wrong way'. It's Lord Soth turning aside from his quest because he's unable to put faith in another person.
I think part of it is that a lot of Solars already come from people who were underdogs.
You don't often become a solar because everything is great and nothing is challenging you.
There's a lot of 'slave uprisings' in Solar backstories.
If that ramble makes any sense?
bleak hazel
yeah, that's pretty much my take on it as well
even if 3e does eventually roll over and die I'm quite happy it's managed to put out generally solid books for all the major exalt types and will almost certainly finish up with Infernals, so we will finally have Playable Exalted to use consistently
say what you will about 1 and 2e, they were a lot harder to run out of the book even with 3e's dreadful lack of storyteller help
upper stratus
yea i think they did a good job with 3e in spite of the sick core book bones
bleak hazel
if they had a bit more in the way of resources I'd encourage the new devs to just say "fuck it" and do Solars 2, but they really don't
an errata would be nice though
patch up the dozen-ish completely broken charms
upper stratus
yea they've expressed not being interested in doing core book 3.5 i believe
golden calibration's pretty good at least
tulip folio
The Infernal I played once was Loviatar. A particularly bright slave girl, who was taken in to be trained as a potential sorcerer for a noble house. She had one chance to earn a better life for herself, to pass the test of Fear (Back when 2e Sorcery forced your character to confront and overcome their greatest fear) and to become a Sorcerer.
She entered the test of fear...and found herself being told that she'd failed it. That she was being sent back to the laborer slaves, likely sent to a mine. And she...failed the test by being unable to stand up for herself, to push back against her fear. She broke down, things went red and she awoke to find herself having smashed in the skull of the sorcerer trainer, the only person there that had ever treated her with respect and compassion, in blind fear and rage.
And then a demon came with an offer for her.
bleak hazel
I feel that like two to three pages of errata would do a lot for solars, the basic chassis more or less works
some of the problems are a bit too bone-deep but slapping a layer of duct tape on things like Thunderbolt Attack Prana/Thunderclap Rush Attack/Fate-Shifting Solar Arete, making the worst excesses of Miracles "Apocryphal" and swinging a hatchet at the craft tree to remove a few of the vast expanse of pointless charms would go a long way towards stopping people randomly stumbling into one of the rotten floorboards that fold the system in half
upper stratus
(maybe they can cut away some excessive pranas and katas while they're there)
bleak hazel
also that, yeah
(personally I'd also nerf Heavenly Guardian Defence, but that one is a lot less encounter-deleting so I can see a reasonable take in the other direction there)
tulip folio
Solar Melee would get a Long Hard Look?
bleak hazel
fun fact: you can put literally all your XP from chargen to essence 5 into the melee tree and not have all of it
tulip folio
...christ
bleak hazel
second fun fact: this renders you totally immortal because the best defence is in the melee tree, as is one of the best ranged attacks
tulip folio
I don't know the specifics but I've heard that Solar Brawl is also very 'I win', in its own ways?
bleak hazel
the devs deliberately went to Solar Melee with the idea of developing the Omniskill, the one combat skill that's a really well-rounded combat package that negates the need for Athletics or Dodge or Resistance, and in the process it kind of borged its way through all the other combat trees at such a high power level that nothing can really get in its way
tulip folio
...why would you want an omniskill?
bleak hazel
🤷♂️
upper stratus
I don't know the specifics but I've heard that Solar Brawl is also very 'I win',...
heaven thunder hammer frankly rather ridiculous, yes
bleak hazel
I don't know the specifics but I've heard that Solar Brawl is also very 'I win',...
Solar Melee stands in front of you and ignores all your moves for trivial costs before throwing the wall of dice at you over and over again, Solar Brawl just instantly gibs the encounter round 1 tick 1
note that I didn't say turn 1
upper stratus
when tom lancer decided to make sure lancer doesn't let you weaponize fall damage he was cooking
bleak hazel
there is literally an essence 1 brawl combo that skips the initiative order, moves a huge pile of initiative from the enemy to you and then punches them into a wall hard enough to instantly gib a single-ox-body enemy Exalt almost regardless of how well you roll
tulip folio
...and then the battle starts
bleak hazel
yeah