Exalted

[velvet raft]

Manses for sids ...

It seems to me as though manses in Yu Shan would often be buildings with a function, with names that would reflect that function

[spring lynx]

otoh sometimes that function is flexing on the poors

[limpid badge]

I can helllpppp there’s lots of fun words!!

[fierce star]

Query: Do you feel like a set of heavy artifact armor with the attunement benefit of 'mind-hand manipulation is always active at no additional cost' would be too much? You're basically paying one extra mote of attunement to keep it up as long as you're wearing the armor instead of just for one scene.

[bleak hazel]

Heavy artifact armour is worth every mote it costs and more already, I wouldn't throw in a 5 mote discount and a free simple action every scene as an attunement bonus or an Evo, not at low essence

that's essentially Mela's Coil (5m free from not attuning to artifact razor claws, plus change) and that's one of the rather above curve ones from AOTC even for a 5 dot

Indefinite mindhand on its own as an E1 Evo is almost certainly fine

[fierce star]

On light or medium armor, you think? Just not the passive for it.

[wise ocean]

mind-hand heavy artifact 5 stam is already the best combat spread for nerd infernal, so I'd be wary

that said mind-hand light artifact 5 dex is also pretty good lmao

[fierce star]

If it helpsthe character this is being designed for is not lore primordial

so won't have many MHM upgrades for a bit

[bleak hazel]

I would not provide any artifact armour a 5 mote ongoing discount to anything fighty as an attunement bonus

Mindhand forever, sure, that's just convenient, but not for free

[tulip folio]

btw, any thoughts on this?

[marsh garden]

since it effectively reads "attunement: 0m" yeah?

[bleak hazel]

In essence, yes

No pun intended

[marsh garden]

the thing this one most reminds me of is this charm, although i'd bet infernals have a better-suited example

with the "treat an intimacy as a Tie of Fear toward me"

so it's probably underpriced or too low-essence

since it's both "strip defensive intimacies entirely" and "no-roll generate a tie of fear to leverage"

including possibly defining ties

dunno if the conditional nature makes it more "fair" in the pricing, though

not super familiar with social charms yet

[tulip folio]

Unequalled Tyrant Hoard
Cost: —; Mins: Strength 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Wanderer draws on the fierce nature of a Dragon, a great beasts that is unmatched master of its wealth through sheer terror and force.

The Wanderer may use Strength instead of other attributes (Ignoring bonus dots of strength) when completing leadership projects or other bureaucratic tasks and may ignore Hideous when doing so, as her terrifying mien does not impede her leadership in the slightest. 

If the action of foe or the failure of a project would cause the Wanderer to lose dots in Resources, she loses 1 less dot (To a minimum of no dots lost) as she refuses to allow another to claim the wealth that is her dominion.

How's this seem for one of those 'use a stat instead of another' charms? Projects are not super common but it also lets you do bureaucracy stuff on a stat that's not normally one of them. Added a provision for 'no, you don't get bonus strength' to avoid 'I get in my warstrider so I have 10 strength for doing paperwork'.

[velvet raft]

From the Exalted discord, holy shit this idea is so much better than canon

[tulip folio]

Gilt-Tip Claws
Cost: 3m, 3i, 1wp; Mins: Strength 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Until grapple is released
Prerequisite Charms: Several
The Dragon is a master of its hoard and the power that wealth brings. Those who lack one, lack both.

When the Wanderer makes a grapple gambit against a character with lower Resources, her target’s Defense and Control Roll suffer a penalty equal to the difference between the her resources and his. This charm has no effect on mindless creatures or creatures who's mind is too animalistic to comprehend wealth, though it affects beings that simply ignore it (Such as many fae) as normal.

Reset: Once per scene unless reset by crashing an enemy with a withering savaging attack or losing a roll opposing an enemy’s grapple control roll.

Keys:

Chaining the Bull of Heaven: The Wanderer may use this charm on mindless beings and creatures who cannot comprehend wealth, though the maximum penalty is -3, even if the difference in resources is higher.

Plundering Claws: The Wanderer can use this charm to benefit Disarm attempts, penalizing her target's defence as normal and adding non-charm dice to the initiative roll equal to the difference between her resources and his. The Wanderer may reflexively attune an artifact taken this way, breaking its attunement with its previous owner.

Unmached Golden Might(Essence 3): The Wanderer can grapple a target with Legendary Size but lower resources.

[bleak hazel]

Plundering Claws is definitely an E3 effect, probably with a surcharge to break attunement

since here you have it significantly cheaper than Abyssal Larceny

[marsh garden]

for reference, the Abyssal one is 3 charms deep, the last being E3, and can only be used on the bespoke charm

(although both the e2 and e3 ones make it reflexive)

Relics Justly Claimed

Lunars also have an e3 strength charm to break enemy attunement (Terrible Steel-Rending Talons), although it can't take that attunement in turn

[bleak hazel]

yeah, solar effect is also at E3

[tulip folio]

Fair. I'll up that to e3.

[bleak hazel]

I'm not sure on the base effect, because it's such a gigantic swing if your enemy happens to not have Resources and you have Res 5

-5 to def and -5 to control roll is basically automurder

but it's scaled off a thing that is so normally irrelevant to combat that I have basically no idea who you get to instantly gib with it and who will pull out a wallet full of 100s and ignore you

other than like, Dynasts

[marsh garden]

i think it instantly gibs most people, yeah? since anything past resources 1 is like

explicitly Rich Guy

[bleak hazel]

yeah, but peer opponents for exalts are frequently loaded

[fierce star]

Could make it cap (ess or 3, whichever is high) for the bonus?

[bleak hazel]

I was just thinking that, yeah

I'm not sure on pricing for grapple boosters in general, it can be a bit awkward to pick them because grapple is so strong at base and our grapple MA is Bear, which is busted due to pulling its power guidelines from Solaroid Brawl

[tulip folio]

It's also why I ruled out it working on mindless beings and animals without an extra charm. So it won't work on the primary resources 0 guys

But i can set a scaling cap, yeah.

[bleak hazel]

it's a defence penalty, so it can be negated by some people, but at the same time it's just such a colossal effect

so yeah, I'd go with a cap

(bullshit grappling technique the third: Speared Boar Struggle from Sids, one of the few Sid charms I would say is just outright off the chain)

[marsh garden]

okay, brief aside that i know is super whiny, but i'm kind of crushed that if you want to cosplay a ghost, not only are infernals just objectively better than abyssals at it, infernals are really good at it and abyssals are kind of bad at it

[tulip folio]

Is this too much you think? It's also got a secondary resources effect?

[marsh garden]

i was looking for abyssal demat charms and the closest thing they've got is the shadow possession (which is super cool and i want to play around with it), but infernals can just choose to be perma demat at no cost

[tulip folio]

Poor Abyssals

[marsh garden]

i think anything that fucks around with merits is really neat

i like it

[bleak hazel]

oh that's fine go wild, noncombat effects are less tightly balanced dicewise and Bureaucracy especially is totally abstracted

[marsh garden]

the infernal cult charm is very captivating to me, and so explicit resources charms are v neat

[tulip folio]

It felt like a fun secondary area for Dragon's Ire to play in. Being A Rich Monster. XD

[marsh garden]

i know they've got a ton of super cracked shit but every time i look for things that are undead-related, infernals are Just Better at it - commanding them, controlling them, destroying them, acting like them, etc.

and that's a lot of what i wanted to do with them

alright, whining over

yeah, i think explicitly dealing with like, Backing/Influence/Resources would be a super cool theme

resources alone is, i think, too singular to be a whole tree?

[bleak hazel]

all the keys on Gilt-Tip Claws are really neat, the base effect is so wildly variable I find it hard to come up with a good formula for it

have you considered giving noncharm dice to your attack and control rolls rather than penalising theirs

since then it's less swingy because a) can't just -5 a guy and instantly eat them so easily, -2.5 average sux is still big and b) can't be noped by Dipping Swallow or Impeding The Flow for 1-2 motes

[marsh garden]

but some combination of backing, influence, followers, and retainers probably adds another thing to key off of Being The CEO In Y/N Ao3 Fic

which is extremely funny

chaining the bull of heaven is also a great name

[tulip folio]

Basically the intended vibe for Dragon's Ire, yeah. XD

[fierce star]

🤔 given your reference in the dragon's ire writeup of The Unconquered Dragon obviously being a sol reference

strength charm that makes the target temporarily a creature of darkness?

[tulip folio]

Eh, I think that's perhaps a bit too metaphysically far. It's inspired by but not literally able to be.

[fierce star]

awh :P

[velvet raft]

How does one deal with the defense penalty on this? Just eat the hit?

[bleak hazel]

just tank that shit, yeah

[velvet raft]

I've always been reluctant to take it for that reason, but I guess that tracks

[bleak hazel]

it's in Brawl, you have some decent facetanking ability

[velvet raft]

Well, you might not if grabbed as Versatile

[bleak hazel]

also remember you decide when to use it, so if someone lowballs an attack or it's a fairly harmless withering you can go "bing bong, fuck ya life" and max out Speared Boar Struggle for the instant grapple

oh no, I took one unmodified daiklaive hit to my 14 soak, anyway get slammed

[velvet raft]

Got it, so you'd generally use it when someone swings without an excellency or other booster?

[bleak hazel]

Brawl versatile is a great suite, Hostility Acceptance Technique is also versatile and reduces init lost to witherings

[velvet raft]

Oh yeah, HAT feels like an incredibly good pickup

[bleak hazel]

honestly even if they do big excellency a withering attack, if you have good soak and HAT you can usually reduce it to something fairly harmless

it's the prereq anyway

also versatile: Dead Spouse Defence

[velvet raft]

I would genuinely be reluctant to take DSD on most of my characters for roleplay reasons

Also Tolerant Strife is good, it gives every unarmed sid ever a really effective anti-onslaught charm

[bleak hazel]

take HAT, Sacrifice Without Regret, Dead Spouse Defence, Speared Boar Struggle, Tolerant Strife and Unobstructed Blow and basically any MA you take will be totally fine on defence

the melee onslaught negator isn't versatile so while they have some crimes too they're less omni-applicable

Speared Boar Struggle is also Versatile so you can really blow people up with it

Wisdom of the Celestial Crane + SBS = have a health gate/perfect or be a newly enlightened smear on the pavement

[velvet raft]

It's funny how Infernal Brawl is geared towards using brawl weapons

When the other solaroid brawl trees treat them as an afterthought

[bleak hazel]

really solar brawl is rarely seen without artifact smashfists

but only because they're usually a clean upgrade on regular punching

[marsh garden]

shoutouts to lunars having an actual artifact unarmed

before e5 charms

[velvet raft]

Infernal brawl basically doesn't have any charms that don't function with weapons

It's great

Well, other than the ones that are specifically about biting people, I guess

(Gross, dude)

[bleak hazel]

Claws of the Silver Moon specifically restricts MA omnicompatibility, so it's fine

the reason it's so expensive in, say, PAOC is that it lets you go "fuck it, use all the kung fu" without making the usual damage tradeoff

[marsh garden]

every infernal tree has really taken advantage of the devs' system mastery and ability to ignore solar trees

which i continue to be seethingly jealous of, but it has made me build like a dozen infernal concepts

[bleak hazel]

my main complaint with Lunars is not that their shit isn't cool, it's that they have too many got damn charms

[velvet raft]

Ye

[bleak hazel]

and my eyes glaze over trying to read entire attributes

[velvet raft]

Definitely too many

[bleak hazel]

especially when they have like 10 very similar appearance-scary charms and such, all in a row

[marsh garden]

they have too few charms that do different things

and too many tax charms

that lead into the one thing you're here for, which just does [all of the taxes but better]

lunars really would have benefited from existing with Keys

[velvet raft]

PAOC is funny because the single biggest reason to mix all four forms is to get Soulfire Shaper and Manse-and-Demesne at the some time

And then you also get artifact unarmed and 2m five-jade fury as a nice little bonus

[marsh garden]

god i hope Keys spread to gets and lims

and don't stay an infernal thing

do we have any info on whether they're going to be self-contained?

(i assume they'll have a different name if they aren't)

[bleak hazel]

quadpack paoc form does a lot of stuff but the sheer power of Overwhelming 8 and +5 decisive damage fists with another +5 for 2 motes is pretty insane

just need to find a good hearthstone to apply to your punching

if Gets are like Sids I would imagine their charms are too bespoke and odd to be easily rolled up into a list of keys

and as a thinsplat with strange charms I can't imagine they'd have a massive number but we don't know how that's going to work at all

liminals we know even less about

[marsh garden]

ah right, siddery

[tulip folio]

God I love keys so much. THey're making doing Wanderer stuff...possible. Still too much work/I shouldn't have started this as a solo project but it's made it possible. XD

[velvet raft]

I'm not offended by the existence of Liminals or anything, and they seem fine as a setting element, but I cannot imagine wanting to play one

[marsh garden]

damn. and i doubt Keys will go to any companions

[velvet raft]

FWIW alchemicals do have submodules, which are key-ish

[marsh garden]

I'm excited for liminals now because there isn't fuck shit for c1 necromancy

yeah alchs already have their keys

abyssals won't get them

and sids won't get them

so it'll probably stick to infernals

which is a shame

[bleak hazel]

liminals are extremely inoffensive, yeah

[marsh garden]

but at least it's now out there for fansplats

[bleak hazel]

nice to have more 1c necro and a wider range of terrestrials, at least

[marsh garden]

based on the stuff I've asked about in excord, i uh

also cannot imagine ever giving a shit about playing a liminal

because the things i want to do with them are apparently Ontologically Impossible

[velvet raft]

In Voy's server, my sid has the black hole spell that makes it impossible to breathe and continually uses Crossing Plutonian Shores

[marsh garden]

(you Are Not In Any Way the previous person, and also you Intrinsically Know This To Be True)

(which i'm just utterly uninterested in with weird fucked up came-back-wrong narratives)

[bleak hazel]

I look forward to Good Liminals, I appreciate their vibes but the essence guys/gals rather misfired with them and gave them True Resurrection

[marsh garden]

(the ambiguity is the point, for me)

but more undead!

[velvet raft]

So they can potentially create a You Cannot Breathe Zone and then fight just fine in it

[marsh garden]

and more ivory necro!

[velvet raft]

Yeah the liminals book should have good stuff

[bleak hazel]

oh yeah that reminds me

[marsh garden]

yeah, that's a steeper dip for an abyssal

[bleak hazel]

finish my Sid for that server

[marsh garden]

3 charms that kind of suck shit instead of 1-with-collateral

[velvet raft]

Well, you do need 5 endings charms

[marsh garden]

yeah but they're endings charms

[velvet raft]

That's not the steepest price, given endings has great stuff

[marsh garden]

you pick 5 by playing a sid

[bleak hazel]

eh, my Battles is basically never getting green or purple maiden charms

too busy fightan

[marsh garden]

and the abyssal don't-breathe is...unexciting

[bleak hazel]

having to work up to Terrestrial Sorcery is going to take a while

[marsh garden]

although the first one is fun because i get to make my sad fucking idiot suck shit and have an even worse time

[velvet raft]

Endings caste ability charms count

[bleak hazel]

yeah, same as all maiden charms

[marsh garden]

"get fucked, you can never enjoy food again"

good

[bleak hazel]

oh I suppose if if he was actually E3 he'd have enough

[velvet raft]

So like if you have athletics and awareness and integrity stuff you're set

[bleak hazel]

2 integ charms, 2 awareness charms, 1 athletics charm, 1 bureau charm

this Rival doesn't have all that stuff yet because I had to cut slightly to keep him at Young Master levels rather than Big Scary Fucker levels

[marsh garden]

is it just me or is it like

really weird that corpse needs nothing is 3 purchases

[velvet raft]

Yes

[tulip folio]

I do find the Infernal sense permanency charms interesting. You can kill an infernal by making them wait a full day for a meal. XD

[velvet raft]

It's extremely overvalued

[bleak hazel]

I get 2 of the 4 I need for sorcery from Occult see-spirits and shaping-defence and one more from Google Spider, but I'm not sure what to do for the last one

[marsh garden]

it feels like it should just be "at res 4 -> e2 res 5" automatic upgrades

[velvet raft]

Yes

[marsh garden]

or even 3/4

[velvet raft]

I do love how many sid trees have like, 2-4 charms that are just amazing for anybody

[bleak hazel]

oh yeah, shit that is truly peak and somewhat underrated

Tears of the Blade

[velvet raft]

Yiss

Tears of the Blade is wild

[bleak hazel]

you get to lay a prophecy that someone is going to bite it on two weeks on the deck of Lissom Avid Engineer's ship and then in two weeks you just show up and personally beat them to death yourself

[marsh garden]

it sure is a "target Exalt dies as soon as i find them" button

[velvet raft]

Along with the way the excellency works, it creates this weird opposed incentive to specialize and to generalize that I find really charming

[bleak hazel]

you do need to get them with the Descending Horoscope and that's Shaping, so they have a fairly obvious counter to TOTB

but it's also a good Remove Target Mortal charm for schemers and so on

[marsh garden]

well

i don't think lunars or deebs have any way to defend against it?

[fierce star]

This is why I will always combine the taste/smell one with murder is meat

[velvet raft]

Lunars have their tats

[marsh garden]

it's not body shaping

[bleak hazel]

not shaping (body), but I'm pretty sure their actual shaping defence covers fate stuff

[velvet raft]

Are the tats only body shaping? Huh.

[bleak hazel]

yeah, Laughing into the Teeth of Madness handles it

(Essence) noncharm sux on your roll

[marsh garden]

it doesn't stop it, it just lets you break it, which i think for this would be "kill the sid that cursed you" yeah?

[tulip folio]

It does make going through the 5 day desert a bit of a trip you need to really prepare for though.

[fierce star]

yeah that's legit

Gotta kill some people to stock up your murder gut

[marsh garden]

that's a neat consequence imo

gives it some gravity

[bleak hazel]

using RTLOM on a rolled shaping effect gives you a giga noncharm buff on the opposed roll to land the horoscope

so it does stop it, much of the time

[fierce star]

then agian at higher levels MIM lets you go for years without eating per murder

iirc

lemme double check

[marsh garden]

oh does it? i thought it was just wp vs wp

[bleak hazel]

She can use Resisting the Lure of Madness to enhance Resolve or opposed rolls against shaping effects

[marsh garden]

ahhh

[bleak hazel]

willpower rolloff is, as usual, for unrolled effects only

[fierce star]

ah yeah, E5 though, so not in most games

E3/res 5 for a week per kill

[marsh garden]

i think deebs can only defend against body shaping though

as a consequence of being uh

early

[velvet raft]

Terrestrials

[marsh garden]

unless there's something in heirs

[bleak hazel]

deeb one is pretty bad, sid one is not great against rolled effects

(since it just gives you a free full excellency, which at most essence levels is.... +3 charm)

[marsh garden]

oof

i assume SMAs are meant to fix that?

[bleak hazel]

the only thing I'd like Sids to have just a straightforward buy-for-more-number charm for that they don't have is better anti-shaping

[velvet raft]

Does a free full excellency not cover target number reduction?

[marsh garden]

since there's uhhh

[bleak hazel]

they can, and there's a high essence archery charm to shoot shaping effects into other people to remove them from yourself

[marsh garden]

those counterspells

[marsh garden]

it does

[velvet raft]

So that's at least somewhat better

[marsh garden]

but does that hit resolve?

[bleak hazel]

but getting a particular SMA is a long way more difficult than just grabbing an E1 Integ 1 charm

if it's opposed roll vs opposed roll it's not awful

if it's opposed roll vs your resolve it's very mid

[velvet raft]

Ah true

[bleak hazel]

since you can only add (Essence or 3) to static values

[velvet raft]

Ye

[bleak hazel]

the upside is that it is very wide, it hits shaping, psyche and anything that fucks with your motes or charms

[marsh garden]

it's the broadest member of that defense charm group, right?

[velvet raft]

also it's free during fights if you're a high-essence crystal chameleon user

[bleak hazel]

yeah, broad and shallow

[marsh garden]

what's alchs' like?

[velvet raft]

I think at this point my ideal version of Red Evening Sky is just Centipede, Crystal Chameleon, and PAOC

[marsh garden]

closer to a cheap e1 power like solars and sids or expensive like lunars'?

or wait no, sids' is e2 as well, isn't it

i guess alchs' are too then?

[bleak hazel]

Sid one is E2

alch one is very solid, IIRC

yeah, very nice, although you need a small upgrade to make it universally applicable

[marsh garden]

oh huh

that is quite nice

[tulip folio]

What's your thoughts on this evocation anti-shaping effect?

[marsh garden]

oh, i think you've shared this one before!

i know i'm not the one you were asking, but i think parrying shaping is super cool

"parry abstract concepts" is in general super cool and one of the aesthetics that sold me on Exalted

[wise ocean]

I need to pick up some charmtech to land prophecies on my NROsid better at some point, but honestly throwing 10 dice + spec + excellency at it is probably enough already

[bleak hazel]

actual sid prophecies are designed to be basically fine on raw dice pools anyway, yeah

good charms for them tend to do varying supporting things

[knotty island]

Question: Other than erm, Pyre, what battlegroup artefacts exist, and can they be used cross-splat?

[bleak hazel]

all artifacts can be used cross-splat by default, but since each exalt type resonates with some magic materials and doesn't vibe with others their strength varies depending on their wielders

I believe there is at least a jade suit of armour with some army buffs

[marsh garden]

there're like

one or two BG evocations in Burning Branch

(Arms)

i did a lot of digging around and staring at arms of the chosen while making my own BG artifact

[knotty island]

I ask because er, the.. Campaign, I am in, does not permit canon artefacts, but does allow artefacts with identical evocations.

[marsh garden]

?

why are written up artifacts banned?

[bleak hazel]

aha, Sunset Blaze, big spear with a banner on it in Heirs of the Shogunate

[marsh garden]

you can just scrub their lore

[bleak hazel]

buffs DB War charms, rally actions and App/Cha command rolls

[knotty island]

That makes it an artefact with identical evocations.

[marsh garden]

oh

that's what you meant

i don't understand how that connects to the question, so that's my bad i think

[knotty island]

It means we can change materials.

[marsh garden]

ah, i see

that makes sense

aiui the material matters for balancing purposes to an extent, but i don't really know how significant it is

[knotty island]

However, now I need to get my hands on Heirs of the Shogunate to review it.

[marsh garden]

i can post sunset blaze's gubbins if you'd like

[knotty island]

I am, unsure if that would be allowed.

[marsh garden]

i don't think there's a problem esp. if it's just the artifact

here we go, temporary reference at least

[fierce star]

no one's ever had issue with us posting excerpts/whole ass charms out of the books before

[tulip folio]

Sunset Blaze is a fun one

[knotty island]

Hm, I.. Interesting, but I don't think it fits this character. She's more of a.. She isn't there to get stuck in, she would rather watch from a hill with her officers.

[tulip folio]

Hey so as I'm a mod - Don't post too big a chunk. Like a few charms, that's fine but we don't want the server to get in legal trouble so I'd avoid posting huge chunks of books.

Also: @fierce star I should totally get RiRi a varient of sunset blaze with her perfered weapon types. That 'gain init equal to the 10s in a rally or rally for numbers' roll looks nice for helping RiRi gain init during combat.

[marsh garden]

sorry, is that a warning for later, or a "delete this one because i think it's too much"

[tulip folio]

More 'this is really getting to the limits'

[marsh garden]

i'm unclear on it

i see, sorry

[tulip folio]

It's fine, it's fine. Just trying to keep the server from getting in trouble.

[fierce star]

soryr

[marsh garden]

in that case, how do you feel about homebrew

or i suppose, how does your GM (or whatever system you're using, since there was hesitation earlier) feel

[knotty island]

I don't know enough about Exalted to make homebrew yet, but, I might be able to pass it by the GM? The GM is currently uncontactable, for he is sick.

And I think asleep.

[tulip folio]

whaps
Stop that.

[marsh garden]

i've got a necromantic BG artifact that lets you hide in the back

[tulip folio]

What sorta artifact are you looking for? I like maek artifact.

[marsh garden]

if davy jones bullshit is your speed

[knotty island]

Errrm, ooh. So, the design of it is a jian, but, it's used as like, a sword of office? It is an artefact weapon, sure, but it isn't especially designed with that in mind.

[buoyant summit]

🐴 I'm sad I had to leave my Monday game

I had a really cool character but couldn't justify the time

[velvet raft]

FWIW it has yet to really get off the ground and I'm not entirely certain it will

@buoyant summit

Unrelated: infernal clone of the scarlet empress ...

[fierce star]

A party that's entirely clones of the scarlet empress

You've got an Infernal, an Abyssal, a Sidereal, a Lunar, and one that ended up an Exigent somehow.

[wise ocean]

Infernal clone of the Scarlet Empress (Ebon Dragon patron, elaborate ROTSE reference)
Dragon-blood clone of the Scarlet Empress (ledaal, probably?)
Abyssal clone of the Scarlet Empress (slated to be executed because she didn't Exalt as a deeb)
Sidereal (Scarlet Empress RD)
Lunar (found the actual Big Red's blood on a warrant of trade)

[bleak hazel]

at least one regular daughter of the scarlet empress

[wise ocean]

so, are you also -
no, I'm mnemnon's fifth daughter.

[fierce star]

Get Scarlet Empress (setting difference she never left)

they find a Liminal scarlet empress which makes everyone panic

[bleak hazel]

Get nonexistent past lives are all mortals, so that would be a very strange alternate timeline

[lament owl]

Architect of the imperial city exigency

[wise ocean]

Architect of the Imperial Manse, even

ultimate ability 1/1000000th of a Sword of Creation

[fierce star]

a clone that got adopted by the royal family of Uluiru and is a Sovereign now

[bleak hazel]

Matchless Vermillion Ruler, suspiciously redhead alchemical who got some of Big Red's soul in the soulstone mix somehow

[velvet raft]

You know, that would be a way to do “reincarnation of the Scarlet Empress” and be fully lore-compliant

[buoyant summit]

https://youtu.be/FeahzYGuIKY

🐰Am I foolish for thinking this is great inspo for a Wyld Hunt fight?

three Deebs v a Solar of course

(ignore the song)

[prisma sun]

"Ignore the song" like it's not the best part

[buoyant summit]

lmao fair

The song is not part of my questioning if the scene is good inspo, basically

[chilly sluice]

That trailer is always good inspo

[fierce star]

Nothing to do with using it as inspo (but it is great inspo for any fantasy fight), but I always loved how the--I believe she's a bosmer?--elf lady, knowing she's fighting a Breton, decides to go inf or a spell, when the manmer are known for having species-wide magic absorbing powers.

sorry i'm an elder scrolls lore nerd

[marsh garden]

she'll tech it

[fierce star]

she has the right idea at the end, using magic on the environment instead of the breton himself

can't absorb a rock falling a terminal velocity

[buoyant summit]

And the knights are specifically trained to fight rogue mages

[fierce star]

ye

[buoyant summit]

And she's not a bosmer she's an altmer

[fierce star]

I will admit I have trouble telling the difference between the two visually at times

[knotty island]

Aren't the Altmer aggressively yellow?

[fierce star]

depends on the presentation and the game

about the most consistent thing about the elder scrolls is the inconsistencies

[tulip folio]

Charisma: Tale-Craft
There is unmatched power in stories. They teach children the words that will drive the monsters in the dark away and they deliver lessons to the next generation. They show that not only can horrors be fought, they should be.

Even mortals understand the empowering nature of stories. Politicians weave tales to fortify the hearts of their soldiers and stories of great heroes drive many to push beyond the limits they would find. Religions spin philosophy upon the back of stories, morality tales that show how righteousness is rewarded and sin punished. Their immaterial nature matters not, with some characters from stories having had a greater effect on creation than many of the very Princes that supposedly rule it.

The Wanderer invokes the art of Tale-Craft to weave stories and draw upon the truth behind them. It allows her fortify her shield-arm with the stories of brave knights and heroes and bring to life armies that only existed in dreams before. She brings Wonder against the edge of Iron and shatters the hateful metal. That said: those who live in stories must remember not to lose sight of reality, for a nameless blade with no history can end even the most glorious tale.

Added another to the Wanderer Art list.

[fierce star]

'You can still die cold and alone in a dirty ditch somewhere'

I like it

[tulip folio]

And that puts me at 4/9. Taking a while to get them all done but making progress.

[tulip folio]

Appearance: Naming
Few things are more important than a name. They are how people identify, how they categorize, how they define the world around them. Without names, the world can only be so structured and so stable.

The Fae understand that a name is more than just identification, it is definition. Tepet Ejava is just another scion of House Tepet; As the Roseblack, however, she is a contender for the Imperial Throne itself. Names and roles and definitions have great power and are very malleable. A great hero's name may become a curse, while the definition of a people into a category may result in great harm to them.

The Wanderer invokes the art of Naming to warp and twist names to her will. It allows her to take names from those who do not deal with her carefully and to bend another's name into the shape she desires for them. Taken to it's most terrifying extremes she can speak abominable words that can shape or end the world about her. To play with such power is not without risk, for the Wanderer tangles with power beyond the reach of any exalt's grasp and her failures can be catastrophic.

I hope these read okay?

[velvet raft]

Yeah, looks good

[tulip folio]

Dangerously tempted to do up some of the weapons in Heretic and Hexen as artifacts.

[velvet raft]

Applying to a game that's currently ongoing and at Essence 3, wish me luck

[marsh garden]

[velvet raft]

woooooo

I'm in

Now to decide sid or infernal

[fierce star]

Sidfernal. Infereal.

Two characters in a trenchcoat.

(this is a shitpost)

[wise ocean]

e3 means SMA, which I'd be hard pressed to pass up

solaroid makes e3 less special

[bleak hazel]

what's the plot?

[fierce star]

also I love this and am a sucker for truename shenanigans and hubristic overreach.

[bleak hazel]

slightly overrating the Roseblack here but hey, she's at least on the list of contenders

[fierce star]

She was considered a major contendor in ex2, did they reduce her popularity/reach ine x3 and I glossed over it?

[bleak hazel]

she is far more niche now, yeah

I believe she's on the list of outside chances, after "major contenders" and "people who would be major contenders if they really went for it"

[tulip folio]

Yeah but the Roseblack has a Cool Name. XD

[bleak hazel]

unfortunately we don't have Big Red's original name

I assume she wasn't born first name Scarlet second name Empress

although if she had that would be convenient

[wise ocean]

nominative determinism

[fierce star]

Scarlet could be her given name, color given names weren't uncommon in the shogunate era IIRC

it's not for sure but it'd be funny if it was

no idea what her gens was though

... it'd be funny if it was something that would turn into the lwo realm 'Empress' over the past several hundred odd years of linguistic bullshit, much like Caeser

[marsh garden]

gens?

[velvet raft]

The PCs have taken over a northern city-state and done some major reforms, but are now faced with increased political interest from outside powers, including the Silver Prince

The rest of the PCs are solars, with another new player joining as an ascendant infernal

For all that I kinda want to play Red Evening Sky, I think Hao might be a better fit for this particular story and party

[fierce star]

So the Shogunate's (and modern lookshy's) equivalent to the realm's 'great houses' are gens/gentes, which are basically... large, extended families that form a warrior-politician-noble class

[marsh garden]

ahhh

[quiet garnet]

Infernal campaign in Lookshy would go hard possibly

[next delta]

Two of the three fortune cookies I received had no fortune. Does this mean an enemy of fate is nearby?

[velvet raft]

Yes

[tulip folio]

Intelligence: Infusion
Stories of the wonders of the fae are without limit. Sidhe swords that can part steel like silk and elixirs of immortality brewed by fae rabbits. These wonders can perform the impossible, bringing life to the dead or turning back clocks in ways that even the greatest sorcerers cannot.

Infusion is the art of turning mythical wonders into reality. It is the art of the alchemist who seeks the cure for an impossible disease or the swordsmith crafting a blade to beat an invincible foe. It produces a cure for heartbreak and for death itself. It turn dreams of what could be into reality, forging possibility out of impossible ideas.

The Wanderer invokes the art of Infusion to craft, shape or discover wonders of the world about her. It allows her to make powerful tonics and cure the most dire of wounds. She can craft objects of wonder and wield arcane knowledge beyond that of the sane. The Wanderer must be careful, however, for Creation fights those that defy its most powerful laws.

Did up another one.

[tulip folio]

Do you think it's okay to have effects that fluffwise fuck with the unbreakable rules of exalted (no time travel, no raising the dead) but mechanically are much more within the bounds of the game?

As they're more hard rules for 'these make the game less fun if they can happen'

[fierce star]

Excellent fluff, and I think that's fine personally

[mighty rover]

i thought those hard rules were all restrictions on lore/flavor/fluff

[fierce star]

handwobble

What is the difference between something that mechanically just takes someone who has all their health boxes filled with lethal and changes them to where they've only got bashing in incapacitated becuase you're Just That Good AT Healing verses the same charm, but the fluff is 'you dragged their soul back to their body before it could pass into lethe'?

[mighty rover]

I'm not the person to make a stand about it, since I've never been sold on the necessity of making those specific elements off-limits
But they've never been presented to me as mechanical considerations, just lore ones

[tulip folio]

Generally the reason they're in the game is less 'lore reasons' and more 'This isn't your daddies D&D, we don't have raise dead' and 'time travel plots are a fucking headache'.

[tulip folio]

Stamina: Primal
Creation's underlying rules are powerful forces, the relentless tick of each clock hand as time progresses forward, the press of gravity keeping creatures from floating off into the Wyld and the eternal turning of the seasons. Yet, despite that, there are older forces still.

Primal is  the call of the primordial chaos that roiled before creation was born, commanding its younger kin. It is the power to order the seasons to dance to the wielders tune or to seize time itself in a grip like a vice. It is the power of raw, untouched Wyld without the limitations of creation.

The Wanderer invokes the art of Primal to unmake attacks against her, vanishing into nothingness like the dreams of a blind idiot god. She can alter the flow of time, making whole what once was broken. She invokes the blistering heat and freezing cold of passing systems. Primal is the most unshaped of the Wanderers arts and thus she must beware losing control to chaos.

[fierce star]

Hell yeah

[tulip folio]

Yes, the wanderer soak charms will literally run on 'I reject your reality, mine is better'

[bleak hazel]

I would not fluff literally anything as backwards time travel or raise dead

Emerald Gyre is about your limit, you can play around with time but even if mechanically it only does one specific thing you can't actually say "go back in time"

[velvet raft]

I just noticed Simmering Resentment Bouquet in Infernal Socialize, which is ... this is wild, but it might be one of the best Good Guy Charms I can imagine?

"Hey you can just cast Detect Problem"

[bleak hazel]

even for fae it's a thematic point that they can't do those things in any real sense, since Creation enforces linear time

[mighty rover]

is there a statistical approximation of "average Guile for a mayor" or something

I'm just trying to figure out how you would respond to this if you didn't prep

[mighty rover]

but yeah lol

[velvet raft]

I love how this is kinda an Ebon Dragon charm

Like yeah, of course he would be able to detect things that are wrong or broken

[mighty rover]

"Hell is always with you"

[lunar magnet]

I would usually put a perfectly normal mayor at about Guile 2 or 3 myself.

2 or 3 Manip + 2 or 3 Socialize divided by 2, as normal for Guile.

[velvet raft]

For bonus points, the prereq charms to this one are one or both of the following:

• the charm that makes you reflexively aware of hypocrisy
• the charm that lets you discern a person's greatest failure

[lunar magnet]

For any assassins or spymasters or the like, they have stats in core.

[velvet raft]

Infernal Socialize is weirdly good for a paladin-type in part because it has a big theme of "don't look away"

[nova yew]

Yea

[limpid badge]

I always feel like those bounding boxes are like… exalted is a bonkers setting and setting those guidelines might help people from going off the rails or damaging the core conceit exalted likes to push of “live with your choices”

I think doing Sid level stuff is prooobably fine, and definitely just in-fluff but it feels like one of those zones that’s better to continue brushing and circling around

[fierce star]

Like I said, if something has like. There are charms that can be used to reverse someone having lethal-in-their-incapacitated-box, though I don't have them immediately on hand. Whether the fluff is 'you're just that good of a doctor' or it's 'you quickly dipped a hand into lethe and stole their soul back at the last moment', mechanically it's nothing the game is not prepared to handle

[bleak hazel]

mechanically sure, but the fluff there should be "they aren't dead yet" rather than "three second rule, he's fine"

[fierce star]

I disagree, personally. As long as the mechanics work and the fluff doesn't involve the long-dead or a timeloop, I think it's a safe enough space to play around with the boundaries and limits.

Write it up, see how it feels. If it feels too far, pull it back.

[wise ocean]

I could've sworn that Abyssals had a thing like that, but I just checked and apparently not there.

[fierce star]

Well the big thing is that you don't actually die at lethal incapacitation unless the GM says you do

you can just be on death's door to give characters a chance to stabilize you so you can recover

like, by default

[wise ocean]

there is something in an Abyssal charm reset that says "by stabilizing a character whose incapacitated box is filled with lethal damage" or such

[bleak hazel]

yeah, there should 100% be emergency stabilisation charms

but I do not like fucking around with the No Res Rule

[velvet raft]

I think I agree with Delilah and Misc here, but perhaps some chronology-bending nonsense like, "the person didn't die in the first place, because the Wanderer's story always involved saving them" or things like that could square this particular circle?

They may not have known they were always going to do that but

[mighty rover]

I wonder if part of the assumption behind "these things are always off-limits" is that a sufficiently motivated Solar would inevitably crack them open even with extremely limited exceptions

[velvet raft]

The infinite potential of chaos interceded for them

I think it's also a tonal thing

"Nobody comes back to life" and "there is no undo button" as hard rules establish a certain sense of finality to the setting

[fierce star]

I feel like I'd be in more agreement if the ruling for having Incapacitated filled with lethal or aggravated damage wasn't explicitly 'you're dead if the ST says you are, it's completely up to them'

but it's already wishy-washy if 'filled with lethal' is dead or not, mechanically

[bleak hazel]

simply make a charm that you pop when a friend is incapacitated that makes them not die

[tulip folio]

Hmm...the currently planned chronology bending charm was very basic mechanically but yeah, very much goes against what people are saying here/I might need to go back to pondering.

[velvet raft]

I think you can lean on the weirdness and potentiality of the Wyld here, to some extent

[bleak hazel]

it is a fairly important point of Wyld lore that Creation imposed linear time on the universe, no ifs no buts no fucking around, and many fae were quite mad about this

[velvet raft]

Wasn't linear time before Creation? Or was that just time in general?

[tulip folio]

Possible Impossibility Invocations
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 3 Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Thing
While most need to prepare before they act, things are a fair bit more fuzzy for the Wanderer, who can move unchained from time to make their preparations retroactively.

Rummaging through pockets, scarfs and bags, the Wanderer rolls (Intelligence + [Craft, Lore or Resources]) to produce a mundane object that’s no larger than her arm with a Resources rating less than or equal to her successes.  She may not produce specific objects. For example, she may produce a generic company seal issued to any number of soldiers but not the one belonging to a specific officer of that company.

If used to produce an object of negligible value (Such as a bag of soft candy), this does not cost willpower.

Reset: Once per scene, unless used to produce an object of negligible value.

Keys:

Iterative Temporal Anomaly: The Wanderer may produce enough of a single object to provide for a battlegroup of up to (Essence) size.

Relative Dimensional Preparations(Essence 3): The Wanderer may produce an object of any size up to that of a vehicle, as long as it could have been plausibly concealed nearby.

See: Rather mundane effect but the planned flavour had been very 'oh yeah, I screwed up the timestream'

[limpid badge]

Nope! The wyld ran on myth-time, maybe-time, yes-and-time

And then Zen Mu and Creation happened. Zen Mu kept going with a simple rhythm and Creation with the Loom

[tulip folio]

Yeah, the intent was less 'don't have to live with choices' and more 'the sort of stuff you see in a story where there is time fuckery but the specifics of how the loop works are not super important'. Stuff like say, doing a Blades-In-The Dark/Mission Impossible style 'Oh yeah, I prepared this already' but with the flavour being 'I fucked with the timeline' rather than 'I am super brain and prepared for things my player wouldn't have thought of'.

Like i was planning on making their 'You roll the attack but you don't pick a target until everyone in the area's declared charms' as them going 'Hmm...I tried this in a few timelines...and then just resolved it down to the one I liked best'

[bleak hazel]

I would take hints from Emerald Gyre and the new Solar Circle spell - both do time fuckery but they're extremely clear that it never goes backwards

you can do the second one as "wyld magic timeline forecast" not "I went forward and then back and then went forward and then back...."

[tulip folio]

Yeah, I'm looking at the Intro Charm for Emerald Gyre and A) going 'this is barely a martial arts charm even by SMA standards' and B) This is the sort of nonsense that Primal will likely involve.

[bleak hazel]

it's probably easier to do the first one as "this is what I would have packed, if I was prepared, which I totally was as of 0.2 seconds ago, how does it work? don't worry about it"

rather than explicitly "I went back in time and put some popcorn in the bag"

Sids have that as the equivalent of their armour elsewhere charm

"I was secretly wearing armour the whole time"

Emerald Gyre hits the ceiling for timefuckery in a way that I'd probably delay until higher essence, at least

[tulip folio]

Yeah, the lower level stuff will be 'Gravity and Seasonal Stuff' mostly I think.

For Primal

I might go more with 'fuck it, timeline didn't happen' over active reversion to try to avoid too much trouble. They didn't Regenerate That Wound, they went 'I don't like the timeline where that happened. let me prune it away'

'Nah didn't happen!' - Either a Fae or a 5 Year old.

[limpid badge]

see thaaat sounds fine

being so smart (familiar with the narrative) that you do the joseph thing

Your next line is...

[bleak hazel]

yeah you can fuck with it, Emerald Gyre has "I made this thing look exactly like it did X time ago" as kind of a cheat, as well as "I mentally lived this day 500 times in a groundhog day trance which we have conveniently skipped" but Creation has one true timeline and in it nothing ever goes even a millisecond backwards, even Gets aren't actually from alternate timelines, they just think they were

[tulip folio]

The dodge around 'no raising the dead' I have is that...well, they don't. And they can't. They can however turn a mortal into a spirit...and spirits come back if you don't kill them good.

Can't do it to actual exalts as the exaltation goes 'fuck is this? fuck off with this messing with my spirit'

It's basicly a Fancy Custom Version of the charm to turn mortals into demons that they can only do on willing people.

[limpid badge]

oh!

to those who can see through the illusions, the Day-Player looks like a rainbow mask wearing an elaborate mask of the mortal's face....

[limpid badge]

yeah exactly

[tulip folio]

Physical
Strength: Dragon's Ire (Done)
Dexterity: Legerdemain (Done)
Stamina: Primal (Done)

Mental
Intelligence: Infusion (Done)
Perception: Soothsay
Wits: Wayfare (Done)

Social
Charisma: Tale-Craft (Done)
Manipulation: Contract
Appearance: Naming (Done)

Down to just two to write about. Yaaaay

[velvet raft]

Question: if I have Counter-Pronouncement of Enthymemic Law, does Mocking Murmurs Retort seem skippable for the moment?

[coral wraith]

How much does the base charm cost?

[velvet raft]

4m

I do have pretty good Resolve, so that might be a reason to keep Retort? But both seem like strong social defenses, and it's not like I don't have other things I want

[tulip folio]

I like Counter-Pronouncement, it's a bit beefier.

Mocking Murmurs is nice but it's not non-charm so it's 'cheaper excellency'

While Counter-Pronouncement does something that can't be replicated with 'dump a lot of motes into integrity excellency'

[coral wraith]

Yeah Counter-Pronouncement is actually kinda nuts

[velvet raft]

Yeah, fair enough

I guess that opens up a charm for me ...

Mocking Murmurs does get a key that lets it be a group-wide social defense, but I'm not sure that's so much of a priority that I wouldn't grab something different

[tulip folio]

...hmm...do we have any charms that actively set people on fire? Like in an ongoing sense? My pondering would be to treat it like a poison that doens't interact with pro or anti-poison effects.

[velvet raft]

Also: kinda interesting that Infernals don't exactly have a graceful crane equivalent

[coral wraith]

Not a charm, but a spell - Flight of the Brilliant Raptor, 473 Core

[velvet raft]

Oh, wait, Counter-Pronouncement also has a key that goes group-wide

WELL

[tulip folio]

Huh, I swore that put out area effect fires not setting a specific dude on fire. Gunna have to double check that.

[coral wraith]

oh I mean it does

but the general effect of "environmental hazard on a dude" seems prudent

[velvet raft]

Do I get the clipboard charm

[tulip folio]

The clipboard charm is great.

...hmm...actually, another vague pondering - Do you think it's too 'messes with what shouldn't be messed with' to have a poison that works on Undead or Automatons, despite their usual immunity?

[velvet raft]

IIRC there already is at least one such

I think in CMOS?

Or maybe somewhere else ...

[tulip folio]

Drake-Venom Fang
Cost: 3m; Mins: Strength 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Dark venom drops from the Wanderer's nails and blade, scoring stone and pitting metal.

When the Wanderer makes a successful decisive attack, she subjects the target Drake Venom, a powerful wyld poison. It has Damage 2i/round (Lethal in Crash), Duration (Essence + Strength) rounds, and a −2 penalty.

Keys

Venomous Coils: This charm may supplement a Grapple or Disarm gambit, affecting the target if the Gambit is successful.

Drakon's Greed(Venomous Coils): This charm may be used reflexively when a Pickpocket or Disarm attempt against the Wanderer fails, subjecting the thief to her venom.

Lindwurm Bite (Essence 2): The Drake Venom's penalty, damage and duration increases by one. This Key can be purchased an additional time at Essence 4.

Iron in the Veins(Cold Iron Ruin, Essence 2): The Wanderer may use Cold Iron Ruin to enhance the Drake Venom, affecting the poison as if it was an attack.

Holly Strike(Essence 2, Lindwurm Bite): The Wanderer's Drake Venom is empowered with the bane of the immortal. It can affect creatures that are immune to poison due to their nature (Such as Undead and Automatons), though not those magically immune to posions. The poison’s duration can’t be reduced below one, no matter how many successes the target rolls.

[velvet raft]

I could also grab the Loud American charm

[tulip folio]

Loud American is a fun charm.

I do find it funny how many Infernal charms are just 'That Asshole'

Not even in a Malicious way like Ebby charms are.

Just Passive Assholery

[marsh garden]

there are a couple abyssal charms that set people on (pyreflame), which is just modeled as rolling damage dice each turn

[bleak hazel]

Infernals can do something similar, yeah

I suggest using the Abyssal ones as an example and taking it down just one tiny notch

the Infernal ones got flagged by a lot of people on first proofread for not having an end condition

[marsh garden]

there's also an artifact in AotC that does about the same thing

they all seem to end up being something like "stat or essence with conditions" lethal/turn, which can be simpled to snuff

[tulip folio]

Phantasmal Treasure of The Fae
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Strength 5, Essence 5
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Until attack is made
Prerequisite Charms: Several
The treasures of the wyld are not to be underestimated. Blades that can cut the world apart. Flames that can shatter the bonds of life. Calling upon the greatest treasures of the Dragon, she unleashes their force upon a world that is unprepared for their power.

To use this Charm the Wanderer must be at Initiative 12+. She takes an aim action, beginning a chant designed to invoke power that normally only exists within the wyld. She can choose to extend this by taking additional aim actions before attacking.

Once the Wanderer makes the aimed attack, she projects a destructive wave of Essence against all characters — friend or foe — within a ninety-degree cone. She chooses whether the blast extends to close range or short range. She can extend it to medium range if she aims for another round before attacking, or long range if she aims two additional times. The annihilating blast is an unblockable decisive attack rolled with (Strength + [Occult, Archery, or Melee]). Each character hit by the attack suffers (Half Wanderer’s Initiative, rounded up) damage. Battle groups and Legendary Size suffer the Wanderer’s full Initiative instead. This attack counts as a Simple Charm activation, preventing the Wanderer from flurrying it or using it with other Simple Charms 

If the Wanderer is left unable to attack or chooses not to do so after aiming, she’s refunded this Charm’s cost.

Reset: Once per scene unless reset by landing a decisive attack while at Initiative 10+. The attack made with this Charm doesn’t count for this.

Keys:

Noble Dragon's Kindness: The Wanderer has perfect control over what is and is not targeted by the attack. The attack cannot be affected by Defend Other or be redirected to another character and she may choose to exclude any number of characters, objects, spells or workings from the attack. She may even exclude those she is unaware of by focusing the attack purely on her foes and their works.

Unravelling Creation: Non-Magical Terrain and Objects in the area of the attack are annihilated, denying targets their cover. Within Creation, the affected area also becomes a bordermarch of the Wyld, posing the risk of mutation and addiction to long-term inhabitants. Other realms of existence may undergo similar changes at the Storyteller’s discretion.

An End To Shape(Unravelling Creation): The Wanderer can also shatter the effects of spells and sorcerous workings in the area of the effect. She makes an attack against all spells and sorcerous working in the area, as if they were characters with defence (Circle x3). On a success, spells and terrestial sorcerous workings are ended permanently. Celestial and Solar Sorcerous workings instead have their effects suppressed for (Essence + Strength) days.

Another one of those 'the base charm is based on an existing one but the keys are distinct' designs.

The Capstone for Dragon's Ire.

[marsh garden]

hm, is there a reason the last sentence in the description paragraph isn't replaced with "this is a simple action that can't be flurried" somewhere in it?

i'm kind of struggling to parse a bit of the timing

[tulip folio]

Honestly, because the charm it's based on had the same. XD

The timing is basicly 'You spend a quick action to make an aim action/declare you're starting this attack, then on your next turn you can either aim again or unleash the attack'

[marsh garden]

ah, i see

it's the alch strength capstone, yeah?

[tulip folio]

Yeah, though the keys go in a different way to the Alch submodules. Less Slamming People about (God Alchs love their slamming people about) and more object smashing.

[marsh garden]

hmm, looking at it the main effect is basically identical

i feel like you might want to lean more into the fire breath and/or Resources part

to at least give it a different feel

since they're ostensibly entirely unrelated splats, so they don't have the justification of intra-solar theft

(also, you have its applicable abilities listed as Occult, Ranged, or Melee)

(which i assume should be archery)

[tulip folio]

Yeah, it should be archery.

[marsh garden]

cool cool, wanted to make sure the intent wasn't thrown

[tulip folio]

And well, I was using the general homebrew area of 'If an effect is already written, it's kinda a waste to entirely rewrite it'. Which in this case is 'Giant Beam Attack'

[marsh garden]

it's reasonable, but since this is an entirely distinct splat, rather than a charm for an existing one or an evocation, i think you should give it more concrete flavor

since atm it's a generic "you do Big Thing and it does Big Beam" without demanding a specific aesthetic

that's reasonable, since it allows players to fluff things as they like, but i think it's to the charm's detriment here

where it isn't within alchs' sphere, since it's a more unique write-up there

[tulip folio]

...not sure what I'd really add to hit the thematic touchstone for this, as it does most of what I'd intended but I'll ponder.

[marsh garden]

my thought is that you should narrow it down to one of the assorted themes instead of any of them

fire breath, a hoard of infinite blades, a midas-curse of turning them into gold

i do really like the keys, although i'm not entirely sure that Unraveling Creation should auto-bordermarch

drawing on my extremely limited experience and looking at Abyssals again

they have a ton of capstone charms that turn areas into Shadowlands...but never real ones

they've got an Athletics charm that makes an area count as a shadowland temporarily, a Survival charm that slowly creates a shadowland over the course of a story, a War charm that summons a temporary-and-maybe-permanent-if-you-murder-enough shadowland with a maneuver

[tulip folio]

I know Dream-Souled can do it permanently at E3 (Though it takes a bit of time sustained to make it permanent rather than just 'a week').

[marsh garden]

but nothing that just Happens It

so i'd make it something that happens slowly

like, destabilizing Creation and making a bordermarch form over the course of the story

which aiui would bring it more in line with the expectations of wyld-shaping technique and other splatoon charms

[tulip folio]

As an aside: With the name/fluff is the joke in the charm obvious?

[marsh garden]

Noble Dragon's Kindness, inversely, feels like something that would make sense as a submodule but feels poor as its own full-price charm

i'm not sure if that's the going rate for exclusion upgrades, but my feelings say it deserves another small feature on it

[marsh garden]

unfortunately i am Extremely Stupid, so i could not tell you if it's obvious or not

the only thing i think of with it is fate gilgamesh

[tulip folio]

It's a Fate/Stay Night Noble Phantasm 😛

Drawing on the power of a mythical treasure to blow everything up

[marsh garden]

ah excellent

[tulip folio]

Noble Dragon's Kindness: The Wanderer has perfect control over what is and is not targeted by the attack. The attack cannot be affected by Defend Other or be redirected to another character and she may choose to exclude any number of characters, objects, spells or workings from the attack. She may even exclude those she is unaware of by focusing the attack purely on her foes and their works.

Vague Pondering: Making the 'no, I only hit what I intend to hit' bypass 'Hey what if I fucked with who you are targeting' effects.

[marsh garden]

no idea if that's balanced but it definitely looks more satisfying for an e5 upgrade of an e5 charm

[tulip folio]

Honestly, it's mostly situational but it should make it feel more tempting.

As the attack is already unblockable, you need to both Defend Other and be able to block unblockable to defend other already.

Or defend other with evasion, like sids do

[tulip folio]

On the topic of wealth, I also gave them a poison charm that plays a bit with wealth. With one of the keys letting you apply the poison to anyone who attempts to steal from you and fails.

'My stuff is my stuff and I won't let other people take it'

[buoyant summit]

🦢As our system's greatest Witcher fan, I wonder what sort of Exalt Ciri from the Witcher would be

Instinctually I wanna say Deeb runaway

Or an Exigent of some kind, lol

[wise ocean]

ciri is an emerald gyre sid

her entire powerset is Green

[buoyant summit]

ffffaaaaaaiiiiirrrrr

Though she'd need that one Sid Melee charm to use her sword with it

Maiden-on-the-Shelf Enlightenment

[wise ocean]

no reason for her not to have it

[buoyant summit]

True

Also I assume by you saying her entire powerset is Green, you think she'd be a Secrets?

I don't actually agree, I think she'd be an Endings

[wise ocean]

nah, as in the literal color

when she's teleporting around or whatever

[buoyant summit]

We thought it was more a blue-dominant torquoise but fair enough

Though your assertion she's a Sid has just strengthened in our mind

Given she's

A master of Avoidance

So she reaches her Final Form™ As an E3 Endings Sid with Melee into Emerald Gyre

reads Emerald Gyre form

'Oh my God????'

[wise ocean]

Y E P

[velvet raft]

Emerald Gyre Form does, in fact, allow two simple charms to be combined

You read that correctly

Also one of its attacks gives the opponent’s onslaught penalties a duration of forever

Now, some might say, “what if you combined this with the bs from Centipede Style that lets you make onslaught penalties and wound the penalties into the same thing?”

And to them I say: yes, do it

[marsh garden]

gamers, i have a bit of an issue. been trying to figure out if this Evocation is overtuned, undertuned, or fine as it is, and i haven't found any charms or evos that i could use as a direct comparison point. i request opinions and/or references

Grudge-Flensing Blackguard Absolution
Cost: 7m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dissonant, Dual, Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: a couple
The wielder adds non-Charm dice to an attack roll equal to her target's strongest negative Intimacy involving her, or his strongest Intimacy involving hatred, revenge, or grudges if none of his negative Intimacies involve her. If she deals 5+ withering damage or any decisive damage, the invoked Intimacy is weakened by one step. The victim can't resist this with Willpower, but can resist it by taking (Intimacy-1) levels of aggravated damage.

Dissonant: The added dice are Charm

[wise ocean]

there's an armor evocation that does this but for defensive values, I believe - abyssal?

that said four non-charm dice if the target hates someone is fuckin' wild

[marsh garden]

is this a

fucking wild

or just a "waow you're riding the edge there" one?

[wise ocean]

considering RAW you don't need to even know that they have that intimacy, they just have to have it, the former

[marsh garden]

hm

do you have any recommendations on fixing that? should it just be cheaper (like 4m) and make the dice always Charm?

or exist as-is but be bumped to higher Essence

or just cut the attack adder entirely and make it a "damage" amp?

[wise ocean]

I'd just make it always charm and you have to know the intimacy exists, but that's me

[marsh garden]

hmm

where can i steal "know the intimacy exists" wording, if you know?

[bleak hazel]

7m for 4 NCD is a pretty bad deal anyway, but it does depend who is swinging it around

deebs fucking love capbreaking accuracy because they don't get much of it, a Solaroid is going to go "meh" and Excellent Strike some more

[marsh garden]

for my abyssal goobus, so good to know

[wise ocean]

I'd pay 7m for 4ncd if I'm already going full excellency to hit someone, esp. on a withering where it just translates directly into extra damage anyway

[bleak hazel]

I would if it was an absolutely vital decisive, on a withering then nah, you're already spending 11 motes on more efficient accuracy boosters

(excellent strike, then excellency to cap, then you start looking at this)

so it's mostly about the intimacy reduction

[marsh garden]

i'm having a bit of trouble regearing the evo

because i don't think erosion on an attack should be cheap, yeah? but i'm trying to avoid a wp cost, which i might have to stop doing

and i don't think "e2 erode an intimacy" is something that should be allowed without contest, but less than that and i'm not sure it's like. powerful enough to be worth the minimum cost on its own

[bleak hazel]

WP costs on big moves like this you're probably using only once per fight are standard and totally fine

that's kind of the point of them

also man Infernal Craft might have been made a bit overbloated once the writers unlocked the true power of Keys

there's like 35 goddamn charms in here

[marsh garden]

lol

how many are necessary for Thing-Doing™

[bleak hazel]

I want to make an Infernal Crafter but I don't have a charm tree yet so I am having to fuck around a lot figuring out where all the right stuff is

[marsh garden]

and how many just add weird wacky side path bullshit?

[bleak hazel]

oh about the usual number

but it's got a lot of relatively long winding side trees

[marsh garden]

gotcha

[bleak hazel]

so because I want to specifically do the daemon-forging that's a whole separate path

man I was going to call this god tier until it said "the sacrifice can't be a trivial character" because most people who aren't supernatural beings are trivial characters to an Infernal

[marsh garden]

ahh, the one that lets you cheat costs?

[bleak hazel]

yeah I am going to repeatedly externalise a tiny shard of my soul into a 2CD, then hammer it into a sword

[marsh garden]

by mulching a demon for $$$ gold points

waow

[bleak hazel]

and take increasingly many of the permanent fuck-your-day-up-for-power charms to represent what that's doing to my guy

[wise ocean]

the real sauce here is to dip into infernal presence

• pretend to be someone else (a non-figure, a fictional entity)
• create a cult
• wait for the cult to generate a celestial god
• kill the freshly spawned god and make it into a sword

repeat as necessary

[bleak hazel]

definitely going for this

[wise ocean]

immutable self-concept is very good but you get completely fucked if someone does manage to punch through it and give you a Major

[bleak hazel]

unsure on secondary abilities other than a little bit of Athletics for Argument From The Peak

[marsh garden]

that's part of the appeal i think

[bleak hazel]

yeah you don't take Cosmic Transcendence of Virtue because you want to be good at being normal

[marsh garden]

since it doesn't give you resolve against influence that creates intimacies

[wise ocean]

y e p.

iirc my social infernal has base resolve 6 or something, so it's an excellency fight

[marsh garden]

it's definitely a bonkers op (set of) charm for being a tree-starting e1

with the phenomenal drawback of "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST BE NORMAL" 'screaming and shitting and crying in the backseat'

[wise ocean]

presence and socialize are very powerful

[bleak hazel]

presence has VEE, which is a true classic

fuck I've made a wandering sword-saint again haven't I

hello again Vigil

(I already have Exalted Vigil, so this is going to be a different guy)

[wise ocean]

it's exalted, it keeps spawning wandering sword-saints at a rapid rate

[bleak hazel]

I don't think I have one yet

I have Rival, who is merely really into swording as an office job

I do think I have some pretty good vibes inspiration for this guy at least

man so wide he takes up the entire frame whenever he's in a scene

they made him a twink in the remake and frankly it really does not work despite LOGH mostly being made up of pretty boys

[buoyant summit]

remembers her title is 'the Lady of Space and Time'

[bleak hazel]

Sidereal Bullshit of the day:

Any-Direction Arrow + Black Shards Fall Like Ice -> spend 16m 7wp to make six unblockable, undodgeable, ignore hardness, ignore cover, ignore defend other decisive attacks at Essence 3

basically runs you clean out of willpower and requires you to have an init lead, but it will finish people off

[tulip folio]

Huh, Sids have a 'no defend other' effect?

[bleak hazel]

well, OSOI does

[tulip folio]

Mean.

[coral wraith]

Black Shards Fall Like Ice turns defend other off unless it can defend vs both unblockable and undodgeable

[bleak hazel]

Black Shards Fall Like Ice is second only to Invincible Fury of the Dawn and its equivalents in terms of multiattack bullshit but it trades "pay only once to enhance every attack in the flurry" for "hey, your shit that gets you out of this really fucking doesn't"

[tulip folio]

Nasty. Well, that makes me a hair less worried about the Dragon's Ire capstone having a key that fucks with it, as other effects do so.

[bleak hazel]

OSOI is one of those styles that I never quite get around to actually taking

but it is extremely good for aura farming

Black Shards is essentially the phase 2 malenia move with the ghost slashes and that's like the fourth charm in

[coral wraith]

if you go Crime Secrets I think OSOI is a very natural fit

[tulip folio]

Since I gave them a key for Phantasmal Treasure of the Fae that lets it bypass defend other (As part of the 'this AOE only affects people I want it to, not people I want it to avoid' effect) and was a hair worried about that even at Essence: Yes.

OSOI is one of those things that's conceptually really cool but it's never my first SMA pick.

And SMA are already expensive/late essence

[bleak hazel]

it's rather hard to use all of its kit at once, you basically spin a big wheel every fight and go "what nonsense am I going to bring out today?"

[velvet raft]

I do feel like my SMA ideal is still PAOC + a bunch of dips

Centipede + PAOC in particular seems almost comically good as a baseline

[bleak hazel]

Ripple in the Silvered Glass is one of those tech pieces that is useless until it isn't

you start a fight and then start neatly arranging all your chess pieces

I suppose OSOI isn't awful for dipping since you can fairly easily grab Ripple, A Likeness of Absence and Black Shards Fall Like Ice

which are situational but big reposition techs, emergency defence and megaflurry respectively

you just need good perception

[tulip folio]

The Capstone for OSOI feels like it's got some real toxic tricks to fuel it if you want to go full Game Logic.

[velvet raft]

A lot of SMAs are great just for the pre-form stuff

[tulip folio]

Like I could see some real dickery with White Veil into OSOI for 'Hey, so I don't plan to ever actually Let The Other Guy Know He's In The Fight as I build init'

[bleak hazel]

Breathing on the Black Mirror is probably the most interesting of the alternate win condition super gambits

despite not actually being a gambit

[velvet raft]

Numberless Blows Technique and Five Jade Fury are made for each other

[bleak hazel]

if you are willing to go absolutely all out, a Battles sid can go JB, lesser sign of mars, greater sign of mars, breathing on the black mirror

which gets you about 18-19 sux

[tulip folio]

Multi-Mars Teamup just for BOTBM

[velvet raft]

I should challenge myself to make a red sid

[bleak hazel]

the overlapping caste abilities are kind of a pain but honestly they have a lot of tech

[tulip folio]

I keep being tempted by Red Sids but then I go 'oh but...endings'

[bleak hazel]

I'm pleasantly surprised

also their lesser sign is easily as big as Endings

[velvet raft]

It is, just more defensively oriented

[bleak hazel]

every time the team is in trouble you just do some naruto hand signs and buff defence all around

[velvet raft]

Endings has the nice thing of not giving a shit about raw damage, tho

[bleak hazel]

yeah, Endings is my preferred pick for barehanded builds

[tulip folio]

I do like Endings + Even Blade Form for 'Armour? What armour?'

[velvet raft]

Amusingly, with Thousand Blades, Endings can get minimum damage well into the double digits

[bleak hazel]

if you don't care deeply about getting ongoing parry/attack dice from Ways of Exaltation you can actually dual-maiden and use both Lesser Signs at once on your own

[velvet raft]

Yeah

It's just that the ongoing from Ways of Exaltation is crazy good

[bleak hazel]

opening up the fateometron to install one of these

and yeah, I usually go for the dice

[velvet raft]

It's just so, so much mote efficiency, among other things

[bleak hazel]

of course the real hax is Having A Friend Technique

[tulip folio]

Somewhere, there is a Battles Sid + Infernal Teamup that is just the 'well, we have a hulk' scene.

[bleak hazel]

battles and endings together absolutely rinse people in tag-team fights

a build I think might be completely disgusting is Black Claw into PAOC with a tiny bit of brawl on an Endings

you don't care about Black Claw Form at all so you can quad-form and all of a sudden your incredibly cranked social martial art also has post-soak 13 fists

[velvet raft]

I should take another look at Black Claw. How viable is it with low manipulation?

[coral wraith]

dont

[velvet raft]

I know doe-eyes defense wants as much as possible

[coral wraith]

you want high Manip for basically all of it and doe-eyes is easily your best charm, yeah

[bleak hazel]

also don't use the cheesy reading of Torn Lotus Defence that lets it auto-vampire a zillion init off a crowd, that's busted

otherwise, yeah just have decent manip and whack people

[tulip folio]

...with how few of the sid ride charms are Actually About Riding The Horse, I'm pondering a character that has the skill but not really many/any ride charms. Does that seem silly?

[velvet raft]

You should probably pick up the first few

That's often how it is with sids

But not many? Yeah, go for it

[tulip folio]

Yeah, I was thinking 'a couple with starting charms so I'm not paying the extra cost for not favored/so I get the excellency'

[velvet raft]

Yeah

That would be my thought

[bleak hazel]

the big benefit of Ride Sids is that if you just have a horse that's +4 noncharm dice on schmovement

so just having Ride 5 and doing mounted archery/thrown is pretty great

[velvet raft]

Also you can ride a mouse of the sun around like a roller skate

[tulip folio]

Yeah, in this case a unicorn for +5 dice on schoovement and the Most Amazing Horse.

[bleak hazel]

pick up Field Mouse Rider so that you can ride your pet hummingbird in places that don't permit horses

Unicorns are speed 5?

damn

[velvet raft]

Ooh, I like the vibe of Sids On Unicorns

That's a good look

[tulip folio]

They are. They also have TN 4 inspire with sid help 😛

[velvet raft]

I can't remember if I ever shared the Nobilis version of Red Evening Sky btw https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y8rTZLl0ZllhBvRrpl3XomUsIo7HjKWFWpul1mj5bRQ/edit?tab=t.0

[tulip folio]

'This is my horse, my horse is amazing'

[bleak hazel]

Field Mouse Rider continues to be an insanely good pickup then

what if I had a solar dice pool on movement

[tulip folio]

Hahahahah

This just seems Useful To A Sid

[velvet raft]

Yeah, Unicorns are great

The only trouble is that sids don't have much in the way of familiar charms

But I guess you could pick up the defend-other-with-dodge charm?

[tulip folio]

Honestly, I was mostly planning on just 'not rolling them into combat as a separate character unless I've got a solid reason'

[velvet raft]

That's fair!

[tulip folio]

They can fight but they're mostly here for 'God damn that's a fast, cool horse'

[velvet raft]

I love the unicorn art

[tulip folio]

It's great.

...also, yeah Field Mouse Rider doesn't have a cap...

So that's +6 speed for unicorn

Which I can presume just means 'zoom' fast

[velvet raft]

Also, hot take: any GM who doesn't let you use a unicorn with Witch-Beast Pact deserves to have nickelodeon slime dumped on them

[tulip folio]

I'll just trap them in a room with The Last Unicorn playing until they break down crying.

[velvet raft]

I never saw the movie, but it's a hell of a book

[tulip folio]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo7mgo7YyLI Some of the bits in it are heartbreaking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuCWXGFteTw Also: Christopher Lee as King Haggard.

[velvet raft]

Hm, other than Centipede, what other good MA tricks are balanced by anima costs that we can break with Stepping Beyond Light …

[tulip folio]

Does it have to be martial arts or can evocations use it to?

[bleak hazel]

man it's good that that doesn't work with Melee because otherwise Peony Blossom becomes infinite attack spam

Infinite Essence Mantle becomes free, which is not particularly useful but is neat

[velvet raft]

Stepping Beyond Light nails you to bonfire anima in general

Honestly would not be surprised if that got nerfed on the full release, but it is an Essence 4 trick

[tulip folio]

Prismatic Bulwark in Alchemicals has a lot of anima costs

[bleak hazel]

I am pretty sure it has to still be compatible with Crystal Chameleon, since melee attacks/defences can't benefit from MA charms, but that still leaves anything other than combat ability stuff

[tulip folio]

Ah, Prismatic Bulwark is a shield, that's no good

[velvet raft]

Now in fairness, a lot of 3a costs will also cost enough motes to zap you right back to bonfire anyway

So stepping beyond light is best for effects that care about where your anima is right now like Exaltation Ways

[tulip folio]

Sacrosanct Sovereign Personage is a very funny thing for a Sov with Crystal Chameleon.

'I thunderbolt rush into melee'
'no'

You'd only pay it once but getting a 3a discount on their Big Social Combat Charm could be really good too.

'I treat bonfire as trancendent and I have unlimited bonfire due to martial arts'

[velvet raft]

Sovereigns seem like they have so much good stuff

[tulip folio]

Also: Seven-Colour + Chrystal Chameleon Form is just a disgusting amount of attack penalty

...wait...oh fuck

Sovs have a 'spend as much anima as you want' combat charm.

It's got a second cap but...still

'Hey, I'm gunna have +4 post-soak damage on every withering attack you don't reduce to minimum damage'

[bleak hazel]

3m for 4 post-soak is good by Celestial standards - see Five Jade Fury being 4m for effectively 5

so yeah great pickup for a Sovereign

not massive enough to actually break anything but neat

Sovereigns in general feel like they're about right for Terrestrials, whereas deebs can sometimes be a bit lacking

[tulip folio]

Yeah. Deebs suffer from the same 'first off the rack' issue as solars, just in their case for the terrestial power level

I'll admit, I've been freely pillaging Sovs, Dream-Souled and Heart-Eaters for charms when working on Wanderers. XD

Wanderers are celestial, not terrestial but they're good for inspiration.

[bleak hazel]

Heart-Eaters have a few wonky ones but also some cool tricks

(looking at you, "hit lowest of def or guile", that one is a tad janky)

[tulip folio]

This one is just funny

[velvet raft]

Alright, re-reading Black Claw

Random initial thought: the protagonist of Angel Densetsu has the opposite of Open Palm Caress

Torn Lotus Defense makes Manipulation pretty mandatory, especially considering how good it seems to be

And it does seem to be very, very good

Flexing the Emerald Claw: that is a very long duration on that poison

... you know

Sids actually don't need Manipulation to get mileage out of Doe Eyes Defense

The rest of the style sort of absolutely demands it

Perhaps more importantly, a sid does not need socialize for Guile, which could help some builds a lot

[velvet raft]

Are there any straightforward, low attunement cost artifacts that can get a hearthstone's effects on one's unarmed attacks? I know alchs and lunars have ways to do this easily, but setting them aside.

[wise ocean]

OSOI is so powerful I keep trying to figure out a way to give it to my Sids, but there's always something that gets in the way

that said, surely Thrown enlightenment will save me :^)

emerald gyre is also really powerful but I know my abyssal has counters to it, while OSOI really can't be done much about

[fierce star]

Crystal Chameleon is about the only MA I'd take on a sovereign, I think

their native charmset is just so delightful

I still need to get into a terrestrial-level game that doesn't die, I want to play my Rich Bitch Sorcerer-Craftswoman-Socialite

[wise ocean]

critical support for awful women in this household

[fierce star]

I had a fun homebrew sorcerous initiation for her

Auroral Hand Awakening (Sorcerous Initiation) Some who bathe in the fires of the Fount of Glories find themselves receiving more than just a second breath; some few blessed by the burning essence walk out bearing a hand made of adamant and fireglass, a sorcerous channel from which to shape the raw essence of creation. These Awakened Hands find it easy to shape essence and material alike, becoming excellent craftsmen and sources of inspiration.

Shaping Rituals: A Touch Of Flame: Once per story the Sorcerer may bathe their Auroral Hand in the hottest of flames--the most common method being to shove it into a lit forge until the arm glows white with burning heat. This does no damage to the sorcerer, but allows them to bank (essence + the difficulty of the fire as an environmental hazard) sorcerous motes until the end of the story.

Gift from the Fount: The Sorcerer can draw power from special sorcerous effigies she has created that express beauty and wealth. Once per day, when the sorcerer completes a craft project to create an effigy, she gains sorcerous motes equal to her extra successes (max 10) which last until used or she next uses this ritual. Once per scene, she may draw (Essence) sorcerous motes from an effigy within medium range. Effigies made with basic projects are destroyed, Those made with major projects survive but can only be used once per scene.

Sparkling Midnight Glory: The Sorcerer draws power from the people she leads. Once per scene while leading a battlegroup, she may flurry a Command roll and a Shape Sorcery roll, gaining extra successes on the Shape Sorcery roll equal to the number of successes on her Command roll (max essence).

Other Benefits: Evocations: Sorcerers may awaken evocations from the Auroral Hand as a three-dot artifact. These may allow her to craft objects of hypnotic wonder, shape already-existing objects as easily as clay, or enhance her sorcery and physicality by replacing more of her body with adamant and fireglass.

Shaping The Aurora (***): The Auroral Hand becomes capable of assisting the bearer direclty with their crafting. The sorcerer can commit 3 motes to it to treat it as Bracers of Universal Crafting.

The Universal Gift (**): The Auroral Hand suffers no penalties on Instill, Persuade, or Inspire rolls involving objects she has created due to difficulties communicating, such as from not having a shared language or a target being nonverbal.

[velvet raft]

I have a critically important vibes question for y'all, pnet

Red Evening Sky is a sid who has Resources 0 due to an easily-corrected bureaucratic error that her anxiety prevents her from resolving. If she also has a manse, is that:

• less pathetic, because she has a nice house
  or
• more pathetic, because she has a nice house and no money so the place is extremely empty
  ?

[wise ocean]

more pathetic

she owns a house and it's just Male Living Space

there's a futon in the master bedroom with a water bottle and a candle next to it, 40ft of free space on every side

[velvet raft]

XD

Okay, in order to be a pathetic as possible, I think it needs to be the equivalent of a hobbit hole

So like

Bag End, but completely empty

[fierce star]

eating the yu-shan equivalent of pot noodles every day

[velvet raft]

Mostly she eats whatever she cooks for Sifu Syn >_>

[prisma sun]

Ambrosia Noodles

Ambroodles

[velvet raft]

Still, we can do better:

A towering column of limestone, blue jade, and marble in northern Yu-Shan, the Star's Warren is a First Age manse that weaves together constructed materials in emulation of both art and nature in the image of a mountain as depicted in abstract, painterly style. This singular, twisting peak rises above nearby structures and is forever shrouded in an impossible picturesque, luminous spiral of fog from which drifts the gentlest of eternal snowfalls. The tower's interiors comprise a single, continuous room in which jade steps connect four vertically arranged stone platforms. At each, the temperature varies, a reflection of Creation's seasons and a meditation by the architect on the nature of elemental air.

Currently, its only decorations are an icebox on the top platform, and Red Evening Sky's futon on the one below it.

Five-dot air manse, zero-dot interior decoration

[fierce star]

Funnily enough though she wasn't that awful

Yeah, she has a deifning principle of "Ambition is no vice, and humility no virtue" but she also has "Poverty is a sign of a failed state" as a principle

(a minor one, but still)

[bleak hazel]

Rival is actually in a similar spot to R.E.S here because his manse was an inheritance, and as such is this sprawling pavilion and tunnel complex full of vaults, war rooms and guest quarters that he lives in about four or five rooms of

by the time he was old enough that Gleam's asynchronous legacy wasn't saying "nope, can't touch this kid, it's not yours yet" he had swapped from "ooh cool numinous loot" to "that was Dad's, I can't just pick it up and throw it in a box to clear space in the dining hall"

(Gleam, being a very utilitarian soul when he wasn't limit breaking very badly, probably would have slapped him, sighed and told him to stop living on Resources 1 and use the goddamn office)

[velvet raft]

Ah, so Rival's manse is full of stuff that isn't his, instead of having nothing in it? :D

[bleak hazel]

it's full of stuff that probably could be his, apart from a few vaults that are still a dead man's contingency plans that only open if Rival gets to the right spot in the choose your own sidventure book that was his primary inheritance

but yes

he has what Ash described as a River Song type deal going on where because the first meeting Rival had with his father figure is "if you're listening to this, I am dead" and everything else is this absolute sprawling web of files, letters, holocron recordings and messages literally sewn into Fate, and he has literally no idea when they're going to run out

(not having seen Dr. Who I could not confirm the accuracy of this reference)

so he's kind of dreading the time when he reads a completely innocuous note from Dad and it turns out that's the last one he'll ever get

[velvet raft]

Hah, I didn't realize how much Gleam was a continued presence in Rival's life

[prisma sun]

Rival is a nepo baby and I am gonna kick his ass

[wise ocean]

(for those who are Who knowers, it's the "the first time you meet this person is the day they die and you never know when'll be your last day with them and their first day meeting you" thing I'm riffing off of)

[prisma sun]

I have no reason to feel this way

[bleak hazel]

the reason he has suddenly become a PC right now is that he's done with Gleam's Training 101 (which took about eight years) and now has his own set of missions and priorities

he does genuinely want to make his own name for himself but yes, he's a Sid nepo baby

[prisma sun]

Oh btw misc

[bleak hazel]

also he didn't have a dad before and exalted at age fourteen so my boy was kind of lacking in mentorship before that point

[prisma sun]

Did you see the quintessential JJK Manga animations

[bleak hazel]

I did not

[bleak hazel]

I admit I may have ran a bit far with my inspiration from the one charm that says "Sids use this to leave stuff for their successors" but I like it

if Gleam had an elder prowess it would be some kind of Fate Dead Drop

Linguistics 5, Essence 5, leave a message that will just kind of assemble itself for the right recipient at the point it's required in the future

which he originally developed for his actual job of being Heaven's best insurgent

dude was going through the entire lyrics of Horse Soldier, Horse Soldier

[prisma sun]

The funny thing for Drifts is that Sif didnt actually "feel his end approaching"

He just died of old age suddenly

So Drifts got all the reputation and none of the prep of reincarnating

[velvet raft]

Look "mechanics as roleplaying prompt" is for real one of the best uses of mechanics

[bleak hazel]

honestly probably a more healthy way to go out than setting up a giant limit-break fuelled atemporal training program and then headbutting things until you get Nanami-ed

thinking he could do this so well as to make a student who would be more powerful and capable than he was at his specialty regardless of who got exalted was absolutely limit break territory but Rival is game for it

[velvet raft]

I don't think R.E.S. has a particularly notable past incarnation, but I guess I haven't really thought about it

Maybe I should

Maybe a specifically ignominous string of past incarnations

[prisma sun]

Oh Sif was also limit breaking

But it was just SEVERE depression

He had pooled to stagnation under the weight of sin

And could no longer bring himself to travel the world as he did

[bleak hazel]

given the fact Gleam was hard Bronze I suspect he might succeed in creating someone more powerful than he was (because Rival is a PC and as such has the magic prodigy narrative capacity that PC XP progression provides, rather than for any other reason) but with the exact opposite politics

because he was kind of a freak he might have been OK with that

[prisma sun]

Bronze 4 life

Exalted is the ONLY setting where being a conservative can be cool

[velvet raft]

I think RES is likely to wind up exactly as Bronze as Anys Syn is in the modern day, which is to say that she mostly seems to be there out of inertia

RES is probably considered Bronze Faction by default but is mostly just going to do her thing

[prisma sun]

Drifts is bronze mainly because he would prefer saving the world than reshaping it

[velvet raft]

"Oh you're Anys Syn's student! She's one of the pillars of the Bronze Faction!"
Anys Syn sneezes while teaching an Infernal martial arts

[bleak hazel]

Rival really took "Save da world, my final message, goodbye" to heart when he was brought from a random silversmithing shop in wu-jian to literal heaven when he was 14 and told he was going to be cool

[wise ocean]

oh that second intimacy is going to be wild for the graves fight

brother's going to get hit with the You want what you cannot have. This is common to all. like a sledgehammer

[bleak hazel]

both Rival and Gleam are me poking the concept of the shonen protagonist with a very long stick from different angles

[velvet raft]

Robin, otoh, respects various bronze people but that's probably just statistics

[bleak hazel]

I get damage from philosophical argument so goes both ways

sadly he doesn't have Kindly Sifu's Quill yet

(because that one goes wild when you hit E3 and isn't quite so massive at 2, so I skipped it for XP)

[wise ocean]

my sid is bronze because, to quote,

[bleak hazel]

look at this bullshit

[velvet raft]

(I mainly replaced RES with Robin in the Voyserver because I felt like the format made it difficult to do RES justice, and Robin is a character I know how to play by reflex)

[bleak hazel]

target intimacies are "a positive Minor Tie to a group or a Principle representing
a philosophical or ethical belief" which is extremely broad

[wise ocean]

extremely politicsbrained individual, has zero opinions on anything metaphysical around solars but is very invested in the realpolitik of protagonists cannot a stable national system make

[bleak hazel]

about the only kind of trash talk it excludes is "your waifu a shit", it's hard to think of many characters who don't have at least a major you can trip with KSQ

[velvet raft]

This is why we need to turn solars into alchemicals

[wise ocean]

single-handedly the thing convincing me I need more resolve after finally reading crane, y e p

[bleak hazel]

the one combo I wish I could do but is illegal due to the way PAOC works is Kindly Sifu's Quill + Smiling at the Damned

the latter sets your damage to agg and gives it -1TN

[velvet raft]

Smiling at the Damned is the Endings charm?

[bleak hazel]

Melee

[prisma sun]

I do love how much my server is people realizing Talkfu is not something you can ignore

[velvet raft]

Ah, okay

[bleak hazel]

but non-Versatile

[velvet raft]

Yeah no I'm there for the talking

[prisma sun]

"Oh shit persuasiveness is scary"

[velvet raft]

I was not anticipating we would be doing rules-heavy combat stuff

[bleak hazel]

the good thing about Crane here is that it has this strong incentive to do the slow walkup so you have time to flurry some social

Rival's read intentions is pretty bad but he can still throw decent instills

[bleak hazel]

I am kind of loving the various duels honestly

Exalted combat is fun to watch and everyone has good blorbos

[velvet raft]

Oh it's been fun

And good practice

[wise ocean]

I don't have POINTS for verbal combat I invested them all in KILLING PEOPLE

[velvet raft]

I just wasn't expecting it

[bleak hazel]

Guolin using Sid Bureaucracy to make poison attacks mid combat was a truly brilliant idea, I've never thought of that before

[velvet raft]

Hm, okay, Games of Divinity Form: is there any obvious way to leverage this?

[wise ocean]

Black Claw, maybe?

[prisma sun]

Kill them before they talk to you

Duh

[bleak hazel]

yeah, all of Black Claw triggers off that

positive intimacy towards the stylist

[velvet raft]

Aha

Unfortunately that requires appearance and manipulate and ain't nobody got time for that >_>

[bleak hazel]

it's one of about four reasons that PAOC/Black Claw is absolutely terrifying

[wise ocean]

The unfortunate thing is that Rival has the defensive style, so killing him before he gets to talk is a difficult proposition

Our top guys are in the lab working on it, though

[bleak hazel]

Rival will probably not be going for the talkdown on this occasion

mid-combat argument absolutely, but he is still a huge sword pervert and is here to throw down

[velvet raft]

The annoying thing is that Black Claw would make a lot of sense for RES, it's just that Manipulation 1 also makes a lot of sense for RES.

[bleak hazel]

"look, you perfectly fit the stereotype but you're actually Just A Little Birthday Girl, you have to be faking it"

[wise ocean]

doe-eyes defense (genuine)

[velvet raft]

She's got the adoration for her sifu, she's got the whole affectation thing going on

[bleak hazel]

who teaches her, Anys Syn?

[velvet raft]

Ye

She's a Synner

The only problem is that under the affectation is nonstop anxiety, rather than scheming schemes

[wise ocean]

depending on whether I actually throw Crystal in, that's actually a fun contrast

we have our best people assigned to this case

who?

swordpervert mcnepobaby and the guy we sent to live in a graveyard with a flock of dead birds

[prisma sun]

Syn's canonical 2 students

The most anti social and most social martial arts prodigies

[bleak hazel]

Rival is not actually one of Syn's students, he was given his in-person instruction by Red-Handed Kijamano

who is this hyper-moral Gold Faction zealot who ripped an arm off a demon and replaced her lost one with it, Yarrick style

she knows Crane, Sidbrawl and about three SMAs

she is essentially the Sidereal equivalent of Solo Wing Pixy, right down to the colour scheme

[wise ocean]

crystal isn't even a martial artist either ('cos I couldn't fit it in the build), he's a necromancer
there's some constant under-tone level to how people usually interact with him that he's going to betray everyone eventually, but that only makes him even more Loyal

[bleak hazel]

(RHK is not one of mine, she's going to be in the Sid companion)

[wise ocean]

it's also that (based on my read of the book) it's a little freakish to start trying to actually innovate things and that's his entire value proposition, carving out this tiny working group on the edge of Journeys for prediction, reconnaissance, and global awareness

[coral wraith]

I've recently learnt about Silver-Voice Nightingale Style which I overlooked and is, in fact, the Talkfu style of all time

Since the very first thing it gives is "zero penalty Performance + attack flurry"

[wise ocean]

I've actually considered a SVN Abyssal before because of a couple fun abyssal charms

[bleak hazel]

one of the Sids in Adversaries of the Righteous is one of the only actually fighty exalts in there purely because they were like "fuck, what do we do for her combat suite" and decided on "all E2 or below SVN charms" as shorthand

everyone else has fuck all

[bleak hazel]

she also has the somewhat busted prototype sid excellency becuase she is from before Sidbook

so change that out

perma TN4 SVN, go wild

[coral wraith]

holy fuck

[marsh garden]

somewhat busted???

[bleak hazel]

she can only add 2 dice to rolls because it's capped at essence, so it's less strong than just "waive the willpower cost to go to TN4" would be otherwise

[tulip folio]

I kinda miss the prototype DB excellency, though I know it was too good for a terrestial

[marsh garden]

what was it?

[bleak hazel]

Ability + Specialty, pay 1 WP to reroll (Essence) fails

[marsh garden]

huh

that's quite nice

[bleak hazel]

without any of the little ribbons on the actual deeb excellencies, but still very strong

elder deebs thus had a better excellency than solars as long as they had willpower to use

[marsh garden]

i think everyone has a better excellency than solars, broadly speaking, yeah?

[bleak hazel]

nah, they're all tradeoffs to some extent besides Lunars

until you get to E5 Alchs and Sids

[tulip folio]

The Alch excellency is notably worse for 99% of the game

But they make up for it with Other Tricks

Like having 1-3 points of 'oh yeah, free constant excellency'

[marsh garden]

lunars are just "solar excellency but looser", yeah?

[bleak hazel]

Alchs are Att + Essence so despite their efficiency they can't add many dice
Lunars are essentially Att + 5, so they're golden
Sids spike slightly lower than Solars do and suffer more from dice penalties, but these are both quite minor drawbacks for their insane efficiency and they basically become straight better at E4+
Deebs are small

[tulip folio]

Lunar I'd put as solidly better as it's 'Attribute +5' in function

But it's more strong in Width than having Extra Depth.

[bleak hazel]

the real downside to Sids here is that they don't get dice trick charms so punish-1s tech works at full effect on them

[velvet raft]

Alchs get a ton of non-charm bonuses

[velvet raft]

Gotta get that Jewel of the Rabbit’s Sword with Demesne Emulation

[tulip folio]

Maybe I should steal the prototype DB excellency for wanderers (Eh, likely not) 😛

[velvet raft]

Pondering if I could sneak in a charm request on the sid companion somehow, I'd ask for a Black Claw secret technique for "but what if I'm sincere"

[marsh garden]

that would be v funny

[bleak hazel]

apparently black claw has at least one or two already

we know there's "a fusion of Crane and Black Claw" which sounds pretty wild

[tulip folio]

Crane is all about teaching lessons and black claw is...oh no

'We trained him wrong, as a joke'

[wise ocean]

if I could name a sid charm, it'd probably be a way to Prescient Planner pull out mid-combat "you fool, I cast a prophecy relating to this days ago!"

[tulip folio]

You know what would be the most hillariously toxic martial arts combo to have a fusion for?

Black Claw and Throne Shadow

[wise ocean]

I don't know, I think White Veil + Rat + CPoC already has toxic covered :^)

(as well as every other status ailment)