[Exalted 3e] Xefas' Infernal Behemoth Garden 2.0
Here is the original, 2nd Edition, version of this thread: Xefas' Infernal Behemoth Garden. My plan is to convert and update my favorites from that thread, along with adding new behemoths to the roster. But, for now, I have this single one, along with a shaping ritual and martial art style to go along with her. The Princess Celestial is meant to be a powerful force for a small circle of inexperienced Solars, likely serving as a mentor or ally (and/or plot-pointer-at) in the beginning of their arc as heroes of Creation, and potentially becoming their rival or foe as they grow in power and influence throughout the area a particular campaign is set in. A group of experienced Solars should be able to contain, defeat, or vassalize her on their way to greater things, unless the Storytellers uses her as a launching point for a more powerful Hell-themed threat. Any commentary or suggestions along the lines of how to improve her for such purposes (as well as for balancing her Martial Art; I may wait for more Exalt types to be released before slapping Terrestrial and Mastery tags on its Charms, to get a better sense of where their power level is meant to be) would be very appreciated, although I know 3e hasn't been out for long. Other than that, random encouragement or ideas for new behemoths are welcome too. :smalltongue:
The Princess Celestial, Friend To All Things
In the final days of the Primordial War, most of the Titans still clung unerringly to the vastly confident resolve of their King. They knew that, in His might, all things were possible, and that nothing could defeat them so long as they followed Him. Humans are certain of many false things, and Titans err as well. But the King's sister, Cecelyne, was a being of greater spite than arrogance, and it pleased her to plan a contingency if the unthinkable were to happen. Modifying one of her souls' many works of artifice in progress, she crafted a behemoth in the shape of the hairless ape creatures who now assailed the Titans, and secreted it away into the depths of the earth to remain dormant until such time as it could be of use.
Thousands of years passed, the Titans fell, the Gods rose, the Celestial Exalted fell, and now as the Solars return to Creation, so too do their twisted kin. Sensing motes of Primordial Essence, shed by the radiance of Infernal Exalted, the behemoth has stirred to life once more, and crept out from her hiding place. Her design is to infiltrate a society, learn of the current age, appear as a hero, and raise a nation of love and hope in the bleak darkness of the Age of Sorrows. From there, she will spread an insidious tide of friendship across the face of the world, and when all swords are laid to rest, and all would-be soldiers languish in peace and prosperity, the agents of the fallen Titans will have but to choose a means to conquer them, and swing wide the gates of Hell to loose a glorious Reclamation on a complacent Creation.
In her natural form, the Princess Celestial is a very tall woman with pale, silver-white tinted skin, and hair formed of diaphanous rivers of colored sand - chiefly teal, magenta, and pastel blue - that flows infinitely from her scalp and disappears into nothing, hinting at her heritage. Her features are strong and regal, beautiful in the unseemly perfect way only an artificially constructed lifeform can manage. But her powers give her many forms, and it would be a rare occasion indeed for her to show her true face.
Essence: 7; Willpower: 10; Join Battle 10 dice
Personal Motes: 120
Health Levels: -0x15/-1x5/-2x5/-4x5/Inc
Actions: Administration 9 dice; Command: 10 dice; Feats of Strength 9 dice (may attempt Strength 3 feats); Knowledge of Primordial Law and Sorcery 9 dice; Read Intentions 8 dice; Resist Poison/Illness 8 dice; Senses 9 dice; Social Influence 11 dice; Stealth 10 dice
Appearance 6, Resolve 5, Guile 4
Combat
Attack (Unarmed) 14 dice (Damage 11, minimum 2)
Attack (Grapple) 10 dice (9 dice to control)
Combat Movement: 9 dice
Evasion 5, Parry 5
Soak/Hardness 9/5 (Natural Behemoth Skin)
Merits
Singular Purpose: The Princess Celestial was not built with a mortal mind, and not given a full range of free will with which to perceive herself and the world. Her Defining Principle of "I will bring all the people of Creation under my benevolent rule of peace and love by any means necessary." is as fundamental to her mental structure as basic life processes, and it cannot be diminished, removed, negated, or rendered inapplicable where it otherwise would be, any more than she can be commanded to give herself a heart attack and die on the spot.
Rulership: If used in a story where the Princess Celestial has already established a kingdom, she should be given the associated dots of Command, Contacts, Cult, Followers, Influence, and Resources for the size of her domain. Three or four dots of Command, Contacts, Followers, and Resources, three dots of Cult, and five dots of Influence should be sufficient for a small city-state, while five dots of Command, Contacts, Followers, Influence, and Resources, and four dots of Cult, might represent a larger one.
Iridescent Friendship Expression: The Princess Celestial's nature expresses a set of unique personal Charms that she can teach, and can be taught to others in turn, as if it were a codified Martial Art. Because they are intuitive to her nature, she utilizes the Brawl ability in place of the Martial Arts (Iridescent Friendship Style) ability when using them. Furthermore, she may activate its Charms with the Form keyword reflexively and without paying their normal cost of activation, as its stance, ideology, and methods of movement are her natural state of being. She always benefits from the Mastery keyword on Iridescent Friendship Charms.
Social Charms
Grotesquerie Is Only Skin Deep (4m; Reflexive or Supplemental; Instant; Eclipse; Essence 1) The Reflexive use of this Charm applies when the Princess defends against a Threaten action taken by a Hideous character. Seeing their opponent attempt to use their horrifying appearance as leverage, no doubt a behaviour reinforced by prior mistreatment of the character by one or more of Creation's deeply flawed societies, the Princess feels deep empathy in her heart and no longer treats the character as being Hideous. This will usually make Appearance an inappropriate attribute to base Threaten actions off of when used against her, and may effect their bonus for differences in Appearance.
The Supplemental use of this Charm enhances an Instill action to implore that a person or group look past a present Hideous character's outward appearance. If the Instill action is successful, the target person or group does not acquire a new Intimacy, but instead no longer treats the presented Hideous character as being Hideous. Because this state of mind is based off of external influence and not profound internal empathy, its effects end if the Hideous character displays violent or offensive behaviour in keeping with the target's prejudices against those of monstrous appearance.
Hey, Wanna Be Friends? (1m; Reflexive; Instant; Eclipse; Essence 1) Activating this Charm, the Princess asks somebody if they want to be friends. If they accept, both she and they instantly gain a Minor Tie of Friendship towards one another, which cannot be removed until the end of the scene. This Charm has no effect on a character that it has already been used on, whether they accepted or not. The Princess Celestial makes fast friends, sometimes even friendship at first sight, but some people are more complex and need more time. That's okay.
A character that has learned this Charm also never completely loses a Tie of Friendship due to long periods of the intimacy not coming up in play. It might degrade over time down to Minor intensity, but cannot be lost.
Life Should Be Tons Of Fun (10m, 1wp; Simple; Indefinite; Essence 7) The Princess places her arms outward and aligns her chakras with the essence of the world. Closing her eyes, she speaks the sutra of her own artificial soul, which proceed from her mouth in stylized Old Realm characters written in teal, magenta, and pastel blue fire. All around her, lesser flames are snuffed out, earth is pulped to sand, glass shatters, and the air wavers as she unfurls the full crushing weight of her friendship. This initial burst of force subsides, but a lasting spiritual pressure extends outward for (Essence + Cult + Influence) miles around her so long as she commits motes to this Charm. In this area, anyone who knowingly attempts to do wrong to another without provocation, or withhold aid that they could easily give, is drawn into a Decision Point where they are forced to consider why they want to contribute to the suffering of a world already drowning in sorrow rather than work towards fixing it. A character that spends a point of Willpower to be a monster anyway is immune to the effects of this Charm for 24 hours. The Princess Celestial is subject to the effects of this Charm just like everyone else.
Miscellanous Charms
Be Faithful And Strong (1m+; Simple; Indefinite; Essence 4) With this Charm, the Princess Celestial may give a speech to empower a battle group whose every member has suffered oppression or degradation that they have no direct responsibility for, such as those who were born into lives of servitude to feudal lords or satraps, those who've lost families and livelihoods to unchecked banditry and barbarism, people rendered untouchable by social caste, illness, or bigotry, and pretty much every other gods-forsaken mortal in the Age of Sorrows. First Circle Demons always qualify, having been forced by the untold billions into eternal suffering in Hell by their Exalted conquerors for the crime of being born to the wrong parents. So long as the Princess commits her motes (1 mote per Size of the battle group), when that group enters combat, each member is flanked by spectral representations of their friends and loved ones who proceed to fight alongside them. They gain +1 Might and are considered to have one step better Drill than usual, to a maximum of Elite. The Princess may commit a maximum of (Essence x 5) motes to this Charm at a time.
Beautiful Heart Within (5m; Simple; Instant; Essence 7) Appearances are only a vapid shell for the beauty of one's true heart, and the Princess Celestial may don and discard them like any article of clothing. When activating this Charm, the Princess may alter her appearance in the following ways.
- She may change the color, length, and style of her hair to any variety that might be found among humans in Creation, removing the obviously supernatural appearance of her natural form's hair. She may also change the color of her skin and eyes, and alter her features to mimic those of any of Creation's ethnicities.
- She may alter her worn clothing, changing it into any form of apparel she chooses, of any color, material, and style. She can alter it to appear as destitute or opulent as she wishes. If clothing altered by this Charm is removed from her, it maintains its appearance for one week, then begins to slowly shift back into its natural shape over the following week.
- She may alter the perceived nature of her Essence. Her natural state is to exude Cecelynian Essence, which might be perceived by puissant enough magic. But with this Charm, she could appear to run off of Fire Essence (to mimic a Fire Elemental or Fire Aspect Dragonblood), Death Essence (to mimic a Ghost or Abyssal), Solar Essence, or any such designation of her choosing. Under this transformation, she can appear for all purposes to not be a Creature of Darkness, although she still is. Magic that effects Creatures of Darkness (such as the Edge of Morning Sunlight Charm) still do so, but they do not appear to. A holy strike against her appears to the user as if it had struck a perfectly normal thing for the kind of Essence the Princess is mimicking.
- She may alter what her permanent Essence rating is perceived as to any number lower than its natural value for effects that detect such a rating.
- She may create an anima, caste mark, and iconic anima display in keeping with the kind of Essence she is appearing to exude, in order to disguise herself as one of the Exalted. She controls these displays, and might flare her anima even without expending motes of Essence as a show of exertion.
While the Princess has altered the perceived nature of her Essence, she may choose to appear as having spent motes of Essence and/or activated a Charm that is in keeping with her transformation whenever she acts. For example, if she is subject to an ability that detects Charm usage, and rolls 14 dice with an unarmed attack, she could choose to appear as having rolled 10 dice naturally and spent four motes on Excellent Solar Brawl to boost her attack if she is exuding Solar Essence.
Destined For A Big Adventure (1m; Simple; Instant; Essence 6) With this Charm, the Princess Celestial may reach out with her essence and touch a mortal's heart at the end of a conversation about friendship or the state of Creation. Over the next week, they will be met with a series of unlikely circumstances that teaches them a lesson about the nature of friendship and leads them to gain at least one new friend. In addition to the intimacy for that friend, they will gain a Minor Principle of facilitating harmony and peace throughout the land, and gain one dot in an Ability that they used in their little adventure, such as Craft (Baking) for pulling an all-night bake-athon to raise money to save the local orphanage, or Melee for saving a traveler from being mauled by wolverines. A mortal with at least 3 dots of permanent Willpower may be subject to this Charm a second time, granting them another friend and a Major Principle of facilitating harmony and peace, as well as yet another ability dot. A mortal with at least 5 dots of permanent Willpower may be subject to this Charm a third and final time. At the end of their adventure, they will have gained a new friend, a new ability dot, a Defining Principle for harmony and peace, and the Princess Celestial may permanently infect them with the corruptive essence of the Infinite Desert, marking them as a Creature of Darkness, and granting them a Personal Essence Pool with a maximum of (5 + their permanent Willpower) motes, as well as a small demonic Charm called "Friendship Is [Ability]", based on the ability that their adventures have most highlighted. An example "Friendship Is [Ability]" is given below.
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Friendship Is Melee
Cost: 1m per die; Mins: Melee 1, Essence 1
Type: Supplement
Keywords: -
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Friendship is about trust and support, and to your friends, you are the one to be trusted when the sorrows of the age turn to violence. This Charm may be used to enhance any rolled action or static value derived from the Melee ability. For a rolled action, you may add dice at the cost of one mote per die, to a maximum of (the number of friends you have in the current scene) or (your permanent Willpower), whichever is lower. For a static value, you may do the same, but converting two dice to one point of that value (for example, spending two motes to increase your Parry by 1).
Magic Makes It All Complete (Permanent, Essence 5) This is the Charm by which the Princess Celestial is initiated into the Terrestrial, Celestial, and Solar Circles of Sorcery. She possesses the three Shaping Rituals associated with her (see 'Friend of the Princess Celestial' below), and its merits. Her Control Spells are Mists of Eventide, which she uses to non-violently detain groups of misguided people who believe her to be their foe, Shadows of the Ancient Past, with which she learns of events that transpired during her dormancy, and displays recorded moments of great atrocity or great heroism to illustrate her arguments when attempting to persuade others to aid her cause of spreading peace, and Unity of the Closed Fist (see below), with which she stands resolute with her friends against any monsters of the Age of Sorrows that are beyond help. She knows spells similar to Demon of the First Circle and Demon of the Second Circle, though they bind demons by the Laws of Cecelyne, rather than the Exalted's Surrender Oaths. Her potential for sorcerous knowledge is vast, and Storytellers should not hesitate to give her other spells should it be convenient for them. However, keep in mind that she was crafted by the souls of the Infinite Desert, and was likely not given the capacity to learn spells that create sustenance or spring life from desolation (such as Benediction of Archgenesis), even though she might want very badly to master them.
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Unity of the Closed Fist
Cost: 20sm, 1wp
Keywords: None
Duration: One Scene
Opening her mind to the boundless unity of all things, the sorcerer becomes a living vessel for the merging of her allies’ form and Essence, combining them to create a single, sorcerous entity. Each character, including the sorcerer, must willingly pay a point of Willpower (in addition to the cost of the spell) to enter into the Unity of the Closed Fist, vanishing into the sorcerer’s anima in a flash of light. The sorcerer can merge with up to four other characters of the same type of being as her. A Twilight Caste sorcerer could merge with four other Solars, while a Third Circle Demon powerful enough to use this spell could fuse with other demons. Unity of the Closed Fist has the following effects:
- The five characters merge into a single being, with a stature twice as tall as the tallest
character included. Its physical features are a combination of the individuals that compose it,
and may also feature overtly sorcerous traits such as glyphs of white fire that burn along its
limbs or a halo of five burning eyes. - Each character included in the composite being retains her own separate Initiative total,
Essence pools, and Willpower. Whenever a character’s Initiative comes up in turn order, the
composite being may act, effectively allowing that character to take her action for the round.
However, any roll she makes is made using the highest Attribute and Ability ratings of any
characters included in the composite being, and she may access any Charms, Evocations, spells,
or similar effects known by any member of the composite, even if she does not meet
prerequisites or minimums. - Each character retains her own health track and all levels of damage in it, but these are
temporarily put aside for the duration of the merger. Instead, the composite being has its own
health track, with the highest number of health levels possessed by any member of the merger
plus four additional -1 and -2 health levels. If the composite being is reduced to its incapacitated
health level, then all damage in its health track is divided among the health tracks of the
characters included in it (rounding down). - Whenever the composite being takes Initiative damage, the players of the merged characters
may choose whose Initiative pool the damage is dealt to (the sorcerer chooses if this can’t be
settled easily). A crashed character is immediately ejected from the composite, falling prone at its
feet. A fifth of the damage in the composite’s health track, rounded down, is transferred to that
character’s health track. - Artifacts wielded by any of the merged characters combine into a single composite weapon or
armor with the most advantageous traits of each individual weapon. These generally take on the
form of spectacular, exotic weapons or armor that combine the most striking features of each
character’s panoply. - Any ongoing effects, such as active Charms, astrological blessings, poisoning, or so forth that
applied to any of the five characters apply to the composite being. - The Storyteller may adjudicate other effects of the merger—such as whether a member might
gain Limit from another character’s Limit trigger, or whether a member of the fusion can keep
secrets from the mental gestalt of the others—at his discretion, preferably choosing for whatever
outcome makes for a better story.
A sorcerer who knows Unity of the Closed Fist as her control spell may merge with beings of another type of Essence, such as a Solar bonding with a summoned Third Circle demon or his Lunar lover. However, the fused characters cannot activate Charms belonging to other types of entities on their own turns unless those Charms possess the Eclipse keyword.
Distortion (Goal Number: 10): Distorting the Unity of the Closed Fist lets the opposing sorcerer warp and distort the flesh of the combined being, remaking it in a hideous spasm of sorcerous power. The opposing sorcerer chooses one physical Attribute, one social Attribute, and one mental Attribute. For the remainder of the spell, whenever a fused character makes a roll or applies a trait based on an affected Attribute, the use the lowest rating among all the merged characters, rather than the highest. Undergoing this transformation is extremely painful for all merged characters, forcing them to roll their current Initiative totals and keep an amount equal to the successes rolled.
Friendship Is Power (1m per die; Supplemental; Instant; Essence 6) Friendship is many things to many people, but the Princess Celestial is excellent in all things friendnificent. This Charm may be used to enhance any roll at the cost of one mote per added die. She may add a maximum of (the number of friends she has in the current scene) or (her permanent Willpower) dice, whichever is lower. This Charm may also enhance static values, converting two dice to one point of that value (for example, spending two motes to increase the Princess's Parry by 1).
New Shaping Ritual: Friend of the Princess Celestial
You have met the Friend To All Things, and she has passed onto you her sorcerous secrets in the hopes that you will be a powerful force of peace and love in the world. With the realization of the ultimate in mystical wisdom - that Friendship Is Magic - you have learned to draw on your comrades for strength.
Shaping Rituals
Ritual #1
When the sorcerer takes a Shape Sorcery action, they may draw an additional sorcerous mote from each character within Medium range that they have a Tie of friendship towards, who also have a Tie of friendship towards them. They may only obtain a maximum of four extra motes per Shape Sorcery action in this way (unless they are casting their Control Spell, in which case they may draw a maximum of ten), and no more than ten motes in a scene.
Ritual #2
When the sorcerer activates a Charm of the Iridescent Friendship Style, they gain a single sorcerous mote that lasts until the end of the scene and may be spent towards casting any spell. Gaining a mote in this way prevents the normal loss of three sorcerous motes in a turn for not taking a Shape Sorcery action if the sorcerer is already shaping a spell. They may only obtain a maximum of two motes per turn in this way.
Ritual #3
Once per scene, when the sorcerer makes a new friend, they gain five sorcerous motes that last for the duration of the story and may be spent towards any spell they cast.
Other Benefits
Infernal Friendship (Merit •): For reasons that the sorcerer may be completely unaware of, demons are naturally friendly towards them (the demons themselves are likely to be just as clueless as to why). All demons are treated as having an especially flimsy Minor Tie of Friendship towards her, which vanishes the moment she takes violent action against them. Demons with this virtual Tie are always considered friends for Iridescent Friendship Charms.
My Friends Are My Strength! (Merit ••): When acting in defense of your friends or your friendships, you may choose for your unarmed attacks to deal lethal damage, reinforcing them with the bone-shattering essence of friendliness, and increasing their Overwhelming Rating by 1. Similarly, you may parry lethal damage with your bare hands under the same conditions.
Walking Among The Friendless (Merit •••): You are capable of detecting people that have no friends, perceiving a bleak aura of slimy grey energy lingering around them when you look at them.
New Martial Art: Iridescent Friendship Style
Iridescent Friendship Style is a supportive martial art that emulates the puissant nature of an infernal behemoth known as The Friend To All Things. Through observation of that creature, or direct tutelage from her, this collection of Charms may be codified into a structured style, capable of being mastered and taught to others. Like its progenitor, Iridescent Friendship Style only fulfills its true potential when surrounded by dedicated allies, primarily aiding and empowering them, rather than striking directly.
By its very nature, this style may only be taught from a relationship of friendship. The master must have a Tie of Friendship to their student, and vice versa. Once a student has begun learning Iridescent Friendship Charms, this intimacy becomes solidified within them, and while it may later change context throughout the story (even turning to resentment or outright hatred, given the right circumstances), a student must always maintain some intimacy of some intensity for their master.
Many Iridescent Friendship Charms refer to characters as 'friends' (such as only functioning when targeting a 'friend'). This should usually require the martial artist to have a Tie of Friendship to the character, and vice versa, for them to be considered friends. However, Storytellers should feel free to adjudicate edge cases in whatever way makes most sense at the time.
Iridescent Friendship Weapons: This style uses exclusively unarmed attacks, preferring open-handed strikes and counters, as well as short, rotating movements to attack with the knees and shins.
Armor: Iridescent Friendship style is incompatible with armor.
Complementary Abilities: Iridescent Friendship stylists typically seek to spread camaraderie, stirring the hearts of disparate people to unity, and eschewing violence for peaceable resolution when possible, lending them a certain association with the Presence ability.
Frolicking Through Sun-Dappled Meadows
Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
This Charm may be activated when you voluntarily move from one range band to another, usually as part of a Move, Rush, or Disengage action. Placing a hand in the hand of a friend within close range, or hooking a hand around their elbow, you take them with you as part of the same action, insuring you all remain together. You may take as many friends with you as you have free hands, aggressively frolicking with them across the battlefield.
Impairing Is Caring
Cost: 5m; Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Withering-Only, Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
This Charm supplements a withering attack made against a target that is within close range of one of your friends. Rather than shift the spotlight towards yourself in any enduring way, you rise to prominence only long enough to show how you're hindering your target and setting up your friend to deliver the final blow. Your target suffers a -1 penalty to their defense against the supplemented attack, as they are harried from both sides by your friendship-bolstered unity in battle, and should your attack succeed, all initiative you would receive from the attack (including the point automatically gained from a successful withering attack), other than from an Initiative Break bonus, goes to the friend you're helping rather than to your own supply. If you crash your target, you reap the Initiative Break bonus for yourself.
Keepsakes and Forget-Me-Nots
Cost: - (1wp); Mins: Martial Arts 2, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
You may begin to collect Friendship Mementos, or recognize that you have possessed one or more all along. To collect a new Memento, one of your friends must give you a small object that they have invested significant sentimental value into, or that represents something they feel very strongly towards, without being asked to do so. Alternatively, if a friend has already given you such a thing prior to you learning this Charm, the player of that character may point out its value and declare that it is their character's Memento to you. You may only have one Memento per friend, representing the most sentimentally significant item among any they have given you. If one of your Mementos is somehow lost or destroyed with some amount of permanency, your friend may give you a new one.
While you have a friend's Memento on your person, you resonate with it spiritually, granting you +1 Resolve against influence that would cause you to betray that friend. You may also spend a point of Willpower to gain a bonus to your Resolve against threats, fear, and supernatural terror that would cause you to outright desert a friend in need equal to the number of Mementos on your person (to a maximum of your Essence) for the remainder of the current scene.
You may also design and buy one Evocation for each of your Mementos, representing the nature of the friend that gave it to you. You must have the Memento on your person to use its Evocation. If the Memento is lost or destroyed, this Evocation carries over to any Memento that the friend gives you to replace it.
(Example Mementos might include: A metal shard from a chef's first kitchen knife, broken the night they achieved their childhood dream of cooking for royalty, with an Evocation that grants bonus crafting experience when a cooking-based project upholds an intimacy. A 'wanted' poster given by a thief, which was circulated in response to one of their most fondly remembered heists, with an Evocation that allows you to easily find criminal contacts that will hide you in times of danger. A poem written by a Fire-Aspect Dragonblood after their eldest son perished in battle, with an Evocation that warms the body and guards against cold.)
Iridescent Friendship Form
Cost: 8m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Form
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisite Charms: Frolicking Through Sun-Dappled Meadows, Impairing Is Caring, Keepsakes and Forget-Me-Nots
You relax, arms at your side, forearms slightly extended, palms up and fingers extended in a gesture of warmth and welcome. Couched in the power of your friends, you have nothing to fear, gliding gracefully towards your foes, turning aside their aggression with soft counters and resolute empathy.
While this Charm is active, you ignore one point of penalty to your Parry defense for each friend you have within medium range, and may parry lethal attacks with your bare hands.
Special Activation Rules: When you roll Join Battle to enter a combat immediately in response to one of your friends being physically assaulted by someone they did not initiate hostilities against (as far as you are aware), you may reflexively activate Iridescent Friendship Form.
Defeat Means Friendship
Cost: 5m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only, Mastery
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Iridescent Friendship Form
Launching a daring and straightforward strike, you shine with an aura of earnest sincerity and passionate resolve that gives your foe a moment of pause. You add (Presence/2, rounded up) to the raw damage of a decisive attack. However, before the attack roll is made, your target may choose to erode a negative intimacy they have towards you by one step of intensity, or if they have no such negative intimacy, gain a Minor Tie of Friendship towards you to negate this bonus damage. Simply submitting to their truest feelings of friendship allows them to focus on their defense. If the target already has a Tie of Friendship towards you, they may not negate this damage.
If the supplemented attack is successful, after the number of levels of damage it will apply has been determined, but before they are applied, the target has another option. They may choose to immediately surrender. If they do so, they appear to take the attack as normal, being visible taxed by its effects, but they take no levels of damage. They then gain a Minor Tie of Friendship towards you (or strengthen an already existing Tie by one step), and must either leave the current scene by the most expedient means possible, or switch sides and defend you for the remainder of the scene, awestruck by your power, mercy, and heartfelt magnetism.
My Kindness Is Not Weakness
Cost: - (+2m); Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Defeat Means Friendship
This Charm permanently modifies its prerequisite, allowing you to add an additional two motes to its cost in order to produce one of the two following effects.
- You strike with sudden strength that is belied by your mien of purity and understanding. The supplemented attack ignores (Charisma) points of Hardness.
- You strike with a brilliant flurry of blows that leaves your opponent reeling, drawing their focus towards you as they come to expect a powerful follow-up. The supplemented attack gains none of the benefits of Defeat Means Friendship, but resolves as normal otherwise. Instead, the next decisive attack made by one of your friends against the same target before the end of the next round receives its effects. You use your own Presence to determine the amount of damage added to the attack, and any Tie of Friendship produced by the Charm is still directed at you.
Don't Give Up!
Cost: 2m (+1wp); Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Iridescent Friendship Form
Activating this Charm, you take a moment to help a friend that has fallen prone, grabbing them and hauling them to their feet with a word of encouragement.
You may activate this Charm as if it were Simple and add a point of Willpower to its cost to enact a more severe form of aid on a friend that is suffering from Initiative Crash. Bringing your own momentum in battle to a screeching halt, you peel back the din of clashing steel and have a heart-to-heart moment with your friend, burning away their despair and sending them careening back into the fray with renewed resolve. In addition to the Charm's normal effects, if applicable, you also reset both you and your friend back to Base Initiative.
Allow Me To Carry Your Dreams Onward
Cost: 6m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisite Charms: Don't Give Up!
When one of your friends is incapacitated within short range of you, you may activate this Charm with their player's permission. In your friend's last moments before unconsciousness or death, amid sputters of blood, spitting broken teeth, or what-have-you, they murmur a few words of resigned encouragement to you, and hurl their weapon(s) dramatically across the battlefield to land in your hands.
This has the following effects for the rest of the scene.
- The weapon is considered an Iridescent Friendship Style weapon. If it has the Martial Arts tag, you may wield it with the Martial Arts (Iridescent Friendship) ability.
- If the weapon has an attunement cost, you are considered attuned to it, but need not spend an action or motes attuning to it. Your friend's spiritual consent and connection via your friendship is enough for this short-term loan.
- If the weapon has Evocations, you may use any Evocations your friend has unlocked for it. If an Evocation has a special requirement for its use depending upon a trait or accomplishment of its wielder, you are considered to satisfy this requirement if your friend has done so (for example, Black Wind's Evocation, Seven Traumas Technique, requires its wielder to have slain an enemy whose death satisfies both a Defining Principle and Defining Tie).
- If the weapon is forged of a Magical Material that you do not resonate with (such as if you are a Lunar wielding an Orichalcum weapon), you suffer no ill effects and may wield it with the same effectiveness as its original wielder, provided your friend's essence resonated with it properly.
In addition, your friend may temporarily transfer one of their intimacies to you, if it has some relevance to the current scene, which you acquire with all of its emotional weight and context for the remainder of the scene. If they have a mote pool, they may also transfer two, four, or six motes of their own essence to you, depending on the intensity of the intimacy, which you may only use to activate Evocations from the weapon they have loaned you.
This Charm may only be activated once per friend per story.
Take This! All Of Our Hopes And Dreams For A World Without Sorrow!
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: My Kindness Is Not Weakness, Allow Me To Carry Your Dreams Onward
Thrusting your arms outward, you declare your resolve to conclude this fight. Your words are followed by the thunderous sound of rushing air, as if from the ignition of a great fire, and the essence of pure friendship grinds itself into reality from the immaterial, unleashing showers of sparks and embers, before coalescing as a ball of teal, magenta, and pastel blue light.
This is your Friendship Bomb.
You may then invest the Bomb with as many points of your own initiative as you would like, so long as you do not send yourself into Initiative Crash. It grows in size and majesty accordingly, levitating next to you. The Bomb will remain in its place until fired or until (your Essence, or 3, whichever is higher) rounds elapse, at which point it dissipates into nothing.
During your friends' turns, they may reflexively spend a mote of essence to add up to (their current wound penalty) points of initiative to the Bomb. Each friend may only do this once per round, and you may make no additional contributions after your initial investment. Friends who are Crashed cannot contribute initiative.
The Friendship Bomb may be fired by you, or any of your friends, who are within close range of it. It may be fired at a target up to medium range as a decisive attack, and uses your (Charisma + Presence), regardless of who fires it, adding additional dice equal to the highest wound penalty one of your friends is suffering from in the current scene (treat an unconscious friend as having a wound penalty of 4). If the stunt used for the attack includes friendship in some way, the number of dice the stunt contributes is doubled, and the attack is rendered unblockable by the sheer weight of its bone-shattering friendliness.
The Bomb deals lethal damage with base damage equal to the initiative that has been accumulated within it. It does not reset the one who fires it to Base Initiative, despite technically being a decisive attack.
Re: [Exalted 3e] Xefas' Infernal Behemoth Garden 2.0
Awesome. Super flavourful and, so far as I can tell, mechanically solid.
I'll put her to use as soon as I get the chance. Might tone down her Sorcery a bit when I do, but otherwise I think I'll use her as written.
A few clarifying questions:
What roll/powers would you require for a player to see through her disguise?
How much effort does it take her to send someone on an adventure? Can she spam that Charm, sending dozens of mortals on quests at once?
Would I be right to assume her sorcerous knowledge pool is also her shape sorcery pool?
The shaping ritual and martial art look like lots of fun. Their occasional silliness doesn't seem to cause any mechanical problems to me.
I'm not going to comment too deeply because I don't trust my ability to judge balance yet. My Friends Are My Strength! and Don't Give Up! look like they might be too powerful, but plenty of canon content looks that way too...
Anyway, I'm not sure you're gonna get much feedback here. The Onyx Path forums might be more fertile ground.
Re: [Exalted 3e] Xefas' Infernal Behemoth Garden 2.0
Here's a question: Is the Princess actually loyal to Cecelyne, or would she oppose her creator's efforts to destroy Creation once it has been unified?
Re: [Exalted 3e] Xefas' Infernal Behemoth Garden 2.0
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sanctaphrax
Awesome. Super flavourful and, so far as I can tell, mechanically solid.
I'll put her to use as soon as I get the chance. Might tone down her Sorcery a bit when I do, but otherwise I think I'll use her as written.
I've still got one ability left kickin' around - the 'Sharing Kindness' one. In ye olde version, it was a bundle of Cecelyne's genie Charms. I'm not sure if I'll still go that route, but I want an ability that lets her offer something to essence-users as an enticing gift or reward.
Quote:
What roll/powers would you require for a player to see through her disguise?
They need something that can pierce magical disguises, such as the Occult Charm 'Burning Eyes of the Deliverer'. That Charm states that seeing through such a perfect facade is Difficulty 5, which seems fine to me. If she were impersonating a specific person, presumably the normal penalties (pg 244) would apply, but that's not necessarily in her modus operandi. Solar disguise Charms are better, but I think there's some drama to be had in the PCs eventually discovering the truth.
If you wanted to play up that angle, maybe throw in hints here and there that something is amiss, and allow lesser magics (or even just Occult knowledge) to point the Player Character's in a particular direction and let them confront her about it without perfect information. And see what happens.
Quote:
How much effort does it take her to send someone on an adventure? Can she spam that Charm, sending dozens of mortals on quests at once?
Very little. And Yes.
Quote:
Would I be right to assume her sorcerous knowledge pool is also her shape sorcery pool?
Yup!
Quote:
The shaping ritual and martial art look like lots of fun. Their occasional silliness doesn't seem to cause any mechanical problems to me.
I'm not going to comment too deeply because I don't trust my ability to judge balance yet. My Friends Are My Strength! and Don't Give Up! look like they might be too powerful, but plenty of canon content looks that way too...
Don't Give Up! in particular is something that I don't think has an analogue anywhere. But I think it's a risky proposition. It's Perilous, so you can't use it while Crashed, so in the majority of cases you're going to be spending some amount of initiative to use it (since it returns both of you to Base Initiative). And while it makes your friend less vulnerable, it's risky in that now there are two people at ~3 Initiative that could easily be Crashed again (netting another Initiative Break bonus for the attacker) if the rest of the party isn't defending them. In the end, probably something that needs playtesting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GreaserFish
Here's a question: Is the Princess actually loyal to Cecelyne, or would she oppose her creator's efforts to destroy Creation once it has been unified?
The Princess is meant to have some loyalty to Cecelyne, but the price of making her motivation so irrevocably fundamental to her that she can't be turned away from it, is that if it ever comes down to "Rule My People Benevolently In Peace" or "Help Cecelyne", she cannot choose the latter.
Which is something Cecelyne (especially pre-getting-smooshed-into-Hell Cecelyne) would likely not consider a problem. Her concept of the Reclamation involves her being its twisted messiah, not smashing it. But the problem comes in when the other Yozi have other plans. If the only way to release Cecelyne was to also release Malfeas, Adorjan, Isidoros, Kimbery, and the other smash/burn/obliterate-Creation Yozi, then the Princess would oppose it. And, of course, she would oppose the Ebon Dragon (and his 'Return of the Scarlet Empress' take on the Reclamation), because he's antithetical to friendship.
Re: [Exalted 3e] Xefas' Infernal Behemoth Garden 2.0
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Xefas
I've still got one ability left kickin' around - the 'Sharing Kindness' one. In ye olde version, it was a bundle of Cecelyne's genie Charms. I'm not sure if I'll still go that route, but I want an ability that lets her offer something to essence-users as an enticing gift or reward.
Maybe anyone's who's her friend can draw a few motes from her, and she can teach both sorcery and MA very effectively to her friends.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Xefas
Don't Give Up! in particular is something that I don't think has an analogue anywhere. But I think it's a risky proposition. It's Perilous, so you can't use it while Crashed, so in the majority of cases you're going to be spending some amount of initiative to use it (since it returns both of you to Base Initiative). And while it makes your friend less vulnerable, it's risky in that now there are two people at ~3 Initiative that could easily be Crashed again (netting another Initiative Break bonus for the attacker) if the rest of the party isn't defending them. In the end, probably something that needs playtesting.
Page 194 says you can't get an Initiative Break for Crashing people who recovered from Crash this turn or the turn before. So it's not terribly risky for your friend.
The question, I guess, is how often you'll have low Initiative and a Crashed friend.
Re: [Exalted 3e] Xefas' Infernal Behemoth Garden 2.0
Any plans to expand this?
Re: [Exalted 3e] Xefas' Infernal Behemoth Garden 2.0
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sanctaphrax
Any plans to expand this?
Several. I've just been using my spare writing time for the last month or so on my Exalted Choose Your Own Adventure in the message board games forum.
Some of those posts can take hours, so I just haven't been getting much other writing done.
