General Exalted Discussion II: No Longer Mortal

[golentan]

Just checking, since I lack the book, what does Repair 4 entail?

Requires Lore, Occult, and Craft 5 to repair and maintain without penalties, a resources three expenditure for the equipment and reagents to do so, a day of maintenance periodically (though I can't find the timescale on when it's required), and a difficulty 4 roll to fix serious damage.

[SurlySeraph]

Basically, it means that Arcanoi depending on immaterial nature and corpus do not work on Ghost-blooded. So, you can use Pyre Smoke Form, but not Shifting Ghost-Clay arcanoi.

Thanks! So, going through walls but no Essence 1 hyper-awesome disguise power. Guess that's fair.

A couple more roughly-related questions:
1. Since Sidereals treat Throne Shadow Style charms as Sidereal charms rather than as CMA charms, could a Sidereal Half-Caste learn Throne Shadow Style?
2. The Merit that lets a mortal learn Terrestrial Circle Sorcery is 10 times as expensive as the one that lets a mortal learn Terrestrial Martial Arts. Both require Essence 3, a higher hurdle than I'd expect given that mortal Immaculate Monks with a bit of TMA knowledge are supposed to be relatively common. Does anyone else think this doesn't make much sense?
3. Has anyone written a toned-down version of Ivory Pestle Style? Because Whirling Pestle Kata is ridiculous. It looks like a first-choice purchase for anyone who can learn TMA.

[Arcanoi]

2. The Merit that lets a mortal learn Terrestrial Circle Sorcery is 10 times as expensive as the one that lets a mortal learn Terrestrial Martial Arts. Both require Essence 3, a higher hurdle than I'd expect given that mortal Immaculate Monks with a bit of TMA knowledge are supposed to be relatively common. Does anyone else think this doesn't make much sense?

Terrestrial Martial Arts don't really let you do anything world-shaping. You're still a mortal, you're just more dangerous. Terrestrial Martial Arts, by and large, are almost entirely combat charms with no other applications.

Sorcery, on the other hand, lets you do all sorts of crap that mortals can't even dream of without it. You can still swing a sword without Even Blade Style, but you can't throw a swarm of razor-sharp butterflies without Death of Obsidian Butterflies.

[Tavar]

Yeah. I'd say that mortals don't need a merit to learn martial arts. They have a hard enough time awakening essence and meeting the requirements.

Sorcery is a bit trickier, but I'd reduce the cost to what they pay to learn a spell, and toss in emerald countermagic as well. Still expensive and hard to get, and not incredibly useful when they start, but not as costly.

[golentan]

I have never once required that merit to learn martial arts.

So, a question about demon summoning. Specifically the Thaumaturgical version. How adverse are demons to it really? I know the text reads that there's a heavy risk of attack, but are demons seriously upset by finding themselves *not* in malfeas and/or magically compelled to obey somebody. Heck, for many it might be their one and only shot at living out the century, and give them the opportunity to do so unmolested at the top of the local food chain so long as they stay careful about stepping on others toes.

There are some obvious violent exceptions you'd have to be an idiot to summon, but it just feels like the response should be less *DIE FOOLISH MORTAL FOR TROUBLING ME* and more *Happy dance I'm FREEEEEEEE!!!*

[Mr.Bookworm]

Alright, well, ponder this. I want to be able to fly. Athletics seems like the most direct route, but instead I take Medicine. I get a Medicine Excellency, Wound-Mending Care Technique, and Science of Mutation. Three charms, Medicine 5, Essence 4 minimum - fewer prerequisites than Eagle Wing. Now, not only can I stick wings on myself, so I can fly without all the restrictions given by Eagle Wing Style, permanently and with no cost, but I can also do so much else, not just with that charm itself, but with the two prerequisites compared to the three prerequisite for Eagle Wing Style which are rendered mostly redundant.

We kind of dropped this argument, but I finally got around to looking up Science of Mutation. It's an Essence 7 Charm. Yeah.

So, a question about demon summoning. Specifically the Thaumaturgical version. How adverse are demons to it really? I know the text reads that there's a heavy risk of attack, but are demons seriously upset by finding themselves *not* in malfeas and/or magically compelled to obey somebody. Heck, for many it might be their one and only shot at living out the century, and give them the opportunity to do so unmolested at the top of the local food chain so long as they stay careful about stepping on others toes.

There are some obvious violent exceptions you'd have to be an idiot to summon, but it just feels like the response should be less *DIE FOOLISH MORTAL FOR TROUBLING ME* and more *Happy dance I'm FREEEEEEEE!!!*

A couple reasons. Getting yanked out of your world and dumped into Creation all of a sudden must be disorienting as hell. A lot of demons are going to instinctively lash out.

The biggest reason, though, is that you're summoner is, well, your summoner. If you're unbound, you want to kill that person as quickly as possible to ensure that they can't bind you. Simple logic.

[Xefas]

We kind of dropped this argument, but I finally got around to looking up Science of Mutation. It's an Essence 7 Charm. Yeah.

It had errata that changed its effects and pushed it down to Medicine 5, Essence 4. Scroll of Errata pg 125.

[golentan]

A couple reasons. Getting yanked out of your world and dumped into Creation all of a sudden must be disorienting as hell. A lot of demons are going to instinctively lash out.

The biggest reason, though, is that you're summoner is, well, your summoner. If you're unbound, you want to kill that person as quickly as possible to ensure that they can't bind you. Simple logic.

Thaumaturgical summoners can't bind. Only bribe or threaten, and trying to kill them lets them activate the contest of wills ritual to banish you back, making it an unnecessary risk to your otherwise free reign.

And the demon isn't yanked out and dumped surreptitiously in the circle with no understanding of how in a moment of confusion. They get a five day heads up and hike to make it there.

So I don't see it as that simple still.

[Reynard]

Thaumaturgical summoners can't bind. Only bribe or threaten, and trying to kill them lets them activate the contest of wills ritual to banish you back, making it an unnecessary risk to your otherwise free reign.

And the demon isn't yanked out and dumped surreptitiously in the circle with no understanding of how in a moment of confusion. They get a five day heads up and hike to make it there.

So I don't see it as that simple still.

Yeah, but that five days walk is through the Endless Desert.

Not exactly a pleasant place to trek through, especially against your will.

[Jokasti]

What? That infernal travel agency lied to me!
But yeah, a five day walk through Cecylene isn't on their bucket lists. It's basically a "oh, you have five days to think about how the thaumaturge is going to use you this time. Let's think of ways to hurt him just in case that circle of salt isnt juuuust right.... Evisceratin', Beheadin'..."

[tonberrian]

I have never once required that merit to learn martial arts.

So, a question about demon summoning. Specifically the Thaumaturgical version. How adverse are demons to it really? I know the text reads that there's a heavy risk of attack, but are demons seriously upset by finding themselves *not* in malfeas and/or magically compelled to obey somebody. Heck, for many it might be their one and only shot at living out the century, and give them the opportunity to do so unmolested at the top of the local food chain so long as they stay careful about stepping on others toes.

There are some obvious violent exceptions you'd have to be an idiot to summon, but it just feels like the response should be less *DIE FOOLISH MORTAL FOR TROUBLING ME* and more *Happy dance I'm FREEEEEEEE!!!*

Well, there's no reason that a demon can't do both.

[Tavar]

Hmm. The tell exists in all of a lunars forms, and is more obvious in true forms. What happens when a Lunar is in their Animal true form?


Interesting idea for the Broken-Winged Crane's true nature.

Also, on the subject of the Broken-Winged Crane, Revlid from the White Wolf Forums wrote something that is so awesome that it deserves mention here, namely that the true nature of the Broken-Winged Crane is:
"...the Sixth Maiden. When Creation is returned to its rightful owners, when the Yozis play once more at the Games of Divinity, when the gods are shackled, rebound and demonized, when the Tainted Dragons march the land, when the Green Sun Princes, Red Moon Princesses and Black Star Viziers sit in attendance, when Autochthon has been crushed and the Underworld with him, when Sol has been broken and shattered, when Luna wages her futile guerilla war in the hopes of Gaia's return... The Maidens will sit about the Loom of Fate, each crippled in a different fashion, each kept in place by a starmetal chain forged from Sol's remains, each weaving the Loom back into its proper configuration. Holding the other end of these chains will be their youngest sister, the Sixth Maiden, gleefully subordinate to the Yozis. Rumours of her origins abound, and she does nothing to quell them - she is an ascended Black Star Vizier, she is the revived and congealed Fetich Souls of the Neverborn, she is the empowered daughter of the Scarlet Empress, she is the soulsteel brother of the Maidens, reforged within Szoreny's Mirrored Workshop. Ultimately, it matters little. She dances about the mad anti-causality of her existence, as the Broken-Winged Crane."

[Kyeudo]

Well, from what I've heard, RotSE fixes the nature of the original Broken-Wing Crane as being written by the Scarlet Empress herself and all others are just a time-warped version of the original, copied through the causality-defying power of the Yozis millenia before it was actually penned.

[SurlySeraph]

Thanks. Anyone have a hypothesis on whether Sidereal Half-Castes could learn Throne Shadow style since its charms count as Sidereal charms? I've got a concept for a Half-Caste raised as an orphan in an Immaculate monastery, who seemed to be a mortal with bizarre flashes of insight that really helped out the Dragon-Blooded students (via Sifu's Useful Fingers and Secret Lesson Revelation) until someone familiar with the Sidereals figured things out.

Also, has anyone run a non-serious Exalted game in a high school or college setting akin to Sigil Prep? Because I recently read this set of stories in which the Yozis are children in an asylum, and now I can't stop thinking of names like Yu-Shan Yuniversity, First and Forsaken Grammar, and The Malfeas Academy for Shut Up And Do What Malfeas Says.

[Tavar]

If they count as charms native to that exalt type, I don't see why not.

And I think someone recruited for a game like that, but I'm not sure if anything came of it.

Any thoughts regarding what a Lunar's tell looks like in their animal-spirit shape? If it looks like anything at all?

[Xefas]

I've got a concept for a Half-Caste raised as an orphan in an Immaculate monastery, who seemed to be a mortal with bizarre flashes of insight that really helped out the Dragon-Blooded students (via Sifu's Useful Fingers and Secret Lesson Revelation) until someone familiar with the Sidereals figured things out.

This may be problematic only because Half Castes lack a personal essence pool. All they have is peripheral (Scroll of Heroes pg 114 "In addition, Half Castes possess no personal essence pool, but only possess a peripheral essence pool"), which might be bad.

Also, has anyone run a non-serious Exalted game in a high school or college setting akin to Sigil Prep? Because I recently read this set of stories in which the Yozis are children in an asylum, and now I can't stop thinking of names like Yu-Shan Yuniversity, First and Forsaken Grammar, and The Malfeas Academy for Shut Up And Do What Malfeas Says.

Well, I actually drew up some ideas a little while ago for that sort of thing. Spoiler'd below. Obviously not comprehensive. Gotta finish the faculty, and write up places of interest, and detail sports (Blood Bowl chief among them), and class schedules and all that sort of thing. It's just a rough idea right now.

Spoiler

Show

Long ago, at the conclusion of the Primordial War, there were twenty three defeated titans who begged for their lives at the feet of their conquerors rather than face death. At first, such a prospect seemed absurd, but the question arose of what the Exalted were to do after they finished reconstructing the shattered remnants of the world they had just laid waste to in the course of their battles.

Surely they would have palaces, and many harems, and go on epic adventures to the farthest reaches of reality and beyond. There was much discussion but, in the end, yes, these were the three things the Exalted truly wanted with their immortality and boundless power. Palaces, Harems, Adventure. And therein lay the problem. With so many harems, and so many adventures, when would they have time to raise their prestigious mountains of offspring? They certainly couldn't have tiny Half-Castes running around, cramping the style of their many palaces, and forcing their parents to use their free time teaching a new human life when they could otherwise be engaged fishing in the Deep Chaos or bungee jumping down that big hole in the Labyrinth.

And so it was that the Exalted exacted Surrender Oaths from the twenty three Primordials that still lived, slaying their king's Fetich Soul in the process, and transmuting them into the lowliest, most degrading form of life possible - High School Faculty.

The very fabric of existence yawned and tore apart as a new plane of being unfurled itself: Malfeas, the Public High School. Here, the young minds of Godbloods and Half-Castes would be molded into productive members of society (their bodies would be along for the ride, too, I suppose) so that their parents wouldn't have to take responsibility for them or their actions (and, for most female Exalts, the far more harrowing task of figuring out who the father was).

The Faculty

Malfeas, the Public High School: This fallen Primordial was twisted into an actual, living campus of flesh, bone, and brass. His body composes all of the structures beyond the inner border of Cecelyne, which can be difficult for many new students to get used to. Accordingly, he is also the janitor and groundskeeper.

Cecelyne, the Desert That You Must Walk Twenty Miles Uphill Through To Get To School Every Morning Which You Will One Day Lecture Your Kids About Because They Don't Know How Good They Have It: If you don't say the whole thing, you're mispronouncing her name and she gets very indignant about that. Cecelyne is the wasteland that separates Malfeas from the Dormitories, and no matter what form of transportation a student takes, or how fast they're moving, she always takes exactly 5 hours to traverse. First period starts at 8am sharp, which means students who do not wish to be tardy will have to wake up at 2am or so to get there on time.

As it is one of the first questions asked by freshman, no, you may not just sleep on campus. Cecelyne builds character.

Elloge, the Spherical Literature Professor: Students will have Elloge for Old Realm 101 as freshman, classical literature as sophomores, public speaking as juniors, and rhetoric as seniors. Despite being a sphere of pure madness, Elloge is rather popular among students for her laid back attitude. She is secretly an avid comic book collector, and will debate you into a gibbering shell of emptiness over which franchise is superior.

Hegra, the Typhoon of Visual Art Design (And Nightmares): Hegra teaches 2d Art to freshman (drawing/painting), history of art to sophomores, 3d Art to juniors (sculpting/film-making), and 4d and 5d art to seniors. After school, she runs the AV club and Art club, and every Calibration collaborates with Elloge to put on the School-wide Calibrationmas Play.

Kimbery, the Sea That Marched Against Your Lack of Appreciation for Home Economics: Anyone who has had an older sibling pass through Malfeas High will know not to sit in the front row of Ms. Kimbery's class, lest you increase your chances of becoming the Teacher's Pet - an occupation every holder has survived, but none of which have wished to. In addition to teaching Home Ec. 101 to freshman, and Culinary Arts 101 and 102 to sophomores and seniors respectively, she also presides over Drivers Ed. for juniors. One would think such a class wouldn't take a full school-year to learn but, by the end, students typically know how to parallel park an Indomitable Class Heavy Battlecruiser while doing a double helix off of a burning rooftop. Her appointment to this class is an awkward side effect of Sail being used for piloting.

She Who Lives In Her Name, the Principle of Mathematics: Inside her 99,997 spheres are everything you'll need to know about Algebra, Geometry, Calculus, and Trigonometry. And you'd better pay attention, because She doesn't appreciate repeating herself, yes you will use these things in real life, and no I cannot just shoot the information instantly into your brain with my mind bullets. Well, actually I could do that last one, but I enjoy watching you suffer.

I also planned for Yu-Shan and Autochthonia to be private schools, and the Underworld and the Wyld to be other public schools.

[Lix Lorn]

I want to go there so badly.

[Cyborg Mage]

Dibs on the Autochthonian Academy scholarship.

[The Rose Dragon]

I demand details on the Underworld campus.

[Cyborg Mage]

Here's a thought- that whole idea makes the ED the headmaster.

[golentan]

I'm running a game set at the heptagram at the moment. Adventure, excitement, and really wild homework assignments.

The other seems a little too tongue in cheek for me. Not so good with those kinds of games.

[Sanguine]

Well, I actually drew up some ideas a little while ago for that sort of thing. Spoiler'd below. Obviously not comprehensive. Gotta finish the faculty, and write up places of interest, and detail sports (Blood Bowl chief among them), and class schedules and all that sort of thing. It's just a rough idea right now.

Spoiler

Show

Long ago, at the conclusion of the Primordial War, there were twenty three defeated titans who begged for their lives at the feet of their conquerors rather than face death. At first, such a prospect seemed absurd, but the question arose of what the Exalted were to do after they finished reconstructing the shattered remnants of the world they had just laid waste to in the course of their battles.

Surely they would have palaces, and many harems, and go on epic adventures to the farthest reaches of reality and beyond. There was much discussion but, in the end, yes, these were the three things the Exalted truly wanted with their immortality and boundless power. Palaces, Harems, Adventure. And therein lay the problem. With so many harems, and so many adventures, when would they have time to raise their prestigious mountains of offspring? They certainly couldn't have tiny Half-Castes running around, cramping the style of their many palaces, and forcing their parents to use their free time teaching a new human life when they could otherwise be engaged fishing in the Deep Chaos or bungee jumping down that big hole in the Labyrinth.

And so it was that the Exalted exacted Surrender Oaths from the twenty three Primordials that still lived, slaying their king's Fetich Soul in the process, and transmuting them into the lowliest, most degrading form of life possible - High School Faculty.

The very fabric of existence yawned and tore apart as a new plane of being unfurled itself: Malfeas, the Public High School. Here, the young minds of Godbloods and Half-Castes would be molded into productive members of society (their bodies would be along for the ride, too, I suppose) so that their parents wouldn't have to take responsibility for them or their actions (and, for most female Exalts, the far more harrowing task of figuring out who the father was).

The Faculty

Malfeas, the Public High School: This fallen Primordial was twisted into an actual, living campus of flesh, bone, and brass. His body composes all of the structures beyond the inner border of Cecelyne, which can be difficult for many new students to get used to. Accordingly, he is also the janitor and groundskeeper.

Cecelyne, the Desert That You Must Walk Twenty Miles Uphill Through To Get To School Every Morning Which You Will One Day Lecture Your Kids About Because They Don't Know How Good They Have It: If you don't say the whole thing, you're mispronouncing her name and she gets very indignant about that. Cecelyne is the wasteland that separates Malfeas from the Dormitories, and no matter what form of transportation a student takes, or how fast they're moving, she always takes exactly 5 hours to traverse. First period starts at 8am sharp, which means students who do not wish to be tardy will have to wake up at 2am or so to get there on time.

As it is one of the first questions asked by freshman, no, you may not just sleep on campus. Cecelyne builds character.

Elloge, the Spherical Literature Professor: Students will have Elloge for Old Realm 101 as freshman, classical literature as sophomores, public speaking as juniors, and rhetoric as seniors. Despite being a sphere of pure madness, Elloge is rather popular among students for her laid back attitude. She is secretly an avid comic book collector, and will debate you into a gibbering shell of emptiness over which franchise is superior.

Hegra, the Typhoon of Visual Art Design (And Nightmares): Hegra teaches 2d Art to freshman (drawing/painting), history of art to sophomores, 3d Art to juniors (sculpting/film-making), and 4d and 5d art to seniors. After school, she runs the AV club and Art club, and every Calibration collaborates with Elloge to put on the School-wide Calibrationmas Play.

Kimbery, the Sea That Marched Against Your Lack of Appreciation for Home Economics: Anyone who has had an older sibling pass through Malfeas High will know not to sit in the front row of Ms. Kimbery's class, lest you increase your chances of becoming the Teacher's Pet - an occupation every holder has survived, but none of which have wished to. In addition to teaching Home Ec. 101 to freshman, and Culinary Arts 101 and 102 to sophomores and seniors respectively, she also presides over Drivers Ed. for juniors. One would think such a class wouldn't take a full school-year to learn but, by the end, students typically know how to parallel park an Indomitable Class Heavy Battlecruiser while doing a double helix off of a burning rooftop. Her appointment to this class is an awkward side effect of Sail being used for piloting.

She Who Lives In Her Name, the Principle of Mathematics: Inside her 99,997 spheres are everything you'll need to know about Algebra, Geometry, Calculus, and Trigonometry. And you'd better pay attention, because She doesn't appreciate repeating herself, yes you will use these things in real life, and no I cannot just shoot the information instantly into your brain with my mind bullets. Well, actually I could do that last one, but I enjoy watching you suffer.

I also planned for Yu-Shan and Autochthonia to be private schools, and the Underworld and the Wyld to be other public schools.

That is Awesome.

Here's a thought- that whole idea makes the ED the headmaster.

Awesome.

I Kinda feel like Captain Awesome now, not sure how I feel about that.

[tonberrian]

I Kinda feel like Captain Awesome now, not sure how I feel about that.

The answer is obvious - you should feel fantastic.

Actually, I mean awesome.

[Sanguine]

The answer is obvious - you should feel fantastic.

Actually, I mean awesome.

Your right. Don't know what I was thinking.

[a_humble_lich]

I'm running a game set at the heptagram at the moment. Adventure, excitement, and really wild homework assignments.

The other seems a little too tongue in cheek for me. Not so good with those kinds of games.

I've been wanting to play/run a game in the Heptagram for a while now. I'm jealous.

[TheCountAlucard]

I'm starting to get jitters; tomorrow's really going to be the first time I STed Exalted. I mean, I've run Shadowrun, D&D, Paranoia, nWoD, and even Star Wars Saga Edition... but not Exalted. I'm sure I can do it and all, but for some reason, I'm just feeling nervous...

[golentan]

I've been wanting to play/run a game in the Heptagram for a while now. I'm jealous.

Hey, draw up a suitably convincing backstory and I can drop you in the game no problem. It's PbP and I've only got two players ATM, and if you can stick with it that'd be nice.

[Tavar]

You have a link to this game?

[golentan]

Sure. I'll PM you.

[Tavar]

Is it possible to attack a weapon someone's wielding? Like, with the intention of destroying it?