General Exalted Discussion II: No Longer Mortal

[Indon]

Nobody created the Maidens, at least in this timeline. They are omnitemporal and have always existed as soon as someone ever made them in any timeline.

And the Ebon Dragon was the one working on Fate when they appeared and screwed up his plans, anyway.

Wait, really? Where is that detailed?

[Tavar]

Going out on a limb, Glories of the Most High: Maidens?

[Kyeudo]

Also, the Unconquered Sun was made to fight the unshaped, since there were no shaped raksha at the time. The shaped raksha are simply too below his notice to be creatures of darkness.

That's like saying "This bug spray was formulated to kill tarantulas, so it won't kill garden spiders." Shaped Fair Folk were showing up long before the Primordial War and all the Unconquered Sun has to do to decide that he gets to do aggravated damage to them would be to say "I hate shaped Fair Folk as well as unshaped Fair Folk".

[Morph Bark]

Heh. Posted in the first thread only on the first page, now look at me, posting on the almost-last page of the second.

Anyhoo: question relating to armor. A Lunar can have tattoo armor and still wear normal armor. Do the soak ratings stack? What if the Lunar is using Armor-Forming Technique?

Also, does tattoo'd armor's hardness apply? Does it stack with other armor?

[Tavar]

That's like saying "This bug spray was formulated to kill tarantulas, so it won't kill garden spiders." Shaped Fair Folk were showing up long before the Primordial War and all the Unconquered Sun has to do to decide that he gets to do aggravated damage to them would be to say "I hate shaped Fair Folk as well as unshaped Fair Folk".

Plus the fact that Fey were a primary antagonist of the First age Solars.

I mean, why then are Demons on the list? They weren't created till after the War, and they're minor foes compared to primordials.

Anyhoo: question relating to armor. A Lunar can have tattoo armor and still wear normal armor. Do the soak ratings stack? What if the Lunar is using Armor-Forming Technique?

Also, does tattoo'd armor's hardness apply? Does it stack with other armor?

Soak stacks, and I believe as long as it's moonsilver armor it also works with Armor forming Technique.

Hardness does apply, but it apparently doesn't stack with other armor.

[Morph Bark]

Soak stacks, and I believe as long as it's moonsilver armor it also works with Armor forming Technique.

Hardness does apply, but it apparently doesn't stack with other armor.

That'll work awesomely for my tanky build then. Thanks!


Oh, and when Essence is committed, and then taken out, do you immediately have access to it again, or do you need to regain the motes first? A page source would be nice on this one, as my friends and I were quite stuck on that.

[Tackyhillbillu]

So, to my understanding, Whitewall's magical abjurations protect the city by preventing any creatures of darkness from entering without being invited by a true native of Whitewall, yes?

So what's stopping Fair Folk from waltzing in? It's only the unshaped that are creatures of darkness; why did they just merrily dance around the city during the Balorian Crusade?

Because they promised not to?

Whitewall feeds the Fae Prisoners in order to secure safety for themselves. Fair Folk don't like breaking promises.

[Reynard]

That'll work awesomely for my tanky build then. Thanks!


Oh, and when Essence is committed, and then taken out, do you immediately have access to it again, or do you need to regain the motes first? A page source would be nice on this one, as my friends and I were quite stuck on that.

It has to regenerate normally.

[Kyeudo]

I mean, why then are Demons on the list? They weren't created till after the War, and they're minor foes compared to primordials.

The Unconquered Sun declared the Primordials and their spawn to be Creatures of Darkness when the Exalted made their first attack at the start of the Primordial War.

[Yuki Akuma]

Wait, really? Where is that detailed?

Glories of the Most High: Maidens.

They just appeared when time started. Which was around the time when the Primordials started waking up.

[golentan]

I thought they appeared well after that, when creation started and the petulant manchildrenprimordials were discussing how to design the gods to keep it running. The maidens showed up and were all like "hey, you created us in the future, so now we're here" and the primordials were weirded out because none of them knew who was responsible.

[The Rose Dragon]

The Unconquered Sun declared the Primordials and their spawn to be Creatures of Darkness when the Exalted made their first attack at the start of the Primordial War.

Not Primordials. Just the individuals who fell or were imprisoned in the War. Ramethus was not declared a creature of darkness until the Aftershock War got the Unconquered Sun's attention, for example.

[meschlum]

So, to my understanding, Whitewall's magical abjurations protect the city by preventing any creatures of darkness from entering without being invited by a true native of Whitewall, yes?

So what's stopping Fair Folk from waltzing in? It's only the unshaped that are creatures of darkness; why did they just merrily dance around the city during the Balorian Crusade?

Because it's rude to completely ignore the utterly useless ward those silly mortals set up?

The defense failed, and the entire population of Whitewall was replaced with nigh-perfect Fair Folk duplicates?

The local Fair Folk hordes were graffitti artists with Mad Skillz, but were undone as every tag they put on Whitewall's wall was white. Thus, in despair, they took up punk rock and landscape gardening, leaving the memory of their defeat behind.

The Fair Folk attacking the city had all sworn an Oath granting them infinite power as long as they took on the aspects of Mr. Ed. Sadly, instead of crushing Whitewall to rubble under the hooves of their Bestial (Talking Horse) Assumption, they took up the tea, crumpets, and maniacal plan habits of the Ebon Dragon. They also got infinite power - aleph null power over an aleph one span, so effectively none at all.

An idiotically overcompetent Warrior created a Breakthrough further in, and the Fair Folk hordes rushing by were really just aspects of an Unshaped invading the land?

A Lunar decided to be useful for a change and drew away the Raksha armies by taking on the form of a delicious steak with extra fries. Unfortunately, all records of this continuity shattering event were lost when the Lunar subsequently died in a freak accident involving a monocole, three pineapples, the Small God of a miniature feather duster and a vat of boiling cheese. Damn those Solar Bond induced flashbacks!


Pick three, give or take four.

[Morph Bark]

It has to regenerate normally.

Could you, or anyone else, give me a page reference on that?

[Jokasti]

Could you, or anyone else, give me a page reference on that?

Think of it this way: you've spent the motes, but can't regain them until you've stopped the commitment. So when you stop, they've already been spent, but now you can regain them as per normal.
Also I'm at Disney (In line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad right now) and was thinking, how would you stat up a rollercoaster.

[golentan]

Page 184, Sidebar: Committed Essence. "After the charm's effects end, the character can regain those motes normally."

[Teln]

Because it's rude to completely ignore the utterly useless ward those silly mortals set up?

The defense failed, and the entire population of Whitewall was replaced with nigh-perfect Fair Folk duplicates?

If I ever run a game in the North, I just might have to steal one or both of those.

[Drascin]

Because it's rude to completely ignore the utterly useless ward those silly mortals set up?

I like this one. It feels very Raksha.

"Wait, couldn't you just enter?"
"Well, yes, but that'd make the ward useless, and this tale of finding a way through it is so entertaining"
"...but you do not need to find a way through it! You can just waltz in!"
"What, after we're in like chapter seven? Are you crazy? What kind of climax is that? We still need to fail at least two times! And Lady Xia Radiant Wings still hasn't finished grooming her brave mortal hero to face the hordes! No, this wouldn't do at all!"
"Buh... wha? What... you... ARGH!" *throws hands up and leaves*

[Indon]

I like this one. It feels very Raksha.

"Wait, couldn't you just enter?"
"Well, yes, but that'd make the ward useless, and this tale of finding a way through it is so entertaining"
"...but you do not need to find a way through it! You can just waltz in!"
"What, after we're in like chapter seven? Are you crazy? What kind of climax is that? We still need to fail at least two times! And Lady Xia Radiant Wings still hasn't finished grooming her brave mortal hero to face the hordes! No, this wouldn't do at all!"
"Buh... wha? What... you... ARGH!" *throws hands up and leaves*

This will henceforth be how thaumaturgical fae-barriers function in Creation when I run Exalted - by placing a notification at the barrier location notifying the Fae that there is in fact a barrier against them and how they are to react to it. More awesomely described barriers are more effective at keeping fae out!

[SurlySeraph]

Hey guys, remember the Sidereal with a 320 Feat of Strength I made a while back? Some wonderful person determined that Feats of Strength lifting weight can be calculated via f(x) = 0.051878 x^4 - 1.556891 x^3 + 21.880641 x^2 - 6.604205x + 87, where x is your Strengh + Athletics total.

So I went on Wolfram Alpha, and determined that that works out to throwing a 464,277,000-pound object. Google tells me 168 lb/ ft^3 is a typical density for stone in a mountain, and I don't have any sourcebook stating the geological composition of Creation. So I'll go with that, and that means a 2,763,553 cubic foot object. Approximating a typical mountain as a cone with equal radius and height, we get a mountain with a 138-foot radius and height. That's more a large hill than a proper mountain, but I guess it's adequate.

Also, another wonderful nerd calculated that Mount Meru weighs at least 2,595,067,746,550 tons. This means you would need a 17,793 Feat of Strength to lift Mount Meru, and a 17,793 to throw it.

Now, I'm not sure we have the technology. The best I can do with an Essence 10 character is 1,280, but it might be possible somehow.

Spoiler

Show

30 Strength + 10 Athletics + 10 Second Excellency +10 Jade Mountain Form +10 Beauty is in the Eye +10 bonus successes from Invisible Motion +10 artifact +6 Prosthetics of Clockwork Elegance +5 Deadly Transformation Armor + 5 Virtue channel + 5 Cooperation + 3 Stunt + 3 Specialties +3 Eye of the First Goat +3 Double-Jointed +2 Jewel of Youthful Suppleness +1 Legendary Strength +1 Strong Back +1 Titan of the Streets = 128, multiplied by Strength of the Mast to 1,280.

Citation/ explanations:
If I'm understanding the prosthetics rules in Wonders of the Lost Age correctly, replacing both arms with prosthetics that each give +1 Strength with that limb in general and +2 Strength to Feats of Strength with that limb specifically is possible. Two arms, so +6.
Deadly Transformation Armor gives +5 to feats of strength.
Invisible Motion is the Sidereal Athletics capstone, and gives you a pool of [Athletics] successes that you can apply to any physical action.
Jade Mountain Form gives you +[Essence] strength. Pretty nice for a TMA.
Titan of the Streets from First Pulse Style gives +1 Strength.
Body of War Meditation from Celestial Monkey Style is poorly worded. As written, you can add +1 Strength with it. However, it seems intended to let you add up to [Essence] Strength, explicitly breaking normal maximums. So I'm going to interpret it the broken way and take another +10.
Merits! Double-Jointed for +3 Athletics, Legendary Strength for +1 Strength, Strong Back for +1.
Beauty is in the Eye is from Kaleidoscopic Border of Whatever, that really high Essence SMA, and adds 2xValor to Strength.
God Ways is from Prismatic Arrangement of Creation Style, and lets you enter the body of something else. I'm going to say a Brass Legionnarre, to start out with 30 Strength; there are problem better options, though.
Oadonel's Codex notes that a 5-dot artifact could add +10 to all Athletics rolls but would be exceptionally boring. Sold!

[Tavar]

Couldn't, oh, the spell that combines people into one be useful here? Also, perhaps a Warstrider would help. They have massive strength values already.

[SurlySeraph]

Unity of the Fivefold Fist? Probably, I don't have a copy of the White Treatise.

A Colossus Warstrider has only 20 Strength, less than I can get by merging with a Brass Legionnaire. Merging with a high-Essence Lunar might be ideal, I don't really know how high they can get their Strength.

[Teln]

Couldn't, oh, the spell that combines people into one be useful here?

I presume you're talking about Unity of the Closed Fist, from the White Treatise? That's a Solar Circle spell and caps at five participants post-errata, so if we assume 5 Siddies and that one is an akuma borrowing a Yozi initiation, that gets us to 64 thou--

• Strength, Dexterity and Stamina equal the
highest possessed by any member of the composite,
plus one dot for each additional character.

Puckernuts, that only gets us to a combined Strength of 1284. Still, that's 4 dots closer than we were before!

EDIT: Another thing, UotCF is a Shaping effect, so a Lunar's moonsilver tattoos won't permit their Lunar to join in this.

[Tavar]

They can hunt Behemoths, and take on their physical stats. I think they can get pretty darn high.

[Reynard]

Next thread name: General Exalted Discussion 3: (Not really) Worth 7 BP.

[Yuki Akuma]

I think it should just be "7 BP".

Alternative title: "Where All The Cool Charms Are".

[Tavar]

Graceful Crane Stance, Spirit Detecting Glance, among others would like to have a word with you.

[Jokasti]

I was thinking of Third Circle demon references but I like the 7 BP one.

[Xefas]

I will continue my suggestion of "Weddings Are An Act of Villainy" for the thread title. The first title had nothing to do with permanent Essence values, so I see no reason to start a trend to that effect.

And, I mean, what's better than a game mechanic that actively rewards cosmic monsters for the pursuit of polygamy? It's certainly unique.

[TheCountAlucard]

And, I mean, what's better than a game mechanic that actively rewards cosmic monsters for the pursuit of polygamy? It's certainly unique.

Believe it or not, I agree.