General Exalted Discussion IV: Roll Join Debate

[golentan]

If you take a potted plant from Creation to Malfeas, does photosynthesizing Ligier's light turn it into a Creature of Darkness?

Is it an evil plant?

1) No.

2) Yes. All plants are plotting murder at all times. But it's unrelated to being in malfeas.

[Urpriest]

If you take a potted plant from Creation to Malfeas, does photosynthesizing Ligier's light turn it into a Creature of Darkness?

Is it an evil plant?

Trick question. It was an evil plant to begin with, as the Jadefolk know well.

[Sanguine]

If you take a potted plant from Creation to Malfeas, does photosynthesizing Ligier's light turn it into a Creature of Darkness?

Is it an evil plant?

No. It just withers and dies. There's all that poison and gunk in the air remember. Also I believe it is stated in several places that Ligier's light is inimical to most of Creation's flora.

[Xefas]

Final Conclusion: Carrots and Tomatoes are objectively evil.

[Tavar]

Are there rules for creationg god/elemental/ghost characters? And, if so, where are they?

[Xefas]

Are there rules for creationg god/elemental/ghost characters? And, if so, where are they?

Pg 170 of the Roll of Glorious Divinity vol 1.

[Sanguine]

Pg 170 of the Roll of Glorious Divinity vol 1.

Except the Ghosts they are in the Second Roll of Glorious Divinity.

[Xefas]

Had often joked about the innuendo of Sol having a +1 Ride specialty for Luna.

Just realized that Luna has a +3 Ride specialty for Gaia.

God dammit.

[tonberrian]

I'm not sure that plants can qualify under the label of "Creature of Darkness".

Also, tomatoes can't be evil. Bob the Tomato is a tomato.

Also also, rules for playing Gods/Elementals is in the Roll of Glorious Divininty Volume I.

[meschlum]

Also, meschlum... I love you so much.

I quite agree with this sentiment.

Yay! Cult ranking might increase if I can find the xp.

Have a cookie.

Refining the Art of Battle

Just as Sorcery does not belong to Creation, the Fair Folk are outsiders, endowed with talents that have their own logic but shall forever remain beyond the understanding of the Creation-born. Some of the Raksha are lured into Creation by the promises of Martial Arts, means of refining and defining the self until the world must follow.

Even fewer are those who seek to combine Sorcery and Martial Arts, as neither comes easily to the Fair Folk. Instead, these rare Raksha rely on the Exalted to do the heavy lifting, contributing the mad genius of the Wyld to the final endeavor, making it possible where others need to deal with the necessary work.

When such an Exalt can be convinced to swear to follow the precepts of Raksha warfare, they find their magical and martial talents vastly expanded. they also usually seek to hunt down and destroy the &$@# Fair Folk who tricked them into this, as they cannot see the true potential they have gained. Typically, they succeed, and do their best to forget they were ever involved in the matter.

Still, there are rumors...


1-dot Adjuration
Confers Millipede Mind, which has no mechanical benefit for the one gaining it (besides being forced to commit one mote to it forever).

Why?

Because it enables the following Martial Arts and Sorcery based attack:

WOOD DRAGON CLEAVAGE!!!

That is all.


A variant that (horror!) has mechanical benefits would involve adding Armament of Flesh (as another 1-dot Adjuration, or raising the Art to 3 dots). This would turn a... body part... into a weapon. Capable of parrying lethal attacks, and inflicting same.

Real Fey Martial Arts don't wear pants.

[Tavar]

Not having looked over Celestial Monkey Style, is there something wrong with it?

[Sanguine]

Ah, meschlum. You always bring a smile to my face.

Edit: It has a Charm specifically for hitting people in the groin. Which is delightful. Aside from that it could do with being based more on Sun Wukong. Oh you meant mechanically? No, idea.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Not having looked over Celestial Monkey Style, is there something wrong with it?

It's okay. Some poor/odd design decisions, but out of the CMAs and up in the Scroll of the Monk, it's one of the decent ones.

[a_humble_lich]

OK, I have a couple questions. First, say I'm a Lunar in Creation who knows Ash and Tears Banquet, and I take the form of a ghost. Am I immaterial? The knack doesn't let me emulate essence based powers, but in general "constant of effortless powers usually function." And for a ghost being immaterial in creation isn't a power, in fact it takes an Arcanos to materialize.

If the answer is yes, then if it any different if they take a demon or god form (who are also naturally immaterial)?

Edit: And can I join the cult of the God of Raksha in Creation too?

[Tavar]

Not sure about the others, but the demon form has been explicitly stated to give you its material form.

[Mr.Bookworm]

There's not a God of Raksha, unless you count Luna. Anything not covered or created by Fate of Creation doesn't have a God (vast oversimplification, but it's roughly correct)

[Sanguine]

There's not a God of Raksha, unless you count Luna. Anything not covered or created by Fate of Creation doesn't have a God (vast oversimplification, but it's roughly correct)

Except Commoner Raksha are not Outside Fate.

Also there's the Envoy to the Demon City. Or something like that. Her official domain falls outside the purview of Fate.

[tonberrian]

So, any opinion on how to do stunts? Or should they just be dropped from the game, as least as far as Test of Spite goes?

I like the idea of just assuming 2-die stunts for every rolled action.

[Kylarra]

It's really just more dice being rolled since both sides would get the +2 dice bonus, bar the actual dungeoncrawl version.

[Tavar]

Especially since if I did that, I'd have to at least disallow the willpower regain. Most likely, both that and the motes.

[meschlum]

Edit: And can I join the cult of the God of Raksha in Creation too?

He's retired, I tell you! Retired!

Though I suppose some use could be found for any gossamer, ambrosia, soulsteel, or vitriol that reaches the Old Gods Resting Home. With over nine thousand retired gods and one bathroom, there are issues to deal with.

That, or asking questions about the Fair Folk seems to work quite for summoning him.

[The Rose Dragon]

Also there's the Envoy to the Demon City. Or something like that. Her official domain falls outside the purview of Fate.

Verumpira, the Ambassador, is a he. He also holds one of the coolest artifacts in the game, the word "submission" given physical form.

[tonberrian]

Especially since if I did that, I'd have to at least disallow the willpower regain. Most likely, both that and the motes.

Why would you have to do that?

[Tavar]

Plus, that position doesn't seem a 'natural' position. He's assigned that because the gods don't trust the Yozi(with good reason), but I don't think the position itself gives him power/athuroity. That comes from Heaven, which is nominally behind him.


And, I'd have to remove it, because otherwise you have infinite perfect defenses/combos.

[The Rose Dragon]

And, I'd have to remove it, because otherwise you have infinite perfect defenses/combos.

You don't have to remove it. You just have to realize that, compared to 1-die stunts, 2- and 3-die stunts are supposed to be very infrequently awarded. And that they are awards (by the pattern spiders), not laws of physics.

[Kylarra]

There is a level of tedium involved if each individual post needs to be judged for a reward,

[Tavar]

I like the idea of just assuming 2-die stunts for every rolled action.

You don't have to remove it. You just have to realize that, compared to 1-die stunts, 2- and 3-die stunts are supposed to be very infrequently awarded. And that they are awards (by the pattern spiders), not laws of physics.

True. I was specifically referring to the above quote. Plus, I dislike that method for other reasons.

Now, the other problem, is that Stunts are a subjective reward that needs to be judged case by case. That's just a huge time delay.

[The Rose Dragon]

There is a level of tedium involved if each individual post needs to be judged for a reward,

That kind of comes with stunts, though. They are always supposed to be rewards given after consideration. Some actions won't merit any stunt awards. Most will merit a 1-die stunt. 2- and 3-die stunts get progressively rarer.

[meschlum]

Apologies for the last post. The Pattern Spiders noticed a distinct lack of Fair Folk content, and demanded that causality be rebalanced.

Thus...

The Sacred Rutabaga of the not-Heretical Cult of the Endarkenated

Creation's gods are not doing their job. If it's obvious to the Fair Folk, how much worse must it be for the mortals who live there? What's more, since mortals tend to swear on their souls when trying to bargain with the divine, who are the Raksha to refuse?

Where the Sacred Rutabaga manifests, faith in it is not only encouraged, but actively rewarded. Those asking for riches will receive them. Those begging for revenge or justice will be satisfied. Those desiring safety from the threats of the outside world - be it the Realm, the dead, or the Wyld itself - will be sheltered. Those wondering how the miracles take place will be shown.

What greater faith could there be?

5-dot Oneiromancy
Assumption of the Living Kingdom: might as well go big from the start.
Ordinary Object Conjuration: anyone praying for wealth gets a resource 5 emerald the size of their hand. Every 5 ticks.
Unparallelled Terror Technique: anyone who is subject to prayers for revenge will be infected with a lethal dream-poison which will kill them over time. Only if their Conviction wavers and they make amends on time will they survive.
Manacles of Virtue: anyone whose virtues are wholly consumed by the Fair Folk will be granted 2 'virtual' dots in the virtue instead. (Custom variant)
Waypoint Knife: anyone praying for protection will be surrounded by an unbreakable barrier that lasts an hour.

If you want to give your people more benefits, make another Oneiromancy. With Artifact 5 (possible at character creation), you can have a 4-dot and a 5-dot spell, so you still have lots of options.

Heart Stealing Kiss so the Fair Folk can eat all your virtues while you're unaware, Adored by All the World so people praying for friends will get them, Behemoth Forging Meditation to grant health, strength, and Enlightenment to people praying for it...

At higher tiers of Artifact ownership (or for smaller areas of effect), you can add Fall of Night Shadows the Truth to obscure attempts at realizing the faith is heretical (or Curse of Definition while you're at it), include a Behemoth that does your smiting and rewarding for you (requires fewer artifact dots in some cases), and more.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

@Tavar: You should probably remove them from the equation entirely. It sounds like you don't want 2/3-die versions anyway because it opens up the infinite combos, and I'm sure that someone would find a way to abuse the idea of any 'assumed' bonus by taking a bunch of actions between actions or some such nonsense. I would think that stunts would work both ways if they were used properly in a PVP environment, so it all balances out anyway.

On another note: the mindset of She who Lives in Her Name looks a lot like Autochthon's mindset, or at least that of an alchemical with his Clarity turned up high enough. How did they end up with two creepy, mechanically-minded, collectivist mad scientist primordials? What's the key difference between the two, besides one of them defecting? Is it just that Autocthon is more of an inventor and She is more of a straight empirical physicist?

Also, what's all this talk about the reclamation? It sounds like a whole bunch of plot got dumped into the Return of the Scarlet Empress or something and pretty much invalidated everything I thought about the setting.

Edit: Meschlum posted while I was typing that, so it sadly includes no response to the hilarity.